Four bards walk into a bar and ...

How would that modify his investigation roll

(I am sorry. I don’t know what happened, I checked the wrong character. It’s actually +4 for both Arcana and Investigation.)

"I knew it!" says Gael while thrusting forward his sword hoping to finish off the creature with a precise strike. At the same time the dwarf takes from his belt a small dagger making an off-hand strike with it.

Attack
Shortsword Attack: 13 Damage: 7

Bonus action
Dagger Attack: 14 Damage: 2

With Gael’s attacks and Chumba’s strength the scarecrow is soon no longer moving. As far as Klaes can work out the creatures must be some sort of construct because when Chumba has finished all that can be seen so that the creatures are no different from the non-animated ones.

     "If they're not real live living, or unliving, things then something must be...  Feeding them the magic to be alive, for lack of a better term.  I'm afraid the problem won't be over until we figure out who or what is animating these things," Lash says with a voice of authority even though he is just wildly speculating.  Have to try and look good in front of the others.  Being is bard is all about keeping up appearances, ain't it?

Chumba:

”Sounds reasonable,” says Chumba, searching the remains for some kind of magical token or other fetish that may have been used to animate the scarecrows.

Investigation:  6

"I agree with you Lash" says Gael while keeping his sword ready in case another scarecrow decides to attack the group again. "In my, limited, knowledge of arcane magic, there are generally two ways to animate an object like that. A spell to temporary give life to it or a complex ritual to create something more permanent." adds the dwarf.
"In both cases, I think that a powerful wizard or sorcerer is behind all of this."

(OOC - sorry for my tardiness but I only find time to fight with DDB and Norfolk Island’s cruddy - can’t load most of DDB stuff - internet on the weekend, but fortunately I’ve got the hard copy of the module with me)

As Chumba pulls the bodies of the two scarecrows apart he discovers buried deep within their heads two small gems that are carved in some sort of sigil.

Klaes asks Chumba if he can take a look at those gems. "Perhaps, they can give us a clue."

Investigation/Arcana:12

Chumba:

“Those are not my area of speciality, though I am sure you will do well,” says Chumba, helping the best he can and offering a bit of inspiration.

Help and a d6 of bardic inspiration for your efforts, Klaes.

Bardic inspiration: 1

     "Are the symbols identical?" Lash asks as he edges closer for a bit of a look.  "Are the jewels?"

     Lash puts his whip away and leans in closer.  "Give me some time with them and I should be able to Identify and see if they are still active.  Or perhaps it would be better to Detect Magic first and see if there are any more in the immediate area?"

     Unless something comes up where we need this information immediately, Lash is looking to do the spells as Rituals (10 min each) so as not to lessen his reserves.  "Hopefully it will be more effective then searching the heads of every scarecrow in the province..."

"Both are very sound options Lash." says Gael while getting closer. He takes out from one of his pouches his magnifying glass to get a better look at the sigils. "You should attempt both rituals. Time spent in gathering information is always time well spent."

The first thing the party discover about the stones is that they are inscribed with the symbol of Myrkul. As Lash casts his Detect Magic the stones briefly light up before dying away to nothing almost as if they’ve run out of power. Lash is however able to discern that before they died away the stones radiated magic of the Necromancy school.

If Lash wants to now cast Identify what is he trying to find out exactly.

Detect Magic lasts 10 minutes so Lash would wander about this barn to see if he detects any others of this or any other kind of magic...

When he uses his Identify after that he probably gets nothing from them if the magic has drained out of them...  But he would have been looking to get all the information he could?  I mean he would like to find out if there are more of these, where, and who is creating them but I believe all of that is beyond what the spell does.

Chumba:

”Aren’t there spells used to create undead that require a gem of some kind?  Could this be a variant of some kind?” asks Chumba.

"Well done Lash, well done indeed!" Kael gives a strong pat on the back to Lash. "We are then facing a necromancer and not some spontaneous undead manifestation. That could make things more complex, but at the same time easier." Kael takes out his pipe, lits it up. "If we can figure their motivations, we should be able to find a pattern that will allow us to apprend them." The dwarf pauses for a moment, lost within his thoughs. "As far as we know, the undead have been sighted only in this area. Why? What does this necromancer gain by creating those scarecrow entities and let them loose in a barn?"

Lash is not able to obtain any further information.

     "Lower property values?  Scare away witnesses to... something?  Build an army of the things to... Well, attack something?"  Lash kind of rattles off sarcastically.  "I mean really, we don't have anything yet.  If we had a way to trace the gems to the spellcaster or something but right now we're just guessing."

     "I suppose we should talk to the farm owner?  Find out if these were his scarecrows that got animated or if they wandered here from elsewhere.  Still, I don't see how that will help us yet."  He was a bit chagrined that they found what they had come looking for but it didn't really feel like they stopped anything.

Chumba:

"Right, then, to the farmer," says Chumba after making sure the heads of any other straw figures are incapable of containing runic gems by the simple expedient of ripping them apart.  "You said the symbol was sacred to Myrkul, right?" he asks Lash, "Isn't he a death god of some kind?"

Religion:  7