Andrezi gestures at one of the undead foes fighting Firinne, and the lion pounces on it!
With one zombie creature to the north still a threat, Andrezi weaves a quick spell that fires two rays of fire at it!
Nebbin continue to rush toward the fighting.
KORVOSA HINTERLANDS (Desnus 9; Early AM)
Nebbin arrives on the scene and does his best to lumber across the uneven ground to engage the nearest undead. A moment before he arrives at his targeted foe, however, two scorching rays from Andrezi reduce that monster to a smoking husk! Andrezi's summoned lion tears a second to pieces while a third charges Emi, ineffectually swinging a sharp claw that misses the young slayer.
As Trinia finally appears at the edge of the field, the two original undead decide this is a fight they cannot win. "Back into the earth! We must endure!" They move away from Firinne, the wounded male heading north toward one of two burrows there (but taking a route around the summoned lion's deadly claws) while the female tries to hobble-hop to another burrow to the southeast. They are unaware what a gifted fighter Firinne is....
Trinia seems to recognize the undead. "Trailgaunts! The footless freaks of the ranks of the undead! Don't let them escape--the pointy bones at the bottom of their legs make great holes for planting seeds! That's about all they're good for!"
The young bard's strange, insulting rant against your foes has a fortifying effect upon those who hear it: You feel confident in your ability to slay the monsters, sort of like the effect of one of Kayleigh's bless spells...only more powerful!
An affected ally receives a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +2 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
for
Emi has to stop short to deal with one of the footless zombies. She turns on him and begins to hack, hoping to end it very quickly.
Gifted though she might be, Fírinne is too focused on defending herself to take full advantage of their sudden flight. Presented with two different targets fleeing in opposite directions, she chooses to pursue the one to the south, figuring that the lion will take care of the other. She flings out a beam of fire from her outstretched hand as she pushes through the underbrush.
KORVOSA HINTERLANDS (Desnus 9; Early AM)
The southern end of the northbound trailgaunt barely avoids getting skewered by Firinne's quick opportunity attack; the one heading southeast likewise avoids her blade. It can't however, dodge the scorching ray the tiefling fires at her, and now it's about as damaged as its companion .
Meanwhile Emi makes a couple of less-than-stellar hacks at her foe. The thing hasn't fully regained its balance from its ungainly charge, and the slayer's first hack connects, leaving the lesser trailgaunt barely standing.
Andrezi points at yet another zombie as his celestial feline does its gruesome work. It pounces on yet another foe!
"I think this is going well so far," Andrezi says, drawing his sword as he starts moving. He spots Emi's approach and moves to a flanking position.
Laboring through the thick underbrush, Nebbin closes in on the remaining undead.
KORVOSA HINTERLANDS (Desnus 9; Early AM)
The summoned lion tears apart another undead, and Nebbin's arrival on the scene spells the end of the fight. One of the two original undead, the female Firinne had been fighting, retreats to the nearest area of torn-up earth and burrows into the soil, vanishing from sight.
The other leader trailguant carries a magical pearl in his pants pocket. The fresher Varisian ones still wear jewelry and trinkeys worth 100 gp total.
"They burrow. Great."
Emi tries poking her sword into the earth where the nearest one went down to see if she can hit "paydirt".
Fírinne watches Emi's back, wary of another ambush.
"There's precious little I can do to something hiding underground," she says, watching the dirt for any sign of movement. "We'd best get moving. Maybe we can come back later to finish the job, when we're prepared enough."
With the combat over Andrezi dismisses the lion. "I could summon a creature capable of burrowing down into the earth and giving chase. Is that worthwhile? Do we want to make sure that undead creature stays away?"
"I think if we just stay on guard," Nebbin says. "It didn't actually come to our camp, so hopefully it really knows enough now to stay away."
Fírinne pauses a moment to think, then nods. "Do it. If we leave it to recover on its own, it could claim more victims before we can return to finish the job."
Andrezi's offer is quite outside anything she expected, or can really visualize. She sidesteps.
"You're the expert. Do what you think is best."
Andrezi places his hand on a plain silver ring, closing his eyes as he concentrates. Magic flows into his mind, and when his eyelids flutter back open he says, "Stand back, please."
Working more slowly, he weaves a convoluted conjuration spell that, upon completion, forms a man-shaped earth elemental. He points at the spot where the undead foe burrowed and says in Terran, "Find the undead creature and destroy it. Return to me when done."
KORVOSA HINTERLANDS (Desnus 9)
Andrezi's earth elemental follows its orders and soon discovers and finishes off the hidden trailgaunt. On its body is an amulet that might have some value. Post battle, Trinia heals Firinne of the damage she took during the fight.
The rest of the night passes quietly. Little over an hour into your journey the next morning, your party comes across a roadside campsite on the east side of the road. There are signs of a recent struggle: lots of blood splashed about, and two areas of torn-up earth near the road are identical to the trailgaunt burrows you found in the night. It appears that a horse-drawn wagon was once at the site but exited northward.
Even with the quick stop to investigate the disturbed campsite, your party still reaches Trots before noon. Parked outside is a covered wagon that could possibly be the one that was recently at the bloody campsite. Inside the common room, two tables have been pushed together, and on their tops are spread a collection of Varisian clothing, pots, pans, and utensils, a few serviceable weapons, and other trinkets. Several human men are gathered around the table, closely inspecting the wares, while a lone barmaid tends the bar. Across the room, seated alone at a table, is a man that matches the description Master Orisini gave of Jasan Adriel: a barrel-chested man wearing a red headband.
"I suppose this tells us where the rest of the monsters came from," Fírinne notes grimly at the roadside campsite. "At least we prevented them from claiming any further victims."
------------
At the inn, Fírinne's attention focuses on the men standing around the table. Survivors, trying to take stock of what they have left? Or simply looters of the dead?
TROTS ROADSIDE INN (9 Desnus)
Listening in a bit, it's easy enough for Firinne (or anyone else) to take stock of the conversation. A small group of merchants claim to have found an abandoned Varisian wagon and brought it to Trots to trade it, the accompanying horses, and whatever wares were found inside.
Nebbin looks around, wondering why Firinne is paying attention to the survivors -- definitely not undead themselves, clearly -- and not heading over toward Jasan Adriel. He begins making his way in that direction, and nods a greeting.
Fírinne's suspicions are resolved by what she learns, though her disapproval remains. Still, it's not as though the merchants were the ones who murdered the caravan.
She takes up a position just inside the door, arms crossed, ready to intervene if things got rowdy.
Emi accompanies Nebbin to speak with Adriel. She's mostly decided on her course of action. Whether or not they use Jasan Adriel to smuggle Trinia to Harse, she at least will be going as well. The bounty on Trinia is simply too high to truly trust anyone so close to Korvosa.
Her thinking isn't entirely unselfish though. Emi has only ever been outside Korvosa a couple of times on very short trips while in school. She's liking the space, trees, and fresh air quite a lot. A little more time out of the city would be pleasant.
TROTS ROADSIDE INN (9 Desnus)
While Firinne and Andrezi (thus far, at least) stay near the front door, Nebbin and Emileva approach the man they believe to be Jasan Adriel. As Nebbin's great form looms between Jasan and the locals gathered around the loot table, your contact risks a quick grin. It's wide and infectious.
"You must be the giant Nebbin that Master Orisini told me about," he comments, adding a subtle nod in the big warrior's direction. "Ah--and the lovely Emileva! Oh--and you must be Miss Trinia, my charge. I shall watch over and protect you as if you were my own daughter!"
Trinia has quietly accompanied Nebbin and Emi across the room and now stands staring at her new guardian.
"I have a horse saddled and ready in the stable, milady. Perhaps we should sneak out now while the locals are otherwise occupied?"
"I'm glad we've found you Master Jasan. We'll be needing at least one more horse though. I'm coming along as well, maybe some of the others. Is there a stable here where we can hire the extras we need?"
Andrezi watches the exchange, unaware of any nuance to the situation. He nonetheless remains ready to employ magic should something go awry.
"So, Andrezi," Fírinne says, "what's the Academae like?" Though her tone is light, the twitching of her tail betrays her anxiety at the situation.
"If you're going," Nebbin says, "we should all go!"
"In short: difficult and deadly," Andrezi says in response to Firinne. He's happy talking about the subject. "It's ten years of study to graduate from the Acadamae, and the first three you're effectively just cheap labour. Did you know that one in five students don't survive the first year?"
"Anyhow, I obviously survived the first year and chose to specialize in transmution magic," Andrezi continues to chat away. "They have some the best conjurers in Golarion, but I admit that my philosophy around magic is around using it to change the world. For the better, little by little."
TROTS ROADSIDE INN (9 Desnus)
While Firinne and Andrezi chat near the entrance, Jasan considers Emileva's request. Frowning, he offers a guess that the inn might have a spare horse or two available, but likely not four. He somewhat distastefully points out that a horse-drawn wagon seems to be newly available, though bartering for it might draw some additional scrutiny to the new arrivals.
"I probably could use an additional escort, though, if whole families are being attacked on the road, as seems to be the case."
TROTS ROADSIDE INN (9 Desnus)
Emi's unable to pick up any definite vibes from Jasan. He seems legit.
"Yeah, we don't want you to get attacked," Nebbin says in a quiet voice. "We'll have to go get that wagon."
"We can also check into buying a couple of horses elsewhere if the wagon is a problem."
Emi goes to take a quick walk around the village, looking for a stable or maybe a farm that might be willing to sell a couple horses.
TROTS ROADSIDE INN (9 Desnus)
Emi steps outside and quickly discovers that there is no village here--it's just the inn, a stable, and some outlying sheds.
Meanwhile, Jasan leaves some coins on the table to pay for his meal. Getting to his feet, he whispers that perhaps it would be best to slip out of the inn now while most folks are occupied with the recovered wagon and its contents to lessen the chance that Trinia could be spotted or identified. He suggests that maybe the hulking Nebbin can act as a sort of natural screen for them by walking back to his friends loitering near the door.
Nebbin nods -- that seems like a good idea, and he's not really good at intrigue -- so heads back toward his friends.
Emi is very quickly back to tell Nebbin "We're going to need the wagon. No other options."
Nebbin nods. "Do you want me to go ask if they'll sell it?"
Emi pats Nebbin on the back.
"Never mind. I'll go take care of it."
Emi goes to find the person claiming ownership, or salvage rights, or however this sort of thing works.
The high casualty rate among students draws a frown out of Fírinne. "That seems extraordinarily wasteful. Still, I'm glad you made it through."
TROTS ROADSIDE INN (9 Desnus)
While Emileva moves to haggle with the merchants, innkeeper, and whomever else is involved with the horse-drawn wagon, Jasan and Trinia slink out the front door, using Nebbin as a sort of screen. Emi gets a decent deal--300 gp for the pair of horses, the wagon, and all necessary harnesses and other accessories. She gets the impression that the merchants who found the abandoned wagon aren't entirely sure about the laws of salvage in this case, but she also senses that they're fairly certain that there were no survivors of the attack who'll come looking for the lost wagon (and are seriously spooked by the bloody landscape they witnessed nearby when they found it). They're happy to have the wagon off their hands.
The subsequent trip to the village of Harse goes quickly, quietly, and without incident. Idle chat with Jasan en route makes your party more trusting of the fellow, as he definitely seems to know a lot about Master Orisini. Trinia has swiftly grown to trust the man as well, keeping her horse close to Jasan's while constantly asking questions about what her new life outside the city will entail.
At Harse, you say your farewells to the bard and her new protector. There's news of Korvosa's troubles, but the blood veil doesn't seem to have hit the village yet, outside an isolated case or two. The plan is to return to Korvosa at first light. While you spend the rest of your day relaxing and gathering a few supplies for the return trip, you discover there's another traveler in town heading for Korvosa: a majestic catfolk wanderer named Miakoda. Perhaps you could travel back together for mutual protection.
"Oh, you may not want to come to the city," Nebbin regretfully informs Miakoda.
"It's not a very happy place right now. There's --" he lets his voice drop "a plague going on and the new queen is ..."
He trails off as he's not quite sure how to describe Ileosa.
Emi cuts in on Nebbin before he says something best left unsaid.
"The plague is a disaster. That aside you'll want to watch your step and mind what you say. Best you stay away from politics."
Her tails swishing as she looks from Nebbin to Emileva and back, a smile just barely touches Miakoda's lips. "Most rulers in most places prefer their subjects watch their words and speak not their minds save to praise. I have not met many queens, but I know the type. And plagues hold little fear for me--indeed, perhaps the Song of the Spheres can give the people succor?"
Hopping down from the branch she had been napping in, the amarrun stretches. "I have no designs upon queen or city, save to give help where I may. A question, though, if I may: know you of the House of Arkona?" Her half-smile vanishes and her tail goes still. "I should very much like to find them."
Fírinne tilts her head quizzically at the newcomer. "I have heard of them, but I can't say I've ever met any." She spreads her hands apologetically and smiles. "We're not really the sort that nobles like to be seen hanging around with."
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Upon hearing the catfolk Miakoda's question, Emi's stomach lurches and she elevates her usual caution.
"The Arkona name is associated with Old Korvosa. They're important there I guess. Can't tell you much more though."
"Yes you can," Miakoda answers. "But I will not press. I am a stranger to you, but perhaps I can prove worthy of trust? The roads are dangerous even at the best of times, may I accompany you back to the city? I have never visited famed Korvosa before."
Being new to the group as well, Andrezi bows to Miakoda and says, "It's a city, and full of the types of complexities you would expect to find. The plague is a problem, but if you can help I have no doubt that you would be welcome."
"Oh yeah, we ran into undead on the way here!" Nebbin says. "But I can make sure you're OK if you need. I won't let anything happen to you!"
"I'm still fairly new to the city myself, as it happens. Besides," Fírinne says with a grin, "it'll be nice to have someone else around who can answer the incessant questions about having a tail."
CITY OF KORVOSA (10 Desnus)
As your group re-enters the city, Nebbin is approached by a young man from the Korvosan Guard. He and Emi don’t know the fellow’s name, but they recognize him from past visits with Field Marshal Cressida Kroft. He tells Nebbin that Cressida sent a letter into Old Korvosa earlier that morning summoning them to an audience with her. He suggests reporting to Citadel Volshyenek immediately.
CITADEL VOLSHYENEK (10 Desnus)
Field Marshal Cressida Kroft has changed since last some of you saw her: She has dark bags beneath her tired-looking eyes and appears to have lost some weight. ”Good to see you folks,” she says, eyeballing the newer recruits and perfunctorily asking Emileva if the newer folks can be trusted. Then the leader of the Korvosan Guard sighs and asks if your group is up to performing a small mission for her.
”One of the Guard informs me that a young woman has been seeking aid for the last few days,” she begins. ”Her brother is a musician who was to perform at some gala at the South Shore manor of the Carowyn noble family. The fellow never returned home that night or in the days since. The young woman visited the Carowyn estate and claims that it was dark, silent, and locked up. Then a couple more citizens asked about other missing relatives this morning, folks who had also reportedly attended a party at the Carowyn estate. I’d like you to look into this matter as soon as possible. Something feels off about this whole matter, and I’d like your team to investigate. With all the other things going on in the city, I don’t have the available manpower to send in a contingent of the guard. Also, you people are better able to deal with a situation that regular guardsmen might not be equipped to handle.”
She writes a quick note, adds the wax seal of her office, and hands it to Emi. ”This authorizes you to enter the Carowyn manor if you indeed find it locked up as was reported. If your new associates need guard cloaks for future missions, a clerk will provide them. You needn’t wear them for this mission, though; this note should suffice if anyone questions why you’re breaking into the manor house.”
CAROWYN MANOR (10 Desnus)
Carowyn Manor proves to be a stately gabled house located on Shoreline Way, almost at the far southwestern and of the city. It features a two-story mansion and a smaller building, likely the servants’ quarters. The entire perimeter is surrounded by a tall, thick hedge. The only entrance to the grounds seems to be the manor’s front double doors, unless you’d like to try one of the ground-floor windows or climb up 15 feet to the balcony that hangs over the front entry. As was reported, the place is silent and may even be abandoned…but the hedges seem to have been pruned a few days past.