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[h2][color=FF6C5C][i][b]Marita Bärbel[/b][/i][/color][/h2][i][b][color=FF6C5C]Human, Cleric, Level 3[/color][/b][/i]
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]HP:[/b][/i][/color] 13/18	[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Armor Class:[/b][/i][/color] 18	[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Conditions:[/b][/i][/color] None
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Location:[/b][/i][/color] Avonshire Town Center->Municipal Building
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Bonus Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Reaction:[/b][/i][/color] Not pleased.
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If there was one thing to be glad of, it was that for once the townsfolk of this (formerly) accursed place came out to help for once, rather than merely gawk and cause more problems. Turns out all it took was the threat of a potentially all-consuming blaze after everything else remotely dangerous had been dealt with. Despite having just risked her life for the sake of these people, Marita found herself growing almost more angry with those who had been content to cower as their neighbors were caged and nearly killed than the villains who had perpetrated the crimes. Luckily for everyone there, Kathryn answered all their questions before she could tell them off. Regardless, the pitch fire was being dealt with so they could focus on other things.

For Marita, it was taking a moment to step aside and unwind a bit. The past several hours had been a series of increasingly tense and traumatic moments building on each other, and only the gods knew what they were about to find at the Municipal Building. While they had a moment of relative peace she could bring her emotional state down closer to something approaching normal. Primarily this involved taking several deep, slow breaths and realizing that her back, neck and legs were all held tense and to manually unclench them.

After this brief reset, Kathryn called her over and presented her with a pouch. The cleric wasn't sure why Kathryn couldn't just hold it herself, but didn't see much of a reason to turn down such a trivial task. When she took hold of the sack, the weight of the bag along with the feeling of the contents jostling inside told her that there was coin inside, and a not insignificant amount either. Although she still didn't understand why the warrior didn't just hold onto it herself, she immediately understood why she was the one being entrusted with the goods. Kosara would only bring more unwanted attention from the townsfolk, and Victoria would simply pocket it and pretend like she lost it. Blackberry... well he could also probably hold onto it, but they had only known him for less than a day and it was a lot of money.

All their business at the town center finally taken care of, Marita followed behind Kathryn, relying on the light of her hammer to lead the way as one of the aphotically-challenged members of the group. She never put away her mace. Although she had said that if they were to run into any trouble that they should focus on escape, if it came down to it, she was one of the ones best suited to making time for the others to evacuate. It never had to come to pass, but the lack of any signs of life were more unsettling.

The smell, that foul, rancid stench. Marita seemed to be far more sensitive to it than the rest of the party. She could barely stand it even at the building's entrance, and it only grew more putrid as they ventured further. She had to cover her nose with her arm to limit the amount of air she could breathe in at once. Even if she had access to a free hand to hold her nose closed, she dared not inhale the filth through her mouth. As distracted as she was by the sensory assault of the municipal building, she tried to study their surroundings as best as she could as they made their way through.

And then they came into the jail. It would be a lie to say that she was surprised at what lie in store for them, after all, to create the abominations that they had just battled, one needed a lot of materials, and they were not cleanly put together. But she was not prepared to see the grisly details of how that sausage was made. All the filth she had been forced to confront up to this point already had made her nauseous, but it was at this point that Marita was very glad that she had not eaten much over the past few days. Beyond disgust, the next overwhelmingly powerful emotion was the regret that Cavendish had only died once in an extremely painful manner, and that she could not Spare the Dying his pre-melted corpse and add to his suffering herself.

It took a very long time for Marita to feel comfortable enough to speak, but when she did, she had much to say. She expected to have to inform the others on the nature of the gods worshipped in the area based on her trip to the temple in Darensby, but Victoria beat her to the punch. Perhaps she had made a visit there before she had.

[color=FF6C5C]"Although this town would likely be better off with this place burnt to the ground, we are [i]not[/i] going to commit arson, especially without consulting any of the locals. Secondly, as horrific as this place is, it's important that it remain intact at least for now as evidence for what's been going on in Avonshire. We could likely return to Gregory and simply tell him what Cavendish has done with the testification of Robert and the others, but having hard, irrefutable proof of the atrocities committed will make the legal end of things much cleaner and safer for us."

"As far as purification of the premises goes, I'm likely the most qualified person in the region for such a task, and this feels beyond my capabilities. Victoria gave some names, but to those unfamiliar, the patrons of this area are mostly of the agricultural sort, not the type who would have much experience dealing with this profanity. As for what the ritual circles are for, this is simply a guess, but I think they were used to animate these things from being a mere mass of flesh and filth into mindless puppets to be wielded by Cavendish. I do not wish to remain here long enough to properly study them."

"And of the ones who came back? We don't know who all came back. Even of the missing persons we accidentally stumbled on Mr. Porter. Perhaps a more thorough search of the township could find them, I'm not confident given our limited manpower and with the harvest festival still technically in swing. Robert... we should wait until the morning sun before trying to seek him out. Rather than trying to dig further, right now we should probably return to Lizbeth or Mallard. I, I've just had enough of this place."[/color] Marita's voice cracked a bit at the last sentence. In hindsight, it would have been better had they waited until morning to come here, but this trip did tell her that there was likely one or more other hideaways in town for the wererat population for them to root out. The guard house was likely one. Any others? Well that was likely a problem better solved by someone else. Someone with more resources at their disposal.