Kiera turns her litmus cantrip to the scarecrow on the other side of the trail and fires again. This time, the scarecrow reacts with a wail and begins to struggle. As it does, the scarecrow on the far side begins to fight as well!
Kiera Videns
Volkar Glanral
Scarecrows
Watchmen
Bold May Post
Kiera
Volkar
Watchmen
~Red
~Green
Andrezi
Ghouls
~Blue
~Yellow- 6 dmg
~Red
Not keen to be gnawed upon, Kiera fires again at the one in the yellow rags.
Volkar looked at the struggling rags and glanced at Kiera. "So, guards, send the arrows, I don't want to toss to many bombs, we don't have that many."
Kiera keeps up her magical barrage, striking the closest moving one, while Volkar takes charge of the remaining watchmen. At his command, they stand to with their bows.
Turning to the target Kiera has marked, they pull to the ear, hold for a breath, and release! Unfortunately, a sudden gust of wind takes the arrows. The first lands on its mark, the other goes wide.
Bold May Post
Kiera
Volkar
Watchmen
~Red
~Green
Andrezi
Ghouls
~Blue
~Yellow- 15 dmg
~Red
Andrezi takes aim with his crossbow and fires at the ghoul.
Kiera unleashes another bolt of searing positive energy.
Andrezi levels his crossbow at the ghoul as it struggles against its bindings, sinking a quarrel into its shoulder.
The blue cloaked figure remains still, while the other fights against the wire holding it to the stake. Luckily for you, the wire just barely holds.
Kiera fires another bolt of energy from her wand at the struggling form, but fails to hit it this time.
Bold May Post
Kiera
Korghym
Volkar
Watchmen
~Red
~Green
Andrezi
Ghouls
~Blue
~Red
Korghym moves into position with his longhammer and takes a swing at the bound ghoul, like battering a piñata.
Volkar followed behind Korghym with his ax ready to assist if the thing broke from its wires. He watched as the other dwarf landed a powerful blow at the withering ghoul. "Well placed, cousin, well placed."
And with one last swing, Korghym smashes the struggling ghoul into redeath, leaving one motionless form tied across the path. Checking on this one, the party realizes that this one is simply what it appears to be.. a straw scarecrow.
Moving on, you wend your way deeper into the fields, finding another concentration of scarecrows at the next junction. Kiera does her thing, firing off ray until she hits the nearest form. This sets up yet another caterwauling and screaming, as the nearest scarecrow on the right and the one on the left both start struggling!
Kiera Videns
Volkar Glanral
Korghym
Ghouls
The Ghouls continue to struggle against their bonds while the third scarecrow hangs lifelessly. Suddenly, the scarecrow on the left bursts from his bonds and jumps clear!
"Bold May Post"
Ghouls
~Red
~Blue
~Yellow
[b]Andrezi
Kiera
Volkar
Korghym
Kiera blasts at the one that managed to burst out of his ropes.
... but to no avail.
Meanwhile, Korghym advances with a roar and brings his longhammer to bear against the charging ghoul, moving to the front to shield the team.
Andrezi loads his crossbow and fires at the ghoul that had broken free.
Volkar stood at the ready with his ax.
Kiera sends out another bolt of divine energy, but misses the mark. Meanwhile, Korghym moves ahead and sets himself for the oncoming attack while Andrezi fires his crossbow across the distance. The bolt sticks into the things neck, but doesn't do a whole lot of damage!
Volkar readies his attack in case the beast makes it past Korghym.
The one scarecrow still hangs lifeless, while the free one charges at Korghym. The dwarfs ax crashes down, pulping the creatures head and dropping it before it can do any harm!
The second one continues to struggle!
"Bold May Post"
Ghouls
~Red
~Blue
Andrezi
Kiera
Volkar
Korghym
"A solid blow cousin, so come on," Volkar said as he moved up and beyond Korghym. He turned as he passed the dwarf and nodded at the sruggling scarecrow. "Alright, here's another, maybe you could take it out at the knees and we can get on with this?"
[spoiler] Moved Volkar up towards the blue scarcrow to back up Korghym
"This pair of kneecaps is the last one, I hope," rumbles Korghym as he advances and swings his hefty longhammer again.
Kiera continues to fire her tiny beams of energy, though with the two dwarves teaming up on the remaining ghoul, it's almost pointless.
Andrezi loads his crossbow and fires at the remaining ghoul.
The team moves in on the scarecrow that is still struggling agaisnt its bonds and whack it with ax, dagger, and crossbow, but its not enough to bring it down.
The watchmen move in and fire their arrows.
The first one misses, but the second one strikes true, ending the creatures struggling. One more scarecrow remains attached to the pole!
Bold May Post
Kiera
Korghym
Volkar
Watchmen
~Red
~Green
Andrezi
Ghouls
~Red
Andrezi reloads his crossbow and takes aim at the ghoul still bound to the pole.
Kiera turns and brings her ray of brilliant energy to bear again.
Korghym waits to see if that also scorches the remaining scarecrow, so that he doesn't accidentally bring his weapon to bear against something that isn't undead!
Volkar moved towards the remaining scarecrow, his ax at the ready. He watched Kiera and followed her gaze. "Well, cousin, let's see if this is actually straw or ghoul."
The remaining scarecrow hangs limply from the pole, reacting to neither bolt nor spell!
He approached the scarecrow, tapped it with the flat of the blade and used the blade of the ax to cut through the ropes that had bound its feet. "Need some help here lads, can't reach those ropes on the arms."
He pointed at the outstretched arms. He wanted to make sure there wasn't an "about to be a nasty" thing strung up on the poles.
Korghym brings his hammer to guard in case it's playing dead, while Kiera and the guards come forward to help the limp body down.
Volkar approaches the remaining scarecrow and finds that it is simply a straw filled sack! The team continues on down the path, coming upon the farmstead itself. A simple house stands to the left, and a large barn stands to the right. Silence lies thick as a funeral shroud over the homestead.
"Alright, finally, the farm." Volkar said as they surveyed the structures. "Start with the barn, the head into the house? Burn the barn, then head into the house? Kidding, well kinda, after all that we have seen and dealt with not sure I trust things to be what they appear here."
"Head to the house first, then we'll worry about the barn. We need to make sure that anyone still inside that house gets any help they need."
Kiera nods. "You're right, Andrezi. Rescues first."
As the team moves into the farmhouse, you are confronted by a eerie and bone chilling sight! 3 ghouls are standing before you, slavering and leering at you while a 4th ghoul stands behind them. This one is better dressed (even for a ghoul) and gives off an air of command. He casually points at you, telling the ghouls "Do not kill them.. We can use fighters such as this!!"
Kiera Videns
Volkar Glanral
Korghym
Well Dressed
Ghoul
"Bold May Post"
Andrezi
Volkar
Well Dressed
Kiera
Korghym
Ghoul
~Red
~Blue
~Green
Unable to notice any difference, beyond style of dress, between the leader and his minions, Andrezi let's loose a burst of divine energy.
"I think I have said that I hate these things, right?" Volkar said and stepped forward swinging.
Andrezi lets loose a burst of holy energy, trying to cleanse the foul undead from this place!
The undead cry out as Andrezi's prayers are answered and goodly power flows through the house!
VOlkar follows that up with a broad sweep of his ax, ending the scream of the ghoul on the right of the line with a gurgling splash of gore.
"GET THEM!!! Did I not make you strong?? Hungry?? Bring them DOWN!!!" The well dressed ghoul in the back screams at his counterparts, angrily extolling them to more effective destruction!
"Bold May Post"
Andrezi
Volkar
Well Dressed- 10 dmg
Kiera
Korghym
Ghoul
~Red- 10 dmg
~Blue- 10 dmg
"Oh no you don't!" shouts Kiera. With a wave and a gesture she causes a flash of powerful divine light to blast out from the midst of the ghouls and their nappy leader!
Korghym, meanwhile, hefts his longhammer and prepares to bash in ghoul skulls.
Kiera sends a burst of divine light through the room. The two remaining ghouls in front burst into screaming pillars of flame before falling to the ground into permanent death! The remaining ghoul is definitely seared and toasty looking!
The ghoul screams out, clawing at his now sightless eyes.
The remaining watchmen rush forward, swords flashing.
One misses, but the other manages to score a deep wound across the undead leader!
"Bold May Post"
Andrezi
Volkar
Well Dressed- 20 dmg
Kiera
Korghym
With the ghoul leader blinded, Korghym steps up and swings his heavy longhammer at the undead monstrosity.
Volkar took a swing at the slightly crisped creature and missed. "Hating these things, really, really hating these things."
Andrezi casts a spell and then steps up carefully next to the blinded ghoul. Once in position he reaches out to touch the ghoul.
Korghym has had enough of this, and steps forward to lend a final word to the argument! His hammer crushes the skull of the ghoul before him, killing it... again.
The team moves into the farmhouse warily. From the smell and the mess, these things have resided here for a couple of days at the least. Dried blood and disgusting other things are smeared all over the place, but nothing can disguise that the farmers family was most likely brutally murdered in their home.
This is reinforced as you move into the kitchen and find the body of old Farmer Hambly lying in the middle of the floor. The body has been mutilated.. much the same as the ones back in Sandpoint! Underneath the decay and the swarming flies, the Sihedron Rune is still plainly visible upon the man's chest, as is a single scrap of parchment pinned to his tunic, Kiera's name inscribed upon the front once more.
"Well now cousin, that is the way to end things, well placed," Volkar said as he patted Korghym on the shoulder. He followed the others into the house of horrors with blood, body parts, and flies everywhere. The smell was horrendous. But it was in the kitchen that they found another sign of evil.
This was the body of simple man, man of the earth, killed and marked like what they saw at the mill. Even he could read Kiera's name on the note pinned to the body. He arched an eye and watched what Kiera did.
Kiera pauses as she scans the note and immediately recognizes it. "No no no," she says in a panicked whisper. "No, not this. Not more people dying because of me." She covers her mouth with her hands to stifle her emotion.
Korghym's hands squeeze around his hammer haft and he says to Volkar, "Thank you, cousin. I only wish it could have been done two days ago. What's happened here is... monstrous."
Kiera squeezes her eyes shut, then finally opens them and removes her hands and says, "So he's still out there. And there will be more victims. We..." She chokes slightly, then continues, "We have to find some clue, something that will let us figure out where he went so we can find him and stop him."
Andrezi puts a comforting hand on Kiera's shoulder. "Rest assured, we will find him and we will stop him, my friend. Desna is not some cruel prankster that would lead us to this without leading us to him."
Turning his attention to the body of Farmer Hamby, the priest says, "Volkar, Korghrym, give me a hand with his body, he deserves a proper burial. As to the ghouls, we should burn the bodies."
"Right, right, and I am wondering if that is all we should burn." He looked about the house, and then back at Andrezi. "Didn't they say there was a family here? Should we look about the place first?"
Inspecting the insides of the house carefully, Volkar finds it easy to see that a man (Obviously the body), a woman, and a younger male (possibly the son of a family unit) once lived in this home. However, the blood smears and offal found in the various rooms marks it as highly unlikely that one single person could produce so much.. leaving little doubt as to the fate of anyone else residing here. You look to the bodies of the ghouls, and feel relatively sure that you know what happened here...
With a dark shudder and the knowledge that this scene will take a very long time, if ever, to fade from memory, the group moves to give the farmer a decent burial while building a pyre for the undead.
As you go to move the body of the well dressed ghoul leader, a key slips from his shirt where is it secured around the body's neck with a leather thong. It bears a heraldic symbol of a curious flower surrounded by thorns.
"This key is the heraldic symbol of the Foxglove family? I think they were associated with Sandpoint at one point... but I'm not sure how. Maybe someone on the town council would know - like Ameiko, her family's part of the town leadership, she might remember the Foxgloves," says Kiera when she spots the necklace and key during the search.
Andrezi looks about, but can't see much through the blood and gore covering the walls.
Kiera realizes she knows the sigil.. and explains it to the rest of the party.
"So we find a fancy key in a farm house. So, do we think the Foxgloves could be connected to this? Don't we know that name?" Volkar asked as he continued to look about the farm house
Kiera and Volkar both notice a squeaky floorboard in the master bedroom.. and a little work uncovers a loose floorboard under which Crade Hambley hid a stout wooden coffer. Inside, meticulously organized into leather pouches containing 100 sp each, is Hambley’s life’s savings—a total of 3,400 sp.
"We can take it to the temple, maybe the Good Father can find a descendant who could use it." Volkar said as he hefted one of the bags in his hand and then set it back down into the coffer. He looked about and then settled his eyes on Kiera. "We need to find the thing behind all of this and put an end to it. Any place we need to go check? The barn, right?"