As the hours stretch by, Vharg begins to fidget more and more. It is clear that pacience is not one of his few virtues. "Arrggg! Vharg is bored! Vharg was promised vengeance and great deeds! Instead we read, when we should be hunting our foe's!" As if in emphasis, Vharg slams his fist against a bookshelf in frustration, causing dust to rise from self and an ancient mostly burned ledger to fall from a self onto the floor. "Huh, this one says "Conviction Reports for Harrowstone 4659". Vharg thinks it might be important."
Alexei looks confused at Mortimer, he has seen no reason why Father Grimburrow shouldn't be trusted, at least so far as to ask about the cache of gear. Unfortunately, my knowledge of such things is limited as I am more of a practical scientist as opposed to a researcher of history.
Hearing the cough, Alexei turns around to the young man and says politely Hello. May we help you?
Hearing the cough, Alexei turns around to the young man and says politely Hello. May we help you?
"Randu Dragomiir," The young man introduces himself with a bow, "I was a former employee of Pr. Lorrimor and considered him a friend. I received an invitation, but.... came too late. I just made my condolences to Kendra, and she told me of others that might need some help and how they would be here."
Alexei looks suspiciously at the young man for a minute and then, not detecting any duplicity, says We are looking into the circumstances surrounding his death. They seemed quite unusual. Did Miss Lorrimor fill you in as to what Professor Lorrimor stipulated in his will?
"I was in too big a rush to catch up to go over it in detail, but a delivery of books, and making sure she is secure was the gist of it I believe. Please, don't let me slow you down in whatever you are doing. I've retrieved things for the professor in the past. You're seeking to learn something specific? I'm not an academic, but I do try to keep abreast of what transpires in the country here and there."
That is no problem. Perhaps you can help us though if you are familiar with the area. We have been trying to find information on Harrowstone as we know that that was where the Professor died. Do you know of it?
"Harrowstone... mmm.. it rings a bell. The professor spoke of manythings when I was with him."
Local history roll below and I'll wait for the GM to tell me what it gives me if anything
A few moments later, Calavas comes hurrying into the room, gasping his thanks to Father Grimburrow before turning to the group. "Sorry...I'm late...overslept..." Taking a few moments to catch his breath, he looks about the room, surprised at the unfamiliar face. "Oh, hello. I don't believe we've met. Are you one of the temple's adepts? Calavas Orlosky." he introduces himself, extending a hand.
Once greetings are had, Calavas dives headfirst into analysis of the information available, writing up a rough timeline of Harrowstone's history and attempting to identify notable residents of the prison.
Randu starts to research as well, flipping through the pages, and trying to put together what he's heard the professor ramble about one day, and what was said in taverns on a separate bender entirely.
A few moments later, Calavas comes hurrying into the room, gasping his thanks to Father Grimburrow before turning to the group. "Sorry...I'm late...overslept..." Taking a few moments to catch his breath, he looks about the room, surprised at the unfamiliar face. "Oh, hello. I don't believe we've met. Are you one of the temple's adepts? Calavas Orlosky." he introduces himself, extending a hand.
Randu shakes the hand as he reads, "I haven't had a good look at the sisters of the order yet to see if I want to join up," He smiles, "I joke. Randu Dragomiir, former employee and friend to the professor."
You all spend some time amongst the stacks, until the words start to blend together. Yet all the time and hard work pay off as you find a small book that goes into some detail about the prison and its "guests".
Further Harrowstone Knowledge:
- At the time Harrowstone burned, five particularly notorious criminals had recently arrived at the prison. While the commonly held belief is that the tragic fire began accidentally after the riot began, in fact the prisoners had already seized control of the dungeon and had been in command of the lower level for several hours before the fire. Warden Hawkran triggered a deadfall to seal the rioting prisoners in the lower level, but in so doing trapped himself and nearly two dozen guards. The prisoners were in the process of escaping when the panicked guards accidentally started the fire in a desperate attempt to end the riot.
The book goes on to describe more about the prison itself and the people incarcerated in it.
New Research topic discovered - The Five Prisoners:
- Originally, Harrowstone housed only local criminals, but as the prison's fame spread, other counties and distant lands began paying to have more dangerous criminals housed within this prison's walls. At the time of the great Harrowstone Fire, the number of particularly violent or dangerous criminals imprisoned within the dungeons was at an all-time high.
- The five most notorious prisoners in Harrowstone at the time of the great fire were Father Charlatan, the Lopper, the Mosswater Marauder, the Piper of Illmarsh, and the Splatter Man.
The rest of the book dives into statistics of the prison and other prisons of Ustalav yet makes no mention of Harrowstone specifically or the five prisoners mentioned earlier. Given the amount of time you spent, every little bit of information helps.
Randu rubs his eyes as he relates his part of what they've discovered and shares it with all, "Research, ah, I far preferred leaving that to the professor, may he rest in peace. Should we go and inform Kendra of what we have learned?"
Mortimer listens to the day's discoveries with an impassive expression. "These prisoners sound like terrible men. I have read about how the deeds of the black-hearted can sometimes curse them to continue to plague the living after their deaths. I am more and more convinced that the prison may indeed be haunted, and such a place will be certain to appeal to Necromancers. I can understand why the Whispering Way may have wanted to investigate Harrowstone but we do not know exactly what they were after. The Professor seemed to think it was someone who was held there, according to the entries in his journal. Perhaps our research should change direction to look into these notorious criminals, and find out what other inmates may have attracted the Whispering Way."
Alexei looks alarmed at this news. One of the tenets of the Whispering Way is to try and bring back their leader. What if they are attempting to perfect their techniques by trying to bring back some of these infamous prisoners? That could definitely be a reason for Professor Lorrimor to be investigating in an attempt to prevent such an occurrence.
Seeing Father Grimburrow bustling about about to close up, Alexei moves over to him and says Thank you again, Father for your assistance. It has been most helpful and I think it is imperative to the safety of the community and those you watch over. It is good to know that we have someone we may be able to count on in the future. Know that you may come to me at any time should you need anything as well. Alexei gives a respectful bow and returns to his companions to pack up their things and put the manuscripts and books away.
At the mention of 'haunted' and 'necromancers', Randu makes a gesture to ward off evil just like his mother taught him. He mutters to his new compatriots, "The professor gets us into interesting times even after his passing."
But he follows Alexei's lead when it is time to go.
As you all start to leave, Grimburrow calls out to you from the temple's doorway. Almost forgot to mention but there was some small commotion at the Harrowstone memorial an hour ago or so. Don't know what it's about but as you're worried about hauntings and such, figured it'd do to let you know. Thanking him, you all head to the memorial which is on your way back the the Lorrimor house.
After crossing the bridge, you turn to the right and begin to follow the banks of the river. About 300ft down you come to the base of the large statue that you had noticed earlier when you first came into town. A large stone statue, it's covered in moss and vines and rises some 25 feet into the air. The top of it is a carved likeness of a large man looking protectively into the distance and is identified on the statue as a depiction of Warden Hawkran. Carved into the statue's base are the names of all who perished that night in the fire, the guards names as well as the warden's and his wife's.
What's more immediately noticeable however is the large letter V that has been drawn across the statue's base in blood. There seems to be no other evidence around of spilled blood though and there are too many tracks to be able to determine if any one set stands out against the rest.
"Blood Majicks!" Roars Vharg. "No spirit made this Vharg thinks! Can anyone tell if there are tracks to follow? furrowing his muted green brow Vharg continues. "Vharg thinks we burn the blood off. Fire cleanses darkness."
Alexei reaches out and touches the blood looking at it with a critical eye. The good news is that this is not human blood and is in fact rat. The bad news is that someone just defiled a memorial with blood and we have no idea why. Burning is not necessary Vharg, I do not sense anything beyond the mundane here. A good scrubbing is all the memorial needs I think.
Mortimer frowns. "Who might have done this? First the Professor and now... someone's trying to send a message, but what does it mean?" he says, then crouches down to examine the ground for signs of tracks.
Randu rubs at his ear a bit as the half orc roars his outrage. "I'm not certain what it means, but sometimes you find circles where one means to leave lines."
Randu tries to slip to the shadows for a moment and see if whoever did this might still be spying on them as they observe the statue.
Randu returns to the others shortly and confesses quietly, "If there is a tail on us, he or she is better than I."
Alexei pulls out a small leather bound journal and ink and begins taking copious notes on the state of the memorial. He copies down each name on the list and jotting down a reminder to research them thoroughly. It could be a coincidence that this memorial was vandalized but I doubt it. There must be some reason. Also why use the letter V. What is the significance?
Vharg shuffles around nervously, instinctively rubbing his Black Talisman. "Vharg's name starts with V!" Eyes narrowing he continues. "Vharg's old tribe had blood majics. Great power in blood... great evil as well. This warning? Vharg thinks it cannot be coincidence that we study about Warden and Prison, and now memorial is defiled." Studying the statue closer Vharg does a circle of the site and then comes back to group. "These names, Vharg think that sons and daughters of the guards might still live in village. Maybe they know more about what happened?"
"These names, Vharg think that sons and daughters of the guards might still live in village. Maybe they know more about what happened?"
Randu considers it,"That's not a bad idea. Certainly it's as good a lead as any we've heard so far. But towns in my country can be clannish, distrustful of outsiders."
Having observed what you're going to on the statue you make your way back to the Lorrimor place. When you arive, Kendra welcomes you all back and dinner is quickly prepared for all of you. As you eat and inform her of what you've seen and learned today she listens attentively.
After dinner you settle yourselves in for the evening and Kendra excuses herself. It's been a long day of book keeping and legal docs and I'm about ready for bed.
You all take your ease and the night passes rather uneventfully. Waking the next morning, you head down to breakfast and the start of another day.
Randu writes a letter to his sisters that night, and then rests well. He gives a long yawn and arises the next morning to bounce down for breakfast, "Ah, smells divine. Many thanks to the cook." If he sees the other 'investigators' he does bring up the subject, "Vhrag suggested we try to track down any descendents of the guards and ask what they know if anything about the fire and those unsavory five. I was considering that we might try to ingratiate ourselves a bit with the locals. Buy a few drinks later on, chat them up, that sort of thing; but I must wonder if there is a town elder who might know who is related to whom? Could speed up the hunt."
Alexei looks at the group and says Mistress Lorrimor? Is there a place in town that deals in magical sundries and supplies? I have need of a few rare herbs and other items.
Kendra nods to Alexei. You'd want to check in with Alendru Ghoroven over at The Unfurling Scroll. He's a teacher of the arcane and he also supplements this with some sales as well. He'd probably be your best bet or at least know where you could go from there.
At Randu's question Kendra pauses to think. There isn't a village elder per se. The town hall will of course have some records available, although I don't know if anyone will be there to see you or if they'd let you have access to them. Ravengro has a town council that oversees many of the day to day functions. I don't know if any one of them would be able or willing to help you more than any other.
She provides you with directions to both places in town.
Alexei brightens and says Excellent. Is there anyone who would like to join me?
Calavas perks up at the mention of the Scroll. "That does sound promising. Would you mind if I accompanied you, Professor Dirven?"
"Where is the best place to research information about these five prisoners?" Mortimer asks Kendra.
Kendra looks puzzled. Five prisoners? From the little you all told me last night, it seemed you were already doing fine in the temple with Father Grimburrow. I guess I'd recommend you try there again unless you feel you've exhausted his resources. And of course as I mentioned, the town hall and The Unfurling Scroll might also offer some insight, if you can convince them to let you use their resources.
Alexei smiles at Calavas and says Of course not Calavas. The more the merrier as they say. Thought who "they" is I have never been able to figure out.
Alexei and Calavas head over to the Unfurling Scroll to see what we can find.
Mortimer nods and smiles at Kendra. "Thank you Kendra." he says, then turns to the others. "Well, we can all go into town, unless some would prefer to stay here. Hopefully we can convince the council to allow us access to their records, and if that does not go well, we can retire to the temple for some more research."
"Yes, let's head to town and then if we need to split up, we do it from there." Randu cleans his mouth, "Many blessings on this house for the meal."
After finishing breakfast, the four of you head towards the town center to continue your inquiries. Vharg and Cassandra stay behind, helping with some tasks around the house with Kendra.
Arriving at the center, you get a good look at the town of Ravengro itself. Most of the buildings seem old but well maintained and there seems to be a general atmosphere of a town well lived in. There's a simple wooden gazebo in the town square and surrounding it are a number of buildings, shops and homes and the like.
At one end of the sqaure is large post hammered into the earth. Dozens of scraps of paper can be seen fluttering on it, pinned and tacked to the wooden post.
A scraggly dogs lies on one of the steps of the gazebo. At your approach, he lifts his head and watches you all briefly before settling back down to sleep.
Randu wanders to the gazebo,bends down to pet the dog, unless it growls or looks displeased . Should he have a scrap of food on him, he'll feed the beast a bit. "You two head to the scroll, unless you greatly need my company, I think I'll check out the town hall and see if I can get a look at the records there."
Before going towards where we were directed to the Unfurling Scroll, Alexei stops to check out the post with the papers attached to it.
Examing the pole you see what appears to be numerous small slips of paper attached with tacks, nails and the like. They contain various information and you easily surmise that this is a local solution of getting announcements and events out to the public, such as the worn sheet of paper announcing a wedding a week back.
There seem to be dozens of similar postings, about stray pets or births or deaths. Nothing jumps out at you of any real import in the clippings you see but it does seem to be something worth keeping an eye on during your time in Ravengro.
Mortimer strolls into town alongside his companions armed and attired much as he was the previous day. When he sees the dog he smiles and approaches it. He looks to have experience with dogs.
Alexei nods making a mental note to check back every once in a while. Continuing on to The Unfurling Scroll, Alexei jots down notes about the town and it's lay out for future reference.
"Vharg go with small man to town hall, villagers wary of strangers, best not to go alone."