The count asks for help – part 3

Read part 1 and part 2.

Previously, our Kai adventurers discovered that blood rituals were being held in the city of Toran. They were investigating where the latest ritual took place when they found human blood on the centre of the floor. There was also a charred circle around the bloody patch.

All of them went into CSI mode. Chaosbreaker asked for the composition of the material used in the charred circle. There’s human blood mixed in with some other compound. He also saw burnt marks directly above the bloody patch.

Then I made a mistake. I asked for a Camouflage skill Test. Beastmaster passed that, and he found a small fragment of dried mud. It looked to be part of something. “Maybe a bowl?” mused Torturer. Chaosbreaker said Hunting would have been a better skill Test, because you’re noticing something, not hiding something. Oh well…

There wasn’t much else to do in the room. Blender tried to “scry” into the mud piece. “You feel a wave of evil in your mind. Take 2 damage.” I said. Then I described a lingering malice in the room. They decided to go elsewhere.

The worried librarian

Mathilda Gerrich wasn’t due to be in town yet, so they still had some time. Archer asked if there was a library in Toran. Hey presto, library created in Toran. Being all powerful is kind of fun sometimes…

They visited the library to find out if there were cult activities. The librarian was surprised when they asked for information on strange rituals and cultists in Toran. Well, there were. The southern part of Toran was the oldest part of town (and also where the strange light incidents occurred). Several hundred years ago, there was a cult that worshipped a mud idol. *collective gasps from my friends that I totally imagined*

There were rituals involving human blood, but due to the intensity of the ritual and fervour of the worshippers, the human “volunteering” his blood usually died. Then I told them the librarian looked worried. And I held my breath for the imminent death of my librarian.

It didn’t happen. Archer used his Sixth Sense to test the librarian. Not hostile (a very important keyword), just frightened and concerned. They left the library, but left Beastmaster behind to follow the librarian. Beastmaster stayed in the shadows, while the librarian went into the deeper parts of the library. He stopped at a bookshelf, looked around nervously, and took out a book. “I note the position of the book.” said Beastmaster.

The librarian stared at a particular page for a while, then he closed the book and returned it on the shelf. Then he left. Beastmaster came out of the shadows and took the book out. In the middle of the book, was a picture of a mud idol, hideous and grotesque in a vague humanoid form. Beastmaster copied the picture as best as he could. Then he put the book back and rejoined the group.

Beastmaster then tried to make a wood carving of the mud idol. He failed to make a convincing copy. And a wave of malice washed over our adventurers. I wanted to make it clear they shouldn’t play around with the mud idol, even if it’s only a semblance.

With no more places to check and clues to investigate, they went to where Mathilda was going to stay at, the White Lion’s Inn. They were running a bit low on cash (haha, Kai honour of refusing gifts), so only some of them got a room. Which reminds me to give them encounters with monetary rewards and stuff, and not situations where they had to refuse gifts. Otherwise, they might set the forest on fire just for the heck of it.

The accommodating barmaid

So, predictably, Archer went straight to seducing the barmaid. While he and the barmaid were doing some romancing in his room, Archer got a bit of information. Lady Mathilda often came to town because she’s bored. She’s always accompanied by Occula, but they stayed in separate rooms.

“I wouldn’t say she’s pudgy, but the lady seemed to have gotten thinner after the last couple of visits.” said the barmaid. “When she goes back to her estate, she looked slim. And she never covered herself in black robes. Until now.”

“How do you know it’s Mathilda then?” asked Archer.
“Well, Occula is always beside her. Who else could that be?”

“Ok, that’s it. I’m going to #*@! every barmaid I meet!” announced Archer. Note to self: make sure there are enough barmaids to distract Archer.

They went to check on the customer log for the inn. Mathilda’s last two stays at White Lion’s Inn were 16 days and 7 days ago. On hindsight, it might be interesting to make them role play how they manage to get their hands on the information. Then again, maybe not. My innkeeper might die. They cross-referenced the log with the incident reports at City Watch.

18d, 15d, 10d, 6d, 2d (incident report)
16d, 7d (Mathilda’s arrival)

Chaosbreaker thought that didn’t make sense. I’ll explain it, and you make your own judgement.

16 days ago, Mathilda arrived. The night 15 days ago, a strange light incident happened. Mathilda left 2 days after she arrived, meaning 14 days ago. I made sure she left the day after an incident occurred. Maybe I wasn’t clear on the incidents part. The incidents happened on the numbers stated. The day the reports were made was the next day.

Anyway, the timeline did its job. They heavily suspected Mathilda was the one behind the rituals, even the ones where she wasn’t staying at White Lion’s Inn. “She could’ve sneaked into town! She didn’t have to stay at this inn! She could be anywhere!” said Torturer.

Hmm… interesting…

Then they decided to do a stake out at the southern parts of Toran.

Up next, Torturer and Blender were nearly killed by 3 ugly ninjas when they followed a boy in rags.