With a subtle smile Llano ate his breakfast with the others and after absentmindedly observed the buildings of the town in the light of day. Keeping silent he peeled his eyes back at Vorts mention of being followed but kept an uninterrupted pace toward the professors house. As the others greeted the Professor and Doctor he checked his supplies and arranged his oversized pack on his back.
"It appears your conversation with the sheriff last night you got to show your charming side Hans! You must have left some kind of good impression to get so much attention from that deputy."
Hans offers as warm an expression as he is capable of to the elf. Though usually a very good judge of hidden meanings and thoughts, he'd always found Llano's merry personality inscrutable. Does he mock? Or mean it? Doesn't matter.
"This time, you'll be pleased to know, my gun stayed in its holster the entire time..." He pauses, then adds, "The deputies, however, all drew theirs. Yet in the end, nobody was injured, and we exchanged some valuable information. I think that was rather a good impression, yes, all things considered. Usually Grethel pulps those who threaten us."
Llano you look towards where you last saw the guard, and you cant see him anymore. He either must have left or is better at hiding than you originally thought.
the Professor goes around to everyone then asks, "so Who is interested in going with me to the prison."
the Doctor after hearing from everyone adds "Or we can try to hunt the werewolves in the forest or try to find out about that cult?"
"I'd much rather find those damn wolves, or maybe the cult," Grethel says. "I've been in enough prisons for a lifetime."
"Professor, doctor, do you suppose this cult and your friend could be connected? Or are they two different things?" Hans tugs at his chin, then nods towards Grethel. "If the cult is related to your friend, then I don't see the harm in a quick visit to the prison. We may come across signs of the cult while looking for the werewolves. But if there's no connection, then I respectfully suggest the the shifters should be our priority. They are a present danger to the people of this town, and it's our fault that one of them escaped. I think we're compelled to track them down."
"I'd rather go after the shifters sirs. It makes us look bad to have them get away from us like that and the longer they run around free, the worse we look."
"Wild beasts should be put down."
"Ok then" the professor says, "I will take, Crissa and the Doctor with me. If the rest of you want to explore the woods for the werewolves. Have a care"
@grethel- you follow the guard until the main group gets close to the professors house when that happens you see that the guard turns back from following and starts walking back to the center of town.
The elf smiles and nods at the professor with a knowing look. I will keep them safe old friend.
Picking up his very oversized and heavy pack he checked the rest of his gear then went to join the others on the wolf hunt. "I call marching order anywhere in front of Vort, my delicate nose prefers the smell up there" beaming with a tooth filled smile he winked at Vort as he started moving toward his normal scouting position.
Grethel, entering after she arrives, lets the others know of the guard's eventual seeming lack of interest.
"So, wolves? Any idea how to get started? They could be anywhere. Maybe there's something at the ambush site that can help, though?"
Vortigorn's brow wrinkles.
"Vort no smell bad."
The barbarian sniffs his arm pit.
"Vort no smell good either."
Vort shrugs his shoulders and hefts his greataxe over his shoulder.
"Smelling good for tracks. Find tracks. Find werewolves."
Vort begins the search for tracks at the edge of town.
It is still morning, so Hans is still in somewhat of a good mood. His brow arches slightly at Llano's commentary, then he smiles with a slight chuckle. "Yes, well, when you can rip the head off a werewolf in a single swipe, I think it's okay if you don't smell of lavender and gardenias. But... I'm glad for my bath. No offense, Vort... you smell just fine."
Hans assists Vort with his tracking.
Grethel follows along with the others, idly swiping as small branches and leaves as they pass, trying to keep aware of anything that might be hunting them so they don't turn -- again -- from cook to dinner. That can happen all too quickly, as she knows as well as anyone.
Turning to the brow wrinkling barbarian Llano clasped him on the shoulder and spoke up while chuckling. "Yes my friend you do smell fine, I was just attempting to make a joke. I will try and be more obvious and overt in my shenanigans from now on. Here let me help you and Hans with looking for traces of tracks." With a lightness to his steps the elf moved to Vorts flank to try and aid the group.
As the group moves deeper and deeper into the woods the elf began to move ahead of the group and would search choke points along the paths for any traps wary travelers or their prey might have setup.
@vort are you looking towards the top (northern) side of town. with rumors of cultists. (according to the sheriff) or towards the right (east) side of town where you ran into the werewolf. (I added a map but I tilted it.)
We'll follow the trail to the wolves directly.
Your party heads towards the north woods looking for any sign of the werewolves. After a fruitless day searching it starts getting close to evening when your party has to make the decision to stay looking in the woods or turning home for the night. You see multiple farmsteads as you are looking among the woods for any sign.
Grethel frowns as the sun sinks.
"Not sure we want to be out again," she says. "Not sure the farms are any safer -- they're notoriously untrustworthy and suspicious, especially around here, sell you out to the witches just as fast as they'd blink, but tramping back and forth to town might take too much time. It's probably worth the risk, or we can try to find one no one's using. That might be where the wolves are hiding..."
"Unless these werewolves have learned to fly, there must be some sign of them somewhere. Would it be worth it to ask a couple of the homesteads if any of them have had any livestock go missing lately? If the werewolves wanted to keep a low profile, they might avoid feeding off of people for a while."
north was werewolves-
east was rumors of cultists-
Your party starts looking around since it is starting to get dark and you see or pass by several homesteads. One appears to be abandoned if the party wishes to take shelter there or they can go to knock on peoples doors to see if they mind. you see several large cornfields and other produce in patches next to most of the homes.
As his mood brightens when the sun rises, the inquisitor's mood turns as dark as it sets. He nods to his sister's words of caution, but also seems undeterred. "Lies and deceit may be all strangers offer in the dark, but we've learned a bit ourselves about discerning truth from falsehood. I'm willing to ask, but then..." He glances at the abandoned household, "we could take up there for the night. Looks defensible enough."
"Perhaps we shall ask around the morning. It is getting rather late now and people in these parts get rather suspicious about strangers showing up after dark. Rightly so of course..."
Alexandria looks over the abandoned homestead. "It does look solid enough still, despite seeming abandoned. I would rather spend the night under its roof than out in the open."
"Abandoned homes works for me," Grethel agrees. "We can ask around the other places in the morning."
Vort nods in agreement.
"Yes. This looks good."
A decision seemingly reached, Hans heads towards the abandoned home with the rest. Before entering, however, he takes a moment to walk the perimeter of the dwelling. He looks for signs of anyone or anything that recently came through the area. And, as he does so, he draws his pistol... just in case.
The small farmstead that your party comes up to appears to be empty the homes roof has fallen in places and it is a one story affair. with only one main room with the kitchen in it and one side room as a little privacy for a bedroom. there is broken crockery and rotted mattresses. everything of interest has been looted a long time ago, but the front door appears to be serviceable even if not being able to lock. there are several windows but they have been smashed. there is a fireplace to build a fire if needed with very little work.
(currently Crissa, the professor, the doctor, and Torgar are in town. I don't know if any of you thought ahead on long range communication for instances like this.)
@johnannes- there are several tracks by animals and some human tracks but none appear to be recent.
Vort begins searching for wood and tinder for the fireplace.
"Perhaps a fire will draw hungry eyes our way."
Hans shares what he found (and what he didn't) with the rest, then nods to Vort. "We're in fine enough shape. And I'd just assume be warm than shivering."
Grethel looks around with a sniff.
"Guess it'll have to do," she says with a shrug. "Home sweet home and all of that.
"Vort, if you get the wood into the fireplace, I can get it lit."
Keeping the group just within earshot the elf watched their flank and scouted the surrounding land as they traveled. As they slowed and approached an old farmstead he took the time to make a large perimeter check around the area before joining them.
Walking up to the building he called out. "Well it seems no luck with our quarry. We will keep searching in the morning my friends, my grandfather once told me 'Use the arrows failure throws at you to hunt for success'."
Pulling a string out of one of the side pouches of his pack Llanofiss yanks out two small rabbits and begins to dress them outside in preparation of a stew. Cutting up some wild carrots and onions he waited for the others to prep the fire before he starts cooking up dinner.
"Well, at least we'll eat well," Grethel says, "so it's not a complete waste out here. Maybe the smell will bring the wolves in to join us."
"And drive me outside... Sorry, Llano, I know you're very good at this but..." He glowers at what will become to stew. "It's not healthy to fetishize food. It's just nourishment." He grunts, then turns and unloads his bedroll, backpack and other gear in a corner, pulls out some rations, sits in a corner and begins eating.
"I'm happy to take first watch."
"I'll take last watch. And feel free to fetish about the food Llano, as long as it helps you make something tasty for us to eat, I don't mind at all."
Alexandria will search about, trying to find the best place to lay her bedroll that isn't directly under any holes in the ceiling.
Vort finishes loading wood into the fireplace and then finds a nice corner to set up his bedroll. He carefully lays his greataxe and x-bow to the sides within close reach. He doffs his breastplate and begins the process of quieting his mind to drop to sleep.
"Vort keep middle watch. Let spellcasters rest."
Once the sun goes down and your party has a fire going. the shadows of the house look frightening knowing that creatures are in the night. the once solid house creaks in the wind throughout the night.
Alex you are watching a the end of the evening when you hear a "Kawing" (a crow) from outside. After a few moments it repeats.
Alex quickly, but quietly wakes up her companions and motions for them all to keep quiet.
Speaking quietly: "I keep hearing a 'cawing' sound being repeated at intervals. I'm wondering if it is someone trying to send out some kind of signal instead of just some lonely crow. Can any of you more versed in animal calls tell the difference for sure?"
Hans notes it is still dark outside and glowers. The darkness is at its most dangerous before the dawn.
Grethel grunts in annoyance and acknowledgement, climbing to her feet as she prepares for the next assault.
"Nothing good comes from being in a strange house in the woods," she mutters sourly, and glances at Vort to see if he might know more about the birds.
She pulls on her chain shirt and activates her elemental defense, heat rolling off her in waves.
Vort's eyes snap open at the first sound from Alex. He rolls over and dons his breastplate in a precise almost mechanical fashion honed from years of hunting on the plains of Numeria.
He tilts his head to try to catch the sound from outside.
.
Is the group waiting 1 minute (10 rnds) or 4 (40 rnds; lol) minutes for you to put on armor Vort?
I guess that goes for everyone not on watch.
are you investigating outside or staying inside and hoping nothing will happen until done.
Vort begins strapping his armor into place when his ears catch an errant sound from beyond the house walls. Realizing he doesn't have time for such luxuries, he drops the plate to the ground and snatches up his greataxe.
"Bah."
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