...well now, isn't that peculiar?...
Uklod's inquisitive nature couldn't help but follow the ever fading tracks and if his suspicions were correct he would find answers where they lead.
or to more questions...
Heading back the way he came, Uklod finds it difficult to keep the tracks in sight in the growing darkness, but his instinct keeps him headed in the right direction. He is able to follow the tracks until they stop at the small bridge just past the Lorrimor place. Crossing the bridge he sees no sign that the tracks resume.
Heart racing, blood pounding at his temples, and shallow breathing, Ioann is high on adrenaline form the surprise. Seeing as nothing seems to be attacking them, he stops on his way to the table. Draws a deep breath and, sheats his dagger. Still angry, he clenches his fists and waits to get calmer, and for his anger to wash away.
Standing taller, the man takes a long look at the patrons around him, trying to figure out if any of them are responsible for what happened. Unable to find anything he resume his walk toward the patrons who were playing cards.
" 'That a trick? You think it is amusing to surprise the people here?" he asks, almost as if trying to intimidate the players.
Surprised, Ioann stands up quickly, causing his chair to topple down. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, he kicks away the chair, draws his dagger, and approaches the the table where the cards caught fire.
Heart racing, blood pounding at his temples, and shallow breathing, Ioann is high on adrenaline form the surprise. Yet, he does not yell, nor does he draw any weapon. Instead, he clenches his fists and waits to get calmer, and for his anger to wash away.
Everyone in the room looks utterly shocked by the events. The men who were playing cards are mostly still blinded and a bit staggered by the sudden flare up. The one who seems to have the most wits about him at the moment looks at Ioann with contempt. "That wasn't no trick of ours, ain't none of us had nothing to do with whatever the Nine Hells that was. We was all just playing fine with no problems 'til you bunch showed up in here! How we know it wasn't one of you who done somethin'?"
Seeing the incipent brawl about to start Terrance heads quickly over.
It was nothing of our doing either. Ioann, I doubt the patrons here could do that, or would do that.
Great, the only one that could have calmed him down is currently blind for I don't know how long.
Uklod had a decision to make and the many unknowns made him hesitate to choose a direction. He leaned against the post on the bridge and stared at the creek until he made up his mind ...I need to make sure Lady Kendra is safe first and foremost... Resolved to a course of action he left the bridge and made for the jail.
"If someone could please explain what is going on... and be descriptive, I cannot see a blasted thing!"
As Uklod nears the jailhouse darkness has set in; he sees the silhouette of a man and woman walking towards him from the direction of the jail. You can tell exactly when it is that the man spots you heading towards them, because he seems to casually change places with the woman, putting himself on the inside so as to be between you and the woman when you pass.
A couple of minutes later you hear the distinct sound of a woman's laughter followed by, "Oh, I think that might be Uklod..." You can see clearly now that the woman is Lady Kendra being escorted by a man you haven't met, who it appears has a gun holstered at his hip.
Lady Ravel, the flare is gone, and the only thing in here is us and the other patrons.
Ioann, as i stated before, i doubt the had anything to do with that flare. Just like we had nothing to do with it.
Terrance directs the last part of the comment to the poker players
The man continues to eye Ioann doubtfully, unsure as to whether the big man is gonna take a swing at him or not.
Finally hearing Terrance, Ioann takes a step away from the card players, trying to look less intimidating. Yet, his face bears his usual stern and angry expression.
"We did not cause that flash, and neither did anyone here... who... who could it be..." he says to himself more than to the others.
Ioann approaches the patrons again, bends over their table, and starts picking the cards up and putting them into a deck. When the players stare at him, he stares back with intensity and simply continues. Once done, he drops a gold coin on the table.
"There, buy a new deck." he says, as he strides back toward his companions and sits down with them.
"Recovered your sight yet? I need you to check these cards to see if there was anything on them that could have caused the flash." he says, placing his chair back up and sitting next to Ravel.
Rubbing the stars from her eyes with the palms of her hands, "I see your bedside manner still has not improved. Let me see them, please." She looks to Ake, "Can you see all right, Ake?" She ensures the goblin has also regained her sight before turning her attention to Ioann's newly purchased cards. She waves her hand as she whispers, "Odhaliť." and calls upon her power to see if any magic resides in the cards.
"My, my... and ominous card indeed, if one believes such things. This Harrow card is the Uprising, and if ones follows Varisian fortune-telling, this card could very well represent Harrowstone's past fate... or Ravengro's if we cannot stop history from repeating itself... But the card itself holds no magic."
"Nothing like a reminder of what will happen if we screw this up." Ingrid says dryly. Getting the waitress' attention, Ingrid hands her a few gold letting her know that the men playing cards next drinks would be on her.
Within a few moments the blindness has cleared from everyone affected and half of the people in the tavern begin to trickle out the door thinking it's probably best that they head home for the night. Zokar looks disappointed that the event is chasing away so much of his business, but he is far too congenial to say anything to the patrons as they leave aside from apologies and farewells.
The men at the card table happily gather back around with the offering of gold for new cards and gold for drinks.
Terrance comes back, and sits down at the table.
So what is it that will happen if we fail ?
Biting her tongue until it nearly bleeds, Ake manages to restrain herself from calling the inbred, backwoods, sheep loving morons any names.
idiots..
Well, to their faces anyways..
"It would seem that if we fail to stop these hauntings, that Ravengro may fall to tempers and flames... similar to the fires of decades past but fueled by the wrath of the restless dead." Ravel then smiles, "Or perhaps the card just warns those born under the Stranger to be wary of relationships with those born under the Lantern Bearer... I am no harrower, I am just telling you how I interpreted the omen."
So then it would seem that it is up to us to stop it from happening.
Terrance shakes his head And here I thought that it would be a relatively quiet month.
"Yes, idiots." answers Ioann to Ake, rubbing her head and tousling her hair in an almost friendly manner. Well, it would be tousling if her hair wasn't so patchy and already untidy.
Ioann rests his head between his two hands, listening to Terrance and Ravel. Yet, unlike his usual self, he looks like he is paying attention to what is going on around him, for he his keeping an eye of the speakers. Then, when he speaks, he lifts his head and looks to Ravel and Ake in turns.
"The card is ominous. But why? How often do harrow deck display such magic by itself... I get the impression that someone is behind this. Someone who wants to scare the villagers... Ravel, goblin, is there anyway someone could have weaved magic to get such a flash without us noticing?"
Terrance looks at Ravel and listens for the answer.
"Left unchecked, I believe that what happened in the prison will happen again in the town until there is nothing but a burning wreckage full of death and carnage." Ingrid says ominously.
"Ioan, could you place the cards on the table for a moment?"the statuesque paladin asks, frowning slightly.
Ravel smiles as Ake's hair is tussled... more, then she shrugs as she turns to Ioann, "Usually worked magic leaves an aura or impression. I saw no linger, so I do not believe any conjurer ensorcelled the harrow cards. Ingrid, I hope your divinations prove more fruitful."
As Uklod nears the jailhouse darkness has set in; he sees the silhouette of a man and woman walking towards him from the direction of the jail. You can tell exactly when it is that the man spots you heading towards them, because he seems to casually change places with the woman, putting himself on the inside so as to be between you and the woman when you pass.
A couple of minutes later you hear the distinct sound of a woman's laughter followed by, "Oh, I think that might be Uklod..." You can see clearly now that the woman is Lady Kendra being escorted by a man you haven't met, who it appears has a gun holstered at his hip.
Relief washed over Uklod upon seeing Kendra relatively safe. The gunslinger's protective actions put him more at ease and he cracked a smile at the pair as he approached.
"Good evening Lady Kendra... Sir." Uklod nodded towards the man and offered a hand shake, "I'm Uklod Oiglus."
Once the pair is close enough, you can make out the badge on the man's belt. He takes your hand and shakes it firmly, "Deputy Marcus Riff. Pleasure."
Kendra looks around, realizing that you are alone and says, "Uklod, are the others not with you? Is something wrong?"
The concern in her voices puts the Deputy on guard as his stance shifts and his eyes and ears scan the darkness.
I am hoping that our research bears fruit as well.
Terrance slowly picks at the remains of his supper as he ponders.
I think we should set aside tomorrow for research into the Father Charlatain, and then preparations. The day after, we should look into putting it down.
I also know that this will not get us closer to the killer of the professor, but I cannot stand by and let innocents get hurt by my inaction.
If the only way to protect them, is by settling the place down, then we should do that.
"Tackling these horrors one at a time may be best, but we should also be prepared for the unexpected, as much as we can be. Fortunately, I have no cause to doubt the strength or determination of any of my friends here." In between bites, "Since we are bound together by our past ties to the Professor and Kendra, if there is anything you wish to know of me, you need but ask. I consider you all my allies and would like to consider you my friends."
Ioann throws the cards across the table in such a way that they spread for Ingrid to see.
"There. Do you believe them to be evil?" he asks with a mean tone before turning to the others.
While his companions are speaking, Ioann rests his hand on his fist, and sights while shaking his head. Upon hearing Ravel, he seems to freeze for a moment, while torn between a desire to cry and laugh.
Friend, me. Really? No more lonelyness? he stops his toughts at this moment, unable to go on and hardening his facial expression as much as possible to create an unbreakable mask.
After a moment, he raises his head to look at the others.
"Sounds like a good plan. Weakening them as quickly as possible will ensure the spectre of lady Hawkran will keep them at bay and foil the plans of the necromancers... and yes, Professor Lorrimor seems to have all greatly affected us. Enough that we would all face ghosts for his sake. Ravel, what did he do for you?"
"Yes. I do." Ingrid says quietly closing her eyes and taking a few deep claning breaths as she focuses.
When she opens her eyes the usual sappire blue is replaced with an opalescent white glow as she stares down at the cards spead across the table.
Ravel speaks quietly as Ioann tosses the cards for Ingrid's perusal. "My father was a herdsman, a simple farmer... my mother passed from this world bringing me into it. As a child I was often confined to my bed with illness, colds and maladies that would pass in other children in days lingered in my small body for weeks at a time. The dear Professor was one of the many doctors that tended to me, providing sleeping tonics so that I could finally find rest... he would sometimes have his current ward or protege with him," Ravel glances up at Ioann with a look of recognition, "My father scrounged every copper he made to pay for these remedies, but Lorrimor always refused to accept. Were it not for his kindnesses, I would not be here today to avenge him..."
In the makers name. My story is not so trying as yours. Terrance rubs the scars along his face. My caravan was attacked by a large group of the walking dead a number of years ago.
We managed to fight them off both us and a human group.
The professor was there researching on how to deal with the scourge, and so we offered to bring his party back to safety.
It was during the months of slow travel, that we ended up becoming friends.
Ingrid does indeed detect a dim lingering aura of the undead, a smudge of residue it appears.
"There's a lingering...smudge of undead residue on the cards. A dim presence. It may be that haunts, once loose are now possessing objects. The main presence is gone, but what remains is still...tainted." Ingrid says as she stares at the cards, seeing beyond the physical plane.
Once the pair is close enough, you can make out the badge on the man's belt. He takes your hand and shakes it firmly, "Deputy Marcus Riff. Pleasure."
Kendra looks around, realizing that you are alone and says, "Uklod, are the others not with you? Is something wrong?"
The concern in her voices puts the Deputy on guard as his stance shifts and his eyes and ears scan the darkness.
The man's handshake reassured Uklod that Marcus was an honorable man.
"Likewise Deputy.", Uklod replied before answering Kendra, "The others went out to relax a bit. I stayed back to take care of some chores and just recently decided on a walk. And no, nothing is wrong at all although I did see something quite strange down by the bridge," shrugging, the serious young man made sure there were no apparent eavesdroppers before continuing; "I witnessed wagon tracks appearing and almost as quickly disappearing but there was no wagon."
"Oh my!" Kendra says. "It's just like those other things that have been happening."
The Deputy eyes the both of you a bit oddly but doesn't seem to judgmental when he asks, "You sure about that?"
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Ioann listens carefully to Ravel's story before taking a long look at her, scrutinizing her face. As he does, fuzzy memories come back to the surface of his mind. Memories of him and professor Lorrimor taking care of a sick young girl with mismatched eyes and a strange shadow.
Once the later memory surface, Ioann's attention is drawn to Ravel's shadow before quickly returning the the woman's face. When he does so, the others can see that his expression has softened and he almost seems to be smiling. He remains that way while Terrance tells his story.
"My story is even less trying than yours Terrance. I came to Ravengro years ago to study under the tutelage of professor Lorrimor. During that time, I accompanied him on many of his trips... one of them to take care of a young bed ridden girl. Funny that I might meet her again. It seems you haven't lost your sense of humor since we last met." he finishes, with a faint smile.
Then, interupted by Ingrid's discovery, Ioann stares at her for a moment.
"Could it be caused by the ritual that professor Lorrimor witnessed? Are the people here in danger?" he asks, becoming more and more talkative and invested in the discussion.
Ravel smiles to see Ioann soften at the edges a bit. She replies to Ioann, hoping Ingrid's expertise on the matters of evil can elaborate. "Our dear professor had a lot of time to delve into the secrets of this town and the prison. Even from what we have gleaned in the past few days I would say that danger is upon us. It is just fortunate that in his wisdom he had foresight to send for those that would fight this danger even in his absence."
[B]He was my friend and my teacher. His tutoring quenched my thirst for knowledge, for that alone I would be here. As one of my very, very few friends, I will drag his killer into the abyss with my own hands to see their punishment fulfilled. And sell my soul for a place next to them to watch over them for eternity...[b]
Ave then proceeds ravishing her food with gusto.
"Aye, I'm sure Deputy. The light was failing to fast to follow past the bridge though. Probably nothing to worry about."
Uklod wasn't too sure about that last part but he wouldn't say anything that might upset Kendra if he didn't have to.
"Has there been any other strange sightings in town today?"
"Well, none that's been reported to me. Maybe we should be letting Father Grimburrow know about this? It sounds more like his area of expertise..."
"Sure, I have yet to meet Father Grimburrow so that would be a pleasure...unless you two have other plans? You could just tell me where to find him."
Ake, I hope it does not come to that extreme, but I agree with the sentiment. The ones that killed the professor will pay.
Kendra giggles and the Deputy looks a bit uncomfortable as he says, "Oh no, I was just making sure that Lady Kendra got back home safely. She kept on telling me she was fine and could handle herself but, well, I insisted. I don't mind taking you to the temple, it's a nice night and Deputy Trestleblade is at the jail so I've got time."
Deputy Riff gets you moving again, right back the way you came. He pauses outside of the Lorrimor Estate, expecting Kendra would want to go in for the night. He looks genuinely exasperated when she says, "Oh, no. I think I'll accompany you boys. This could be rather interesting."
With that, the three of you continue on crossing over the little bridge and following the road on up to the Temple of Pharasma. Deputy Riff stands staring at the stained glass mural of Pharasma judging Count Andachi and says quietly to himself, "If ever there was any building that looked scarier at night it is definitely this one."
-----
Those at the Laughing Demon are able to relax and enjoy their meal despite their depressing choice of conversation. The place is half as crowded as it was before, but after the mood has settled laughter and chatter fill the place once more. Zokar comes out to check on you after hearing about the commotion from his son, he seems afraid that you'll leave too and is eager to please. "How is the corpse chowder? It pairs well with the liquid ghost." He turns to holler back towards the kitchen, "Pevrin! Bring out some more liquid ghost for our special guests!"
"Really? You named it corpse chowder?" Ingrid says with a disapproving glance.
Zokar's face falls, "Well, yes, ma'am. That's a big part of the Laughing Demon's appearance. We've named all the food and drinks scary sounding names. It's fun..."