Book 2: The Skinsaw Murders
Saturday, August 10, 2013 @ Bud’s
Days 10-16:
After the party thoroughly ended the goblin threat to Sandpoint, they had become known as the heroes of Sandpoint. They party spent some time recuperating from their bold exploits, but the other evil forces in Golarion did not stop just because the heroes took a rest.
Echo had begun to notice a few minor items like buttons going missing, but was creeped out by the disappearance of the hair from her brush, especially since no one else had noticed anything strange going on.
Day 17:
Murder!
In the morning, a sullen and grim-faced Sheriff Hemlock revealed that several murders have been committed in and around Sandpoint, and requested the party’s assistance investigating the crimes. The latest murder victims were Katrine Vinder, daughter of grocer Ven Vinder, and Banny Harker, who worked at the sawmill, where the bodies were found by Ibor Thorn, another of the mill’s workers. This is the second set of murders in the past few days, the first being that of three local swindlers.
Hemlock then handed Echo a bloodstained scrap of parchment with her name written on it, a message from the murderer, reading “You will learn to love me, desire me in time as she did. Give yourself to the Pack and it shall all end. — Your Lordship.” Hemlock explained that this note was found pinned to the sleeve of the latest victim by a splinter of wood, and seemed intended to implicate the party in the murders, though he did not believe the heroes of Sandpoint had anything to do with them. However, if word of this note gets out, the town’s reaction might not be so understanding, so the sheriff requested they keep as quiet as possible about the murders.
The sheriff then filled the party in on what he knew of the murders:
The lumber mill: The most recent murders took place here – the bodies were still present, and little had been done with the crime scene itself. Sheriff Hemlock suggested that this should be the first place the party investigate since he would like to get the mill cleaned up right away and the bodies buried.
Ibor Thorn: Sheriff Hemlock had interrogated Ibor, the man who discovered the bodies at the lumber mill, and doesn’t suspect the frightened man knew much more.
Ven Vinder: This merchant was Sheriff Hemlock’s only suspect, although the sheriff was fairly certain that Ven was innocent and that the murders were committed by someone else.
The first murders: Three con men from the town of Galduria were found murdered in an abandoned barn south of town a few days ago – their bodyguard survived the assault but has gone insane and had been sent to Habe’s Sanatorium – a privately run respite for the insane.
The rune: The star carved on one victim’s chest certainly had significance to the killer, but Hemlock was at a loss as to what it could mean.
Sheriff Hemlock confirmed that one of the mill’s operators, a penny-pinching man named Banny Harker, has been engaged in a semi-secret affair with the daughter of a local shopkeeper. He and Katrine Vinder had been meeting at the mill often of late, using the noise of the logsplitter to cover sounds of their trysting. But as to why they had been killed, Sheriff Hemlock could offer no theory.
The lumber mill
The lumber mill stood on the shore of the Turandarok River. A sizable crowd had gathered outside by the time the party arrived and groups of nervous looking town guards stood at the mill’s entrances. A few questions were enough to reveal that the mill was working last night – Harker and Thorn, the two millers, often worked late into the night which had become a bone of contention around town as the noisy mill and its infernally creaky log splitter kept neighbors awake. The guards stepped aside to allow the newly deputized party inside to investigate.
The mill was a well-built wooden structure with very thick walls. The roof was of wooden shingles, and doors were simple timber and unlocked. The mill machinery inside the mill was noisy – if someone wanted to sneak up on somebody it would be rather easy, Within the mill the party found the following items:
The pier: Timber was cut down upstream and then floated down the Turandurok River and delivered to the mill via a small pier that extended out into the River. The machinery then pulled the logs out of the water and onto the water saw where the logs were cut into boards. The party discovered a set of muddy footprints leading from the end of the pier into the sawmill proper. These footprints reeked strongly of rotting meat.
The murder scene: The mill interior is coated with sawdust strewn with footprints and splashes of blood. It was obvious that a desperate struggle took place here several hours ago. The primary clues were Harker’s body, Katrine’s body, a bloody axe, and a set of bloody footprints.
Katrine’s body: Poor Katrine had apparently fallen (or been pushed) into the log splitter. Her mangled, ruined remains lie on the mill’s lower floor amid heaps of bloodstained firewood. The log splitter itself was powered by a waterwheel and consisted of a chute in the floor with rotating saw blades that cut logs as they are fed in – a gruesome death indeed.
Harker’s body: Harker’s body had been horribly desecrated. The poor man had been affixed to the wall by several hooks normally used to hang machinery. The body was mutilated, the face carved away and lower jaw missing entirely. His bare chest was defaced as well, bearing a strange rune in the shape of a seven-pointed star, the Sihedron rune. There were some deep gashes in the body, as from an edged weapon, and some shallower scratches, as if done by a clawed hand. The scratches had the same rotten stench as the muddy footprints outside.
The bloody axe: A hand-axe was embedded in the floor near the log splitter, as if it had been dropped there. The axe head had bits of bloody meat on it, which had the same foul odor as the footprints and the scratches on Harker’s body.
The party determined that the foul odor was likely from some sort of corporeal undead, and Father Zantus was able to further identify it as the stench of a ghast, an undead creature similar to a ghoul, only more powerful.
Ibor Thorn
Ibor was waiting interrogation in a holding cell below the Sandpoint Garrison. Sheriff Hemlock had already asked him questions, but admitted the party might be able to get something out of him that he could not. He initially resisted cooperation, but the party could tell he was hiding something, and diplomatic efforts combined with intimidation improved his attitude enough to get him to reveal what he knew. Harker had been embezzling money from the Scarnettis, the noble family that owns the lumber mill, and that have a reputation for being ruthless. There are rumors that the Scarnettis are responsible for burning several competing grain mills in the region, and Ibor wouldn’t put it past the Scarnettis to kill Harker if they discovered he had been embezzling money.
Shayliss and Solsta Vinder
While the party questioned Ven Vinder in the garrison, Mackintosh decided to pay a visit to Ven’s one remaining daughter Shayliss at the general store. The store was closed, but his knocking was answered by a tearful Shayliss and her mother Solsta. They were sobbing, having lost Katrine to a brutal murder, but they were sure Ven had nothing to do with it, as he was at home all night when the murder was supposed to have taken place.
Ven Vinder
Ven was the first person Sheriff Hemlock visited after learning of the murders, but after he informed Ven of his daughter’s death at the mill the man flew into a rage. Sheriff Hemlock had taken him into custody to let him cool off in a cell, but even though Ven fought like a devil Hemlock was sure that his rage was born from the death of his beloved daughter and not from guilt at being caught. Hemlock added he was prepared to release Ven, but if the party wished to speak to him first he would let them do so. As the party started to question Vinder, he initially reacted with rage, denied committing the murder, and said his wife could corroborate his story, which she did.
The first murders
A patrol of guards along the Lost Coast Road were assaulted by a deranged man near an abandoned barn south of town along the banks of Cougar Creek. The man was obviously sick and insane, his flesh fevered, eyes wild, mouth frothing, and clothes caked with blood. The guards subdued him, but when they checked inside the barn they discovered the mutilated bodies of three men. Although all three bodies were far too disfigured to identify, one of them carried a piece of parchment:
The note identified the bodies as Tarch Mortwell, Lener Hask, and Gedwin Tabe, three notorious con men and swindlers known well to Sheriff Hemlock as local troublemakers. He had personally forbade the three men from operating their con games and barely legal operations in Sandpoint, and wasn’t particularly surprised at the time to find them murdered – it was only a matter of time before they tried to swindle the wrong person, someone worse than them, after all. But in light of the mill murders and the fact that Mortwell, Hask, and Tabe all bore the same seven-pointed marking on their chests that Harker did, Hemlock was convinced there is something worse than revenge afoot.
The Sheriff led the party into the basement where the bodies of all three men lie in state in a cool basement room below the Garrison. Although decay had set in a quick check revealed that all three bodies bore marks similar to those that the party had discovered on Harker’s body.
Sheriff Hemlock stated that the insane man has been identified as one Grayst Sevilla, a local Varisian thug. He had been given over to the care of Erin Habe, caretaker of an independent sanatorium south of town; if the PCs wish to speak to Grayst to learn more Sheriff Hemlock welcomed them to try but warned them that Grayst was “a bit off his rocker” and they shouldn’t expect much. He also stated he would provide the adventurers with a letter of introduction to Habe if they wanted to try to interview Sevilla.
Habe’s Sanatorium
Sheriff Hemlock told the party how to reach the sanatorium where Grayst Sevilla was being held, and they reached it later that morning. The sanatorium is a squat, stone building with three floors under a stout, stone-flagged roof, built in the lee of the limestone escarpment known as Ashen Rise. All doors are of stout wood, and a brisk sense of cleanliness fills the place—floors are scrubbed and walls are freshly painted white. The party climbed a short set of wide stairs to a wooden deck which creaked under their weight. The front door was unlocked, and the party entered the receiving area, where they saw a cord hanging from a hole in the southern wall under a sign reading “Ring for Service” A few moments after ringing the bell, the party was greeted by the doctor, Erin Habe, a nervous and twitchy man who seemed only to want to be left alone to conduct his important work.
The party presented Hemlock’s letter of introduction, and Habe reluctantly agreed to allow the party to speak with Grayst Sevilla. He led the party through the sanatorium, carefully unlocking the doors in front of them, and locking them back from behind. The first floor contained a large room with several tables and side rooms. The second floor contained several cells with incoherent madmen inside. The third floor featured an examination room and some more cells, one of which housed a dire rat, and another containing the madman who had witnessed the first set of murders, Grayst Sevilla.
At first, Sevilla rocked back and forth muttering to himself, repeating his incoherent mumblings about “razors” and “the Skinsaw Man is coming.” However, when Sevilla caught a glimpse of Echo, his eyes bulged out and he spoke to her:
He said. He said you would visit me. His Lordship. The one that unmade me said so. He has a place for you. A precious place. I’m so jealous. He has a message for you. He made me remember it. I hope I haven’t forgotten. The master wouldn’t approve if I forgot. Let me see… let… me… see…He said that if you came to his Misgivings, that if you joined his Pack, he would end his harvest in your honor.
Sevilla then collapsed and issued a low moan. He attempted to reach his feet, tear off his straitjacket, and lunge at Echo, but before he could do so, Mackintosh delivered a coup de grace, a fatal blow ending the so-called-life of a man on the verge of the insanity of undeath.
Habe shrieked and attempted to flee, but Nymeria smacked him down with the flat of her sword, and he remained there, blubbering and whimpering in cowardly fashion. Two tiefling orderlies came to investigate the commotion, but Habe prevented them from provoking hostility.
The party began asking pointed questions of Habe regarding the sort of operation he was running, and he blamed someone he called “The Necromancer.” Further questioning revealed that Habe’s sanatorium had fallen on hard times, and he had accepted a silent partner named Caizarlu. Whenever one of Habe’s patients dies, Caizarlu is always willing to dispose of the body. As long as Caizarlu pays the bills, and as long as what goes on down in the basement stays behind closed doors, Habe has no complaints. Upon learning of Caizarlu’s presence in the sanatorium, the party decided to investigate further, but Caizarlu was already on his way up to deal with what he perceived to be a threat to his interests.
From behind a barred window on a door at the top of the staircase between the first and second floors, Caizarlu waited. When the party appeared on the second floor, Caizarlu cast stinking cloud into the main room. Wanga remained upstairs out of the cloud, but others were caught in it. Mackintosh, Hildabrandt, and Oz choked on the cloud, sickened, as Nymeria went to unlock the door. When the door opened, Caizarlu then fled down the stairs, as Lisanji struck a blow with her greatsword.
The party’s pursuit of Caizarlu was slowed by four zombies on the stairs, some of which were slain quickly by Lisanji, and some of which Nymeria bypassed with an overrun maneuver. Echo rushed past Caizarlu to block the exit, and as he was surrounded, he concentrated briefly, and disappeared. Attempts to find him were unfruitful, but the party got the opportunity to search the sanatorium, including Caizarlu’s basement laboratory.
The basement combined features of a laboratory and a catacomb–several tables bearing bodies covered by drapes dominating the room, while tools ranging from shovels to dissection implements sat on shelves against the wall. Three bodies lay on tables, preserved by gentle repose, a wand of which was discovered in a secret compartment in one of the table legs.
The party also discovered a map of the Sandpoint hinterlands that Caizarlu had been using to track “ghoul activity.” In particular, there has been an increase in ghoul sightings around the southern farmlands and along Foxglove River. Caizarlu’s current research seems concerned with developing a method by which one could track a ghoul’s lineage back through several “generations” of ghoul attacks. One takeaway from his notes is the very strong possibility of what he calls a “ghoulish source” having risen to prominence in the region.
A stark bedroom lay to the west of the laboratory, containing a simple bed, a study table, and a plain wooden chair. Caizarlu’s spellbook containing many spells lay atop the desk.
There are also quite a lot of notes in the spellbook concerning ancient Thassilonian traditions of magic, including a few drawings of the Sihedron rune. The party took the spellbook with the intent of copying the spells into Oz’s and Hildabrandt’s spellbooks. Oz also left a note for Caizarlu letting him know that they could be contacted at the Rusty Dragon in Sandpoint. The party then returned to Sandpoint to rest and to inform Sheriff Hemlock about what they had discovered. They decided to stay the night, and head toward Foxglove Manor in the morning.
Day 18:
The Hambley Farm
However, the next morning, a panicked farmer by the name of Maester Grump arrived in Sandpoint, breathless and covered with mud and sweat. He broke into frantic babbling about walking scarecrows, and finally settled down long enough to tell a short but harrowing story about how the southern farmlands have become plagued by foul walking scarecrows that stalk the night. All the farmers knew that the problems were coming from the old Hambley place–“things just ain’t been right there for a few days now”–but when a group of locals paid the Hambley farm a visit yesterday evening, they were attacked by folk that looked like corpses but fed like starving animals. “They even ate the dogs!”
Hemlock explained that his men picked up Grump as he ran into town screaming about walking scarecrows, and asked the party to investigate. Since it was on the way to Foxglove Manor, they agreed.
Along the way, the party found that the normally friendly locals were more withdrawn, and seemed unwilling to chat with visitors. The news of walking scarecrows has spread quickly. As the party continued through the footpaths and dusty tracks hemmed in by fields of corn and other crops, they noticed several scarecrows secured to posts scattered throughout the fields.
The party buffed up and spread out to investigate the scarecrows. Oz positively identified some of the scarecrows as ghouls courtesy of a disrupt undead cantrip, but some of them were living people suffering from ghoul fever, and others were ordinary scarecrows. The ghouls were easily dispatched, and the party rendered some healing for the afflicted farmers, who warned of a larger group of ghouls in the barn to the west.
The party hurried toward the barn, but the farm was so big that their short duration buffs such as enlarge person wore off. The party heard groaning from inside the barn, and knew that their ghoul enemies were within. Wanga had determined that the dry wood and straw of the barn would probably burn very well, so he opened the door and cast spark inside. The flames caught swiftly, and the ghouls moved toward the front and rear exits.
Hildabrandt, Nymeria, and Lisanji headed toward the barn’s rear exit while Mackintosh and Wanga covered the front. Oz and Echo also remained in the front, suspicious of the fire Wanga had started. The ghouls opened the barn’s front door, and whiffed a few swings at Tini. Mackintosh tried a spectacular acrobatic move to get past the three ghouls blocking the door, and failed spectacularly. Two of the ghouls got attacks of opportunity, and one of them paralyzed him for the majority of the fight. However, Tini was able to keep the ghouls contained. Echo channeled positive energy to damage them, and then joined Oz in creating water to control the spreading fire as Wanga continued setting new ones. One of the ghouls fled to the “safety” of the fire, and tried throwing Tini into it, but was killed before he could do so.
Meanwhile, at the back door, Hildabrandt and Nymeria moved into position. Nymeria opened the door and Hildabrandt cast a spell into the barn as Lisanji moved up behind them. Together, they dispatched the ghouls with ease, and began inspecting the stalls, one of which contained an undead horse with a ghoul rider. Lisanji’s greatsword was red hot as she tore into them with critical hit after critical hit. Threat confirmed. It’s dead. Cleave. Threat confirmed. It’s dead. It splits into more (haha). Cleaving Finish. Dead. Cleaving Finish. Dead. It splits into more (ok no really that’s enough)
As the party was annihilating the ghouls in the barn, a ghast with an iron key around his neck emerged from the farm house and moved toward the party. Oz blasted him with a ray of energy, and Mackintosh recovered from his paralysis just in time to finish him off. The key featured a heraldic symbol of a curious flower surrounded by thorns, the Foxglove family crest. As the Foxglove family estate is located on the coast a mere 3 miles from to the west of the Hambley farm, it seems likely that this ghast came from there, and may have been in the employ of the Foxgloves at some time.
A search of the master bedroom revealed a wooden coffer containing the life savings of the deceased farmers: 3400 silver pieces.
Next stop: Foxglove Manor
Treasure:
wand of gentle repose (17 charges)
Caizarlu’s spellbook
3: displacement, stinking cloud, vampiric touch, gentle repose, halt undead, suggestion, heroism
2: acid arrow, blindness/deafness, command undead, detect thoughts, ghoul touch, mirror image, scorching ray, touch of idiocy
1: cause fear, chill touch, color spray, floating disk, identify, mage armor, magic missile, obscuring mist, ray of enfeeblement, sleep
0: bleed, detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead, light, mage hand, mending, message, prestidigitation, read magic
TL;DR: The party investigated a murder and determined it was probably done by a ghast. They checked out a mental hospital where a doctor and a necromancer were holding a lunatic on the verge of becoming a ghoul. The guy gave a hint that the killer is at Foxglove Manor, the party killed the guy as he started to turn, and the necromancer got away, but the party got to keep his spellbook. On the way to Foxglove Manor, the party cleaned out a farm that had become overrun by ghouls, one of which carried a key that probably goes to something inside the manor.
There was not much in the way of treasure, and I am probably going to simplify the way treasure gets handled, but I am not sure just how yet.
The party attained level 5 prior to checking out Habe’s Sanatorium, and should be level 6 very soon after starting the next session. It would be good to have level 6 character sheets ready.