Terra Nullius: Session 5: The Ghost of Raske (Part 1)

Key Points:

Managirl found herself at gun point from one of the deputies of Raske. However, the sheriff (Oku), defused the situation quickly. Soon, the group gathered to hear the tales and woes of the ghost of Raske...

The townspeople claim that a ghost murdered the captain of the town guard (Jemos) as well as three other guards at the town's southern guardhouse. Jemos' corpse was set on fire (though he didn't smell of gasoline or other ignition fluid), but the other victims had their throats torn out. Jemos was found with a wolf mask and a red cloak.
Many claim that the ghost is a man called Otho. A stranger in Raske, he was a thief and a con artist. Otho was reported to be "strange", many people thought he was a manaborn, but there wasn't sufficient proof to confirm what he was, since he didn't match the description of a deva, a tiefling, or a genasi.
Otho was rumored to be killed by the Red Wolves. He was beaten to death, then burned in a pyre. Otho only really committed small crimes, nothing worthy of that treatment.

The Red Wolves are a vigilante group of concerned citizens in Raske. They have driven off outsiders from the town before, but they've never had such a violent turn like this. They are considered outlaws, but Oku believed that Jemos protected their identities.

Although Otho wasn't a mage in life, people reported his ghost to be able to use magic. Hellfire, unholy blights, and the ability to appear instantaneously.
Tommik, an eccentric gnome who specializes in the occult, was the one to see Otho attack the guardhouse. He insists Otho is a ghost.

The group offered to help solve the mystery in Raske in order to protect its citizens. Oku agreed, as she was short staffed. She didn't necessarily offer any reward, but she did say that she would pay for the group's expenses while in town.
A dockworker, short of breath, arrived and warned the group that the ghost was attacking people at the dock.

At the dock, several people (guards and workers) had been killed. A dwarven woman was trying to escape from a figure cloaked in smoke.
Kembu leaped (an impossible distance for a normal man) to defend the woman, but for his troubles, he had black cancerous tar and poison spewed on him.
Managirl supported him from the roof of a nearby shock, raining her magic down upon the figure.
Roan, likewise, supported the group from a distance. He had several impressive sniper rifle shots (including knocking an amulet off the ghost's neck).
Del and her crew of animals and spirits headed to support Kembu from the rear. Her healing magic and her animals (who got their licks and swipes in) were a boon.
Trajan, recklessly or fearlessly (your choice), engaged the ghost in melee. He learned that it was really a man in there, and find him a competent hand-to-hand fighter. Trajan had an awesome nut shot though...

Kembu sprained his wrist.
Kembu, the dwarven woman, and Del all contracted a disease.
The group discovered that the ghost was looking to get revenge for Otho. So unless he liked to talk in the third person... this wasn't Otho.
The ghost was powerful, giving everyone a good fight.
Kembu and the Dwarven woman tried to escape by boat, but the ghost destroyed it with his fire magic. The ghost, then, disappeared into ash (having been bloodied by the group).
Kembu and the woman survived the boat's explosion, but Del (instructing Trajan) saw to the dwarven woman being given mouth-to-mouth to save her life.

After the fight was over, the group began to lick their wounds. Igam (the dwarf woman) had been saved, though she didn't give much insight into the ghost situation. She seemed in favor of what the Red Wolves did, and seemed to insist that Otho deserved what he got. She is convinced that this is the ghost of Otho, though, out for revenge.

Del's theory is that this is a twin brother of Otho getting his revenge.
Roan retrieved the amulet-half he shot off of the ghost, and later, it was revealed that the other half of the amulet was in the town's evidence locker. The other half was given to Del by Oku. When combined, the gold amulet shows the visage of a dragon breathing firing.
Trajan seemed perturbed, yet interested that the image of a dragon kept coming up (on the amulet, in the ghost's smoke). He didn't take well to Oku calling dragons 'fictional'.
Igam is being kept by Oku temporarily in the town's jail (for protection, yet, she is also suspected of being a Red Wolf, as the wolf mask and cloak was found at the docks).

Trajan, Roan, and Kembu noticed throughout the night that a very tall (7'0) bald man with the look of a bodyguard kept observing the night's affairs from afar. Roan found that the man high-tailed it out of there after the sheriff arrived at the crime scene. He fled to the Raske estate, which the group learned belongs to a wealthy family that the town was named after.
After retrieving Dr. Klein, the group turned in for the night at the Red Eye Inn (where they met the halfling inn keeper).

Current Objectives:

Complete the Middleman's Second Job: Escort Dr. Klein to Quiet Mountain to investigate the mana reactor there.
Complete the Middleman's Third Job: ???
Receive the Middleman's Answers.
Catch the murderer ("ghost") of Raske.

Terra Nullius