Half an hour later you were walking with Deputy Anirudh who was a grizzled old timer, wildlife enthusiast and Waiaki native. He was quite well armed with a heavy recurve bow, chain, a longsword and a bucker strapped to his shoulder.
As you walked along the trail he chatted point out signs of all sorts of animals big and small that you'd missed, "Its cold yes, but I love it out here. Look at that view!" You where working your way along the side of the mountain to the left there was wide vista leading down to the lowlands and the void beyond, the sun was shining brightly and it looked like a picture postcard.
He smiled, "Beats any office job, this side of the mountain the air is so clear and the views are to die for. Sadly all too many folk do die out here, usually from falls since the ground can often be icy, but sometimes due to the wildlife. We get problems with ice trolls sometimes and there are Remorhaz near the crater and you want nothing to do with those!"
When you asked about the shawl he told you, "Pretty thing isn't it? Whoever it belonged to must have been in a frightful rush, I found it in a thorn bush up near one of those Elodin Circles. Was two of them judging by the tracks. I wondered if a troll or perhaps a bear had spooked em but nada."
We have an expert in reading psychic auras with us, and she says whoever left the shawl was being hunted by someone. Can you give us a better idea geographically where it was in case there is a rescue needed?
"Hunted you say?' the deputy blinks, "Not by a monster then unless it can fly, only tracks I saw were human. I found the shawl way up yonder, see the cleft of the hill over there, behind that there's a hanging valley in the middle of which is one of Elodin's Circles. I found it there, and unless I'm mistake the tracks where headed away the lodge.'
Thanks for the information, Deputy.
"The lodge? About fifteen minutes further down the trail to the east. The Elodin's Circle is about an hour's scramble up the hill to the north." said Deputy Anirudh when you asked how far away things are.
Okay, let's head to the lodge, and then hopefully come back with others to help find her... unless she has found her way back of course, which would be a huge relief.
Edwin agreed with Zendara, "Yes, it makes sense to meet up with the other researchers. They'll hopefully give us a better idea of what's going on."
You accompany deputy Anirudh most of the way to the lodge, while he chats about the wildlife. The lodge is situated in a large clearing inside a forested hanging valley, the land here is fairly low lying so the snow is pretty thin however the dusting on the pine trees makes them look very pretty. The trail splits and you say good bye to the deputy whose duty is taking him all the way up and over the mountain pass to a hamlet called Birchpine, given the weather and the elevation gain you reckon he's in for a hard slog.
You take the other fork along a well trodden path into the trees which opens out into a meadow. The lodge itself is in the centre of this and it's a large two story wooden building a little like a log cabin but on a grand scale. Thin streams of smoke rise from its chimney's and in patches the snow has melted on the roof to reveal terracotta tiles. You think fifty people could bunk inside with comfort, and that's not including several out buildings.
One thing you didn't expect is a group of about fifteen grimfaced people in mountaineering gear gathered outside. As you approach you overhear some of what they're saying, "...been cold the last two nights, unless she found shelter, we've got to prepare ourselves for the worst." Another man said, "That's assuming we find her, we're not even sure were she went!"
Edwin hailed the assembled researchers, " We got here as quickly as whe could. I understand that someone is missing? A shawl with a label saying 'A. Meedes' was found near The Elodin's Circle. Yukarii read the shawl's pyscic aura and says that the owner was being hunted by something.
"Can you fill us in on what happened?"
"Could that really be Edwin Whiskers? I never forget a face!" said a middle aged member of the search party who turned out to be Gregory Flintoff one of Edwins first year archeology lecturers, "I'm afraid you've come at a bad time Edwin one of our researchers, Andrea Meedes, has gone missing we're about to start a search. Wait you say somebody found her shawl by a menhir circle? I suppose that's not too surprising, she was studying them, in fact she'd just submitted a paper. I know she'd been quietly excited for a while."
Another member of the search party asked, "Hunted by something! That doesn't sound good, do you know which circle it was found by? There's several in the area, if we know the right one we should start out search there."
Edwin asked bout where everyone else was, and found out that Mike Tomlins is due back this evening
He followed up my asking what Andrea did with her paper and was toldtah she sent it off with the weekly dispatches care of Niels Da Vorre in Port William. Apparemly hw forwards records to the university via airship.
When they found the search party and heard what they had to say Yukarii did not like the news. IT was bad and there was no way around it. As they asked if they knew which circle the shawl was found at Yukarii nodded and said, "Yes, we do." She looked at her companions and then added, "We will come with you, my abilities will be of help if we find any additional personal belongings."
(fail)
(pass)
After seeing that they are not at all ready to go, and hearing the information that Edwin gathered, Zendara steps in.
We were planning on heading up there anyway, so we're headed out because we're already armed, packed, and ready. If one or two of you want to come along, we can take anyone who can handle themselves in a fight and can be ready in 10 minutes. We don't want to bring too many people and let them know we're coming if she's been kidnapped.
The rest of you could split up and check the other circles in the area. Did you know that they are having trouble at the mine as well? It sounds related. We found a defaced circle on the way here, and Andrea's paper could have attracted unwanted attention to this whole area. In fact, you might want to send a group to meet Mike, and make sure his group is safe as well.
If people seem to be responding well, Zendara selects the people who seem the most organized to head up teams for the other tasks, to get them moving... and then they have to get moving themselves of course.
When the group of people is (hopefully) more organized, Xindyra thinks back on a field trip she once was on. Getting dropped off late at night with but a compass and a torch, to get back to home base.
To her fellow explorers;
"Ahm, it might be best to mention this. Too much people will be a disadvantage in a search party setup. Unless carefully managed, that is."
Good point.
Zendara adds that reasoning to her discussion with the group.
Edwin helped Zendara get the researchers organized.
Four of the search party agree to go and check in on Mike as Zendara suggested saying, "We probably better had check in on him, last thing we want is several missing people. Besides he's a friend of Andrea's he'd want to know."
Gregory Flintoff offers to accompany you, while the rest agree to check the other circles. Several years of field work seems to have agreed with Professor Flintoff and he has no problem keeping up with you.
Thanks to your intervention in five minutes everyone knew what to do and they all set off full of enthusiasm and determination to find Andrea and rescue her from whatever scrape she's gotten herself into.
You start the hike up towards the circle the deputy pointed out earlier, so far it's still early and the sun is out although the wind is cold and you're all too aware how quickly the weather can turn for the worse in the mountains.
On the way Professor Flintoff chats with Edwin, "Congratulations for graduating, I always felt you were a promising student. I'm sorry I wasn't there to see it, but I'd had enough of office and lab work. It was time to get back to the field! The geology here is quite fascinating you should talk to Mike about it. Also there's several dig sites I must show you. Oh and as your friend mentioned there's a lot of very odd things dug up by the miners from time to time."
As the group set off, Edwin cast a spell to heighten his perception.
Edwin replied to Professor Flintoff, "The airship journey with Dr. Monroe has been quite fascinating; we've seen some incredible things. I can't wait to see the dig sites."
Zendara stops for a moment, looking at the ground.
Hey, Xin, are you seeing this? Looks like one person walking normally, and one person darting from spot to spot... the tracks I mean.
She moves forward, following the tracks closely, just in case they deviate from the path.
Hey, Xin, are you seeing this? Looks like one person walking normally, and one person darting from spot to spot... the tracks I mean.
"Yes, i see it. But what would the situation have been for this?
Is one person so scary, that they casually walk, with someone else fleeing from them, from cover to cover? Or two separate times."
"You know, what if the tracks that move from cover to cover, was actually -stalking- the casual walker?"
Perhaps her imagination goes wild, but Xindyra seems to start numbering potential scenarios on her left hand fingers.
Yeah, a little worried about that. People being stalked... not good.
Zendara wants to pick up the pace, but she knows that following the tracks requires being careful and diligent. She just hoped that they could still do some good once they found her, and that she wasn't dead already.
Edwin added, "Let's try to keep following the tracks of tje casual walker; that's likely Mendes. I wonder if that cave we saw yesterday is involved?"
Professor Flintoff massaged his temples and sighed, "Stalked you say? May The Cartographer have mercy... I thought I'd escaped away from all the drama by coming here. But why would anyone stalk Andrea?" He looked pensive for a moment before saying, "Come to think of it she had complained about somebody defacing the menhirs, she was planning to write to the church of Elodin, I don't suppose that could be related?"
You resume your trek up the hill and by mid day you found yourself crunching through the snow in the wide flat area of a hanging valley. It had been impossible to follow the tracks due to the snow but you had good directions courtesy of the deputy, and sure enough in the middle of the valley was a double ring of standing stones.
The wind whistles through the stones as you approach them, they seem very old up close. Many of them have intricate but weathered carvings
Edwin looked at the stones and declared, "A glyph has been chiseled away on this stone, posiibly a priral galaxy of Elodin's holy symbol. Any there's some of the fabric from the shawl caught in this thorn bush. And what's this? It looks like a dried bloody handprint on the menhir!"
He knelt down and touched the torn nits of fabric, trying to read any lingering psychic impressions.
At 2nd level, an occultist learns how to read information from items he examines. Examining an item in this way requires him to spend 1 minute handling the item. If the item is a magic item, the occultist learns its properties and command word as if he had successfully examined the item using detect magic and succeeded at a Spellcraft check. This ability does not reveal whether the item is cursed unless the occultist’s class level is equal to or greater than the caster level of the item. If the item has any historical significance, the occultist learns one piece of information about its past (as determined by the GM). Finally, if the item was last used no longer than 1 day ago per the occultist’s class level, the occultist learns one piece of information about the last creature to use the item. This information might be a glimpse of the creature’s appearance, a brief vision of what it saw while using the item, or perhaps its emotional state when it last used the item. The GM determines what information is gained in this way. This functions like the psychometry occult skill unlock (see page 196), but doesn’t require a skill check and can be used at will.
(pass)
Zendara recognizes Elodin's creation myth in pictogram on some of them, but isn't sure about the others.
(fail)
In response to Edwin, Zendara says
Well, that's isn't good. Let's see if we can find where she headed after being attacked here. ... Also, it seems strange to me that the person who found the shawl and gave it to us didn't notice this blood. Let's be wary.
While Edwin tries to get an impression, she looks around for any clues about what direction Andrea fled, or was taken.
Fresh Snow conceals any tracks unfortunately.
Edwin traces a finger along the bloody handprint and snatches his hand back as if he'd been burned, when he examined his paw it was rimed with frost.
[ooc]Kn: Arcarna DC 18]
[ooc]Kn: Religion DC 22]
Edwin described his vision, "I see a figure covered by a deep red hood, walking from the north towards the ancient stone, holding a hammer and an ornate chisel carved with strange blood red runes. She stops a foot away from the menhir and opens a flask, pouring blood onto her hands. She plants one bloody hand on the stone. covering Elodin's symbol, then gingerly withdraws her hand as if burned, leaving a stain that starts to sizzle. She picks up her tools and starts methodically hammering away."
Gazing at the rising land to the north, he reports, "I see some trail markers, leading to a mountain hut in the distance. I say we investigate!"
"You have a good eye Mr Whiskers!" replied Professor Flintoff, "I do believe there's a refuge hut up that way..."
You crunch through the snow in the direction you believe the hut to be, to begin with the going is easy enough but the path gets steeper and steeper as it crawled along a narrow ledge with a great cliff towering above you to the right and a steep drop to the left. Just when you thought you'd have to start taking this seriously and don proper mountaineering gear, you noticed there was a steel cable anchored in the rock.
Professor Flintoff smiled when he saw that, saying "Ah!" He had a small bit of rope which he looped round the cable, remarking "If I slip it'll be backwards not over the edge!"
You all did something similar, and with the aid of the steel cable you all made it safely to the top where the land briefly flattened out enough for there to be a small hut. The snow is thicker up here and it's drifted so there's no chance of finding any footprints. Indeed as you look behind you, your footprints are getting slowly filled in by snow pushed by the wind.
The hut itself is constructed from logs and looks to be big enough for ten maybe fifteen people to sleep in the big main room. It has very steep eves, designed to stop much snow from accumulating and it seems to be working since you can see the tiles poking through in patches. The door is brightly decorated and closed with snow piled up against it, you shall have to dig it out.
The only sounds you can hear are those of the wind and of the snow and the labouring of your breath. There are no lights from within, there is a single thick window made of magically treated steel turned to glass, but you can't see anything within.
Zendara points out the blood to the group so that they will be wary, but digs faster, hoping that the girl they were trying to save was within, and still alive. Whether her attacker was also there was the real question.
Edwin saw the specks of red, and cast a protective spell to create several duplicate images of himself to confuse a potential enemy that might be inside."I hope we're not too late!"
"That's blood. Frozen. Not a lot, thankfully. But i can't say how long it has been here."
After ten minutes of hard labor the snow much of which had become compacted and icy is removed and the brightly door is revealed, the cabin must look lovely in the summer. In winter however it's cold and dark. The actual door is two inches of stout oak with a simple latch. Inside there's a stout beam that can be used to bar it.
The entrance has a place to leave your boots and there are slippers for use inside to keep the place clean. The small entrance room has another door which opens into the main room. This large dark with an echo.
Light incantations are uttered and everything becomes visible. There are sturdy tables and benches which can double up as beds. The room is peaked with ratters from which a female corpse is hanging by the ankles. You examine the corpse and to your dismay its undoubtedly Andrea, several of you knew her and there's no mistake even with the battering she took.
The worst thing is there's a pail beneath her full of frozen blood and her abdomen is uncovered and it seems something has been carved into it.
Professor Flintoff gasps when he sees her and looks ill. He whispers, "Oh Andrea! Oh no no no no..." with a tear falling down his cheek.
The rest of the hut seems entirely normal, there's a fire place and a good supply of kindling and cut logs. The chimney flu appears to be unblocked, somebody must have done that. The hearth has cold ashes in it, the fire long having burned out.
Zendara works with the others to cut the poor girl down and cover her. Zendara uses her mending cantrip on the abdomen (now that the body is an object) to erase the disgusting symbol.
We'll have to carry her back to town... we'll have no luck digging a grave in this frozen ground.
She sighs, feeling defeated, at least for the moment.
Now what? We came here to talk to her, and she's dead. The disgusting cultists are here... do we stay and try to destroy them here, or leave and pursue our larger objectives? ... And if we're staying, any ideas on how to proceed?
The hope she had after talking to Vesta that they could restore the world was getting whittled away little by little. The horrible people were everywhere.
The discovery of the dead woman was a downer. Exploration ended one up dead like this.
Before Zendara removes the symbol, Xindyra has a look over at it.
"Aw crap. That is the symbol of that cosmic creep, Nyarlathotep. To see their clutches this far, is concerning."
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When the drops of blood were spotted Yukarii focused on calling Yukaari out from within her mind and manifested the lustful spirit as an incorporeal shade keeping within her own outline as usual. Once they got inside and found the body of the woman Yukarii instantly began to try and sense her spirit hoping that maybe her shade could give them some answers even as she heard who's cultists were behind this.
The main room was clear, but in a side dormitory she found the ghost of a young girl facing the corner that Yukaari recognised as Andrea's younger self. She was hugging herself and chanting, "I must do my homework, I must obey my teachers. I must not be a naughty girl. I must do my homework, I must obey my teachers. I must not be a naughty girl."
This litany went on and on.
Like any child she probably needs somebody to hug them and to tell her that they're loved and that it'll be ok, even though it won't be.
Edwin cursed when he saw the body, and examined it. "She's almost frozen — likely died several days ago. I don't think there was any chance of saving her." His shoulders slumped, mirroring his feelings of helplessness.
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As Yukaari looked around the hut and saw the blood and runes Yukarii felt her anger. When the spirit found the spirit of the girl Yukarii was drawn to it as well and was starting to see it too. She heard the faint voice of the ghost, a younger version of Andrea and it broke Yukarii's heart, she had been tormented so her mind must have broken leaving her in a child-like state.
While Yukarii was to sad for the shade Yukaari's anger grew as she comprehended the truth. The spirit of Andrea had regressed to a point in her childhood when she suffered a trauma that formed a foundational experience for her future mental development. The lust spirit also understood she was not well suited to dealing with a traumatized child spirit.
The pair looked at each other and nodded in unspoken agreement. "Let me have Andrea's scarf please." Once she had the scarf Yukarii called forth Yukaari again, this time in ectoplasmic form and pushed the scarf through her a couple of times before having Yukaari merge into her own body in a way that left a sheen of ectoplasm on the surface of her body.
Together the pair went to where the child spirit was huddled and knelt down next to her, "It is alright Andrea-kun, you are safe now." She reached out to put an arm around the child as she spoke, "Your teachers told me you have been doing a wonderful job and so I brought you something." Yukarii took the ectoplasm coated scarf and gently laid it around the girls shoulders, "You did really smart thing leaving this scarf where it could be found and the scarf really wanted to come back to you so it led us all the way here."
Yukaari's emergence took Professor Flintoff by surprise who remarked, "Well blow me down!"
The others huddled together and watched from a discrete distance. They could see Yukaari but not Andrea's spirit. Both Yukarii and Yukaari were able to see her and there were gasps of surprise when they carefully put the shawl around the invisible form of the girl.
Yukarii's hands passed straight through her but Yukaari was able to comfort her. She stared to cry when she was hugged but her tears soon ran dry and she marvelled at the shawl, "It's wonderful! Nobody had ever given me a gift like that before! Where the teachers pleased, truly?"
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Yukarii smiled and said happily, "Well I am glad you like it Andrea-kun! Did you know that this shawl told me it wanted to be given to you as the gift for your excellent work? " Yukarii ran her hand along the spirit's hair and continued, "And yes, your teachers were very happy. You did a great job, they all agreed."
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Very solemnly the child spirit replied, "It told you. Will it tell me anything? Like why I'm here?"
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Yukarii felt her heart break as the spirit asked if the scarf could tell her why she was there and hesitated. "I do not know if it can speak to you too. I have a very special gift to be able to touch objects and pick up on what they have to say Andrea-chan. You can try it but I think you may need to practice more before you can do it too." Knowing the spirit might take that the wrong way Yukarii continued , "That is not a bad thing though you can do some things better than me too, like be cute as a snap? Oh I know I said that wrong Andrea-chan, you can speak this language better than me too."
Yukaari, arms still around the girl, and Yukarii doing her best to mimic the same, [ finally asked, "Do you remember anything that happened before you were here Andrea-chan?"
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The spirit smiled when Yukarii called her cute. "You're nice." she said, "Not like that other women. She was a bad teacher. She was mean! She didn't like my essay, she told me so. She said it was blasphemous and I should feel bad and I'd fail my assessment. She told me I had to be punished for being so bad, it hurt so much."
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Other woman, bad personality teacher? Hmm....
Yukarii's felt sorrow and pain for what Andrea had gone through and realized she seemed to be remembering a little about what happened to her when she died. Yukarii and Yukaari hugged the girl again and said, "Well then, she was the only one and she had no business nor right to hurt you Andrea-chan." She was quite firm and angry as she spoke about the "bad teacher". "Can you tell me who the bad teacher was Andrea-chan? We will go have a very long talk with her about what she did."