Lifting Spirits

Remus’ Recipe: Can only benefit from it once every 2 weeks.
 
No sign of wretches going towards the town.
The wretches that retreated (there were 2 of them) moved towards the coast.
Silas found herbs that he can brew into a tonic that can cure someone of the poisoned condition and make them immune to the poisoned condition for 10 minutes.
 
Getting to the Town of Hemsfirth:
The city is still in expansion. The outline area still has dirt paths and structures look less permanent.
There is no check in station to get into the town, but there are town guards.
Everyone seems to have a job. Don’t see any beggars or ally people.
It’s the size of a town, there are several hundred people that live there.
Don’t see people working on the incomplete buildings.
More towards the town center, the streets are paved, the buildings are complete and it looks rather nice.
There are kids playing, people are dressed nicely.
 
Silas goes to a guard station to ask about where to go.
Kids going missing, death of the priest.
Nobody has seen the monsters
Only body they have found was the priest, no sign of the missing children.
Priest was murdered just outside of town.
They have increased security as best as they can. The people who were working on the expansion enlisted in the guard because of the missing children. They refuse to continue working on the expansion until it is figured out.
Guard captain is a good old veteran. (Captain Gremis)
 
Kids are singing a little song while playing jump rope:
"The lights go out, The hat comes out
Tickety tickety tock
The clock resounds, No hope is found
Tickety tickety tock
The sun is here, The children appear
Tickety tickety tock
If you turn your back, the world goes black
and all the ins come out.
So close your eyes, shut out the lies
and find safety where we dream!"
 
Meeting with the Governor Wallam Tallintal:
There are a couple guards at the door.
There is a grandfather clock in the room which signifies a level of opulence.
He has a taxidermied peacock on the wall.
Children disappear at night. They go to bed with the children in bed and in the morning they are gone. No sign of struggle.
No specific area of town. First 2 were on the outskirts, but the most recent disappearance was in the heart of the town.
4 children have disappeared.
Priest had been part of the town since Hemsfirth was a humble village.
The murder of the Priest was quite the violent scene. Lots of blood. No bite marks. Lots of long slashes and gashes. Didn’t look like the goal was to eat them, just an act of violence.
The governor believes it was wretches, but Jaya thinks the lack of bite marks on the priest and no bodies of the children found would make it seem unlikely that it is wretches.
It’s been a cold night lately
Ticket locker #4
 
Doctor Franklin Prettlebom:
His mind goes faster than he talks so he has a bit of a stutter.
There are beds for patients, a work space area, some closed off rooms.
A door that leads to an outside area, go down a hallway, it starts to get colder and the stone walls get thicker.
Came to town about a year ago.
Does not interact with people often.
 
Devon Dilbert the Coroner
Priest found in the early mornings. Quickly covered him so there was no scene.
Imported ice to keep the body fresh.
When he gets something to light a candle, Jaya peers into the drawer. It looks like a junk drawer, mainly embalming tools and such.
 
Jin speaks to the body of the Priest.
Drop in temperature in the room.
The Bonsho bell, out from underneath comes a wispy mist that swirls over the body and takes on a humanoid form, but there are no distinguishing features.
It is clear the priest cared very much about the children and wants to find out what happened.
What does the Spirit wish to share the most?
It wishes that the children be found and be safe.
What killed you?
It doesn’t know for sure, it was following someone in the woods, then heard a sound behind him. When he turned around there was nothing, then he died.
Why was he following something in the woods?
He suspects the culprit is in the village/town
Go to where he lived.
He had several people he was investigating but nothing conclusive.
New stranger that came to town more recently, hadnt had a chance to investigate too much before he passed.
Devon, Doctor Franklin, Governor Wallam
Why not bring the suspicions to the guard or governor?
Nobody was above suspicion, he wasn’t sure who to trust.
 
Jaya sniffs the body:
Definitely not a wretch.
She picks up the smell of the creature that attacked him.
 
Silas medically checks the body. Hands on:
Some of the scratches go around to the back. There is a nail embedded in his back. 1 ½ inches thick, 2 inches long. Definitely came off something bigger than a normal human or wretch hand. Came off pointer finger
Wound starts on the back and goes around to his chest.
Garruk and Jaya do not recognize what the nail came from. (Vampire, Werewolves)
 
About a year ago, the town came down with a sickness. Nothing lethal. The doctor came to town, found a remedy and most people recovered. If someone contracts it, they recover rather quickly because he has the remedy on hand.
Fatigue, naustea, headache, cough, many defecations, fever. Nothing life threatening. It was manageable, just very contagious. The people didn’t put too much effort in keeping the sick away from the non sick.
Not a single death, just very inconvenient. Especially for those who were trying to work on the town expansion.
 
Stranger came to town a month ago.
 
The church/Priest’s home:
Priest was in the town for a long time and knew everyone very well. He made an effort to improve the lives of everyone in the town.
He even had notes on how to help the children of the town.
Bedside Table:
Book of Joan, Oil Lamp, Glass cup
Silas finds in a drawer, a personal journal/collection of notes.
The governor can be cheap
A lot of people are wary of the coroner
The people who have a stronger sense of community do better
They do frequent the tavern/inn in the nearby area. It is called Lindsey’s
He frequents there to be amongst the people, get a feel for their mental state, etc.
Jaya notices that the depth of the drawer doesn’t match the size of the exterior. She breaks the drawer to get into the hidden compartment.
There is a leather bound journal.
This is the notes he was keeping for his investigation into the missing children.
Nobody was above suspicion. There are several pages about certain people (the doctor, the coroner, the governor, the stranger (He says his name is Rikkon), a guard (Ben), Captain Gremis (not a lot in there about it though), Chef works at the tavern (Samantha) - Older lady, kids have always been afraid of her.
Top 4: Stranger (Rikkon), Chef (Samantha), Governor (Wallam), Coroner (Devon)
 
Jaya asks the kids:
Did they know the kids who were taken?
Yes, they knew Patrick
Do you know what took them?
The man with the hat
Another kid tells the girl to shush, it makes him come!
 
Lindsey thinks it is messed up that whatever is targeting children.
The 2 sets of parents in the tavern have missing children.
1 of the parents confronted Rikkon, even struck him. Rikkon just took the punch. It was a good minute before the guards broke up the fight. He didn’t try to say it wasn’t him.
 
Rikkon, the stranger, is dressed in armor most of the time. Has a wolf pelt that he keeps as a coat. Doesn’t have an order sigil. Not a dark hunter. Keeps to himself. Doesn’t talk about his business in town. Edgy boy. People say they see him leaving the town at night and he comes back in the morning. He showed up after the first boy went missing. Never gave a last name.