Tide of Shadows

[Academia Nut]

Eight's close examination of the bodies revealed... nothing. There were no valuables on them, and no noticeable wounds, just a sort of general sort of whithering of the muscles in some places that may or may not have been caused by the decay and rot the bodies had suffered.

They had just... died.

[LadyTevar]

"Yes Father Bartel?" the paladin answered, looking up and over at him.

[Charon]

Eight poked at the bodies for a little while longer before he got up and walked back to where the others were, the construct was silent as it watched Bartel work on the corpse of the priest.

[Rogue 9]

"I only get three questions out of the ritual," Bartel said to the paladin. "What do you think I should ask?"

[LadyTevar]

Ceridwen frowned slightly, thinking hard. "What killed the townsfolk is the obvious one." She looked back to Volemack, with a slight look of worry. "Volemack said it felt like 'something had been put inside' his mind. Perhaps you should ask him what he is seeing, and judge your questions from there."

She did not suggest asking Fehl, because she was hoping Volemack's true nature had protected him better from the allip's touch. She was not sure, however. "Either way, I have a feeling we may need a priest of one of our orders to restore them both to their wits upon our return."

[Rogue 9]

"No doubt," Bartel said sourly. "The ritual will take some time, and I can't interrupt it. The rest of you will need to keep an eye out once I start with it." He turned to Volemack. "Young master, what are these visions your knight speaks of?"

[SirNitram]

"A.. Face. A human face. Shadows? And that urge to jump. I don't understand it." Volemack was under the vague suspicion it'd all make so much more sense if he was human. They would probably understand all of the wierd little nuances. He really wanted to curl up and nibble on some silver ore.

[LadyTevar]

"A human face in shadows?" Ceridwen asked, trying to clarify what he was saying.

[SirNitram]

"Yea. I dunno why. It didn't make any sense." At least Auntie Ceridwen would understand what he meant there.

[Rogue 9]

"So a face in the shadows and the urge to jump. And he hanged himself." Bartel pondered this for a moment. "I have to wonder. We Billets are charged with protecting our communities with our lives. Something powerful indeed must have been at work to make him abandon that duty and kill himself rather than stand to his last breath." He looked again to Volemack. "Did the face in the shadows say anything?"

[Charon]

Eight watched them for a few more moments then looked back up around the town. "Not all you things are so stalwart in their ministries, priest. Whatever did this probably broke that one before the others were dead."

[Rogue 9]

"Or after. In any case, unless the face in the shadows said something, there's not much I can make of the vision. Keep a sharp eye." With that, he held his holy symbol over the corpse and began a low chant.

Ten minutes later, he stopped. "All right, the corpse will answer my questions for the next few minutes. I suppose first thing's first." He addressed the dead body. "Brother, what killed the people of your town?"

[Academia Nut]

The corpse creaked and moaned for a moment as the lungs inflated with the air needed to pass words across its lips before it said in a broken, raspy manner, "The town yet lives, the town yet lives. He said the town would live. The town yet lives."

[Rogue 9]

"Hmmmmm." Bartel knew he'd have to be careful with the next one. The corpse wouldn't remember the last question, so he couldn't follow directly from it. "I could ask who said the town would live, but that could have been any number of people if taken literally," he said with frustration. "I need more details than I have." He looked at Volemack again. "Young squire, it's vitally important. In your vision, were there any words, or just the feeling that you should jump?"

[SirNitram]

"I told you! It said jump, and you will save them." Volemack said simply. The little dragon was getting worn out by this. None of it made sense, and what did the humans think? It would make sense if he kept repeating it?

[Rogue 9]

"Right," Bartel said before turning back to the corpse. So it had been spoken, not a feeling. And the speaker had convinced his fellow priest that killing himself would save the town. No wonder he'd done it.

No use making bones about the confusion now. He addressed the corpse in the ritual's measured tone. "Brother, who told you the town would live if you jumped?"

[Academia Nut]

The body rattled again and then said, "The stranger! The stranger! He of the shadows, the one without a name. He came to me, spoke to me. His words made so much sense... so much sense. He told me St. Cuthbert was angry with me... that the town was being punished because of me. So much sense. Told me a sacrifice was needed, that the town would be saved. He told me. He made so much sense. The stranger. No name."

[LadyTevar]

"Poor boy... he believed him," Ceridwen said softly, so not to disrupt the spell. "What was happening to the town that it needed saved by a sacrifice?"

[Charon]

"So we've got someone who's strong enough to mess with the mind of one of you fanatical fleshies. That's just fantastic." The construct turned to Fehl. "Remind me to request a hell of a lot more money for this crap when we get back to town." The construct looked back at the cleric then. "And whoever it was was smart enough to know people would come looking, didn't leave any easy way of identification. We should find out when this stranger arrived, maybe where he stayed."

[Rogue 9]

"The Saint doesn't demand sacrifices; any lay follower knows this," Bartel growled. "There's sorcery at work, as though we didn't know that already." He turned to the others. "Well, I have one more question, and several minutes left to ask it. The ritual's not going anywhere. Any ideas?"

[LadyTevar]

"The... golem," Ceridwen put a heavily sarcastic tone to the word as she glanced up at Eight, "has a point. This stranger may have come to the village before, and he may be the reason the village was seen to be cursed."

[Rogue 9]

Bartel sighed. "Here goes nothing." He addressed the corpse again. "When did the stranger who told you Saint Cuthbert was angry with you arrive in Blackdell?"

[Academia Nut]

The corpse inhaled deeply and said, "A day? Two? The passage of time... I do not remember. Once he started talking, time fell away. The new well, he arrived after that. After the well."

As the corpse settled down, the spell expiring with the last question asked, there was a small, high pitched feminine squeak of fright from across the street, hiding in the shadows.

[LadyTevar]

"No one move." Ceridwen ordered. "The first ghost is back."

[Charon]

Eight froze up for a few seconds at the sound of the squeak. "Lovely. One of you fleshbags go deal with it. Maybe I'll go see if I can find that well the dead man talked about, or if this was the only mass killing place."