Auric manages to conceal his blade in what looks like a simple bundle of firewood, and then pries the stones loose from the old helm.
Liam is able to identify four moonstones and four pieces of amber, worth 50 gold apiece by his estimation.
Io thanks you for your assistance in this matter and your clever resolution to the problem of the griffons. The ranger personally offers her services to you should you need her in the future.
Having completed your task and repaid the akaara for their past assistance, the group heads back toward Three Oaks. You leave the wilds and find a cart track that will lead back to the north road into town. However, as you round a bend in the track, you spot something concerning. You can see a pair of legs, clad in homespun trousers and soft boots, protruding from some brush near the track. The rest of the form is hidden by the foliage, however, blood and tears in the clothing indicate someone in distress.
Auric gives the rest of his companions a worried look before approaching the body in the bush.
Perception:
The body is that of a human male, perhaps thirty years of age. Judging from his clothing and gear, he was a hunter or trapper. Lying near the body is a broken shortbow. His tunic is rather bloody, and his face is swollen and cut. His arms also show heavy bruising and cuts, probably from attempting to ward off blows.
Auric looks the body over, trying to determine what sort of weapon could have been used and how long the corpse was sitting here.
Heal:
"Can any of you get a trail around here? Maybe we can track down the culprit...
Auric is a bit puzzled. He's fairly sure the instrument was a blunt object with a sharp edge, something fairly small and possible wedge-shaped. The size, however, doesn't seem to provide enough weight behind the object to inflict these kinds of injuries, except with enormous strength.
Stranger still are the stab wounds. He sports a few on his scalp and face, wide and shallow, and deeper ones on his chest. These were made by something pointed, but dull.
Jon takes the time to search the area and examine the body. He likewise sports a puzzled look, running a hand through his thinning hair and staring around at the ground with a dubious air.
"If I'm reading these tracks right, and I'm pretty sure I am, this fellow was killed by deer. Three separate deer, that all attacked him at once."
"What would make three separate deer just kill a man. They wouldn't normally even come near."Kalaya wonders aloud as she looks at the man's body.
"I haven't the foggiest notion, and that bothers me," Jon replies. "But I can see three distinct sets of tracks. They set upon the man somewhere back over there, chased him to here, and brought him down. Then they went off that way," he says, indicating the trail to the dead man and then pointing off toward the tree line. He peers down at the body again.
"I don't know him. Might still be a local, but not a regular in town, or I'd recognize the face."
"Doesn't that beat all...", Auric says, scratching the back of his neck. "Can't say I'm not curious... should we go after them, see if there's an explanation for this?"
"Sounds like a plan. This just isn't natural. I've heard tell of cornered deer fighting back, but this..." Jon shakes his head.
"Let's take care of this fellow first though. We can build a cairn, maybe see if he's got anything on him that will tell us who he was."
"Hmmm. Aggressive killer deer..." Liam chews his lip, wracking his brain, sifting through all the tales in his head to try and gain a point of reference by which to understand this strange set of circumstances, some kind of story that could help explain such weirdness.
"Seems like all we do lately is bury people- well, let's check his pockets one last time and we'll get him properly cared for...", Auric says, taking a look through his pockets for personal effects or some kind of identification before preparing to put the man in the ground.
Aside from the broken bow, the man has a quiver with 7 arrows, a half-full waterskin, a tin hip flask, and a bedroll. You do note that there is a broken leather cord under his neck, as if something tied around his neck had been pulled free. His belt pouch contains flint and steel, a tinderbox, 6 sp, and oddly enough a letter addressed to Auric and Jon.
I hope this letter finds you well. Master Heyward has recovered as much as he is able, but he will never walk again without crutches. He received a dwarven visitor--an outcast--that wintered with us. This visitor bore interesting news. Apparently we were not the only ones to find the cave with The Archive. This dwarf and his companions discovered that Master Heyward is descended from one of the original keepers of the place and came to ask if he would take residence there to safeguard it.
I have arrived with a small group of acolytes to prepare the place for his arrival. We've managed to get further into the complex, but have encountered some problems that I'd like your help with. Also, we're having trouble keeping the damn bats out, so if you've any spare netting, bring that along. You'd think they'd give up and find another cave, but they're very persistent. I look forward to seeing you again.
Gendo
"A letter for us?" Jon kneels beside the dead man and murmurs a prayer for nature to return him to its cycle.
"Yeah... from Gendo. So this guy was a messenger from the Archive he set out for and then he was ambushed and killed. But whoever- whatever- killed him didn't take the message. So it's possible this was for unrelated reasons... this is all too strange. We need to get to the bottom of this and determine who or what needs to be brought to justice."
"Justice? Have we a need for justice? Perhaps this man was simply prey for some predator who hungered? Nature knows no justice; it is a mortal concern only."
"True enough, in any typical animal attack. But how often do you see three deer running a man down and killing him? If there's a chance- however remote- that there was deliberate intent at work here doesn't it bear investigation?"
Jon nods. "Perhaps it is more important to head to the Archives now. If their messenger was tracked and killed, they may be in danger."
Liam shares what he thinks may have some bearing on the matter.
"So what would this man have been doing to anger the Horned God?"
"Hunting? Taking too much? Abusing nature? The list is long and varied. But even if there are killer deer in these parts, we had better head to the Archives. If these others are allies, so much the better. If they are foes, we have much to deal with." Jon finishes his uncharacteristically long speech and stands up, brushing his pants off.
"We got a dead guy at our feet with a letter addressed to us- I should think it's important to at least look into it before we head back across the Marches. Let's head back into Three Oaks for a minute and get the netting they need, then we can head out again and take a brief look for these killer deer on the way. I can't say I like the idea of leaving the matter to rest."
Jon is able to pick up the trail of the deer after the killing, heading in a westerly direction. Your group follows them for some time before they reach the edge of a forested area, known as the Crescent Wood. Here the tracks split, with a single set bounding off into the woods at a high rate of speed, while the two other sets of tracks wander into the trees at a more leisurely pace.
"Um... so we follow the running deer? I'm no expert woodsguy but I think that seems most likely to bring us to whatever gored that hunter to death. Am I right?"
"Might be. Except bounding away is what deer do. I don't see anything out of the ordinary here. Save for the dead fellow, that is. Pick your target, I'll follow which ever one you want."
"The swift animal sounds aright to me. Leisurely deer just seem less... exciting."
The trail isn't hard for Jon to follow and you move on for many minutes through the trees until you emerge into a small clearing. The area is ringed by moss-covered rocks that look like they were placed deliberately. In the center of the clearing is a pile of stones stacked around a post, atop which sits a stag's skull, complete with a ten point rack of antlers. Oddly, the deer's trail abruptly ends just before the clearing.
Auric avoids touching anything. He studies the clearing and considers whether he's heard anything about this before... and casts his senses about for any malevolent auras.
Knowledge-religion:
Perception:
Liam slows as he enters the clearing, his hackles rising. "Oh now, this ain't good... I don't mean to be alarmin' anyone, but this right here reminds me of about eighty-seven different ghost tales - some of which I've lived meself out in the wilds." He points at the end of the tracks, then the cairn. "Disappearin' prints, skull reminiscent of the animal what did the killin'... Brrrr." Liam looks slightly wild-eyed as he peers expectantly around the clearing.
Jon pauses at the edge of the clearing. He frowns and murmurs a few words of Druidic. "This does not seem safe to me."
The clearing appears to be set up as some kind of pagan shrine, most likely to the god Kurnan, Lord of Beasts and the hunt. Nothing in the immediate area seems inimical or harmful in any way. However, the fact that the deer's tracks simply vanish is not natural. In fact, with a moment of insight, Jon realizes it is something he himself could do at any time, if he wished.
"Holy Kurnan," Liam whispers under his breath, as he walks around the shrine, his fears abating a little as he remembers some of the trappings of the faith.
Liam moves into the clearing, stepping over the mossy stones to approach the shrine. Nothing out of the ordinary catches his eye, and everything is quiet. In fact, after a moment he--as well as the rest of the party--note that it is very, very quiet. All the birdsong and animal noises have fallen silent.
Liam takes a quick nip from his whiskey flask, then holds his shortspear at the ready, eyes wide and darting.
"I'm no woods-guy but it does seem a bit more quiet than it should at the moment..."
Peering around at the trees, you're rather startled to realize that the woods surrounding the clearing are full of animals--deer, squirrels, rabbits, racoons, a fox, even a pair of wolves--perfectly silent, staring at your group as you stand in the clearing. A palpable aura of menace hangs in the air, as if you've made some dire transgression. Then, without a sound, the animals turn and leave, fading into the trees, and the moment passes.
Jon remains outside of the circle, watching the animals. "I believe we have made some sort of terrible, terrible error."
"Is there some sort of offering we can make to smooth over our breach of etiquette?"
"Gods like Kurnan usually seek blood as payment for offense" Kalaya murmurs ominously.
What Kalaya says is true, however taking 10 on a religion check makes her pronouncement not quite so ominous. Usual offerings to Kurnan often come in the form of portions from a successful hunt. Blood, meat, hides, antlers, or other portions of the kill are offered up. That they are usually taken away from shrines by scavengers or opportunistic predators is considered proper.
At this moment, nothing seems untoward. With the departure of the animals, the normal sounds of the wood have returned.
Liam makes a small offering, leaving a couple of his last smoked fish on a flat stone at the base of the post. As he does so, he notes yellowed objects partially buried in the muddy earth at the edge of the stones holding up the post.
Without wanting to disturb the crude shrine unduly, Liam kneels and carefully tries to get a better look at the objects, scraping a bit of mud out of the way perhaps, but nothing much more at this stage.
Scraping the mud away shows that they are knucklebones. It appears to be a nearly skeletal human hand.
"Well... isn't that a grim reminder of our inescapable mortality.", Auric remarks.
Knowledge- Religion:
"Maybe it's there for a reason and it's best not to disturb it further?"