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You find yourselves having spent several days in the nation of Druma now.
You find yourselves in the common room of the Meticulous Truffle Inn, the only such rest stop in the town of Petitioner's Port, in Southwestern Druma. You each have your own reason for being here, but nevertheless you all recognize the tell-tale signs of fellow Pathfinders when you see them.
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It was a trek along the well known trade routes from Lake Encarthan through Druma to this, the Petitioner's Port. The mud from his travels still clung to his dark robes and the fur of a small brown bear that followed the tall half-elf into the town. With a longbow slung across his back, any other weapons hidden by the voluminous robe, that billowed around his feet, Znobe Nordmann, entered the Meticulous Truffle Inn, he stood there, his features mainly hidden behind the mask which kept the cold air out, he strode across the room, ordering a bowl of hot stew at the bar to go with a mug of ale.
"If any come in asking for Znobe, send them to me." he says in a deep and low voice, before slowly and purposefully taking a seat at one of the wooden tables. His hand pats the bear as it hides under the hem of his robe.
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The goblin that enters behind Marcius is not notable for the grime that bedecks him or his broad, toothy mouth or shabby state of his clothing. Those are what most people would expect out of a goblin.
What is interesting about him is that his clothing is of Qadiran fashion. Also, interesting is what that broad, toothy mouth is spouting.
"The only gold that can save your souls my friends is the light of Sarenrae! Eschew the dross of a material life and let the Dawnflower's holy fire purify your souls!" Given his words, the singed wooden holy symbol of Sarenrae that he wears around his neck and thrusts toward anyone he speaks to can be little surprise.
While he will proselytize to anyone who will listen (or who does not walk away fast enough) he focuses on any followers of the Prophecy of Kalistrade.
"Oh...Pathfinders. What are you doing here?" he asks when he spots the others.
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The grim-faced man enters, carefully setting aside a long polearm. Over his armor he wears a simple tabard, well-worn but neatly patched, that bears the sword symbol of Iomedae. Spying other Pathfinders, he makes for them.
"Indeed," he says. "Praise be to the light of the Dawnflower."
"I am headed back to Absalom from Irrisen, friend. What are -you- doing here, besides spreading the good word among the too-thoroughly washed?"
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As you are talking in the Inn you notice one of the town's deputy leaders, Salayah, descend from the government building on the nearby hill. The tall half-elf woman stops in front of the Meticulous Truffle Inn where she places an updated sheet on the local bounty board.
Adventurers Needed!
My farm has been the victim of a terrible threat. Some kind of awfulness is murdering my precious alpaca herd. I need help immediately and am willing to pay a reward of 20 gold to the adventurers who put a stop to these murders. Come visit my farm, due north of Petitioner’s Port, for more information.
-Wilhuff Harjhack
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Without hesitation, the warrior moves to the half-elf's side. "I'll help with that, Ma'am. I feel certain my friends will, too. I'm Dinardin and we're with the Pathfinder Society."
"First, what is an alpaca and second, can we get some details on what's been happening? Have you any clues to the identity of the killer?"
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"No, no. Not AN 'alpaca herd.' Al Paca's herd. This Al Paca fellow is precious to Mr. Harjhack and Al must be too proud to ask for help so Harjhack has taken matters into his own hands to get it taken care of," Grimmylow says with an air of wisdom.
"As Sarenrae says pride goes in fall and it's summer time now so we will be glad to assist Mr. Paca with protecting his herd."
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After using his sleeves to wipe his mouth of the gravy and beer mix, Znobe slowly stands and walks over to the Pathfinders gathering around the notice. "I may help" he says just above a whisper. "I am used to the ways of the fields and woods, though it is a touch colder in my homelands." He smiles with a quiet confidence. Standing he watches silently the goblin with the holy symbol, I hope his god, this Sarenrae knows what he's doing, more so than his little follower.
A small brown bear, pops it's head from under Znobe's robes and sniffs the air, before looking at Grimmylow and running towards the goblin, giving his a long sloppy wash with his tongue. Znobe calls the bear back, before addressing the goblin in a somber monotone, "He likes you"
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Salayah turns around, a bit surpirsed by the sudden interest as she pops the last nail into place. "Oh, Wilhuff just asked us to post this request, afraid I don't know much more beyond that." She sighs putting the hammer away. "Bit of a shame. Everyone around here relies on the Harjhack farm for various foodstuffs and that the town’s local fineries store depends heavily upon its alpaca wool." As she heads up the hill she turns. "May wanna go speak with him. His farm is right over there, about 2 hours walk." She points off into the distance, giving you directions to the farm.
Marcius confirs what Salayah describes also noting that the farm is renowned for the quality of its alpacas due to cross-breeding its alpaca stock with a baccalia stud as he explains to the group what an alpaca looks like.
Znobe knows that baccalias are a rare alpaca breed with some of the highest quality wool on Golarion.
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"Oh...those sound great. I can't decide whether I want to ride one or sleep on one. They'll let you do that, right?" Grimmylow asks.
For the full 2 hours of the walk, the goblin will talk about the glories of Sarenrae interspersed with musings about whether or not and how various things they see would burn.
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The journey from Petitioner’s Port to the Harjhack farm is a two-hour trek north, mostly through rolling green hills broken by the occasional idyllic stream or copse of trees. A sturdy wooden fence marks the borders of the farm; though it might prevent animals from escaping, it doesn’t pose much of an impediment to any other creatures looking to enter the property.
As you arrive in the area, you spot a wandering herd of several dozen alpacas off in the distance, moving behind a growing hill. Continuing towards the farm, you see the leader of the herd ascend to the top of the hill, silhouetted by the sun.
Moments later, a rugged-looking Kellid man in dirty overalls approaches, using a pitchfork as an impromptu walking stick. He waves and begins walking over as he leans on the stick. "Greetings, I'm Wilhuff Harjhack. What brings you out this way?"
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The ranger, keeps himself to himself at the back of the group, leaving the talk to the city folk, those whose business it is to talk incessantly about pleasantries.
Once the initial introductions are over, he asks "What makes you think it is murder and not animals wandering off to pastures greener?" He may have even found tracks?
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"Wow! That's beautiful!" Grimmylow exclaims as he sees the herd leader.
"Blessed be, Sarenrae, indeed!" he says to his fellow goblin cleric of Sarenrae, doing a holy symbol bump.
"Like the tall ones are saying, we're here about your posting. And to make sure you know the glories of Sarenrae," he answers Harjhack.
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"What makes you think it is murder and not animals wandering off to pastures greener?"
“It started about two weeks ago, when I found one of my alpacas,
Shadow, dead near the northern fence. Looks like she got spooked something fierce and was caught up in the wiring we use there. Didn’t think too much of it until we found more alpaca bodies in the coming days. With ol’ Rockford gone, that makes four dead alpacas.”Wilhuff sees several of you look up the hill at the gleaming alpaca. “That’ll be my pride and joy, my Majesty. He’s the stud ‘round this farm and the daddy to a good chunk of the herd. He’s one of those fancy baccalia breeds they have out east. Bought him years back from a Prophet and the farm’s fortunes have only soared since. I’m worried whatever’s killing the herd stragglers might get some courage and try to attack Majesty. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him!”
He gets back on track, having lost his train of thought momentarily. “Well, aside from Shadow getting caught up in the wiring, it’s been right strange. The other alpacas look like they just dropped dead from fright. I can’t tell much else, as I don’t have a medical background, but maybe you can take a look?” He waves you over as he escorts the group across the field towards the northeastern section of his land. "I kept Rockford untouched over here, just in case. Yer welcome to take a look while I get the herd rounded up and put back in the barn fer the night."
He leaves you to the scene as he makes his way back up the hill to begin gathering the rest of the Alpacas.
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Znobe touches the land around the rip in the fence, he calls his friend the bear who smells the scene of death around the fence. Znobe pats the bear on the head, "Bere, find the scent my little friend." Meanwhile the man continues his work, he too sniffs small tufts of grass pulled from the ground. He finds patches of hair alpaca and others, stuck in and around the fence.
But watches as Khagra seems to find more interesting and useful signs. "What is it that you have found?" he asks, "You are skilled in the ways, perhaps you can teach me you ways? Having such knowledge is not mine, where did you find and learn such skills?"
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You begin your investigation as Burny, Grimmylow, and Dindardin take a look at the body. They both see that Rockford has six golden studs on his ears. Inspecting a little closer Burny notices that the body has several puncture marks underneath the wool of the alpaca’s neck.
Znobe and Khagra spread out and begin taking a look at the surrounding area. Khagra spots small footprints directly next to Rockford’s corpse, though they don’t seem to go any further.
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Znobe is in awe of Khagra's sharp eyes, he turns to the small brown coloured bear beside him, Bere, see how sharp Khagra's eyes' see the glint in the grass. Strange that someone's lost some earrings. Small footprint's and earring's doesn't sound like a bloodsucker to me!
"No Khagra, Burny and the boys have found golden studs on the alpaca's ears, perhaps the kill was made here and the taken over there to put us off the trail. Take them over, I'll take a look around here" As Znobe searches for any evidence of a struggle, any loss of blood in the vicinity. The man stops to reconsider, standing up straight in the field. Unless the footprints are those of the alpaca itself, in which case it may have been attacked here first and fled to the other side of the field trying to escape. The northman scratches the bear's head as it nuzzles his side. "Yes, I know Bere, the hunt is on! If only we knew what we were hunting just now. What ever they're after, isn't monetary rewards or they would have taken the gold."
Returning to the group, Znobe asks Burny to show him the puncture marks, and nods to Burny, "You could be right." He takes particular note of the alpaca's of the alpaca's hooves and tries to match them with the tracks they found, to confirm the creature tried to run away from it's attacker.
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"Maybe that's why it seemed like the others just dropped dead. That's what it would look like if you didn't see the puncture wounds," Grimmylow points out.
"Don't worry Dinardin! The healing fires of Sarenrae will purify a vampire as easily as a rogue animal!" he continues, brandishing his holy symbol. It seems the fire in his eyes as he speaks of his goddess might be enough to ignite something.
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With the shape and outline of the tracks along with the way the alpaca's have been killed Znobe can only come to the conclusion that this is a Chupacabra they are dealing with. It likely pounced, able to leap a great distance onto the Alpaca and then leaping back to the safety of the wounds as it retreated.
Wilhuff returns after a few minutes and sees that you have gathered more of the golden rings. "Rockford was something of a stud himself. I placed the studs on the alpaca to denote how many offspring he had sired. I am surprised whatever killed him didn't take them. They must have no interest in material wealth."
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"We shall hunt it down Wilhuff, it won't be easy as with it's bounding step into the woods it will take all our skills to track it down. Bere, see if you can pick up the scent, it won't escape us." The half-elf, feels the grass around the site where the Chupacabre has been, and smells it himself. Kneeling, he puts the grass into his pocket, before patting the fur of the dead animal You shall have your revenge Rockford.
"Wilhuff, can we take the studs we found in the field, their connection to Rockford and the killer creature may help us in our task."
"Are we ready people?" he waits for everyone to make sure they have what they need for the trek and to understand what the group know about their prey.
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Drawing your weapons Znobe takes the lead in following the tracks trough the woods. Though he tries to remember as much as he can Znobe doesn't recall uch more about Chupacabra's.
The chupacabra that has been terrorizing the Harjhack farm dwells in a rocky outcropping nestled in a copse of trees close to the farmer’s property. The trees here stand about 30 feet tall on average, while the rocks to the north rise to a height of 20 feet.
Following the creature's tracks you find yourselves surrounded on both sides by a rising escarpment of dirt, eventually narrowing to a section where the walls around you rise about 10 feet high. A collapsed tree trunk leads up to the main area from the lowered terrain The trunk stretches 20 feet in length;
Though the tracks stop here none of you are able to spot the Chupacabra's presence. Looking out over the area Grimmylow and Marcius notice a few oddities. An assortment of leaves and loose dirt cover a sudden drops in elevation at several spots. The leaves look to cover up small depressions or sinkholes in the ground that could prove to be quite dangerous.
Yu don't see or hear a thing as you enter the area, not even the birds nor the crickets sounds. The hair on the back of your neck stands on end as you feel you are being hunted.
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Chupacabra
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Grimmylow
Marcius
Khagra
Burney
Dinardin
Znobe
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"Come Bere, on my back and I'll carry you across." With Bere clinging to Znobe's back he carries the bundle of brown fur across the tree trunk with him. Once at the other end, Bere jumps down, whilst Znobe, from the vantage point on top of the trunk, surveys the area for danger. "There's something not right here, do you feel it, our prey is hidden for us."
As PFS bears have no skill in acrobatics, although they can naturally climb trees with their claws, I'm making Znobe carry the bear for game mechanics purposes. Although in reality I expect the bear to just use his claws and make it across and in a RL game I'd just ask the GM, but that slows pbp.
P.S. in the Cat's Cradle thanks for creating the situation for Zug to use his Gust of Wind or if not creating the situation at least getting the mephits off the ground knowing a gust of wind was on it's way. I mean just good GMing.