As the group makes its way upstairs, they are greeted by another horrific sight. A man's body has been attached to the wall by several hooks that you surmise would have been used to hang equipment. The entire body is mutilated, but the face and chest are the worst areas.
The man's entire face has been carved away, and his lower jaw is missing. Someone has taken a blade of some sort and carved a rune in his chest, that of a seven-pointed star. The only identifying feature is the faded tattoo of a raven on the bottom of the man's stomach.
"Tal, how could it have been Aldern unless he was the one that made the undead or was the one that was made into the undead? It wasn't a zombie, either. The smell would have faded by now," Kiley says as she walks up the stairs after him.
Once they the immediately turns around and rushes down teh stairs, tripping on the last three and landing on her hands and knees. She scrambles for the door, barely making it outside before her stomach heaves and heaves. Nothing comes up, but her body insists on removing whatever was left.
After a few minutes she stops, and is able to take on shuddering breath after another. She turns to the guard, her whole body shivering from the ordeal.
"I-if anyone needs me, I'm headin' to see Ven. I think I'd be more useful helpin' him than pukin' m'guts out here."
With that, she staggers back to the garrison to see Ven.
With the horrifying sight before her, Jessica quickly regrets her decision to come up stairs. Relieved that she already emptied her stomach she quickly says, "I'll go with you Kiley," and runs after her honorary sister.
"Guess they didn't want him to tell us anything." Sunday flatly muses when he sees the scene on the second floor. When Jessica and Kiley rush off though he just as quickly turns and follows after them, not at all comfortable with her being nearly alone while a serial killer is after her.
Once they are a little ways away, Kiley looks to Sunday and Jessica.
"Thanks for coming with me. Shayliss may be a pain, but Katrine has always been nice. Ven's... Ven's probably not taking this well."
She draws closer to Sunday's side, without even realizing she's doing it.
"As for Aldern, he was a noble that we saved when the goblins attacked. He took us on a boar hunt, and we haven't heard from him since that night. I think he went back to Magnimar or Korvosa, or wherever he's from. I'm afraid that Tal's going to find that a dead-end. For all we know, this maniac is calling himself 'His Lordship' because it stokes his own ego."
Kiley's eyes look troubled as they continue to walk. She looks at both of them, her body shaking and her knees beginning to buckle.
"Th-the most troubling thing isn't that a ghoul did this. It's that someone is doing this because of me. I-- I'm scared. I-I don't know who'd be after me and I'm scared because I don't know what to do!"
No tears come this time. Kiley may be strong and tough, but she's still small and young, and vulnerable. The wounds that had been re-opened at Thistletop were still raw, and this newest development seemed to be eroding what little resolve had survived that emotional fiasco.
"I-I'm scared," she says again, her voice small and helpless.
"This is fascinating", Elisai remarks, her eyes glinting at the sight. "We have, a man here with a strange symbol on his chest, and a women thrown in a log splitter".
Considering the situation for a moment, Elisai turns to Tal "I think its likely that this man here was the intentional target, and that this women was an unexpected development...otherwise why not draw the symbol on her body as well?".
Frowning slightly as Elisai inspects the symbol before shrugging "I don't know the significance of the symbol myself, what it stands for, why its used in this instance, or indeed, anything about it."
Not knowing what to say at first Sunday just digs his fingers into the palms of his hands until Kiley starts to hold herself accountable for the murders. At that point he immediately puts his hand on her shoulder. "Just because someone is after you and hurts other people along the way doesn't mean this is your fault. That's what monsters do. They hurt people. If not you, then someone else."
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"Perhaps the noble met his demise somehow and returned from the dead. No one has seen him recently right? It is as good a place as any to start." Tal replies to Kiley.
As they come upon the scene Tal is as taken aback from the gruesome sight as they others are.
"Such cruelty. I think you are right Ellisai. A lot of work and time went into this one. And again the Thessalonian seven pointed appears before us. Perhaps this is part of some ritual."
Delendir places his tough raw hand on Kiley's other shoulder, holding like that with Daud for a moment while still looking at the corpse "You have nothing to be scared. This might be the product of a crazy man, but we are here to protect you. Just do not stay alone until we find out a solution for this."
Looking at the star he says "Thassilonian seven pointed star? What is that exactly Tal? I would say it is the same symbol as in Nualia's medallion. Who has it? Can we compare it for reference? What can be the relation between this and Nualia?"
He looks then at the raven "What is this raven about? Might that be related to the group that gave Nualia the medallion? Her letters say she was at Magnimar with the Skinsaw Cult and the leader gave her the medallion."
Tal knows that Banny Harker, one of the mill operators, had a tattoo of a raven on his stomach. It was also a not-so-secret secret that he and Katrine would meet for trysts in the lumber mill.
Delendir is unable to tie the raven to any type of noble house.
He rutinarily checks the place for more clues.
And not recognizing the symbol, Delendir forces his guts to approach the victim and try to get more information on when and how he died.
Turning to everybody remaining in the room "What is it about the star symbol. Everything started to screw up when Nualia found that symbol, and here it is again. We need to discover what happened here, we can try to follow the track we found underneath. What do you think?"
As Delendir inspects the room, he notes a handaxe laying on the floor near the entry area of the log-splitter. There is blood on the handle, and fragments of flesh and bone on the axehead.
As for the body, once Delendir inspects it more closely, he can ascertain that there are shallower marks on the body, besides for the deeper blade carvings. These marks were made by a clawed, five-fingered hand. The rotten, necrotic smell is strong around the scratches, as well.
Disgusted by the finding Delendir turns to Tal "This is weird Tal, it seems like the body has been hit with this bloody axe, then it was attacked by something with claws, but not normal claws, a five fingered ones, like a humanoid. There is a necrotic stench, you might be finally right about the undead."
"I suggest we try to follow the tracks now. Who wants to follow? We can then interrogate the people who discovered the crime, and Verek." Delendir looks interrogative at the remaining companions.
If all of them seem to approve, he goes downstairs and tries to follow the stench tracks.
When Delendir inspected the remains of the man, he determined the blade used to carve the seven-pointed star in the man's chest was very sharp. It certainly wasn't an axehead that made those wounds.
As Delendir expertly follows the tracks, they lead out to the timber pier. The muddy tracks begin where the pier meets the river, leading the ranger to believe that a bare-footed man clambered up onto the pier from the muddy riverbank, then entered the mill.
Delendir descends to the riverbank and tries to determine from where the bare-footed man came. Whether if he succeeds or not, he heads back to communicate his finding to the rest of the party.
Delendir is not able to follow the tracks for long, as they descend into the river itself.
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"The tattoo indicates that this is Banny Harker. He and Katrine we saw downstairs did the deed in her often enough. I guess her timing was very unlucky.
Hmm, yes it would be bad if that cult that guided Nualia on her path of vengeance has found another subject that they corrupted and sent against this town. Let's follow those tracks and see where they lead. Hopefully we can find whoever did this soon enough before anyone else falls victim to him." Tal says and follows after Delendir whilst he is tracking.
He and Katrine we saw downstairs did the deed in her often enough.
"Whomever did this was clever enough to conceal his track into the river basin." Delendir says frustrated as he and Tal reach the river.
"Ok, let's rejoin with the others and follow the other hints Tal. Can we summarize the open lines to research?"
Unless Tal has any idea on how to follow the tracks from here, the half-elf will accompany him to check for the others and find what is the best course of action.
Seeing there is no people outside the Lumber Mill, Delendir checks for the group tracks.
"I think I can feel Jessica's perfume going in that way." the half-elf points towards the garrison "I guess they went to interrogate Ven. Let's head towards there." and so the ranger follows the rest of the party to the garrison.
Kiley, Sunday, and Jessica reach the Garrison a bit before the others. While they start talking to Hemlock, the others arrive, having garnered all the clues they could.
The Sheriff says, "I wanted you all to go ahead and investigate the murder site so we could get it cleaned up. I'm holding two men here right now. Ven Vinder as chief and sole supect, and Mr. Ibor Thorn, Mr. Harker's co-worker and the one who discovered the bodies. I wasn't able to get much out of him, but you folk have proven adept at such things before."
"Is it alright if I speak with Ven," Kiley asks Sheriff Hemlock. One hand holding Sunday's.
"Of course. I wouldn't presume to tie your hands, since you are helping me with this investigation. Speak with whom you will."
Not knowing either of these man or the victims but realizing they and the circumstances were rather dire to Kiley Sunday remains silent while he holds her hand, bracing it incase she wanted to near break it again.
Kiley goes to the cell block and finds Ven behind one set of bars, pacing back and forth. The man looks exhausted, but is red in the face, obviously very angry and upset.
Jessica goes back with Kiley and Sunday to speak with Ven, though she lets Kiley do the talking for now.
Delendir comes to the cells and observes for a while trying to guess how Ven is feeling about what happened tying to guess if he has something to do with the murder.
If no one poses a question the half-elf starts by asking "What happened in the sawmill Ven?"
Kiley asks the guard to let her into Ven's cell. Once inside she wraps her arms around his middle, giving him a hug.
"I-I know you didn't do it Ven. You love both Katrine and Shayliss more than anything, so I know you didn't do it," she tells him quietly.
The older man accepts the hug, not necessarily acknowledging it, but stopping so as not to bowl Kiley over. "Tell that Shoanti bastard out there that, then! My daughter's been killed, and instead of grieving I have to answer questions !"
"He didn't have anyone else that could have a reason to do it, Ven. We'll get you out, and we'll find who killed Katrine. I promise that you'll see their head on a pike," Kiley growls, the embers of her temper flaring in the horror and alcohol numbed parts of her mind.
"Whoever did it is either one of the walking dead or a necromancer, their death will not be swift and merciful, Ven. That I can promise you," she whispers as lets the anger build. There may be another murderer in Sandpoint, but Kiley was no helpless little girl this time.
Oh no, she is not helpless this time.
"What? How do you know all that?" Ven finally focuses on the girl in front of him, face flushed from anger and fatigue.
"I think he is really affected for what happened Kiley." says the half-elf to the fighter.
Looking back to Ven he adds "Look Ven, we might find what happened eventually by our own, but the faster we solve this crime, the earlier you will go out of that cell. Thus I recommend you collaborate with us and everything will be ok." he makes a pause.
"I am sorry but we cannot unveil how we got the information we got right now, but we will explain you in detail once it is solved. For now, what we need from you is to explain us every single detail you might recall about yesterday and those two." he looks at the man's eyes before continuing.
"What were they doing in the sawmill yesterday? Did Katrine or Shayliss had any enemy in Sandpoint or abroad? And what was their relationship? Were they ok with each other?"
Sunday looks at the half-elf like he's gone half-mad. "We know undead were involved because there was evidence at the sawmill. And the reason the two were at the sawmill is rather obvious."
The owner of the General Store looks at Delendir for a moment, speechless, then yells, "They were meeting there to f@#%, you fool! As for yesterday, I operated my store, then closed up shop, then went to bed! I don't escort my daughter to the sawmill to meet up with that blasted Harker!"
Delendir tries to assess if the man is trying to be ironical or saying the truth about the relation between both of the dead.
"Well, Sunday already explained you the whereabouts of our ideas. You know what we know. Any idea of whom might have hated them to the point of attacking them? It seems the assassin came from the river bank, so he probably wanted not to be seen by anyone in town."
Ven explodes again. There is a vein throbbing at his left temple that looks ready to blow. "How would I know, you idiot! I didn't like Harker, for sure, but I wouldn't kill him, and definitely not my girl! Ask that f&$!er Ibor. He found the bodies! And they have ME locked up!"
"Delendir, I think that's enough," Kiley says in a flat, deadly voice, "Ven didn't do it, and I don't think we'll find anything more from him, especially if you keep pissing him off."
She turns to Ven, looking up at the big man with eyes that burned with anger that was buried deep.
"I'll talk to Belor and get you out of here, okay? I think he's only worried that you'll do something dumb, and frankly, he's not the only one," she tells him in a softer tone, "We'll find them, Ven, and I promise that your daughter will be avenged."
Ven looks down at Kiley, then nods once, fiercely. "Fine. But if I'm not out of this cell soon that Shoanti a##%&%# will be looking for someone else to supply his garrison!"
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Tal walks over to Belor with Kiley and sums up the total findings at the scene. Including the meaning of the symbol.
"Belor, we can be sure Ven didn't do the killing. The marks on the body indicate an undead creature with sharp nails. Kiley suggests that the smell could only be left behind by a ghoul or ghast. We found tracks going all the way to the waterbed. Let the man go and grieve. But keep sn eye on him that he doesn't start a lynching crowd. Though we have a couple of clues, we are not totally sure about the identity of the killer."
Tal takes a moment for the words to sink in snd looks from Belor to Kiley for a moment before continuing. "I would like to talk to Nualia actually. There might be a link with some cult she met before coming back to Sandpoint. She could have some valuable information. "
-Posted with Wayfinder
Hemlock nods his assent to Tal, taking in the extra information that he was unaware of. "I concur with your findings. Katrine's death seems like an accident...wrong place at the wrong time kind of deal. The true target was Harker. Just don't know what it's about."
The Sheriff again nods, "Yes, talk to Nualia. I've found a place for her in Korvosa, away from all this mess, where she can be of service to the young Queen down there. She'll probably head out with an escort tomorrow."