The Wildemount Irregulars (2020)

Apparently not. Alton, despite your crossbow bolt dislodging most of the creature's left side of the face, it's still moving.

Balassar is up.

I'll take Balassar's attack:

Attack: 14 Damage: 9 plus 5

CON save: 9

And finally, the corpse drops and remains still.

Quiet returns to the small woods, with the last undead brought to its final rest. The five corpses, in various states of disembowelment, lie scattered at your feet. There is no sign of the ghost that met you, and pointed you towards the undead creatures that you have destroyed. 

What would you like to do?

Though it is gross, Alton does shift through the remains to see if they have anything on them. "We should probably get rid of these bodies. Leaving them here wouldn't be good for anyone." 

Investigation: 16. 

Balassar just nods "Just curious why the ghosts though?'

Alton, the two corpses wearing Righteous Brand armour are also wearing wooden bracelets that serve as identifier tags, though they only show dots and lines; the Righteous Brand would have the code that would identify the bodies, but you cannot read it. The drow corpse has nothing of interest. One of the two older corpses has a few coins: 39 gold and 55 silver, as well as a small vial of liquid that is mostly clear except one spot of crimson in the centre.

"Maybe the ghost was acting as a warning to keep people safe?" Alton waves Balassar over and points out the wooden bracelets, "Hey Balassar, do you know how to read these things?"

Silent, recalling the way Balassar reacted to the ghost initially, says, Balassar, you sure you didn't know anything about that ghost? 

Balassar just reaches out to take the bracelets and look them over to see if he can read or recognize them. As Silent speaks he just shakes his head "Just know it looked like my old commander, but since he died over the border don't think that was actually him."

Balassar, you are familiar with the bracelets; you know that they are used among other things to identify the bodies of the fallen, and that you can take the bracelets to any Righteous Brand camp or office for them to identify. You might also take the bodies to return to their families. But you cannot read the code on the bracelets, so cannot yourself tell who these people were.

Alton washes off the coins he found and splits them into two piles. He hands one of the piles to Balassar and the other to Silent, with each getting 14 gold and 21 silver. He also holds up the vial to Silent, "Silent, have you seen anything that looks like this before?" 

Silent furrows his brow at Balassar's words. At least one Krynn ended up here. Weird coincidence if they're the ones that killed your commander... could be they dragged him here somehow? 

(OOC: Has Silent seen anything like the vial before?) 

It looks like a potion bottle, if a little smaller than most. Silent can make an Arcana check if you like, but you can also identify most magical potions by dipping a finger in and taste a drop. It's safe... usually.

Silent will definitely elect to take a taste :D 

Silent, as you touch the liquid, the red dot expands to colour all the liquid in the bottle; you withdraw your finger having only touched a drop, and the red contracts once again to a single tiny point. Undaunted, you taste it - and feel your tongue similarly grow in your mouth, then shrink back down.

This is a Potion of Diminution.

Balassar just shakes his head "Not likely, he passed Ashguard. Don't think they'd drag his body back this far. As for the bracelets I can't read them but if we get them to the right commander they can."

He looks down at the bodies "Maybe we could take the bodies and them to turn in for a proper burial."

Silent nods at Balassar's suggestion. Good idea. Make sure ain't no more ghosts gonna rise up. He'll help dig graves and bury the corpses. 

Alton pitches in and helps out Silent with digging. "We shouldn't bring them back into town though. I'm sure they'll smell after a while and the townsfolk will have questions about them. We can swing by and pick them up when we head out to Felderwin." 

You bury the bodies; it's close to midnight when you finish. During that time, Ghost (your wolf, not the actual ghost!) finds you; he's wary of the undead corpses until they are all safely buried, but then he relaxes and comes over to be near to you.

As you finish, you return to the village, Ghost falling behind and remaining by the graves next to the pool. At this time of night, there's no-one around on the streets; where do you want to go?