Seren Aelsonor
It didn't take long before we glimpsed some of the trouble you warned me to look out for. We'd all left the inn and gone to the market to purchase some supplies when I noticed a group of people making threatening gestures toward a man who was standing by one of the merchants' stalls. The man they were menacing wore clothing that appeared to have Thassilonian symbols on it, which caught my attention. I pointed this brewing altercation out to the others, and Hunter and Lonn went over to try to resolve whatever dispute was going on. Both of them have proved to be more charming and clever of speech than I am. Just as the rest of us walked over to listen, a terrifying specter of a human man appeared and frightened almost everyone into fleeing, though somehow I managed to resist its frightful appearance. Hunter resisted it also. When I glanced over at Hunter he had a strange black sword in his hand, even though he wasn't carrying a scabbard.
I turned back to the apparition and realized that it wore the visage of Sir Roderic, founder of the town, whose portrait I'd seen in the inn. I also knew that this was a ghost. The ghost of Sir Roderic groaned, "No, not my cove!" and a flood of some liquid spilled from his mouth. I recognized that he was appearing in an unusual place, as a ghost ordinarily should appear in the place where it lived or perhaps where it died. Sir Roderic had been murdered, so we learned later, but not in the marketplace. His spirit must have been aroused by the threat of violence in the town he had so much devotion to.
After the others recovered from their panicked flight and came back to meet us, Lonn picked up some residue of what had issued from the ghost's mouth and kept a sample. It glows slightly and may have alchemical properties. We found the shopkeeper to whom the man wearing the Thassilonian symbols had been speaking and asked him what he knew about that person and why the others had been threatening him. Lonn took the lead in speaking with the merchant. The merchant didn't know any of the people involved in the incident, but he did believe that the folk who had been menacing the symbol-wearing man were members of a group he referred to as the Road Warriors, who by his description are highwaymen or brigands. He also told us that the man wearing the symbols had been trying to recruit him into an organization called the Hornfangs, and had been trying to ask the merchant to make pendants in the form of one of the symbols on his garment. The Hornfangs are evidently organizing the downtrodden residents of the town to better their lot - an admirable goal, but it appears that their methods may leave something to be desired.
Hunter tried to locate the customer who wanted the pendants, but was unable to find him. Then he noticed a woman of our kindred standing across the way watching us with great interest and trying to catch our attention. Fox told us her name is Audrahni. She is caretaker of the graveyard here, and Fox worked for her when he first arrived.
Audrahni
When she saw that we'd noticed her Audrahni approached us and told us that she would like to speak with us. She asked us to come to her house, which stands just outside the cemetery, to dine with her that evening. She has dwelled here since before Sir Roderic died more than ten years ago. She should be a useful source of information about the town. We agreed to meet her for dinner.
Cemetery and Audrahni's house
After we left Audrahni we sought out some of the town guards and asked them about the troubles. They warned us against spreading rumors about the ghost, which of course we would never do. They also told us about the Roadkeepers, which is another name for the gang of brigands the merchant had described. The mayor has offered a reward to rid the town of them, as they charge a 'toll' to travelers and cause other troubles. The guards also told us more about the Horned Fangs, including that eight of their members had been mysteriously slain all at once a week ago. Sir Roderic's ghost had also been seen then and some of the townsfolk were blaming the ghost for the deaths.
We decided we should see the mayor next and made our way to her office. There was a crowd of townsfolk there clamoring for attention and complaining about the appearance of the ghost, but we were able to arrange to see the mayor right away. Mayor Larenza Thort told us a great deal of interesting details. Evidently the Roadkeepers are led by a goblin! The eight people who died a week ago showed no sign of the cause, which led to the ghost being blamed. She told us Sir Roderic had become secretive in his later years and gone on many journeys around the territory surrounding the town. Sir Roderic's manor hasn't been opened since he was murdered by a woman named Cassias who tried to embezzle from the town. We asked if we could search it but Mayor Thort demurred to permit that. Sir Roderic's family never came to settle his estate, which was odd, though soon enough we discovered the reason for that. She did agree that if we could rid her of the Roadkeepers and win the reward she would allow us to enter the manor. She doesn't care how we deal with the brigands, but told us that if they didn't survive we should be sure to let Audrahni know. I'm reluctant to slay them, but I realize that to deal with them there may be no other option.
After we left the mayor we returned to the inn to prepare for our dinner with Audrahni. As we climbed the stairs to our rooms, Zionovia noticed a woman going down who had an unusual broken sword with her. This woman ignored Zinovia when she spoke to her. This woman may be important, as indicated by what we found later.
We had a very pleasant dinner with Audrahni that evening. After we dined we settled in her sitting-room to talk. She told us about the event that resulted in the deaths of the eight people. There had been a report of a shadowy figure fleeing the area. She also explained that the Roadkeepers had once been ruffians in the town but had been driven off when the Horned Fangs group formed and there was still conflict between the two groups. She knew little about the Horned Fangs.
The conversation then turned to the death of Sir Roderic. Audrahni had examined his body immediately after his murder. She told us that among the items found after his death had been a list of valuables that included a reference to an old sword he'd found in a ruin, which met the description of the odd broken sword Zinovia had noticed the woman at the inn carrying. But she was too young to be the woman Cassias, who had reportedly fled to join pirates in Riddleport according to Mayor Thort. This sword, however, was the only item on Sir Roderic's list that was missing from his manor after his death.
Audrahni advised us we should speak to a child named Kynae Fromperton or his father Kolton to learn more details about the mysterious deaths. We could find Kynae near the docks, she suggested. Kelton was a drunkard, she said, but may have witnessed the tragic incident and perhaps had told something to Kynae. We took this information and planned to talk to some of the downtrodden folk about the Horned Fangs and those who had died, as well as to seek out the boy and his father the next day.
On the following morning Hunter bought some food and took it with him as we headed for the waterfront to seek Kynae. Hunter has many brothers, he says, thus he is experienced in dealing with children. Zinovia questioned me about using my spells to entertain the child and gain his trust. She only knows of magic as the magic that Tor employs and I had to explain to her that I am far from Tor's level of mastery and have no spells for summoning beasts in my spellbook. As we wandered the docks I confess I became distracted by my own thoughts as you've so often told me not to do and I nearly lost the rest of the group.
Kynae Fromperton
We found Kynae soon enough. At first the lad was reluctant to speak with us, but Hunter and Lonn persuaded him to be more forthcoming. He revealed that he himself had witnessed the event that resulted in the deaths. He hadn't seen a shadowy figure fleeing - he'd seen a tall woman wearing green robes whose hands had glowed green just before the victims died. This woman had been shouting angrily at the others, demanding to know where they had acquired something, though of course Kynae didn't know what she was referring to. But she had grabbed hold of one person's shirt when she shouted. I wonder if perhaps that person wore a garment like the man in the marketplace who had been accosted by the Roadkeepers, a garment decorated with Thassilonian runes.
As the conversation continued Kynae revealed that he often slept by a particular warehouse on the dockside, but on that night he had been driven away by a member of the Roadkeepers. When Kynae described this person we realized he'd been one of the people at the market the day before. We had been fretting over how to learn more about the gang and this seemed like it might offer an opportunity. Kynae also spoke of another building on the dockside that reportedly had ghosts. He showed us where it was and we learned it was known as Roderic's Wreck. We went back to the mayor's office to ask for permission to enter it after we parted from Kynae.
Kynae's warehouse
Before we parted from Kynae both Fox and I offered to help him if he needed it, which seemed to concern Lonn. But he is only a child, and one with no parent who truly cares for him. If we can give him something to eat and make sure he doesn't fall ill my heart will feel better at ease. I know you will say I'm being foolish over a human child when their lives are so brief, but why should a child have to suffer?
We didn't see the mayor on our second visit to her office, but her clerk gave us a letter in case the guards objected to us entering the Wreck. We then returned to the waterfront and approached the house Kynae had pointed out to us. The clerk had told us it was Sir Roderic's former business office for his import and export business and before that it had been his home, but it had been vacant since his death. The building was in disrepair, though all the windows were boarded over. Kynae had said he'd seen people coming and going from it but we found little sign of that. The front door wasn't locked or barred. The front steps were in such poor condition that Zinovia stumbled on them twice. I waited at the foot of the steps with Lonn while the others went inside. Just to be cautious, I cast my armoring spell and I noticed that Fox did the same though his seems a bit different in form.
Roderic's Wreck
The front door opened with a loud creak, releasing an odor of rotting flesh that even I could smell from the bottom of the steps. Zinovia noticed evidence of something having been dragged through the dust on the floor. The door opened into a hall and a staircase led up to the second floor. Zinovia opened the first door in the hallway and announced that there were cockroaches inside the room, though she neglected to say that they were as large as hunting dogs! They didn't like being disturbed. Zinovia went into the room to attack them with her sword, but found that their hard carapaces deflected her blade. I ran up the front steps and looked through the door of the room at the insects. Despite their unusual size they were in most respects like their much smaller kin, but of course such creatures are quite hardy and difficult to slay. Hunter had produced his strange sword, which he can summon magically, and while he and Zinovia tried to cut the roaches to bits Fox and I shot rays of frost and flame at them. The roaches bit Zinovia several times. It took her and Hunter quite a bit of effort to kill the roaches.
The room the roaches were in proved to hold some silver picture frames that we were surprised to find had been left there, though they were very grimy and perhaps anyone entering the building had failed to recognize them for what they were. Hunter suggested selling them to earn funds that we can use to get healing from the local priest, and I told my comrades that I have some skill myself in treating wounds.
There was a door leading into another room from the room where the roaches had waited, but it was well that we didn't open it. We went out into the hallway to the next door on the same wall as the first room. Zinovia opened it, exclaimed, "Spiders!" and slammed it shut again. When she explained that it was a swarm of spiders that had started to rush the door, we decided to leave that room be and go on. There was a door under the stair and Zinovia opened it too, slashing out with her sword in alarm when brooms and mops fell out of the cupboard.
We proceeded on down a second hallway to our left and opened the door on the left side of that hall, which led into a large room facing away from the harbor. There was a moldering couch in the room, but what drew our attention was a heap of corpses in the far corner and a cluster of ghostly shapes that flowed out of the wall and moved toward us. I felt my heart beat faster but wasn't driven to flee. Fox, on the other hand, abruptly transformed into a black and red fox and raced out of the building!
Lonn realized first that the ghostly shapes were a haunt. The haunt vanished after Fox fled. Hunter went after him but lost sight of the fox. While they were gone Lonn and Zinovia went into the room and examined the bodies. The corpses had been there for some time and were long decayed. The rotting odor must have come from the haunt. Lonn observed that the haunt would probably be resolved if the bodies were buried and first suggested we bury them outside the building, until I reminded him that Audrahni is the gravedigger and cryptkeeper here and could dispose of them more appropriately.
Hunter returned then and joined Zinovia and Lonn in examining the remains. He discovered evidence on the bodies indicating they might be from Sir Roderic's family. Now we know why no one came to settle his estate. To my horror there were remains of children as well; the murderers had stabbed the adults and hung the children. If we can find the perpetrators we must punish them. There is absolutely no excuse for murdering an innocent child.
Fox reappeared by this time, much chagrined. He then revealed to us that his true form is that of a kitsune, though he can also assume human or fox form. I think he was fearful of how we would react to this news, but as Hunter said to him, we hold no fear or disdain for him because of this. Next time we won't find his transformation such a surprise.
Huli in kitsune form
After Fox returned we moved on to the room across the hall. I remained at the end of the hall, standing near the door of the room of spiders, though I confess I worried they might stream out from beneath the door. When Zinovia opened the door to the other room she saw a strange plant within the room, which immediately began to move toward her and attacked. I couldn't see it, but Lonn told us it was a type of ooze that could exude acid and could also strike like a club.
It was my mistake to try to move into the room across the hall from which I could watch Zinovia and Hunter battle the ooze. The thing struck out at me as I passed the open doorway where it was. The blow left me so hurt that I could only stagger into the room with the corpses and collapse on the filthy couch. After Zinovia and Hunter dealt with the garden ooze, Hunter used a wand in his possession to heal the acid burns I had suffered, as I was too disoriented to treat myself. I must see if anyone in the town can sell me any curative potions as I won't always be able to treat my own wounds.
Characters are now 2nd level.
Next: part 2 - Murder Most Foul
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