Yes, further questions on the subject will confirm that of the two recovered bodies, neither had any marks or obvious causes of death.

Are we ready to move on? Cain still has some shopping to do before we head back. And I suppose we could consult someone about that wraith. I don't think we identified what attacked us yet, did we?

In reply to Cain (msg # 594):

I don't know that I have any more questions for the sisters so I could move on.

I think we stop by a church, preferably of Pharasma, and bring a cleric and maybe a constable of some sort back out to the village with us to witness the appearance of the children and the  ghost or whatever so it's not just our word?

Let me know where you'd like to head next. Something like a shopping trip we can handwave, you could do some research on the boss ghost, or you could head out to hire a cleric to help while you're exploring the village. As official investigators hired by the court your testimonies are good on their own, you wouldn't need to bring a witness, but someone like that could be useful for the backup spellcasting.

Definitely some holy water or something like that.

My thought is the more witnesses the better... plus seems like a good idea to have a cleric or three with us.

How does one research a many-eyed ghost thing with no face and name/voice.

You get a knowledge check for free when you first see it, after that you can re-attempt a knowledge check after you level up and put more skill points in that knowledge skill. You can also re-roll knowledge checks by doing research at a library, temple, or anywhere else that may have the correct information. This usually imparts a bonus, but takes 1d4 hours.

Darcon aced his knowledge check when the spirit first showed up and can tell you that it's a variant of wraith. It's main defense is its incorporeality, its attack does negative energy damage and CON drain, with the wraith gaining temporary hitpoints when it succesfully drains someone. The greater wraith is controlling the smaller wraiths, and anyone slain by it is likely to rise as a wraith under its command. He can also tell you that it's severely weakened in direct sunlight.

Darcon also lets you know that he's worried about the trial and feels like he needs to stay in town and do more research, at least until I can confirm that his player is still around and interested in participating.

In reply to GM (msg # 598):

Ahh, I didn't realize that we'd confirmed that it is a wraith and not a ghost or a spectre or some other incorporeal nasty

What is the plan now? Going back to the village? Shade seems to be in a bad state, but a Lesser Restoration or two could fix her right up, no? Assuming there is a cleric we could hire for that or a scroll to buy. How does the rest of the party stand with cash?

As it is I planned to pawn some of my stuff just to buy some scrolls of Mage Armor and Shield so that we don't all die horribly when we go back. I could pawn one of my magic items to cover for Restoration spells as well, but I would wish that item back later.

Or is the plan not to go back right now? Or at all?

I just have to rest and will have a lesser restoration ready to go in the morning

Also the court seems to take my word for it
Probably because I cannot lie!!

I'm fine with waiting, as then I can just adjust my spell loadout and do not have to resort to pawning my gear. But don't we have another investigation already lined up for tomorrow?

Pretty sure the game is set up to keep us on task, investigating and time in court, then on to the next crime of Solomon
So (by design)we don’t have time to clear the village

Until now I assumed we were planning to return as soon as we get Shade fixed, even if that means spending gold to do so. We've covered the witnesses, and since we are not going back to the village I guess we are done with this part of the investigation then? Or am I forgetting something?

It's about two o'clock in game now, so you have about six hours of daylight left. Plenty of time to explore the village, if that's your plan. If it isn't let me know where else you'd like to direct your efforts and we'll make that happen.

6 hours of daylight sounds perfect for everyone to get restored and rested plus some more throughout the night

I'm in favor of spending gold to heal up, buying whatever we need, and going back to take care of that wraith. But if the party judges it best not to risk it, that's fine. Cain is certainly not suicidal enough to head back there alone. But since we got the time, maybe there's something else we can be doing today? Getting a head start on the third investigation maybe?

I think we should talk to the church of Pharasma about the village and a wraith presence and see what they want to do

If they can restore and heal Shade today, no reason we can't spend some more time out at the village, right?

@Sir Constantine - does your keep watch spell allow spellcasters to renew their spells the next morning?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:46, Mon 27 Apr 2020.

Does anyone want to pool for a scroll of lesser restoration if we're going back there? I dont' have much coin, but could help a bit.

Probably unaware that Shade is nearly tapped out of everything in addition to the need for some restoration

If she is agreeable we can get her under the effect of the stand watch at least the next 8 hours
Which should get her mostly ok by two hours into nightfall

Knowing our luck if we try and rest overnight the wraiths will show up to finish us off

I really doubt wraiths would leave the village just to mess with us in the city. This looks to be our one-time chance to deal with them, at least if we wish for this to make a difference in the trial. And if we are doing it, we should be doing it while there is still daylight left, so that we have a chance to retreat if something goes wrong.

I understand our dedicated casters might be tapped out, but if we spend some cash here and now everyone could contribute in a fight. Scrolls of Mage Armor for everyone, and scrolls of Shield for anyone capable of casting it, dirt cheap both of them. Scrolls of Lesser Restoration if that fails. Holy weapon balm is damn effective on ammunition.

All that assuming we are going back. Are we? I think we should at least try it, but if half the party is against it, I'm not going to push for it.

I'm in the same boat as Cain, I think we should try, but wont' if Shade/Constantine are against it.

I think so long as we identify to the public in the trial that the town is infested with wraiths and call for the paladins of Pharasma to come do their thing then ultimately it should be ok. No one else should get killed/turned.

My main thought with going back is to get the bones of Elisa and try to speak to her to get her word on whether the Beast killed her or not to report to the trial.

No clue which option is best
Presenting our evidence to Kaple won’t take long and he might have some insights

SCG has seen Shade injured enough but he won’t stop her in her decision
And will not let her go without him


I have another smite evil today and would likely save it for the main threat not the wraith children

Pretty sure everyone throwing holy water the same round is very effective against this type of threat
This message was last edited by the player at 12:12, Wed 29 Apr 2020.

Let's get an official group vote, I'll move the action along to wherever you decide.

To return to the village say aye, to go somewhere else say nay.

Also: If you want to use speak with dead don't worry too much about the Church of Pharasma. The wouldn't like it, but they won't ban you or sic the paladins on you or anything. They'll just be a bit miffed.

I'm in favour of going back, but I do not wish to force this on half the party if they don't feel it's worth the risk. And there is a risk involved, wraiths seem to love going for easier targets.

As for just going there and grabbing the body, I'm not crazy about the idea of splitting up, but if Adrin is going, Cain will tag along.

Just an idea... I thought it's relatively low risk since the sun is still shining for a few hours more and we're on a limited time frame here.

So, Adrin will try to go hire some people to dig and a coach back to the village unless he is stopped by the rest of the part or DM via Kaple because the DM doesn't want to split the party.