As Freya grabs her talisman to cast her spell of healing her hand burns, the amulet to the Forge becoming as hot as it's names' sake. In the distance a flock of crows all begin to caw at once and in the town every rooster and dog simultaneously calls out to the night.
"The Master knows you are here!" The banshee screams triumphantly. "You are his vindication and his freedom, you who would destroy us!" The ground suddenly moves beneath the zombies, still standing there with orders, and seems to swallow them up, vanishing and leaving the battering ram behind. The Banshee rises up into the air, a look of ecstasy on her face before she simply flies off.
Freya releases the talisman with a grimace. She stares at the Anvil, now burned into her palm, with a grim satisfaction, as if it were the answer to a question.
"Your destruction is the closest to freedom you'll ever get!" The cleric responds, loudly enough for the villagers at the gate to hear.
Freya goes on to perform the Rights over those stuck down in battle, and to help see to the injured.
Rurik barely has enough time to react to the bow trained on him before the ground swallows up the Archer holding it.
"What... what just happened"
Taking a brief look around for his companions, Rurik is content that they are okay and makes his way back through the gates, giving a nod to Rook and Freya as he passes.
Approaching Herren, Rurik clasps his hands together and exclaims "So Herren, does that happen every time?"
Herren shakes his head "They've never done any of this before really, no battering ram, no ghosts, usually they just shout a lot. Something must have changed." He says, looking at Rurik meaningfully. In the town many of the villagers are whispering to eachother, and a few are pointing to the group.
Thankfully Freya can see that none of the injured are in danger of death, and they are all brought to the temple. The headman reappears at some point, none of the villagers bother to ask him where he was and he acts like nothing happened, and organizes a watch for the rest of the night. The villagers will take some time settling down, but eventually everyone seems determined to get back to sleep and deal with all of this in the morning.
Did all the dead-undead disappear too or just the not-dead-undead?
Rook begins looking around trying to recover his throwing knives in the area surrounding the gate entrance.
Afterwards he heads back into town with the others, with the residual battle-high putting some extra spring in his step. His wounds would hurt tomorrow for certain, but for now, he was too amped to care.
The zombies vanished, but the dead Revenants are still there.
While recovering his throwing knives Rook find a few valuables on the undead. They each carry a few old coins on them, 18 all together. The coins have an unfamiliar face on them but still should be accepted at a merchant or tavern.
Ovis wanders towards the cleric as she goes about her superstitious ritual. With his hands clasped behind his back he teeters on the balls of his feet, content for the moment to observe Freya perform her funerary rights over the dead. The wizard's lips silently mouth the word fascinating before he can catch himself.
"You -- ah -- will survive, yes?" he finally speaks, a finger flicking towards the dwarf's blistering palm and ears similarly bloody to his own. "Your spellwork, however peculiar, is an asset to our party, and I would hate for your injuries to claim you should they go untreated."
Ovis retrieves a small bulbous glass vial from within his sleeve and dangles it between his fingers towards Freya.
"Can I offer a potion? A tried and true formula, I promise." He manages a well-meaning but ultimately uncomfortable looking smile, gesturing again towards the cleric with the healing potion.
Obelin shifts back to a human, bones and body growing, feathers molting, revealing human skin. He shook his head. "We won't be able to stop them each night. Anyone got any bright ideas?"
The sun rises a few hours later, enough for a little bit of sleep but not a full rest. The village is slow to wake after the confusion and fear of last night, though many who are out look like they never got any sleep last night. Breakfast is offered free at the tavern to all those who fought the previous nights, and many of the militia are grateful to you. Glad that they did not have to face the undead themselves.
Others in the town are more fearful. Freya especially has her share of fearful looks and muttered prayers directed at her; as do Ovis and Obelin. No one makes a comment to any of your face, but you know you are the subject of gossip.
Still sore from his adventures across the wall, Rook gingerly gets moving, eating a considerable breakfast. As he eats, he keeps an eye out for any of the villagers acting suspicious around him or his companions. he's worried about more than fear, that's to be expected, something sinister is happening here and he couldn't put his finger on it. Not being able to put his grubby little fingers on things made him anxious.
Ovis takes a seat beside Rook and his other companions that have sat down for breakfast at the tavern. He pushes his spoon half-heartedly through the disappointing looking oatmeal, and instead nibbles on a crust of bread.
"I think Freya was right last night. We should investigate the Baron behind all this. Perhaps we should set out early... so that we might return here before nightfall?"
Obelin eats an enormous breakfast. The stares of the civilized folk don't bother him, he's used to that type of thing. "Agreed. We can't let this town be undefended during the night. Worse may yet come."
Freya awakens early, unable to sleep soundly. She spends an hour in communion.
"Forge, if it is your will that I now take up the service you have planned for me, please give me a sign." She prays.
While the daily attacks were undoubtedly the cause of much suffering in the village, Freya feels uncertain if the time is right to leave, despite what she has told her companions. Her God sent here here for a reason, and not the Fort. She spends some time walking around the village, seeing if anything unusual catches her eye.
"I wonder where the headman went during the fighting?" Freya thought. "The villagers may not have been surprised by his apparent cowardice, but I certainly am."
Communing in the morning, picking the same spells
Geth roll 2d6+2 for Discern realities
What here is not what it appears to be?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is useful or valuable to me?
edit - removed going right to the Inn, to see first what the results of discern realities are.
Outside near the town square Freya sees the village Headman. He is laughing with another man, one whom you recognize from last night when he was with you at the gate, and slaps him square on the back before heading over to a merchant who is repairing some damage from the night before. He greets this man warmly as well. The picture of a man confident and self assured, making his rounds of the village after a traumatic event.
Or that is what he would want you to see, and that may be what the villagers want to see as well. But you can tell that he hasn't slept at all the previous night, though he disappeared from the wall quick enough. And his finger tips have a slight grey tint to them. Certain followers of the human gods you know use quickmetal infused candles in their worship. The fumes of which are known to cause visions and leave a similar tint on those where were handling them.
Freya is humble enough to admit ignorance of the faiths that rely on quickmetal. More difficult is admitting who would know.
By the Anvil, she knew the wizard would not let her forget this for weeks.
Freya joins her companions at the Inn, taking a seat by Ovis. She tells them all in a hushed tone of the headman's quickmetal tinged fingertips.
"What do you think?" she asked.
Rook looks from Freya to Ovis intent on their conversation.
"Sparkles, isn't that the stuff we were dealing on the side to those wanna-be cultists? The ones who thought they could commune with the great dark lord Aegibooboo or whatever." He notices Freya and Rurik's diapproving glares at the mention of their illicit activities, "I mean, not that we sold them the real stuff or anything and we promptly informed the guard captain about them. Really, nothing wrong in taking some coin from the bad guys if you ask me."
"Quickmetal?" Ovis echoes the cleric, but otherwise reacts as though she were not there. Instead, he unclasps the leather strap holding his bag of books shut and rummages through until he find a likely tome: O'Malley & Gruumgrik's One-Hundred-and-One Rituals, Ceremonies, and Observances.
"Quickmetal... quickmetal..." his fingers drum against the table, brow knit in contemplation. The wizard sets the book on their table and begins thumbing through references and indexes, trying to find out more about these quickmetal candles and what that might mean. Ovis only throws Rook the briefest glance before returning to the book. "The Great Dark One, Aijebubo," he corrects. "And had I known my Prestidigitation illusion was going to be used for criminal gains, I might not have obliged you. And -- it's Ovis Hale, thankyouverymuch."
geth roll 2d6+3 to Spout Lore about the quickmetal candles/worship/certain human gods.
-1 Bag of Books use.
EDIT- did we heal at all during our rest last night?
to Spout Lore about the quickmetal candles/worship/certain human gods.:
"No, it was the Port Authority chasing you down who had complaints. You're welcome, by the way"
Rurik looks up from his food with a slight disgruntled look on his face.
"I say we just confront the coward about last night. I could lead him away for a 'chat' while the young one here has a look around his things, perhaps bring back anything interesting to Ovis".
Rook almost spits out some of the gruel he's eating when the dwarf pipes up, "Ha! Ironbeard, I hope you know I appreciate all of the things you do that keep my head attached to my shoulders. When do you want to chat with our friend?"
Freya snorts out a stifled laugh at Rook's teasing. She might not admit it to him, but Freya didn't lose any sleep over the ownership right's of cultists.
Freya notes the shakiness of Ovis' hand as he reached for his books. No doubt the banshee's attack had left the wizard just as shaken as she had left Freya. The cleric placed her hand on top of Ovis' and whispered a short prayer of healing. She didn't want to distract the wizard's from his concentration by starting another debate on the necessity of prayer.
When Rurik chimed in with his preferred mode of operation, as usual Freya felt the need to slow him down. With a wag of her finger she said in a low voice "Always looking to crack skulls Rurik. For all we know he was praying for aid, or a vision. Not all Quickmetal is used for cultists, I remember that much from my studies. Give Ovis a moment."
Geth roll 2d6+2;1d8 for Cure light Wounds on Ovis
on 7-9 I'll be put in a spot
I'm pretty sure Neaden specified we didn't get any healing from the second half of the night, so I'll go ahead and try to heal Ovis (and hopefully not start a bar brawl or something instead).
PC damage:
Rook: Armor 1 | HP 13/15
Ovis: Armor 0 | HP 16/16
Freya: Armor 1 | HP 18/21
Obelin: Armor 1 | HP 21/21
Rurik: Armor 2 | HP 25/25
Ovis waggles his hand free at Freya's touch, in the way one might shoo away a fly. It's only after the wizard feels the effects of the spell that he mumbles a "Thank you," out the corner of his mouth to the cleric, not looking up from the page.
Obelin lets his companions chit-chat, watching them and listening closely. He studies Rurik for a moment, wondering what sort of danger followed him and if it was at all related to the situation at hand. Spirits could be so vague. Obelin gives Ovis a little shake of his head as the man pores over his precious book.
"Regardless what your book tells you," Obelin grumbles, "the man's actions were suspicious. No need to 'crack skulls' like savages but we should speak to him and get the truth. I would not be surprised if one or more townsfolk knew more about this situation than they let on. There are unanswered questions. Why this village? Why here? What do the undead, or the undead's ruler, want from this place? Simply more soldiers for their army? What then?"
Yeah no healing after the attack, it happened near dawn so you had already had a nights rest.
Ovis, the tome goes into great detail about the different items used in the worship different pantheons of gods. Many are found across pantheons, such as fire, or doves. Others are specific, such as the ceremonial paper money burned in the temples of the Empire of Gold. Quickmetal infused candles luckily belong to the latter group.
They are found only in the rituals native to Eleusis among the humans here. By burning the candle in an enclosed space, or covering your head and the candle with a blanket the vapours become concentrated and can open ones third eye to see into the spirit realm. Or just cause hallucinations. The authors seem undecided on what is really happening. Regardless the old believers here taught that by opening your third eye in this manner you could communicate with spirits, who could then act as your intermediary to the gods, more powerful spirits, or your ancestors.
The book also goes into some detail on the short term effects of quickmetal inhalation. Lack of sleep, extreme thirst, and most interestingly, the inability to tell lies. The people of Eleusis say that the spirit you speak with binds you to be truthful, so the gods cannot be deceived. For the next day after the ritual, the person may avoid telling the truth but cannot speak a falsehood.
Ovis shares his discovery with the group, in perhaps an overly explicated way, thick with arcane terminology.
After closing O'Malley & Gruumgrik's tome, the wizard looks up and shares a glance with Rurik and Freya both, his brow crooked questionigly. "Does this necessitate we take action?" he wondered aloud.
Long ago Ovis had determined the dwarves both were well suited to leading their group. Neither stood before the other in his mind, better to temper Rurik's decisive zeal with Freya's noble-hearted selflessness. He was content to allow the two to discuss the matter, knowing the outspoken Rook would offer his opinion if he thought it necessary. And the druid... the druid was a mystery to him.
During the ensuing conversation, Ovis leans close to Rook, and behind a cupped hand murmurs something into the thief's ear.
Freya’s brow furrowed, as she tried to make sense of Ovis’ research. “I think it does Ovis. We should go have that chat with the headman. We need to know who he spoke with, and what was said.” Freya kept her voice down, mindful of the lack of privacy.
“He may need some ‘convincing’ to speak with us.” Freya said motioning to Rurik “but remember that his actions could have been innocent, even helpful. Nothing we know so far makes him our enemy.” Well, except for the fact that yesterday’s attack was much worse than normal. But the group already found the headman’s actions suspicious, no need to add fuel.
“As for you...“ Freya said, turning to Rook “you’re looking for clues, not valuables, understood?” Freya wasn’t thrilled about letting Rook at the headman’s belongings, but her priorities were with saving the village. Besides, once Rurik put the idea into the halfling’s head, not much she could say would dissuade him.
Rook looks aghast at Freay's accusations, " Valuables? I would never stoop so low as to fill my purse with the coins and trinkets of someone we... Ok, I won't take anything this time. Get him away from his house and I'll poke around a little."
While the group of you are discussing you can see the village headman walk by the window outside. You can see him greet the guardsman who was hit by the arrow, embracing him in a wide avuncular hug.
Ovis rises as they see the headman pass by. "I, well, ahh- excuse me for a moment," he mumbles to the group before wandering outside the tavern. The wizard draws his hands together hidden within the sleeves of his robes, tracing an arcane glyph into the palm of his hand that buzzes with untapped energy. Ovis watches the two men talk, waiting until there is a free moment to draw away the headman's attention.
"You! There you are! Well, ah, yes. I just, er, wanted to thank you, on the behalf of my group and I, for taking us in and allowing us to stay within your walls." Ovis tries desperately to resist the urge to fidget. Quickly he puts out his hand for a shake. "The name is Ovis Hale, and you have my thanks friend."
The wizard forces a painfully wide smile onto his face, supporting the one arm held aloft with his other, trying to keep his hand from trembling until they shake. Assuming they do, the arcane glyph in his palm will of course activate, releasing the stored Charm Person spell contained within.
geth roll 2d6+2 to cast Charm Person on the Headman
On 7-9 I'll forget the spell.
The headman gives you an odd look at first that changes to an easy smile as he shakes your hand in a firm grip and grabs your elbow. "It is I who should be thanking you friend. You and your companions did much to help us last night, fighting the undead like that! You have the gratitude of our humble little village. My name is Lawson and I'm the headman around here, though usually that just means performing weddings and making the peace between neighbors. Besides the undead now and the orc awhile back things have been pretty slow here. Say, why don't we head back in the tavern and I'll get you a drink to show my appreciation."
Meanwhile Rook has no trouble finding the Headman's home. There is an open window on the first floor at the front of the house, small for a human to get in but you shouldn't have trouble. No one is looking at the moment if you wanted to try to slip in...otherwise the back door is locked but it might be less likely for anyone to spot you while you pick the lock.
The mortal mind was so beautifully malleable. "Wonderful," the wizard speaks, strained smile fading. "Wonderful, Lawson. I think I'd like that drink." Ovis turns on his heel and marches back to the tavern with the headman in tow. He pulls the seat out between Freya and Rurik and offers it up.
"My good friend Lawson here wanted to, er, buy us a drink, by way of thanks for last night," he informs the group, with barely contained mirth. "Right Lawson? I'm sure he'd love to sit and chat..." Ovis trails off, catching Freya's eye with a wink and gesturing repeatedly towards Lawson with his head.
As the rest of the group discuss the headman, Ovis is already speaking to him outside.
What is that fool doing? Freya thinks to herself, before noticing Ovis' awkwardly outstreched hand. Freya's suspiciouns are confirmed when the headman suddenly smiles and insists on treating Ovis to a drink. The headman has been enchanted.
Freya found Ovis' subtle mental manipulations more troubling then his combat magics. Still, it was better than the alternative, Rurik's strong-arm tactics.
How had Freya found herself relying so much on the heretical wizard? There wasn't time to dwell on the thought, the headman had just sat down next to her.
"Lawson, please sit." Freya said with a smile. "Thank you for the drink."
"Speaking of last night" Freya said good-naturedly "it sounds like you've already heard what we did. What were you doing? I'm sure the chaos in the village kept you quite busy."
Always the reckless one, Rook decides to go through the window.
Like, cannonball through it without opening it? or Flopping through it like a rag doll, breaking the pane with your forehead? The way this is stated amuses me greatly
"Like, cannonball through it without opening it? or Flopping through it like a rag doll, breaking the pane with your forehead? The way this is stated amuses me greatly"
The most dramatic and roguish way possible! Running jump through the open window!
Lawson makes the rounds at the table, shaking everyone's hand and flashing a smile and a compliment. "There was some confusion unfortunately, a report of possible fire, or the undead trying to start a fire, the boy wasn't very clear what was going on, but I knew that there was no point fighting the undead if the village was just going to burn down! I went to check and didn't say anything since I didn't want there to be a panic, no sense in getting our boys distracted before a fight, I don't need to tell you that sort of thing gets people killed!" He smiles reassuringly after his comment and waves the tavernkeeper over to order a round for the table.
Rook lands on his feet in the house. Based on the lack of noise outside it doesn't appear anyone saw you. The very surprised parrot now looking at you on the other hand might change that. The bird lets out a loud squawk and begins to flap its wings in your general direction. The room also contains a writing desk against the wall near a fireplace. You can see a bedroom through the doorway near the parrot and the entrance hall to your right.
Rook is genuinely surprised at the parrot's appearance. A parrot? Here??? Shaking off his surprise, he takes a dose of his golden root poison and applies it to his glove, he then kind of puts it in the birds beak to the best of his ability. Not sure if it will make the bird love him or die, Rook decides to take a chance anyway.
Golden Root poison makes the victim seem me as an ally. I have no idea if that would work on birds, but it's smart enough to recognize me as a stranger, so maybe so.
Posts
"Forge, give me the strength to fight this madness." She prays.
Geth roll 2d6+2;1d8 to cast Cure Light Wounds on Freya
Put in a spot on 7-9
Edit- at this rate I'll be dead or level 2 very soon.
PC damage:
Rook: Armor 1 | HP 13/15
Ovis: Armor 0 | HP 12/16
Freya: Armor 1 | HP 15/21
Obelin: Armor 1 | HP 21/21
Rurik: Armor 2 | HP 25/25
PSN: Boozer_777
"The Master knows you are here!" The banshee screams triumphantly. "You are his vindication and his freedom, you who would destroy us!" The ground suddenly moves beneath the zombies, still standing there with orders, and seems to swallow them up, vanishing and leaving the battering ram behind. The Banshee rises up into the air, a look of ecstasy on her face before she simply flies off.
"Your destruction is the closest to freedom you'll ever get!" The cleric responds, loudly enough for the villagers at the gate to hear.
Freya goes on to perform the Rights over those stuck down in battle, and to help see to the injured.
PSN: Boozer_777
"What... what just happened"
Taking a brief look around for his companions, Rurik is content that they are okay and makes his way back through the gates, giving a nod to Rook and Freya as he passes.
Approaching Herren, Rurik clasps his hands together and exclaims "So Herren, does that happen every time?"
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Thankfully Freya can see that none of the injured are in danger of death, and they are all brought to the temple. The headman reappears at some point, none of the villagers bother to ask him where he was and he acts like nothing happened, and organizes a watch for the rest of the night. The villagers will take some time settling down, but eventually everyone seems determined to get back to sleep and deal with all of this in the morning.
Afterwards he heads back into town with the others, with the residual battle-high putting some extra spring in his step. His wounds would hurt tomorrow for certain, but for now, he was too amped to care.
While recovering his throwing knives Rook find a few valuables on the undead. They each carry a few old coins on them, 18 all together. The coins have an unfamiliar face on them but still should be accepted at a merchant or tavern.
"You -- ah -- will survive, yes?" he finally speaks, a finger flicking towards the dwarf's blistering palm and ears similarly bloody to his own. "Your spellwork, however peculiar, is an asset to our party, and I would hate for your injuries to claim you should they go untreated."
Ovis retrieves a small bulbous glass vial from within his sleeve and dangles it between his fingers towards Freya.
"Can I offer a potion? A tried and true formula, I promise." He manages a well-meaning but ultimately uncomfortable looking smile, gesturing again towards the cleric with the healing potion.
Don't blame him for your own doubts, she thought to herself. "Thank you Ovis, but no. Save the potion for an emergency." She managed a smile.
As usual, Freya's tried not to stare when she saw the druid shapeshift up close. "My plan right now is to get some rest." Freya said to Obelin.
"Maybe a visit to the Baronet's fort tomorrow is in order?" The cleric added, before heading to the temple to pray for healing and guidance.
I'll take the -1 to casting on 7-9
PC damage:
Rook: Armor 1 | HP 13/15
Ovis: Armor 0 | HP 12/16
Freya: Armor 1 | HP 18/21
Obelin: Armor 1 | HP 21/21
Rurik: Armor 2 | HP 25/25
PSN: Boozer_777
Others in the town are more fearful. Freya especially has her share of fearful looks and muttered prayers directed at her; as do Ovis and Obelin. No one makes a comment to any of your face, but you know you are the subject of gossip.
"I think Freya was right last night. We should investigate the Baron behind all this. Perhaps we should set out early... so that we might return here before nightfall?"
"Forge, if it is your will that I now take up the service you have planned for me, please give me a sign." She prays.
While the daily attacks were undoubtedly the cause of much suffering in the village, Freya feels uncertain if the time is right to leave, despite what she has told her companions. Her God sent here here for a reason, and not the Fort. She spends some time walking around the village, seeing if anything unusual catches her eye.
"I wonder where the headman went during the fighting?" Freya thought. "The villagers may not have been surprised by his apparent cowardice, but I certainly am."
Geth roll 2d6+2 for Discern realities
What here is not what it appears to be?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is useful or valuable to me?
edit - removed going right to the Inn, to see first what the results of discern realities are.
PSN: Boozer_777
Or that is what he would want you to see, and that may be what the villagers want to see as well. But you can tell that he hasn't slept at all the previous night, though he disappeared from the wall quick enough. And his finger tips have a slight grey tint to them. Certain followers of the human gods you know use quickmetal infused candles in their worship. The fumes of which are known to cause visions and leave a similar tint on those where were handling them.
By the Anvil, she knew the wizard would not let her forget this for weeks.
Freya joins her companions at the Inn, taking a seat by Ovis. She tells them all in a hushed tone of the headman's quickmetal tinged fingertips.
"What do you think?" she asked.
PSN: Boozer_777
"Sparkles, isn't that the stuff we were dealing on the side to those wanna-be cultists? The ones who thought they could commune with the great dark lord Aegibooboo or whatever." He notices Freya and Rurik's diapproving glares at the mention of their illicit activities, "I mean, not that we sold them the real stuff or anything and we promptly informed the guard captain about them. Really, nothing wrong in taking some coin from the bad guys if you ask me."
"Quickmetal... quickmetal..." his fingers drum against the table, brow knit in contemplation. The wizard sets the book on their table and begins thumbing through references and indexes, trying to find out more about these quickmetal candles and what that might mean. Ovis only throws Rook the briefest glance before returning to the book. "The Great Dark One, Aijebubo," he corrects. "And had I known my Prestidigitation illusion was going to be used for criminal gains, I might not have obliged you. And -- it's Ovis Hale, thankyouverymuch."
-1 Bag of Books use.
EDIT- did we heal at all during our rest last night?
"No, it was the Port Authority chasing you down who had complaints. You're welcome, by the way"
Rurik looks up from his food with a slight disgruntled look on his face.
"I say we just confront the coward about last night. I could lead him away for a 'chat' while the young one here has a look around his things, perhaps bring back anything interesting to Ovis".
PSN: TheBrayster_92
Freya notes the shakiness of Ovis' hand as he reached for his books. No doubt the banshee's attack had left the wizard just as shaken as she had left Freya. The cleric placed her hand on top of Ovis' and whispered a short prayer of healing. She didn't want to distract the wizard's from his concentration by starting another debate on the necessity of prayer.
When Rurik chimed in with his preferred mode of operation, as usual Freya felt the need to slow him down. With a wag of her finger she said in a low voice "Always looking to crack skulls Rurik. For all we know he was praying for aid, or a vision. Not all Quickmetal is used for cultists, I remember that much from my studies. Give Ovis a moment."
on 7-9 I'll be put in a spot
I'm pretty sure Neaden specified we didn't get any healing from the second half of the night, so I'll go ahead and try to heal Ovis (and hopefully not start a bar brawl or something instead).
PC damage:
Rook: Armor 1 | HP 13/15
Ovis: Armor 0 | HP 16/16
Freya: Armor 1 | HP 18/21
Obelin: Armor 1 | HP 21/21
Rurik: Armor 2 | HP 25/25
edit - Ovis healing added
PSN: Boozer_777
"Regardless what your book tells you," Obelin grumbles, "the man's actions were suspicious. No need to 'crack skulls' like savages but we should speak to him and get the truth. I would not be surprised if one or more townsfolk knew more about this situation than they let on. There are unanswered questions. Why this village? Why here? What do the undead, or the undead's ruler, want from this place? Simply more soldiers for their army? What then?"
Ovis, the tome goes into great detail about the different items used in the worship different pantheons of gods. Many are found across pantheons, such as fire, or doves. Others are specific, such as the ceremonial paper money burned in the temples of the Empire of Gold. Quickmetal infused candles luckily belong to the latter group.
They are found only in the rituals native to Eleusis among the humans here. By burning the candle in an enclosed space, or covering your head and the candle with a blanket the vapours become concentrated and can open ones third eye to see into the spirit realm. Or just cause hallucinations. The authors seem undecided on what is really happening. Regardless the old believers here taught that by opening your third eye in this manner you could communicate with spirits, who could then act as your intermediary to the gods, more powerful spirits, or your ancestors.
The book also goes into some detail on the short term effects of quickmetal inhalation. Lack of sleep, extreme thirst, and most interestingly, the inability to tell lies. The people of Eleusis say that the spirit you speak with binds you to be truthful, so the gods cannot be deceived. For the next day after the ritual, the person may avoid telling the truth but cannot speak a falsehood.
After closing O'Malley & Gruumgrik's tome, the wizard looks up and shares a glance with Rurik and Freya both, his brow crooked questionigly. "Does this necessitate we take action?" he wondered aloud.
Long ago Ovis had determined the dwarves both were well suited to leading their group. Neither stood before the other in his mind, better to temper Rurik's decisive zeal with Freya's noble-hearted selflessness. He was content to allow the two to discuss the matter, knowing the outspoken Rook would offer his opinion if he thought it necessary. And the druid... the druid was a mystery to him.
During the ensuing conversation, Ovis leans close to Rook, and behind a cupped hand murmurs something into the thief's ear.
“He may need some ‘convincing’ to speak with us.” Freya said motioning to Rurik “but remember that his actions could have been innocent, even helpful. Nothing we know so far makes him our enemy.” Well, except for the fact that yesterday’s attack was much worse than normal. But the group already found the headman’s actions suspicious, no need to add fuel.
“As for you...“ Freya said, turning to Rook “you’re looking for clues, not valuables, understood?” Freya wasn’t thrilled about letting Rook at the headman’s belongings, but her priorities were with saving the village. Besides, once Rurik put the idea into the halfling’s head, not much she could say would dissuade him.
PSN: Boozer_777
"You! There you are! Well, ah, yes. I just, er, wanted to thank you, on the behalf of my group and I, for taking us in and allowing us to stay within your walls." Ovis tries desperately to resist the urge to fidget. Quickly he puts out his hand for a shake. "The name is Ovis Hale, and you have my thanks friend."
The wizard forces a painfully wide smile onto his face, supporting the one arm held aloft with his other, trying to keep his hand from trembling until they shake. Assuming they do, the arcane glyph in his palm will of course activate, releasing the stored Charm Person spell contained within.
On 7-9 I'll forget the spell.
Meanwhile Rook has no trouble finding the Headman's home. There is an open window on the first floor at the front of the house, small for a human to get in but you shouldn't have trouble. No one is looking at the moment if you wanted to try to slip in...otherwise the back door is locked but it might be less likely for anyone to spot you while you pick the lock.
"My good friend Lawson here wanted to, er, buy us a drink, by way of thanks for last night," he informs the group, with barely contained mirth. "Right Lawson? I'm sure he'd love to sit and chat..." Ovis trails off, catching Freya's eye with a wink and gesturing repeatedly towards Lawson with his head.
What is that fool doing? Freya thinks to herself, before noticing Ovis' awkwardly outstreched hand. Freya's suspiciouns are confirmed when the headman suddenly smiles and insists on treating Ovis to a drink. The headman has been enchanted.
Freya found Ovis' subtle mental manipulations more troubling then his combat magics. Still, it was better than the alternative, Rurik's strong-arm tactics.
How had Freya found herself relying so much on the heretical wizard? There wasn't time to dwell on the thought, the headman had just sat down next to her.
"Lawson, please sit." Freya said with a smile. "Thank you for the drink."
"Speaking of last night" Freya said good-naturedly "it sounds like you've already heard what we did. What were you doing? I'm sure the chaos in the village kept you quite busy."
PSN: Boozer_777
PSN: TheBrayster_92
The most dramatic and roguish way possible! Running jump through the open window!
Rook lands on his feet in the house. Based on the lack of noise outside it doesn't appear anyone saw you. The very surprised parrot now looking at you on the other hand might change that. The bird lets out a loud squawk and begins to flap its wings in your general direction. The room also contains a writing desk against the wall near a fireplace. You can see a bedroom through the doorway near the parrot and the entrance hall to your right.