Juriya reads the room and shuts up, but is still noticeably pissed.
Vinder calms down by the spell. He can't bring himself to be angry again, but just mutters "Whatever you say. Vagrants." He sits back in the corner and looks somewhat pathetic.
Back at Ibor, he answers Arrian "I don't really know. As I said, I only knew he was doing that, but wouldn't go near that thing with a 10 foot pole. Still, Banny did buy some stuff his wage wouldn't allow, so I always thought that is where the money went."
Vinder calms down by the spell. He can't bring himself to be angry again, but just mutters "Whatever you say. Vagrants." He sits back in the corner and looks somewhat pathetic.
Back at Ibor, he answers Arrian "I don't really know. As I said, I only knew he was doing that, but wouldn't go near that thing with a 10 foot pole. Still, Banny did buy some stuff his wage wouldn't allow, so I always thought that is where the money went."
"What stuff did he buy that would be more expensive than he could afford?"
"You have my heartfelt condolences on the loss of your child, Mr. Vinder," Ethan says in a sympathetic tone. "I know you have been led to believe we murdered her, and nothing I say now will disabuse you of that notion. I can only give you my oath, in Erastil's name, that I and my friends are innocent, and that we will do everything in our power to bring the killer to justice."
Ethan waits a moment for Vinder to reply. If he replies, Ethan remains to listen. If he does not, he gives the man a respectful nod of his head and rejoins the rest of the group.
Ibor replies to Arrian "Well, clothes mostly, for himself and Katrine."
On the other side, Vinder pretends not to hear Ethan.
Ethan gives a respectful nod to Mr. Vinder and rejoins the rest of the group. "The killer needs to be found and stopped before he kills again. The longer he is active, the more the community will become more fearful, and start looking for someone to blame. Unfortunately for us, if we don't find and stop the murderer, we may very well be convicted by the mob and hanged for these crimes."
"I wouldn't be surprised Ethan. So now where to? Talk to Grayst Sevilla at the sanitarium?"
A reasonable course of action, unless either you or Ethans survival is good enough to find tracks of the perp on the other side of the river?
Alicia offers
"There's a chance I could pick up the trail on the other side, but not a good one," Ethan admits.
"There's a chance I could pick up the trail on the other side, but not a good one," Ethan admits.
"I'm trained in tracking so I could try too."
Your Survival check with Arrian's auto aid auto succeeds this DC 15.
On the other side of the river, there's a relatively dry spot that bears a number of barefoot human tracks and a lingering stink of rotten flesh. The tracks lead from and into the river, but never away from the site. The spot is hidden by several low banks of nettles, but offers a perfect view of the mill to anyone hidden here.
You find...
a cap of light in the water.
"Let's see if Dead-Eye favors our hunt," Ethan says, following the trail. After several minutes, Ethan finds a spot down near the water's edge.
"Look at this," Ethan says, holding up the cap found in the water. "Very practical for underground exploring for anyone not blessed with darkvision."
So, perpetrator smells really bad, has reasonable eyesight, and probably accurate nightvision. Strongly implies undead to me
Alicia says taking a sniff
Probably not a Vampire? Never met one, but I heard they are creatures who tend to put considerable efforts into their appearance, and I am guess they would smell better then this.
Ano would ask for the cap, “My eyesight isn’t as good in the dark as normal catfolk. That will be very helpful.”
Ano confirms that the person/undead used the river to cover their tracks. This also means that smell based evidence was washed away.
"You're welcome to it, if no one else objects," Ethan replies, holding the cap out to Ano.
"No objections here. Don't have darkvision here though, fair warning
“Also,” Ano notes, taking a few sniffs in the air, “Whoever did this was pretty smart, or at least smart enough. The scent ends at the river-this person made sure we couldn’t tail them.”
"Either that or they can smell it themselves."
"Anyone who stinks bad enough that even those of us WITHOUT animal noses can smell him probably is aware of their own condition. Unless they ARE undead, as we currently suspect, and their nose has just completely rotted off," Donimah comments.
"Or the sensation gone even with the nose still there," Juriya offers.
"And lying in wait and watching. Unfortunately we don't know if they were waiting for either victim or just for the night shift at the mill. I would think Banny since he was most often here at night to skim the till."
Arrian will examine the path the river takes to see what direction(s) it travels and what in Sandpoint lies along it.
The Turandarok river flows south then west into a small bay that leads to the Varisian Gulf before stretching onto the Arcadian Ocean. To the north, it flows up and turns east around Devil's Platter then turns east where the headwaters can be found.
The group travels south taking the road to Magnimar at first. Just before crossing Cougar Creek, the group leaves the road to walk alongside the river. Walking across farmland, Ethan recognizes the farm where the miscarriage happened. About an hour walk from there the group finds the Sanatorium, a three story building overseeing the river. A chilly spring wind passes as the group looks it over.
The building has a stout stone roof, and is built in the lee of the limestone escarpment known as Ashen Rise. All doors are wooden, and there's a brisk sense of cleanliness even outside the building. The group approaches the main entrance through a porch and the floors are scrubbed and walls are freshly painted white. Windows are narrow, no more than 4 inches wide.
Walking up the outside veranda makes the wood creak. A second door can be reached by walking further on it. Opening the main door leads to a reception area. No one is here. There is a desk and three chairs. A cord hangs from a hole in the southern wall above a sign that reads "Ring for service".
Alica looks around, her paranoia striking
Windows can be used as firing slits, doors can be easily broken down and would require reinforcement to setup a proper perimeter defense. Check if inside is wooden or not, if not wooden veranda is good setup for fire trap
Why am I thinking of turning this place into a fortification?
Like, whoever the perp is is unlikely to attack this area while we are here, assuming he has such information, which he likely does because we didnt move stealthily
This is also... extremely clean
This place is certainly well maintained, and unworried about visitors.
She states to the party
"Should we ring it," Juriya asks.
Ano is tense; she really doesn’t like the atmosphere of the place. Cherry can’t even bring himself to stick around-he hides in the branches of a tree outside.
“Yeah,” the catfolk sighs, “Sooner we get this over the better.”
Nodding at Ano and Juriya, Arrian rings the bell.
Donimah watches coolly and waits to see what will unfold.
Alicia, while in plate armor and having her weapon visible, has not currently drawn either a shield or a weapon.
Ethan waits patiently for the knock to be answered, but keeps Erastil foremost in his mind, well-aware that he may need to call upon the Stagfather's aid.
As Arrian pulls the cord, a ringing bell is heard beyond the southern door. Those more perceptive also hear maybe two or three bells above. It takes a while for something to happen, but eventually, steps are heard climbing down some stairway to the south.
About a minute after the bell is rung, the southern door is unlocked and a man shows. His demeanor is clearly timid. He attempts to speak "Haaaa". After clearing his throat, he tries again "How may I help you?"
Greetings, I am Alicia, Paladin. We wish to talk with one of the patients here, perhaps he may aid us in tracking a dangerous murderer, and preventing further crimes from happening.
Are you in charge of this facility?
Alicia asks politely but directly.
"And I'm Juriya Arima, alchemist and investigator, here for the same reasons," Juriya adds... with barely any visible affect to her voice as she internally screams at herself for it coming out so f%+%ing dry and emotionless.
Huh, there was just a small misalignment between her words and her bodily posture, which, for a humanoid person, puts her in the uncanny valley, but if this is fixed, and its fixable
She would exceed my abilities in diplomatic delivery
Alicia eyes Juriya with keen interest
I thank thee, Lady Kelinahat, to have me meet and travel alongside such amazing people
She silently prays
Arrian suppresses a chuckle and adds, "I'm Arrian, and you are?"
Ethan stands quietly, with a friendly smile, the holy symbol of Erastil worn openly on his chest.
Initially, the man replies Alicia with "Yes, yes, I'm in charge here. What do you want?" His body language also tells you he doesn't want to stay here long.
After Juriya talks to him, and Arrian and Ethan bolster her, he seems more receptive and says "I'm Erin Habe, successful doctor. Please, state your business, I have patients to attend to."