The Town

The town exists.
They pay tythe to the Pale Compact, remembering the harsh winter that happened when the full tythe was not paid.

We belong here and all look to pretect it.

Today begins as a normal day with the faint feeling that something is slightly off.

Then the Bell at the shore rings....... and some of heard our name called.

Characters

Aethswold - Orphaned at an early age. Joined a local seminary as a Cleric. Early in his semiary journey. Can be a little Grupmpy

Guru - Dwarf from the mountains. Was training to learn some magic, but lmostly learing his traditional weapons training 214 years old, but had to flee after the calamity  hit. Therefore didn't finish training, survived by using his smithing skills

Sebastian -  Fisherman bytrade. Lived here all his life, parents still live here. Not very ambitious.

Salus - been here for as long as she can remember In her 40s, on a quest to learn magical scrpts, scriptures etc

Called to the Elder Salin. Given jobs for the day:

The broken smokehouse (outside of town near some docks) Looks to have been damaged over night. Town worried aboutt food spoilage

The missing net (younger islander has gone east to find the net and has not returned)

the ice-tide beast (

The broken smokehouse:

Smells wrong, one side has bucked in wards. No Blood or can see footprints

Dock Worker Bryn - no dogs barking no gulls screaming.... COnfirms there shouldn't be any one there over night.

Guru checking tool shed. ---- Naroww bench with one draw opened carefully and contents spilled. Looks like a knife is missing, probably just a villagers knife

Smokehouse investigation

• Looks like ransacked and a knife is missing. Useful hooks potentially.

• Looks like body dragged away. Tracks covered. Leads away from house.

• Cairn smells of smoke and iron. Was not there yestereday. Signs of a blood ritual. Looks left to be seen. Something dragged towards shoreline

• Necromantic residue around the fire. Fire disturnbed after it died down.

• Overall smell of cold iron and fur. Fish discarded.

• Definite signs of people. Door could have been repaired but was left. Strange marks… possibly made by human nails but much too strong.

• Human shaped foot print, too large for the average villager…

Seb checks the snow trail towards the woods. Snow shows something heavy was dragged here, wind hasn't been able to hide it. Gets the impression the snow was deliberatly used to try and hide the trail.

Seb+Aethswold think some sort of carcas was dragged, not by a predator. Seb thinks something was stolen from the smoke house

Blodd stained cain. Salus can see the snow is darked and compressed, snow is blood stained like something was dragged here. Cairn is new and the villagers wouldn't have made it. Looks like an old burial marker, but doesn't look llike it honors the dead. Blood is new and from multiple different creatures. Seb believs that it was intentional and meant to be seen. SOmething large was dragged forom the Cain to the shoreline

Fire Pit is cold, but not long dead. Melted frost clings to the stones in unnatural patterns. SOmething was added to the embers; not fuel but it has been burned away. Can smells a faint smell of ash and sweet rot. It's unfamiliar to Aethswold. Guru can tell the is a necromatic residue. Very weak and unstable. The fire was disturbed after it had died down. Maybe ash was used in the ritual

The collapsed wall and the smokehouse door

Door is part open, but looks it's been forced form the inside. Small of fish, also smell of cold iron and fur. Hinge was bend by strenght. No splintering, no bite marks on the fish which looks like they have been disguared.

Bryn mention the door is always locked

Salus sees a darker smear of blood behind one of the beams.

Bryn  is not sure what's missing

We know no creature hunts like this. Footprints by the door seems to have been there for a while What ever came through the door was intentional. Gura sees very faint marks scratched on the inside door frame, probably mabe by nails. Aethlwynn wonders if a caster was here. Guru disagress and thinks its ritualistic and could be fiendish or devilish. Wanted us to see the ritual or didn't care if we did. 

Characters opt to repair the building. Bryn helps. Spend several hours to make it secure. Some of the smoking racks seem to have been snapped. One of the racks was delibertaly pulled down, some of the racks have been arranged to make a crude sigil. Blood patterns on near suggest fish were cut.

a single bare human footprint is found near the racks, but bigger than normal footprint.

Found items:

Bryn says to take twine and net repair kit, resin soaked kindling, soot stained cloths, bone shards, salt block, jar of rendered fat(looks a bit spoiled but usable), 3 smoke house hooks.

Follow path to the east in search of the missing net:

Party

• Torncan see the normal nets, takenbut asone evidence
is
• Foundmissing. A single latern burns.

  Theres disturbed snow by a tidal pool. 

  Salus notices small tracks leading to the girlwater

  injured,

  Other fishing stuff lying about, fish oil flask. Can hear crying coming from behing a boulder. Seea small teenager - Tamsin, her leg is bloodied. She says something big moved under the ice which caused her to fall. She points down to the rocks where the net was, the big thing scared her and she felldropped inthe fright

net.
• SMallish

  Guru creaturecan't withsee and unnatural markings - she saw blue glowing eyeseye and the creature was abut half her size. She saw it moving under ice

the

ice. 

One net was torn - Guru nicked.