Haymin's Heroes and the Shakedown Kids, the Woolen Zombie, and other tales!

April 13th continued...
 
Captain Brice eventually leaves as the dinner rush gets into full swing and Haymin goes to chat and "catch up" with Jenivar. We talk a bit about the adventuring professions each of us is considering. It will be an interesting mix, we'll have to see how it all shakes out. Selia is undecided, but she is not religious, so cleric is pretty much out. Auren is thinking roguish fellow or wizard, Ladigo also considering a rouge position, but also possibly a druid. Pyzar is most likely going to be a psion, though he mentioned he could also be a psychic warrior if we needed more melee strength. The rest of us are pretty clear on what we're leaning towards, myself a ranger as I have already partially begun my training, Sinjin a monk, for the same reasons. Mogi is talking about a battle sorcerer, apparently he's heard of combining magical powers with melee combat. Could be interesting.
 
We enjoy our time in the tavern as we listen to the bard and the talk about town. There is an adventuring party at a table nearby ours and Auren and Ladigo get close enough to hear them talking. Mogi is too busy chasing Astri, one of the waitresses. We will be working with these people and are introduced to everyone as the night progresses. Jenivar will have a work schedule arranged for us to start work on Monday or Tuesday as we are to help out around the place to offset the burden of us staying. I hope Mogi doesn't make it awkward for all of us.
 
Eventually, Mogi and Selia decide to go for a walk, at least it gets him away from shamelessly flirting with Astri. I was about to bet Pyzar that he'd end up with an ale over his head by the end of the night. On their walk around town, Mogi and Selia saw a group of kids about our age loitering around one of the warehouses by the docks. They looked a little suspicious, but weren't doing anything. Selia just says they kinda watched them pass.
 
For those of us still at the bar we overheard a few rumors that maybe Haymin's Heroes can investigate. There have been a string of burglaries as the caravans that come through park on the north side of the city. Some citizens are afraid this will affect the trade willing to travel to Karavale. Some homes have also been robbed.
 
Sinjin goes to speak to the adventuring group a few tables over and we learn they are called Luthian Steel, and are headed to Blacktooth Gap. Sinjin asks if they've heard of the rumors about the burglaries, but they haven't and haven't looked into it. They ask if Sinjin is from the House of the Open Hand in Rowadin, because apparently their trainees look much like he does with the top knot braid. Sinjin tells them no, and how we all met up and eventually our tables end up joining each other. We hear tales of some adventures and monsters they have fought. The seem like a good mix for a party. They have a paladin, fighter, wizard, rogue, ranger, and a cleric.
 
We ask again about any news about town and they tell us a tale about the local graveyard. The groundskeeper apparently saw a zombie, but Luthian Steel and the Temple of the Triumvirate both looked into it with magic and couldn't detect any undead beings. Two days later, the groundskeeper came back stating that another undead, looking like a ghoul this time, was moving amongst the grave stones. Again the group and the temple could find no traces. This could be worth checking out...
 
After we talk for a little bit, our tables eventually separate again and we start discussing possible things to look into assisting the town guard with, unbeknownst to them. We have the kids, the graveyard, and the robberies. We talk a little to Jenivar about what our duties will be, I offer to hunt or fish for the inn, Auren tells her that he's had experience with inns all his life. She says that we'll be merged into the group well enough. Mogi is talking about getting a second job as a blacksmith, but honestly I don't see why...especially with all these adventures, um... I mean crimes to help solve. We go to sleep with our differing images of what adventuring will look like for each of us.
 
April 14th
 
We come down and eat our breakfast. We overhear some citizens talking about a farmer who's had two sheep now shorn in the middle of the night. Another lead for us to investigate. During breakfast we decide to follow up on the graveyard incident and see what we can learn.
 
As we finish eating, a group of eight kids our age walk in and say, "Alms for the poor?" Jenivar gets angry and tells them no, as one kid- a half-elf- becomes threatening and defiant, she grabs him by the ear, walks him to the front door, and shoves him out. His collegues soon follow and Mogi and Selia confirm these were the kids they saw last night. I go and talk to Jenivar about them, but she tells us to leave well enough alone. Gellir, the day bartender however is a little more forthcoming, he says that they arrived in town last fall and they call themselves the Grey Wolves. We asked when the burglaries started and he says last winter. Jenivar had mentioned someone called "The Shadow" who was apparently attempting to start up a thieves guild in town. Gellir seemed to think other places were paying protection money and keeping quiet about it.
 
I thank him and we decide to hustle out and follow the Grey Wolves as they head into town. They visit the apothecary shop, but we can't decide if we're going in or not before they come out. We follow them again as they head out and in an alley, it comes to a confrontation that would have probably come to blows if Captain Brice and some of his men hadn't shown up. Auren was already backing away and preparing to run, maybe the wizard path will be a better fit for him. We tell Captain Brice about what we witnessed that morning and he was going to talk to the apothecary to see if he could convince him to talk if the kids were shaking him down.
 
We decide to leave the Grey Wolves for now, since Captain Brice is onto them and go back to looking into the graveyard. We visit the temple and have them tell us what they know of the events. They told us they investigated twice and used their magic, but couldn't find any traces of undead. We spoke with Morgan, Adjudicator of Iustitia. From here we go to the cemetery to see what we can find out and speak with Remington Wohl, the groundskeeper. He says on the 7th he saw what appeared to be a zombie, and on the 9th what appeared to be a ghoul. He was so scared that he's only just returned to his duties today, and has stopped watching over the graves at night.
 
There are five large mausoleums in the graveyards and the zombie and ghoul were both seen near two of them, so we decide to check those locations first while the groundskeeper goes on about his duties. After he has walked off we look at the first mausoleum in the center of the graveyard where the zombie was seen. We find the lock has been broken, probably with a prybar of some sort. A small piece of wool is blown out of the mausoleum as the air circulates. Now we're wondering if the shorn sheep is somehow connected. We decide not to go down, so we don't know if the perpetrators are robbing the crypts or using them for storage. Auren tries to walk off to immediately inform the groundskeeper, but I am able to hold him up for a minute while we collect more information.
 
It takes some talking to get him and some of the others away from the idea of running to the authorities. At some point we have to stop being afraid of how terribly our first battle went, and start thinking like adventures, but some people are determined to not cause trouble. I don't want to cause trouble... I want the credit for figuring it out and stopping it... maybe I'm being hot-headed again, but a lack of confidence has never really been my problem.
 
We go and check the second crypt by where the ghoul was seen and found it was pried open as well. In fact, all but one of the large mausoleums were opened. We decide to stake out the last one tonight, and maybe investigate inside the others as the groundskeeper doesn't keep watch at night.
 
After all this excitement we decide to go back to the Home Away from Home and get some lunch and talk things over. We'll just have to keep an eye on Jenivar and make sure she's out of earshot...