The Sound of Silence [IC]

[BelGareth]

Chapter one: The beginning of the end



https://i.imgur.com/EjTp0fV.jpg


It wasn’t a hard sale at all. Baron Maradaie had summoned you, and you had come, he told you about a rampaging red dragon. Not a Great wyrm, but an adult wreaking havoc amongst the farmland, and the local sheriff was already lost.

He explained.

You listened.

And agreed, something had to be done to stop this Red Warm.

Divinations had only partially succeeded, the dragons name was Therafax. Which, did not come up on any history for the area, nor did any divine summons know, at least not those the court and kingdom was capable of summoning.

It was agreed, to serve the country, you would have to ride out and slay the Red.

Typical day on the road of adventure.

And so you are here, having been teleported by the court magister, by way of respect to your reputation and rank.

Before you stands the quaint little village of Sethahlm, on the borders of the kingdom, it nestled up against the Blue pine mountains, which you could see off in the distance.

At first, it seemed nice, and calm, but, you soon realize, it’s too calm, looking around, you see no one running, or walking, or, well, doing anything.


The perceptive of the group notices a dead body on the doorstep of nearby house, roughly 50 ft away.

[Aegis013]

[roll0]

Trel looks around the village of Sethahlm, he brings a hand up to his face and gently bites the nail on his left thumb. He scans the area to see if there are any residents nearby, but not noticing anything of note states "Perhaps it would be best to head to the local tavern or to the local chieftain's quarters. Maybe having dealt in closer proximity to this Therafax they can provide valuable information about the beast."

Trel begins to calmly walk forward planning to go into either the tavern or knock on the largest house he could find in the village, expecting it would be the highest ranking local official's home.

[happycube]

Spot: [roll0]
Bardic Knowledge regarding this village: [roll1]
Bardic Knowledge regarding "Therafax": [roll2]
(Sorry for duping, forgot to reinsert the roll code after previewing the post...
Huh, well this is odd...
Sharoth sweeps his hair back as he surveys the silent village, then turns to Trel and the others.
"I agree. Once we've taken care of that, I think we should visit the places it's attacked. It'd be good to see whether there are any patterns or motives to its actions; anything that might allow us to find this beast on our own terms, rather than end up as its next meal..."
Sharoth follows the rest of the group on foot wherever they may go, fading in and out of sight as he walks between the shadows of buildings.

[CozJa]

Well, I don't even need to roll, but I'll do it anyway :smallbiggrin:
[roll0]


With his tentacled weapon spiralling onto his left arm, and the ample vestements he usually wears to cover his evergrowing unnatural abilities, Haelad starts to look around himself, as the baron speaks. he doesn't find that kind of work particularly appealing, but helping people is surely a worthy deed in itself. Besides, a Red Dragon may have access to interesting magical artifacts.

Between one word and another, the mutated human spots something odd: the corpse of someone over a doorstep, and the distinct lack of non-corpses around the village.

"ehm... I don't want to break your plans that early, but maybe we should take a closer look at that corpse out there, before looking for a tavern." Haelad points towards the door he noticed, looking at his companions. "I... I don't like this place, and I've seen my fair share of disgusting places."

[Snowbluff]

Athlipsi

Atop an armored wyvern rides a women in blacken plate armor. Her face is covered in strange markings. Her eyes are black, like her hair, which is shaved at the sides, with the middle pulled into a know at that back. She sees the dead body, and curses under her breath. Was she concerned for the safety of the home owner?

"It'll have to be investigated," her contralto is decidedly forceful, but scratchy. "I'll check it out."

The wyvern carries her to the door. "Larry, knock for me," she says. The wyvern slams his head into the door, causing it to buckle. "Excuse me, citizen, but you have not marked this trash properly or have placed it into a correct receptacle."

[Gaiyamato]

Strevast slowly plodded into the village, allowing the others to run ahead of him. Moving silently, his hands in the pockets of his red and black robes. He took the time to peer at doorways and through what windows he could. Attempting to catch a sign of life or a clue as to what was causing the current fuss. Hearing the door crack up ahead of him he winced but it didn't break his concentration. With the creature up there he wasn't worried about any trouble from that direction. Between Dragons, dead bodies and being within the boundary of a human village he was slightly on edge, a spell ready at the edge of his tongue and unseen light darting about his fingertips inside the folds of his robes. Small sparks and motes of white and green light shot up involuntarily from his head and drifted silently into the sky, as if some part of his being was leaking into the outside world.

He stopped walking and looked down at the small tendrils from new grown weeds rapidly pushing up through the ground by his feet. Thinking of his long lost family forest home he let out a sigh, and looked back up at the crazy woman trying to ride a monster through the front door of a peasant's house.

[Aegis013]

Trel can't help but smirk at Athlipsi's antics, but despite that, the gravity of the situation weighs on his mind. He picks up his pace, quickly moving towards the corpse. The glowing runes that orbit his head seem to match his pace as if they were reflecting the state of his mind. Is this the work of Therafax? The village doesn't seem burned. Magic perhaps? His thoughts race.

As he approaches the corpse, he kneels down beside it, investigating it with his good eye in attempt to uncover the cause. "I'm not well versed in the ways of anatomy and natural disease, but I may be able to determine the culprit if its source is magical in nature."

Trel casts Detect Magic to see if perhaps remnant traces of the mystic arts may provide some clue. He concentrates his focus on the corpse for several seconds.

Random skill checks to see if I happen to know something find something.
[roll0] Spellcraft
[roll1] Kn: Arcana or substitute relevant knowledge other than nobility, if applicable

[happycube]

"While I agree that surveying this...corpse...is the right idea, I'd feel more comfortable if we got out of the open."
Sharoth gestures to the abode's battered door that Athlipsi has so kindly "opened".
"Might I suggest we do this inside?"
Who knows, with our luck we just might find someone helpful in there...

[Gaiyamato]

"I agree with Sharoth. We should move inside, resolve this quickly and maintain our focus on the dragon issue. Someone should remain outside while the rest of the group investigate though, and I don't mind standing guard on the door with Larry here." Strevast responded in his low rumbling voice.

[BelGareth]

The door buckles with a muted *THUMP*. The center of it caves in, letting several planks fall from behind, it wasn't a solid door, and therefor, the force of the Wyverns horned head forcing it open was more than enough to break it.

No one is forthcoming from the noise however, and the village stays about as quiet as it was upon arrival.

Upon coming closer to the body, you notice several things. One, the corpse is somewhat fresh, even a laymen could tell this, no need for a doctorate from the Colleges of Armister. Secondly, something is off about the subjects head, 4 equidistant holes have been bored into the subjects head, and are dripping a grayish matter.


DC 15
The subject has liquified brain matter dripping from the holes
DC 20
It looks like something, has sucked out the brain matter in a liquid form


Only if someone gets the DC 20 heal check and shares the info (or you got it yourself) scratch that, its not a huge logical jump
DC 22
Mindflayers are known to do this. Although other creatures can, and have.

[Snowbluff]

Athlipsi is livid. "Oh no, it looks like a monster had destroyed this door," she says too forcefully to come off as casual or innocent. "I'm afraid that's reasonable cause for an unwarranted search." She makes an exaggerated shrug.

"Larry, get your fat ass inside," she says, ordering the wyvern to squeeze inside. "And no complaining, there are NO witnesses," she orders the team.



Spot [roll0]

[happycube]

Heal: [roll0]
Knowledge (dungeoneering): [roll1]
...or the house will be empty.
Sharoth frowns at the vacant house and the dripping corpse, before turning to Athlipsi's comment with a furrowed brow and a wide smile. He raises his index finger to his lips as if calling for silence in response to her remarks.
"Of course, not a peep; hush hush!" he murmurs before turning again to Strevast with the same grin and a nod. "Looks like Larry's going inside as well. You sure you want to stay outside when there are mind flayers around?"
Sharoth gestures to the corpse's head wounds, then steps to the side of the door to help with the body or allow others to pass, as the case may be.

[Gaiyamato]

Strevast looks down at the corpse, realisation dawning on him. Obvious now that it had been pointed out. Dealing with the living above ground, Strevast had never taken to learning much about the dwellers of the deep or other planes.

"Why would there be a single corpse sitting out here without drawing any attention? Why is the smashing of the door not triggering any response here?" He looked back up at Sharoth. "I am no expert on such monsters, what does it mean when you have mind flayers leaving corpses out in the open in a village that appears to be a ghost town? Where are the people?"

[happycube]

Well this just got more complicated.
On seeing Strevast's realization, Sharoth's smile quickly fades as he sweeps the hair back from his now-grim visage.
"I don't mean to jump to conclusions, but for any other creature the circumstances would suggest that the perpetrator did not fear being discovered; this could very well be a ghost town, as you say. Unfortunately, I possess only a cursory knowledge of illithids...perhaps our resident experts on such matters might share some insight on the motives, if we are truly dealing with such creatures?" Sharoth says as he expectantly raises an open palm, gesturing to Trel and Haelad.

[Aegis013]

[roll0] 8 extra bonus from Dantallion Knows vestige power.

"Moving indoors seems prudent." Trel agrees, leaving the corpse as it is, satisfied that the cause of death had been identified. Trel enters the house, assuming there is sufficient room as the wyvern has been commanded to enter as well.
Illithids. What have I read about those strange beings?" Trel recalls all the information he knows, he draws his prayerbook out and begins flipping through pages as if searching for something. Whether its pages contain information on the creatures or not isn't clear, he may just be fiddling with it in his hands while he thinks.

[CozJa]

As they look around the room and at the corpse inside, Haelad recognizes the traces of Mind Flayers, and starts asking himself what those foul creatures may have to do around here.

As Trel searches for his more useful and mysterious informations, Haelad explains to his companions how the Mind Flayers generally hunt:

"I fought them a couple of times in the past, they use psychic blasts to attack their preys, and have four tentacles with which they can attach themselves to an head. I suspect those are things that left traces on this poor man, but I don't know that much more on their fighting tactics, because whenever I met them, I choose the swift and silent approach."

Another thing he remembers, though, is the disgusting slimy noise they made when moving. Searching for traces on where the culprit has moved out, Haelad searches around the room to see if he can find some trace and, when his companions are silent, concentrates himself on the surrounding, trying to hear some sound that can point him to the presence of one of those disgusting creatures.


Listen: [roll0]
Search: [roll1]

[BelGareth]

You find nothing of note in the house, except a half eaten meal on the table, outside is another matter, and a quick check finds several tracks leading from the house to the main street.

[Aegis013]

"The Illithids are actually highly intelligent and cunning. They're often gifted in the ways of arcane magic or psionics. They devour brains for sustenance and it's not unheard of for them to raid settlements and take captives. As I've not been into one of their colonies, I can only speculate that they do so to stock up on food supplies, since they only eat the brains of the living."

Trel ponders a bit more, before adding...

"Regarding their weaknesses, they are telepathic beings, but have a limited range. They hear fairly well but I understand they struggle to differentiate nuances in sound, and while their eyes look like those of a blind man's, they can see quite well, even in darkness. They're quite resistant to magic, but if you can avoid detection and the psychic blasts they can emit, they're vulnerable to blades and physical trauma. I've only read about it in the past, but if they try to touch you, do everything you can to stop them. I'm not wholly sure what it is they intend if they were to do that, but I don't imagine it would be pleasant. I'd be intrigued to see it as long as it wasn't happening to..." there's just a split second pause where it seems Trel catches himself about to end his sentence with "me" but instead says "...one of us."

His prayerbook snaps shut in one hand with a thwop and he carefully returns it to its satchel. "But why would Therafax permit such beings in its territory? I can't imagine their actions driving valuable sources of tribute away would be part of the dragon's plans."

[Gaiyamato]

Strevast raises an eyebrow as Trel finishes and starts to speak, clearly ignoring Trel's faux pas. "Trel, if this is the only corpse here, and no one else is here, then surely it means only one of a few things. Either they took everyone else prisoner, if that is what they do, everyone else fled, or no one else was here. I find it highly unlikely the rest of the village fled and we did not see any sign of them on the road. This place looks like it was well lived in, so I doubt this poor victim was the only person living here. That then means that most likely the rest of these people are alive and being held prisoner somewhere does it not?" he paused from his analysis to stroke his beard for a moment. "As for the Dragon.. perhaps they are unrelated? I do not know..."

[Aegis013]

Trel offers up "Why don't we explore the town a bit more and see what other clues we might uncover about the fate of this place?" and begins to head outside again, unless someone else offers a different plan of action.

[happycube]

Sharoth's attention is fixated upon Haelad's search and the tracks leading to the main street; he stares blankly at the scene before him. When he speaks, he is distant, his characteristic smile gone.
"So...we don't know whether the dragon and mind flayer incidences are related, but it's now entirely possible that our leads on the former...er, the villagers lie in the hands of the illithids."
He begins nodding in Trel's direction, "searching the town is our best course of action, and these tracks are a good first step in that search."
Sharoth gives an involuntary shiver as he begins to leave the house, then a wide smile spreads across his face as he stops.
"Can any of you tell how long this poor fellow's been dead?" as he gestures with a raised eyebrow to the oozing corpse.

[Snowbluff]

“Well the good news is that I am strong. I don’t expect myself to be subjugated by any mind slayers, so rest assured,” Athlipsi says. “As for the building, it’s empty. I’ll leave a ticket and we’ll move one.” Athlipsi pulls out a quill and an ink container, which she opens gingerly. She whips out her pocket pool quickly pens a legalistic note, when she then tears out, and stick on the end of an arrow. She shoots the arrow at the door, embedding it in the sprawling wood.

[Aegis013]

Trel returns to his initial plan of seeking out the local leader's abode, keeping an eye out for any apparent signs of danger or anything else of interest.

[BelGareth]

Upon further investigation, and examining of the body, you ascertain it is fresh, slain within the last 24 hours. It was not long ago that they walked this town.

Moving further along, you see no more signs of life, although, the evidence of people suddenly leaving is astonishing, it was as if every one had gotten up from what they were doing and left. A cow meandered the street, it's handler gone, it's leash trailing and bounding off the cobblestones as it moved aimlessly away from you. A cattle market is eerily vacant of people, but he livestock still await to be bid upon. The market there are dogs and cats opening eating wares, the butchers door was left open, and has a herd of stray dogs inside, you decide to not investigate it further, lest you enrage the pack.

Moving further out, you find no signs of anything resembling a bipedal life form, and you have near searched the whole place.

Off in the distance, a large explosion peels through the large mountainous valley like the chiming of a clocktower.

[happycube]

The lack of people has Sharoth visibly annoyed as the party explores the deserted town. At the sound of the blast, his eyes go wide, then a malicious grin splits across his face.

"It looks like we have our heading," he announces with grim smugness. Sharoth looks to the rest of the group for affirmation, loosing the cloak from his shoulders and spreading his dark draconic wings wide in the valley air. "Perhaps with a little scouting in that direction we can learn what's going on here. Shall we?"

[Snowbluff]

The blackguard flicks some dust off of the saddle of her wyvern mount. "Okay, then go ahead and sneak up to the explosion. I am patient. I will way for you," she says smugly.

[happycube]

"Wait?!" Sharoth mocks a look of being wounded by Athlipsi's remark, his dark scales bristling.

"I thought we'd already established that I was quicker on the wing than poor Larry here! Besides, if there is scouting to be done, I'm far from the most skilled to be doing it; you wouldn't be waiting on me," he says, the mirth returning to his black eyes as he beams at Haelad.

Sharoth glances to the faces of the rest of his companions, trying to get a read on them. "What say the rest of you?"

[Aegis013]

Trel puts a finger to his chin, "For those of us tethered to the ground, I could allow us all to traverse the sky so we could stay together. Or if you are determined to scout it alone, I could attempt to divine the level of danger. If Therafax caused the explosion, it would be highly dangerous to go alone."