Liana report - 14 June 110AE
To: Temple of Justice Patrol Liaison
I write in reference to a mission in Ashen Peak this Sunday past. Present, as well as myself, were Constable Keale of the Royal Constabulary, Wizard Sural of the Circle, Guardian Ellison, Paladin Vertonius, Artificer Dracen and also Thethil, the goblin 'thinker' from the local orc tribe.
Duke Swiftbright briefed us personally on the recent arson attacks in this area and asked us to head out into the local area to investigate.
At the remains of the tavern we found three bodies with talismans and also on the ground a coin, described as those found on the mercenaries the previous week, with a symbol of a moon. Also, the villagers told us there had been bodies of villagers found and the barkeep had been identified by his leather apron.
The headwoman remembered drinking in the tavern before the fire but could not remember the fire starting nor how she made it back to her bed only that when she woke up the next morning the building had been burnt down.
Some dispute with the local monastery was mentioned and also, shortly after the fire, two orcs from the local tribe had passed through offering assistance which had been refused.
In a clearing a little way from the village we encountered a large group who would not identify themselves but claimed to be just passing through. Behind them in the clearing we could see a bloody body. We initially permitted them to pass to allow Paladin Vertonius to get to the injured person but were unable to get a scout ahead to warn the villagers to get out of their way.
We therefore followed them to the village where, despite our presence, they attempted to attack the villagers. We attacked them, drawing their attention and the villagers scattered. Although we were outnumbered we managed to deal with them, healed the injured villagers and advised them all to head to the safety of the Duke's keep.
Of note, and I was advised the same had happened when some of the patrol members had encountered mercenaries the previous week, at the point they fell they took massive damage to their chests, frequently severing them, which made it impossible to take them for questioning. This seemed to apply whether they were dropped with lethal or non-lethal damage and was apparently related to the coins they carried.
When we had dealt with the mercenaries we returned to the clearing, where Paladin Vertonius had confirmed the man was dead. He was dressed as one of the mercenary's scouts but, unlike the others, he had not taken massive damage to his chest on death and carried no coin.
Between the village and the crossroads we encountered another large group of mercenaries. These had unholy power on their weapons though no obvious caster was with them. Wizard Sural discovered a twist of the effect of their coins - it could be triggered by his sending them to sleep which was sometimes instantly fatal and
other times awakened them albeit seriously injured. It also seemed those triggered by this were not activated a second time when they fell, although we realised this too late to be of any use.
We did manage to take a prisoner, as Constable Keale halted her and was quickly able to remove the coin (fortunately in an accessible pocket) before we knocked her unconscious. We had some difficulties in bringing her around as she was afflicted with a disease which caused a death curse. Unfortunately, even after we had removed this and healed her to consciousness, she was unwilling to talk, or at least to give
us truthful answers and we were forced to kill her. Guardian Ellison made a number of inappropriate suggestions as to how we should torture the information out of her, which I hope were only intended as intimidation, but perhaps it would be wise for someone to take this up with him.
At the crossroads where the meeting house once stood we found the remains of, I believe, seven bodies. One was female and wore a holy symbol of a 12-pointed star, one of the men wore a metal breastplate which had not been much damaged by the fire. The only unusual thing about this was that the Duke had said only two bodies had been found but then again he had said there might be more under the fallen rafters. Several of the bodies had fallen in such a way it seemed they had been seated during the fire, suggesting it had either happened very quickly, they were already dead when the fire started or had been in some way prevented from moving.
At this point we noted that we had no real evidence the bodies were who they were alleged to be, except single notable items which could easily have been swapped. Constable Keale also noted that they had found the Duke's easily recognisable coat whilst searching for him the previous week and a similar subterfuge could have been intended there.
Between the crossroads and the monastery we encountered a strange creature described as a 'wood ghoul' or 'tree ghoul.' It did not seem to be related to the mercenaries as when a group of them attacked it went after them equally and we fared better as they were not prepared for it. Unfortunately Guardian Ellison was killed by the ghoul since he was paralysed as we retreated from the mercenaries. I returned to him as soon as the mercenaries were dealt with but it seemed the ghoul had bored of the fight sooner and returned to eat him. He was still alive when I reached him but I was not able to get the ghoul away to heal him before it paralysed me too. I also noticed the ghoul seemed to be healing itself by draining the life from a tree, as
dark druids do.
At the monastery we found around 12 bodies along with a single pair of boots standing empty, which we presumed to be either talismans or holy symbols. There was also a puddle of a gold-like substance which became affixed to the soles of Wizard Sural's boots. Again, one strange point was the Duke had specifically mentioned the High Priestess had been killed but none of the remains we found were obviously identifiable as a High Priestess.
We continued, following a number of human and elven tracks to a gate. The gate was trapped with presumably spell-primed sleep spells. Artificer Dracen attempted to cross and fell back on our side of the gate. Paladin Vertonius fell asleep across the gate and we therefore pushed him the rest of the way across. Unfortunately we then discovered a deep pit on the other side except along a narrow width. The Paladin survived the fall but at some point, while the rest of us crossed with air magic or careful balancing along the pit edge, he ingested some slimy substance within the pit which caused massive damage to his head.
We continued to follow the tracks, coming to the top of a slope leading down into a narrow valley. Our scouts spotted four heavy armoured mercenaries and we backed away before we could be spotted. There seemed to be more individuals out of sight and, as our fighting capability was now reduced, we did not think we could take on another large group.
We pulled back intending to return to the keep and call for greater assistance when we remembered we were following human and elven tracks yet all the mercenaries we had seen were human. As we had had suspicions that the bodies found were not those of the missing people, since they were burnt beyond recognition, we decided we had to investigate further before leaving. We arranged for Thethil to act as a distraction to allow the scouts to move closer and get a clearer view whilst Constable Keale and I waited at the top of the hill to move in if needed.
Thethil managed to alert us to the fact there were prisoners and we could hear a number of voices cheering the goblin on as she mocked the guards. Taking the risk that the only guards were those we had already seen, myself and Keale attacked and the mercenaries were quickly dealt with.
Once we had rescued the confused prisoners they told us they had no memory of their capture. They had fallen asleep at the place they were taken from and when they awoke they were imprisoned. The only thing the mercenaries had asked was for the location of the Duke's gold, which none of them knew.
They were returned to their homes and we could assume the mercenaries were the arsonists but a number of questions remain. Perhaps it would be wise for someone to be sent to the area to investigate further?
It does not seem likely that, if the Duke's gold was indeed their primary objective, they would have chosen the prisoners they did nor that they would have felt the need to hide the kidnap in such a fashion. It also does not explain the ritual they were allegedly planning on carrying out on the Duke when they captured him.
The questions which I feel need answering are: What was the mercenaries' true aim? How did these arson attacks relate to their kidnap of the Duke only a week previous? Who were the bodies found burnt? Where were the mercenaries' leaders whilst all this happened? (We encountered no individuals of greater skill or strength nor anyone giving orders). Where were their priests? Why such subterfuge? Who actually started the fires - the mercenaries or their employer? Who was their employer? Were the fires natural or magical? Were the bodies indeed killed by the fires or were they placed in the buildings dead? Also, why had none of the bodies been taken for burial or resurrection? (The tavern fire had been four days prior to our arrival.)
I write in reference to a mission in Ashen Peak this Sunday past. Present, as well as myself, were Constable Keale of the Royal Constabulary, Wizard Sural of the Circle, Guardian Ellison, Paladin Vertonius, Artificer Dracen and also Thethil, the goblin 'thinker' from the local orc tribe.
Duke Swiftbright briefed us personally on the recent arson attacks in this area and asked us to head out into the local area to investigate.
At the remains of the tavern we found three bodies with talismans and also on the ground a coin, described as those found on the mercenaries the previous week, with a symbol of a moon. Also, the villagers told us there had been bodies of villagers found and the barkeep had been identified by his leather apron.
The headwoman remembered drinking in the tavern before the fire but could not remember the fire starting nor how she made it back to her bed only that when she woke up the next morning the building had been burnt down.
Some dispute with the local monastery was mentioned and also, shortly after the fire, two orcs from the local tribe had passed through offering assistance which had been refused.
In a clearing a little way from the village we encountered a large group who would not identify themselves but claimed to be just passing through. Behind them in the clearing we could see a bloody body. We initially permitted them to pass to allow Paladin Vertonius to get to the injured person but were unable to get a scout ahead to warn the villagers to get out of their way.
We therefore followed them to the village where, despite our presence, they attempted to attack the villagers. We attacked them, drawing their attention and the villagers scattered. Although we were outnumbered we managed to deal with them, healed the injured villagers and advised them all to head to the safety of the Duke's keep.
Of note, and I was advised the same had happened when some of the patrol members had encountered mercenaries the previous week, at the point they fell they took massive damage to their chests, frequently severing them, which made it impossible to take them for questioning. This seemed to apply whether they were dropped with lethal or non-lethal damage and was apparently related to the coins they carried.
When we had dealt with the mercenaries we returned to the clearing, where Paladin Vertonius had confirmed the man was dead. He was dressed as one of the mercenary's scouts but, unlike the others, he had not taken massive damage to his chest on death and carried no coin.
Between the village and the crossroads we encountered another large group of mercenaries. These had unholy power on their weapons though no obvious caster was with them. Wizard Sural discovered a twist of the effect of their coins - it could be triggered by his sending them to sleep which was sometimes instantly fatal and
other times awakened them albeit seriously injured. It also seemed those triggered by this were not activated a second time when they fell, although we realised this too late to be of any use.
We did manage to take a prisoner, as Constable Keale halted her and was quickly able to remove the coin (fortunately in an accessible pocket) before we knocked her unconscious. We had some difficulties in bringing her around as she was afflicted with a disease which caused a death curse. Unfortunately, even after we had removed this and healed her to consciousness, she was unwilling to talk, or at least to give
us truthful answers and we were forced to kill her. Guardian Ellison made a number of inappropriate suggestions as to how we should torture the information out of her, which I hope were only intended as intimidation, but perhaps it would be wise for someone to take this up with him.
At the crossroads where the meeting house once stood we found the remains of, I believe, seven bodies. One was female and wore a holy symbol of a 12-pointed star, one of the men wore a metal breastplate which had not been much damaged by the fire. The only unusual thing about this was that the Duke had said only two bodies had been found but then again he had said there might be more under the fallen rafters. Several of the bodies had fallen in such a way it seemed they had been seated during the fire, suggesting it had either happened very quickly, they were already dead when the fire started or had been in some way prevented from moving.
At this point we noted that we had no real evidence the bodies were who they were alleged to be, except single notable items which could easily have been swapped. Constable Keale also noted that they had found the Duke's easily recognisable coat whilst searching for him the previous week and a similar subterfuge could have been intended there.
Between the crossroads and the monastery we encountered a strange creature described as a 'wood ghoul' or 'tree ghoul.' It did not seem to be related to the mercenaries as when a group of them attacked it went after them equally and we fared better as they were not prepared for it. Unfortunately Guardian Ellison was killed by the ghoul since he was paralysed as we retreated from the mercenaries. I returned to him as soon as the mercenaries were dealt with but it seemed the ghoul had bored of the fight sooner and returned to eat him. He was still alive when I reached him but I was not able to get the ghoul away to heal him before it paralysed me too. I also noticed the ghoul seemed to be healing itself by draining the life from a tree, as
dark druids do.
At the monastery we found around 12 bodies along with a single pair of boots standing empty, which we presumed to be either talismans or holy symbols. There was also a puddle of a gold-like substance which became affixed to the soles of Wizard Sural's boots. Again, one strange point was the Duke had specifically mentioned the High Priestess had been killed but none of the remains we found were obviously identifiable as a High Priestess.
We continued, following a number of human and elven tracks to a gate. The gate was trapped with presumably spell-primed sleep spells. Artificer Dracen attempted to cross and fell back on our side of the gate. Paladin Vertonius fell asleep across the gate and we therefore pushed him the rest of the way across. Unfortunately we then discovered a deep pit on the other side except along a narrow width. The Paladin survived the fall but at some point, while the rest of us crossed with air magic or careful balancing along the pit edge, he ingested some slimy substance within the pit which caused massive damage to his head.
We continued to follow the tracks, coming to the top of a slope leading down into a narrow valley. Our scouts spotted four heavy armoured mercenaries and we backed away before we could be spotted. There seemed to be more individuals out of sight and, as our fighting capability was now reduced, we did not think we could take on another large group.
We pulled back intending to return to the keep and call for greater assistance when we remembered we were following human and elven tracks yet all the mercenaries we had seen were human. As we had had suspicions that the bodies found were not those of the missing people, since they were burnt beyond recognition, we decided we had to investigate further before leaving. We arranged for Thethil to act as a distraction to allow the scouts to move closer and get a clearer view whilst Constable Keale and I waited at the top of the hill to move in if needed.
Thethil managed to alert us to the fact there were prisoners and we could hear a number of voices cheering the goblin on as she mocked the guards. Taking the risk that the only guards were those we had already seen, myself and Keale attacked and the mercenaries were quickly dealt with.
Once we had rescued the confused prisoners they told us they had no memory of their capture. They had fallen asleep at the place they were taken from and when they awoke they were imprisoned. The only thing the mercenaries had asked was for the location of the Duke's gold, which none of them knew.
They were returned to their homes and we could assume the mercenaries were the arsonists but a number of questions remain. Perhaps it would be wise for someone to be sent to the area to investigate further?
It does not seem likely that, if the Duke's gold was indeed their primary objective, they would have chosen the prisoners they did nor that they would have felt the need to hide the kidnap in such a fashion. It also does not explain the ritual they were allegedly planning on carrying out on the Duke when they captured him.
The questions which I feel need answering are: What was the mercenaries' true aim? How did these arson attacks relate to their kidnap of the Duke only a week previous? Who were the bodies found burnt? Where were the mercenaries' leaders whilst all this happened? (We encountered no individuals of greater skill or strength nor anyone giving orders). Where were their priests? Why such subterfuge? Who actually started the fires - the mercenaries or their employer? Who was their employer? Were the fires natural or magical? Were the bodies indeed killed by the fires or were they placed in the buildings dead? Also, why had none of the bodies been taken for burial or resurrection? (The tavern fire had been four days prior to our arrival.)