Sharien follows Blackheath to the windmill. "I do hope these 'sisters' are willing to speak with us. Otherwise, we'll just have to gather physical clues on our own, which could take too long..."
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As posted above, the sisters will gladly summarize what they recall.
The Sisters: Each remembers the deaths. The village’s children vanished one by one, only to return as ghosts. Then one day the culprit was found—the Beast of Lepidstadt. It boldly walked into the village with one of the dead children, a girl named Ellsa. The witnesses all recall seeing the Beast laughing as it carried the child’s broken body. As soon as the locals saw the Beast, they set upon it with pitchforks, but try as they might they couldn’t catch it, and the Beast escaped into the swamp. The poor innocents it killed continued to haunt the village, and before long became too much for the locals, who soon abandoned the cursed village.
Do you have specific questions for them? I'll also allow sense motive checks. :)
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Questions:
"Aren't you three afraid of the ghosts?"
"Where and when do the ghosts appear?"
Blackheath also scans the windmill, looking especially at the mill machinery or anything else that could potentially also produce a "broken" body.
The clown believes that the Beast would not kill a child, and he finds it suspicious that these three would stay after the rest of the town fled.
Sharien also has nothing to offer at the moment.
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They tell their story again. This time everyone pays close attention, takes notes, and compares time lines. You discover an inconsistency!
Of the six children who died, one—a girl named Karin—died in her own bed 2 days after the Beast was driven from Hergstag. Her father heard her screaming but by the time he reached her she was dead, without a mark on her and with no signs of entry.
"Oh, yeah! Karin died after ol' Betty's birthday. Remember? Her birthday was the day after the Beast was driven out!"
This, however, does not clear the Beast of the other deaths in Hergstag.
You may:
(1) Ask the Beast about Hergstag after this day's court proceedings are over
(2) Go to Hergstag yourselves and investigate!
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I vote that we go directly to Hergstag.
Sound good to everyone?
Anything y'all want to do / buy / whatever before Hergstag?
__________
Now abandoned and overgrown, the village of Hergstag lies some 10 miles northwest of Lepidstadt. The farmland has fallen to ruin, and now even the well-trodden pathways around the area are difficult to follow. The crops have gone to seed and high corn grows everywhere, affecting visibility and providing concealment as light undergrowth (Core Rulebook 426).
The village's farmhouses have all been abandoned, and while some furniture such as tables and washboards remain, the homes have been given over to vermin--rats, termites, cockroaches, etc. In the northern portion of the village, the land turns to deep bog (Core Rulebook 427). The paths here are even harder to follow. There may even be areas of quicksand.
Before actually stepping into one, the party realizes that the undergrowth also conceals bear traps! Merely walking around here might be dangerous.
Sharien stops quickly at a local magic shop and buys a scroll.
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Hm. That's creative! But: "It cannot be killed, but it dissipates if it takes 6 points of damage from area attacks. (It gets no saves against attacks.)"
The servant cannot be targeted, so the bear trap will never snap on it.
It is just a series of perception checks. The idea isn't so much to "get" you. But to put you at a state of unease. Say, for example, you have to run towards or away from something--through a trap-laden field.
:-)
I don't mind saying that you can avoid the bear traps while out of combat. But they'll add a level of angst if you should happen upon combat.
"Alright... if my summoned creatures lasted longer I would simply summon us a scout, but I suppose it's better not to subject the poor creatures to the traps anyway."
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Here is a map of Hergstag with the location of each death.
Thinking upon the sisters' story about how the ghosts came back, Blackheath suspects they might be the victims of ghouls or wraiths or some other creature that creates spawn.
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OK. The party starts to head towards Gaard. As you walk, it feels like the town itself doesn't want you to go. The ground becomes soft and mushy, making it hard to find your footing. The sky becomes very overcast, making it difficult to see. The undergrowth becomes more rigid, as though it is trying to hold you back.
Grog realizes that the land isn't being hostile. It's trying to warn you: "Don't go that way. Something unnatural is ahead. Please, turn back for your own safety!"
"This place is as cursed as all the others we've had to visit so far on our missions together. The spirits all seem to have it out for us."
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The closer you get to Gaard, the softer the ground becomes. It is as though the earth weeps for your fate. You can hear the drone of a single hornet flying lazily in the air, and you can smell the sickly sweet stench of decay. But, otherwise, this appears to be an abandoned home.
As you enter, rats and cockroaches scatter. There is a constant susurrus of skittering/vermin noises once you're inside.
You take 20 to search the small home. Every time you lift a plate, turn over a pillow, or look under a book, something skitters, squeaks, or hisses and runs away into a darker corner.
Ultimately, however, you find no clues / nothing of interest here.
By the time you head back outside, it has started to rain. It's late afternoon. The sun will go down in a couple of hours.
"EWW EWW EWW!"
After we leave the house:
"Well that was relatively useless. WHat should we do next, friends?"
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The closer that the party gets to the hill, the more they can hear "suspect" sounds. Blackheath hears the sound of children whispering. Gravleon hears the sound of children moaning, as though ill with a bad flu. Sharien can hear the sound of children giggling, as though laughing at the party.
The further the party trudges up the hill through the rain, the more the terrain seems to plead: "Turn back now. Only misery lies ahead."
"Agreed, there is something strange here. I worry that there are dangerous spirits near."
Sharien is lucky if she noticed that there is dirt beneath her feet.
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Blackheath notices that there are multiple footprints coming from multiple directions--all leading up the hill.
Sharien has an awful time keeping the rain out of her eyes! :-(
Grog notices that the footprints seem to all originate from the places where the victims were slain.
Gravleon notices flecks of dried blood in the footprints.
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Gravleon couches down at the bloody foot print "look here there's something or someone wounded came this way..."
Looking at the dried blood, trying to get a seance of how old it might be...
-Posted with Wayfinder
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The grass beneath the footprints is angled in an odd way. It's as though the plants found the creature stepping upon them to be offensive, and the blades of grass tried to angle themselves away.
In the sky, lightning flashes. The clouds thicken.
From somewhere up the hill, a rolling wave of stink assaults your sense of smell. The scent is unmistakable--it is decay.
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Gravleon cast shield of faith
"on alert my friends the night is dark and evil is close..."
-Posted with Wayfinder