Arval walks closer to one of the werewolves and strikes out.
"Fall before me!"
He yells as his swords strikes true.
Eldon takes a 5-foot step away from the werewolf adjacent to him and shoots a bolt at one of the other werewolves .
While reloading his bow, Eldon explains how he's able to aim so epically precise. "It's a combination of sheer talent and the innate ability to be epic in every situation, but you can achieve roughly the same with immense amounts of training. I say roughly, because it'll never be as good as what I do. Don't let that discourage you, though!"
The sword start to glow red hot in the werewolves hands as Kawrocks spell takes effect.
Kawrock adds to the carnage causing a wall of flame to appear between Wren and the werewolves. The heat of the flames reflecting outward away from his allies. "There is still time to surrender if you wish to."
Whiskeyjack spun as the werewolves landed behind him. His stubby legs pounded as he rushed the nearest one. The shield of Angradd launched upwards to catch one of the werewolves under its maw.
HP 52/52. Current AC: 24/10/24
Active conditions:
Active spell effects: divine favor
Fervors remaining: 6/6
Blessings remaining: 6/7
Spells remaining: 1st 4/5, 2nd 3/4, 3rd 2/2
Channels remaining: 3/3
The werewolves yelp in pain as their swords glow red, followed by a brutal slash by Arval that takes down one of the werewolves! As the wall of fire bursts into flame, the remaining two turn tail and start scrabbling up the side of the tower to escape.
Guards and Cilas (holding)
Kawrock
---
Werewolves:
Circle (climbing, 15' (20 dmg)
Square (climbing, 15') (15 dmg)
---
Lena
Wren (19 dmg)
Eldon
Whiskeyjack
Arval
Kawrock watches them flee. "I see no sense in running these werewolves down." Kawrock calls down from the wall of the tower before dismissing his flame wall.
"Not worth it to follow them."
Arval says as he heads to the pit beneath the tower. Once there he yells down.
"Safe! Come out!"
|
Lena watched the werewolves flee, considering a last spell. But decided against it.
better they flee. May make the next fight easier.
Time to deal with other issues.
hey wren. You loopy birdbrain. What was with provoking the wolfies? Do you want to get yourself killed? Because you just made yourself target one to them, especially once those survivors talk. I'm not worried about it, but we may get hurt in the crossfire, especially if you do your patented rabbiting act once the fight gets tight.
Whiskeyjack spit at the fleeing werewolves, realizing that he wouldn't be using his mighty spell after all. Sighing, he lowered his shield and waited for the wracking tremors that always seemed to follow the effects of Agradd's might. He was too busy dealing with that to join Lena in her harangue of Wren.
"I consider you to be of considerable intellect, Wren, but I fear your timing was a bit off," Eldon chimes in. "I would surely have liked the opportunity to conduct proper diplomacy before you started provoking them. The provocations would likely not even have been necessary afterward."
hey wren. You loopy birdbrain. What was with provoking the wolfies? Do you want to get yourself killed? Because you just made yourself target one to them, especially once those survivors talk.
Wren looks confused.
"The birdbrain's name is Kawrock, I'm Wren," Wren says, correcting Lena. She had missed whatever provocations Kawrock had offered from atop the tower.
"I would surely have liked the opportunity to conduct proper diplomacy before you started provoking them. The provocations would likely not even have been necessary afterward."
Wren pishshaws a hand at Eldon, then tightens it into a fist.
"They were being insulting and rude, Eldon. I couldn't take their rudeness. I would have been happy to talk to them if they hadn't started by hurling out insults."
Cilas and the guards crawl out of the disgusting lair of the weaverworm, looking around at the carnage. He nods gravely to the group.
"Let us return. I am indebted to all of you - I would have not survived this journey were it not for your heroics. Echtmoor's body has been recovered and we have a long ride ahead of us."
Cilas turns to Lena, the stern, dour man offering a bit of a smile.
"Thank you for the offer Lena. You've brightened the day for a man in his grief. I will arrange gifts for you, and your companions on the morrow."
Thankfully the ride back to the Lodge is uneventful, but tiring. You eventually arrive extremely late; well past midnight. Belik grumpily lets you in, making it clear that the group needs to be quiet, although he respectfully takes Echtmoor's body to be returned to his family.
You now stand back within Ascanor Lodge, very late at night.
"Oi! These poor ol' legs are sore. Ain't never been a fan o' ridin'. Dwarves weren't made fer it. Ye gotta frame like this, ye keep yer fee' on th' ground. Me bed be callin'. Dinnae stay up too late now."
Arval nearly falls asleep on his horse and soon goes to bed once he is back at the lodge again.
"Tired. See you tomorrow."
He says bluntly once walking to his bed.
Eldon also heads to bed, telling the others who stay in the same room about the construction of beds while heading there.
Wren rotates between snoozing in the saddle and her random and awkward stream of thought rants on the way back. She is still particularly displeased with the rude werewolves, but happy for the overall success of the adventure.
She retires to bed upon her return, resting and thinking rather than doing more research.
Finally, after a brutally long day, you pass out into your respective beds for some decent sleep. Unfortunately, that sleep is woken up.
A blood-curdling scream rips through the upper floor of the Lodge, rousing you all of out of your slumber instantly. You charge out in various stages of dress to spy a horrifying sight. The housekeeper, the delightful Ruessa Webbe stands in the hallway, white-faced and screaming endlessly. Cilas Graydon's door hangs open, blood pooling out from the room into the hallway.
Guests from around the Lodge rush up towards the sound of the scream, and their shouts of horror and jabbering soon fill the hall.
Within the room, Cilas' body has been ripped apart as if by some great beast. Blood and gore spatter the room.
Kawrock approaches to inspect the body.
Wren enters, clucking her tongue with concern.
"Oh dearie, this is not good at all. At all," Wren says. While Kawrock searches and examines, she looks for lingering magical auras.
Perception
Arval sits upright immediately. He pulls on his armor in all haste and join the others who, in the meanwhile, are already searching the room.
"What happened?!"
He says while he looks at the carnage.
Whiskeyjack stumped in, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. Clad only in his hose and tunic, carrying his shield and warhammer, the dwarf was quite a sight. "Wha's goin' on? Cannae a dwarf ge' some beauty sleep withou' everyone makin' so much rac..." His words were cut off as he saw the blood and body.
The warpriest moved up to Kawrock and inspected the corpse.
Eldon turns around in his bed and continues to sleep. In his dream he hears the scream, but it comes from one of his many overenthusiastic fan girls.
"Yes, indeed! It's me, Eldon Appleton!" he mutters in his sleep. "I see you're excited to meet me in person. Yes, of course you are!"
Eldon's eyes suddenly pop open. He listens to the commotion in the hallway, gets up with a sigh, and heads over to the actual source of the scream.
"What's occurred?" Eldon asks as he joins the others. He then sees the corpse and also inspects it.
With the guests yammering at each other, you push in and start investigating. Duristan calls out from the back.
"It's obvious! He was slain by a werewolf! And if it was in the lodge... my Gods, it was likely one of us. Don't worry, I have an idea..."
Duristan runs off while Kawrock and Whiskeyjack lean over what's left of poor Cilas. It's clear that his body was killed by the teeth and claws of a beast. It's impossible to determine precisely which. However...
Kawrock is pretty sure a canine made the wounds. From the crowd, Estovion shows up and places a hand over his face.
"Oh Gods... this is ghastly. I... please. If you can find out anything, please let me know."
He back offs. Meanwhile, Wren and Eldon give a good look over the room. No magical auras, or interesting clues show up.
"If we are going to ask questions it might be best to move in pairs."
Arval says as he looks at the corpse.
"Seems I only get into a fight every time I speak to someone, I'll let one of you do the talking. I'll just be there is case something bad happens..."
He grabs the charm around his neck and holds it, to find courage.
Wren ponders the situation, wondering what she might do to help.
"Teeth an' claws killed 'im, fer sure. An' a werewolf ain't unlikley t' have done i', though how they coulda go' in an' ou' withou' someone seein' them is beyond me. Mebbe i' be a werewolf ghost! Ye'd like tha', wouldnae yee, Duristan?"
A sudden thought struck Whiskeyjack, and he stared at Eldon Something the halfling had babbled about, something from the journal Kawrock found. A Vilcaucus, or something like that. The warpriest started to say something, then closed his mouth. Perhaps it was something best discussed when they weren't around so many people.
As soon as Whiskeyjack was alone with the others, he burst out, "Eldon, ye remember tha' vilcaucus thingie ye were goin' on abou' th' other day? Tha' werewolf spirit thingie? Ye think i' were th' one what killed Cilas? Would explain how th' beastie go' in withou' alertin' anyone."
Arval stares blankly at Whiskey.
"What? Talk slower, can't follow you!"
He says as he tries to keep up with the dwarf's talk. He looks to Eldon to see if he understood anything just said.
While the group discusses what to do next, people start to get away from the sight of all the gore. Belik quickly speaks up.
"I'll let you... talk and sort things out. We'll ... clean up later."
He rushes off.
Kawrock begins to look at the blood. "While the bite marks my be from some sort of canine that does not mean it was a werewolf. Though it would be easier for a werewolf to slip in while it was in human form. Perhaps we may be able to track them. The tengu says as he attempts to find any sort of prints of trial left by the dead mans blood.
Wren goes back to rest/read/relax for the night. She will pick up her side of the exploration on the morrow. For tonight, she wants some quiet nesting time.
Arval remains with the group, his sword ready to draw.
"We'll need to get shifts up in the night. Don't want to be butchered like a pig in my sleep."
He says as he tries to look all ways at once.
"Everyone, may I have your attention?" Eldon asks the crowd, before anyone leaves.
"I and my assistants will investigate this murder, and I assure you we will get to the bottom of it. Meanwhile, I ask you all to stay calm and lock your doors whenever you're in your room."
He then asks Estovion, Belik, and the present guards to come over while the crowd leaves. "I and my assistants will investigate what's going on, but meanwhile everyone should be vigilant. We, of course, don't want this to happen to anyone else. Also, do help us by preventing the spread of panic and let us know if anyone leaves the lodge, or someone new arrives. Thank you."
Later, when it's just the party, Eldon says, "I was unable to find much information about the vilkacis, but I know it's an incorporeal kind of undead. I 'm confident incorporeal creature do leave these claw marks. That said, the vilkacis could very well be connected to this incident."
Though Wren had failed earlier, she tries again to do research on the vilkacis in the library. Or she might have some previous experience with such a creature that she might recall.
Know (religion)
Eldon's words seem to calm the crowd a little while Kawrock sets to work finding what he can from tracks. Very strangely, no tracks of any substantial beast are found in the room. However, Kawrock does find a trace of a single bloody footprint outside of the room. It appears to be the footprint of a humanoid on the lighter side, perhaps a woman or a man of slight build.
============
============
Wren locks herself away to begin researching the vilkacis, and just gets more and more frustrated as she finds nothing aside from the passing mention encountered originally.
Breakfast at the lodge is a somber affair with the guests generally staring at their plates of food. The only exception to the quiet breakfast is Duristan.
"OW!" he yelps as he jabs himself with a silver fork. "Hrm, possibly lycanthropy. However, more experiments are required..."
"EEE!" The Markiza turns to Duristan with a face of thunder. "Keep that damned fork away from me you idiot!"
Eyeing the guests at the breakfast table you get the impression that everyone seems genuinely horrified by the previous night. There are a few exceptions. Duristan, who is quietly jabbing everyone he can find with a fork, and Corvin, the sharp-tongued nobleman who Arval almost scared to death. He sits alone with hunted eyes, looking terrified beyond words. The Markiza also is extremely on edge, which is not particularly noteworthy, but she does seem very, very nervous.
Arval scratches his head.
"Don't think it works that way."
He says as Duristan tries to stab someone with a fork.
"You better put it down before anyone thinks it was you..."
Whiskeyjack leaned in to the others. "Th' arrogan' prick looks t' be havin' a rough time o' i'. As does th' Markiza. Prolly outta cha' wit' tham alone an' ge' any info we can outta 'em. An' did ye see Estovian's face? Th' vilkacis thiny was in 'is journal, righ'? 'E's gotta be involved."
Aloud he said, "'Ere now Duristan, stab me wit' tha' pigsticker, and pass me some bacon! How ye doin', Corvin? Headache? Care fer a hair o' th' dog?" He waggled his flask at the young nobleman. After last night, all slights should be forgotten.
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"OW!" he yelps as he jabs himself with a silver fork. "Hrm, possibly lycanthropy. However, more experiments are required..."
Wren shoots up from her chair to stop the man from injuring others with a silver fork.
Wren shrills, rushing over and taking the fork from the man. She draws her regular dagger and offers it to the man instead.
"You see, lycanthropes are *hurt* by silver...therefore, you should stab people with a normal dagger to see if they are hurt by it! If they are hurt, then they are not a werewolf! If they do not bleed, then they are! And you have found yourself a werewolf!" Wren educates helpfully.
"Now there you go, do your stabbing with that," Wren says helpfully. "You'll know soon enough who the werewolf might be."
With that handled and feeling smugly satisfied with being able to both help and instruct, Wren returns to her chair and her breakfast plate of fruit and nuts.
Corvin scoots back a bit from Whiskeyjack.
"Look, I don't know anything. I.. I drank too much absinthe last night. I always drink too much. Blacked out. I don't know anything about Cilas."
Corvin isn't lying per se. He just seems very unsure of his story.
Duristan yelps as Wren completely loses her temper at this dunderheaded fool and his incapable logic. Slowly, he takes a dagger, and looks at it. He stabs his thigh.
"AAHHHHH!!!! Oh Gods I'm bleeding! I'm also not a werewolf! The mark works!"
"We should talk to Estovian later today and reveal why we came here," Eldon tells his fellow party members. "We need to get rid of the secrets between him and us, to see if we can actually be of help to each other."
"You seem unsure of what you're saying," Eldon comments to Corvin, meanwhile keeping an eye on Duristan and his antics.
"How come, dear man? Was there anything different from usual? Please do tell me, and I may be able to help you."
Arval looks from Eldon to Corvin, unable to add anything worthwhile at all.
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Lena eats her breakfast. After all, how much worse could wren make it?
On the other hand...Wren, stop helping. Duristan, silver only works when the werewolf is furry. All you are going to do if you stab yourself is hurt yourself. She looks at the wound. You're dripping blood on the floor. You better get a bandage for that. Don't werewolves track by blood?
Then she turns back to her breakfast
Corvin stares at Eldon, listening to the halfling's words a little more intently than Eldon may be used to. He quickly pushes back from the table.
"You... I know what you're doing! I had nothing to do with last night. None of this garbage happened until you simpletons showed up. Leave me alone and stop haranguing me!"
Corvin scoots back from his chair and rushes away from the dining room. He looks to one of the guards.
"I'll be in the watch tower. Keep them away from me!"