Chapter 1: New Adventure

May 27

Neiia senses that something is happening somewhere and decides to go check on the others. She fetches Jaysek to come along (they are in Lethys). Neiia goes through the portal first and Jaysek follows, noticing that Neiia cannot be seen anywhere. Thirty seconds later, Neiia arrives through the portal. Neiia then tells a wild story of having been in the north for many months fighting during those thirty seconds. From Magnimar they continue to Sandpoint by ship.

May 28

In the morning, the sheriff knocked on Kieron’s door, but she didn’t open it (as she was still sleeping deeply), so he looks for Ra instead. It takes a few hours before he finds him resting. After that they return to Kieron’s place, where Ra walks through the door and goes to wake up Kieron. The sheriff has meanwhile gone to the harbor. Kieron and Ra head to the harbor.

When Neiia and Jaysek arrive in Sandpoint with the ship, they see how Kieron is talking with the sheriff. The sheriff tells them that apparently there is now a serial killer on the loose here. They have found two bodies at the sawmill and these bodies were in bad condition.

The sheriff also tells them that the killer apparently knows Neiia because he has left a letter for Neiia:
“You will learn to love me, in time to want me, as she wanted. Give yourself to the pack and it will all end.”

After that the sheriff tells them other clues.

Leads: Bodies at the sawmill. Katherine Winder and Banny Harker

Suspect: the victim’s father Ven Winder was suspected because he had a fit of rage when the sheriff went to interrogate him. The sheriff suspected that the cause of the rage was the loss of his daughter, but of course nothing can be certain.

Three swindlers killed yesterday. Their bodyguard survived this, but is completely insane. Can be found at the sanatorium.

Observation: On Harker’s chest a rune: seven-pointed star.

The group goes to the sawmill to investigate the crime scene. Jaysek begins investigating it, Neiia investigates the place otherwise and Ra searches for tracks. Kieron creates a prayer place for herself with illusion. Other can hear the sounds of war and such from inside it. After that she sits down there to pray and sing. Jaysek notices this, even though there is such loud noise here because of the sawmill that Kieron’s singing doesn’t even properly carry, so Jaysek sneaks closer and casts a silence spell on Kieron. Kieron has to interrupt her prayers and start over from the beginning.

Through prayer, Kieron receives a vision in which she sees someone dressed in a neat blue tailcoat of nobility who looks down from somewhere above.

Neiia finds some tracks and Ra notes that they are barefoot human footprints. The tracks come from the river and after that the person has climbed up the wall to hide on top of the wall.

Jaysek notices that some kind of fight has taken place here. In addition, he finds an axe which he thinks is related to the matter. Additionally, those bodies should probably be examined. Neiia and Ra think that in their opinion it smells too much like spoiled meat here, because those bodies are too fresh to smell that much.

Apparently Katherine was killed very quickly by pushing her into the saw. Banny, on the other hand, was killed more slowly - he was fastened to the wall with hooks, his face was carved completely away, clothes pulled away from the chest area and the seven-pointed star was carved there. Jaysek notices that the wounds are the source of the extra smell.

Jaysek is going to examine that axe when suddenly darkness covers the area and Kieron whistles behind Jaysek’s back looking completely innocent. Jaysek waits a minute and examines the axe. The axe smells strongly of rot, and there are remains of rotted flesh on the blade, even though the blade itself is not bloody. In addition, there are bloody fingerprints on the handle. After a moment’s thought, Jaysek concludes that some victim probably used that axe to defend themselves against some undead ghoul or ghast.

Jaysek stays to examine the bodies and Ra searches for tracks. Ra finds tracks that lead toward the town. The group doesn’t follow that track yet, but go first to the other side of the river looking for tracks in the mud on that side. Ra finds tracks on the opposite shore that come from the water and go back into the water at least several times. However, no tracks lead away from the place. Apparently the undead has used this place for surveillance or something.

They return to the sawmill side and start following the tracks to town. Ra follows the tracks and suddenly notices that these tracks don’t smell.

Kieron tries to search for secret hatches inside, but finds only one clear non-hidden hatch. This hatch leads directly to the river. The handle doesn’t smell, so apparently the undead has not touched it.

Jaysek examines the body and when Kieron points to one wound, Jaysek recognizes that they are really big claw marks of a five-fingered creature. Apparently it’s a ghoul, because those long claws are, according to Kieron, one of their basic identifying features. Ghouls are almost intelligent, meaning they can for example dodge traps etc. They cannot write so that message was not written by them, and the star was clearly made with some bladed weapon.

The group decides to try to use magic to find out what happened here, but it’s quite difficult and at some point someone notes that Ertak would have known this spell that they would need. The group goes to look for Ertak, but he is not at the temple and there the cleaning lady tells them that Ertak has recently been spending time in the forest meditating.

The group thinks about where Ertak could be and they come up with three places. One would be there underground where he made the nature god’s altar, another there at the shore where that passage led, and the third is in that forest near Thistletop. They go to check at the shore, but Ertak is not there.