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Zabu stands over the fallen zombie, hunched over, panting with exertion an animal fury. He looks over his comrades for a moment as though contemplating whether it's safe to continue venting his bloodlust.
Then, slowly, his face and fingers transform back to their original form. Still feral but no longer bestial.
He tosses Frik a wink. "Thanks for the juice, Toots," he says, looking down at his skin where it is already patched up from her healing magic.
He goes to examine the horse, the most interesting of the zombie corpses.
Zabu notices the wayfinder that Frik noticed earlier. He can see that it is inscribed with the name Clement Marten, one of the Pathfinders from your dossier. It will take some time, but someone could remove it from the zombie horse's throat with some finesse .
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Vinny lets out a yell when the last zombie falls to Zabu. "Woooo! Nice work everyone!" She looks around and surveys the very dead zombies and surroundings.
Suddenly she remembers something. "Hey, did anyone else see that person on the hill when we first showed up? I forgot to mention it earlier being distracted by..." she waves her hand at the corpses, "all of that. Maybe we should try and go after them?"
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"Whew! Hey, everyone ok?" Faerinaa rinses the zombie guts off her rapier in the fountain, the sheathes it and reloads her crossbow.
She wanders over to the horse as she sees Zabu looking down its throat, and glances between the stuck wayfinder and Vinny. "Wait, there was someone alive here? They might be one of the people we were sent to look for! We should try and catch them before they get too far away." Faerinaa looks down the horse's throat, tilting her head sideways. "That's one of the things we're here to collect though, probably don't want to leave that. It looks good and wedged in there, but I can probably get it out with a little bit of work. Maybe you all can go catch whoever Vinny saw, and I'll catch up when I have this out?"
Faerinaa pulls out her tools and begins to work on extracting the wayfinder. "I feel like I'll be ok to catch up on my own, if more zombies come I should be able to outrun or hide from them pretty easily."
Faerinaa will concentrate on her work, letting the group decide if they want to wait until she's done or go investigate the person.
As you look at the direction Vinny indicated she was someone on a hilltop, everyone but Cherbo see faint shapes on the horizon, almost like living mountains. Frik and Faerinaa are able to tell that they are in fact gargantuan zombie amalgams, and they are headed directly for Goldenflame. The figure Vinny saw was likely a scout - and you've been spotted.
Based on their size on the horizon and the size of their steps, Faerinaa estimates you only have a few hours before the zombies arrive.
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"I'm okey Faerinaa, and hope everyone else is. Well done everyone, that was a scary but necessary fight" says Farathorn with a deep tone of voice, saddened while looking around at the remainings of Goldenflame.
After hearing a lost wayfinder on the throat of the zombie horse, Farathorn says: "Atleast now we know what happened to him, his sacrifice will be remembered.". After that, Farathorn starts searching the other zombies, paying special attention to try to identify the destiny of more lost members of the Society.
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Zabu squints at the zombie mountains in the distance that are approaching. A snarling grin comes to his face and his fingers flex into talon like positions. His body tenses as though he's ready to run.
"Ah, they can wait," he says after a moment, waving dismissively towards the oncoming onslaught.
He looks around at the buildings. "Everything's close enough here we won't be too far apart from each other. You guys finish what you're doing, I'm going to check on that building. Maybe there's something useful in it." He hooks a thumb at the armory then marches to it.
He looks and listens, trying to make sure there's no traps and nothing dangerous moving inside before opening up the doors.
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"Uh oh." Faerinaa takes a quick pause from her work once the zombies in the distance are detected. She does some quick math in her head before wincing. "We've got a few hours at most before they get here. We do NOT want to be here when that happens. We're going to have to work fast." She returns to extracting the wayfinder with renewed effort.
Faerinaa is able to deftly remove the wayfinder from the horse's throat without any damage to the device.
Farathorn spends time looking at the zombie shamblers. Most appear to be former villagers, but one is different - its features are rotted and torn. Its clothing, although tattered and dirtied, was nevertheless clearly fine at one time, with a torn ruffled collar and ripped cloak. His neck
and face both show significant damage from some kind of violent strangulation and tearing from teeth.
Meanwhile, Zabu searches the armory. Empty weapon cases and crates are scattered throughout this bare-bones building. Dust outlines the faint shadows of swords and shields removed from their resting places. He finds nothing truly of note until he checks behind the building. There he finds a cart with broken axles. With a few quick repairs, it could likely be used to help transport any bodies and relics the party finds back to the lands of the living.
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Vinny roots in her bag and pulls out two flasks of Eagle Eye elixir. She drinks one herself and offers the other to anyone in the party who might want it. "Would anyone like this elixir? It will help you to notice things as we look around! Lasts about an hour."
She then follows Zabu and notices the broken cart. "Hmmm... I might be able to do something with that. It would definitely come in handy if we find anything large to take back with us!"
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Frik was glad she was filled with such green, positive energy. I got your back Zabu, well eveyrone's back. We did an excellent job.
Frik looks in that direction, O my those are gargantuan zombie amalgams! I agree lets look around and see what we can find. I will search the chapel. But first I check for any traps at or near the door. If no traps then I proceed inside. I look around for any clues, in addition to sniffing things out.
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Farathorn places a hand on the corpse that looks different to the rest and, thinking he might be a member of the society, whispers: "Your sacrifice will be remembered.". He then stands up and says to the party: "I think this one might be one of the members of the Society that stayed on Goldenflame. He surely doesn't look like a farmer or villager. We should try to retrieve the body with us." Farathorn then proceeds to examine the pathfinder dossiers provided by Venture Captain Evni and tries to match the descriptions with the body.
Farathorn approaches Vinny and takes the other Eagle Eye potion, while saying "Many thanks Vinny, I'll get you a drink when we get back to the city". If anyone mentions the cart, Farathorn tries to load the body on it and says: "Let's be quick, we must search Goldenflame and leave as soon as possible. I would like to retrieve the bodies of our fallen comrades with us.".
If Farathorn still has time to act after loading the body, he goes onto the Guardhouse, previously looking for any possible traps hidden.
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"Got it!" Faerinaa holds the wayfinder aloft before rubbing it clean of zombified horseflesh and tucking it into her sack. "Alright, I'll take...looks like the General Store. Let's see if we've got anyone or anything
interesting in here."
Faerinaa will go to the General Store, and search it for anything interesting.
Frik, searching chapel:
Dust-covered pews stand in silent rows in this small chapel, and shelves line the walls. Facsimiles of candles occupy the candelabras here—mounds of congealed wax and burned wicks.
A small corpse—charred, broken, and its features mostly burned away—rests against the pew. The corpse is covered in a layer of fine ash and scraps of charred fabric that seem to be all that remains of the clothing it once wore. Around its neck is a soot-covered chain bearing an ankh.
Despite the charred state of the corpse, you can tell it is a goblin, by the large head and pointy teeth. You also find in the debris census records and historical documents kept by the Goldenflame town council. These records detail the history of the town’s inhabitants and notable events in the town’s history, including festivals, feasts, and the like.
Vinny, repairing the wagon:
Viny is able to repair the wagon into a workable state, but it's still quite rickety. You think with another 10 minutes you could make it quite sturdy.
Faerinaa, searching general store:
As you enter the general store, you step on some spoiled, spilled food on the floor. A mold cloud puffs up and you breathe it in before you realize what's happened.
Zabu, exploring the Flaming Wheel:
A broken circular table and door, part of a makeshift barricade, rest near the entrance of this modest tavern. Other similar tables and accompanying chairs are scattered throughout the area. Long-dried blood smears decorate the floor and walls. The bar is haphazardly covered in tankards—signs of the final celebration of life.
You discover the blood-soaked body of a gnome in the tavern. The corpse has been heavily damaged by zombie teeth. A broken piece of plate armor lies nearby, bearing iconography of a flame and the hilt of a sword. Despite studying it, you have no idea what the iconography means.
Faerinaa's quick reaction nullifies the poison before it can do any more damage.
Vinny is able to strengthen the supports on the cart. She is confident it can hold however many bodies and items the group will try to carry back.
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Faerinaa finishes gasping and coughing outside the store. "Blech! There's some toxic mold in the general store, really nasty stuff. Someone else is going to have to take a look in there, I don't think my lungs can take it." Looking around and noticing that she's alone, as everyone seems to be in a building, Faerinaa shrugs and goes over to the Flaming Wheel. She pokes her head inside, finding Zabu. "Hey Zabu, there's some nasty toxic mold in general store, didn't make much progress there. Will probably need someone to see if they can deal with it later. I'm going to check this outside fenced in area. Holler if you find anything important, ok?"
Faerinaa will go and investigate the area adjacent to the Flaming Wheel.
Farathorn, searching the guardhouse:
This is a small house, where rotating knights would stay. The bed and table are crusted with a thick layer of dust. As Farathorn is about to leave, he thinks to look under the bed just in case, and discovers a low-grade cold iron buckler that was apparently forgotten there.
Cherbo, searching the apothecary:
Grime-caked and smashed glass cases occupy much of this apothecary, and dusty shelves line many of the walls. A door to the northwest leads to an emptied storage closet.
After rummaging around for several minutes, Cherbo finds an armful of valuable scented candles, oils, and dried herbs used for aromatic, medical, or therapeutic purposes. The undead had no interest in such things and left them alone.
Frik, exiting the chapel:
As Frik exits, the chapel, a (living) horse cautiously approaches the gnome and her feline companion, coming from behind the house to the west. The horse's barding features a large engraving of the Glyph of the Open Road and gold-and-green caparisons.
Frik recognizes the colors as those of Katapesh. The horse's saddle bears both an engraving of the horse’s name, "Desert Wind", as well as the name “Larraz Virtanne.”
Faerinaa, searching outside the Flaming Wheel:
There's nothing of note in the fenced-in area; it was just a place for people to stable their horses when staying at the tavern. However, the sign of the tavern itself catches Faerinaa's eye, and she recognizes that it would be something Venture-Captain Evni would want them to collect.
As she studies it further, she notices that the chain links holding the sign in place are fairly rusty. If she got a good hold of the sign she could probably pull it free without issue.
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"Hm, maybe? There was one, Kallil Thimbleberry or something like that. Worshipper of Shelyn, some type or performer or bard? Let me see the body." Faerinaa will check the body briefly before heading out to the yard, looking for any identifying characteristics. She'll also see if she recognizes the symbology on the plate shard. If she doesn't find anything in a minute or so she'll come back later for a more thorough search.
Zabu doesn't find any more bodies in the guest rooms, but he does discover a purse containing 10sp that was left on one of the bedside tables.
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Cherbo exits the apothecary, satisfied with his haul. He scans the square, sees Vinny working to stabilize an old wagon, and walks over, taking care not to drop anything.
"Great work! This will really help us out, especially once we start finding these... missing folks." He sighs, staring back out at the square. He turns to look for a small crate to hold his armload of bottles, and assuming he finds one nearby, he packs everything up and gingerly places it in the wagon.
He again turns to face the town square and what remains of the fountain in the center. Strangely drawn to it, he walks back to inspect the platform and the stagnant pools.
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Faerinaa shrugs when she looks at the symbol. "I don't recognize it or the gnome off hand. We should probably just grab the plate and figure it out later, I'll come back after I'm done outside to help see if I can identify the gnome." Faerinaa will do just that, sticking the plate in her bag before heading out.
Faerinaa goes and searches the area outside the flaming wheel, and realizes that the sign itself would be considered worthy of preservation. She sees a few footholds, and flips herself up into position to shove the sign off its mounting.
Cherbo finds nothing of note at the fountain, but he does notice a horse cautiously approach Frik as she's leaving the chapel.
Vinn confirms that the items Cherbo found, while valuable, hold nothing useful to adventurers. They are creams, elixirs, etc. that were used by the town's alchemist to help care for the villagers.
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"Hey Frik, Cherbo, Vinny!" Faerinaa calls from her position trying to pry the sign free as she sees her companions exit the respective areas where they were working. "I tried looking into the general store, but got hit with some nasty toxic mold and couldn't finish. Any of you feel up to dealing with that?"
Vinny manages to avoid setting off additional mold spores, but is having a hard time removing them from where they've attached to the store floor.
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I grabbed the census records and historical documents from the chapel.
Frik takes the horse and ties it up to a near by tree before helping Faerinaa and Vinny. I head over to where they are at. Mold you say that is toxic. I am good at dealing with such things. I think I may be able to remove them from the floor. Permafrost waits at a distance from me but not to far.
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Since most of the town has been explored by the rest of the party, Farathorn leaves the iron buckler he has found on the Guardhouse on the wagon and goes over the bodies found by everyone else, loading them one by one with the utmost on the wagon for later transportation.
He also spends any additional time he can trying to identify them, and in case he does he keeps track of it on a piece of paper, whispering some prayers to Iomedae in their memory. When the party finishes exploring everything the town has to offer, Farathorn proposes:
"If we are finished here, we should head to the Goldenflame College. I think we have gone through everything those damned zombies left behind."
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Zabu stands with arms akimbo after searching the tavern, contemplating the small town as a whole.
He turns, shading his eyes as he looks at the mountains of undead flesh coming toward them appraisingly.
Apparently he comes to some decision because he shrugs and comes to the cart.
"Never thought I'd be doing work like this when I started working with the Pathfinder Society," he says looking at the macabre contents.
"Think we can get him hooked up to this so we don't have to push?" he continues, nodding toward the horse.
Desert Wind shies away from Frik's touch. It knows this group removed the undead from the village, but it's still uneasy around people it isn't familiar with. Still, he doesn't run away.
Frik is able to remove the mold from the general store, and in the process finds a bag of rolled oats on one of the shelves, miraculously unspoiled.
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Frik is happy to find unspoiled oats, she can give it to Desert Wind and hope to make an impression on it. I say I will give the horse the oats in hopes we can use the horse to pull the wagon. I walk up to Desert Wind and talk calmly to it. There, there we are friends and will not hurt you. I grab a handful of oats and hold out my palm with oats in hand.
Frik takes the newly discovered oats over to Desert Wind, and feeds them to him while whispering in his ear. By the time he's eaten a few handfuls, he's nuzzling Frik on the head and chuffing happily.
Although run down, Goldenflame College still bears signs of its once-beautiful architecture: dirty and ivy-wrapped columns, majestic archways, and a partially intact stained-glass window portraying Iomedae herself.
Farathorn, Frik, and Cherbo recognize the architecture as the pre-Chelaxian style that was popular in Vellumis.
Two wide staircases lead into the college, and centered above them is the religious symbol of Iomedae. Engraved into the graying stone is “Goldenflame College, Est. 4083 ar.” A pair of sweeping staircases lead to a veranda across the entire front of the college, with entrances to a reception area and the main hall on either side. Lying face down on the porch is a body. This small corpse’s hand is outstretched to the door of Goldenflame College. The body is clad in dirtied white-and-red robes with gold trim, shredded from the back as though by cruel claws. A small notebook has fallen nearby, its pages stained with dried blood.
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"Good job calming the horse Frik, you have a good hand for animals" praises Farathorn to Frik after her success with Desert Wind.
As Farathorn approaches Goldenflame College, he quickly identifies the symbols of Iomedae in both a stained-glass window and in the center of the staircases. "Iomedae, please guide my sword in these dark and perilous times" prays the half-orc, feeling better at the idea that even in such a hostile environment, his faith is still strong and present.
He then rejoins the group and approaches the body on the porch. Farathorn tries to examine the body and look for any leads on what happened to him or anything else that can help to identify him.
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After depositing the sign on the cart, Faerinaa will head back to the Flaming Wheel to inspect the gnome. "Lets see if there's anything we can find out about this poor gnome, shall we?"
Faerinaa will search the gnome's body and the immediate surroundings.
After she's done, Faerinaa will come out to the cart (carrying the body unless she finds some identification indicating it is not Kallili).
"Ok! I think we've had someone search just about everywhere." Faerinaa will take a peek at the approaching zombies to gauge their progress. "I know we've got to get out of here fast, but we're not coming back. Let's do one final pass, each person do a quick search of one of the building you personally haven't checked out. More eyes, less chance of accidentally missing something important; people search differently. If we're ok with risking the time, I'll take the cathedral since I've been in the general store and the flaming wheel."
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Cherbo turns back from admiring the fountain and walks to the church, carefully collecting anything of historical relevance, and searches again while doing so to make sure nothing was overlooked.
He bundles any important documents he finds and adds those to the cart, along with anything else he discovers, and prepares to continue on to the college.
Faerinaa: Zabu has already discovered everything possible from a Perception check, you could attempt a Religion check to identify the iconography on the plate shard that was by the body, or a Society check to identify the organization that uses the style of armor worn by the knight.
Frik: Frik finds nothing additional in the apothecary, Cherbo seems to have already found everything of note.
Vinny: Vinny double-checks the armory, but the cart out back was truly the only thing of note.
Zabu: I'll mark that as loaded onto the cart. So that we can all stay on the same page, I've added slide 9 to show what's been loaded onto the cart.
Cherbo: You find the same goblin corpse Frik discovered earlier. You can tell that the flames that burned the body were magical.
Farathorn: You could make an Academia Lore or Society check (Society check at higher DC) to read the notebook. You could also make a Medicine or Perception (higher DC) to investigate the corpse. Because you follow Iomedae, you automatically recognize that the clothing on the corpse is the style of dress favored by priests and adherents of Iomedae.