Doritan takes the spider's bite head-on, and feels the creature's venom surge through his veins, "Gah... I.. hate... poison." he says, slowly sinking to his knees, scarcely able to hold himself up.
"We have no reason to think they are still here, Katria." Liam says. However, he is distracted, trying to help Doritan.
Edit: Never mind about the Resistance spell, I made Doritan a Cloak of Resistance back here that he needs to include on his sheet.
Liam's ministrations allow Doritan to fight off the poison before it completely ravages his body.
With Liam's aid, Doritan stays standing, but is still quite shaken.
"Thanks Liam. Pretty sure I would be facing Pharasma right now if not for you."
"I do what I can Doritan. I'll upgrade that cloak I made for you when I have the magical ability and the money. Though I think you still owe me 500 for that one. I'm not an Abadaran, though, so this spell is on the house. As are most of them."
Doritan nods, "Of course."
"I suppose we should head back to Mosle and let him know what we found, or rather what we didn't. Then maybe we can see about getting word to Baronet Vort. Stachys probably shouldn't go too long without us either."
Katria nods.
"Maybe we can ask some of our helpers to investigate more? They're also asking me if there are things they can do, and I never really know what to tell them," she says.
"We can try that, Katria, though I fear the hags are long gone. If we can't find them, we can try to procure more powerful magic, through our own means or through the Baron's friends."
You report back to Mosle. He shakes his head sadly but doesn't seem surprised. He vows to remain here in Jambis to try to keep Baron Telus contained while you work on a solution.
You send word to Baronet Vort at New Towne to update him on the situation before making your way back to Stachys.
Once the group returns to Stachys, Maya decides it's probably best if she does what she can to ensure the town continues to run smoothly the next time they have to be away. She works to arrange a meeting between Onora and the priest they're getting to fill the local temple. Probably best if those two don't butt heads.
The meeting goes off without a hitch and Maya's skill in subterfuge increases. She's not particularly surprised, of course, but she manages to restrain herself from making snarky comments.
Katria talks to some of her admirers and asks them to let her know what needs work in the city. Unfortunately, they don't seem to bring back anything new or useful for her.
In addition, she reaches out to some of her contacts back in Oppara, trying to get a dose of oil of taggit to possibly use in Jambis.
Liam works on developing his Subterfuge, arranging a secret meeting with some of his Young Reformer contacts.
His disguise isn't great at first, but his intuition suggests a last-minute adjustment that makes it work flawlessly.
Doritan spends the week organizing a bit of a celebration, trying to show that he had a personable side as well.
When the group returns to Stachys, Bernal composes a short dance performance depicting the transformation of a generous noble into a hideous demon; he does not mention the real-life inspiration for this act, instead describing it as a personification of corruption and sin causing Good to descend into Evil.
After a few days of downtime in Stachys, a delegation arrives from Lotheedar--Sir Gul Gusairne and a patrol of three soldiers. Gusairne dismounts and surveys the town before turning back towards you. "Good day. I've received some disturbing rumors that the Night Swan has been spotted here in Stachys. I've come to verify if there's any truth to those rumors, and while I'm here, I thought I'd check in to see if you've noticed any other suspicious activity among your populace. Seditious agents might be lurking anywhere in these tumultuous times, but by Abadar's grace, we will root them out."
"Oh yes, the Night Swan paid us a visit a few weeks back. Stole some things from the manor, and left this threatening note. Do you have any idea who this Night Swan might be? We don't know, but have been wondering."
Liam will show the note to the Gul Gusairne.
"As to other suspicious activity, we have not observed any. And we are grateful for Abadar's grace, helping our community prosper with commerce and trade. You can see the improvements we have made in streets, markets, and other civic necessities. Brother Festo, the Abadaran, has been helping with improvements to our temple. You may wish to speak to him while you are here. Although the people of our small hamlet lean more towards Erastil, we respect the Master of the First Vault and the aid his priest is offering."
Maya looks Gusairne up and down before contributing to the conversation. Eventually she says to Gul, "I didn't know Abadar was familiar with the concept of grace. I guess you learn something new everyday.
"Anyway, what Liam said is correct. It seems this Swan is interested in Stachys as well as Lotheedar. As for seditious agents, they don't seem to be a problem in Stachys. At least not one we're aware of. It's amazing how loyal citizens can be when you treat them properly and see to the town's needs."
Begrudgingly, Maya adds, "If you need help looking around, we can let you know the most knowledgeable people to talk to. Also, the townsfolk might be more willing to speak freely if we're around. No offense, but you're not exactly a familiar face around town."
Gul studies the note carefully, then he nods to Liam and Maya "I'll need to inspect your manor to see if the Swan left any evidence behind we can use to try to track them down. Then you can show me around town to talk to your citizens."
"Doritan, would you care to show our guest around and point out the civic improvements we have made? He can let us know if our roads, bridges, and markets are in accordance with The Manual of City-Building, and if not, how they might be improved."
Concerned that the inquisitor might take a dim view of their fey acquaintances, Katria excuses herself long enough to enjoin them to resume hiding until she and her companions have a better idea of Gul's intentions.
"Of course. We've taken the opportunity to improve the village however we can, though believe me when I say we're nowhere near done. We did manage to clear out the old mill, which was infested with undead, that was a bit of an adventure. Over here..."
Maya does her best to rein in her more bombastic tendencies in favor of a more careful approach with Gusairne. Sadly, not everyone can appreciate her wit.
Once the group begins touring Gul around the city, Maya says, "As you can, we're making great strides in improving the lives of our citizens. If there are seditious agents about, it shouldn't be blamed on the state of things. We care about these people and want to see Stachys and Meratt County as a whole succeed."
Once the tour is finished, Maya will offer to take Gul to see Onora. There, the bard will try to 'negotiate' to make the two people's impression of each other as excellent as possible.
Katria does her best to help Doritan.
Gul Gusairne listens as Doritan fills him in on the local goings-on, with insightful interjections from Liam and Katria. The inquisitor then follows Maya as she takes him on a tour of the town and facilitates a chat between him and Onora Piscum. The sheriff does her best to feign cordiality, but her support helps to shore up Maya's efforts to keep Gul distracted and pointed away from what you've really been up to in Stachys.
At the end of the day, Gul gathers his soldiers. "Everything here seems to be on the up and up. I may check in again from time to time just to be sure nothing unseemly takes root in your town. Thank you for your hospitality. May the teachings of the Master of the First Vault guide you on the proper path."
The inquisitor departs, leaving you to your own devices.
Shortly after the inquisitor leaves, Bernal speaks.
"We managed to do a spectacular job of showing Gusairne what we want him to see today, but if rumours of the Night Swan's presence here have already reached him then it's a matter of time before other word comes up in Lotheedar, and we can't obscure the truth for much longer."
The duelist clears his throat and continues, though more quietly.
"Even if it means postponing dealing with the catastrophe in Jambis, we need to start making gears turn. Turning Stachys into a beacon of humanity is a fantastic achievement, but it's a mere step up the ladder we need to climb until Eutropia ascends to the Primogen Throne."
Katria nods in agreement.
"But what else can we do? We're showing people what good governance looks like, but I don't think things were that bad in Lotheedar, not enough to turn the people against Bartelby. ..."
"Maybe we could ... use that situation in Jambis to our advantage? We've wooed some of Bartelby's subordinates, like the princess asked, but if there were some way to get rid of Gusairne? Maybe those two problems might take care of each other?"
She waves her hands a bit helplessly, not wanting to actually suggest what she's hinting at.
Liam shakes his head.
"No, Bernal, I think we should stay the course and not get spooked. It's only reasonable that Gul Gusairne would want to check up on us. But we handled it well enough and I think we can obscure the truth for quite a bit longer. Let's not get hasty and blow our cover.
I'd say we follow through resolving the Jambis situation. If we can cure the Baron, he could be an ally. If not, and we have to grant him rest, we may be able to persuade Mosle and Vort that we did the right thing and they would be allies. We need more allies before making a move."
"Katria, that sounds like... not what I would want to do."
"So let's see if Bartelby or Vort can assist us in procuring Divination and Break Enchantment scrolls for Baron Telus, or otherwise we use our own funds. Then we have the poison that Katria procured, and several options for dealing non-lethal damage."
Whether it's Liam's platitudes or her parents' teachings rubbing off on her, Maya finds herself nodding along with Liam's assessment. "Gul seemed satisfied enough with the current state of things. If he comes back and that changes, we can reevaluate at that point, but no need to panic for now.
"As for Gul, well, I don't personally care for the man, but he seems like the kind of fellow who doesn't want to rock the boat. If we manage to make a peaceful transition of power, he might just go along with it.
"Telus seems like the most pressing matter at the moment. If Vort truly cares for the Baron, we may not have to take any funds out of our own pockets. It's worth a try either way."
"Of course Liam, I am not suggesting any ill-advised or impulsive action; I'm simply saying we do not have all the time in the world and need to start making more headway towards our other goals. And while I do not think sending Gusairne to face the Spider Prince is the fairest of ideas, informing him and Lotheed of what is truly going on in Jambis could help us, in their knowledge, abilities and treasury."
"Yes, I had meant to mention that to Gul Gusairne before he left. We should send a letter to him and Bartelby asking if they can aid us."
Katria nods, not sure that that's the best way to undermine Bartelby, but willing to accede to it if the others want.
She thinks sending to Vort and seeing if he has anything help he can offer is a better decision, but that their best bet may simply be alerting the townsfolk of the dangers there.
You send letters to both Baronet Vort and Bartelby, requesting aid to assist Baron Telus. While you wait for responses, Onora comes to you with a grim look in her face. "We've had another criminal incident. This one's a doozy."
A jeering crowd gathers in the Wolf's Whisker as the sheriff brings out a shackled half-orc. He's the only half-orc you've seen in Stachys. "This is Partulles Mayne. He owns an outlying goose farm west of town. He's known to skimp on deals and keep livestock that wander onto his land, and one of his recent arguments with a local appears to have turned violent. A family driving their goats by earlier report seeing Mayne and Ershal Sutor arguing over a mule that had wandered on Mayne's land, and later I ran across Mayne trying to bury the body of Sutor. Sutor was killed by a powerful blow to the head."
"Justice!" members of the crowd cry. "Blood for blood!"
When asked what he has to say for himself, Mayne growls. "That durned mule wandered into my garden and ate a fair supply of my turnips. 'Twas only fair I keep the beast to eat over the winter in the turnips' place. I offered to sell the mule back to Sutor for only 6 gold, well below market price, but he weren't having none of it. He stormed off.
"'Twas only later that I discovered the man dead on my property. I knew I'd be blamed for it. Nobody here likes me. I decided to hide the body. But I didn't kill him!"
”Katria, do you still have that spell that tells us how someone was wounded?” Doritan asks, ”That would get us somewhere for sure.”
---
"Justice, once we know all the facts," replies Liam to the crowd. He will rely on his reputation for Sagacity here. "We will evaluate the evidence, and let you know what we find. Mayne, if you merely found the body and did not kill him, the wiser course of action would have been to alert us rather than trying to hide the body. I would have, and will, give you a fair hearing."
He tries to gauge the truth of Mayne's statement.
Then he will go to examine Sutor's body (using Inspired trait).
Mayne grunts at Liam. "Aye, that's easy for you to say. You have no idea what it's like to live as a half-breed among humans," he says, oblivious to the irony of the statement. "People judge me by my green skin before they even try to get to know me. Just as well, I guess, as I don't like anybody! I just want to raise my geese and be left alone."
Liam is unable to get a good read on the surly half-orc.
Examining Sutor's body, Liam determines the man was killed by a heavy blow to the back of the head with something round. Further inspection reveals the wound is more hoof-shaped than weapon-shaped.
"Mayne, I understand your hesitation. Orcs have a bad reputation across the Inner Sea, and that gets carried along with the tusks." Doritan reassures him, "But this is exactly why it's best to go to the authorities rather than trying to deal with it on your own- you really should have come to us once the mule ate your turnips to try and get that settled through us as well. What's done is done, of course, but we will do our best to figure out what happened and pass judgement accordingly."
"Partulles, whether you like me or not shouldn't have any bearing on the justice you receive at my hands. I aim to be fair. I may fall short of that from time to time, as we all do, but it is the ideal I strive for."
He examines the body.
"I think Sutor might have been killed by his mule."
"Yes, my spell could be able to tell us..." Katria agrees.
She'll cast it if she has the ability.
Maya tries to discern whether the half-orc speaks truth or not.
Trying to lighten the mood a bit, she says, "If you think it's hard being a half-breed among humans, imagine what it's like being a halfling. In any case, due process still matters in Taldor, last time I checked. Justice isn't something to be rushed."
Deciding to put her loquaciousness to some use, Maya says to Mayne, "Did you consider how it might look if people found you trying to bury his body? If there are any other details about the incident that you want to disclose, now is the time to do so. We have ways of determining the truth, so it's in your best interest to be honest and straightforward with us."
Mayne scratches his head. "I guess I didn't really think things through. I told ya the truth, though. I ain't hiding nothing!" Maya is inclined to believe him.
Fortunately, it hasn't rained since last night, and Katria finds a bit of dried blood on the ground at Mayne's farm. She casts her spell, and four questions and answers appear on a piece of parchment:
Who are you? "Ershal Sutor"
What are you? "Male human farmer"
How was your blood shed? "I sneaked onto that half-orc's goose farm to get back my mule, Chauncey. I was trying to drag the skittish beast out of there when something hit me in the back of the head."
When was your blood shed? "Last night."
Katria shakes her head.
"Unfortunately, my magic isn't telling us much. Ershal was hit in the back of the head when he was trying to drag the mule out of the farm, but the spell couldn't tell me what exactly hit him," she says, shaking her head.
"Depending on how he was pulling it, it could have been the mule ... but also it could have been something else," she says. "Maybe we should check the animal's hooves?"
Chauncey the mule snorts and stomps as Katria tries to inspect ihists hooves. She's forced to call upon a few local farmers to hold the ill-tempered beast so she doesn't get kicked in the face. The mule's hooves are about the same size and shape as the wound on the back of Sutor's head. There's no way to be absolutely sure, but it's looking more and more likely that Chauncey is the murderer, not Mayne.