Against the Cult: Party at the Mill (1.1)

As Thacogygax enjoys a rare peaceful interaction with a child, he hears a commotion coming from the south gate of Hochoch. Cries of "What happened, Hale?" and "Who did this?" come from a crowd that has formed around a man slumped in his saddle, hanging on to his horse's neck to keep from falling off. This crowd is moving slowly with the horse; the procession will pass you shortly.

The rest of the characters - Aanbo, Klak, Ogbar, Quest, Sara, and Morgran - can make perception checks to see if they hear the outside hubbub from within the Inn of Eternal Rest.

Sara, Klak, Quest and Ogbar all hear a commotion of voices yelling outside; not of the "get out of my flower bed!" variety, but rather people calling for help.

The silent Morgran and the contemplative Aanbo do not hear this, but will of course notice if anyone in the party reacts in a visible way.

Devane and Kons set down the cracked cask they were trying to shift (it's spilling beans into the dust from a big split in the side), dust off their hands, and go to the gate of the courtyard to investigate.

The horse with the injured rider is abreast of Thacogygax now; citizens are pressing in from every direction, shouldering him aside as they try to see and talk to the rider at once. Blood drips into the dust.

Aanbo, Sara, and Ogbar all leap to their feet, run out the courtyard and out the gate, passing Devane and Kons, and leaving Morgren snoring on a tabletop as a puddle of ale expands from his overturned mug.

"What's happened?" people yell, as they run to join the small crowd. Thacogygax can easily be seen, looming over everyone else in the crowd. "It's the miller, Hale Arneson!" and "Something's happened to Hale!" and "Somebody go get Diana!" are repeated cries in response. Sara shoulders her way through the crowd to clear a space with Ogbar and Aanbo in her wake, just as the injured human or half-elf slides (leaving a streak of blood on the horse's neck) and falls out of the saddle.

Sara and Thacogygax may do DEX saves to see if they can catch him. Ogbar and Aanbo may also attempt the same, but with disadvantage.

Sara catches his shoulders and Ogbar is there too, catching his legs. The horse shies and whickers nervously, both from the smell of blood and the sight and smell of something utterly alien in Thacogygax.

They set him down gently and the crowd parts a bit to make room. Quest tunes out the babble of the onlookers and reaches out to contact the man's mind.

One of the onlookers responds to Klak: "Rellie has gone to get Diana. She should be here really soon." Aanbo and others can see that the man does not look good, however; it would probably be a good idea to do what you can to stop the bleeding (medicine checks).