Having thwarted Nualia’s goblin invasion and cleared out the catacombs below the town the heroes of Sandpoint spend some weeks resting on their laurels, catching up with their old friend Garalath while Gol’den Chile spends some time in contemplation. Life is relaxed until one day after lunch sheriff Hemlock arrives and asks for a private conversation.

Last night, a gruesome double murder took place at the lumber mill. Hemlock believes that this was linked to another similar murder of three men in an abandoned barn south of town two days ago, as many of the bodies were mutilated in the same way. Recalling the hysteria caused by Chopper’s murder spree five years ago in the Late Unpleasantness, Hemlock wants the heroes’ help in investigating things whilst not spreading panic.

But there is a complication: the murderer seems to know the heroes personally, as a bloodied envelope addressed to Gol’den Chile was pinned to one of the latest corpses. Inside was a note:

Hemlock has several leads:

• the lumber mill, scene of last night’s murder;
• Ibor Thorn, who jointly ran the mill and discovered the bodies this morning;
• Ven Vinder, father of one of the victims;
• the bodyguard who survived the previous murders and is now in Habe’s Sanatorium;
• the mysterious seven-pointed star carved on many of the bodies.

He makes the heroes his deputies and bids them be discreet.

The group heads first to the lumber mill, where the gathered crowd is being kept out by nervous-looking guards. Inside there is a smell of foul decay in the air which Brother Bother recognises as the stench of undead. By the log-splitting machinery is the mangled corpse of Katrine Vinder, sister to Shayliss with whom Bother almost had a dalliance; she must have fallen, jumped or been pushed into the splitter when it was running.

Hanging on some hooks on the wall is the body of Banny Harker who jointly ran the mill; he is in worse shape than poor Katrine, for his face has been carved away, his lower jaw removed and a seven-pointed star cut into his chest. Bother and Aric recognise this symbol – the warped aasimar girl Nualia wore it on a pendant. On closer inspection of the body Bother notices that there are gashes on the body made by a clawed five-fingered human-sized hand, and these gashes also smell strongly of rotten flesh.

Garalath examines the bloody axe embedded in the floor. Rotten flesh and fragmets of bone are on the blade and he has to stop himself from gagging as the stench here is so strong; Bother confirms that the axe has been used against a corporeal undead creature very recently.

There are bloodied footprints on the floor with the same rotten smell so Garalath follows these out to the mill’s wooden pier. His keen eyes determine that a barefoot human man climbed up out of the mud under the pier, crossed to the mill, scaled the wall and entered through an upper window. He has a hunch about the marshland across the river, so leaving the mill the party search both riverbanks between the bridges and end at the marsh. Here the see a dry spot with a good yet obscured view of the mill; barefoot tracks lead to and from the water, but not away from the dry spot.

It’s getting late so the group head to the garrison to question Ven Vinder, who has been locked up after flying in to a rage on learning of his daughter’s fate. When he sees Aric and Bother Ven flies into a rage again, accusing the pair of murdering his child, so Aric steps out of sight while Brother Bother goes to the shopkeeper’s house to talk to his wife Solsta. However Garalath’s robust line of questioning does not prove productive, with Ven initially being reduced to a sobbing mess then babbling about how ‘they’ must have murdered his daughter. Bother has no better luck and comes away suspecting that he’s the last person Solsta wants to see right now.

The next morning they approach Father Zantus to ask him about the rune; he does not recognise it but directs them to Brodert Quink, an expert on Thassilonian ruins. This genial old fellow is delighted to have his esoteric knowledge called upon and identifies the mark as a Sihedron Rune, which symbolises the seven virtues of rule (wealth, fertility, honest pride, abundance, eager striving, righteous anger, and rest) and the seven schools of magic recognised by Thassilon. He believes that the classic mortal sins (greed, lust, pride, gluttony, envy, wrath, and sloth) rose from corruptions of the Thassilonian virtues of rule. However he has no idea who in modern times might use or even know of such a rune apart from a scholar – he is then quick to state that he was not the murderer.

Returning to the garrison the group ask to interview Ibor Thorn – Hemlock asks them to be more gentle this time. The young man still seems a bit stunned and claims that he’s already told Hemlock everything. He does confirm that Banny Harker was seeing Katrine Vinder behind her father’s back, but doesn’t think Ven was capable of such a brutal murder no matter how angry he became. When pressed on whether anyone might have had it in for Harker he reluctantly admits that the man had been cooking the books and skimming profits from the mill owners, the Scarnetti family – something which Ibor is quick to point out he did not take any part in. While he thinks the Scarnettis would be ruthless if they found out they were being scammed and possibly even have the perpetrator killed, defiling the body like that and killing an innocent girl is not the way they would go about it.

The party considers Thorn’s words and ponders what to do next …

Experience: 667 each (13,990 total, 5th level).