The lumber mill

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Episode no.	Episode 24
Date	2009
Game Master	Abbe
Characters	Dorothea Honeypot Nathaniel Nell Velicia
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Nathaniel came looking for us and found us eating breakfast at the Rusty Dragon. He said that Sheriff Hemlock wanted to see us, so we went to the garrison. Sheriff Belor Hemlock told us that during the night there had been an awful murder. Two people had been killed at the lumber mill and he wanted us to take a look at it. Partly because of us having handled the goblin threat so well and partly because a letter had been found at the bodies that was addressed to Honeypot.

He held up a piece of paper and started reading from it.

"You will learn to love me in time as she did.
Give yourself to the pack and it will all end.
Your lordship."

I wondered about the text in the note. The wording "pack" is used about dogs, wolves and rats. Honeypot said that it was used about mules too, but she probably doesn't know that pack mules is something completely different. Maybe it involves werewolves or maybe the author had seen Honeypot using her magic to transform into a wolf as she did when returning from Thistletop.

Hemlock told us that the two bodies were Banny Harker and Katrine Vinder. They had been found early in the morning by Ibor Thorn. It was he and his partner Banny Harker that took care of the daily operation of the mill for the owner, the Scarnetti family. We went there to see the lumber mill for ourselves.

When we got there, there were lots of people gathered outside, but they let us through while a low murmur spread through the crowd.

We entered the lumber mill and the first thing I noticed was lots of blood that had been splashed around. Even though there was sawdust all over the floor it still hadn't soaked up all blood. There was a body cut to pieces by the saw and another one hung on the wall. That body had had its face removed. It was a terrible sight and I felt sick. I volunteered to question the people outside and left immediately. Honeypot followed close behind.

When we got out it turned out that the people gathered there were scared of Honeypot. They had heard about the letter, left by the murderer for her. I still asked around and heard a lot of rumors. Banny Harker had had a not so secret relationship with Katrine Vinder and her father hadn't liked that any better than Nathaniel's with his other daughter. It seemed as if no one really believed that Ven Vinder had killed them, but it was an easy answer so many told it. Several also seems to think that Banny Harker might have been involved in illegal activities, or even that he might be dealing with gangsters. Others thought that he might be skimming the books or take bribes. Some said he had shady deals with rhenne, but I thought that the most reasonable was that Titus Scarnetti found out that Harker was stealing from him and killed them both. I was also told that the lumber mill had been running all night but they couldn't tell if it had been in use all night.

As the others came out we returned to the garrison. When there the others told us what they had found out. There had been a seven-pointed star carved in the body of Harker. They had found footprints of bare feet that had stepped in blood. They had also found the same footprints in mud on the pier??? leading up from the water. I asked why it would be muddy if the murderer swam there. They also told us that they had found an ax that Harker might have used to defend himself with, and that they found some really gory stuff on its edge. They thought it was bits of an old corpse. At least it smalled like it. There had been a terrible smell of old rotten corpse on several places but not all over the place.

Honeypot used the old bits from the ax to get information about the murderer by using a magical ritual. It took quite some time but she found out that whatever it was, it's vulnerable to radiant energy but not to silver and therefore probably not any werewolf but might be an undead monster.

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Then the sheriff told us it wasn't the first murder. Two days ago the guards patrolling the long coast road, while passing Bradley's Barn at Cougars Creek, had seen a mad man running about. They arrested him and checked the barn. There they found three dead bodies of known conmen and swindlers. The mad man turned out to be Graist Sevilla. The swindlers had been banned from Sandpoint by the sheriff and he wasn't surprised that they would meet a violent end. There had been a note too, that talked about property and gold and about "make rich". It was signed by "Your lordship".

I thought about who could be called lordship as it would be a male noble. The Kaijitsu family was headed by a woman, Ameiko, and the Deverin's too. Mvashti wasn't really any nobles even though they were among the first to live where Sandpoint was built and besides they were lead by a woman too, Madame Niska Mvashti. The Scarnettis were my main suspects as they owned the lumber mill and was led by a man, but on the other hand old Ethram Valdemar had some sickness and has been cured over and over again. Maybe he is some undead creature... Nathaniel added that the Foxgloves also were nobles in the area.

Hemlock told us that he had arrested Ibor and Ven, the last one mostly because he had lost his temper when told his daughter was dead. We talked to Ibor. He agreed that Harker might have been stealing from the mill.

I talked to Ven Vinder

Dorothea said that she had gotten an invitation for us all to Madame Mvashti.

When we all gathered Dorothea had already gone there and we others arrived. She lived in a big house but it seemed cramped on the inside and as if she didn't use most of the rooms. There was a stuffed owl that suddenly moved. It was a live owl.

Young rhenne women show us to Madame Mvashti who was talking to Dorothea. Madame Mvashti tell us that great evil is behind. Hon spår i kort.

Star suit.

Honeypot - chaotic evil - The Lost
Nell - true neutral - The Owl
Nathaniel - neutral evil - The Hag
Dorothea - neutral good - The Midwife
Velicia - chaotic good - The Publican

Past: The Rabbit Prince, The Vision, The Forge - Confusing past...
Present: The Lost - inverted, The Joke, The Hidden Truth - Knowledge and insight
Future: The Liar - inverted, The Foreign Trader, The Sickness - Sickness was strong as it was evil in evil place.

Mostly it was confusing.

Good food calms you down. Honeypot agreed. Picnic