You tell her a little bit about your battles with the two different sets of insects. The mayor asks a few questions about tactics, if they need special weapons, and the like. You answer her questions.
Satisfied, she says “Sounds like they should pose no problems for my guards.”
“So what have you found at Gellion’s home?”
There is a brief silence. Majara fidgets a little bit, then admits “I don’t think they know where that is.”
“Oh?” says the mayor, staring at Majara as she drums her fingertips against the desk.
Turning to the group of you, she says “It seems this started with either Gellion or Nolaria. You have already been to the temple where Nolaria lives and said that her father had searched her room. Seems you should search Gellion’s quarters.”
She stares at Majara as she says “Majara will give you directions to his home.”
Then she looks back to your group. “I think that would be more productive than a visit to the Witch’s End. I do not need another complaint from Alcie about strangers in town plotting evil magical rituals.”
Majara gives you directions to Gellion’s home.
Then the mayor says “My guards will search for more of the Demon Bile and work with Majara and Father Ruvarra to destroy it. Report back here once you have searched the Vazarro home. Let me know what you find out.”
“Any questions?”
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You tell her a little bit about your battles with the two different sets of insects. The mayor asks a few questions about tactics, if they need special weapons, and the like. You answer her questions.
Satisfied, she says “Sounds like they should pose no problems for my guards.”
“So what have you found at Gellion’s home?”
There is a brief silence. Majara fidgets a little bit, then admits “I don’t think they know where that is.”
“Oh?” says the mayor, staring at Majara as she drums her fingertips against the desk.
Turning to the group of you, she says “It seems this started with either Gellion or Nolaria. You have already been to the temple where Nolaria lives and said that her father had searched her room. Seems you should search Gellion’s quarters.”
She stares at Majara as she says “Majara will give you directions to his home.”
Then she looks back to your group. “I think that would be more productive than a visit to the Witch’s End. I do not need another complaint from Alcie about strangers in town plotting evil magical rituals.”
Majara gives you directions to Gellion’s home.
Then the mayor says “My guards will search for more of the Demon Bile and work with Majara and Father Ruvarra to destroy it. Report back here once you have searched the Vazarro home. Let me know what you find out.”
“Any questions?”
"If I were to wager it started with Gellion. Majara said the handwriting on the note found in Morvinarr's room looked like Gellion's handwriting. We found Nolaria's cold iron morningstar and her pet raven Blackfeather in the cemetary next to the church. Both in the cemetery and in the orchard there was a sign of a struggle between two humanoids and the winner carried off the loser. In the orchard the loser was large; likely Morvinarr. I doubt Nolaria is overpowering and carrying off the boys particularly Mornivarr. And Gellion is the only one with yellow boots which Blackfeather kept saying, 'Yellowfoot, get Yellowfoot!' We need to find Gellion and the sooner the better. In addition to contact with cold iron, the Demon Bile is destroyed by positive energy. I'm sure Father Ruvarra can channel the power of Erastil to cleanse an area. The quicker the areas of Demon Bile are cleansed the quicker the giant vermin will stop appearing."
Gaius looks towards Majara while addressing the Mayor's last request, "Although we will do our best to subdue Gellion and bring him back, there is a chance that may not be possible. Are we going to face any legal issues if that's the case?"
“I will allow Father Ruvarra and Majara to destroy any bile found. As I understand it, the creatures themselves don’t require special weapons. Don’t use fire. Do use good tactics. Beware of poison.”
Majara gives a little gasp at Gaius suggesting lethal force but the mayor cuts in. “If there is no way to safely subdue him, you will only have your own conscience to deal with for killing a twelve year old boy.”
“Time is wasting. Go check if Gellion is at his home, and if not see if you can find any clues to where he might be.”
The Vazarro home is a simple, well-kept, two-story structure of bricks, wood, and plain shingles. Smoke billows from a brick chimney, and minimal light escapes from the windows, from which partially closed, thick-slatted shutters hang. The front door bears a tarnished brass knocker.
Only Mallycorn fails to notice that there is a dark, greasy-looking stain oozing from between the slates of the shutters on the ground floor windows. The same people notice that the door’s knocker is lightly smeared with a dark, dried substance.
The substance on the door knocker is dried blood. Furen believes it to be three or more days old.
Gaius and Relgar find that the sturdy wooden door has both a lock and a trap on it!
Checking the windows, they are locked from the inside. Although it would be easy to break a window, that is likely to attract all sorts of the wrong type of attention from the neighbors.
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Only Mallycorn fails to notice that there is a dark, greasy-looking stain oozing from between the slates of the shutters on the ground floor windows. The same people notice that the door’s knocker is lightly smeared with a dark, dried substance.
"Any idea what this stain by the slates could be?" John inquires of the others. "If it is a sign of danger within, we may be forgiven for breaking a window."
"Or the front door," he considers aloud. "Thieves tend to be found everywhere, except where you need one."
With the aid of Furen’s divine blessing, Azalmak is barely able to disarm the trap. It looks to him like something would have shot out from the door and splattered people with a substance.
With the trap disarmed, Azalmak then goes to work on the door. Although you don’t think he would win any speed trials, still he does have enough skill to do that. Fortunately no one disturbs your suspicious activity.
He opens the door and you can see the living room. You might want to go in before a passerby does take an interest in what you are doing.
Scratches and dark stains cover nearly every surface in this spacious living room. To the east, paintings and other once-fine objects give fuel to a fire roaring in the hearth. Bent, broken, and bloody cutlery juts at odd angles from the table in the center of the room. Books lie scattered in heaps next to broken shelves, and shards of shattered dishes spill forth from their cabinets.
An open door to the west looks into the filthy kitchen, and stairs to the southwest lead up to the next floor.
Tiny bloody footprints cover the stairs, heading in both directions.
You do a hurried search for more traps as you make your way towards the stairs. Just as you are about to go up the stairs, a dagger come flying at Relgar! It manages to hit.
Following the trajectory backwards, you see a tiny humanoid creature with more daggers under the table.
Arcana to identify the creature.
Bolded may act.
Round 1:
Azalmak
Relgar 3 damage
Gaius
Mallycorn
Cracking John
Red
Furen
Relgar barely recognizes the hunchbacked, wingless creature as a homunculus. It lacks the wings normal to such a creature but would have the immunities normal for any construct. Some of the changes are likely because of Demon Bile, but it should burn as well as most things.
The creature is able to avoid much of the flames but very badly burned. The upholstery on the chair did not survive the burst of flames.
“These flames are nothing compared to my hatred!” screams the little creature.
Arcana to identify the creature.
Bolded may act.
Round 1:
Azalmak
Relgar 3 damage
Gaius
Mallycorn
Cracking John
Red 10 damage
Furen
Azalmak slices into the creature and it perishes.
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Relgar nods in appreciation. He is now completely healed.
"Thanks for the healing Furen. As the rest of you might or might not know that was a homunculus. It seemed to come in contact with the demon bile."
Relgar uses his Mage Hand spell to magically search the tiny creature for any items of interest. He is carefully to not to directly touch the homunculus or any of its possessions.
All that the creature had on it was a total of six daggers. One of those got thrown at Relgar.
Gaius also recognizes that the creature was a variant of a homunculus. He thinks it was the result of a badly mangled ritual in combination with blood contaminated by the Demon Bile. He does not think it had some of the elements which usually used control and direct a homunculus. It was quite adept at hiding though.
Overall, he would consider it a defective homunculus.
Unbound (Su) Unlike a traditional homunculus, this one is not physically or telepathically bound to their master. He doubts that the destruction of it caused any damage to the creator and likewise the death of the creator would not affect it.
No one should ever use the ritual used to create this one. Follow the normal rituals in order to ensure a good bond between creator and homunculos.
Stealth was the creature’s best skill.
Azalmak goes bounding up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, he finds two hallways at right angles to each other. He sees a total of three doors, all closed. The way up and the landing at the top of the stairs is clear of any hazards.