Midori Masaki |
"Demons, goblins, shadows, monsters...nothing important' Midori thinks, but doesn't say.
"Sir, I understand your frustration, I feel for your loss. However, we were deputized to protect the town while the sheriff went for more permanent aid. As such, we had to look into a potential threat to the entire town. Now that Sheriff Hemlock is back, and we are free from that specific duty to the town, we do want to help you if at all possible. Please, tell us the details about your son, and we will do what we can. I will not guarantee we'll succeed, but we will try!"
Matthias Vale |
Matthias simply stands back. His last run-in with Korvut had him backing away so fast he tripped over his robes and fell in a watering trough...
Bel'Tanis |
Khrondak's words shake Bel'Tanis from his brief imaginings and his face screws up in shock. "Iron-forged, it's his son. I would think your mood would be similar were you two to trade places." Shaking his head in silent apology to the blacksmith, Bel'Tanis reinforces Midori's earnestness as best he can.
Midori Masaki |
"Not my son, and not by this Chopper...but my father was murdered. Tortured, cut up, and slaughtered like a pig. This Chopper. He's dead. His threat is over. My father's killer? Still out there. And he wasn't the only one, either. That's why I left Magnimar. I don't think they were even looking that hard. He -and the others- weren't important enough, you see."
Midori shudders, and turns away, shaking her head. If there's tears, she's not going to let them show.
Matthias Vale |
Sensing that reason might prevail, Matthias steps forward and clears his throat. "Mr. Korvut, I can't speak for the past, but these people, they're seeking to help now. Please tell us all you know, and we may be able to provide you some closure, sir."
Thaddeus Pruitt |
Thaddeus is beset on all sides by emotional turmoil over this job, "Please, let us all try to calm ourselves. I will not try to justify our previous engagement, as I see the pain at the loss of your son is great. I simply apologize for our delay in handling this issue, and I promise you that it has my full focus and attention until we reach the truth. In fact, you should be pleased to note, that previously we did not have with us an expert on studying the Chopper case, as we do now." He indicates Matthias, "By having him here now, we have a greater chance of finding what really happened than we would had we started earlier."
Diplomacy 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
DM-Valkur |
Das seems to soften a bit at Thaddeus's words, "An expert on the Chopper you say," as he points a meaty finger to Matthias.
"Well I don't know where my boy would be, but the Copper made his home on a small islet in the bay. I suppose that would be a good place to start...but maybe our expert already knows that."
Matthias Vale |
Matthias takes the jab without reaction. "Thank you Mister Korvut. We will let you know if we find anything of note."
Matthias is ready to head off to Chopper's Isle, whenever anyone else is.
DM-Valkur |
A few moments later you arrive across from Chopper's Isle. The craggy island is only about 80 feet from this point on the mainland. The water does not appear to deep. The island itself is a about two acres in size, a small sandy beach surrounds a nearly 120' tall promontory. There appears to be ruins of a hut in the middle of the island. The Chopper himself was known to live there with his flock of birds.
Scoria the Stalwart |
Scoria does not look happy with the situation. She leers at the water cautiously, like a serpent that would leap up and bite her should she take a wrong step. "...I will follow your lead, sergeant," She tell Thaddeus. Logically, following him meant that if there was a place deeper than waist height she would get fair warning.
Thaddeus Pruitt |
Thaddeus nods at Scoria, before addressing in general, "No worries. There should not be a considerable enemy threat, as it were, so close to the town that we need the expertise you showed at Thistletop. I say most of what we would be doing here is looking for any kind of clues from which we could try and garner further information. I say we start at the building and then move outward circularly from there, go over the island with a fine-toothed comb with our eyes open for more than the mundane." With that he heads toward the area of the hut, asking Iomedae to grant him aura sight as he walks.
He will cast detect magic and keep it going all the way to the hut, recasting if necessary due to duration.
Matthias Vale |
Matthias brightens as the Iron Forged asks. "Chopper was a man named Jervis Stoot. A few years back a series of brutal murders had Sandpoint on edge. People were dying, killed in the most brutal manner, but they had no suspects, no leads. The former Sheriff was one of the last victims, but he managed to wound his attacker before succumbing. The deputies followed the blood trail back here, to Stoot's hut. There they found Stoot dead, having mutilated himself atop an altar to some sort of dark god. Stoot had been known as the local eccentric. Apparently he would carve birds in houses around town. Told people he was just setting them free, so he wouldn't carve just anywhere. Having a 'Stoot' as they called them was considered an honor. Afterwards the townsfolk destroyed most of the carvings. Now they rarely speak of it and Chopper's Isle is considered haunted."
Matthias Vale |
Matthias nods. "This town has been touched by evil too often. The townsfolk have been reluctant to speak of it. But my work requires reopening the old wounds; we must know our past if we are to learn from it."
DM-Valkur |
Khrondak you are not sure what god it would be based on Matthias's description.
Thaddeus you make it across the water to the sandy beach without to much trouble. However the biggest obstacle is getting to the hut which sits up 120' up the cliff.
I assume everybody else follows after Thaddeus makes it across. It is waist deep (for medium sized creatures) at this time of day.
Bel'Tanis |
Bel'Tanis stops as he gets to knee depth and turns around to look at Scoria. He sloshes back to the shore and extends his hand with a grin. "If you didn't care for the bridge, I can't imagine you're eager to wade through this." He turns around and gestures to his back, "Care for a lift?"
----
"Well. That... is quite a climb."
Matthias Vale |
"Oh my. This is going to be a treat." Matthias hitches up his robes and starts climbing.
Can I take 10 on the Climb check? For a total of.. 10.
Scoria the Stalwart |
"...Thank you." Scoria tell Bel'Tanis quietly, allowing herself to be carried by the young man across the waters. She's quick to realize that once the tide comes in the trek across will get much more difficult for everyone.
"There must be a path up elsewhere," The stonemason tells the others. "We should circumnavigate the island."
Matthias Vale |
Yeah, not going to happen.
Matthias gets about three feet up before he falls. He dusts himself off and follows Scoria.
Thaddeus Pruitt |
Thaddeus looks between the two, before deciiding to accompany Bel'Tanis and Midori, but not before indicating the others and asking Khrondak, "If you would be so kind, could you stay with the other two?"
Midori Masaki |
Midori pauses, looking embarrassed, and says to the group in general "I'm sorry about yelling back there. Anger is - easy - and a trap. It seems like a shield, but instead it acts like a lid, and allows feelings to fester. I thought I had it under control - and I understand how Mr. Korvut feels. I should apologize to him, too. Still, if we can find out what happened to his son, maybe that will help."
DM-Valkur |
Thaddeus, Midori and Bel'Tanis go left around the island looking for any signs of an easy way to access the hut.
Thaddeus
Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 = 15
Bel'Tanis
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Midori
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Both Thaddeus and Bel'Tanis notice a cache of bones at the bottom of the cliff as they make their way around the island. The bones are of humans, goblins and various animals.
****
Matthais, Scoria, and Khrondak make their way to the right. About halfway around find ruins of a stair the ascends the cliff. While most of the stairs has rotted away you could use the remaining structure to climb the cliff.
Climb DC10
Matthias Vale |
I can totally take 10! Matthias looks somewhat triumphant as they find the stairs. "Finally! This is more my fitness level." He heads up, taking 10.
Scoria the Stalwart |
Scoria has other plans, grabbing the scholar by the back of his shirt. "We get the others first," She insisted. "We do not know what might be up there. You need to be patient."
The stonemason hurries off to retrieve the rest of the party to the stairs, before being the first to climb them, checking the top of them first to ensure that things are safe.
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Thaddeus Pruitt |
Thaddeus stops to look at the bones, trying to determine if he can tell how recent they are, and if they look like they were dropped from above or placed. Given that he never really learned a lot about that field of expertise, he asks Midori and Bel'Tanis if they could also tell what he is looking for by looking at the bones. "Please, examine these with me, there could be some clues within them. Do either of you know the best way to determine much about them?"
Heal 1d20 ⇒ 10
or
Perception (in the off chance that tells him anything) 1d20 ⇒ 12
He hasn't yet drawn his weapon, so he doesn't have the +2.
Matthias Vale |
Matthias nods, but the prospect of exploring the home of the very murderer he has been studying so intensely is definitely weighing on him.
Scoria the Stalwart |
"We found stairs," Scoria informs Thaddeus and the others when she finds them. She glances at the bones, before commenting. "This island appears to be home to some type of predator. We should be careful going up."
She'll lead them back to the stairs, handing over slender wand to the wizard. "Use this on me." The additional mage armor would be useful for when they came under attack, as she started the climb up first, looking for any perils.
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
Matthias Vale |
Matthias takes the wand, examines it for a moment, then smiles and casts it on Scoria.
DM-Valkur |
Scoria your inspection of what remains of the stairs does seem like they are safe to use to aid in climbing the cliff.
***
Thaddeus and Midori it looks as if the bones were gnawed upon by a large quadruped creature with a strong jaw with lots of teeth.
***
Scoria you are able to scale the cliff with no issues. You find yourself on top the cliff. The top is covered in moss and scrub trees. The only feature seems to be the burnt out husk of the hut.
Scoria the Stalwart |
Mage armor is up for Scoria, by the way. Just in case she's about to get ambushed.
The monk stalks forward towards the burnt out hut, taking a look around. Perhaps whatever predator left those bones was a flying beast. She draws her silvered sword in preparation while looking for signs of any creatures here.
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15
Matthias Vale |
Matthias keeps glancing longingly toward the stairs but he decides that provoking the larger Shoanti is not the best course of action and stays put.
DM-Valkur |
Scoria, you do not detect any threats around the hut.
Hut Description
The burned-out remnants of this once quaint cottage sag
beneath a growing tangle of weeds and vines, the charred
timbers and collapsed slate roof show signs of having once
been intricately decorated in pastoral scenes of birds in flight.
You can even make out a ruined pigeon coop amidst the detritus.
Khrondak Iron Forged |
After Scoria arrives with the rest of group, Khrondak relaxes his watch on Matthias and takes off his armor to increase his mobility. He looks at the diviner and says "You can go now." The Shoanti ties one end of a rope around his waist and secures the breast plate with the other, and then climbs the stairs to join Scoria. Once he reaches the hut, hes starts donning his armor again.