The Shadows and The Monks

It was the Pembroke conjunction, and the big skylith appeared to do circles around Commerce over the course of the day.  Since the smaller Commerce wasn't fully symmetrical, items relying on stability and balance fell over, or rolled off the shelf as the smaller skylith was perturbed by it.

The event also meant that a Rocklit dwarf had arrived at the Ripa Daneo Freelancers, bearing a courier pouch from Einkil of the Gemhallow Freelancers,  He had delivered his pouch and was waiting for the return packet, and gossipping with various Freelancers in the back tavern about the latest goings on.

This conversation made Glesni and Osric sort of restless, as they had not been on any missions since arriving on Commerce, and they accompanied Fine Branch, Ana, Tai, and Nix to ask Damakaios what work was available.  They went upstairs and saw Damakaios' door was shut, and looked around the lounge; Osric and Glesni had not really seen everything there.  A space had been made for the head of a minotaur, the embossed plate for it already emplaced.  Glesni read it with interest, noting the Daystar cult reference.

Damakaios opened his door and let them into his office, the hanyou's leather overcoat with brass fittings gleaming in the light.  His office had a mahogany desk engraved with geometric patterns; cabinets lined the wall with small and light arms.  There was only one rapier in evidence, however.  On the left were maps of Ripa Daneo and Gata Nahaki, and behind him was a locked cabinet.  Chairs matching the desk were arranged in an orderly fashion, and were of a variety of sizes.

Nix sat front-and-center in an appropriately human-sized chair.
Ana sat in what she thought was a relatively fancy chair, a little too big for a Maker gnome; and polished her monocle.
Tai took a chair big enough for his big Silver dragonborn bulk.
Glesni put her bow in her newly-acquired quiver of ehlonna, then the tall Cloud elf seated herself in the left back, away from the others.
Osric picked a chair with an interesting wood grain.  It was a little big for the Holder dwarf, but still creaked under his weight.
Fine Branch sat on the floor in front, and played with Mercury: the nekomata and the little winged cat.

Damakaios looked over the seated Freelancers, especially considering Osric and Glesni, then opened a drawer in his desk and withdrew 3 papers, which he set in front of him.  Glesni and Osric looked him over in return, unsure how he would proceed.  Then he launched into the missions he'd pulled, his voice smooth.

First – track clockwork owlbears, some of you were on the initial mission and left one to track back to a cave.  It's been 8 or 9 days and no further attack on Bati Kasabasi.  The Mayor still would like to be reassured no further attacks are coming.  This will pay 250 gp.

Next – High Abbot Grigorio of the Most Serene Boundary monks at Tranquil Crossing monastery would like Freelancers to investigate the deaths of his monks.  Here they have died mysteriously, without obvious cause.

Ana:  how many have died?
Damakaios:  initially, 2; but since then, 3.
Fine Branch:  o wow.  Ana, you can't just… count monks like that.
Damakaios:  this will also pay 250gp each.

Third mission – Tempest Addis, leader of the Church of Storms on Commerce, would like Freelancers to investigate Waypoint Tickler.  This is one of the waypoints Dryali and Tuala learned Daystar lotion is shipping through.  Do not show up announcing you are Freelancers looking around.

As he said the above, the smooth voice of the Pungarehu hanyou wasn't quite able to mask his distaste at the words "Daystar lotion."

Glesni:  do we think those two leaders are there?
Damakaios:  I don't think they're there, but I also have no idea where they actually are.  I'd be surprised, it would not make sense for this to be their base.
Glesni:  it might make sense, if they were looking to go to ground.
Damakaios <dubiously>:  I suppose
Glesni:  I think that this will keep, whereas at the monastery, people are getting murdered.
Tai:  am interested in the monastery, being a devotee of Te Mārie.
Osric:  I'm down to help monks.
Nix:  I like spooky stuff
Fine Branch:  I'm good with anything
Ana <put monocle in eye>:  let us investigate murder most foul

The monastery was south of the mountains, so the Freelancers left Damakaios and headed to the stables.

Everything sounded fine and good while having a pleasant conversation in the confines of Damakaios' rather orderly office.  Once the Freelancers were mounted up and on their way, the terrible weather made them regret being exposed to the elements.

Ana pulled her cloak of elvenkind tight around her; but that made things hard to see.

Tai used his frost breath to form an ice parasol, protecting him from the worst of the rain.

Fine Branch cast create or destroy water to avoid herself and Nighthawk from getting drenched.

Nix used her parasol of shielding.  Although it looked delicate, its magic held up against the precipitation.

Glesni used repeated casts of prestidigitation to keep her gear dry, thinking she was already getting her coins' value out of that quiver of ehlonna, since the bowstrings were not wet.

Osric didn't care.  He was a chipmunk in someone's pocket.

When they arrived at the Tranquil Crossing monastery in mid-afternoon, for some reason not a lot of people were doing work outside.  Some junior monks were happy to take the sodden mounts to the stables for care and a rubdown.  Others escorted the Freelancers to the High Abbot Grigorio, who was a Pterotus.  Glesni froze momentarily when she saw him.

Grigorio:  very glad to have Freelancers here to help with investigation!  What do you want to do first?
Ana:  we have some questions about the people who died.  <started ticking her fingers.>  time line of deaths, who died, what positions did they have in the Abbey…
Glesni:  who benefited from it?
Ana:  also, did they die peacefully, or… <frowned>  what was the manner of death?
Grigorio:  it's now 4 of them.  Their bodies are in a cold chamber, below the monastery.  They were all 4 junior monks out on patrol - nightwatch - making sure nobody was coming to steal, et cetera.  As far as I am aware, they have no enemies, nor does anyone want their position.
Glesni:  if they were on patrol, was it the same time and/or places?
Grigorio:  deaths were close to midnight, middle watch.  They were not in the same place.
Nix:  were any individual, or were they together at that time?
Grigorio:  the first were alone.  Third and fourth took off from partner, to investigate noise.
Nix:  so, alone at the time they died.
Grigorio:  yes
Osric:  did the partners also hear a sound, or just have them claim they heard?
Grigorio:  that's a good question
Osric:  am trying to determine the sound
Glesni:  were they at least in the same quadrant?  Was it anywhere?
Grigorio:  some north, some east by north east, one south
Ana:  and not a mark on them, hm
<A brief silence.>
Ana:  are the young monks all different peoples and genders?  Or is there a simple–
Grigorio:  seem to be a mix
Fine Branch:  what would it take to properly impersonate a group going out on patrol?
Grigorio:  you can get habits from the quartermaster.  Disarm entirely.

The group all started walking… well, Grigorio, being a Pterotus, didn't really walk, but sort of slid …and soon came to the Tranquil Crossing quartermaster, who was happy to hand out robes etc to the Freelancers.  Fine Branch immediately started to doff her armour to put on the robe.

Grigorio called over a male half-elf monk, Gaidaros.  As he approached, glancing curiously at Fine Branch, Grigorio said, "This is Gaidaros, who was with the second-most recent death."  Gaidaros' face fell a bit as Grigorio continued, "He will lead you to the bodies, in the cold room," but the monk did bow his assent at the Abbot.

By this time Fine Branch had changed into the monk's habit, and assured herself she could conceal her wand of the war mage up her sleeve.  Gaidaros then led the Freelancers to the second sub-basement of the monastery.  They decided Glesni would use her wand of magic detection, and Osric would cast detect poison and disease.

But first, they looked at the bodies.  Three men:  a komodo, a human, and an orc; and a half-orc woman.  The human was the most recent death, and Gaidaros noted the orc was his patrol partner when he died.

Fine Branch and Osric looked over the human carefully.  The corpse had far fewer wounds than expected, and had a faint mark on its neck that was obviously necrotic.  They looked at each other.  These didn't look like enough to kill anyone.  They looked at Glesni, who remembered her wand and used it.

Glesni saw the Freelancers totally light up with all their magically enhanced gear, and necrotic energy glowing from that mark on the corpse's neck.  She looked at the other bodies, they all had that energy, but the oldest one had less of it; it appeared to be slowly fading over time.  She relayed these observations to everyone in the room, and Gaidaros winced slightly.

Ana, upon hearing it, did not recognize the spell, but did recognize it as a type of necromancy where these persons were used for something.

Ana:  something was raised, and these bodies were used as a component.
Glesni:  could this be done to shore up someone's life energy?
Ana:  no, I don't think so.
Fine Branch:  "used to raise something"
Nix:  can we tell what happened, did they defend themselves?
Fine Branch:  we can ask them.
<Nix looked at the bodies, and saw signs of defensive strikes on their knuckles.>
Fine Branch:  "what can you remember from the night you died"
Glesni:  Gaidaros, what do you remember?
Gaidaros <in an oddly flat tone>:  it was very dark but Borokan [the orc] noticed something and we both looked, but he ran off.  I tried to follow but once I found Borokan he was gone.
Glesni:  how long?
Gaidaros <in a normal tone>:  30 seconds.
Ana:  did you hear noises?
Gaidaros:  I heard noise of fighting, but only one-sided?  Is also how I found him.
Tai:  so, you only heard one of the persons fighting?
Gaidaros:  exactly
Ana:  the location you found it <brief awkward pause> was it a dead end, or could they get away without you seeing?
Fine Branch:  actually, I don't wanna ask that.  "How did you die?"

Fine Branch started removing some items from her backpack.

Fine Branch set up some incense, then gestured solemnly, and spoke some words that the others could not remember later.  The incense felt incongruous in the cold room.  Then she turned to the human corpse.  "What killed you?"

The corpse's mouth creaked open, and his chest rose as he drew breath to speak.  When he did, the voice was weird, dry, disused.

Human corpse:  a shadow.
Fine Branch:  what caused you to run off?
Human corpse:  a noise that shouldn't have been there.  I heard something fall over, or maybe it was asking for help.
Ana:  can we ask – how did you fight a shadow?
Fine Branch:  how did you fight back?
Human corpse:  poorly, nothing seemed to hit it
Glesni:  I wonder if it found what it sought, by following the noise.
<Fine Branch considered Glesni's suggestion.>
Fine Branch:  what made the noise, that caused you to investigate?
<The corpse's breath rattled.>
Human corpse:  I didn't see what made the noise.  I was attacked too quick, and didn't get to it.
Glesni:  can this answer about any ritual it was used in?
Fine Branch:  only while alive.
Tai:  would like to know magic.
Nix:  I wonder if the shadow had a face, but the magic is more important.
Fine Branch:  did your adversary use any magic at all?
<The corpse drew one last breath.>
Human corpse:  I felt something pulling at my willpower.

The corpse fell still, and the room was silent a moment.  Fine Branch's gaze slid to the orc's corpse and she made a slight face.  The spell would have to be cast again.  The Freelancers, having done this kind of questioning while investigating mass murders in Cliffshadow, weren't inured to it, but were not rattled by it; on the other hand, Gaidaros was partially fascinated and horrified.

Ana <to Gaidaros>:  is there anything you wanna know… <nodded at the orc's corpse>
Gaidaros:  why did he run off without me, when we were supposed to stay together?
Glesni:  this is a very good question.

Ana shooed Gaidaros out, since this would be more shocking to the half-elf.  Fine Branch refreshed the incense, gestured solemnly, and again spoke the words none of them could remember later.  The orc drew an unnatural breath as the speak with dead spell took hold.

Fine Branch:  why did you break patrol when you knew trainee monks stay together?
Orc corpse:  I thought he was right behind me!
Fine Branch <to the others>:  consistent with having heard something, not the other.
Fine Branch <to orc>:  what killed you?
Orc corpse:  a shadow.
Fine Branch:  what face did it have?
Orc corpse:  not much of one?  A vague, vague face?  Not very detailed.
Ana:  ask if it said anything.
Fine Branch:  what did it communicate to you?
Orc corpse:  nothing, except for attacks
Fine Branch:  if you could write one final note, what would it say?
Orc corpse:  I want my clan chieftain to know I fought and died valiantly.
<The orc's breath rattled with a final exhale.>
Glesni:  I wonder how they were fighting physically with a shadow.
Fine Branch <grimly>:  I can ask the next one.
Ana:  same vibe as the wraiths in Amabel Villa.
Nix:  yeah
Glesni:  where is Amabel Villa?
Tai:  pretty far from here; it's still in the city.

Fine Branch rummaged around in her backpack and got out more incense.  This time she turned her attention to the half-orc woman as she gestured and murmured.

Fine Branch:  what killed you?
<Again the strange inhalation; the voice was very strange, as the vocal cords had dried out.>
Half-orc corpse:  a shadow.
Fine Branch:  what unusual thing did you see on patrol?
Half-orc corpse:  everything seemed normal, until the shadow attacked me.
Osric:  should ask if she noticed anything else unusual.
Fine Branch:  why do you think the shadow chose you?
Half-orc corpse:  I don't know.
Glesni <musing>:  I wonder if we should ask about chess pieces.
Osric:  what?
Glesni:  you remember?  The people involved with Wendehals were all from Commerce.
Fine Branch <to Glesni and Osric>:  actually, I like it.
Fine Branch <to half-orc>:  where have you seen or heard anything unusual with a chess piece?
Half-orc corpse:  there was an unfortunate incident with an under-abbot sitting on a chess piece.  I had nothing to do with it.
Fine Branch:  that's oddly specific.
<The Freelancers all laughed; but Osric did remember, and cast locate object for chess pieces.>
Osric:  I find chess pieces upstairs.
Fine Branch:  if you want to write a notes, what would it say?
Half-orc corpse:  tell my sweetheart, I miss him.

The half-orc fell still, and the Freelancers felt they hadn't learned anything new.  Fine Branch looked at the komodo, and cast speak with dead one last time.

Fine Branch:  what killed you?
Komodo corpse:  a shadow.
Fine Branch:  who is responsible for your death?
Komodo corpse:  it's my own fault; I should had been stronger.
<The Freelancers discussed, here, how strength would play into a fight with a shadow, when a prior answer had mentioned willpower.>
Fine Branch:  if you could do it again, how would you prepare for this fight?
Komodo corpse:  strength of body and strength of mind.
<At this point the Freelancers realized they never asked how many attackers.>
Fine Branch:  what happened, during the last fight of your life?
Komodo corpse:  I was ambushed and defeated, and couldn't do anything in return.  All my attacks were ineffective.
Fine Branch:  if you could write a final note, what would it say?
<The corpse of the komodo puffed out his chest.>
Komodo corpse:  glory to Te Mārie and Rohe!

But then the komodo's breath rattled, and the body became still.

The Freelancers exited the cold room to find Gaidaros waiting for them.  It was just about dinner time, and they started walking upstairs.

Ana:  I want to go on patrol with people.
Glesni:  but, it's a charm.  I'm not worried, but you ought to be.
Everyone:  what
Glesni <gestured at Gaidaros>:  the half-elf wasn't affected.
Fine Branch:  I'm useless with spells and need to rest.

At that, Gaidoros detoured, and brought Fine Branch to an unused monk cell, where the nekomata threw herself onto the pallet to rest.  From there the rest of the Freelancers sought out Grigorio.  They suggested having elf or half-elf patrols, and also higher-level monks for now.

They also suggested that Freelancers provide air cover.  It would not be perfect, but having a Freelancer on a flying mount circling above would help see what was going on, and possibly stop any attempts to kill more monks.  They decided to do this in 4 shifts:  Ana, Tai, Glesni, and Osric.  Nix would also go with Osric; and Glesni offered to have Osric fly on Ikarus.

Ana went first, and Hawkie was circling also.  Fortunately the weather had cleared up, and the dusk was very pretty; but looking at the scenery meant Ana saw fuckall.  Hawkie saw everything; the monks patrolling in groups of 3, sticking together carefully as they kept watch over the open compound, was the only thing out of the ordinary.

Tai went second, the night lit up by the underside of the looming Pembroke.  In the middle of his watch, he thought he saw someone on a gryphon, much higher than he, flying away.  The light of Pembroke glinted off of armour, and Tai thought the gryphon's wings appeared to have shadows.  Curious, he watched from a distance, but did not abandon the patrol to check it out.

Glesni went third, but it seemed rather uneventful.  She noticed the patrolling monks were looking paranoid.

Osric & Nix went third, with Mercury watching too.  Pembroke had migrated below the horizon and the dawn of the Daystar was beautiful.  They saw the monks patrolling, still in groups of 3, still looking pretty paranoid.

That morning all was well; none of the patrols had been attacked.  Osric and Fine Branch had rested enough to restore their spells, and after a brief conversation with Glesni, Osric prepared flame arrow as one of his spells.  Fine Branch dressed normally, and Tai told the others about the gryphon with the armoured rider and shadows on its wings.

After breakfast, the Freelancers told Grigorio they'd like to speak to the monk who had patrolled with the deceased human, whose name they were never told.  He directed them to Olivia, a Rocklit dwarf woman with a chinstrap beard.

Ana:  what did you notice that night?
Olivia:  I thought we were together and then Nico [the human] took off
Ana:  did you hear anything?
Olivia:  no.
Glesni <disappointed>:  did you hear them fighting?
Olivia:  that is how I found them
Glesni:  but, did you hear the assailant?
Olivia:  only the attacks on Nico
Glesni:  was the human still breathing?
Olivia:  no he was dead
Ana:  did you notice anything unusual, or flying mounts?
Olivia:  didn't see anything; we were jumping at shadows

The Freelancers convinced Olivia to take them to where the attack happened, and nothing special stood out.  Glesni wielded her wand of magic detection again:  she again saw all the magically enhanced items on her Freelancer compatriots; none of that on Olivia; and slowly-fading traces of necromantic magic, indicating a spell or perhaps innate ability was used in this place.

Glesni, Ana, and Nix consulted, and Glesni confirmed it was the same "feel" as the bodies in the monastery sub-basement.  They tentatively concluded what they were seeing was life drains.

As they walked back to the main buildings, the Freelancers discussed what their plan was.  Fine Branch explained glyph of warding to the others, but since it couldn't move, and the attacks were on active patrols, it did not seem the way to go.

It seemed the Freelancers would be impersonating monk patrols after all.  At least Tai followed Te Mārie, and Glesni, Rohe; maybe that would help.

The Freelancers decided that, since there were 6 of them, they'd flank midnight and patrol in groups of 3.  The first group was Fine Branch, Tai, and Glesni.  Reluctantly dressed in monk robes, they dutifully patrolled and looked kind of obviously not like monks.  The watch was uneventful, however.

Midnight came, and Nix, Ana, and Osric took over patrolling.  Nix was not really in monk robes, but using her hat of disguise.  Not much time had passed before Ana heard something compelling, as they were patrolling past some outlying barns.  "Sound over there," she told the others, "I'd like to go check it out."  At her words, Nix and Osric also heard it, and Osric shimmered and transformed into a chipmunk.  "Let's go check it out, guys," Nix said.

As the three Freelancers started to move, they realized this was exactly the kind of ambush they were supposed to expect.  Ana cast light on Nix's hat, and sent Hawkie beelining for Glesni, Tai, and Fine Branch.  Then the three of them rounded the corner of the building:  human, Maker gnome, and chipmunk.

Nix saw, under the eaves of the building, a slightly thinker shadow.  She quietly indicated it to Ana and the chipmunk.

Nix:  blasting seems like a reasonable thing to do
Ana:  with force, if you got it!

Nix cast a twice-uplevel'd magic missile at the thicker shadow, which struck it with force, and the Freelancers watched an odd sight:  a shadow under the eaves literally tattered and frayed, but held together.

• Tai, Glesni, and Fine Branch were pelting over, but Fine Branch ran ahead as only a nekomata can do.
• The chipmunk let out a high-pitched war cry as only chipmunks can do, then shimmered and became Osric again, who cast moonbeam on the shadow.
  • Fine Branch, Tai, and Glesni saw the illuminated shadow.
  • The light of the moonbeam caused the shadow to tatter entirely away.
• Three other shadows appeared from hiding places among the hay bales.  One attacked Nix and two attacked Ana.  Both Freelancers felt necrotic magic draining their energy.  Then the shadows flew back away from the three Freelancers.
  • Nix pulled out her whip and struck the fleeing shadow.  While the whip slashed at it, Nix saw it was not nearly as effective as she expected.
  • Ana drew her rapier and struck at the shadow, missing entirely.
  • Osric cast thorn whip on the fleeing shadow.  The magical whip crit, the thorns piercing it and squeezing the shadow until it was gone.
  • The two remaining shadows seemed to disappear as they hid in the hay bales
• Ana saw nothing to attack.  So, she cast flaming sphere and sent the thing through the hay bales after the shadow that had attacked her.
  • <Narrator voice:  the GM: "you can ready an action."  Grace:  "or, I can flaming sphere.  I will avoid valuables like wood buildings, not hay bales.">
• Mercury prepared to dodge, as he too saw nothing.  However, he smelled something familiar, like a frosty, reptilian smell?
• Tai came around the corner to see the flaming sphere just… rolling over hay bales, which were now on fire.  He saw nothing to attack, but in a prior, happier life, he'd been a farmer.  "O shit!" he exclaimed.
  • Tai tried to position himself for effectiveness and exhaled frost breath of dragonkin on the fire.  He put out a little less than half of the burning hay bales.
  • Ana yelled, "They were totally right!  We were attacked by shadows!"
• Glesni came around the corner and stopped.  She saw the moonbeam, the smouldering hay bales, the flaming sphere, but no actual antagonists.  She nocked an arrow, and lit it on fire with prestidigitation.

Nix could actually see one of the shadows hiding in the hay bales, and again cast a twice-uplevel'd magic missile at it.  As the missiles struck, everyone could see the revealed shadow, as well as watching it disintegrate from the force.  Nix made a face; magic missile was one the the spells she'd learned from her brief stint with wizardry, which she'd abandoned.

• Fine Branch murmured "Cats cats cats cats cats!" and was surrounded by spirit guardian cheshires.  She then cast spiritual weapon, which looked like a faceless humanoid construct with a yellow & black symbol on the side of its head.  However the spiritual weapon had nothing to attack.
• Osric walked over to Glesni and said, "It's probably better if you shoot it when it attacks us," and cast flame arrow on her quiver of ehlonna.
  • The moonbeam winked out as Osric summoned a hawk spirit totem between them and the other Freelancers near the hay bales, to help everyone see where the shadows hide.

The shadow tried to go up and over the next barn over.  Osric, Ana, and Hawkie didn't see it, but everyone else did, and they also saw, past the rooftop, about 150 yards away, a person on a gryphon, with more shadows on its wing.  Glesni and Nix realized they were seeing a dragonborn, and Tai saw the silver scales.  When they said so, Mercury realized the smell of this person was familiar, because of Tai.

The gryphon was flying off eastward, and Tai's eyes narrowed as he recognised the sigil of Te Mārie on the rider's shield.  Glesni loosed her flaming arrow as a seeking arrow.  It pierced the rider, who kept flying off, but yielded no further information to her as to their whereabouts.

Tai went back to the main building to get Grigorio as Fine Branch used create or destroy water to extinguish the burning hay bales.  Tai returned with the Abbot and 3 monks, and the Freelancers relayed their discoveries.

Osric:  they'll be back; tell them about sigil
<Tai hesitated.>
Nix:  the rider's shield had the symbol of Te Mārie.
Tai:  sigil is very concerning.
Grigorio <looked eastward into the distance>:  I'm unhappy to learn it's someone with Te Mārie.
Osric:  could have stolen it
Glesni:  maybe a false flag

They headed back to the monastery, leaving the three monks on patrol.

The Freelancers stayed an extra night and overflew the patrolling monks, keeping an eye out for the rider, but the gryphon did not return.  The following morning, Grigorio paid them each 250gp and wrote a missive for them to take back to Damakaios, and they headed back up to Ripa Daneo.