"Yeah. And that's weird," Cassandra whispers back. "And not werewolf weird either. Just a weird wolf. Usually first time changers act like animals. This animal is acting human. Wait here." Cassandra slinks from the blind to get a closer look. Her bow has long grown warm in her hands and doesn't feel like its even there anymore. But the arrow is chilly to the touch as she places it on the string.
"Go with Torag's Blessing." Vallen says as Cassandra slips from the blind, touching his holy symbol to her arm.
Cass slinks forward to the edge of the treeline, trying to get a closer look at the wolf.
One whiff at close range and Cassandra knew something was off. No human would every understand what it was like to smell the things she did. Knowledge about things just came to her. She wasn't sure how it worked either. Just experience maybe. So she knew more about this wolf than watching it would ever reveal. It wasn't out to just kill the goat. It was going to enjoy it too. And that felt very wrong.
It's him, she thought. And a moment after she cursed herself for not coming up with a signal for the others. It was too close now. Too close to her and to the trap for her to sneak back and tell them to trip it. It was up to them to decide. If they didn't, she wasn't going to let it get away. She knocked an arrow and waited, ready to spring out and confront the oddity if the trap did not go off.
The lump that had formed in Vallen's throat when the wolf first appeared feels like it's going to shoot out his eyeballs if something doesn't happen soon.
One hand is white-knuckle on his pistol while the other holds his silver holy symbol with delicate reverence.
The wolf rushes the goat and there's the sprang of the trap going off.
The wolf suddenly finds itself trapped as the device snares its leg! It growls and snarls and snaps angrily, lashing about.
You're up, Vallen Jenya whispers gripping Misfire tightly in her hand[/b]
"Whatever you are going to do, do it," Cassandra says loud enough for the others to hear and stepping onto the path. She approaches cautiously, bow at half draw. "You are no wolf. Who are you?" It didn't matter if it was true or not, it might throw them off enough to get a real answer. Cassandra asks the question in three different languages until she gets a response. First in normal Common, then her own Lupine Common, then using her innate ability to talk to creatures.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Vallen leaps up from the mossy log he was sitting on, thrusting his holy symbol into the air. "Lord of Hearth and Forge, bring peace on this wolf!" He intones, an area of calm settling over the trapped grove.
The wolf snaps and snarls and doesn't answer until Cass uses her innate bond with nature to make herself understood - either it didn't know her languages, or it couldn't reply in them.
Well, it seems like Cass is getting through to it at least. Jenya says as she makes sure there's a silver blanched bullet loaded in her gun.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
"Not really," Cassandra called out to Jenya. "What's the Big Bad Wolf?" she asked the others. She'd never heard the story as a child for...obvious reasons.
Um.. it's from a kids story about a scary evil wolf that goes and kills people and eats them. You know.. like, if you don't eat your greens the Big Bad Wolf will come and eat you. Stuff like that.
Vallen lowers his holy symbol, frowning at the thrashing wolf. "My blessing was ineffective... A powerful animal to resist the will of Torag."
The dwarf pulls back the hammer on his pistol with a click, settling it into the rest carved into his buckler. Wearing a grimace he walks within firing range of the wolf and holds. "The Big Bad Wolf? Is this some kind of human legend?"
"Cass, is this a werewolf or not?" Vallen asks nervously, taking aim at the creature in question.
Cassandra stares at Jenya for a moment, horrified. "That is horrible. See this is why..." Cassandra stops her rant before it gets out of control. There was much more important things to worry about then anti-werewolf propaganda and child brainwashing. Instead she focuses on what Vallen said. "It think so. Can't imagine how a wolf would know a story like that." Cassandra moves to get the wooden platform they laid ahead of time in place. "Can you make a cage Vallen? We'll drag it back and watch over him until morning. Then we'll know for sure."
She looks down the way at the goat. "A good meal should settle him too." She walks down the trail with purpose. With a swift strike, she ends the goats suffering and brings it back. Once the cage is erected. She tosses the goat in. "Eat this and be quiet. You are a caged wolf now and you will behave. Who are you really?"
Jenya shifts uncomfortably. Ah, well I suppose it'd be better to use goblins or such in the story. Then she changes the subject Don't see why we can't stay here and camp out though. Didn't prepare anything stronger in town and maybe better if folks didn't see Big Bad Wolf here..
Vallen's golden eyebrows furrow against his forehead as he gestures towards the wolf with his pistol. "It knows some human story? Why is it telling you stories? If this is a werewolf, why does it look like a regular wolf? Aren't were-creatures supposed to be bipedal? Are we going to keep it until dawn and see who it turns into?" The torrent of questions seems to be unending until Cassandra asks him for a cage.
"I already built one." He replies gruffly, a little unnerved by the new mysteries this wolf is presenting- it's making him testy. "Knock it out, put the platform under it, and we'll lower the cage on top of it. Korrinne?" Taking small sidesteps with his pistol still pointed at the wolf, the dwarf makes his way to the crude but effective cage he wood shaped into existence.
The wolf keeps barking and growling angrily, unable to escape from the trap holding its leg, and clearly very mad about this.
You get the impression that it is somewhat more intelligent than a typical wolf but less than a typical person. You know that afflicted lycanthropes often undergo significant personality changes. You also know that it will naturally revert to human form once the sun rises.
The wolf ignores the carcass of the poor goat, instead howling, whining, barking and growling while tugging at its leg.
Cassandra opens her mouth to answer Jenya when Vallen's question rumbles past his beard, several in fact, leaving her without an opportunity to talk for moment. She sighs and waits for it to stop. "Werewolves have three forms, original, hybrid and wolf. And first transformations are different for each person. Though thinking its this...big bad wolf thing...is a new one on me." She gives the wolf another look of curiosity.
"But no. I wasn't planing to bring them all the way. Just part of the way. Make sure nothing happened while we were away. Be just my luck there was actually two of them."
Partway sounds fine. Maybe Korrine's bat friend can let us know if we got something to worry about in town.
Babs squeaks and takes flight, circling around the party.
I can do it! Just say the word and I'm off!
Vallen sighs, shaking his head. "If there are two... Torag help us. The tracks to the one that killed Saki were bipedal... Unless they are changing into a different form every night, this doesn't add up."
Korinne's color spray blasts the wolf into senselessness.
Babs circles and flaps over the tent city and returns to report that people are moving about their usual business; no signs of alarm or fighting. Most people are asleep.
The color spray will only stun the wolf for a short time, but it's easy enough to truss it up and put it into the wood-shaped cage that Volkar prepares.
After a few minutes, Babs comes flapping back down out of the sky and circles Korinne's head a few times before landing on her shoulder.
All clear! All clear! Most everyone is sleeping!
Vallen's thumb slowly releases the hammer on his pistol back to its safety position after the wolf was put in its cage. "It should turn back into someone once the sun comes up, right? We can watch it until then."
As you lock up the cage, the beast stirs, and it lets out angry snarls and growls. It bites at the wooden cage, but it can't do enough damage to break the bars - fortunately. Whenever anyone comes close, it snaps and paws, trying to get its muzzle and claws through the bars.
You haul the creature back to the settlement and take turns getting some sleep, making sure that there's always someone watching.
As the sun finally rises, the wolf finally settles down, puts its head in its paws, then its transformation occurs. It stretches and twists, the fur retracts, the muzzle becomes a human face, until finally a Shoanti man lies in the cage. Slowly he stirs, then looks startled.
"Where am I? What am I doing in this cage?" says the Shoanti. He rattles the bars ineffectually. "Let me out! What have you done?"
Vallen has difficulty sleeping, despite it being far, far, past his usual bed time. The proximity of the W word is making him nervous. While he is fully aware they do not turn into gas or anything similar to vampires, he is still suspicious of any potential tricks.
He is sitting by the glowing embers of the fire carving a small dowel of willow into a likeness of the captured wolf when the sun rises and the beast transforms. "Torag's hammer strike me down... Not who I expected."
The priest glances at his companions. "I really thought that halfling was the suspect, especially after seeing the wolf. He was so... rude and his chest hair was nearly as long as my beard!"
Getting up, Vallen sets down his carving knife and the half-finished statuette. He grasps his holy symbol and places his hand on the cage. "I am Vallen Silverclasp, priest of Torag, mason, uhh... HighDiplomat... And we want to ask you a few questions. I am about to place a blessing on you that will cause you to only tell the truth, and it is within your best interests not to resist."
With a sigh, he starts asking questions. "Now... What is your name and did you know you turned into a wolf last night?"
Cassandra slept fitfully when it wasn't her turn on watch and was awake the moment their victim turned back. It was a relief to hear that sound. But things were only going to get harder from here out.
"Please. Try to calm down and take a deep breadth. A lot has happened and it needs some explaining," she starts. She takes a few long, cleansing breaths to show him how. After he appears to be calm. She asks the important question. "I need to ask. Did you get bitten or scratched by a wolf or wolf-like creature within the last month?"
Jenya sits back and lets Vallen and Cassandra take the lead in dealing with the confused man. Getting away from the wilderness was a bit of a shock to the young woman, she was good with a gun but not much else, and it seemed like the young and growing kingdom needed people with a lot of other skills. Skills that she didn't really have. Not yet anyway.
"My name is Kundal," says the man in the prison, "and I am of the Kellid people. I know only that I drank deeply and fell asleep last night, and now I awaken here!"
He looks both confused and distressed, and a bit angry. You aren't sure if he didn't answer Cassie's question on purpose or because he is so upset that he missed it in all the crosstalk.
Vallen nods his head slowly. "Ah, good. Your case is looking a lot stronger now, Cass. I hope it's exactly as you said and he's no ice-cold killer."
He jerks a thick thumb in the direction of the skinwalker. "Cassandra is going to be your greatest advocate. It would be wise to listen to her very closely, and answer her questions truthfully." Not that you have a choice, by the grace of Torag.
"Okay. And before that? Do you remember anything before that?" He seemed to still be suffering from the transformation disorientation.
Kundal squints and says, "I... I am simply a wanderer. I hunt for food, and furs, and such things. Sometimes I hunt elk, sometimes wolves, sometimes I fish. It is a simple life. A few days ago, I started having horrible dreams, nightmares filled with blood and screams. I came here to buy drink to block out the dreaming so that I could sleep well."
Vallen's brow furrows. He's had experience interrogating people under magical influence, and avoiding a question was nearly as bad as lying about it.
"You didn't answer the question." He glances at his companions, frowning. "I understand your concern for his well-being, but my ability to maintain the blessing is finite. You have to be more direct. He could have these bad dreams every month, and what he said would still be true."
The dwarf sighs, looking at the man in the cage. "Answer me yes or no. Before today were you aware you had ever transformed into a wolf, or a wolf-like creature?"
Not only that Jenya interjects But did ya suspect you were transforming into a wolf or wolf like creature? she gives Vallen a nod.
Might as well rip the bandage off now. It was certainly better than trying to hide it. "That is how we found you. As a wolf going on about being the...Big Bad Wolf. You appear to have lycanthrope."
"No," says Kundal to Vallen, "to my knowledge I have never transformed into a wolf."
When Cassandra makes her pronouncement, he looks shocked. "I have been scratched and bitten many times and never suffered any ill other than a scar or short fever! This is... this is overwhelming!"