IC: Dichotomy's Age of Worms Redux, Part II

[Dichotomy]

In response to Boldak's query, Alastor softly replies, "Not before I... was stuck here." The young man's form fades from view.

The group makes its way back to Diamond Lake. As they travel, Alendar explains, "So the bodies were dug up by I think five men, though one was later killed by the owlbear. The other four went back in the direction of town, and they had a wheelbarrow. We can't hope to track them after they reached the road, except to know that they went to town, not away from it. And the dead man had a tattoo on his arm, like Alexis said."

 

[o3caudata]

"Boldak, you're the likely choice to see about Vesst's men. See if you can find out anything about what they've been up to since there loss of employment. Viktor, there's a good chance that some of the other men there were wounded in that scuffle with the owlbear. And that MIGHT mean they'll seek healing. Check with your parents, the temples, and the other clerics in town. Alendar, Llyr, and I will start asking around about wheelbarrows with bodies and the like. Be careful, i have a bad feeling about this whole situation... We'll meet at the Dog in a couple hours?"

 

[michael_noah]

"That seems as good a plan as any, though I'd suggest we get together again as soon as possible, if one of us finds them, we don't want to wait any longer than necessary to gather the others."

When Boldak returns to town, he trudges through the place, attempting to connect with those he knows from the mines without running into his employer.

 

[worthley]

"I'll see what I can find out." Replys Viktor as he makes his way to the garrison. There he explains the situation with the owlbear and grave robbery to his parents to find out if they have seen anyone fitting the descriptions.

 

[TiCaudata]

"Sounds good. Moro might be helpful to bring with for...persuasion. Shall we hit the dives and flophouses first and then work our way up?" [sblock=OC]Llyr will start going from bar to bar, probably starting at the flophouse and work his way up getting information on any funny business involving corpses. Ideally he will just talk to people and try to innocently work a question into the conversation. Diplomacy +8, Gather Info +3, Intimidate +3 +wolf (if applicable).[/sblock]

 

[Dichotomy]

With all of the various angles the party members work, it does not take them long to discover the likely graverobbers' identities. As it turns out, there is a particular group of five thugs branded like the arm Alendar found. They did work for Garavin Vesst. For all practical purposes, they were his slaves. However, the greedy mine manager Vesst was bankrupted by Balabar Smenk some years ago and then died last year. It seems that Smenk's acquisition of Vesst's property included the thugs.

As it turns out, the group typically frequents the Feral Dog. In fact, the apparent leader of the group is an albino half-orc that at least Boldak and Alexis have seen before at the Dog.

 

[michael_noah]

After waiting for an opportune time for discrete conversation, Boldak proposes, "Perhaps we should wait for some of them to show up and then trail them?"

 

[TiCaudata]

"Trailing sounds like a good idea, but it would probably be a one man job. Preferably someone good at not making noise or not getting caught. I suppose we could have the other people following a little further back. Moro might be able to help with tracking as well."

 

[worthley]

"I am agreeing that we should have Boldak follow. This way we atleast have somewhere to start looking, incase confronting them leads to their demise. We need to bring the bodies back to let them rest peacefully."

 

[michael_noah]

"Good, then. Don't stray too far behind."

Boldak follows the members of the "gang" whenever he gets a chance, preferably after they leave the Dog at night, and focuses on the leader if he's present.