Round 3 adjustment
Anapa is Bitten!
The paladin takes a swing at the one who took a bite at him
Anapa cuts into the manticore dropping it in its nest. There are about six arrows sticking out of it too.
A tiny, miserable island rises from the swamp, a tangle of trees covering its dour, reed-choked surface. Hundreds of fetishes hang from the trees—simple, roughly humanoid figures made of sticks and bound with twine. Larger fetishes are planted in the ground on various parts of the island, leaning drunkenly in the soft mud. A large nest built of sodden swamp wood sits high in the boughs of a trio of tangled trees on the northwest side of the isle.
The old village boneyard lies about a mile north of Morast on a low, wooded isle. Some 40 graves, each marked with a simple wooden fetish man, lie on the island.
Cristo cautiously steps closer to examine the fetishes.
Watching the battle from the boat, Morbury simply observes the entire combat. When the creature is finally killed, Hm. Impressive.
When they finally make landfall, "Let us find this village and see if we can get some answers, hm?" Morbury leads the way forward once Cristo is done examining the fetishes.
The manticore’s nest is obviously a recent construction, and contains the corpse of a dwarf traveler who unfortunately was boating through the swamp a few weeks ago. The corpse wears a colorful patchwork coat with
numerous pockets holding an oil of keen edge, a package of bodybalm (Adventurer’s Armory 9), a silver hip flask still containing brandy worth 30 gp, and a crimson felt purse containing 31 pp and 22 gp. A masterwork shortsword and a wand lie on the ground nearby.
Knowledge (arcana) check:
coracle contains an oar, a moldy leather travel bag with a damp artisan’s outfit (a shirt, breeches, shoes, and a cloth apron) inside, and a vile object—what appears to be a detached human face.
In addition, a length of rope stretches from the boat into the waters below. The rope is attached to a heavy sack, requiring a DC 10 Strength check to haul up. The sack is very large (big enough to hold a Medium-sized humanoid in fact) and has dried blood soaked into its fabric.
The sack holds some rope, a gag, a rusted lantern, a trio of heavy knives, and a rusted shovel.
filled with fine tools, made of silver with amethyst
handles, lost in the undergrowth nearby. The set is worth
300 gp. A DC 20 Heal check deduces that this is a surgical
tool set used by physicians and chirurgeons. A DC 25
Perception check is required to notice a small symbol
on the handle depicting a raven.
"A wand of ghost sounds? How peculiar?"
At the southern end of the boneyard, Cristo notices remains an old camp. Around a small firepit, the cleric observes a waterskin (still half full of wine), the aged remnants of some trail rations, and a curious glass vial. The bottom of the vial contains the dried remains of a green substance that smells vaguely of carrots. "Hmm."
"I believe this is alchemist’s darkvision extract", the Pharasman shows the others. "Someone needed to see in the dark. A good rule of thumb if going out after dark."
Cristo looks around the southwest shore of the island. "A coracle. Don't see these much anymore. Looks like some dried blood in the bottom of the boat." The
cleric goes through the content of the coracle: an oar, a moldy leather travel bag with a damp artisan’s outfit (a shirt, breeches, shoes, and a cloth apron). "Someone's work clothes." Cristo jumps back as he comes across a vile object. "By The Spire! That's someone's face!!"
Turning away on disgust, Cristo notices a rope that stretches into the water. "Wha-what is that?"
The cleric pulls up a sodden sack. It is very large and has dried blood soaked into its fabric.
The sack holds some rope, a gag, a rusted lantern, a trio of heavy knives, and a rusted shovel.
"What in the Nine Hells is going on here?"
Inspecting the items Cristo has found, "Fascinating. A boat with dried blood upon the bottom of it. An artisan's outfit - which is an odd set of clothing to be hidden - along with a detached human face. Now why would we find a detached human face?" he asks, leaving the others to ponder that one for a moment.
"And there is this sack. Large enough to hold someone our size within it. Also soaked in dried blood. Who's? And some other items that also leave us with questions. A gag? Who was being silenced?"
Rubbing his chin in thought, "I tell you what is going on here, Cristo. At least, what *I* believe is going on. The artisan's outfit must belong to one who was the culprit in removing the face. With the blood within the boat and the bag, the victim was alive initially. The gag was obviously to keep him quiet, and the rope to keep him restrained before he was killed. I cannot quite figure out why the face, though. Was it used to disguise themselves as the victim? And whose face does this belong to? Hm." He stares off into the distance, pondering something else but believing that may be too far-fetched. I wonder. No, that seems a bit extreme. But is it possible? Raising an eyebrow to his thoughts, he shakes his head, letting the thought go for now.
"Anyway, the killers did not expect for any of this to be found. This is not the work of a crazed beast. Sune would not bother with all of this, mainly because he does not possess the mental capability to accomplish such. He would simply 'kill' and be done with it."
He then moves over to the empty graves, "Also, if you will notice, these graves have been tampered with. These six are empty while the others have been left undisturbed. Why? For what purpose?" He ponders that, not knowing really where to go with it.
He then thinks a little harder about his previous thought; his thoughts then return to the Crooked Kin and that eclectic lot. "I have another theory, but it may prove to be a bit of a stretch. Is it possible to have one's face removed and then have another sewn upon you? Could one survive an operation of such magnitude? If so, I would gather the 'victim' - as I've called him previously - could very well be our 'Beast', if there is some way to copy Sune's face and place it upon one's self."
"Or is that simply foolishness on my part?" He crosses his arms, truly curious about their thoughts on the matter.
Imrik starts his aura to heal everyone as the others search the area.
of darkvision (1,200 XP).
"With the magic we've seen, I am sure it could be possible. Healing magic can be potent, and illusion magic just the same. I will not completely disregard such a possibility. But for now we have to work with what we have, or we will drive ourselves crazy trying to think of every possible angle this can take"
"Why would a flesh golem need a potion of darkvision, when those construct have that ability innately?" The cleric posed.