"Of course. Take everything along. That is a lot of sophisticated stuff that Thomas wouldn't need. But I don't think a necromancer raised these dead. Wouldn't they walk into the village?" Jominda speculates. "Or if they are afraid of water they'd still be here. But what do you make of that face mask? Is it real skin?"
Kendra looks at the face mask, and speaks a few words of power
"I think it is a real face, Jominda."
"I know of no ritual, cultural, religious or magical, that uses the skin of a face in it. I... All I can think of is a deranged psyche. Or perhaps a part of a flesh golem in the making."
Jominda takes the face and inspects it. "Could be taxidermy, but look how precisely it was cut off. Not a single cut through the skin. Who could tat have been?"
"Necromancy seems unlikely. This strikes me as someone with a depraved and corrupt morality." Harrold says as he watches Kendra inspect the face
"Let's get our facts in order. A creature with fur and scales was responsible for the disappearances here. This may have been a manticore, for which I have an idea with Lazne later." Kendra states.
"Furthermore, we have a number of defiled graves here... how many, Harrold?" She asks.
"Including a travelling kit and digging equipment... and someone who obviously did this without wanting to be spotted, hence the potion of darkvision."
She frowns,
"But there was also a lantern..."
"Leave out this manticore. No one said anything of a flying beast with a lions head. And that manticore didn't look like it was eaten by a gator." Jominda suggests. "It's been a year since they abandoned the island. Who knows when it moved here."
"But someone brought a shovel and dug up several bodies. And brought them somewhere else, as they are no longer here."
"Six graves. The potion has a time limmit, who ever was using it seemed to be quite dug in here. He would have needed a light source."
"Alright then. If there's nothing left to be done here, let's go back to Lazne - or any villager who has seen the creature." Kendra says
"Ok then, let's load the stuff in this boat then. We can drag it after ours." Jominda tells, and tries to push the boat back to the water. With mixed success.
Harrold goes over to help.
"Herm, could you help with the boat?" Jominda asks with a grin. "Before that old man here breaks his back."
Herm moves over to the boat, helping Harrold with it.
"There is some died blood heere in the boat, Think whoever was on the island went out to find the beast in the water>"
Herm takes his time to check on the boat first before pushing it onto the water. After everything is loaded into it you pull the boat to the place where you landed with your rented boat. Tying the two together you're ready to go.
"Anything else, or shall we row back?" Jominda asks.
"Well I can't see anything else here. Let's head back."
"How would you expect these people to feel about magic and magic users?" Kendra asks noone in particular.
"Probably not that well." she concludes after a moment's thought.
Still on the boat, she explains what she'll need.
"I'll need your assistance for a moment. I will not harm Lazne, but I need to touch him for about ten seconds, and can touch noone else between me casting the spell and touching him. Can everyone help me with that?"
Coming to shore and delivering the boat back to the two fishermen, she thanks them profusely, making sure to shake their hands for a long moment. "Thank you so much for your assistance, we have everything we need! Really, your assistance was invaluable in serving Justice."
Still shaking hands, she looks at Herm as she says, "Iomedae would be proud of your contribution to justice today." Realizing she could be offending the Paladin, even as she thinks she invoked Her name in a fitting situation.
"Distraction is my speciality. What would you need me to do?" Jominda offers.
"Just run with it, and don't bump into me on accident." Kendra grins with a wink. "And you need to knock on the door and get him to open it for us."
She quickly yet quietly invokes a spell she plans to use on Lazne
Jominda walks with Kendra and knocks on the door. "Hello Mr. Lazne? We wanted to say goodbye."
Lazne opens the door with the grumpy expression on his face that you already know. "So you are finally leaving?"
"Yes we are!" Kendra says with an upbeat voice as she extends her hands to shake Lazne's.
"We just wanted to come by and thank you, really, really thank you for all that you have done today. Your contribution to the proper workings of this country's justice system was invaluable. Iomedae would be appreciative of all you have done for us today."
Lazne is flummoxed by this display of affection and tries to get his hand back. Once Kendra lets him go he mutters "Yes, yes." and retreats into his hut, closing the door again.
Kendra nods at everyone that she was successful, but doesn't elaborate until they are out of earshot.
"It seems as though the beast of Morast was a flesh golem, like..." She looks at Jominda. "... Thomas. But not quite the same one." Once we're back in the city I'd like to do some research at the university."
"Herm would you be so kind and carry that sack and all the stuff we found?" Jominda asks fluttering her eyelashes.
Herm does not take offense to what Kendra said or how she said it, if he did he shows no outward appearance of it. Herm picks up the sack that Jominda indicates too.
"Is it to much for you to carry my lady?" Herm says with a half smirk. "We left the island rather quickly I looked but I thought that Harrold would want to spend more time searching things out."
"Yes, thank you." Jominda replies with a smile.
"I think Harrold is old enough to speak up on his own behalf. And he didn't object. And arriving in Lepidstadt before night falls is a large benefit."
"I know I would not like to be out here in the dark" Kendra admits. "Not if it isn't needed."
As they arrive in Lepidtstad, Kendra says "I really want to head to the university. Jominda, would you like to join me? I could use someone to talk people into letting us use their library, and my patience has worn a bit thin. I really just want some food and then bed."
She smiles ruefully as she adds "But the library really does have something important. Or at least, so I hope."
"We could climb in through the window in the workshop, what do you think? Would that work?" Jominda suggests.
"I think it would be best if we got permission to peruse their books. Perhaps they would even aide us into finding the right books." Kendra states
"What are you going to search for?" Jominda inquires.
Kendra plainly states "How to make a flesh Golem, and any other information about them we can find." She looks at Jominda as she elaborates. "We need to know as much as we can about Thomas and the other flesh golem."
"Cool!" Jominda replies excitedly. "It is exciting that you can simply create someone like Thomas. I'll help you."
"Excuse me, Dr. Crowl?" Kendra ventures. "I'm afraid I'll have to impose on you once more." She smiles apologetically, and it looks ever more impactful due to her tired slightly disheveled appearance.
Herm will hang back by the door, his gear and boots still dirty from the island and the walking.
"I have need of the knowledge contained within this university." Kendra says. "For the trial that starts on the morrow."
"You see, we need to figure out all we can about flesh golems. Their construction, behaviour, anything and everything."
Seeing Herm hang at the door, she asks "Herm, could you see if you can get some food for all of us? I am famished."
Jominda smiles a knowing smile on Dr. Crowls comment. "Thank you." she replies and moves with Kendra into the library. She looks through the curiosities behind glass and scans over the books. But hours of studies is not really hers.
Now and then a title sounds interesting enough so she pulls the tome out and flips through the pages looking for pictures and drawings. "What about that one?" she asks Kendra and hands over a book with a promising sketch of something built of body parts that's no undead.
Golem
Herm will go and get some food, returning a bit later with a few bags of food a bottle of wine and a few bladders of beer.
"I am not sure what people would like so take what you wish." Herm lays out the food, then goes back outside to clean off his gear.
Kendra sighs in relief. "Herm, you're a life saver." She smiles thankfully.
Kendra takes some healthy helpings of food, making sure to keep the books clean as she eats and reads at the same time.
As Jominda hands her the book she found, Kendra says "That's perfect. It corroborates what I found here and in... uhm" she rummages through the pile of books she collected "... Here as well. But this text is more complete then either of what I found."
"See here," she points at whoever is interested. "It says you need body parts from at least 6 different bodies to create a flesh golem. And how many graves were defiled on the island? Six!"
"I'll just make some notes from this book, and then I think it's time for us to go sleep."
Kendra wakes up and stretches out. She goes to find Jominda, who is still as much a sleeping beauty as when Kendra looked over her in Ravengro after she was injured by the curse.
"Jominda, wake up please?" Kendra ventures.
As Jominda opens her eyes, Kendra offers her some food that she got from the Crooked Kin, and explains. "I need an hour of studying to get my spells back in order, and I think Herm needs to spend some time as well. Can you and Harrold deliver the tools we found in Morast and log them as evidence? I'm not sure yet how they will absolve Thomas, but we had better registered them and not need them than the other way 'round."
Jominda turns around hiding her face in the pillow. "Nnnnnugh. Don't wanna" She mumbles into the pillow tensing all of her body. With a sigh she relaxes and after a few more seconds she pushes herself up.
Jawning she rubs the sleep out of her eyes. "What's for breakfast?" she asks and takes the offered food. She ogles it, shrugs and bites into it. Don't look gift horses into the mouth.
As Kendra disappears behind her book again and Herm does his prayer/meditation thing she looks at Harrold, but decides to take the sack herself. "Want to come along?" she asks the chief herbalist.
"Mrs. Lorrimor, when you are ready do we wish to talk with the beast again first before we go into represent him?" Herm will finish up his prayers and his morning practice.