Park nods, "Exactly. And he'll want to be able to 'close the case'. So if he assigns any further investigation to the team of contractors from.... Lepidstadt? Helps him and helps us. And maybe helps our reputation with him."
"But you are right. Tomorrow morning would probably be better."
"Let's enjoy some dinner, then. We might as well do a bit more reading. Park, I'll walk you through some of my notes from last night. The Professor has valuable insights on who we're dealing with."
"Sure. And what do we know about the.... prisoners that were killed? Or the guards? And maybe details of the fire? If a group of necromancers is interested in this town or the prison there might be haunts or some unique undead in that prison."
Andrei does his best to feign interest while Petyr familiarizes Park with their research thus far. Mostly, though, he busies himself checking all the windows and doors, making sure that they’re all securely locked and (still) show no signs of having been meddled with.
Petyr shares his findings with Park, but then quickly realizes that he has unearthed everything that the Professor had found about the Whispering Way. It wasn't an inconsiderable find, but it seemed that he would have to do more field research to discover more about this rising enemy.
Until then, of course, Petyr avails himself of the rest of the Professor's library to see what records he might have about Harrowstone. They'd be able to find more at the Temple tomorrow, of course, but this sabbatical was not a vacation.
Any little bit will help, after all.
There isn't much in the way of information about Harrowstone in the Professor's notes, it seems as if he was just beginning his research into the old prison before he met his untimely fate.
Petyr, however has heard quite a bit about the prison, although he does feel as if he's missing a few critical details.
Harrowstone was built in 4594. Ravengro was founded at the same time as a place where guards and their families could live and that would produce food and other supplies used by the prison. The fire that killed all of the prisoners and most of the guards destroyed a large portion of the prison’s underground eastern wing, but left most of the stone structure above relatively intact. The prison’s warden perished in the fire, along with his wife, although no one knows why she was in the prison when the fire occurred. A statue commemorating the warden and the guards who lost their lives was built in the months after the tragedy—that statue still stands on the riverbank just outside of town.
Most of the hardened criminals sent to Harrowstone spent only a few months imprisoned, for it was here that most of Ustalav’s executions during that era were carried out. The fire that caused the tragedy was, in fact, a blessing in disguise, for the prisoners had rioted and gained control of the prison’s dungeons immediately prior to the conflagration. It was only through the self sacrifice of Warden Hawkran and 23 of his guards that the prisoners were prevented from escaping—the guards gave their lives to save the town of Ravengro.
Nothing extraordianry happens at the Lorrimor place that night, and everything that Andrei checks on is in the exact same place as he remembers it being the previous night. The next morning, Kendra has a small breakfast of toast and eggs prepared as the group awakens to sunlight pouring through any open windows. The storm has moved on, it seems, leading to better weather for the days' activities.
Seeing the change in the weather as a possible good omen Park's mood is very high. He sits for breakfast and digs in like only a young man can do. "Excellent breakfast, Thank you Miss Lorrimor! I forgot to ask, but is it acceptable to call you Kendra? It would be rude for me to do so without asking.... If it isn't acceptable then I also apologize for having Duet speak the name. His speech is somewhat difficult for some people to understand, and he would have great difficulty saying Miss Lorrimor."
When Petyr joins them he barely waits for the man to sit. "Did you find out anything about the prison that you didn't already know? Who the really bad guys were and whether or not it really is haunted?" He pauses and re-considers his words. "Of course I won't ask anything like that at the Temple. Proper respect and all for Pharasma!"
Machete Boy has manners, Petyr will give him that, even if all this seems like a bit of overkill. Kendra had to be around Petyr's age, maybe even a bit younger, and certainly not that much older than Park. Of course, it wasn't properly polite to ask a woman her age. But in either case, she's their benefactor, but not some countess or whatever, nor some lady-in-waiting. Then again, Petyr hadn't asked her this question at all--he had just assumed relative familiarity with this stranger in whose house he now abided.
But Park doesn't leave Petyr too much time for judgments--of self or other--as he shows entirely too much chipperness for this time of the morning without coffee. He reaches for a piece of toast and dips it into the slightly runny yolk of one of the eggs, taking a bite and letting a crumb fall into his stubble. After a few moments of chewing, his eyes fixed vaguely at Park, Petyr smiles and looks over at Kendra. "Morning and thank you," he says. His eyes snap back to Park. "Nothing new yet. We'll have to find more back in the town's records. But let's not be too eager about hauntings. We'll have enough trouble with a secret cabal of necromancers without spontaneous undead."
"I agree. Yesterday I mentioned possibly speaking with Sheriff, figuring they might have records of what crimes the prisoners had committed and such. But.... You're right, and I can't think of a valid reason for needing to know that, yet. We could still offer to assist with their investigation, in any manner that they might want help?"
"But the church would have held services for the deceased. And I'm thinking that they probably had information about the executions, and possibly also the prisoners that were going to be executed but were killed by the fire. They might have held a mass service for all those prisoners that died in the fire?"
"As for why we would need THAT information.... If we investigate the prison and find any bodies that can be properly laid to rest, it would help to know more about who was known to have been there. ??"
"Oh, I definitely agree that we need that information. I just pray that there's less need than you seem to anticipate."
Petyr looks slyly at the younger man. "Though we could put a wager on it: whether there are extant supernatural phenomena waiting for us at Harrowstone or not. I'd venture that there's something occultic that we'll find, but I still think that most of what we're chasing is related to the Whispering Way rather than unquiet spirits. As tragic as the events of 50 years hence was at the prison, this town would have surely experienced far more paranormal activity to this point if those spirits had lingered all this time. And as far as I know, it hasn't. There are still logical, mundane explanations that are more reasonable at this stage."
Petyr pats his coin purse. "So what do you say, Park?"
"It is acceptable to call me that, yes." Kendra replies, laughing lightly at the question. "I consider you close friends, as you were to my father. I know I can trust you with that honor, at least."
"Good morning to you as well. I trust the three of you slept well? At least as well as you were able to, what with the storm and all of the activity going on in town nowadays."
She seems intrigued by the discussion between Park and Petyr, and jumps in to add her piece.
"Having lived here almost my entire life, I can confidently say that Ravengro hasn't enjoyed the attention of any 'paranormal activity' beyond what could be expected in Ustalav. And certainly nothing related to Harrowstone, of that I am sure. I would know of it already." she looks over at Park, seeing how excited he was about potentially finding spirits in need of help.
"Though, I wouldn't go so far as to place any money on there not being any paranormal activity there, so perhaps there is a chance."
Park returns Petyr's gaze with a thoughtful expression. "What I know about necromancy wouldn't fill a single page of a book. That's not a school of magic that bards really learn. You've probably studied it like everything else...." That brings his grin back. "I think the Way might have worked to wake something up, and a prison where a bunch of evil people were killed in a rather horrible manner? Seems like a good place to find something that they might have been able to use?"
"But what sort of wager would you be wanting? You say the only dangers at the prison will be mundane? Rotted timbers, mold spores, and maybe some animals that have moved in and have their dens there? And I think the Way has awakened something there? 10 gold? Or.... ??"
He considers Kendra's comment about 'paranormal activity' beyond normal for Ustalav.... "If we do find anything paranormal, I'll be sure to tell you all about it."
Andrei wanders in to breakfast after finishing his morning prayers and fixes himself a plate while the others speculate about what could be going on around Harrowstone. He takes a few bites of food, and drinks about half his first cup of coffee before finally offering, “many of the spirits that fail to leave this world are bound to specific locations… so if Harrowstone is haunted by the unquiet souls of people who died inside, there may not be any sign of it outside of the prison.”
Petyr smiles at Kendra. "I certainly slept well. Storms don't bother me much." He's also happy to hear that there has been little in the way of paranormal activity in town. A bit more on his side of things.
The scholar reaches into his bag and pulls out a small, leatherbound book, which he passes over to Park. "Believe it or not, my knowledge of necromancy is purely academic rather than practical. If you'll look here, most of the magic I can muster is abjurative or transmutative. Those are easier to distill into an alchemical form."
As the specifics of the wager are buffed out, Petyr waggles his finger. "Ah ah ah, I never said that the "only" dangers would be mundane, merely that if we do find anything supernatural it will have been the result of outside necromantic meddling, like the zombies from yesterday. If there is some natural well of negative energy or a portal to the negative energy plane, or if there are indeed unquiet souls that have persisted unknown for fifty years, then I will consider myself beat. Ten gold sounds reasonable to that end."
Park nods to Petyr, "That's a proper wager then. Ten gold once we know."
He turns and listens to Andrei, "So a haunt.... would be a spirit, not a physical creature. And locked in place? So the prisoners, especially the really evil ones, might be spirits that are stuck in the basement where they died?" He looks at his blade, and the visible weapons or the others. "How would we handle them? I can't imagine that my little chopper here would do much more than swish through a spirit without any effect."
"There have always been dares and alcohol-fueled attempts to stay the night in Harrowstone, but I haven't ever heard of anyone successfully managing it. I don't know if anyone has stepped inside even the outer wall since the fire. Too many rumors and too much superstition."
Even though the question wasn't aimed at her, Kendra speaks up to answer.
"I've heard you discussing the churches' cache that my father discovered, maybe there'll be something to help you in that? I'm not sure what kind of cache it is, but if the church is keeping it around then it must be of some use."
"That is my bet, right now," Petyr says. "As soon as we're done with breakfast, we should go check with the Church. If anyone was prepared to deal with spirits in this town, I'm sure it was the Professor. If it comes to it, the Church should also be able to provide some resources. Holy water and the like."
Petyr hungrily gobbles up the rest of his breakfast as they get to discussing plans. "Let's hope that Father Grimburrow is ready for us."
Seeing Petyr quickly finishing his breakfast Park matches him, finishing his meal and standing. "OK then, let's get started!"
Before leaving he glances at Petyr's weapon, and his own. "You might want to get a weapon to better handle zombies if we might be facing more undead? And maybe I should pick up a light mace or something to crush bony ones with?"
Petyr frowns, looking down at his sheathed blade. "Honestly, I'm probably best suited with this. I'm more of a light-on-my feet type. I could hoist a greatsword or an earthbreaker with some effort, but I'd be hitting approximately twenty-five percent less frequently and doing only marginally more damage. I have learned to leverage finesse over strength to deadly effect by focusing on the art of fencing. I would be significantly less effective with other weapons."
He glances over towards Andrei. "But if Andrei wishes to toss me one of his kukris if I'm having a particularly difficult time, then that's an agile weapon that I could manage with in a pinch."
Andrei smirks at Petyr’s half-hearted request. “I’ve been practicing using both of these beauties at the same time,” he answers, “but until I really get the hang of it, you can borrow one when you need it.”
He quickly scarfs down the rest of his breakfast and thanks Kendra for it. Then, focusing on Petyr and Park, he asks, “shall we head out to the church?”
"Now that will be a trick to see, I think." Thumping his chest to get ahead of any potential heartburn, Petyr checks the bandolier holding a few vials he had mixed during his morning preparations, doffs his boots, coat, and hat, and with a gracious bow to Kendra leads the way to the Pharasmin Temple.
The church is relatively less full than when you entered the day before, with only a handful of the priests' attendents about. They notice you approaching and Father Grimburrow is waiting just inside the door when you do arrive.
"Good morning to you! Hopefully you slept well, with the storm passing overnight. I trust Kendra hasn't been treating you too poorly, eh?" he says with a wry smile, obviously joking. "Come, to my office. We have things to discuss." he continues, making his way to the more private space.
"The lady Kendra has been an excellent hostess." Other than that statement he follows quietly, glancing around at the priests' attendants. Do any of them appear to be concerned about us being here?
Andrei chats comfortably with his companions as they make their way to the church, but quiets down quickly when they arrive. He had learned to trust conversations with strangers and people in positions of authority to others who were better suited for niceties and tact. Instead, he carefully observes their surroundings, watching for any signs that anything might be awry.
Andrei's experience in dealing with these sorts of things gives him a hint about how people should react. As the father speaks and begins to point you towards his office, it becomes clear that one of the acolytes in the open entry hall is not acting correctly.
Park quickly picks up on the same person, although Andrei sees more specifically that the priest is extremely nervous. He keeps taking furtive glances towards the group as he pretends to be busy with various tasks, trying not to be noticed.
"Is something wrong?" Grimburrow asks quietly, seeming to pick up on the mood.
Andrei steps in close to Father Grimbarrow with his back towards the anxious acolyte. “How well do you know the acolyte that you can see over my left shoulder?” he whispers to the priest. “He’s been very nervous since he saw us enter.”
Since Andrei moved before him to alert the priest, Park moves away from the group. He walks along the wall (in the general direction of the acolyte) pretending to be interested in the construction of the building.
The priest seems to understand your meaning almost instantly, even though he seems a bit confused about why you'e asking. His voice remains a whisper as he answers.
"He started only a few weeks ago, so it's certainly possible that something is amiss. Why do you ask?"
Park continues down the hallway, examining the wall and muttering to himself. "Excellent construction here. Once the Father is done with his guests I really must about the building. What wood is this? Is it darkened with age or is it stained? Curious...." He continues past the acolyte unless the man comments.
”He keeps looking at us, and trying very badly to do it subtly,” Andrei explains to Father Grimburrow, “plus, he’s trying to look busy but he hasn’t actually done anything since we got here, just dusted that same candlestick six times.”
One would think that a university-trained investigator would be more perceptive, but Petyr has been single-minded since emerging into the church and starts to look around with surprise as Andrei points out a nervous acolyte. He then shuts down his near-automatic head-turn so as to not give up the game. He nods his head forward towards the office where Father Grimburrow was initially leading them.
"Let's move to your office, Father." There would be more privacy there, at least.
Park turns back toward the team, still pretending to be examining the woodwork. "Hmm... the finish here looks a bit old. Of course." And he coughs into his hand, turning around looking up at the ceiling, and anything around him.
He glances at the acolyte, "Young man? You do some of the cleaning here? How is this wood rail here polished? There's a spot here that looks like it could use some oil."
The acolyte that Andrei pointed out and Park talked to seems to not understand he's being talked to at first, but notices and slowly makes his way over.
"A-ah, of course sir. Sorry about that, I'll...get right on it!" he says, his voice obviously shaking before making his way over to the spot Park indicated and begins to clean it as instructed.
Father Grimburrow, seeing Park’s antics and obviously not understanding Draconic, is quite confused. Nonetheless, he hurried the group into his office before shutting the door and locking it tight.
”Now, do you want to tell me what’s going on here? Why all the secrecy and the different language?”
Petyr raises an eyebrow. "You were the one who invited us to your office for privacy, indicating that we have things to discuss. I was merely trying to encourage that." He settles into a chair. "So perhaps we have missed each other in some way. I'm keen to begin this morning afresh if possible." The investigator yawns, stretching his arms up over his head and lightly cracking the bones in his shoulders. "I didn't realize that it was gauche for multilingual people to converse with each other in other tongues."
"Perhaps we should all stay on topic?" Andrei suggests.
"I believe our purpose for gathering was to further discuss the matter of the necromantic cultists we discovered, and the hidden storehouse of equipment that might aid in rooting out and destroying more of them?"
Petyr grins sheepishly and flashes a thumbs up to Andrei. Ever the pragmatist, that one.
Park watches as the acolyte works. The young man does appear to be serious about the cleaning. Maybe they were wrong about him? "Do you happen to know what kind of wood this is? I have very little training in construction so I'm not sure. The color makes me think oak or maple, but the grain pattern makes me unsure."
He listens to whatever the man says and nods again. "Thank you. That looks much better. I think I'll be moving on now. What is your name? I'll be sure to let Father Grimburrow that you were very helpful."
The acolyte seems extremely nervous, stuttering as he answers.
"U-uh no sir, I don't know what kind of wood it is." He takes a few steps away before speaking again. "It's Nicholas, sir." He takes his exit from the conversation as Park makes his way back to the group.
Father Grimburrow nods and seems to refocus, closing his office door behind the group. "Yes, yes, of course. My apologies friends, it has been a trying few days." he says, the stress clearly showing in his face.
"I haven't been able to learn much about the smugglers we found in the crypt, but I did find out whose crypt it was. The Ravirac family commissioned it nearly three years ago for their family crypt. They don't have any connections to any necromantic activity or the smugglers."
He pulls out a handful of papers from underneath his desk and slides it over towards the group.
"This is a copy what little info we could find in our records about the prisoners and wardens in Harrowstone when it burned. I hope you can find something useful in there for whatever is going on around town."
"I assume that the Ravirac family are Ravengro locals, then? I trust they have been informed of what occurred in their property."
Petyr's lip curls into the slightest hint of a frown at the scant information available on Harrowstone, but quickly re-upturns his mouth and nods in thanks as he reaches for the papers. "Thank you, Father. Do you mind if I take up temporary residence for the day in a quiet alcove in the Church so that I can review these papers? I'd like to make some copies and take some notes. And then..."
Petyr glances back to Park and Andrei. "Will we be able to look at the cache that Professor Lorrimor wrote about?"
"Actually, no, they aren't a local family. They originated from Ravengro but the rest of the family lives in Lepidstadt. I have sent a messenger to them to let them know, however."
"Well, there's not much info on them. Basically just a list of names and titles, shouldn't take more than a few hours to go through it all.
But you are always welcome to spend time here doing whatever you need. And, ah of course, I forgot. I'll have an acolyte take you to the cache's location later this afternoon."
Petyr jots a note down about the Raviracs in case they become relevant during the course of their investigation, but otherwise pays little mind. "Wonderful. I'll busy myself with it, then. Park, Andrei--do you want to join me, or did you have something else you wanted to do before we get our escort?"
Park glances at the papers with a slight cringe. Homework? But.... "If we all work on it the task will be completed faster. I'll join you."
Andrei gives Petyr a nod and starts flipping through some of the pages. Although he had never been particularly fond of, or adept at, study and research, he was accustomed to doing it from the university and does his best to be helpful.
Petyr sits down with the papers and starts scribbling notes in a fresh notebook. He brews a pot of tea and works until his hands are nearly covered with ink. He occasionally passes sheets off to Andrei and Park for confirmation of connections he thinks he's drawing and feels like he's close to making some kind of breakthrough. All in all, it's a productive morning that he thinks would make some of his professors back in Lepidstadt proud.