you may need to do some convincing to get him to pay you.
Okay, nevermind. No fight. We can't agree not to report. Might as well leave.
Careful not to turn their back on the cultists, the group backs out of the room and retraces their steps, heading back to the entrance of the temple. Carrakas ferries everybody down the cliff, and the group makes their way back down through winding trails. The group once again passes through the mass grave, but with the vetala put to rest, no undead rise to bother you. Eventually the path broadens and you see where Bala and the elephants are waiting for you. He seems visibly relieved to see you all alive and in one piece and is eager to get as far away from this area as he can.
The sun sets, but the group pushes on, aware that the small village of Leckumgee isn't too far off. A few hours after dark, you reach the destination, where Finnrick eagerly greets you. He's the only one though. "Friends, I did not expect to see you again so soon. You finished your work is less than a day? But come, I have claimed one of the huts belonging to a slain cultists. Let me prepare some food for you. You must be hungry." Millsy rubs up against each of your legs, purring happily. As he leads you to his claimed domicile, Finnrick continues, "I'm sorry this isn't a warmer welcome; Shreya has already gone to sleep and the rest of the village...well, many of them refused to leave their huts even after you have left. The few that did mostly tried to avoid me, and I suspect only came out for love of their herd."
"They are not going to be happy when they find out that we could not finish those damn cultists," says Jaed clearly displeased.
Nope. And I truly wish it were otherwise, but things are as they are. We should tell them right away, so they can leave if they want to, or come with us.
"It's already late at night and given that they've been avoiding me, I'm not sure they would listen. If you want, I can stay and continue to urge them to relocate while you continue onwards. At the very least I would provide a little protection should they refuse to leave. Though if the cult was able to withstand the might of Carrakas, I fear I would be able to do much more than provide an early warning system before they attacked." Finnrick mused. Carrakas smiles grimly at the compliment but doesn't say anything else.
Worried about an attack, you all take turns resting in shifts though no assassins come in the night. In the morning, Finnrick walks with you to try to talk the villagers into leaving, but they mostly refuse to talk with you or budge. Many remain barricaded in their huts and the few people you see outside are careful to give you a wide berth. Your warning delivered, the group leaves the village to head back to the city of Niswan to report your findings to Raheem.
The three days spent trekking through the jungle are just as hot, humid, and unpleasant as you remember. All the way you keep a wary eye out for the tigerman who attacked you earlier. Despite not making an appearance, you can't help but feel like you're being watched from the shadows. You pass once more through the small clearing with the shrine to nearly every god imaginable though its monk caretaker is nowhere to be seen. Finally, you exit the jungle and gain a reprieve from the oppressive mugginess.
It's getting late by the time you arrive in the small fishing village of Mudaliear on the south side of the River Sald. The ferries have already closed for the night, so you decide to sleep there. Once crossing the river, you are but a half day's journey from the city. The end in sight, you all enjoy the first proper bath you've had in over a week as well as the first true bed.
A couple of nights later when you're in the jungle, the dream repeats itself. The twig snaps and your whirl around. What creature is foolish enough to disturb your night revels? A deer stands before you, looking at you with fear. It flees and with a thrill, you are drawn to chase it. You toy with the creature, nipping at its heels to prompt it to put on a burst of speed in a vain attempt to get away. You can smell its terror. It gives you an overwhelming sense of power for you know that it is your will alone that allows it to continue living. You wait until the deer feels like it has almost escaped before putting on your own burst of speed. With a primal growl, you leap at the creature, ready to end its life, when once more you are awoken for your turn at watch.
You don't have any further dreams on your journey, but when you awaken from your first night's sleep in semi-civilization, you feel full. Really full, as though you had gorged yourself on a great feast. In fact, the mere thought of breakfast turns your stomach. You fear if you were to eat anything you might be forced to vomit it all up.
You all awake in the morning feeling delightfully refreshed though something seems a little off. As you eat your breakfast, you notice the occasional person running outside and the inn's proprietor seems slightly on edge.
The cause becomes readily apparent when you step outside and see a gathering crowd towards the edge of the village. Approaching, Marzela is able to make out some of the villagers talking about an attack of some sort, and eventually you're all able to see the corpse of a young man lying on the street. The body's in poor condition: one arm has been completely severed and the torso almost seems to have been ripped apart with a number of his internal organs left hanging externally. His face is frozen in a mask of terror.
Looks like he was clawed and eaten. This is horrible. I wonder if tiger-man followed us here. I vote we report to Niswan quickly and let them know what is going on. I hope they have people who can handle this.
The group takes a slightly different exit out of the town to avoid trampling over the grisly scene with the less than dexterous elephants. Bala once more pays the ferries to carry you and your mounts across. Unlike last time, the rowers are silent and somber, clearly aware of dead body lying on the outskirts of their town. The last half day of travel seems to go by painfully slowly and bit by bit the distant city of Niswan grows bigger.
When you finally reach the gates, Bala takes his leave from you, moving to herd his beloved elephants away to a well-deserved rest. He is clearly relieved to have arrived home safely. You make your way to the far side of the city where the Thakur's palace lies behind high walls. After talking with the guards and waiting for some messages to be exchanged, you're escorted past elaborately carved pillars and down smooth, polished marble hallways to a moderately sized audience chamber where Lord Raheem Pandisar waits for you. Once again the table is filled to the bring with a variety of fresh fruits and exotic dishes as well as multiple jugs containing a range of different beverages. Given that none of you took the time to stop for lunch, it all smells quite delicious and enticing. Raheem indicates that you should sit and help yourselves as he speaks, "Friends, you have returned. I hope that your journey was not too strenuous? Were you able to find and deal with the cultist base down south? But...wait a moment, were there not five of you? I hope that I will not have to call upon the temple clerics to once more raise one of your number."
Jaed feels uneasy after seeing the body. After some thinking during the ferry trip he decides to talk to his companions.
"Did any of you had these weird dreams at night were you, well," this is going to sound stupid, "feel like animal and go hunting? I have been having those since we fought the tiger-man. Do you think our minds could be connected somehow? That he may be following us because of that?"
Nope, no dreams like that. Mental tracking seems unlikely, although... did he bite you? Do you think you could be turning into a weretiger too? There must be a cure for that.
_____
To Raheem, she responds
That will not be necessary. We found the cultists and we know they are responsible for the murders, but we don't have the manpower to root them out.
She relates their encounters with the tiger-man and their welcome and then attempted kidnapping in the town. She explains how terrified the people in the town are, why Finnrick decided to stay behind and help them, and then offers blow-by-blow detail of their fight with the undead. She then explains the complex they entered, describes the cultists that they encountered and the minor battles they fought, but then concludes with the information that because they were unfortunately not at their full strength and without their full group, they were unable to confront the cultists on their own turf. There was little chance of winning, and so unfortunately the wisest choice was to come and report locations and strength so that the realm would know what is going on.
She explains about the murder on their way back, and that they are worried the tiger man is following them, still trying to save the cult. She tells him the investigation is over, the murderers identified, and advises him to put together a large group to take out the cultists, since their guerilla tactics and natural abilities will naturally whittle away whatever he sends against them.
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"Weird dreams? No... did... did someone get turned into a were-tiger?"
Raheem listens with rapt attention to your tale, face grim. "I see. If you believe you had no hope of winning, then retreat was truly your only option. I can but together a force to go after them, but I fear by the time they arrive that the cult will have long vacated that particular temple to find a new hiding place. That is, after all, why I asked you to go; I had hoped if you left quickly that you would be hot on the heels of the survivors of the sect here and be able to end this threat before they had a chance to relocate. It is, after all, a pattern they have repeated many times throughout history." He sighs tiredly, rubbing at his temples.
"I can at least send some guards to look into this nearby murder though. It's possible it was just a random, wild animal attack. They happen on occasion. But if it is more than that, no doubt more bodies will soon join the rest."
He snaps his fingers and a servant quickly approaches with a few bags. "I'm afraid that since it is likely more assassination attempts will be made against the Thakur that I cannot pay you the full amount promised. But you have at least set the cult back. They will have to replace the members that you have slain as well as set up new bases of operations. Here is half of what I promised for those of you who saw this through as far as you could." He hands you two bags containing a total of 4000 gold.
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Jaed is happy that Raheem gives at least some payment for all the suffering they went through but his mind is focused on his more than possible tiger problem. He remembers being bitten by the tiger-man so the first thing he does with his share of the money is search for a cleric that can tell if he is in fact cursed and, if so, could provide him with a cure.
Marzela splits her share of the money equally between Jaed and Lily, to offset the healing costs they incurred that she couldn't do anything about. She realizes that she needs to learn much, much more before taking on so big a task again, and so she returns to the temple where she partially grew up and instead of dreaming of leaving like she used to, starts studying all she can so that someday she will be able to face challenges like this and *not* fail.
Jaed is able to find a cleric of sufficient level who does, indeed, confirm that Jaed has contracted lycanthropy. For the standard cost of 360 gold, he agrees to heal the man that night when he transforms once again under the light of the full moon. The rest of the group stand nearby, ready to help restrain their friend should he break free of the chains the priest wraps around him. As his nails lengthen into claws and his face elongates into a snout full of sharp, glistening teeth, the cleric casts his spell, pushing the man back into his human form and banishing his inner tiger forever. Or at least until he is next attacked and infected by a lycanthrope.