Nia wipes her mouth and spits as she rises back to her feet and carefully hurries around the corner, doing her best to avoid the noxious cloud. The investigator looks around carefully. "Where'd he go?" She shouts back at Andrezi and Vidar. "He's not here!"
Nia doesn't hear anything in the way of invisible necromancer movement.
"He is either fleeing in which case we will not see him again, or he is searching for reinforcements.
Have we the means to track him?"
"Flour, sand, paint, marbles, caltrops, a net, but I don't have any of those. Run and see if the front door has been opened!" Nia suggests.
The priest nods and takes off with the speed granted him by Desna.
Andrezi gets to the reception area and sees that the front door is partially ajar. From the porch, there's no sign of the necromancer. Perfaps unsurprisingly, Doctor Habe and the two orderlies are nowhere to be seen, either.
"I am reluctant to leave a threat to our rear, but...I wonder if he would be foolish enough to return.
In his position, and let us dare to presume he has a modicum of sense, i would not stop running until Magnimar."
Eventually the noisome vapors dissipate, and the party can explore the lower level of the sanitarium. The stairs down end in a large room combining features of a wizard's laboratory and a catacomb--several tables bearing bodies covered by drapes fill the center of the room, while tools ranging from shovels to dissection implements sit on shelves or hang from racks against the wall. Vidar and Nia are unsurprised to recognize this as a necromantic laboratory. All three bodies present are dead, and extraordinarily well-preserved. In one corner of the room, a map of the Sandpoint hinterlands stands on an easel. Dots of various colors and shapes decorate the map, and after skimming the book next to the easel the party finds the key: every dot is a reported sighting of a ghoul, or the discovery of a ghoul's apparent victim, coded by date of occurrence. There's been a marked increase in sightings around the southern farmlands and along Foxglove River. Caizarlu hypothesized that some sort of "ghoulish source" had recently come to prominence in the region, and he was working on a way to determine the source lineage of a ghoul.
The eastern room appears to be where the zombies were kept, and is empty of anything else. The western room is a relatively stark bedchamber with a simple bed, a study table, and a plain wooden chair; the only concession to comfort is a cushion on the chair. Vidar immediately identifies the book on the desk as a spellbook containing all cantrips except those from the abjuration and enchantment schools, plus the following spells:
First level:
Chill touch
Mage armor
Magic missile
Obscuring mist
Ray of enfeeblement
Identify
Cause fear
Air bubble
Second level:
Acid arrow
Blindness/Deafness
Command undead
Mirror image
Ghoul touch
Third level:
Displacement
Stinking cloud
Vampiric touch
False life
Gentle repose
Halt undead
There are also a number of patients upstairs.
Nia nods at Vidar. "I certainly wouldn't come back any time soon. And if we take anything useful or dangerous there won't even be any reason for him to return."
She studies the map closely to see if there are any incidents they didn't already know about or if there's any pattern that points as the 'ghoulish source' Caizarlu hypothesized.
There are many sightings that Nia hadn't known about, and although she has no further insight the sheer number is concerning. If the map data are correct, something out of the ordinary is happening.
Among the necromancer's notes, the party finds his experimental plan for Grayst. As Doctor Habe said, he was going to dissect the body after he died but before he rose as a ghoul, looking for signs of the ghoul fever vector.
A detailed search of the rooms with detect magic turns up a wand concealed in a table leg in the necromancy lab.
Garrick says, "His ruse is up. Once we pass the information to the Sheriff, and then he passes it to his contacts, I don't think the man's likely to be much of a danger... especially having left all his notes and gear behind."
He pauses, "Still, the notes suggest he's not the source of all the ghouls, so we've still got a problem to solve."
Vidar sighs and rubs his temples.
"So, to summarise, we have only progressed towards a solution in as much as we have eliminated a false lead.
I...I suppose that will just have to do."
Garrick chuckles, "Think of it as having fixed a problem we didn't know about when we got here. Besides, between the notes here and the ravings of the other, we probably do have a new clue... once we take a minute to figure it out."
Nia frowns as she shuts the notebook, finding nothing immediately useful. He looks at Garrick, a thoughtful look on her face. "What did he say to you? Something about the Misgivings being your home?"
Garrick shakes his head, 'Throne. He said throne. Though I rather thought he was talking to all of us." He shrugs, "Maybe 'the misgivings' will mean something to Ameiko or Shalelu?"
Nia chuckles. "Right, my mistake. Well, 'the Misgivings' is a local name for a run-down and abandoned estate further south: Foxglove Manor, ancestral home of the noble you rescued during the goblin attack. And I heard you they were your host at a boar hunt later, too?"
"What a weird thing to say if you've never even heard of the Misgivings before." She shakes her head, marveling at the weirdness of all of this.
"Hmmph, I did not care much for that man...
either way, I suppose, and I hate supposing, that we have a duty to return and report to the Sherif at this point?
So, back to Sandpoint then?"
The party returns to Sandpoint, very much looking forward to hot baths to get the remaining smell of the febrile Grayst and the hostile spell out of their hair. Ameiko takes one look at the group as they troop into the common room and wordlessly pours out favored drinks. She passes them over, a concerned look on her face. "Bad day?"
"Honestly? Not the worst one we've had." Nia smiled back at her friend. "Just... don't go to the Sanatorium for a while. It might take Doctor Habe a day or two to get things back in order."
Garrick chuckles at Nia's reponse, adding, "I'm sure a couple of tankards and a bath will go a long way to makin' it better. But...", he shudders, "..some people are just terrible.".
The evening is blessedly uneventful, and the party continues to plan for their next step over breakfast. The calm is short-lived, though, as one of the deputy sheriffs arrives at the Rusty Dragon. "'Scuse me, there's trouble in the farms. Sheriff needs to see you at headquarters right away."
Nia sighs as she puts down her utensils. "Well at least we got a night's worth of sleep and a couple of good meals." She smiles at her friends and turns back to the deputy. "Just give us a minute to get our stuff and we'll come with you."
Vidar grumbles angrily at having his breakfast interrupted.
He then aims a steely glare at the others and wags a spoon threateningly.
"First one who says "ghouls" is getting smacked!"
He then pauses, sighs, puts down the spoon and sharply slaps his own face.
"I will not be made into a liar..." He mutters somewhat bashfully.
"More trouble, eh?" Andrezi rhetorically asks the deputy.
Allowing himself a small chuckle when the gruff wizard smacks himself with the spoon, the priest gathers his things and gets ready to follow the deputy to the sheriff's office.
The quartet follows the deputy back to meet Sheriff Hemlock, accompanied by sidelong glances and whispers from the townsfolk. "...came running into town like a madman...." "...something about scarecrows and dogs?" "Heroes'll sort it out, just y--"
As soon as the party reaches headquarters, they're hustled inside and into Hemlock's office. He's there with a grizzled, sunburned old man whose white hair is sticking out in all directions. Mud streaks his clothing, and he reeks of old sweat and strong drink. He clutches a straw hat in his hands, but on seeing the party he seems to relax a little. "Oh, thank the gods you're here! It was the scarecrows, it was, came walking out. Like...I don't know what, walking scarecrows, they were."
It takes a few minutes to calm him down enough that he can get his story out coherently. The southern farmlands around Sandpoint have become plagued by things that look like walking scarecrows, stalking the night. "It was the Hambley place where it started...ain't been right there for a few days now. A lot of us, we went there to see what we could do, and these--these things came out after us! Like humans, but all thin, almost no flesh on 'em! They acted like starving wolves, they did...they even et the dogs!" The man breaks off his tale, panting.
Hemlock breaks in. "My men picked up Maester Grump here when he came into town raving about walking scarecrows. Can you check out his story? I hope it wasn't the drink talking, but I doubt we'll be that lucky."
Vidar groans and buries his head in his hands in disgust.
When he looks up, he glares fiercely at the rest of the party and makes a slapping motion with one of his hands, warning them that he has more where that came from.
Nia grimaces and looks over at Vidar. "Don't smack me." She turns back to the sheriff. "Which way and how far is the Hambley place?"
Garrick sighs, "And here I thought we'd accomplished something useful this morning. I guess we've got a new lead."
"About six miles southeast of town. There's thirty or forty little farmsteads in that direction, and they're about the furthest."
Nia sighs. "Couple hours walk. Last farmstead southeast, got it." She looks at her companions. "Anybody need anything before we head out?"
Garrick sighs, "An aleskin and some biscuits," he says wistfully, then shakes his head, "No... wait, yes. Let's stop for holy water on the way out."
Given the undead that we've already seen, that seems like a very prudent course of action, Garrick."
Nia nods. "Let's get going, then. Gonna be a long walk."
The party is able to get eight vials of holy water from Father Zantus at the cathedral.
It's a fine and temperate day, without a lot of wind, and enough cloud cover not to be dazzling. The weather is the sort that farmers would be happy to work in, but once the party south of Ashen Rise the usually sociable landholders and workers are nowhere to be seen. The more sensorially-acute party members can hear them, though, and occasionally catch a glimpse of a face through a window before the curtain is pulled down. Even the farmers closer to town quiet down when they see the party go by, and any children out are quickly hushed and sent indoors.
Approaching Soggy River, the farmsteads are completely emptied; doors hang open, moving back and forth in the breeze. The path the party has been following narrows to only ten feet or so wide, hemmed in by corn or other crops. The cornfields are the worst...it's tall enough that only Vidar can see over it consistently.
The Hambley farm is nestled against the western edge of the Whisperwood, a forest that Nia has heard is supposedly home to capricious gnomes, pixies, and other fey. The shadows of the trees, though, hold no terror worse than what the silence of the farmsteads indicates has happened.
Garrick does his best to not scowl at the reaction of the steaders, simply nodding and waving. "Are they all terrified of the undead? Or something else?"
Nia leaves the obviously nervous farmholders alone but once they see what's going on closer to Soggy River she gestures at one of the doors hanging open. "That's... not right. No farmer I've ever heard of is going to leave their house like that. Let's see if we can find any clues about what happened." It's obvious that she's thinking they might have been attacked by ghouls but doesn't want to say it out loud.
Once closer to one of the houses, Nia notices that the doorframe is splintered in a way that suggests that someone--or something--broke in. There are bloodstains on the floors, all covered with a carpet of buzzing flies that take off at the first sign of movement but soon return. There are no bodies. It doesn't take a trained tracker to see the signs of a fight, though, and the drag marks that are likely from bodies being moved.
Approaching the barn, the reek of rotting flesh assails the senses. At least the bodies within are the remains of livestock, not humans or halflings. To no one's surprise, the wounds on the bodies look like they were inflicted by claws and teeth.
Vidar covers his noise with a handkerchief and groans softly.
"Become an adventurer, they said. See the world, they said."
Garrick sighs, "They took the dead.... are ghouls smart enough to take food for later rather than eating immediately? Or.... are they being directed... perhaps by someone trying to raise more ghouls?"
Nia grimaces and echoes Vidar, tying a scented handkerchief over her nose to minimize the smell. "They're cunning, and prefer rotting bodies over fresh. You'll often find buried victims to... improve their taste after a few days."
"If they are intelligent, and I believe we have established that they are, they may be in the process of building numbers large enough to become a threat to civilised areas, such as Sandpoint proper.
Hmmph, we ended one threat, and now another one rears up."
"That is a troubling thought at best." Andrezi quips, in response to Vidar's statement.
"I'm not a particularly skilled tracker. Is there any indication where our ghoulish 'friends' may have run off to?"
Indications are that they went towards the Hambley farm.