The crowd swells near the wagons, and it becomes hard for the party members to movew freely.
In some places the crowd becomes a living wall of flesh.
Elodeir sees an old woman with black circles under her eyes and black hair move toward the mayor's group and the pyre.
Near her is a big man with red hair and a thick beard. Her eyes are intently on the man, while them man is looking at the wagon closest to him - the "red" wagon - the one with the killer's body on it.
The mayor nods to the two guards closest to him, and they help boost him up onto the "white" wagon.
He holds his hands up high and shouts out
Friends, friends, please!
I know this is more a cause for celebration than a somber occasion, but the priest of Tyr wants to say his prayers and he asks for silence.
You'll all get a good look at things before we light the pyre.
But please, step back a bit. Step back.
A few people listen and back up, but most folk do not move.
A man of nearly 60 winters wearing gleaming plate armor fights his way through the crowd.
Let me through, let me through! In the name of Tyr, let me through!!
He gets to the front of the pyre and raises his holy symbol.
He seems confused by seeing two wagons and he looks from one to the other.
What...?
Harann steps over and whispers to the Tyran and the older man nods.
Harann nods to the driver of the "red" wagon and he and one of the mayor's guards go to the back of the wagon while two other men stand at the ready to help with the pine coffin.
There is a shout from near the "white" wagon and your attention is drawn there.
A woman screams
The body! It's...ALIVE!!
The wooden man - sculpted to take the place of the dead killer and fool those following the parade - has come..."alive" and has come out of the wagon.
It shoves into people in the crowd, knocking them back, hurting some of them.
Its funeral shroud falls away, revealing what looks like small moats of magic on its body.
Two of the mayor's guards swing their short swords at it, and one manages to hit the strange thing. The blade becomes stuck for a few seconds in the thing's chest, and it takes all the guard's strength to yank his weapon back out.
----------------------------------------
It takes the party the round the wooden man attacks the crowd to move close enough to get to it.
The party members can now attack, but using missile weapons or spells with areas of effect that could hit people close to the wooden man may end up hurting members of the crowd.
I can try to get a map up late tomorrow if you like before deciding what to do.
In effect, you can attack before the wooden man can attack again, but be careful with missile weapons and certain spells.