Needless to say, the Party suspected that a giant conspiracy was in the works. Jyn remembered that the Nobleman, back when he was still human, had invited them to his townhouse in a different city. They decided to travel there and investigate.

Once there, they headed to a tavern in the center plaza to dig up some information. The barkeep mentioned that the townhouse in question had been boarded up days ago.

Barkeep: “He must’ve moved on to greener pastures.”

Jyn: “He’s in a better place now.”

(everyone glares at him)

Jyn: “Uh…He is retired.”

After securing directions, they left the tavern to scope the place out. Like the barkeep said, the windows and back gate were all boarded up. Only the front door remained uncovered.

However, some of the guards spotted them snooping around and started interrogating them on the street. The commotion brought in a local Judge who called the guards off. He explained that there had been a series of incidents and disappearances that had everyone on edge. The Party explained that they came for the same reason, due to what they dealt with back in their current home.

Judge: “There were ghouls in that town?”

Ciara, pointing to Ymir: “Aye. This one here became ‘deathly’ ill.”

Chaka: “Not to mention we lost the farm.”

Oh, the joys of callbacks.

The Judge requested that they keep him informed if they discover anything else. The Party agreed, although Jyn voiced some suspicions.

Everyone decided to wait at the tavern until nightfall. Under the cover of darkness, they snuck through the unnervingly quiet streets. When a patrol came their way, Jyn took some gravel, flew to a nearby rooftop, and threw the rocks into the closest alley, distracting the guards so the others could pass.

Once they were back at the Nobleman’s townhouse, they snuck over the back wall and infiltrated the building. Sadly, not everyone did so well on their stealth rolls. Draco stepped on an extra creaky floorboard.

Me: “You think he looks as pale as a ghost, but then you remember that’s what he normally looks like.”

Chaka and Draco both failed the next stealth roll. A voice from upstairs alerted the Party that they weren’t the only ones there. Before they could hide, two people descended the stairs and greeted them. To their surprise, it was the Nobleman and his Wife, both in pristine health and inviting them to join them for a late supper.

Jyn tossed some of his leftover gravel at their feet, which they touch. “Not ghosts…”

As the Party started to follow them upstairs, the Wife spun around. Her arm turned into a grotesque claw as she tried to slash Jyn. He dodged with ease, and a fight against their true forms, a pair of Faceless Stalkers, ensued.

Jyn cut down the one masquerading as the Wife. Chaka used Thunderous Stomp on the Nobleman copy (“Hey, it worked for one of him, right?”). Draco got a little too overzealous with his morning star and rolled a Nat 1. The prone Faceless Stalker, while struggling to get up, tripped him and made him lose his grip on his weapon midswing. I told Chaka, who was closest, to roll a Reflex Save, thinking this case of butterfingers wouldn’t turn out too badly. He, too, rolled a Nat 1. Chaka took 8 points of damage to the chest, and that was the only damage anyone took during that encounter.

After defeating the Faceless Stalkers, the Party inspected the rest of the house. Because Ciara, the gunslinger, used firearms on such a quiet night, I secretly set a turn-limit for them to check the rooms. The counter went down with each room they checked. On the second-to-last turn, they found a conspicuous keyhole on the third floor mantle. I expected Jyn to unlock it on the final turn, but instead, he “checks for traps.” I tell everyone to roll Perception.

“You find no suspicious mechanisms, but you all hear shouting outside.”

Realizing the guards had been alerted, Jyn unlocked what turned out to be a secret cache and, without checking its contents, gave it to Draco and told everyone to escape through the back. Once outside, Jyn flew over the roof and led the guards away while everyone else booked it back to the tavern. When they were just across the street, another patrol came their way. With some quick thinking, Chaka used Summon Nature’s Ally to summon a horse and made it run past the guards like a runaway. The distraction was a success and they escaped undetected. Jyn evaded his pursuers, but got lost after 6 blocks and camped out on a rooftop until sunrise. Ciara and Chaka went to bed while Draco asked Ymir for mace-swinging lessons, since he didn’t want Chaka to get mad at him again.

Once Jyn returned to the tavern, they rifled through the contents of the cache. Amongst property deeds and a 200 platinum nest egg, they found evidence of ownership of the Nobleman’s estates being transferred to the Secret Society and that cover-up payments were being delivered to a place called The Sawmill.

They decided to investigate this Sawmill, but the town guard was waiting for them outside the tavern. They brought them to the courthouse to see the Judge.

Judge: “What were you doing last night?”

Ymir: “Had fun.”

Ciara: “My sleeping habits aren’t your concern, sir.”

Jyn: “Slumber party. Braided each other’s hair. Played Spin the Bottle. Truth or Dare. Such fun!” (Chaka, Ymir, and Ciara even backed him up by showing off their already braided hair)

Despite the hilarious improv, the Judge was unconvinced. He announced that there was evidence of unlawful entry into the Nobleman’s townhouse and that two people were found dead at the scene. Claiming their prior behavior of snooping around the property placed reasonable suspicion on them, the Party was unceremoniously ushered into individual cells for further questioning.