" You have an odd way of thinking on things.. We are no where near Nidal.. and my pant's won't shrink, they are well fitted. "
Darius looks at the man with curiosity, he examines the item in the man's mouth and the silver hunting knife but doesnt let the body down just yet.
Darius notices there is a nasty crossbow trap rigged to a tripwire around the base of teh tree. It would set off multiple crossbows.
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Darius smirks, " I dunno Zin' he might need immediate medical attention.. Why dont you get closer and on that... Oh wait scratch that, Otherwise you might get a few more pricks than your aiming for in holes you never thought existed. "
He looks at the body closer, and the trap to see if the tiips of the crowsbows are poisoned are ladden with something.
Jones tries to disable the trap.
Z ignores Darius' comment, "Are those arrows also silver?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Jones disables the trap. The bolts ARE smeared in some kind of substance. All Craft: Alchemy attempts to identify it fail, however.
On closer inspection the flowers in the man's mouth are wolfsbane, known to harm or drive off werewolves.
Given the silver knife buried in his heart, it's likely this man was a werewolf, or his killer thought he was one.
Upon seeing the setup Sledge shakes his head. "I dunno - This looks like a trap for something else, not something to keep the dead guy dead. If they needed to keep him dead, they would've just decapitated him."
"Maybe there are other werewolves here, who would find this corpse and gets pissed."
" Wolfsbane.. Silver, Hanging from a tree with Bolts strewn around him. " Darius seems to become.. excited.
" Rudimentary Werewolf hunting tactics. Savagely kill the target and use them as a trap.. to kill other werewolves.. Impressive but irresponsible. what if someone who were not a werewolf came about? This is relevant to my interests however. let's take the Wolfsbane just in case.. it is a fine poison and deterrent of Lycanthropy if needed "
The crossbow bolts of the 5 crossbows trained on the area are tipped in Silversheen...though the potency has long since expired. It appears no other werewolf took the bait.
"Is there anyway to verify that this man was indeed a Werewolf? Otherwise we might have an estranged member of the Ral'Algul family running around way laying any passersby."
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Darius points a finger at Zin in clear anger, " Don't speak filth ignorantly. Werewolves are no harder to find out than any other man. They react to silver adversely and our family culls such individuals who don't take their job seriously. Whoever did this was know part of my family.. it was amateur at best. The Werewolves didnt take obvious bait. "
Inspecting a body does not help in determining whether it was a werewolf or not. They always revert to human form after being slain, and werewolves do not have distinguishing characteristics that you can glean from a corpse.
Z turns to Darius, "Oh, you don't like insinuations that demean your character? Well neither do I."
"Let's get going." says Z clearly agitated.
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Darius's face scrunches. He presses his body again Zin's and grumbles, " That and this are completely separate things...We will move regardless. Your words were baseless. " He moves away and starts to walk down the path once more.
Another day and a half of walking pass with no incident, and you arrive at Ascanor Lodge.
Assuming you walk up to the front gate, two guardsman stop you.
"Stop. Who are you and what is your business here?"
At the end of the previous day, Jones Identifies the ring.
Back in the present:
"We are here on invitation from Mister Alpon Caromarc."
Jones shows the guards the invitation.
It is a ring of Feather Falling.
The guards inspect the invitation.
"We have orders not to let anyone inside. But I'll send for the porter."
After a few minutes he returns with a portly man in tow.
"I am Belik. Give me one moment."
He looks over the invitation intensively, spending several minutes studying it minutely. He looks back at you, lips pursed.
As he looks over the letter, a crowd begins to form, the guests looking interestedly at the exotic newcomers to the lodge.
“I apologize for any misunderstanding, but as the porter of Ascanor Lodge, I cannot permit your entrance at this time. You do not have reservations in our books, and despite your claims, I have no evidence to justify allowing strangers into the lodge. From the looks of you, unlike the rest of my guests, you haven’t come here to take a peaceful retreat. I want no trouble, so off with you all, and take whatever troubles you bring somewhere else!”"
Some of the guests look quite disappointed at this, while others sneer. All, however, whisper excitedly, interested in the outcome of the argument.
"Give us a moment please good sir to discuss this turn of events with my comrades here." Z says to the man.
Whispering to the group now, "What do you say? Am I allowed to threaten to burn this whole place to the ground?"
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To Zin: "Absolutely not. Let me handle this."
To the man: "Sir, we have only armed ourselves as a necessity to defend ourselves from the dangers of the forest. Rest assured, we will not cause any trouble during our time here."
"And we do have legitimate business here, of great importance I might add, though I would prefer not to discuss it openly. If you would be so kind as to confer with us in private, I would be happy to explain everything."
The man looks doubtful, still, but much less on his guard, and no longer suspicious.
"I'll-" he starts, but is interrupted by a commotion behind him.
A rough looking woodsman marches towards the gate, with a nobleman in finely tailored studded leather armor on his heels.
The two shove their way through the crowd, oblivious to anyone else’s concerns. Several scruffy-looking hirelings follow behind them leading a pair of horses and carrying wooden crates marked with heraldic symbols.
The woodsman calls back over his shoulder.
"Dammit Duristan, for the last time I'll bring YOU, but I ain't bringing my damned dogs!"
The nobleman speaks excitedly.
"Were there any howls or wolf prints? Did you try tracking them? Were there claw marks?" he rattles off as part of a seemingly never ending stream of questioning. Upon seeing you, however, he cuts off.
"You there! What are you waiting for? I need more able sword arms for the hunt!" he calls to you.
The porter rubs his temples in annoyance.
Z holds up her arms, turning them as she does, "Do these arms look able to you?"
Looking to the porter, "You seem to thoroughly enjoy the company of this man. What's your friends name?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
"What exactly are you hunting?"
Z nudges Jones in the side, and whispers in his ear. "It's obvious isn't it. Some upstart noble thinks he's a Werewolf hunter. Probably the same one who set the trap before given its complete disregard for safety."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Continuing, "He doesn't seem well liked either, we should try to leverage his presence to our advantage."
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Zin: "Duristan Ariesir. One of our...distinguished guests here at Ascanor Lodge." he says, through gritted teeth.
Jones & All: "Werewolv-" Duristan begins.
Delgros, the woodsman, cuts him off.
"Something killed a golden stag I was hunting with some of the other guests. I'm going to go find out what it was for sure. You're welcome to tag along if you like, you look like you can handle yourselves."
"But it was totally a werewolf." Duristan finishes.
"You guys wouldn't happen to be adventurers, would you? You must have some great stories to tell." he says excitedly.
"Why would you hunt a golden Stag?"
"Anyways, we'd love to help, but we currently don't have a place to stay, and the Ascanor Lodge is the only place around."
"If our dear friendly porter here could be convinced to grant us access to the lodge, we'd be more than happy to accompany you."
-Posted with Wayfinder
The porter starts.
"Oh, yes. As I was saying. I'll arrange it. We're actually kind of full at the moment but we should be able to spare 4 rooms. You can't be any more trouble than Du-" he stops himself "...Some of our OTHER guests." he finishes.
"That sounds reasonable. But before we go, we found this envelope on a body on the way here."
He shows the sealed envelope to the porter. "Does it seem like it might be for someone here?"
"Duristan, no offense, but I've seen my fair share of monsters - you don't seem qualified to go hunting werewolves."
The porter takes it.
"Yes, this looks like the seal of-"
"Hey! You guys, are you coming or what?" Duristan interjects.
"Duristan, no offense, but I've seen my fair share of monsters - you don't seem qualified to go hunting werewolves."
"I've killed my share of werewolves, I'll have you know. Strung one up on a tree down the path a day's walk."
"Did you see him transform to a wolf and back?"
"He was already in wolf form when I found him. It was a glorious hunt!"
" Your execution was amateur at best. Luckily for you you happen to be speaking to a Werewolf hunter. I will show you how to hunt. "
Duristan's eyes grow wide.
"You are? You will?" he seems utterly fascinated by you and the rest of the Hotheads.
"He is, but I don't know if he will."
Sledge hesitates briefly. "Let me test your strength of arm and skill. Wrestle me - I must known you have the might to handle yourself."
Duristan blinks.
"I'm not much of a wrestler, but okay."
Duristan throws himself at you unsteadily, trusting you not to simply punch him in the face for trying. Just before he does so his eyes become very focused, and he tries to grab you at your least defended spot.
Though you slap him away at the last moment.
"I'm sure that would have gotten most people!" he exclaims "You're...really good at this."
Meanwhile, Delgros begins to walk off, snorting in derision at the whole display.
Darius watches with intrigue.
" Indeed you are not unskilled that is true. You are just careless and a bit overzealous. You will make life-threatening mistakes that way. For example, your trap did not fool the werewolves. They have keen eyes and powerful noses. What it did do is cause a possible hazard to any onlookers. The best way to hunt them is when they travel in packs. use their bestial nature against them. Their strengths become your weapons. "
Darius says folding his arms at the display, " Though Sledge here seems.. well skilled at that particular display, you always want to make sure you have multiple ways to fell the beasts.. and the right tools on hand. "
Sledge nods, satisfied. "You have a significant amount of skill, at least. I can tell you know how to carry yourself in a fight, which is what concerned me. I didn't want to be blamed for an incompetent nobleman's death, but you seem competent enough."
"Oh. I thought it was a good trap."
"Did anyone get hurt?" the idea seems not to have occurred to him before.
" It was obviously a trap, you desecrated the corpse to entice rage but did not mask the silver tipped bolts or crossbows well enough and the Wolfsbane was unnecessarily overdone. Along with the hanging, if you had wished it to be come upon by the beasts, some place a bit off the path and in a more natural position would have been preferred. Luckily we disabled the trap as it was long past its usefulness. No one was harmed. "
"Well, that's good at least."
"You should come on a hunt with me some time. I think I could learn a lot from you."
" Of course, you will have much to learn if you can listen. So far you have shown promise. Now I believe you wished to hunt now? We DO wish to equally benefit from each others company I would assume. And these claims of Werewolves are concerning.. Recently we had to deal with some Webweavers along the way. "
"Webweavers?"
" Ettercaps, Spiders, and an especially voracious Weaverworm. Spider and Silkworm like creatures that delight in eating man. Abominations of Bug and humanoid that we dealt with in a most fitting manner. "
"Ah. I take it that means you burned them?"
He notices with a start that Delgros has almost disappeared from sight.
"Oh. Um, I have to run. He likes to leave me when he can." the nobleman runs off after the woodsman.
Duristan and Delgros march for a few miles, with you in tow. They follow a well worn trail; Delgros hunts along this path often, it seems.
The trail leads to a small clearing, where the trampled ground and snapped brush show signs of a great struggle. The soil is soaked with blood, and more has splashed upon the tree trunks and leaves.
Delgros looks around, confused and shocked, eyes widening.
“It’s gone!” he cries.
Everybody notices two distinct sets of prints in the clearing, including Delgros and Duristan.