LFG Session 9: Some Herrings Are Redder Than Others

Run Date: September 10th, 2022

PCs

Willow(Sh): Lv1 Cultist of Saint Laurenia

Baldur(Pa): Lv1 Barbarian

Rebel(Sa): Lv2 Monk

Some Herrings Are Redder Than Others

We spent a bit too much time chattering about non-session things such as work, game expectations, etc. Thankfully, we didn’t end up running short on time.

The group has been looking forward to this session for a couple weeks. With the full moon at the ready and only a smattering of information, the party set out to patrol the roads north of Riversmeet. Their overall goal was simple: See if they get lucky and the Bonewicces attack their bait (Baldur). The first night was spent on the road to Cathorp, and a couple hours before arriving they met another party of adventurers. Each group spotted the other from a solid distance due to their torches; and after some yelled greetings, they met up.

This NPC party consisted of 4; Jared, Jim, Jack, and Kim. They were pretty fresh faced and looking for a good payout, having come up with a similar idea to the players. Although there was some hesitance at first, especially from Kim (who didn’t want to split potential loot), Baldur managed to convince them to join forces. An even split was agreed upon (Jared was the negotiator).

With that settled, the two groups shared what they knew. It was discovered that the NPC party actually passed a young couple trying to find some privacy. The PCs were suspicious, of course, and there was some back and forth about the clues they’d learned and how the situation fit. They settled on interrupting the pair’s personal affairs.

A ways back up the road to Cathorp the group of seven managed to locate their wayward lovers’ nesting spot. Behind a wall of brush they found a dip and a smooth bank leading into the river. The torchlight gave away the party’s presence, but they were quick enough to see some quite supple bodies under the light of the full moon. They had no issues cornering the couple, and Rebel gave them a half-lecture about making sure you know whose bed you’re getting into and something about commitment. After that, the group headed into Cathorp proper.

Baldur decided to circle back after morning had arrived just to double-check if they’d been lied to. He found nothing but a pile of ash and an empty wine bottle. Meanwhile, the party planned their next couple nights and hit up the tavern. After a quick “dinner,” they passed out in the common room and tried their best to rest.

Night two was little different from the first: uneventful. This road, unlike the one closer to Riversmeet, was dead all the way through. It was nearing midday when the party stepped into Alfstead and split up to their preferred inns (the NPC group choosing something not so ramshackle as the PCs). They had agreed to meet at the town plaza at sunset.

Another day of restless sleep before the PCs went to the rendezvous. Turns out they were the slackers because the NPC crew was not only there before them, but chatting up a pretty baker girl selling day-old bread. Some introductions were made, some cheap bread purchased, and a note on her description (matching the “dark haired pretty girl” they got from their last investigation). Lilly, the baker, invited the adventurers to visit again on a Sunday morning when she made delicious sweet breads and cinnamon rolls. They seemed to like this idea, but worked called.

Earlier, before the meetup, the PCs did a bit of inquiring about the murder that happened near the town a couple months back. This lead was the one they followed on the third night. It brought them off the main roads and onto the country paths where they met a vicious guard donkey. Luckily, it was behind a good fence.

How did night 3 go? Same as the last. As the morning hours came in and the sun rose, the party found themselves in a hamlet where some farmers were preparing for the day’s work. Baldur, having been forced to work a plow a couple weeks back, took the initiative to give the farmers some time to chat with the other players. After three nights of nothing interesting, they finally learned something. The first was that the wolves of late have been particularly bothersome; both more aggressive and more ballsy. The second was that this was the place the body from a couple months back was found. The farmer that found the body showed them the location, told them the condition of the body, and told them where they could find a surviving relative.

With something of a lead, the party headed out. Since the morning was still young, they spent an hour checking the area for any signs of the aggressive wolves, but only found a fresh deer carcass. They tried to track where the predators had gone off to, but gave up after another hour wasted. By the time they returned to Alfstead, exhaustion was starting to set in, and the parties just went straight to their respective inns to sleep.

Night 4. The only lead was their goal, but they were still hoping they’d get lucky and find some of their fated Bonewicces. Zero luck, but they did find the old cottage the farmer told them about. It was dimly lit by a candle, and as the party knocked they heard some rushed crashing as the light snuffed out. There was a moment of concern as theories about what just happened flew around the table. Baldur finally stepped in with a solid kick, knocking the door open and shut after it bounced off of something behind it.

The group stepped into the tiny cottage. It was a simple little thing with a still smoking candle on the table, two bowls, two benches, and two beds. On the floor, and with one hell of a set of splinters in his skull, was a middle-aged man. Rebel immediately began administering first aid while the NPC group started questioning their methods. The argument didn’t finish, however, as the up-to-now unconscious man snapped awake and started swinging.

Baldur stepped in to question the delirious farmer while Rebel simply backed out to check the perimeter. There was quite a bit of yelling and some fists thrown, but overall no damage was done due to his exhaustion. As things settled down and the delirium turned to drunken clarity, Rebel discovered a pair of grave markers outside and Willow and Baldur started their questioning.

They learned that a little over two months ago the farmer's son brought home a pretty dark-haired girl. Having lost his wife a few years into the boy’s life, he was excited to see young love blossoming. She had come to visit a couple times, and said that his son was considering plans to wed, children, the whole nine yards. They were good times. Their dog, Yeller, wasn’t too happy about the whole thing, but he was never fond of strangers. After his son’s death, Yeller disappeared and the girl never came back. The PCs asked if the farmer knew the girl’s name, and he replied: “Lilly.”

Baldur, deciding despite his abject stupidity that he has a knack for art, drew a rather accurate sketch of the baker. The farmer responded with an affirmative, and the conspiracies began. The farmer asked the PCs to deliver justice for the sake of his son, and off they went back to Alfstead. Despite the group’s hesitance, the NPCs were ecstatic. After almost four nights of useless walking they finally got their meal ticket.

The party arrived at the (closed) gate of Altstead where they informed the guard that they may have discovered vital information about the ritual murders. He allowed passage and escorted them to the station to speak with the night captain. The NPC group was already planning how to spend their spoils by the time they were sat down to explain their findings.

Here is how it was laid out: This woman, Lilly, was luring men away to murder them. They didn’t know anything about the first victim. The second victim was Rebecca’s (cheating) husband from Pestead. She described the woman as young, pretty, dark hair, blue eyes, decent dress, make-up (her actual words were much more vitriolic). The third victim, the farmer’s son. The farmer described the same woman (though the party didn’t know or forgot the eye color) and confirmed through Baldur’s drawing that it was Lilly. The Captain was familiar with the bakery, as it was quite popular, and was skeptical about the connections. Nonetheless, she sent out riders to gather the witnesses and a set of guards to lock down the bakery and arrest Lilly.

The party, in the meantime, headed to the inn across the plaza to get a late meal and a room. The innkeeper wasn’t happy with the hour, but wandered back to his bed with little more than a nod. While the group was sipping some cold soup, they heard the panicked screams of a young woman. They didn’t need to look outside to know what was happening, but Baldur decided to step in anyway.

Down the street comes a barred carriage and a distraught girl bawling her head off. She pleads with Baldur, telling him she’d never kill anyone. The minutes that followed involved a lot of weeping, pleading, yelling, and the gradual loss of voice of a woman shackled and jailed. Despite her temperament, Baldur still attempted a line of questioning. She told him she didn’t have any boyfriends or lovers, she’d never met any of the victims, and that she’d never kill someone.

The night captain managed the investigation for the next couple days, confirming the party’s claim about the farmer and bringing Rebecca in on a rushed carriage. Commotion and rumors were flying as another body was also discovered during this time, but no details were yet known to the public. The party saw the arrival of the massive woman from a couple weeks back and made it to the station’s door just as she flew at Lilly’s cell. It took 4 men to pull the raging Laker away from the sheepish little body in the corner, and news only got worse once the captain met with the party. She confirmed the rumors the party had been hearing about another body.

So it went; another body, eviscerated with markings across the forehead. Another man, and another lover it seemed. The Captain explained that a rather erotic and badly written poem was discovered on this new body, and the first words were “To my dearest Lilly.” She followed up with how troublesome everything was going to be, and that while she didn’t fully believe the girl in the cell could have been capable, she’d seen worse. She noted that the witnesses and evidence would likely see the girl hanged, but the party wouldn’t have to wait until then for their reward.

The players spent quite a bit of time going back and forth about everything that had transpired. Every possibility came up from glamours to doppelgangers to evil twins. They found everything too convenient and didn’t want to believe such a frail and now broken girl could be some monstrous cultist or Bonewicce. They even floated the idea that her mother or grandmother could have been the real culprit(their names were also Lilly). I asked them what they planned to do, and the response was, “We don’t want to make enemies and break her out of jail.” They felt pretty bad about the entire thing and couldn’t shake the feeling something else was going on. Alas, they hoped the justice system would do its job well.

Rewards

4xp

128gp/ea