"I will be; I think that is one thing we can toast to, eh? But- Harrowstone? I'm lookin' for a more worldly explanation. And I usually tend to believe that the most reasonable explanation is the most likely. I'd be willing to bet my last coin-" if I hadn't just given it you, you stupid oaf- "that it there was some farmboy playing a prank with the blood of a swine, not some supernatural cause with no reason to be riled up. You haven't seen anyone near that statue lately that ought not be there, have you? Outsiders, pehaps? Present company excluded, of course." Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll have seen Lorrimer's cult and I can help kill two birds with one stone... "Or perhaps there is somethin' going on in town that needed a good loud distraction. Tell me...friend-" Kirill forces a smile as he motions for another round to be brought to the table, hoping Gibb's lips will become looser with flagon after flagon poured down his gullet. He steers the conversation away from the old prison, not wanting this man to know he has an interest in it. -what is the crime like here in Ravengro? Any rampant corruption, or just random thuggery?"
Both Delia and Father leap into action, Father getting to the door first having been already standing protectively at Delia's shoulder. His natural inclination to protect the young female kicks in at the sound of a lady's scream. Delia follows close behind him, a summons ready on her lips should she need assistance with most of the men in town.
Kendra is kneeling on the ground before the creature, her face buried in her hand. She is quivering violently, and over and over, you can hear her weakened voice repeat a single word: "Father..."
With a macabre jerking gait, the corpse of Petros Lorrimer lurches forward, stiff and curled hands reaching for his daughter.
Delia, horrified by the site but even more worried about Kendra, rushes up to the shocked woman and tries to hold tight to her, turning Kendra's head from the sight by burying the woman's face into her shoulder. All the while trying to calm her with soothing words. "Don't look, sweetie. That is not what you think it is, ignore it and put it out of your mind." With her free hand, she waves Father forward.
Father moves up towards the front, regardless of Delia's urging. He steps up to the two women and shifts them behind him, so that he may stand protectively between them and this walking dead. He speaks only simply enough to make clear his intentions, "You'll not hurt them."
"Well then, you've been a doll, but you enjoy your drinks, gods know you need 'em. I'm going to go outside and see if I can find a squirrel or a twig or something that might be able to give me a bit more than rumors of spooks for my coin." Kirill raises his mug in a mock toast, not able to bite his tongue any longer in the repulsive man's presence, and downs what's left. Then he slides back up and away from the table, standing and dusting his hands before flipping a copper to the server. He steps quickly, but calmly, for the door knowing he probably should have tread more carefully, lest he wake the sleeping giant. He pauses momentarily by Zhan. "I'm going to get out of here before these inbred hicks decide to make me eat my words." After the quick whisper he continues to make his way out of the Laughing Demon. Still, the conversation didn't go without reward- Gibbs strongly felt that Harrowstone was involved, and while it is likely a rediculous belief, Lorrimer's cultists could be to blame, which would make the man half-right, at best, and that was all that the Varisian wanderer was willing to grant him.
Agnar watches as Kirill walks away from Gibbs than hears what he said to Zhan before standing up next to Kirill "Do not worry to much if they try anything I can stop them."
Sagaar dashes forward at the sound, sprinting to the foyer. With little time to think, he darts forward and tries to tackle gnarled corpse of Lorrimar out of the doorway and out of Kendra's sight.
CMB
As Father staggers from the force of the blow, Sagaar rushes to the fore, hitting the creature with a hasty tackle, but the rug curls beneath his feat just before impact, throwing him off balance. He does little more than nudge the zombie.
[ooc]Lorrimer is still in the doorway, engaged in melee with Sagaar and Father. Delia and Kendra are directly behind their allies.
"Good! Go find some company what actually wants ye, you Varisian son-of-a-whore, and leave yer betters to drink in peace!" Gibbs' words follow you to the door, and you think you hear him mutter something more specific about your parentage, but the slamming door cuts him off, leaving you standing outside the Laughing Demon in Ravengro's dying light.
She keeps a hand on Kendra for support, but is no longer holding her in place. Now with Father at the fore taking the brunt of the assault, Delia infuses him with arcane energies to afford him the strength to withstand the attacks. Lightly, she she touches him on the back while incanting "Omo Lodeet Merye". As she encourages him, he revitalizes due to her aid.
Not sure on what to do about the thing, and not normally making his own decisions, Father just swings at the creature in a warding manner. Mostly, using his body and swinging limbs as a deterrant to keep it away from arms reach of the women.
Valachi sees Kirill exit the Demon, and walks over to join him. "Didn't go well, I guess... I don't trust the locals anymore than they trust us, but I'd hate to see anything bad befall them because we're stuck looking for a clue." Valachi sighs. "Maybe we need a Sczarni fortuneteller."
Zhan waits for a moment within the tavern, watching the gravedigger and his companions. After waiting to see if they make any further move, or other loud boasts, he moves to the door and rejoins his new friends, Kirill and Valachi, outside.
"It seems perhaps that there was nothing to be learned here. If Gibs is our vandal, he is not tipping his hand. Something about that man strikes passing strange. I suggest we find Delia; she was going to attempt to discover whether anyone was actually missing. If not, we may be able to press on with our more important business."
At Delia's words Father's body begins to knit, stiff joints popping back into place even as the towering mannequin launches a counterattack against Lorrimer. His awkward jab does little more than stagger the later professor, but attack is not his intent - he holds his arms close to his center, creating a barrier of limbs that the zombie must breach...
Unfortunately, the corpse's sheer strength is sufficient to overcome Father's defenses, and Lorrimer lands another wild, heavy-handed swing.
Sagaar speaks a frenzied incantation as wisps of pale light swirl about his hand, and he reaches for the zombie with an outstretched finger...
He barely manages to grab hold of the corpse's arm, and as soon as he does so, the translucent ribbons of energy rush into the professor's body. The creature jerks violently as light flashes from every orifice of its body, and tiny ghost-like images fly from his form, issuing a faint moan before disappearing.
Delia pauses briefly to see how things will turn out, hoping that Father can finish this quickly. She gives him the go ahead, "Please Father, just remove the grotesque thing from our sight."
Father nods in understanding as he hauls his heavy wooden arm back to give leverage to his swing. "My Princess wants you gone." He states matter-of-factly as if it's the only reason he needs to take out the thing before him.
Father lands a heavy blow on the zombie, leaving it reeling from the blow. You hear a dull snap, but the creature's unliving frame seems to not be bothered by such crushing strikes. Weathering the better portion of the injury, it lurches forward for a counterattack.
However, it seems that's Father's strike has left its arm damage, and Lorrimer is unable to bring his limb to bear for an effective assault. With a clumsy twist of its waist, all the zombie is able to do is rake at Father ineffectually its grasping hands.
Seeing that the creature is nearly disabled, Sagaar takes a step back, unshouldering his spear before making a thrust for Lorrimer...
But his attack goes wide, the tip of his spear darting past Lorrimer as the creature leans in to beat against his other opponent.
Realizing that this creature will not bow out gracefully, not that she expected much from a headless undead, Delia decides that her and Sagaar may need some more protection.
*Maybe something defensive, something along the lines of...*
Delia decides to conclude the words that had sprang to mind when she first rushed into the hallway. "Priho Ditieh Minyeh Pohmoach... So baca." With a flash of brilliance, a golden haired dog appears behind the abomination, offering to help Father harry the thing.
As it appears, she addresses it, "Otherworldy protector, you do me a great service. Sick him!" This last she speaks while pointing at the undead.
The hound strikes and bites true, easily grabbing the thing's leg and trying to bring it to the ground, shaking its head furiously to try and worry the wound.
With the new addition to help in the fight Father strikes again at the offensive sight.
Delia's dog tears into the Professor's leg and begins shaking its head viciously. The zombie stumbles first, then falls to the floor, unable to fight the ferocious assault. The thing flails clumsily as the dog continues to savage, but after a few moments Lorrimer is still once more, his flesh too torn to contain whatever vile force gave him motion.
For a long moment, there is silence in the room as you stand over the body of your twice-slain friend. A rancid pool of fouled blood stains to the carpet, and Kendra looks on in muted horror. Her lip begins to quiver as she extends and unsure hand towards her father's body. The outstretched arm lingers in the air, and then Kendra recoils violently, diving onto the floor with an anguished scream.
Kirill checks his coin to find his supply has dwindled down to just a handful of silver and copper pieces, not a pleasant sight. He sighs a bit and decides to head over to the Outward Inn for a final drink for the night, and maybe to ask about a bit more about the events of earlier in the day, though with its usual patronage he would likely only get more wild stories, albeit told far mor theatrically, which might be entertaining with some brandy warming him for the night. If nothing else after tensely dealing with with Gibbs he could do with a bit of relaxation.
You initially have trouble making inroads into the various conversations being held around the room, though with careful eavesdropping, you're able to ascertain more or less what you'd expected. More rumors, regarding Harrowstone or various local ghosts. Word has spread around town that no murder is expected, and the 'mysterious' origins of the blood have only created more of a stir. One piece of information does stand out, though... Despite numerous attempts, it seems that the blood will not wash off of the monument.
[ooc]
By the time Kirril finishes at the Outward Inn, it's pushing 9pm. We'll call a drink 5cp, for now, but after you guys get your first windfall, I'd rather use the lifestyle expense option, so you just pay a certain sum each month and then can ignore expenditures up to a certain gp amount.
Kirill becomes intrigued with the latest rumor he has heard. Perhaps there was a supernatural or magical element to the mystery afterall. He knew little of alchemy, though, and would be unable to tell if there was any chance that a solution could accomplish such a thing. Perhaps it was the drinks that he had had that evening, but he wanted to check out the statue one more time to ensure that word was correct before bringing the matter to his colleagues and embarrassing himself with wildly inaccurate information. Drawing the hood of his cloak over his head he quietly slips out of the Outward Inn and makes his way toward the graffitti-covered statue. He takes a round about path and stays out of sight for the most part, not wanting his action to be confused with 'returning to the scene of the crime' as it were, and implicate himself in the event. He knew how these tight-knit, small communities could be and didn't want to give them anymore reason to distrust him. If there is nobody near the statue when he arrives, Kirill will quickly but quietly sneak up to it, remove his glove and try to chip at the blood with his thumbnail, drawing his waterskin shortly after. He wets a small section and try to scuff and scrub it as hard as he can with the heel of his bood to see if the claims are true.
Valachi appears confused, wondering how he lost track of Kirill. He looks around the entrance to the Demon for Zhan and Agnar, and if he can't find them either, heads back to Lorrimor's house.
Delia murmurs a quick spell, gazing intently in the direction of the corpse, "Yest Li Mag'ia Zdyes" looking for any signs of necromancy or enchantments that could have compelled it to act. As she strides up to the aftermath, she takes a knee and speaks to the dog while scratching his head, "You did well, my most proud defender. Good boy. You are released from my call." She stands as the animal is released back to its own plane of existence.
After her quick examination of the body, she turns to Father and quietly adds "Please take it outside where Kendra doesn't need to see it. Wait out there for the others to return, and let them know what happened. Ask them to inspect it as well to see if they can get any more information from it than I did."
Turning back she moves to Kendra's side, and helps her to her feet. "C'mon dear, lets get you a calming tea, then see about trying to get some rest. What you saw will be difficult, and I'm right here with you. Remember, that was not what you think it was. There is something foul going on, and you need to push what you saw right out of your mind." She talks to her soothingly as she provides a shoulder for support, and leads her into another room.
Sagaar helps Father to move the body outside. He takes time to examine the corpse, and see if he can find any clues as to how it was animated. He helps Delia with the detect magic. . After the body is out of the room, he advises Father to keep watch over it. Sagaar walks back into the house to talk with Delia. After Delia had brewed up a cup of tea for Kendra, Sagaar talks to Delia in the hallway away from where Kendra can hear.
"We need to get a message to the others. Is it possible to make a summoning that can get the others back here, Kendra can no longer be alone, she needs to stay with us til we know more about whats going on."
Ensuring that she stays in sight of Kendra as she steps out to talk with Sagaar, Delia responds to him, but keeps her attention focused on the poor woman. "No, sadly my summons do not have that capacity. Most of them are just animals, both in form and mind, that originate from other planes. Even if they could understand the request to find someone, I do not have enough power to maintain their presence here on this plane for long. They would most likely not get far before they were wrenched back." She looks to Sagaar briefly, concern on her features, "It's getting dark out, so they should be back shortly, hopefully before anything else happens." She turns back to keep a close eye on Kendra, "I don't think she could handle much more tonight, that last cut to her heart too deep to quickly recover, she will need comfort and calm." She wanders back into the kitchen, sits across from Kendra and rests her hands on hers.
After seeing Zhan and Kirill leave Agnar follows behind. Looking around he thinks to himself "This is so different than my homeland." He makes his way to Lorrimer's house to get some rest. He walks in looking for the others seeing Sagarr, Delia and Kendra in the kitchen. He says "I think we found out some information. Better ask Zhan and Kirill though I just watched them."
Kendra simply sits in silence for several minutes, avoiding eye contact with anyone who approaches her, and taking deep, controlled breaths. At length, she turns to Delia. "Thank you for your help," she begins meekly. "I... I don't understand how - why this could happen. I..." She looks away once more, trying as hard as she can to maintain her composure, and her voice becomes a flat monotone. "Is it gone?"
Father, being stationed out front in order to stop and explain to the others as they return, gives a brief explanation to Agnar and Valachi. "Delia and Sagaar are inside with Kendra. This" he points to the body "attacked Kendra at the doorway. Delia said to tell you to look for clues. When everyone is done for clues I will remove it." He speech is simple and direct, with sentences offering little detail beyond the basics of what he was told to say.
Delia, the presence of sadness always right behind her eyes, answers Kendra calmly "Yes Dear, it is gone. Do not worry yourself over it, just know that you are safe here with us. It is just like a bad dream, it's over and all you can do is try to forget about it." She gets up, and begins busying herself about the kitchen. "Let me try and whip something up to eat, the boys are returning and I'm sure we will all feel better with something in our stomachs."
Delia cobbles together some ingredients, and ends up managing to make some dry biscuits and overcooked sausage. Her mind is most likely not on the task, as much as she is using the task to try and distract herself and failing.
Agnar looks over at the body before walking toward it. As he walks he says to Father "It showed up out of nowhere and just attacked her?" Kneeling next to it he begins to look see if he can notice anything odd about it. Seeing the the dirt he picks some off the better to look at it better.
"What... happened?" Val asks Delia and Sagaar, alarm slowly growing.
Father answers Agnar simply, going over the story in his own way. "It knocked on the door. Kendra answered. Then she screamed. We ran in and got it away from her. I'm supposed to wait and tell you all what happened."
Delia turns to address Valachi, "There was an incident, but I think we should discuss it later when everyone is here. Until then I think Father would be able to give you a brief explanation outside." She points to the door, her intonation clearly showing she doesn't want to talk further at the moment. She glances repeatedly in Kendra's direction when the woman isn't looking. Her eyes trying to stress that the woman's presence is significant.