The outhouse doesnt smell pleasant, but not as bad as you expect. Looks like it hasnt been used for a while.
Climping up on the roof of the house, Jutin sees a weird shaped stone, just behind the barn in the corn.
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Eoghan sighs and does as he's told, mostly to reward Justin for using his actual name.
Just inside the corn lies a stone head, canted slightly to the left, depicting a helmed warrior, his face a stern model of determination. Moss has grown over much of the weathered figure, making his features hard to discern.
A thasselonian rune sits on its helmet, and someone or something has marked it with blood.
Dayo looks curiously at the stone head, but keeps his sword out in case of an ambush.
"Is that head... the same size as that crown we found?"
"It's a face...? Not sure why it's here, though. Maybe there's something underneath?"
Eoghan studies it for a while, and if he hasn't found anything suspicious about it, tries to lift it.
Justins enlarge persons last for 6 minutes we should be good.
The head is not magical. It looks like it has been here for ages, worn by centuries of rain and wind. It would probably fit the helm you found, although this statue has a helm as part of it.
It looks as if nothing has been done with it, except anoint the rune in blood.
Vy studies the stone head
Nothing about the head rings any bells with snowflake.
"I doubt this is the source of the ghouls. We should make our way to the other buildings. There could still be survivors."
Dayo looks up at Eoghan to confirm if there are any other locations nearby...
Eoghan tries to look around above the corn (if he's tall enough for that.)
"Justin, could there be an 'under-farm'?"
Going trough the house carefully, Eoghan spots a loose floorboard in the master bedroom. Under it you find a stout wooden coffer. Lifting it up, its incredibly heavy.
Vitro meanwhile, studying the strange ghast in uniform, finds that iron key still hangs around its on a leather cord. The key bears a heraldic symbol of a curious flower surrounded by thorns.
"Hmm, this looks like the old Foxglove crest. I wonder.. " Vitro takes another long look at the ghast itself and the uniform, trying to place it. Could he be a Foxglove?
"Are they well known in this region?"
Eoghan drags the heavy chest outside. "Do we want to see what's in here? Might just be dirty laundry, but could also be a clue as to why these people were singled out to be ghoulified."
Foxglove Manor is over 80 years old, and has been the seat of the Foxglove family the whole time.
Some sort of tragedy struck the family a few decades ago, and no one’s lived there since. Common rumor holds that the place is haunted.
Foxglove Manor is known as the “Misgivings” by some locals, particularly by Varisians. It certainly has a bad reputation—sightings of strange lights in the attic windows, muffled sounds of screaming from above and below, and even rumors of a huge bat-winged devil living in the caves below the manor are but a few of the tales told about the place. The Foxglove family lived there as recently as 2 decades ago, but then a fire burned down the servants’ building, Cyralie Foxglove was found dead—burnt and dashed on the rocks below the cliffs behind the house—and Traver Foxglove was found in his bedroom, dead by his own hand. The children, including young Aldern Foxglove (who took you boar hunting), were cared for in Sandpoint for a while, then were sent away to be raised in Korvosa by distant relations.
Aldern Foxglove recently returned to live in the manor, but he had a hell of a time hiring locals to aid him in the reconstruction and repair of the old building. Until Aldern moved back in, the place was cared for by a man named Rogors Craesby (a retired innkeeper who lost an ear in a bar fight many years ago) who came in 3 days a week from Sandpoint to air the place out, check for squatters, and make minor repairs.
When you check, the Ghast who had the key around his neck only has one ear, and it looks like an old injury.
Armour check penalty of 2 cancels the aid from Justin.
Also, if that doesn't work, stupid suggestion, but maybe the key from the body?
Dayo raises his sword in case another ghoul emerges.
"Yes. Please open it."
Eoghan messes around with the lock. It doesnt open, but he also thinks he hasnt damaged it. More a case of bad luck really.
"Hmm, stubborn little thing, let me try again... Justin, your help is appreciated, your fingers are more nimble than mine."
"Here, let me get out of my armour, it really inhibits my fine motor control."
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Eoghan messes around with the lock. It doesnt open, but he also thinks he hasnt damaged it. More a case of bad luck really.
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It was clear that the armor was blocking Eoghans fine motor skills, because he opens the box like an expert once the armor is off.
No ghouls leap out of the box.
Inside, meticulously organized into leather pouches containing 100 sp each, is a total of 3,400 sp.
"No, by definition the even number isn't odd."
"I wouldn't know either way. Regardless, let us take it back to town. We haven't found this necromancer yet and I wouldn't want them finding this here after we left."
Eoghan shrugs, not really interested in figuring out the "why" of a dead farmer's saving technique. "He clearly had a system. 100 silver per pouch. Maybe he was saving up for retirement, maybe he was working towards an expensive item. He probably has a jar with 12 silver pieces in it for his daily expenses. Where did that jar go? I don't care. I'm not going to scrounge around looking for 10 gp. Is it convenient for us? Sure. Should we look a gift horse in the mouth? Not so much.
That's not to say I think we should keep the money. Maybe he has some next of kin this should go to. A lot of farmers have been ghoulified. Maybe we should give this money to the people who want to replace them. I mean, someone will have to tend to this farm, right?"
Dayo meditates on the method of counting.
"On my island, after a day of fishing, we would each pile our catch together, count them, and divide up the weight to be carried back equally. That way, if someone worked harder than the others to catch the fish, they could rest easier carrying them back."
He then nods to Eoghan, "Indeed. Right now I believe the best place to keep this money safe would be back under the sheriff's watchful eye. But clearing the ghouls is more important right now. Let us bury it again, and come back for it when the danger is past."
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Justin facepalms.
"Its not a matter of keeping it. That's for the mayor to decide. Its suspiciously like a payment for something. "
He grumbles. "We keep looking but we should plan to be back in town an hour before sunset. I feel bad for the individual random farmers he might be targeting, but he could turn the entire town while we're searching the countryside hoping to run into him. "
"Payment for what? Getting his neighbours turned into the living dead? Fat lot that did for him. Maybe it's bribe money for something, but I doubt that it has got something to do with our situation right here. If there is something suspicious about this pile of money, I'll gladly find out, but right now we've got bigger fish to fry."
"Then we must make haste with my Lord's favorite activity: Where does this road lead?"
Dayo helps place the coffer back in its hole and readies to head out again.
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"Providing bodies. Or growing illicit crops. Or as a stopover for smuggling. Wasn't the sawmill involved in some sort of illegal collusion to jack up the prices? Either this town is a hotbed or more illicit activity than I thought and he just happens to be attacking suspiciously rich farmers OR he's going after someone's criminal enterprise. Either out of revenge or to knock off the competition. That's the big fish. All we're going to find in this field are the... groupers? What do you call the small ones people use as bait? "
Justin will follow along though, crossbow ready
Dayo looks at Eoghan as if that was the answer Justin was looking for.