"That would explain a great deal, Gared. However, I cannot reason this to be the work of just one person. There is definitely something 'ghostly' about some of the things we have come across so far. Perhaps the ghost has an accomplice..." Horven whispers, his words trailing off at the end. He recalls the eight.
Iomedae is a goddess of justice, but Sir Rekkart does not seem to care about more than flaunting the "fact" that Jabin Mord was found guilty.
"Aye. I thought something of though same. Though I'll be plannin' on having a word with the bastard if I find out he did this out of malice." In his anger, Gared's dwarven accent found a way through in his voice.
|
As Gared heads up the right staircase, he motions for the other jurors to wait downstairs while the four heroes move up the stairs. At the top of the stairs is a landing with a pair of double doors to the south.
Not finding anything unusual about these doors, Gared pulls open the doors. As he gets a good look around the room, he sees this is some kind of lounge. Fine leather couches and a mahogany table now covered in a thick layer of dust stand undisturbed around this chamber. Portraits line the walls here with plaques bearing names below, both now obscured with thick cobwebs. A simple iron icebox sits in one corner of the room, a few empty bottles perched precariously atop it.
As the group moves into the room, weapons and spells on the ready, Ganer finds his eyes drawn to a particular portrait on the wall. This reads "Silman Trabe" and as he feels the portrait almost staring at him, he sees the room fade away...
“Jarbin Mord. For the brutal and savage slaying of your own wife and six-year old boy, it is the verdict of this jury, with which I concur wholeheartedly, that you shall hang by your neck until dead. May the gods take mercy on your blackened soul.” Silence falls over the courtroom in the wake of this pronouncement of doom. The faces of the assembled crowd grow solemn as everyone feels the finality of the sentence, with a few exceptions. Several members of the assembled jury are smirking at each other. The hobgoblin, halfling, gnome, and young woman all seem both pleased and highly amused by this turn of events.
Fortunately the vision does not last long, and Ganer finds himself back in the present (although probably wishing he was elsewhere still).
After the vision, Ganer put his hand to his head, as if to steady himself, and indeed, he didn't seem surefooted for a long moment. "They delighted in it." He said, anger roiling through his voice. "A man was sentanced to die, and they smiled at each other as though someone had told a joke! I suggest our suspicions of this lot begin with Patrissa, Madge, the gnome, and dead Malgrim!"
After taking a moment to calm himself, Ganer added, "We should watch Killian too, though for the opposite reason. I believe he knows the truth, and might be seeking to draw it into the light. He seems to be playing coy, and never seems quite willing to let the matter of Mord's guilt stand unanswered." After having his say, Ganer hobbled toward the portrait, wondering if there was any significance to it, or if it had just been the last thing he noticed before Irori had seen fit to reveal a new truth. He ran his hand over the bottom of the frame, and spoke the name, "Silman Trabe," When he realized that all eyes were surely upon him, he added, "This might be important as well."
"Ganer, what are you going on about?" Horven asks, obviously confused. After a moment or two of dwelling on Ganer's outburst, he continues. "Well, before anything can be done about it, we must find proof and be better than they were."
"How would you know that tall one?" Gared quired. His face was still dark with anger, and the Ganer's statement just seemed to fan the flames. "I don't mean to say that I don't believe ye, but there's been all manner of strangeness afoot and it would be good to be hearin' how you think so." His face softened a bit when Horven spoke. "Delivering justice should not be an act that any enjoy..."
"Even if we were to deliver justice there is rather a few of them and only 4 of us. We could probably take them but it would be brutal." He looks about at his surroundings "Besides is this not punishment enough. " He walks over to the picture and studies it trying to remember anything useless about the name.
|
|
As the four of you mill about near the entrance to the lounge, you hear someone approaching. Turning back to the stairs, you see the old dwarf Tablark approaching. "Ever'thin OK up 'ere?"
Gared called back down to the dwarf, his tone almost friendly. "Aye. There be no sign of the ghost yet, but we be moving slowly to be careful." The dwarven accent seemed to be flowing more thickly from Gared, as if he was remembering how to speak a language after years of little practice. As he speaks, he cautiously moved over to the ice box in the corner of the room and examined yet.
Ratcliff puts his fingers on the painting "Silman Trabe. He was the judge presiding over the Jabrin Mord trial." He is startled when the Dwarf comes up the stairs "Yes yes I am at least. What happened to Silman. Why isn't he here."
|
|
As Gared moves towards the icebox, Tablark replies to him, "Aye, I gotcha, it be OK if we come up 'ere? Th' ladies be gettin' a tad....nervous down 'ere."
Inside the icebox, Gared discovers only one item: A jar filled with an almost colorless liquid (slightly grayish tinged). Floating in the jar, he notes several objects floating in the liquid.
"I am sorry, I should have mentioned it earlier, since I was a child, Irori has granted me visions. After looking at this painting, I saw a view of the courthouse when Mord was sentenced. The four I named were grinning like a cat that got the mouse."
Horven nods slightly. He decides to appeal to Tablark again, hoping to gain some insight on some things.
"Tell me, Tablark, how well do you know the rest of the jurors? Ebin seems a bit strange to be a juror, Madge is...er, pretty...but fairly athletic too, and Patrissa seems to be well-bred and also not a typical juror."
|
|
Tablark enters the lounge and glances around the chamber disinterestedly. When he hears Horven's question, he smiles amiably, "Well...can't say I know any of th' other jurors all that well, though I 'ave seen Madge perforn in th' streets of Absalom 'fore. Plus that Rekkart fellow be an upstanding gentleman." His voices lowers some as he continues. "Aye, that gnome be a slippery one. I dinnae trust 'im. As fer Patrissa...well she be a...nice lady, I s'ppose."
He then notices the jar which Gared is examining and walks over to him. "What did ye find there?"
Gared examined the floating objects dubiously. " I can't be fer sure, but I think there might be something not so savry' in here. Anyone want to have a look? "
|
|
As the heroes continue to ponder the strange contents of the jar, they are momentarily distracted by the appearance of the rest of the jurors (assuming no one objects to them being nearby.)
None of them take much notice with the contents of the lounge, except for one person...
"Guhhh--ooohhh....AHHHhhhhoooo..."
The sound breaks your reverie and you can see the source of the sound is the half orc Halgrak. There is a look of horror on his face, and also....something in his eyes...is it...recognition?
|
|
"Here, Gared," Horven says, taking the jar and inspecting it.
"So, Halgrak...something you'd like to tell us?"
"Let me handle this," Ganer said quietly to Horven. He led Halgrak away from the rest of the group, and then spoke quietly to him. "We are not so different, you and I. Shunned for our appearance, blamed for the sins of our parents. The biggest difference I can see is that Irori has chosen to give me insight into this matter. He prefers to give hints instead of answers, however, so I'm not sure of all of the details, but you can help me with that. What is in that jar, and what is the secret that everyone is trying so hard to keep? I suspect that it has to do with why Malgrim, Patrissa, Madge and Ebbin seemed so delighted to hear that Mord was sentanced to die."
|
|
As Ganer pulls the recalcitrant half orc aside, Halgrak lurches forward away from him and grabs the jar away from Horven.
He allows himself to be led away from the others, and is merely content with stroking the jar like it was some well beloved pet. All he utters from his lips id the phrase "I gots me toes back...I gots me toes back...I gots me toes back..."
After Ganer talks to him gently, like a child in a way, Ganer sees tears flowing down the half orc's face. He looks up at the oracle and shudders, "It not be me fault. That good fer nuttin' Malgrim...he...he forced me ta do it...said if'n I did not do as he says, not only would he cut off me toes , he threatened ta do the same to me wife 'n me kids! I needed ta borrow the money 'cause I couldna find no work for months 'n I needed the coin!" He gives a final wracking sob and finally finishes up in an almost inaudible tone, "I did not mean ta send Mord to th' noose. Please fergive me."
Horven lets Halgrak take the jar of toes. He casually leans a little closer to hear what Halgrak has to say.
"What do you mean? Malgrim set him up to be executed? Do you know why?" Ganer continued speaking quietly. Seeing Halgrak going to pieces, he put a hand on the Half-Orc's shoulder, suddenly self conscious after realizing the cloak had slipped back and part of his hand was now visible. He couldn't very well pull back, and so was forced to hope that no one would notice his clawed, pawlike fingers. "I believe you, stay close to me, and I will protect you if I can."
|
|
Halgrak is quiet for a moment when Ganer finishes his statement, and does not seem to notice (or care about) Ganer's unusual appearance. He finally composes himself and puts the jar into his pack. He turns to look at all of you and asks, "What do we do now? I mean, we are stuck 'ere wit' no way out 'cept through th' gallows and there be nothin' back the way we cam--" His voice stops short as he sees something...
Y
Z
Following his gaze, your attention is drawn to a figure shuffling slowly through the open doors to the north. As it moves closer into the light still shining fron the lantern Madge is holding, you are horrified to see it is Malgrim! Or at least what looks like him....
As you watch in stunned horror, Malgrim jerkily moves towards and swings a beefy fist at Tablark, who grunts as the blow strikes him but the padding of his vest prevents any serious harm.
"By all 'th gods, what is this?" Tablark utters in terror.
Horven is surprised by the appearance of Malgrim or whatever this creature was, but too far to do much about it. He could get close but it would mean leaving himself open it an attack. No, it would be much better to slip into a position where he could do more damage.
Secretly, Horven was glad "Malgrim" decided to show up, but he would never admit it to anyone.
|
|
Horven moves into a more strategic position.
The old man Killian sees the appearance of the former hobgoblin enforcer and gasps in fear. He then hustles quickly away from the impending combat readying his cane as he moves.
The giggly gnome starts singing an offbeat tune in the gnomish tongue, which really has the only effect of annoying the rest of you. Like Killian, he decides discretion is the better part of valor and moves away from the combat.
Ratcliff squeaks in fear and quickly scurries to withdraw from the combat. Suddenly his fear is offset by curiosity and he turns to study the creature "I wonder how you managed to get here"
Ganer withdrew his hands into the cloak, ready to throw it off if need be. He gripped his shield as he moved forward, chanting a spell as he did so. He wound up in front of the ambling corpse.
|
|
Ratcliff scurries quickly out of the way, taking refuge in front of the ice box.
Patrissa screams, "OOOhhh, by the Gods!" and stumbles away from the animated corpse, stumbling slightly in her heels.
Ganer resolutely moves in front of the corpse, almost daring it to strike him, and chants a quick prayer to Iori and everyone in the area feels bolstered by a sense of courage.
Madge drops the lantern on the ground causing the light in the area to bounce wildly before shining off to the side. She draws her dagger while tumbling acrobatically behind the walking corpse, slashing wildly at it! Her blade bites deep into its side, but it is nearly jarred out of her hand as it shrugs off the blow. It turns to face the pretty halfling girl moaning softly and swings at her in a long arc, swatting her aside like she was an insect. . She cries out in pain and fear. "Help me, Horven!"
"Tch," Horven utters.
So much for tactics...But I am not doing this for her.
Horven swings his dagger in a controlled arc. Even if it finds its mark, Horven knows his weapon would not make much of a dent in his foe.
|
|
As Ganer realizes this is a zombie the group is fighting, he knows slashing weapons will be more effective against its undead hide.
Horven steps up to meet the zombie and swings at it, connecting solidly with it in its side. While the mark was a shallow one, he realizes the slashing motion was indeed the best way to take it down, unlike Madge's blow which had not taken advantage of the edge on her dagger blade.
Gared stared into the dead creature's face with an almost dazed expression for the briefest of moments before realizing the threat it posed to all of them, then took a step closer to the fray before firing two arrows at the deathly hobgoblin in a fluid flurry of motion.
To hit: Damage:
To hit: Damage:
|
|
Gared draws and fires, seeing his target as clear as day despite the dark shadows engulfing the lounge. For a second, he nearly overcompensates for the jerky movements of the zombie but Iori's blessing clears his mind and steadies his aim. The shot flies true, embedding itself into the shoulder of the once-living hobgoblin. However, the second shot flies above it and impacts on the far wall.
It is clear to everyone one solid blow should be enough to finish it off, also Killian and Ebin are more than happy to be idle spectators in this fight.
Ratcliff lifts his hands and a small shining blue, diamond shaped piece of magic forms. He squeaks as he releases it.
|
|
The silvery missile slams into the walking corpse, tearing a hole on the other side of its body. It jerks around for a few seconds, like a puppet with its marionette strings cut then gurgles softly before ollapsing to the floor, unmoving.
As the sounds of combat fade away, silence returns to the courthouse, except for the faint sounds of the wind whistling outside the barred windows...and the faint sounds of a giggling child, mixed with the sounds of a woman sobbing.
Horven picks up the lantern and walks over to Madge.
"Are you okay?" he asks her.
Gared shook his head solemnly as walked over to the fallen hobgoblin. "Nobody be deserving of this madness..." muttered the dwarf.
He stepped over to Madge and Horven before offering the female halfling a hand to steady her. "Ye alright there, little ones?" His tone was gruff, but his brilliant eyes showed only sympathy...
"I'm fine, Gared, but Madge took a pretty bad blow."
Horven brushes the hair away from his face, almost absently. He closes his eyes for a brief moment, lost in thoughts he could not pick out. The formality of his words falls away. This fight gave him a common bond with the others, albeit a distant and cold one.
"This must be a place of great evil if that could happen," Horven says, pointing at the corpse. "I suppose that's all the more reason to stick together."
|
|
Madge stares at the fallen corpse of the ex-juror for a moment, a glazed look on her face before she starts wiping the ichor from her dagger. To the trained eyes of those who wield weapons and know the procedure of cleaning ones weapons efficiently, she takes a few seconds longer than necessary. Her motion is somewhat jerky and mechanical.
Sheathing her blade again she turns to Horven, an unreadable look on her face. She turns away from him but he is able to catch her body shuddering slightly before she responds, "Yes, I suppose you are right."
She manages to give Gared a weak smile, "I guess I am OK..." although she is favoring her side and it is clear she could use some healing, magical or otherwise. "Does anyone have a healing potion?" She asks plaintively.
Luckily for Ganer, the large cloak helped conceal his look of disdain. It was beginning to sound like nothing less than the justice that Gamer was becomming convinced Jarbin Mord had been deprived of.
He moved to the nearest wall, and then quietly cast Detect Magic before letting his eyes wash over the room, watching out for anything that stood out.
|
|
Ganer allows the other members of the jury to move to assist the young halfling, and uses the distraction to cast his spell...
Ratcliff squeaks and swishes his tail in excitement "I've never tried that on a live...well moving target before!!!" He scuttles across the room and studies the corpse looking for anything out of the ordinary, apart from the fact that it was walking a few seconds ago. "A severe punishment, being brought back from death."
Kn Nature:
Kn Arcana:
|
|
Ratcliff moves to the corpse and starts his own investigation of it. Searching the corpse he finds several intersting items:
- Gold cigar case, inside are ten cigars along with cutting tools. These cigars are Julan cigars harvested from the once-rich tobacco fields of the Sodden Lands long before they were washed away by the Eye of Abendego.
- A masterwork spiked chain (still wrapped around its neck). Inspecting the chain further you see it is monogrammed with the name Grindle-Slash.
- Masterwork studded leather armor (rather smelly.)
- Silver tindertwig case
- Small necklace pouch filled with gold and silver teeth.
- A Potion filled with a milky white liquid. Scanning the vial using Detect Magic you determine it is a .
"Erm does anyone know why Malgrim has teeth in a pouch?" Ratcliff takes the potion but allows everyone else to take what they would want "He won't be needing it anymore I guess."
He walks over to Madge and hands her the potion "Drink this, it will...help with the pain."