Letitia clears her throat as soon as it becomes apparent that everyone was leaving immediately. "Are you leaving now? Then I presume you are fully prepared to fight the winter folk, should they actually be there? Do you have fire? Cold iron?"
Her hand waves in the direction of the apothecary. "Madame Willowbark should have some flasks of alchemists fire for sale -- she'd been teaching me how to make it. If these fey are winter-touched as you have heard, then they'll like fire even less than the touch of cold iron."
When the quiet woman clears her throat, Baradim looks back with a quirked eyebrow. "That was the plan, yes, they won't hunt themselves after all." She asked about cold iron and he would pat the falchion upon his back, giving a wicked grin before nodding. "This blade cuts through fey flesh just fine but..." The smile would fade as he looked to his dagger and to the pouch full of sling bullets. "...that is all the cold iron I have."
She would gesture towards the apothecary and Baradim would give a nod, quickly making his way over as he fiddled with the pouch upon his belt. It jingled enticingly with the sound of coins. He would enter inside, eyes scanning the various racks full of alchemical ingredients and concoctions before moseying up to the counter. Clearing his throat, he'd speak.
"I am looking for things that burn. No, not my throat. No, I don't have a burn. No, especially not there. Things to set other things on fire! Yes...yes...good." Only Baradim's side of the conversation could be heard from the inside and by the time others came in, he was already purchasing what he could afford.
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Baradim (and maybe others) enter the apothecary. Tessaraea Willowbark greets Baradim warmly, no doubt having had dealings with him in the past and acknowledging his extensive knowledge of methods of using the gifts of nature to enhance peoples' lives.
"You're looking to start a bit of fun are you? I think I have a bit of what you're looking for"
She turns around to rummage through a few cabinets and drawers. as she is digging around you can't help but notice an excessive number of prepared vials of alchemist fire lining the shelves in one such cabinet. she carefully pulls one down, along with the 2 vials of cold iron blanch.
"These should do the trick. Watch yourself out there. You never know when you might run into a troll. I always keep at least one of these on me at all times!"
_____________________________________________________
Purchases made, equipment gathered, and armed with as much information as poor Yulin could give them, the party heads towards the area where the ambush occurred.
Near the forest, the temperature grows noticeably colder.
The road ahead is littered with debris and the corpses of slain humans and horses. A carriage stands in the roadway, its team of horses missing or cut free, while another overturned carriage lies sprawled and broken next to the tree line. To the south, more bodies have fallen around what appears to be a statue of ice. A snowy trail leads deeper into the forest.
What do you do next?
"Thank you Madame Willowbark. Your goods will see quite the use, I'm sure. Yes, I am very sure." With the new tools in hand, he'd quietly make his way back out of the shop. He'd wait for the others to purchase any extra gear that they needed before they headed out into the woods towards where the Lady was ambushed.
Their travel was long as they walked along the path to the border woods, Baradim would be quietly humming a song to himself the entire time. Yet as they crested a hill and grew near to the forest, he could deny the fact that the temperature began to drop even more so and it sent a chill down his spine. Just up ahead, the road was covered with debris and corpses; the ambush site finally in sight. His song stopped in his throat and his lips raised in a snarl, Baradim looking to the others.
"Look and see if you find anything...intriguing. We need as many clues as we can muster. Be wary though, they know a survivor escaped." Cautiously now, Baradim would approach the still-standing carriage with Snowpaw at his side. They'd study it first to see if there was anyone waiting in ambush around it before Baradim would look to Snowpaw and give a command. "Glèidh sinn." Snowpaw would be at attention, carefully watching the scene and watching everyone's back as Baradim began to search the carriage for anything particular.
|
Greadra stands back on the road, and whispers something to herself. Suddenly white fur grows aroumd her face and down her neck, her face becomes more feral, beastial in nature.
She searches around, smelling the air. She knows she wouldn't be able to find signs of Fey unless they wanted to be found, so instead she searches for signs of humans, how many smells she could find, linking thw several courpses on thw ground with scents, making note of any that didn't match.
Before leaving Heldren Samuel joins in the apothecary. If the tales are true, then he wants to count with cold iron too. The Taldan buys material to craft his own cold iron bullets once the group has a moment to. And although he eyes a flask of acid at first, he accepts the advice and buys a slightly more expensive but perhaps more useful alchemist fire.
-----------------------------------
Samuel feels a strange chill as he approaches the cold environment. Somehow he feels more comfortable he would have expected "Being bandits, necromancers or feys, this was a slaughter... a cold, inhuman slaughter..."
The Taldan rears a second when white fur grows on the wild Geadra but says nothing, instead he focus on finding out what has happened "How do you say they look those winter-touched Greadra?"
The gunslinger advances through the road past Baradim nodding at his suggestions "That must be Lady Argentea's carriage. If I found her there dead I swear for Taldor that I will chase and destroy them, whatever they are..." and Samuel loads his musket while he approaches the carriage and examines the remains for corpses or survivors.
At the apothecary, Letitia picks up a few of the alchemical objects that she had made and had been for sale in the shop. She then rushes up to the attic space where she'd been staying to grab her own cauldron and the reagents she had managed to collect or purchase herself. She also pulls out her one article of clothing from Irrisen that she managed to keep during her flight for her life and through all her travels south. Every other piece of jewelry or elegant finery had been sold or ruined in her journey, save this.
On the road, she remains silent but attentive to the others as they sing and tell stories. She keeps her thoughts to herself. Lazlo silently glides from tree branch to tree branch, following her dutifully.
When they come upon the site of the ambush, she slows down and stays behind the others. She pulls out her crossbow and loads it, taking heed of Baradim's cautionary words. She watches the area closely. Lazlo drops down out of a tree branch and takes his place on her shoulder.
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You all fan out to investigate the ambush site. Alec stands ready and watchful, but lets the others in the group move in first.
The decorative chasings on this expensive carriage bear the marks of Taldan heraldry, as well as damage from the many arrows fired in the battle that took place here. A spear has been wedged between the handles of the carriage doors to hold them closed.
You can hear Muff led sounds of movement emanating from inside the carriage.
On the way in, you pick out Yulin's scent leaving the scene of the massacre. However, the smell of smoke coming from the wrecked carriage combined with the overwhelming smell of corpses that have been dead for more than 24 hours are interfering with your ability to pick out individual scents.
As you approach the carriage, the smell of dead bodies is particularly strong, almost enough to turn even your hardy stomach.
The overturned carriage looks like it was already looted. You see two bodies inside, both female and well-dressed but not fancy enough to have been the Lady. Likely these were handmaidens.
It looks like the bandits tried to set the carriage on fire, but the snow and general damp kept it from setting properly. The portion of the carriage that used to be the driver's seat is now smoldering and putting off black smoke.
Around the carriage are a number of boxes and packages, mostly torn open. A few are mostly intact
You do not see any movement in the area other than your companions. In fact you don't see any animals at all in the vicinity. Lazlo seems hesitant to get any closer to the carriage, and you feel a sense of fear from your empathic link
As the others spread out, Alec was content to hold his ground. He held his spear in one hand and his shield in the other as he stood guard near Letitia. The amount of damage done here was concerning to say the least. This wasnt some cornered, wild animal fighting for it's life. This was intent, this was planned, like a hunter setting a snare, a...trap. The word echoed over and over in his mind until it quietly escaped his lips.
"Trap."
His hand squeezed the haft of the spear tighter, until his knuckles started to turn white. He took a deep breath to steady himself and slowly exhaled, his eyes scouting the site for anything out of place, but everything here seemed out of place.
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Greadra growls feraly and draws her Scimitar. "Smells like someone shoved a rotting corpse in there!" she holds her stomach and tries not to think of the scent. "I believe we may have some of the necromancer's creations in there..." she aproaches the doors, but doesn't open them. "Does anyone see a window on the cart? It might be better to just light the thing aflame and cremate the corpses inside... But I want to make sure none of them are the lady, after all that would be unfortunate."
"Be careful!" Letitia calls out softly. "There's danger here. Greadra's probably right. Back up," she instructs while bringing her crossbow up and braced against her shoulder.
Baradim can hear that muffled sound from within the carriage, his eyes getting more narrow the closer that they approached. The spear within the carriage doors makes him frown even more as he draws the falchion off of his back. Looking back to Greadra, he nods as she mentions the awful smell emanating from within it. "Easier to burn it down for certain, let the dead rest." The druid murmurs, calling Snowpaw to his side as he takes a step back away from it.
"If we want to be sure, Snowpaw and I will be ready to fight whatever is there. We just need someone to open the door for us." He backs up along with Snowpaw at his side, the tiger growling softly at the rattling carriage. Both of them take a readied pose beside each other; man and beast ready to strike the killing blow.
Samuel moves over the fallen carriage and opens the doors to check. After some seconds of concern he breaths outraged but relieved "Two dead women here. Probably the handmaidens of Lady Argentea. It smells like the bandits tried to put the carriage to flames"
The Taldan moves closer to the rider position and finds the scolds of the flames, then moves back to the road when his companions start to raise words of alarm.
The tension cuts the atmosphere, and Samuel readies his musket, placing the butt firmly on his shoulder. The man takes aim at the doors of his companions carriage and readies to shot if they are attacked "Is there a survivor? Lady Argentea?"
If the alarm proves to be false, or there is otherwise no danger, Samuel opens the boxes in his carriage.
The cart does not have any open windows. It is clearly a well-made design, fit for a travelling noblewoman. there are panels on either side that can be opened from the inside to let fresh air in, but with the cold weather they were sealed tight.
The wood of the carriage is very good quality, and as the bandits found out with the second cart, it may not burn very easily.
Letitia shakes her head in frustration. "Burning it doesn't seem practical. Without windows, you can't just throw a torch or two inside. And it's lacquered wood; it won't burn well from the outside."
She nods to Samuel when he confirms the fire resistance of the carriages.
"Someone just open it and the rest be ready to strike whatever comes out. Or leave it, and see if you can track the bandits that did this."
Sweat starts to slide down Samuel's forehead while he holds his weapon raised and aiming to the carriage door "One of the handmaidens was killed by an arrow, but the other has strange tiny needles all about her skin, the size of sewing pins. It starts sounding very strange and nasty here, you might be right about the tales after all... or the bandits are just trying to confuse us"
The Taldan seems to grow increasingly tense though and readies himself to pull the trigger if needed. He nods at Letitia fully agreeing with her strategy "Holy bow! It might be some survivor stop trying to burn that carriage!"
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Baradim waited and when no one seemed willing to open the carriage door, he'd give a grumble. "Fine, fine, we will open the wolf's mouth." Moving closer and ignoring Snowpaw's growling complaints, Baradim would pull that spear free from the carriage door and pull it open. He'd try to step to the side though, to let whatever was inside get between him and Snowpaw.
As soon as Baradim pulls the spear free, the door swings open hard from the inside. The smell of death becomes even more intense (especially for Greadra) as three human zombies stumble out of the cabin!
Bold may act:
Greadra, Baradim, Letitia, Alec, Samuel,
zombies
The undead emerged from the cabin, moaning and smelling something awful, and a look of revulsion and hatred spread across the half-orc's face. "Awful perversions of nature!" He thought to himself before his mind began to process what was in front of him. Every injury of his foe came into focus, studying which side the undead favored and how it moved. His falchion twisted in the air and would come swinging down as the dead man limped forward, stumbling into the blow.
Just a few feet away, Snowpaw leaps in aggression at the undead after skirting around to keep it distracted with the threat of Baradim. Growling low, the beast sees its opportunity and lashes out with claws and fangs.
Baradim would then shift further away from the cart, trying to tempt the last zombie from within to come out where everyone could see it.
As the strange creatures jump out of the carriage willing to claw his friends and companions Samuel pulls the trigger of his old musket aiming at the zombie in blue clothing whom he has a clear line to. A booming explosion is followed by the bullet piercing the air that reverberates until it reaches the tree crowns.
Observing the bullet is much less effective than usual when hunting in the forest, Samuel grows alarmed "What kind of abomination is this!? Is it dead or alive?"
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"Aack!" Letitia literally jumps in surprise at the thunderous report of Samuel's weapon. If her heart hadn't been hammering in her chest already, it would have immediately started after the surprise sound.
The shock has her not thinking clearly and what should be fairly obvious escapes her. She shoots it with the crossbow.
She manages to line her shot towards the head, but her shaking hands keep it from being a more effective shot than it could have been.
Alec froze for an instant. He had lived a mostly simple life. He had never before seen the dead walking, but for a moment, he thought of his father. How would he have felt had the dead man gotten up? He shook the thought from his head as the anger that he had bottled up suddenly exploded.
Spear already in hand, Alec stepped forward to engage the undead monstrosity. His spear was raised up above his shield and stabbed out, aiming for the creature's chest.
"They are undead! Abominations of life! Kill them!" Baradim shouts out, his face contorted in a growl. He shouts louder than he means to, his ears ringing awfully loud from whatever that terrible sound was.
Samuel is ready and waiting for trouble after seeing the strange injuries to the handmaidens. He fires off a round from his musket that reverberates through the clearing and makes everything seem still for a moment before the rush of battle starts again.
Baradim brings his mighty falchion down hard, splitting the zombie in two, the unholy light fading immediately from its eyes
Snowpaw mauls the second zombie, but doesn't have the same bite as his master. He takes several chunks out of the undead with his bite and one claw, but it hardly seems fazed by losing pieces of itself.
Letitia and Alec both strike true, but the zombie keeps coming, bolt and spear sticking out of its flesh.
Bold may act:
Greadra, Baradim, Letitia, Alec, Samuel,
zombies
Global Condition: None |
Greadra HP: 12/12 - AC: 17/12/15 Status:
Baradim HP: 10/10 - AC: 16/12/14 Status:
Snowpaw HP: 18/18 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Letitia: HP: 8/8 - AC: 12/12/10 Status:
Alec HP: 12/12 - AC: 17/12/15 Status:
Samuel HP: 11/11 - AC: 17/14/13 Status:
NPCs:
Red zombie: -19?hp |AC:14|Status:
Blue zombie: - 18hp | AC:20 | status: dead
Green zombie: -0hp |AC ???| Status:
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Greadra goes after the final zombie with a fearsome combination of sword and claw, digging deep into the dead flesh of this undead creation. Against any other creature those blows would elicit a yell of pain, or fear, or something. This abomination just keeps coming, grasping at Greadra
The other zombie is still moving as well, after taking enough damage to kill a normal human. It ignores Baradim who moved away and claws at the closest living thing, Alec.
Hit
Its claws leave a gash across the arm that is holding the spear that stabbed the zombie. Alec takes 5 damage
Bold may act:
Greadra, Baradim, Letitia, Alec, Samuel,
zombies
[u] Stat Tracker [/u]
Global Condition: None |
Greadra HP: 12/12 - AC: 17/12/15 Status:
Baradim HP: 10/10 - AC: 16/12/14 Status:
Snowpaw HP: 18/18 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Letitia: HP: 8/8 - AC: 12/12/10 Status:
Alec HP: 7/12 - AC: 17/12/15 Status:
Samuel HP: 11/11 - AC: 17/14/13 Status:
NPCs:
Red zombie: -19?hp |AC:14|Status:
Blue zombie: - 18hp | AC:20 | status: dead
Green zombie: -11hp | AC: 13 | status:
Baradim grins with glee as the zombie he struck falls and stay still, no longer and issue or a threat to any of them. His attention now turns to the one that had struck his friend and he focuses in again on the creature's weaknesses, studying it before moving in to strike and kill.
His strike is true as Snowpaw leaps in for the advantage and tries to rip and tear through the undead creature's flesh
"They are undead! Abominations of life! Kill them!" Baradim shouts out, his face contorted in a growl. He shouts louder than he means to, his ears ringing awfully loud from whatever that terrible sound was.
Undead. Of course. Foolish of me, Letitia thinks as she calms down. One of the shambling corpses was down already, and the other two were surrounded. Alec looked to have taken a nasty wound, but he was still standing and fighting.
She debated about casting a spell -- she had one prepared that could make one of them flee -- but it required her to move up to touch it. No, better to let the melee brutes deal with them.
"Baradim! Your falchion worked the best! Use it to your advantage! Alec, step back and let the cat fight it!"
She noticed her crossbow bolt didn't seem to slow down the undead she hit, but there was little sense in not continuing to attack. She loads the crossbow with another bolt while speaking and fires.
I need to shut up and focus on aiming, she thinks.
Baradim chops down another zombie like firewood, then his tiger companion mauls and shreds the corpse until it is unrecognizable.
Bold may act:
Baradim, Letitia,
Greadra, Alec, Samuel,
zombies
[u] Stat Tracker [/u]
Global Condition: None |
Greadra HP: 12/12 - AC: 17/12/15 Status:
Baradim HP: 10/10 - AC: 16/12/14 Status:
Snowpaw HP: 18/18 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Letitia: HP: 8/8 - AC: 12/12/10 Status:
Alec HP: 7/12 - AC: 17/12/15 Status:
Samuel HP: 11/11 - AC: 17/14/13 Status:
NPCs:
Red zombie: -42?hp |AC:14|Status: ground beef
Blue zombie: - 18hp | AC:20 | status: dead
Green zombie: -11hp | AC: 13 | status:
Blood flowed freely down his forearm but Alec barely noticed. The abomination in front of him clouded his mind with rage. Letitia's words didn't even register to him. Again he raised his spear and struck forward, seeking to bury the bladed point deep into the undead's chest.
Samuel growls concerned as his friend is slammed by the not dead walker, he turns hopeful when Baradim reduces it to pulp "Yes! Impressive swordplay Earth-walker!"
The Taldan pours black powder from one of his horns into his musket barrel, he then inserts a new bullet with astonishing ease. He moves closer to the carriage as he finishes levering his musket and taking aim once again.
The combined attacks of Greadra and Alec are enough to return the final zombie to its properly dead state of being. with that zombie down, this stretch of road is once again still.
End of combat. What do you do now?
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Baradim's movements in the battle were fierce and violent; there was a savage grace in how the falchion moved. The last zombie fell to the ground and stirred no more. Breathing hard, Baradim would slowly calm down as he looked between them all and gave a small nod of thanks.
"Ma thèid do bhodhaig air ais dhan ùir" Baradim whispered softly, reaching down through the cold ground to grab a handle of wet, chilled soil. He would sprinkle it over the dead bodies, his eyes closed as he whisper a soft prayer to the spirits to guide these lost souls to rest. Snowpaw remained alert, looking out for further danger.
"I will check the carriage, see if there was anything inside. Perhaps we'll have a clue to follow the Lady, if she is not already dead." Placing the falchion back upon his back, he would climb inside and look around where the undead had been trapped.
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Letitia moves past the others to look at Samuel's weapon. "So that's why you've been buying all that sulfur and saltpeter from Madam Willowbark, I take it? I wondered. She gives him a half-smile, then turns back to the carriages and the slaughtered undead.
"What do you see? I'm curious to see if the necromancer left anything, or if this really was an act of banditry." She assists in searching. Lazlo does as well from his perch on her shoulder.
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Greadra looks to Samuel and growls, her face and arms still covered with white fur . "Such thunder is unnatural... I'd be careful where you use that. I'm sure our quarry is now fully aware they're being hunted... she cleans her Scimitar in the snow on the ground.
She draws her shield from her back and begins to patrol the camp. I'll keep an eye out. The noise we made was sure to draw curious Predators.
Letitia looks up from inspecting the carriage and her eyes widen at Greadra's changed appearance. She'd already been the tallest woman Letitia had ever seen who wasn't obviously a giant, and now she was sporting white fur. I thought Greadra was part giant. But is she also part wolf, too? "You have an interesting look," Letitia says neutrally. "Is that normal for you?"
The gunslinger seems still impressed by the zombies "What... What perversion of the natural order was that? Where they dead? Are they dead now? They seemed immune to my bullet..."
Samuel offers a welcoming smile to Letitia " You thought I was preparing salted cod in my free time? You are not the only one to hold mysteries Letitia the Northener ..."
The Taldan also replies to Greadra " Just some old dwarven trick. Nothing as unnatural and scary as those claws" he sounds suspicious but does not push the issue " What made you this? Is something related with the fey?"
After the small talk Samuel checks the content of the boxes in the first broken carriage he found first.
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Alec spit on the ground in contempt for the now still undead. He knelt down, one knee in the snow and scooped up a handful. First he cleaned the blade of his spear off. Then he grabbed another handful of snow and packed it on his arm, where the zombie claw had ripped into his flesh. He grimaced with the pain but it also served to keep him focused.
He stood up and began walking around slowly, eyes focused on the ground.
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The gunslinger seems still impressed by the zombies "What... What perversion of the natural order was that? Where they dead? Are they dead now? They seemed immune to my bullet..."
Samuel offers a welcoming smile to Letitia " You thought I was preparing salted cod in my free time? You are not the only one to hold mysteries Letitia the Northener ...
Letitia waves her hand at the mangled corpses. "Animated bodies, probably by that necromancer you told me about. Bullets and bolts don't seem to work, but swords seem to. We'll have to remember that."
When Samuel implies she has a secret, she arches an eyebrow at him. "What mystery would that be? If I had one, at least mine could not be heard a mile in every direction."
The beginnings of a smile fade when she sees Alec using snow to tend his wound. "It'll never heal that way; you'll just give yourself frostbite. Here," she says as she hands him a small flask of ice-blue liquid. "Healing potion. I can make more, don't worry. But you won't be much good to us if you lose that arm to disease."
Samuel arches an eyebrow "You are certainly a mysterious woman Letitia Frost"
The man notices his friend struggle with the wound "Can you keep with us Alec? We have not found the Lady yet, but these corpses need a real tomb. Perhaps we should take them to Heldren "
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Greadra's fur dissapears slowly. "I have the same power as a druid to become an animal, although I can also channel it into an aspect." she says to Samuel and Letita. "As for where I got it... I don't know. I could do it even before my master taught me the finer points of Druidic powers."
Greadra switches her Scimitar for one of her shortspears lashed in a quiver on her back. She gives it a few test thrusts before flipping it around into a throwing position.
"I agree the bodies shouldn't be let to rot here where all can see... But I don't believe we have time to bury them, and I'm sure none of you want to carry the undead I to town... I say we build a pyre and burn the bodies." she tells the others.
Baradim heard the others talking his companion's gift and they would hear a light chuckle come from within the carriage as he sorted through the formerly nice cushions and other compartments that may or may not be within it.
"She was chosen by the great wolf spirits, blessed with their touch!" He called out, poking his head outside. That toothy grin had returned to his face now as he looked down at the massive woman once more. "Greadra has a great gift, a great power. She will be come into her own soon, I feel."
His eyes turned towards Samuel as he looked over that strange weapon that made the air crack like a tree being split in half. Giving a small nod, he'd clear his throat and point at him. "Strangesmell no longer suits you. You are now Thunderstruck. May the spirits find your weapon acceptable and not punish you."
He would go back into the carriage, resuming his look for more before he spoke up again from inside. "The cold will keep the bodies fresher for a little while more. We must not wait...or the Lady's fate will be sealed."
"Interesting," she says to Greadra.
Letitia nods in agreement with burning the bodies -- she'd never heard of burying the dead underground until she came south. Of course, it was impossible to bury anything in the frozen ground of her home with anything less than a giant's help. Leaving them until they return also suited her. They had already risen once; she doubted they could be animated again.
"All right, are we finished here? Did you find anything of use to us?" Letitia asks everyone who'd been poking around the wreckage. If nothing is discovered, she waits for the trackers to choose the path away from the ambush site.
Baradim and Letitia check out the now-empty carriage that had been holding the zombies. the carriage was clearly looted out before the zombies were trapped inside. Baradim looks around but sees nothing that has been left behind.
Letitia squeezes past him, and her smaller and more practiced fingers find the catch for a small hidden compartment underneath one of the benches. inside is a small box that contains a small collection of jewelry. there is a signet ring, several earrings, a set of bracelets, and a sapphire brooch. all together the jewels are worth 240gp if you choose to sell them.
Meanwhile, Samuel opens the lids of the few unopened boxes scattered around the toppled carriage. inside he finds several fine courtiers' outfits, all together worth 90 gold.
While the others examine the carriages, Alec patches his wounds and gets started on tracking the bandits. The trail is not hard at all to pick up. The bandits were not being very careful, and there is a lot of snow that makes the tracks easy to follow. at least 10 sets of footprints and several drag marks lead into the forest to the south.
Just before the tracks enter the woods, they pass by the ice statue that you noticed earlier. It turns out it was a person encased in ice! It looks like the man inside suffered greatly in the battle, as several chunks are missing. he is still wearing a breastplate with Taldan heraldry. a chunk of ice on the ground contains the man's arm, still holding a fine-looking longsword.
"The tracks lead this way" Alec called out, but before he could follow them into the woods the ice statue caught his attention. He stood before it transfixed, his eyes scanning every inch of it. The pain captured on the man's face was obvious, and terrifying.
"What manner of creature could do this?" he asked aloud.
Letitia oohs and aahs over the jewelry and outfits, and can't help but see how they'd look against her pale skin. Ultimately, she decides the green of the emerald looks too unnatural, so she doesn't make any attempt to possess them. She doesn't protest when the valuables are stowed away to be doled our later or ransomed for their return should their owner be found alive.
When she sees the hapless man encased in ice, her hand flies to her mouth and her eyes go wide.
"What manner of creature could do this?" he asked aloud.
Me, eventually, she thinks and stifles a giggle. She turns her suppressed excitement into a choke and a cough, then steps away from the ice tomb.
"Plenty of things, I'd imagine," she says, trying to look concerned and horrified at the dead man.
Sobering, she thinks back to her life and lessons in Irrisen to answer Alec's question.
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Greadra looks over to Alec. "mages most likely, I've seen a druid use a spell to freeze a man solid in less than a minute...' she says. "could be that the Necromancer has a little more than necromancy in his reporte, that or we are facing something far worse... dragons could do it too...
she moves over to the ice statue. "poor man..."
The fine jewels and necklaces seem to have no real interest to Baradim though he understands that for city folk, they could fetch a high price. Even a wild man like himself knew that you needed coin if you were going to survive anywhere but the most remote of wild places. He would easily store them in his bag, if others wished him too, for he had no desire to keep them for himself.
Moving to the frozen statue, he would look over the man for a few moments and study the armor and weapons he had on them. Baradim knew to pay respects to the dead but there was also the chance of taking something useful and making the most of it. The dead could not take their belongings with them, after all.
As he looks over the frozen man, obviously dead in the nice breastplate and fine weapon in hand, Baradim cannot help but hear the beginning murmurs of a giggle coming from the strange woman that hailed from the alchemist's shop.
While the others spoke to each other, Baradim simply stared at Letitia. There was no smile nor any scowl, it was more like he was looking through her. His attention would turn from her soon after though, looking at the others.
"We can break the ice, if any of you can use those tools he carries better. If not, let us go. I fear that this..." He says, gesturing at the frozen man. "...is just the beginning."
"Thunderstruck" Samuel smiles at Baradim "I quite like it that one Earth-walker"
At the carriage Samuel picks up the fine dresses "These should be from Lady Argentea. She might need them once we find her. We better take them with us" and he moves by the town's cart and places it along the group's supplies.
The Taldan moves then to the statue with the others and observes attentively at Letitia thinking to himself No secrets... no mysteries...?. Samuel breaks the ice around the hand and takes the fine-looking sword "You fight well and honored your bound, but you will no longer need this sword"
Patting in Alec's shoulder he observes the trail going into the woods "So we have a trail to follow, it seems, isn't it?" and leaning his loaded musket on his right shoulder he walks into the forest following the trail "If we are not to bury the bodies then we better do not spend our time making a pyre either way. Let's find out what type of skin is that necromancer made off..."