Murder Most Foul, Part 1 (Tuesday-Wednesday, Lamashan (X) 30-31, 4707 AR)

The heroes returned to the bunyip lair. The cave had two entrances at sea level. The western entrance remained underwater even at low tide.

The bunyip roared, causing most of the heroes to flee in panic. It then proceeded to attack Shalalu, but the she and Bruthien defeated it.

A search of the cave pool's bed quickly turned up an incredible tangle of bones. Many of the bones were from goblins, but a fair amount were larger and human sized.

After the heroes had stopped Nualia's plans for good, they took a rest and a chance to relax in Sandpoint. They took some time to meet new characters in town.

A flamboyant dwarf named Volioker Briskalberd has owned and operated Sandpoint's locksmith business since the town's founding. Most of the town's locks were built by Volioker. Volioker's distaste for thievery and scoundrels may have its genesis in his childhood as a street orphan in Magnimar, although he is traditionally close-mouthed about his past. Regardless, Tsela convinced him to allow Corvus to "test" his locks. Volioker is a tremendous fan of the arts, and never misses a new show at the playhouse.

As families thronged to Sandpoint, the town founders quickly came to realize that they needed somewhere to handle the education of children, to house unfortunate orphans, and to busy older children and keep them from becoming delinquents. The answer was the Turandarok Academy. Part school, part orphanage, the academy is run by retired adventurer Ilsoari Gandethus. He volunteered to be the academy's headmaster if he could have the basement of the two-story building to himself.

The town agreed, and today, the rooms below the Academy are almost a museum of strange things and trophies, as Corvus sneakily discovered. Ilsoari keeps these chambers locked, but the children who attend classes on the ground floor and the orphans who live on the upper floor have countless stories about what's down there, ranging from a goblin farm to a nest of phantom spiders to the Sandpoint Devil itself. Although the contents are much less sinister (a collection of exotic weapons, strange maps, and monster trophies), the old wizard does nothing to dissuade the children's tales.

Sheriff Hemlock's Plea

A mysterious killer is at large in Sandpoint, but few in town know that a murderer stalks their streets at night. The murderer is none other than a ghast who carves the Sihedron rune upon the bodies of his victims before they are slain. His first victims have been hushed up by Sandpoint's sheriff in an attempt to keep the town from relapsing into the panic that gripped them several years ago when another murderer, a man named Chopper, menaced the town.

After the heroes dealt with Nualia and the goblins, they took some time to rest and recover form their adventures. A couple of days after they returned triumphant from Thistletop, they were approached by a sullen and grim-faced Sheriff Hemlock. After greeting the heroes and securing a relatively private place to talk to them, he said the following.

"First, let me thank you again for all you've done for Sandpoint. It's fortunate you've proven yourselves so capable, because we've a problem I think you could help us with - a problem I wish I didn't have to involve anyone with, but one that needs dealing with now before the situation grows worse.

"Put simply, we have a murderer in our midst - one who, I fear, has only begun his work. Some of you doubtless remember the Late Unpleasantness, how this town nearly tore itself apart in fear as Chopper's slayings went on unanswered. I'm afraid we might have something similar brewing now.

"Last night, the murderer struck at the sawmill. There are two victims, and they're...they're in pretty gruesome shape. The bodies were discovered by one of the mill workers, a man named Ibor Thorn, and by the time my men and I arrived on the scene, a crowd of curious gawkers had already sprung up. I've got my men stationed there now, keeping the mill locked down, but the thing that bothers me isn't the fact that we have two dead bodies inside. It's the fact that this is actually the second set of murders we've had in the last few days.

"I come to you for help in this matter - my men are good, but they are also green. They were barely able to handle themselves against the goblins, and what we're facing now is an evil far worse than goblins. I need the help. But I'm afraid you'll need the help too. You see, I'm afraid that this particular murderer knows one of you as well."

At this point, Hemlock passed a bloodstained scrap of parchment to Bruthien. Bruthien's name was written in blood on the outside of the folded parchment; inside was a short message.

"I do as you command, master!"

The note was signed "Your Lordship". Sheriff Hemlock explained that the note was found pinned to the sleeve of the latest victim by a splinter of wood. He was quick to comfort the heroes with his belief that this note was left at the murder scene to throw suspicion onto them, and that while he certainly didn't believe the heroes had anything to do with the murders, if word of this note got out, he was afraid the town's reaction might not be as understanding. For this reason, and since he didn't want to start a general panic, he asked the heroes to keep as quiet as possible about the murders.

The Leads

Before the heroes raced off to investigate the murders, Sheriff Hemlock ran the current list of clues by them. He informed them that while he'll be working with them to figure out what's going on, he suspected he'll have his hands full keeping the peace in town. By deputizing the heroes, he hoped that the best possible minds and resources will be focused on solving the murders, leaving him and his guards to the task of keeping Sandpoint from erupting in a panic. He promised the heroes all the support they wanted, but again asked them to keep their investigations quiet for the town's sake.

Hemlock provided the following list of leads.

Sandpoint 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 heroes investigate, since he would like to clean the mill up right away and get the bodies buried.

Ibor Thorn: Sheriff Hemlock has interrogated Ibor, the man who discovered the bodies at the lumber mill, and didn'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 farm south of town a few days ago - their bodyguard survived the assault but has gone insane and has gone 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 meant. Perhaps an expert on runes (such as local scholar Brodert Quink) could be consulted?

Sandpoint Lumber Mill

One of the mill's operators, a man named Benny Harker, had been engaged in a semisecret affair with the daughter of a local shopkeeper. The Sandpoint Lumber Mill stood on the shore of the Turandarok River. A sizeable crowd had gathered outside by the time the heroes arrived, and groups of nervous-looking town guards stood at the mill's entrances. Tsela revealed 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 logsplitter kept neighbors awake. The guards nodded silently and stepped aside to allow the heroes entry.

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 had been disengaged. There were several points of interest to the heroes as they investigated the site, each detailed below.

The Timber Pier: Timber was delivered to the mill via a small pier that extends out into the Turandarok River. The heroes investigated the pier to reveal a set of muddy footprints that led form one end of the pier up to the mill itself. They revealed that a barefoot human man clambered up from the mud under the pier, crossed over to the mill, and then scaled the wall to an upper-floor window.

The Murder Scene: The mill interior was coated with sawdust sewn with footprints and splashes of blood. It was obvious to the heroes that a desperate struggle took place here several hours ago. The heroes could tell that one set of prints in particular was not only barefoot, but reeked of rotten meat. Harker's body, Katrine's body, a suspicious axe, and a lingering stench of rotten flesh constituted the primary clues here.

The Rotten Smell: The lingering scent of decay in the area was curious - it smelled almost as if an animal had died somewhere in the room and its remains were allowed to ripen. This was the lingering scent of an undead body, a smell that was strongest on the blade of the suspicious axe and a few of the footprints the undead left behind.

Katrine's Body: Poor Katrine was killed instantly into the log splitter. Her mangled, ruined remains lay on the mill's lower floor amid heaps of bloodstained firewood. A pale-faced, obviously upset guard stands at attention nearby. The log splitter itself was powered by a waterwheel and consisted of a chute in the floor with rotating sawblades that cut logs as they were fed in. There were no clues among Katrine's mangled remains, other than her horrible fate and the cruel efficiency of the log splitter as a deadly weapon.

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. This rune (the Sihedron Rune) was familiar to the heroes, especially since they owned the Sihedron medallion once worn by Nualia. Its appearance on the chest of a murdered man drove home its importance to the heroes, yet they were at a loss as to what the rune meant. They identified the marking as the Sihedron Rune, an antiquated glyph that symbolized arcane magic once practiced in ancient Thassilon.

Closer examination of the body by Tsela revealed the presence of several additional wounds. Unlike the deeper wounds on the body, these smaller gashes almost seemed to have been made by a claws - claws on a five-fingered, human-sized hand. The rotten scent seemed stronger near these wounds. The body was only recognizable as Harker's by a faded tattoo of a raven across his lower abdomen. With his missing face and jaw, his body was in no shape to function for a speak with dead spell.

The Suspicious Axe: A handaxe was embedded in the floor near the log splitter, as if it had been dropped there. The handle was covered with bloody finger-marks, and a close examination of the head revealed two things of note. First, smears of what looked like rotten flesh and fragments of bone are caked on its blade, and second, the rotten meat stink was strong on it. Tsela, who examined the blade this closely, was sickened. The heroes identified the lingering stink of corruption as beyond that which a dead body could normally produce - the axe was likely used within the last 24 hours against some form of corporeal undead. The scent was also identified as having come from a ghast's flesh.

Ibor Thorn

Although the sheriff already interrogated Ibor, Hemlock admits that the heroes might be able to get something out of the miller that he could not. He cautioned them to be gentle in their interrogation, though - Thorn's been through a lot in the last few hours. Ibor waited in a holding cell below the Sandpoint Garrison.

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 took him into custody and 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. He was prepared to release Ven.

The Sihedron Rune

Although Sheriff Hemlock didn't recognize the strange seven-pointed star carved into the dead man's chest, the heroes did: It's the same star form the dungeons below Thistletop and on the magic amulet worn by Nualia. The heroes knew that an expert on the ancient ruins that dot Varisia's landscape dwelt here in Sandpoint, living in the Shadow of the Old Light, the town's own Thassilonian ruin.

The heroes knew a few things of interest about the star - namely, that it seemed to be one of the most important runes of Thassilon. The star itself was known as the "Sihedron Rune", and signified not only the seven virtues of rule (generally agreed among scholars to have been wealth, fertility, honest pride, abundance, eager striving, righteous anger, and rest), but also the seven schools of magic recognized by Thassilon (divination magic was not held in high regard by the ancients). The Sihedron Rune was certainly a symbol of power, one that may well have stood for and symbolized the empire itself.

The First Murders

Sheriff Hemlock explained that 2 days ago, a patrol of guards along the Lost Coast Road were attacked by a deranged man near an abandoned man 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 that Hemlock gave to the heroes to read.

"Messrs. Mortwell, Hask, and Tabe - 

A deal has come about that I need capital for. It involves property and gold, and though I am not at liberty to tell you the exact details, it will make us all rich. Come to Bradley's Barn on Cougar Creek tonight. We can meet there to discuss our futures.

- Your Lordship"

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 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 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 bodies of all three men lay in state in a cool basement room below the Sandpoint Garrison.

The insane man has been identified as one Grayst Sevilla, a local Varisian thug. He's been given over to the care of Erin Habe, caretaker of an independent sanatorium south of town; when the heroes wished 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.