When they arrived at the temple of Sarenrae, Caleb was quick to explain how Roselyn became the way she had, as far as he understood it anyway. When she was bundled off into the depths of the church, he lingered a while before seeking out one of the older priests, asking what they could tell him about Elias Halson, the better to find and punish the monster who had so brutalized the librarian.

ooc: I figure this place should be good to learn a little bit more about Whisper and Halson, not sure what, if anything, I should be rolling here.

Firea manages to pressure the shopkeepers enough that they reluctantly share what they remember of the purchase list. It involves a great deal of ritual components, and a handful of esoteric spell components, mostly for spells involving sleep or dreams in some way. A great many enchantments, as well.

Meanwhile at the temple Caleb asks about Elias Halson. Most of the priests seem confused by the questioning, but one older woman blanches and pulls him aside.

"Sir Elias Halson, now there's a name I haven't heard in years," she says, her voice a rasp. "Can't say I'm surprised that the younger folks don't know it. He was a paladin of our Lady, back in the day. Fought all manner of darker things back into their holes. But he went a little mad, towards the end. Raved about some monstrous thing infecting people, said his friends weren't themselves but some replacement. I've no idea what he has to do with the poor woman you brought in."

She sighs. "It's a shame he ended that way, in truth. Such a bright star, and he lost it all. Went into the woods chasing a dream, he said, and didn't come back. Said he would trap her as long as he could in the fortress of his mind, and just walked out. Nobody knows what he was talking about, if it wasn't more of the madness."

Voh'ren kneels near the tracks by the river. He rubs his chin while he considers the reasons that brought the mysterious presence out here. He searches the area with Kiru's aid, trying to find any traces of clues that might shed light on Whisper's past actions and future designs...

OOC:

I'm not sure if this is Perception or Survival. Kiru's skill level is the same, but Voh'ren's is 1 more for Survival.

21:42, Today: Voh'ren Wildheart rolled 15 using 1d20+5.  Kiru-Aid another for Perception/Survival.

21:43, Today: Voh'ren Wildheart rolled 26 using 1d20+13.  Voh'ren-Perception with Kiru's Aid. (or 27 if Survival)

"It has everything to do with that woman," Caleb said to the priestess once she had finished speaking. "Halson wasn't mad, the thing infecting people was, and sadly still is, real. She's some kind of witch, calls herself Whisper. She attacks people in their dreams, breaks down their will to fight, and then uses them as puppets, the woman we brought you was her latest victim. All that business going on in Falcon's Hollow, that was her. She got her hands on a local girl and brutalized her to act as some kind of link to the physical world or something like that, I don't know the technical details. Read this if you don't believe me." Caleb continued, pausing a moment to pull the log the party had recovered from his pack and hand it to the priestess. He waited a minute or two to let her flip through and read it before carrying on.

"There's a statue of Halson outside the cave everything was centered around before it was purged. He knew about Whisper, and went down fighting her in that cave less than a day away from Falcon's Hollow. She's out now, and she's already got the town under her thrall. Did Halson leave any personal effects behind? A journal maybe? I need to know what he knew if I'm going to finish what he started.

Firea considering she was helping Bristle, will share what she finds with her. "We should share this information with the others. I have a spell I know that could keep us awake, make it harder for the things that these components are for to affect us."

"I only need two hours sleep a night", said Hester.  "I don't think Whisper is a witch or something undead as such.  I think she's a monster of some kind.  As for Elias Halson's Journal, could it be the one we found in Falcon's Hollow?"

"Sleeping even two hours may even be too long," Bristle said to Hester with a grimace. "We should try and find out where Whisper stowed her supplies and maybe set up a stakeout. She'll probably send another of her minions to retrieve them. Perhaps we could follow them and get additional clues about what Whisper is up to and who else she has already enslaved." Her plan would require sneaking though. A skill Bristle was notably poor at.

---

Would Bristle be able to glean any more specific information about the magics Whisper is trying to use, working with those specific components? Here is a spellcraft roll, with Guidance, if needed:

14:53, Today: Bristle Chonk rolled 21 using 1d20+7.  Spellcraft, with Guidance - spell components.

"Also, during the time under my spell you'd not be able to do any vigorous activity. So, grab a good book?" She said with a wry grin.

The priest of Sarenrae blanches as she reads through the logbook. "Merciful Lady," she murmurs. "I...do not know what to say. I can show you the relics Halson left behind - they are in storage."

Storage proves to be under the temple, in a back room. Inside, there is a suit of mithral armor, a blade, a holy symbol of Sarenrae, and yes, a book, ancient and weathered. The priestess points to this last, her hand shaking a little. "That is his journal. It is written in some sort of code, sections of it at least, and the rest is hard to decipher any real meaning from. Another reason we thought him mad towards the end. He left it behind with his armor and blade when he went into the woods, saying that they would not help where he was going."

Bristle ascertains some specific spells, including several that put people to sleep - deep slumber and cloak of dreams, both using components that are older in their application. Not more recent versions of the magics.

Caleb looked over Halson's things, eyes skimming disinterestedly over the armor and sword, instead fixating on the journal. He gently picked it up and began thumbing through the pages, trying to gauge just how much of the book was written in before looking up to the priestess. "Thank you, this could be the best lead we've had yet. Do you mind if I take this until we can decipher its contents? I promise you that I'll return it as it is now."

"The spell I know does not stop those from working on you..." She says indicating the Sleep and Deep Slumber spells. "...and that one only works if the caster is only within five feet of you."

"Yes, it is definitely troubling," Bristle agreed. "Did you get a good sniff of those ingredients, Firea? It may help us detect who is helping whisper if they are carrying around the same stuff for spells. Especially since she is using the... antique components."

Then a thought occured to Bristle. "Do you think she is going to try something at the coronation tomorrow? All those powerful people, packed in tight? What better time to use area-based spells?" The changeling hoped that was not Whisper's plan. Because what could they really do to stop her?

---

Did Whisper buy enough ingredients for a lot of castings for each spell? Dozens of castings? Hundreds? And could Bristle buy a sampling of each spell component for Scent purposes?

Hester looks over the journal, frowning slightly as she tries to figure out what the code might be or even what language it might be before it was encyphered.  "Are there any documents in the hoard that might contain the key to this cypher?" she asked at last.

09:57, Today: Hester Darkeye rolled 15 using 1d20+8.  linguistics (given decipher script doesn't exist in pathfinder) .

Sebastian looks over the journal as well, but isn't able to get much more from it then Hester was.

06:56, Today: Sebastian Kosmin rolled 15 using 1d20+1d8+8.  linguistics on journal.

"Hmph," Voh'ren grumbles as his search turns up nothing. He whistles a pair of soft, low notes, calling Kiru back to his side. He then sets out to track down the others and see if they had better luck in their searches...

"Yeah, I got the scent. Were you able to get some of the components just incase?" She asked considering. "I think it is a prime target. Lot's of people, lots of powerful people too."

Bristle is easily able to obtain samples of the spell components, although the ritual components are mostly out of stock after the purchases that Whisper made through the librarian.

The only document in the collections of the temple related to Halson is the journal itself. It's heavily enciphered - what language it is in is unclear, much less the specific cipher in use.

"It seems we are stymied, and there is little we can do in the time we have remaining besides plan to be at the inauguration and attempt to counter whatever horror Whisper has planned. Unless someone else has an idea, as I do not." Sebastian says somberly, his eyes weary.

"Only to be prepared in our dreams." says Hester.

"We'll have no dreams tonight, I'll see to that." She said with a nod. "Its at the inaugeration we'll need to be ready for."

"I got a sample of what components the vendor had left," Bristle replied to Firea's earlier question.

When they had all reconvened and began discussing their plans, Bristle had managed to come up with a few potential extra layers of protection. "I do not believe I can do anything about Whisper's Cloak of Dreams spells, but I am able to protect one or two of us from Deep Slumber spells. At least for about an hour at a time. It would require reserving my most potent spells for that purpose though." The changeling woman shrugged, leaving it up to the party to decide if that would be a wise use of her magic.

"I do have another idea for how to keep us awake in a roundabout way too. And possibly other nearby people as well. For if we get caught in Deep Slumber areas of effect." Bristle breathed deep, then let out her breath slowly. What she was about to suggest was probably a little ugly. At least not on its surface. "I can raise us a swarm of undead critters tonight. Crows, rats, frogs, etc. We can each carry one with instructions to wake us if we fall asleep. Maybe even wear a frog skeleton as a necklace or something? And whatever extras we have, we can keep in a sack to let out if the crowds start falling to sleep. Undead don't sleep, so a swarm of them waking up members of the gathered crowds could be just what we need to thwart the bulk of Whisper's plans." Bristle shrugged. "You know, if Whisper's plan actually does involve putting large numbers of people to sleep. But the critters could still prove useful in other ways too."

---

GM, did Whisper buy enough ingredients for a lot of castings for each spell? Dozens of castings? Hundreds?

Party members, Bristle can cast Spell Immunity up to twice if she prepares it in her 4th level spell slots. This could counter Deep Slumber on one person for 70 minutes at a time.

GM, are there limits to what sorts of low HD critters Bristle would be able to find on short notice? She would not be above going to a park or wooded area and channeling a burst of negative energy. Although if there happens to be a vendor selling a flock of ravens cheap, she might go that rout instead. The lower the HD for the critters the better, as long as they can be turned into skeletons or zombies, and would be capable of waking someone from a Sleep-type spell.

"An hour maybe be all we need to avoid her casting of the spells, the issue is we need to know when she plans to cast it." She said with a nod. "Also like I said I can cast a spell that will keep us awake tonight, but you will not be able to do anything else that is strenuous."

She considers a moment about Bristle's idea. "As much as I do not like resorting to the use of undead like that, I think it might be a good idea to use them in this case as you suggest. That way we can keep your higher spells in reserve in case we need them for other purposes." She explained.

"Aside from sitting down with this journal to properly crack it, the only thing I can think to do in the time we have left is to do a little scouting on the actual site of the inauguration. If Whisper has physical minions or people enslaved like the librarian, she's going to need to stage her ambush somehow." Caleb said as he gingerly stowed the journal away in his pack.

"I shall wait", said Hester, "until 6AM and then sleep.  That way if I need to cast any spells or rob any stores tomorrow, I will be able to do so."

"FIrea, I would appreciate that spell. I do not like the idea of sleeping tonight, but I will need to be rested to be at full strength tomorrow.

Bristle, the use of undead is a dangerous temptation, and I of all people know the dangers of moralizing that evil actions are worth it for the greater good. Still in this case, perhaps it is necessary. I do not know. I myself would not resort to such things, I wouldn't trust myself to do so. But if you do, a crow perhaps would be appropriate for me, or whatever you can easily find."