Ortensia proceeded to go about cleaning matted boar bristles and gore from the flanged heads of her flail.
That solves that. Boars are opportunistic feeders. They scavenged the carrion.
"so the trap did not work. Is there another plan for werewolf hunting?"
”Yes, it probably involves us being the bait”, the bard says with a nervous laugh.
"I can be bait. I got in to the castle by intentionally getting myself captured. These types of plans are part of my skill set."
"I might try to see what I can find out. Let me check."
Jeramiah studies the boars, trying to understand more about these animals.
Jeremiah then speaks to the group, and more in particular to Eleric.
"I must say that we might have no other choice. If we all go together, we will all be baits. Eleric, it is a dangerous action, will you do it?"
"Do not worry. I will be fine should I need to be the bait."
"There are werewolves that we want the aid of, so let's try to talk to them first"
"Agreed. IT would be best if we can seek their aid. We need all the help we can get!"
Considering that this is about to spark a civil war amongst the werewolves due to Estovain introducing Auren Vrood and his death cult to this Matthias fellow. Which I'm guessing none of the other packs aren't too happy about. Having outsiders meddle in their affairs puts the lodge and its guests--including us-- in the midst of it.
"The Prince of wolves tribe has opposed the whispering way in the past. they will be the most sympathetic to us."
"We have a plan." Eleric agree to camp out.
Eleric will cast darkvision on himself as well as keep watch on the party.
"Not the most ideal situation," Lysandar says with a shrug as he agrees to camping out.
"I could cast a spell that let us wait in another dimension and jump out whenever we want."
Lysandar lies with his back to the fire trying to fall asleep when he hears a horrid snarl.
Ortensia politely listened to Duristan, maintaining eye contact and nodding. When he proudly showed off the so-called scarward, she eyed it dubiously.
She doubted it could actually protect one against the curse of lycanthropy. It probably was some superstitious folk remedy a local duped him into.
...That's nice. But Ser Duristan, I do believe that you should invest in something more...reliable. Turning into a savage bloodthirty thing on the whims of the lunar cycle is quite unappealing. However, it makes quite the story starter.
Hm?
"Well, we seem we have found what we were looking for. I hope it is not the opposite."
Looking southwest, after a long breath, he says with a both serious and sarcastic tone:
"So, how do we convince a pack of hungry werewolves that we are here to speak with them, do we offer them some food?"
Jeremiah casts Defending Bone on himself.
"Though I talk a lot it's not actually something I'm good at. I do have some charm magic that may help and I can improve Lysandar's speaking ability."
Eleric will cast bestow insight on Lysandar.
The bard gives a nod of thanks to Eleric, "It takes two to talk, let's hope they are willing." He pauses for a moment and then announces,
"We would like to talk to members of the prince of wolves tribe."
”We share a common enemy and propose an alliance,” the bard adds.
Jeremiah tries to explain the situation: "Who do you think we represent? We don't work for anyone but ourselves. We know a man spoke with Mathus, a man named Auren Vrood, and we are actually looking for him for some business of ourselves. Strangely enough, your problems started when he entered this forest, conspiring for the murdering of Sain, and stealing his heart, to endeavor the birth of a civil war between the tribes. This man seems to cause problems wherever he goes, and we want to stop him".
He then pauses for some seconds, and continues with a resolute voice.
"We will hunt this filthy man down, with or without you. We hoped that, since Vrood is the root of your problems, you would help, and not watch as we try to do the work for you. If he hasn't destroyed Sain's heart yet, you might have a chance to stop Mathus and this war."
"We have a shared enemy Vrood. He has a way of whispering the ears of people and having them act against their own best interest. He is a criminal that has infiltrated your land and we are here to remove him."
I see that words and diplomacy will not sway you. We are not here to fight you but we shall defend ourselves if need be. We merely came here to establish that we are not allied with Mathus or his supporters. We wish to avoid any unnecessary conflict between the werewolves of the Shudderwood.
Warily, tense, Ortensia addressed her companions.Our words fall upon deaf ears here. We should return to the lodge. I doubt these two are the only ones we have to contend with if a fight breaks out. As confident in our capabilities I am, it would be foolish to engage.
Ortensia reached out to clasp Duristan by his shoulder and steer him back, stepping off to the side without looking away from the pair of werewolves.
"May we have your names? I hope I am not being rude but do you have the authority to make these decisions or are there others we should also talk to? Ok, one more question how would you like us to deal with Mathus? Kill? Capture?"
Jeremiah is relieved seeing that he and his companions could reach the werewolves with words.
"I'm glad we could explain the situation and that you heard us. But, back to the point, we came here to see if your tribe could help us in some way. Can you find Auren Vrood and deal with him if we deal with Mathus? You might also give us some information on the situtation in the Shudderwood, our knowledge of events could be old, we know nothing of what happened in the last few days."
"Keep collecting information on Vrood and the Whispering Way. Like my colleague has side any up-to-date if formation you have on Mathus or Vrood will be useful. Now point us toward Mathus, I guess we have to hunt now."
Lysandar watches the conversation intently.
"Very well, I think we have reached an agreement, and an alliance. We shall honor our part, let now Groetus bless our paths with luck."
Jeremiah makes a quick sign of prayer, and devotes his mind to the Great Groetus.
"To resurrect from ashes, the Phoenix must first find the strength to die. But then she is reborn renewed. Let the Chosen Ones endure, so that their strength will be enough to sustain the Incarnation. Let them be Chosen by You, grant them your blessing, Great One, I pray you."
Happy of his prayer, Jeremiah speaks to his companions: "Let us move to the Stairs of the Moon, so that we can put an end to this Mathus."
"I wanted to see the Stairs of the moon anyway. There may be relics of great power there. Let's not delay.
That said I do have magic that can help us make a stealthy approach if we want to."
”Might be best to use some caution,” the bard suggested.
....
For once, Ortensia found herself struck speechless. Despite everything, everything turned out for the absolute best!
She followed her companions in a daze.
When they arrived, she snapped back to herself.
Eleric pulls out a book and makes a few notes. Makes a few calculations about height, how many potential stories, if the structure looks like it would have a deep foundation.
"Well friends should we skulk about and try and find a secret entrancence, dead a duel with their leader or some other story worthy plan?"
"I usually prefer the direct approach, but I don't relish fighting a legion of werewolves."
"My experience is that every job results in fighting a legion of something."