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Our heroes, started their journey in Sandpoint. Simply helping the town with a local goblin problem. After meeting a friend in the Brinestump Swamp, they were led to the tribal hideout of the Licktoads. A chaotic melee ensued above the mud where the goblins were massacred, and it wa a quickly surmises that for some reason the goblins had been attacked. They followed the attackers curious as to why and what they were. Soon realizing they were animated skeletons and looking to cleanse such evil they followed after the tracks. A shipwreck of a once ship long since washed ashore and delved into a hidden cave. Within they found the remains of numerous broken skeletons, and a singular one sitting atop a chest. The skeleton wore armor from across the world with no early reason to why it was there. Inspecting it, suddenly it attacked and threatened them in Tian. Aiko speaking Tian realized it was her ancestor and hearing it’s request to meet Ameiko the heroes returned to Sandpoint.
Quickly restocking on supplies and gathering an easier mode of transportation through local friend Sandru, the newly formed party set out on a wagon ride. Arriving to the cave and introducing the skeleton to Ameiko caused it to crumble. Inspecting the chest it sat upon they found a treasure trove of information, with its weapon hiding the most interesting part. A note written by Ameiko’s grandfather talking to her father, about a hidden Kaijitsu legacy supposedly hidden away in the castle Brinewall. Within short succession the heroes, their friends, and some refiners gathered up in a small caravan and journeyed North. Eventually making their way to Brinewall and the surrounding town. While on the way they met up with Ameiko’s friend and ally Shalelu, who was looking to meet up with someone while ranging. Unable to meet up they decided to continue North.
Once arriving the party Ameiko seemed scattered and finally passed out suddenly, mumbling in her sleep. Her ramblings, “ One treasure beyond two seals in the third vault... A key you seek lies in the grip of the ten-handed one—his fear is your greatest ally...“ the only thing she did in her strange magical sleep. Sandru, Koya, and Shalelu decided to circle the wagons near the edge of the abandoned town setting up camp while the heroes ventured in and began to look about. As they returned from their first foray looking at the cemetery Shalelu greeted them as she had comes from the woods in her perch having just recently finally met up with her friend Lyraesal.
The story as it unfolds
As the few of you that did your recon return to the group. You stand near bundles of trees next to a tight bend in the road that lets one overlook the damp and dark bay while hiding the entrance to the caravan that is camped some 100 yards away within the trees. Shalelu in her I’m at leathers and bow out comes from a position within the trees with another elven woman, some of you may recognize her others may not (@lyraesal feel free to describe your character). She speaks in a hushed tone, and watches beyond you in the midday sun that sits hidden by a lone dark cloud in the sky giving the entire area a lit but bleak look.
“Someone showed up while you were gone. I came looking for you all. Says she wants to help, figured another hand trying to figure out everything will be good. I need to hurry back I don’t know how much stock I can put in the hired hands we have.” as she says this as if on cue you see here left ear twitch as if straining to hear so far beyond her.
Byron waves in greeting to the new person and says, "Hello, I think I have seen you in Sandpoint around Koya's place. You have come quite a ways from there."
Winsome shivers, bundling up his cloak around him in the advancing evening for warmth and perceived safety. "Y-y-you must be quite at home in the wilds, Lyraesal. I'm Winsome. G-g-glad to have you with us." He ponders Ameiko's ramblings as he stares into the gloom.
Aiko is, of course, near Ameiko's side, occasionally gripping her hand or checking for any signs of further illness. There is little that she can do, but she leaves the business of figuring out the next move to the others.
I guess we're searching the ruins?
The wild-looking half-elf beside Shalelu studies each of the companions, a flicker of recognition passing through her golden eyes as she focuses on those she knows at least in passing, her intense gaze settling for longer on those with whom she was u familiar.
Her long, honey colored hair look g as windswep as if shed been running for hours, Lyraesel holds herself ready, a slightly crouched posture of one ready to burst into action at a moment's notice, though her expression trays a mixture of war was and relief.
She nods at Byron's recognition, tilting her head a she takes in the hitch in Winsome's speech. "Good to see you. I hear something happened to Ameiko." she says directly, looking at Aiko who smelled like daggers and lightning. She had seen her move to protect Ameiko in the past. The scent of her anger made sense.
"Something seemed to happen to her last night. It must have been a magical attack, because nothing seemed to disturb the camp. There are some ruins down there and a strangely well kept cemetery. We were going to go investigate before the caravan moves into the area." Byron tells Lyraesel.
Shalelu take a moment to look back before looking to the rest of you. “I doubt we could move up, atleast without everything hearing us. The road is far to overgrown. If we can make sure it’s safe then we can bushwhack our way up and set up a camp.” takes a moment to push past you and gaze up at the castle that sits on the hill dilated and quiet. [
[/b] If the graveyard is well kept someone is here the place looks ruined. Keep an eye out, this place gives me a bad feeling.[/b]
Adrian for his part tilted his a bit, trying his best to get a read on the new person before him. When she spoke, Adeian snapped back into focus with a nod.
"Right. She's been like this for a while now," he replied with a hint of sadness.
“Whatever it is, it’s something here. She hasn’t gotten worse atleast so there’s that.”
Shalelu looks to Lyraesal and smiles “Make sure they don’t get lost when they come find us, I Need to head back. I don’t trust how close we are to the main road. The last thing we need is someone riding up on us.”
Byron hefts his spear and says, "Lets try and make our way down to the cemetery so we can start there." He will then start moving stealthily towards the cemetery, and immediately steps on a big branch that cracks under his armored weight..
Aiko reluctantly pulls away from Ameiko and finally says, "... yes. Right. Let's finish investigating the cemetery." She picks up her naginata and gestures for Lyraesel to join the investigation.
"It appears that someone is still taking care of the cemetery, but we don't know whom," Aiko explains to the shaman. "The rest of the town is in disarray but we don't know if the castle is still inhabited."
Aiko pauses a moment after Byron stumbles on a branch, then sighs and says, "Well, so much for the stealthy approach."
Returning Shalelu's smile has a remarkable effect on Lyraesel, banishing the almost predatory fierceness, emphasizing her youth and attractive blend of human and elven features. She nods affirmatively. "Don't worry, we'll find you."
Turning to look at the others, she nods again before setting of at a loping pace.
"Caretaker maybe? Bodies usually have wild growth everywhere. Good food for plants."
"The rest of the town shows no such signs of care," says Aiko quietly. "The whole place is in a state of neglect and decay except for the graveyard."
As Shalelu slinks off you all start to “sneak” down the path. As you see path widen you see the familiar looking view of a ruined town. Destroyed And dilapidated they stand stark with nature slowly reclaiming them, fungus grows across them like some a scab growing to cover a wound.
A temple barely standing is across the from the cemetery with its gates open, a symbol of Desna ties the two together. The one on the church looks muddied and dirty from neglect while the metal symbol in the gate is tarnished but atleast clean. You look to the bay and see the hint of a longship, broken on the bay with a blue winged creature dead on it. It looks much more recent than the destruction of the town. The roads have broken carts in them, and other debris.
As you stair out at the destruction you recall hearing about how an unknown scourge destroyed the colony of Brinewall. It’s unknown what it was but it’s guess it was sometime around the first day of Sarenith in 4687, just a few days after the date on the letter.
With everything in front of you, options are numerous. The castle stands ever present on the hill peaking above a grove of trees. The longship sits plainly standing out amidst the older wreckage, the buildings offer a source of exploration for those willing to poke through them, the graveyard sits clean and strange, or possibly some other option?
"Looks like the temple is near the cemetery, makes sense that they'd be related. Let's check that out next," suggests Aiko.
Adrian did a better job avoiding branches and not making noise. The temple itself however left him blank of any answers.
"Well... the graveyard looks appropriately creepy, so there's a good chance whatever we're after's there."
Winsome follows at the back of the group, with extreme trepidation. "A well-cared for cemetery and a town gone to ruin does not fill me with confidence in the caretakers' priorities," he mutters as he tries to pick his way forward quietly.
"This devastation is probably something to do with the unknown scourge that destroyed the Brinewall colony in 4687, just a few days after the date on that letter," he says offhandedly, as if he just made the connection.
"I don't know a lot of Desnarians... Desnarites? Desna worshippers! But I really want to see that temple!
Yes! Winsome! I think you nailed it! The Great Scourge of Brinewall!"
"Temple first, or geavwyard?" Lyraesel asks quietly over her shoulder.
Quietly working their way to the two holy spots, quickly searching the temple is easy as it stands barely up with half the roof fallen in. Quickly realizing there is little hear a search of the building is made.
looking over the building you notice that there are signs of a great fire, that burned the building to whatnot is now. It’s skeleton and the few pieces that remain untouched are all that is left.
You find tucked under some rubble a skeleton bones broken from the fire and blackened by everything. He lies on the remains of a bed, as if never having woken to the blade that surrounded him.
With the church picked through, covered in dirt and grime you head to the cemetery. The entire graveyard is unusually well tended—the grass appears to be weeded and the gravestones are quite clean. What appears to be a gravestone set apart from the rest of the graves near the northern edge of the cemetery is in fact a small, well-tended shrine to Desna that consists of a marble statue of the deity holding aloft a small copper bowl.filled with water. The place is eerily quiet as you stand looking about the area, the sun starting to dip as the end of the day closes in.
Looking closely at the walls and rubble, sniffing the air and the ground as they search through the wreckage, Lyraesel finds signs of one of the most primal source of natural terror and destruction.
"Fire! Completely burned...overnight. This one died in bed." she says after digging out the buried skeleton.
She looks at the graveyard, puzzled at the difference between it and the church.
Aiko adds, "The shrine to Desna here seems well-tended. Is anyone familiar with Desna's religious practices?"
She glances back toward the wagon encampment and says, "Since Ameiko is lost to the land of dreams, having the favor of the goddess of dreams would be a good thing right about now."
Winsome shrugs. "N-n-no more than passing. Desna is one of the g-g-gods honored in the Sandpoint temple, but I must admit I've n-n-never studied her particular doctrines." He looks back at Ameiko with Aiko. "We c-c-could certainly use all the help we c-c-can get," he says pensively.
"Do you whoever this was is still lurking around as a spirit of some sort who is tending the graveyard? We should probably bury his remains one way or the other." Byron says as he looks with sadness at the burnt skeleton.
Adrian shook his head in reply. "Not enough to know what to do specifically that could help."
He quickly turned his head towards Byron. "Burying the body might do the trick. Poor person probably didn't even know what happened till it was too late."
As you ponder this a light breeze causes the well cut grass to sway and the tops of trees around you and on the hill to sway. Your left feeling oddly out of place not sure yet where your answers lie as after a few moments nothing seems to happen and the eerie silence of it all weighs you down.
With a sweep of the detect magic cantrip you search the graveyard. You detect magic coming from the bowl that sits before the statue. Concentrating you center directly on the statue to determine it has a faint aura . Studying it for a little bit reveals it to be conjuration based.
"Body? Where? I don't see... Oh! <prayer for the deceased> May Sarenrae guide your soul to the next world. Unless it's Desna, but you understand...<sigh> Stop rambling, Zaraleva."
"I'm going to cast Detect Magic and look around, as usual."
<Some time passes>
"Oooh, look! It's faint, but it's conjuration! Maybe it makes the gravestones clean? I'm going to watch it at sunset and sunrise!
If nothing happens at those times, she places a silver piece in the bowl.
"We cannot wait until sunset and sunrise, but check after?" Lyraesel suggests over her shoulder as she stalks toward the graveyard.
"I think there were some small flittering creatures in the area. I was not able to see what they were though. They are likely the ones keeping the area clean. Why they would do that I do not know. We also saw a body by the water. We should bury that one as well. Shall we go and investigate it now? Water will be important for the caravan." Byron says as he considers what he saw before and after the scouting mission.
"Hmm. Dealing with the bodies is important to make sure the water supply remains clean. I agree that we should handle their burials," says Aiko. "After that... let's see if we find anything else in the remains of the church, then... I don't know, maybe that longship. Seems out of place."
[/dice]
"If we bury the bodies, better to do before sundown." Lyraesel says looking up at the sun in it's decline.
"Are y-y-you sure you want to go exploring after dark?" Winsome stammers. "I know t-t-time is of the essence, but we could make c-c-camp and then look at the longship in the light of morning instead?" Though he tries his best to sound reasonable in his suggestion, Winsome fears that he will seem cowardly rather than prudent, and so tries to laugh out loud as he speaks. "Ha-HA!" he says, far too enthusiastically.
"Definitely agree on doing that before sunset," Adrian replied. He turned towards Winsome in a sympathetic look before sighing. "As much as I'd like to, time if of the essence. Hopefully we won't see anything dangerous."
Lyraesel looks over her shoulder at Winsome, studying the man for a moment, before apparently coming to a conclusion, and turning back toward where the body was found.
Byron will look for a shovel and start digging a grave.
You carry over the body and finding an old shovel you give the person who once lived in this town a proper burial, the sun starts to hang low it’s last days fading from the sky. As you finish your work one more mound added to the dozen or so others Zaralava in honor of the burial and the sunset takes out a copper and drops it into the bowl. A few drops of water splash hitting her hand, and her divine nature feels a tinge of power in the water. Similar to what she would recognize as Holy water.
But as the revaluation of the magical water happens you hear a soft feminine voice call out from the darker portions of the graveyard. “Who are you all, that would bury an unknown man who died long ago?”
Adrian wiped the sweat off his forehead as he gazed at the work the party had done... well as much as they could see with what little light was left for the day. His head twisted towards the sound in a fright. Yet he spoke back with some confidence.
"It seemed like the right thing to do. I think most people would want a proper burial, especially someone we think was part of the clergy."
Lyraesel's golden eyes per into the darkness, staring toward the sound of the quiet voice.
You look about and have trouble finding the source you can tell it’s some 55 feet away near a only mausoleum that stands in the cemetery. “Are you people that always do the “right thing to do?” I can sense that none of you are of the I’ll suit”
"We have our own reasons for coming to Brinewall, but whatever happened here wasn't good," says Aiko cautiously. Her fingers flex loosely on the haft of her naginata. "This shrine seems to be all that shows that this town was once a living place and not a ruined wreck. It is... an honorable devotion."
"Whoever speaks to us, I hope for your sake that you are not gauging whether to visit upon us the same doom that came to this town, because we will fight it," she says sternly. "We have no intention of giving way in our journey because of monsters, curses, or evil spirits."
"Life can be messy, but I do the best I can." Byron adds in as a reply to the spirits question.
“It’s small, but The Great Dreamer shows her appreciation, she’s blessed it with a little bit of holiness despite the ugliness that is here.” The voice moves a bit, it’s quick and you hear the flutter of wings propelling it.
“I wish upon you no doom, I just wonder who would travel to this place. This place that houses monsters and the dead.” and with that in the dim light you see a small winged person flutter foreword, her wings like that of a butterfly and as big as a small birds. She has armor made of a soft material that is like leather but green. On her hips are two small star knives, ready and waiting.
“I guess I should introduce myself, I am Spivey. I, ugh know your names. Ive been here all along.”
"It is nice to meet you Spivey, what happened to this town?" Byron asks.
“I don’t know, I only came here a couple years ago. I found the shrine when I was lost and felt called to it. I’ve taken care of it and watched over it since then. There are large evil creatures here, they come from the castle I keep them. But other than that I don’t know the story of this place. Rarely people come here, but they aren’t seen again. That’s what happened to the woman from the boat.”
"Woman from the boat?" asks Aiko, relaxing her grip a bit now that the voice has shown itself to be non-hostile.
"May I?" Zaraleva holds her palms out for Spivey to alight on them.
"You are simply beautiful!"
She holds her hands very still, never even considering that this creature might be dangerous. She tries to make eye contact and smile warmly.
"And I'll have you know we are FIERCE monster hunters! Also, I can fix things that are broken and I can heal you if you're hurt, and...I can ramble for eternity. Sorry about that. I do hope we can be friends. Lyraesel is my newest friend. Look at her amazing eyes!" She tries to indicate Lyraesel without moving her hands. It's awkward, but stops the rambling for a bit.