Rise of The Runelords 1 - Burnt Offerings

Jack nods. "Intriguing. So the chopper may have been corrupted by Pazuzu, turned into a demon in the end perhaps. Let's hope the tome turns up some answers." Jack looks at Brodert. "How much is your usual wage for translating evil and demonic tomes?"

"You're certainly not very polite either. Of course we can pay" Shara snaps at the old man.

Her eyes turn almost black, as she struggles not to make the impolite sage's head explode.

'People pay me for knowledge, young lady, not to be polite. And depending on how much I can translate, it'll cost you between... five and fifteen gold pieces.'

Jack tosses the old man a pouch with 15 gold pieces. "Consider this advance. We need to know as much as possible."

He nods, satisfied. 'Come back tomorrow, and I'll tell you what I've found.'

A golden glow starts to form around Shara's hands, her eyes are even darker than before. She turns around and leaves the store, no need to make enemies in Sandpoint just yet.

Jack catches up to Shara. "Constrain yourself, girl. You can't go all dark and magical at an old man's quirks." He smiles. "We're one step closer to saving the girl, cheer up."

"I know, I know. I just HATE it when people act all high and mighty."

Shara has already cooled down considerably, every emotion comes and goes very quickly for her.

"Well, I have a feeling the seer might be your type then."
Jack sighs and starts towards Madame Mvashti.

Just like Sandpoint At A Glance described, Madame Mvashti's house appears to be an ancient, decrepit manor house, but while it's not exactly shining with cleanliness, it doesn't have the same air of neglect that Quink's house does. Since it's situated right next to the market, there's plenty of traffic in the street, and several villagers greet you politely as they pass.

Jack shakes his head. "Bloody seers..." he looks over his shoulder at his friends. "You know, she should probably have foreseen the goblin attack if she really were a seer." He knocks on the door.

"He really should have fore-told us so." Shathys says with a chuckle, then a grimace when the light pierces his eyes.

"Jack. I need your help, this light hurts my eyes, we need to find a tailor or I fear I may go blind on this plane."

"What you want like a veil over your eyes like the sand people in the desert?"

"Sounds decent." Shathys grumbles.

The door opens, and an ancient woman with a grey shock of hair greets you. 'Hello my dear,' she says with a voice like old wood creaking. 'How can I help you?'

Used to horrifying faces, Jack isn't taken aback by the sight. "Good day, uh, mam? Might we ask some questions?"

'You certainly may. Would you like to come inside?'

"I suppose so." Jack looks inside the house.

The inside of the house is richly furnished with many brightly coloured rugs and padded chairs. Everything looks relatively clean, and you can detect a faint smell of strange herbs and spices. Madame Mvashti shuffles over to a gathering of tables, chairs and thick pillows and lowers herself into a redwood chair so big it's almost a throne. It makes her look even smaller than she is. 'So,' she creaks, 'have you come to have your fortunes read?'

'Our fortunes read?', Morbus asks. 'I think it would be better, if you could help us in our quest for Sandpoint. Do you know why we have come?' Morbus' gigantic figure makes the small woman look even tinier than she did before. 'It would be fantastic if you could guide us or anything.' Trying to seem less frightening in size, Morbus falls to his knees in front of the woman, trying not to be intimidating.

'No readings, eh? Just as well, I suppose. They aren't worth much these days.' She looks distant and sad for a few moments, but gathers herself quickly. 'No,' she says, 'I don't know why you've come. Come to think of it, I don't even know your names.'

Jack raises an eyebrow at Morbus going down on his knees but doesn't comment. "My name is Jack steel, inquisitor of Ioun. These are my associates," he raises a hand to his companions. "the pale one is Shathys, the young lady is Shara." He looks as if he considers something for a moment. "And the big metal man is our newly addition to our merry group, Morbus."

Shara smiles politely at the woman. She is very happy about the way they were received by the seer. Much better, she thinks to herself.

'It's very nice to meet you,' she says with a smile. 'My name is Madame Mvashti, resident seer and the oldest and wisest person in Sandpoint. Or so people tell me. Now, how can an old women help a group of youngsters like yourself?'

"Perhaps a couple of things." Jack says while looking through his notebook.
"What can you tell us about The Butcher? Did you sense anything otherworldly during the murders?"