"Then we go zzzay goodbye to Andrew. Pay our rezzzpectzz. Then we go on with what...? Not zzzure" he pipes up. Already getting his things so they can head out
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"Sure, let's give Andrew a meager sense of comfort as he passes, though we owe this town nothing more." He gathers his items and heads to the execution.
The group arrives to find the gallows arranged in the center of the main square, out in front of the courthouse. Tightly packed throngs of people are gathered as you see children perched on their parents' shoulders. Murmurs whisper through the crowd as they wait for the execution. The Pharasmin executioner from the trial stands on the platform with a stump of wood next to him and the hangman's noose rest off to the side. It appears that the execution will be by beheading.
As the clock tower tolls, you see the doors to the courthouse open and four guards drag and pull on ropes connected to the shackles binding Andrew as the crowd erupts with jeers. Rotten fruit and vegetables are thrown as a few rocks are mixed in. The guards seem to ignore the dangerous projectiles when they might otherwise act due to the relatively impervious nature of Andrew.
He is led sobbing up to the gallows platform as his stuffed animal is gripped tightly in his hands. He is forced to his knees behind the stump and the guards roughly push him down over the wooden block as the Pharasmin guard unsheathes his blade as you see Andrew mouthing words but you are too far to hear.
"All of you gathered here today! For the crime of murder, the Beast shall be beheaded. Pharasma guide your soul, if you have one." the executioner calls out as the crowd roars in approval.
The sword is raised high as you see Andrew's face stiffen oddly. The eyes in his overly large head roll backwards, leaving only the yellowish whites showing as the executioner brings down the blade. It cleaves into his neck, rending flesh and bone, but it clangs as it hits the spine. Andrew's face doesn't grimace, but you suddenly see his body's muscles erupt with force as he starts to struggle against the bonds. The words he was murmuring erupt loudly now. "CAROMARC! CAROMARC! MASTER! CAROMARC!" he cries as he wrenches to his feet, his head lolling a bit to the front and side as to rear-left tendons have been severed. The executioner leaps back in surprise as the guards try to pull him down once more and the crowd realizes that the Beast was only easy led due to his compliance.
With a yank, the four guards are pulled to the ground, their hands wrenched from the ropes. "RAWR!" he bellows as the executioner takes a swing with his greatsword, now merely trying to slay the Beast. Andrew grabs the sword in mid-swing and crushes it, leaving a thin piece of metal to connect the wide blade's tip with its hilt.
Before you can react, the Beast leaps from the stage, slamming into people and knocking them over before fleeing from the city into the nearby swamp. No one dares to stop the Beast as he leaps and runs to freedom.
All that is left from the scene is a dazed crowd, four embarrassed guards and a stuffed teddy bear, wet with tears.
Gaarm just stands gape-mouthed at the entire situation and spectacle.
"Well I'll be damned. He did it all himself...." He looks to the others to determine what to do as he shrugs his shoulders.
"Well. He is free now. Who the hell is Caromac?"
Scanning the crowd, visibly nervous, Zakon tries to keep a low profile. Any time he sees a cluster of people, be they man or child, he tries to slink off to the shadows, keeps his head down, and generally acts very un-Zakon-like.
When it comes time for the execution, he tries to let the push of the crowd break around him as he backpedals towards the periphery, but as is his nature, he cannot look away from the grisly scene.
And then the sword descends, stops, and shatters.
"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" he muses to himself more than anyone else.
His momentary feelings of triumph are overshadowed though as he feels the crowd came to see an execution today, and one would think that a demon spawn is the next best thing.
"Shall we take our leave?" Zakon asks as he continues to slowly back away.
"Might be a good idea. Before these folks think we had something to do with this."
Gaarm tries to push his way through the thick crowd of onlookers as gently as he can. He grabs ahold of Nizvit's clawed hand like a child and drags him along.
You quickly leave before the group figures out what has happened as most of the crowd is left with a look of disbelief on their faces. A few alleys over, the heroes regroup. The smell of the alley could be better though as you see several pipes trickling liquids of dubious sources into the sewer grates on the street.
Panting slightly from his hurried exit from the execution, Zakon steadies himself along the alley wall. He periodically peeks around the corner to check and see if they have been followed. Once he is sure that their exit was as unremarkable as possible, the turns to the group.
"Well, as I see it we have a few options. One, we can investigate this Master Caromarc. Most likely the bloke that created Andrew in the first place. Second, we can hang around town, see what happens next. Third, " each time Zakon gives the group options, he upturns a finger from his closed fist. "we can head to Lozeri or Illmarch and see if we can catch up with Grine and Vork." the tiefling stops abruptly to listen for sounds of approaching footsteps. Resuming his speech, "What a horrible smell. We really need find a different venue to hold these meetings. Anyway, four, we can review all the research we collected in our quest to free Andrew. There is a chance that he will be caught again, and maybe, just maybe we can find the key piece of evidence to free him.
"You know" he muses, "Under the Chymic Works, that sewer seemed to lead somewhere. You know that Vork and Grine were moving lots of goods out of the works, and I won't be surprised if they were hiding out there. As I am curious by nature, might be worth a look see. Guess that is five." he holds up his hand.
"What say you?" he looks to the group.
"I am a bit curious who this Master Caromarc is myself. Why would the beast call out to him all of a sudden?" Gaarm pats the dust from his clothes and brings his shirt up over his nose. His voice muffles. "This alley smells like a bum just dies in it. I have an errand to do here still either way before we go. Was cursed a ways back and tracked the rest of the spikes I need to break it to this town. Need to find them in the market."
Lady Eleanor grabs the stuffed teddy on her way out of the crowd. She puts it in her belongings. It may help with calming Andrew back down if they find him later. Observing the liquid in the pipes she turns to Zakon asking, Could this liquid be alchemical in nature, I don't suppose there are too many alchemists in town.
Zakon bends down to inspect the viscous fluid a bit more.
The group become enamored with the quite odorous liquid dropping and streaming from the various pipes peeking out of the buildings comprising this alleyway. Zakon moves closer and sees the yellowish brown liquid up close, noting clumps of mass flowing inside. As he gets closer, one of the pipes secrets a brownish black mass that squelches out and plops onto the sewer grate before mostly falling into the abyss below.
Intrigued, Zakon dips a finger into it and brings it up to his nose, smelling the foul odor. Knowing potions can be identified by taste, he gives it a lick, letting just the tip of his finger touch and his nose wrinkles. "This is a human waste pipe." he utters after careful examination.
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Looking at the drainpipe with a knowing glance, "Nope, just s!*@. Unless people around here ... never mind. Anyway, lets see what the people know about this Master Caromarc" Exiting the alley way, Zakon tries to gauge the mood of the crowd.
"Excuse me sir, my what a fine coat. Did your lovely wife spin that? Outstanding! You are a lucky bloke. What a day, am I right? Though we'd see that Andrew chap a head shorter, but my word, I almost soiled myself once he lept up and scampered off like that. Any idea who that Master Caromarc was he was blathering on about? Hope the fine Lepidstadt law enforcement office is on it. Can't be too careful with all these undesirables about." Zakon slaps the man on the back.
Lady Eleanor spends a little time healing and talking to the kids of the town as well as their parents.
Seeing an injured child with a small gash on his cheek, Its been quite a day today. Let me see if I can make it a small bit better. , she touches the boys cheek. When she does, small little sparks of positive energy arc out leaving a healed cheek where before there was blood.
Looking at the boys mother she asks, Who do you suppose that Caromarc was?
Zakon moves back out to see what the crowd is doing and you see that there seems to be some grumbling and bewilderment, but a halfling in official-looking clothes has taken to the gallows. "We must follow him and kill him! We cannot live in fear any more!" he yells to the crowd as a few seem to cheer and others seem to be lost.
The tiefling decides to look to the closest townsfolk and finds a homeless half-elf in a rough-spun coat, trying to win him over with praise. "Ack! The castle has trolls!" he yells in response to the rough attitude and appearance of Zakon. "THE CASTLE HAS TROLLS!" he yells again before fleeing from Zakon.
---
Lady Eleanor moves around and finds her normal mark: injured children. In an attempt to curry favor with the irritated townsfolk, she heals up the small injury incurred by rough play and then tries to milk the parents for information, but they merely hand you a few copper coins. "Thank you for your help, but it would have healed on its own." the mother says with disdain.
"Castle? What castle? There is a castle in Lepidstadt?" It takes Zakon only a moment to realize that the half-elf might not be the brightest torch in the dungeon. "Well I am not in for joining the villagers trying to kill a peaceful half-giant part golem chap, what say we use the time better. Care to head back to the chymic works, see if there is something there we missed in the basement, particularly the sewer entrance?" Zakon finally lets on that he always wanted to explore that section, but was too concerned on revenge to pay it much mind.
"Cazztle? Big human building....? Letzzz help him bezzt we can... juzzzt glad he gotzzz away" he nods as he looks in the direction
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Gaarm claps Lady Eleanor on the shoulder. "'Fraid I have to stick this one out. Have some Klavs I need to take a look at. I will have to catch up to you guys. Can't let these things leave the town." Gaarm says as he seems to have other things on his mind. On one hand he doesn't want to leave the group and on the other he knows that he will never be whole inside without this last reminder from his mother. Gaarm takes off down the alley to meet with the arms dealer.
Gaarm finds the man he is looking for and it seems that the arms dealer is packing up his gear, while keeping a minimal amount of stuff showing. "Aye. I'm headed out today. Need to restock from home. What do you need?" he asks, still unsure about the cryptic message Gaarm delivered the day before.
---
Nizvit follows along with Zakon as they move to the Chymic Works, betting that there is still a mystery in the sewers. The pair spends several hours moving through the system, trying to figure out the clues, but the stench of the sewers is unbearable and the thought of walking through the filth of the thousands of people above doesn't help.
In the end, the pair finds that there are several exits that lead to the nearby bay as well as countless manholes and connections to above-ground buildings.
Once they reach the bay, they find a telltale sign. A coracle of similar size and manufacturing is resting near the exit of the sewers, tied to a jagged piece of pipe. A small journal rests under the seat next to the pair of small oars.
Lady Eleanor spends what will probably be their last day in town helping the people of the town one last time. She makes her way through the town spending her healing liberally. She asks for nothing in return, she simply wants to leave on a good note.
Though many in town will not be happy about our time spent here, Lady Eleanor at least wants the feelings to be mixed.
After a time trudging through the sewage, they emerge once again to the fresh air topside. Inhaling deeply, Zakon looks at Nizvit, "You stink."
Scanning the immediate area, he sees a weather beaten journal. Looking for anything odd, he bends over and quickly cracks the book open before scanning the pages.
Lady Eleanor sticks around in the crowd as she tries to help, but the group is too fixated on the "leaders" of the townsfolk, who seem to be inciting some sort of mob. People with torches, pitchforks and scythes begin to appear as the crowd is swayed into forming a mob of sorts. "WE ARE GOING TO HUNT DOWN THE BEAST!" yells the halfling.
---
Zakon cracks open the book and finds a few key pages that interest him. Namely alchemist pages that detail the recipes for all 1st and 2nd level formulae, Orchid's Drop, Eruptive Pustules, and Adjustable Disguise. Additionally, there is a cryptic loose-leaf page that appears to be anchored to a page of the book itself. The page depicts a humanoid creature with 102 "vital" points and seven seems to be marked.
"Aye. I'm headed out today. Need to restock from home. What do you need?"
"I have been tracking down a strange artifact for sometime. You see someone took off with a set of mithral spikes about yay big." Gaarm holds his hands out to show approximate size. "They were from an old iron maiden torture device that turned out to be very cursed." Gaarm holds his shirt open to show the indents and open wounds from the spikes.
"I have tracked them to this town and it seems that someone has decided to make a Klar out of them. Think you can help me out a bit?"
Zakon mutters some words in the arcane language of magic, and instantly all the grime and filth slough off of him. Looking slyly at his new friends, he does the same for them. Looking over the book, he knows that he has found something valuable. Quickly scanning the contents, he tries to decipher them.
"This may need a bit more time, some focused time."
His exploits at an end, he turns to his new friend. "Honestly, I am sad that your hard work with that Andrew chap didn't work out, and I am sorry that I do not care overmuch for his fate. But honestly, I do have a bit of curiosity where this story has taken him. What say we meet up with Lady Eleanor and Gaarm and surreptitiously head into the woods to see what his fate would be. At all costs, I would like to avoid the townsfolk, so we might have to rely a bit on stealth. Nizvit, you seem decent at it, not sure about our well armored friends. Care to join me?"
Without waiting for an answer Zakon makes all haste to rendezvous with his friends and explain his intent.
Lady Eleanor is thrice saddened, by the loss at the trial, by the rejection of her healing, and by the vigilante mob. Perhaps it is time to spread her healing somewhere else. She gathers her belongings before looking to join the rest of the group.
Spotting her friend Gaarm talking with a merchant she makes her way over as he reveals his wounds.
She lets him finish speaking and awaits the merchants response, prepared to help barter on Gaarm's behalf.
Nizit nods his head at Zakon
"Nizzzvit like tunnelzzz.... but 'uman tunnelzzzz.... horrible... not work well if attacked. Nizzzvit maybe teachzzz them howzzzz to build proper tunnelzzz. Yuck!" he pulls a face and sticks out his tongue
"Kobold much better builderzzz than you 'uman typezzz" he almost spat. But he decided against it.
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"A cursed klar?" the man asks, clearly pondering Gaarm's odd request. "Not every day that a man walks up to you and wants a cursed shield."
The man scratches his chin as a look of realization dawns on the man. "I think I heard of something, might be what you are looking for. Heard about a man wielding a cursed shield in the Shudderwood. His shield had a boar or something on it. Supposedly he fought one of the werewolf lords in the area. Neither died, but the man disappeared shortly after they fought to a draw. It was a massive loss of face for the lycanthropes." he says with a glint of pride in his eyes.
"If you're willing to step into the lion's mouth for the thing, I'd check there, but watch out. They aren't exactly kind to humans." he says as a warning.
---
The group meets back up as Gaarm wraps up with the merchant and it has become clear that the town is forming a mob, replete with pitchforks and torches. yells the charismatic halfling.
The crowd cheers in response as pitchforks are waved and the crowd makes for the forest to the north.
"To the castle!"
"The Beast will pay! Pharasma wills it!"
"We demand justice!"
"Burn the castle!"
"Lycanthropes you say? Guess I don't have much of a choice as that sounds like what I am looking for." Gaarm sighs as he has never dealt with a lycanthrope before. "Thanks for the information. Appreciate it." he tosses the man a silver piece for his troubles before turning back to join the others.
***********************************************************
Back with the rest Gaarm keeps an eye on the forming mob. "We should probably do something about that before they hurt themselves." He shrugs either way as he doesn't much care for these townsfolk. "Well I have a new lead on this damnable curse. There is a cursed man wandering around in the Shudderwoods. The shield bears a boar on it. Though the merchant said the woods are held by a pack of werewolves...."
Perhaps we aught to head to the castle to see what this is all about.
"Zzo many angry umanzzz.... but Nizzzvit zztay with Lady. Much zzzafer" he nods. Humans so ramped up. Best have someone between him... and the.
"Zzzo. To cazztle?"
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Looking at the vicious and dim-witted mob forming up to slay Andrew causes Gaarm to make up his mind.
"We should head to Schloss Caromarc first and check on Andrew. It seems the most immediate. Though once that is done I will be heading into the Shudderwood." Gaarm grabs his bag. "Ready when you all are."
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Lady Eleanor takes Gaarm to the side, placing her hand on his scars she says I think I have been blessed further by the Empyreal Lords. They must know that the way ahead contains further troubles. I believe they have blessed me with the ability to lift this curse that is affecting you.
Lady Eleanor says a quick prayer any touches the scar tissue.
A surge of holy energy flows out of her hands, more than she expected. She lifts her hands to see that the scars......
The group prepares to leave around noon after the rest of the party has taken care of errands and dealing with the remaining problems in Lepidstadt, however it seems that the mob has already set out on the trail of the Beast.
As the group meets, Lady Eleanor indicates that she might be able to purge the curse afflicting Gaarm and she places her claws onto the man's shoulders as she channels her power into the barbarian. Holy power erupts from her as tendrils of black power erupt from Gaarm and contest with Lady Eleanor over the man.
As the dark tendrils wrap around Lady Eleanor's holy powers, they crush the magicks flowing from Lady Eleanor, crushing her hands and sending her flying back ten feet, causing her to skid across the cobblestones.
Nizvit takes a step back as he witnesses the failed attempt and curing their friend
"Not good. Not good at all. What we do now?"
He himself was gifted with the powers of his patron deities. Revered by all kobolds. His diligence with their powers they have gifted him with vigor
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A look of shock and horror comes over Lady Eleanor's face. Gaarm, what gift did you accept. Who is She?
Gaarm's eyes grow wide as he quickly places a hand over Lady Eleanor's mouth to quiet her. "No one and no gift....Don't speak of her again."
Gaarm backs away and smiles as he smacks his hands together. "So... Let's go save us a giant shall we."
Lady Eleanor leans in near Gaarm and says We will talk about this later. Still wincing from the pain of the backlash.
A little louder and to the group Lady Eleanor suggests, Lets make our way to the castle, see what's going on there.
She shrugs to re adjust the weight of her gear before looking down at her claws and sighing. After waiting a half moment for her companions to set themselves, she steps off toward the castle.
"You said 30 pieces of gold? Well I am but a common adventurer and funds are tight. I was hoping to buy the Chymic Works, but I could really use that spiked gauntlet. No that one, the shinny one. Silver you say? Really? You have such fine items in here.
"Firm on the price are you? Well, your craftsmanship more than makes up for your bartering panache." Taking out an overly large coin purse, Zakon begins to count out the 30 pieces of gold for the silvered spiked gauntlet.
"Whatever we do I would like to keep a safe distance from these yokel townsfolk. The city of Lepidstadt and I have a hate - hate relationship. So the castle you say, back to the creator, back to the beginning when it all started. What do you think we'll find there? Some riches? Plunder? A room of waiting concubines? No? Likely a knife in the back. Lead the way Lady Eleanor, though pardon my bluntness, you look terrible. Everything ok?" Zakon follows his new friends towards Schloss Caromarc.
Zakon pulls his foot out of yet another muddy trap. His foot comes unstuck with a sucking, poping sound.
Unbelieveable. Can we not find one stretch of dry ground in this thrice forsaken swamp. My boots ruined, my feet must be wrinkled more than a year old prune, and if I see another leech try to worm its way onto me, I am going to burn this entire place down. If I can find a dry piece of wood that is.
The swamp has not been kind to Zakon, his clothing, nor his mood.
"Would be nice to have had Naxx with us to sing a song about the beautiful environment we find ourselves in. What rhymes with mud? Never ending, mud? Mud as far as the eye can see. Mud so wet, and putrid, and brown, and .... are you listening to me? Do you even hear me talking about mud? Nizvit, is this like your home below the great cities of the world? Is there mud in abundance like here? Do people buy mud? I could sell all this mud and make so much money that I could live on a dragon hoard of riches.
"But that is silly of me, who buys mud when you can come here and just scoop it up, put it in your pocket, and bring it home. Maybe make your yard into a mud yard where irritating people can set stuck. Or you can put it on your face to disguise yourself. Mayhaps you use it to build a house of mud. Imagine living in mud, mud walls, mud chairs, mud windows." laughing hysterically, Zakon mimes looking out a mud window. "I can't see a thing, there is mud all over this window." he cackles again.
Gaarm listens the entire way as Zakon seems infatuated with the mud. "You seem to enjoy it? Was there a lot of mud where you came from?" Gaarm stops for a moment as his boot gets stuck ankle deep in a shallow bog. "Where did you come from exactly? We have been so busy we haven't had a minute to really get to know you I guess."
Gaarm's boot unsticks as he flings mud in all directions, covering his cloak in speckles of brown, wet goop.
Zakon stumbles into another mud slick. "Yeah, I really love this mud." scratching his head uncomfortably, he turns to Gaarm. "Ever hear of Corentyn?
"Pretty normal childhood. Dad was in the navy, mom was a slave he raped in a haunted graveyard called Gallows Walls. Well I say he's my dad, as you can see I got some demon blood in me somehow, someway.
"Dad was hung where he raped my mom, mom died when I was little. Grew up smart and cautious. Found I had a knack for defending myself, and magic." light springs forth from his hand. "Easy as breathing. Though didn't do so well in the Estorium. Structure is not my thing, if you couldn't tell by now. Luckily had a friend smuggle me out, with a certain Professor. Professor Lorrimor.
"About a month ago, went looking for him and then is when those soulless bastards Vorkstag and Grine nabbed me. Until you lot came along, and if I haven't said it recently, my eternal thanks. I can only imagine what a horrible death I would have faced with my beautiful skin hanging in that thrice damned closet back the Chymic Works.
"What about you all, how'd you come to be such a well trained fighting force?" Zakon shakes some mud off his boots onto Nizvit's back. "Opps, sorry about that." he says sheepishly.
Being in the swamp was not too bothersome to the Paladin. Once she got a hang of where to not step. Sometimes it felt as if her steps were guided more by luck than by skill. There was something about this swamp that felt fresh, not the smell, not the mud. Thinking about it, Lady Eleanor came to the conclusion that it was the lack of suffering. The last few days in town came with a feeling of unease and palid oppresion.
Lady Eleanor is careful with her steps. A slip into deeper mud would be hard to extricate herself from. As the others continue to walk, she makes her way closer to Gaarm. When she thinks she is out of ear shot of the others she asks him.
"I did some time as a town guard in a smaller town. That is where I met Professor Lorrimor as well. Once my time was served I got out as it wasn't for me. Decided to meet back up with the Professor to see if he had room for another pair of lifting hands, only to find he had passed. Gaarm plops through another soft spot as he sinks up to his knee. Grabbing a branch he pulls himself out. "One thing led to another and here we are."
The group trudges through the swampland as they begin to actually bond together after the problems in Lepidstadt. The wind whistles through the landscape as the trees branches rustle with their dry, crackling leaves at the slightest of motions.
A few natural predators in the area seem to take notice of you, but the keen eyes of Zakon see that they seem to be avoiding you, though he is unsure if you appear to be that strong or if something else is at play.
The brackish water is no friend to the group as your boots become water-logged, making each step squelch with mud and your own foot bath.
As it seems you are unfamiliar with the surrounding territories, you have quickly lost the path and seem to be travelling directly through the swampland, which actually puts you ahead of the mob due to your naturally higher constitutions and abilities, though you aren't sure of this until you hear the sound of rushing water.
After another kilometer, you break out into an open area, seeing a massive castle resting on a plateau in the midst of a rushing river. About 200' from the edge of the plateau, you see that the water goes into freefall pouring over the edge of the plateau, but you cannot see the bottom. Mist shrouds whatever lay at the bottom and gives the castle an eerie appearance from your higher vantage point.
If you climb down the sides of the steep hill that you appear to have arrived on, you see a road that leads to a well-fortified gatehouse. The road is buttressed up against side of the rushing river, providing another form of defense to the remote castle. Sitting in front of the gatehouse, you see two trollhounds fighting over a haunch of meat, likely the remains from a thylacine corpse.
A large troll sits on the second, open-air level of the gatehouse, protected from the road by the ramparts of the gatehouse, but he appears to be enjoying a rather large cigar as a huge bottle rests near his sprawling form. His muscles ripple even under the greyish light that penetrates the clouds in this region.
It appears that the mob has not arrived yet.
"Why would Andrew come here?" Gaarm looks over the daunting building. "Two hounds tearing a literal corpse apart at the front gate and a troll guarding the ramparts."
Gaarm kneels down and draws a picture of the castle in the dirt with his finger.
"That mob is going to get shredded if they come near here and here. We need to get this under control and fast. Do we speak with the troll? Maybe he is friends with Andrew as well."