Know. Local
As the group headed toward the mill, Elena fills the others in on what she knows about it and its reputation around town. "The mill was working last night-Harker and Thorn, the two millers, often worked late into the night, which had become a bone of contention around town as the noisy mill and its infernally creaky log splitter kept neighbors awake."
Upon arriving at the scene, Elena gladly took the kerchief, and held it over her mouth and nose. "I suppose the grisly work must be done first. Show us to the bodies. The sooner we can get done with this, the sooner we can investigate the less gruesome parts of this place."
Rajendra follows Elena's lead. His bow temporarily over his shoulder, he clasps both hands together and murmurs under his breath for a few seconds. Then he looks around the area in some detail without touching anything, first looking for magical auras and then for more mundane features.
Jim cocks an eyebrow as Jace asks Elena what to do right after she says it. He shakes his head and decides they must have backwards cultures. "Say, this place stinks. Zobedug?" He says, looking back towards the dwarf.
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Jace nods his head and begins to help look at each of the areas in concern. Every once in a while he will point out something little that the others may have missed.
By the end of the investigation at the mill though it almost seems as if Jace is less help and just seems to be getting in the way.
Did you find any signs of magic being used Rajendra?
"Yes, the odor is less than pleasant. I might have some smelling salts here..."
Ziebodug searches his pockets, and finds nothing.
Poor Katrine's mangled, ruined remains lie on the mill's lower floor amid heaps of bloodstained firewood. A pale-faced, obviously upset guard stands at attention nearby. The log splitter itself is powered by a waterwheel and consists of a chute in the floor with rotating saw blades that cut logs as they are fed in.
It is obvious that Katrine was fed down through the logsplitter and met her end at the hands of the diamond-sharpened blade. Her crimson blood coats the saw and runs down the timber chute.
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Harker's body has been horribly desecrated. The poor man has been affixed to the wall by several hooks normally used to hang machinery. The body is mutilated, the face carved away and lower jaw missing entirely. His bare chest is defaced as well, bearing a strange rune in the shape of a seven-pointed star. This rune is familiar to you, as it is on the medallion once worn by Nualia and now carried by Jim.
The rotten scent seems stronger near these wounds. The body is only recognizable as Harker's by a faded tattoo of a raven across his lower abdomen.
"Grisly scene. But let's have a look."
Ziebodug looks over each of the bodies.
"Look here, these smaller wounds - those look like claw marks. 5 fingered claw marks. Very odd. And the smell! I would warrant a monster, or perhaps a living dead. This is not an ordinary animal that made these."
"Right you are Ziebodug, some kind of clawed humanoid perhaps carrying a kind of disease. This rot is unnaturally accelerated. And that symbol..." Jim says, looking self-consciously at his medallion.
Rajendra wordlessly examines the grisly scene, unfamiliar with the symbology.
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Know. Arcana
"That's a Sihedron rune. It's a symbol of great power in ancient Thassilonian arcane magicks. It makes zero sense that that would have been carved here.". Ellena keeps the kerchief clutched tightly to her face and nose.
Perception
She looks around the rest of the room, not quite sure she could bear to stare at the corpses any longer. She casts Detect Magic as she does so, giving the room a cursory glance.
After viewing the bodies, the group decides to fan out from there, inspecting the general area.
The mill interior is coated with sawdust strewn with footprints and splashes of blood.
Survival Untrained
"Look at all that blood splatter. A huge fight took place here not that long ago. A few hours, probably."
"These are barefoot prints. Look. And they all smell of the rot that's infesting this place. If we're not dealing with an undead of some kind, we're definitely dealing with something humanoid and unhygienic." Jim examines the prints, trying to identify what might have made them.
"I don't know much about the undead though. Just hearsay. Elena, is this like anything you encountered at Thistletop?" he asks, wondering if the dark priestess may yet be at work somehow.
"There was twisted magic there. It turned Tsuto into a monster. But though it was evil, it wasn't torture like what we've seen today. Nualia attacked to kill, but I don't think she would have made a trophy like that poor man over there. And it didn't stink like this. I don't think this is her doing."
A handaxe is embedded in the floor near the log splitter, as if it had been dropped there. The handle is covered with bloody finger-marks.
A close examination of the head reveals two things of note. First, smears of what look like rotten flesh and fragments of bone are caked on its blade, and second, the rotten meat stink is strong on it.
undead.
Survival aid another
"Look at the bloody hand prints. That's clearly from our fight."
"This is a woman's hand print. Probably Katrine, given the rest of the scene. And this blade is covered in bone and rot. I don't think this creature was a mere plague carrier. Whatever it was, it was definitely rotting itself." Jim says, standing up and stifling a somewhat persistent gag. "Jace, do you know what it might be? This is out of my field."
I am feeling useless here...my skills are apparently not yet needed. Rajendra examines the blade, turns somewhat green under his normal pigmentation, and hurriedly backs away.
"Looks like Katrine managed to hack into an undead of some sort, and within the last 24 hours by my estimate, based on the lingering stink of corruption."
"Excuse me..." Ziebodug drops the axe and runs outside, where the sounds of a dwarf vomiting can plainly be heard.
The sound of Ziebodug's eructations tips Rajendra over the edge, and he hurriedly follows the dwarf outside. Similar sounds can be heard.
"It's like these guys have never had a drinking contest with Varisian swamp-ale." Jim shrugs.
"So, the murderer is an undead. And it looks like an intelligent one at that. Do we have any holy men here?" Jim gives a sideways glance to Elena. "Or women?"
After examining the axe, the master investigator will usher the rest of her crew towards the timber pier. Timber is delivered to the mill via a small pier that extends out into the Turandarok River.
"Look, footprints. They go from the pier there... up towards the mill." Jim closes one eye and traces the path in the air with his finger.
Still queasy, the monk notes the footprints as well. He bends down to sniff at them cautiously, trying to tell if they were made by the carrion beast.
Untrained Aid Another Survival
Elena smiles. "No holy woman here, that's for sure."
Once the footprints were pointed out, she couldn't help but notice that those footprints, clearly looked human. Ellena walked to the pier and looked for any clues.
Perception
You cross the river by wading through the waters and look for any other clues in the marsh on the far side.
Perception
Untrained Survival
Rajendra grimaces at the stench as it threatens to set off another bout of nausea, then looks around the area. "From here you can see the mill without being seen. All of these tracks go to and from the river, too. Perhaps the creature was using the river as cover?"
"I wonder if we haven't found some kind of... nest. Do undead do that?" Jim rubs his chin for a moment, pondering. "Wait, if this is a nest..." Jim draws his swords in sudden concern. "Stay sharp. It could be watching us at this very moment."
Ziebodug finally manages to stop hurling, and cleans himself up.
"River monsters, is it? Watery dead? Someone here made some pretty hateful enemies in any case. Best be on our guard, because evil of this magnitude is often well-verse in subterfuge and disguise."
Jim looks sideways at Jace. "Hey, I don't want to be the next guy fed into the log splitter." With that, Jim looks around for any sign of uninvited guests. "I think we should set up camp here in case the creature returns. Build some fires, set some traps..." Jim says, frowing a bit. "Does anyone know how to set traps?"
Rajendra shakes his head.
"That's not my department, unfortunately. I think we need to report back to the Sheriff to be honest. They need to know what we are dealing with here. To summarize, it sounds like a humanoid undead stalked out the scene, and tortured two citizens before killing them. We need to set up watches, traps, and everything we can think of. anyone else have any ideas what to examine here at the scene? I didn't find anything that would connect me to this. I don't know any of them, I've never been here, it's all sit so strange..."
"But why would a humanoid undead use the mill equipment to kill?"
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SANDPOINT LUMBER MILL: The most recent murders took place here-the bodies are still present, and little has been done with the crime scene itsel£ Sheriff Ameiko suggests that this should be the first place you investigate, since he would like to clean the mill up right away and get the bodies buried.IBOR THORN: Ameiko has interrogated Ibor, the man who discovered the bodies at the lumber mill, and doesn't suspect the frightened man knows much more.
VEN VINDER: This merchant is Ameiko's only suspect, although the sheriff is fairly certain that Ven is innocent and that the murders were committed by someone else.
THE FIRST MURDERS: Three con men from the town of Galduria were found murdered in an abandoned barn south of town a few days ago-their bodyguard survived the assault but has gone insane and was sent to Habe's Sanatorium-a privately run respite for the insane.
THE RUNE: The star carved on one victim's chest certainly has significance to the killer, but Ameiko's at a loss as to what it means. Perhaps an expert on runes (such as local scholar Brodert Quink) can be consulted?
Jace sighs as he scratches his head.
So much death
Looking up with a thought.The Sheriff did mention some witnesses. Perhaps we should speak with a few of them before we report.
"I think Jace has it right. Let's go talk to these witnesses, see if they can confirm what we have found."
You return to Ameiko to report on your findings at the mill and her faces dours a bit. "This isn't good. I will station some men at the mill in case the undead returns, but I doubt it would go back there."
You ask about Ibor Thorn and Ameiko remarks that he is in a holding cell below Sandpoint. She takes you there an you see him. Harker's partner Ibor is a young man, handsome if a bit narrow-faced. He is still in shock after having discovered the bodies when he arrived at work this morning. Although the newly-appointed sheriff already interrogated Thor, Ameiko admits that you might be able to get something out of the miller that she could not. She cautions them to be
gentle in their interrogation, though-Thorn's been through a lot in the last few hours.
The man looks at you sullenly and doesn't speak as Ameiko lets you up to the bars to the cell.
"Hello Ibor. As you've guessed, we are trying to figure out exactly what happened last night. Do you mind telling us what you've seen? We've already been out to the mill and looked at the scene and the bodies. Can you think of anything else you saw?"
"This is perhaps a safer place for you than outside, if the killer is still nearby. Is there anything we can bring for you?"
"I had a hard time with what we saw too, but the best medicine I can offer is for you to help us catch this guy. What do you say?"
"These guys are straight shooters. They won't do you wrong. A little heavy on the heroics maybe, but good people." Jim offers, picking an odd time to take stock of his alchemical belt.
Diplomacy aid another from earlier post
"I told the Sheriff, the innkeeper, everything. Go ask her." the man says with various emotions crossing his face and tone of voice. He simultaneously looks and sounds to be on the verge of tears or will lash out in anger.