Sense Motive
Attalas instead keeps watching the mayor, wondering if this is some kind of cheap stunt to make it look like his friends 'cheated' or some other hidden motive. Aware that he and his friends have come and beat the villagers at their own games, Attalas wonders if the town leader is trying to fit them up as cheats or start trouble over it.
Seeing the young man everyone in his party is now so taken with and hearing they would like to stop him, Vidor decides to see if he can make this as painless as possible. Calling on one of his parlor tricks that have taken many places in that past, Vidor attempts to cloud the man's mind into inaction.
the departing villager stumbles, stops dead in his tracks, and seats himself quickly on one of the benches where he tries to regain his senses.
----
As Ragnvald turns around to get his weapons back, suddenly an unearthly sqeek is audible behind him. The villagers back away from the fence at once and the presumedly dead pig rises to its feet. But what has looked like an artificial thrid pair of legs and just affixed swamp plants now moves and vibrates.
It's possessed! The pig is possessed!
Someone shouts close to you and the villagers look at the mayor, who looks at you!
"No,No. It is not being possessed.", Vidor says in both the common tongue and Varisian. "Someone has just been playing a trick on us. Watch. I shall make it rest." Hoping that his ruse will work and his spell will work better, Vidor moves closer to the creature thrusting his hand out before him, multi-colored handful of sand burst into a vivid array of colors.
Whatever this thing is, it succumbs to the rays of colourful energy shooting out of Vidor's hands.
The villagers laugh nervously and none of them is sure what is going to happen now.
I continue to chase the now dazed villager and if I get to him, I stop him from going any farther.
You got him! And he does not look like he was trying to go any further.
Ragnvald shrugs as he unsheathes his blade and strides calmly towards the pig. "If it's possessed it's best to put it out of its misery and take the body far from here. Shame. It would have looked nice on the spit."
Having gotten the villager, I stare him in the eye.
Now why would you have been leaving so suddenly when a very ill pig was released?
Diplomacy:
"TADAAAAAA!" Vidor says with a bow.
"I still reckon the Mayor fixed this up to make us look like stupid cheats" Attalas mumbles.
The man looks at Jez with bleary eyes and mumbles
The pig? I...uh...fed it with the seeds!
Suddenly the mayor is at your side and looks angrily at the dazed villager
Did he poison the poor pig?
Sense Motive:
Does he seem to be telling the truth?
What seeds did you feed it? And where did you get them from?
He seems to speak the truth, he looks far too dazed to come up with lies now.
I got the seeds from...from...uagh.
The man collapses and slides off the bench to the ground.
What the hell is going on here?!
The mayord demands with booming voice.
If no one protests Ragnvald beheads the pig.
I quickly see if I can help the man.
Heal(untrained):
Cast CLW:
None of the villagers is courageous enough to object and so the pig head is off with one swift strike - now black blood oozes from the large wound and where it seeps away into the ground there is a sizzling noise and small lines of smoke rise.
The people of Ravenmoor are even more shocked by this sight and you can hear more than one quietly spoken prayer to Desna.
-----
Jez is able to stabilize the man for the moment, but there a vines slowly sprouting out of his nose and ears crawling over his body - it seems like the same things happen to him now that also affected the pig.
"Oh no. This is not good.
"Erh?"
"It seems some of the local plant life here is hostile." Ragnvald smiles at the prospect of actually putting his blade into something's insides. "I might start to like this place after all."
You can only guess and it could be one of the following or nothing of it:
Demonic possession
Mutation through certain substances
Divine intervention
A strong field of magical energy
....
The mayor turns to Ragnvald and exclaims
Do something!
Not quite sure what the man is expecting Ragnvald lifts his sword again and prepares to end the poor mans pain.
I move away from the rapidly vegetating man.
Knowledge(religion):
Knowledge(arcana):
He mentioned something about seeds. Does anyone know anything about strange seeds?
What are you waiting for?!
the mayor shouts eying the wretched mutant with horror - it takes several seconds until he is able to tear his eyes away from the man
Seeds? I don't know anything about seeds!
Neither do the villagers nearby.
I cast Detect Magic on the man, and the pig if necessary to see whether there are any aura's that can be read.
Spellcraft:
"For someone to plead for the mans life." Ragnvald says as he brings the sword down. "But seeing as none cared."
The Ogre seems a bit perplexed. He looks at Mobo as if to be sure of what he just saw... "They kill their own pretty freely eh? Reckon thats a bad sign?"
"Meh, things in the country are different the big cities, big man. Witha no one to be helping you if a bad thing turns loose they must make quick decisions for the community."
There is no aura to be read and no one interjects Ragnvald as he unsheathes his blade again
You have to do something quickly.
the mayor says while backing away as the poor man becomes more and more entangled in the vines.
You have to do something quickly.
"About the head fallin off or the vines? A bit late for the head I reckon, but I could make you a set of shears for the vines if I go back to the smithy" the Ogre offers, most helpfully.
"Hmmm think you right. That pig is no good now, all covered in vegetables"
"Was a challenge - catch a pig
Raggy said it weren't too big
Turned out it was drugged up swine
bloody thing popped out a vine
Raggy choppeded off its head
around the time this farmer fled
who'd fed the thing on dodgy grain
lost his head too with sword to brain
but whats a Northern nut to do?
Maybe one more head or two?"
Attalas looks right pleased with himself.
The villagers point behind the mayor who had missed that the man was already beheaded and as he turns around he smiles in relief
Oh, heh - good job - I mean, what a tragedy! What kind of dark magic might have caused that?
The villagers just look around, not sure what to say and so it's Andretti who speaks next
Alas, Founder's Festival is over now and we shall remember that it was a day of grief for our small village...everyone: return to your homes and families and try to forget this day!
"Reckon there was probably some prizes and the Mayor just didn't want to pay up our winning so he made a scene" Attalas asides to the party.
To the others: Strange thing is that nobody really seems to care. Perhaps we should find that little kid with the stirge, he seemed the most honest person in town. At this point, it would not surprise me if the taxman was killed and then chopped up and eaten as stew.
Are you returning to Viorec then or do you want to start any investigations tonight?
To the others: Well, we were not hired to discover why the citizens here are sprouting vines and bleeding black, but we also have pretty much no information to help us find the taxman. Anyone have any great ideas on how to solve either of these puzzles? And no Mobo, I don't think that licking your toad is going to help, although it probably would not hurt either.
Unless the Taxman sprouted vines, too...
"Suppose we need to stay somewhere, may as well get back into the village. I reckon we need to stay a bit cautious though, there's poison being used and black goop coming out of people... be carefull what ya eat, and watch that Mayor, I still reckon he was calling names before."
Agreed Attalas. Before anyone eats anything, let me make sure that it is okay. I have the ability to Purify Food and Water as much as needed.
Staying at the Korzhas' home is not a big problem. Some of nyou can stay in their shed, others in the "garden"...
Assuming you follow Viorec to his hut...
What a shame that the festival has ended in such a tragic way...they didn't even elect the festival queen...that's surely one of the best moments of every feast, heh.
the swamp farmer says while opening the small gate to his land
I wonder what happens now, we have never missed the final sacrifice...you think the ancestors will be very angry?
Who is usually elected the festival queen? And what do you usually sacrifice?
Usually elected? Of course the most beautiful girl!
Viorec laughs and slaps you on the shoulder
Guess you had no chance after you won the race, heh. Oh and the sacrifice - normally a straw puppet, resembling the queen is burned in the end.