"You have to love this one. Why do you never see any elephants hiding behind trees. Because they're so good at it!"
Round 5
Wolf shifts forward and attacks Mallichatti Cervagio
In any case The jokes seem to be falling flat.
Which rounds is this?"You have to love this one. Why do you never see any elephants hiding behind trees. Because they're so good at it!"
Round 5
Wolf shifts forward and attacks Mallichatti Cervagio
Current HP -3/39(7/51)
"Okay I think I just made it angry!"
Crit Confirm.
Crit damage
Riva covers her face from the blood splatter caused by Mallichatti's devastating blow.
"I think that perhaps you're the one that's angry."
The werewolf goes unconscious and turns to human.
"Now THAT was a hit, coffee it is for this fellow," Adular says with a nod to Mallichatti, "Adular Garess, of Gorum, nice to meet a warrior who can nail someone THAT hard."
Recalling Riva's request, he frowns, "Riva, if you're sure you want this fellow alive...so be it."
Swaying a bit the armored warrior says, "Actually if you can just put some of that blood back-aw crap."
He falls flat on his face.
"Oh dragondroppings, the man's a bleeder," Adular sighs and touches Mallchitti on the back of the head, "Gorum, if anyone be worthy of your healing, it is THIS fellow. I mean, did you see that hit? It was a treat just to watch."
Gorum, Lord in Iron, seems to agree, ad healing power flowers into the downed Cervaigo
"Not a bleeder." the warrior mutters from his spot on the ground. "Just prone to getting hurt like everyone else."
Sitting up he gets up wiping the dust and dried blood off his chest.
"Thanks, I guess. Been a while since I've been in a street fight that vicious with a guy telling bad jokes."
"Taste is a choice," Rory says as he approaches the man. "Name's Rory Ward. That was some fine fighting you did just now. Where did you learn to fight like that?"
Kundal wakes up about an hour later. He seemed to be surprised and dismayed when told he was a werewolf. He had been having bloodly dreams the last two night, but he was not sure of the cause. He demands that you ether cure him or kill him.
"The army, the Hellknights, too many fights in too many dark holes to count. The names Mallichatti Cervagio."
Kundal wakes up about an hour later. He seemed to be surprised and dismayed when told he was a werewolf. He had been having bloodly dreams the last two night, but he was not sure of the cause. He demands that you ether cure him or kill him.
"Your fate will be determined by the city council, not by you." Riva then turns to the bloodied warrior. "Thank you for your assistance in this matter Sir Cervagio. The city owes you a debt."
"Still Riva, it'll be easier to deal with a human instead of a werewolf. Guilty or not, I still think we should attempt to cure. If for nothing else, to make it easier on us and the others in the council."
Mallichatti holds up a hand defensively and takes a step back. "No no no no no no. No debts, no favors, it always starts out that way. I'm just in town looking for work."
"Well, we just might have a job for you then. This city has gone for far too long without a proper authority figure to keep the miscreants in line. You were willing to put your life in peril for complete strangers, throwing yourselves between us and a savage beast." One that nearly killed you no less. "This tells me that you are an honorable man who just might fit the bill. What's more, you clearly do not shy away from blood and violence and..." Riva approaches slowly, playfully stroking her finger along Mallichatti's shoulder muscles. "...it seems to me that you have a face and body that the people could learn to respect...and fear...if need be."
Mallichatti visibly leans away from her touch. "Aw, crap, listen, I've already done my fair share of, kicking down doors at midnight, beating up people that really don't deserve it, waiting outside the door while the local interrogator plys his trade, and being a pawn in political games with no winners. If all your offering is a job in the guard, yeah, sure, but if I wanted weird ladies admiring me while I'm knee deep in another mans blood I'd have stayed in Egorian."
"Easy on the man, Riva. He just met us. My thanks to you, Mallichati."
"Yes, quite right." With mock hurt, Riva backs off a bit. "We should get better acquainted. Perhaps we should all start with some celebratory drink then, now that the kingdom is safe again."
*Later that evening, in a dark cell of the castle dungeon*
Riva addresses the wretch clad in manacles at her feet, just out of arms reach. "As I've said before, you are not in a position to demand anything. However, if you cooperate with us and answer my questions, we will release you from your curse."
One way or another.
She turns to Warden Kestle, "You are certain he is secure?"
"First, you will tell me how you were cursed. Such things are usually inflicted through a bite, yet I see no such wound, so I assume it was some time ago. Where you were bitten and by whom? How long have you been an therianthropic hybrid? Have you brought harm to anyone else besides the maiden, Saki, and the boy, Beven?"
Rory leans against the wall across from the cell while Riva talks. "You need to help us, we're just looking out for what's best for our city. Answer Lady Riva's questions about your curse so we can better help you." Rory says with an arcane tinge at the end.
"I didn't even know I was cursed. I thought I was just having bloody dreams and sleepwalking the past 3 days."
Rory scoffs slightly at his answer. "Surely you must have noticed something. I mean, big wolf-man type thing bites you would make me suspicious of being cursed."
"Yes, I very much doubt you would forget being attacked by a large canine predator. Tell us how you believe to have come by this curse!?"
"...If you don't, things could get very rough for you."
Adular hangs back, trying to guage the man
He does not appear to be lying.
"Tell me about your dreams then."
"I'm hungry and I attack people. I don't really want to paint a picture".
Riva slaps him hard across the face in a fury.
"Well you're going to have to! The sake of your future and the future of this kingdom may depend on it! Now is not the time to be squeamish. Now, do you remember anything before that? Anything at all? The slightest detail could make all the difference."
He tells you all about them and he's right they arn't really helpful.
*Moments later in the next room over, Riva seeks her companions' council*
"What should we do with him? We could hire someone to perform a more thorough magical interrogation, but I don't expect it will yield much. However he came by this curse, he either doesn't know it himself, or is a master of hiding it."
"We could exile him on pain of death, or let him go and live his life only to again be our prisoner every full moon--though I don't expect the families of the victims will be too pleased with that outcome. I don't believe he can transmit the curse in any event. He would have to have been born a lycanthrope for that to be the case."
"And therein lies the heart of what bothers me: There may well be another out there capable of spreading this curse. That's who I want to find. THAT's who threatens our kingdom."
"He had told me he was a traveler. He may have contracted the curse far from here." Rory says. "I also don't want to exile him in his current condition as any future killings will be on our hands. Is there any way to cure him? I imagine that may be beyond Adular's current abilities, but surely there must be some other way."
"We could have him executed. The people would see it as the lawful death of a murderer, and he has specifically requested it of us if we could not cure him. From what I know of the affliction, it may well be a mercy. However, doing so would cause us to forfeit the answers to our many questions. I don't know that we can risk that."
Adular wasn't happy that the fellow had been treated as he was, but kept his yap shut mostly. Now that they were in council, he spoke his mind, "The man ASKED us to kill him, if I remember correctly. I will do it if no one else wants to and we can't cure him. I CAN pray for spells that might allow me to question or divine, but like Riva said, it may do no good. But we don't let him wander free to kill again regardless. That's against his wishes AND the good of the kingdom."
"It's also against the good of the kingdom to remain ignorant of others that may be out there."
"Full moon happens every month right? Maybe we can ask him if this has happened before and if not, where would he think this happened as to better gauge where the original werewolf could be."
It has not happened to him before this full moon.
I wonder...
In the dungeon Malichatti chimes in as he fits a stack of papers neatly into a desk. "You could just wait and see if the killings keep happening. Sometimes that's the only real way to make sure you got the right guy. Besides, he could have come from anywhere in the last month. Hells, last week I was passing through Restov."
It is said that the first werewolfs came about from being cursed by powerful fey lords.
In the dungeon Malichatti chimes in as he fits a stack of papers neatly into a desk. "You could just wait and see if the killings keep happening. Sometimes that's the only real way to make sure you got the right guy. Besides, he could have come from anywhere in the last month. Hells, last week I was passing through Restov."
"huh... he's got a point," Adular concedes.
"Then we wait. We hold him and we wait. And trust the fate of our people in what? Mere luck? Being helpless to do anything more puts a bad taste in my mouth." Riva moves to leave the room, to contemplate matters in the comfort of her library.
Later that night, Riva leaves her library, trades some of her jewelry in return for wolfsbane, then discreetly administers it to the prisoner, informing him that its consumption may cure him if it doesn't kill him. Either way, he gets what he wants.
"I can't stand to watch you or anyone else suffer any longer." And quite frankly, we have more important matters to attend to.
"Again, and reluctantly, we agree on something..."Adular mutters as Riva goes before rising himself.
Later, at the merchants, "What do you mean someone bought out all the wolfsbane? Who??? Let me see that jewelry... huh. Guess it got to her. Saves me the trouble then of doing much the same."