Varis seems like he's skirting around an issue but you are unsure it is directly related to Lionel.
Varis returns moments later with a pack that he unloads onto the table.
The pack contains: an old sword, a pouch with several coloured vials, a cipher sheet written in Elven, a set of maps of buildings, a hollow spearhead, a small tube with dust and a log book written in the same cipher.
"Not sure how this will help but here is the stuff he left with me. Much of this was things he no longer needed to use." Varis says unsure of what to think at the moment.
"Well met to the two of you." Ruber takes the hammer out of his apron and sets it down. He then takes a seat in a chair near the front counter. He poses his hands under his chin thinking for a brief moment before speaking. "I went into the house to check up to see how Betina was doing, you know losing family members and all is always a harsh affair. When I walked in it looked like she was in, lamps were still burning. The entrance hall was clean as it always was. I stepped into the living room and saw that nothing had been touched. I walked into the kitchen and saw pictures of the Autard family spread around everywhere. I fear Betina was far worse off than I thought. The strangest thing I saw was a cake." Ruber pauses.
"You may think me crazy but there was a simnel cake there, it had an intricate design on it. The cake was strange since that design was too detailed to have been done by hand. It was a picture of a happy Autard family. When I went to get the guards the cake was gone." He shakes his head. "There was nothing else of note in the house. Not that I saw."
Clarissa pipes up "If it's any consolation I believe you, come on Ruber stop looking sad at the floor I doubt you could've done something to save the lass."
Ruber scowls "Neither can the duke apparently, he has some of the greatest wizards in the land and he sends these people!"
Clarissa is visibly irritated "At least they're helping! I know you miss her but for the love of the gods, it isn't these men fault either." She says extending her arm in the direction of the group.
Ruber hangs his head. "I know I know..." He looks up at the group of adventurers. "I'm sorry. I don't what more I can do to help you."
A magical disappearing..... cake? Well this is certainly one of the more interesting cases that I've investigated.
Ruber, sir, I assure you I am very good at what I do and that we will get to the bottom of this. Our thanks go out to you and Clarissa Drak throws a charming and disarming smile directed to the halfling.
To his two half-orc companions "I think it's time to depart. We still have much work to do and I'm afraid not much time in which to complete it.
Drak looks around, wanting to look around and see if there is anyone taking too much interest in the trio.
I don't much trust magic in the hands of one who'd use it proper. Someone like this character, twisting good people's hopes into something evil--only one thing to do with a man like that. C'mon, you find me this hidden door and I'll knock it down for you.
Jazz accepts the pack and thanks Lionel, then turns and heads back to the town. Once outside he casts Detect Magic on the pack and its contents. Then, continuing to practice his Draconic, he says to Rikaku, "I use that Elven cipher to read the log book after we meet up with the others. I think we should check on Varis over the next few days, just in case."
Drak says "Perhaps it was the day of her or someone close to her's birth"
In truth Drak doesn't care much for puzzles, preferring to use his instincts and wits. However what could be more obvious then celebrating with a birthday cake.
Rikaku has a quick look at the elven cipher and logbook in Varis' presence, nodding sagely as he stares at the utterly intelligible writing.
"Rikaku think this useful. Thank you Varis. Big help."
Once outside, he nods to Jazz's suggestion to check in on Varis in a couple of days.
"Varis seemed really nervous about something. Don't know what was going on with him."
"Let's go back to the inn to check this stuff out and wait for the others to get back from the halflings."
Once he hears about the cake, Trogg says sadly, "She probably wished for 'cake with her family', or some such phrase. We should be careful. There's some sort of magic coming from the house."
Variel sidles up to Jazz as he examines the book. I may be able to help, if you wish.
Variel and Jazz spread the cipher between them trying to cover as much ground as possible.
The cipher takes a little while to decode but between the two of the elves it is done fairly swiftly. Jazz starts to dictate what the books says and Variel writes it down in common.
The log book looks to have information about potential hits and bounties. It also has locations of large amount of money as well as notes of the spoils and where the money has gone. Varis is listed as one of these people. This looks like a thief's or bounty hunter's monetary income by the looks of things. It also looks like Lionel managed to get quite the haul, if this book isn't lying he was quite a good bounty hunter.
Both Jazz and Variel recognize the names of bounties so they are legitimate marks. However Variel notices a few names that are actually noble names or titles that were never on a bounty board. These names also correspond with unsolved murders.
Rikaku meanwhile looks over most of the equipment. None seem to be magical. However after peering over the tubes, dust and spearhead Rikaku realizes they all link together to make a singular weapon. It looks to be a very advanced mechanical weapon, pit the haft is missing. The spearhead is in good condition, maybe even repairable?
The tubes Rikaku can tell is poison and potions, the dust on the other hand Rikaku can't really tell what it is.
As Drak leaves the blacksmith he can hear the young halfling swoon. He hears Ruber say: "Heh, you think he's good looking?" Clarissa replies: Shhh! He might hear you!"
The four in front of the house cautiously enter and take a good look around. The group sees that the house is left as Ruber said, living room in good condition, kitchen with pictures all over the floor, the bedrooms looked like they haven't been lived in for weeks. Trogg can tell there magic is coming from downstairs, however that one is not a lingering aura. Drak in his thorough search finds the basement door, it is a trapdoor in the living room.
There is also lingering aura left in the kitchen, it is a lot stronger than the one that is currently downstairs.
Drak, that thing stable? Anything gonna jump out and stab me? Take a look and I'll open it.
Rybal steps back a pace, stowing his weapon and planting his shield in front of him.
Drak stretches then goes to the front and looks to see if there are any mechanical traps on the trapdoor that leads into the basement.
I'll see what I can do Drak says but with a confident voice.
Drak and Malthu look around to see if there are any traps but can't find any. The door is locked however and Drak makes short work of it. Slowly opening the door and peering in the basement is pitch black. Rays of light from their room start to flow in, the group can see an inactive creature that is in front of a bookcase.
The rest of the room looks like an emergency supply room, some boxes with food in it. A small bed, a couple of basic weaponry and a the bookshelf.
This humanoid creature is eerily expressionless and has a glistening quality about him, as though he were completely covered in an oily sheen. His clothes’ colors are unsaturated and bland, his skin slightly gray, and his features and lines unnaturally soft. It hasn't noticed the group yet.
Drak takes a moment and draws his weapons. "What the hell is that... Malthu do you know what it is? Is it evil?"
There is no religious iconography on this creature or anything that might denote it as such. However Malthu does recognise it as similar to the golems some Clerics move around with.
Detect Evil does not show that the creature is evil.
"Wait a bit. If we have to fight it, the scuffle could damage any tracks in the room." Trogg kneels down and pokes his head over the edge of the trapdoor, trying to see if there's any evidence that the halfling (or anyone else) passed through here recently.
I don't recall much about Golems, having never spent any serious time studying them... I'm not sure how dangerous a confrontation would be. Caution is warranted.
That said, if a magical construct is here, it is here by its masters will. That means this place is important to its creator.
Trogg notices scuffle marks of frequent use of the room, no marks or mud or anything like that comes up or down the stairs. Could be only through the passage possibly.
"After you, Trogg." Malthu stands aside, allowing Trogg to look carefully for tracks.
"It doesn't appear the anyone has used these stairs recently. Perhaps the golem entered through the exit tunnel."
There is a staircase leading down into the basement.
he cipher takes a little while to decode but between the two of the elves it is done fairly swiftly. Jazz starts to dictate what the books says and Variel writes it down in common.
The log book looks to have information about potential hits and bounties. It also has locations of large amount of money as well as notes of the spoils and where the money has gone. Varis is listed as one of these people. This looks like a thief's or bounty hunter's monetary income by the looks of things. It also looks like Lionel managed to get quite the haul, if this book isn't lying he was quite a good bounty hunter.
Local (Variel): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
Local (Jazz): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Both Jazz and Variel recognize the names of bounties so they are legitimate marks. However Variel notices a few names that are actually noble names or titles that were never on a bounty board. These names also correspond with unsolved murders.
Rikaku meanwhile looks over most of the equipment. None seem to be magical. However after peering over the tubes, dust and spearhead Rikaku realizes they all link together to make a singular weapon. It looks to be a very advanced mechanical weapon, pit the haft is missing. The spearhead is in good condition, maybe even repairable?
The tubes Rikaku can tell is poison and potions, the dust on the other hand Rikaku can't really tell what it is.
Worth heading back and asking Lionel some rather pointed questions about his career and various missing people? Varis also it seems...
Drak turns to Malthu - "Can't golems be fairly nasty? Would you want to gather the others first? Of course if you want to go in I'll have your back. Seven people in a tight basement might be more trouble then it's worth anyway."
Hmm, looks like it's confined to there. If it wakes up and is too much for us, we can just fall back up the stairs and close the door, right? C'mon Malthu, I'll go with you. Let's see if this thing wants to 'talk'.
Rybal draws his enormous blade and readies his shield, ready to stand side to side with Malthu.
As they reach the bottom of the staircase the creature 'wakes' up and looks at the group.
"You are not he clad in white or his guests, leave here." The golem states in a very monotonous tone.
Trying to talk nicely to a golem Drak? Right...... This is sure to end well Drak thinks to himself.
Hello my stoney friend. Who are you? Perhaps we are his guests. We were told to come to this house after all. What do you look for that signifies a guest of this man clad in white?
The golem looms over Drak. "I am he who guards this room. You are not his guests, you do not have his mark on your bodies. I could see it if you did. Leave here, this is not your path to walk."
Drak considers his situation for a moment then backs away. It doesn't SOUND like it was made by some evil mastermind.
At least we have another lead - whomever this man in white is.
"Well, we just spoke with Varis about Lionel... and we were told that Lionel lives far away -- weeks, at least, if you go by land. But we don't know how truthful Varis was with us. I wonder if Varis has any idea about this Lionel's true identity, and if he even knows that he was marked for a bounty. We should probably ask him about it ourselves... but not quite yet."
"If the bounty on Varis' head still stands, perhaps we should look into his history a bit and see if he's really the man we thought he was. I wouldn't mind turning him in to collect a bit of pocket change on the side, if he's truly guilty of something condemning."
Jazz skims the log book a bit more, looking for a few things in particular. Primarily if there any reasons for the bounties listed in the logs, and if there are he checks out Varis' entry. He also does his best to research locations of where the more prominent hits took place to see if Lionel has an obvious base of operations.
"If Rikaku saw Lionel in a vision with the mysterious wizard we're pursuing, I wonder if the bounty hunter still has his freedom -- or his life. Even a talented man like him would surely be challenged by the sort of magic wielding we've already seen."
Rikaku meanwhile looks over most of the equipment. None seem to be magical. However after peering over the tubes, dust and spearhead Rikaku realizes they all link together to make a singular weapon. It looks to be a very advanced mechanical weapon, pit the haft is missing. The spearhead is in good condition, maybe even repairable?
The tubes Rikaku can tell is poison and potions, the dust on the other hand Rikaku can't really tell what it is.
Rikaku curiously holds up each of the parts of the weapon, sniffing it occasionally. "Rikaku never seen weapon like this. Strange. Maybe we take to blacksmith sometime, get to fix?"
After determining that some of the tubes contain poison, the sorcerer will keep a moderate distance from the stuff, not wanting to accidentally spread it on himself. "Jazz or Variel know about poison?" He'll also ask them to look at the potions if he can't identify them himself.
"If the bounty on Varis' head still stands, perhaps we should look into his history a bit and see if he's really the man we thought he was. I wouldn't mind turning him in to collect a bit of pocket change on the side, if he's truly guilty of something condemning."
"It strange that Varis friend with Lionel but hunted by Lionel too. Varis for sure hide something... we sniff him out later."
The man in white is our enemy--he's the one who transformed these people into mistfiends. If he left this creature here, it is our enemy too.
"If Rikaku saw Lionel in a vision with the mysterious wizard we're pursuing, I wonder if the bounty hunter still has his freedom -- or his life. Even a talented man like him would surely be challenged by the sort of magic wielding we've already seen."
Seems a reasonable assumption that any bounty hunter would be challenged. I am considered reasonably powerful by any measurable standard that can be applied but I am more than a little intimidated by what we have seen so far.
What is upsetting is that we seem to be operating on very limited knowledge - if you can't find anything that tells of what crimes Varis has committed to be worthy of a bounty, whether it be legal or illegal, then I recommend we share knowledge of him being under a bounty, not the documents themselves, and see if we can shake loose something more.
Trogg whispers to Rybal (and perhaps other nearby members of the party), "I agree, Rybal, but perhaps we can gain some knowledge of who, what, or where the man in white is from the golem before we destroy it."
Scanning the room Malthu finds it to be nothing out of the ordinary, though he hazards a guest that the bookcase that the Golem is standing in front of is the secret exit Clarissa was talking about.
"What has the man clad in white done to offend you?" The golem asks Rybal.
"The man clad in white finds you when you are in despair and offers you an invitation." The golem replies to Malthu
"You tarry with investigation and questions, I am allowed to issue one more warning before I remove you from the premises. Your path is not here to walk, one day the man clad in white might offer you this." The golem states to the party.
Sense motive
The party gets the feeling that golem is just following orders and does not really have a desire to fight. It will likely answer a few more questions before it's hardwired defence mechanisms kick in.
Linguistics (if applicable)
Drak senses what Malthu is about to do.
Well, it's not bad in an off itself. It's just a golem doing what it's told. Too bad for it
Drak prepares for the action to start, moving off to the side slightly, trying to find a neat path where he can charge the thing cleanly.
Where is the man clad in white?