Seeing that the first vial of holy water was effective not only in damaging the skeletons but in preventing their explosive death throes, Astraea excitedly snatches her second- and final- vial from her pocketed scarf and steps forward. She can tell that Illonna has taken a beating, and doesn't want to risk her being killed. Please let this work, she thinks, quickly followed by an addendum: and please don't let me regret only having brought two of these.
Doused in water, the final of the skeletons collapses... the blackened bones crackle and spit but, drenched as they are, do not ignite...
...and, as quickly as it started, the fight is over - the temple seems somehow a less foreboding place with rays of sunlight piercing through the morning mist and, one by one, the scavenging crows that were perched around the tops of the redundant pillars take flight.
...and, glinting in the sudden sun, something golden lying amongst the bones of the fallen skeleton.
Locke's chant trails off as the last enemy collapses. He takes deep breaths to regain himself and steps forward to inspect the golden glimmer.
If it looks suspicious: Locke detects magic on the object before attempting to touch it.
- there doesn't appear to be an aura emanating from the item. Closer inspection reveals it to be a slightly scorched holy symbol of Torag... A small and intricately decorated hammer with a loop that would allow it to be worn as a medallion.
Hand shaking, Illonna takes a bottle out of her bag and downs the contents.
The ratfolk looks around to be sure the rest of the group was still standing. "Those things are spooky. Click, why would they be here in the middle of town?"
Rikkan looks at the others. "Anyone else see the gold?" He scampers forward to examine whatever was left behind.
Perception
Rikkan collects the holy symbol. "Maybe this belongs to someone, or maybe one of the survivors can take it to its owner.". Rikkan continues pushing forth through the temple, looking around for anything of note.
Perception
Drancis slowly relaxes his grip on the bubble enclosing the piece of rubble and allows his mind to return to itself. As he looks around the edges of the ruined temple the discovery of the holy symbol brings a frown to his face.
"Whoever that holy symbol belonged to it seems like their faith did not help them here that is clear. What DID happen here? What could have destroyed this temple?"
Astraea can't help but laugh to herself after seeing her holy water take down the second of the flaming skeletons. "I mean, you guys saw that, right?" She laughs, almost hysterically, pointing at the smoldering remains of the skeletons. "I figured it was a bit of a shot in the dark, but..." She waves a hand in front of her face for emphasis, but upon seeing the sober expressions on the rest of the party, she lets it go and feels he mood deflate. I'll get the hang of this "social interaction" thing one of these days, she thinks as she rejoins the others.
Observing the wounds of the others, she sees Illonna down her healing potion and takes a look at Zoreck. "Um- do you need medical attention? I can- I can heal that, probably. If you want."
With the sun slow warming the cold mist-laden village, the group have a little time to investigate the temple - Drancis' questions as to what destroyed the temple are answered by the blackened rubble, the charcoaled remains of the roof beams and the incinerated bodies that litter the ruins... A fire, a tremendous fire...
...and further, from the way in which the bodies are congregated around the perimeter of the building, it seemed that those who perished here were trying to escape when tey were overcome...
Rikkan shakes his head sadly. "Lot of people died. Awful."
"Where to now? Click, places on the map or the store to find a crowbar to open the cabinet in the sheriff's office?"
"A fire...a tremendous fire...what could have caused it? A dragon? If so, then where is it now?? Drancis mutters under his breath while clasping his hands together in nervousness.
"Yeah, I think we should check out that store next. According to the map it is just down this road." He replies to Rikkan.
"No." responds Illonna curtly "There is still the second temple to attend to, likely in far better state than this one." and she indicates the fortified temple of Abadar up the road. "Milda said earlier that there may be survivors within, that should be our priority."
"Ahhh....sure. That does make more sense, I guess..." Drancis replies grudgingly.
I am not sure anyone is left in this Gods forsaken village!
The quickest way to the other temple, Silverstone Hall, towards the south of the village centre is past the tree on the central green... An enormous, 40-foot-tall oak tree, covered with dull, white bark and silvery leaves, its moss-draped branches stretching for dozens of feet in every direction.
The tree is grimly decorated... Three human bodies, hanged by the neck with coarse ropes, slowly sway in the breeze, their feet just inches off the ground.
How terrible!
Rikkan moves forward slowly to look at the hanging corpses. He took care not to touch them, not wanting to disturb them.
Perception
"After seeing those skeletons rise from the dead I can't help but fear any corpse we find will do the same. Still... I would like to cut them down, leaving them hanging there feels disrespectful." Locke steps forward with Rikkan, trying to discern if the corpses look familiar, while also inspecting them for traces of necromancy.
Drancis stays well back of the hanging corpses watching the others investigate further. "I don't think anyone would object here Locke. What I would like to know is who hung these poor people...and why." He says out loud to his friend.
- there are no magical auras coming from the bodies hanging in the tree.
The bodies, two men and a woman, appear to have been dead for no more than a couple of days... Their hands have been bound behind their backs and, pinned to their chests, each 'wears' a parchment declaring them to be a "Blasphemer".
Rikkan pulls one of the parchments and looks at it closer. Perhaps there was a hidden scrawl or something that could give a hint to the horrors that have happened here.
Perception
As Rikkan pulls the parchment from one of the hanged men, he realises just how long the nail pinning it to the corpse is... nearly six inches in length, it is not possible to tell whether the nail was hammered in post mortem... or not. Regardless, there doesn't appear to be anything more to learn from the notice... No hidden writing or secret messages.
"Whrrr, awful. Look at that nail. It's almost a piton, instead of a nail. Evil has taken the village," he says solemnly. If no one objects, he heads on toward the second temple.
Drancis shudders at the solemn proclamation from Rikkan. I would agree...but where did the evil come from...and, more importantly, where is it now?. He silently follows behind the Ratfolk, eyes and ears alert as they approach the other temple.
Before leaving Locke makes sure to cut the corpses down and leave them resting in a more dignified position. This is sickening, I have never felt a thirst for revenge before now, but... Whoever executed these atrocities on this village will pay.
"To the second temple then..."
"...We can administer last rites later, once the situation is under control." concludes Illonna.
Back at the temple of Torag...
As his anger drains away, Zoreck begins feeling the pain of the burns and rends the skeletons inflicted on him. He sheathes his sword, and leans against a wall to keep his balance. "Thanks, Astrea. Some healing would feel very good right about now."
At the hangman's tree...
Zoreck narrows his eyes at the bodies twisting in the wind. He draws his pistol and points it at them while Locke cuts them down. "They're dead, but are they really dead? I don't want to get attacked by more corpses."
Seeing that the corpses are merely that, he holsters his pistol. Shaking his head, he mutters, "More insanity. Gorum's helm! What happened here?"
The temple to Abadar with its relatively grand domed roof is heavily boarded, not a single window around its perimeter remains ‘open’ and, as you could see from the far side of the village centre – the great entry door, wooden with polished metal embellishments, is reinforced with an iron gate. Walking around the building, there is no sign of life…
Astraea gently lays a hand over Zoreck's wounds and thinks of the soothing light of the stars on a cloudless night.
"There," she says. "That ought to do for now. Shall we move on?"
- - - -
She regrets that thought as she sees the tree and the bodies that hang there.
"I hate this," she says, her words not quite communicating the weight of her feelings. "Illonna's right... we can come back and deliver the last rites to these people- to all these people- once we've figured out what's really going on here... and done something about it." She does not allow the possibility that they might not succeed bubble up into her mind.
The more accustomed she becomes to the sight of these dead innocents, the more her feelings on the subject seem to shift- from revulsion, horror, and sadness, to anger.
That's not an emotion Astraea is terribly used to.
Drancis finds that treating this as an intellectual exercise was a much needed distraction to contemplating the wholesale slaughter that took place earlier. It is not as if he was cold-blooded, but it was more a situation of preserving his sanity...right?
As the party approaches the temple of Abadar, he points out to the others. The priests of Abadar use their temples as banks as well, which will make breaking in difficult. Still, if there are any survivors then they would be holed up inside...right?"
No sign of life, no evidence of anything magical, no clue as to what has happened here or even if anyone is locked within the temple... The temple seems to present a mystery... and then, the door of the nearby tavern - the 'Hapless Harpy' - cracks open a little and a female voice calls out...
"It's not safe!!! Get away from there before Father Voss realises you are outside...Quick!!! Be quick!!! It's safe in here... Quickly!!!"
Locke quickly decides that the thought of the temple being dangerous is not a surprising one and sees no reason not to heed the voice, We will likely come back but for now... "Well... Hopefully we are about to get some kind of explanation. Let's do as she says, but be on guard."
Illonna reluctantly leaves the temple doors and heads towards the tavern.
She always liked Harpies. They were such a pretty bird under the right circumstances.
Drancis looks up in surprise at hearing the female voice, and also a look of relief on his face.
Whew! Now maybe we can get some answers!
He hurries along after the others towards the tavern.
The door swings fully open and a woman, a buxom lady with a milky left eye and a small, curved scar on her right cheek, urges you to come in as quickly as you can, "Before they see you... Before... 'He' sees you!!!"
Rikkan scoots in the door. "What has happened to this town? Click, it's a nightmare. How many of you are left? What happened to cause all this? How can we stop it?"
Locke slips inside, "Vessa, it's been a long time, but I suppose this isn't a place for pleasantries. Who is this 'he' that you keep mentioning?"
Zoreck eyes both the temple and the barmaid with equal suspicion, then follows his friends. He's about to say something when Locke and Rikkan pepper her with questions, then adds, "Uhh... What they said."
Quickly shutting the door and sliding several bolts into place, the woman – who introduces herself as Vessa Cormindi, the proprietor of the Hapless Harpy – breathes a sigh of relief, ”I don’t think you were seen” and, answering Locke’s question, ”It’s Father Voss… Something’s happened to him – when the village first went crazy, he and his acolytes would gather the dead and burn them… he seemed convinced that a disease was spreading and that incinerating the fallen was our best hope of stopping the whole village succumbing... and it seemed to be working".
Vessa slams the last bolt shut as she continues, "Eight days ago though… Voss thought himself infected and he locked himself, with his priests, in Silverstone Hall – we all thought that would be the last we would see of him… but they come out at night now – Voss and his pack… they hunt, they kill and they shout obscenities in to the heavens above. They have renounced Abadar and are now servants of something called Vuelib”
”It’s been dreadful here this past fortnight, ever since the first of the village folk went crazy – House Formidable burnt to the ground with so many trapped inside, the Lumber Mill was torched, the Militia’s headquarters… so many buildings burnt and so many killed. I did my best to protect those who came here for protection… they’ve left now – only Vorthad upstairs remains. He helped when all seemed lost… when the crazies were at the door… but now? now I worry that he himself has turned – he stays locked in his room and any attempt to communicate is greeted with aggressive words. Would you? Would you check on him? I would feel safer if you would but please, he is a good man… please don’t hurt him if you can avoid it”
Illonna's face grows dark at the mention of the fallen clergy. "We have been evacuating what survivors we have found across the river. Unless you have some reason to stay you should leave as well. In the meantime I will check on this "Vorthad".
Illonna will head upstairs to whatever room is indicated to her and knock on the door.
Drancis shakes his head in disbelief at the tale. "It sounds like maybe Father Voss is taken up with a cult...perhaps? We will definitely need to at least try to talk with him. As for Vorthad, I don't see why not. Maybe he can also shed some light on what happened here."
He then turns to follow Illonna up the stairs.
Vessa sadly agrees with Illona, "I fear that I shall leave this forsaken village also... it has been my livelihood for so long, it is a wrench to my soul to leave - but, you are right, leave I must"
...Vessa tells the friends that Vorthad's room is the third on the left - but she needn't have; the sudden shouting as the stairs creak beneath Illona's footfall, the sound of something large being thrown across a room and the nonsensical, expletive-ridden stream of consciousness that comes from Vorthad's room gives enough clue as to which room he resides in. The door to his room remains closed as the friends make their way towards it...
"It seems he may need to be restrained. Drancis, are you prepared?"
Locke listens to Vessa's tale in horror. He comtemplates the name she mentions, "Strange... I have never heard of a god or any other deity known as Vuelib." Locke shakes his head in confusion, this gets stranger and stranger.
"We will be happy to get you out of here Vessa, but we will take care of Vorthad first. Hopefully he can be helped like poor Milda." He turns to follow Illonna and Drancis, "Ready?"
"Rikkan ready, too! Let's go talk to Vorthad. If he gets violent, click, remember to try to knock him out, but don't hurt him too badly. We need to talk to him, I'd bet."
"It seems he may need to be restrained. Drancis, are you prepared?"
Drancis gulps quietly. "Uhhh...yeahhh I think so." As the noises coming from Vorthad's room assault his ears he pales further.
"Why is he so angry...?"
The door remains closed as the voice behind it remonstrates with itself, with the world, with the stars, with the gods and with 'Blinky, the shouty fish'... And, omce more, something heavy slams against the walls.
Illonna nods and proceeds to open the door. "Vorthad, can you hear me. My name is Illonna, I'm here to help you."
"Go Away!!! Go Away!!! Go Away!!!", the final of the screamed 'Go Aways' is underlined by the sound of someone running at speed followed by the splintering of wood as the head of a highly polished halberd crashes through the door...
Illonna grabs the halberd when she has the chance and attempts to pull it further through the door.