2025/07/18: Animus Hunt in Northern Alvidar Part 2

Buzz, Kelsey, Knight, Malakai, Nimbus, Everett, Othar, Union   Kelsey, Union, and Everett showed up. While the former two flew in, Everett arrived as a caravan guard for a bunch of wagons. Everett wanted to buy and sell potion materials, and he was talking shop with the caravan merchant.   Every building in Blotch looks like it was built as a miniature fort.   Everett had heard there was trouble in this town. Seeing the patrols, he decided he should head to the center of the town. Found Knight and Nimbus. Knight was still putting himself together. Still down about 10-15 percent. Turns out Knight has an antimagic field now, or anti-divine, or something. Everett kept losing the heal spell he was trying to cast if he got within 3 feet of Knight. Healing potion did work, though. (Knight ate it whole and then spat the perfectly clean bottle back out and handed it to Everett. "You are a very unusual being, aren't you." No response from Knight.) Nimbus kindly asked if Knight was feeling better and apologized for him having to go through that. Knight gave her a little, friendlier nod and straightened up a bit.   Kelsey tried punching the wall in the guard post a bit. Despite her Creation-granted striking ability, it didn't seem to be doing any damage.   Othar tried to cut through enchantments to damage it, but it didn't do anything, and Saveon said it felt... odd. She wasn't even biting into it at all.   Malakai suggested the wall was partly dimensionally displaced. But he doesn't know where it might have been sent to.   Meanwhile, Everett got paid for his caravan escort work, conveniently covering the costs for all the materials and such he went through while he wasn't being played.   Nimbus tried Knight's adamantine shovel on the wall, but relented quickly as she didn't want to break or bend it while dinking it off the wall.   The anti-divine effect on Knight seemed to have worn off by the time the investigation reached this point.   Othar had been doing some investigation in town and gave his report to the party:

"We seem to be getting counter-investigated by some out-of-towners." Othar suspected a team of two, or possibly a team of three. Mr. Greysmoke, Ms. Crescent. Ms. Altair is the bartender, who Greysmoke has been talking to a lot. Greysmoke has been subtly asking questions about the party. Ms. Altair is not at all intimidated by adventurers.

The marshal has vanished. After the meeting he disappeared entirely.

Aubrey Silverton. The seer. She pointed Othar to some people.

Mr. Tellarch? A gambler. Helping with Othar's info-gathering for the sake of having something to do.

The mayor is incompetent but still very liked regardless. Why and how?

The big burly bouncer just shows up out of nowhere. Maybe magical? Him doing this is offputting even to the locals.

There are local high priests in the area who are apparently a pretty big deal. One each of Corenanth, Mistrealis, Ranthael. (Fix spelling later.) They didn't show up at the meeting and haven't been significant yet for some reason. The Ranthael paladin, Mr. Dawnsright, was at the meeting. The one with the big tabard.

Othar used evil divination magic to look for current activity of the marshal, after getting permission from the party. Result: Scrying at ground level and below is staticked to all hell, and it only gradually gets better above. The marshal is officially underground.   The patrol wandered over. Nimbus explained what she and Knight had found. After the question of whether it was maybe holy ground, it was confirmed that Knight isn't detecting as evil, so probably wasn't that that did it. Buzz found out that the fort seems to be temporally stasised.   Buzz started rememorizing to get Temporal Reinstatement. This was going to take some 45 minutes, so the rest of the party carried on in the meantime.   Othar asked if the patrol had seen the marshal. He said he was going to deal with some other stuff and put Elysiana in charge. They haven't seen him since.   Nimbus and Kelsey went to look in the temple for any further clues. Union checked time-space manipulation to see if he could glean anything from the fort. Result: The place is crazy in-tune with the universe and practically unaffectable.   Everett's god confirmed that the dungeon is directly below the party.   The church visit wasn't helpful. "If you want records, you're going to want to talk to Ms. Vaniel. If you want to know about the town's history, you probably want to talk to Kelm." Kelm being Mr. Greysmoke. The floorplan of the church is open and very transparent. Nothing vaguely sneaky whatsoever.   The girls headed for the casino next, accompanied by Othar. Knight and Malakai stayed to guard Buzz. When the first trio got there, the investigative pair and the bartender were still there. They seemed to be coming to the conclusion that they didn't have enough information on their own. They were hoping the party could come up with things. "We live here. We've been posted out here for years." There are no known caves or tunnels under the town. The closest thing is goblin mines near the mountains, but they really don't reach far in this direction.

Elysiana and some knights are new, came in to help with the problem. Everybody else has been here for years.

The creepy manifestations are pretty concentrated towards the center of town, the only place where there's real shadow to work with.

Nimbus realized the party had handed the paralyzed hellmouse off to Aultas. Before he disappeared. He took the mice with him when he disappeared. His house is in the northern part of town, near the watchtower.   The marshal supposedly lives a quiet life. Not ostentatious. He's lived in this town probably more than 20 years.   As Nimbus and Othar went to head to the house with Kelm, the lady investigator asked to speak with "the Lady Protectress". She offered Kelsey a drink as the other three went to the house. Kelsey noted that the lady and the bartender were doing doublespeak to each other, likely some form of thieves' cant, but Kelsey didn't understand it herself. Overly specific about different kinds of brandy, that sort of thing.   "I'll be frank with you." In short, "we" are concerned about what's going on around town and want someone to stay and protect the casino. And also Vaniel wanted to know things about things in Kaelund, and she rarely gets opportunities to speak to those so high in the halls of power.

Wanted a contingency protection, essentially, preventing "important pieces" from being taken while the party was trying to feel out the enemy's movements.

Vaniel started pulling out paperwork about Kaelund while talking about prices and merchandise and so forth. But then she started slipping dossiers and the like in there, giving info about people in the town. Apparently the casino has been losing low-ranking personnel at a concerning rate. They "quit" and the like more often than anyone would be comfortable with, but not so often that it's clear evidence of a serial killer on the loose or anything.

It's likely some of the employees are involved, and Vaniel wants protection so she isn't the next to go missing, especially in the middle of a crisis.

Kelsey sent Pesky to Knight with more information.

Meanwhile, Nimbus and Other went to Sir Aultas' house. It was small, fitted in between to other houses. It was locked. Othar smelled faint alcohol and something else odd from inside. Mr. Greysmoke said he had the spare key, then pulled out a fancy set of lockpicks. "In fact, I have the spare key for everyone in this town."   They called out to Sir Aultas after they opened the door. No response. There was old laundry lying around.   A realization: Aultas drank a lot, despite being a paladin. (Preferred expensive brandy and cheap beer.) Odd. Just for the taste, or suspicious?   His icebox was stocked with spare food.   Sir Aultas was found under several blankets in his bed. There was a tense moment of checking, but he was breathing. No responses to being slapped around a bit. Under the blankets, he was still wearing parts of his underarmor.   Despite the mess, there was no sign of infestation. The mice were gone. His sword was hung up by the door, but the rest of his armor was nowhere to be seen. Othar poked the sword and took 24 Good damage. Yep, that's the holy avenger. The marshal was perhaps badly overworked, but this did still seem a bit much.   The trio opted to carry Aultas to the church. Othar begrudgingly accepted Nimbus's healing headpats, scowling all the way. Nimbus also took the holy avenger.   When they arrived, the high priest of Mistrealis, a big guy with a polearm who doesn't talk much, took over healing the marshal. The marshal woke up not long after. He was very confused. The last thing he remembered was the town, in lockdown, sending for help. No one had arrived yet.   It seemed Aultas had been replaced, and the impersonator had got away with the mice.   The adventurers brought up Aultas's missing armor, but he mainly wanted his sword. Nimbus gladly handed it over. Aultas held it to his chest in a stoic stance, and a lot of his color came back.   Some discussion followed. It was determined that Aultas had been out for about a day and a half.   Some speculation that the bad guys had somehow managed to mimic the effect of a holy or unholy avenger. Antimagic effect.   The party regrouped. Kelsey got to look through lots of the lady investigator's info. She has dossiers on basically everyone she ever met.   Othar took the opportunity to ask what the newcomer brought to the party. Everett explained what he can do. He is a cleric, but also gets abilities similar to those of a mage thanks to his god. And he also has a personal talent for alchemy. Several of the party members perked up in interest at this latter, and it wasn't long before potions and money changed hands.   With the stories of disappearances and with most other places checked, the group decided it was time to properly investigate the casino. While most of the adventurers headed for the front door, Knight opted for the roof, and Buzz followed to ensure no one was going alone.   Knight found a package or bugout bag on the roof. Extra set of woman's clothes. Bag of 75 gold. Some extra shoes, and some makeup. The bag had been stored just out of sight off the edge of the main roof. The makeup identified as a makeup kit. Buzz left a note inside saying "I know what you did this summer", closed it up, and put it back in place.   While those two were checking the roof entrance and finding it barred, the rest of the party was on the ground floor, taking the diplomatic route. The lady investigator suggested they go with the bartender, who was an employee and had keys to everything. Though Ms. Altair suggested the place had already been searched by Kelm.   Othar asked if there were places they weren't supposed to go. Altair said that there were, but she wasn't treated well by her boss and it was an emergency, "so what the hell". She gave the group a tour, including the kitchens and an underground furnace room that was the means by which the building was kept so nice and warm. The basement also happened to include the cold room(s), which served as the town morgue and alcohol and food storage. It wasn't a deep basement; just carved maybe two feet down into solid stone.   Searching the basement, Nimbus found a set of clothes as if someone Jedi-master-disappeared. Socks perfectly in shoes, and all that. Next to one of the slabs. Nimbus asked Othar to smell the clothes; he found that they had no body odor at all, like they'd never been worn or possibly even touched before. They're entirely new. But he also noticed, as he was lifting them, that those were the clothes Mr. Tellarch had been wearing.   Othar scanned for Mr. Tellarch. Got pointed toward the northwest of the town, which at least indicated that he was alive.   Meanwhile, Knight and Buzz got through the door thanks to Knight's shade form. Unlike the fort, the casino wasn't warded against ethereal. They headed down the stairs. Below them, they heard two people talking about "getting the hell out of here". Checking for spirits and life, Knight detected two and a half souls on that floor. Knight and Buzz didn't slow down or bother with stealth; in fact, when they got close, Buzz drew his Omega Cannon and activated his Thunder Feather, making his footsteps boom like thunder.   In a hallway, the pair found the mayor and casino owner, dragging several large pieces of luggage between them. The duo interrogated them together (with Buzz doing most of the talking). From the look of things, the two civilians were just cowards, leaving with what portable valuables they could. Lots of mundane expensive clothes and jewelry. Buzz Knocked the bag open and confirmed that the contents were all nonmagical. Despite Buzz's disgust at their cowardice and dereliction of duty, the adventurers let them go, advising them to check in with Aultas before they could get disappeared too. (Buzz also called the church to let them know about the two trying to leave.)   The two searched the floor more. Buzz found a moulding that was invisible, like the edge of a doorway that had been somehow hidden in plain sight. It just looked like a blank wall. Charcoal didn't become visible when rubbed on it. Identified as pine doorjamb. Feeling around, Buzz found the rest of the door, but the doorknob had been removed.   Knight made his foot big and kicked the door in. (Property damage!) Inside the small room was furnishing that resembled a bedroom. A bunch of fancy-looking suits, a desk with a bunch of arcane books. First bed is mostly being used for storage. Voidy, shadowy-looking person inside, sleeping in one of the two beds. (That's his skin color, he doesn't look fully intangible.) He sat up and screamed at the door being kicked in. Then he was sitting in horror, clutching the sheets, as the two stomped in.   Buzz asked questions. The man said he was just here for the gambling, the moneymaking. No one was using this cloakroom, so he moved in. The guy claimed he was using his natural abilities (shapeshifting) to switch identities periodically so the casino didn't get angry at him for winning too much. He was "Lionez Goldbough", at least under the blonde gambler man identity.   Buzz intimidated him (with Knight's help), informed him of what would be happening, and began to escort him downstairs.   (The man may have a genuine gambling addiction. He plays with the machines when no one's around. He's good enough at knowing the odds that he actually makes money on it. Not a lot, but some.)   While the man was escorted downstairs at cannonpoint, Nimbus and Malakai went to check Tellarch's house. They stopped by the armory on the way to make sure everyone was still alive, which they were. At the house they found the front door locked. There was a click as they opened the door regardless. No trap immediately presented itself. The inside was nearly untouched. There was a dry horse trough in the middle of the room.   Clothes for all shapes and sizes. Fat, tall, small, men, women, even children. Clearly a shapeshifter. In the bathroom, the mirror was all blacked out and the sink was blocked off with what looked like tar or obsidian. There were several weird, swirly-patterned symbols on the sink. Lots of black and purple. Malakai didn't recognize the symbols, but they were definitely ominous from a religious standpoint. He suspected demonic. Some similarities with Demogorgon, maybe? But not him specifically.   It was likely Mr. Tellarch was a shapeshifting slime creature of some sort.   They returned to the casino's ground floor in time to meet Buzz and Knight coming down from above with another shapeshifter. The shapeshifter/illusionist Buzz and Knight found is a shade, not native to the material plane. All indications are that he's friendly and cooperative, nothing to do with the dangers imposing on the town. Buzz and Knight were about to finish searching his room, leaving the man with the bartender, who Nimbus realized was a monk.   Then Knight realized he'd never found the half a soul out of the two and a half he'd detected earlier, and he grabbed Buzz and bolted for the upper floors.   The rest of the party caught up as Knight was pointing to some statuary in front of a mirror in a well-appointed room, saying "There's half a soul in there." The mirror, thankfully, proved nonmagical, but the Magic Lantern of Magic Detection identified a single cat statue as magical. The statues seemed Aegyptian. The cat statue was about a foot and a half tall, and Union's new intelligent Sword of Bast warned that it might be dangerous to touch. The statue was sitting on a dresser along with other weird statues.   Kelsey gave in to her impulses and picked it up. It felt like light stone.   As Kelsey headed outside in search of the source of the strange purring she could hear, Othar identified the room as belonging to the casino owner. Buzz stayed to search the room for anything else of importance. Malakai took Knight's place as Buzz's safety buddy while Knight joined the group going outside.   As Kelsey speed-walked around energetically, Everett (her safety buddy) caught up and placed a hand on her shoulder, telling her she should slow down. Kelsey did not. Everett ended up being carried. Kelsey found herself drawn to a purple and black striped kitten looking very magical and only slightly demonic in the shadow of a building. Big yellow eyes. Kelsey leaned over, inadvertently giving Everett a chance to climb down.   Kelsey said hello. The tiger kitten hissed at her. Kelsey got low and offered her hand for smelling. Killgleam got a wall of force up in front of her a moment before the cat tried to scratch her, leaving a purple rune that exploded violently. Its physical form looked less coherent after it used that power. Everett reflexively threw a vial of holy water at it, which made it burn and yowl but not leave.   Knight, who had caught up by this point, saw that the other half of the soul was not in the kitten. There was still only half a soul, and it was reaching out for Kelsey's soul. Knight called for her to put it down. She did, and the kitten went wispy and vanished back into the statue. Then the statue's head turned to look at the party.   Everett volunteered some cold iron tongs for Kelsey to carry the statue to the church. Halfway there, the statue entered the bargaining phase. "I can help you. You're looking for bad guys? I know bad guys."   The cat spirit started to more or less beg the party not to take it to the church and said it can provide intel. Most of the party warily considered its offer. Everett did not: By his reasoning, it was clearly a bad guy and should be ignored.   In the meantime, Othar went off to offer a theory or two to the local plumbing expert. Of the theories he proposed, Hubert did think the idea of something physically capable of using the pipes as a means of transport could explain how it was capable of moving unnoticed, as it would have access to all the buildings in town. It was odd, though: It seemed like the happenings around town were mostly sprawled out in the places where the pipes were not clogged/non-functional.