Frowning slightly, Eris listen intently to Ricer, her face giving away no inclination as to what she was thinking. In truth, calling upon the Mantis organisation was certainly not cheep, which meant that Ricer was exceptionally eager to gain access to this forest, so eager in fact, that he was willing to employ the most successful assassination force the world had ever seen to rid himself of this dryad instead of employing other alternatives, legal or otherwise, which might also achieve his goal.
Eris didn't like it, the task seemed far too easy. When your last assignment was breaking into a hellknight prison in the middle of an enclave, and then breaking out, targeting one lone Dryad seemed a very simple task, something Eris doubted very much.
"Its too easy", she remarks bluntly "Sure, she has allies, but its still nothing that couldn't be easily handled. She is either much stronger than you realise, or her allies are stronger still, which doesn't solve your problem, for if the Dryad dies, her allies may wish to continue to defend the site."
Eris pauses for a moment, trying to remember all she knows of Dryads, but ultimately failing (damn I need skill points bad) before adding something as an afterthought. "If nothing else, it would be useful to know the skills of the adventuring group that you send after them, how strong they appeared to be, or indeed anything else you know about them."
Ricer grits his teeth in response to Eris' statements. Clearly sore from the betrayal, he responds, They're led by an elf. Elsong was his name. Tall, like his kind, but strong. Had one of them curve blades, plus a bow. Their spellcaster was a half-elf. Not sure what he could do. They had a gnome with them that seemed like a good fighter, but of the unarmed styles. Last, they had a cleric, a dwarf who wore the symbol of Abadar.
"I'm sure they have pressure points, family, loved ones etc that we could potentially track down and threaten in return for safe passage" Eris remarks in a matter of fact tone, while also running through the possibilities of disguising herself as a loved one and using the guise as a way to manipulate the adventuring group.
Kage frowns upon hearing their target and every word Ricer says causes his frowm to deepen. He thinks furiously, 'A dryad?! Why the hell does he need our very very expensive services...'
Kage keeps to the back initially, studying the man and his reactions to Eris's question. He wonders, 'What's he not telling us. What's the catch?'
Kage steps forwards, making sure Ricer notices his saw tooth blades and his disquieting blood red eyes and in a dangerously quiet voice, he demands "What of the Dryad herself? They are hardly known for their combat prowess. Is this one different?"
If the Dryad isn't special, Kage looks Ricer directly in the eyes and tells him bluntly, "The Dryad is dead. She just doesn't know it yet." Kage adds in a low dangerous voice, "Still I am puzzled, why would such an obviously astute business man pay such an exorbitant sum for a run of the mill matter. What are you not telling us?" As he speaks, Kage's eyes glitter with the potential for violence.
Ghiv watches silent. The How or Why do not matter much to him...he revels in the Doing of the thing.
Ricer clenches his jaw at Kage's questions, and one eye twitches. The slayer can certainly tell he's rankled by the insinuations that this job is beneath the assassins he's hired. When Kage laces his voice with quiet menace, the lumberman pales and swallows hard.
Look-- why should it matter to you? I made a play; I took over this mill by official sanction. I promised the Chelish families I could double output of barroak within six months. The groves were right there. He gestures in the direction of the forest. I didn't know that Mendelle had an arrangement with the fey of the wood. I can't make the quotas I've promised unless that dryad is removed.
He frowns at the assassins before him, agitated. Maybe I can find someone to do the job cheaper. But I need it done now. In most business, you can only buy three kinds of work: cheap, good, and fast. But you can only pick two. I tried fast and cheap. It wasn't good. So now I'm going with fast and good. I know it's not cheap.
He pauses, takes a breath, then opens his palms. Were there any other questions?
Kage studies the man and shrugs slightly, 'Something about this whole thing stinks. Not that I have any qualms about killing a Dryad, rather it seems excessive hiring the mantis for such a thing. Best get it over and done with.'
Suddenly he is all bushiness like, and his entire demeanor changes. Rather more respectfully he asks, "What is the dryads name? Do you have any maps of the area? Are there any known hazards beyond the obvious adventuring party."
Ricer nods, calming. I can get you a map of the area, so you can avoid straying into any of the barrows. That's the main danger in the forest, since stumbling into one will upset the spirits inside. And they can play tricks at night.
As for the dryad herself, Mendelle called her Eusephanie. The first time I sent my own men into her territory, the forest rose up against them. They're loggers, not fighters. Then a day after I sent in the adventurers, the half-elf came back, told me I should give up, then went back into the forest.
"Well, with a map we can go and do some recon at least. Divide and conquer is usually the way to go. Maybe we can defile part of the forest to draw them into an ambush....or two," Yamyra says. "If the forest rose up against them, the dyrad is probably a druid of some kind, right?"
Bess chimes in. Dryads are rarely dangerous on their own. They have several abilities, such as enchantments that can turn foes to friends, and the ability to animate vines and grasses into an entangling morass. The older the dryad, the more powerful she is, but they are each bound to a specific tree. Destroy the tree, you destroy the dryad, Bess informs the Mantises.
It's entirely possible the adventurers are not helping her by choice, she adds.
Kage considers this for a moment and asks, "So it's like that then. This Dryad may be more formidable in her own way than we thought. Will we be susceptible to her charms or are there countermeasures?"
::The Bloody Mantis will protect us from this magic.:: Ghiv signs
"Aren't there spells that would protect us from such enchantments?" Yamyra asks the other Mantises.
Kage notices Ghiv's signing and pauses looking at Yamara and deadpans, "Just as Master Brinn says, there are always countermeasures. This Dryad is not to be taken lightly, but maybe she is now overconfident in her own abilities... Ego is inevitable considering she has bent the will of so many to her own desires. I think our resolve shall surprise her yet... Come Mantis, we have work to do! Soon a red day comes."
The map Ricer provides is a simple ink-and-parchment affair that shows a number of logging trails through the woods that skirt around a fairly large swath of forest that is practically featureless except for five barrows marked in red ink, and a green mark roughly halfway between barrow three and four, which puts it in the southeastern quadrant. The whole region is about fifteen square miles.
Eris is currently thinking hard about the situation. "To be perfectly honest, I would like to attempt to locate means of breaking that adventuring parties compulsion. If they are magically compelled, breaking it might grant us a few extra allies, or at the least remove allies for her, and if they support her of their own free will, locating a pressure point could be useful to gain an advantage anyway."
"Probably worth the attempt." remarks Kage before adding, "Still we likely need some cold iron weaponry. Is there a trustworthy blacksmith in the area, one with access to exotic materials?"
Ghiv shrugs The creature will die. The "compelled" will die. He Who Walks in Blood has given us the power to see this done.
Ducking out of the mill's office and slipping through the streets in a practiced air of mundane normalcy, the assassins are able to rather easily procure the items they wish to buy. Myra is able to buy a rapier made from cold iron, and Bess is able to buy the necessary ingredients for her alchemical weapon treatments. Eris, also, after the rest of the party chips in, is able to procure the scrolls the party seeks.
Prepared for your trip into the forest, you gather at a small alley just inside the city walls. Before you are able to set out, however, a tiefling in a cloak steps out of the shadows. He is almost supernaturally thin, and clad in a black-and-red leather armor that doesn't provide him any additional bulk. The cloak hangs off his shoulders in an attempt to give a little bit of stature, but ultimately fails.
Oh, good. You're here, and it looks like you've got the mission. I was beginning to fear you wouldn't show. I was led to believe you'd be here days ago, he says in a combination of whispers and Red Hand signals.
My name's Cortaud. I arranged this little mission. It's not much, I know, but I was told you were in the area. Some big to-do in Egorian, I hear? He smiles, eyes crinkling a little too much and baring teeth that are just a little too large. You take care of this task, and I'm to make sure you get to the coastline in one piece.
"If you arranged this, and have been here for days, then you might know more about any personal relationships the previous adventuring party formed before falling under the control of our target", Eris remarks, sticking purely to business and ignoring the implied critique of their tardiness.
Cortaud nods in response to Eris's question. Wise, he says simply. Unfortunately, they're not from around here. Their leader is the elf, Elsong. A Nirmathi, if I'm right, and I'm pretty sure I am. Heard him and the dwarf, Gensyric, talk about some lengthy campaign against the orcs of the Mindspin Mountains near Glimmerhold. I think they picked up their gnome and half-elf in Molthune.
He sighs. I did catch their plan for taking on the dryad. I believe they truly intended to slay her. Both Elsong and the sorcerer had planned on using magic to counter the dryad's power over the plants. They seemed to believe that the dwarf and the gnome would be able to stave off the dryad's powers over the mind long enough to do the deed. Cortaud shrugs. Must not have been enough, obviously.
Eris closes her eyes briefly in a rare show of frustration, before opening her eyes again. She had planned on taking the form of someone friendly to the party, the better to attempt to break the dryad's control over them, but such a strategy seemed unlikely to be successful if she didn't know what these people looked like. Eris reflected that the dryad's power must be more obvious than initially apparent, and realising that the adventuring party had had access to much of the same information as she and her fellow Mantis had received, made her revise her threat assessment of the dryad. Upward.
"What's done is done then", she sighs, still thinking hard about anything she could use to gain an edge. "Perhaps we should have to consider alternative options to break their compulsion.
Mama shrugs at Eris' suggestion of pursuing alternate means. "Perhaps. I think our scrolls stand a decent chance though...if you're able to get close enough to cast them without being overcome."
With no further questions, the tiefling salutes the assassins and then fades into the shadows.
The Mantises move into the woods, outfitted for the battle ahead. Using the logging trails as guides and the mapped out barrows as wayposts, the group moves deeper into the sylvan woods. The swaths of culled forest end abruptly a short distance from the logging road, and the virgin woods are pristine and untouched by civilized folk.
After roughly an hour going deeper into the verdant forest, the assassins come upon a small clearing. A long rope is stretched between two great hoary oaks, from which three bodies are hanging. There is the faint but constant droning of flies buzzing about the rotting corpses.
There is a strange looking creature lurking within the underbrush just outside the clearing. It is naked, hairless, possibly female but with freakish hoofed legs and antlers upon its head. It has a somewhat crazed expression.
Kage impassivly regards the rope and the bodies, being in the business of making corpses he was no stranger to death but he had no intention of joining them. He carefully scanned the under growth and quickly spotted the hiding creature. Catching the eye of his companions, he made a series of rapid hand movements to tell them.
:I WILL FLUSH IT OUT:
Kage studies the creature and decides to risk a simple ruse. He points and calls out, "You there in the bush, we can see you! Why don't you come out and talk?"
The bodies are human males, most likely loggers from the town. They look to be only three or four days dead.
The creature, called out by Kage, starts muttering, seemingly to itself. They see, they see. Not them, wrong, no, not the lady. No. NO! It stands up, flexing its clawed hands, and points to the assassins. Wrong! These are not for you!
Ghiv signs to his siblings ::It is mad best to end it now.:: and his hand moves to his sabre.
Eris ignores Ghiv. She suspects that the creature isn't particularly sane at the moment, but is not necessarily a threat yet. "Of course they are not for me", Eris says smoothly, pretending she knows exactly what the creature means. "We don't mean you any harm, honestly, all we want to do is talk, like who this lady is, and what happened to these dead loggers...whatever they did, I'm sure someone had a very good reason to kill them"
The creature chews on a claw as it considers Eris' answer. Gifts, gifts, gifts. Presents for the wood lady. She turns me away, but I'm here to help. Why won't she see that?
"Disgraceful", Eris remarks,, shaking her head slightly in a disappointed fashion. "Why, I myself can see that you defended these boundaries with zeal and she has the nerve to turn away gifts, representative of the loyalty you showed her? Thats...thats sickening that is"
Privately, Eris wonders just how far she can push this creature. Its obviously set on pleasing the wood lady, so perhaps if she could direct its aggression at something else...
"Of course, I could put in a good word for you", Eris continues on casually, "only its just....", here Eris pauses, partly because she's an attention seeker, partly to keep up the appearance that what she has to say next might be unpleasant.
"...Its just I heard that this Wood Lady has a group of adventuring heroes beside her, and...it pains me to say this but are you sure she doesn't have any feelings for them? Perhaps she whispers to them, and then stops when you are around? I hate to say it, but I really don't know why she keeps such a group of heroes by her side when you do an already remarkable job on your own...why on earth does she need them?"
::She seeks to turn the creature on its kin:: Ghiv signs, and though hand signals don't give any contextual clues, you would swear that Ghiv's "voice" held a measure of awe mixed with respect for Eris.
It is so. I have seen it, she favors the Male.
Ghiv attempts to assist Eris in her deception.
Yet again Eris impresses Kage and he thinks, 'I'll never grow tired of watching a real artist work.'
Kage patiently waits to see what the strange creature's response is, although he took Master Brinn's words to heart and out of habit looks around cautiously to make sure nobody is sneaking up.
Not spotting anything else untoward, Kage decide to throw caution to the wind and add his weight behind the other's gambit. In a deep confident voice, he suggests that, "We can help you, if you'll let us. Things between you and HER, they don't have to be this way. You see if we could only talk to, your Wood Lady, we'll point out what is blatantly obvious to you and everyone else. It may take awhile, but she can be shown the error of her ways and then she'll take you back with open arms. That is what you want is it not?"
Hmm, should prolly roll bluff myself since I forgot to include it in my post
The creature tugs on its antlers hard as it starts walking around in circles. Your words seem to sink in, though it's hard to fathom how they fare within the workings of her mind.
Not good, nooo, No talking to the Lady. Sweet tongues. So tasty. She pauses for a moment, working her mouth. No! She says, no death.
She looks behind you, at the bodies hanging from the tree, then looks like she's about to panic. Oh, nononono. Forgot, not supposed to kill.
She moves a few steps closer to the group, eyes pleading desperately. You can talk to Lady? Good words, you put in good words. Adventurers kill, that's all they do. Killing! Their fault! The madness in her eyes is almost palpable.
"Of course we can put in a good word for you" Eris says smoothly, not the least bit guilty about manipulating a mad creature. "Tell you what, if you tell us where we can find Lady, my friends and I can go over there right now, tell Lady that you did an excellent job in protecting the forest, and I'll blame the adventurers for the dead loggers. You are quite right, its always the fault of adventurers, always killing.
Eris pauses slightly to let the words sink in, as much as they can. "Think about it, Lady said no death, so by sending us to Lady not only are you making the Lady happy by doing what she wants, you are also sending her a gift by the way of us. In addition, we can speak good words to the Lady, informing her of what a remarkable job you are doing, and we can say bad words about the adventurers, informing the good Lady that they are sneaking around her back killing when she said not to. By the end of our conversation, Lady will be impressed with you, and will banish adventurers out of her sight, leaving you free to continue doing a wonderful job defending the forest and keeping Lady happy."
She cants her head to the side. Her lip trembles and tears well up. Make the Lady happy. Good. She takes a step towards Eris in a gesture that appears as though she wishes to embrace her, but then freezes. She turns her head to the deeper part of the forest, and then moves quickly in that direction.
She stops just at the edge of the clearing and turns back. You follow, yes? Then she sets a rapid pace through the old growth.
"I follow", Eris remarks quickly, tramping after the forlarren (I don't know what it is until Mama posts).
"Be careful, watch for a trap or ambush, and feel free to be stealthy at a distance" she signs in Mantis sign, totally relaxed if a member of the team decides to act as an invisible guardian angel. Besides, it might be useful having Eris act as the visible target for the dryad to focus on, hopefully at the expense of her surroundings.
When it seems like we are near our destination, Ghiv will cast invisibility and move to an alternate position.
:: I will watch our approach::
Mama stays close behind Eris, feeling protective of the sorceress.
She signs, ::Well handled but we must be careful. This is a Forlarren--fey-fiend-mix. Clearly disturbed::
Yamira pretends she understands the hand gestures everyone keeps making, and follows along quietly. Soon as we get some downtime I've got to learn this red hand shit. Never needed it working solo, but on this team it seems that's the only way they communicate. She resists the urge to constantly sigh, and uses this as an opportunity to see how unnoticeable she can be.
Kage simply follows the creature named as Forlarren. While the thing sets a fast pace, he finds it effortless to keep up, in fact he is enjoying the primal joy of running through the strange forest.
Still Kage manages to (mostly) keep his eyes open as he runs, and he thinks 'At least I'll be warmed up should this deal turn sour. Still I must not discount Eris's silver tongue. In her hand, the pen is truly mightier than the sword...'
It takes over an hour of a hurried pace through the woods, following the clearly insane creature. Every so often, she would pause and look confused until Eris reminded her of her mission to speak to the dryad.
Finally, the group, somewhat labored from the race, reaches an area of immense trees and the sounds and smells of a nearby cookfire. A huge drooping willow stretches out over the shore of a small lake just at the edge of a clearing. The Forlarren stops just inside of the clearing, where a tall elf stands with his bow drawn and an arrow nocked in response to the intrusion.
She blurts out excitedly, Lady! I don't kill for you!
Who? What? says the elf, clearly confused at the forlarren's words, but then eyes the rustling forms following the accursed fey.
Estreesa! What have you done?!? almost immediately afterward comes a musically soothing voice from the far end of the clearing.
Eris raises her hands slightly in a universal gesture of 'Please don't shoot me". Quite happy to talk, she intends to draw the attention of the Dryad and her allies onto her and away from her unseen allies.
"What trickery is this O wonderful Dryad, I understood this forest was peaceful, sacred even, and yet as I enter this forest on a diplomatic mission I discover the bodies of slaughtered loggers, and an elf aiming an arrow at my unarmed self".
Hoping to sow discord and distraction, Eris takes a slow step forward, and continues her tirade.
"I heard that you had compelled some new allies for you, a non aggressive, defensive tactic that I can understand, if not approve of, but not even I suspected that you would allow your control to slip, allowing these allies to murder anyone who enters this place...why, I am fortunate to have encountered Estreesa who safely guided me into an audience with you, so I ask, princess of the forest, for you to explain yourself and your actions!"