Kendra looked wide-eyed at the Orc. Then said Why of course...Balurk. Youre here. ....Im glad my courier reached you. Father spoke highly of you. ...Let me get you a bowl and some bread.
It’s this taint. This undeath that’s clung to me all my life. I’ve searched for answers, for cures, for penitence. I’ve even considered just giving in to the undeath or even death itself.
I have followed the Mother of Souls for years, as I believe no other god to understand. Yet, my path remains unclear and peace eludes me.
Then, today I thought, ”Maybe instead of focusing on my own taint, I could face the undead of Golarion.” And then you thought I wasn’t a believer…
His voice trials off as he starts breathing quickly. Being led to privacy is probably the best thing for him.
Quincey quietly stares into his stew feeling embarrassed by his emotional outburst at the temple. Mother of Souls, why am I this way.
However, the self-wallowing is short lived, and Quincy drops his spoon and jumps to his feet when Barek and the newcomer start onto details of Harrowstone. He grabs his notes and starts furiously writing. After they are through their details, he hold up a book from the opened chest near by. The one with the eye symbol that they have seen on the statues and the box in the crypt.
He eagerly asks Carla, Would you happen to have any idea what this symbol is about? There may be a connect.
Before he can get an answer though, a fanged monster walks in and is offered a bowl of soup. Lady of Mysteries! Now what?
((DC 25 Knowledge Arcane, Local, or History to know anything about the symbol or book. DC 30 to pick the lock on the cover))
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Carla observes as Balurk enters the house. She is not startled by any means, but she can tell he stands out. Having seen so many injured and sick people from many backgrounds, she was used to helping people wherever she could. Unconsciously, as the orc asks for food, she fumbles her clothes looking for food. She pauses as she remembers how her brother always chastises her for being too accommodating. She figures their host would take care of such needs. She lets the scene play out without interfering, she can introduce herself later.
Lawrence, however, hides, afraid that the orc will think of him as still raw food.
She is startled by Quincey approaching. She looks at him for a second, thinking of chastising him for startling her, but chooses not to. Instead she takes a prolonged look at the book he shows her.
She says "I... yes, I have seen this before. Give me a moment, I need to remember where it was."
"Ez egy nagy fiú..."
And I thought Helmund and Jack were large. A friend of the Professor's though?
Ever the diplomat, Barek steps forward, a bit wide eyed, and certainly cautious, extending his ungloved hand just the same, "Hello Balurk, I am Barek. A friend, I suppose, of Professor Lorrimor as well." He begins pointing at everyone in turn, much as he did with Carla just earlier. "Jack has already introduced himself. That is Quincey, Carla...it looks like Lawrence isn't here at the moment, Briar Rose, and finally, Kendra, Professor Lorrimor's daughter."
Carla pauses and the image of a scarab in blue with a pyramid on its back and an eye ...all seeing eye...all watching eye....runs though her memory. and Lawrence looks at her, touching her arm in concern. then it hits her.
Balurk takes a look at everyone, and then points as he repeats their names. "Barek. Jack. Quincey. Carla. Briar Rose. And Doctor's daughter, Kendra."
The orc makes himself comfortable sitting on the floor. He holds out letter. "Got letter. Balurk was temporary bodyguard while Doctor was on refersh. No, rebrumch. No, reserincheria..." He struggled hard with the word, then, closing his eyes tightly, he tapped his bald head gently a few times. Then his eyes opened, and with a big smile, he continued, "On expedition. Doctor got jumped by people, Balurk chased them away. Especially after one had his jaw knocked clean off-that's why they call Balurk Jawbreaker. Balurk expected to die or be punished for getting hurt, but Doctor healed Balurk, gave Balurk extra coin, and offered Balurk job as all time bodyguard. Being bodyguard for one man all time confusing for Balurk; wanted to journey more before giving answer. Doctor said to write when ready; Balurk wrote a few times, no response. But with letter, looks like Doctor really wants Balurk!"
Then, with a confused blink, turned his head around before asking the group innocently, "...Where is Doctor?"
Briar Rose assures father Grimburrow that she does not need to be converted, that her goddesses, particularly Sarenrae, already work closely with Pharasma, and she already follows most all of Pharasma's teachings. She does agree with his assertions about Quincey. "I have been born into great privilege, so I cannot commiserate with the burden you bear, but Pharasma knows the weight and intent of your soul, and you are uniquely poised to serve her." He must be immune to death effects, right? There are many, particularly of the more miltant Sarenites, that believe all undead are inherently evil, but that is not a viewpoint to which Briar Rose subscribes. "I'm not an expert or a preacher, but if you ever doubt yourself, I can offer some words of encouragement. You could even join me in prayer!" She remembers that no one joined her this morning...
"Oh, hello there." Finally! Someone who looks like they can hold their own in a brawl! Everyone else so far is all elegance and grace, but none of them look like they know what it's like to be punched really hard in the center of the face. Briar Rose is not at all imposing, short and petite, but when she takes Balurk's hand to greet him, he feels her strong grip. "It's so lovely to meet you. I am Lady Briar Rose Applestar of Magnimar." She says smiling at the orc. "I'm afraid the professor has passed away, but some - including the late professor - question if his death was natural causes or something more sinister. Murder, assassination... who knows? That's what we're here to find out, apparantly. Do you like mysteries, Balurk?"
[dice=Knowledge history]1d20+8She says "I... yes, I have seen this before. Give me a moment, I need to remember where it was."
Quincey eyes widen as large as saucers at Carla’s words! That’s fine, the replies eagerly, grabbing is papers to take notes. I am so glad you came today!
Quincey looks over at Balurk, thankful that he didn’t have to ask the orc. His conversations with the other already lending more doubt than was obvious about the knowledge he held. This orc was at least a dumb as the next. Not that that would have stopped Quincey from asking, as his curiosity gnawed away at him.
It’s, uh, nice to meet you, Balurk. Do you mind if I call you Jawbreaker? That sounds like a fitting nom-de-, I mean, title.
The orc looks absolutely gobsmacked by the news. “Doctor…is dead?” he said softly. At first, his face contorting to race looks like he’s about to go berserk, but then he takes a deep breath and saya with a soft snarl, “Balurk will help find murderer. Balurk will knock their jaw clean off.” He then looks at Quincey and nods, “[b]Yes you may call Balurk Jawbreaker of you want.”
He remembers Briar Rose’s question and tilts his head, “Not sure. Balurk not orc who solves mysteries. Balurk just get paid to protect people or beat people to death with fists. Preferably bad people.”
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Carla replies to Quincey "So, this belongs to a group of good people. They call themselves the Order of the Paladin... wait... no, it's Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye. Sorry, I remember making this confusion when I first read it, this is how I remembered."
She clears her throat and starts an information dump "So, they focus on monitoring and keeping sacred arcane knowledge. They really hate necromancy, as one should, and are allies of pharasmins, seeking to preserve life. I remember reading that they can be traced back to ancient Osirion, an angel appeared to a count, uhm... Aldus Canter, yes! That's his name. Anyway, the angel started talking about the secrets of the universe. So he founded this group to keep watch over bad creatures and lore. It is only natural to realize that they'd be enemies of the Whispering Way. Anyway, this book is their holy text. But I think the last record of this group appearing was to help fight a Dracolich. You know, as one should."
She watches Quincey, waiting for his reaction.
Barek hangs back with Jack, interested in the various conversations going on but willing to let everyone else discuss until he needs to say something.
Fascinating! Quincey hangs on to every word, excitedly scrawling letters on the page in hurried strokes. When she finished, he looks to her. This is fantastic information! Thank you!
Questions race through Quincey’s head. Was the professor a member of order? What’s in this book? Can we break into it? Probably not the best way to handle that. If the crypt was forgotten, and the professor didn’t have any help, are no members in town? Can we find out more of this order or the dracolich?
He doesn’t speak of them, concerned that it would only overwhelm the newcomers. Well, even more than they already were. Instead, he quietly returns to his stew in thought.
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Balurk has nothing to say about the conversation, so he casually eats his bread and stew. He seems like he hasn’t had a good meal in days, but is restraining himself to not look like a complete slob.
Quincey takes the lull to start conversing with the hulking orc. Well, Jawbreaker, if you have nothing else going on, we would benefit from your protection. The professor asked us to stay around for a little while and then delivering some books a little later on. There is something suspicious going on at the nearby prison ruins that may tie to the professor’s death.
Barek hangs back with Jack, interested in the various conversations going on but willing to let everyone else discuss until he needs to say something.
As Carla goes through her spiel, a wry grin forms. Cutting his eyes toward Barek before shooting them back toward Carla, he leans in close to the magus and speaks under his breath. "Hey, Barek, this Carla gal is kinda cute, isn't she? Call me crazy, but, you two seem to have a little bit of chemistry going on between you. It's just what I'm seeing, is all. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But I don't think I am," he winks, still grinning as he leans back out.
Date: 29th Kuth Time: 5:30 PM Place: Lorimer Estate.
The sun setting on the horizon, the group had a busy day. The Blood Tainted Memorial, An Unsettling Nursery Rhyme, Researching the Prison, Learning of a Secret Order, all leaving questions....what is next runs through everyones minds....
A slight reddening breaks through Barek's tan, and he finds himself slipping into a language picked up during his travels, "Me sem sa jekh gindo kaj voj dikhel pes mishto, numa tu šaj numa dikhes buti."
Barek clears his throat again, stepping forward and "accidentally" giving Jack a light slap on the arm as he does."Was there anything of interest that you guys found at the memorial? The town was particularly buzzing as we came back to the manor, and I felt like we were getting some hard stares."
The contemplative disposition changes immediately to one of concern.
Blood. There was blood. And if you were getting stares, I’ll guess the townsfolk think it’s us. The blood was fresh enough. Mother of Graves. Jawbreaker, I dare say we’ll need your protection mote than ever. Though, I hope your presence alone will deter any trouble in the short term.
Everyone, we may want to keep a watch tonight in case anyone gets any ideas. It is our job to look out for Kendra here after-all. Doubly so for the hospitality she has shown us bunch of strangers.
Thoughts?
He leaves the question dangling there, looking around the room. His mind returns to memorial and wonders of he should have said more about that.
A slight reddening breaks through Barek's tan, and he finds himself slipping into a language picked up during his travels, "Me sem sa jekh gindo kaj voj dikhel pes mishto, numa tu šaj numa dikhes buti."
"Me sem dosta sigurno kaj miri vizia si but laćhi," he responds, waggling his eyebrows.
Barek clears his throat again, stepping forward and "accidentally" giving Jack a light slap on the arm as he does.
His arms crossed and placing a fist over his mouth, looking as if he's listening intently, Jack can't help but chuckle under his breath.
"Everyone, we may want to keep a watch tonight in case anyone gets any ideas. It is our job to look out for Kendra here after-all. Doubly so for the hospitality she has shown us bunch of strangers.
Thoughts?
Raising an eyebrow, "Keep watch? Inside the house? Can't we just lock the doors and windows?" he asks, shrugging.
He looks to Kendra, "What do you think, Kendra? You know this town better than any of us. Do you think the townsfolk may come at us with torches and pitchforks tonight? If you're concerned, then I've got no problem with keeping an eye out. Personally, I think it'll be difficult busting in this place without any of us knowing. Having said all that, though, whatever makes you all feel more comfortable, I'm game for it," he says matter-of-factly.
Kendra looks shocked when Quincey suggests it. I would never imagine the citizens of Ravengro to do such a thing. but then after a second she says in a lower tone but then i never imagined they try and stop me from burying father
Balurk stretches, “Balurk will take watch with Carla. If Carla is alright with that. I good for watching bad guys in night.”
The group decided to stand watch dividing the hours of 6-6 into 3 4 hour shifts. With Carla and Balurk taking the first. Then Jack and Barek, and finally Quincey and Briar Rose.
Fortunately, nothing occurred throughout the night. Instead of nightmares, the group actually had a good night sleep. They awoke rested and ready to face the day.
Once more the smell of baked goods and coffee filled the air as morning arrived and found Kendra placing sweet rolls, a pitcher of hot brewed coffee as well as warm cider on the table as well as a stack of books.
Date: 30th Kuth (2 days into the 30). Time 8:00 AM Place: Lorimer Estate.
Balurk is the first to be awoken. Not because he generally wakes up by sunrise, but because this time he wakes up to something he has not experienced in quite some time-the scent of a delicious breakfast. He is about to grab what he wants to chow down, before stopping himself and saying to Kendra, "Good morning, Doctor's Daughter. Peaceful night. Nothing bad happened. Food smells wonderful!"
Barek wakes and heads down, glad to not be dreaming of fire for once. He catches the tail end of Balurk's statement and nods as he strolls in, spellbook under his arm. "Balurk is right Miss Kendra, it does smell divine in here. Nothing to report from second watch as well. Oh, and good morning you two."
He sits in a sunny spot, performing his routine and preparing his spells for the day. Probably going to start heading into Harrowstone from this point. The place is supposed to be haunted, so no mind affecting spells. Carla seemed to show some aptitude for detecting magic, I'll focus on reading this time... His mind wanders through all of the possibilities as he prepares.
Jack stands to give himself room to pace as he talks. "It all started when I was... let's just call it broke, m-kay? Now, how did I get to that point? So glad you asked! I tend to like to gamble. I'm not a professional gambler by any means, as you'll come to find out, but I still like it. The chance at making big money with just a roll of the bones, or an excellent hand at cards, well, it's just hard to pass up!" He smiles, nodding as if it's a no-brainer.
"Anyway, I was broke, so I had to borrow some coin. And when you've got no family, and no real friends for that matter, your only other option is a 'not-so-reputable' guy who does have the money. We call him "The Boss". And you know what, I don't really know his name. Isn't that weird? Thinking about it, I guess I don't really care. Everyone just calls him 'The Boss'. " He shrugs.
"Moving on, so, um, well... I borrowed the money and, of course, I lost it all. Just couldn't hit pay dirt. I really should've quit while I was ahead. Dangit, I was doing so well, too." He sighs, shaking his head in frustration as he mentally revisits that irritating day. A few moments later, he realizes he's strayed. "Sorry! Um, where was I? Oh yeah. So! I borrowed some more. It took a lot to convince him to do that, but I managed it. Just barely, but I did. I told him this time I was gonna hit it big. Told him I hit it big last time but just played one game too many. It was really five but he didn't need to know that. I just needed one more shot, so he gave it to me. Okay, cool. Everything is cool."
"Now, as you can probably guess, I lost all of that too. 150 gold. That may not sound like a lot, but it's a lot when you're flat broke, know what I mean? So, with me being flat broke, I didn't have the money to pay The Boss back on time. And I think it goes without saying... that is a bad thing. Real bad. The Boss either takes it out of your pocket or out of your hide. Either way, he's gonna collect." He shrugs matter-of-factly.
"So I spent my time avoiding The Boss's cronies, which consists of my good buddy Braeg," the sarcasm seeping through clearly, "and his many low-level minions. That ol' Braeg, he's a charmer that one," he explains while grinning, the sarcasm once again plainly obvious. "With friends like that... know what I'm saying?"
"Well, as luck would have it - the 'bad' kind that is - he found me. I was at my favorite tavern and he comes walking in. I'm like, And he's like, he says in his best half-orc voice, which sounds nothing like Balurk's. "And I went flying out the door, onto the ground, surrounded by his thug minions." Smiling at the thought, Jack looks over at Barek and says, "Yeah, it sucked."
"Continuing on, I picked myself up off the ground, and soon as I do, here comes good ol' Braeg, stomping his way right up next to me. Now, Braeg is a big fella. He's a half-orc, pushing close to 7' tall, he's got to weigh close to 300lbs, if not more, and it's all muscle. Nothing like our newest buddy Jawbreaker with the...," he does his hand in a circular motion over his stomach, "well, you know what I mean," nodding, not really wanting to mention it because it makes him feel guilty. "Anyway, this is NOT a guy you want to get in a scrum with. Not without backup. Like, maybe 10 people or so. At least. Maybe more." He shrugs, wondering how many it actually would take to take him down.
"Anyway, he's threatening me, of course, and I, you know, share my heart with the guy, you know? I just give him a few pointers on cleanliness, that's all. And, I guess it is somewhat possible he might've took my advice as insults, but hey! constructive criticism, you know? More people should appreciate it, is all I'm saying." He matter-of-factly bobs his head. Jack then thinks on that a moment before, "But he didn't. Like at all," he confesses, grinning.
"Anyhow, he punches me in the face. Punches me in the gut. He might've kicked me, too, I don't remember. I was in some pain, so it all kind of ran together. Oh, and on a side note, I actually owed the Boss 200 gold. The longer I took to pay him back, the more I was gonna have to pay. So, yeah, I was pretty much hosed."
"Okay, back to the beating. So, I kind of figured this was it for me. Braeg was about to beat the living life out of me, and there wasn't jack, that Jack could do about it. See what I did there? Pretty good, huh?" he winks, smiling. "But just as my beating was about to commence, old man Lorrimor just so happens to be passing by, and he says to Braeg and his thugs: So I'm thinking to myself, And I couldn't really see him because I just got face-planted in the dirt by Braeg, so all I could do was hope."
"But then I heard Braeg say the words: 'old man' and just figured we were toast. I'm thinking to myself: It was a good life! Mostly. Somewhat. Probably could've been better. Maybe. He grins, chuckling.
"Anyway, to my complete and utter surprise, Lorrimore pulls out 250 GOLD! and offers that to Braeg, to cover my debt. And save my life! 250!!! I'm like, - in my mind, of course."
"So, to make a long story short, Braeg takes the money the Professor offered, takes his thug puppets, and leaves. Just like that. And all the Professor asked was for a favor in the future, and here I am." He shrugs. "It still blows my mind to this day. No one has ever done anything like that for me. I wish I could've done something to repay him while he was still living. Doesn't seem fair." Jack crosses his arms and strokes his beard in thought, looking somewhat dejected about it.
___________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
Making his way down to breakfast, Jack claps his hands in excitement. "Ahhhhh, smells good. Always with the amazing breakfast, Kendra. Let's get to the grub." Making himself a plate of food, grabbing a cup of coffee, and finding a seat, "So, what's on the agenda for today, folks? We hitting Harrowstone bright and early?" he asks, taking a big ol' yummy bite of sweet roll.
"I was wandering in Vigil, trying to find my place in life, when word started coming around that 'another' barbarian was hanging about. Found out it was an old friend of mine, Gurog." Barek gives a wistful smile, seeming to remember his friend fondly. "Anyway, this was a bit after I had taken to blade and spell, and Gurog was showing signs of magical aptitude.
Well, us both being young and damned stupid, literally, but we'll get to that, we convinced ourselves that the best way to learn more magic was to relieve a wizard passing through of one of their scrolls. After a rather severe misadventure, we managed to acquire one. My spells told me it was a scroll of Gate. Much more powerful than anything either of us had seen before.
I'm not sure if Nethys was smiling on us, or laughing at us when we attempted to make that scroll work. Because it did, and without experience to tell the Gate where to open, we opened a portal to a place far below our own plane. A Horned Devil stepped through..."
Barek pauses, letting the silence fill in while he pulls up the old memories. "Gurog...froze. And I thought he was in danger, so I stepped forward to protect him. I was quickly bound in its chain, and," he swallows hard, "set aflame."
Barek shudders, "It's why I carry sunrods instead of torches, and flinch whenever a flame is too near." He clears his throat, "Anyway. Being in Vigil was a blessing, the Devil didn't last long with all the holy knights around. Gurog had run off, and while I would probably still be here without intervention, I expect I would be far worse off than I am now. Luckily, the Professor found me and gave me immediate medical attention.
He was a good man. Didn't expect anything in return. But I begged more off of him. Asked him if he could help make me a Pathfinder. He expected a favor from me in turn, but he pulled some strings and I've been training in Absolom since then."
Barek pulls his glove back on, and rewinds his turban around his head, letting it fall back into place naturally. "Thanks for telling me your story Jack. Not often that I share mine, but it does feel good to let it out every now and then."
Barek nods absentmindedly, half listening to Jack's question, "Sounds like a good idea..." He realizes a bit of the table space is taken up by other books. Finished preparing his spells and sipping idly at his coffee he asks, "Miss Kendra, what are all of these books for?"
Kendra smiled and said oddest thing. Sherrif stopped by bout a half hour ago, with this stack of books. Said some odd things are going on. Talked about that V on.the memorial, and how it wont.come off no matter what is used to scrub it. Said a farmer and his son were attacked by a walking dead out by the restlands. Said some giant mosquitos attacked the kids singing a song. Heard about you guys investigating about Harrowstone. And brought these books from the townhall about the prisoners. Figures if he can't keep folks from Goin, maybe he can arm them with knowledge.
Then he went on saying with all the goings on, he is gonna ask the town council to call a meeting to warn people to be extra careful
((These books will allow a +4 modifier to researching each of the 5 that were placed there right before the fire knowledge local. Knowledge history ))
A few moments later, he sighs. "Well, I'm not a huge 'fate' guy, but I'll guess we'll see where this all takes us. This is definitely an odd group of folks he's gathered. Shouldn't be too bad, right? Having to save the world and all that," he winks, grinning wryly.
At the mention of undead, Jack slows his chewing before eventually swallowing the bite of sweet roll. "Dang. You gotta be kidding me. Freaking undead walking around like they live here. And if there's one, then there's likely to be more. Which means we have to find a way to stop it before it gets out of hand. Because I'm not banking on the sheriff - or the people in this town, as far as that goes - but it was pretty nice of him to lend us these books. Maybe he's coming around finally. We'll see," he shrugs.
Of course they would wake to nothing but bad news. "Let us not panic just yet. The townsfolk have already proven superstitious, I don't think it's unlikely that there is some exaggeration or misinterpretation to some of these rumors. Still, it would be a good idea to join the meeting at the townhall. It would help us get to the bottom of these rumors and spread some soothing words."
Taking a sip of his hot coffee as he leans back in his chair, "You think they'll let us attend, Rose? I'm not so sure. They seemed like they were all ready to blame us for the blood found next to the statue. And who knows what else they've created in their mind that's our fault. I mean, don't get me wrong, it sounds like a good idea to go to this meeting. I just hope they don't decide to lynch us in the process." Leaning forward to set down his coffee, he takes the last bite of his sweet roll before leaning back again, pondering their options.
Briar Rose fills a large ceramic mug with the cider and takes a deep drink. Finally! Something sweet! It tastes (she imagines) a little bit like sunlight. "Skulking around in the abandoned places around the county isn't going to do anything to endear us to the locals. " She takes a bit of a roll which is also mercifully sweet. "We aren't going to help anyone or stop any grand undead conspiracies if we're run out of town by nervous farmers."
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Carla watches the night for a while, but ends up speaking, being uncomfortable with the silence "Hi Balurk, I'm Carla. It's very nice of you to extend your offer of protection to miss Kendra. It looks like this town isn't any different from any place in Ustalav, hehe. Tell me a little about yourself?"
From out of nowhere, she produces an orange, peels it and offers half of it to the orc.
Carla wakes up feeling well. She goes to the breakfast and says "Good morning everyone! Thank you for this, miss Kendra."
She takes a toast with jam and black coffee and starts eating as the others discuss the events of the day. She is still very confused with everything that is happening, just a day earlier her only problem was getting to a funeral on time, which she failed to do. Now she found a few people in a similar situation as her, has a new task revolving the haunted ruins of a prison, is dealing with cultists and there are still things she is hearing for the first time, such as an apparent 'V' inscribed on a memorial.
She is surprised to see a bunch of books arrive for them and says "Wow, for the first time, the local sheriff is actually smart!" She asks for the books and, as the others start discussing what to do next, she just sits down with the books and starts reading.
Barek starts at one mention. "Children singing a song were attacked? Were they up by school? I might have met those girls. Dark tidings indeed. And a rather ghoulish song as well, lots of description of blood splatter and lying fathers..."
"We aren't going to help anyone or stop any grand undead conspiracies if we're run out of town by nervous farmers."
"While true, it does seem as if the sheriff is partially on our side. It may be that he does not have the power to stop weird things from happening around Harrowstone, and was hoping for a group such as ours to come help."
((It will take the better part of a day at least 2 hours per person being researched So Ill give you the information on the first one you rolled right now and if the party stays here and doesnt go to Harrowstone Ill add the others as time goes on. for now the party is at kendra's until 10am))
Carla attacks the books with a fever, and starts flipping pages back and forth, Eagerly Lawrence scampers onto the table and starts running from book to book as she researches, pointing his nose at one and then another...as if hes aiding in her research.
Finally she looks up
"We aren't going to help anyone or stop any grand undead conspiracies if we're run out of town by nervous farmers.""While true, it does seem as if the sheriff is partially on our side. It may be that he does not have the power to stop weird things from happening around Harrowstone, and was hoping for a group such as ours to come help."
Shaking a pointed forefinger at Barek, "I like that. That's a good point, Barek. I hadn't thought of that."
He looks at a crow flying and continues, “Balurk not familiar with Ustalv. Balurk mostly take jobs from orcs in Belkzen, or very edge of Lastwall. Only time Balurk was in Ustalv was to protect Doctor. Balurk know orcs not very welcome in Ustalv, but Balurk keeps to himself.”
“To talk about himself, Balurk was what you humans would call ‘weird’. Balurk come from tribe who loved weapons-axes, blades, arrows, and riding great warbeasts. Not Balurk-eyes aren’t good enough to use arrows. Hate holding weapons. Always uncomfortable on warbeasts. Balurk was fierce warrior with fists-but that was odd for tribe. So, when Balurk got old enough to travel, Balurk packed what Balurk could carry and worked what Balurk could to get food and necessities.”
He then turns to Carla. “What about Carla? You do not carry weapon, nor do you seem to use fists like Balurk. How does Carla stop sneaky bandit from stabbing her?”
Balurk was casually chugging some coffee and scarfing down a sweet roll when he heard about the undead. “Corpses were walking and Balurk missed it?” He sounds more like a kid who missed a party.
** spoiler omitted **
Balurk was casually chugging some coffee and scarfing down a sweet roll when he heard about the undead. “Corpses were walking and Balurk missed it?” He sounds more like a kid who missed a party.
Grinning, "Don't you worry, Jaws, we'll find 'em. They'll still be around, I've no doubt about that."
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Carla smiles as Balurk tells his story. She says "You're very brave to leave your tribe behind. Do you miss anyone from there?"
As the orc asks her about defending herself, she smiles and says "Well, wherever I go, I'll find people who need either my knowledge of healing, or in worse cases, my healing magic. So, people aren't coming to me for my things, unless these things are healing herbs, hehe. Of course, it helps to have a sharp eye for trouble, so I trained myself to be on the lookout. And I do know one magic spell or two to defend myself. Yeah... But I think the best defense is to wish people well! Then people won't want to hurt you in the first place."
At this moment, a rat pokes out of her dress sleeve. She says "And of course, I have little Lawrence here to help me if I get into trouble. Say hi, Lawrence." The rat looks at the orc and moves its whiskers, but doesn't approach, a little afraid.
Carla says "There is some useful stuff in here. I am researching each of the 5 inmates more carefully. I learned a bit more about this Father Charlatan guy. So, his name was... Here it is, Sefick Corvin. He's the only one who wasn't a serial killer. He was basically a conman, posing as a priest of whatever god served him best at any given moment. With the help of Sczarni gangmembers, he robbed many helpless folk who would come to him for aid. That's just cold... So when he was exposed, he and the gang killed a bunch of guards trying to escape, but they were captured in the end. He was sentenced to be hanged."
Closing the book she says "I hate him already."
Barek looks around, taking everyone's measure. "We've come to a decision point. We've gathered some tools and prepared some information. Professor Lorrimor thought that the Whispering Way was moving quickly to discover whatever it is they want to know about or from Harrowstone. Do we want to spend another day trying to research all that we can, and head in tomorrow? Or do we want to head over to the prison proper and start the investigation in earnest?
"I'm all for gathering as much information as we can, but I worry that our time is too short to do so. My vote is to head over to Harrowstone today and do what we can to stop the Way. What are your thoughts?"
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Carla replies to Barek "So, there's nothing stopping us from taking these books with us. If we have time pressure to stop the Whispering Way from getting there, we can wait for them there and learn the information as we wait. In any case, I am not eager to enter the prison itself. A haunted prison is very dangerous. If we do go there, we should buy a healthy stock of holy water, but we can't ask miss Kendra here for more support than we've already have. Maybe the sheriff would want to sponsor us?"
"I would not be opposed to speaking with him, especially now that he has provided us some form of material aid."
Barek thinks some more, and his eyes grow a bit wider as he starts putting words to his thoughts. "Our problem lies in the time between Professor Lorrimor's death and when we arrived for his funeral. I pray that I am wrong, but the Whispering Way may have already gone and done what they needed to in Harrowstone, and the odd things happening in town could be the result of that...Az ősök megengedték, hogy tévedjek"
Raising a hand, "I'm for Harrowstone. The sooner the better. And I got no problem speaking to the sheriff. If he'll help us, I'll definitely take it."
The decision of going to Harrowstone this morning reached, the party gathered gear, a few supplies. Carla stuffed two of the books in her pack to read on breaks, and they started out heading south of town. A few townsfolk watched them leave and if any were listened to, it was 'theyre leaving' 'good riddance' 'outsiders' 'dont belong' could be heard.
It was a dreary day, cloudy, the ground wet from last nights rain. Yet little wind, so it wasnt bitter as some of the days have been. Birds could be seen trying to get those bugs who were escaping the water in the ground til it dried. In the distance, the hill holding Harrowstone could be seen rising above the town a mile away. The cobblestone road heading south Familiar to Quincey and Briar Rose, The other 4 had not come into town this way.
after 15 minutes of walking an overgrown dirt trail, now little more than an impression headed towards the imposing walls that were Harrowstone.
The wall was intact going to the west and around, with only a few broken and crumbling bricks here and there. It was overgrown with vines though. To the east was another story. a relatively large stagnate pond had formed. The ground had sunk down as could be seen from the banks. It had caused part of the outer wall to collapse into a haphazard pile of stone.
The upper floor of the Prison could be seen. holes in the roof exposed timbers of the second floor. Balconies in many places overgrown with plants could be seen. There was an aura of thick heaviness and a hint of danger surrounding the ediface. The group stopped a short distance from the sagging wood and metal front gate set between a pair of stone
guard towers that once barred entrance into Harrowstone, but now hang negligently open, creaking softly in as the wind touches the ruined bars.
((roll20 has the prison map up as when we move to any maps, please let me know if you cant move or see))
Date: 30th of Kuth Time: 1050 AM Place: Outside Harrowstone
Barek looks over the entirety of the prison from his viewpoint. "I think the best point of entry will be around the east. If we're slow and careful, we shouldn't disrupt the rocks or fall into the pond. Ancestors only know what is in there. It also lets us avoid the front gate, which I do not trust to hold up if we move it around even a little."
At the mention of healing, the orc snaps his fingers, "Oh, so you are like witch doctor?"
Seeing the little rat, the orc tilted his head curiously, waving softly. "Hello, little Lawrence. Do not fear Balurk-Balurk is friend."
On the walk to Harrowstone, Balurk tenses up a bit. He doesn't like feeling so many eyes on him. But what concerns him more is that the group seems to be as much of a target of such animosity, which he can't fathom why. Against him, makes sense, they don't normally see orcs. But what did the rest of the group do to warrant such subtle hostility?
Then they get to the gates. In anticipation, the orc cracks his knuckles, then, with a turn of his head, cracks his neck slightly. "Balurk is ready."
Taking a deep breath, "Works for me. Let's get this show on the road, hm? The east it is. This ought to be fun." Jack then heads in that direction.
Slowly the group turns and parallels the 20' high walls toward where they have crumbled. There is almost a natural path over the mass of stone blocks here. It seems this may have been an egress for many years now.
They eye the path and the crumbled stone
((Its an easy climb with very little chance of injury DC 5 Climb check. Failure means theres a chance you'll fall or be injured. Anyone who fails, rolls a DC 10 Reflex save. failure means you take 1d4 damage. success means you lost your footing and tumbled, slid down the ground on the far side. pick a square... and are prone ))