The Surwich Witch Hunt

The **Surwich Witch Hunt**, also known as the **Surwich Massacre**,was a bloody witch hunt carried out in the Gilnean town of Surwich. The Bloodied Goats had received a letter, calling them to action..

## Day 1

Upon entering the grounds of the small town, the group’s magic users noticed that something was wrong. They spread out to look for clues:

The mayor appeared uncooperative, disliking the presence of mercenaries in his town and giving very few answers in attempt to be rid of them as soon as possible. They learned however that the mysterious Peterson who wrote the first lesson was the personal aide of the mayor, working against his wishes. Peterson was afraid of what ailed the town, and eager to get help in solving the case.

The local doctor Willems insisted that the fears of a curse on the town was nothing more than superstition, saying that he had the bouts of lethargy under control.

The innkeepers daughter had fallen into a deep sleep and would not wake up, and an odd bunch of herbs were discovered near the bed.

A local fisherman, Kebbel, told them of the strange state most townspeople (and fish) found themselves in, as well as how the strangest person in town had to be a local woman who would come and go to her local residence for longer periods of time, a house that had its curtains drawn and did not answer to previous attempts at knocking. During this current visit the woman living there had brought a new face with her, a pale young man who had spoken to no one else in town.

Cildar made another attempt at approaching the house of the mysterious woman, but there was still not response. Instead he sneakily summoned the imp Aztik, covering him in a blanket and giving him a Hallow’s End basket before knocking once more – hoping his little trick and treating partner would have more luck. Indeed the door opened before he could finish knocking, the resident woman glaring at Aztik and demanding that he and his demon scram before the town would come around to lynch them both. Through the imp’s acute senses Cildar learned that the house was protected with several magical wards, while the woman herself seemed strangely unaffected by the malaise in town.

While other Goats watched in amazement at this daring display of demons, Eisteynn eventually approached as well. The woman in the house finally gave in, agreeing to give them one piece of information in return for them leaving her alone – she urged them to check by a tree behind the inn.

With this the Goats gathered and went to said tree and uncovered a hidden sack with ingredients for making magical ink. As the ink was tested, Gavin looked up at the tree to spot a lone, blue bird watching them work. He spared no time destroying the thing with a beam of fel energy, watching the bird evaporate into blue matter. Meanwhile a herbal garden was found behind one of the houses. The mayor’s wife approached, urging them to leave her garden alone. She revealed to be a bit of a herbalist, who was convinced that she was working on a definite cure for the town’s problems, and was sharing her husband’s belief that the mercenaries were not needed to help. Instead she said that if they wanted to find a culprit, maybe look into why the fisherman’s son kept dragging her poor daughter into the haunted forest beyond the town’s borders.

With all these new clues and hints the Goats convened for the night, sharing theories and discoveries. There was much to consider before the investigation could continue the following day….

## Day 2

The next morning the signs of the spell covering Surwich became even more apparent as even the Goats themselves felt tired as if lacking sleep. The group discussed their plans for continuing the investigation when the innkeep shared some gossip: The mayor's herbalist wife has been seen heading into the woods, where she had been dancing under the moon. Maybe the herbs she has been giving the weakened patients are the work of a witch?

The investigation continued with one group looking into he focus points of the spell that Gavin sought out during the night, while another group headed towards the house of the mysterious sorceress.

Cildar and the acquinted dark iron Halgrut Pyrebeard attempted to knock on he woman's door once more, again without luck. Tired of this, the dark iron brought his ram – and proceeded to charge straight through a window to get inside. This resulted in him, Cildar and Garrick getting into a verbal fight with the mage living there, without learning much of use. The townspeople were alerted by the noise and trouble, some of them spotting Aztik.

Meanwhile Gavin and the warlock Anselm isolated one of the focus points to try and follow the flow of energy back to the spell's source. This led them to two women talking outside the inn: The mayorwife and her daughter. Gavin used some charms to prope the mayorwife for further signs of magic, sensing a faint hint of shadow in her. It was decided that they were on to something, and that harsher methods were needed. One cast a curse on the daughter to paralyze her, causing the frightened wife to attack with her knife. This prompted Gavin to restrain her with tendrils of shadow, making her scream in fear as she attempted to summon her own magic in defense.

During this, the fisherman's son had run to the mayor to tell him about Cildar's demon. Cildar approached,only to be accused by the mayor of being the real culprit. The mayor demanded that the Goats proved who else might be the prepetrator, if they did not want Cildar to face immediate justice for the town's misfortune. At this moment they all hears the the terrified screams of the mayorwife, and chaos broke loose as the townspeople armed themselves with whatever they had to attack the Goats and defend their town against what they perceived as an attack.

The fight ended with most of the townspeople incapacitated, already weakened by the curse and with no combat abilities. The mayorwife and daughter were knocked out as well, after a few desperate attempts from the wife at freeing her daughter from the warlocks.

As the mayor ran towards his family, crying for them to stop, Gavin had already forced his magic into the mind of the wife – ultimately ending with her painful death. A series of misunderstandings almost caused those present to kill the daughter as well, though she was spared in the end and left unconscious.

As the town fell quiet the blue bird returned, turning into an image of the mage Claire. She explained that she wrote the letter about the job, and that the person they killed was not the true witch, but an innocent. The one who brought the curse on Surwich was the fisherman's son, who had long since got away while the Goats were fighting the townspeople. They had failed, as she had expected they would, though the result went much further than she would ever have thought.

Their feelings torn, the Goats left the town behind. The witch hunt had come to an end.

## The Notes

### First Note

Scrawled in the helpless writing of a peasant:

> *"Dear Sirs, Surwich requires aid.*
>
>

> *I fear a strange illness has befallen us, though I know not what it is. Nethergarde Keep will not listen to our plea for help. Please send aid.*
>
>

> *- John Peterson"*
>
>
>

### Second Note

Folded neatly and written in a curvy, orderly script:

> *"Dear Goats.*
>
>

> *The village of Surwich is in dire trouble. Unawares, they have fallen into the clutches of a witch - who else would be better to ride in and save the day? The authorities will not believe the poor commoners without proof, so I took the liberty to steal their plea and send it your way.*
>
>

> *A curse has befallen the townspeople and, left alone, they will all wither away and perish. The only way to save them is to find the orchestrator of this calamity before it's too late.*
>
>

> *You have proven masterful at rooting out witches in the past. I'm sure you can do so again.*
>
>

> *Glory and gold to the rescuing heroes."*
>
>