The Technic League representatives have taken up residence in the Hallowed Hearth Inn, which is north of town near a few other less reputable inns. Lately rumors have been flying about the strange and horrible things the cult's arcanists have been doing within the inn, but it's still nothing but stories.
Marconis-
The door will be answered by a tattooed human man who has had the hair, eyebrows and all, shaved from the right side of his face. The eye on that side seems to have been replaced by a gleaming featureless metal orb, and his skin on that side has several metal bolts that have been driven in, this skin around them discolored and unhealthy looking. He'll give you the look that people usually reserve for annoying insects, but when you mention the coins he will look quite surprised, asking in a deep grating voice the exact description of the "coin". When you apparently describe what he was expecting, he'll step from the darkness of the doorway into the street. His deep black and red robes bear several strange alien markings, and his right arm has what looks to be several Numerian metal plates bolted into it.
"I am Setsin Dretch, second in command of the Cult of the Fallen Sky, the southern representatives of the Technic League. Those "coins" as you call them belong to Numeria by right and rule of the Black Sovereign. In addition, your Mayor has agreed to give us rights to any star relics with the town. Hand the relics over to us."
His last statement was more of an order, as if he is used to giving out commands.
Marconis will look quite displeased with this mans declaration, but hands the coins over none the less. "Very well, might I then inquire as to if there will be a reward for such relics? I am currently investigating a series of murders, and it seems the creatures carrying these coins was responsible for one, I may find more."
When you mention the word 'reward' his face will pull up into a sneer, though his eye look you over appraisingly when you mention the possibility of more relics.
"Hm, very well. Should you bring me more of these relics, or any others hidden in this backwater town I shall reward you with some of the platinum my master set aside for this expedition."
His human eye takes on a dull sheen that matches his metal one, and his voice lowers even further as he growls out,
"However if I find you are holding any pieces back, or if you try to pass off some common trinket as a true relic, I will ensure that you will have no further need of gold."
It's not so much a threat as it is a statement, and he says the sentence as if he has indeed done such a thing several times before and will do it again.
"Master Dretch, I am no con-artist, I would never try to pass something off as something it is not. I am merely trying to provide for my family, and as long as we have an accord, I will not hide these things from you either. Consider these two coins a gift, Master Dretch, a symbol of our mutually beneficial arrangement. Good day, sir." With that, Marconis will return home to grab a quick bite and retrieve his travel pack. With his belly fed and his gear retrieved, he will head out to meet his fellow deputies. When everyone is present and accounted for, he will let the team know of his encounter with the cultist. "This Setsin Dretch fellow offered to give platinum for any future pieces we find, if you would like to go that route for anything we could get money from. Possibly the more harmless items, as I do not fully trust this cult."
The morning is hot and slightly humid, and you can see angry little clouds growing in size to the east near the forest that threaten rain in the future. For now, morning brings a flurry of activity about town as the adventurers heading south to the crash site are doing last minute preparations and shopkeepers are busily restocking from the previous day. The smells of spiced meats and baking pastries waft throughout the town square as several clever Grundy residents take advantage of the out-of-towner's appetites, selling meat pies fruit danishes that are easy to eat on the road.
Meeting up near The Hammer Boy's shop (it is near the center of town, a pretty easy stop) you all can catch up, grab a bite to eat, do some last minute preparations yourselves, and fall in with the crowds headed towards the hills and the meteor within. The crowds are diverse, and certainly not as thick as they were right after the crash, but instead of the cheerful adventurous air you might expect about such a group, instead the moods of most present are tense and dark. Whispers fly about the procession of dark things found withing the ancient ruin in the hill, that nearly half the groups that enter are never heard from again. Rumors tell of four-headed dragons, evil unicorns, arcane trolls, and half a dozen other preposterous trials that lie within the buried monolith.
Apparently, the wreckage is the ancient city of the Owlbear people, but the Owlbears grew too arrogant, and in their hubris they were cursed by the gods to roam the world as maddened beasts. That's why everything in the ruin is designed for something really tall, and why it all looks ruined.
The wreckage is extensive, what was revealed is only the tip of iceberg, but the tunnels within seem almost alive, they respond to people and things differently. What few rooms have been unearthed contained little, and the buried monolith contains a plethora of dangers for the unwary. The site is currently controlled tightly by three groups that jockey for access to the tunnels that lead furthest into the ruin's depths, everyone else is stuck with the scraps.
Deep withing the ruins, far from the where the meteor hit, something still lives. Rumors are, one of the groups running the ruin found the corpses of some the creatures, but are hiding them denying the existence of anything still living in there. Groups that plunge past a certain depth, to where the ruins seem to be truly alive almost never return, though when they do, they tell of horrors within the dark and thus far most groups have returned empty handed.
Heading away from town, the lush green river grass gives way to it's taller stronger plains cousin, but the repeated visitors to the crash site, following an old trail around the forest, have created a pleasent path through the sloping hills. Eventually, the trees begin to dot the landscape, until the forest begins to open up south of the path. Skirting closely to the Echo Wood you can see the enormous sturdy oak trees that stretch on into it's depths, as well as a large pond. Several very flustered geese will rise angrily up out of the water to honk their objections at you, and you can see several of the more frugal members of the procession making notes of the pond and it's tasty occupants location. Past the large pond, the trail dips as you pass between two large hills, and on the other side is the location where Sandra Jheru had set up a small tent and was selling camping equipment.
As you pass the two hills, you do indeed spot the site, the tan tent still barely hanging on, with only two poles still upright. The scene has been wired off to prevent tampering, but there are several people who have made this area into a rest stop, the perfect place to stop and eat breakfast. There near the wired off scene, standing upon an upturned box, waving a spoiled head of lettuce is an older man with a bald lumpy head and wild light blue eyes that seem to jut from his head. His large lips are slick with spittle and his large crooked nose has thick patches of white hair sticking from it. His attire can only be described as 'burlap', while his scabby knees and hands are crusted with dirt. He stands waving the spoiled produce as if it were a weapon, thrusting and parrying to accentuate his words, sending bits of mold, and brown fluid flying from the rotten vegetable.
"YOOOOOOOU! I see you all there! Walkin' to tha blasted thing when ye should be runnin' from it! It's a sign ye see! A sign from the heavens above to STAY THE HELLS OUTTA MY FIELDS! Ye think ye can get away with it!? Hooooo no, I been seein' ye do it! All o' ye! Treckin' in yer foreign pests and disease, me poor vegetables near stood a chance! YE JUST HAD TA MAKE EM AS ROTTEN ON THA OUTSIDE AS YE ARE INSIDE!!Meh poor vegetables... I know it's ye damned foreigners! Just as tha damned stone smote Billy Fefner fer ruinin' me prized rootabegas, there surely be more in store fer you lot. JUST YE SEE! THERE BE JUDGMENT A COMIN'!!!"
His tone is warbly and high-pitched, but he slurs as if trying to speak through a mouth full of rocks. His speech is confusing, but looking at the state of the man, it's clear he has gotten little sleep, and must have been screaming at groups such these for hours already. This is of course none other than Ernest Finley, one of the finest purveyors of fine vegetables in town, though what he's doing out here is anyones guess, but he currently lies between you all and your crime scene.
Judd spends some time chatting and reassuring the towns folk, and warmly greeting any new comers he sees, but learns little sensible information. When they approach the crash site he frowns at the state of Ernest Finley, and brow furrowed in thought turns to his companions,
"How about we offer to buy Ernest's Field? It would lend us some legitimacy if we wanted to tell anyone to clear off, would not give us the ability to enforce it, but it would give us the right - which is important. And it might let poor Ernest get away from this and back to growing prime vegetables for the town."
Moving about with the crowd, Marconis gathers all the info he can about the site, and reports all back to the group. "Hard to believe owlbears used to be a civilized race."
Judd's listens intently glad that Marconis has done better information gathering than he, "Interesting, though i do not really know what to make of it all yet. What do you think of buying the field Marconis?"
"Sounds like a grand idea to me Judd, but will he sell it? Some folk are less concerned with money, and more concerned in keeping with what they know."
"Worth a try, and it would be better than having the poor fellow out here ranting. I do not see how making the offer could hurt."
He felt awkward amongst the townsfolk, though most never seemed to pay him any mind. He just naturally seemed to put people at ease. Mingling amongst the folk gathered there he soon returned to his companions with a slight frown sharing some of the news he had heard. He could only smile at Judd's plan and offer.
"you are the deputy if you think its worth a plan... thinking of taking up farming and forming a family Judd? I have heard rumors from my wife that there is a lass certainly sweet on you."
He said amiably enough, making small talk with the man ribbing him slightly but in good naturedness he hoped. He was trying to still hide his worry.He wouldnt be completely calm and back to his normal amiable self till his family was safe and sound.
As soon as he sees you all, he hones in on Calli like a hawk looking for a mouse. He'll walk forward, scooting his box along with one foot. He'll awkwardly shuffle towards you, yelling.
"You! Aha! You'll all get it now! Deputy McDaniels, you get yerself over here, I need you ta make a report! A criminal report! Get yer notebook out girl, there's been a crime!"
Judd flushes, "I think most girls are too sensible for that, and I've never really... Well its, um, and anyway if she were she would just have said, and she never has, so she isn't."
Then he flees over to Ernest, "Ernest your vegetables are not going to be be getting better with you here. Were they all like this, rotten? Just some?"
As Judd rushes over to talk to the old farmer, Marconis turns to Cellen, "I do believe you embarrassed the young man, I have never seen a Paladin blush so."
Ernest will wheel on Judd like a hound picking up a scent.
"ALL O' EM DAGNABIT! ME ENTIRE CROP! In tha space o' one bleedin' night! One night they're jus' fine, an tha other they're rotten! ROTTEN! GOTDANGRASSAFRASSINDOGGARINNITSASAFRASS!"
Ernest will appear to have a fit, thrusting about his rotten head of lettuce about, slathering Judd in a torrent of rotting lettuce sludge.
"But I done know who done it! It was a group o' those foreign folk! And that Shamus Mcgaphy! And that Karldon Rierson an her girls! Oh and that Kieran Cavanan rapscallion! You get yer manacles out you, there be some dastardly criminals about!"
Ernest's red face and the vein throbbing in his forehead make him look just as crazy as he sounds. His raving and ranting is starting to draw a crowd, but if he is to be believed then his entire crop was ruined overnight. Talking the clearly agitated farmer down might be difficult, of course you could also work him up even more trying to get to the root of his problem, or you might be able to distract him and just get him to clear off.
It seems Calli's attempt to calm the old man has only increased his paranoia.
"O' course it were those thrice-damned foreigners with their kooky magic an their... uh, SWORDS! THEY WERE CHOPPIN' EM UP! Laughin' as they did it too! Oh, I know those folks, they's was in cahoots with them outta-towners ta curse an spoil ma beautiful vegetables! How else does ya explain this rot!? An I was hearin' em too! Laughin' at me just the other day! Suspicious laughin'! You write that down! I can hear em' prowlin' around ma field at night! But they're slippery I tell ya! They're all workin' tagether! You'll have yer prison cells full tonight dag-nabbit!"
At this point many of the adventurers headed with you towards the crash site have stopped to marvel at Earnest's performance. Confusing their jeering and hushed laughing for signs of support, he is spurred on, continuing to rant about how they are in fact all arrayed against his precious vegetables.
"Pardon my intrusion ah Ernest, but could I perhaps take a look at your vegetables? Perhaps I can see if I can discover anything about there state.
Judd wipes cabbage from his face with a sigh, "Ernest, you have been through tough times before, I know you have. You know as well as I that acting the fool does not help you get through them, you need to pick yourself up dust yourself off and fight to get back on your feet. you know damn well your proof ain't nothing of the sort, unless you know more than you have told me. Hacking a few cabbages does not send the whole crop rotten, more like its some disease or taint. Best thing you can do is check with farmers around you see if any of them has experienced the same and figure out what really happened. But you need to snap out of this madness, else we are going to have to snap you out of it."
It's not the threats or assurances that take the fire from Ernest's eyes, it's Calli and Judd's mention of disease. As if he knew already but was just angrily lashing out at a scapegoat he already knew, Ernest will seem to deflate. Spittle still dribbling from his chin, he'll wipe it off half-heartedly and say,
"But... But... It couldn't be no disease I ever heard about. Nothing that could take tha whole crop inna night. An I seen tracks an the like! Somethin' was in there an now ma livelihood is gone! Daggnabit it's harvest season an I ain't got nothin ta pull! Ye gotta promise me you'll get that sheriff workin' on this, and I don't want none o' her twenty gold-piece words neither... I need help..."
The Farmer will say rather pathetically. He'll step from his crate and lift it up, slowly shuffling out of the way, as if trying to gather as much simpathy as he can. Some in the crowd behind you whisper amongst themselves that the situation was handled well, even if they did want to see the crazy farmer do something weirder.
With Ernest calmed down the crime scene lies beyond, though now that you can get a good look at it the chicken wire set up to defend the scene has done little to deter people from entering to look around. Sandra's sundries and tent have Lon ago been removed, rain and wind have erased much, and what few tracks lie within the 30 or so feet that have been cordoned off look to be fresh, most likely from curious adventurers looking to take a peek. As the oldest and most accessible crime scene, there was little hope that any new information could be garnered, but there is no harm in trying, and intensce scrutiny may reveal an important clue.
"This scene looks pretty worked over, and as alien as the creatures we fought at the tannery were, I am not sure anything here would fall into my planar or magical expertise. You all have a look, I am going to talk to the adventurers and see if I can find anyone that was around at the time this occurred."
Most of the onlookers seem pretty nervous about fessing up to any shennanigans to a deputy, but after a little smooth talking on Marconis's part they seem a little more eager to spill what they know.
One of them, an older grizzled Raft Pirate from the River Kingdoms remembers seeing Sandra about, during the first week or so after the meteor's fall. She was kind of unpleasant in a quiet sort of way, and she was selling some old worn personal equipment, but back then people were snatching up anything they could get their hands on (to be fair it hasn't changed much). Sandra had a way of knowing immediately if you were interested in buying or just looking around, and was quick to send people on their way, and despite seeming to be an average woman she had a weird sense about her that made you not want to make trouble, and she never seemed to get in much trouble despite her hostile attitude. As far as he knows, one morning she wasn't there, and it wasn't long before her body was discovered a good 15 yards or so around the hill.
A younger Grundy resident turned hopeful treasure hunter will back up his story, adding that Sandra didn't seem to mind keeping the shop running well after dark, she also guarded her spot jealously, chasing off any others who tried to take advantage of the increase foot traffic of this end of the path.
Someone from the back will also shout out that she in fact often camped out at this spot when the initial rush had people coming in non-stop, that it looked like she used the pond and the near-by forest to shore up supplies instead of heading back into town.
As far as you know, the murder happened at some point during the night, long enough after the initial meteor strike that there would be plenty of time to ambush Sandra camping alone at her store, but it seems no one was around when it happened, everyone was either in town or camped out at the crash site, not halfway inbetween.
...Of course she was at kind of a bottleneck, if someone who didn't want to be seen was following the path into town, they would almost certainly pass right by her...
Still speaking to the Raft Pirate, "Do you happen to know what kind of equipment she sold, weapons, armor, magic jewelry, or was it just odds and ends? It may help to know if there were any reason for her death, other than she was just in the way."
"Eh, just odds an ends an tha like. Didn't know no one that liked her, but don't think no one cared enough ta off her."
The pirate will answer.
-
Looking about, the only animals you can readily spot are the geese still angrily guarding their pond.
"Well then, I thank you for your time." Marconis places his right hand on his chest, giving a small bow to the pirate, and turns to go rejoin the others. "Nothing exceptionally useful there, did you all turn up anything? I believe whatever did this is either still in town, or possibly passed through. Though with some of the children still having nightmares, my bet is still in town."
Judd examines the scene as best he can and eyes the pond heading over towards it shooing the geese confident that his armor will protect him,
"Did anyone ever see her doing any magic, seems like she was almost a mind reader?" He asks those nearby.