"The...Solomon has been returned to the dungeon beneath the courthouse, if you wish to question him again." Kaple said.

He addressed himself to Adrin.

"Hergstag is about an hours ride by carriage, and by last reports is completely deserted. I'm sure that clues garnered there will be invaluable."

He retrieved a bit of scrap parchment from and drawer in his desk and jotted down 'Adrin - Hergstag by carriage'.

"If the rest of you are planning to split up your investigation let me know where you will be dividing your efforts. I'll do my best to help you coordinate, travel, or convey messages between you."

“It may be of benefit for us to visit Solomon briefly, and I wanted to go over the book Kendra has and match it with the supplies list going into the Chymical works; as missing bodies and catgut and surgical kits make one think someone is replicating work from 30 years ago.  Master Kaple I believe you and Kendra can handle that endeavor?”

“We should all go and investigate hopefully someone has more oils of sanctify corpse so none of us end up as ghosts as well.  Other than that I am ready to go....no wait we also have a street kid Oliver who is running information.”
SCG nods to Shade...

“I think he would do her bidding free of charge; though she would never allow it.”
This message was last edited by the player at 19:19, Fri 20 Mar 2020.

"Interesting. The village does seem like our best bet. This Eller, Ellen or whatever the name is, could this be one of the children from the village? Might be the witnesses could tell us more."

Cain will also go to the village, but talking to the witnesses that are here first might point us to something in the village. Are we planning on splitting the party?

"I believe Eller was the dead child he brought back to the village, which was witnessed by the rest. As I understood the tale at any rate." Adrin replied.

"I do want to speak with the sisters, but I would like to see the village and feel it with my own eyes and spirit before I hear from them. Perhaps the village has witness of its own if the tales are true, the spirits of the children may have more to tell having been victim to the crimes, more so than the living perhaps." he added with a shrug.

Shade nods at Adrin as he recounts his profession, while Nook sniffs the odd rabbit all over, twice, just in case anything was missed the first time around.

"You'll find plenty of scope for your talents; this case is thick with people who have more than one agenda, even if they don't always know it.  Constantine, I'm all for going to the village and seeing what's what.  'Solomon''s got the temperament of a child, and there's too much as don't adds up about every one of these boogyman stories.  I'd like to stay and rattle Radniche like an acorn tree and see what falls out, being as he's playing several games at once, but I've got Olver and his boys watching the Chymic Works for a wage so we can go traipsing off.  Anyone drop a note to the Judge that Radniche was lying to us?  Might be useful to have him on a watchlist, should he try to sneak back into town and play innocent," Shade says.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:51, Sun 22 Mar 2020.

“So a quick visit to Solomon and then outwards to investigate Hergstag?”

Cain shrugs. "Fine by me, maybe we could learn something more from... Solomon. I'll leave the talking to those already familiar with it."

I'm fine with any plan moves the game forward. I do hope we are not going to be splitting the party though, since there might be combat at the village.

Adrin inclined his head with spread hands.

"That should suffice," he replied to the concept.

He smiled at Shade, "I find that most people have many different and often conflicting thoughts and plans in their minds. The key is sussing out which are the important ones."

OOC: Solomon then the village is good. Then back to visit the sisters.

Kaple nodded.

"You have free reign to visit our client, but I'll accompany you to be sure that Captain Walton gives you no trouble. Your defense of the b...of Solomon has done little to endear you to the fearful people of the city." He led the way from his office but was forestalled by a young woman waiting just outside his office and toting a large satchel of books, scrolls, and parchments. She was pretty but ink-smudged, with a dreamy and distracted air that sharpened into an intense focus whenever the topic was history, mystery, or the supernatural.

"Gentlemen, Miss Kendra Lorrimor." He introduced her to the new investigators.

"Her father Professor Lorrimor was a close friend and confidant of Judge Daramid before his passing. Miss Lorrimor is a recent student of Lepidstadt University and a very capable aide in the investigation. You may rely on her to assist with research, or for introductions to the University staff."

Kendra curtsied politely as she fell in with them and immediately began an animate discussion with Constantine, discussing her findings and expounding on her notes.

They descended into the dungeon basement of the courthouse where the largest cell, normally used for rowdy crowds or the weekend's drunks, was occupied by a massive and hastily constructed wooden chair. In this edifice the monstrous Beast of Lepidstadt sat, slumped over dejectedly, bound tight by massive chains that not even its prodigious strength could shatter.

The creature was a patchwork amalgamation of stitched together body parts, on some parts scaley, in some parts hairy, its skin pieced together with sutures that seemed stretched to the breaking point by the muscular bulk beneath. A lank shock of tatty hair fell over one yellow eye, which rolled towards our heroes as they enterd.

---

---

From a corner of the room the captain of the courthouse guards sniffed irritably, but did not bar them.

When the creature saw our heroes on the stair it straightened with a rattling of chains, its head perking up and swinging about animatedly. The taut flesh of its face pulled back and down into a truly horrible grimace.

" 'Ullo. Apple bin tellin' me about how you bin helpin' me. He bin tellin' me that you gonna git me out of here. You gonna stop 'em from hurtin' me. 'Ullo Apple." It said in a deep, gravelly rumble that seemed to roll over the small jail. Solomon performed a sort of side to side wiggle and his grimace deepened.

Adrin started a frown, but transformed it into a smile as he heard the creature speak to them.

"Fascinating. I am delighted to meet you. My name is Adrin and I'll be helping Mr. Kaple and these others with your case."

"The next thing against you that we need to remedy is the issue of Hergstag where you brought the child back in your arms. What can you tell us about that?"

He looked around, "and if you will allow me to attempt something, I would like to try a spell on you. I don't... know if it will work, but I would like to try."

OOC:
Take 10 on Sense Motive for his responses for 20

if he agrees, I will drop my wand from its wrist sheath and use it on the creature. Psychic reading spell. Targets humanoid creatures, and I don't know what this thing counts as since most constructs aren't capable of thought or speech.

Once Kendra rejoins them SCG hands her a copy of the list of goods and has her put it into the golem book
“You think someone is making more?”


SCG smiles at Solomon
“Did you see the camine head and skin we brought to show that it was not you who the men saw?”

He nudges Prescu
“They been frowning on spell use for some reason, not sure what that’s all about.  Since we are helping he might let you try.”

Shade had worn another face the first time she had faced the Beast, partially for her own safety, partially out of a sense of whimsy.  Now she wears her own face and listens to what story the Beast, Solomon, is about to say regarding his past activities.  He could be the best witness they had, if he could use whatever independent spirit had developed inside of his stitched-together head.

Cain stands well off from the mismatched pile of body parts that is somehow if not alive, then at least animate. "It's certainly... unique." He struggles to find the right word for what he is seeing.

Kendra's brow furrowed as she looked over the list of items that Vorkstag had purchased from Radniche.

"I would have to do some more reading, but most of these items wouldn't be useful in the creation of a golem. The surgical tools and sutures would certainly be of use, but most of these chemical ingredients would likely be used for alchemy. It's difficult to say with just this list, and he may have gotten other components from other vendors."

When Adrin stretched out his hand Kaple put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Constantine is right. Magic that violates one's privacy of thought or enslaves the mind is strictly forbidden, except with the consent of the subject. And even then the findings of such spells are not permissible as evidence unless cast under court order. In most cases I w-would advice against..."

But the deep rumble of the Beast broke over his warning.

"They friends, right Apple? I dun mind. You kin spell me." Solomon said.

Adrin cast, and when he mentioned Hergstag he felt an overwhelming swell of sorrow and regret from the creature. His shoulders slumped, his head drooped. The grimace on his face pulled tight, his muscles contracted against the tight stretched flesh and pulled his features into a wide, grizzly grin.

"Har, har, har, har...har, har, har, har," A sound halfway between a dry, rolling chuckle and the sharp intake of a hiccough shook Solomon's frame and he slumped in his chains.

"Eller was muh-muh-my only f-friend." He seemed to be struggling with the words.

"I was livin' near the town. In the swamp. They all looked so happy together. Eller liked to play at the edge of the water. She saw me. Follered me. She wern't afraid 'a me. Didn't think I looked scary. Har, har, har, har.

She...she read to me. Played games wi' me. She told me to come inter the town, but I knowed the growed 'uns wouldn't like me. They never like me.

Then she went to play with the other little'ns. But the weren't the other little'ns. Somethin' wrong with 'em. Got her. Hur-hurt her b-bad...har, har, har.

I was s-so scared. Tried to get her away, but I couldn't touch 'em. They wuz like they were there, but the weren't there. So I just grabbed Eller and ran. But it to...to...too laaaaate." The creature wailed, throwing back his head in a monstrous how. The guards shifted nervously as Solomon strained against his chains, those dry wracking chuckles shaking his body.

---

Adrin, your spell reveals your choice of one of the following pieces of information: age, alignment, class, feats, gender, native language, place of origin, race or ethnicity, racial traits, religion, sexual orientation, or training in a Craft, Perform, or Profession skills.

"That is a sad story," Adrin said with compassion in his voice, real or feigned wasn't clear though.

"I am sorry for the loss of your friend," he continued. "It wasn't your fault what happened to her. You were brave to bring her back to her family." he said trying to calm the creature's anguish.

He waited for the creature to calm a bit and asked more, "you say that the kids were there but not. Do you mean that your hands went through them when you tried to grab them? Were they see through or did they look like real children?"

OOC:
I'm going to give place of origin a shot for Psychic Reading

attempt to soothe the creature

18:25, Today: Adrin Prescu rolled 29 using 1d20+10.  Diplomacy.

“Peace my friend this horrible thing is already known to me.  Did you see what thing had done this to the children?”


“If the people were braver they would admit the truth that Solomon has no means of turning children to ghosts and I bet there was no mark or injury upon the girl when she passed out not the veil.  It sounds too like this was your home where did you live near the town?”
This message was last edited by the player at 12:53, Wed 25 Mar 2020.

Solomon's description of children-that-were-there-but-were-not-there piques Cain's interest. "Wraiths of some kind?" He asks quietly enough not to draw the prisoner's attentions to himself. "It sounds likely we may find something like that in the village. Do we even have any means of fighting them?"

Sadly, Cain does not. He'll need to do some quick shopping before heading there, or he will be remarkably useless if we need to fight something incorporeal.

Solomon seemed to calm down a bit at Adrin's soothing words. His rocking ceased, and he settled back into his slumped and miserable posture.

As the mage spoke his subtle magics delved into the creature's mind, probing his memories for his place of origin. The resulting jumble of images and sensations were scattered and hazy, more impressions than concrete memories. He saw a large stone chamber full of bubbling vials and arcing equipment. The walls were dank, possibly subterranean, and immediately afterwards the rushing chill of running water. These images were accompanied by intense emotions, more keenly felt than the images remembered. Confusion, curiosity, and then almost immediately confused shame and a sorrowful failure to understand what it had done wrong.

"Tried to brush 'em off, push 'em away. Tried to make 'em stop. Go away. But they were like...they seemed like..." The Beast struggled, obviously straining his vocabulary but unable to come up with the words to describe what he wanted.

"I could touch 'em, but I couldn't touch 'em. They were there but n-not." Was all he could come up with.

"My house wuz in the swamp near where the people lived. But not near enough for them to see me. It was..." He twisted in his chair, looking around the cell, and seemed disappointed when he didn't see a landmark to orient himself by. "...it was in a direction. I remember that. But I dunno which one."

"Interesting," Adrin said as his psyche was bombarded by images and feelings. Far more disjointed than what he normally received with that spell, but it was more than he expected from it honestly.

He nodded in understanding. "I hear you, it was confusing and you were concerned for your friend."

"Do you know how long it would take you to get from the village to your home? Was there a specific tree or marking or path that you followed to guide you from the village home?"

"Yes, there's a tree on the way to my 'ouse. A big one. Lots of big ones, all over the swamp. That ourghter make it real easy to find." Again his face pulled down into that grimace.

Solomon had calmed down somewhat and was clearly willing to cooperate, but seemed to lack the language or recall to give any truly specific answers. Adrin's fading probe into the creature's mind corroborated this. His experience was emotional and instinctual, more driven by impression than logic.

Kaple, who had dutifully been taking notes on the exchange in shorthand, stepped forward, his quill still scratching at a small notebook.

"Fascinating. So your plan is to visit the village first to look for clues, then question the witnesses? Or to visit the sisters first?"

"And where the children who you could but could not touch. Where you found your friend, where they near your house, the village, or somewhere else?" he asked as Kaple stepped up.

He turned to Kaple some slight confusion on his face, "I wanted to visit the village first myself. I thought the sisters were the only witnesses? Was I mistaken about that? There has been so much information in a short time, so I apologize if so."

"Eller said 'er little friends wanted to play. They led her away from the village, up onto the hill. That's where they got 'er, where I couldn't save 'er. Har, har, har..." Solomon said, his mouth gaping slightly as it drew up into that tight grin.

Barrister Kaple nodded in acknowledgement. "Yes, the Orzinov sisters are the only material witnesses who still reside in the area."

“Thank you my friend you have told us much more than we knew, apparently the hillside is an important location even though it is away from the village proper.”

“Master ‘Apple; I suppose we will do both things and possibly discuss that further on the journey there.  I am not to say which is first.”


“Shall we go?”

Cain is eager to be out of the prison.

"Let's. We'll just have to see if we can spot any of these landmarks our friend here mentioned. A big tree, a hill, neither are exactly in short supply around here. Maybe these witnesses could tell us more before we head out there to poke around? Possibly the direction Solomon came from when he appeared in the village? Is the plan to question them as well before heading to the village or do we just go there now?"

If there is time, I'd like to buy a couple of holy weapon balms before going to the village. Could be a lifesaver.

Adrin nodded his head to the odd creature they called Solomon, "Thank you for revisiting hard things. You have been most helpful. I hope we can free you of these crimes. Your heart seems good."

To the question of next action, he added, "I would prefer to go to the village first, to read it without the influence of the sisters'... points of view, whatever they may be. If the larger group prefers to visit them first, however, I'm flexible. I won't venture to an abandoned, possibly haunted village alone. I don't need to consult the Deck to know that is a bad idea."