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As the group gathers outside the Town Hall, listening to Newmark, Hassan adds: "Zaarida informs me she is caring for a child who has fallen ill after falling through the ice while chasing a white stag. A talking white stag no less. She told me where we can find this child, if you wish to speak with him. The white stag is an omen of power among my people. It may not be coincidence with the appearance of the weather and the winter-touched."
The Qadiran man then joins the others as the meeting begins, taking a seat, preparing to watch the proceedings.
The council meeting is a closed affair. It's explained that usually any interested citizen is welcome to the meetings but it was decided to close this meeting do sensitive nature of the Lady Argenta's abduction and the even more mysterious nature of the weather....It is decided little good could come from speculation and miss-information that some of the locals would be sure to offer.
The council is attended by 7 individuals There are two farmers from the outskirts of town. A woman by the name of Pompilia Damasio who ran what seems to have been a once prosperous fruit tree farm with her three sons. There's also a older male farmer by name of Siles Salvitto; his is one of the older families in the area and he is neighbors with the farmer who's boy fell through the ice. The blacksmith Isker Euphram is present, seemingly unaware of the slight his daughter has taken. Menander Garimos is there, just as his wife Kale promised he'd be. So too is Elder Natharen Safander of the temple of Erastil. Of coarse Ionnia Teppen sits in the center of the council and a man you've not met Lycio Vallant 1/2 owner of the Heldren Sawmill, rounds out the council.
The meeting is surprisingly short and to the point. The whole council is concerned about the attack on Lady Argenta and would like your group to investigate. There is also the on-going concern about the un-usual weather. But, with little power or knowledge to do anything about it, it seems they are pinning their hopes on your group to provide answers their own woodsmen have failed to produce. They have little to offer but, Menander Garimos does offer a place by the fire in the Silver Stoat when your group is in town and needs to rest. He also let's it be known that you won't go hungry while visiting town as long as your on town business.
Surprisingly the Blacksmith, Isker Euphram offers to bang any dents out your armors or sharpen any of your blades free of charge while working for the council...he also mentions he'd give a discount to any of you who might need a new set of armor. The rest of the meeting is just details. Directions to the site where lady Argenta was attacked and directions to the farm where the boy supposedly saw the 'white stag'...should the group find that, rumor worth following up on.
The meeting closes with Ionnia Teppen saying, We can hardly thank you enough for helping our small Hamlet in a time of need. It is the courage and generosity of spirit that, will prevail in these hard times...we all wish you luck and our hopes and prayers go with you.
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Hassan looks into his coin purse, seeing the sole gold crown sitting there. He wonders about new armor, but without any means, he will have to make due with the smelly old hide armor that he brought across the border.
Glad to have free room and board, he suggests to his new compatriots, "Shall we see what this child knows about a talking stag?" The Qadirian warrior has no sense of urgency to rescue a Taldan noblewoman.
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Krestimbut frowns at Hassan, shaking his head. "We can look into bonding with nature perhaps once there's not longer a life at stake. I th-think we need to head into the woods, see the snow, and see what we can do about saving the poor girl. Would be nice to s-save someone this time..." He kind of trailed off before looking to Lanfried and Arrac "What do you guys think? Save the poor maiden, or go looking for reindeer?"
Arrac merely nods to Isker. He has no real questions.
I am fine with either, a stag is a good hunt, not to mention a white one. Though, time is likely short for our female noble, if not already up.
Grawlic sits curled at Lanfried's feet throughout the short meeting. The meeting over Lanfried stands and joins the group's conversaton on what action to take now.
Let us go to find this noble woman. The stag can be a job for later. We may even encounter it in the woods as we search for the woman. Who knows.
Without much ceremony...the five of you set out for the ambush site described by Yuln. It's not far before you come upon the carnage.
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.
The temperature has dropped considerably, (since you left the village) hovering just above freezing, and a light dusting of snow covers the ground. Judging by the bodies, Lady Argentea’s entourage included two carriages, a few handmaidens and servants, and a number of guards. No evidence of the attackers having took casualties, immediately presents itself.
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Being from Qadira, and with one gold crown left to his name, Hassan does not have the means to acquire cold weather gear. He just bundles up and does te best he can in the wintry weather.
Not unused to the sight of dead men, the ambush site holds little revulsion for Hassan, but he mumbles the Sarenrite Prayer of Passage to himself so that the souls of these men will have Her Light shining on them when they stand in front of Judgment.
Unshouldering his longbow, the inquisitor carefully creeps forward to the nearest fallen man, assuring he is actually dead, and/or if his cause of death is readily apparent.
Lanfried moves toward the site of the attack, but Grawlic is faster and makes it there. What do you think Grawlic. Do you smell or see anything?
Arrac moves up with his blade drawn and shield slung. He takes a peek into the carriage as Hassan checks the dead body.
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Krestimbunt's eyes were wide as he finally saw, for the first time, snow. reaching out to touch it, he giggled, giddy, as he drew a K in the ground. He made a snowball for kicks, though decided against throwing it at anyone for his own sake. Hitting a tree with it, he snickered, then caught up with the rest as they approached the site.
Looking over it, he whistled. Big ol mess here... Curious, he started looking into the carriage, peeking through the wreckage for clues
Hassan notices that, Most of the bodies lie pierced with tiny needles and shards of ice. All of the bodies, with the exception of one have been stripped of armor and weapons.
As you walk around the perimeter of the carriage closest to you notice, 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.As you move around,(the carriage) you all can hear, Muffled sounds of movement emanate from inside the carriage.
Lanfried moves over closer to Hassan. he listens to confirm that he heard something inside the carriage. Did you hear that? there is something inside. I'll pull the spear out of the doors, you be ready Hassan.
Lanfried gives it 5 seconds or so for Hassan, and anyone else to ready themselves before he pulls the spear from the handles.
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Kres took a step back, just in case something came out of the carriage he wasn't expecting. Taking a deep breath, he focused on what they were about to do, nervous, really hoping that whatever was in there was helpfu and not at all planning on hurting them. That said, the gnome had never been that lucky, and was really hoping that whatever was going on, he could at least partially handle.
As Lanfried pulls the spear, the carriage door flies open. Two decaying livng corpses rustle around in the carriage . Newmark instantly recognizes the terrible moaning of the creatures as something not natural. He pushes forward and fires a ray of acid at the still emerging zombie. . Newmark's magic acid ray is woefully off target, hitting the carriage side. The cat Grawlic is also aware of the un-natural beast trying to escape the carriage but, without guidance from it's master, it hesitates. The red Zombie lurches forward much to the surprise of the startled Lanfried. It manages to position itself between Krestimbut and Lanfired before either can react.
R 1
Newmark
Grawlic
Red zombie
Hassan
Krestimbut
Arrac
blue zombie
Lanfied
Arrac takes a stab at the zombie still in the carriage when it starts to move. Holding his shield up to try to ward off any strikes by the zombie.
Ah! foul magic making the dead move! Though, I'm surprised they aren't frozen in place!
Take it down Grawlic
As he issues the command to his cat Lanfried swings his own quarterstaff at the undead thing.
Hassan takes a swing with his scimitar, deftly taking off the head of the Red Zombie. Arric pushes forward lunging into the carriage but the close confines restrict his swing causing him to miss.
R 1
Newmark
Grawlic
Hassan
Krestimbut
Arrac
blue zombie
Lanfied
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Krestimbunt saw the undead entities emerge abs yelped in surprise, but he knew he had to focus, to prove himself to his new compatriots. Taking a breath, he held up his hands, focused on the energies within himself and the planes, tearing through to summon his favored element in a torrent at the zombie who still had a head
Though not wanting to hit his new allies, he flinched at the last second, causing his blast to go wide, striking the carriage. Seemed his allies now knew who kept splashing everyone.
The blue zombie clamors out of the carriage past Arrac. It then falls upon the Large Ulfen warrior trying to club him with it's dead and rotten limbs. However, the clumsy undead thing misses the experienced warrior by plenty. Lanfired then orders Grawlic to attack the new zombie the cat comes running around the carriage and tears a huge piece of flesh of the un-living thing's exposed thigh. Lanfried tries to bash the thing with his staff to little effect.
R 2
Newmark
Hassan
Krestimbut
Arrac
blue zombie
Grawlic
Lanfied
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Round 2
Hassan steps into an open spot adjacent to the remaining foe. He brings his holy weapon in an a arc from down around his knees, slashing upwards and outwards from left to right. But this target proves as difficult as the prior one was easy, and the flashing metal of his Qadiran blade slices nothing but air.
Noticing that this was the only remaining threat, Arrac drops his shield and grabs his blade in both hands, He brings his blade around in a sweeping arc, aiming for the zombies shoulder and hoping to cleave the undead creature into two halves.
Ah! Stay dead you frostbitten corpse!
The shambling corpse drops at Arrac’s feet. combat over
Krestimbunt clapped, glad to see the other undead drop, but then got serious Huh. If there were undead here like that, it makes me wonder just what happened with the attack, and if it was more than bandits!
He took a peek inside the carriage, looking for any clues, or for anything of interest within.
Lanfried looks around at the battle site looking for clues on who was here and where they may have gone.
Grawlic also cast around the area snuffing at the air for scents.
Krestimbut clamors in the carriage the zombies just ushered forth from. He pokes around and discovers, a small jewelry box under the seat. The bandits must have missed it, while looting Lady Argentea’s carriage. Inside the box, there's a signet ring and a pair of earrings, a set of pearl-inlaid bracelets, assorted gold and silver necklaces and one sapphire pendant.
A low growl from Grawlic, draws Lanfried's attention to some type of Ice sculpture/statue about 25' to the south of this second carriage.
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Hassan does not recognize the rings sigil, but does see that it along with the jewelry is probably worth more than he'd make in a year of service. No expert in the value of objects, he pays them a bit of attention, but can't tell anything definite.
"It appears these men were killed by tiny needles or shards of ice. The story of the winter-touched fey seems to be true, though they seem to have moved on since the attack."
Hassan will check the rest of the fallen to makes sure they are all dead for sure, and if there is anything else unusual about their deaths. He will re-gather his longbow, sheathing his scimitar after a brief ceremonial prayer to Sarenrae for granting her favor in the battle.
Lanfried will also cast an eye over the jewellery. As a dwarf he has an inane sense for what these types of things are worth.
He also points out the ice statue/sculpture to the rest of the party as he moves to take a closer look at it.
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Popping out of the carriage, Krestimbunt handed the box off to lanfried and Hassan, then dusted himself off before heading over toward the second carriage. Keeping an eye in the direction Lanfried was pointing, he noticed the sculpture and it gave him a weird chill. Wonder who makes an ice sculpture in the woods and leaves it at such a grisly site...
Lanfried spends a few moments inspecting the items with Hassan. Both agree the signet ring is rather ordinary (made of brass) probably only worth 5gp..but could be worth more to the owner. They also both think the earnings are very nice worth perhaps 150gp. The bracelet Hassan puts at 100gp while Lanfried thinks it's worth twice that. The necklaces Lanfried also thinks are worth more perhaps 70gp but Hassan having scene may such 'trinkets' in his homeland estimates their value only at 40gp. Lastly the Pendant looks to be fake to both of you..but a good fake never-the-less you might get 10gp from it in a bazaar.
In the mean time ...Krestimbut inspects the turned over carriage..He finds little inside the carriage but, there are broken chests and boxes strewn across the ground. Some contain the handmaidens’ spare clothing,
including three courtier’s outfits.
After he's through inspecting the small treasures Lanfried moves to the front of the carriage to see what Grawlic is growling at...there he see's what appears to be a humanoid statue of ice with the arm torn off.
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Newmark walks up to Hassan and peeks at the items as well.
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Hassan turns and gives Newmark a skeptical look. The dwarf who seemed to know everything didn't really know anything, when it came down to it. Typical. Hassan tucks the box of jewelry into his rucksack for later study. The inquisitor trudges through the snow to the second carriage to stand guard over the curious gnome, just in case there were more walking dead inside this coach as well.
When Krestie finds the courtier outfits, Hassan passes on looking at them. The gowns were big and bulky and hard to carry easily, plus he was no judge of women's fashions.
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Bummed that there was nothing of interest within the carriage itself, he was far more amused by the outfits. "Hey Arrac, you seem to be the ladies man here-th-think she's pretty based on these?"
After he'd had his fun inspecting those, confident that he knew their value, he looked to Arrac "We should probably hang on to these. If she's been taken for this long, f-fresh clothes would likely be welcome. he moved out to see what the cat was growling at. "Well that's a weird... guys, that-that-that's a weird statue... he mumbled suddenly nervous about whether or not that's what it really was.
Arrac shrugs. Not a fan of the frilly things, though, the jewelry may fetch a good price on the markets.
Arrac then leaves the others to determine the value of items He will start looking around the area for any signs of tracks to try and find the direction that the attacks left in.
Lanfried looks closer at the statue then around for the missing arm. I wonder who this is a statue of?
[ooc] perception check if needed]
Anyone see an arm around? Or recognize this person?
Lanfired and his cat move up to inspect the statue. Arrac moves past them and follows some tracks leading away from the battle. The remains of the Taldan man stand here as a gruesome statue, his slain body mostly encased in ice. He is still wearing a breastplate with some sort of insignia.
Unfortunately, the man’s body is no longer intact, as someone or something carved away pieces of him that now lie in blocks of slowly melting ice at his feet. One of the chunks of ice contains the man’s arm, still grasping his longsword.
Meanwhile, while Lanfried inspects the frozen body: Arrac discovers at the edge of the massacre site, an obvious trail that, leads between a copse of trees and over a snowy plain toward area the locals call the Border Wood.
Well, nothing can be done for this man now. The best we can do is try to find whoever did it. Grawlic, lets go. Where does this trail lead?
Larfried moves to follow the trail, Grawlic at his side.
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"It is witchcraft," says Hassan under his breath as he sees what the "statue" truly is. He makes the sign to ward off the evil eye, and growls angrily. "Those who perpetuate this magic against good men will pay."
Hassan moves up to see the breastplate and fallen sword, using his divine interaction with Sarenrae to determine if any magic exists in the weapon or armor. They certainly don't seem to have helped their former owner much against the winter-touched.
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Hassan grimaces seeing the poor man encased in ice.. and cast detect magic finding no obvious lingering auras ..
Hmph, A warrior should be buried, or burned, with his weapon. Though I won't stop you if you feel the need to take it. Arrac will wait for them to take the items, if they do, before showing them the trail and heading down it.
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Hassan chips out the breastplate from the ice, and takes a moment to put the metal armor on in place of his tattered and dirty hides. Feeling like a knight or hero in it, he takes a few practice swings with his scimitar to get the feel of the new armor.
"Respectfully, I think we should bury the man, and the rest, once we find your noblewoman. Minutes may mean the difference between living and dying for her, especially in this weather. We can return the man's gear when we inter on the way back to Heldren later."
The Qadiran man picks up the sword gingerly, feeling its balance and admiring its keen edge. "I cannot use this blade though it is handsome. Is there anyone who can?"
Not I. I can only use weapons that have been living, even if they are not anymore. That sword was never alive.
The perpetrators of the attack were unable to hide their trail in the heavy snow, surrounding the massacre sight; Therefore, the trail is easily followed by Arrac. The trail heads directly toward the boarder wood. The air grows noticeably cooler the closer your group comes to the forest’s edge. The snow grows deeper slowing you significantly as well. As the trees grow thicker and you actually enter the boarder wood..temperatures seem to take another drop. Those of you without cold weather gear feel the bite of the cold keenly. Those of you with still feel the chill on your exposed face and limbs.
Shortly after you enter the full expanse of the Border Wood, the trail passes through a small clearing among the taller trees before continuing uphill and out of sight. A large chest lies half-buried in the snow, apparently dropped or discarded by those who hastily passed this way. You pull up short considering the situation. You are all breathing harder than you'd like to and it's only been a short hike.