"No promises." Berry utters as she steps in and stabs the furry thing deep in its hide.
Attack
Damage
Berry's sword strikes him but she is surprised when the blade is deflected by the man's hide.
"Alive? Well then."
Shao drops into his fighting stance, a style that combines a strong offensive with powerful defense.
He unleashes a flurry of powerful fists at the creature, going for knockout blows.
AC 24 vs that attack.
For Immediate Action to hit if I hit a target on the "Ya missed me" AoO. Ignore if I used Snake Style for AC earlier.
Most of Shao's hits land harmlessly but his second kick lands a solid blow to the man's back.
Hikage your up.
"It's a were creature. Tough hide. Don't get bit. And if you got any, use silver." Hikage said quickly while moving to a better position to take a shot at the furry man.
He then turns to Kidhir, "Hey Sandman, got anything that hinders this lumbering thing?"
Hikage's bullet gets the man's attention, he gets down on all fours and sprint across the room lunging at the tengu with his razor share fangs.
Fortitude save please.
P. Attack
Damage
Crit Confirm
Crit Damage
Shao notices the creature about to run.
"Oh no you don't!" he says, and sweeps one of his legs.
Shao's trip attempt is a close scrape but the bear man evades his sweep but Berry's sword pierces through the man's spinal column.
Hikage moved to the furry man and tried to stabilise his wounds so that he would not bleed to death.
Is everyone in one piece? Then let's tie him up and find out why he was here.
If he is successful in stopping the bleeding, he procures rope from his robe to tie up the man.
Shao ties up the bear man as requested.
"I'm fine. He caught me with a good hit but nothing a little rest or a small bit of healing won't fix."
The rest of the night passes uneventfully and you manage to fit in a full nights rest. You are awoken in the morning to Vargo standing over you.
Someone want to the explain the half dead meat sack in the corner?
After Shao was done tying up the bear man, Hikage checked if he had anything else on his person other than the axe he had used in combat.
"If you need any healing, take this." At this point, Hikage tosses a wand to Shao.
In the morning ...
"He apparently thought it would be a good idea to give us a rough awakening. Luckily, he didn't catch us of guard. It's a were bear from what I could tell, but he seemed unusually aggressive compared to what I heard about such people", Hikage said while glancing at the still unconscious man in the corner.
Shao hands the wand back to Hikage when he's done.
"I do not know who this person is, Vargo, but he was definitely aiming to kill."
"Is he one of your people?"
I suppose I owe you an explanation. Yes he was one of our people, long ago. My cousin in fact. As you may have guessed my tribe was blessed with the blood of bears many years ago. But in the last few years people have been going missing. This is the first time I have seen any of them in years. If he attacked you than there is something going on here bigger than we know.
Well, that is exactly what he did and we had to defend ourselves so as to not get killed in our sleep.
Kidhir regards the man levelly, "If you care about your village, you need to be absolutely candid with us. Your cousin - not to mention some of your other missing - may be working with the army down below. After years of being gone, on the night we arrived your cousin crept into your village, into your main cave, and into this small cave... to kill your guests. You should consider how he was so well-informed and how long it will take that army to decide that wiping out your village is in their interests. And then consider how withholding any information from us could aid that attack."
"So, how many of the villagers have gone missing over the years? What were their skills? Who are their nearest kin in the village? And what else do you think or suspect that we should know?"
I understand the weight of the situation and believe me, if I had more information I would give it to you. We to prepare a team and see what is going on in the valley as soon as possible. Are you willing to help?
"Might as well before any more long lost cousins, aunts, and brothers attempt to kill us in our sleep. How long will it take to get there?"
The sandman's look is dry, "Are you saying you have no idea how many of your people have gone missing or their names? I find that very hard to believe."
"You have no reason to hold back such information from us Vargo. We can't help you if you don't help us."
I apologize, I'm not trying to hide anything, this is just a lot to take in. More of my people than I can name have disappeared but I can tell you some of them. My brother, our lead scout, our eldest shaman, and several other people of importance or high standing in the clan.
You believe he is being honest and is in fact just worried and distracted.
Please, I have several scouts prepared to head out now, I think it's time we got some answers.
I have to agree, the sooner we can get some answers the sooner I will feel less confused and like I had a hard night of drinking. Agurah will reply as she packs up her things putting her device on.
Kidhir nods. "Alright. But this man," he gestures at their prisoner, "Needs to be held by men you trust and questioned thoroughly. Agreed?"
Of course, Kidhir
"Let's get started then."
The sandman looks to the rest of the team, seeing if anyone has a better idea. If not, he puts on his bandolier and rucksack - ready for travel.
"Would you mind if we take a small breakfast first? We've probably got quite a trip ahead of us."
Hikage looked like he was pondering about something.
Of course. Meet me outside in twenty minutes.
When Vargo has left the room, Hikage puts his headpiece off and waits with speaking untill anyone in the room who had theirs on does the same.
"Anowin contacted me again. From what I can tell she is either trying a new tactic or the plan she was a part of went past what her own moral compass can endure. She is in the area and wants to meet with me. She says she can get us in the camp and give us much needed answers. She also claimed that if "they" stay on track there won't be a village here come next week." Hikage paused for a bit, collecting his thoughts, before he continued.
"I believe some of the people Vargo mentioned were part of the group that I saw through Anowin's headpiece. I think we need to inform him of this fact, as he seemed to be a very important piece in the plan. And a warned man fights twice as fierce. If we do this, I also think, I need to meet with Anowin and hear what she has to say. Obviously I don't want to do this alone, yet I do want to make it seem that way. What do you all think?"
"I would be happy to go with you, but I'm not the stealthiest man out there."
Agurah will remove her head piece after receiving the message, If you are going to meet her I can follow from the shadows so you have some backup in case something goes down.
Kidhir leans against the cave wall listening. "So she wants you or us to enter the enemy camp to talk... I have one question: Why? Let me be more specific... we have these monocle things which ensure safe and clandestine conversation. We can even see through the person's eyes. She could answer all our questions right now and show us whatever we need to see - troop numbers and deployment or maps for instance. So what is the point of a face-to-face conversation whispered within the hearing of hundreds of enemies? And if, by some ridiculous twist of fate, there were some good reason to meet in person... why do it in the heart of the enemy camp? If she can 'get us in', she ought to be able to get herself out. So why not meet on neutral ground? She keeps asking much of us and offers nothing of herself."
His hostile frown speaks his mind but Kidhir vocalises his belief none-the-less. "This stinks of trap and she reeks of bad bait."
The sandman utters an incantation and wipes a hand over himself, preparing for the day.
"Unless we're already in the trap." Berry checks her gear before shouldering her pack. ""Let's face it this whole mess went t@@# up the second mr. wizard took a spear to the face."
"Kidhir, my apologies if I confused you further with the way I communicated things. When I said she is in the area, I meant she is somewhere near the village, not in the enemy camp. I told her I would communicate back in about 10 minutes. And as I understand it, the offer of getting us in is to somehow disrupt the enemy camp from within, which was our original goal, no?" Hikage replied calmly to Kidhir.
"So if no-one objects I will meet her in the village while being followed by Agurah. But if we are to do this, we will have to notify Vargo of it, as he is ready to go scout the enemy camp. So I ask again, what will we tell him and ask him? Will we tell him that I believe his brother and some of the other people he mentioned were missing have some dark plan which involves killing Vargo?"
Hikage then rummaged through his backpack, taking out a book. He then continued, "With this portrait book, I should be able to give apt descriptions of the people I saw. If they are who I think, it will most likely be proof to Vargo that I am not lying, as he has not described them to me, other than in name."
Hikage started leafing through the book, trying to find some good base portraits to start his drawings from. He then chuckled a bit. "I almost forgot. Those of you who actually need to eat, might want to do that. We have quite a day ahead of us I'm certain."
"That casts things in a slightly different light. If she's willing to meet out here, fine. Though I don't see why you need to meet her alone. If anything, several of us should be there to ferret the truth from her words. And if she lies, we grab and question her. As for leading us in... maybe. Our mission is to scout and assess the situation before taking action. I'll need more evidence than her word that she can lead us anywhere crucial."
"Since Vargo has admitted his brother, among others, was taken... I'm in favor of disclosing what we know about the opposition."
"You know what, when I contact her a few minutes from now I'll ask if you all are allowed to come to the meeting. If she doesn't object, so much the better. If she does, I'll go alone with Agurah covering me from the shadows and if you want to hear what she's saying to check whether she's truthful, I'll be wearing my headpiece at the meeting, I advise you do the same. After we know how the meeting will go we still have some minutes to decide what exactly we say to Vargo and maybe more importantly how we will say it."
And if for some reason she does make him take his communicator off you can view through mien. She will say this as she eats some of her rations. I think we should let him know...this man you describe could be his missing brother for all we know.
"If she makes me take my communicator off, then I'll ask her to do the same. I would advise you to not put yours on unless I have to take mine off. Don't want her to look through yours and see herself, if you know what I mean."
Sounds good to me
As you exit the cave into the cold winter air you can barely make out a singular person standing across from you on the other side of the village, she beckons fro you to come to her.
Hikage walked forward and greeted Anowin, "So we finally meet face to face. As you may suspect we have many questions, but I think it's best to start from the beginning. Who are you? Why did you want us to kill Vargo? And why are you now seemingly going against the plan you were following?"