[sblock=OOC]Warning! The majority of what follows is description of the town you see, the council members, and so on. Hence the reason it took me so long to write up.[/sblock]
The words of the ritual start to twist as Veruzak reads them, and Bell and Martelai's rhythmic responses seem to hang in the morning air. After a few minutes, the others in the circle realize they aren't just hearing the words; they're tasting them. Veruzak's lead words taste of smoke and mystery, and of darkness. Bell's response taste of youthful exuberance and the smell of old books. Martelai's taste more of the cold, merciless fire found in the heart of the stars. The word's then shift again, still rolling as simple words from the three arcane members of the group but now they carry the breeze of the open ocean, the smell of the rotting fish found on the shoreline, the call of gulls. The words become more than words; they become Haurton. And as the ritual reaches its crescendo, the words twist again. This time, they twist the party with them.
The twist is over as quickly as it comes, and the party is now elsewhere. The call of gulls isn't a by-product of the ritual any longer; the gulls are very real, circling overhead.
The party finds itself on the edge of a small coastal village. The coast here is a long sandy beach, with a docks built on the fair side of the buildings. It seems to be laid out in a simple fashion, with one road parallel to the beach and another splitting the village in half, leading deeper into the isle. The beach forms a small bowl, so little can be seen beyond rocky cliffs rising on both sides and a forested area.
[sblock=Passive Perception 15]Smoke rises in the distance from at least two different locations. The white smoke is hard to spot in the sunny sky, but is there.[/sblock]
Yurian shakes his head at the strange sensation of the ritual and looks at the others. “Right, well, we have a meeting to keep. Follow me, if you please.” He leads the way into the town's main fairway, where a number of people have stopped to stare at the recent arrivals and the manner of their arriving.
Yurian leads them past the onlookers, trading a soft word with one woman leading a group of children. He smiles at her as he passes, and turns to speak over his shoulder. “My wife. She teaches what lessons we give to our children here. Some reading, enough numbers to trade with the occasional merchant ship and to count a haul.” The woman is stocky, with thick forearms that speak to the hardships of her life.
Most of the people the party sees matches that mold. Passing a small blacksmith's, an elf is visible in the glow of the forge, working a hammer. While taller and thinner than the others the party can see, for an elf his build is one developed from hard work. What may have been a halfling disappears around on corner at the sight of Yurian, but the rest of the visible populace seems human.
In the center of the village sits a larger building. It's close to the docks, as well as to the beach where the party has arrived. The sign calls it the Sea Foam Tavern, but it seems to be where Yurian is headed. “The Council thought it best to meet in here. More room for all of us.” He opens the door and walks in, letting the party trail behind.
Waiting inside for the party are three older gentlemen. Yurian approaches them and bows. “Elders Frin, Tropolic, and Igliens, here are the investigators.” He gestures for the party to have a seat and, after introductions are passed around, the Elders lay out the initial information.
Elder Frin is a pale man of perhaps 70. He is introduced as the dock master, and appears to be the head of the Council. Elder Tropolic has only one arm and the look of a military man. There's a subtle air about him of expected obedience, as though he once led men in battle. Elder Igliens is the closet the isle has to a merchant. He is the youngest, perhaps 55, and balding. His face wears a carefree grin, and he speaks of Daunton in passing as though he has had experience there in the past.
Elder Frin begins. ”Here's what we know...”
It started three months previous. Boar and hawks in the woods, began attacking the local hunters and farmers without provocation. There was a report of a rabbit doing likewise. Other animals were seen to attack each other, while yet others seemed plainly terrified of something. Soon, it spread to several of the farm animals. A girl was killed when he dog turned feral seemingly overnight. The dog was killed by the girl's grief-stricken brother. He was only eleven, and hasn't spoken since.
Three weeks ago, a man named Rand walked into the Sea Foam Tavern and, without a word, began to beat on the patrons. He struck at random, switching targets with no sense of purpose. He was finally killed by a blow to the head. Rand was a farmhand on the Jorgun farm, on the far side of the isle.
A second man, Krill Kol, stumbled into town shrieking about sparks a week ago. He said he saw others, people not of the isle, through the sparks. Before he passed out, he said they looked wrong. When he awoke the next day, he could remember none of it.
The third and forth incident happened six days ago. A man and a woman, married for twenty years, were killed in their home down the coast a bit, perhaps a mile from the village. He was a lobster fisherman, and when they were found his head had been removed. It was found in a lobster pot on his boat. A trail of blood led into the forest. When Captain Yurian's second in command, Lt. Rayn, investigated, he was set upon by a boy named Mart. Mart was only eight, but would not yield in the fight with the swordsman. Rayn was badly wounded in the throat and was forced to slay the boy to save his own life. Mart lived in the village with his aunt.
It was decided that something very wrong was going on. While there was no connection between the victims or aggressors, it was generally agreed upon that it all started with the animals of the woods. Six patrols of five men each went out to search for the culprit or culprits. Two patrols, one led by Lt. Rayn, disappeared without a trace. A second search was started, for the missing patrols. Three more men went missing, and a body of one of the previous patrols was found. He had arrows of the guard in his gut, and was beheaded by a sharp blade. This was four days ago.
The Council decided outside help was needed, and fast. Expending all of their available wealth, the sent Captain Yurian out to Daunton to return with investigators. And now, here they are.
Elder Tropolic, who handled the explanation of the patrols, sits back as he finished, and Elder Frin takes up the lead again. “Unfortunately, we can offer you no news. Nothing has happened recently, but we are frankly completely at a loss of what's happening here. Now, I'm sure you all have questions or comments. Let's get those out of the way, then we'll have you official sign on as Council Agent's and you can get to work!” He taps a stack of documents, obviously contracts, as he says the last.
[sblock=Briefing]Rather than roleplay out a massive infodump, I've just done the dump. Ask any questions after that block o' info, and I have the council answer them, but this prevents the slow back-and-forth that would have been needed to get all of this out at once. Assume it took twenty minutes for all of this.
After you ask any questions or roleplay your characters general reactions, we'll move forward. There's a definite next step, but after that I'm going to step back a bit and let you investigate as you will. I just want to give you guys a chance to get some words in before finishing the prologue bit here.
As you uncover more, I'll reveal more potential threads to follow and if you think of anything clever, run with it! This is your adventure as much as mine, so if you take it in a different direction, it makes it fun for all of us. There's enough rails around that, short of nuking the isle, I can keep things on track without railroading you down one street, and there's soft or hard nudges if you get stuck, which shouldn't happen but it's always safe to plan ahead.[/sblock]
[sblock=The Investigation]
0 SUCCESSES
Clues/Facts:
- Three months ago, animals start acting up. It starts in forest, spreads to farms and village.
- Three weeks ago, a farmhand named Rand entered the Sea Foam Tavern and started attacking people. Was killed by a blow to the head.
- A week ago, Krill Kol enters the villages screaming about sparks and strange people before passing out. Has no memory of event on awakening.
- Six days ago, two people killed by an eight year old boy named Mart. Boy subsequently killed by Lt. Rayn.
- Patrols sent out to investigate. Eighteen men disappeared and one was found killed, apparently by a member of the guard. Lt. Rayn was one of the men who disappeared.
Possible Actions:
- Talk with Council.
- Take off and nuke the site from orbit.
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