(031) A Cemetery Muckrake

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

Having exchanged parting words, Josiane and Dorgan leave the company of adventurers to finish their lunch at The Plough and Furrow. They are an unusual and rather hungry lot. Perhaps once they have rested a day or two from their trials they might be coaxed into action?

The pair set off for the cemetery with the sun high in the sky. It is the first day for a long while that either can recall a clear blue firmament... all the clouds are pushed low and flat along the horizon, and for a pleasant change the weather is turning warm. Spring is just around the corner... or has it sprung already?

The walk across town (and somewhat uphill) toward the Temple of Thuul takes some quarter hour but it is not unpleasant. The townsfolk bustle about their daily business, ignorant of any threat the night might bring...

Once they reach Church Street, and the Temple of Thuul at the very top of the hill, the pair spy a long stone wall that is topped with foot long iron spikes. It runs behind the Temple and along the edge of town, and the entirety of it seems old and horribly weathered. It joins with a number of gnarled old trees to protect the extensive bone yard that lies quietly beyond. It is mostly hidden from sight by the wall and trees, but certainly there are a few places where one could peer over the wall if one were so inclined. The only visible gate in the wall is adjacent to the temple grounds; it seems to be closed, but unattended...

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

"Charming," murmurs Josiane, gazing upon the bleak scene.

She approaches the gate cautiously, looking for any sign it is in fact attended.

If not, she will try it to see if it is locked. If unlocked, she opens it and steps inside.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

Dorgan will follow Josiane. He's trying to determine what sort of traffic has passed through this gate recently.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

The iron gate is taller than a Man, but hangs ajar upon rusty hinges. It does not appear to be held fast by any means.

Dorgan surmises by the general wear of the narrow path leading to the gate, and the fact that the hinges are rusted but not ceased, that this gateway might be used infrequently by the townsfolk.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

"A resting-ground for the common folk, it seems," says Josiane quietly; "Let us walk with respect."

She bows her head momentarily and makes the sign of Thuul before opening the gate and entering.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

Josiane presses the rusty gate inward upon its creaking hinges, then enters the bone yard, followed by Dorgan.

It is a sombre place on the back slope of Ket's hill, stretching perhaps 50 or 60 yards to the rear wall. The yard is of weather-beaten tombstones, and only a few larger crypts and monuments. Many of the stones are overgrown by lank grasses or weeds, as are the few narrow foot-paths that wind haphazardly through the place. Black crows caw and keep vigil from the branches of several gnarly trees that lean over the yard.

It is not an unexpected sight.

What now?

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

Josiane ponders the bleak and sombre scene before her. "It grieves me to see a place of worship so unloved," she says quietly.

She stands at the gate, looking carefully at the lank grass, the weathered gravestones, the sky, the trees, everything and anything.

She has that watchful, expectant look on her face again...

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

Dorgan stares at Josiane for a moment or two, his head cocked to one side. Finally, he leaves her to her reverie.

The dwarf will walk around the cemetery slowly. He's looking for evidence of freshly buried graves... and older graves disturbed and/or bodies exhumed.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

Dorgan has never understood the inclination of Men to bury their dead in such shallow graves; the Dwarfs honour their own dead in the deepest vaults, or else send them to the Great Furnace whereto their remains can never be distrubed.

This here graveyard is a forlorn and lonely place, Dorgan surmises as he trudges along the gravel path. Most of the headstones are of the very simplest kind; a flat rock, crudely shaped by a mason and graven with a name and a date before being stuck upright in the earth before a grave plot. Fewer of them are more ornate, with a plinth base or guardian gargoyles, or an Enigma of Thuul to watch over them. The least number of graves are full crypts with stairs descending to tiny, underground burial chambers.

There are plenty of empty plots, and a number of these house empty graves; apparently awaiting their tenants. But most of these are at the bottom end of the bone-yard (furthest from the gate), and Dorgan reckons they have never yet been used.

As to fresh diggings... (1d6) he has almost searched every meandering path before he comes across a plot that looks to have been freshly dug. And wait, there are a few of them... two, three, four. Half a dozen graves, all around a particularly ancient crypt down the back of the cemetery appear to have been exhumed only recently.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

The dwarf looks up, trying to locate Josiane. He won't call out but will wave to her if he can make eye contact.

Then Dorgan will examine the crypt and the tombstones around it. He's looking for names of the dead and anything else that stands out to him. Does it look like the entrance to the crypt itself has been opened recently? Is it secured right now?