Doesn't seem like it... , the Doktor says absentmindedly, still be pointing at the leather case that needs to be recovered, while he examines the graves.
Meanwhile, Cassiel sits in the shade of a nearby tree. Investigations were never his strong point, and if he started asking around for information, odds are he'd say something stupid and ruin the progress the party had already made.
|
@Mathus: Someone has definitely exhumed the bodies, though for what purpose you can only guess. It is clear that they did not unearth themselves.
(I'll make the assumption that someone hands you the case.) Inside the case, you find a beautiful silver set of scalpels and other tools. They are made of silver with amethyst handles. You recognize them instantly as chirurgeon's tools.
@Lorant: Calvin winces in disgust at the crude mask, but nods his recognition. "Dat be Nan Klebem. She be a poacher that came into town about once a month, but no one seen her in more'n a year, now." You also notice dried blood on the floor of the coracle.
Lorant heaves the rope and pulls to the surface a heavy, waterlogged sack. The fabric is soaked with dried blood and it looks large enough to contain a medium-sized creature.
Lorant nods, taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the scent of blood before opening the sack.
"I've got a feeling this is gonna be the rest of her, but we gotta check to be sure."
Well... it's grave robbers, he says conclusively. Medical supplies ... chirurgeon's tools to be precise. It's clear the dead didn't exhume themselves. I'll wager a gold coin a grave these 6 are all empty.
He grimaces over the flesh mask. That is unusual and extremely curious - that would have been technically challenging and time consuming to make something that good... I mean it can still be readily identified. Not easy.
He heads over to the sack...
What have we here...
That sort of confirms my statement. Grave robbing tools. The only thing missing is a crowbar.
"Huh...glad I'm wrong, though that's not much more comfort," Lorant comments. "Think you're right, Mathus, and it looks like they're not your average grave robbers, given they seem to have flayed our unfortunate poacher here. Please remind me, Calvin, how long had it been since you stopped burying folk here?"
Judah picked up the shovel. "Only one way to find out."
He started digging, then stopped.
Hey, are there coffins under there? Can you... drag them up here? Don't show yourself ok, there's townies here and don't want to be burned at he stake.
The ground began to rumble. Soft earth bulged, then formed a sink hole.
The bulging coils of the creature below churned in the ground, breaching the surface briefly.
Judah laughed nervously and pretended to cast a spell, raising his hands dramatically as the earth shifted.
Even in his exhausted state, Cassiel can see the... thing... that appeared for a brief moment under the ground.
All he can do is sigh.
"Wait no, not those ones! I meant- f#!%!" Judah waved his arms frantically as a coffin from the wrong grave. "Stop!"
"Not that one!" he yelled at the ground. "Those ones!"
"Put that back."
The coffin slowly sank again.
Suddenly aware he was the center of attention, he laughed awkwardly and did another half-hearted wave of his hands. "The... magic... says there's no coffins in those ones."
Cassiel can't help but compare the scene of Judah's 'pet' eldritch creature digging up the wrong grave to a dog retrieving a different stick than the one thrown by his master.
He barely stifles a snicker.
Oh, I'm going to hell for thinking that.
Mathus stands shaking... then says Bring up the empty ones. They might have a clue... and pray they leave a boat for us
"Breathe easy, Judah's magic won't hurt you," Lorant calls to their guides. "He's still mastering his powers, but this spell won't hurt anyone, and we'll make sure the dead remain undisturbed."
None of that was TECHNICALLY a lie, he thinks to himself.
He also thinks on what they've just found.
Body snatchers and tomb robbers usually strike at the recently deceased, fresh cadavers for the former, grave goods for the latter. These graves would have neither, so what could they possibly want from them? They probably left the poacher's face behind because wherever they brought the rest of her they didn't want her easily identified and didn't suspect anyone else would come snooping around here. How did they avoid the manticore, though?
Mathus stands shaking... then says Bring up the empty ones. They might have a clue... and pray they leave a boat for us
"No, I mean those coffins are gone."
"THAT is concerning," Lorant replies. "These aren't your average body-snatchers, and if this has been happening while the Beast has been absent from the area, something may be operating in the area using the Beast as a scapegoat for their activities..."
Possibly
A sickening, horrible thought came into Judah's mind.
"So, uh, these six coffins? Why them specifically?" he asked to no one in particular.
Turning to their guides, he asked "How long have these people been dead? Did they die around the time the poacher disappeared?"
Good question, Lorant thinks, waiting for Calvin or one of the others to answer.
Hopefully they are done freaking out, even as he himself was still recovering from the shock of seeing that... thing.
Lorant eyes Calvin, trying to gauge if the wariness was just a case of poor memory or something less honest...
Cassiel does the same.
Sooo... does this face mask... remind you of anyone?
"He said it's Kleb-something. That poacher."
"I don't think who is the important part though." Judah said slowly, like he was building up the courage to say what was on his mind.
"When we first found all this stuff, I was thinking that maybe this poacher led the grave robbers here, and then when they didn't need her anymore they offed her. Or there was a disagreement, and they peeled her face off over it."
"That's not it though. I doesn't make sense. Why would surgical stuff this nice be left behind?"
"I think they got interrupted. Maybe by that manticore? They were doing something, and got chased off in the middle of it. Had to drop stuff and run."
"The thing is though, that would mean they already had that peeled off face. I mean look at it. That's not some sick torture. It's been a year and didn't rot? That's cured like leather. Why would anyone make that?"
"I think the Doc here just nailed it, on accident. It's a mask. Like an actual one. For disguise."
"I don't think Kleb was ever Kleb. I think she was something else wearing Kleb's face, and after whatever happened here, the "Kleb" stopped coming around because the Kleb mask got lost."
"That doesn't mean the sick f+&~ who was wearing the Kleb mask is gone though. It just means they would need a different mask."
Lorant nods.
"And given the Beast's own patchwork nature, it'd be easy to mistake someone...or something else wearing other people's skin for it...we'd need to cross-reference with the Beast's own testimony of course, but I think we can all agree it's both strong enough that something like a crocodile or manticore wouldn't scare it off, and unsophisticated enough that an elaborate disguise and grave-robbing scheme for some unknown end wouldn't occur to it."
Bag it and the rest for evidence and let's get out of this Gods for... I means gods blessed town, he said changing his sentence mid stream. Gustav Keple will be most happy.
"I still want to see that big croc," Judah said, then his eyes widened as he realized what he had said. Then he sighed. "I mean, I don't want to, but we probably should."
"It's like the manticore. I just can't imagine a crocodile big enough to think it could eat The Beast."
"Time to get tracking, then."
Lorant looks around the shore to see if there's any indications of crocodile presence, idly wondering if such a reptile would even live this far north.
"Time to get tracking, then."
Lorant looks around the shore to see if there's any indications of crocodile presence, idly wondering if such a reptile would even live this far north.
[dice=Survival]1d20+9
Agreed but I doubt we'll find much... if we don't? Let's get back to Master Keppel.
"Where was that big fight between the croc and the Beast?" Judah asked their guides.
|
|
"The fight were yonder," Calvin replies, pointing to a location along the edge of the islet. "'Twern't no crocodile, though. 'Twere a blood caiman. Big 'un." A thorough search of the area that Calvin points to provides a number of tracks that are crocodilian in nature, but none are fresh and there is no sign of the monster. "If'n yer done, we ought be gettin' out o'here," Calvin suggests. This ain't a place ta be after dark!"
"What's big for a blood caiman?" I've never seen one." Judah asked, starting to walk back to the boat.
"You had an opportunity to measure it?" Lorant asks as they make their way back to the boat.
Judah's eyes widened. He'd seen caiman before, but much smaller. To him they were just little skinny faced crocodiles.
"That is big," he said. "That's rare, right? No one would mistake the caiman that fought the beast for a different one?"
"I think we might need to go on a caiman hunt tomorrow," Judah said to the others as the boarded the boat. "And maybe talk to the people who saw the fight."
How in Arodens memory will we track a damn water lizard?
"We may not need to. While we may not have gotten answers from the Beast yet, it may be because we didn't have the right questions to ask it...I imagine it'd remember fighting something like that, and we can use that to lead to other questions."
"People lie. Courts know that. We have to prove the fight that happened here didn't involve the Beast we've met."
"Caimans have really distinctive mouths. A bite from a big one couldn't really be mistaken for anything else."
"I thought if we could bring back a witness who saw the fight, and ask where the caiman bit the Beast, we could show the court that our guy didn't have any big-ass caiman bite scars. If we had a caiman's head too, that would really sell it."
Mathus nods, convinced and a little impressed. Thats a great idea! Look, even if we can't find the particular caiman let's grab the biggest skull and jaw of one they have around the village - they have to have a few about - and use that to compare to any marks the Beast may have. Also we can arrange for one of them to come in to testify as the the story and the size of the sample relative to the big fella. If we leave 10 gold and promise 20 more? That should secure our expert witness.
|
|
Back in the village, you are able to find a good-sized skull for a reasonable price (5 gp). For the agreed-upon price of 10 gp now and 20 later, Lazne agrees to serve as a witness (though he makes it known that he is in support of The Beast's conviction, but will tell his story exactly as it happened).
Thank goodness for that... let's get back to civilisation!, he says, eager for fresh clothes and a bath.
Should have thought of that sooner," Lorant comments. "Good thinking, Judah."
After they finish making arrangements in the village, he mounts Margravine and waits for the others to mount their horses, before leading the way back to Lepidstadt.
"Oh, uh.. thanks," Judah smiled, clearly uncomfortable with the praise.
He took his time making sure his horse was comfortable ready for a long ride, then clumsily mounted up and fell into line.