Twilight's Children

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Sunday, February 18th, BC 736
Stangengrad, Falkovnia

After bidding farewell to Suriana, the party briefly considers using Ludovic's magic to explore the Tower of Horns, but they all agree to leave instead, eager to leave Falkovnia for good.

On the road out of Stangengrad, and all the way back to Darkon, they pass throngs of Falkovnians heading into the city. Duffy's finally succumbs to curiosity and asks a passerby where they are going.

He is informed that Census Day is coming up soon, on March 1st. On that day, each Falkovnian must return to his place of birth to be counted, judged, and informed how they will serve the state for the next three years. Census Eve is celebrated with family, a time when old oaths are renewed, prior to the judgment.

Meanwhile, Ludovic has felt a slowly growing guilt about lying to the border guards, which has finally become so overpowering that he must say something. As they near the border checkpoint, he tells the others that he feels that they should turn themselves in and pay their weapon taxes.

The others try to disuade him, but he is adamant, refusing to fly their weapons over the border the way he did on their way in. He assures them that it won't be a problem, and that if they just follow the law, as good guests of Falkovnia, the guards will understand. The others deduce that the Talon bracers he is wearing are holding some magical sway over him, but he refuses to let them break his thumbs and remove them, seeing no need.

Very wary, and ready for Kerri to talk them out of a lot of trouble, the group relents and submits themselves to the border guard. At first, the guards are very suspicious of the discrepancies between the party's papers and their belongings, including Duffy's attempt to re-attach his peacebond on Ezra's Mercy. But then, a guard spots Ludovic's bracers. Mistaking him for a Talon, he starts referring to him as "sir." He asks a few questions, which Ludovic answers honestly, trying to be a good Falkovnian guest, but the guard misinterprets them, assuming Ludovic to be a Talon in disguise, on a secret mission. He points to Ludovic's hawk-less forehead and asks, "Is it magic?" Truthfully, Ludovic replies, "No." Confused, the guard checks with his superior. As the others ready for battle, the guard and superior speak in hushed tones, finally apologizing to Ludovic for the delay and sending the group peacefully on their way.

Their trip back to Creeana is uneventful. However, once they reach the town, near dusk, they see it is abandoned. Everything seems to be old, very old, as though somehow the buildings and stonework have sat here for decades, despite the fact that it was a bustling border town when last they passed through, three days earlier.

Ludovic feels despair and fear suffusing the place, and instinctively casts some protective warding spells on the party.

At first, they are worried that they might have jumped forward in time again, like their sojourn in Juste's theater. Another theory is that the Darkonian belief that the dead would one day reclaim the land from the living has come to pass. But the group visits the cemetery and learns that nothing has been buried there since 580. Duffy, exclaims, "But that's over a century ago, back before the First Schism!" He explains to Ludovic that this Schism was when Bastion Wachter left the church to write the second book of Ezra.

Strangely enough, their locked locker of belongings in Sivvy's safe deposit is undisturbed, although the building itself is crumbling and covered in cobwebs.

They are reassured a bit by the fact that their belongings are not as decayed as the town. But Kerri proposes a more disturbing theory: perhaps they never truly left Juste's play. Unable to settle the matter, they collect their possessions and bed down for the night in the woods outside of town.

Monday, February 19th, BC 736
Creeana, Darkon
After a spooky yet uneventful evening, they awake outside the abandoned town. Leif is overwhelmed by the feeling of ancientness that this forest exudes. They are very concerned about what became of the town, or what may have happened to themselves, but after a bit more searching, they find no clues to the mystery, and decide to follow the main road back into Nartok. Hopefully, at least that town will be as they left it.

On the road, Kukri smells someone up ahead. Ludovic flies ahead in bird form to check it out.

He reports back that he saw a thin halfling with a scraggly moustache, wearing a brace of pistols and leaning on a tree.

A heated discussion ensues as to what to do about this fellow. Duffy sees nothing to fear, while the others are very wary due to recent events. He asks, "Why are we suddenly afraid of talking to everyone?" To which Kerri responds, "Because suddenly we are in a play." Duffy counters, "Then we might as well play along." Leif brings up the possibility that he is a minion of Azalin, remembering the zombies that wanted to study Suriana.

Duffy asks Ludovic, "Does he look like he works for a necromancer?" Ludovic's uncertain "No" is enough for Duffy, and he rides boldly ahead to greet this fellow, while Leif and Kukri skirt around through the forest, and the others trial behind.

Duffy hails the halfling once he is in view, but is greeted by a drawn pistol, as the halfling demands that they "stand and deliver" their valuables or their life.

Duffy tries to reason with the halfling, but he signals to unseen allies, and a hail of arrows from the treeline strikes Duffy, wounding him greatly. Duffy hops off his horse and takes cover, as Leif stumbles across one of the bandits in the woods and attacks. Kerri whips at the halfling from horseback, as others of his gang emerge from the forest. Just when they think the bandits will be easily subdued, they are surprised to see each of them transform into assorted, hulking lycanthropic shapes. Ludovic tests out a new spell, calling forth a noxious vapor from the surrounding shadows.

The halfling and his two of his werewolf archers are caught in the cloud and begin retching. Kerri informs Duffy that werebears don’t like cold iron, at least if the tale of the "Hideous Manbear of Kantora" is true.

As he loads his cold iron bullets, Leif dispatches the werewolf in the woods. Ludovic shifts into bear form and grapples with the werebear, while the others attack it. Together, they kill three of them, two wolflike and one bearlike.

The halfling himself flees into the woods, retching from the vapors.

Leif pursues, but the wiry halfling knows the terrain too well and escapes. Duffy leaves him a note, reminding him to repent from his ways and travel to the Church of Ezra. He also adds two more monster teeth to his collection: werewolf and werebear, and collects some gold from the creatures' purses, as well as their bows, to sell. As Ludovic's cloud dissipates, he feels a strange sensation, as though someone is knocking. With mental effort, he strains against the feeling and doesn't allow whatever it is to come in. Kerri remembers seeing wanted posters on their way south, and checking one along the way, they confirm that the halfling matches the sketch of Galf Kloggin, the wanted bandit.

Early that evening, they near the fortress-like Nartok, and spot a farmer working his fields. They ask him what the date is, to eliminate the time travel hypothesis, and he confirms that it's the day and year they expect. They ask him what happened to Creeana, and he tells them it was destroyed years ago by a stranger known only as the Whistling Fiend, but Azalin took care of the problem, saving the rest of Darkon from the same fate.

He tells them that sometimes travelers see the ghosts of Creeana's townsfolk, but it seems that unlike most undead, they are harmless.

The farmer recommends the Veteran's Arms Inn, the same place they stayed on their way to Falkovnia, so they take his advice and arrange for rooms there, staying in town for three days to recuperate. Curious that they've seen no churches of Ezra in Darkon yet, Duffy asks a bit about the local religion. They learn that the state religion is the Eternal Order, whose priests try to placate the dead to prevent them from rising to take the land from the living. The church of Ezra has some following in Eastern Darkon, but it seems to be mistrusted in these parts for some reason. They also learn the folkloric history of Darkon, in which the spirit Darkonos stole the secret of Life from the hands of Death himself. And when Death slew him, the blood from Darkonos's wounds created the land of the living, carved from the Grey Realm of the Dead, who constantly seek to reclaim it.

Tuesday, February 20th, BC 736
Nartok, Darkon
Leif takes a look through the marketplace and finds a small toy that he thinks little Nikko would like. He buys it, hoping to cross paths with the little boy again one day.

Pushing through the crowded market, Leif bumps into Ludovic, who is oddly dressed in bright, flowing gypsy garb. When Leif asks him why he's dressed like that, he acts as though he doesn't know what Leif is talking about, nor even who Leif is. When Leif tries to get him to come back to the Inn to see the others, "Ludovic" runs, dodging through the bustling evening crowds, as Leif pursues, calling for him to wait. Leif corners him in an alley, but in a blink, his is simply gone, and Leif is left only with a slight headache.

He also notices later that his coin pouch is seven gold skulls lighter.

Returning to the Inn, he sees Ludovic, back in his normal dark clothes, and tells him the story of the brightly dressed gypsy that looked exactly like him. Ludovic simply replies, "Leif, not all half-vistani look the same, you know."

Thursday, February 22nd, BC 736
Nartok, Darkon
In the evening, a messenger arrives, looking for "Nikko Warrenani and Doctor Carpatello".

When Leif and Duffy identify themselves, the messenger asks if there is a lady traveling with them, and when introduced to Kerri, he hands over to her a strange batch of notes. Four are sealed in a wrapped package. The other one is sealed separately and inside is flower in full bloom. Leif recognizes that it's a flower that doesn't bloom this time of year. The flower confirms that Suriana sent the notes,

and the group quickly opens them to see what had to tell them, but for some reason couldn't say before they parted, four days ago.

After a long scrutiny of the notes, they think they have figured out the secret message within them: "mist not safe, alive, evil careful."

Duffy personally thinks the Soulstealer Dagger got to her, and they need to watch their backs if they meet up with her again. Worried about Suriana, Leif wonders where the messenger got the messages. But he is already gone. Leif tracks him down to the Season’s Turn, where says that a redheaded young girl gave them to him here in Nartok a few days ago, with descriptions of the group, and orders to give them to the lady traveling with Warrenani and Carpatello.

Friday, February 23rd, BC 736
Forest of Shadows, Darkon
Leaving Nartok, they head north to Il Aluk, stopping near evening at a roadside Inn near Rivalis. Inside, they are surprised to see two familiar faces; Dr. Van Richten and his band of associates, including Jerrard, are staying in the inn as well.

Happy to see a familiar face, Duffy approaches with an enthusiastic "Hi, Mr. Ritter!" Van Richten is very relieved to see them, having heard nothing of them since a glowing letter of thanks from Mrs. Tatenna, five years ago.

Seeing Samuel is not with them, he fears the worst, but Kerri informs him that Samuel left them in Port-a-Lucine, likely headed to Mordentshire to look for him. She also hands him the Feast of Goblyns book to fill him in on their travels.

Meanwhile, Jerrard steps out from behind the table to greet his friends with a hearty handshake, and it is only then that they notice that his left leg is missing from the knee down, replaced by a peg, and that he's lost two fingers on his left hand.

The doctor expresses his great relief that Samuel is well, especially given the rough times he and his friends have seen in the past five years. He tells them how his friend, Geddar Ironheart, the dwarf who ran the Traveler's Inn in Mordentshire, was killed, "Soon after you disappeared, a scoundrel died in Geddar’s common room with some stolen burial goods. Along with Bantu and Kevlin, we located the ancient tomb the dead man had raided, and the vengeful spirits of the place descended upon us. We succeeding in putting them to rest, but only after Geddar died in the attempt." During the tale, he gestures to Bantu, a handsome swashbuckler, and Kevlin, a cleric in blue robes, both members of his current entourage.

He also tells them of his assistant, Emil, a medical student who ran the herbalist shop for him when he was away. "He was intrigued by the subject of flesh golems, and sometimes accompanied me when I hunted those abominations. One night, we tracked a series of murders to the medical school Emil was attending, and discovered that a professor whom he had admired was actually a killer who was building a flesh golem. Worse, when we came face to face with the mad professor’s creation, its head was that of a close friend of Emil’s who had vanished some months back. Unable to handle the shock, he fled, and later perished when the deranged scientist’s lab was destroyed in flames during the ensuing battle."

And perhaps most tragically, he tells the tale of Shauten, "just last year, I was forced to slay a dear friend with my own hands: Shauten, a wizard who had always been a stalwart at my side against the creatures of darkness. He was seduced by the call of power. He chose to trade his soul for eternal life, or at least a mockery thereof. I nearly became the final blood sacrifice in his quest to become a loathsome creature known as a lich. Ironically, many years ago, Shauten was the one who first opened my eyes to the existence of such creatures, and in his more innocent days, was adamant that they be destroyed. In self-defense, I slew my friend..."

This sad tale led into a discussion of the nature of the lich, "a wizard who, having attained all the power a mortal lifespan can afford, transforms himself into an undead. His body shrivels and dies, but remains animated by magic, and the wizard’s mind and spellcasting power remain intact. An object called a phylactery holds his spirit. The phylactery can take many forms, but is always protected by magic. A lich can never be truly killed until the phylactery is destroyed, otherwise, within a week, its spirit will animate a nearby body, which will eventually take on the appearance of the lich’s original rotted corpse."

The party notices the similarities to the creature known as Severed Hand that they faced in the Lamordian mountains, and relates their experience to the doctor, hoping for more insight on the creature and what it was doing with the Soulstealer dagger. The doctor listens intently and tells them another tale,

"Many years ago, soon after I first learned of liches, a former classmate of mine, Dr. Harmon Ruscheider, became fascinated with the subject. He attempted to study and observe an Invidian lich, but his stealth was insufficient to hide from the lich’s keen observation for long. For reasons I cannot guess, the lich did not kill him, but captured him, and tortured him for seven months before he was able to escape. He came straight to see me, in the dark of night. The poor man was teetering on the brink of sanity, desperate to impart upon me the knowledge he’d gained before his faculties left him for good. Most of what I know of liches comes from his frantic ramblings of that night. When he had exhausted himself of both strength and information, with the sun emerging over the horizon, he died in my arms...

Of the many things I learned from Harmon that night, two seem relevant to your situation. One: though a lich is nearly immortal, it must perform what I have dubbed a power ritual, roughly once per century, to renew the arcane powers that sustain its magical existence. This ritual involves a human sacrifice, whose heart is burnt into a magical dust that must be sprinkled upon the lich’s body. Two: During his captivity, Dr. Ruscheider observed the creation of a creature that I have since heard called a vassalich. A wizard, seeking lichdom, but unable to complete the transformation himself, seeks the sponsorship of a full lich. The wizard undergoes a horrific ritual involving drinking the unholy ichor that flows in a lich’s veins. When it is complete, the resulting vassalich is weaker than a self-made lich, but similar in most aspects, including a phylactery that is always in the form of a flawless gemstone. The vassal is bound to his master, both mystically, and through a sort of blackmail. The master lich keeps the phylactery of his minion, as the ultimate leverage. If a vassalich were to somehow break free from its master, it would surely attempt to attain true lichdom. The ritual you interrupted seems too complicated for a power ritual, but perhaps the lich you faced was actually a vassalich, attempting to break the shackles that bind him to his master."

At this point the party tries to surreptitiously mention Azalin Rex's involvement with Severed Hand. The doctor turns to a fiesty young lady, whose wounded arm is being mended by Kevlin, and says, "Antalya, some privacy please." Antalya obliges by casting what Ludovic recognizes as a privacy spell of the illusion school.

(Leif notices that Antalya and Van Richten's other friends call him Rudolph.) With the spell in place, the doctor continues, "I dare not go in to further detail here, but I have my own suspicions that Wizard-King Azalin is himself a lich. In any case, there is no doubt he is a powerful mage, and I strongly advise you to stay well clear of him and his minions. His spies can be anywhere, I will say no more."

After sharing his woes with the group, he asks them further about their recent adventures. The group gives him a brief recap, even going so far as to show him the "skull-scratcher" and bizarre candle-hand found in Severed Hand's lair.

Duffy is quite happy that they were able to avoid bringing up their old friend Vir, whose head remains safely in Duffy's satchel. Kerri also shows him the copy of Van Richten's Guide to Vampires that Samuel found, and asks him if he really wrote it. He confirms it, explaining that, "The 'near-miss' with Shauten reminded me that my death is just as inevitable as any other. When I am gone, evil will remain, and others will have to take up the battle. It occurred to me then, that I have accrued extremely specialized experience that too many others have died pursuing. I have started to record my collected knowledge, and that of my associates, in a series of guides, so that those who will follow will not stumble in ignorance as I once did... I have already published the guide to vampires that you've found. And I have just finished a guide to ghosts, which has been sent to the printer. I’ve been trying to find time to compile my notes for the next volume, but there are many that need my help now."

When the group informs the Doctor that they are headed to Viaki, to meet with Goodman Ramien, he is quite pleased with this unexpected bit of good news. The Doctor had received a letter, from an acquaintance in Viaki, requesting his help with a missing persons case. He had hoped to go himself, but he and his accomplices have been hunting "The Golem of the Fens" for several days now, leading to their current battered state.

A clay golem has been stalking the area just south of town in the fens between the lakes, but it eluded them. Several of them were greatly injured. Antalya, the mage, used her fire spells to make the creature brittle, allowing them to damage it, and a blow from Porren’s greatsword shattered it. (Van Richten points to a muscular swordsman in their group as he mentions Porren).

But when the clay began to soften and reform, they retreated to plan anew. They believe they are close to finding a way to destroy the creature, and are loathe to leave the job undone. So he asks Duffy, Kerri, Ludovic, and Leif if they wouldn't mind investigating while they are in Viaki. They agree, and he gives them the letter:

Suddenly, a sparrow slams into the inn's window, rattling the glass. Several of Van Richten's compatriots exclaim happily what seems to be a name, "Alannthir!" The sparrow has a broken wing, and when Antalya opens the window to let the bird in, Kerri quickly sets and heals the wing. The bird happily flies outside, and in the cover behind the inn, shifts into the form of a half-elf, clad in forest colored leathers, who walks around to the front door of the inn, and joins the group in the common room, thanking Kerri for her aid.

Alannthir explains to his relieved friends how he narrowly escaped the Golem.

During the conversation, Duffy is intrigued when Kevlin, the healer among them speaks of a strange god, named Procan, who governs the oceans. He asks him a bit about his deity, but the odd man speaks of a third sea, in a land beyond the mists.

Before retiring for the evening, Kerri warns Van Richten about Cynthia, telling him the story of what became of Baron Metus and his bride. Van Richten is distraught to hear that his most hated enemy survived his vengeance, and that his failure to destroy the Baron caused such further hardship. He wishes that Cynthia had found him in Mordent all those years ago, so that he could have confronted her and Metus's spirit, saving others from the evil of the twisted couple, even if it meant his own death. He considers abandoning his public persona of Dr. Ritter, so that those who need him, and even those who wish him harm, can find him more easily.

Duffy cautions against this, since there is often safety in being someone else for a time. Although Van Richten agrees there is truth to Duffy's words, he adds, "But, is the cost of that safety too dear?"

The party heads to their rooms for the night and Leif orders a hot bath from the innkeeper.

That night, Ludovic dreams.

Duffy awakes to see Ludovic flailing in bed, screaming. When Duffy wakes him from his nightmare, a strange blob of gray fluid pours out of Ludovic’s head, and in a blur, resolves itself into a shape that is human-like, but completely featureless. Its skin is the color of ash, with the smoothness of liquid. The hint of many different shapes can be seen moving beneath its skin, as it races out the door. As Duffy and Ludovic pursue the entity, it extends its hand into the lock of Kerri and Leif's room, easily picking the lock with its semisolid pseudopods.

With Leif watching on in groggy horror, it dives into the head of the peacefully sleeping Kerri. In Kerri's dream of a peaceful day at the shop back in Blackburn's Crossing, the gray humanoid flings forth from the wall. It looks around for a moment and then shifts shape into Kerri's grandmother. "Grandmother" tries to act normal, asking Kerri what's the matter, but the sheer wrongness of what she has just seen startles her into waking. The party quickly wakes Dr. Van Richten, who examines Ludovic and Kerri but finds nothing wrong with them. He tells them a bit about the land of dreams. He guesses that perhaps they somehow brought back a creature of that strange place. He recommends they seek his friend Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, of Nova Vaasa, an expert on such matters.

Saturday, February 24rd, BC 736
Roadside Inn, near Rivalis, Darkon
In the morning, they leave the Inn, bidding farewell to Dr. Van Richten and his group. Duffy promises to have a better ‘leg’ for Jerrard when they get back from Nidala. Van Richten gives them a manuscript copy of his soon to be published Guide to Ghosts.

Kerri pulls the doctor aside and confides in him secretly that she thinks Azalin may still have her father captive.

She is torn between continuing with her friends and striking off alone to free him. Van Richten cautions her that doing so would be a suicide mission. She knows that to be true, but she feels that she must try, no matter the odds, if there's a chance to save him. She just can't tell her friends, because she knows that they would either try to stop her, or else try to accompany her and face the same fate.

Sunday, February 25th, BC 736
Nartok, Darkon
They travel toward Viaki to help Constable Throop and meet with Goodman Ramien. They reach Il Aluk midday, but don't stay in the city for long. They take note of a few of the sights they pass by, among the cramped and narrow streets of Aluk Meridian (Old Il Aluk). Their path through the Old City takes them past the Temple of Eternal Penitence, the University grounds, and the riverfront port. Many of the beautiful stone buildings are marred by black scorch marks.

Tuesday, February 27th, BC 736
The Boglands, Darkon
Nearing Viaki, they notice that the land is getting more boggy as the forest gives way to rolling hills and then wetlands. Around midday, they pass a spur in the road that leads north.

Soon afterwards, the town of Viaki sprawls out before them: miles of sod and thatch huts and small cottages built nearly up to the edge of the swamp, with larger, sturdier manor homes on the higher ground in the distance.

On the outskirts of town, an old peasant woman starts to run happily toward the group, but as she nears, she looks directly at Duffy, and then sadly turns around. When questioned, she explains that she mistook Duffy for her son, Zevol, who is one of the townsfolk who disappeared. They promise to investigate after checking in with Constable Throop. She tells them Zevol's house is the last house on Cutter Street. They bid her farewell and head to the Constable Post in the center of town.

There they meet Chief Constable Jinny Cingulo, who is helpful at first, but after a few moments she starts to stare oddly at Ludovic, then looks past him at the far wall, and then pulls a crossbow from beneath her counter and commands him to freeze! Ludovic tries to comply peacefully, claiming that it must be some mistake. As the Constable pulls on a bell to call for backup, the party notices that behind Ludovic's shoulder, on the wall at which Cingulo was staring is a wanted poster, with a sketch bearing an uncanny resemblance to Ludovic.

Ludovic protests that he isn't this "Thinker," and as proof, he doesn't have the tattoo mentioned in the description. As the other constables trickle in with weapons drawn, Chief Cingulo checks Ludovic's chest for the panther tattoo. Seeing none, she instructs him to wait as she brings out a locked box from a cabinet. She pulls an ornate wand from the box and points it at him, invoking a spell that Ludovic recognizes as a spell to cancel magical effects.

Satisfied that he isn't hiding the tattoo with an illusion, the Chief calls off her men. They discuss "The Thinker" for a bit, but when both Ludovic and Cingulo are satisfied that each of them doesn't know much more about him than the other, she grants his request for a letter of protection marked with her seal to vouch for his innocence.

The group then asks for Constable Throop, but Cingulo sadly informs them that Throop died last week. While searching the swamps, his torch caught on some emanations from the marsh and he was killed in the explosion. Cingulo dismisses Throop's suspicions, saying that he was a good officer, but often saw patterns where there were none. She thinks the disappearances are simply the work of the creatures of the creatures of Stagnus Lake. They seem to have a preference for land-bound prey. The constables are always watchful, but sometimes the creatures are able to slip into the outskirts of town to feed and back out before they can catch them.

Seeing that the constables aren't going to help much, they leave to investigate on their own. The center of town apparently has many amusement houses set up to relieve travelers of their excess coin. Ludovic is curious about the so-called Vistani Tea House. Inside, he sees several women dressed as gypsies reading palms, gazing into crystals and the like. He tries to speak to them in patterna but their clueless response confirms that these fortune-tellers are no true vistani. As they start to leave, a wild-eyed woman emerges from a curtain at the rear of the room, pointing at the group, and shouting, "headless and helpless before the throne, a stolen death not your own!" The other "vistani" try to hush this woman, Isha, and pull her roughly into the room behind the curtain, apologizing profusely for the disturbance.

Leaving the tourist trap behind, they begin their investigation in the afternoon, by meeting Zevol's mother on Cutter St. From his wife, Ondyne, they learn that Zevol brought his sheep to graze in a field south-east of Viaki last week, and never returned. Ondyne found the flock wandering and brought them back herself. She shows them where she found the sheep and Leif finds some tracks that lead toward the northern part of town, where the wealthy locals live on the higher ground away from the swamp. Unfortunately, the tracks are trampled in the muddy streets and Leif can't pinpoint their destination. Back at Zevol's house, Ondyne's friend Reva bursts in, tearfully relating that her husband Karl, the woodsman, never came home last night after going to work the woods south of town. Gathering information around town, the group learns that in addition to Zevol last week and Karl last night, the disappearing townsfolk include:

• Colonel Brassica, head of Baron Mulciber Slean’s personal guard, a few weeks ago.
• Lady Vix, a widowed noblewoman in her sixties, fourth in line for the throne of Darkon, whom no one has seen since last Monday
• Viridis, alleged head of the fledgling local thieves guild, who hasn't been seen in three weeks
• Professor Salicina, retired from the Brautslava Insitute, a gnomish arcanist

It seems that everyone they speak with knows of someone who has gone missing in the last few weeks, so the full list is likely even longer.

They stop at the Manticore's Tongue Inn to check in and drop off their baggage.

Leif notices a piece of paper fall from Kerri's bag, and without reading it, stuff it back in.

At the constable post, they learn that Constable Billius was out with Throop the night he died. They arrange to meet with Billius when he returns from patrol. Heading back to Karl’s house, they search his backyard, see his axe is still there. Reva finds it odd that he would go to the woods without his axe. But Duffy notices that the axe blade has flecks of blood on it, and Leif finds some tracks that lead behind the woodpile, where they find a huge puddle of dried blood. They keep Reva from seeing the blood and sadly tell her that her husband is likely dead, but they promise to find out who killed him and why. Leif suddenly has an idea and stops back at Zevol's to question the only eyewitnesses to his disappearance: the sheep.

They tell him that Zevol was killed by "a Lady in blaaaaaaack," and a big man, who "put him in a saaaaaaack."

The next stop is Lady Vix’s manor house, where they question the butler, Varadan.

Varadan tells them that a dark-haired lady in a dark dress came calling on Lady Vix, to invite her to Azalin's annual masquerade ball. He still has her calling card, which has only the name Tareen.

The next morning, when Varadan went to wake Lady Vix, she was gone.

Back at the inn, Ludovic sees strange swirling faces in the water, that no one else can see.

He warns the others not to drink, and Kerri asks him if he's sure he's not hallucinating. Ludovic asks Taige if he sees the faces and Taige confirms it. When Ludovic tells Kerri this, she asks, "So you know you're not crazy because the voice in your head tells you he sees the same thing that no one else sees?" To be safe, they ask the innkeeper where he gets his water, and head out back to check the well. Kerri places a torch in the empty bucket and slowly lowers the light down. As the bucket reaches the waterline, a pale hand reaches up from the water, grabs the torch and snuffs it by pulling it under. Kerri and Ludovic are horrified and run screaming back to the safety of the inn. Duffy takes a scary water sample.

Back inside, Duffy and Ludovic head to bed, but Leif stays in the common room with Kerri while she recovers. Leif overhears a conversation between two women, outside the window in the alleyway. A tall lady, dressed in black, is arguing with a short woman, perhaps a dwarf.

The short woman whispers fiercely, "Viaki is my territory, Tavelia, shouldn’t you be back in Martira Bay praying or something?"

The other replies, "Funny, Chole told me the same thing. But I assure you; I am here with the highest of authority.

You can ask the master yourself, if you dare. Besides, Lord Valric may be on assignment, but this is his town and he reports to me.

Mind your own tasks back in the Mountains, Beryl, and leave this one to the grown-ups." With that, the shorter woman turns in a huff and is seemingly swallowed by the ground. The taller woman strides off, smiling.

Leif runs out to chase her, but she is gone. Examining the cobblestone where the short woman disappeared, he sees nothing out of place. Returning inside, he relates the story to the others. Duffy thinks the taller woman out there was the one that the sheep were talking about, and the others agree.

Wednesday, February 28th, BC 736
Viaki, Darkon
In the morning, they show the inn's chef the hand in the well, and move into the Clearwater Inn, down the street. True to the Inn's name, there are no screaming faces in the water there.

The party stops at the Museum of Grotesques across from the inn. On the way in, they are surprised to bump into Professor Pacali. He apparently runs the Museum in addition to his job with the Carnival, and mentions that he was just dropping off some specimens.

The professor is in a hurry to leave, to meet the rest of the Carnival in Nova Vaasa, but he passes them off to a tour guide for a full tour of the monstrosities found in the swamp. The tour includes a "werewolf head" with visible seams holding the fur together, and other dubious exhibits, including a few of Pacali's famous Pickled Punks. Kerri convinces the tour guide to give them a tour of the "offices," thinking that if there is any incriminating evidence, it would be there. But alas, the office is just a messy office.

With the news that Valric has connections in Viaki, they ask around and find that Reeve Valric keeps a manor house in town. They seal the old letter they found on Valric, just in case they need a reason to be there, and investigate. When no one answers the door, they sneak around back and break into Valric’s house. They find that the house is in disrepair, thick with dust and cobwebs. In a desk, they find that the latest correspondence to the Reeve is dated ten years ago. In the bedroom, they find an elaborate coffin, and just in case, they consecrate it with holy water.

They head to the residence of Baron Slean, where they interview the Baron himself.

Baron Slean is an old man, and he says that he has had his followers searching for Colonel Brassica as well. He allows them to search the premises, and Leif is only able to find a strand of straw-colored hair and some large, worn footprints that might match those near Zevol's disappearance. Back at the Manticore's Tongue Inn, they see a group of Constables gathered around the well, where they have hauled up an undead creature and dispatched it.

They realize at this point that they have completely forgotten about their agreement with the Constable Billius, to meet for a tour of the bogs.

They catch up with him, and go to bogs. But Billius can't find the exact spot where the explosion happened, only approximate. It seems like he's hiding something, but they can't seem to get any more out of him.

Thursday, March 1st, BC 736
Viaki, Darkon

In the wee hours of the morning, Ludovic hears some commotion in the street, the sounds of a struggle. Duffy jumps out the window to check out what's going on, landing in a compost heap.

Ludovic goes to wake up the others, and they rush out the front door of the Inn and around to the alley in the back. Meanwhile Duffy creeps stealthily ahead and sees a strange man spreading some sort of goo from a jar on the severed neck and head of a dead man.

As Duffy creeps closer, Leif is the first of the others on the scene. Though he tries to hide, the stranger spots him, looks into his eyes and says in a strange, distorted voice, "You see nothing."

Leif replies, "You feel nothing," as he pummels the man with his staff. The man drains some of Leif's life-force with a touch before bounding away into the shadows. Duffy's new "flaming" gun succeeds in burning the man, while the actual metal of the bullet simply bounces off.

He is also able to deflect one of Duffy's bullets with his hand, a very interesting ability.

A fierce battle ensues, as the man springs in and out of the darkness, and dozens of rats emerge from all sides.

Kerri shrieks, blasting the rats away with the power of her voice.

During the battle, she glimpses fangs and alerts the group that the man is a vampire. Though severely weakened, they eventually manage to slay the creature, taking him by surprise before he is able to flee in gaseous form.

After the standard staking and decapitation, they search the body and find no clues other than the jar of goo, and the fact that he wears no chains at all, which leads them to believe he is not from Darkon.

However on the victim's body, they find a scrap of gray burlap clutched in his hand. Kukri indicates that the scent of the burlap leads toward the jail.

Before they can follow the trail further, a group of constables arrive. Caught "red-handed" with two decapitated bodies, they have to do some quick talking to avoid being arrested, but primarily tell the truth. The constables are skeptical that the foreign man is a vampire, but they are willing to test the theory. They ask the group to wait in the inn until sunup; if the vampire burns in the sun, they will be exonerated and thanked. If not, they are under arrest. In the morning, they wait for the constables to come but they never do. Venturing carefully out of the inn, they see that all evidence of the battle is gone from the alley: No blood, no bodies, no dead rats. Suspicion begins to pile up as they realize the "constables" last night never showed any badges or chains of office, and that none of the party recognized any of those individual constables from their previous encounters.

The group decides to go to see Goodman Ramien, whom the locals regard as an eccentric.

Ludovic knocks at the door, and Ramien first greets him, then unexpectedly greets Taige as well.

Ramien invites everyone in, and acts as though Ludovic has come for an exorcism. Ludovic explains that he is actually there to learn about the Stygians, but would be happy to set Taige to rest if Ramien can help. Ramien explains that he is a sort of minister to the dead. His calling is to guide them across the River Styx to the hereafter. "We are a loose organization, if one can even call us that. Legends say we were once numerous, but now only a few remain. How appropriate that our society should become a ghost of its former self, eh? The Stygians were once divided into Attendants, Shepherds (leaders), and Seekers (hunters of malevolent ghosts). Now, I would be hard-pressed to name another of the order that still lives. I have not heard from any in many years."

Turning to the matter at hand, he goes to a shelf, with several flasks that rattle and shake as he nears.

He explains that he keeps spirits safely in these jars until he can find a means to set them to rest. Leif asks what he does if the ghost requires some evil deed to set it to rest. Ramien explains that in that case, he keeps the spirit locked away indefinitely, and counsels the spirit, as one might counsel a living victim of madness, hoping to change the ghost's disposition to one that can more easily be accommodated. It seems sort of cruel to Duffy, to trap the ghosts like this, but some of them are pretty evil, so he supposes it's a necessary cruelty. An empty flask floats over to Ramien at a gesture, and Ludovic can see wisps of spirit holding it up in the air.

Ramien then tries to exorcise Taige, but the stubborn geist won't leave. Ramien explains that Ludovic is not simply possessed, but Haunted; he's stuck with Taige until he can be put to rest. Taige claims he won't rest until Invidia is under a strong ruler. Ramien tells them King Malocchio is still consolodating his rule, but Taige may get his wish soon, unfortunately for the Invidians.

Ludovic asks if he might come back and study with Ramien sometime and Ramien agrees.

The group heads to the constable post to get to the bottom of their suspicions. After accusing the head constable of being a vampire, Kerri looks into her mirror, and Constable Cingulo turns out to be normal. After apologizing for the mixup, they explain the evidence they have found that points to the constabulary being involved in some sort of vampire conspiracy to abduct and behead citizens of Viaki.

Meanwhile, Kukri indicates that the scent from the alley victim leads to the rear door of the constable post, the entrance to the town jail.

Cingulo is not completely convinced, but allows them to check the inmates. They notice that all the inmates wear gray burlap. Kukri sniffs the trail all the way to the last cell, which contains a murderer, Carnis Wert. They are quick to notice and point out his straw-colored hair, and a missing piece torn from his clothes. Cingulo approaches the cell to interrogate Wert, as the group readies to attack him if he tries anything rash.

Just as they expected, he does, lashing out with a concealed garrotte, strangling the lady constable up against the bars of his cell.

Kerri knocks the wire out of the hands of the convict with her whip, and by the time the others are through with their prepared reactions, the man lies unconscious on the floor of his cell. They search him, and find that his boots are muddy, and caught in the sole is a small white flower which Leif's never seen before but Kerri recognizes as a wraithroot flower. She says that it glows in moonlight, and is mostly used to mark paths in cemeteries, though some people use it to brew as tea.

They also find some bruises that they didn't make, including two prominent ones on his neck: a vampiric wound.

Constable Cingulo is shocked, and demands answers from her men as to why a prisoner who was supposed to be in jail has muddy shoes and a concealed weapon. She calls all the constables in the post in for inspection, one at a time, and several of them have the same bite marks on their neck. Each of the dominated constables is imprisoned by those deemed secure. Kerri volunteers to interrogate the constable who was on guard duty last night, brewing up some tea spiked with Forfaran catstongue root to make sure he answers truthfully.

As expected, he is one of the constables with bitemarks on his neck. The guard reveals some very interesting details about last night. "The Mistress" came in while he was the only one on duty. "The Mistress" has black hair, and her name is Tavelia. She told him to let Wert free, so he could kill two people for her. Wert left with Tavelia and came back later, after leaving the bodies with her. Tavelia put the two heads in a sack.

She comes every few days to do the same thing.

Thankful for their help, and short-staffed due to the dominated constables, Constable Cingulo deputizes Duffy, Leif, Ludovic, and Kerri temporarily, giving them authority to find this Tavelia and stop her. They rouse Wert and interrogate him, but only find out that he's happy to get out and kill whenever Tavelia requires it, and that, as they suspected, he drops off the bodies near the cemetery.

By mid-afternoon, it's clear they need to check out the cemetery.

It is huge and ornate, on the north side of town, with wraithroot flowers lining the paths. When they enter, they see Ramien, bent over apparently nothing. Ludovic informs them that Ramien is looking at a very large ghostly owl, laying on the ground, seemingly dead. (More so than most ghosts.) Ramien explains that the creature is the "grim" of the cemetery, a Guardian spirit, set to protect an area from evil.

"The spirit of the first creature buried in a new cemetery always becomes a Grim. Those who know this usually use a dog for the purpose, to spare any human from being trapped so. The Grim can take the form of a great dog, or an owl, each day it may change form once, and it is only visible when darkness falls. It is a powerful force of good. For something to kill it... a great evil must have happened here." Together, they help Ramien dig a grave for the creature, and he gently lowers it in, saying, "Be at peace, little one, you have served well."

While they were digging, they began to notice strange glowing lights on the graves. Ramien explains that they are gravelights, that they can be found anywhere in Darkon above the spot where a body is buried. The glow appears before a storm; in about six to twelve hours, a storm is coming. He also tells them that the vespillo, or undertaker, is a very prestigious position in Darkon, and that if anything unusual is going on at the cemetery, the vespillo should be informed.

The group assures him that they will visit the undertaker personally as soon as they are finished here.

After the grim's funeral is complete, Ramien leaves to check his personal library to see what could have killed the grim. The others stay to search the graveyard.

As they are searching, an undead creature emerges from the Kronus family crypt, casts a spell of some sort and then collapses.

The earth begins to rumble beneath their feet, and then a weird creature rises up out of the ground: a huge roughly human shape formed of dirt, bones, and shattered gravestones. The corpse that summoned it hangs limply, embedded in its bulk.

A fierce battle ensues, during which bony rotting limbs spring up and pull Leif into the ground, slowly sinking him into the earth.

He is buried up to his shoulders when the others finally destroy the monster.

They quickly dig Leif out and inspect the remains of the shattered Kronus crypt. It seems that three or four bodies are missing from the crypt. Looking over a steep ridge at the rear of the cemetery, they see that many of the graves are missing their gravelights. Clearly, not only the living citizens of Viaki are going missing.

Clearly, a visit the undertaker's manor house is in order. They reach the house near nightfall

and are greeted by a tall, thin elven butler in a black suit, named Quarion.

At first he assumes they have come to report a death and offers his assistance, but they explain that they need to speak directly to vespillo. Quarion tells them the vespillo is not accepting visitors right now. He asks if they would care to leave a calling card, and they will be contacted later. When they insist that the matter is urgent, he invites them into the parlor to have a seat.

He calls to another butler, Rurric the dwarf, and tells him they insist on seeing the vespillo.

Rurric instantly understands the message, and the two butlers shift into the monstrous forms of a weresnake and werebadger and attack. Kukri attacks surprisingly well and takes down the snake almost single handedly.

Rurric, the badger, bites Kerri and Ludovic before getting taken down.

Duffy takes teeth from both the half-snake and the half-badger. He also collects Quarion's rapier and its scabbard, which Ludovic says is magical.

Kerri thinks that the undertaker is dead, so when they insisted on seeing him, they attacked to silence them.

They explore the manor and in an office, they find a letter to Officer Tavelia from Azalin Rex. The letter says that all the test subjects she has sent have proven too weak. The quality must be improved, and he is enclosing an enchanted gem to help her, which will glow green when directed at a subject whose lifeforce is strong enough to withstand the experiment.

They also note that all the extensive burial records end three weeks ago.

Since getting confirmation that Azalin is behind everything, Kerri has become increasingly angry and uncharacteristically bold, pressing forward, looking for someone, or something, to vent her anger upon. After long internal debate of whether to leave the group and find her father, she finally has a direct way of striking at Azalin, by putting an end to his evil scheme here and now, and she's not in the mood to waste time. In the next room, they find a closed casket. With weapons and stakes at the ready, they fling the coffin open and see Tavelia at rest, with her arms crossed. Kerri quickly and violently stakes her, but Ludovic points out that the body is radiating necromantic and illusion magic.

Looking more carefully, they are able to pierce the illusion, and see that it's not Tavelia at all. But to be safe, they decapitate the body, in case it's another vampire.

Having searched nearly the whole mansion, all that remains is a heavy iron door at the rear, which seems like it must lead to the undertaker's workshop. Kerri stalks over and hauls the door open...

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