catman Carrion Crown ic

[catman04221985]

You all have gathered at the entrance to the Restlands with Kendra Lorrimor and a fine coffin containing the body of her father (preserved with gentle repose), your onetime friend and ally Petros Lorrimor. Kendra ask you all which of You would like to serve as the pallbearers?

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

Tysalat steps forward, without hesitation and dropping to one knee says, "I would be honored to carry my old friend and teacher."

[Athaleon]

Laine

"As would I" adds Laine. "Looks like there are just enough of us to bear him to the bier." He was never good at funerals, never knew the right words to speak without sounding too detached or too flowery.

[Escheton]

Draven

Knowing his limits and not wanting to cause a scene by buckling, Draven stays still and holds fast. Head slightly bent and with a serious, mourning face. As to fit in, but also in earnest...some. He didn't much know the man. And was very curious how his summons reached the wanderer.

[catman04221985]

She greets you with a mixture of curiosity, sadness, and relief. No one else has come to pay their respects to her father, and “with things the way they are in town these days,” very few folks from Ravengro have come out for the funeral as well.

[Athaleon]

Laine

"Well... I've always believed that goodbyes should never be protracted. If no one else is meeting us here, let's proceed."


Do the other players know the game has started? If they don't come around soon after PM'ing them, we should move on. Nothing kills games like waiting for people who'll never show up.

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

"Your father was a great man, but when people live in fear they can be scared to express their true feelings."

[Escheton]

Draven

"And how exactly are things in town these days? I for one am not exactly local."

[catman04221985]

Draven

"And how exactly are things in town these days? I for one am not exactly local."

Lets put my father to rest, then I'll answer any questions you all may have.

[catman04221985]

Kendra, as the deceased’s closest living relative, has the job of leading the somber procession along the Dreamwake—a gravel pathway that winds through the cemetery. As the procession reaches the halfway point along the Dreamwake, rounding a corner onto a path called the Eversleep, they’ll see that the way ahead is blocked by a group of a dozen surly looking locals. The tallest of these toughs is an elderly but wiry retired soldier named Gibs Hephenus.

“That’s far enough. We been talking, and we don’t want Lorrimor buried in the Restlands."

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

Tysalat smiles at the gathered locals. "Please friends, a man has died and needs to laid to rest. I know this land is full of darkness and the unknown, but we do not need to fear everything. Iomedae would have us strike down evil, but we can not let fear rule us. We can not strike down anything we do not understand."

Diplomacy [roll0]
Sense Motive [roll1] to get a feel for the leader, how serious his is and why is he doing this.

[Athaleon]

Laine

Laine has to resist the urge to roll his eyes before asking, "And why don't you want Professor Lorrimor buried in the Restlands? Is your reason good enough for a grieving daughter?"


Can Laine think of any reason? [roll0] Knowledge: History

[catman04221985]

Tysalat

Tysalat smiles at the gathered locals. "Please friends, a man has died and needs to laid to rest. I know this land is full of darkness and the unknown, but we do not need to fear everything. Iomedae would have us strike down evil, but we can not let fear rule us. We can not strike down anything we do not understand."

Diplomacy [roll0]
Sense Motive [roll1] to get a feel for the leader, how serious his is and why is he doing this.

SM You sense that they are more fearful than hostile.
Dip You manage to calm them down and they let you pass with out indent.

[catman04221985]

Laine

Laine has to resist the urge to roll his eyes before asking, "And why don't you want Professor Lorrimor buried in the Restlands? Is your reason good enough for a grieving daughter?"


Can Laine think of any reason? [roll0] Knowledge: History

They think he's a necromancer.

[catman04221985]

As you are dealing with the crowd a old man come running up to the crowd.

[Escheton]

Draven

Draven calmly watches the going's-on. Seeing no reason to step in.

[Athaleon]

"I hope you're here to talk some sense into these people" Laine quipped at the newcomer's arrival. "This is a hell of a way to greet a funeral procession."

[catman04221985]

He chastise the men. After a thorough shaming The old man introduce himself as Father Grimburrow. By Pharasma hair. I swear some people. Sorry for the town-folks.

[catman04221985]

The assault now past, the procession continues up to the plot Kendra purchased for her father. No further complications prevent the lowering of his coffin into the open grave by the gravediggers. Father Grimburrow gives a short sermon, and then invites Kendra to say a few words about her father. Kendra fights back tears and briefly recounts a few of her father’s more courageous or self-less moments, thanking everyone once again for coming. She then invites anyone else to share a few stories or remembrances.

[Athaleon]

"I accompanied the Professor on some of his expeditions, up until... two years ago? A little longer than that. I always helped him out in little ways; since I have a few talents arcane and archaeological, he was always grateful for an illuminating spell, or a box opened without smashing it." Laine went on in that vein for a while, relating little anecdotes. "The Professor was always an honorable friend and a patient tutor, and since he ignited my interest in history, he kept me employed in a job I loved. I for one will miss him, and so will all who knew him." A sidelong glance at the men who accosted them at the graveyard's entrance made it clear just what he meant with his last line.

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

Tysalat steps forward. "The Professor was a great man and struggled to both understand and stop evil in this land. I knew him from a young guide and in some ways he was like a father to me. He shall be missed."

[catman04221985]

1
Laine, Draven and Tysalat make either a dip or a preform check.

[Escheton]

Draven

"Too be truthful, I didn't much know the fellow. Most of our interaction was short yet rather exciting
T'was a cold, dreary night on the King's Road. Reckon a dozen leagues from any city of note. I was breaking in my horse. Ya know, have her ride hard a while, then reward her with rest and oats as reward to create some trust. Both ways.
Anyways, I happened to come across "The Professor" just as some highwaymen had halted himself and his cart. I slowed down and dismounted, patting the horse on the flank so she'd take a walk.
Now, I don't know if the Professor is secretly a master swordsman, arcanist or just a damned good poker player. But the fellow seemed utterly unfazed by the armed men trying to intimidate him.
Now, this was before anyone had made a move. Not counting 2 cronies flanking around to loot the rear of the cart. Or so they intended. Before they saw Vera.
Common robbers don't know much about firearms, but the tell that it can blow a hole through dwarven plate is usually enough to make em slowly back away and declare peace.
Shame I had to shoot their leader. Guess he just wasn't a very peace-loving man. Rather bent on escalating things.
Anyways, the Professor and I exchanged names and parted ways after a spell. Last I heard of the man to be honoust."

[Athaleon]

Diplomacy or Perform, it's all the same for Laine: [roll0]

[catman04221985]

After the funeral is over and Kendra has said her goodbyes to the other guests, she invites you all back to her home (so recently her father’s) for a drink and to hear his last will and testament. Thank you for the moving words. So tell me more about your self's.

[Athaleon]

"Nothing much to say that I hadn't already said, really." Laine goes on to describe some of his uneventful childhood, the boredom that drove him to wander, and the curiosity that drove him to explore and investigate history.

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

"I am merely a vessel of Iomedae. I have no idea why she chose me for that honor, but I am honored for that. I humbly serve her."

[catman04221985]

Vashian arrives precisely on time, in any event. No Sense Motive check is necessary to note that he doesn’t completely approve of strangers being involved in local matters, but he keeps his comments to himself, focusing his involvement entirely on the reading of Petros’s will. Kendra isn’t sure what’s contained in the will, since part of its stipulation was that all of the PCs must be present for its reading. Councilman Vashian produces a scroll case, shows that the professor’s personal seal is unbroken, then breaks the wax and opens the case. As he does, a small iron key falls out of the tube, clattering noisily onto the table. Undaunted by the key, the councilman begins to read, eager to be done with the business and to get back home.

“I, Petros Lorrimor, being of sound mind, do hereby commit to this parchment my last will and testament. Let it be known that, with the exception of the specific details below, I leave my home and personal belongings entire to my daughter Kendra. Use them or sell them as you see fit, my child.
“Yet beyond the bequeathing of my personal effects, this document must serve other needs. I have arranged for the reading of this document to be delayed until all principals can be in attendance, for I have more than mere inheritance to apportion. I have two final favors to ask.
“To my old friends, I hate to impose upon you all, but there are few others who are capable of appreciating the true significance of what it is I have to ask. As some of you know, I have devoted many of my studies to all manner of evil that I might know the enemy and inform those better positioned to stand against it. For knowledge of one’s enemy is the surest path to victory over its plans.”
“And so, over the course of my lifetime, I have seen fit to acquire a significant collection of valuable but dangerous tomes, any one of which in the wrong circumstances could have led to an awkward legal situation. While the majority of these tomes remain safe under lock and key at the Lepidstadt University, I fear that a few I have borrowed remain in a trunk in my Ravengro home. While invaluable for my work in life, in death, I would prefer not to burden my daughter with the darker side of my profession, or worse still, the danger of possessing these tomes herself. As such, I am entrusting my chest of tomes to you, posthumously. I ask that you please deliver the collection to my colleagues at the University of Lepidstadt, who will put them to good use for the betterment of the cause.”
“Yet before you leave for Lepidstadt, there is the matter of another favor—please delay your journey one month and spend that period of time here in Ravengro to ensure that my daughter is safe and sound. She has no one to count on now that I am gone, and if you would aid her in setting things in order for whatever she desires over the course of this month, you would have my eternal gratitude. From my savings, I have also willed to each of you a sum of one hundred platinum coins. For safekeeping, I have left these funds with Embreth Daramid, one of my most trusted friends in Lepidstadt—she has been instructed to issue this payment upon the safe delivery of the borrowed tomes no sooner than one month after the date of the reading of this will.”
“I, Petros Lorrimor, hereby sign this will in Ravengro on this first day of Calistril, in the year 4792.”

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

Tysalat listens nodding almost imperceptibly as the will is read.

Once it is read, he smiles and nods deeper. "I will of course be happy to fulfill the professor's wishes."

He reaches out and picks up the iron key. "I assume this key is for the trunk? If there is no objection, I can hold it until we need to open it."

[Athaleon]

"You hold on to that", Laine muttered worriedly. "I wonder if the Professor had anyone specific in mind that we have to guard the tomes from."

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

Tysalat nods. "I don't think he has anyone or anything specific in mind. I think that the information may simply be prone to misuse and as such is dangerous."

Tysalat threads a thong through the key and puts it around his neck.

[Escheton]

Draven

"A thousand lionheads for an errand and a month's bodyguard job? That is well beyond hazard-pay or gratefulness. That combined with the rest of it...might be an eventful month then. ", Draven comments while taking mental stock of his ammo.
"Hmm, no money upfront. Not usually how I operate.
So..."Kendra", how do you spend the days, what are your plans this months, and where do you reside?"

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

Tysalat looks towards Draven with disdain.

[Athaleon]

Laine turns and replies pointedly, "Whatever you may think of the Professor's request, we're already here, so we may as well stick around. Did you have somewhere else to be?"

[catman04221985]

Once the will is read, Councilman Vashian looks to Kendra, who thanks him and dismisses him. Putting on a brave face, Kendra thanks you again for coming, and informs them that she’ll need at least a few weeks to decide if she wants to sell her family home or remain here in Ravengro—in the meantime, as stipulated by the will, she asks you all to remain as well. She offers rooms in her spacious house promising them free room and board for the month the will requests them to remain in town, and then excuses herself to go fetch the chest mentioned in the will.

The chest itself is a relatively small object of oak and iron. Kendra, nervous about the contents, offers you the honor of opening the chest. The key fits the lock perfectly, and within are several old tomes and one relatively new one. The newest tome sits on the top and bears the phrase “Read me now!” scratched into the leather cover. This book is Petros Lorrimor’s journal and is detailed in the next section. The other tomes comprise the books of dangerous lore mentioned in his will—three of these have notes tucked into them indicating that they should be delivered to one Montagnie Crowl, a professor of antiquities at Lepidstadt University. The fourth, Manual of the Order of the Palatine Eye, has a note indicating it should be delivered to Embreth Daramid, a judge at the Lepidstadt Courthouse (although the note asks for this delivery inparticular to be handled discreetly, and includes theaddress of Embreth’s home).

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

Tysalat opens the chest and carefully removes the books, lacing them on the table. "It seems we should read this one first."
"Unless someone else would rather read it first I would like to read it tonight."

[Athaleon]

"More than enough to go round. Can't hurt to find out what makes these so important." Laine examined the titles and wondered which one he should start on.


He will select one at random if none of the titles stand out as exceptionally important or interesting.

[catman04221985]

Tysalat

Tysalat opens the chest and carefully removes the books, lacing them on the table. "It seems we should read this one first."
"Unless someone else would rather read it first I would like to read it tonight."

Circled Entries in the Professor’s Journal

Ten Years Ago: The Whispering Way is more than just a cabal of necromancers. I see that now. Undeath is their fountain of youth. Uncovering their motivation does not place me at ease as I thought it might. Their desire to be eternal simply makes them more dangerous.

Two Months Ago: It is as I had feared. The Way is interested in something here in Ravengro. But what could it be?

One Month Ago: Whatever the Way seeks, I am now convinced their goal is connected to Harrowstone. In retrospect, I suppose it all makes sense—the stories they tell about the ruins in town are certainly chilling enough. It may be time to investigate the ruins, but with everyone in town already being so worked up about them, I’d rather not let the others know about my curiosity—there’s plenty of folks hereabouts who already think I’m a demonologist or a witch or something. Ignorant fools.

Twenty Days Ago: It is confirmed. The Way seems quite interested in something—no, strike that—someone who was held in Harrowstone. But who, specifically, is the Way after? I need a list of everyone who died the night of the fire. Everyone. The Temple of Pharasma must have such a list.

Eighteen Days Ago: I see now just how ill prepared I was when I last set out for the Harrowstone. I am lucky to have returned at all. The ghosts, if indeed they were ghosts (for I did not find it prudent to investigate further) prevented me from transcribing the strange symbols I found etched along the foundation—hopefully on my next visit I will be more prepared. Thankfully, the necessary tools to defend against spirits are already here in Ravengro. I know that the church of Pharasma used to store them in a false crypt in the Restlands at the intersection between Eversleep and the Black Path. I am not certain if the current clergy even know of what their predecessors have hidden down below. If my luck holds, I should be able to slip in and out with a few borrowed items.

Seventeen Days Ago: Tomorrow evening I return to the prison. It is imperative the Way does not finish. My caution has already cost me too much time. I am not sure what will happen if I am too late, but if my theory is right, the entire town could be at risk. I don’t have time to update my will, so I’ll leave this in the chest where it’ll be sure to be found, should the worst come to pass.

[catman04221985]

"More than enough to go round. Can't hurt to find out what makes these so important." Laine examined the titles and wondered which one he should start on.


He will select one at random if none of the titles stand out as exceptionally important or interesting.


roll a d4 please.

[Athaleon]

Laine selects a book at random:

[roll0]

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

Tysalat reads the journal carefully and then seeks out the others that were invited to deal with these books. We must act quickly.

[Escheton]

Draven

Not being much of a reader, Draven hangs back. Keeping in mind he needs to follow a damsel around for a month before dealing with askew literature.
"So whats everyone's sleeping rhythm? Don't much have one myself, but figure we'd best calibrate if we want to keep an eye on the lady."

[Athaleon]

"I can take any watch, but I have the right eyes for night duty." Laine explained. "I actually get pretty squinty in the bright light."

[catman04221985]

Laine selects a book at random:

[roll0]

The Umbral Leaves: This lexicon is a translation into Common of the unholy book of Zon-Kuthon.

[catman04221985]

Now what do each of you do?

[Escheton]

Hang back, keep the lady in sight. Pick up a book to pass the time if nothing happens.

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

Late that night Tysalat gathers the group. "We must act quickly. Something horrible has happened or is about to happen in the Harrowstone. It is the ruins of a prison of some sort and a cabal of necromancers wants to raise someone who died there. The professor was terrified of this happening and I suspect he died for his investigations."

[Athaleon]

If we're the only ones who can do anything about it..." Laine trailed off worriedly. "On the other hand, if the Professor was expecting trouble we can't leave Kendra here." He turned to her and asked, "Is there anyone else in town you trust enough to stay with you while we look into this?"

[catman04221985]

If we're the only ones who can do anything about it..." Laine trailed off worriedly. "On the other hand, if the Professor was expecting trouble we can't leave Kendra here." He turned to her and asked, "Is there anyone else in town you trust enough to stay with you while we look into this?"

Yes there is but its late and I am heading off to bed.

[Athaleon]

"I suppose some of us could stay here and hold down the fort..."



Maybe the characters of the people who didn't show up could stay here while the three of us go investigate the prison :smallbiggrin:

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

"Being that it is possible something about this was the demise of the professor, I suggest we do not split up."

[catman04221985]

Sorry for the long lapse in posting RL got in the way. Anyway time for the plot

Its the next day and Kendra's sends you all off to investigate her father murder.

[Escheton]

Np. We have a slow and steady thing going. Which is rather good for pbp actually


Draven

Draven objects, and opts for investigating after the month has lapsed. The trail might have gone cold by then. But ensuring the lady her safety is paramount currently. If she is willing to tag along, experiencing any findings firsthand however, he would hold his tongue. Knowing it better to have her in sight with a heightened chance of having to directly protect her, versus leaving her behind and having no way to do so.

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

"As much as it pains me to say this, Kendra can not be our priority. While the professor asked us to delay our journey for a month to keep her safe, this is not about delivering potentially dangerous tomes. This is about a rising evil that probably took the professor's life. A rising evil that the professor put his life on the line to stop. This evil threatens the entire town. We of course will do all we can to keep her safe, but not by putting the population of a whole town at risk."

[Athaleon]

"Maybe you could go to the inn while we're gone," Laine suggested to Kendra. "It'd be safer to be among people in public than alone here."

[catman04221985]

Grrr more RL things but stable now:smallsigh:

Laine, Thanks for your concern but I have a safe house in the country. You should start by doing some research.

As she finish the sentence a horse and buggy comes for her And she bid you farewell.

[Athaleon]

"Well, that settles it." Laine blinked in surprise. "I suppose we should get going."

[Smileybastard]

Tysalat

Tysalat nods. "We shall proceed. Should we venture to the Harrowstone? See if anything is going on?"

[Escheton]

Draven

""Her immediate safety is beyond our influence now. So we might as well'

[catman04221985]

You all head out for Harrowstone. You pass some childern, Varisian form the looks of it jumping rope and singing a song.

Can any of you speak Varisian?