The group continues west along the edge of the south bank of the river, until a 3-mile stretch of the Tuskwater shoreline rises up above the water below here, presenting a swath of 40-foot- high cliffs and limiting access to the water below. The cliff tops are thick with stinging nettles.
"Kaeso's Point. . . I like the sound of that." Kaeso looks around at the land and attempts to see a bit more deeply.
Survival check:
He also looks around for prosperous farmland:
Profession farmer:
"Bingo, it's so good to have you riding with us again. I'd missed you. If only Norn. . . well, you know. . . "
"Yes it is good to have such a handsome rogue on our side. I mean with out you who would swagger about with ever a clever tactic" she said with a smile on her face as she giggled.
" Oh it is only unlady like when in public, In private you can be as 'unlady' like as possible" She says with a giggle
"Kaeso's Point. . . I like the sound of that." Kaeso looks around at the land and attempts to see a bit more deeply.
Survival check: 1d20+4
The cliff tops are thick with stinging nettles, but Kaeso's cunning survival instincts while exploring reveals a hidden trail that leads through the nettles and down a cliffside trail to a secluded pool, 50 feet in diameter, at the Tuskwater’s edge.
"Wait....Dris"Ionnia says as she gets off the horse and looks to Kaeso."How did you do that?"
"Spellcasters. . . . " Kaeso is still a little freaked out by the things Drispeera and Ionnia can do. "Well, I can lift heavy things!"
"I guess we had better follow. Dris! Wait! Big guys in armor go first!"
Kaeso follows, walking down the path.
"I am not a druid!" Ionnia says as she pulls out Maiden's Hammer. She than follows after them
Down at the bottom of the path a small pool comes into view. The pool is formed a few feet inland from the river's edge, but still quite large. This has in the past been quite a popular spot for fisherman that dare venture this far south into the Greenbelt.
There is not much left in this area. A quick search around finds a dead body in the mud, an old druid from the looks of him. He has a small spell component pouch on his belt, but outside that, little is to be found.
"Hmmmm, hang on" She quickly slips out of her shoes and hands them to Kaeso."be a dear and holds these for me whilst I examine our friend here"
She pins up her skirt and than walks into the mud to examine the body more thoroughly.
Ionnia can see he was definitely attacked, as he has some mortal-looking wounds, but can not discern if they are from a creature, weapons, or other stranger causes.
Kaeso looks around, shoes in hand.
Survival:
"Well, now that we are in charge, we had better find out what happened to him. It's our responsibility!" He looks a little more grown up and serious.
" Well he was killed, but by what or who that eludes me. maybe if we can move him and clean him up I can or Jhod can figure out what actually happened to this poor soul, and maybe than he can find peace." With that Ionnia kisses her holy symbol and than utters a soft prayer.
"May the Eternal Rose guide you to Pharasma's halls and may you be embraced by what ever deity you follow."she than looks at the others and nodded.
Kaeso searches around for some tracks, but the muddy area makes it almost impossible to recognize any tracks, new or old. He recognizes that on heavy rain seasons, this puddle actually probably connects to the river proper, and when the river is lower, it creates this pond.
Although no tracks are found, Kaeso does find what most probably inhabits this pond: There is a large amount of turtle or tortoise dung all around and in this pond.
There are no recognizable tracks. Could be any number of the amphibians.
"We can't have giant turtles eating fishermen!" says Kaeso earnestly. He peers into the pond, attempting to see if there are any big beasties in it.
Perception:
"I have a recipe for turtle soup!" She says as she looks at te pound wondering if anything lies with in.
Kaeso looks around some more, but is fairly confident there are no beasties he can see in the surrounding areas.
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Nothing, huh? Ionnia's turtle soup sounded good too. And no sign of what killed nature boy? If he's a druid, maybe he *is* a turtle sometimes. Sounds like a weird choice to me, but to each their own. Bingo, did you here any rumors about a druid living around here?
If we can't figure anything else out, I guess we take the druid back to town with us, and see if anyone else knows something about him.
Ionnia looks over the corpse to see if he bares any insignia or identifying features to reveal if he is a druid or not.
"I'd hate to leave this unsolved. Shoot. I'd throw a rock in the pond, but in all of the stories of monsters when I was a kid, that was when the monster would come out and eat everyone."
Kaeso absent-mindedly picks up a rock.
blinks." I can think of a few things, but you are our leader so toss it in Kaeso" Ionnia places her club on her belt and than readies her crossbow.
Kaeso looks hesitantly at his rock, but after a few moments steels himself and lets it fly. Perfect arc, it lands dead center in the middle of the pool. A mix of water and mud splashes out, and the rock immediately sinks...
The party waits anxiously, but no immediate threats come forth. After about a minute, two small figures start emerging at the edge of the lake. Much to the party's dismay, it is only two regular-sized turtles, slowly making their way out of the pond, and into the river.
The pond once again quiets down to still waters...
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Dris gives the turtles a wry glare. I was expecting a little...more. Between the pacifist worgs and these minnows we haven't seen much action this expedition.
Glances at the dead man. Mebbe we should take him back to town and see if Mornie can figure out more about what killed him. I don't like all these dead bodies that keep showing up with no explanation. The trapper, this druid, the... unicorn. She fingers the braid of unicorn mane tied to her wrist thoughtfully. I would like a few more answers and a few less questions. Back to town?
"If you really want too? but how are we gonna get them there?"Ionnia says and than looks at the body.
"Second who is gonna take this guy back"
Kaeso hoists the corpse onto his spare horse. "No problem carrying him."
He looks at his arms and makes a look of disgust. "He smells a bit, though."
Febreze spell, Whats Febreze? she says giving Dris an odd look
The group has a fairly easy travel around the lake, putting them back in town shortly after the sun has set the next day. Navigation has been easy, a nice somber full moon illuminating the way. In the morning, rested and recovered, the group gets a visit by Svetlana.
"Friends, welcome back. I heard that you were in town, and I needed to hurry over and let you know that something is amiss in the kingdom, and I think you need to know. A few days ago, some livestock were brutally slaughtered in their pens at an outlying farm; then two people were killed as well—a maid named Saki, who never made it home after her shift at an inn, and a shepherd boy named Beven, who (along with his flock) was attacked on his way back to town."
"The townsfolk of the city have been looking to me, and of course to you, to do something about the attacks. The rumors in town are that this is the work of bandits, or of some beast from the surrounding wilderness."
"The two human victims were killed on successive nights: just last night and the night before that. Both were killed outside of the town, Saki two nights ago while she was apparently gathering berries for breakfast, and Beven the next night as he returned his sheep to town. A half dozen of his sheep were slain as well, with the remaining 10 sheep scattered throughout the surrounding area."
"Kesten went out and investigated, but is stumped. No suspects or strange animals have been spotted! Please, if you can take care of this before you head out again, the townsfolk will be most appreciative! WE don't want the town to go into any panic."
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I guess it's time for the serious face again.Wow, it's good we got back when we did. Are the, um, bodies still available for, er, viewing? I'd like Ionnia, Kaeso, Bingo, and Akiros if he's around to see if they can get any clues about how they were killed. Speaking of which... we brought this guy from down South. We're not sure how he died either. Do his wounds look similar to the town's victims?
Akiros steps in "Certainly, we can inspect the bodies immediately."
The group goes down the hall to the makeshift morgue being used. Jhod is here, taking care of the corpses.
"Friends, welcome back. Good timing indeed! Here are the two human victims. Tragic, I tell you. Saki was very nice maid. Served me the best ale."
"I really hate dead bodies" Ionnia says as she looks at the body. She looks at them each respectively taking in all her years of knowledge.
"Well Our guy was not killed by what killed them. These two have been attacked by some large man sized animal, and all have been nibbled upon" Ionnia said as she sighed and looked to te others.
"maybe our newest allies might know of something?" She said trying to hint that they should talk to the Worgs to rule them out.
"maybe our newest allies might know of something?" She said trying to hint that they should talk to the Worgs to rule them out.
Yes, dammit. But why are they partially eaten? That's weird, isn't it?
Survival check, if that helps.
Critical survival check! I wish I could save some of these rolls.
I think you're right Ionnia, we should ask if our new friends know anything about this. Bingo, would you mind taking a quick run back to ask them? (GMNel, could you GMNPC him for a bit until he's with us again?)
And Jhod, we found this gentleman, but weren't able to discern much. We think he's a druid. He was found by a lake with turtle scat nearby. Not many footprints or anything. Can you tell *how* he died? Maybe you and Ionnia working together?
Jhod starts examining the body you brought to town. He shakes his head "Whelp, this man right here, I knew him. He is Johakis, an herbalist and Druid of the Green Faith. Nice enough fellow. Would come to the city to trade his herbs for some gold every now and again. Seems he was mauled by a turtle I'd say! Probably a snapjaw, Old Snapjaw if you found him at the Mud Bowl. Old Snapjaw is an old turtle. Lives down by the coast of the Tuskwater. Pretty mean, locals say has a taste for flesh. Nasty business."
Akiros and Kaeso, not knowing much about dead bodies outside of how to make them , go back out and search the crime scenes while Bingo departs to check on the Worgs. Searching around, Kaeso does find the signs of struggle. Animal paw marks are everywhere, with the reddish-brown stains of dried blood around them. Whatever attacked those people was alone. "All the animal tracks are identical, a single beast by the looks of it, then." Finally blurts out Akiros.
"I see, So this turtle did it, and we should probably go and slay said turtle before it does this to other unwary travelers through our lovely realm." She smiles at Jhod and than looks to Dris.
" We should probably deal with the death of our citizenry first than on to the man eating turtle... In which I have a recipe for soup"
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An extra-large wolf-type creature, eh? And attacks at night? Well, for our people's safety I think we ought to have a curfew at sundown tonight. Keston, could you make sure everyone knows they're to stay inside after dark? It would also be good if each home had a fighter-type to defend them.
And the wolf seems to go after sheep on the outskirts of town. Maybe we could set up an ambush, if one of the farmers would loan us his livestock. Someplace close to town that would look appealing to the wolf. Akiros, can you think of a good spot? I really hope it doesn't turn out to be our new friends. Don't want to get into war with them already.
And you're right, Ionnia, I think our turtle soup is gonna have to wait.
Dris hands her horse to a nearby hand. Can you get him unpacked for me? I suddenly have a strong urge for a drink.
Dris hits the nearest pub and begins asking around for rumors about sightings of the beast.
Roumors of the beast are sparse in the tavern today, even with the murders being the talk of the town. However, Dris and Ionnia chat almost everyone at the pub, which reveals that the barmaid and shepherd boy were killed on consecutive nights. Neither person seems to have had any enemies. A few locals ominously add that wolves were heard howling on both nights, and the word "werewolf" is muttered under the speaker’s breath at least once...
Having left the scene of the first crime, Kaeso and Akiros go on to the next scene, the one that happened just last night. Very similarly to the other site, there seem to be clear signs of a struggle. Paw prints are everywhere, but Kaeso is able to determine the freshest set, which lead into the woods nearby. The tracks lead into a nearby copse of trees, from which they do not emerge. Yet Kaeso's keen eyes find a set of bare human footprints leading out of the trees and toward town; unfortunately, the tracks become obscured by traffic upon entering town.