Showing no immunity to Tara's charms, the man blushes while also looking quite concerned with her words, Na-na-na now let's not be so hasty, Miss." He stammers out, clearly thrown off guard by the young woman, "Let's just say that you learned the name Master Vorkstag, of Vorkstag and Grine’s Chymic Works from some other source and you left me completely out of this, yes?"
Quickly scribbling down the new information, Tara flashes him another dazzling smile, "Thank you! You've been exceedingly helpful Mr. Radniche." Ripping the back page out of her journal, Tara passes the folded up note to Radniche. "If you remember anything else important, here is where I will be staying until this business with the trail is over with." Offering him a wink, Tara quickly follows after the others.
Letting out a tired yawn, the young cleric glances at the group. "What should we do? It is probably too late to call upon this Master Vorkstag, and we have a trail in the morning. Though I can remove some of the fatigue, we did have a rough time with the undead today, and I think everyone could use a rest." Twisting a bit of her hair around her index finger, Tara waits for the others to reply.
Radniche reads the note over and blushes even more deeply, "Ahem, yes Ms. Tara. I'm happy that I could, uh, be of service. Good evening to you all."
Deciding to rest for the evening, the group sleeps peacefully through the night and wakes up the next morning refreshed and feeling much more experienced.
Sophie awakens early in order to use her newfound oracular powers to question the remains of the children. She asks each of the four corpses one question, "Who or what killed you?"
None of the corpses resist her efforts, and the answers all invariably point the wraith you fought on the hill.
The first male says, "The ghost guy."
The second male replies,"The shadow monster with the eyes."
The last male answers,"The ghost that got the others."
The female corpse responds, "The monster that floats through walls."
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Although she knows their eyes are unseeing, Sophie nonetheless gives each child a gracious bow as they answer her questions. "Thank you, child" she says to each one
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Stefan awakens in his apartment over his physician's office. He makes himself a cup of tea, then dresses in his finest suit for court. On the way to the courthouse, he stops at a cafe for a light breakfast, then heads over to meet with Barrister Krapple and his friends well before proceedings are to begin.
Bert follows the rest of his friends over to the barrister's office to plan the day in court.
Even after a good night sleep, Vivian was still feeling the ghost's touch that saped her health and stamina.
On her way to court, she Wonder if she could find a priest to restore her health, and tries to remember the priests and churches in town
Tara sits quietly in the barrister's office, with her brows furrowed. Although she still has dark circles under her eyes, she appears to be better rested than normal. As Vivian appears, Tara pulls her to the side. "I know that we should be following the leads for the trail tomorrow, but I have some concerns with the Chymic Works. I believe that taking a small stop to interview Master Vorkstag before heading out of town would not take too much time. What are your thoughts?" Curling her set of prayer beads between her fingers, Tara listens with rapt attention to what the other follower of Pharasma has to say.
Vivian recalls the presence of a rather large temple of Pharasma in the Lepidstadt on the route to the courthouse. If you make a brief stop there before the trial, you learn that the High Priestess would be happy to cast the Restoration scroll on one of you at no cost, especially since you have two devout followers in your group. If you want her to cast the spell without the scroll, however, she politely asks for a donation of at least 380 gp.
Vivian asks for the scroll to be used on Bert, and pays for another spell on Amaria, giving a little more than asked
Sophie purses her lips at the opposition from Stefan, but says nothing more on the subject.
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After deciding to leave the remains in Dr. Von Herzog's office and making a brief trip to the Temple of Pharasma, the group travels to the courthouse for the second day of testimony in the Beast of Lepidstadt's trial.
Once the group has submitted its evidence to the clerks and had a brief meeting with the defense barrister Gustav Kaple to discuss strategy, the trial begins at 10:00 am. As the clerks begin to prepare the courtroom, you all can see that the crowd gathered to witness the trial is larger today than yesterday and is alive with talk of the previous day's events. A few members of the crowd even boo when they see you, no doubt remembering that you are members of the defense team.
Once the members of the court are all present and the justices make their way to the bench, the Chief Justice Khard asks the prosecution to outline the details of the alleged events in Hergstag.
The prosecution then describes the events that transpired in Hergstag 7 months ago, alleging that the Beast slew six children and, when caught, was driven from the village. Otto Heiger calls three former residents of Hergstag, the sisters Garrow, Starle, and Flicht, to give their eyewitness testimony of events in the village.
After hearing the prosecution's description of the Beast murdering six innocents, a hush falls over the crowd, followed by angry, sometimes violent assertions towards the Beast. Indeed, some of the more emotional members of the gallery seem on the verge of active hostility.
Fortunately, the Chief Justice and Herald of the Court quickly assert order, and allow Gustav Kaple to call you all to the stand.
According to local laws, only one person per day can present one piece of the evidence. So, if you want to present two pieces of evidence on the same day, two people will have to present it. You'll be required to explain in character why the evidence is important and make a DC 20 Diplomacy check to convince the justices to consider your argument. If you do a good job of testifying (i.e., you roleplay an impassioned plea about the evidence presented or you add colorful descriptions about how it was found and the perils encountered), you can get a +2 to the check. You also can get a bonus to the roll from convincing evidence, but I won't reveal what is the most compelling, you'll have to work that out yourselves.
Magic is strictly banned in court, with a officer of the court called The Holy Sister of Justice constantly scanning the room with Detect Magic.
Anyone not presenting evidence will be assumed to be present watching the trial, unless you request otherwise.
• The events occurred approximately 7 months ago.
• Prosecution Evidence: The three witnesses for the prosecution state that the village’s children (Maarten, Karin, Rachel, Gaard, Allen, and Ellsa) vanished one by one, only to return as ghosts. Then one day the culprit was found—the Beast of Lepidstadt. It boldly walked into the village with one of the dead children, a girl named Ellsa. The witnesses all recall seeing the Beast laughing as it carried the child’s broken body. As soon as the locals saw the Beast, they set upon it with pitchforks, but try as they might they couldn’t catch it, and the Beast escaped into the swamp. The poor innocents it killed continued to haunt the village, and before long became too much for the locals, who soon abandoned the cursed village.
• The Beast states that he was present there at that time. He befriended a young girl named Ellsa who was not frightened by his appearance. He claims that a ghost that walks at night killed a number of children by stealing their souls. The ghost turned one of Ellsa's friends into a ghost and that ghost lured her to its master's lair. The Beast tried to fight the ghost to save Ellsa, but could not hurt it. He then returned Ellsa's body to her Father, but the villagers chased him out of town.
• During this interview you notice that when the Beast cries, he looks like he's laughing due to the stitching holding together his face.
• One of the prosecution witnesses also adds that of the six children who died, one—a girl named Karin—died in her own bed 2 days after the Beast was driven from Hergstag. Her father heard her screaming but by the time he reached her she was dead, without a mark on her and with no signs of entry.
• Your investigation into Karin's house conclusively demonstrated that whatever killed Karin did not climb the house’s walls or force entry into her room.
• You also discovered that all the children returned as wraiths to haunt the town. It is highly unusual for this occur if murdered by the Beast, but not completely out of the question.
• The party fought a more powerful wraith on the hill southwest of town. Inside its lair you found the skeletal remains of 4 children. None of the remains show signs of obvious trauma. Using Sophie's abilities to question the corpses, the four corpses all said that the wraith killed them.
Waiting for his turn to be called Bert walks to the middle of the courtroom. "My name is Bert Shieldworn, I was a guard in Riddleport but have recently come here for other business. The group I am with and me, went to Herstag to examine the evidence the prosecution presented. Others will talk about some of that evidence but I am here to describe a fight with a very powerful wraith. This wraith was found near the hill southwest of the town. In our discussions with the Beast, he mentioned a "night ghost" that he couldn't damage. As you can see, I am not a small man, but not nearly as large as the defendant. I also had issues with damaging the wraith except for some magical help on my weapon, which the beast did not have. The wraith touches you and he causes you to become weaker and your weapons and such pass right through it. Luckily, we were able to kill the wraith..err again. But we had to do that as a team. If we had not been a team, it would have been impossible."
"After we defeated the wraith, we found the remains of 4 children, which we are sure are the children whom the Beast is accused of doing something with. My friend Sophie will tell you more about that though. What she says is true, what we all say, is true." Bert finishes.
Sophie stands and slowly moves up to position to present. She looks at those assembled. "I am Sophie. Last in a long line of monster hunters. The spirits of all my ancestors travel with me; they aid me, give me strength, and bless me with gifts. One such gift is the ability to speak with others that have passed on as they have." She pauses for a moment. "We found several small wraiths throughout the village. After we defeated the master wraith on the hillside, we found their origin... The bodies of four children. Unbroken, apparently unharmed, but yet unliving bodies." She pauses again, passing her gaze over the assembly intently. "Out of respect for the dead, we decided not to bring their bodies here today, so I spoke with each of them this morning and recorded what they said. I asked them 'Who or what looked you?'. Here are their replies..." she pulls out the journal or parchment on which their replies were transcribed and begins reading from it, "The first I spoke to was a red-haired, freckled boy. He said 'the ghost guy.' The next was a dark haired, smooth-faced boy who said 'the shadow monster with the eyes.' The next was a sandy-haired boy with a cleft chin. He said, 'the ghost that got the others.' The last child was a girl with long, curly, golden hair. She said 'the monster that floats through walls.'" She sighs, distressed, and looks down as she stows her notes. "The accused may be many things, but he is not ghostly, nor is he a shadow monster, nor can he float, nor move through walls without breaking them. He did not kill any of these children, nor any of the other children in the village."
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If the Beast is on trial today, let's not forget that it's because it was caught into your University, people of Lepidstadt. He put quite a rampage here, destroying precious items and more mundane furniture, leaving an unmistakable path to follow, as any of your valiant guards could testify. Please keep that in mind.
One of the dead children was little Karin. While we were inspecting the small village of Herstagg, we found the house where she lived. People were quick to accuse the Beast of this foul deed. It was so convenient. Too convenient? Certainly. Because the villagers of Herstagg drove the Beast away from the vicinity two days BEFORE Karin died. Couldn't the Beast came back, avid of revenge and destruction, just to kill an innocent girl? He's the Beast, after all, a wild creature, prone to act of the vilest, cruelest violence. That's how everyone sees him.
But, if the Beast is just a mindless killer, just able to use brute force... Why does the small home of Karin shows ABSOLUTLY no sign of destruction? Not even a scratch on the door, or a broken brick on the wall? And why did we have to fight another undead? Only the master wraith we have defeated could enter a house through the walls, and enslave the poor girl's soul. This heinous crime WASNT committed by the Beast, COULDNT be commited by the Beast.
I'm asking that the Beast is judged not on his appearance, but on his acts. If he's guilty, let him be punished as the judges will see fit. But don't make him a scapegoat.Not EVERY crime committed in the town can be blamed on the Beast.
And speaking of judging on appearances... The Beast face is hold by stitches. Not for the faint of heart, I admit. But it can be deceiving too. Because of the stitches, when the Beast cries it LOOKS like he's laughing. If the judges can come closer...
Assuming the judges come closer, Vivian turns to the Beast, and tries to make it cry
I'm sorry, Beast, but I want you to speak about your friend Elsa in Herstag. You remember her well, I guess. She died from the blows of the wraith, and you couldn't protect her. You bought her body to the village, and the people there believed you killed her. Thats why they hunted you till you left the village, isn't it?
"Ladies and gentlemen of the court, I am Doctor Stefan von Herzog. I am a physician who practices out of this city... I believe that I have met more than a few of you before. In any event, I would like to provide my professional opinion regarding some human remains we discovered in Hergstag.
"Just outside of town, upon a hill, we encountered a malevolent spirit that tried to kill us. Thankfully, we were able to defeat it. The spirit we defeated is of a sort called a wraith by those who study such things. Wraiths are incorporeal spirits who hate the living, and are viciously jealous of them. They delight in draining the life-essence from their victims. The spirits of those slain by a wraith are twisted and become wraiths themselves. Yet this draining does not leave any physical marks on the body: to the untrained eye, the victim of a wraith appears to have died from no apparent cause.
"In a barrow beneath the hill where we destroyed this wraith, we discovered the skeletal remains of four children. None of the remains showed any signs of physical trauma at all: the skeletons were completely intact, with no fractured or broken bones. The remains are fully consistent with being drained of life-energy by a wraith. This also would be consistent with our encounters with several lesser wraiths, all of which appeared to be spirits of children.
"Now, I ask you to look upon the defendant—the so-called 'Beast of Lepidstadt.' He is obviously very large and very strong. If he had killed these children, he would have used his strength to commit this dark deed. Yet, if he had, the remains would show the trauma: fractured or broken bones. These remains showed no such signs.
"This leads me to my professional opinion as a physician and surgeon: The Beast was not responsible for the deaths of any of the children in Hergstag. The evidence leads to but one conclusion: perpetrator of these heinous acts in Hergstag was the wraith. The defendant is completely innocent of these charges.
"Thank you for your just consideration."
Vivian nods and smiles warmly at the good doctor. When he comes back , she presses his hand, and says
Nice words, Stefan.Let's hope they will be heard, not only by the judges, but by the attendance.
The green eyed redhead scans the crowd, trying to read the room
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"You have now heard many things that show that the children were killed by wraiths, not the beast. Much of that is based on the the beast being incapable of killing the way a wraith would or moving through walls as a wraith would. These facts, as given by my colleagues, are apparent to me as a Paladin of Eristal and Huntress of the Undead. But there is one fact that needs no training to understand. One fact that shows that the Beast did not do these murders.
The prosecution describes how The Beast was driven off after he tried to return the corpse of young Elsa to her family. He was driven off and fled. The beast was gone after that. Yet despite the beast being gone, young Karin was killed two days after the beast left. The beast could not have killed Karin. A different creature was still here however, the Master Wraith. The Master Wraith that could pass through walls and kill Karin without a mark on her body or disturbing was still haunting the village. We know that, because it was there when we used our magic weapons to kill it.
We have talked a great deal about the Master Wraith and that battle. But there were other, smaller wraiths that we fought as well. Wraiths the size of children. One wraith for each child killed. Dr. Von Herzog has spoken about how those that the Master Wraith killed would rise as wraiths themselves. The fact that we had to put to rest the wraiths the Master Wraith created when it killed the children is a final fact that shows that the beast did not kill these children."
Tara wearily steps out from behind the defense table, as she prepares to give her testimony. "Good p-p-people of Lepipdstadt, seven months ago your so-called B-beast of Lepipdstadt, was seen returning the body of young Ellsa to her family. I-if you re-recall, at that p-p-point four other children had already returned to the town as ghosts, or more accurately as wraiths. If Ga-The beast, had truly killed the other four children, why bring Ellsa back? Why not leave her body with the others? I-it is because, my good people, that the Beast is innocent of these crimes! He was trying to return the body of a poor child to her family, so that she might know rest and that her family may begin the process of healing." Shaking slightly as she returns to her seat with the others, Tara cannot help trembling as the jury and the courtroom breaks into hushed murmurs.
Bert comes to the stand first, with some boos and catcalls from the audience, and presents evidence that the group fought a wraith in the village. The effect on the Justices is unclear, but the crowd seems completely unaffected, with some people even laughing at him.
Sophie testifies next, revealing that she spoke to each of the dead children and confirmed they were murdered by a wraith. The Justices shift a little in their seats, perhaps moved by her testimony, but the crowd becomes absolutely aghast and angry at the idea of speaking to the dead. Someone screams, "That's desecration of the dead!" and the Chief Justice and Herald of Court have to stop the trial for a few minutes to quiet down the room.
Vivian follows up next, and is met with some low hissing despite efforts to calm the courtroom a minute before. She discusses the evidence surrounding Karin and attempts to make the Beast cry. Although the Justices refuse to move from their benches and the Beast appears stoic at first, he does eventually break down crying when Ellsa's name is mentioned and appears to be laughing when he does so. Judge Daramid gives her a barely perceptible nod of support, while a collective sigh of annoyance comes from the crowd.
Dr. Von Herzog comes up next, again to negative reaction from those present in the gallery. He gives his professional opinion concerning the condition of the dead children, pointing out that their remains show no signs of being injured by the Beast, but were consistent by being murdered by a wraith. The three Justices all seem impressed by the professional witness, but there is some more irate muttering about desecration coming from the crowd.
Amaria takes the stand after that, again to some insulting remarks, and ties together the death of Karin, the master wraith, and the smaller wraiths with her professional opinion as a Huntress of the Undead. Chief Justice Khard strokes his beard contemplatively at her testimony, while the crowd just seems to be becoming more full of wrath at all the exculpatory testimony.
Tara testifies last, pointing out that the Beast brought Ellsa's body back but none of the others. The Beast begins crying again as this topic is brought up, which prompts the crowd to explode into more insults and open threats. The trial is stopped once again to calm the crowd as some of the more rowdy members are removed.
Once order is restored, Chief Justice Khard calls a recess to the trial for the day.
With the growing discontent of the crowd, you recognize that the mob might very well decide to try to take justice into their own hands at some point very soon.
Afterwards, Barrister Kaple thanks the group again for all your excellent work despite the challenges, and reminds you that tomorrow is the last day of the trial. In that vein, he asks that you all look into the last set of charged revolving around the arson attack 4 months ago at the Sanctuary on Karb Isle, which resulted in the deaths of a Doctor Brada and his patients as well as the blinding of the doctor’s assistant, Karl. He suggests that you speak with Karl first, since he's the Prosecution's only witness.
Sophie shakes her head. "This is not going well. Maybe we are persuading the judges, but the crowd may move without the law soon."
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Either the girl wasn't focused on the task at hand, or she couldn't read the crowd as easily as Sophie
Really? You think they would attack the Beast, right here in the Court?
"People will do almost anything in a mob. Seen it more than a few times. We best be ready for a fight, not that we aren't normally, but these people believe they are right and he is the bad guy. They are think we might get him free." Bert says.
"Maybe in the court room... Maybe on jail house. We should notify the judges of our concern."
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Tara feels something amiss about how the whispers and outburst, but until Sophie mentions mob justice, it doesn't click. For a moment the cleric freezes her eyes growing wide, as she clutches the wooden facade with a white knuckle grip. It takes her a few moments to realize that her breath is coming out in shallow burst, as she begins to hyperventilate. "No. Mob's don't listen to reason or common sense. I-i I've seen something like this before." She sputters out in a higher pitch voice, gasping for breath at the end of each word. "T-they only care about what they think is right! We have to protect him! If-if we're not here, something could happen! I'm not going to lose another person to senseless violence! Please!" she practically begs, tears forming her eyes.
The doctor also gets a sense that the crowd in the gallery is becoming increasingly discontent with the proceedings of the case. After the trial is adjourned for the day, Stefan will seek out a member of the constabulary (e.g. the sheriff, the bailiff), and express his concerns that the mob may try to take the law into their own hands.
Stefan takes the Herald of the Court aside with his concerns about the mob, but the court officer merely waves him off, stating that this type of behavior is normal in a multiple murder case and that the defendant is quite safe in the courthouse jail. He does add, however, that if your group is really worried you could always stay the night in the building.
Stefan nods and thanks the bailiff for his observations and suggestion.
Returning to the rest of the group, the doctor says, "We have the rest of the day to continue our investigations. I would pose that we investigate Karb Isle this afternoon, then inquire at the Chymic Works this evening after we have returned. I might also suggest that it would be prudent to stay the night here in the courthouse, just in case a pitchfork-and-torch-bearing mob shows up to take the law into their own hands."
Bert nods.
He looks skyward and says "Won't have a lot of time to get there and back, we need to move quickly."
Follow me!
Vivian surprises even Stefan while navigating through small Streets and shortcuts the mage- who spend all these years at the local university- didn't even knew existed.Pointing at a house ,she says
I'm sure it's the right adress. Shall I Knock at the door so we can speak to this witness?
Stefan agrees with Vivian that she has the right address.
Vivian and Dr. Von Herzog are both quite familiar with the current location of Karl, perhaps having heard about the arson attack when it was in the news. The man's residence, a small cottage by the river in Lepidstadt, is easily found and Vivian knocks upon the door when you arrive. A short time later a young man with some burn scars opens the door, his eyes cloudy from blindness and a guide stick resting in his hand. "Yes, how can I help you?" He asks with curiosity.
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Amaria steps forward. "Karl, my name is Amaria and I am a paladin of Erastil. I'm sure you are aware that the trial of the Beast is proceeding, and my companions and I have been appointed as investigators by the Court. It is our job to make certain that the judges hear the entire truth so that Justice can be done in this case. I know the memories may be painful, but we would like you to recount to us all that you remember about the day the Sanctuary on Karb Isle burned. I know you have spoken with others, but it is important that we hear every detail ourselves."
"Oh, sure. Come in. I hardly ever have visitors." The man says with some excitement as he moves away from the door to let the group enter.
The cottage is modest and lacks any sort of decor, but with a bed and a few chairs it does provide enough seating for the group. "I'll be happy to tell you my story, but first I insist that you break bread with me. Oh, and I have a bottle of wine tucked away that I've been looking for a reason to open. Please, make yourselves comfortable while I get everything together." Karl says once it seems that everyone has entered, then he busies himself putting together a light meal of bread, butter, and some modest wine. Despite his disability, he has no trouble finding his way around the home and polite rejects any offers to help.
Once satisfied with the dining arrangement and with a glass of wine in his hand, the man relates his story. He begins at the start of the Sanctuary, explaining that Doctor Brada founded the institution to cure those unfortunate individuals afflicted with madness and physical deformity. Evidently Brada had a family member who was murdered by a mob due to their physical deformities. Karl had worked there for a few months as an assistant, helping with the patients and their treatments before the night of the fire. On that occasion, he was preparing to clear out some chamberpots when a fire broke out. He isn't sure why the fire started, but the last thing he saw before the fire took his sight was a shambling beast escaping the burning hospital while he tried to save his beloved Dr. Brada. He firmly believes that the creature was none other than the Beast of Lepidstadt. He doesn't regret attempting to save Brada, but he does lament that he wasn't able to recover the body. Karl also offers clear directions to Karb Isle if asked, mentioning that it is in the middle of some marshland.
"Do you believe that the beast started the fire?"
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"That would be a huge coincidence if he didn't." Karl replies to Sophie's question, then pauses a few moments to think before announcing, "Yes, I'm sure that he did."
"You got a good look at the beast? Not saying there's a lot of big hulking shambling beasts running around but did you see enough to make a no doubt that's him officer look?" Bert asks while studying the man.
What kind of doctor was Doctor Brada? How did he expect to cure deformed people? And what kind of man was he? Did he have any acquaintances? Did he worked alone, or were other doctors working with him??
The Young Redhead turns to Stefan
Have you heard of Doctor Brada, Doctor Von Herzog?
Furrowing her brow at Karl's testimony. "You said that you saw a shambling creature? Can you describe it in more detail? Did it have a particular gate or anything easily identifiable?" Tapping a finger against her lip, Tara contemplates the rest of the testimony, weighing the time left to speak with him here, versus the remaining daylight.