Shortly after saving the town from goblins, the Sheriff approached the Party, asking for assistance. It’d been reported that the mausoleum behind the church had been pried open. He wanted the new town heroes to check it out, in case a goblin got stuck inside.

Unfortunately, instead of goblins, the Party found a pair of animated skeletons. Unfortunately-er, Chaka, who had opened the door, nearly got swiped in the face by one of them. Initiatives were rolled. Chaka decided to cast a druid spell, but unfortunately-EST, he forgot about the Defensive Casting mechanic and instigated Attacks of Opportunity from both skeletons. I don’t remember how high the roll was, but the first skeleton hit hard enough to knock Chaka over, and the second skeleton brought him down to Zero immediately. (Chaka’s Player to me: “Am…am I going to die at Level 1???” Luckily, the Party saved him in time.)

With the skeletons defeated, a quick look around revealed two things. One: a used up Robe of Bones lay in the corner, most likely the magic item used to summon the skeletons. Two: the body of the previous church minister was missing from its coffin.

Later that day, the Nobleman they saved came around and invited them out for an all-expense-paid boar hunt. They found a boar, but while Jyn glided from tree to tree to get the jump on it, Chaka, wanting to give the boar a fighting chance, called out to it, ruining the ambush. Furthermore, Chaka ran headlong into the boar and took a pretty savage hit. (To be fair, in a different campaign, Chaka’s Player ran as a half-giant, Grappler-Monk Luchador. This is his first time playing a caster class)

During lunch, the Nobleman prattled on and on about how amazing the Party was, especially Ciara. This later prompted Draco to ask if he came off as annoying, since he admired the Party and pelted them with questions the same way the Nobleman did. They assuaged his fears and reassured him that they liked him. From here on, Jyn addressed Draco as “Fledgling.”

There was also a point (I forget when exactly) when one of the Party members spoke to a local Seer. The Seer described a vision of a fiery giant walking through a lake toward the town. Standing in its way were five animals: a fox, a bear, a phoenix, and a raven with a duckling under its wing. Take that as you will. (There was also an Elf Ranger NPC that they befriended, but aside from having extensive knowledge about the goblins in the area, there isn’t much need to dwell on that interaction for now.)

The next morning, the Party discovered that the Innkeeper had left in the middle of the night and never returned. A suspicious note from her Brother (and some pleading from Draco) goaded the Party to pursue.