The Town
The town exists.
It pays 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 us heard our name called.
Those who were called:
Aethswold - Orphaned at an early age and grew up with his "sister" Aethlwynn. Joined a local seminary as a Cleric and is still early in his semiary journey. Can be a little Grumpy but is tolerant of Aethlwynn. He's still in his 20s
Aethlwynn - Abandoned as a baby and was taken in by the same kind family as Aethswold. She's 19 so, for an Elf, is practically a baby. She had left the family to train with a small group of witches but returned from foraging one day to find the camp deserted but with taces of blood. She ran back to the town with nothing but what she was carrying
Guru - A Dwarf from the mountains. He was training to learn some magic, but was mostly persuing his traditional weapons training. He is 214 years old. He had to flee after the calamity hit. Therefore didn't finish training and survived by using his smithing skills.
Sebastian - A Fisherman bytrade. He has lived here all his life and his parents still live here. He's not very ambitious, the height of his ambition is to catch a bigger fish.
Salus - Has been here for as long as she can remember. She's in her 40s. She has a personal quest to learn as many magical scripts, scriptures etc as she can
The bell summoned the party to the Elder Salin who gave them the following jobs for the day:
- The broken smokehouse (outside of town near some docks) Which looks to have been damaged over night. The Town is worried about food spoilage
- The missing net. A younger islander has gone east to find the net and has not returned
- the ice-tide beast. A strange beast has been seen on the edge of the ice
The broken smokehouse:
The smokehouse smells wrong and one side has buckled inwards. Initially the party can see no blood or footprints
They speak with Dock Worker Bryn - who was nearby over night He did not hear dogs barking or gulls screaming. He confirms there shouldn't be any one at the smokehouse over night.
Guru checks the tool shed. He finds a narrow bench with one draw opened carefully but with the contents spilled. It looks like a knife is missing, but its probably just a normal villagers knife
Sebastian checks the snowy trail towards the woods. The snow shows something that heavy was dragged here and the wind hasn't been able to hide it. He gets the impression that the snow was deliberatly used to try and hide the trail.
Sebastian and Aethswold think some sort of carcas was dragged but does not appers to have been dragged by a predator. Sebastian thinks something was stolen from the smoke house
Salus examins a blood stained cairn. She can see the snow is darked and compressed. The snow is blood stained as though something was dragged here. The cairn is new and is something the town's folk wouldn't have made. She thinks it looks like an old burial marker, but doesn't look like it honors the dead. The blood is new and seems to be from multiple different creatures. Sebastian believs that it was intentional and meant to be seen. Something large was dragged from the cairn to the shoreline
The fire pit is cold, but the fire is 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 can see the normal nets, but one is missing. A single latern burns.
Theres disturbed snow by a tidal pool.
Salus notices small tracks leading to the water
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 dropped the net. No smell of cold iron.
Guru can't see and unnatural markings - she saw blue glowing eye and the creature was abut half her size. She saw it moving under the ice.
One net was torn - Guru nicked.
head back to the village with Tamsin.
Then head to the ice tide:
Find a shallow cave on the way to the frozen fen. REmnantsof bone and a small battered wooden chest. COuls have been here a long time.
Guru investigatesx:
Worn cane
worn and weathered set of chain mail]
small iron hammer
rotted leather pouch with 5 silver
waterlogged journal - one line The tide did not reced it waited we should not have opened the crate
Letter - If this reache shore (fdades) do not traust ( fades) they knew thay always new (fades)
the bone look to be a baby mammoth. Aethswold sees 2 sets of blue glowing w=eyes at the bac of that cave
Frost-Touched reef stalkers:
Frost nipped bite attack Pircing and cold
Resistant to Vitality
Freezing flurry attack ( 2 actions - with reflex save on sucess)
Death reaction to trigger icy blood attacker takes 1 cold damage
Something is around their necks like a stip of blood stained cloth - care fully placed. Flowing blood steams on the ice
both cloths ahve the same smell as around the Cairn, cold iron but not ash. One of the cloths is stained, not blood but a faint violet tinge. The other cloth is bloodstained but not from the creature. The knot looks like a noose.
Back to Moonrest Haven.
Elder Salin listens to our findings, nods her head once. Someone runs in and rings the bell madlly Crying "Elder, there is something on the ice". We get the task to investigate, but are told not to let the crowd trample the ice.
The tide is going out. Soething lays about 30 paces out, dark about the snow. Bryn says it was not there before.
It's the figure of a man, face down. Not drowned, no blood. Fragment of black wax clutched in his hand.
Guru sees a vertical dark sillohett above the ice tline