Against the Cult: The Next Day (1.2)

The bonus does apply in this case; thanks for the reminder. The disadvantage comes from having Jonbon the Busker caterwauling in front of you, however.

On the Road

Klak, dissatisfied with the minstrel's performance, is busy adding to the entertainment. Ogbar, Sara, and Xana all notice that the forest has gone very still; the silence is broken only by the clanging from Klak's slapstick routine and the yodeling croon of the bard. The three then hear a sudden crashing in the trees and a shriek of some animal, which abruptly cuts off.

At the Farm

"No, nothing has come here..." Abella confides, "But Devek goes into the Dim a lot, your Exalted Worships. He loves the woods, and every day he would go deeper and deeper. I went with him sometimes, but I never felt safe being too far from home, what with the snakes and all. So I...I wasn't with him when he found the building. A ruined building, he found, deep in the woods. That's what he told me, and he showed me...this." The preteen girl pulls a small bundle from her apron pocket; it's a coarse linen wrapped around an object. She unwraps it to reveal a small crumbling brick, with a curious impression on one side. It's not clear whether it's been carved into the rock, or pressed into the brick when it was being formed: a circle with a little curlicue coming off of it. Any of the three of you there in the room with her - Aanbo, Quest, and Morgran - can do a Religion check to see if you recognize the symbol. "He said he was going back to explore, and later that day, he came back white as snow and collapsed as soon as Papa got him inside. If only I'd been with him, I might've been able to stop this from happening!"

On the Road

Xana hears some crashing in the woods nearby. Sara leaps to her feet, causing the wagon to lurch and rock a bit. Jonbon is seriously into his finale; he's bringing it on home with a final refrain of

"...And that's why he never ate fruuuuuiiit!"

At the Farm

Aanbo recognizes that the brick was not molded from clay. The stone is a local variety of brightstone, a metamorphic rock that the dwarf recognizes well. The symbol has been carefully chiseled out with painstaking effort with a small chisel and a steady hand...or magic. But he does not recognize the symbol.

Quest, on the other hand, does not recognize the type of stone, but he does recall that the symbol represents the disc of the sun and the curlicue is the head of a snake coiled around the sun...a traditional symbol of the ancient sun god, Rav.

On the Road

Sara listens intently while Ogbar silences Jonbon; she can just hear the thrashing of trees and snapping of branches a little bit to the south of the road to the east, but the trees here are thick enough that there is no sign.

Durren comes alert, rising to his full height from the slouch he'd assumed as part of his disguise. "Owlbear? This wagon willst not withstand the might of such a beast. Mayhaps we should take this musician to safety?"

Ogbar doesn't consider the safety of Jonbon and shushes the weird human. They manage to be quiet enough that the barbarian can also detect the sounds of a large creature moving to the southeast. It seems like it's going to pass them by, when everyone is filled with a sense of something vast and alien (even to Thacogygax) observing them closely. Then there's an overpowering sense of wry amusement that has a few of you chuckling for no apparent reason, and then Xana glows for a moment with otherworldly energy. She claps her hands together, and everyone is somewhat deafened by a tremendous, screeching roar of rage and hatred. Thacogygax was on a battlefield once and heard that noise over a rise; everything had been destroyed utterly by the time he got over the hill.

Everyone is silent for a moment in the wake of that awful noise.

At the Jarl Farm: Devek's bedroom

Morgran can't help but think of the orphans at the temple, looking at these children. Quest, meanwhile, is trying to focus of his memories of the practices of Rav, but his reverie is interrupted by Elista's hand on his arm.

"What does that mean? Can you do anything to help my boy? We don't have much to offer, but whatever we can provide, we will..." Elista takes his hand in earnest supplication, and suddenly, the room starts feeling a little hot to Quest.

Just then, everyone in the house hears a tremendous shriek of rage and challenge from outside, and Aanbo feels a thrill of darkness at the sound.

"What in Merikka's name was that?" Abel says, coming back into the room. Elista quickly pulls her hand away from Quest and goes to clutch at Abel. Abella is torn between seeking the comfort of her father's arms and staying by Devek's side.

Everyone in the house, roll perception checks.