Victor's snaps his attention in the direction of the cry for help. Quickly turning back to the others, he begins making his way after Eponine, alerting the others as he does so. "Leave him be! Nuri is in trouble!" With that, Victor then takes off in a run, drawing his bow as he vanishes.
"Someone's following us," she says in a low, shaky voice. "This wasn't here earlier, was it? Eponine, can you tell how long it's been here or find any trace of who delivered it?"
Making his way outside, Victor looks to see what the commotion is all about. Taking in the grisly scene, "No. It was not," he responds, stowing his bow. Victor then proceeds to remove the note before reading it.
Eponine nods, smiling for the first time in days. She sets about carefully, methodically searching the surrounding area for tracks or other clues.
If she can take 20, she will. Otherwise, urvival .
Wren follows Victor's warnings, and heads out after him. Epi was already in investigation mode, so she stood back, waiting for her friend to complete her findings before adding to the scene.
Roakkad hung back to stand vigil over the diseased man- until he heard some of the commotion outside and Nuri's call.
Death rarely seemed to faze the Shoanti delegate. Seeing that the note had not been taken yet, he plucked it from the corpse with a simple cantrip, opened it and read it aloud.
Kern moves up to the corpse to examine it, but avoids touching it.
Everyone rushes outside to find out what has disturbed Nuri so much, leaving the unconscious Gryst on the floor of the main room.
Out on the veranda there is a farmer's corpse, mutilated with the seven pointed star on his chest. It appears the same evil ritual done on Banny Harker was done to this man. The note pined to his pants is similar to the one addressed to Eponine that was found at the lumber mill, but this one is addressed to Nuri.
"Someone's following us," she says in a low, shaky voice. "This wasn't here earlier, was it? Eponine, can you tell how long it's been here or find any trace of who delivered it?"
Making his way outside, Victor looks to see what the commotion is all about. Taking in the grisly scene, "No. It was not," he responds, stowing his bow. Victor then proceeds to remove the note before reading it. Looking it over he thinks it is the same hand writing as the note Eponine received.
Eponine nods, smiling for the first time in days. She sets about carefully, methodically searching the surrounding area for tracks or other clues. In short order she has found a trail of humanoid tracks, probably a small statured creature...and the tell tale smell of death and decay, the one from the lumber mill, is also there. It appears the tracks come from the east, and were probably weighed down by a heavy burden. The return tracks follow the same path back, but at a much quicker pace.
Wren follows Victor's warnings, and heads out after him. Epi was already in investigation mode, so she stood back, waiting for her friend to complete her findings before adding to the scene.
Roakkad hung back to stand vigil over the diseased man- until he heard some of the commotion outside and Nuri's call. Death rarely seemed to faze the Shoanti delegate, seeing Victor reading the note he asks him to read it out loud.
Kern moves up to the corpse to examine it, but avoids touching it. The man seems to have been dead for several hours, perhaps late last night or early this morning. It is obvious he was not killed here. He smells of unnatural death and decay, and the marks on his body are the same as the ones found on the dead lumber mill worker.
"Well well well, Nuri, this one seems to be addressed to you." Victor clears his throat, "'You, and you alone, have brought this fearful harvest. They are dead because of you, and more shall join them soon -- Your Lordship'. That is all it says. Ever the heartbreaker, hm, my dear?" Victor says with a raised eyebrow and a cocky grin.
"Tracks over here. Something small. A halfling? A goblin?" She brings soil up to her nose. "It carries the scent of death, like at the mill." She stands and points east. "It came from that way, burdened. And then returned unladen."
"Well well well, Nuri, this one seems to be addressed to you." Victor clears his throat, "'You, and you alone, have brought this fearful harvest. They are dead because of you, and more shall join them soon -- Your Lordship'. That is all it says. Ever the heartbreaker, hm, my dear?" Victor says with a raised eyebrow and a cocky grin.
"A man is dead," she snaps at him. "Show some respect."
"Tracks over here. Something small. A halfling? A goblin?" She brings soil up to her nose. "It carries the scent of death, like at the mill." She stands and points east. "It came from that way, burdened. And then returned unladen."
"How long ago?" she asks. "Can you tell? Was it just here while we were inside? Do you think you could follow the trail?"
The tracks are fresh, and it is very probable that they were made while you all were inside waiting for Gryst to be brought down. Following them should be easy, but who ever made them is moving fast and it is getting dark so following them will be harder the longer you wait.
Eponine squints at the distance. "Not long at all. They must have been here after we arrived, while we were inside. They are moving fast and not bothering to cover their tracks. With darkness falling, we'd best move quickly if we're going after them tonight." Her posture makes it clear she intends to go after them now.
Wren casts Mage Armor, not taking any chances with the horrible violence going on in town.
Eponine waits, but not long, before taking off across the grasslands towards a forest edge west of the Sanitorium. Memory serves her well reminding her the Lost Coast road, which runs south from Sandpoint to Magnimar passes through this small forested area. Belril's patrol has had a lot of problems with bandits in the area over the past few months.
"Someone fast tell Habe to lock Grayst up again and then catch up to us," Kern calls as he hurries after Eponine.
Wren heads out with the group searching for the murderer.
Nuri follows Eponine as well.
Victor follows along behind the others.
The sun dips beyond the horizon as you chase Eponine across the the grass lands. The trail weaves across the grass, but Eponine has no trouble keeping tabs on it. Occasionally she stops to check the signs but is then off again in a flash. The trail is leading directly into a dark wooded area, Eponine comes to a halt and indicate to break between a trees that the trail leads towards. She knows it will be harder to follow the trail once under the canopy of the wooded area.
"Best proceed carefully, Epi. That looks like a perfect spot for an ambush. I'd hate for that undead to get the drop on one of us while we run through carelessly."
"She's right," Nuri says ruefully, stopping short. "Whatever it was delivered the body to the sanatorium and made no effort to cover its tracks. Its plan might have been to entice us to follow it. We could be walking into a trap. Perhaps we should mark this location and return in the morning."
"Do we not have a duty to try and catch the perpetrator, before more lives are lost? This killer seems to be targeting members of your group anyway, for whatever purpose."
"My group?" she retorts. "No more mine than yours. I agree that the ghouls need to be stopped, but in a forest after dark, they can see and we can't. It's like walking into an arena blindfolded ... and this 'Lordship' knows that. He didn't send the note when we had hours of daylight ahead of us; he waited until just before sunset. If we agree to fight on his terms, where his side has all the advantages, we're more likely to join his pack than to defeat it."
"We can provide our own light. Do we really have any other, serious leads to follow? These tracks are fresh. But I do understand your objections."
Roakkad turned to the others.
"What say you?"
"Eponine is our tracker. If she feels confident following the lead in the dark, I'll be with her. If she thinks it's too risky, I'm willing to wait until the morning."
"This is the closest we've been to them. I think we should try while the tracks are fresh and we may catch up to them. We can stop at any time if we need to."
Eponine lights her amulet and starts to follow the tracks.
"It's not stopping I'm worried about; it's getting out alive," Nuri mutters resentfully, but she pauses to pick up a handful of rocks, puts all but one in her pocket, and causes the last to glow like a torch. She equips her shield and makes sure her holy symbol and pick are both easily accessible before following.
"It'll be risky," Kern says, "but I think we should take the risk. We may not get another chance." He follows after Eponine.
Eponine takes the lead and passes into the dark tree line. The others follow and you travel only about thirty feet when a voice calls from the darkness is a soft whisper like voice. "Eponine, is that you? Belril steps into the edge of the light, grey in the shadows he is hard to make out.
"Belril? Belril! Where have you been? What are you doing out here alone? These woods aren't safe!"
"It's all of us, Belril! Did you see anyone pass through here recently?"
"Hm. I am actually with Nuri on this one," he mutters to himself. Victor can only shake his head at the foolishness of the others but follows along, bow in hand.
Victor looks to the halfling through narrowed eyes as something about the ranger strikes Victor as not quite right. "Hello, Belril. Are you out here alone? Where are your men?" Victor looks around, wondering if they might be near.
"Of course these woods are not safe, why do you think I am patrolling them? The sheriff charged me with keeping this side of Sandpoint clear of trouble. You should know I am not alone, my men are here so that was typically unthought out question. No, Wern, none has passed this way. How 'bout you? Seen any nefarious bandits for us to string up? " Belril's voice is raspy, as if the wind and woodland pollen has taken a toll on it.
"Belril, are you sure? Epi has followed tracks that seem to end right here on this spot. They would have to continue into the forest...wouldn't they?" Wren looks at Eponine, wanting to be sure that Epi was convinced of her tracking, before giving up the ghost.
"Ah Wern, so infuriating....you never let anything go do you. There are tracks all through here. Bandits, my men...what ever you are tracking. Do you think it is his lordship?"
Eponine's eyes narrow in suspicion. "Belril, who are you working for now? Truly?"
"Perhaps we should be asking you that Eponine? I know about the messages left for you, the ones on the bodies...who are you working for now? Truly?" You can all hear the sneer in Belril's tone.
"What do you mean his Lordship. Whose Lordship exactly are we talking about here? Come out here and talk to us, Belril..."
"Ask Eponine about his lordship...she is the one he is sending love notes to." He ignores Wren's request to come out of the darkened shadows.
Victor watches and listens to the back and forth between the group and Belril. As the hairs on the back of his neck simply refuse to lie down, "I would suggest you come on out, Belril," Victor says, his grip tightening upon his bow. "It is odd to be out here so late and all alone without your force. Especially...," his eyes narrow, "especially when you yourself possess no light. How are you able to see?" he asks suspiciously, his other hand just itching to draw an arrow.
"You never cease to show you ignorance Victor, I am not out late...not for me and my, how did you say it force? We patrol throughout the night, that is when bandits seem to be more easily found, you know. We have...become accustomed....to seeing in the dark, my force and I. And were you not just listening to our conversation, or is your muddled brain still trying to figure out how to pull a bow string. I just said I am not alone." Belril takes a typical condescending tone when speaking to Victor.
"Perhaps we should be asking you that Eponine? I know about the messages left for you, the ones on the bodies...who are you working for now? Truly?" You can all hear the sneer in Belril's tone.
"How do you know about the messages? Are you the one that has been leaving them?" The accusation in Eponine's tone is unmistakable. "This wouldn't be the first secret admirer I've had, but definitely the sickest &$%@ of a monster I've come across!" The sickest, alas, but not by a bigger margin than I'd care to admit...
As she speaks, she strides forward toward Belril, either bringing him within the light she is generating or forcing him to retreat to stay shadowed.
"You dont seem yourself, Belril. Tell us more about your. Lordship. Epi has been wondering about his identity."
Eponine moves closer towards Belril, bringing the light closer revealing that he is not himself anymore. His pale gray skin is stretched tight over his tiny frame and his menacing grin is now filled with sharp pointy teeth. It is obvious to all he is not alive in the usual sense anymore.
"His Lordship is wasting his time with you, but his plan is greater than you could imagine. We will take you to him if you like, well those who we do not kill that is."
Init.
Initiative