[sblock=The Anatomy of a Hollow, or Why Localized Slang Sucks...]There are times I hate my Kentucky backgound.
"Top of the hollow" is Kentucky slang (well, it should read properly as top of the
holler, but even I'm not that country) for the bit of a hollow or valley right at the foot of a larger mountain. I used it without thinking, so sorry.
To make up for it, I threw together a picture of the cabin, waterfall, and cliff at lunch today, to give you an idea of what you are looking at.[/sblock]
The Herbalist's Basement
Bell looks over the unconscious Lt. Rayn, and immediately finds the marks. More importantly, she can feel them in an arcane manner. The marks look like burns and don't pierce the skin, but in an arcane sense they are boreholes into the brain itself. What's more, the marks on Lt. Rayn are much more pronounced than on the other bodies. Nothing Bell knows of in nature could have caused these marks.
The herbalist, a polite old man who up until now has been relatively quiet, notices the looks on Bell's and Veruzak's face as they sense the magic of the marks and asks,
"Is everything all right?"
[sblock=Bell]You know that if this was an arcane attack, the amulet would have offered some protection to Lt. Rayn against it as long as he wore it around his neck.
You're also having a hard time focusing on the magic of the marks; there's some sort of interference coming at you from all around.[/sblock]
[sblock=Veruzak]Tagging along, you also see the marks and divine their nature. They feel to you like the magic you can sense in the ground below you, and this combined with the white noise you heard in the men's minds suggests that these marks
are boreholes, and something is getting into those holes. It's possible you could find a way to use that yourself on an already-affected person, and perhaps trace the noise to a source.
Basically, your OOC tuning rod idea mentioned early just occurred to Veruzak IC.[/sblock]
The Cabin
[sblock=Picture]
[/sblock]
Kendrick moves up to the cabin, taking a circuitous route using the cliffs to avoid detection, while the others wait. The roar of the nearby waterfall dulls their usual senses at the distance they are at.
Martelai's psychic scouting of the area reveals something that makes him unconsciously move towards the cabin, and he finds himself less than twenty feet from the cabin door before he returns to his senses.
[sblock=Kendrick]You see no evidence that anyone is in the house. From what you can see through the window, the first floor is empty and the indoor cellar trap door is open. Whenever Hob left, it looks like he came straight from the cellar and out the door. Meat left out on the visible table suggest this was less than three days ago, as the meat is not going bad yet.[/sblock]
[sblock=Martelai]You're scouting out the area with your other-worldly sense when you feel something in the cabin. It's a cry for help, claiming that what happened to Hob will happen to this person if you don't move in now and save them.
Roll. The call draws you towards the cabin, putting you close to entering before you even realize you started to move. You've shaken off the urging now, but still hear the call. It sounds like a woman, and she's crying in pain.
Now that you know of the call, it won't reach into your subconscious remotely again, but since you've opened yourself up to it you'll be slightly less effective at arcana checks because this woman is psychically screaming at you for help. It's distracting, to say the least...[/sblock]
[sblock=The Investigation]
3 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.
- V
eruzak may have found something under the ground...
- Whatever is going on caused two men's brains to explode.
- The bodies of the victims so strange marks on the temple, neck, and ear areas. Bell and Veruzak confirm that the marks are arcane in nature.
Possible Actions:
- Talk with Krill Koll about his episode.
- Talk with the witness that are still around of the events.
- Investigate the bodies of Rand, Mart, and the archers. Arcana, Nature, Heal, or give me a good reason for something else. Different skills may reveal different things.
- Talk with Rayn and the scouts once they have regained consciousness.
- Investigate Hob's cabin.[/sblock]
!
