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Venture-Captain Jorsal of Lauterbury is stoic yet shows signs of exhaustion as he strides into the room and places a piece of paper on the table. "Pathfinders, some weeks ago we received this letter from an anonymous source, advising us of the discovery of a Sarkorian site in rural Mendev, near the village of Dawnton. We sent three Pathfinders to perform an initial investigation."
"Word came to us two days ago that the entire team has been arrested for murder and is scheduled to be hanged in seven days’ time. I would appreciate your traveling to Dawnton, investigating the crimes, and finding any evidence necessary to clear their names."
He pauses for a moment, as if gathering his will or holding back strong emotion. "As much as it grieves me to think this possible, you may find evidence that implicates our comrades. If they are guilty of this crime, let them hang. It’s justice of a sort, and we must all remember that we are guests in Mendev and subject to all its laws. Your predecessors’ reputation has tarnished the Pathfinders’ name in Dawnton, so I recommend you not travel and investigate openly as Pathfinders agents."
"Be careful," he recommends, "and remember that three comrades are relying on you."
Dawnton is a small village at the crossroads of the local trade highway and the Setian River, a tributary of the Egelsee. It has a small permanent population, but swells to many times its size on festival days and during the harvest.
As with many small villages in the region, Dawnton has become distrustful of strangers since the fall of Kenabres. This distrust is especially virulent toward tief lings and others with demonic roots, influence, or appearance.
Tobias Luin is both the village’s sheriff and mayor. Local opinion holds that he is fair to the point of being soft. It is unusual that he would hold an execution, but local law calls for a vote of the citizenry to decide the fate of those guilty of capital crimes.
There are rumors of similar brutal crimes in other villages near Dawnton. When a guilty party was found in those cases, execution was always the result.
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“Doing my training on axis I received information about many areas of this world! These memories provide me with some edge and I would like to provide you with the same benefit! Please listen … “ Sakura says and explains what she knows.
“We should find out more about the crimes in the other villages. And also seek out Tobias Luin!“
She then turns to the venture captain.
“Can you provide us with more information about the three Pathfinders and also about the mission that they had? Can you also tell us if any political struggle that the Pathfinder society is involved with could have been the reason for the judgment that these three Pathfinders received? Any other dangers that we should be aware of?“
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A woman with pale blue skin and paler blue hair listens intently. She seems surrounded by a pleasant breeze and her hair ruffles more strenuously than her clothes. Sometimes, it seems that a pair of eyes stare out from that hair.
"That's terrible! I'm sure that, if they did kill someone, they had a good reason. We'll exonerate them and bring them back safely," she says.
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The little ratfolk with the scowl on his face during the briefing speaks up. ”Ill be darned if I allow a pathfinder to go down, assuming they did nothing wrong. I’ll run through any evildoer in Dawnton. This I promise to you all,” the one who announces himself as Ninnic declares in a growl. He didn’t have much in the line of armor or weapons, so just how he planned on killing wasn’t evident at first.
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A tall and lithe bald man leans against the wall in the back, seemingly uninterested in speaking, though he appears to be keeping a sharp eye on the people in the room. Meanwhile, without looking down, he appears to be making a coin dance up and down the fingers of his right hand. While at first glance this seems like nothing more than an ordinary trick of dexterity, if you look closely you'll see that occasionally, instead of having the coin dance up his fingers, it instead defies gravity by floating back up to the top on its own before continuing the dance back down.
He glances back and forth with interest between his fellows as tensions seem to rise, and smirks at the bold proclamation of the ratling. When the voices settle, his quiet voice speaks from the back and says "What of their original mission? Is completion of that still a priority, or is this a simple retrieval?"
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A short blonde woman in a shapeless black dress rolls her eyes. The hem of her dress, stained with the dust of travel, brushes the ground. Her erect posture makes her seem taller than she is. "Good order is important, of course. However, most Pathfinders I've met wouldn't do something like that without a good reason. Even if they're technically guilty, there may be exculpatory circumstances. We shall just have to see."
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Devin scratches his chin with a calloused hand and leans back in his chair.
I agree with Ilarien, Lets not barrow trouble. We will not know what the real situation is until we get there.
He looks over is shoulder at Zandu and grins. Good to be working with you again. At least we are not fighting fires this time.
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• Oft-Lectured (3rd-level, 2 Stars): The Master of Scrolls is known for his rambling, esoteric talks that favor the elf’s train-of-thought speech patterns. Where others might have lost interest, you have gleaned a multitude of academic knowledge from Shaine’s disjointed thoughts and theories. When you roll a Knowledge check at the beginning of an adventure (such as immediately after a receiving a mission), you gain a bonus on the check equal to your number of GM stars.
Preparation and journey to Dawnton takes a while, but you are on your way as soon as possible. With purchases of whatever you might think you need are done, you hop on two wagons provided by Venture Captain Jorsal, and are on your way. Pressed for time, you try to rush the caravan with partial success. You arrive to your destination mere three days after your briefing.
Dawnton is little more than the crossroads of a highway and a navigable river, and its population barely exceeds 100 during most of the year. Because of this crossroads, though, as many as 3,000 people converge on the settlement just after the harvest to transfer crops from wagons to barges. Such excess population is starting to gather in the town, and on your way into town, you notice a temporary tent city, with it's own square. The town is decorated in colours of fall season. However, the mood is somewhat mixed - the recent crime has everyone cautious, but curious. The new arrivals mostly do not care, or seem to be actually excited for the executions, and otherwise celebrate harvest as usual. In the Beer Garden.
From listening to the crowd around the wagon and the direction signs visible, you gather that there are currently 4 locations of interest in town.
Orug's General Store
Heath and Harvest Inn
Tent City
Beer Garden
As the accused agents are to be executed four days from now, you have 3 days to investigate the crime and make your case to the local authorities.
There is an extra ruleset in this scenario to reflect you interacting with a location or major characters:
- Each day will be split into 3 different phases - morning, afternoon, evening - quick errands, or your meetings to compare notes do not count as an extra phase. A phase represents time you spend investigating and gathering information.
- At the beginning of a phase, each of you would select a location to investigate
- At the end of a phase (or during), depending on your success, you will be given information from the locals to help you with the investigation.
- Note that each location can provide a limited amount of information. As such, I would advise to "Split up, and search for clues.", and perhaps later meet up to compare what you found out.
Orug's store (marked with an A on slide 2 of the linked document) is one of the two permanent businesses in Dawnton. When you approach, you can see two opened shops and one locked door leading into the same building. The central area is the general shop itself - a place where the locals and travelers buy whatever small tidbits available. Next to it is "Orug's Barbershop", in which two chairs are placed against two small mirrors. An additional sign invites weary travelers into the bath section in the back of the barber room. Several people are gathered in front of the storefronts, and are discussing various topics and rumours.
You initially go with Illarien and Ninnic, but once in the Tent City, you separate and move further into a walled area in the Tent City center - the Beer Garden (marked with an E on slide 2 of the linked document). The wall itself is made of now empty barrels and crates. A very makeshift setup, but it is only a temporary arrangement for the Harvest festival, so they have what they have. Throughout the morning, the place seems largely empty, but you can imagine a lot of ruckus and music and celebration during the evening and night hours. There are several tents with taps available, and a few yesterday's partygoers are still in the area, some sleeping, but there are two or three that just woke up and are huddling to whatever they had planned for the day. The taps themselves are covered in tents, and the owners are dilligently cleaning their stalls to get rid of yesterday's spills, and whatever else might have popped up.
You head into the Tent City (marked with a D on slide 2 of the linked document) with Devin and Shenendril. Once you arrive, you separate from them to explore the Tents themselves. The Tent City consists of dozens of sundry tents surrounding the central area of the so-called Beer Garden. The area acts as both a teporary living quarters for the travelers, and as a county fair - complete with food stalls, music, jugglers, and various sports and minor competitions. Some of the entertainers and merchants are setting up stalls as you arrive, and people are slowly beginning to crawl out of their tents to join in on the revelry.
What would you like to do?
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Several people are gathered in front of the storefronts, and are discussing various topics and rumours.
Sakura looks at Zandu and walks to the people in front of the storefront and listens.
She whispers to Zandu. “I am hoping to be able to jump in with a question or a comment to gather some information! You’ll help?“
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Shenendril saunters up to the barkeep who looks the most prepared for the day ahead.
"Hello. I know it's early but my friend and I would like a drink. Well, two drinks, one for him and one for me. We're not going to pass the drink back and forth or drink out of it at the same time with two straws or anything," she says.
Assuming the drink is forthcoming, she'll sip and continue to chat, asking the proprietor about their background and business but eventually working around to the upcoming executions.
If anyone else comes up to the bar, she'll work them into the conversation, as well.
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Sakura jumps into the conversation of the people gossiping.
”Excuse me for interrupting. I overheard what you were talking about and it seems you are very important and knowledgeable in this town. We are new and want to integrate well. Can we offer you an alcoholic beverage as a reversed welcome present?“ she asks with little emotion.
"Not a pro-", he starts responding, but stops as Shenendril expands on the request. He seems a bit confused, but starts pouring the first mug before you even finish speaking. Once he confirms you actually are interested in two of them, he pours another, and puts both on the bar. "..Problem. That would be four silver, please." A few minutes of small talk later, and you get to the topic of interest.
"Oh, yes.. People tend to talk to me a lot when- When lubricated. Not that I listen that much, unless it's an actual order. People talk. Who knows what of that is true?", he shrugs, looks around for customers. Seeing the morning just started, he decides to carry on with the chatter.
"I had two customers here yesterday and discuss the murders. They were sitting right where you are now, and were pretty loud, too. There's a lot of traffic here in the evenings, but from what I heard, there's this farmer - Otto, I believe?", he pauses. "Yes, that's the name, I think... Well, anyway. He lives just outside of town, on his farm. Supposedly, he found the body of the first victim the morning the accused Pathfinders arrived. He’s still going about his business as though nothing had happened."
He finishes cleaning one of the mugs, and puts it in his place as he momentarily stops. "And there was talk about this lady ... Ekira. Well, supposedly she's been heard saying that Iomedae began speaking to her directly after she arrived in Dawnton. She’s thinking about setting down roots here, establishing a church, maybe even challenging Sheriff Tobias Luin for the title of mayor."
He shrugs again. "That's none of my business, however. I'm here for the Harvest festival, and then I will be off. Traveling business, but it pays to be here this time of the year."
Seeing that you finished your drinks, he looks at the two of you. Another?
Devin sees nothing out of the ordinary in the meantime. Some more of yesterday's patrons get up and walk away, and some newcomers arrive and head straight to one of the taps.
Sakura and Zandu enter the general store with a few customers inside. They are talking to a staunch half-orc man with shoulder length, wildly growing hair. They are discussing various topics, but they touch the topic of the executions and the recent grisly murders as well. As you approach,t he half orc looks over to you. "Ah! Newcomers!", he raises his arms in an extatic gesture and calls you over. "Come, come! Interested in purchasing anything for the festival? I'll have you know, I am one of the witnesses of the second murder, I even tried to chase the murderer, but was stopped by a low blow."
"Don't believe a word he says...", a feminine voice calls from behind the counter as a half eleven woman stands up and puts a set of boxes on the counter for a waiting customer. "My dear Orug tends to ... add colourful details. He saw the murderer through the window after he heard a commotion and went to investigate."
A few quiet chuckles are heard in the room as the half orc looks at his wife. "Well - that might be true, but I did run after them, but was stopped by a jammed door. As I tried to open it, I pulled too hard, and hit my ...", he smiles at the opportunity "... hit my knob with a knob. So technically true. But I saw them murder. Quite a tall fellow, that one. I would say over six feet, that one."
"Nonsense!", one of the customers counters the claim. "My son said that two of his friends saw the murderer cutting up the dead body. They barely escaped when the killer chased after them! You would have seen that happen.", the customer laughs.
An elderly human woman approaches you and whispers. "Terrible times, these. My niece saw two hooded figures dancing in a devil's circle outside of town on the night of the first murder. Gods help us, if such creatures are about. killing citizens willy-nilly.", she looks at Orug. "Say Orug, orug, you have any holy water in stock?" She excuses herself and moves towards the half orc.
Orug shrugs and presents his empty palms. "Sorry Eila... All sold out."
The woman seems disappointed. "Alright, alright... I will go get some from some holy man.", she mutters as she leaves the shop.
Another customer, a young woman with braided hair steps into the discussion. 'I bet it was Ekira. She's a demon posing as an inquisitor. She's used this trick to murder ten heroes in the countryside, but none of you cowards dare to publicly admit it."
The half-elven woman behind the counter tilts her head. "Is that true? That would explain why she was so elated - almost disturbingly so - at the decision to execute the condemned prisoners. She must really hate these ... Pathfinders, was it?"
You walk around as the merchants and entertainers set up shop again in the morning. You look into the larger tents until you find what seems to be a medical facility. There are not many caretakers inside, but one man with an assistant looking over a patient. Upon entering, the smell of beer breath hits you hard. Apparently, most of the people inside are here attmepting to find a remedy for their hangover, but there are a few actually injured ones.
"... bruised elbow and knuckles. The one over there-", the caretaker points to another bed "is missing a few teeth. When they brought them in, they were shouting obscenities at each other. Probably a brawl."
The assistant dilligently makes notes as the caretaker gives him a list of treatments to be applied. As you approach, the man turns to you. There are several glass vials on his belt, filled with liquids of various colours. He reaches for his glasses as you approach, and takes them into his hand. "Can I help you?'
"Oh, a practicioner?", he seems relieved. "I didn't take you for another 'socially fatigued' when you entered. You didn't stumble inside like one."
He turns around and looks towards the back of the tent. [b"I could actually use a consultation. I have a patient here that I have issues with. Could you maybe take a look, and we can compare notes? I need to hop away for two minutes. I've been here since yesterday night and I could use a restroom. Perville here"[/b] - he points to the assistant, a young halfling woman with a stack of papers and pen in hand - "would show you to the patient. I do appreciate it.!"
Before you can respond, he is already on the way towards the tent exit and behind the corner. Perville quietly nods at you and points towards the back of the tent. She quickly realises she should just walk first to show you the patient, and does so. Near the other entrance, a man is half-conscious on the bed. He has his own clothes. His left trouser sleeve is cut, revealing a swollen ankle.
"Mister Satos here was brought in by his friends. He complained about problems with walking. He was severely inebriated when he came in, but would talk of dull pain in his left foot. Swelling and inflammation developed overnight."
She readies her notebook and pen to take notes.
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The witch suppresses a smile as the apparent alchemist slips out. He's conscientious, I'll give him that. Then, all business, she rolls up her sleeves and addresses the patient as she gently probes his swollen ankle. "Please let me know if this hurts. Anything else bothering you? Did you fall when this happened?"
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Sakura is clearly astounded by all the honesty in the shop.
“Well, you all seem to have seen and heard a lot. Ekira, Pathfinders? Seems like a lot of suspects. We heard that the murderers have already been caught. Weren’t they presented publicly? And do those that have been imprisoned match the description that you just gave Orug, or that your son’s friends gave lady??“
The man hissses as you touch his ankle. he is clearly in pain, but tries to not show it. "Hurts a bit, yes. I tried to stand when I awoke, but was not able to. I'm not sure how it happened. Ale is probably at fault there." he lets out a laugh, and stops immediately when the movement causes discomfort. "Ah. There it is again. It's a dull pain, and I can't really move the thing."
Ilarien prods a bit more, and the symptoms indicate a sprained ankle. A common injury, but this one is quite severe. Nothing amputation-worthy, but the man will probably be bedridden throughout the duration of the festival.
Meanwhile, Ninnic takes a walk around the tent to not get in the way. But he keeps his ears perked to overhear any relevant conversation. Several patients in multiple areas sit on their beds and play cards, generally try to pass the time until their injuries are treated or headaches pass, but most importantly, they talk.
The ratfolk overhears several oddities, but a hushed conversation between two men stands out as he walks by. He stops, and fakes examining a stack of papers next to them as they look over, and believing he is not paying attention, they continue the discussion.
"... yes. When Kenabres fell, most of the survivors got possessed by demons. The poor Pathfinders must have killed the victims, but it's probably not their fault. Who knows what actually happened?"
The other man takes a drink of water from his table, and his eyes widen. "Well, that explains why they are here. Otto worships demons out at his farm. the first victim was skinned alive on his property. He must have drawn them here, or something."
"It's a small town. Word gets by. But you know how it is. One tells the other, everyone adds or omits something, and it passes on until it's all distorted.", the half elven woman responds, and continues to pull out wares from beneath the counter.
Orug pinches in. "Oh yes, they've been here when they arrived. Purchasing equipment for 'their expedition'. Probably just a cover up, though. A halfling and two dwarves. Very polite. At least the two of them. The lady dwarf didn't talk much. Like your friend here.", he points at Zandu.
"Anyway - can I get you anything?"
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Orug pinches in. "Oh yes, they've been here when they arrived. Purchasing equipment for 'their expedition'. Probably just a cover up, though. A halfling and two dwarves. Very polite. At least the two of them. The lady dwarf didn't talk much. Like your friend here.", he points at Zandu.
Zandu smiles nicely and warmly at everyone.
~
"Anyway - can I get you anything?"
”Yes of course. Can I buy 10 days worth of trail rations please!“
Sakura bows.
”Good bye!“
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Another customer, a young woman with braided hair steps into the discussion. 'I bet it was Ekira. She's a demon posing as an inquisitor. She's used this trick to murder ten heroes in the countryside, but none of you cowards dare to publicly admit it."
Before Sakura can leave, Zandu gives a brief hold sign, then goes to the young woman with braided hair. "A demon, posing as an inquisitor? Is this thing true? I don't like the idea of running into a demon..."
While Ninnic is in the back of the tent listening in on a conversation, the alchemist returns as Ilarien is offering the drink to the patient, and stops his from drinking. "Hold on with that, would you?", he takes the cup from the man's hand and smells the liquid. "What is this?", he looks at Ilarien. "Don't take it wrong. I have administered medicine for this man. I am just scared of yours and mine intermixing and causing some undesiderd side effects. Did you come to a conclusion?"
"Trail rations? Well, certainly. We have jerky, we have dried fruits, or nuts. Which one would you prefer? I also have some rice, but you need to cook that. Would you perhaps be interested in a fine pot such as this?", the half elf woman pulls out a bit busted - but clearly durable - pot that seems like it could hold approximately a galon of liquid. "It is second hand, but the condition is good. No holes, or anything. And even has a nice handle you cna tie a string to!"
The braid-hair woman looks at Zandu, scans him up and down and giggles. "You can't stop here, then! This is Mendev - demon county; remember?"
She takes her goods and moves for the exit. She stops by Zandu on the way out, and leans in for a whisper. "Of course it's true, silly. People in the Beer Garden say as much. They know everything. Or not... One of those."
She smiles again as she leaves the shop to disappear in the crowd.