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Drendle Dreng summons you to his chambers at his usual hours, the hours most people are trying to get a good nights rest. "Pathfinders, with the resent discovery and completion of the sky key we find ourselves lacking in some basic elements, one of those is a material known as middenstone. I won't bore you with the details of the material or why we need it, but I need you to get it. That is why I am sending you to Ustalav, more specifically to a town called Carrion Hill. Secure a supply and make any deals you need to, just make sure we have a steady supply of the stuff. Any questions before you go?"
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It's been too long, it's good to see you back, Miko says with a genuine sense of... almost relief. It's good to be among friends again.
When Drengle speaks, she widens her eyes in disbelief for a moment. Ustalav... I've never been on that side of the border..
We can travel past the keep, right? The Fangwood is right there, on the west bank of Lake Encarthan? Miko says, trying to hide the fact - poorly - that she'd rather not hug the eastern coast of that lake.
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Tuich gives Khismia a hug, then ruffles Sabah's hair. "And you two as well!"
She offers Miko a hug also, keenly aware that something is bothering the woman.
"Carrion Hill... that's a Varisian enclave." The tone of her statement hints that Miko isn't the only one ill at ease. "Is that the nearest place to find this 'middenstone'?"
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Vincent gives a large grin to the others as he sees each of them in turn. "I'm glad to be teamed up with you all again. It's nice to have people in the world I can rely on to have my back when it matters."
At the mission description, Vincent chuckles haughtily. "Carrion Hill? I still don't understand town names in Ustalav. It's like they're actively trying to sound like terrible places to live in. Yes, come be a farmer in quaint little Undeadburg, next to Murder City and Horrible-Monster-ville."
"On a more serious note, is there a going rate for middenstone that would be good to make a deal at? Just some ballpark figure so we don't think we're getting a good deal for the society but actually getting horribly swindled."
He notices the unease of the others in the party. "Miko, I'm fine with taking whatever route you prefer. You're more well versed in the dangers of the world than I," he says, trying to give her an easy excuse to save face without knowing the real reason for her discomfort.
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At the mission description, Vincent chuckles haughtily. "Carrion Hill? I still don't understand town names in Ustalav. It's like they're actively trying to sound like terrible places to live in. Yes, come be a farmer in quaint little Undeadburg, next to Murder City and Horrible-Monster-ville."
Vyk strolls in slightly late, having heard the mission briefing from the doorway.
"Yeah, we should definitely bring that up with Ustalavic Board of Tourism."
Vyk smiles and greets his fellow Pathfinders warmly with hugs and manly handshakes.
***
Vyk asks, "Do we have any contacts in Muder Corpse Hill?"
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"In answer to your question Tuich, there doesn't seem to be any other place that makes middenstone. Mostly because one of the ingredients is an insect native to the area." Dreng looks to Vyk, "unfortunately we do not have any contacts in Carrion Hill, perhaps you could lay some ground work for a future lodge there. So keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities to show how beneficial having Pathfinders around can be. Now as far as price goes you'll probably have to shop around or get in good with someone to get the best price. I'll leave that up to you to figure out."
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Settling down after Vincent's word, Miko becomes self-aware, and slightly ashamedd.Well, yes... many would say the Sellen river route is the fastest route up north, to Ustalav. But that route takes you through the RIver kingdoms - a dangerous land, and the borders there... they tend to shift. You wouldn't want to end up in the wrong territory.
Miko ponders Tuich's remark and wonders what it means to her. I'm sure the land has a way of its own. Ustalav... the people have their customs there.
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When crushed, boiled, and mixed in the right proportions with powdered brick, bone and gravel, the roaches serve as the not-so-secret ingredient to create a substance called middenstone. This somewhat nauseating mauve material is similar to a mix between adobe and concrete. Kept in a semi-liquid and foul-smelling state in the large midden-vats of the Filth, raw middenstone can be molded into sheets, bricks, or many other shapes. Allowed to cool, middenstone has the same strength and hardness as wood but is much easier to mold and is relatively resistant to fire and rot. Middenstone is used for piping, bricks, siding and as a relatively cheap building material.
Middenstone has a peculiar, somewhat sickening violet hue which comes from the cockroach carapaces used in its creation, as well as an unpleasantly organic smell of tar, oil, and graveyards. The substance's main disadvantage is that is weathers badly and thus buildings incorporating it need more upkeep than those of stone. Of course, to the creators of middenstone and the owners of the vats, this is in many ways a welcome bit of job security, as there will always be a need for more middenstone.
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A man with half long black hair, a scar on his nose, and eyes in such a dark shade of brown that they're almost black enters the room. The man's got a cold iron longsword and silver warhammer hanging from his belt, and has a tower shield made of darkwood on his back. Though he's obviously from Avistan the man wears a type of heavy armor that's just as obviously from Tian Xia, made of both plates and lamellar elements. However, his most outstanding feature is the constant big smile on his face.
The man, who looks like he's give or take thirty years old, sits down and moves his gaze and big smile from person to person. "I'm Jeffrey! Was late 'cause some hag got a cat stuck in a tree. Had to cut the tree down to get the darn thing out."
Jeffrey looks at Vincent's three swords. "Huh... I forgot to buy a magic weapon... Crap..."
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Vincent greets Vyk warmly and introduces himself to Jeffrey with a smile. "It's good to meet a fellow man of battle. May Gorum grant you the same favor you give your steel," he intones.
Vincent sniffs at Miko's statement. "My guess is the Filth. I'll be sure to bring a change of clothes or two... and extra strength cologne."
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With no more questions the group makes it's way to Ustalav, avoiding any of the trouble area's that Miko suggests. The final leg of the journey is by a river barge and an hour out from Carrion Hill the skies fill with dark clouds and the rain begins. As the barge drifts into the docks of the Filth district it is obvious why it has this name. The waters are teaming with rotting garbage and other refuse. One good thing about the rain is that it smells to keep the smell down.
What you would expect to be a busy dock seems to be empty. No dock workers or other boats seem to be active but yours. The crew of the barge also seem to take notice of this and quickly unload you and head off. You start making your way toward the hill hoping to find more life in the rain drenched streets, but every shop is closed and every window barred. Just as you are about to knock on a door and get some answers you hear a voice on the wind, just over the sound of the down pour. "Carrion Hill needs heroes! Men of stout heart and bravery are asked to come to Crown Manor with all haste, there to receive a task worthy of their skill and talents and a reward of suitable magnificence. Make haste to Crown Manor! Make Haste!"
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Well, let's hope my stuff is not all out of place, then.
Miko's backpack doesn't feel heavier than usual - and she travels quite light - so she is pretty sure nobody is hiding in her pack. She turns around to Jeffrey and says What are you..., then blushes as she stares straight into the frown-smile. Rain doesn't get you down, now, does it?
Crown Manor doesn't sound too bad right now. As a matter of fact, any place indoor doesn't sound too bad. I'd almost visit a temple for it. Miko says, giving her best impression of a drowned cat.
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Vincent takes care to put a fairly wide brimmed water resistant hat on as the rain begins.
"What coincidental timing for us to arrive just as they're calling for heroes. Perhaps too coincidental..." Vincent muses to the others after hearing the voice.
Assuming it doesn't seem too much like an obvious trap, Vincent will agree with Miko and follow her to where Crown Manor should be.
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Miko leads the way up the rain soaked streets toward the top of the hill. The narrow cobblestone streets that should be crowded with merchants and beggars remain eerily empty. Even the crows seem to be keeping their distance circling the skies over Carrion Hill. After a few missed turns through the rain drenched streets the group find the Crown manor.
As you approach you can see to men in black leathers and chain shirts guarding the door and both men are armed with bow and longswords. They almost seem to do a double take as the Pathfinders approach and open the doors to let them inside.
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Jeffrey enters the manor without a word, just smiling at the guards as he passes them. Once inside he pats Miko's shoulder way too rough and laughs. "Hahaha! Finally dry, huh, short stuff?!"
He shakes his head wildly from side to side, launching the water from his hair much like dogs do.
"Aaaaand dry!" he declares when done, then looks around at the manor's interior.
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The interior isn't what really grabs Jeffrey's attention, it's the number of armed men wearing the black chain and leather armor that are inside the manor. One of them approaches the Pathfinders, "Mayor will be glad to see you lot. He's over here in his study." The man leads the group over to a small office off the main foyer. Sitting in a tall-backed chair is a dark haired man with a very distracted and worried expression on his face. As the Pathfinders enter the room he straightens up says, "At least we've got a few backbones still upright in this place" as he gestures for the Pathfinders to sit down.
“I thank you for attending in our hour of need—Carrion Hill has a long history of battle, yet always before its enemies have attacked from outside our walls. We are fortified to defend against such attacks, but now we face an entirely different threat. Our enemy is already here, dwelling in the tunnels and catacombs below and surfacing to strike without warning."
“As you may have heard, the first of these attacks occurred early this very morning, when something huge came up from below in a part of the Tangles called Slipper Market. It partially destroyed a building and killed a half dozen locals before retreating into the ruined structure. The Crows were swift to reply, led by our own Commander Garus, but when they arrived, they were slaughtered to the last."
“Since then, the thing has moved on, surfacing no less than three times in different parts of the city, crushing buildings from below and slaying anyone it finds inside. I’ve got the entire force of the city watch in reserve, and with each new event they respond quickly, but the damage is always done by the time they arrive. Already there is talk of war and invasion, but I still believe that what we face is a single horror. If we can only figure out what it is, we might be able to defeat it. And this is where your group comes in—the horror has moved on from its initial point of entrance, but if you can explore the ruins in Slipper Market, perhaps you can find some sort of clue to tell us what it is we face. I cannot spare any of my Crows to aid you, for they are needed in keeping order in the streets, but if indeed you can find something… anything… about this monster from below, I will pay you handsomely: 1,500 gold for solid information, and twice again that amount for aiding in defeating the horror.”
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As they enter, Vincent removes his hat, quickly realizing that it had done little to protect him from the rain.
Vincent listens attentively to the mayor. He's still checking for clues that this might be a trap, but is hopeful that it's not.
He clears his throat and replies, "Thanks for being so upfront about the situation you're in, Mayor. I think I speak for all my fellow present members of the Pathfinder Society in saying that we'd be happy to help, since hunting monsters is something we're particularly good at. We're not simple traveling mercenaries though. We're here to broker a deal for middenstone for the Society. If you can add "making a fair deal for middenstone" to the list of rewards, I think we might have a deal. We can work out the specifics after the deed is done, of course."
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Tuich had been uncharacteristically quiet as the group made its way into Ustalav. As the group disembarks at Carrion Hill she looks around, taking in the "ambiance" and wrinkling her nose at the stench, rain-dampened or not.
"You know," she says, uttering nearly the first words since their journey began, "I spent over a turn of the seasons trapped in a pocket dimension, surviving in a rotting abandoned tavern in the middle of nowhere alongside the likes of a Hellknight and a Sacred Prostitute of Calistria." She rubs her arms and shivers. "This is already worse."
By the time the group reaches the manor, Tuich is doing an admirable impression of a drowned rat in reply to Miko's similarly deceased feline. Her hair collapsed, silks drenched and clinging to her form, she stands to the back of the group and tries to look inconspicuous.
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Miko coughs when Jeffrey slaps her lite frame on the back, thoroughly shaking her, then hears the muttering of Tuich, and can't help but snap.
I'm worse than a prostitute of Calistria, and Jeffrey is worse than a Hellknight, Miko says with a frown, this manor is worse than a rotting tavern and this whole town has a monster under its bed. Are you finally trying to make friends, Tuich?
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Truth be told, I was awfully moody that day, and the remarks of Tuich hit me harder than they should have. She is just... she is so hard to understand. We fight all these monsters, but somehow we never seem to be able to defeat the ones that are hurting her so much.
----
--Miko Teppen, Personal Journal
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I'm worse than a prostitute of Calistria, and Jeffrey is worse than a Hellknight, Miko says with a frown, this manor is worse than a rotting tavern and this whole town has a monster under its bed. Are you finally trying to make friends, Tuich?
Freezing in place, Tuich's mouth and eyes fly open and she somehow manages to simultaneously flush with embarrassment and go pale. "What?! No, that's..." she stammers, "that's not what I meant at all, I..."
Her mouth continues to work briefly, but words escape her. After a few moments she beings walking again, now behind the rest of the party, head down and seemingly paying undue attention to the ground before her.
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"Middenstone....yes yes I'm sure I can make you the deal of a life time if you can take care of this problem." He turns to Jefferey. "The public isn’t aware of the exact nature of these attacks yet, and that’s by design. At present, the citizens seem to think that hiding in their homes offers protection—if word were to get out that homes seem to offer no safety, Carrion Hill would be seized in a panic
that would be very difficult to control. I need the Crows on standby if word gets out and the citizens start to riot. Also can you blame me for wanting a bit of protection for myself?"
The mayor then turns his attention to Miko and her questions. "Whatever emerged to destroy the buildings was certainly the size of a giant, judging by the extent of the damage it inflicted, but those who saw these events have difficulty describing it—it was as if the buildings were pulled apart from within. Some few who saw more say that the creature itself was strangely hard to see, as if it kept to the shadows or were invisible. Since the initial attack in the early pre-dawn hours, and the death of Garus and his men at dawn itself, there have been two additional incidents, both on the western slope and involving houses crumbling down into sinkholes. In both cases, the resulting pit had no apparent entrance to chambers below, but the ruins were slathered and drenched in a foul-smelling slime the likes of which no one has ever seen before."
The mayor seems the slump back in his chair. "I really wish there was more I could share with you. Perhaps if you visit the site of the first attack you could learn more. I'll have two of my men take you down there if you wish."
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Let's not... Miko says with hesitation .. let's not be too visible investigating this. Who knows who is behind these attacks, we'd be better of not making our involvement known. Miko says, then considers the fact that they've answered a rather vocal cry across town. Insofar as that is still possible.
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"Yes, excellent." The mayor says as he motions for two Crows to escort the Pathfinders. "I'll get to work on setting up a generous offer of middenstone for when you defeat the creature."
The Pathfinders head back out into the downpour and empty streets. As they approach the first site in the Slipper Market they see at least two dozen Crows have surround the site, but don't give the group any trouble as their escorts lead them through to a side street. One of the Crows lifts the rope to allow access. "You'll find Tarrig's home and the partially ruined building through here."
Just inside the roped off area the guards have set up benches under a barely functioning open tent. Here are the remains of three bodies.
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Tuich's gaze roams the area as they approach the site, scanning the streets and buildings. It drops from the windows to the slain as the party enters the tent, and Tuich gasps at the slaughter evident before her. Her wet hair and clothing barely stir, but those familiar with Tooley know the oracle is being buffeted by a spirit wind.
"Oh no.. this is... terrible," she says as she sinks to her knees beside one of the bodies. She lowers her head in silence for a few moments, then places a hand tenderly on the arm of the nearest deceased. "Tonight I will ask Ashava to help guide your spirits."
Standing again she mutters, "Though if it continues to rain like this I won't be able to light a candle for the ceremony. I may have to..." A shudder shakes her, though whether from the horror before her, a chill, or personal fear is uncertain. "... dance," she finishes lamely.
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I agree with you on the color, Vincent. You'd think that with a name like this, the locals would make some effort to cheer things up. Carrion Crown, village of flowers, that kind of stuff.
We'll go checking everything in this place... Miko catches a little tune while walking through the street,...you'll never know who is looking on.
Arriving at the site of destruction, Miko just stares for a moment in silence, when Tuich voices the exact thoughts that are running through Miko's head. Terrible... she just echoes. ... just snuffed out like that.
Although Miko can't quite piece together the full meaning of Tuich's remark, she does gather the significance and the religious undertone. I can't... Miko says, almost as a reflex reaction, then corrects herself and says I can help you with that.
Miko looks around the area for eyewitnesses to interrogate. Barring that, she'll investigate the foundations of the house, seeing if she can discern any kind of tunnel or other traces.
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At Miko's comment, Tuich looks over with glistening eyes that hint at confusion over the woman's comment. After one more sorrowful look at the dead and a sad sniffle, the oracle leaves the tent and heads in a different, random direction from Miko.
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Miko takes a moment to inspect the building as Tuich wonders off to try and find someone willing to talk.
The side of a single-story wooden house has collapsed outward into this ten-foot-wide alley, adding to the clutter and refuse. The roofs provide some shelter from the rain, leaving swaths of blood and gore on walls here and there. The hideous smell wafting out of the ruined building is as unplacable as it is stomachturning. Perhaps the strangest is the huge spiral-shaped smear of blood on the wall opposite the partially collapsed building— sheltered by the rain, this ominous rune rises high on the side of the building, as if something enormous had used a broken and bleeding body as a brush to paint its mark.
Tuich manages to get a little info out of one of the Crows. Though they all seem to be a bit on edge and not very talkative. She finds out that the three bodies where the only ones they were able to recover out of more then a dozen victims. Also there was one eye witness who lives across the street that would be willing to talk, a man named Tarrig.
Tarrig is very eager to point out that he was the one that called the guards and very rapidly spits out his story. “As every morning, the Slipper Market was awake early. The merchants set up stalls in the two hours before dawn and prepare their wares, and that was when a terrible something came crashing out of Marshan’s house. There were an awful lot of screams, and the entire house shook as if some great invisible hand had taken hold of it and was trying to push it into the ground or crumple it in its fist. I ran for the watch, but by the time we’d come back, it was all quiet. Wasn’t more than a few heartbeats after the guards entered Marshan’s home that the shaking and the screaming began again. Some of the guards ran back into the street only to be lifted into the air by something unseen and crushed most horrifically; it left behind only a few bodies, whatever it was. The house has been quiet ever since, but that doesn’t mean that the monster’s gone!”
Miko manages to add to the interviews by getting a few of the locals to pop their heads out to answer a few questions. No one else seems to have seen anything but they do add that the man who lived in the destroyed building was an old man named Marshan. He kept to himself and most people seem to agree that he was some sort of retired adventurer living off the spoils of his life raiding tombs and slaying ogre. Didn't get many visitors, but he did they always came at night and left before dawn.
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Vyk fumbles around as the ladies lead the investigation. He knew quite a bit about magic and planar monsters, but people consistently baffled him unless they were hammered.
And speaking of being "hammered" -- Vyk got a good look at Tarrig and recognized the tell-tale signs of someone looking for a fix. Vyk couldn't say offhand for what Tarrig was jonesing for, but he had a suspicion that it wasn't dwarven fire whiskey.
He whispers to Miko and Tuich, "I think Tarrig is an addict of some sort."
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"You look like you're talking about something. What is it?" Jeffrey asks Vyk and Miko.
Vyk shrugged and answered him quietly, "Tarrig is showing signs of addiction. Can't say for what exactly. And it might not be important. But still we should be thorough."
He looks back to the others and gestures for them to follow him to Tarrig's place.
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[dice=Heal (as "Medical Perception")]d20+5[/dice]
After circulating and speaking with a few of the villagers, Tuich rejoins the group and relates what she learned. She nods at Vyk's assessment. "Yes, and he seems to be in need, too. But I'm more inclined to trust his account in that state, than if he were flying high."
"The bit about things going quiet until the Crows went in... do you suppose the same will happen again if anyone else enters?" She shivers briefly.
When Vyk makes his suggestion she nods in agreement and falls in behind him.