"What quality of buckler are you looking for?"
It depends on what is available. I am simply a humble servant of the Dawnbringer and would like something sturdy and practical. I care not if it is a showpiece and could not afford a work of art or something enchanted. Cerimonial armor was never a big draw to me. I would rather carry a solid but battered shield used by many over the years then a new piece that looks good but crumples when put to real work.
Jorfa raises an eyebrow. "I'm a dwarf. I don't know what smiths you know but nothing I make crumbles on first use. Or ever if you maintain it properly."
She walks over to a armoire, opens it and takes out a buckler from the large collection of equipment stored there. Holding it out for Grergof she says "Standard quality for those short on coin. Costs five gold."
No offense intended Mistress Jorfa. I have simply seen far too many ceremonial show pieces that would be impractical for daily use. If you were one who valued style over practicality, I simply did not want to waste your time.
As he speaks he examines the buckler placed in front of him.
Assuming it looks like good work he says:
I see my concerns were unfounded. This seems to be quality work for a fair price, I will take it.
He digs in his pack and extracts 5 more gold.
Handing it over he says:
Thank you ma'am, for all your help.
Jorfa takes the coins. "Anything else?"
If not she will take her current piece of work our of the fire and starts hammering again.
Grergof heads back out if the Forge.
Turning to the others he quietly says: I am going to stop by the Sheriff and bring him up to speed on the blood drips we found near the monument this morning. Then I will head back to Mistress Lorrimor's house to help go through what we found.
Turning to Darius he says:
If you are going with Mistriss Bladotter to the church, my I suggest that keep in mind that the items in the crypt are rightfully church property. The Professor just borrowed them. They were never his property, so you may want to go easy on the Father if he is reluctant to hand over items to people he just met.
Looking around he says:
Shall we split up?
Assuming nobody objects Grergof heads to the Sheriff, office.
The sheriff sits behind his desk reading something. He looks up as Grergof enters the office.
Good afternoon Sheriff, Can I speak to you for a couple minutes? It concerns the unpleasantness at the memorial last night.
One of the deputies is cleaning out a cell at the end of the corridor.
"Well?" the sheriff replies.
Thank you for your time sir.
As you saw a few of us stopped by to look at the monument this morning to see what happened. While the blood on the monument was cleaned away, one of my companions noticed some drops of dried blood on the ground leading away from the monument. The first drip is about 100 feet away from the monument, and further drips seem to occur every 100 feet leading back to the trail that runs past two houses and leads to the street.
You could probably still see the drips if you looked for them in the grass right now.
I know it is not much to go on, but I wanted to make sure you knew about them as we very nearly missed them. I only hope you have other clues and that this information can help you in some small way catch the person who did this.
"I shall be ever so polite to the purdy of Pharasma when asking about the supplies. Just keep me away from the sheriff. Him I don't trust as far as a halfling can throw him. So may I accompany you then Miss Bladotter? Or would you prefer this errand alone?" Darius asks acknowledging her previously short reply.
"Someone smeared the memorial and it is cleared again. No one is dead, no farm animal missing. I'm not going to investigate this any further."
"If you find someone boasting about that at the tavern you can tell me. But a few drops of blood on the way into town are not helping to narrow down the number of suspects." the sheriff replies.
Ahh, I understand Sheriff. Not knowing the local customs I was not sure how seriously defacing a local monument was taken. If this is not anything major, then I will not bother you again about this unless I stumble across something more substantial.
Have a blessed day sirs.
With that Grergof turns and walks out.
Hmmm. Considering how hot he was about the vandalism this morning, it seems odd he cares so little about it now....
Before returning to the Lorrimor house Grergof stops by the message post and reads any announcements that are posted there.
Spugnoir heads back to the Lorrimar house and begins cataloging all the items for the party to check over when they return.[/b]
Grergof after reading the sign hurries back to the Lorrimor house.When he gets there he unloads the stuff he is carrying for Spugnoir to catalog then hurries to find Miss Lorrimor to inform her about the town meeting. He will encourage her to go and will offer to escort her (and wait outside) when she goes.
"Come then," Aada begins to walk looking back to Darius, "Times wasting, want to get something to eat soon."
Well, once everyone is back we can discuss distributing these items.
Darius leans in and peeks through the door at the old priest. Then gives a couple of knocks on the door to announce his and AAda's arrival.
"Well met Father Grimburrow. Apologies for the disturbance this late n the day but we..." Darius motions to to Aada and himself before continuing "...thought that it best to update you on our findings, since just now we have returned from Harrowstone and encountered some interesting happenings while we were there."
Father Grimburrow looks up, puts the tool he uses down and approaches the two visitors. "Nice to see you."
"Shall we go to my room? We'd have some privacy there. In case someone else comes to visit the temple for prayers." He leads Aada and Darius to his room where the items from the crypt still lie on his table.
Closing the door behind them he asks "What is it that you call interesting."
As he waits for others to return Brother Varsk pulls out his journal and some ink. He quietly begins to record down all he can remember about the various undead creatures they encountered today.
"Well the place is definitely haunted, Aada stands across from Grimburrow. She gives a nod over to Darius, "Don't mind the Iomedean."
Darius raises an eyebrow to Aada. "We encountered several haunts which proved a little problematic and slowed our progress from going further into the prison. We also found writings, magical writings surrounding the prison, the origins of which we are not sure of."
Father Grimburrow is a bit confused. "You're here together or on separate matters?"
"Er, together. We thought it prudent to get you up to speed on the what we encountered at Harrowstone."
"And what would that be? Haunts you say?" Father Grimburrow asks.
Spugnoir enjoys tea and cookies while he waits for the others.
"Goodbye then I guess." Jominda says as the last one left and she stands alone in front of the forge.
She finally returns to her apothecary.
"Yes Father. Haunts. I haven't really encountered any before our excursion into Harrowstone, so my knowledge on them is severely limited. Also there were runic markings circling the prison. I don't know if it was to keep things out or in, or perhaps something more." Darius says with obvious concern.
"About haunts I've heard but as far as I know they are as different as the circumstances that created them. But these runic markings have me worried. I didn't notice them when we were there, but this could indeed mean someone did rituals there."
"Were these fresh markings?" The Father inquires.
Darius scratches his chin as he goes deep in thought before answering. "I cannot recall if they were fresh or not, but they looked like they could possibly have been written in blood, which was already long dried I think."
"Well, blood dries in a day. Were they overgrown?" Father Grimburrow asks.
As Darius marters his memory for some details Father Grimburrow asks Mrs. Bladotter "I get the impression you wanted something too. Care to tell?"
"We've also encountered ghosts and haunts of a more lethal nature. Holy water, siphons, anything you could spare for us."
"The siphons you talk of were already taken by that other lady. Forgive my bad memory for names. But you can take all of that stuff on the table with you if it helps." Walking to a closet he opens it and grabs another vial. "Here this holy water you can have too." Father Grimburrow says. "And if you need more you just have to bring me silver coins to grind and I'll make you more."
Darius finally remembering and as if being pulled back to the present says "Ah yes I think the runes must have been placed recently. The brush appeared to be cut away to make room for it and not overgrown. Sorry about the delay, I get lost in my own thought on occasion. And my memory isn't what is used to be. Thanks for the Holy water and we shall take you up on your offer I'm sure."
"That looks like the Professor was indeed on to something." the father combines. "But what would someone want there? Stir up the dead to send them to Ravengro?" Lines of worry show on the Father's face.
"I have no idea. But we plan on investigating it further. I think we're going to have to learn more about the people of the town and maybe root out the culprit."
"You think it is someone from Ravengro?" the Father asks surprised. "I don't think we have someone here able to do such magical stuff. The Professor may have been able. And Alendru might be too. But I don't think you wouldn't suspect the Professor and Alendru lives here like forever and wouldn't do such stuff neither."
"What gives you the idea it would be a local. Last time you told something about a Whispering Way. Wouldn't it make more sense for someone from outside to start such a thing?" the Father sggests. It is clear that hedoesn't like the idea of a local being the culprit for such evil things.
"Sorry, I misspoke. You know the town better than I. Let me elaborate, my thinking was that it could be a passer by that hasn't left and might be hiding among your neighbors. I think whatever the Whispering Way might be up to may not yet be done. Where's the closest settlement to this town? And maybe this Alendru could be of some help in our investigation?"
"Alendru dwells in the furling scroll. His shop near the northern bridge. He might be able to help with things magical. But I don't think you can convince him to take a look at the Horrowstone. He is a old man already. But who knows. The Professor was old too."
"The next settlement is almost a day away. But I really hope they are gone already and Ravengro has only to deal with the aftermath of that." Father Grimburrow replies.
"Doesn't hurt to ask him I'm sure. I wouldn't ask him to go to Harrowstone. I'm sure we can write out some of the runes for him to decipher. I hope they are gone too. But even so, we should probably find out what they're after."
Darius pauses for a moment then continues.
"You don't know of any other travellers or shady types that may have passed by before we got here? If I've asked this before, my apologies."
"There are not many who seek to enjoy the beautiful misty countryside of Ravengro this season of the year. Or ever. And those few who do are the regulars."
"Some merchants delivering stuff and buying some wares here. Now and then a new one comes through or a random traveller but no one asking for onyx or other suspicious things. At least no one who wrote necromancer on their forehead." Father Grimburrow explains. "If the culprit is not to be found the answer has to be at the Harrowstone. That I'm sure of."
"You're probably right. These items you've offered us will be a huge help in the next incursion we make into Harrowstone. Thanks for your time Father. Unless Ms Bladotter has anything else to add, we should probably meet up with the rest of our number."
Spugnoir sips tea. Tian Xia blend tastes so good in the evening.
"It indeed does. Would you like some more cookies?" Kendra asks as she notices the plate is empty.
Oh I am fine, thank you. Spugnoir looks at the various items they have found. I should research these strange items like the axe and tangle of holy symbols. Do you know if these things might have any significance? Any particular crimes that might be linked to them?
SPugnoir checks some of the books int he library
Kendra takes a look at these items. "Ewww! You bring a blood smeared axe?" she says at the grisly view. Suddenly she remembers a part from a skipping song "Put her body on the bed, Take an axe and lop her head."
"A guy called the Lopper. Vance Saetressle if I remember right. He stalked people and hacked their head off. Horrible, isn't it?" A chill runs down her spine at the thought. There were some horrible murderers in the Harrowstone. "The Lopper, The Piper of Illmarsh, the Mosswater Marauder, Father Charlatan, ..." she says as She goes through the items. The flute, the hammer, the holy symbols and the book. She opens the book which is not easy as it is covered in mold and quite some pages are sticking together. As she flips through the pages she recognizes it as a spell book. She takes a closer look at a page to try to recognize the spell.
Kendra hastily shuts the book and pushes it away. She turns white, the horror sowing in her face. With a trembling voice she says "The Splatterman..."