True enough, going down the street the huntsman told you about the previous night, you find a building with a sign of a hatched and bow hanging in front of it.
Inside, the huntsman sits at a table next to a large bookcase, smoking a pipe while reading a bunch of papers.
A young dog raises its head, and playfully barks at the newcomers.
"Ah! Welcome to our humble hunting lodge."
Alluriel scratches the dog behind the ears and looks at her packs for a Scooby Snack dog treat.
"Good day, sir, sorry, I didn't catch your name at back at the inn, my name is Alluriel." She holds out her hand for the man to shake.
"As you had invited me earlier - we're here to look upon what your mentor knew about the estate lost in time. Do you know anything much about the kobolds in the cave - or anything else about the mysterious disappearances?"
The dog likes the attention.
"William's my name."
He nods at Alluriel's inquiry.
"My knowledge of the kobolds out there is limited.
From what i've seen, there's at least 5 of them at the barricades, at all time."
"As to what my mentor knew, the old coot was very fond of riddles and cryptic descriptions. A bit of paranoia, for some reason, perhaps.
Feel free to help dig through his notes and journals. One person can only read so much at a time."
"Otherwise, i can show you his old room, where i took these journals from."
Jurgan raises his brow and looks at the dwarf with irritation. "It seems that you yourself was against attacking the kobolds. Did you offer another suggestion that I missed? As to my next choice we need to investigate the other disappearances in town. The situations outside the town are likely unrelated or of no concern to us right now. There was mention of the couple walking about or the farmhand. They all seem random but they must have something that ties them together. Does that suffice?"
"That would be helpful. You can show us his room, then his journals."Alluriel answers.
"Were there any unusual circumstances surrounding his death?" Alluriel asks, "Or just old age?"
"The man a bad case of the cold on his old age."
Alluriel scans the room.
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"Yeah, I didn't. Good spot."Alluriel compliments Vaunu.
"Hmph" is all Jurgan says to the wayang as he slips in his comment.
Entering the room he looks about and says "I will view these writings of your mentor. The others can look after the room."
Alluriel and Vaunu thoroughly inspect the room.
The huntsman's mentor was a practical man.
A bed with a cupboard and closet stand at one wall. A trunk at the bed's foot end, and old equipment against the other wall.
The stuffed heads of a wolf, of a deer, and of a bear, decorate several spots in the room.
The duo find a hidden compartment in one of the heads, and a double layered bottom in the trunk.
Both spots have map fragments, which combine a layout of the town and of the surrounding woodlands.
A few locations are encircled, but without names.
Meanwhile downstairs, Jurgan is going through the notes. While most of it details his endeavors in hunting, and lessons therein, one page in the old man's journal catches the wizard's eye.
In case of my departure, i bode caution to others in my absence.
I found myself wandering the woodlands, deprived of substances.
A mousetrap's part was on my path. Where it came from, i know not, but providing one necessity it did.
The variable this evening seemed to be the bright eye up high.
For the mousetrap was not present before. After sampling its content, i did feel uneasy in my insides. Things moved, that should not move.
Tails struck from the soil, as if trying to drag me away.
That is when i saw it, the barriers, an aura filling me with such unease, i knew not i could feel as though i had wings to get away with.
Though the page is that of a mad man to the untrained eye, by logic you deduce the mousetrap's part to be a spring, from which he must have drank, ending up in some state of mind.
The tails you reckon to be vines of a moving sort, guarding something with walls.
'Interesting. The words of lunacy but let us see if the others have made some discoveries' Jurgan heads up the stairs almost bumping into them as they lay out the pieces of a what looks like a torn up map.
"A puzzle? Is that what have you been able to find? I will let you know my discovery has been a real find. Unfortunately the words mean little unless you can provide me something that joins them together." he looks down curiously as the map comes together. "Well I stand corrected hmmm your find may be just as important as mine. The words make no sense but when you look at the map I am able to follow more clearly now. Listen to what the man wrote:
In case of my departure, i bode caution to others in my absence.
I found myself wandering the woodlands, deprived of substances.
A mousetrap's part was on my path. Where it came from, i know not, but providing one necessity it did.
The variable this evening seemed to be the bright eye up high.
For the mousetrap was not present before. After sampling its content, i did feel uneasy in my insides. Things moved, that should not move.
Tails struck from the soil, as if trying to drag me away.
That is when i saw it, the barriers, an aura filling me with such unease, i knew not i could feel as though i had wings to get away with.
Logic dictates that the mousetrap must be a spring, from which he must have drank, ending up in some state of mind. The tails then must be vines of a moving sort, guarding something with walls." Jurgan closes the journal quite pleased with himself.
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I forgot the detail of the eye up high.
In regard to an evening, it is possible he was referring to the moon.
"Uhhh... Did you say he started drinking from a stream and then started to see things?" Alluriel asks Jurgan, slightly incredulous.
"Do you think it was a particularly vivid hallucination?" Alluriel asks Jurgan. "Do you think if we drank from the same stream we'd see what he saw?"
"We could check out the circled areas in town."Alluriel agrees with Vaunu.
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He looks at Alluriel with a look of exasperation. "It is likely a spring. His lucid writings likely were some hallucination. If we do find this spring we would likely experience similar effects but who knows the length this crazed fool exposed himself to this spring. It is likely he drank a lot of the water to experience this. Also, the passage eye up high possibly refers to the moon. I am adverse to making this claim with no evidence, but the spring might only work under the auspice of the moon."
Alluriel starts thinking about when will be the next full moon.
Estate
A hidden spring in the woods. Moonlight related?
Missing people
Happens during the night, as far as known.
Sharp claw/nail like prints at the window of a recent abductee.
Potentially involves a -who-, as Melena's grandmother spoke -who are..- before disappearing.
Alluriel starts thinking about when will be the next full moon.
The next full moon is 4 days from now, current day not included.
Agnar decides he leaves the investigating to the others, instead offering help to the temple and town watch.
"Hmmm. Wayang you have surprised me and brought something to my attention I had not thought about. The cycle of the moon moves every twenty eight days. When was the last rising of the moon? Will these kidnappings increase until the next full moon? More speculation but something we might need to consider. I am ready to move on when you are."
"AAAHHHH!! Help! Someone help!"
A man in peasants' clothing, comes running by, headed for the watch barracks.
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"The next full moon is 4 days from now - if we want to check out the stream, we should do it then."
"What is it?" Alluriel asks the peasant.
A hurried glance over his shoulder....
"Monster at the farmstead!"
Alluriel yells for the party to head to the farmstead, going along with Shadow.
Jurgan hurries after the others his chest heaving as he tries to keep up. "Rushing will get us killed! Let me at least catch up!" but to no avail the others keep moving ignoring the dwarf's pleas.
As the team hurries themselves towards the western gates, they find two large lupines on the fields. One has an unconscious farmhand in its maw.
The second picks up your scent, and howls.
Something does seem very different about them, though.
Upon 1st glance, these look like dire wolves. Stronger, larger cousins to the average wolf.
============================
Alluriel & Vaunu
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Red
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Belegar & Jurgan
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Cyan
Alluriel looks at the wolves in question.
Alluriel takes out some carnivore feed and throws it in a direction away from the farmhand, while directing Shadow to guard her in case things go south. She waves at them to catch their attention.
"Atta boys! Put down the two legger, food's over there." She points towards the carnivore feed.
"Maybe they're just hungry, that's why they attacked!" Alluriel replies. "If they can be convinced to let the farmhand go then no one needs to get hurt!"
The wolves weren't particularly hungry, but they were here for a reason, as red was about to show the adventurers.
Red moves towards Vaunu. As it approaches, it opens its maw for the attack.
Within it, the sight of parasitic infestation is evident. Many worms wiggle in its mouth.
The icky parasites wurm their way into Vaunu's leg, dealing
dmg and 2 dex dmg, the feeling leaves him staggered on his next turn, while Vaunu is tripped.
Infestator wolves.
These rarely encountered wolves are augmented by means of magics, and generally used as a vanguard to weaken the enemy, by means of the parasites they carry in their mouths, which they themselves are impervious to.
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Belegar & Jurgan
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Cyan
"Do not move wayang. You are making an excellent shield!" With that Jurgan unleashes 3 bolts from his finger that streak right for the wolf attacking Vannu. "Be mindful of those worms. They look rather unpleasant!"
Pew pew pew!
13 dmg flies into the wolf.
Belegar starts a balade, about fending off wolves, and the pretty pelt capes they can make of it.
----------------------
Cyan approaches across the field.
<HOOWWWWLLL>
The wolf's bark was worse than its bite, as the teeth snap into air, instead of Alluriel's leg.
==============================
Alluriel & Vaunu (prone)
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Red (-13)
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Belegar & Jurgan
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Cyan
"I'm so sorry for this..." Alluriel calls upon the power of the moon to bless the party.
Shadow is not amused seeing his mistress attacked and attempts to rend the wolf apart in a flurry of tooth and claw.
Shadow indeed tears into the wolf, biting and slashing for 19 dmg.
Vaunu is having some technical difficulties hitting his own assailant.
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Red (-13)
Vaunu rolls aside as the bite comes down, avoiding more hurt.
& 2 dex dmg. After another round of discomfort, Vaunu thinks it has stopped, the parasites must have a limited lifespan outside the comfort of the wolf's mouth.
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Jurgan
Belegar (keeping up inspire rage)
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Cyan (-19)
"Wayang move more...to...the...RIGHT!"
Immediately a lance of fire streams from Jurgan's finger at the wolf .
But Vaunu close combat forces Jurgan to alter his shot too much.
"Curses!!!!"
Jurgan's fire ray flies just past the wolf, as Vaunu's struggle with the beast makes aiming a bit tricky.
Belegar keeps up the rage song.
While he does, he mixes in a few words, making the area underneath the wolf slippery.
But the beast remains standing.
-----------------
Cyan (-19) retaliates on Shadow.
Its teeth painfully latch into Shadow's own shoulder.
The beast manages to drag Shadow to prone, wildly shaking its maw.
On top of it, poor Shadow is affected by the worms.
, + 2 dex dmg.
======================
Alluriel & Vaunu (prone)
Shadow (prone)
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Red (-13)
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Belegar & Jurgan
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Cyan (-19)
Shadow snarls at it, then continues biting and clawing at the wolf in question, from his compromised position.
Alluriel drops her longspear, draws her cold iron morningstar and starts trying to clobbering the wolf. "Once I find out who's been responsible for infesting you with parasites...I'm so going to set him on fire." She growls angrily looking at the wolves plight.
The longspear in question seems to have a life of its own, flying 10 feet away landing next to Shadow.
Shadow deals another 15 to Cyan, but its mistress misses her strike in the chaos.
Vaunu swipes at his own attacker, but the situation isn't allowing him relief just yet.
-----------------
Red (-13)
, +2 dex dmg.
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Jurgan
Belegar
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Cyan (-34)