Drasven and Lia attend to the Grayst's infection, although at his advanced stage it is unclear how much good they are actually doing. That is only something time will tell.
As you crest the hill and cross the bridge into town, you hear a dreaded rattling sound as Grayst Sevilla breathes his last breath and grows quiet.
Maester Grump doffs his straw hat and says a quick prayer to Pharasma.
"Get the bitten man to the Church!"
Regardless of what happens to Gayst, as soon as they hit the outskirts of town, Karmid runs ahead to the Sheriff to warn of the possible ghoul (scarecrow) outbreak. Covering most of it as fast and as clear as possible.
"We need to warn the outlying farmers and get them hiding or inside the walls of Sandpoint as soon as possible."
"Sooo, are we supposed to cut his head off or something like that at this point? No disrespect to the dead intended."
"We can decapitate him or cremate him. Either will stop him from rising. Lia is there a place to cremate someone in the Temple? That seems more compassionate than just beheading him.
"Keep the wagon moving. Let's get Maester Grump up to the cathedral."
Lia is rather unhappy about, but not surprised by the mans demise.
"We did what we could."
Drasven stays silent on this point.
There wasn't anything else to be said or done here..other then get to sandpoint.
You quickly bring the body of Grayst Sevilla and Maester Grump to the Cathedral and are met at the front doors by the acolytes. Father Zantus emerges a few minutes later and listens to your summary of the situation.
"Desna has not graced me with the magic to overcome this disease today, but I will pray at sunrise tomorrow for her blessing. Leave the body of the Varisian with us. We will give him a proper funeral and cremate it before the day ends. We don't need an outbreak of undead here in Sandpoint, I can tell you that. As for the cases you believe exist in the hinterlands, anything you could do to contain it would be greatly appreciated. I will attempt to prepare the church and the acolytes to receive the sick and dying."
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Nearby at the Garrison, Karmid gives a quick report to Sheriff Hemlock. He is surprised by the talk of ghouls, but immediately calls up any guards on leave to help defend the town from a potential undead attack.
"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I am afraid we are still understaffed, which means I won't be able to provide any of my guards for your investigation of the Hinterlands."
"We need to be faster and more mobile. The 'scarecrows' might still be at the Hambley Farm, or they might have moved on. I say we need horses."
"I believe they are still there. They have been for days, and have no reason to assume their situation has changed. They are not mindless, but I fear they may be there with orders to stay. And I would not be surprised if we found another message there. After dealing with the inmediate threat, I should probably head to the misgivings before more people suffer. He wants me.", Lia explains casually.
"You cannot be certain it is him. Anybody could have taken up residence there. It was abandoned."
Matrim is in somewhat of a grumpy mood as they return to town. Not really feeling like talking to anyone. Knowing his history, he could have ended up the same way.
There are occasional times when Lia and Flutter (actually it's less the butterfly, who seems the more reasonable one) can really start to get on Ro's nerves. This is starting to look like one of those times to her. Ro bypasses Lia and goes straight t Flutter for answers. Pointing at Lia she asks "who is she talking about? Just what the hell do you two think is going on?"
"They speak as if they know who it is. " Drasven muses out alound.
"If you know yet you're not telling us, then you must like the sense of danger no?" he continues.
It seems that we're just following a trail lead by a hunter and the prey knows it but still follows."
Flutter answers dutifully:"Nothing", then waits for Lia to head inside with the dead man. When she is out of sight, he rushes to Rojava, and speaks with lowered voice: "The misgivings the man spoke of in his message. Thats the name of an abandoned Estate south of Sandpoint. I am surprised none of you remembered. The original name of the Estate was Foxglove Manor. Lia insists that she only knows one Lordship that could have taken up residence there and be infatuated with her. I am telling her that's not conclusive proof, but you know she can be quite...convinced about her ideas - despite the fact Aldern left for Magnimar."
The butterfly seems to sigh...or does what passes for a shrug for a creature with wings rather than shoulders.: "She's got it in her head to go to the manor and convince whoever is there to end this...sick game. She seems convinced that one way or the other she will succeed but was afraid to bring you along because she figured it would be dangerous for you. Well, I'm afraid for her safety, so I'm telling you anyway. Just don't tell her I told you."
Karmid seems to vibrate with the need to move or do SOMETHING, so he paces as he talks his longbow still in hand.
"Aldern? That fop with delusions of lordship? Well, if it IS him I'm pretty sure we can handle him. Foxglove Manor? I've heard of it. I can lead us there quickly enough. Horses? We can borrow or rent some if we have to do so. But if we are going to go anywhere, we need to go before things get further out of hand..."
"So 'Misgivings' is a place... Alright. It did seem an odd word in the message, sort of out of place. But are you saying Lia thinks Aldern Foxglove is behind all of this?"
Ro shakes her head skeptically. "We saw him what, not more than two weeks ago? He certainly wasn't a ghast then. He seemed a decent enough sort, to the point I told Talene so. What he didn't seem like at all is some sort of evil mastermind."
"Besides things seemed to be going well between him and Lia, right?" Sometimes Ro finds it awkward to talk to Flutter, like, Flutter is a part of her mind, how do I ask a manifestation of her mind about her state of mind?
"Aldern didn't come off as the smoothest guy I've ever met, but he didn't seem maladjusted. I just can't see him thinking 'I need to impress Lia and win her over... I know! An army of ghouls is just the thing! A nice letter inviting her to visit me in Magnimar is just too cliche'. Foxglove manor might be our place, but Aldren could be a victim too."
After talking to Flutter, Ro suggests to Karmid "we get horses and swing by the Hambly place, from there we'll go on to the Foxglove estate. I think we should be able to move quickly on this."
Stopping immediately, Karmid nods.
"This could be a major undertaking then. EVERYONE! Gather your things! Bring enough assuming we may need to camp for a day or two! Anything to fight ghouls with can't hurt! I will talk again with the sheriff and see about the horses for us. I think Sandpoint can afford to loan us a few mounts for this. Father? Please find a blessing for our endeavors if you can. I still have most of all those holy waters you gave me, but if the temple can aid us further here, we would appreciate it. I will meet you all at the edge of town, in an hour or so with the horses."
He then runs off back to the sheriff's office.
"As Ro suggests, perhaps there is some sort of control the house, or some of its residents, may have placed on this Foxglove fellow. Perhaps we could find some sort of magic to free him of external influences?" Uldar adds.
Drsasven considers their provisions and wonders if there are any that may help with reversing the disease of the undead claws.
Checking his gear, he also wonders if perhaps the younglings are too optimistic. What if this Aldern is their foe? Taken by an unknown enemy, running foul of a curse or worse, Lia has apparently taken it into her head to go in alone....she must have being unable to handle such a heavy burden for her to think like this.
He would have thought that these group would be closer.....
After resupplying yourself with gear and horses, you out the same day toward the Hambley farm mentioned by Farmer Grump.
Travel through the countryside goes at quite a clip on horseback, although you stop a few times to talk to farmers pulling carts and packed horses on their way to Sandpoint. While most have barricaded themselves behind the doors of the better built farm houses, a few have decided to temporarily relocate themselves behind the town walls. It seems that the warning concerning the possible ghoul outbreak has not gone unheeded. The people are naturally quite panicked and despite talking to a few of them, you gain no new information about the undead or Hambley farm. It seems that people have been uneasy for at least a week, but it's all rumors: no one has seen any of these "ghouls" or "walking scarecrows" directly. The fleeing farmers do give you specific directions to Hambley farm, however, which is useful.
You reach the area near Hambley farm in the late afternoon. Fog still lies close to the ground, giving the area a mysterious and dangerous aura. You have been following a footpath about 10 feet in width from the farms you passed north of the Ashen Rise. The farmers told you that Hambley farm itself s nestled at the northwestern edge of the Whisperwood, a forest said to be home to capricious gnomes, pixies, and other fey, but now overshadowed by the closer menace. All five of the other farms south of the Soggy River are now deserted, their occupants having either fled north to seek shelter with other farmers or retreated all the way to Sandpoint, so you haven't passed a living soul in about 45 minutes.
As you round the corner around a small copse of trees, you see that the path you've been following ends in a four-way intersection that divides spring wheat fields. A scarecrow on a tall pole stands in the middle of the intersection.
Dismounting and handing his reins to whomever will take them, Karmid pulls his hammer and shield-klar to the ready and walks closer to the sight.
"Scarecrows aren't normally placed in the middle of a path are they? They should be out in the field? Cover me Drasven?"
"Seems Strange is it now?" Drasven agrees as he brings his crossbow to bear.
He too keeps a lookout and also see if there's any foul smell around...
Ro dismounts along with Karmid, peering at the scarecrow. She fans out to Karmid's right, plucking one of her starknives from her belt. She readies to throw it if something goes amiss.
"Maybe it's a scarecrow for people and that's why it's in the intersection?", Lia attempts to explain, helpfully.
The scarecrow also seems very normal to Lia.
Karmid moves to weapon range and nudges the thing with his hammer.
"Creepy."
The scarecrow moves with the movement of Karmid's hammer in the predicted fashion while the others look on from a good distance back. It seems to just be a normal scarecrow.
From here you have the choice of going straight, left, or right. Due to the height of the planted crops, it is hard to get any decent clue about which direction might be the most advantageous of getting you to the Hambley homestead.
Karmid scans the ground for odd footprints, or possible further clues.
There are footprints going in all four directions at this intersection, although most head to the left.
"Wait. Jili calls out. She shakes her head in frustration and clears her throat. Trying again to speak. "Wait." Let me study the scarecrow before we move forward."[/b] She moves in front of the group and casts Detect Magic on it from about 40 feet away.
Jili doesn't detect any magical auras on or around the scarecrow.
"Most footprints go to the left. Suggestions?"
"Seems to me the place that would get the most people going to and from it would be the house. If we're guessing, I'd go left."
"Left is where the footprints seem to be going. I'll head for the house. That way if we get attacked we have someplace to fall back too. It wouldn't hurt to see if we can gain any further clues there too." Drasven doesn't stop covering Karmid from the wagon as he speaks.
"Also since we're here, could we also get a better count of how many footprints? If there's an ambush it might be here or that house anyway."
Karmid can see the footprints of at least a dozen different people here, some of them going back and forth. All look humanoid in size and shape.
Flutter lands on the Scarecrow, then addresses the party: "I am not sure the house will be a safe fallback location...chances are it's overrun, as well. And while doors and windows may be chokepoints, that also means we are trapped inside. Well, you lot are, I can fly. Regardless, I would suggest a sweeping approach, maybe spread out with 10 feet distance or so, to cover a wider area - make sure one approach is relatively safe and allows us to fall back without being surrounded. Or at least give us a better chance to spot them if they try to encircle us."
Karmid moves on foot for now, as he lacks skill for combat on a horse.
"Let's get to the house first. Then we can worry about tactics once we get there...assuming something doesn't attack us directly as we approach."
Jili nods and follows Karmid on foot toward the house. She looks nervous as the shadows in the woods and fields move in the wind.
You decide to follow the path to the left for a hundred yards or so as it slowly curves to the right and finally ends 40 feet ahead in a t-intersection. Another scarecrow has been mounted on a pole here, but this one looks different, as if it had more mass and weight.
"Another scareperson?", Lia wonders.
Karmid shakes his head in annoyance.
"I'm not taking any chances with these things. Especially if they are ghouls or undead of some sort."
Again he hands his horse's reins to another and approaches fully armed...
nudging the thing with his hammer if he gets close enough to try it.