Garin assumes the sheriff and his deputies can more than handle one drunken man and stays out of the way. He doesn't want his clothes dirtied even more anyway.
No reason to run this bastard through. He's so deep in his cups, he has no idea what he has or haven't done.
Shel holds her action, waiting for the Sheriff to handle things.
Gibs
Gibs attack
Sheriff
The drunk man turns and stares slack jawed at the bard. However, when the sheriff attempts to grab his arm, he lurches back into action. He swings a fist at the Sheriff, connecting solidly with his jaw. The sheriff swings his club in attempt to ward him off, but misses by a slim margin. It appears the sheriff is attempting to subdue rather than harm.
Seeing the sheriff having difficulty with subduing the man, Garin resigns himself to getting his clothes dirtied by Gibs' less-than-sanitary state. He rushes at the drunkard and attempts to hold him down.
Awnara retreats away from the sudden burst of violence in front of her, trusting that one of the bigger folk will be able to handle the drunken brawler before them.
Init
Shel stands back, knowing she wouldn't be much help in a mass scrum. She hoped the stronger members could dog pile him fairly easily.
Gilda remains quiet, but does cast Guidance upon the Sheriff.
"Edrick, how about helping the Sheriff and Garin restrain the drunkard," Shel asks, waiting n the other strong membrane of the group to help.
Yes do, I do not want to hurt the fellow.
The old drunk falls like a sack, and the sheriff is able to lock him in a pair of manacles. He sulks as you drag him back to town and into the jail cell to sober up.
The sheriff allows you to question the captive, and sit watch if you wish.
Of course Sherrif. Might we have some cool water brought?
then to Garin and Edrick. Perhaps you would care to begin?
Gilda listens intently.
"Okay, it seems someone might be trying to frame you, the same way they are trying to do with us. Can you think of anyone who might want you to take the blame? That might be the best place to start."
Shaking his head and grabbing his waterskin, Edrik offers the man something non-alcoholic "You'll need to stop drinking, get your head clear for once Gib. Here, take some water."
Standing to attention, Edrik nods with Shel "Aye, somebody might have it out for you Gib, either that or you're an easy target for blame." Scratching his chin, Edrik ponders "Have you recently come into contact with somebody you'd never met before, who paid you more mind than they ought have?"
Between gulps of water, and a generous amount of water sloshing over his unwashed torso, Gibs speaks.
Somethin ain't right. I haven't slept... days. I've been in my cabin. You can't blame me for this... I have nothing against the memorial, or the town! The only thing different, the only strangers, the only ones that might want to set me up are you! he points to the party members, his finger moving from person to person in an accusatory fashion.
The sheriff tells him he'll have to sleep off his drunkenness. You get the feeling that the guy might make more sense (or be a little more helpful) when he's sober.
Garin doesn't look very pleased at being pointed at. He leaves the room without a word soon after.
When the rest of the group meets him outside, he starts speaking.
"Well, that was unhelpful. Regardless of how . . . uncouth he is and the evidence on him, I don't think he would vandalize the memorial—at least not consciously. And despite the possibility of him having done it in a drunken fit, I have no idea what motivations he would have for such a thing. Something different from alcohol may be at work. He hasn't slept for days and alcohol doesn't do that. I find it helps sleep if anything. It's possible he's being affected by something. I've no idea what. As for why, well, he is a rather easy target."
"I suppose we can always ask him when he's sober." There is still distaste in the cavalier's tone at the thought of speaking with him again. "Still, now that that's done, what next? I haven't had breakfast since they got us all in a hurry. Shall we visit The Laughing Demon to eat and discuss our plans for the day?"
Agree. Let us come back when he is sober.
It's after midday- you can lunch and decide what to do for the evening.
Things go bump in the night. Stick together.
What are your characters going to do?
"Well, what's up for the day? We can take a lunch, then we could either head back to the Professor's to do a little further research in his journal, and check out that interesting machine none of us could comprehend yesterday. We could also make a trip to the prison and see what it looks like in the light of day. Probably a lot better than it will be at night..."
"The prison might be best, while it is still light out."
Let us go to the prison and do some scouting.
"Lunch first. Afterwards, any of those choices seem fine." He furrows his brow. "Wait, what do you mean by 'that interesting machine'?"
"That does sound like it's for the best. If we're going to visit an abandoned prison at all, I'd much rather do it in daylight." She suppresses a shiver at the thought.
If we encounter a ghost or something similar how do we fight it? I have dealt with zombies now, they seem easy enough. How about a skeleton?
"We could throw holy water at the skeletons. But, I'm not sure what'd we do with a ghost. Maybe we should just run, if that happens."
"I have some small skill at fighting the undead" Gilda says quietly.
Click for the Wikipedia link. [ooc]You're free to play with it until you figure out how it works, but, like real world boards, there are many superstitions regarding contacting those who have passed beyond.
Lunch is uneventful.
The prison is 5 miles from the town, past the cemetery and church, and 4 miles from the broken down shack where Gibs Hephnus lives.
The trail is all but overgrown- only a few paving stones remain on the surface to tell that it was once a road.
The ruins of the prison are surrounded by an octagon shaped wall that has crumbled. Only two guard towers remain, and the rusted gates hang open. The main building may once have been impressive, but now collapses to the east. The corner of the wing (and portion of the wall) has sunk into a green pond. Reeds, vines, and other greenery has begun to pry apart the structure and reclaim it for nature.
Despite the plants growing, there's an eerie silence- no birds or even insects can be heard.
The gate hangs open.
"Well, no time like the present. Everyone be careful.". Shel heads for the open gate, looking for anything abnormal in the vicinity.
"What are we looking for here?" Garin says, looking around in caution. The silence is unnerving to him, used to hearing the sounds of animals in the open.
Vachordi moves forward bow at the ready, watcing.
perception
"I don't know," said the mousy halfling maid. "Clues, I guess? Some idea of who would want to throw beasts at us?" She keeps her knife out, clutching it to her chest as she follows the group into the prison ruins.
Gilda casts detect magic ahead of her and boldly moves forward.
Gilda looks resolute as she strides firmly forward into the prison.
Sword drawn, Edrik moves about making sure to keep ahead of his companions. "Good question Garin. I suppose we should keep on eye out for any recent disturbances?" Aware suddenly of the eerie silence, Edrik shudders "This place is most definitely cursed."
Gilda pushes open the rusty gate with a squeak and strides onto the prison grounds.
Suddenly, she feels an overwhelming claustrophobia, and smell the stench of burning flesh in her nose . No one else is affected.
If you're exploring the yard.
The foundation of the building seems to be cleared, and etched with some sort of writing that have been painted with what appears to be blood. It circles the building completely, except for the east wing which has collapsed into the sink hole/pond.
The writing appears to be some sort of rune, with a Varasian base.
Sporadic foot and mounted traffic crisscrosses the front of the gate; a few old boot prints are found inside the grounds. None of them are fresh. It appears that the town patrols usually stop at the edge of the grounds, although a few have entered the courtyard.
The building has two floors, with a balcony on each wing (east, west, south, and you assume north- must move around the building to see the northern one). The main entrance is below the southern (middle) balcony.
Please state what you're exploring.
Vachodi searches the yard first.
Some interesting Varisian text there. he says as he points at the writing. Then continuing his look Looks like the patrols never come in this far.
Gilda continues to look resolute.
"How about we explore the building first? I think we might as well head through the main entrance.". If the others are, Shel heads for the door.
Exploring the courtyard of the prison, Edrik eyes the strange varisian markings suspiciously. "That's odd... those varisian markings, I wonder how long they've been there?"
Gripping his hammer, Edrik proceeds cautiously but unperturbed by the eeriness of the scene. Upon closer inspection, Edrik looks over to Gilda "Gilda, does this look like blood to you? Whatever it is, it's around the whole damned prison." Motioning around the base of the prison, Edrik illustrates his point.
"The main entrance is as good a place as any to start."
"That's not pleasant. It does appear to be blood."
"This looks like someone or something is up to no good. We'd best be careful."
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Awnara's eyes widen as the others point out the blood on the walls and the tracks. They must think I'm a helpless little maid, out of her depth. Well, they're not wrong at that...but I have to do this to find out who wanted to harm the Professor.
"Should we split up? We might cover more ground that way," Awnara helpfully suggests.
I think we should stick together. Finish checking outside then move in.
"Yes, that makes sense." Garin directs his horse to the main entrance, keeping a lookout on the way. "Shall I go first?"
"Yu can go first, Garin, but you might want to let me make sure there are no traps ahead. A pit trap could be horrible for you and your ride," she nods, knowing the group would struggle to get the mount out of a pit, even if it were okay.
Vachordi takes up a rear guard position and puts dancing lights over his head.
Gilda follows Shel.
"That makes sense," Garin admits. "The foundation might be shaky. And though normally I couldn't imagine an old abandoned prison having traps, it doesn't seem too unlikely here. Especially if someone was against us investigating."
"I'm not really worried about any mortal agency wishing us harm within these walls," Awnara said shakily from the center of the group. "So many people died here. Badly."
The party forms in front of the main entrance, debating the avenue of entry, when a sound of water moving draws your attention to the eastern portion of the building. There, the building has collapsed into a sink hole which has become filled with stagnant green water.
A figure, stark bones dripping with brackish water and festooned with moss, rises from the murk. You're drawn to the yellowish bone with blackened marks on it: it's a skeleton. Moments later it's followed by a second, third, and a fourth. It turns its head toward you, and sees you with its green glowing eyes. The creature seems to be grinning its toothy, fleshless grin as it clacks toward you.
Initiative please.
Initiative for skellies