Narrative

On Day 3, the party headed to the sheep farmer’s place. On the way, Geldrin accidentally cast a spell while sitting on Dirk’s shoulders, tearing Dirk’s shoulders apart in a way that resembled Malcolm’s wounds. The party stopped for a short rest at about 10:20. Birds circled overhead, including goldfinches and starlings, and the same lack of sleep and swamp influence seen around the farm district seemed to be trickling into the farm.

At the farm, they found a man of about thirty who appeared to have been trampled by a herd of sheep. Around the scene were four sets of human-sized prints. One set seemed to go to and from the barn. Drew investigated the crime scene while the party heard something trying to break out of the barn. The farmhouse door had been “latched in.” Inside, a table had been smashed to pieces and debris was scattered around. The fire looked as though it had burned out the previous day. Upstairs were an old-looking double bedroom and two sets of singles, suggesting an elder couple and others had lived there; one man was very much dead and another body was slightly smaller.

The party crept toward the barn and saw a row of sheep heads. The sheep were unnaturally agitated, and an unearthly bleat came from inside. A massive pile of melded sheep broke out of the barn, and the party killed it. In the barn they saw signs connected to Pelt and memories being taken, though the memory-taker was not there when they arrived. A pinned woman was dead in the corner. It looked as if she had lured the creature into the barn and someone had locked them inside.

The party connected this with Malcolm and Isabella going missing and with the town’s failure to remember them, except for the party and Malcolm’s wife. At about 11:15, they returned to where they had found the birds and took another short rest. Dirk left Bob out, and many different types of birds appeared.

The party went into the swamp to find the bird lady. After about an hour, they found a swamp hut covered in bird poo. Inside, branches were covered in birds. An eighty-ish woman was there, blindfolded with her mouth sewn shut. Her name, or title, was “The Chorus.” She had been having dreams and said the hurt was not her own. Her apprentice had upped and left. The Chorus explained that the magic word was clever: it changed memories into a convenient form. Because Sarah had been with the Chorus, it had been harder to wipe her from memory. On one of the Rubin’s Days, the Chorus had seen Sarah by the hostel, distracted.

The Chorus said there had always been large animals in the area, but someone was going through the swamp using gas that was hurting the birds. She directed the party to stop the Bug Hunter and pointed them toward the place where Geldrin got the papers. Geldrin already had something from there [uncertain wording]. The party left at about 2:00 and reached town at about 3:00.

Back in town, the party passed through the marketplace and noticed a streak of fumes around a suited halfling with an ogre. The halfling had a barrel with tubes and pipes leading to an ear-funnel crossbow. He was talking to a magpie person with a wagon pulled by a “Cobra Kai” type creature. The party snuck up behind the ogre, broke the Bug Hunter’s equipment, damaged the goggles, and let the gas out. The Bug Hunter said he would do any form of taxidermy and promised to hunt out of town. The party asked him to do it on the other side of the river. By about 5:15, they learned from the magpie that Xinquiss/Zinquiss could be found at the Hartwall Great Bazaar.

At the sheriff’s office, the place was very busy. Jeremiah and the deputy sheriff were armoured up. A half-orc and a kobold seemed to be militia, and citizens in patchwork armour included a dwarf, tabaxi, human, and warforged. The sheriff’s office had heard about an attack: Walter, the sheep farmer, had been attacked by people who came in with a cart carrying the sheep beast, and Walter’s wife had sacrificed herself. Core, a warforged who runs Peel & Core, mentioned lack of custom in the tavern and noticed wagons at the hostel. Earl had received a death threat, with a 500 gp bounty attached. Cromwell, a tiny forester, had noticed wagons passing Walter’s farm and stopping there; people seemed to be in the wagons. Around 5:30, Jeremiah and Drang went to protect the Earl while Hannah and Bob went to the outskirts. The party was given a shock dagger.

The village was quiet. Two wagons were parked outside the hostel and looked like livestock wagons. They smelled of pig manure and human faeces. Peel sensed warmth but could not see anything. A scratched crab claw attached [unclear]. Dirk saw rats again, and they attacked. A pig beast broke out of one cart and was killed. The party sabotaged a cart while two people brought four horses.

Among those connected to the wagon were a woman in her fifties with too many teeth and a bigger mouth [possibly Sarah], and a young boy of about eighteen [possibly the sheep farmer’s boy]. There were three patrons connected to the Crimson Bovine or Mirth’s Fizzleswig [uncertain wording]. Loot noted included one shortsword, random herbs, one sickle, and silver. At about 19:00, the party took the people and cart to the church, associated with Church Tor and church Tarber [uncertain names].

At the church, the people could not be saved. The boy had not been dead at first but was now dead. Brother Fracture inspected the cart and remembered that all of the militia had been going missing. The party wanted to put the affected people to sleep, which led them back to the Bug Hunter. He was staying out at the Cider Inn Cider. Around 20:00, they went to see him.

The Bug Hunter had a gearsisor 5000? with ether and magical sleeping powder. He also had a ring with a purple gem and runes that needed identifying. The party traded identification for use of the gearsisor and returned to the cart to use it. They got five people back into the church. One was Gregory, a homeless man who was restored. Gregory thought he had been taken by the militia and remembered being in the big militia house. The party parked the cart behind the church and put the horses at the inn. Geldrin also bought a random compass box with a needle that pointed to the Bug Hunter.

People, Factions, and Places Mentioned

Dirk, Geldrin, Drew, Malcolm, Isabella, Sarah, Walter the sheep farmer, Walter’s wife, The Chorus, The Chorus’s apprentice, the Bug Hunter, Bob, Jeremiah, Drang, Hannah, Core, Peel & Core, Earl, Cromwell, Brother Fracture, Gregory, Xinquiss/Zinquiss, Pelt, the sheriff’s office, Hartwall Great Bazaar, the hostel, the swamp, the farm, the barn, the church, Church Tor, church Tarber [uncertain], Cider Inn Cider, Crimson Bovine, Mirth’s Fizzleswig, the militia, townsfolk, half-orc militia, kobold militia, dwarf citizen, tabaxi citizen, human citizen, warforged citizen, suited halfling, ogre, magpie person, and “Cobra Kai” type wagon creature.

Items, Rewards, and Resources

The party received or noted a shock dagger, a gearsisor 5000? using ether and magical sleeping powder, a ring with a purple gem and runes requiring identification, Geldrin’s compass box pointing to the Bug Hunter, one shortsword, random herbs, one sickle, silver, two wagons, four horses, the Bug Hunter’s gas equipment with goggles and barrel tubes, and an Earl-related 500 gp bounty.

Clues, Mysteries, and Open Threads

Memories are being taken or rewritten into convenient forms, and Sarah’s time with The Chorus made her harder to erase. Malcolm and Isabella are missing, and the town largely does not remember them, though Malcolm’s wife does. Pelt is connected to memory-taking. Someone used wagons to deliver or move animal-human beasts, including a sheep beast and pig beast, and people were found in livestock-style carts smelling of pig manure and human faeces. The militia have been going missing. Gregory remembers being taken by militia and held in the big militia house. The Bug Hunter’s gas was harming birds in the swamp. The woman with too many teeth [possibly Sarah], the young boy [possibly sheep farmer’s boy], the crab claw attachment, and the exact nature of the memory magic remain uncertain.