Harold barks out at the others, "Over there! Big biter dragged da bloke under da water!" He points at the faint outline of a large reptile under the waters, a little wake trail rippling across the filthy water that gives Redjaw's position away. After he points out the spot of the beast, Harold breathes deep and then stomps down in a broad, strong stance. He keeps Redjaw in his sights as he suddenly erupts into movement toward the gator. Water sprays up around him as each of the big half-orc's steps hits the swampy soup so hard that it looks like the water chooses to get out of the way instead of hindering him. Once at the spot he pointed out, Harold's fist impacts the water and what lurks below like an anvil dropped from a second story window.
Round Two
21 Bjorn
20 Alexei
18 Lucius
11 Redmaw
09 Harold
06 Korvus
02 Villagers
Lucius pulls his crossbow to his shoulder and waits for Redjaw to surface again - and seeing the creature's back emerge from the water, he fires a bolt into the caiman's side.
Redmaw begins twisting and turning in the water, thrashing the villager in its jaws around like a doll.
Harold charges into the water, seemingly unaffected by the pull of the dank swamp. He brings his massive fist down on the monster's head, causing it to release the villager. Blood spreads in the murky water as the limp form of the man begins floating away.
Korvus begins his incantations, and the hair on everyone's neck stands up as he uses his power to please for aid with a creature outside of this material realm.
The remaining villager is scrambling out of the way, crawling on the island away from Redjaw.
Lucius will run up to the injured villager and try to help him back to safety. Looks like the others had Redjaw in hand.
Alexei follows after Harold and Bjorn, weapon raised to strike. "Keep the beast away from the villagers!" he shouts as he moves into range to bring the weapon down on its big scaled head.
Harold steps between Lucius helping the injured villager and Redjaw, cracking his knuckles as he lets Bjorn get in there and try to get a good hold on the reptile. When he sees an opening, the half-orc unleashes a barrage of strikes against the beast's eyes, throat, or underbelly, the tenderest spots he can find.
Korvus completes the incantation for his spell, and a beautiful mermaid with shining blonde hair and irridescent blue-green scales appears in the water next to the wounded villager. "Please help the wounded man and bring him to shore!" Korvus calls to the mermaid. The half-orc wizard then moves to the water's edge and fires a bolt of mystical energy from his wand at Redjaw.
Round Three
18 Lucius
17 Bjorn
16 Alexei
11 Redmaw
09 Harold
06 Korvus
02 Villagers
Lucius runs toward the injured villager, pushing through the water to try and get to him. As he arrives, he notices the amount of blood in the water, and that it appears to be coming from the villager.
Bjorn moves toward the caiman and dives on it, wrapping his arms around the creature's jaws and holding tight.
Alexei follow Bjorn and brings his mace down upon the head of the caiman.
Redmaw tries to twist around to bite Bjorn, but the Ulfen's grapple prevents the monster from biting him.
Harold unloads with a flurry of blows as he moves to protect Lucius and the villager, connecting once with the thrashing caiman.
Korvus finishes his casting, and with a loud explosion of air, a beautiful mermaid appears near Lucius and the man. Hearing Korvus' instructions, the mermaid quickly casts a spell, seemingly stopping the villager's bleeding. The mermaid looks at Lucius, then grabs the villager's arms.
Korvus, seeing the mermaid acting as instructed, turns and fires a magic missile at the monster.
The remaining villager sits on shore, staring open-mouthed as the group begins attacking the fabled terror of the swamps!
-----
Next round!
Lucius looks back the mermaid with a look of awe. He'd never seen one in real life before. He blinks for a while before snapping himself out and helps drag the man to safety.
Trusting Lucius and the summoned mermaid to tend to the wounded man, Korvus fires another bolt of mystical energy at the grappled Redjaw.
Alexei raises his weapon again, hoping to bring it down and give the beast reason to flee. "You shall not be eating any of us, Redjaw!" he shouts at the creature. "Flee and we won't do to you what you've done to countless others!" the oracle states, not even sure if the blood caiman can understand them. He swings his mace down to punctuate his point.
Harold's lips peel back from his sizeable incisors at Bjorn's joke before his fists go into tenderizing mode on the caiman's underbelly. The half-orc guffaws at Alexei trying to reason with the creature, " I don't fnk da beas'y understands da Common tongue. Not many caiman diplomats at da least."
Round Four
18 Lucius
17 Bjorn
16 Alexei
11 Redjaw
09 Harold
06 Korvus
02 Villagers
Lucius heals the villager as he helps the mermaid drag the man to shore. The villager does not regain consciousness, but his wounds seem much less dire.
Bjorn rotates his hips over the creature and tucks his other arm under its front left leg, effectively pinning it in place.
Alexei orders Redjaw to flee, as he brings down his mace again, but the caiman apparently does not understand common. Unfortunately, the weapon does not appear to affect it due to the caiman's tough hide.
Redjaw tries to break Bjorn's grip, but the creature cannot force its way free.
The mermaid also heals the villager, causing the man to open his eyes. Staring up into the mermaid's face, wonder fills his face as he exclaims, "A mermaid saved me!"
Korvus launches another missile at Redjaw which slams it in the snout.
Harold moves toward the front, and with two well-placed blows, he punches the caiman behind the eyes. It ceases its struggles and goes limp.
Seeing the monster still, the first villager stands up, "You're all bleedin' heroes, saving me and me mate like that! Come on, we'll get you back to town and cook up that beastie for a feast!"
-----
"Apparently I was just a bystander then..." Lucius mutters. "Yea, we need this beast for evidence, so we can't eat it yet."
The mermaid also heals the villager, causing the man to open his eyes. Staring up into the mermaid's face, wonder fills his face as he exclaims, "A mermaid saved me!"
The mermaid smiles at the villager and bends down to kiss him on the cheek. She glances up at Lucius and gives the young priest a mischievous wink, then disappears with an audible *POP*.
"Yea, we need this beast for evidence, so we can't eat it yet."
"Indeed. Master Lucius is correct. We shall need to take the body of Redjaws - or at least its head, as Master Stonehand stated - back to Lepidstadt with us in order to compare its bite with any scars on The Beast's shoulders. And I believe we should show the other items we found to Elder Lazne and inform him of the signs of disturbance we discovered here on the island. But we must hurry. It is a three hour carriage ride back to Lepidstadt, and the Court convenes first thing in the morning," Korvus reminds his companions.
The villagers quickly help the characters load Redjaw into the boat, then they pole the small vessels back to Morast. Lazne is waiting by the pier, and is stunned to see the legendary caiman's body.
"Wha... That's Redjaw! What happened?!"
The villager that was injured steps forward, "Elder, the monster knocked our boats together and I fell into the water. Redjaw grabbed me, but these people came to my rescue - and a mermaid appeared! We've got mermaids living in the swamp!"
Lazne makes a face and scowls, until the other villager chimes in, "It's true, Elder! I saw her too - all fish on the bottom, and all woman on top! She helped save Tors!"
The first villager again speaks up, "And these folks killed Redjaw, we thought about having a feast to celebrate. What do you think?!"
Stunned into silence by the excitable villagers, Lazne looks at the group, "My apologies, these youngsters today just get so worked up."
"We also found some other stuff you might want to see." Lucius nods to Korvus. "A feast does sound really good right about now though.."
Alexei smiles just a bit at Lucius' words. "After we show them what was left there, friend. You know we're working on a very short schedule, after all," he chides the young man.
"Oh fine. I guess I can wait..."
Harold is grumbling in the background as he tries to drain the swamp out of his pants legs, "A perfectly good pair ov pants ruined. Oi! Show 'im da face we found. Vada if i' looks familar awer not."
Ah! Allow me, Master Grimsley," Korvus says, noticing his fellow half-orc's plight. With a mystical word and a snap of his fingers, Korvus casts a minor cantrip that instantly dries and cleans Harold's clothes.
The half-orc wizard then turns to Elder Lazne. "Wise Master Lazne, I'm afraid we found several disturbing items on the island. And yes, the creature Redjaws attacked us, and I summoned a mermaid from the celestial realms to help Master Lucius rescue young Master Tors. But please, is there somewhere that we can go to discuss the matter further?"
He leads the group away and into what appears to be a long building with not interior walls. A long table runs the length of the building. He sits at one of the chairs and invites you to do the same.
As you go over each of the items, his face becomes more and more disgusted - especially with the mask made from real flesh.
"I don't have any idea how those things got there, or whose they are. We just used to bury our dead out there, had a priest from the city to consecrate the ground and everything! The thought that some crazy person would have all this stuff out there, digging up bodies... and what if he was using them for something?! He cut off that man's face and used it as a mask! That's just not something that happens out here - most of us in town are kin. We get angry and fight sometimes, but nobody here would ever stoop to something like this! Especially not using the Boneyard."
It is very obvious that the very sight of these items has caused him to become extremely angry and disgusted.
"Has anyone been acting strange lately? Or any newcomers to the town besides us?"
"I am very sorry to be the one to bring this terrible information to your attention, Master Lazne. I can assure you that my companions and I are just as horrified by the thought of some villain disturbing the hallowed dead," Korvus says sincerely.
"I am also concerned that these items may be linked with the disappearances attributed to The Beast. The campsite on the island where these items were found was abandoned some time ago - possibly a year or more, I'd wager - and in a bit of a hurry by the state of things. It is not inconceivable that someone who could use a flesh mask to disguise themselves as someone else could also disguise themselves in a form similar to The Beast to divert suspicion and blame," the half-orc wizard muses aloud.
The older man looks at Lucius, "No, we haven't seen anybody strange around here in years. Except for the folks who came over from Lepidstadt to investigate after the Beast did all those killings. And you folks. This has always been a quiet little village, we leave all the strangers and excitement to the city dwellers."
Lazne nods as Korvus consoles him, "Thank you, and yes, horrified is the right word."
He looks toward the door for a second, "Please, keep what you found to yourselves - at least don't tell anybody else here in the village. It's been tough getting over the murders last year, and I don't know how they would react."
-----
Lucius nods his head as his latest theory gets debunked. "I understand. We'll keep this to ourselves then. You wanna head back to Lepidstadt already?"
The road leading to Hergstag becomes little more than a trail after a few hours. Eventually, even the narrow trail becomes difficult to follow as weeds and undergrowth obscure the path. Your suspicions are confirmed as you reach a broken sign welcoming you to Hergstag.
Tall corn grows wild in the fields, and an eerie silence covers the small village. Nearly twenty buildings can be seen from your position, and all have been abandoned to the elements. On the top of a hill to the south, you see the sad remains of a scarecrow hanging limply from its perch.
"Where are all the animals? This isn't right. There aren't even any crows trying to steal corn. It's way too quiet around here."
"Indeed, Master Lucius. A very astute observation," Korvus replies, noting the same disturbing signs as the Pharasman priest.
However, before we check the buildings or the fields, perhaps we should climb to the top of the hill with the scarecrow to gain a higher, wider vantage of the area," the half-orc wizard suggests.
"Well, what if there are people in the buildings?"
Alexei nods, his hand checking that his weapon hangs where it should on his belt. "We must be careful," the Chelaxian warns, uncomfortable with the situation.
The group struggles through the tall corn to move up the hill toward the scarecrow. Luckily, the stalks are weak and brittle, and give easily with reasonable effort. After a few moments, several of you are bashing the stalks down to clear the path upward.
As you move up the hill, Korvus and Lucius notice a large bear trap. The trap was set some time ago judging by the rust and wear on the metal teeth. They also find it odd since bears are not common in this part of Ustalav...
Reaching the top of the hill, you look down on the rest of the village. The word that comes to mind is "depressing". Something about what you're looking at seems to just sap your morale, as if a cloud of despair hangs over the tiny village below you.
Harold pulls his jacket closer around him as he gazes down into the village. The place screams abandonment and the cold touch of death. The half-orc peers out across roof-tops, looking for anything that might show signs of inhabitation by anyone, living or not. "Didn't Alphy say somethin' baaaht a Ghost Man laughin' at 'im near 'ere? And a little dead girl, Ellsa. This village feels like i' should be inhabited by lost souls." Harold makes the sign of Pharasma and shudders.
Harold sticks one sausage-sized digit into his ear, wiggling it about as if to clear some blockage, "Oi! Anybody else 'ere what buzzin' about? Like bloody flies swarmin' baaaht me 'ead an' they're growin' ter sound as if they're 'orse-sized bugs now. Annoyin' is what what is."
"I hear it too. It does not sound good. We are about to have a pest problem."
As the group begins to discuss the strange sound, a large black cloud rises from the corn stalks to the west. The cloud is comprised of hundreds, maybe thousands, of bees. As their buzzing grows, the cloud shifts and whirls, and through the dense mass of insects, a leering face appears. Opening its mouth in a soundless roar, the insect swarm heads directly toward you!