The big Kordite plucks the ring back out of the gnome's tiny hand. "That doesn't sound like a good deal. This thing is important isn't it?" Tanith adds.
Tidwoad fidgets, not saying anything.
"Okay, listen little man. I said I didn't come here for trouble and I meant it, but that doesn't mean I'm here to be dragged around by my nuts. Out with it, what is this ring and how much is it really worth?"
Carina wanders through town, looking for the rest of her party members.
As she leaves the Vein and enters the town square, her eyes briefly land on the Emporium.
She almost immediately turns away. No. I'm not going anywhere near there. I'm not talking to Zalamandra; no--
Her train of thought is interrupted by the sight of Tidwoad's... specifically, the sight of Tanith arguing with the shopkeeper. She wanders over and waits outside, hoping things don't escalate...
Tidwoad shakes. "Alright, fine!"
He backs away, grimacing. "Look, human, a man came by a few days ago. Ugly sort—had the same sort of trappings as that bearded imp you've been traveling with. He wanted to know if Festus and I've been sold anything from the cairns lately."
He locks beady eyes with Tanith. "When he noticed a seeker icon, he went ballistic."
Tanith looks at the ring again, hoping to see something he didn't notice before. "Did he have a name?"
Tidwoad scowls. "None he provided. He had a birdskull necklace, that's all I saw. But he brought up Smenk. Said his 'old mate' Balabar wouldn't be happy if I was holding out on him.
"That's all I know. The ring's worth two hundred, and I'll pay you in full—that Seeker in town, Khellek, will be eager to buy it off me."
The gnome swallows. A bit of color returns to him, and his eyes narrow. "But you tell that birdskull man a thing—the smallest fragment about my involvement in the sale—and I'll ensure Festus teaches you what real strength feels like."
Festus smacks "his" iron fists together for emphasis.
Tanith grins, considering for a moment what wrestling an automaton like Festus would be like...
But decides against it for now.
"Sorry Festus, maybe some other time. My friends are waiting on me", the big man explains as he tucks the ring into his pack again. "I think I'll find this birdskull-man and talk to him myself."
Exiting Tidwoad's shop, Tanith is surprised to find Carina waiting for him. "How long have you been waiting on me Red?" the big man asks with a laugh. "You could have come inside."
Carina shrugs. "Not that long. And you looked like you had everything well in hand."
She jiggles her new backpack. "Had to do some shopping while we were in town. Got myself a new backpack: it should be easier on my back than the last one."
Her tone turns serious as she walks with Tanith. "Cuetzpalli went up to Alastor's old home. Turns out his folks' bodies were dug up and are nowhere to be found. I can't imagine he'll be able to properly move on if his family isn't there to greet him."
"That kid has the worst luck", Tanith says as he shakes his head sadly. "It sounds like we need to figure out what happened if we want to see the rest of the cairn. Where are the others?"
"Well..." Carina scratches her head. Her tail *swishes*. "Astraden said she'd be at Jalek's, I'm not sure where Farrukh or Robin are, and Cuetzpalli... I'm not sure either."
"I guess we should meet Astraden at Jalek's", Tanith concludes. "I'll buy you a drink."
Farrukh walks into Jalek's and sits down where Astraden's hanging out to wait for everyone, looking a little bummed.
"Couldn't find anyone who'd sell me Liquid Ice. Dammit I'm so curious what's in that room with the fungus!"
Carina smiles and walks a bit closer to Tanith.
"Hey, as long as we're not going to the Emporium, I'll let you buy me anything."
Tanith laughs warmly while wrapping a brawny arm around you the teifling's shoulders. "I'm going to hold you to that."
Astraden jerks awake when Farrukh begins speaking, but eases when she sees who it is. "Ah, hey there. Hmm, the mold?" She nods, clearly not understanding. "Oh, yeah, that mold. Maybe you can go to Greyhawk and buy . . . whatever you said . . . after we finish clearing everything else out, huh?"
She sets her pack aside and stretches. "Damn, I'm hungry again. D'you want to go get something to eat? Let's get something better than Feral Dog."
Carina isn't very enthused by the idea of going to Jalek's, but considering that's where Astraden is, she keeps going.
Walking through the door to Jalek's, she wrinkles her nose at the smell. Mostly cheap ale, sweat & desperation, from the looks of things.
She notices Farrukh & Astraden in the back and walks over to greet them.
"Any luck finding something icy, Farrukh?"
The adventurers arrive at the area, and sure enough, there's an unmistakable muddy patch where the wheelbarrow must have broken down.
The tracks are easy to find , and they lead to the farmhouse.
A copse of immense deklo trees shades a small, quiet clearing just where Alastor said it would be. Crumbling walls and a seemingly abandoned farmhouse stand vigil atop a small bluff overlooking the clearing, the sad ruins of what must once have been Alastor's home.
Five grave markers stand in the clearing, each with a different name: Anders, Bemissa, Coldaran, Gertia, and Alastor.
Open pits yawn from before all five headstones. Piles of fresh dirt and a pair of abandoned shovels suggest that the excavation took place recently, certainly within the week.
Tanith frowns at the sight of the pits. "Who'd do this? These folks were just farmers right?"
Carina had some explaining to do for her mother: specifically, where she had wandered off to and who she was running around with. After about a half-hour of explaining, Alessia let her off, but not without warning her against wandering off without her knowing again.
---------------
Carina looks around, anxious.
"No." he grumps.
"Nobody sells the stuff, apparently. I mean, come on! It can't be THAT hard to make, can it?"
------------------------------
Farrukh bends over to closely inspect the tracks. It takes him quite some time, but he finally figures out what was making him suspicious.
"There's more people that have come through here, recently. Looks to be about eight people that have come in AFTER Kullen and his crew.
------------------------------
"I don't know, Tanith. Maybe they're making an undead army?" he smiles, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
Tanith laughs at the ranger's joke (even if it was in bad taste) and looks around for additional tracks. "We've got to find the kid's family. They should be together."
Astraden tells the group about seeing Kullen again by the Feral Dog, and the condition of his crew. She prays to Olidammara at about three hours to midnight, then flops down for a much more fulfilling rest.
"Huh, why's Alastor's grave already here?" Astraden looks at Cuetzpalli. "Did you have a headstone ready for him?"
She draws her rapier and moves under the trees, looking up.
Astraden sees nothing in the trees.
Tanith frowns at the sight of the pits. "Who'd do this? These folks were just farmers right?"
"Nobody sells the stuff, apparently. I mean, come on! It can't be THAT hard to make, can it?"
With the freshly moved earth, I don't imagine it'd be hard to find tracks.
It looks like six sets of footprints go up to the farmhouse. Five of them seem to have come back down very quickly, leaving for the road to Diamond Lake immediately thereafter.
As the party examines the terrain around the farmhouse, Carina busily mixes up a couple of extracts. These ones have a strange, dark green color.
"Anybody want to follow those footprints?"
Tanith furrows his brow as the details of the tracks are pointed out to him. "I'm on it Red", he answers. The big Kordite pulls the polearm off his back and advances on the farmhouse.
With all the grace of a bull auroch.
Carina sighs.
"Um, Tanith... perhaps Farrukh would be better suited for that?" She says, looking over at the Ketite.
With a wounded expression, the musclebound Kordite spins. "What do you mean?"
"Well..." Carina steps closer to Tanith. "...he's very quiet. And scouting is his job, right?" She says, turning slightly maroon.
"But if you really want to, Tanith..." She gives him a quick hug before pressing a vial of dark green liquid into his hand. "...it's dangerous to go alone. Take this."
Tanith takes the offered vial and then grins as Carina hugs him. ”Don’t worry Red. I’ll be okay”, the big man laughs warmly.
Tucking the vial away, Tanith resumes his unsubtle approach.
Farrukh looks at Tanith and shakes his head.
Setting himself a good distance away from Tanith, he stealthily begins following the tracks.
"The stone was already here when I buried him. One of the sets of tracks should be mine, but we should follow the ones that don't go back to Diamond Lake," Ceutzpalli says.
He lends his own tracking skills to help Farrukh.
The dilapidated Land farmstead consists of a crumbled wall and a sagging, unsafe house with broken windows and a sagging roof.
Straight ahead is a large gap in the damaged wall, though Tanith can't quite make out what's inside from here in the dim morning light.
Astraden tries to remember if it's customary to place a headstone for a missing corpse, in this region.
Tanith wrinkles his nose. There was a stink in the air but he can't quite place it.
Continuing his cautious approach, the big Kordite heads for the front doors.
Farrukh circles around the side to the hole in the wall, stealthily, and looks inside.
Astraden tries to remember if it's customary to place a headstone for a missing corpse, in this region.
1d20+6
Tanith looks about the dim building. He quickly spots the source of the smell: Thick, sludgy puddles of dried blood and unidentifiable fleshy chunks litter the wooden floor immediately inside the front door.
Tanith looks around for a sign of whatever caused the mayhem.