"What would be the purpose of making these dummies? I mean they could of just killed us last night instead of wasting the time on these things." As he says that he kicks his double over and in his usual fashion searches its pockets for anything vaulable.
The man that was driving the wagon leans into the doorway.. "Warden .. " The warden nods then turns to you, "I'll be heading over to the chapel to inspect Fawni and Dylan's bodies.. I'd appreciate it if you could take a look at them as well."
You find nothing in your pockets (now realizing these are your clothes) .. you happen to notice something. The corpse of "you" has no adam's apple.
The landlord walks up .. "I just don't understand.. I saw you both leave not two hours ago. Mishka (the housekeeper) and I have been here the entire time. I just don't understand .. "
Errik nods to the Warden. " We will be with you in a moment. " turning to Braxton he asks " That's a good point. What could they hope to achieve by faking your deaths? Is there anything missing from your rooms? "
"What the?" He points to the creatures throat and says, "Look no adams apple on this thing, and these bloody jerk just had to use my good shirt as well. BLASTED HEATHENS!"
yes when they left this morning.. which seems like it could be about right. Could have been a little more than two hours, but it seems about right.
Braxton whispers to Errik in Argot, "You think we should check out Fawni's place after we finish at the chapel? She may have a few things that will help us figure things out." The greed in his eyes is very apparent.
Errik nods at Braxton's suggestion, though he's a little distracted as he heads over to the window of Braxton's room. " So you and Mishka were here the whole time? Did anybody come through the front? " he calls back over his shoulder to the landlord as he inspects the window for signs of forced entry.
There is no sign of forced entry, and the window is locked from the inside.
The landlord glances back at Mishka..
"Yes I've been here the whole time. I wouldn't rely on Mishka .. I think she is starting to lose it. Just this morning she lost her broom she was sweeping.."
Mishka adds.. "Must have lost my grip .. but my mind was somewhere else .. Let me tell you, its no fun gettin old."
"Hmm .. did anyone come in.. I don't believe so. Seems like someone did, but I can't for the life of me remember.." He turns to Mishka..
"No.. no one stopped by. You must be thinking of Warden Horne.. Oh speak of the devil.." You hear a horse and wagon pull outside..
Warden Horne leans in the doorway. "I'll take those bodies.. Brother Sverin said he can speak with the dead .. well, one of em anyway... he said he could do the same with the others tomorrow if necessary. Get a few answers out of em." he shrugs .. "I'm outta my league here. I'll let you decide who we talk to first."
Face set in grim lines Errik turns to the warden. " Right, yes I think I'm done here. Lets find out who these bodies belonged to and if possible who killed them. " he turns to Braxton " Could you give me a hand with your body? "
"No prob's there Errik, I gotta say this is one weird expeirence. Next will be talking to these dead things, man I could use a drink." Braxton picks up his body to take to the Warden's wagon.
After loading the bodies on the wagon, Warden Horne covers them for the few hundred foot ride to the chapel. This takes you along the perimeter of the market square... Only a third of the merchants have braved the fear of a murderer on the loose. A few watch you, realizing what must be in the warden's wagon.
You pull up to the chapel and unload the bodies .. Brother Sverin greets you somberly "Such a strange thing .. strange thing." He is a long faced middle aged human with greying blond hair - pate shaved bald. He wears a light brown robe with a placate embroidered in dark brown.
He gestures in front of the altar ... the room is empty of any other people.. chairs have been cleared to make room for the two bodies already here and the two you have brought.
"Please.. I have made the the necessary preparations. I was informed by Mr Horne you will be handling the questions.. Let me know when you are ready and we shall begin"
" Ready when you are Brother Sverin, I do have a couple of questions before we begin " Errik pauses until the Brother nods. " How exactly does this work? Are the subjects bound to answer truthfully? "
Brother Sverin shrugs as if not completely sure "Depends on the departed. From my experience, deceivers in life are still so after.. But even those you feel you can trust are often cryptic ... whether intentionally so, I'm not sure."
"Yeah, I'm ready to find out how in the nine hells they set all this up and what was the darn point." He pauses a moment realizing he's in a chapel. "Sorry for using vulgar language Sir, let us began when your ready."
Brother Sverin clears his throat loudly over the cursing he saw coming... "Yes well .. I suppose the one most trustworthy in life would be the best to ask... Tomorrow I can do the same with the others if you wish.."
" I'm not sure we can judge which was the most trustworthy in life, as you can see at least two of these corpses are not who they seem. I'd like to hear from the one that resembles Fawni if that's ok with you two? " He asks Braxton and Senthiri.
"It's you show Errik your choice is fine with me."
"Very well .. I will begin. The preparations will take ten minutes, and I cannot be interrupted." Brother Sverin chants, hums, and intones as he slowly rocks back and forth..
After several minutes, a misty diaphanous form starts to coalesce. The upper torso and head of a gnome male comes into clarity in the center of the small cloud of mist above Fawni's corpse.
Brother Sverin speaks in an even monotone .. "Ask your questions.."
" Good sir, sorry to bother you but we were wondering if you could clear up some matters for us... Firstly, how did you die? "
The gnome has a weary confused face, like someone half in a dream...
"I was slashed by the claws of a beast. A beast that shed a human skin."
" hmm.. Could you tell me any plans or words your attackers may have told or said to you before they murdered you? "
"It said with the woman's voice 'death awaits you, child of Golarion ... your body and your blood for the progeny of Eox.' "
"How many attackers were there? and did you recognize any of the skins the creatures wore?"
"The beast in the skin of the merchant woman took me ... her brother took the foreman... Hello? ...Hello? " The misty form fades slowly at first, and then in an instant disappears.
Brother Sverin turns to you ... "He is gone. ... That is something I have never seen .. soul in the wrong body?" He starts blowing out candles and covering the corpses - shaking his head.
"Sorry if I miss heard you padre, but did you say that thing took over that gnome's soul?" He takes out a small silver flask and takes a swig to help take the answer he suspected.
"Hmm? No. Or at least, I don't think so. I don't really understand myself. but the gnome's soul was in the body of Miss Fawni here... if this is her corpse at all... "
Warden Horne speaks up "When can you question the others?"
"If I rest now, I will be ready late evening. Come back a few hours after sundown, and we can continue with the others"
" Warden, I'm fairly sure that we have taken care of the creatures that ended this gnomes life but there could be more of them! Would it be possible to send the guards around to residents asking them to form codes between loved ones something only they would know? It may help to limit casualties. Now... Eox... Eox.. "
Kn Arcana:
Kn Religion:
"I don't know if the codes would work since we don't have a number on how many there are, so we could be telling them the code and then it would be a useless endevor." Rubbing his head the Merchant ponders on another course. "We got to remember if there is any trait that the creatures we have run into share while in there hidden form like how there attitude change or quick to anger? That gnome got pissed fast when I didn't follow his plan, and fawni one was annoyed by us as well when we wouldn't answer her....What do you think of that notion guys? Can you remember any traits they shared?"
You both know you have heard the word Eox before, but the way the memory fades you feel it must be from your forgotten time - before you awoke on Golarion.
Being in the center of what was the Thassilonian empire, there is quite a bit of information available. You remember reading about attempts to contact a race of a planet in the stars ... a race similar to humans, but perhaps more advanced. It stuck with you due to the name of this planet .. Eox. But as now, you could not remember what you knew of them before.
There was no more on this subject where you found this reference to Eox.
Warden Horne looks like he is about to act on Errik's suggestion, but waits for Braxton to speak ... and then shrugs..
"I don't know if the codes would work since we don't have a number on how many there are, so we could be telling them the code and then it would be a useless endevor." Rubbing his head the Merchant ponders on another course. "We got to remember if there is any trait that the creatures we have run into share while in there hidden form like how there attitude change or quick to anger? That gnome got pissed fast when I didn't follow his plan, and fawni one was annoyed by us as well when we wouldn't answer her....What do you think of that notion guys? Can you remember any traits they shared?"
" A trait they share... Of course! It's brilliant Braxton! Ugothols, they can't digest solids! " Errik slaps himself in the forehead " That's the thing to look for, who's not eating. That's why Fawni and her brother were drinking blood when I saw them through the window last night. Ugh disgusting! "
Errik continues to think on the word Eox for a couple of more minutes before he exclaims " Ah, Eox I remember you... It's another planet. There have been attempts to reach the inhabitants before. ' Your body and blood for the progeny of Eox'? Are they claiming to be the inhabitants of Eox or did she view it as some sort of sacrifice to them? "
Warden Horne snaps out of a confused trance.. "Alright. I'm trying to think of what to go tellin people door to door, but .. I'll figure it out. If you wanna get a head start at Fawni's while I get that sorted. Just try to keep it low key." He starts to go out the door, but stops "Oh!" and reaches in his satchel.. "I'll have a bit of my lunch." and pops a piece of cheese in his mouth before leaving.
"Be safe."
Braxton watches the warden leave to make sure he doesn't spit it out, then moves back to Errik. "Who does he think we are telling us to keep a low key, hehe. Smart man figuring out that trait lets check out Fawni's place I am curious to see what stock she keeps in her personal collection." Braxton's greedy eyes start to gleam again.
" You to... " Errik replies to the warden, watching him as he walks out the door looking for chewing and swallowing.
" Hmm, right yes let's go check out Fawni's "
You don't detect any attempts at deception.
You head to Fawni and Dylan's. There is a palpable tension in the village ... word must be spreading. Like many of the merchants here, their home sits behind their merchant kiosk. A quick look is all it takes to determine the kiosk is empty.
The front door to their house is unlocked.
" Let's be careful, who knows what kind of surprises they've left behind for us... And remember we're looking for clues not just merchandise. " he says looking at Braxton with a smile.
Braxton rubbing his hands greedly, "Yes, yes, I'll be careful now lets get lootin...I mean looking for clues." He stands by the door, ready to look inside the Fawni's place.
You detect no sign of traps. Through a small pane of glass in the front door, you see the foyer - a small 10X10 room, light is poor but you see a few stacked crates in the far corner, and two doors .. one to the north, one to the east. As you peer through the glass, you hear a faint bang inside ... like a shutting door, or a book dropped from a few feet off the ground.
" Hmm, did you hear that noise? I think someone has beaten us to it... Let's be on guard " Errik opens the front door as quietly as possible and steps carefully in. He gives the crates a cursory glance before listening at the north door.
The crates look like they may have been rummaged through. They contain basic supplies; scroll tubes, blank parchments, dozens of vials of ink, quills...
You hear a faint sound like wood scraping/sliding against stone, and then nothing.
"Aye Aye, Cap'tum." He whispers back. He moves in looking around for clues and checks the wooden floor for any tracks.
Errik pulls his dagger from his right boot and after checking for traps carefully opens the door looking inside for other intruders.
Stealth: to open the door quietly
Disable device: incase the door is locked or traped.
Perception: looking for other intruders.
Braxton notices a few partial muddy prints, they go back and forth from the two doors, but not the front door.
Small humanoid, not barefoot, but not a soled boot. You are unable to determine which of the two possible directions it most recently went.
The door to the north does not appear to be trapped. The knobs turns easily and the hinges are silent as Errik opens the door. The windows on the west wall lets through enough to light the room dimly. You do not see anyone, or anything immediately remarkable in the room - from your view in the doorway. There is another door on the east wall, on the other side of the fireplace.
Braxton kneels down to the tracks, "Great small creature not wearing boots was walking through here, but I don't know which one of these doors it went so be on the guard." He pulls out his crowbar and moves in first. He searches the ground for those tracks.
Errik steps in after Braxton covering him with his dagger ready to throw at anyone who seems hostile, he moves in far enough to check the corner with the table and chairs.
You notice the footprints coming from the door past the fireplace are by far the muddiest, and the prints going back in are almost are almost imperceptible.
You move into the main room. You pass the table at which Errik had seen the two drink blood. The scraping/furniture scooting sounds have stopped. You don't immediately perceive anything too terribly out of the ordinary. Apart from the footprints, the room looks "lived in" ... not a shambles, but not too clean.
Seeing the room empty of occupants Errik moves quickly to the next door and giving it a speedy once over for traps swings it open quickly.
You swing the door open, and see several small pale blue humanoids with bulging white eyes turn to look at you. In the center on the far side of a small table... is a slightly huskier one with darker skin, dressed in robes. He has a staff in one hand, and is burning a piece of paper over a candle with the other.
"The one the Voices call the Liiinguist, yes?"
In between you and the robed speaking figure is a hole in the ground from where a stone was moved. On the edge of the hole sits one of the creatures, just now handing a crate full of books and scroll tubes to a pair of hands reaching up from inside the hole.
"It is their wish for your memories to remain intact, but I am certain enough removing this ... encounter from your mind will not damage the secrets you hold...."