"A magical curse, though I don't know about it having anything to do with witches." Saoirse replies. "If so we're hunting a predator that has every advantage."
"A werewolf, then!" Duzz nods in agreement. "Very hard to deal with, because it is hard to find them in human form and when they shift it could be too late."
People are a pretty superstitious lot and Duzz have heard many "sure signs" of a werewolf in human form. "I've heard in their human forms they are harrier than normal, specially in the hands. People say their eyebrows are connect in the middle and their index fingers are of the same size of their middle one!" He points out. "I've no idea if these rumors are remotely true, though."
"So we don't think it's a creature summoned from the pits of the hells, then?"
Werewolves...now I have heard of them. Duzz are you still able to talk to animals? Do you think we may be able to get a different perspective from the sheep than the other livestock? I would think it best to converse with them before we check in on those tracks.
"Yes, I can speak to them whenever I want to. Perhaps they have seen who the werewolf was in his human form... if it was an werewolf, of course."
The eagle once more takes to the air and begins leading the group generally towards the lake. After only a few minutes of walking you find yourself near the water and a giant briar patch. The eagle is circling it and crying out to indicate the sheep is somewhere below. Forcing your way into the thick brush takes little time and soon you can hear a sheep bleating as it begins to try and move away from you.
"Oy! Oy!" He calls as he moves after the sheep trying not to startle it. "I'm here to help you, friend! I'm here to help!"
Duzz manages to calm the sheep and it turns and starts forcing its way through the brush towards your group.
Andreas stands back, as this to him is dinner and not a friend. He watches and remains silent.
Rillka watches the goings on as she ponders Albert's words, wondering if a demon or devil might not be a preferred option as it would at least be easier to identify.
"Oh shh, calm down, calm down... now what happened friend? Did you get to look at what attacked you and your herd?"
Andreas listens and watches.
"The sheep did not saw much and was quickly scared. Lost many friends in the attack, but managed to see something big, furry, and with bloody teeth." He tells the others while soothing the animal and taking a look at its wound.
"While this description could be applied to many monsters and even common animals, it also matches a werewolf. Could we take a look on that trail now?"
The group, with the sheep in tow, move back to the broken corral. Duzz follows the trail he found earlier and the group makes their way to the copse of trees where the trail becomes harder to follow then the soft wet ground of the field.
Knowing little of tracking, Albert tries to assist.
"These prints look promising!"
"Looks like your lead Mr. Duzz."
{Earlier to Von Ulm, assuming I have replaced my long spear} "Given our luck so far we will likely run into trouble. I know your sword was special but you should grab something just in case. It might be a bit before we can go back for it."
As the others begin looking to follow the trail, Saoirse hums a tune out loud, the magic woven within her voice sharpening Jackob's attention to detail, drawing his eyes to minute changes in the ground.
Deciding that the more eyes on things, the better, she squats down, looking intently at the ground for signs of disturbance and passage.
"Good to be of some help." He smiles as he also helps to track the prints.
The tracks seem to be our last clue.
Duzz, Saoirse and Jackob begin looking around the bases of the trees while Albert seems to be looking up a tree.
Rillka looks about where Duzz and the others seem to be focused.
The group looks around for about an hour, but fail to find any cannine tracks leading from the copse of trees. Inside the small copse of trees there is no sign of a large canine. Perhaps Albert was right and the foul beast was sucked into another plane of existence....
Duzz looks around and, with the help of the others, manages to follow the strange tracks through the trees. They turn and head in a more southernly direction. You quickly realize why it was difficult to follow as the tracks begin shifting and morphing. As they exit the copse of trees the prints are no longer canine. Instead they are the bare prints of a humanoid creature that seems to be heading back towards town.
"Well, that seems to track with everything else indicating a werewolf..though it looks like it may be someone already among the townsfolk, if that's where these tracks are heading." Saorise says with concern.
"In that case," Albert remarks thoughtfully, "we'll need to account for everyone's presence the last few evenings. Or at least identify those who were clearly absent during the night or evening."
A concerned look passes over his face. "I hope it is none of the townspeople, but I do not wish to alarm them any further if it can be avoided. I think questioning townsfolk directly may do so. We should begin our inquiry with the proprietors of any inns or public houses."
This is not a good sign. We must protect the citizens.
I agree with your assessment Alberty. The inn should be our next stop.
Duzz raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Tonight is the last night of full moon... If we do not catch the werewolf quickly, we'll need to wait a full month to try again."
"Pardon my honesty, but the people are already startled... You questioning them will quickly turn into a witch hunt. Scared people act wildly and I fear you'll soon have people pointing fingers to each other." He shakes his head, not liking the plan at all.
"For all we know, these attacks are new, so it likely means the werewolf is either someone who was turned recently or that is new to the town..."
"How about we ask around for those who are either new or were attacked by animals since last month? Then, we invite these people to the inn with some excuse and then question only them? We could even just delay them enough, for when night arrives, the werewolf will likely try to flee."
He is right Tall Folk. These aren't the type of people accept being rounded up like sheep... Rillka looks at the sheep, No offense. then back to the group. And we should not be the type of leaders that treat them as such. The people deserve our support and our defense, not a blanket accusation that one of them MAY be a werewolf, and MAY be in their midst... we need to find the werewolf and protect our people. So How do we do it?
"People would likely turn on each other at the suspicion, out of fear." Saoirse agrees. "If the tracks are headed back towards town, out next step would be to keep following them there, maybe we'll have an idea of at least what part of town they've been occupying."
Considering what they have been able to piece together so far she continues. "It's likely they are a newcomer since the last full moon, or someone who was attacked by another of their kind in the wild in that timeframe. Where would someone new to the town go first?"
Well... without tracks to follow all they way back to our killer, I suggest we send the pretty lady she nods to Saoirse, into the taverns and inns to ask a few questions to see what people know; the things they know without realizing they are important and asked in such a way as to not panic them, please.
Sounds like a plan.
Flashing Rillka a grin Saoirse nods. "That is does. I'll see what I can pick up...don't have quite as visible a profile as the rest of you at the moment either."
As they get closer to town, Saoirse breaks off from the others, taking a different bath back into the population center. Turning her cloak inside out to the less formal-looking facing, making sure to apply a dab of perfume here and there, she makes her way to where people tend to gather, both the honest hard-working folk and those a little less…reputable, quick with a joke or a drink, chatting, exchanging gossip and flirting to ferret out as much as possible about any new arrivals or anyone who seemed to act oddly or secretively.
Jackob also spends some checking in with people and reassuring them that even with these attacks things are under control. While also gently searching for stories of strange animals or anyone who was injured out in the woods over the past few months. Hunting accidents, bad falls, any injury that could cover an attack by a Wherewolf. Looking for the attack that infected/cursed our target. If J knows that infection is the how Wherewolves are made. Otherwise just looking for any other possible failed attacks. Most predators have more unsuccessful attempts than successful ones.
Jackob will make a specific point to talk with Father Jhod or anyone else who is skilled at healing.
Andreas will replace his sword.
Jackob and Saoirse go around and talk to as many people as they can. The people seem relieved to see representatives of the council talking to them and getting their input, and after two hours they have heard dozens of rumors from helpful commoners. Unfortunately, as the group is not looking for a massive rat born from a lizard's egg, the rumors do not appear all that helpful.
Duzz looks Saoirse with confusion. Why did she just repeat everything he said. Perhaps she was not paying attention to him. Figures. "Good idea." His answer carries a little hint of sarcasm.
A bit bummed that their inquiries produced little fruits, Duzz proposes another idea. "So, do you feel we could bait the werewolf? I was once told I look delicious..." The intention was completely different at that moment, however.
Well, Rillka looks Duzz up and down, He does look like a monster snack, now where to throw out our line to catch a werewolf… Rillka ponders the question and proposes some ideas.
In your travels you have seen various predators at work. Considering what you know about predators and the information from the visions that Saoirse described you think the beast was probably stalking around the western outskirts of town. In the first night, it likely stalked the barmaid from shortly after she left the inn to where it was far enough from the capital that no one would interfere. At that point, perhaps the creature smelled or heard the cattle that Druzz was brought to find out about and that would have drawn it further from town.
In the second night, the vision of the sheep showed them making noise. They were close enough to town that the smell of the beast stalking the edge of town could have reached them. The noise likely drew it towards the sheep where it attacked the boy and then the sheep. This would indicate somewhere north of the inn is the likely place to watch for it.
For purposes of the Map of the capital, you think the beast likely stalked area around or in column 1.
While I am loath to let someone else put themselves in harms way, I am uncertain if Duzz is the correct choice. I would rather it be me but this creature has attacked those it feels it is more powerful than. Druzz while not an armored giant still appears to be more than a simple farm girl or livestock.
"If you think it would be more inclined to attack a more seemingly vulnerable target, I would be willing to be the bait. she offers.