Morgan's sympathetic attitude and comforting hand seems to shake Ibor back to reality as he lets out a deep sigh. "Harker has been meeting Katherine Vinder here at midnight for weeks now, they're worried about Ven finding out you see. Harker was cooking the books so that they could run away together. I just don't understand how this happened, I've never seen anything like it." Ibor continues to answer questions but its clear he knows nothing else of use.
"Oh yes, Vasia, that was a pleasant conversation indeed!" His forehead furrows as he thinks through information about the rune. "Well you know about Thassilon my dear, the Runelords and Emperor Xin of course. The Sihedron Rune signifies the seven virtues of rule, and of course, their accompanying schools of magic. We both know, my dear, that the Runelords were anything but virtuous and I believe that their famous sins are corruptions of the Thassilonian virtues. In any event, the Sihedron Rune is certainly a symbol of power and it may well have stood for the empire itself. Whoever uses it is almost certainly a scholar of some capacity as it is no well known. Why exactly do you ask my dear?" Brodert asks with one still on Sabriyya's basket of treats.
Unsure as to whether they should be discussing details of the murder with others, Vasia looks uncomfortable.
"It was carved into the chest of someone killed in a rather ritualistic fashion recently," she finally says, deciding to be open about it. "Any ideas about what kind of ritual that might relate to?"
"You might want to stay away from this one..." Morgana suggests to Amethyst. "Venn will probably be more open if it's just me..." She leaves unspoken the truly ridiculous things that were floating around town about Amethyst and Shayliss.
Arriving at the general good store Morgana waits until the shop is empty and closes the door behind her. "Mr Vinder? I'm afraid I have bad news..."
Throughout the outpouring of emotion that follows Morgana schools herself to remain calm. "We want to catch the thing that did this Venn. Is there anything you can tell us? Anything at all that might help? We'll make them pay, I promise."
Sabriyya keeps bribing the older man with treats while they continue their discussion on Thassilon. "Thank you, Brodert. As Vasia mentions, we are helping the Sheriff with a murder where we found the symbol. We were hoping to ask you for some additional information that we could use to better track down this murderer and stop them before they kill again."
Melody tries just to be quiet. Quiet, but suspicious. He looks old, but maybe he's faking, and is really one of those GHASTS. Melody slips a little closer and takes a deep breath through her nose to see if she can catch any lingering dead rotting smell off of the tart eater.
The shopkeeper looks up with red-rimmed eyes, he's clearly been informed of Katherine's death already. He listens to Morgana in silence and then breaks out into a long and fluent torrent of invective. In amongst the curses Morgana hears a number of aspersions against Amethyst's general character, an even larger number against Banny Harker and a lot of lamentations about his daughter's taste in men.
It takes a long time for the shopkeeper to wear himself out, but Morgana is unable to learn anything useful, apart from the fact that Vinder is a devoted, and extremely emotional father - not that anyone in Sandpoint could possibly doubt that fact.
"I can't think of anything my dear." Quink says, after a long pause. "Could it be someone trying to confuse you? Or some sort of dedication to ancient Thassilon? There is no-one else in town who would know about it apart from myself, and my daughter can confirm that I was here all night."
Melody gets a strong whiff of old man, but nothing that suggests that Brodert Quink's longevity might be due to a 'living impairment'.
---------------------------------------
With the various leads in Sandpoint proper having led to dead ends, the only remaining option is to venture forth to the Saintly Haven of Respite, better known as Habe's Sanitorium. It sits about an hour from the town environs, a squat, stone building built into the less of the limestone escarpment known as the Ashen Rise. The building is solidly built, with a stone-flagged roof and stout wooden doors. The whole place is quite intimidating.
Knocking on the door eventually produces a hulking figure with stubby horns and dark purple skin. He unlocks the door, which appears to be a complex process, and opens it without speaking. The room beyond is a plain whitewashed one, holding a desk and three chairs. The porter tugs on a bell-rope, causing a deep clanging further into the building and then waits, still unspeaking until a sallow-faced man with a purple turban emerges from one of the other doors.
"Thank you Gortus, I'll deal with this." He says and the tiefling disappears through the same door the doctor used. He sits behind the desk and looks across you all, apparently trying to decide who to address. "My name is Erin Habe, doctor and specialist in mental disorders. Which one of you is the patient?"
"Oh no, it's nothing like that." Sabriyya says, stepping to the front. "We're here to speak to the bodyguard who was a sole survivor of some gruesome attack recently."
She raises a basket of fresh delights and says "I brought some sweets to share. Here. Have a cookie. It will help take away that frown of yours."
Patient? I'll show him who the patient is!
Vasia ignores Jenica's ire-filled comments in her head and nods at the man with a smile. "Yes, we're simply investigating a recent murder and wish to get a first-hand report."
Melody wonders for a moment which one of the heroes WOULD be the mostly likely patient. If one had to choose, that is.
One has their great grandmother in her head, one switches forms as easy as others switch socks, one tries to solve EVERYTHING with sugary goodness, and then there is Morgana...
Back to the matter at hand, she tugs on a sleave or another "Um... should we tell him the sheriff sent us?" she asks whoever looks down.
"No." Morgana replies, crouching down to speak softly to Melody. "Let's save that in case they can't convince him first." She looks around the room and then shudders slightly.
"I don't like this place Melody - keep a sharp eye out, just in case."
As she stands the paladin scans the doctor's aura - something has to be causing the unpleasant shivering sensation down her spine.
Amethyst stands behind Sabriyya, eyeing the "good" doctor suspiciously. He remains silent for now, but ready to act should things take a turn.
Melody nods and keeps her eyes open.
"Why, yes. A more unusual request." He says, his eye twitching slightly at the request. "I will allow you to interview him but only under supervision as he is a danger to himself and others."
"Come through to the kitchen while I send the orderlies to collect the patient."
He leads you through into a large room which seems mostly disused apart from a simple and somewhat dirty kitchen area at the back. Habe knocks on two doors and the tiefling you met at the entrance emerges along with another who could almost be his twin. The tewo outsiders recieve their orders and depart from another door, their footsteps fading as they climb the stairs.
You wait for several minutes until thudding sounds herald the arrival of the orderlies and Grayst Sevilla. Grayst's skin is pale and looks gangrenous, his hair wild and eyes milky white.
As he is dragged towards you, you can hear Grayst mumbling. "Razors....too many teeth.....the skinsaw man."
His milky eyes fix on Vasia and he lets out a shriek. "He said, he said you would visit me. His Lordship. The One that unmade me said so. He has a place for you. A precious place. Im so jealous. He has a message for you. He made me remember it. I hope I haven't forgotten. Master wouldn't approve if I forgot. Let me see...He said, that if you came to his Misgivings, that if you joined his Pack he would end his harvest in your honour."
Grayst collapses to the floor and just as the orderlies reach down to pick him up again his moans soar in pitch and he wrenches his way out of the old straight jacket lunging for Vasia as he does so.
Amethyst has no idea what the madman is talking about, but when he lunges for Vasia, the magus quickly steps up to intervene, blasting Grayst with a spray of swirling colors!
Morgana is between Vasia and Sevilla in an instant, her sword levelled towards the mental patient. "Don't come any closer!" She warns.
The doctor is hiding something," Vasia whispers to Morgana as they walk along.
When Sevilla is brought before them, she pales and reaches out to grab the paladin's arm. "Stay back from him; He carries Ghoul Fever!" she says to the others loudly.
She stumbles back in shock at his declaration.
Sabriyya hexes him with an evil eye and then begins to cackle!
There is just SO much to SEE, and hear, and smell. The damp depression, the hollow echoing, are those tieflings, Giant tieflings, who just stare grunts. Melody can just imagine the dolls. And a purple turban! Clashing with everything around like it screams I am the most important, Look at me!!
Instead she looks at Morgana, comparing hats between doctor and paladin. Melody decides Morgana wins.
Then there is screaming and someone charging the real life BunBun, true to form being the center of being attacked. "Um... what should... I... OH" she waves her hands, and shouts "Be Pretty!" before a spray of sparkling glitter pours over the poor sick man.
The being that was once Grayst Sevilla entirely ignores the explosion of colour in front of him, however succombs to the shaman's hex and then shakes his head wildly as he becomes blinded by the shimmering particles that envelop him.
He carries on throwing himself towards Vasia, but must get through Morgana first and stumbles heavily, instead attacking Morgana in his confusion.
"this place would make a story, not a happy one, Oh, maybe the heroes could wake up here all in a pile" she bunches her hands together to show the pile, then raises a knuckle and wiggles it to show BunBun's fluffy bottom on top. "But no one knows who they are and why they are in a hospital. There could be people who look like other people, people like him." she points to the Pretty man ghoul. "What do you think?"
Sabriyya continues to cackle behind her companions, staring at Grayst Sevilla and further inflicting him another hex.
Amethyst empowers his scarf and attacks!
Vasia concentrates and sends out a pulse of positive energy in an attempt to put down the poor man.
Morgana doesn't attempt to pull any punches - Sabriyya can bring the man back and she isn't going to let him get to Vasia.
Grayst falls to the floor as his hands outreach to scratch Morgana again under the flurry of strikes that land upon him.
Habe rushes back in just as Grayst falls having heard the ordeal, as the two orderlies look on, taken aback at the reaction.
"Oh my, I never thought he posed a danger...I'd never have let you see him if I thought he would cause you harm. Please. Please do not let word of this leave this place or I will be shut down for good?" The Psychiatrist says, stuttering with panic, eyes bulging in surprise, hands shaking.
"Take better care of your patients then!" Morgana says firmly. "Rest assured that if any of my family should ever have a problem, I will not be bringing them here!"
She puts an arm around Vasia's shoulder and starts guiding her towards the door. "I don't think we're going to learn anything else here."
Once they're outside she hmm's. "His Misgivings? Where, or what, on earth is that?"
"I don't know if that's what the message is referring to, but there's an an abandoned estate south of Sandpoint that everyone calls 'The Misgivings'.," Vasia says. Her eyes widen a bit. "Someone told me that its original name was Foxglove Manor. Do you think Aldern is connected with the estate? I hope nothing has happened to him."
"um..." Melody doesn't want to talk to the doctor, not one bit. But she looks at the retreating Morgana, and then the doctor, and then everyone else and then speaks up "Excuse me, sir. Did he have anything on him when he came in? Anything that might help us understand why he did this? Or anything else that he said while you were... treating him?" she really has no idea what treatment he was doing. The study of psychiatry is beyond her areas of expertise.
"You may well say I am a bad psychiatrist Madam, but surely I will not share with you his confidential personal effects or any other information he has not given you willingly!" The man says defiantly at both Melody and Morgana, showing outrage before realising his quick reaction may cause further offense. "Look, take these as an apology. They are not his personal effects but were just...found next to him. Noone can say Im giving you anything I shouldn't." He says, still stuttering, s,eemingly switching from one point of view to another. It hard to make sense of the man himself, he is clearly scared out of his wits with the prospect of you sharing this information.
He opens one of the disused cupboards and pulls out a wrap, inside of which is a potion of cure moderate wounds, a wand of false life and a coin purse (11pp, 4gp, 13sp).
At first, Melody is eager to see the stuff, Hopeful, but "We don't care about..." the halfling struggles to find the word until she shouts it "" her big eyes turning pleading, "We want to know who is Killing people so these people can stop them. You need them to know everything that might help. Or... or... someone else die, more than one, families, strangers, You!."
"Please help us."
Sabriyya scoops up said loot. "This is evidence, I'm taking it into our possession for examination and will make a determination on delivering it to the proper authorities if it is not required for further use in this investigation."
With a nod, she turns to Habe and says "What else are you telling us?"
"There is nothing else to tell." Habe replies, making an obvious effort to pull himself together. "Sheriff Hemlock brought him in a few days ago and asked me to take care of him. He brought a bag of things as well, including those." He gestures at the items Sabriyya is holding. "The man will be dead in a few days I fear, there is nothing I can do to reverse his condition but I'm doing my best to keep him as comfortable as I can - you can see why. Now, if you will excuse me, I must go upstairs and see that he is being properly cared for."
Vasia knows of the Misgivings but it's a long trip, the better part of a full days' journey from Sandpoint and well out of travelling distance now unless you intend to arrive after midnight. Therefore you return to Sandpoint to enjoy Ameiko's cooking and ponder over the mystery of the murders.
The next morning those of you at the Rusty Dragon are awakened by an ungodly commotion downstairs. Rushing down to the common room you find Ameiko trying to calm down an old man with a white beard, flecked with foam and dirt. He appears to be in a state of terrible distress. Ameiko looks around with relief.
"Thank the gods, can you calm him down? I don't want to hurt him but he's going to wreck something in a minute! I sent Bethana for the sheriff."
Sabriyya half-heartedly tries to calm the man down and yells "Hey you! Calm down before you scare everyone!"
Vasia turns a frustrated gaze on Sabriyya before attempting to catch the distressed man's attention.
"It's okay, good sir," she says in a soft voice, trying to meet his eyes. "We just want to help. How about you sit down and have something to drink and tell us what's wrong?"
Morgana arrives at the same time as the Sheriff, having met him on the way down to the Rusty Dragon. Both look slightly puffed, as though they've come at some speed!
Vasia's soothing presence, and perhaps equally the offer of beer, manages to calm the man down so that by the time Morgana and Sheriff Hemlock arrive he's reasonably calm and able to explain himself.
"Started a cuppla days back. Ma said she saw the scarecrow on the Hambly place walkin! Didn't think nuthin of it, she's always been a bit nuts but den me neighbour, Old Bill said he seen the same fing!" The farmer, who the sheriff addressed as Maester Grump, takes a deep draught of beer, his hands trembling.
"We all 'eard the screams. Saw the figures on the moor. Figured we could 'andle it. So a bunch of us menfolk got together and took the dogs to 'e Hambly place. Things just ain't been right there. But when we got there we was attacked! Thin people, moved all jerky till they got their 'ands on you and started... started feedin!" His voice rises to a wail. "They even et the dogs!"
Then the old man's eyes roll back and he collapses in a dead faint. Sheriff Hemlock doesn't look much better as he digests the story.
"This is serious!" He says, looking at you all. "These scarecrows... people eating people alive... if there's an undead infestation or something then it needs to be dealt with and soon! Can you go and take a look? If you go today while the sun is up that should help - plenty of undead don't like the sun?" It would be more convincing if his voice hadn't risen into a question. "I can detach a few of the militia to come with you if you want, but they're mostly still green - honestly, you're our best hope at this point." He finishes bluntly.
"More undead," Vasia says quietly with a frown. "I wonder if this has anything to do with the ghast?" She shakes and then nods her head as if in response to an internal conversation. "Yes, I know," she says finally before looking at the others. "I had hoped to visit the Foxglove estate, but this sounds like it should be done first."
Melody has heard stories like this before. Nighttime tales in the orphanage, stickmen coming to eat you, things in teh fields to grab you from the corn, TEETH so big and wide. Stories of horror, orphans did those well. So well that no one would sleep for nights on end.
Now, these women were going to take on the horrors. Melody looks at them in wonder, proud to be hanging on. "... saving the day again, the heroes go forth to protect the countryside..." she whispers, knowing they won't say no.
"Of course we will investigate!" Morgana says firmly. "We can leave within the hour I imagine. If Ameiko doesn't mind providing coffee." She adds, slightly louder.
She doesn't continue the conversation with the farmer in earshot but once they have some space she nods to Vasia. "Those thin people who ate each other could be ghouls... Ghasts can make ghouls I believe so it could all be connected. You're right though sweetheart, we have to visit Foxglove Manor soon. We might even be able to go after the farm..." She hums for a few moments. "Yes, I think we could do it. While I think about it I need to get my bow - if we're fighting in big fields then shooting things down might be the best option."
"Are we riding again?" Sabriyya asks cautiously, "We still have those nice animals Mr. Foxglove purchased for us."
The shaman puts her arm around Melody and pulls her tight, "Of course we're going to save the day again. We'll be right by each others side throughout it all. Say. Would you like some cheesecake?"
Melody worry slips away at the prospect of cheesecake (and the addition of a warm shoulder hug). Her big eyes nod up and down as she says "yes please"
Squeezing the halfling, Sabriyya's eyes twinkle with delight and she says "Wonderful! I'll stop by the bakery on our way out to pick up a special slice just for you."
Picking up Amethyst, who was still in bed claiming 'beauty sleep', you set out for the Hambley farm on your horses. The journey takes two hours or more, Maester Grump must have been truly afraid to have hurried the entire way to Sandpoint on foot during the dark of the night.
Despite the bright sun of the day there is a chill in the air as you approach the farm, as though there is some sort of invisible cloud over the entire area. In the fields around the farm stand a dozen or more scarecrows, all dressed in ragged clothes and hanging like fruit from some sort of demented tree.
Activating her finely tuned senses Morgana is able to determine which of the scarecrows are in fact merely stuffed and which are not... The first one nearly catches the group by surprise but Jenica's undead nature makes her immune to the ghouls paralytic claws and a barrage of arrows, bolts, flying stones and unkind words swiftly ends the undead creature's misery.
This becomes the day's grim work - approaching close enough for Morgana to sense the creature and then dispatching it at a distance while Jenica acts as a road-block for the two or three wretched monsters that manage to actually free themselves from their bindings. The only lighter moment in this bloody and unpleasant work is the discovery of two living people, Horran and Lettie Guffmin who have been gagged and tied to poles like the rest in some sort of cruel joke. Both are clearly suffering from ghoul fever but Horran manages to thank you in a desperately dry voice.
"There's half a dozen hiding in the barn..." He whispers, recovering his voice somewhat once offered water. "They're hiding in there, hoping that we'll die soon. And I think there's one in the house... I heard movement - the door... please, take us home!"
About fifty feet of hard-packed earth separates the slightly ramshackle house from the large barn. Hambley clearly cared more about his animals than his own comfort and the barn's roof is well cared for and free of moss, which is more than can be said of the house. The stench carried on the wind from the barn however is truly vile and confirms what Horran is saying - there's definitely ghouls in there...
Moving down the road and feeling the chill in the otherwise sunny day, Vasia brings her horse to a halt. "I should bring Bunica forth," she says to Morgana's questioning glace. She centers herself and a minute later the phantom appears. She looks somewhat stronger now.
~~~~~
Vasia looks over the couple and does what she can for them.
"We should see to the barn first," she says drawing a steadying breath. She turns to look at the house before they enter the larger structure.
Jenica looks around to find Melody and quickly closes the distance with the halfling. Ignoring Sibrayya's no-doubt disapproving look, she gives Melody a quite less-than-chaste kiss.
"Hello, my Lovely," she says when she finally lets the small woman come up for air. "Did you miss me?"
Melody tastes of cheesecake, thanks to Sweets, and gives as slow slightly drunk nod with bright eyes. She lightly sings "The world looks mighty good to me when Jenica is all I see." then she gives the ghost a hug, burying herself in the smell of her.
---------------
The scarecrows are too scary, and she is truly happy Morgana can see them for what they are. Just imagining them breaking free when they in the cornfields is enough to make a bladder release. "... half a dozen! Could we just set the barn on fire?"
"No-one is going to want this farm for many years..." Morgana says slowly, in a tone which suggests agreement.
Sabriyya nods in agreement, "I concur, however, I should voice two concerns I have."
"First. What if there is someone in there, hiding or injured?"
"Second. What if there is evidence in there we need?"
"We can't take the risk that there might be survivors in there," Vasia says, speaking up and agreeing with Sabriyya. "Bunica can go in first to see if there are any living beings still there."
"Yeah. I guess I can," Jenica says, clearly not happy about the idea, though. "I'll see if I can sneak in and out without alerting whatever undead beasties are lurking about."