Agreed - it seems that we are being pulled into local politics. Lets just focus on the murder. I am not sure if the Scarnetti are responsible... should we go out and look at the site or are their anyone else we need to talk to?
Ibor shakes his head, his voice just a bit louder. "Not that I know, not that I know. Maybe he told Katrine, since they were close, but I have no idea."
"Good idea, Nich. We can come back and ask more questions based on what we find, but I think we should see this for ourselves."
The lumber mill sits on the banks of the Turandarok River, with a small pier jutting out into the water. A marsh lies on the opposite side of the river. The mill is a stout, thick-walled wooden construction with wooden shingles atop a low sloping roof. At the moment, the mill is unusually silent, except for a small crowd of curious onlookers huddled near the entrance.
A pair of guards is keeping folks away from the main door into the mill. When they see you, they give you a silent nod and allow you to enter.
Inside the mill, you immediately see sawdust strewn with footprints and splashes of blood. The mill interior has an upper and lower level. Logs collected at the pier are hauled inside and upstairs via large hooked chains. And then the logs are fed into a water-powered splitter, essentially a chute filled with rotating saw blades, which spits the wood onto the lower floor.
Katrine's mangled remains are strewn underneath this chute, atop a pile of bloodstained firewood. A pale-faced guard, visibly upset, stands nearby. From the entrance, you can see another body hanging from the chains on the upper level.
Selia takes a few moments to compose herself, and then looks for a way up to the upper level to take a look.
She looks around the place.
how about a Heal check from you Selia or from someone else?
What immediately strikes you upstairs is the degree of horrific mutilation that's been performed on Harker's body. His corpse is affixed to one of the walls by several large iron hooks dangling from the ceiling. His face is carved away and his lower jaw is gone. Perhaps most disturbing, his bare chest has been defaced. Carven into the skin, his chest displays a bloody rune in the shape of a seven pointed star.
The only reason the body is assured to be that of Harker's is because his lower abdomen bears a faded tattoo of a raven (which you know beforehand because I'm retconning the Sheriff telling you about it).
There's a rotten carrion-like stench around the body. And, upon closer examination, you discover several additional wounds which are smaller gashes. The gashes look like they were made by claws from a human-hand sized appendage with five fingers. The rotten stench is strongest near these wounds.
Know: Religion check
The odor is too faint for Nicholae to determine anything about it.
"Let's look around."
Selia looks around the sawmill.
We need a good tracker here nonetheless lets give this site a though search
Yep, Ned, that's correct. The paint trail thing is two weeks prior during your downtime.
Looking around upstairs:
The rune carved into Harker's chest is definitely the same icon as the one from the medallion you recovered from Nualia.
Near the log splitter chute, you find a hand-axe lying on the floor. The handle is covered with bloody fingermarks. Smears of what appear to be rotten flesh and tiny fragments of bone are caked on the blade. The odor of rotten meat is especially strong from the handle, and sickens Lleidr.
The fingermarks on the handle are slender, indicating a woman's hand.
Given the footprints' position, it appears Katrine wielded the axe against someone or something and was then pushed into the log splitter chute. This incident happened at about the same time as Harker's impalement upon the great metal hooks.
Also, some of the footprints are from a barefoot person, and these prints often have the same lingering odor of decay as that which you found on the handaxe.
Downstairs, there are no tracks of this barefoot entity inside the mill. The only find of significance is the mangled remains of Katrine, chewed and crushed by the tremendous force of the log-splitter. Outside, the river gently winds its way past the pier and a massive pile of uncollected timber. In the street, you can catch glimpses of a restless crowd, many of whom are asking the guards if this is a sign of the goblins' revenge.
"Well, I don't think it was goblins, but I don't think we want the town worrying about the walking dead either."
No footprints downstairs...
"Could the creature that did this still be here?"
The terrible odor on the handaxe is a sign of corruption beyond that which a normal corpse can produce. Most likely, the axe was used within the past day against some type of corporal undead... Grim news indeed if the Undead feel free to trespass so close to town. Does anyone know of any abandoned graveyard, houses or caverns where these undead may hide during the day?
"Of course, there is the graveyard nearby where they got Ezakien Tobyn from."
"Maybe we should go do some research on what this symbol is."
"What do we tell those people outside? I want to warn them so they can be safe, but I don't want to panic them either. In any case, I don't thing this is the work of goblins or the Scarnettis. Between this, and the missing items from my room, I am getting the feeling that this isn't the place to settle down and raise a family... not that I am entertaining any thoughts right now, but just saying..."
You recovered Tobyn's burnt remains in Thistletop, in the evil cathedral.
Sandpoint doesn't have a library, but you could check in with Ned's old acquaintance who is now headmaster at the Turandarok Academy.
This rune is a sign of ancient Thassilon and Sandpoint has a resident sage who is a self-proclaimed expert on Thassilonian lore. He has offered his insight before on what this sign means. I can repeat again if you'd like.
BTW, forgot 1 minor detail: the upper floor has windows that face both the street and the pier.
Your investigations are interrupted by Sheriff Hemlock climbing the ladder upstairs. "Had to half-carry a definitely not-sober Bilivar Wheen back to his shop, so thought I'd step inside and see how you were doing. Pretty gruesome, isn't it? Not to pressure you or anything, but the Mayor's got the Scarnettis screaming at her about us closing their mill while we investigate.
"If you're still willing to follow this through, I need to give you some information about the first set of murders a couple of days ago. A patrol of guards were assaulted by a deranged man near an abandoned barn south of town next to Cougar Creek.
"The attacker had fevered flesh, wild eyes, his mouth frothed and his clothes were caked with blood. The patrol was able to subdue him, but they also found three dead mean inside the barn, horribly disfigured. Sound familiar?
"Nobody could identify the bodies. But, one of them had this note in hand. The men were Tareh Mortwell, Lener Hask, and Gedwin Tabe, swindlers and con-men that have given me no shortage of trouble over the past few years. The fact they got killed doesn't surprised me, but the way they were killed does."
Hemlock points to Harker's savaged corpse. "Each one of those men bore the same identical mark on their chests. If you'd like to see for yourselves, the bodies are lying in state in the garrison basement.
"I think the insane man was simply hired muscle, caught in a bad situation. He's locked up outside town in Habe's Sanitorium. You might learn more from him, but don't expect too much. He's a bit off his rocker. But, if you're headed that way, I will be happy to give you a letter of introduction to Erin Habe."
"Thank you Sheriff. I am sure we will head there next."
Selia looks out the windows, to see what she can see - and tries to determine if the placement of the body to the windows has any significance.
"The attacker had fevered flesh, wild eyes, his mouth frothed and his clothes were caked with blood. The patrol was able to subdue him, but they also found three dead mean inside the barn, horribly disfigured. Sound familiar?
"Nobody could identify the bodies. But, one of them had this note in hand. The men were Tareh Mortwell, Lener Hask, and Gedwin Tabe, swindlers and con-men that have given me no shortage of trouble over the past few years. The fact they got killed doesn't surprised me, but the way they were killed does."
Hemlock points to Harker's savaged corpse. "Each one of those men bore the same identical mark on their chests. If you'd like to see for yourselves, the bodies are lying in state in the garrison basement.
"I think the insane man was simply hired muscle, caught in a bad situation. He's locked up outside town in Habe's Sanitorium. You might learn more from him, but don't expect too much. He's a bit off his rocker. But, if you're headed that way, I will be happy to give you a letter of introduction to Erin Habe."
A most curious note - and yes a letter of introduction to this man may be just what we need though I fear the worst.
"Any idea who "Your Lordship" is?"
Selia, you spy a muddy footprint on the window sill looking out towards the river. The print bears the same faint rotten odor you've encountered elsewhere in the mill.
Hemlock shakes his head. "No, I was hoping you might have some insight on that point. Is this really a noble? He is literate, so perhaps, but it's hard for me to imagine someone capable of such savagery. Come by the garrison a bit later and I will have that letter written and sealed for you."
"Look boys, a stench print on the window! Ned - is this enough for you to track it?"
"It's worth a look."
With ease, Ned identifies several footprints on the outside wall and leading into the window. The tracks themselves lead all the way across to the opposite end of the pier. A barefoot human man climbed up from the mud under the pier, walked over to the mill and then scaled the wall to the upstairs window. The prints all bear the lingering stink of rotting flesh.
Also, the intruder left via the same route.
Can he follow the tracks?
"Why would something from the depths rise to do this? And I don't recall any stench with my missing items. Both tracks lead to the water, but probably not the same being."
Ned sees footprints going from on the pier to under the pier, leading to and from the river's edge. There's nothing to follow at the edge of the river, just the river itself and on the opposite side, a lonely marsh.
Have a care - this may be the same undead creature that may have been struck with the Axe... and I fear for the man in the care of the hospital - he may have been afflicted with some contagion or madness. The smell of rot is worrying indeed - what more can be discerned from the tracks? Can we find its lair?
"I don't see any signs of lair around here."
You mentioned setting a trap involving paint to spill on the thief. Sure enough, Selia is missing a single earring. However, there's a puddle of dried white paint on the floor, and in the alleyway, you find a sleeve, ripped from a fine woolen jacket, stained by a large patch of white paint.
Two weeks ago...
"The trail leads nowhere but it's not that big a town. Let's ask around and see if someone will recognize this jacket."
Diplomacy check please ...
Nicolae circulates through the townsfolk asking for any information that may help.
It's time for the evening meal after a long day. A rowdy group of grain merchants, one dwarf among several older men, drinking their fill inside the Rusty Dragon identify the embroidered sleeve on the spot. "Aye, friend, that sleeve came from a jacket that old Hambley often wore."
"Yup, right you are. I've seen 'im strutting around in that getup on many a day. Farmer Hambley sure loves to dress in finery. He's puttin' on airs a lot these days, you might say."
"An' no wonder, that greedy ole' geezer has wheeled and dealed land right from under his neighbors' noses. Heard Franca had to sell out his last parcel to him just the other day."
"Well, Franca spent more on drink than on seed, so that's no surprise."
"At least, he'd fit right in with us, right?" Laughter ensues among the men.
Just a follow-up note, you've all heard of Farmer Hambley, but none of you know him personally. He does have a reputation for being hard-nosed when it comes to lending money out to neighbors and then taking their land if they lapse in repayment.
"Well, with few other leads at the moment, let's go visit Farmer Hambley and see what he has to say. I can't think of a reason why he would want my trinkets, but it all feels connected somehow."
"Either someone is setting him up... or he just likes to feel pretty."
[Two Days After Sandpoint Murders]
Hambley's Farm is several miles outside of Sandpoint, so you set out in the morning from the Rusty Dragon. On your way out the door, Ameiko hands you a big basket of just-baked bread, a gift she explains from the owner of Sandpoint Savories, whom you saved from marauding goblins.
Soon after passing south of the Ashen Rise, as you get closer to the Soggy River, you notice that the farmhouses are unusually quiet. Many locals whom you recognize and have known for years turn themselves around at the sound of approaching parties, run into their homes and slam the doors. The road itself is quiet and you encounter no traffic until mid-day.
Cresting an upcoming hill, about 30 yards ahead of you, you see a haggard looking figure wave his hands wildly above his head. He's running towards you, yelling for help. His clothes look muddy and torn, and in the wind, you hear him yell something about corpses and scarecrows. As he gets closer, you recognize the man immediately, another old Sandpoint farmer, Maester Grump .
Nicolae runs up to meet the man.
What is the matter?
Your characters know him, but no, he's new to you players.
[Two Days After Sandpoint Murders, Sandpoint Hinterlands, Noon]
Grump runs towards you, gesticulating like a madman and babbling the same things over and over, "Walking scarecrows at Hambleys ate everything! Place ain't right, I tell you. Walking scarecrows will get us, run to town, quick!"
After a few minutes of talking to him, he begins to calm somewhat and start his story from the beginning.
"It's as plain as porkpie, as my marn would say. Since about the last full moon, the farmlands all about here have come to be haunted. I don't know how else to say it. Walking scarecrows come about at night, and there's more of 'em every night.
"They seemed to be coming from the old Hambley place. Things just ain't been right there for the past few weeks, so finally, a bunch of us farmers in the area decided, like fools I guess, to pay the Hambleys a visit and set things right. We were attacked as soon as we got there, by scarecrows and corpses, but they fed like starving animals. They even ate our dogs!"
Grump wipes his brow and sits down on a stone milepost next to the road.
Perception checks please.