There's no iconography on the outside of the building
Small towns and colonies like this often have one building that serves as a place of worship for multiple deities.
I'm going to assume you ask Salaamati to leave the building first
If you find something how long will you concentrate?
"Temple, maybe, perhaps, or other place of gathering. Are there local gods here? Perhaps we should find out, yes yes." Sette trails after the sorceress, sniffing the air curiously.
"Community of this size, either they recruited colonists who all worship the same god, or this temple has to serve for several gods."
Triix puts out her mental feelers and instantly registers something.
After concentrating for a moment she can tell there is only one source of thoughts within the building. It doesn't seem to be particularly bright you suspect it can speak but is apt to react instinctively and impulsively, perhaps resorting to gestures and charades to express thoughts.
You all realise that the alter at the end of the building would be big enough for something to hide under.
As Triix continues to concentrate she beings to hear the surface thoughts of whatever it is that in inside. It sounds ghostly and unnatural, wheezy and thin.
"Let them come... Let them come. THEN KILL THEM! Make them pay! I hate them!"
While Triix focuses on her spell everyone else notices something about the room. While the layer of dust and wind blown leaves show it hasn't been touched in some time there is evidence of a struggle in this area and it was never straightened up afterward.
Time has made any tracks on the floor unidentifiable.
A trail of dried blood leads from the altar to the front entrance.
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Triix frowns. Careful guys. There's something in there that wants to kill us. I'm not sure what it is but it's thinking Let them come... Let them come. THEN KILL THEM! Make them pay! I hate them! She says the last part in a spooky voice, ghostly and unnatural, wheezy and thin, to imitate what she sensed.
Could be behind or under the altar
"So based on the movements and the rot of the fruit, these gobbos chased out whoever was here before a week ago and settled in."
"Pay for what?" She asks Triix. She peers through the door to the temple, though does not enter, and shouts at nothing: "We just got here, ya dumb monkey, so how could you be mad at us?"
Coldir's eyes widen a bit at 'ya dumb monkey' but he says nothing.
There is no visible reaction to Sal's shout.
The elf looks into the space, trying to understand what could be in there, when he cocks his head to the side for a moment. "Hey. Anybody else see the trail of blood leading through there? Hard to tell how fresh it is from out here, but it could be that whatever's hiding in there is injured."
"Injured or not, it ain't able to be seen by us and seems ta think it can take all of us on at once and win. I reckon it's somethin' unnatural and mean." She looks around. "This is a new, wooden structure, and if it's a temple, don't look like it's been openly consecrated to anyone in particular. How 'bout we just burn the place down? I doubt any good god'd be offended anyways, if we do it to clear out somethin' that can't wait to tear into a pack of total strangers."
"Or maybe it wants to make those that injured it pay? Wants to kill those responsible for hurting it? It probably doesn't know that we're not them. Anger and fear are easy to create and to yield to. Doesn't mean we should."
Sette shakes her head sadly. "We come here to build, yes? Not to set fire and kill. If it wants to hurt us, we just don't go in there, yes? We are not young pups, to stick our hands in the hot oven."
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"Ya ever seen farmers burn their land to keep the weeds and the bad bugs out? The ash makes the soil rich to boot," Sal asks Sette. "Sometimes buildin' means clearin' away first. But..." she leans back on her heels, looking thoughtful. "Look, where I come from, there's often a monster around every corner waiting to eat you, or a fey lookin' to enslave ya for eternity, and those who wait to see what happens die first. At the same time, the folk I grew up with were traders, folks who live by their smarts and their silver tongues first, and that's got them out of binds a fight couldn't. They had to knew when to talk to survive--and when to burn it all down and run. So when I make a suggestion, it ain't 'cause I'm just cannonballin' into the water fer fun. It's because I actually, contrary to popular belief, been thinkin' about what's goin' on, and what's goin' on is this:"
She ticks off her fingers as she begins each sentence that she speaks:
"We come to help a colony that's supposta be well-established. And it was--these ain't ramshackle huts, they had time to settle and prosper. But then somethin', that we don't know, happened. They're gone. All gone, like someone just snapped their fingers and whoosh! Everyone gone away. We've been here less than an hour and have already been attacked by flesh-eatin' fish people and then by gobbos, who ain't known fer bein' diplomats. Now our esteemed magic lady here says there's a thing in here who's general line of thinkin' goes, 'Kill them all!' That ain't the normal thoughts of a person, even if it's hurt and angry; it's more likely to be scared than murdery. SO: Something really bad has happened here. And my gut that's kept me alive as an orphan all those years in the River Kingdoms and then at sea is tellin' me, let's not sit down and invite what we come across to tea. That whatever we leave behind us is actually as likely to stab us in the backs as anything else. Which does us no favors, nor the crew on our ship, nor the people we came to help."
Sal places her hands on her hips. "Now, I ain't gonna tell y'all what ta do. You wanna go in there and chat with the thing that's thinkin' 'let's lure them in here and kill them,' I got your back. If you want to leave and do nothin', I got your back. But if whatever you decide to do gets us all killed in the long run, I will find you in Pharasma's realm and tell ya I told ya so fer all eternity."
As the conversation continues Tallagor's hackles sudden rise and he emits a low growl.
Sal gets scent of something, hard to know what it is but something in the church moved so the smells changed slightly as the air currents shifted.
A skeletal, ghost-like humanoid appears in the middle of the church!
Luiminerer, Tallagor, and Sette are overcome with an unnatural fear.
This is a Poltergeist. It is incorporeal so non magical weapons will not hurt it. It also has natural invisibility which it can drop to scare its foes.
The spectre doesn't seem to be coming closer, it almost seems uncertain.
Round 1
Salaamati
Sal
Sette
Luminener
Coldir
Triix
Spooooky
Sal readies her ranseur, but holds it upright rather than menacingly. Since the monster hasn't attacked yet, and the others had urged caution, she answers its question. "I'm Sal, and we're here to help. Stand down and we'll help with whatever's keepin' ya from her rest. Attack us, we are ready to defend ourselves."
Salaamati doesn't know much about the undead but he seriously doubts his sword can hurt a ghost.
Salaamati withdraws and leaves the building!
Sette, Luminener, and Tallagor all run from the apparition.
Round 1
Salaamati
Sal
Sette
Luminener
Coldir
Triix
Spooooky
Surprised an terrified, Sette lets out a loud squeak and scurries away as fast as her feet can carry her. Ghosts! No, thank you!
Triix if you are spending your entire turn on it you can give me a diplomacy check
Coldir shakes his head as he hears what transpires in the church. Moving cautiously away from the building, he addresses the group. "Please, do not antagonize the ghost. Yes Trix, offering help is good, but don't let it turn on you."
The figure fades out of sight but his voice can still be heard on last time.
"Why did you kill me Rayland? ...why...."
Sette, Luminener, and Tallagor come to their senses quickly and the unnatural feeling of terror fades.
There are occasional knocks and rattles around the building as if something is moving around an fiddling with things.
Sal shoulders her ranseur. "Smart guy, doesn't wanna mess with me." She nods to Triix. "Don't have a list, but he musta been. Don't think there were people here before them. Maybe there's more to what happened than them bein' attacked. Maybe they done themselves in."
She calls aloud into the building. "I'm gonna have a look around to see what I can learn about what that Rayland fella did so we can set things right, ok?" She steps over the threshhold into the temple to examine the blood trail Lumeiner pointed out. If unmolested, she follows it to see where it leads, and to look around the area for clues as to the cause of death of this unresting spirit.
Salaamati shakes his head.
"What happened here? We have to continue to search!"
The interior of this building suggests a modest place of worship—not quite a temple but more than a mere shrine.
A table near the centre of the west wall appears to serve as an altar, draped in a white but dusty cloth. Behind the table, a large wood carving of a humanoid figure with a stag’s head leans against the wall.
Two rows of benches face the altar, although some have been knocked over and two piles of ashes are visible in the aisle between them. Scattered throughout the room are assorted objects related to public worship, such as a chalice and a ceremonial rod.
An ornately carved longbow hangs on the wall near the altar, as if on display.
Against the north wall is a smaller shrine. Nearby is a wooden statue roughly three feet tall that depicts a male half-human and half-avian creature. One carved wing hangs partially broken from the statue.
Sal finds a trail of dried blood running from the entry to the alter. Closer examination shows that the alter is actually a cabinet.
When the door is opened what you find is horrific.
The smell of the body is almost unbearable, its enough to make you want to throw up.
Any one willing to examine the body find that it bears resemblance to the poltergeist. Some among you may have heard rumours of bad things happening when a body is left forgotten or neglected.
This man seems to have died from multiple stab wounds but he has not been mutilated.
When you examine the piles of ashes, both can be determined to have been books. The leather cover of one of the books is still intact and bears the title Parables of Erastil
This is the common text of worshipers of Erastil
The other book’s cover is burned beyond recognition
Thumbing through fragments of the unburned pages reveals this is a copy of On Government, a political treatise written in a poetic style.
circumstance bonus on these checks and can make them untrained:
This book that played a part in Andoran’s People’s Revolt and sparked the Red Revolution in Galt, allegedly inspired by conversations with Talmandor himself. (Not this specific copy of the book obviously :P)
Searching the books and religious paraphernalia find a couple of items of note.
The wood carving behind the altar can be identified
as a representation of Erastil
The other wooden statue near the smaller shrine can be also be identified with a successful
This is the agathion patron of Andoran, Talmandor,
The bow on the wall detects as magical.
The longbow is a +1 holy reliquary composite longbow (+2 Str) which can be used as a holy symbol of Erastil
"Yes, we should bury the body properly. Anyone here use a bow as your primary weapon? Obviously I could use it, but it is much harder to use pack tactics with a bow than a sword." He scratches behind Tallagor's ears as he comments on combat styles.
IF no one lese has, he'll look a the books, establishing there's nothing particularly special about either, other than the attempt to destroy them. "Most likely whoever tried to burn these was trying to break the colonists' links to home. Both are common works, but they probably represent alien thought to any locals. Probably whether they could read them or not."
"This book played a part in Andoran’s People’s Revolt and sparked the Red Revolution in Galt, allegedly inspired by conversations with Talmandor himself. Anybody interested in that?"
Sette peeks in around the doorframe. "Ghost gone? That was very scary. This is not a good smell, no no." Still, an alchemist needs a strong stomach, so the ratfolk carefully inspects the body, paying little attention to talk of gods and books.
"Thanks, but I'm not one fer books nor bows," Sal declines to Lumeiner and Salaamati, and instead leans down over the body with Sette, holding her nose.
"Whoever the murderer was, he wanted t'hide the body, so this was afore everyone disappeared. He stinks, so it ain't been that long ago."
She calls out, as if talking to the ceiling, in case the poltergeist is watching. "Just seein' if we can figure out what Rayland was up to so we can help ya rest."
"That looks like a very nice bow. I never learned to use one though. " Coldir says with a slight shrug. As everyone sets about to doing different things, Coldir stands still in the middle of everyone bustling about and watches,not knowing how to help.
While there isn't a shovel in the smithy Triix finds one in the tool shed.
The ground isn't too hard so while it will take some time Triix is able to dig a grave.
Sal suspects the body has been here for between 3 weeks to a month.
While there is nothing remarkable about the stab wounds, some form of blade thrust with moderate force, he is able to tell from the pools of blood and bloody hand prints that the victim entered the cabinet willingly and shut the door behind themselves. Sal's best guess is that they were hiding from something but bled out.
When she calls out to the room there are three faint knocks sound from the wall.
Examination of the source of the knocks reveals no signs of anything living.
[ooc] You will all level up!
While there isn't a shovel in the smithy Triix finds one in the tool shed.
The ground isn't too hard so while it will take some time Triix is able to dig a grave.
Sal suspects the body has been here for between 3 weeks to a month.
While there is nothing remarkable about the stab wounds, some form of blade thrust with moderate force, he is able to tell from the pools of blood and bloody hand prints that the victim entered the cabinet willingly and shut the door behind themselves. Sal's best guess is that they were hiding from something but bled out.
When she calls out to the room there are three faint knocks sound from the wall.
Examination of the source of the knocks reveals no signs of anything living.
I'll give you a bit to work that out then we'll start on the next building.
The hunter will help with the grave.
Salaamati is really disturbed about the findings.
"Let us bury this dead person. Then let us continue our investigation!"
This long, rectangular building appears to be a home, though larger than many beyond the palisade to the south. It has three windows, all covered with wooden shutters, and a single door facing northwest, which is unbarred and slightly ajar.
There is no sign or sounds of movement inside the building.
Simple wooden furniture is in disarray throughout this residence. Tables and chairs are knocked over and pushed aside, though none appear willfully broken. Articles of clothing and household items are scattered across the floor as if they were examined briefly and discarded.
A large pallet bed is visible in a separate room through an open interior door.
A third room with no windows is next to the bedroom but is completely empty.
"Empty room with no windows? Does it latch or lock from the outside?"
Coldir moves in as well as he looks around.
"Why would the goblins make such a mess of things? Why are they not using this space? Surely there are more than three goblins here."
There is no evidence of foul play or violence.
A gold wedding has been band left sitting on a windowsill. “My dearest Livvy” is engraved on the ring’s interior.
You find a few large circles on the ground were no dust has accumulated. The bare circles are roughly the size of a standard wooden barrel standing on end.
There are no barrels anywhere in the house, but you realise there is no debris between the empty room and the front door.
This suggests the empty room was a storeroom.
A small metal chest has been shoved right under the bed against the wall.
You find a set of tracks about a week old. These are some of the freshest tracks you've found today.
This odd set of tracks lead northeast and then south through the gate in the palisade fence.
One trail is 3-1/2 feet wide, heavy and flat, and corresponds to no natural creature.
The other is a set of odd, starfish-shaped footprints running down the centre of the flattened trail.
You can surmise that something large and heavy was rolled away from the house, and that the footprints belong to whoever or whatever was pushing the object.
??
”This was a storage room!“
”Here is a small metal chest!“
”Hey, I found a set of tracks about a week old. These are some of the freshest tracks we've found today!“