Birthmonth the 24th, 1 PM and we were brainstorming some ideas on what to do regarding the Scarecrow. Ideas were taken and then discarded but eventually we cobbled together a plan. At some point we were going to move the existing Scarecrow (the real one, not the river monster) closer but the amount of work involved in moving the oversized 20 plus year construct seemed foolhardy.
We Consecrated the ground area where we were going to goose the monster out and then a hide from Undead was set up and Gryg loaded up his torturing bolt. Finally it was noises in the water that burst onto the ground hissing and steaming. It was shot and held in place with ties and ropes allowing the rest of us to go to town on it, beating and attacking the monstrous creature until finally with a wet gasping snarl, the former farmer Milaine now the Scarecrow, died.
Congratulating ourselves on a job well done we failed to notice a robed and cowled spectral figure portaling it. It was undead (obviously!), and was from the Office of Sanction. Called himself Inquisitor Herause, and arrived as there was an unapproved murder somewhere in the borders of Grymeria. He was dispatched to review the situation and correct matters if need be. We tried to explain what happened and he was receptive but still adamant – we did not get approval from the Office of Sanction for the authorized killing of a sentient being. Given the issue at hand he was willing to reduce the penalty to 2 lashes to be administered immediately.
Dizzy stepped forward and indicated it was his idea and Consecrate spell that was at the crux of it and will take the punishment for the party. He had his turn, strip his shirt, and then unfurled a spectral green leather bullwhip and WHOOSH – whipped him hard, lacing the skin open and dropping the dwarf to the ground with a sobbing gasp.
It was here that Captain Asher and Gryg intervened and said that they too had a serious part in all of this and would take Dizzy’s second blow. Inquisitor Herause agreed and had them also disrobe and bare their back to him. And he swung his whip SIDEWAYS, striking both of them high on their shoulder area, also dropping them down in some pain. HE thanked them for their prompt resolution of the matter, confirmed to them that if they needed to perform a sanction in the future they should get a 6 hour license from the Office of Sanction, and wished them well before portalling away again.
We tended to our wounds and then decided to burn the remains of the Scarecrow. We lit a large fire and set it up, and burned the body for an hour or two before it was successfully consumed to just bone fragments. We went to the Reeve and filled Amrain in on our solution without giving details to Farmer Milaine or anything of the sort. At 6:20 we had tiredly limped back to town and eventually the Outer Circle Council Office and that of Adjunct Rawanis.
He complimented on a job well done and from his pained face and hunched over, admitted that Inquisitor Herause did arrive and hold him equally responsible for today’s unauthorized Sanctioning. He too received two lashes. To his defense, he did not think a situation where a number of scarecrows stopped working properly was going to end up being resolved to murder. He still thanked us for a job well done and hoped that tomorrow’s issue to be resolved would have less need for swordplay or sorcery.
We left and most of us went back to the Heart of Vitalia to rest and relax, meanwhile Dizzy and Gryg volunteered to go to the Office of Sanction to meet with the Inquisitor’s there and make sure there were going to be no issues or hard feelings. Once there, they had a chance the meet with Inquisitor Herause, and two of his colleagues.
Inquisitor Meilwemar, identified as Inquisitor #5, was a Wraith of a figure who had been chased out of burial barrows at least three times by intrepid adventurers in his undeath life before he heard about Grymeria and emigrated here. He was very distrustful of the adventuring party and argued loudly and often that when we had half a chance, we were going to murder them all.
Inquisitor Tandon, identified as Inquisitor #6, was a former orcish chieftain who had been buried in Grymerian lands maybe 60 years ago. When Grymeria “became”, he found himself awakened and took some time acclimatizing himself to the new state of things. He joined the Office of Sanction as an Inquisitor and is more apt to take people at their face value and their word, although he has been called stern and unyielding.
We had made a good impression on Herause and he was telling his fellow Inquisitors about the party and how they accorded themselves. We spent some 20 minutes touching base and asked about the possibility of getting the use of a portal stone. The Office of Portalling would handle that and they are 1 use, 2 way. They leave from anywhere in Grymeria to anywhere in the world the holder had used. And then at any time it can be reopened and only those who came through can come back through to the same place they originated from. Each one is serial numbered and issued to a specific person for a period of 1 month. Good to know.
We went back to the party and the Heart of Vitalia and some of us went to Grave Desires, but Dizzy went to his room and rested. Alone. Eating his rations. Falling asleep in his own clothes muttering how much he hated this place.
We awoke the next morning early enough on Birthmonth the 25th and by 7:30, were at Adjunct Rawanis’ office for our 3rd mission. He joked that it shouldn’t need any attacks or murder or anything like that. Mostly. Further up the Flow, the main river in Grymeria that eventually fed Lake Isner, was a section called the Clays. It was a massive mining area where some 200 assorted workers worked the area. The river was flowing slow here for some reason – the amount of water hitting New Dam did not quite match the amount of water flowing out past Old Dam. That wasn’t the problem – the issue was the last 21 weeks the Foreman Anglenan had issued a requisition for 5 low functioning animates each week. Every week. What is going on and why? What he’s doing isn’t a problem per say, but it is a waste of resources and why?
Wants the party to go there and look around and try to find out why the sudden need and waste to come up with a solution if there is one. We left with a smile and made our way back to the Heart of Vitalia. We gathered our adventuring gear and then left Vitalia out of East Gate. We followed the road east to the Flow, the large river some hundred or so feet wide. It meandered around from north to northeast. Ahead the land rose to a series of huge hits where the river ran right against it. There was a massive new dam in place there , then about a thousand foot run, to a 2nd older dam. That one looked like it was in poorer condition.
We crossed the river and were eventually introduced to Foreman Anglenan. He was not going to be our friend. Abrupt, crude, and had zero time for us. Yep he requisitioned “dumb” zombies, fills out the paperwork, everything is above board and legal. He loses 5 a week during cleanup of the dam base. He’s not doing anything wrong, fills out the paperwork each week. I have quotas and responsibility to over 200 living and animates and truthfully – I’m a busy man.
He passed us on to his 2nd in command, a tall human who might have some orc in his background, named Pedirene. Pedirene was willing to give us a tour of the place but we would have to stay out of everyone’s way and be safe – this was an active worksite.
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