"Whatever that was it was really dangerous... I think we will need all the help we can muster to defeat it. When my heart stops pounding I think I will be able to recall something more about it."
Rowan glides quietly overhead, straining his eyes and ears to keep track of this fearsome foe.
Behind Wyssal, Roan and Rowan, a slow, loud knock comes from the closed door of the town hall that's now their refuge.
knock....knock....knock....
There is a delay of a few moments.
knock....knock....knock....
Who is it?
Rowan lands on the rooftop of the building across the street and changes back to his human form. He watches Dareon quietly, observing his body language to see if it's really him.
Rowan is able to determine that the "Dareon" really isn't Dareon, and instead is stooping a little bit more than Dareon used to (Dareon had a very straight back), and he has a much more malicious look on his face than the kindly Dareon. Fortunately for everyone involved, a clarion voice shouts out an arcane phrase. A blast of force shoots down the street and impacts upon the false Dareon, throwing them, false robes flapping in the wind, to tumble down the street.
The real Dareon stands about fifty feet down the street, an arm outstretched, a look of fury and concern on his face and the other hand reaching for a wand at his waist. The false Dareon rises from the ground, morphing back into the horrifying form of the black-skinned night hag, snarling with her big, dirty yellow teeth.
The wand flashes into Dareon's hand and a trio of lights shoot up into the sky - two red, one green. The signal for the guards for a person in danger from hostiles.
Seeing the flashing in the sky, the night hag snarls once more before blinking from view. Rowan can see the hag's footprints fleeing into the dark...and then the shadows of night hide the footprints.
The real Dareon jogs up to the door of the town hall, calling out "It's fine! She's fled. You're safe." and using his key to unlock and open the door.
Rowan carefully climbs down from the rooftop into the street behind Dareon. "It's good to see the real you again. We need to get a force together to hunt this hag down. Do we have the strength to hunt her down tonight?" He asks, uncertain of how injured Wyssal and Roan are, he asks if they need healing.
"Thank you! I though we were about to be murdered!"
Looking at the long bloody gashes in his two allies, Rowan quietly says to himself "You both look like you've been murdered..."
Wyssal looking the worse of the two, Rowan casts his only healing spell on her.
Wyssal hugs Rowan, sobbing a little, now that the adrenaline has passed.
"Thank you! What are we going to do!"
"I have the strength to fight, but I think our friends look too injured to continue to fight."
He pats Rowan on the shoulder and says, "I'm glad to see you, too." while slotting the wand back into its slot on his belt. "We need the other regents back. We're dealing with a dangerous murderer and Wilhelm's divine strength might be necessary to stop her."
Gozran 8th, Year 2 - A couple days after the events at the Sootscale caves
Winter still dominated in Domierov, though the hints of spring could be seen here and there. Wilhelm, however, pairs the bare minimum of attention to his surroundings. ... must inform the council and determine our best course. Should would expect fallout with our backers? We are independent now to some degree... Wilhelm is so engrossed in his thoughts, that he neglects to notice the growing town of Zatoksta until he is riding through its streets.
Blinking in surprise, Wilhelm smiles wanly and nods to his companions, "It seems we are back. I'd like to speak the council as soon as possible, but lets take an hour or so to clean the dirt off the dirt of the road and then reconvene in my villa." Barely paying attention the bodyguards trailing him, Wilhelm rides to his villa and dismounts, handing Triumph's reins to a stableboy. Turning, Wilhelm sees his steward, Narses Albercroft, a Taldan refugee fleeing the chaos of the rest of the Riverlands to the south, and aks, "Would you be so kind as to have the entirety of the council informed of a meeting to take place here in an hour? I'd also appreciate it if some washwater were brought to my quarters, as well as a disposition of our funds."
The rail thin man nodded, an eyebrow arching at the urgency in his master's voice. Narses replies, "Your will be done, my lord baron. I would suggest you keep your bodyguards and armament close, as the murderer is still loose. I believe Master Gideon and Lord Lebeda will have something to say on this." Wilhelm frowns thoughtfully, and nods his acknowledgement as he makes his way towards his quarters.
Gozran 8th, Year 2 - An hour later.
Feeling refreshed from his quick wash, Wilhelm nevertheless frowns down the logs brought to him. Hearing the door open, Wilhelm looks up and his hand reaches down to take a grasp on his blade. Seeing only his councilors, Wilhelm gives a weary smile and says, "Thank you for coming on such short notice, my friends. I'm afraid we will have little enough time for rest in the near future, so feel free to take refreshment." Wilhelm gestures towards the glass of wine that he had already poured and then to the table at the back with a few spirits and snacks made available.
Once everyone is comfortable, Wilhelm continues, "As I'm sure all of you know, there was an attack on the Sootscale caverns that prompted our army to march. As it turns out, this was a wise precaution. The Sootscale caverns had been invaded and the a number of the tribe killed by a pack of trolls. Leading them was a monster of the kind who named himself Hargulka. What's more, he laid claim to these lands and delivered to us an ultimatum: We are to leave his lands or he will 'rip you and your followers apart, piece by piece, and I will eat you.'"
Wilhelm pauses with a jaw clenched tight in anger, letting the words sink in. "I have not yet answered his ultimatum, but clearly the terms he offers are ridiculous. Even were they not, given his behavior in invading the Sootscale's territory, I see no reason to trust him. It is my opinion that we must prepare our young nation for war, as it will come whether we want it or not." Grimacing, Wilhelm takes a sip of his wine and sits back, looking around the room. "Have you any thoughts?"
"Very well, Baron. Your villa in one hour." The thought of a bath and fresh clothes, is an appealing one. The Silver-Gold Spiral. Mmm. No. Too metalic. Too money clinking. Too Abadar. Anastacia thinks about naming her monestery, here in Zatokska (Oleg's).
The young cleric puts the naming of her monestery on the mental backburner for now. It's hardly a pressing issue.
Arriving at the as yet, unnamed complex that serves as home, Anastacia steps down from Avalanche's broad back. She gives the warhorse a scratch about the ears, before tying his reigns to the hitching post by the door...
...Anastacia reports to Wilhelm's villa in exactly one hour, she feels much refreshed, in clean clothes and bathed. Anastacia frowns a bit, her armor still bears road dust. There had not been enough time to polish it clean. Well, no matter.
In Wilhlm's study, Anastacia finds a place to stand, with the wall at her back.'More bandits, that is all they are. Tough bandits, but still, just bandits."
Dareon's first priority during the night is to ensure that Wyssal, Roan and Rowan get someplace safe, so he personally escorts each of them home before informing on-duty guard captain of the situation, and requesting that the man begin implementing passwords amongst his own men and pumping up patrol numbers.
When Wilhelm finally arrives in town, and Dareon receives the notice to meet, he leaves immediately. He arrives at least half an hour early, but politely waits outside the villa, hands clasped behind his back and rump sitting on a branch of a nearby tree, for the other councilors to arrive. He hops out of the tree and knocks on the door along with everybody else when it's time.
Dareon is very troubled by the news of interloping trolls, and his curled-up brow shows this. However, his voice is measured and even. "We'll need to get alchemists to start working on arming our men and women with alchemical acid or fire. Tindertwigs and pitch-coated arrows might be the cheapest solution."
He taps his quarterstaff on the table, one tap every few moments. "We definitely want to root out this killer, though. She seems to be going for the leaders of the nation - obviously not anything wild. I believe what I saw was a hag, a horrific monstrous elderly woman with impressive strength and claws like kukris. We can't have her hunting us down while we try to administrate a war with trolls."
Riding into Zatokska on his huge warhorse Mandarb, Dante makes his way to the military encampment after a quick salute to Wilhelm, indicating that he had indeed heard the young Baron's order.
Handing his horse off to an attendant he quickly removed his armor and bathed, dressing in a noble outfit, grey with green trim. He left his armor and sword, but wore a dagger at his belt.
Entering the council room, he poured himself a drink and nodded to the other council members.
After quenching his thrist and listening to Wilhelm's opening remarks, he looked deep in thought. "I agree with Lady Stormwing, beasts of the ilk of the staglord, but dumber and more dangerous. Lord Lebeda is right about arming the men with pitch and flint, perhaps alchemical fire if we can come up with it. I'd almost be more open to sending a small group after the beasts and burning them in their dens. Or trickery, have sappers, soak the ground before the Sootscales cave, send a message that we wish to convene and discuss our surrender, and burn the fiends alive in the fields, with riders and archers in reserve to run down any stragglers or survivors."
The ride back into Zatoska was less pleasing that he had hoped. The where bringing grim tidings of war into a nation already shaken by brutal murders. The streets where just a tiny bit darker then he remembered, but surely that was just his imagination messing with him!
"An hour then" Fhârn nodded and steered his horse towards his house. After dismounting and leading Hestor to his enclosure he anxiously looked around for the guest he was expecting - but she had not yet arrived. With a sigh of relief he sat down on the front porch and leaned his back against the wall, resting for a moment. "Munin, would you kindly fetch my advisers. I'm going to need to speak to them both before and after Wilhelm's meeting. And find out if they caught the murderer!"
-----Later-----
Fhârn arrived a few minutes early to the meeting, not wanting to miss anything. His clothing and armour where both clean; It is the small things that makes magic so wonderful he mused. He nodded in appreciation of Wil's offer and took a glass. But it is no substitute for a good vintage of wine either!
"War is clearly coming - no doubt. Giving in would be to betray both our people and the Soothscales and I wouldn't give much for a Troll's diplomacy. To the list of helpful things that would help us win I would lie to add siege weapons - a fiery arrow would hurt a troll, but a thousand unleashed from a Springal or a fireball hurled from a catapult makes a larger dent."
"But mobilization takes time - and the trolls didn't seem to be in a hurry. I suggest we deal with this murderess first, then we can focus our attention down south. Whom got the best view of the creature? I would like to prepare a few castings of Share Memory and share around by tomorrow - so that we all know that to expect."
"I had expected that The councilors left behind would have dealt with the murderer." Anastacia sighs. "She is a far more dangerous foe than we knew. It will be a tough fight, even with all of us fighting.
Anastacia shakes her head. 'The hag will want to pick us all off one by one. We need to figure out a way to catch her with everything we have, and in a place of our choosing."
"A trap then, of some flavour ... We would have to get the word out to set the bait without raising the hag's suspicion. Perhaps we can convince that 'Peoples Champion' halfling to publish a 'scoop' for us and spread it via that bulletin they put out. Then we just need a place and a cover to set our trap!"
Still angry at the tyrannical behavior of the woould-be troll 'king', Wilhelm listens to his friends' suggestions quietly. Anastacia and Dante's reactions jerk a small smile from the baron but Dareon's news adds a fresh crease to the young paladin's brow. "A hag? Any monster like what you've describe can't be allowed to simply roam our city, on that we are in agreement."
Dante and Fhârn's strategies elicits a slow nod and growing grin and a quip from Wilhelm, "I've chosen my general wisely, though I'm not sure what it says that my treasurer knows so much of siege warfare. If we attack the trolls though, I think it would be best to go in force or in stealth. There were nearly a score of the brutes at the Sootscales cave and there may be more at their den. Exploration to find them is in order. As has been mentioned though, this hag must be dealt with."
"A trap seems prudent, but I'm afraid I'll be little help except as either bait or as crushing force. We are not, generally speaking, expected or encouraged to spring this sort of trap and I've no knack for it." Wilhelm thinks over the issue for a moment before adding, "If a trap is our chosen method we'll need to find something the creature wants as bait. Do we have any inkling as to its purpose other then slaughter? Your suggestion for spreading news of the trap sounds reasonable, Fhârn. I'm sure that Wyssal would aid in this."
Fhârn laughs at Wil's quip - "I merely observed that Troll's are quite large - so taking advantage of our ingenuity seemed only fair."
The treasurers expression turns grim as mentions the trap again. "I'm fairly certain that destruction and murder are the only things this beast is after - and as such, a live bait might be the 'best' option. We could certainly try to find a better way - but how much time would that leave *it* to cause destruction and death?"
Anastacia smiles at Wilhelm. "Don't think of it as a trap M' Lord. Think of it as a set piece battle, on a field of our choosing." Anastacia's smile fades. "That will be the problem of course. Forcing it to face us at the time and place we want. The hag will prefer to murder us one by one, hunting us down in the streets or at home alone. At least that's what I would do in her place. So it seems the logical bait is one of us."
Anastacia frowns. "It could be that this Hag simply is sowing chaos. If that's true she will attack targets of opportunity. We will need to keep any plan we make flexible enough to react to such an event."
"I believe that she's after us, specifically. The leaders of Domierov. So far, she's only targeted Wyssal, Roan, Rowan and Bej, as well as unfortunate passersby that were in the way. A young woman whose house she lured Wyssal, Roan and Rowan to. Bej's staff."
Dareon strokes his beardless chin. "I could be the bait. No doubt she's angry with me for stalling her murder of our friends."
"Hmph. Whom has the flimsiest house and the sturdiest reason to be there all alone then?"
"Honestly, I think that would be me." Rowan says as he drops down from the rafters. Anyone that had previously looked up there would remember an owl snoozing in that same corner. He smiles sheepishly if anyone gives him a peculiar look. "I usually camp outside the city anyways. It's a wonder the hag hasn't come after me yet other than that I look like a lowly forester." he adds with a chuckle.
Wilhelm smiles in quiet amusement then shrugs, "If you are comfortable, Rowan, then that is well by me. We'll need to be at the ready though. It occurs to me that we don't know much about this creature's motives either. Why is doing what it's doing? If it's targeting leaders, then it may be allied with the trolls or another enemy - known or not. Has she said anything to suggest her reason for targeting us?"
"Hmm" Fhârn strokes his chin in contemplation. "This could possibly be the scoop that Wyssal could break: 'Leader of Domierov lolling around in the forest during chaos' or something. If the hag decides to do a little legwork and ask around, the story holds since it's not a sudden change of habit. And, if we screw it up, you can always pull a reverse of the trick that got you here!"
"Now, on the topic of why, I cannot help but feel that it is too much to be a coincidence that we broke up a cult of Gynnora and now there is a hag out for our blood. The question is really - is this hag the one "whom rule the forest" - the terrible entity we have been warned of at every turn or merely a servant? But I would be willing to bet that the trolls too are part of her machinations, even if my only evidence of that is that they are usually to dim for this sort of ambition."
Rowan grins at the idea of being bait. "I think we're skipping the really important question here. And that it is, how do we kill it?"
"An important question no doubt ... I can't say much until I get a better view of the situation - but against a lone hag we would have a great advantage of numbers."
"A cult of Gyronna... yes I could see that, I suppose. I'm afraid I paid rather less attention then I should have when studying religions during my training." Wilhelm's lips twitch into a small smile, which widens into a feral grin at Rowan's question. "I believe I can do something about that. A lance through the heart and Iomedae's light burning a hole in her wretched heart may do the trick. Still, I should like to see what you remember of her. It may be that I can give some minimal insight into how to defeat her."
