Come out, come out, sneaky little thing, there aint no fooling a dwarf. You get yer head chopped off if ye dont! stating it much louder than originally planned (not yelling but not whispering). Grungar readys his falchion and slowly approaches the crawling person.
Fortunately the dwarf's words don't carry well over the noise of the weather, but the rest of the party can at least tell he said something. Grungar, as you near the crawler you see that it's actually a wolf. That's the first glance. Second impression is that its right foreleg is broken. As it moves to attack you, though, you realize from the smell that it's another zombie.
Conner, you went in the opposite direction from Dashel and a ways further out from the hut and clearing. You're getting a pretty good idea of the lay of the land when you find a set of tracks that seem to be from a lamed wolf, leading in the general direction of the clearing; following them, you catch a glimpse of the wolf leaping at Grungar in the darkness.
Dashel spend a few minutes looking around the perimeter of the shade garden to make sure nobody is hiding there in wait. Easy pickings to get someone tending to the garden.
Grungar, lets out a grunt and swings his falchion with all his might
Conner will draw his Longsword and move in closer to Grungar, and he studies the wolf making it his favored target.
Grungar cleaves its spine and sends it crashing to the ground. It writhes impotently and silently until the magic animating it ceases.
Bah, bloody magic! Grungar looks around and if possible signals the others to come over and when they do he tells them that it was not a real wolf, but some crazy magic.
Conner sheathes his Longsword, and he again draws his bow as he approaches Grungar.
Good work, Grungar. The perimeter was secure with the exception of the tracks made by this beast which led me back here. So, any ideas on how to approach the charge, if at all? Or, do we just set up camp out here in the woods nearby?
Up to me, I say lets go find that finger waggin' mage and kill em! no offense. If there is one thing I know about those finger waggers, its that they don't stop with just one little tiny wolf! I don't want to be sitting around waiting for them to come sneaky up like a baby, no offense, and attack me with some finger waggin' fire contraption thing!
Dashel will eventually make his way back to where he left Grungar.
He'll look at the wolf assuming he is directed towards the creature.
Dashel, it's a wolf that's been animated after death. Apart from the massive gash inflicted by the dwarf, you notice that its leg was also damaged antemortem, and it also has a puncture wound near its throat.
Dashel you are looking at it all funny like, should I cut its head off? bahaha, Grungar slaps Dashel's shoulder as he turns and continues to watch the woods.
"Necromancy was at work. Animated this wolf after it died." Dashel looks at Grungar, "Chop it's legs off, I don't have an axe."
I thought that necrofancy (), stuff was with zombies and skeletons? asks Grungar as he cuts off the wolf's legs with his falchion.
The rain has largely stopped by now, although the trees are saturated so it'll be drippy for quite some time. Fortunately Conner found an abandoned hut about a quarter-mile away; the roof is gone, but the foundation wall remains. There are signs that travelers have used it for shelter before, though not for at least a week.
Besmarial volunteers to hide out in the tree cover to listen to what the pair has to say, since it is the only one of you who's sure to be able to understand them.
Drovic falls back from the house, then focuses on seeing what paths come to and from the house. Then he looks at what route somebody would use if they wanted to come unnoticed.
Drovic, the paths here follow game trails, pretty much, and the house isn't set up with defense in mind. The door faces the most well-traveled path, while there's no particular line of sight to the other one.
The rest of the night passes uneventfully. Next morning, the weather is definitely more pleasant than the previous day, although it's still kind of damp under the trees.
Drovic tries to find a high place near the house where he can examine both the house and the surrounding landscape. He spends the day up there in silence and stillness, chewing trail rations and watching over the area.
Drovic, you can tell from the smoke that there's a small cluster of probable houses a bit over a mile south of here. Besmarial stays up near you early in the day when the man leaves, so that the angel can translate any conversation. As it happens, there's some. Most of it is banal, but there are a few bits of information--"Good-bye, dear, say hello to Mwailu and Themis for me. Be careful, we still don't know what happened to Vak. Remember, his wife is supposed to come by later with Twil, so don't bother hurrying home. Now give your daughter a kiss and get out of here."
Conner continues to circle the perimeter, looking for any trails or interesting passings that may cause alarm, until he is flagged by Drovic to convey the information that he has learned, provided he does so.
Dashel will gather the group, "I think one of use should go and walk with the farmer. Act like wary traveler looking for company on the journey. They can protect the head of the family espeically since this Vak went missing. I can do that journey."
We do not need to protect the Father. Our charge is here, no?
"Somebody should follow him. An old trick is using a relative to get close, so I'd like to know what happens to him."
Well, Drovic, that would either be you or me.
Drovic leans back, closing his eyes for a moment. After a good ten-fifteen seconds in thought he opens his eyes. "I'll go." He grabs his things and sets out, trailing the father from a good distance.
"Aye, our charge is the child but there is danger out there we met orcs already. There is a missing person Vak, and well this family doesn't need to lose the paternal support." He looks at everyone. "he's not suppose to be gone long...overnight at best."
About fifty feet from the main trail, away from where the father and (presumably) Mwailu and Themis are going, you catch a hint of something large moving. Approaching it to investigate further, you see that it's a troll; the creature has not noticed you yet. It is accompanied by a pair of ogres; one makes to follow the men, but the troll puts a massive paw on its shoulder and shakes its head. There is a muffled conversation in a language you don't understand, then the trio begins to slowly head back in the direction of the hut.
Grungar will continue to watch around the vicinity and keep his eyes out for any more magic or anything out of the ordinary. He will get fidgety waiting for something to happen.
I should of went instead of elf, no need for stealth, I could strike up a good conversation with anybody, us dwarves are good with talking and making drinkin' buddies/
Drovic turns his head in the direction of the breath and freezes, cursing himself silently for not being cautious enough.
On the bright side, you do remember where they were stationed, and are heading in that direction.
Drovic continues to head towards the party, trying to find the nearest one as quickly as possible.
I dont know if I trust this old women walking around by herself here. Grungar looks to Dashel to see what he and Besmarial are going to do.
"What are you doing in the woods by yourself? Dashel eyes the old woman.