"Good day, Officer Burral", Ola politely lowered her head, "my name is Ola do Mari. These are - ..." she introduced the party, "and we are here on behalf of Doomguide Yovir. He asked for our help in investigation of the attacks on the surrounding villages and said you might have some information you might share."
As the left the temple, Uragum requests the wand back. To others it could just cast the Detect Magic spell, to him, it helped focus nearly all of his spells. Once back in his possession, he'll stow it again. Calmly, Uragum follows the others to Officer Burral, lending his large presence as Ola makes introductions.
OOC: Moved the wand from Sylyra's inventory to Uragum's.
Aleyd looks visibly relieved. "I should have trusted Doomguide Yovir more. When he said he knew of adventurers that could assist me, I feared the worst. I do not suffer fools; in my experience, I count adventurers among the most foolish of all. I was expecting loud, boisterous drunkards. I pray that that does not become the case," she says plainly.
She walks you back to an office, sitting at the desk within and motioning you to the four chairs set around the small room.
"I trust that Yovir has filled you in on the basics? I have been looking into the attacks. Two days ago, an unnamed village to the southwest. Six days ago it was Vig's Dock. Ten days ago, a collection of farm houses was hit, and the Aleston brewery fourteen days previous," Aleyd explains. She taps a finger on the desk absentmindedly, deep in thought. "I worry that the attacks will eventually come to Phlan. Now, I have been able to convince my superiors that this is worthy of an investigation, but I have little support. They do not seem overly concerned...'Phlan is large', 'all the attacks have occurred in small villages or lone homes', etcetera, etcetera."
She leans forward with intent. "I have noticed a pattern in the attacks - they come every four days - but what I cannot figure out is the reason for that sequence. The travel time between each attack is approximately one or two days, even by land. It must be something beyond just the time it takes to travel from one spot to the next," she says, pausing for the party's response.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Four days," Uragum says and then scrunched up his face a little and began pacing. "And the last was two days ago, today is day three, and tomorrow is day 4... Unless we figure out the pattern, doubtful we can make it in time." Uragum begins pacing trying to determine connections. To himself he mutters, "Four days, four days... religious holidays, ocean currents, moon phases, planetary alignments, what could it be."
Investigation to put some of these clues together 22
Arnald frowns in concentration before stepping forward, "Forgive me Officer Burral but I'm not from this area. Are these locations you've mentioned near one other? Are there other locations that have been bypassed?"
Eonis ponders, picturing the movement and pattern of the attacks overlaid on a grid in her mind, briefly evoking memories of The System and The Strategy, and her studies of the Red Knight. She clutches her holy symbol and quickly re-centers herself in the present moment, rather than becoming lost in an introspective fugue that could last hours - or days - in the throes of her obsession and substance abuse. A blank stared moment is all she evidences.
”I’m still acclimating to the local geography. Are these attacks all moving in a specific direction as well? Or if they are coming from some centralized location, have you gathered enough data to pinpoint an area that might be?” Eonis asks. “I wonder if their delay in between attacks is a sign of some strange alternate mode of travel - burrowing underground, for example - or of some magical resource that needs to be ‘recharged,’ so to speak. Most intriguing.”
Ola politely smiled through the officer's description of herself and her fellow adventurers and added to the pile of questions a couple more: "Were there other survivors? And what do you mean by "attack" - pillaging, destruction, abduction, only murdering?"
Sylyra, thinking they need to pick up a map of the region, adds, "Have you heard of any others that have been reduced to madness or mentioning 'the eyes of the dracolich'?"
Aleyd rubs her temples, answering the questions one by one.
Answering Arnald and Eonis: "It is not directly linear, but the attacks do seem to be edging closer to Phlan. If the pattern holds, the next attack should occur in less than two days, and in six days whatever the threat is may reach the city. The direction of the attacks is sporadic and serpentine, however. I have no idea where it may occur, but it should be a day's ride away from Phlan somewhere along the coast. There are no villages there that I am aware of, but there may be some cottage or farm that is in danger."
Answering Ola and Sylyra: "There are no witnesses beyond the madman, and I am glad of it if there were to be more like him. All I got from him was barking and biting. It seems likely by when the ruined villages were found that all of these attacks occurred at night. I've only been able to investigate the last site personally, but I learned of the others through travelers that passed through them on their way into Phlan. In all cases, the village appears to have been ransacked and burned. Not much appears to have been taken, if anything, but that was impossible to tell for certain due to the fire and lack of survivors."
She pauses to think for a moment. "I did find and gather several old bones in the site of the latest attack. I took them to a local healer by the name of Fillistrom Wunderkundoodle," she says with a distasteful look as she speaks the name. "The aging gnome said they appeared to be human...filla-something, he called them, I don't recall exactly. Oddly, most of the tracks I found there were small in size, like that of a human child."
For Uragum:
As soon as you say it, you realize it is true: The attacks roughly correspond to the changes in the phase of the moon, which occur in a little less than every four days. So far, the strikes match the night when there was a change in the moon's phase.
“No looting, they’re not seizing the villages, and they hold no tactical value,” Eonis muses aloud. “The survivor we spoke with spoke of a dracolich, and there are also rumors of a ghost ship. Whether there is any connection or not, these attacks having massive casualties and no obvious financial or military motive does suggest a possible religious motive at work, or an arcane ritual - sacrifices to one of the baleful entities, for example, or a necromantic ritual.”
Only incredibly good manners and somewhat familiarity with the name prevented Ola from joining in shocking disgust with the Officer when the name Fillistrom Wunderkundoodle was announced. She could nod help it but note; "was he really the only one to ask" but cut it at once - it was not that important.
"I take it the "human child" track were of the one with bare feet? Or do you mean just the size of footprints and it could be any two legged miniature creature wearing boots? Like a goblin?"
"So, we know the time but not the place. Is there someone around familiar with Phlan's surroundings to know about every small farm? Some ruins too, if it's possible: on the Thorn Island was an ancient shrine, that once disturbed cost lives of several people. Who knows what someone could awake along the shores here."
"That is a disturbing notion," Eonis agrees. "Perhaps we should take, or create, a copy of a map showing the locations of the attacks, and the dates and times of the attacks? Having something to visualize could help us better discern any patterns. It often worked for me, using Dragon Chess figures as 'miniatures' to represent combatants on a grid."
"That's a good question Ola. Surely there's someone in town that brags about knowing the area like the back of their hand. Virtually every town has someone like that. And we should probably speak with this Fillistrom Wunderkundoodle person as well, to see if they've learned anything else from the evidence."
Uragum snapped out of his thoughts to rejoin the conversation. "The attack dates line up with the lunar changes. It's too much to be a coincident. Makes me wonder if there are any groups, organizations or cults that pay specific attention to the cycle. If so that might give us an idea into the general motive. As for finding someone that knows the area, I suggest the pub. A sailors pub. Findin someone that moves up and down the coast would likely be there. Maybe we split to cover more ground faster?"
“The cycle of the moons? Interesting. Some lycanthropes also respond to the cycles of the moons, also, that’s another possibility to consider,” Eonis says.
At the suggestion to split up to cover more ground, Eonis cringes again. “We have some good avenues for investigation, this Fillstrom, others. I would again strongly recommend we proceed as a unified front. Splitting the group could be tactically disadvantageous.” She leaves it at that, still seeming uneasy, but waits to see how the others weigh in.
"I'm afraid I am not well versed enough in tracking to determine whether they had footwear," Aleyd answers Ola. "They could easily be goblinoid with their size, though, of that I am sure."
"That is where my knowledge ends, but I do have leads that I have not been able to follow up on outside of my duties. For matters of mapping, you could consult a sage; on short notice, you might try the store All Questions Answered and avoid the rigamarole and bureaucracy of the library's sages. If these attacks really do correspond to the moon, there is a reclusive gnome who lives in the woods outside of the city that has an interest in such things, though I believe that she only deals with members of the Emerald Enclave.
And, if any of you belong to another of the city's factions, your contacts may be able to help further. I ask that you keep me informed of your progress, and please...be mindful of Phlan's laws while you continue your investigation. I like Yovir, but neither he nor I can do anything to protect you should you break the law."
The Knight stands, holding the door to the office open for you politely and offering a curt nod.
By this time Ola did not expect much from Black Fist but inability to tell apart print from a bear foot and a boot was a new ... standard even for them. No wander the town is a mess. Nevertheless, she stood up and politely nodded to the Knight: "We are always mindful of the law, I think all the cases when we helped Black First proved it enough." "We will report back if we find something".
Outside the room Ola with usual seriousness remarked to Uragum: "It looks like a good time for you to take the druids up on their word and visit Conclave. If we care, of course, about what that gnome can tell. Personally I would prefer a cartographer or a good guide and begun the search for the next village in danger."
"Anyway, I am going to the Lord Alliance representative. I will see you later in "the Laughing Goblin"." With that Ola went to the Alliance quarters.
"I will visit All Questions Answered," Sylyra says, turning and heading back to The Laughing Goblin.
If anyone wants to join him, Sylyra will say no.
He'll head to the tavern, ask if Olisara Lightsong is there, and if she's there, he'll speak with her first. If she isn't, or after he speaks with her, he'll get directions to All Questions Answered and head there.
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"Good day, Officer Burral", Ola politely lowered her head, "my name is Ola do Mari. These are - ..." she introduced the party, "and we are here on behalf of Doomguide Yovir. He asked for our help in investigation of the attacks on the surrounding villages and said you might have some information you might share."
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
As the left the temple, Uragum requests the wand back. To others it could just cast the Detect Magic spell, to him, it helped focus nearly all of his spells. Once back in his possession, he'll stow it again. Calmly, Uragum follows the others to Officer Burral, lending his large presence as Ola makes introductions.
OOC: Moved the wand from Sylyra's inventory to Uragum's.
Aleyd looks visibly relieved. "I should have trusted Doomguide Yovir more. When he said he knew of adventurers that could assist me, I feared the worst. I do not suffer fools; in my experience, I count adventurers among the most foolish of all. I was expecting loud, boisterous drunkards. I pray that that does not become the case," she says plainly.
She walks you back to an office, sitting at the desk within and motioning you to the four chairs set around the small room.
"I trust that Yovir has filled you in on the basics? I have been looking into the attacks. Two days ago, an unnamed village to the southwest. Six days ago it was Vig's Dock. Ten days ago, a collection of farm houses was hit, and the Aleston brewery fourteen days previous," Aleyd explains. She taps a finger on the desk absentmindedly, deep in thought. "I worry that the attacks will eventually come to Phlan. Now, I have been able to convince my superiors that this is worthy of an investigation, but I have little support. They do not seem overly concerned...'Phlan is large', 'all the attacks have occurred in small villages or lone homes', etcetera, etcetera."
She leans forward with intent. "I have noticed a pattern in the attacks - they come every four days - but what I cannot figure out is the reason for that sequence. The travel time between each attack is approximately one or two days, even by land. It must be something beyond just the time it takes to travel from one spot to the next," she says, pausing for the party's response.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
"Four days," Uragum says and then scrunched up his face a little and began pacing. "And the last was two days ago, today is day three, and tomorrow is day 4... Unless we figure out the pattern, doubtful we can make it in time." Uragum begins pacing trying to determine connections. To himself he mutters, "Four days, four days... religious holidays, ocean currents, moon phases, planetary alignments, what could it be."
Investigation to put some of these clues together 22
Arnald frowns in concentration before stepping forward, "Forgive me Officer Burral but I'm not from this area. Are these locations you've mentioned near one other? Are there other locations that have been bypassed?"
Campaigns:
DM - Waterdeep Dragon Heist PbP
Eonis ponders, picturing the movement and pattern of the attacks overlaid on a grid in her mind, briefly evoking memories of The System and The Strategy, and her studies of the Red Knight. She clutches her holy symbol and quickly re-centers herself in the present moment, rather than becoming lost in an introspective fugue that could last hours - or days - in the throes of her obsession and substance abuse. A blank stared moment is all she evidences.
”I’m still acclimating to the local geography. Are these attacks all moving in a specific direction as well? Or if they are coming from some centralized location, have you gathered enough data to pinpoint an area that might be?” Eonis asks. “I wonder if their delay in between attacks is a sign of some strange alternate mode of travel - burrowing underground, for example - or of some magical resource that needs to be ‘recharged,’ so to speak. Most intriguing.”
Ola politely smiled through the officer's description of herself and her fellow adventurers and added to the pile of questions a couple more: "Were there other survivors? And what do you mean by "attack" - pillaging, destruction, abduction, only murdering?"
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Sylyra, thinking they need to pick up a map of the region, adds, "Have you heard of any others that have been reduced to madness or mentioning 'the eyes of the dracolich'?"
Aleyd rubs her temples, answering the questions one by one.
Answering Arnald and Eonis: "It is not directly linear, but the attacks do seem to be edging closer to Phlan. If the pattern holds, the next attack should occur in less than two days, and in six days whatever the threat is may reach the city. The direction of the attacks is sporadic and serpentine, however. I have no idea where it may occur, but it should be a day's ride away from Phlan somewhere along the coast. There are no villages there that I am aware of, but there may be some cottage or farm that is in danger."
Answering Ola and Sylyra: "There are no witnesses beyond the madman, and I am glad of it if there were to be more like him. All I got from him was barking and biting. It seems likely by when the ruined villages were found that all of these attacks occurred at night. I've only been able to investigate the last site personally, but I learned of the others through travelers that passed through them on their way into Phlan. In all cases, the village appears to have been ransacked and burned. Not much appears to have been taken, if anything, but that was impossible to tell for certain due to the fire and lack of survivors."
She pauses to think for a moment. "I did find and gather several old bones in the site of the latest attack. I took them to a local healer by the name of Fillistrom Wunderkundoodle," she says with a distasteful look as she speaks the name. "The aging gnome said they appeared to be human...filla-something, he called them, I don't recall exactly. Oddly, most of the tracks I found there were small in size, like that of a human child."
For Uragum:
As soon as you say it, you realize it is true: The attacks roughly correspond to the changes in the phase of the moon, which occur in a little less than every four days. So far, the strikes match the night when there was a change in the moon's phase.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
"A human child?" Sylyra asks. "You think each of the attacks was inflicted by a single individual?"
"Goodness, no, there were many. Many tracks, each small in size," Aleyd answers, taken aback by the suggestion.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
“No looting, they’re not seizing the villages, and they hold no tactical value,” Eonis muses aloud. “The survivor we spoke with spoke of a dracolich, and there are also rumors of a ghost ship. Whether there is any connection or not, these attacks having massive casualties and no obvious financial or military motive does suggest a possible religious motive at work, or an arcane ritual - sacrifices to one of the baleful entities, for example, or a necromantic ritual.”
Only incredibly good manners and somewhat familiarity with the name prevented Ola from joining in shocking disgust with the Officer when the name Fillistrom Wunderkundoodle was announced. She could nod help it but note; "was he really the only one to ask" but cut it at once - it was not that important.
"I take it the "human child" track were of the one with bare feet? Or do you mean just the size of footprints and it could be any two legged miniature creature wearing boots? Like a goblin?"
"So, we know the time but not the place. Is there someone around familiar with Phlan's surroundings to know about every small farm? Some ruins too, if it's possible: on the Thorn Island was an ancient shrine, that once disturbed cost lives of several people. Who knows what someone could awake along the shores here."
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
"That is a disturbing notion," Eonis agrees. "Perhaps we should take, or create, a copy of a map showing the locations of the attacks, and the dates and times of the attacks? Having something to visualize could help us better discern any patterns. It often worked for me, using Dragon Chess figures as 'miniatures' to represent combatants on a grid."
"That's a good question Ola. Surely there's someone in town that brags about knowing the area like the back of their hand. Virtually every town has someone like that. And we should probably speak with this Fillistrom Wunderkundoodle person as well, to see if they've learned anything else from the evidence."
Campaigns:
DM - Waterdeep Dragon Heist PbP
Uragum snapped out of his thoughts to rejoin the conversation. "The attack dates line up with the lunar changes. It's too much to be a coincident. Makes me wonder if there are any groups, organizations or cults that pay specific attention to the cycle. If so that might give us an idea into the general motive. As for finding someone that knows the area, I suggest the pub. A sailors pub. Findin someone that moves up and down the coast would likely be there. Maybe we split to cover more ground faster?"
“The cycle of the moons? Interesting. Some lycanthropes also respond to the cycles of the moons, also, that’s another possibility to consider,” Eonis says.
At the suggestion to split up to cover more ground, Eonis cringes again. “We have some good avenues for investigation, this Fillstrom, others. I would again strongly recommend we proceed as a unified front. Splitting the group could be tactically disadvantageous.” She leaves it at that, still seeming uneasy, but waits to see how the others weigh in.
"I'm afraid I am not well versed enough in tracking to determine whether they had footwear," Aleyd answers Ola. "They could easily be goblinoid with their size, though, of that I am sure."
"That is where my knowledge ends, but I do have leads that I have not been able to follow up on outside of my duties. For matters of mapping, you could consult a sage; on short notice, you might try the store All Questions Answered and avoid the rigamarole and bureaucracy of the library's sages. If these attacks really do correspond to the moon, there is a reclusive gnome who lives in the woods outside of the city that has an interest in such things, though I believe that she only deals with members of the Emerald Enclave.
And, if any of you belong to another of the city's factions, your contacts may be able to help further. I ask that you keep me informed of your progress, and please...be mindful of Phlan's laws while you continue your investigation. I like Yovir, but neither he nor I can do anything to protect you should you break the law."
The Knight stands, holding the door to the office open for you politely and offering a curt nod.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
By this time Ola did not expect much from Black Fist but inability to tell apart print from a bear foot and a boot was a new ... standard even for them. No wander the town is a mess. Nevertheless, she stood up and politely nodded to the Knight: "We are always mindful of the law, I think all the cases when we helped Black First proved it enough." "We will report back if we find something".
Outside the room Ola with usual seriousness remarked to Uragum: "It looks like a good time for you to take the druids up on their word and visit Conclave. If we care, of course, about what that gnome can tell. Personally I would prefer a cartographer or a good guide and begun the search for the next village in danger."
"Anyway, I am going to the Lord Alliance representative. I will see you later in "the Laughing Goblin"." With that Ola went to the Alliance quarters.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
"I will visit All Questions Answered," Sylyra says, turning and heading back to The Laughing Goblin.
If anyone wants to join him, Sylyra will say no.
He'll head to the tavern, ask if Olisara Lightsong is there, and if she's there, he'll speak with her first. If she isn't, or after he speaks with her, he'll get directions to All Questions Answered and head there.