Phaedra looks around for any signs of additional combatants and the causes of death.
"Isn't it rather odd that, if there were any survivors, all the bodies were left out in the open like this?"
Ihon's small companion peeks out of his hood for a moment and sniffs the air, only to return under the man's clothes a moment later. We can learn, he says, as he nods towards the corpses and starts walking toward them.
Andre and Ihon are able to find plenty of tracks. The most recent ones come from the forest and from the town. It seems likely that everyone in this combat either perished or left in a way that didn't leave tracks.
In searching the bodies you also find a total of 98 gold pieces, four longswords, one masterwork greatsword, two longbows, two sets of chainmail, three sets of studded leather, and 45 arrows.
As usual, Ihon will look over the gear with detect magic. He frowns as he looks around These people are...odd.
The greatsword is a +1 greatsword and two of the arrows are Searing Arrows.
That sword is magical and those arrows, Ihon's eyes narrow as he looks at something in the distance, but he continues to speak over his shoulder, they will light what they touch on fire for a short time.
Pheadra eyes the sword. "I could use the greatsword. My glaive works great for things I need to keep my distance from, but I wouldn't mind having something that I can get a little closer with."
"I wonder what the odds are that these people have just killed each other off and have saved us the trouble of dealing with them?"
"I'll take those, I suppose," Andre grunts, taking the magical arrows. "And the normal ones, as well...if no one else wants them, that is."
The town is much as you left it. The folks here, if they have noticed any change in the situation at the forest, certainly don't look alarmed.
"We should probably report the skirmish." Sazu proposes. "If they're fighting is getting closer to town, it probably won't be long till they begin to see it as a tactical position rather than a place of living.
Sazu goes off on this purpose, and also listens in on anything interesting or useful that he happens to pass.
Sazu, you don't find anything particularly out of the ordinary just listening in on conversation. You do notice, however, that people here, especially travelers, aren't saying anything about the conflict in the forest. At best, people seem to just know that something weird is going on and the locals do, at times, tell stories of the weird tattooed people shopping in town.
This town resists the chaos. Impressive given the lack of law. Ihon wonders aloud as they walk through the town. Sazu. The things that we found that none of us want. We need to sell them. Where would be best?
Andre nods, frowning. "We should be able to find somewhere here, I'd imagine...let me ask around. I'll make inquiries about the Erastilians as well." Tucking his holy symbol into his shirt, the battered priest approaches a nearby family out shopping to make discreet inquiries about both.
Andre, you find out that generally people view the Erastilians as weird forest dwellers but otherwise don't really have an issue with them. They rarely come into the town and, when they do, it is largely to make purchases of items that they cannot make themselves. As a result, the primary folk that deal with them are weapon vendors or others that sell processed metal.
For those with the Rovagug tattoos, most people still remember when they were first encountered and tried to bully the town and make aggressive and destructive power plays. Once that calmed down, people just sort of came to accept their presence.
You do hear, however, that within the last week the merchants (in particular) have heard whispers that something big is coming to a head. Some people don't really put much stock in the ravings of folks that they see as either crazy or overly religious, but the gist of it appears to be that the two sides are fighting over something of great power (a location or an item) and that some important battle or event is happening soon that the camps are preparing for.
Sazu tries to recall any good rumors of the shop with a good man behind the counter. Not neccesarily the best deals, but hopefully a decent guy they could rely. Every group establishing a foundation needed a trusted shopkeep to help them.
"Give me a second..." Sazu says as he rifles with some loose papers in his bag. "I'm sure I jotted something I heard down a while ago..."
Sazu, the tavern's owner, a human female named Calea Severen that is rarely personally attending customers is by far the most consistent merchant here. While the majority of other people (and businesses) here are transient, she has owned and operated the tavern for over a decade.
Sazu relays the information to the others, and guides them to the tavern.
Well then, go ahead and sell those things. If someone has something they'd like to claim...now is the time. Ihon makes no move to start conversation with the merchant, leaving such things to the others.
Phaedra will help carry their goods to the merchant named by Sazu to be sold before heading to the tavern.
Once at the tavern, she'll grab a table and flag down a waitress/serving wench. "Miss, I'll take an ale and a bowl of whatever stew you got cooking."
"Hmmmmmm..." Andre returns to the others, mulling over what he's learned. "Word on the street here is that something big's about to go down between the Sharks and the--I mean, the Rovagugites and my fellow Erastilians. There's something they're fighting over, I guess--not sure if it's a place or a thing (or even a person) but one of them is getting close to getting it...we're going to have to figure this out and intervene soon!"
When Sazu leads them to the tavern, Andre limps in and, as Phaedra dumps the gear and takes up her seat for ale, he turns to the woman who runs it. "Greetings, ma'am. My name is Andre Karoxin, I'm a faithful of Old Deadeye. We ran afoul of some bandits in the woods nearby and, though we were more than able to handle them, we thought that the community here could perhaps use some of the weaponry, et cetera, that they carried with them. There's quite a bit here, and my friend--" he nods at Sazu--"tells me that you're one of the more reliable businesspeople in town." He smiles slightly and clasps his hands in front of him, eyes glittering. "So, shall we talk turkey?"
If she names a reasonable price , Andre smiles widely. "I knew you were a sensible woman! I hope that all of this serves you and this town well."
"Um...Sir Andre. If you would be so kind as to help me pick out a weapon that would suit me well in ranged combat, that would be most appreciated. I had first thought I could hold to more pacifistic ideals....yet, the last few battles have shown me otherwise."
Phaedra, the serving staff are more than happy to serve you.
The woman responds to Andre, When people give me compliments, they usually want something. So sure, let's talk turkey. What exactly are you looking for from me? If it's just a person to move your gear while you are out gallivanting and hold your money for you, I can do that. Not too high of a price to act as a bank either.
Andre frowns slightly. "Well, it's a bit more than storage...we're looking to sell or trade this equipment, which we have no use for. If you're not in the buying mood, do you know of anyone who might be?"
Nearby on the wall, he spots a small crossbow hanging. "Here, Sazu--this might be more your size. Not unlike the one you were using, but probably built for someone your height. If you're not used to hunting or shooting, a crossbow's the way to go--not as much power as a longbow, to be sure, but much easier to get the hang of. Just point it at the people you want to shoot and pull the trigger. I can show you how to reload it outside." He passes the gnome a small-sized light crossbow.
Phaedra will eat her food at the inn and talk with her party members about their next move.
"Well, since we are back in town, are we staying here for the night and then going back out early in the morning? Then put some work into finding out where or what all this fighting between the two groups is over."
Ihon stares off as Phaedra speaks. No need to go out into the woods at night. We have little time. Wandering aimlessly and tired will squander it. He waves over the barmaid. Soup, he says, as he lays a few silver on the table. While he waits he pulls out the journal they found and whispers a few words.
The woman shrugs to Andre, Selling I can handle for the normal price. Just write up a list and stick it all in the stall out back.
Ihon, the journal is written in code, though the code appears to be derived from Abyssal. It doesn't seem to form any real words, but the characters used to form the code are (mostly) from the Abyssal alphabet.
It looks like a journal describing the discovery of some sort of portal to the Abyss. The person writing the journal describes a prophet of some sort or other favored of Rovagug who lead a group of cultists to the portal initially. With the assistance of demons, they were able to grow their numbers and came into conflict with the forces of Erastil. The writer ponders the reasons that the followers of Erastil haven't alerted the authorities and can only speculate that there is something about this portal (or portal location) that they want for themselves.
Ihon speaks quietly as he reads, These cultists have a portal and the assistance of demons. They have a prophet. He pauses, We have heard of a prophet. Yasen. He frowns as he continues. They think the followers of Erastil want the portal, or the location, for themselves. Interesting.
"Well, that certainly doesn't seem like a good thing for insane Rovagug followers to be in possession of. I guess we will just have to be the ones to take command of this portal thing if we can find it too."
Andre nods to the woman and shows her a rare smile. "It's an odd method, ma'am, but I'm not one to question what puts coin in my purse. I'll get you a list." He takes a few minutes to write out what they found, then hauls it all to the shed.
Returning, he sits down just as Ihon makes his declaration. Andre's fists clench on the table. "Filth," he grits through his teeth. "They're trying to bring demons into these woods? No wonder that wretched creature we put down looked so at home here...we need to stop this. As soon as possible. Even tomorrow may be too late!" He pauses, glaring into the middle distance, seriously contemplating the option of just burning down the woods. "...It sounds to me like the Erastilians are the way in. They're reasonable--they can be talked to, at least. We need to go into that forest and make them see the errors of their ways--get them to realize that by keeping this in the dark, they've endangered everyone here! Once we get them to tell us where it is, we can scout it out ourselves and call in the guards." He looks at the others. "And this news is urgent. We need to move ourselves, of course, but I think we should alert our mutual friend just in case anything happens to us."
Assuming you follow directions, you are given the money for all of the items you put on the list and a receipt for delivery once it is all accounted for.
Ihon tilts his head in between spoonfuls of the soup. They are not our allies in this, but words are our best option.
It is at this time Sazu enters from the doorway. His movements are stiff and slow as he moves as if he was teetering on the brink of falling over. He is sporting a set of wooden armor and heavy wooden shield which he professes that the salesman may have convinced him of a poor decision (though he does enjoy the cedar smell). On his side is an appropriately sized longsword and whip, and on his back is a light crossbow that Andre had taken the time to pick out for him.
His face is pooling in sweat, but he makes his way towards you all and sits himself down.
"True, not our allies, but we definitely aren't getting any information out of the other group. Maybe we can at least get the Erastilians to tell us the location of the portal. We really need to see this thing for ourselves."
Andre nods. "It seems we're all in agreement. We should rest tonight--certainly I need it--but tomorrow we should try to track down that band of Erasitilians we met earlier and see if we can press them for further information." He looks around at the others. "What about alerting our friend Gantry? I think it would be best to get any possible reinforcements from the Queen's Government moving, especially in the event that we perish trying to set things straight."
He presents the possibility of everyone's demise as a simple, straightforward contingency.
Ihon sits quietly not bothering to comment.
Sleep comes without difficulty and, as is usual here, there are no disturbances throughout the night. By the time you are up and about, the goods you've left to be sold are already being moved and it looks like Calea and her staff rather efficient at making their own profit.
Things are busy, but everything appears to be normal and disturbance-free from what you can tell.
"Back to the woods then? I feel we should be able to make more headway than last, though if we can figure out that creature's weakness it'd be helpful. We're bound to meet more of them."
Sazu still moves a bit stiffly, but seems a bit more comfortable in his armor.
Before going to bed, Andre spends several minutes in prayer, channeling the blessings of Erastil to close his wounds and ease his pains. He invites the others to join him, if they wish, but he doesn't press.
The next day he rises still sore, but feeling largely better. He spends an hour in prayer, getting down on stiff knees on the hard, wooden floor. Once that's done, he rises creakily and pens a short letter to Gantry. Even if none of the others think that it's important, the Queen's got to know about this. Someone has to be able to make an official response.
In the common room, he hands the sealed letter to Calea. "If you could forward this to Longacre in the next post, please, I'd appreciate it greatly. Just let me know if it costs anything." Heading over to the others, he says, "Back into the woods indeed. Does anyone know anything about a demon's weaknesses? All I was ever taught as a lad was, 'Stay away from them.'"
To Mr. Gantry, Longacre:
Greetings. Following your commands, we have investigated the reports of disturbances in the forest here. Although some agents you believed loyal have abandoned us for greener pastures, myself, the strange scholar named Ihon, the irrepressible gnome Sazu, and the warrior Phaedra remain dedicated to our cause. We have discovered some sort of Rovagugite cult here in the forest, and it is apparently in conflict with my local co-religionists. The hermits of the forest seem a reasonable group, though not friendly to outsiders; we have bandied words with them, while the followers of the Beast have been met only with steel (as is proper).
More troublingly, although the groups have not met in armed conflict near a settlement, there are rumors in town that the Rovagugites have discovered something in the forest--a site or creature of great significance and possibly danger. The headstrong Erastilians have apparently undertaken to remove it from them, and it is this that has led to the greatest bloodshed.
I fear it is only a matter of time before things spiral out of control here. The Beasts have, at the very least, someone capable of communing with the Abyss in their ranks: my compatriots and I located a camp of theirs and slew a demon there. I urge you to gather troops and lead them to this forest to reinforce us here; we go to parley with the faithful of Erastil, and thence (it is hoped) to investigate this site with our own eyes. We may not return, and though to fall in such a hunt would be noble, I remain concerned for the safety of the town.
Please gather forces and come south with all speed. If you cannot or must not, please reply in haste with further directions. I remain your faithful servant, and the Queen's,
Andre Karoxin
The weather is clear and you can make your way back toward the forest rather easily. Assuming you take the same path, the signs of the fight are still there and it doesn't seem like anyone came to clean things up overnight.
"All right, shall we poke around and try to figure out from which direction the Erastillians came from? We came here after visiting the Rovagug camp area, so we can rule out that direction. Then maybe we can find their camp and see if any of them are left to try to talk to."
Sazu readies his crossbow, maybe a bit nervous to be actually armed for a fight.
Phaedra, it seems that the followers of Rovagug came from the direction of the warning area, at least roughly. You can't seem to follow the tracks all that well however.
We could wander around the woods. One or the other will find us. Ihon frowns as he looks at the tracks. How do followers of Erastil deal with their dead?
Andre frowns. "It is odd that they would leave the dead out like this..."
When Phaedra spots the tracks, he adds, "I'm perhaps not as much a woodsman as Baolos was, but I can do my best with these. If we want to pursue the Rovagugites, that is."