A couple things in the graveyard caught Glitch's attention.

“This branch... looks like maybe a noose was hanging from it? Or a swing? I don't much about necromancy but I do know that it takes onyx to reanimate the dead... and I don't recall it needs wood scrapings. There are probably a ton of spells that require wood shavings but I don't think that's why the wood was shaved.

I would guess something was hanging from here?”

Glitch ran over to the purse.

“I wonder if this belonged to a victim? We should take it and show it around. Maybe someone put it here as a decoration to a grave... or maybe someone lost it?”

The little Brathun lowered his goggles over his eyes and began to chant in Brathnaii, his voice taking it's typical ethereal echo as strange colors began to swirl around his eyes.

(detect magic on the whole area, focusing for a few rounds on the tree, branch, ground below it, purse, coins, and then scanning the headstones and any other footprints we found.)

(OOC: Also did we actually find the rest of the footprints that originally led us to the graveyard? If so do they come from a specific grave?)

Traubon finished his breakfast that Granny Tapestries set out for them all, and soon he was on his way to the graveyard. Following the rest of the group, he kept his eye on the ominous church as they made the short trip over to the burial grounds of Sedostra. One big old cherry tree and randomly set tombstones were all that seemed to occupy the graveyard, but they had more than just sight on their side.
After a prayer with Brokkrok, and finding nothing of note from it, they began to scour the earthen patch for any clues. Only a purse, a fresh tombstone, and a ring-like worn away spot from one of the branches were all they found.
The first thought that came to Traubon's mind was that of a hangman's noose, and a body swaying from the tree. Looking back down at the anonymous tombstone, he wondered who could of been buried there.

"I'm wonderin', who could ah' been buried here so recently and if it could be havin' anythin' tah do with these disappearin's. Fresh graves n' all, ya know?"
Traubon looked back at the worn down church, and to the group. This place was most likely their next course of action.

"I'll be bettin' that place is where all the action is, run down church like that who knows what's going on in there."
He looked to Glitch, and heard him talk about the purse, and what the marks in the branch could be.

"Aye, I think that mighta' been a noose hangin' from that tree. Don't know anyone who woulda' like to be swinging from a tree in the middle of all these folks buried here. And the purse could be someone who was missing. Maybe we should take it back to the Tapestry house?"

Traubon looked around as Glitch began his spell casting, and he moved closer to the church, curious as to what could be inside.

"I'm going to start lookin' round through here, probably more inside."

He headed off in the direction of the nearest church entrance, and slowly examined the exterior before carefully opening the door.

Arra seemed disappointed, if one wanted to put a finger on it - her tail twitched unhappily, and she pawed at the ground with her foot whenever standing still for longer than a moment or two. Impatient. And Disappointed. Having never been partied before, she had no really idea of how these things were supposed to work. She had assumed, from the stories told to her while just a kit, that heroes went to troubled places, poked things, found the problems, and fixed them.

She had not actually realized there would be investigating, dead ends, and a decidedly noticeable lack of good hunting. Her nose had not even detected wandering food, and her nose and whiskers twitched.


The temples seemed as likely a place as any to find mice, which she had come to think of over the years as a sometimes food, and more of an appetizer, really, than proper meals, but she thought better on a full stomach. Well, she fought better, But they words rhymed, and therefore they were closer to each other than thought and investigate, and that was the important thing.

She stared off towards the church, tail swishing now as she considered this.

"I shoud like to see what is happening therrrrre," she purred quietly, not sure if they wouuld accept her suggestions. After all, she had pretty much invited herself along, and while they were nice enough to her face, she worried that her obvious differences would keep them from accepting her. Because that would make things a little less easy.

Brokkrok watched his companions as they gathered around the table to eat their morning meal, from time to time he would exchange a few words when addressed, but as he thoughtfully chewed his breakfast, the Cleric of Therassor paid particular attention to Granny Tapestry as she served her simple meal to the adventurers.

Whatever was on his mind at the moment, the young Cleric of the Stalwart Blade did not volunteer to divulge what he was thinking, as he listened to his companions form their plan of action for investigating the graveyard immediately after satisfying their morning hunger.

When the time finally came to leave Granny Tapestry's Guesthouse, he purposely walked in the middle of his companions, neither leading nor following, observing how each member of the Collective acted and reacted. When they arrived at the graveyard, Brokkrok examined the ground and chose 3 small stones. His thinking was that he could cast a Magic Stone spell upon the stones and give them to Alyanna to use in her sling should any evil thing make itself known.

Brokkrok asked the group to join him in the corner of the graveyard, and started praying to his God. He held his concentration for a long time, scanning the graveyard for any sign of undeath, but found none.
"I call upon you now Stalwart Blade ... to aid us in our search for the evil that has terrified the defenseless citizens of this community!

"Smile upon each of my companions ... help them to do their part to unravel this dark mystery ... and protect each one of us this day!

"Grant me the ability and wisdom to wield The Burning Blade that you have so graciously bestowed upon me in days gone by!

"Forgive me for not using any of the spells you granted me yesterday ... especially the Detect Undead ... but as I search this day for the evil secluding itself in this community ... grant me once again the ability and wisdom to cast Cure Minor Wounds, Detect Magic, Inflict Minor Wounds, Light, Bless, Cure Light Wounds, Detect Undead and Magic Stone.

"May my blade and sword arm serve you with faith and honor ... I pray oh Ghardan Aglar ... smile upon your servant this day with your favor ... hear my humble cry ... on behalf of myself and those who are with me ... as I give you thanks ... oh Stalwart Blade!"
Then the young Cleric of the Stalwart Blade focused his concentration to utilize his newly granted Detect Undead spell. After several minutes of scanning the entire graveyard, there was no trace of any Undead lurking around the graveyard.

After that they decided to use their eyes and ears, and in Arra’s case, her nose, to try and find any clues to what was going on in Sedostra. Besides a long lost purse with some loose change, they found a strange mark circling on one of the branches of the cherry tree. It looked like some of the bark had been scraped off by something long and thin, like a rough wood file or a rope.
Brokkrok silently concurred with Glitch that the marking on the tree looked suspiciously like the rope one would use for a noose. He also noted the long lost purse and the loose change, but he withdrew a few steps from the group and looked long and hard at the Temple of Solaris, sensing a stirring within himself to go and investigate the structure.

He was not the only one whose attention was drawn to the Temple of Solaris. Traubon was already on his way, although Glitch was in the process of casting a Detect Magic spell.

Brokkrok decided to follow afterTraubon as he observed and then heard Arra declare that the Temple of Solaris was where she would prowl and search for any traces of the unknown evil.

She stared off towards the church, tail swishing now as she considered this.

"I shoud like to see what is happening therrrrre," she purred quietly, not sure if they wouuld accept her suggestions.
Brokkrok quickly strode to her right side and declared, "I am of like mind Arra! I will protect your flank while you follow your nose into yon Temple of Solaris!"
His blade was drawn as he kept one eye on Traubon and matched Arra stride for stride, confident that the others would be safe enough with Glitch ... watched over by his deity Therassor ... in answer to his earlier prayer at the graveyard.

Brokkrok is ready to strike with his Longsword and is almost absent mindedly gripping a flask of Holy Water with his left hand. He is also ready to Turn Undead when they all enter the Temple of Solaris should any Undead be lurking there!

Before exiting the graveyard, Glitch wanted to make sure they had covered every angle. Lowering his goggles provided him with a special sight. He found that it was always enhanced when he muttered the right kind of encouragement to the set of lenses and tapped them repeatedly. He concentrated for a moment or two, and realized that he was drawn back to the headstone with the holy symbol of Solanis. A very faint magical aura radiated from the symbol.

With his small hands, Glitch poked and investigated the symbol, only to find that he was able to pry it from the headstone. A small crevice in the stone was revealed when the symbol was removed, and in it lay the source of the magical aura Glitch had felt: a golden disc embossed with the image of a blazing sun. It had a faint aura of transmutation, meaning that it only held the most basic of spells. Still, it was a magical item, and most likely the first the members of the party had ever seen.

With no further magical findings, the group adjusted their attention to the church.

The entrance to the Church of Solanis faced the south of Sedostra. Two heavy oak doors, worn by weather and time, waited under a rose-like window of stained glass, with a yellowish disc of glass in its centre; the symbol for the God of Light. The building looked bruised, as if a heavy storm had swept over it and the damage had not been repaired. Some of its bricks were missing, wooden beams broken or crushed, and ivy started growing over its walls.

Suddenly, Brokkrok was overtaken by a sharp sensation of melancholia. His head spun for a second and a familiar voice thundered into existence in his mind, to echo down to a soft whisper. “Shrooms live of the death of other things. Use them, but never become a shroom yourself.”
Loco’s voice was gone as swiftly as it had come.

They opened one of the two heavy doors and went in. A tangy smell of rot welcomed them into an interior that looked even worse than the outside of the church. It was an aroma mostly found at indoor mushroom fields, where artificial autumns spring fungi from decaying leaves and woodchips. But this smell was almost overwhelming, and it emanated from the far end of the isle.

It was quite dark inside the church, with the coloured glass filtering the sunlight into what had once been a comforting twilight. Now it took a moment for them to take in the whole room at once as their eyes adjusted to the deeper shadows.
The benches on either side of the isle were empty, some of them overturned. The walls were painted with worn frescos of holy knights and angels of light. There was a door on either side of the end of the isle, and the floor was raised a few steps at the far end of the church. An altar waited there, but it looked ragged and discarded. In front of it, with his back to the group, a man was kneeling in deep prayer.

As they approached, they could see that behind the altar the ground was covered in sand and dirt, and pinkish bulbs of mushroom were starting to sprout from it. Some of those were small, others the size of a human head.

The man turned abruptly as they neared him, and Brokkrok recognized him as the town’s vet and physician, doctor Roy Pikarov.

“Oh, how good to see some new faces in the church of light. It’s been such a long time since anybody joined me here.”

He seems genuinely happy to see other people there with him and he invites you all to pray with him.

(OOC: gonna stop here. If you want to ask him some questions, you can do so in your post, or in the Q/A. Anything else you want to know, ask away. )

Roy Pikarov regarded them all for a moment or two.

“Please, join me in prayer.”

Without waiting for a reaction he sank down to his knees again and closed his eyes. He was interrupted though, by a few sharp questions from Brokkrok. The village doctor sighed, and opened his eyes.

“I come here every day for half an hour. My fellow Sedostrians know I do, and know not to bother me, unless they want to join me, which hasn’t happened for months.”

He swallows hard when asked about the bad state the church is in.

“Long ago, a priest of Solanis came to Sedostra with his daughter and wanted to start a church here. He said the Radiant Father desired it and he didn’t question his God’s inspiration. It took him many years to build this church, but he gained quite a few followers in the process. His dedication was contagious. When he died, his daughter, Sofia, took over as leader of the church. She was of an exceptional beauty and a radiant person to be near. In every way was she the embodiment of the God she served, and I felt blessed that she would share her life with Sedostra.”

He pauses for a few moments, obviously remembering the priestess. Then he looks at the group and shrugs.

“Sofia died about a half year ago, after fighting a bad fever. After that, people stopped going to church. They stopped caring. I didn’t.”

He points towards the East wall. “She’s buried in the graveyard. Her grave is marked with the holy symbol of Solanis; a last farewell from the townsfolk.”

He sighs again and closes his eyes.

“Now, you can decide to join me, or leave me to my prayer, please.”

(OOC: He will not respond kindly to any more questions at this moment, and tells you that he wants to finish his prayers so he can get to work. He welcomes you to visit his home later, to talk some more.)

The scent of field mice was like a delicious, frustrating and mouthwatering tease for Arra. When the mushroom man spoke, she listened, taking notes mentally, but she could smell his displeasure at the interruption of something important to him. And Arra, curious, mimicked his movements as he prayed, eyes closed and tail swishing quizzically. The action had no meaning to her, but she tried her best, including a low soft purr, meant to comfort, which this action, for the Doc, clearly was part of.

Arra waited till he was finished, and opened one eye to the Doctor. "And now we have mice, yes? And morrrrre talking. We talk to you about the families now?"

She had her own questions, and hoped they would find answers soon, as her stomach was empty and there was still much to do.

((Posting questions in the Q&A next))

As the good doctor concluded their interrogation (despite the obvious questions still lingering among the party) Glitch decided this was as good of a time as any to get some real work done.

"If you want to do science, you have to literally do something... I say we check out the rest of this church while we're here." Loudly enough for Roy to hear and object if he wishes to interrupt his prayer.

"If anything we might find a new weapon to use against some undead baddies! And besides... I'm borrrrrrrrreeeeddddddddd no more walking around asking people stuff. Let's EXPLORE!"

Glitch opened up his pack and loosed the little weasel Gadget, who immediately darted off around the room to enjoy the scents.

"If you want to do science, you have to literally do something... I say we check out the rest of this church while we're here." Loudly enough for Roy to hear and object if he wishes to interrupt his prayer.

"If anything we might find a new weapon to use against some undead baddies! And besides... I'm borrrrrrrrreeeeddddddddd no more walking around asking people stuff. Let's EXPLORE!"
Brokkrok surveyed the interior of the church and was curious about the strange mushrooms growing behind the altar, but he was also respectful of the man spending his time with morning prayer.

Perhaps these had something to do with the premonition he had earlier as the voice of Loco Fungihammer rang inside the corridors of his mind:

“Shrooms live of the death of other things. Use them, but never become a shroom yourself.”
Pondering those words of exhortation, Brokkrok weighed his choices carefully, being ever mindful of the welfare of the entire group. It was not a wise thing to leave a curious comrade behind in an unknown structure ... especially a decaying temple.

"If the good doctor has no objections ... then I suggest that Traubon, Glitch and Ta'nil explore what is behind the door on the right. Gadget should have a nose for this sort of thing."

"Meanwhile ... our friend Arra can put her nose to good use ... as Alyanna and I join her in exploring the door to the left. There should still be plenty of daylight left to visit around the community ... once we have satisfied our curiosity here ... to ask further questions ... and we can visit the doctor later at his home ... when we are not intruding upon his prayer time."
If there is no objection from doctor Roy Pikarov then Brokkrok will respectfully proceed to the door on the left behind the altar.

If he does object, then Brokkrok will silently nod to the doctor respectfully and proceed to make his rounds of questioning the other members of the community with his companions.

No sense in making an enemy so early in the quest by not being sensitive to the privacy of the doctor, but once the doctor has returned home from prayer, then Brokkrok will want to satisfy his suspicions as to if the doctor merely wanted them to leave so he could pray privately ... or if he has something to hide that he did not want them to discover in the temple.

Will have to wait on the Update from Almerin and input from the others to go any further!

On approaching the church, Ta'nil took out two bolts and climbed to the roof to see what he could see from there. After a while he followed the others in to it.

"If the good doctor has no objections ... then I suggest that Traubon, Glitch and Ta'nil explore what is behind the door on the right. Gadget should have a nose for this sort of thing." he heard Brokkorok say

"Good Idea Brokkorok, mayhaps there will be something of interest in one of the other rooms" turns to the doctor"That is of course, if you do not disagree with the idea or it will not disturb you"

They sat or stood in silence together for a few moments, each of them for their own reasons. Then Arra interrupted with a question that clearly showed that she had no idea what religion was about.

Roy opened his eyes and gently swallowed his irritation and smiled at her warmly.

“You can ask me q…”

"If you want to do science, you have to literally do something... I say we check out the rest of this church while we're here." Glitch interrupted. They had waited long enough to find out what was going on in this town. He was growing bored.

Brokkrok abruptly stood up from his own prayers and added his own ideas, splitting the party in two, so they could be swifter in their search. He was hardly done explaining his thoughts when the Sylvari scout sounded his agreement. Within a few seconds the quiet of the church became a murmur of excitement and action. All, of course, if the doctor didn’t object.

Doctor Roy Pikarov did object. In fact, he stood up from his prayers and with a heated face pleaded: “Look, I told you to leave me in peace with my prayers. I have a long day ahead of me, in which I’ll gladly make time to talk to you again, but right now… don’t touch that!”

Glitch and his animal companion had already made their way to the door on the right and pulled it open. A waft of rancid air washed over the two of them, and it took the Brathun a moment or two to lose the urge to trade his morning breakfast for an empty stomach. Gadget, green around his nose, lay limp over the Technomancer’s shoulder with his tongue dangling from his mouth. The animal was avidly suppressing a desire to soil Glitch’s shirt.

Beyond the door lay a straight, narrow stairway down. The solid, stone steps glistened with moisture in the twilight of the church’s interior, but soon disappeared into darkness.

“Don’t go down there. I beg you people to leave this town alone. Everything will be fine, if you just leave.” Roy whispered, his words laden with sadness.

Despite the doctor’s heartfelt words, there was no turning back anymore. They realized now that the earthy smell of rot had only been a tip of the vast odour that oozed from the opening to the church’s catacombs.
Slowly they descended the stairway, only to find that it lead into a corridor washed over by darkness, heading east. With some artificial light, or even darkvision, they were made aware of three doors; one on the left, and two on the right.

(OOC: I need the order in which you’ll go through the doors, and of course the precautions that you take before doing so.)

Brokkrok abruptly stood up from his own prayers and added his own ideas, splitting the party in two, so they could be swifter in their search. He was hardly done explaining his thoughts when the Sylvari scout sounded his agreement. Within a few seconds the quiet of the church became a murmur of excitement and action. All, of course, if the doctor didn’t object.

Doctor Roy Pikarov did object. In fact, he stood up from his prayers and with a heated face pleaded: “Look, I told you to leave me in peace with my prayers. I have a long day ahead of me, in which I’ll gladly make time to talk to you again, but right now… don’t touch that!”

Glitch and his animal companion had already made their way to the door on the right and pulled it open. A waft of rancid air washed over the two of them, and it took the Brathun a moment or two to lose the urge to trade his morning breakfast for an empty stomach. Gadget, green around his nose, lay limp over the Technomancer’s shoulder with his tongue dangling from his mouth. The animal was avidly suppressing a desire to soil Glitch’s shirt.

Beyond the door lay a straight, narrow stairway down. The solid, stone steps glistened with moisture in the twilight of the church’s interior, but soon disappeared into darkness.

“Don’t go down there. I beg you people to leave this town alone. Everything will be fine, if you just leave.” Roy whispered, his words laden with sadness.

Despite the doctor’s heartfelt words, there was no turning back anymore. They realized now that the earthy smell of rot had only been a tip of the vast odour that oozed from the opening to the church’s catacombs.
Slowly they descended the stairway, only to find that it lead into a corridor washed over by darkness, heading east. With some artificial light, or even darkvision, they were made aware of three doors; one on the left, and two on the right.
Brokkrok stared at the doctor in semi-disbelief. He had tried to honor the man with his private prayer time, but the warning from Loco and the decay of the church spoke volumes to the Khord that they were on the right trail to unraveling this mystery.

He almost pitied the cry of the doctor as he pleaded for the adventurers to refrain from going down the stairs, but the Cleric of Therassor noted his plea for the hunters to leave town, making him more determined than ever to get to the bottom of this mystery.

The sadness in the doctor's voice lessened his urge to seize the doctor and shake the truth out of him, but his whispered words that everything would be fine if they just left town did not agree with the feeling deep inside Brokkrok's gut.

He stared at the doctor but a few moments more, then remembering what had happened to his former comrades during the rescue of the abducted children, Brokkrok hurried after his new companions to try to prevent anyone from losing their life needlessly as they disappeared into the darkness below.

Follow up post will be written after everyone has had time to post their thoughts in the Q/A

Ta'nil proceeded to open doors after checking for traps and looked down into the tunnels. Though he liked dark tunnels, he knew better than to just run in them without finding out what may happen in them... from experience. He focused all his energies into searching them before he spoke aloud.

"We may just have to go in them to find out"
((OOC: if he doesn't hear anything coming from them))

"Haha, this is gonna be fun. Alright, which one first, they are all dark, and descending." Pulling his dagger out, he did some flourishes until the rest answered.

They might be on to something here. The smell of rot was unmistakable. The doctor apparently knew something, but his questioning would have to wait until after some exploring.

Glitch lined up behind Ta'nil with Gadget scurrying around his shoulders.

"After you." The little gnome said with a smile, readying his wand should they encounter some unpleasantries below the church.

Traubon walked cautiously through the building, and stopped when a voice perked up from the front of the church. It was a man who was worshipping still despite the decrepit scene around him.

Traubon's companions asked some questions, but it was soon discovered after Glitch's impatience that the door on their right lead down to a lower level, and the stench that filled the air was emanating from below.

Traubon recoiled slightly at the smell, but decided he would need to explore more of this, especially after the doctor's words which seemed to betray his knowledge on what is going on.

"Aye, it seems that we will be needin' to venture down below. Maybe Ta'nil should lead the way, since he seems tah' be one who can keep a quiet foot while walkin' 'round down here."