Thorek opened his mouth to talk, but quickly shut it. Volkar had made a right fine introduction. No need to spoil it. He contented himself by just saying ᚠᛟᚱᚷᛖᚠᚨᚦᛖᚱᛋ᛫ᛒᛚᛖᛋᛋᛜ
Azorius was waiting until they were a good distance away from the fort before telling his allies about what he had uncovered. So deep was he considering this matter they arrived at the village far sooner than he expected. He is happy to let his allies take the lead for now in this investigation.
Dayn looks your group over, but maintains a stoic face. He finally squints a bit and glances at Thorek. "And to you."
He turns and walks into the shrine, "Come along, let's talk."
The interior of the shrine is a simple open room, with a grand staircase leading down into the earth. He stomps down the stairs without hesitation. The staircase descends 20 feet into a much larger room, roughly 80 feet long and 30 feet wide. At the far end of the room is a large altar shaped like an anvil with a roaring forge behind it. Even from this distance, you can hear the crackling of the fires. A dozen or so dwarves dressed similarly to Dayn can be seen moving around.
At the bottom of the stairs he turns right and heads into a room with a large table and several benches. Gesturing for you to sit, he retrieves a pitcher of water and several cups, setting them on the table.
He glances around, then sits down. "So here's what I know. Human boy and younger girl are brought to me by one of the scouts who follows Torag. Said he found them wandering around couple of miles north of here. Didn't have any food, shelter, water. Nothing you'd expect travelers to have. I took them in, gave them a room, had some of the other younger ones look in on them."
He shakes his head, "Kids didn't have any idea what they were doing. Told us that they fled their village because they didn't want to get Chosen to meet their God. Seems that every so often, their God sends word that he needs servants. So the town chooses somebody, and they get the honor of serving their God in person."
"I don't have any idea who their God is, and nothing they told me gave any clue - and believe me, I know 'em all. Only thing they could say was that he protected their village. After talking to them a while, it was obvious the boy - he's 13 by the way - didn't know anything about the war. He knew what undead were, but he's never seen one. And he's never seen a soldier of Lastwall either. I don't want to call him a liar, but if there's some village out there that avoided the Army and the undead, well, I want to know how they managed that. I'd have bet my beard we knew about every speck of civilization in this country before meeting these two."
"Anyway, village is supposed to be about a week north of here on foot, so maybe two or three days on horse. Supposedly has a few thousand people, which... I don't know. Something about this doesn't sit right with me. I mean, I get the feeling that something unnatural is happening, if you catch my meaning."
"That's my side of things. Boy's name is Tanner, girl is Anabete. You got any questions for me before I go get them?"
"Do they have local accents or agreed that they are from Ustalav? It could be that they are from far off and in their flight accidentally went through a portal."
”Dark magic everywhere, ain’t it? I’d like to know the answer as well, but me gut says that it’s not one we’re going to like. Wish I had more questions for ye...has anyone else gone their yet?”
Dayn nods, "Aye, they're locals. Boy knows about Ustalav, but he didn't know about the war. He thought the Prince was still ruling out of Caliphas. Says his God - calls him 'The One Above All' - came to their village to protect them. Based on when he says that God showed up, I'd mark it right about the time the war broke out."
He looks at Thorek, "True, this reeks of something foul. And I don't know of anybody who's tried to find their village. As for me, I've been praying to Torag, hoping he'd help me figure out what to do."
Dayn grins at all of you, claps his hands together, and chuckles, "Guess the Forgefather came through for this old dwarf, eh?"
He stands up and heads out of the door you entered from.
A few minutes later he comes back in with two human children, Tanner and Anabete.
Dayn pats them both on their shoulders, "These are the people I told you about, they want to meet you, and to visit your village."
He looks past the children and speaks directly at you, "Tanner here is very concerned about his parents, as well as one of his friends in the village. Name of Lida. She was up for being Chosen to serve this time around."
Tanner sits first, Anabete sits beside him, but grabs Dayn's hand and pulls him down on her other side. She nestles up to him, but continues looking at you all.
Sitting down, Volkar says, "Hello, Tanner, Anabete. My name is Volkar. Could you tell me a bit about your village?"
Volkar wasn't particularly good at talking to children, so he wasn't sure how he'd do with these two.
Knowing his appearance and temperament would do absolutely nothing to put children at eases, Rau simply sits and watches, carefully listening to their story to see if any of it makes sense.
”Don’t worry younglings. We’re going to go to yer village to see what’s up. Just answer Volka’s questions if ye please so we can help yer kin.”
Apparently a gruff dwarf was not the best for putting children at ease.
Anabete buries her head in Dayn's arm, refusing to look at any of you.
Tanner looks over at Dayn, and with a nod from the dwarf, begins speaking, "My village is called Greendale. It's in a small valley between some hills. There's about, um, about a hundred families. We're mainly farmers, got some cows and sheep. Chickens."
"But the God of our village lives with us. The men of the village built him a big house to live in. He's been protecting us for a long time. Sometimes, he tells our Headman that he needs some servants to help him. So we have a Choosing. People put names in a big barrel, and a few are pulled out. Sometimes it's one. I remember four one time."
"So they go to serve him in his house. Once they go in, they serve him forever, so they aren't part of the village any more."
His face looks serious for a moment, then he continues, "There was going to be another Choosing. Me and Anabete had our names in the barrel. Night before it was time to draw, my Pa got us up in the middle of the night. He led us out of the house, through the field, and into the woods. Gave me a small pouch of coins, then pointed out The Rose in the stars, and said we should head toward it, that it would protect us. We didn't want to go, but he made us. Made us promise to keep going until we found people who didn't live in the village. Said I could use my skills at working wood to find a master, maybe find a place to stay for us."
"We walked for a few days. One time, we heard people talking, so we hid. It was people from our village looking for us. But one of them said something mean about Pa. I was about to yell at him, but I didn't realize I was near a rose bush. I started to stand up, but the thorns poked me hard, so hard I forgot all about yelling at that man. After a few minutes, we didn't hear them any more so we kept walking."
Kn (religion): No God you know about lives on Golarion in a house.
That said, the image of the Rose is interesting. It appears that despite the presence of a "God" in the village, Tanner's father still put his faith in Milani to watch over his children. Hope is one of her domains, after all. So is freedom, especially freedom from oppression and/or injustice.
Sense Motive: Tanner seems to be telling the truth. You do get the sense that his "hundred families" may be plus or minus a few, but even if you wouldn't want him counting your gold, you believe he's trying to relate his story honestly.
Volkar says, "And about how many days ago was it that you left Greendale?"
"Are there any priests or shrines to gods in Greendale?" There's a lot of rose iconography between the constellation and the bush... perhaps a connection with Shelyn or Milani?
Tanner thinks for a moment, then looks at Dayn. "I think we counted 10 or 11 days since I left. We got turned around in the hills one time. I know we left right before the new moon, and Master Dayn told us the first quarter moon happened a few nights ago."
"No, sir, no shrines or anything. Papa told us that there used to be a few places to thank the Gods, but all that changed when the new God came. They tore down those old places to build the God's house."
Volkar nods, considering. Being young, they probably walk slower than we would. Horses are probably twice as fast. Plus they got a little lost. Let's say four to six days of travel for us. Not too bad, that. Out loud, he says, "Did your father provide you with any food for the journey, or were you able to forage for yourselves?"
Tanner shakes his head, "No, he didn't give us any food. We were awful hungry, but we found a few things to eat until we came here. Mostly nuts and berries."
"I think the children's father hoped Milani would come to their aid. I know of know God who sits in a house on Gollarion. Only Razmir would come close and he stays in his grand palaces in the country that bears his name. No there's a trickster about this though that does not mean they aren't a being of power." Either powerful enough to ward off the undead, or strike an accord with them... or be one of them.
"Tell me did your father plant tend any roses or spend time out at night looking at the stars?"
Thorek grumbled under his breath about the creature they already saw, which had masqueraded as Pharasma...
Volkar considers the child's words. "Tell me, what does the god of your village look like? Does he have any powers, or a name?"
Tanner shakes his head, "No, sir. He was a farmer, but he had crops and a few chickens. No flowers or anything like that."
He looks over at Volkar, and everyone can see his eyes shift around as he thinks, "I don't really know. I've never seen him. Only the adults get to see him. I mean, some of the Council say they meet with him a lot, but most, like my Pa, only saw him at the Choosings."
"And I don't know what powers or anything, just that he keeps the village safe. And we always called him, 'Our God' since his name was a word of holiness that wasn't safe for mortal tongues to say, or mortal ears to hear."
”Sounds like another tower situation to me. Let’s nay interrogate ‘em. Let’s just get the route and the village mapped out. What’s where and who’s who. Then we go.”
Rau nods at Thorek, and pulls out his maps and mapmaking tools. He sits down tentatively by Tanner and tries to look as friendly as possible.
"Tanner, here is a drawing of where we are and what the area around it is like as much as we know so far. Would you be able to either point to where your village is, or describe your journey enough for us to try and figure it out?"
Tomas listens carefully, asking a few questions regarding any landmarks the pair might have seen as they traveled.
Volkar nods in agreement with Thorek. It sounded exactly like they had another osteiocene to deal with. He moved aside as Rau drew the map and asked Tanner to help locate their village. As he did, he thought about magical defenses that might hide the location of the village.
"Perhaps you recall nearby mountains, valleys, rivers or lakes?"
Tanner looks at the rough map, but Dayn interrupts first. "They were found right around here." He points at an area about 5 miles due north of Fort Justice.
Tanner nods, then draws a line toward the hills, "I think we came out around here, he says drawing a line from Dayn's point northwest toward the hills. "There's a sort of valley covered in trees and thickets that we came through. The hills on the sides are really rocky, and tough for Anabete to manage. Plus there are some pretty nasty creatures that hunt there. At least in the thickets we had some protection."
"As for landmarks, there was a hill we had to go around that kind of looked like a cow."
Anabete pipes up for the first time, "It was a sheep!"
Tanner nods quickly, "Right, a sheep. Kind of lying on its side. There's a spring at the top, and when it rains, the whole thing becomes covered in all these tiny little streams. But when it dries out, the rivers have carved all these lines, so it looks all puffy, like sheep's wool."
Anabete chimes in again, "And the black feet!"
He nods again, "There's some trees at the bottom of the hill that don't have any leaves on them. From a distance, they kind of look like legs, holding up this big puffy sheep." He trails off, and glances at Anabete. "So yeah, a hill that looks like a sheep."
"Village is north of that, about 2 days walk."
"That hill is very distinct, I think we can find it. I have one last question but it should be left til the very end... it may be uncomfortable."
Dayn looks around the table, then at Tanner. "Seems like this is the very end. Ask away."
"Have you ever heard of an Osteocine?" Azorius held his breath, awaiting a furious response.
The reaction on Tanner and Annabette is immediate - both slump down, Tanner's head hitting the table, and Annabette hanging limply in Dayn's arms. Neither appear conscious
Dayn, however, erupts, shouting at you while trying to comfort the girl in his arms, "What do you mean by speaking like that in this place?! How dare you defile this shrine with your blasphemy and unholy words. Get out! Get out now! Or in the name of Torag I'll remove you myself!"
You also hear quickened footsteps coming from the hallway. Apparently Dayn's outburst has attracted attention.
”Oi! Hold on. It’s the name of a monster. We killed one already. They fook with minds. See what saying it did? This just means we know what we’re dealing with.”
Volkar sighs, and gets up. "Thank you for your time, Father Dayn. We appreciate it." He sets about trying to gather the others up by eye so they can get out of there before the Dwarf turns violent.
Tomas leaves when the results of the question are sadly the same. "Do you think there's one of those things hiding around the fort?" He asks the others. Wondering why just mentioning the name draws such responses?
"And why are they so desperate to have their name never heard?"
"There are many instances of creatures, especially those that are partially of divine origin, that have angered the gods and are in hiding from them. Perhaps this is one of those cases, and by mentioning their name they risk being discovered."
Rau waits for the rest of the group along with Tomas.
"Well, it seems we have another evil to rout. Shall we be on our way or wait to leave in the morning?"
I wonder if they are in hiding from the Grey lady. I will have to meditate on this and see if I can gain any insight
Azorius heads outside suspecting the priest will not hear him out. "I mean no offence, not that you'll elaborate."
Once the others are outside he will relay to them his interaction with the mage back at the fortress. "There is an unseen evil with deep set roots in these lands."
Dayn glares at Thorek, "I've asked nicely once, brother, I'll not do so again. Get out. Now."
Several other priests enter the room as the group leaves. Dayn does not speak, he simply watches as you all exit the room. Nobody else bothers you as you leave the shrine, though several of the priests come out of the room to watch you leave.
-----
"I think from here on out, we'll have to avoid saying the name of these creatures in any company other than our own. It seems that upon uttering it, instead of hearing the name, they instead hear something that is so offensive it immediately angers them and sets them against us. We should attempt to, perhaps, instead describe them physically, or come up with another name we can call them. Maybe that way we can avoid alienating anyone who could potentially be an ally in our fight." Volkar is displeased - not being able to speak the name would make it hard to warn people of the danger they posed - but it was a far better choice than turning everyone against them for merely uttering it.
Once out of the room: ”Aye, lad. Seems like a right good idea to me. But in the meantime let’s start our journey. Got a village taken over by one of these fookers. And we know they bleed. So let’s get to it.”
"It does sound like some form of curse or ward placed on the whole area?" Tomas agrees, his knowledge of magic not very deep.
"Perhaps that Tomas, it might need more time to take root on our own minds being newly arrived. Or it could have strategically manipulated particular people."
Unable to really help, Thorek marched along in (near) silence. For the most part he was lost in thought. He had taken the assignment expecting hordes of zombies. Instead, a much worse threat had taken root. What truly worried him though, was that the two were not mutually exclusive.
Volkar isn't much use for surviving in the wild or keeping them on track for the direction they're going, but he helps in his own way. Unfortunately, that help isn't very helpful.
Between Azorius, Rau, and Tomas, the group is able to make good time on your journey north. The first day passes uneventfully as you can see clear evidence of patrols from Fort Justice. Camping near a copse of trees is pleasant and quiet.
Gray clouds blowing south greet the group as it sets out on the second day. It looks, smells, and feels like rain will start at any minute, but good fortune is riding with you as nothing falls from the sky. It begins clearing up a few hours after noon, so you all get a bit of sunlight before it's time to camp again.
On the third day, your group enters the foothills and after only an hour, you locate the strange hill as described by Tanner. Scouring the area immediately around the rock turns up nothing, but as you widen the search, you find a small trail leading northeast. You are fairly certain that unless you knew to look for it, none of you would have found it as well as it was hidden.
The small trail winds its way through the hills and scrub brush for several miles.
Tomas pauses, his nose wrinkling from that unpleasantly familiar smell. He tells the others quietly. "Someones got a fire going, and from the smell of it there's someone being burned in it!"
"Perhaps Rau and some others with covert skills could scout a bit ahead of us to asses the situation."
Volkar doesn't notice the scent at all, instead looking to Tomas and Azorius and saying, "Agreed. Tomas, Rau, and I could scout ahead a bit. Can you tell how far away the pyre is?"
"I'll head forward and check it out."
Tomas nods, slipping back to his old scouting role almost automatically.
Slipping into the cover of the undergrowth and ghosting forward.
Azorius makes sure to give Rau and Tomas a Hallow Chalice of Pharasma in case they need healing while scouting ahead.
Volkar considers accompanying them, then decides he'll stay with the rest - while he had some skill at moving silently, he suspected both Rau and Tomas were better than him, and he didn't want to impede their efforts.