Dr. Fran Paints

"What in the hell was that?" Drovic voiced to Varrid.  Varrid had no answer either as they had heard a primal animalistic scream from the manor house.  The rest of the crew bolted from their sleep and everyone piled out the doors to the courtyard.    No more screams were heard as Seglun headed for the main doorway.

"Damn, the door is bolted" said Seglun as she moved toward the door into the foyer, also bolted.  Ralom and Baru started to pound on the main doorway while Summergale circled the manor house looking for any movement.  Momentarily Seglun heard shuffling feet slowly pass the foyer door and eventually Orson opened the main doorway and sleepily inquired as to the problem.  "Didn't you hear that scream?" asked Baru.  "What ... scream?", answered Orson.  "Is all well in the manor?", inquired Ralom.  "Doc ..  is .. busy ..  in .. lab", explained Orson.   Baru and Ralom continued the interrogation while Grunyar watched all the corners of the house for any activity.  Finally Orson agreed to fetch Dr. Fran and shuffled away toward the lab.  Dr. Fran appeared in surgical garb, with elbow length white gloves stained with something red.  "Is everything fine?" queried Baru.  "The leopard we caught had an infection on its leg, and I had to lance the pustules before they festered", Fran frantically explained, "It's a rather messy procedure, and I have to get back to it."  Again Ralom asked if the leopard was fine, and the good doctor assured them that all will be fine in the morning.
Shortly after dawn Orson arrived with breakfast, sweets, grains and juice.  Dr. Fran joined the party and assured them that the leopard was fine and they could see him later in the day.  "That surely was a messy operation, pustules as large as my thumb" he stated glowingly. 
"Well what shall we do today?" inquired Varrid.  Arvien suggested going to see the Great Stone Men they had seen on the map in the library.  Fran said they could make it there and back before sunset, but they should skirt the Broken Ones encampments, following the river to the path to the ruins and then northwest to the north shore.  He gladly asked Orson to provide rations as Arvien was already asking about second breakfast.  The party headed off for the 6 hour tour the path along the river was easy going, while the ruins didn't seem to have been disturbed since they were last there.  Northwest of the ruins the land rose and the trees were replaced by grasslands.  As they reached higher ground they found grey stands of dead pine and fir trees that Drovic and Grunyar said had no business here on the tropical island.  Soon the saw some heads in the distance and they emerged from the jungle to the sandy shore.

Only the heads, arms and bare shoulders of the Great Stone Men jutted above the sandy ground.  They seemed to be reaching for some unseen and unattainable object or struggling to avoid being pulled beneath the earth.  The faces, male and female, were twisted in agony, straining muscles clearly etched on their faces and upper limbs.  Several were half or fully drowned by the waves and looked like dying men and women cast in stone.  As they inspected the statues Drovic found that they extended at lest 2 feet underground.  Baru determined that they were created figures, carving marks were evident on the stone.  They seemed fairly old although the jungle had just begun to cover them with vines and creepers.  Seglun used her rope and grappling hook to climb to the top of the head of one statue.  From their she could only see water to the horizon northward.  Inward towards the south the smoke of the Broken Ones camp to the east was visible as was the smoke from the manor.  The ruins were not noticeable, probably due to the jungle growth around them.  Far to the south the ground rose precipitously.  After studying the Great Stone Men for a couple hours the group decided to march back almost directly south to the manor.  No new insights were gained as they moved through jungle and grassland.  Approaching the manor they saw Orson open the gates and bellow "Dinner .. is .. ready .."  Arvien led the way to the dining room as she was already starving. 
Seating arrangements stayed the same as Delphi again queried Varrid about the groups homeland.  Dr Fran, again looking for his hat that sat atop his head, asked Varrid if she would sit for a portrait in his studio.  He was very interested in capturing her inner soul on canvas.  Varrid heartily agreed saying they could start in the morning.  After another sumptuous meal the group retired to courtyard but decided to take another stroll around the manor grounds.  Baru led the way tapping on the stockade wall to determine the strength of the timbers.  They wall was certainly solid in every place he found.  At the rear of the "kitchen" area Varrid checked the back door to see if it too was barred, but to her surprise if was not.  She listened for any sounds and looked to traps but heard no noises nor found any traps, so she slowly opened the door which led into a pantry area full of bins of potatoes and other tubers, and grain, along with some cured meat as well as barrels of flour and rice.  The barrels were marked with a variety of signs and sigils from different lands, none of which were recognizable to the party.  A door in the opposite wall from the entry led into a kitchen area dominated by a large circular fire pit.  The smoke escaped through the roof above.  The beams of the roof were hung with all manner of cast iron skillets and pots, and a particularly large kettle.  There were a number of tables with a rack of knives hung along the eastern wall.  Ralom observed that Seglun and Arvien could easily fit in the large kettle.  Varrid meanwhile was checking a door to the south, Arvien thought that the northern door would lead to the foyer before the lab.
The south door led  to a long room, appearing to be a day quarters for Orson, Felix?  On a large table surrounded by chairs, was littered with primers, quills and pieces of foolscap.  Ralom and Arvien examined to texts which were language primers and some of the foolscap had letters printed in a shaky and sloppy hand.  There was a water barrel and basin and a ladder in the southeast corner,  another door led to the south.  Sneaking up the ladder Varrid found a low ceiling-ed loft with straw mattresses strewn across the floor.  She heard the loud sound of low toned snoring from one mattress, probably Orson she thought.  The room had a smell similar to the menagerie. 
The southern door led to a storage area containing barrels of nails, flour and sundries, chests of fabric, and sewing materials, tools, ironwork, furniture, and lumber littered the room.  Some were water marked others not but it all seemed like salvage from uncounted ships.  In a cleared space the southeast corner there was a stake driven into the hard-packed earthen floor, with a long length of iron chain and a collar.  Drovic examined the collar which seemed to have an easily manipulated catch, Ralom found what looked like blood marks on the earthen floor but Grunyar could make out no prints.  There was little dust on the chain or collar as Ralom moved it from the original position.
At this point Varrid requested that everyone leave the manor, or at least go to the pantry while she tried to secretly enter the foyer area.  Ralom, who found no magical items in this area, stayed in the pantry while all others moved outside.  Baru and Drovic had turned back from the wall examination and met the party exiting the manor.
Cautiously opening the door to the foyer, Varrid moved past the entry to the lab and the outside door, to the doorway she believed led to the main hallway.  Again she took her time opening this door and moved to the stairs to the second floor.  Dim light shown from the hall of the second floor but no one was active on the stairs or in the hall.  Moving past the dining room she approached the far eastern door, which the group had seen upon entering the manor.  This door was locked and it took Varrid a couple of tried to actually pick the lock.  Peering inside she again saw piles of chests stacked atop one another.  On the south wall was more chilling -- here were the mummified and dehydrated remains of a half scorpion, half-human created.  Flesh and fur hung in loose strips from the creature's carapace.  One glass eye stared blankly, along side an empty socket.  Sucking in her breath to swallow a moan, Varrid turned to the western wall which featured a large series of shelves littered with skulls -- human, animal and twisted combinations of both.  The skulls were crisscrossed with carefully inked lines and marked with arcane symbols.  Each skull was labeled by number and name, and the numbers reached into the 500s.  At the end of the shelf were numbers and empty spaces reserved for Delphi, Orson and Felix.  Varrid backed slowly out of the room, locked the door and retraced her steps outside.  At this point the group finished it's march around the manor and returned to the guest house where they questioned Dr, Fran's intent and story.  Baru and Grunyar were on the first watch when they saw Delphi  sneak out of the manor wearing a heavy cloak.  She approached the wall north of the guest house and clambered over rather easily.  Baru woke Varrid and suggested that she follow.  Varrid made for the wall and climbed over watching Delphi disappear into the jungle.  Grunyar followed slightly later, using a rope anchored over the sharpened stockade top.  Varrid quietly trailed Delphi down to the river, where Delphi whistled softly and shed her cloak.  Wearing only a modest slip, she dove into the water and swan strongly and effortlessly.  A few more shapes appeared in the darkness, seal-men clearly inhuman, with fur covered bodies and seal like faces, their hands ending in dexterous flippers.  They joined in the swim.  Clearly the seal men and women worshiped the ground Delphi walks on (or rather the water she swims through.)   Just a Grunyar approached the river, Delphi climbed out of the water, laughing and toweled off with the cloak.  She headed back to the manor.  Back at the manor Seglun and Ralom had clambered over the wall but stayed closed to the stockade.  Grunyar beat Delphi back, returned to the courtyard followed by Seglun.  Varrid trailed Delphi, who easily pulling herself over the palisade and returning to the manor.  Varrid and Ralom examined the area where Delphi had ascended the wall and found small hand and foot holds for easy climbing.
Orson arrived in the morning with breakfast, and second breakfast for Arvien, and then Dr Fran joined them asking Varrid if she would sit this morning.  Varrid wondered if there were better clothes she could use and Dr. Fran offered her anything from Delphi's wardrobe.  Arvien, Seglun and Ralom headed out for the river to see if they could find any interesting clues from Delphi's swimming hole.  Meanwhile in Delphi's room Varrid found two possible gowns, one teal and another in blue.  Choosing the blue she asked Delphi "Do you ever save drowning seamen during a storm?"  Delphi blushed and said "Occasionally if they deserve it."  In her borrowed gown Varrid entered Frans studio and sat on a chair by the window.  Drovic stood just inside the door at Frans back watching the method of Frans painting.  Frans strokes were inexact, and his grasp of the human form clumsy.  This matched the various painting seen in the dining room.    "Hell's Bells" bellowed Fran as he painted over the canvas and stared again.   This happened several times in the morning and by early afternoon Fran suggested they retire until tomorrow.  The painting at this point was a poor-looking draft, inexact and primitive.

DM's Note: The party earned 200XP for the nights adventures and now have 1000 XP.  They need 2000 additional XP to reach 2nd level.  We will meet at Leo's on the 8th.