Iozif waits for the introductions before answering his new companion's questions.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all, though nicer circumstances would have been preferable. I must admit I do not recall your name master Appleton, though I would much like to hear some of these stories of yours. I consider myself a bit of a patron of the arts you see."
"Whiskey Jack you say? That's a rather interesting name, you must tell how you came by it some day. As for myself, you correctly surmise I'm not much good with a bow, nor a sword for that matter. No, I'm more of the scholarly type as you can probably see. I study magic, in particular its application in defence. If that manticore comes back I'd be happy to give you a demonstration."
"Kawrock of the phoenix clan, it is an honour to meet you." Iozif will bow to the bird-man as he says this. "Any friend of Professor Lorrimor is a friend of mine, regardless of history or appearance. As for curses and omens and the like, I like to consider myself above such superstitions. You would certainly not be the first colleague of mine to show certain... avian tendencies"
As if to highlight this point, Iozif holds his left hand in the air and clicks his fingers. Seemingly from nowhere a small, jet black raven swoops down to land on his shoulder, where it too bows in the direction of Kawrock.
"Now, to the business at hand. As much as I find the idea abhorrent, I'm afraid I agree with Arval. Whenever there's trouble around these parts it seems there's an empty grave behind it somehow."
The graves are indeed empty. You hear angry mutterings from the swampers in their boats, but they don't make any move as the graves are checked.
Allegation:
- The Beast murdered 10 people in Morast, which is verified by a witness (Lazne) who saw the Beast attacking the village.
Clues:
- Six graves with missing bodies
- A campfire which had a waterskin, some old rations, and a used alchemist's darkvision extract.
- A coracle with some dried blood in it which held a detatched human
face, a bag with an artisan's outfit, and a body-sized bag with a rope, a gag, a lantern, some knives, and a shovel
- A case filled with fine tools that bear a distinctive amethyst on them
- A manticore whose nest had a dead dwarf, although this is comparably recent to the Beast's alleged attacks.
The witness' story:
- People who left Morast went missing while out. People blamed The Beast, and eventually something was breaking into huts and stealing people.
- The village rounded up an angry mob who attacked a large shambling figure. It swam away from the village to the boneyard.
- At the boneyard, it was bitten by a caiman and swore violently, and was dragged under.
The Beast's story:
- The Beast claims to have never visited Morast.
"There are rather a few unknown facets to this problem, but there are two that stand out to my eye: First, these tools. They don't look like the kind that just anybody would use. I'd say someone probably paid a lot for these and I doubt they meant to leave them here."
"The other problem seems to be a missing suspect. The witness say the creature they followed was dragged under by the caiman, but the beast says he's never been to Morast. So assuming he's telling the truth, and I think for now we must, that means the real suspect might still be down there. On the other hand, so might the caiman..."
Kawrock ruffles his feathers, "So I am going swimming again?"
"I'd rather not see that again but I think it might be needed."
He turns to the others.
"Could you like.. buff him? Don't know how it works but I've seen and felt you do it. He might need it down there."
Arval seems a bit awkward about the whole magic stuff, not knowing what he is talking about.
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A doctor? I suppose you get that if you're a wizard. I'm Vladlena Firehair, but you can call me Lena. I'm a sorcerer of firey temperament (ha ha my little joke). You know we found a spellbook a while back, but we had to destroy it, a big bad wizard spook was trying to kill us and it was his spell book, long story and Eldon probably would tell it better, just ignore the fact that he says he's the hero that's just artistic license, but anyway we beat him and alot of other nasties, anyway to point, if the suspect is in the water her might be under the boat that was here, a interesting thought, bet he is very icky by now, so...
Lena goes over to the old coracle. Arval, be a dear and pull this thing onto the shore. We can have a good look at it, or more to the point below it in the water, Kawrock make sure you hold your breath you don't want to swallow dead person.
"Here, before ye go down there, le' me be helpin' ye ou' some." Whiskeyjack spit into his hands and rubbed them together. Then, he placed them on Kawrock's shoulders and looked him right in his beady eyes. "Ain't too many birs tha' like t' swim. Be careful down there." With that statement, he channeled a bit of Angrad's foresight into the druid.
Iozif inspects the tools closely, as he does so he notices a stylized raven symbol on the base of each tool. These have no arcane significance, but he's fairly sure tools of this quality, if they're local, would come from the craftsman's quarter in Lepidstadt.
Kawrock checks the water by the coracle - it's actually quite shallow in the area near the boat; three to four deep at most, although the gruond is extremely soft.
Lucky for Kawrock his avian feet do not get easily stuck in the mud. He takes a look around the coracle for anything unusual.
Kawrock thoroughly searches the swamp near the island, much to the amusement of the three swampers watching from their coracles. Unfortunately, he does not turn up anything.
"I' be lookin' like there ain't much more here t' find. Easy t' see tha' someone or somethin's been hangin' ou' here fer a while, up t' no good. We ken probably be findin' more abou them tools, and the face...well, tha' ain't no good. Mebbe someone from th' village would recognize it?. Lookin' like someone's doin' somethin' with bodies, an' when they run out o' bodies in th' graveyard, they started takin' people from th' village."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Arval pulls in the boat and lets Lena inspect it. He makes another round on the island scanning the area.
"I have the feeling we are missing something."
He says as he starts his round.
"As much as I'd like to get back to town and see if this Raven means anything to any craftsmen, it would be prudent I think to ensure we don't miss anything as Arval here says."
Iozif wanders off around the shore looking for any evidence of where someone may have been dragged into the swamp.
"I for one would have thought that a Caiman dragging a huge beast into the swamp may have left some sort of trail."
Arval and Iozif give the small island another once-over, but do not turn anything more up. The incident with the creature alleged to be the Beast was a while ago, and so any trail would be very old.
"Considering the incident was some time ago, I believe it to be unlikely we'll find a trail."
Despite saying it's unlikely, Eldon spends two more minutes to search for old tracks.
Eldon makes sure he sticks with Iozif while searching for trails. "As Lena mentioned, it was I who beat the cult of ghostly villains we encountered at Harrowstone. Have you ever beaten a cult of dead evildoers? No? Really? Well that doesn't surprise me, as it's something most people would find hard to accomplish. Let me give you some advice, may you ever run into such a cult while I'm not around. The most important things to do is to make sure you have the proper tools..."
"So am I done here or am I going to try and fish up a blood caiman?"
If the search turns up nothing and the party decides to go back to town, Eldon will continue to rant during the journey. Otherwise he'll finish his rant at the boneyard. "...and when you've hit them with your enhanced magic weapon of dead cultist slaying, you should make sure you close the bottle. After closing the bottle you get something that looks like this."
Eldon produces the haunt siphon which he used earlier, and shows it to Iozif. "Inside this bottle, or 'haunt siphon' as experts call it, is the trapped ghost of one of the ghostly dead cultist devils. I keep it with me, because I know of a way to change this siphon into a deadly weapon capable of dealing negative energy damage. Such a thing is less effective than my usual combat tactics, but it makes for a nice party trick."
Ignoring Eldon he talks right through his story.
"I think we are finished here. We went over the whole Island and I think we have seen everything we are going to. I think we should head back to town."
Arval moves towards the boats and waits for everyone to assemble before he gets in.
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Lena hopes in the boat, and sits there thinking.
OK, we have a boat, some nice tools, and used potion or two, and a lot of empty graves.
item 1. The villages say the beast was attacked by a caiman, bitten. Check Brodur for big scars. Do flesh golems heal? I'm not sure. It swore when bitten. Does he even swear?
item 2. Where is the person who used the boat? Why use the potions.
item 3. Where are the bodies? Who would take them and why?
Item 4. What does a raven mark on the tools mean?
Reverse order. The Raven might be a makers mark. They are fine, expensive tools. So the maker might remember the buyer. Might not be the person we want but is a link in the chain
The bodies were eaten? Taken? More likely taken I think. Who wants dead bodies? Necromancers? Urgoltha worshipers? Doctors?
The boat was used to...take the bodies away. One at a time. Then back and repeat until no more bodies. Then...what? Not enough information. The potions were used...because they were needed. A darkvision potion. Don't flesh Golems already have that? Where would he get potions from? Say it's not brodur. Who makes potions? Spellcasters, Alchemists. Alchemists?
Brodur would not need a darkvision potion. If he has no scars, he cannot have been here.
Once the group is in the boat, lena says the ravens mark on the tools could be a makers mark, like a signature. That person may be in Lepidstadt. We need to find out if it is a makers mark, then find that person. That person might know who he sent it to. And that person might be the grave robber.
She stretches. Eldon, Golems have darkvision, don't they? If so, Brodur does not need a potion of it. And where would he get potions? It's not like he can just buy them.
If he has no scars, if he did not need the potion...He wasn't here.
Golems may or may not have darkvision, depending on the type. The Beast is certainly not a typical golem.
The group drop off the boat, the young swampers rushing over to the other villagers to rant about the battle against the manticore.
"Golems may or may not have darkvision, Lena," Eldon replies while still in the boat. "It all depends on the type of golem. Brodur is certainly not a typical golem. We could easily test if he has darkvision, but I don't think that'd be very useful. Though we might as well do it if we're going back anyway, to look for scars."
Once back in Morast, Eldon thanks the people of Morast for their time and aid. He also takes a moment to brag a bit about the manticore. "It was my idea to attack it in its own territory. The eagle I summoned was of a rare breed, bred especially for aerial combat versus larger foes."
"Anyway, I thank you for your hospitality. Unless one of my assistants has any questions left, I think we should be on our way now."
Arval grunts as he is being named as an assistant. He follows Eldon to keep up the act.
Arrogant fool. Couldn't even take care of himself if he were alone!
Arval thinks to himself.
The group makes their way back to Lepidstadt, weary and stinky of a long day at the swamp. It is now very late afternoon in the city. Where would you like to go?
"Really? a haunt siphon?, how fascinating. You know that may only be the third... no wait fourth time I've heard of one of those in action."
In attempt to avoid Eldon's rambling, Iozif will look busy by scribbling some notes on a piece of parchment. Writing down the salient points of the investigation and drawing connections between points of interest. After a few minutes he'll come to a conclusion:
"I think these tools may be the best link we have so far, but as I have yet to meet the accused I think a trip to the jailhouse may also be prudent.
Also, it's getting late. Does anybody know how long shops in the craftsman quarter are likely to remain open? Also, are there fixed hours we're allowed to visit the beast? With the trial starting tomorrow it might be better to split up for a while and cover more ground."
The shops in the craftsman's quarter close up at 6pm, and it's around 5pm right now. They open at 6am, and the trial starts at 10am tomorrow.
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Eldon think about it. We need to prove that brodur didn't commit this crime. The person that did this used this potion. If brodur didn't need to use this potion, then that implies someone else did. Add this to the unbrodur like swearing this fake beast did, the fine tools brodur cannot use, and the bite marks i hope are not on his body, and we have reasonable doubt.
"I have been thinking about it, Lena. Thing is... finding an empty vial of a potion Brodur doesn't need, is no proof that Brodur didn't do what he's accused of. Saying 'it's unlikely Brodur drank the potion that was in this vial we found' is rather pointless in court. However, I can see the other things you mentioned stick in court. Mainly the bite marks. Though there could always be the argument of magical healing removing the scars..."
Eldon shrugs. "But... it never hurts to know if Brodur can or can't see in the dark. If we're going to check him for bite marks anyway, we might as well check if he has darkvision."
"I'm with Iozif on the split-up. Going to the craftsman's quarter could be valuable, but it could also be that they don't have enough time for us now. And I'm not sure till how late we can visit Brodur. If we split up, I hope at least one group can get some useful information."
"I do not mind going to check on Brodur, my healing skills should be enough to spot an old wound. Also I think he would be more willing to let me as he was used to having birds poke at him." Kawrock gives a loud tongue click in appreciation of his own joke.
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Can a construct be healed with spell? And who would cast it?
Suddenly Lena starts
Wait a minute, a detached human face!! How could we have missed that! What in the nine hells is that doing there? What...Who would do that? And was there a reason or are they just sick? Lena says referring to the item found in the boat.
"Actually can I borrow one of the tools. Maybe Brodur might recognize it."
The crowd throngs around the group as they push their way towards the Lepidstadt courthouse to meet again with the Beast, now named Brodur by Eldon. Kawrock notices the cavalier attitude most people of Lepidstadt have taken to him is a little more hostile; the enthusiasm of the impending death of the hated Beast has anything strange seen as a threat. However, the weapons and armour and overall grizzled appearance of the group keeps them safe as they approach the courthouse.
A large, squat building dominated by an enormous clock overlooks the town square. A huge figure of wood, roughly man-shaped, stands in the square in front of the building.
In the front of the courthouse the street party is at its most intense as people sing and dance, chanting of the death and burning of the Beast. The strange wooden man in the front has children playing games in front of it, alternately throwing grass, flowers, and rubbish onto the feet of the gigantic wooden man.
The group are then recognized by the guards in front of the courthouse, who grumble something about public defenders. Once inside, Iozif is signed on as another public defender, and the group is shown to the dungeon to meet the prisoner.
A steep stone stair descends into this large cellar, its ceiling some 15 feet above the flagstone floor. A narrow, iron spiral staircase stands in the center of the cellar, leading up to the prisoner holding room. A cupboard along the southern wall contains numerous small torture devices such as thumbscrews and choke pears. A large cage that may be held for groups of prisoners holds a massive being, indistinct from shadow. A torch is lit, and the Beast is revealed once more.
A towering abomination sits in an iron chair, bound with no less than a dozen sets of manacles. Stitching holds together this grotesque patchwork of flesh and bone, beast and man, though the wires are so taut they look as though they may fly apart at any moment. Its mouth is twisted in a permanent sneer, and a shock of lank, dark hair clings to its scalp. The creature slumps in its chair, a despondent expression upon its monstrous face.
At least ten sets of chains and manacles bind it to a massive steel chair, which is bolted to the floor. It shrinks away from the light a bit.
says Brodur the Beast morosely.
"We know that, Brodur," Eldon replies as he moves up to the cage. "We came to visit you."
Eldon points at Iozif. "We brought a new friend."
While Brodur has a moment to look at Iozif, Eldon inspects Brodur for wounds.
Bodur cranes his head to look dully at Iozif for a while as Eldon approaches to inspect his body.
Brodur's flesh has some significant scars, but nothing on his shoulder. Eldon also now remembers that as a flesh golem, Brodur should have darkvision.
"I don't mind going to some smiths to ask for the marks on the tools. I might need someone a little better at talking with them though... For some reason people don't always like me that much. Brodur for instance didn't really like me."
He looks as if he doesn't understand why that is.
"Who will join me?"
Lena joins arval in the search for information.
"Wouldn't be that bad to kick down some doors right? What needs to be done needs to be done."
He scratches his head as he thinks about it.
"Would rather use my shovel though. Works like a charm every time."
Kawrock holds up one of the tools for Brodur to look at. "Ever seen these or anything like them before?"
"I think the tools might be the best leads we have for now. I know my way around the city here, I 'll go with Arval and see if we can learn anything useful."
"I'd rather we avoid kicking down any doors, at least here in Lepidstadt. I've come to quite like the place. On the other hand though, if it comes to it I'm sure I have some spells that could help..."
Eldon shares his findings, and agrees to come with those who are going to the shops.
"See you soon, Brodur! We will let others know you didn't do it!"
"I've been in Lepidstadt before," Eldon shares with the others, "on my many adventures. As such I'm confident I can help to locate the place we need to visit."
Eldon and Iozif examine the tools for a long while, wandering down the street while Lena cheerfully asks anyone she can find about the raven symbol. Finally, Iozif has his eureka moment; Zbraslav Hora and Sons! He's seen the shop sign now and again. The shop is but a five minute walk from their current location.
The group make their way for Zbraslav Hora and Sons and walk into a tiny workshop filled with a variety of finely-made tools. A grey-haired, serious-looking man in thick spectacles looks up at the group, as you enter. His voice is thick with a Varisian accent.
"Velcome, how may I help you?"
He sighs miserably as Lena walks over to look up at the counter.
"Tch. You vaste my time. Still, I will offer information for the repute of mein handiwork. What would you know, little halfling?"
"Master Hora, your reputation precedes you. As does mine."
Eldon gives the craftsman a friendly nod. "My name's Eldon Appleton. Though there's no doubt in my heart that you've heard about me and my epic adventures."
He points at the tools Lena's showing the man. "I'm positive it'll take a man like you only a minute to recognize his own work, and it'd be immensely valuable to us if you could confirm if you did or didn't make this."
"If you did make this we'd also like to know who you made it for, or who decided to buy it after you made it. If you didn't, perhaps you could point us to the person who did."
Zbraslav smiles thinly and takes the tools, examining the case in specific.
"Hah. Yes, let me see..."
He leans beneath his counter and pulls out a large, leather-bound ledger. He flips through it before decisively tapping a finger down on an entry.
"Yes. Red-haired Varisian bought ze tools. Vladka Kostel. Verked for some auction house, but I do not recall vhich one."
Vladka is a colourful personality who works for a speciality medical auctioneer: Ledov's Chirurgery Merchants.