Bea rolls her eyes and dismounts, approaching the man on foot, no weapons drawn, but holds out her hand in greeting. As she approaches she keeps a close eye on him though, trying to discern his intentions. "My name's Beatrix, this here is Adam."
He shakes his head. "No. Just passing through. Got an itch to see what the hunting was like out in the Kamelands. Not so good, like I said. Back to the Narlmarches for me."
Although he sounds polite enough and he's holding his crossbow in a nonthreatening manner, he'll back or sidestep away if any of you get within about twenty or thirty feet, and he watches all of you closely.
"Might want to be careful, though. Downriver about ten-fifteen miles, there's a fort on the Tuskwater. Saw it yesterday. Didn't get too close."
ETA:
Bea smiles at the man. "Thanks for the tip. We're what you might call the authority around here - we're trying to make the place safe for settlers and the like. You've got nothing to fear from us 'slong as you stay on the right side of the law, though. We're mostly stationed out of Oleg's trading post north of here, where you're welcome to stop for supplies - he'll give good coin for your furs too. If you see any other bandit activity or other cause for help you can report it there - we want to make sure folks such as you can pass through these lands without trouble."
Sensing Bea's call to perform civic duty, Adam adds another useful bit of information.
"Careful to the west of Oleg's, if you go much off the beaten path. There are traps everywhere. Dangerous to anyone traveling through."
The man smiles slightly at Bea's words, though he doesn't show his teeth at all, then nods at Adam's. "Not planning on going so far north, this time out, but thanks for the warning. And the invite. Oleg's, you say...I'll remember the name."
Havrin's eyes narrow as he studies the stranger, but he keeps his stance relaxed and his hands away from his weapons.
"We thank you for warning us about the fort. We'll certainly be careful. My name is Havrin, by the way. Havrin Stahl. I'm afraid we didn't catch your name, Master...?"
"Didn't say. Stefan Ionescu."
"Pleased to meet you, Master Ionescu," Havrin says, bowing his head politely. "We're rather new to the area, and we've been tasked with exploring the Narlmarches as well. It sounds like you're very familiar with that area. We'd appreciate any information or advice you could share with us."
Staying towards the back of the group as Bea and Havrin converse with the stranger, her eyes scan the man, noting the greatsword strapped to his back and the way he keeps his distance. When Stefan mentions the fort to the south Katya makes a mental note to discuss it with the rest of the group later and turns back the man. Trying to puzzle out why he doesn't seem to be acting normal, Katya decides to stay silent and let Bea and Havrin deal with the man however they wish.
Adam, remaining friendly as always, attempts to find out more about the man's strange motives as well.
Havrin listens carefully to the man's response, studying his behavior carefully as he speaks.
Adam and Havrin, he's not currently hostile. More indifferent than anything else, and there's the obvious body language and movement to maintain his distance from you. It looks more like he's trying to be prepared in case you try to attack him, than that he's gearing up for an attack against you.
"I mostly keep further west and south than this, but saw a couple of things to watch out for. Big boar wandering the woods--treed me for a while. Maybe fifty miles northwest of here, something real weird. Dead white horse in a little glade. Looked fresh. Didn't stick around. Sm--Seemed wrong--no blood. Oh, and there's this elk god statue not far from the body."
Using speak with animals Sabrina makes a simple wolf howl that roughly translates to friends.
"Erastil... He is the elk god. Very popular in the Riverlands and the wilderness."
Adam looks over his shoulder and shakes his head in pity.
"Sabrina, back there, she's a bit of a wildling. Seems to understand nature better than humans, though. So that's fitting."
"Thank you for the information. Sounds like you've done some extensive traveling in these parts," Havrin replies, giving much consideration to all of the information - both verbal and non-verbal - provided by the stranger. "We'll definitely keep an eye out for that boar. And the statue of Erastil sounds like something we'd definitely like to see. The dead white horse does sound disturbing, though," he adds, sharing a concerned look with Bea and Sabrina.
At the mention of the dead horse, Jacyn subconsciously begins patting Smoke on the neck.
"Do you know of anyone else who we might run into out here? Other hunters, I mean? Perhaps you know who laid those traps Adam spoke of? Oh, and the name is Jacyn Frestarn. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, I'm sure." the half-elf says with a low bow. or as low as one can bow while sitting on a horse.
At Sabrina's howl the man tenses sharply, and looks suspiciously at the cleric; he almost starts to raise his crossbow before the bard cuts in. Adam's words seem to mollify him somewhat, and he relaxes enough to reply to Jacyn. "Don't talk to people much. Other hunters, we leave each other alone. Some bandits about, though. Fewer now." He grins briefly, a quick showing of teeth. "Thought you maybe were more of the same, but the last bunch didn't say much except 'Give us everything you have!'"
He looks up at the sun's position in the sky. "Time I was on my way, and I want to reach forest by sundown. Good day." With that, he turns and continues west, unless any of you want to interact with him further.
Waving, Beatrix calls out "Safe travels to you friend!"
Where to now? Catching up with Stefan and talking didn't impact the progress of your exploration for the day.
"There was something... odd... about Stefan Ionescu," Havrin says softly after he is sure that the man is well beyond human - or animal - earshot. "He seemed almost... wolflike. Wouldn't you agree, Sabrina?"
"Do you think he and the talking wolf we met earlier, and the raging wolf-thing we also met earlier, have anything to do with one another?"
"There was something... odd... about Stefan Ionescu," Havrin says softly after he is sure that the man is well beyond human - or animal - earshot. "He seemed almost... wolflike. Wouldn't you agree, Sabrina?"
"Yeah but why does he hide it...?" Sabrina asks, showing she might not understand why that could be a problem.
"I was thinking the same thing, Adam. You don't suppose he could be a werewolf, do ya?"
"And he was feeding, not raging, my error. Still, not to be disturbed."
Bea looks surprised. "Really? He may have been a bit eccentric from living on his own for too long, but I didn't think he looked dangerous or evil."
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
"Ah, I recall now. The Surtovas once mentioned the Ionescus, as having an embarrassing family secret or two. Apparently it was all hush-hush."
The situation didn't sit well with Adam, who apparently has an abhorrence for mysteries.
I'm assuming this conversation took place as you were riding back the way you came. Do any of you want to try to catch back up with Ionescu, or are you going on with your exploration?
"I have no problem with werewolves, so long as they leave me and mine alone. Easy enough to manage, I should think. Leave them alone and they'll leave us alone."
Adam looks over the map.
"Shall we head to that shrine of Erastil he was telling us about?"
Bea nods. "Sure, if we can find it."
"Do you really believe Stefan Ionescu is a werewolf?" Havrin interjects into the conversation. "It's just... We told him he was welcome to stop in at the trading post..."
Havrin let's the implications hang in the air unspoken.
Bea shrugs. "I ain't ever met one before. I know they're supposed to be evil, but I just think...I mean what if that were one of us got bit and turned into one? Could happen to anyone. Maybe he's just normal folk trying to get by in the world - if so, I'd think he'd have the sense not to camp inside the fort if he's gonna turn into...something...in a full moon. Or however it is that works." She considers that for a moment. "And if not, well Oleg and Svetlana aren't alone anymore. There's soldiers and men there - they know how to take care of themselves."
Updated exploration map is HERE. Which way do you want to go?
Sabrina is still getting used to exploring with purpose. Most of her life she more or less wandered without purpose beyond staying safe and hunting. So she will simply follow the consensus without much interest in the particulars for now.
The party wraps up their explorations of the area and finds nothing else until that evening, when Havrin spots a horse munching on grass at the base of a hill. The interesting thing is that it appears to have saddle, bit, and bridle, but no rider is nearby.
"Huh. Horse lost its rider - might be nearby, but we're not gonna be able to search much with night coming. Jacyn, can you round up the horse? We'll keep it at our camp tonight and search for the rider in the morning. Hopefully he's not dead."
Jacyn is readily able to round up the horse. It's not in very good shape; the cavalier estimates it's been saddled for at least a day, and the dried slaver around its muzzle indicates that it had been running hard for a while. The other minor thing that someone probably notices is that although the horse is apparently unwounded there's a good-sized bloodstain down one side of the saddle. The hand-to-hand combatants in the party figure based on their experience that the rider took a massive wound from that side and probably fell off.
"Any way to tell how far back the rider might have fallen? Or in which direction from here, even?"
The bloodstain is completely dried. From the weather the past few days, it's been at least a day since it was spilled.