March 5, 2016

I came to these accursed southern lands to discover the source of the undead, so how is it I’m charging into battle, covered in sweat, against some evil druids, to save two orphaned kids on behalf of their ghost father? Livid thought to herself. Clearly selling and murdering people is bad, but this is a human problem to be solved by humans Still, only this merry band seemed available, and so she put that out of her mind and only hoped the sweat on her fingers did not affect the flight of her arrows.

It began with a lovely day shopping and training on the last day of 384 BE. To bring in the new year, the ghost Hilliam Grosser got them started asking about his former wife Karsa, her new boyfriend Droter Sporns, and his two children Pilsa and Bortin. He sent them off to the Three Jesters where Droter worked as a bouncer. Livid and Renee ended up asking in the Five Tomatoes, but the rest of the party found the right bar. Guiven, the bartender, told them that Droter said he got a job in High Mangston, and his last day there was the winter solstice.

With a destination in mind, the party set off. They arrived in High Mangston on the 9th of Spring’s Rise and immediately asked all about the family of four. Sarmon, the innkeeper of the Bear’s Repast, recognized them. They had come into town and said they were robbed. They certainly had no money. Sarmon let them stay in the barn, and Karsa helped out in the kitchen while Droter worked odd jobs around town. Just about New Year’s, he said he got a job with Gilbert Bertran, a merchant several miles outside of High Mangston. He and the family packed up and left immediately. Sarmon gave them directions to Gilbert’s house.

The house was rather remote, and so the stone wall around the compound made perfect sense. Gilbert was perfectly willing to meet with either the whole party disarmed or two with weapons. Again, a reasonable safety precaution. Renee and Brenaed went inside to speak with him. The house was well decorated in marble, woods, furs, and carpets. A haze of smoke hung in the air. Gilbert said he did meet with Droter, but that they could not come to terms for employment, and they all left.

There is not much good about being a ghost, but one advantage is being able to sneak into places through walls. Hilliam found his own wagon and horse in the barn, which would be an odd thing for Karsa and Droter to leave behind. They all suspected something bad had happened here, but there was no proof. They camped out for a few days to watch who went into the compound… no one. They went back into High Mangston to ask about who actually did business with him… no one. Livid found that for some reason, these humans were convinced that they needed proof of wrongdoing before killing these people. This was very irksome because it prevented a proper surprise attack.

Finally, they approached the gate again. They asked to speak with Gilbert, who came outside to speak with them through the closed gate. Gilbert had an answer for everything, except when the party mentioned the wagon in the barn, he said “Kill them” to his guards. The leader, Captain Irastav, proved to be quite a combatant. Several other guards joined the fray, but soon the battle was won by the party. Gilbert still lived, and they kept him alive to answer questions.

Even so, Gilbert was unwilling to answer many questions. They determined he was not human, but little else. His sword included the fine artistry of a tiger chewing on human skulls, which did not convey much kindness. They explored the house and found a dungeon beneath it. There were the bodies of Karsa and Droter. Brother Eisen called upon the power of Perina to let him speak to Karsa, and with other clues they found through the house, they found that Gilbert had sold the children to a person named “Gorsivex,” which assuredly referred to the fictional druid Gorsivex of Kenkessa, written by Conver of Borden many years ago. The very dead Karsa described him as “The sun breaking through clouds.” This was clearly not Gilbert’s first time selling humans, so while they were not sure what he was, he was assuredly very bad.

Realizing they would get no answers out of Gilbert, they killed him. He seemed to sense it coming and made a last desperate attack, but he was unsuccessful. When he was finally dead, he turned into some sort of human and tiger hybrid. Not a weretiger, but something else… something evil.

A tunnel ran out of the dungeon, and it was clear anyone buying people would come and go via that tunnel. They followed it to where it exited a hillside near a road, and Livid began following the wagon tracks over narrow paths. Finally, they spotted a stone circle and a small campsite. They readied for battle on the 13th of Spring’s Rise.