[PFS2] GM Rinaldo's The Mosquito Witch (#1-02) (Inactive)

Game Master The Great Rinaldo!

"Agreed, lets continue with the plan and speak with Ms. Riza. Then, we can continue to the Blacksmith next to see if they have any insight on this ore."

You go to the home Galia indicated belongs to Ms. Ruza. You knock on the door, and it opens just a crack. A wizened face looks at you, then screams. The door opens a bit more and you are splashed with water, then the door slams shut and you hear muttering behind it.

Further attempts to communicate with Ms. Ruza are unsuccessful.

----------------------

You move on to the smithy. As you approach, you see that the forge is operating, and the smoke coming from it is keeping the mosquitos at bay, providing a smelly relief from the constant buzzing and biting.

A muscular red-haired woman notices you approach, and puts down her hammer. "Welcome, strangers. What can I get you today?"

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Lissi just catches sight of the holy symbol on the water vial before she takes it in the face and the door slams shut.

She sputters a bit, wiping it out of her eyes. She gets no sensation from the liquid, but It screams in rage and fear in the back of her mind, reduced to a hissing mutter somewhere at the back of her conscious thought.

Huh. Duly noted.

She turns to the others. "I don't know what she said, but I suspect it was something along the lines of 'go away, demons,' since she just doused me with holy water."

---

When they reach the smithy, Lissi hides somewhat behind the dwarf, staring in awe at the size of the woman.

Ezekiel holds up the ore they got from the Tanner, showing it to muscular woman.

"Apologies for interrupting your crafting, but we had questions regarding this ore. To my best estimate it's a material called magnetite and might have been found in the local area. Would you by chance have any knowledge about this material and where more could be found?

Kamil follows, ready to jump in if his help is needed.

Dob likewise toddles along.

The woman looks at the stone, and nods. "Well, that might explain it. That woman with the gold armor came in here a couple of weeks back asking for a new compass. Said hers was busted. I saw her again later and asked how it was working, and she said it was doing the same thing as the first, so it must not have been the compass. I wonder if she ran across some of that?"

She thinks a moment and adds, "No idea exactly where she was, other than out in the woods looking for the Mosquito Witch. Same as you folks, I assume?"

"Interesting. I don't suppose you have another compass for sale then?"

Anyone got a compass in their gear?

"Or maybe hers, still?"

Or, you know, a Wayfinder

Negative.

I don't

Yes, good catch Dob. turning to the woman, Kamil asks Have you kept her previous compass? We will be happy to purchase it, if you do.

"No, she kept hers, but I do have one you can buy."

She goes into her shop and comes back with a compass. As expected, the needle pulls toward the piece of metal when brought near.

Standard rates apply. :-)

Kamil buys the compass.

Lets continue our investigation in town, may be we will learn something else.

"So, perhaps this compass will lead us toward more of this metal, should it be nearby," Vengis muses.

I'm good with going to Rosa next

Lissi, having nothing to add to this particular conversation anyway, continues to stare in awe at the towering blacksmith. When they leave, she gives a meek wave to the red-headed woman before hurrying off to rejoin the others.

"Indeed, lets continue on to the one Galia told us about, Rosa. Her might have some additional information that can shed more light on our situation."

To Rosa we go. I assume Kamil will keep an eye on the Compass to see if it starts acting screwy.

I think you mean "Ruza", which would be the woman who splashed holy water on you.

Nope, I've got her on my list of ones we've visited already. Unless I'm missing something, on the map of the town (which I'm assuming was filled out from details provided by Galia) there's a notation of Rosa Hart, the brewer, on A2. We haven't visited her yet. Ms. Ruza is listed as A7.
If that's a mistake and we're not supposed to know about Rosa yet, we can skip her and move on to the next one on our list, the Bell Family.

Ah, on my master list she's "Hart's Brewery", so I forgot her first name. :-)

You make your way next to the brewery. A dark skinned woman with a weary look greets you as you enter. "Hello there. I'm afraid I don't have much to offer at the moment. Haven't been able to get enough clean water and ingredients to brew anything lately. I have a few bottles of brandy, if you're interested."

For the first time everyone sees an odd reaction on Ezekiel's face at the offer of a beverage, and he physically retracts for a moment before reaching into his bag and taking out a water skin, drinking from it reflexively.

"Thank you, but I always carry my own drink, but your mentioning of the clean water or ingredients for brewing is interesting. Did something happen recently to give cause to the halting of your profession?"

She chuckles. "Death by altruism. Sold everything off for cash to help people who were hurt worse than me by all of this. Now I don't have enough to get going again."

She considers purchasing some brandy--she's never had it before--but the idea of her will being compromised and being open to It taking over makes her shudder and shake her head. "What happened to the water to soil it?"

"It's not so much about being soiled as how fresh it is ... water that sits still too long becomes a lovely place for mosquitos to breed. I have to go further to get to the good clean, moving water, and even then that's only half of it. I don't have the money for fresh ingredients, and not much is growing here these days."

She takes a pull from a small bottle and shakes her head.

Vengis rubs his eyes, already wearied by all the investigations. Though they had learned some interesting things, they seemed far from a solution.

"So--where do you go for water that's clean and moving?" he asks.

Bhadrim pulls on his beard.

"Have you seen anything odd on your travels for fresh water? Aside from all of the insects?"

"You want to look for running water, then follow it uphill to its source, maybe a spring or a place where a stream runs through some rocks. Downhill you're more likely to find a pond where the bugs are going to nest."

"And I haven't gone looking for weeks. There's no point if I can't get ingredients ... or customers."

Vengis has one follow-up question for her. "Have you, by chance, seen any strange metals where you have looked for water? Perhaps sticking out of the ground?"

She shakes her head. "No, but then I don't really pay attention to that sort of thing."

Lissi looks around the store, biding time. It sounds like another dead end, but she can't shake the feeling they're missing something important in all this, either because they haven't heard about it yet or because it's right under their noses and they're not seeing it. "Is there anyone else left to talk to in town?" she asks the party.

"Have you noticed any stranger visitors around recently besides ourselves? Anyone else asking around about the happenings in the village?" Ezekiel asked, wanting to get as much detail out of the brewer as possible.

Looking over to Lissi as he waited for Rosa's answer, Ezekiel whispered, "We still have to visit the the Bell family and the Baker. Plus there are a few other locations like the abandoned farm and the shrine we should investigate as well."

"Կարծում եմ, որ այս քաղաքում մենք ստիպված կլինենք խոսել բոլորի հետ: Կամ ես կարող էի նրանց աչքերը հանել, մինչև որ նրանք մեզ որևէ օգտակար բան չասեն," the cat says.

Vengis nods. "Let us visit this Bell family, then," he suggests.

"Have you noticed any stranger visitors around recently besides ourselves? "

"There have been a few adventurers. Some woman with a dog has been around. And the other woman with the gold armor. Probably a few more. I haven't been out much, and no one comes to buy anything when there's nothing to buy."

"Understood, we thank you for your time. Rest assured, we aim to get to the bottom of this situation as soon as possible."

Turning to his colleagues, Ezekiel addresses them with his scholarly tone.

"My curiosity is fulfilled. Unless there are any additional protests, let us proceed to the Bell family."

Dob nods, seeming to struggle to pay attention as yet another villager describes how they shut themselves off from the world and gave into despair. He mutters something about getting paid.

Lets go.

Lissi follows the others to the Bell family, slightly regretting not having bought any brandy. There will be other things to experience here, I'm sure. She sighs, not particularly mollified by the thought, but she knows she made the right decision. She's actually pretty curious about the abandoned farm; that sounds particularly interesting.

Bhadrim nods in agreement, as the group heads for the next destination.

You go to the home of the Bell family. The family is clearly destitute, but they are friendly even if somewhat weary. Mr. Bell greets you at the door, his wife and three children visible inside. "Hello?"

"Hi!" Dob smiles at the children. "I'm sure you've heard something similar already, but we're here to see if we can help with all these bugs and worse. We wanted to listen to your experience of them and see if there's anything that will help us end all these troubles."

The man says, "I haven't had any 'experience', really, just all of the bugs."

His wife comes to stand next to him, then suddenly shrieks and points at the dismembered doll's head on Dob's belt. "Get rid of that thing! The Mosquito Witch can see through its eyes!"

She then runs back into the house and shoos the children into a back room. Mr. Bell looks nervous and says, "Sorry about the yelling, but it's true - she'll watch you through that. Get rid of it! And good luck hunting her!"

He then closes the door.

Vengis had been about to say something when the door is shut in their faces.

"Well, that was incredibly fruitful. Let's visit the baker. So far, my recommendation is that they leave this town, raze all the buildings, and salt the fields."

"That seems like a conclusion brought about by reason. Seems like this town has no place for that kind of thinking." Dob says, tone denoting irony or sarcasm.

Desesperate time, desesperate mesures... says Kamil

Lissi shrugs. "I have never understood you tall folk and your obsession with 'homes,' anyway. I have had no home since I was a baby, and I turned out fine." She scratches her temple as It starts whispering again.

Yes... salt the fields... salt the earth... kill them down to the bones of their soil...

She coughs. "Mostly."

The only person in town you have not yet spoken to is Anna Marmazine, the baker. A gnome with rose colored hair and yellow eyes, she is pleasant, but like Galia, looks at Lissi with a slightly sad expression.

"Here investigating the Mosquito Witch, are you? Well, you know that most of what people tell you isn't true. The real witch doesn’t drink blood; she drinks tears. Her victims lose the ability to cry, and then the ability to feel, and they waste away and get colder and meaner as they get thinner and thinner. That’s what happened to Ms. Mordha Lyons."

Vengis raises an eyebrow.

"This isn't what most people here think. Where did you hear this? And why do you think that happened to Ms. Lyons?"

She looks at you and replies, "Most people accept whatever story interests them the most. I research! Look for the threads that don't get as much retelling, and see where they came from!"

"And so, where does your research point to, dear woman?" Dob asks, daring to let a hint of hope into his voice.

Bhadrim raises an eyebrow at the vivid description, but remains silent for the moment.