As soon as Unafe's spell ends, she scribbles busily on a piece of parchment so as not to forget the odd fragments.
Once written, she holds the notes up for others to read. "The honored dead brought me these whispers. I'm not too sure I understand these, but perhaps they can be of some use to us."
Nicholas thanks Diana profusely. "Keep yourself safe and get out of town as soon as it looks like they might be on to you. We've lost too many friends already and I would very much not like to lose any more." He nods thoughtfully as she describes the Bay. "Hmmm... alright. I don't suppose you know anyone who works out of that region. If there's anyone who knows local smugglers, it's you."
Ciervo does not leave Nicholas's safe house, spending most of his time peeking out windows and mulling over the original details of his mission in his head. While staying incognito was not as important for him as it was for Nicholas, he did not trust his current disguise to repel scrutiny. The sound of strange chanting draws the dhampir's attention to Unafe. Thinking her to have gone into some kind of seizure, he takes a step forward to intervene, only for her to quickly regain her senses.
Was that her 'communing with her ancestors'? he wonders, recalling that she had mentioned doing just that. Unable to fully comprehend what had just happened, he skeptically takes the scrap of paper she had written on and reads through it, before passing it along.
"Hm. A description of Jo's friend, perhaps?" he suggests, uncertain of what else to glean from the murmurs of the 'honored dead.' Most of the rest struck him as typical gossip.
Simon had previously given you a description of Jo. He is a swarthy human man, a little less than two meters tall. He has dark black hair, strange orange eyes, and light brown skin, like a Katapeshi man. He carries a scimitar, wears leathers, and is cagey and suspicious.
Unafe agrees with Nicholas. "I have enough gold to buy a horse, and know how to ride."
"I have a horse of my own, so I am ready when...well, when those of us that can trust one another are ready."
"I can purchase a horse as well," Ciervo says, still carrying a considerable quantity of coin on him.
Hearing Cai'nan's last remark, the assassin frowns. Something had been bothering him since the previous night. As one of the Scions of Dou-Bral, it made sense that Nicholas was at the temple. Unafe had been with him as his distinguished guest. Salla and himself had already been watching the temple, and merely responded to the situation at hand. Who then, did Cai'nan and the Procurer answer to?
Ciervo takes a step toward the man and reaches into his cloak.
"Hm. Tell me, Cai'nan, have you read any good books lately?" he asks, before pulling out a small, familiar book.
Cai'nan eyes Ciervo warily as he approaches and reaches into his cloak. At the unorthodox greeting Cai'nan blinks numbly for a moment, looking to the book then to Ciervo's face before replying, "Yes, I have. That exact one, actually."
"I see." Looking satisfied with Cai'nan's response, Ciervo nods before putting away his copy of The Centaur Skyles of Central Casmaron. What he hides is his embarrassment over not realizing their shared affiliation sooner. He frowns before speaking again, not accustomed to being able to speak freely. "I apologize for the cloak and dagger. It comes naturally with this line of work... and with me in general, I suppose."
There is a nearby stable at the gates of the city where horses can be bought from a dirty commoner - light horses for 50gp, heavy horses for 100gp, with saddles included. The road north towards the Conquerer's Bay, the stablemaster says, can be dangerous, but is well-maintained.
"I suppose, but I am glad all of that business is behind us now," Cai'nan says, visibly relieved. "Is it safe to assume your associate has also read that particular title?"
"Once I acquire my horse and personal effects from Osborne's home, I will be ready."
Salla will discretely display her copy of the Book.
"We are all on the same page then," Ciervo replies, nodding to Salla. They had taken a chance, choosing to trust complete strangers, but it had all worked out for the best.
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised..." Nicholas says. "Very well. If we're all in agreement, I suggest we get on our way."
The whole party sans Cai'nan (who already has his own horse) purchases a set of large, study steeds from the stablemaster at the gates, and with some vague direction sets out north towards the Conquerer's Bay. Meanwhile, Nicholas' friend Diana works to get their beleaguered cleric out of the country that had betrayed him.
The ride is long, and since speed is an issue, the group pushes the horses at a canter or a run for most of the voyage. Nidal is not very developed, and it certainly lacks beauty as well, so most of the day is spent cantering along a wide dirt road with wide swaths of lowland plains on either side.
The trip is also largely uneventful, though small talk and conversation can break it up somewhat. After several hours, the group turns towards the coast, but encounters something strange along the way. Turned over on the road is a wooden wagon, dead horses lying on their sides in front of it. The back of the wagon is spilled open, with boxes, barrels and bodies slumped about. The front of the wagon sinks into the swampy muddy soil on the sides of the road. From the thin forest to the right of the wagon there comes plaintive whimpering, like that from a young woman.
The horses whinny and whimper, stopping about fifty feet from the site of this crash.
Cai'nan reigns in his horse as they approach the crash, dismounts, and hands the reigns to Salla. He readies his glaive before heading off carefully in the direction of the whimpering.
Nicholas dismounts and finds someplace to tie his horse's reins then follows behind Cai'nan at a safe distance. "A raid perhaps? Bandits or beasts. Let's be careful just in case there's something still here." He looks around. "Hello?" he calls out as they get near the wrecked wagon. "Is someone there? We won't hurt you."
Cai'nan turns and signals Nicholas to be quiet. "Could be a trap," he whispers.
Cai'nan dismounts from his horse and walks forward towards the source of the voice. There is a gasp and a cry from within the underbrush on the side of the road, and somebody shouts, "Oh my god, rescuers! Please, come here and help me! I can't walk, I was bitten by the beast that killed my husband and his men." The cry for help is broken by a choked sob.
Peering into the underbrush behind the cart, you can see a shape moving in the bushes about 40' into the swampy area. However, it's definitely not a young woman, as you can see fur, wicked antlers, and an overlarge badger's head staring at you.
Seeing the strange creature in the brush from where the "womans" voice came from, Cai'nan comes to a halt. He points at the thing and says, "Like that."
"That's why you're here," Nicholas says, moving a few paces behind the warrior and raising his hand to prepare a burst of light or darkness if the lurker attacks.
"Oh. Good to know," Cai'nan says with a wry smile.
You hear a growl from within the underbrush, and the monster shouts, "Fine, I'll just eat you like I did to them!" and then charges out of the swamp at Cai'nan. It opens its huge maw as it charges him, but it crosses through the reach of his deadly glaive as it does, and he swings at it...
The creature that charges out of the swampy undergrowth is pretty terrifying - a huge, powerful jaw filled with razor-sharp teeth, the hooves and antlers of a stag, a badger's coloration and head, and a sleek but seemingly scaled four-legged body. Another one of them emerges onto the road farther back, hissing, "Yessss, my love, more meat for us to enjoy together!"
Cai'nan makes contact with the creature, drawing a line of blood on the thing before it lunges out to bite at him. Cai'nan manages to step quickly out of the way, pushing it away with the haft of his weapon. It snarls in frustration, hungry for the man's blood.
Their powerful jaws are capable of sawing through wood, flesh, bone, and many other substances easily.
Darian steps back for some space, and brings his glaive down on the thing in two heavy handed strokes.
__________
Cai'nan cuts across the thing's front, slicing right into its throat. Though it doesn't die, it gurgles and twitches and is obviously in great pain, close to death.
Meanwhile, the creature's mate bounds forward, its long and powerful legs propelling it at great speed. Seeing its mate savaged by Cai'nan's powerful blows, it snarls and enters melee with Cai'nan, who sweeps his glaive in another attack of opportunity. He slices this second creature as well, and it yelps in pain.
Ciervo keeps his distance from the overturned wagon, suspecting some sort of foul play. All the better, since Cai'nan is given ample room to go to town on the strange creatures. Having not really picked up on it during the fight at the temple, he could not help but to admire the man's sheer strength.
Not accustomed to riding horses into battle, much less one not suited for the task, Ciervo drops off the horse and approaches the battle, wondering if the beasts would even still be alive by the time he gets there.
Salla quickly dismounts, since Cai'nan seems to be doing extremely well she will make sure the horses don't bolt, keeping hold of the reins and making soothing sounds.
Unafe calls out, "These are leucrottas. Their bite is quite viscious, and they shrug off poison and disease. Love to trick folks too, as we've seen.
"They're a plague in the savanna a few days walk from the tribal home of the Goapeke."
Still astride her horse, Unafe furrows her brow at the less injured one, attempting to tangle the strings of its fortune. As she does, she begins to chant in her native strain of Polyglot.
Snarling to protect its mate, the second creature completely shrugs off Unafe's attempt to disrupt its luck, while the first creature bounds backwards, retreating from Cai'nan's grasp and maneuvering around the group towards Ciervo and the horses, who all back away with alarm, a couple of them trotting right into the muck of the swamp, where they whine loudly, their eyes wide with alarm.
"A plague that Cai'nan seems to have well in hand..." Nicholas mutters. He steps back to get a little space from the two beasts, then hammers the weaker one with a trio of magic missiles.
Nicholas dispassionately knocks the first of the two leucrottas unconscious with a trio of unerring magic missiles.
Darian steps back once more and begins attacking, but steps on a rock and his attacks go awry!
Salla (Using the Ride skill)
Cai'nan swings twice at the remaining leucrotta, but his swings are clumsy and misjudged, and he gives the creature an opportunity to close in and savage him with its hooves and teeth.
Fortunately for Cai'nan, his armor protects him against the worst of it, though the savage creature still manages to get a bloody bite in against him.
Meanwhile, Salla pulls on the horses' reins, letting them know that she is still in charge. They calm down, for now.
Ciervo was loathe to tackle an opponent head-on, especially such a large and ferocious-looking beast, but he had little choice at the moment. The shadowdancer nimbly steps around Cai'nan and approaches the leucrotta's side, before thrusting his rime-covered dagger into its hide.
Seeing the bloody bite mark on Cai'nan, Unafe guides her horse closer to the fight. She takes a deep breath and then chants "Tupuna herea, herea tahi matou wairua inaianei.", binding Cai'nan's and her spirits together.
Ciervo maneuvers towards the creature, stabbing it with his frost dagger - it yelps, and the wound rimes over with magical frost from his dagger, but the creature keeps going.
Unafe casts a spell on Cai'nan, which helps her share part of the burden from any wounds the man might receive...
With the horses (maybe) calmed Salla draws her crossbow and makes the beast her studied target (+3 to hit and damage)
Taking note of her enemy's weak spots and the points at which it would he the most hurt. Then, she fires a crossbow bolt at it. The bolt punctures the creature's hindleg, and it spasms in pain.
Nicholas waves his hand and fires another barrage of magic missiles. There seems to be little else to worry about with the creatures falling under the heavy assault of his allies.
Nicholas' magic missiles slam into the leucrotta, which whines and cries. Bleeding from now several wounds, the creature looks to be on its last legs. The horses, although afraid, stay around without bolting.