OOC: This thread assumes that the rest of the party are successful in completing the second module in the Savage Tide series and that Logan is raised from the dead (again!). Obviously, if I TPK the rest of them then all this never happens.

About a month after being raised from the dead, Logan swung closed the big front gate of the Vanderboren mansion and made sure it was locked. His tuition of the party's patron was going well - she had mastered the basics of two weapon fighting, and was ready for the next step. Next week he would start her on real weapons rather than the sticks they had been using. And just as importantly she was beginning to get over the trauma of what had happened to her - both the physical and emotional wounds were beginning to close over and knit together. Logan absentmindedly scratched at his own scar that stretched across his midriff - that sure been one hell of a way to die!

One of the positive outcomes of the terrible events was that Lavinia's stipend to all of the them had been increased to a princely two hundred golden crowns per month - enough for the rest of the party to live quite luxurious lives... and enough for Logan to finally move his mother out of the little attic she had been living in at the shrine and get her into a pleasant ground floor apartment with direct access to the garden.

With a sigh Logan had to admit that the extra time Tessara had been spending in the sheltered grounds hadn't changed much. As he started walking up towards the Shrine of Art and Beauty, he found that there was a little piece of him that was beginning to actually dread his daily visits to see her, but what else could a good son do?

So when Karthach greeted him excitedly and said there was something important to talk about in regards to his mother's condition, the young half-elf's heart leapt into his throat.

"Now, now. I think I have made a discovery. Quite a discovery indeed young Logan!" said the old dwarf as he guided the rogue through the beautifully kept gardens to the bench where he mother sat. She looked and acted the same way she always did now. She no longer spoke. She never showed expression on her face. She no longer looked up and greeted him. She would follow anyone who took her by the hand and led her somewhere. She would chew when food was put in her mouth, and drink, but that was about that. She sat all day and stared out at the garden walls or whatever else was in front of her, not focusing particularly on anything.

"Okay. Now as you know Logan, your dear mother has not responded to any of our efforts to revive her spirits. To be honest, I had decided that the best we could do for her was keep her comfortable and find her a nice comfortable spot to rest in the gardens. I move her round during the day to give her a little exercise and also to find her a spot out of the sun. But now young man, watch this."

The dwarf bends down and gently strokes Tessara's hair. "Tessara? Tessara, time to move my dear." Karthach holds Tessara's unresisting hands and pulls her to her feet, leading her across the garden to another spot. It breaks Logan's heart to see his Elven mother reduced to such a level of passivity.

About twenty yards away Karthach stops and lowers Tessara down onto another bench. "There you are my dear, that was good, wasn't it?" The Elven lady slouches on the seat and then shuffles around a little bit to stare at the garden wall, not focusing on anything in particular.

"Hot dog!" exclaims Karthach, slapping himself on the thigh firmly. "Did you see that young man? Did you?!"

Logan shakes his head.  "I don't understand.  That's what she'll do for me, for anyone.  You pulled her to her feet, and she followed you across the garden.  She's been compliant like that for...well, for a long time.  How is this any different from when I brought her to you?"

Logan struggles to keep his composure, and silently curses himself for daring to let his hopes be elevated.

"What? Oh, no, no, no!" exclaims the dwarf. "Look!"

He again goes through the process of pulling the elven maiden to her feet, and this time steers her to a pleasant spot of grass in the shade at the very far end of the garden. Tessara makes no resistance as he lowers her to the ground. But once she is settled she shuffles around again and stares at a spot in the wall. Not the same spot mind you, a spot a little further along the outer wall of the garden.

Oh come on John! You're always two steps ahead of me!

Logan shakes his head, as if not believing what what he is seeing.  "So she's...she's looking for something?  When did she start this?  Is it always the same time of day when she looks?  What's on the other side of the wall?"

Logan's mind races with a hundred questions, and he runs over to the wall, looking at it for some explanation as to what Tessara is trying to see.

Karthach joins him at the wall. "Yes, I think she is looking at something Logan." He runs his hands across the light coloured brickwork, interspaced with creepers and colourful climbing plants. "But not the wall. I think she might be looking in the direction of something beyond the wall. I noticed it straight away when she took the ground floor apartment, as she didn't stare out the windows, she was always looking at a corner of the room that was also in this direction. And when I thought about it, she always stared in that direction when she was in the attic room, and didn't you say she always stared out of the window in your old apartment in Shadowshore at the same spot? Well maybe it wasn't a particular spot, more a direction."

Ka-BOOM! And that is foreshadowing!

"What's on the other side of the wall?" He shrugs. "Well, she is looking pretty much to the south-west so on the other side of this wall is the Witchwarden's Walk, then Castle Teraknian and then... the rest of Sasserine. So that IS the question. what is she looking at?"
This message was last updated by the player at 20:07, Mon 09 May 2016.

Logan scratched his head, pacing in front of the wall.  "Staying at something..." the rogue mumbled as he walked back and forth.  "I just always assumed she was just staring off into space, but maybe you're right.  Maybe if we could figure out what she's staring at..."

Logan quickly turned towards the wall, and clambered up it, hanging on at the top.  He stared back to Tessara, and moved over a few feet, so he was directly in line with her eyes.  Then the rogue pulled himself up, staring off into the city, searching for anything of note, ignoring the protests of Karthach behind him.

12:16, Today: Logan rolled 23 using 1d20+4.  Climb.

Logan easily scampers up a trellis running along the garden wall and looks out across the city. Sasserine simmers in the mid-day sun, steamy and beautiful.

Logan lines himself up as best he can and finds that there isn't anything nearby that she is looking at. She is facing WSW, starting at a point which travels a little on the north side of Castle Teraknian, towards Shadowshore and then the Cudgel district beyond that. He needs more points to triangulate with if he's going to work out what is going on there.

Logan jumped down from the wall, landing in a crouch.  After a few moments, he rose to his feet again, brushing off his pants and moving over to his mother's side.  He bent down and whispered in her ear: "What are you looking at, Mom?"

Logan straightened up again, and turned to Karthach.  "I need a map.  Maybe I can  mark down a few places, where she's looking, and see if they all point to the same place.  If it's in Sasserine, I probably don't need to move her too far, maybe just a few blocks.  Or if I could remember where she's looking from our old house, that would even be enough."

His mother is no help, but Karthach rushes off and returns with the best map of Sasserine that the young thief has ever seen. The old dwarf refuses to take any payment for it.

It's the one on the last page of the player's guide:
https://paizo.com/dungeonissue...de/SavageTide_LR.pdf

Logan studies the map, and at Karthach's insistence defaces the map by drawing on the direction she is looking now and also the direction that she was looking when they lived in Shadowshore - it is no good, in both cases she was looking SWS so there isn't any way to triangulate. He needs more points if he is going to uncover this mystery.

Logan studies the map.  "So I need more to go off of then."  He studies the map.  "Something to the south, or at least the east or west."  The rogue looks to Tessara.  "Ready for an outing, mom?"

Assuming Tessara is able to keep up with him, Logan starts walking south, then eventually west.  He'll be able to tell at some point if she's still staring at Castle Teraknian, and if she's looking west or SW when they get down by the Vanderboren manor, he'll know it's there.

Tessara gives no answer. It also becomes clear that she just isn't up to walking any sort of real distance, so Karthack has to come to the rescue again. He insists on ordering a carriage and then joins them in the tour around the city. At each stop Logan and the dwarf carefully help the gentle elven woman down and then see which way she aligns herself.

They don't even need to leave the noble district to figure out that it isn't Castle Teraknian that she is looking at - it is something beyond that and to the west. They move through the winding and busy streets, first of the Azure district and then of the Sunrise Quarter. They stop in the Merchant's district - no, definitely to the west.

They cross over into the Cudgel district... ah-ha! She faces to the north-west. They cross into Crab street - she looks to the north. They reach Fury Street and then that is it. There is one building that she turns to face no matter which side of it they stop on, and it is a very peculiar large building made of grey stone.

A small brass plaque on the front door announces that it is the 'Church of the Whirling Fury', but the padlocked chains on the door also state that visitors are not welcome. The complete lack of windows is also a sign that this is not a religion that likes uninvited guests. Into the door a stone slab has been set with the church's religious symbol on it.

Logan studies the religious symbol, and shrugs, moving Tessara along and motioning for Karthack to follow.  Out of sight of the temple, he leans over to the dwarf.  "I'm not up on this sort of thing.  Do you you know anything about that symbol?"

Logan thinks back to his conversations in Shadowshore, trying to place the symbol.

Would Know: Local turn anything up?

Karthach shakes his head. "Never seen it before. But nothing special about that young man... there are a thousand little cults always coming and going from the city, but why the devil would your mother always be looking at this one?!"

OOC: Know: local is definitely worth a shot.

This message was last edited by the player at 18:40, Wed 08 June 2016.

Logan thinks back about the cults he's heard about in Shadowshore.  "Hmm, not ringing a bell, I don't think."  He turns to Karthach again.  "Know anyone who might have an idea what this cult is?  I suppose I could try asking around here."  He looked to Tessara.  "We should probably take her back to safety first, though.  Then maybe I can return.  Find a tavern nearby?  Someone must know something!"

09:27, Today: Logan rolled 5 using 1d20+3.  Know: Local.