The first thing Oona finds is a single boot on the floor. Katia recognizes it as the mate to the boot of striding and springing that the mites were carrying. Most of the furniture and personal belongings in this room are smashed and broken, but there are two well-made weapons hanging over the fireplace:
- Masterwork longsword
- Magical bow
Oona also finds a loose floorboard that conceals a locked compartment in the floor.
Freyja kneels down next to the wight's body. Being careful not to touch it, she examines its clothes, its armor, its cloak. The cloak has a small clasp in the shape of a leaf.
Understanding dawns on Freyja. "This man was a ranger, and he worshipped Gozreh. I'd bet anything that lynx was his companion. No wonder she attacked us; she is confused about her master and thought she was protecting him."
As if on cue, you hear a gentle padding by the doorway. The lynx from earlier, wounds licked clean, is cautiously entering the cabin. She pads over to the wight and sniffs its face. She recoils a bit, then sniffs again. She makes a small mewling sound, then runs out of the cabin door and disappears into the woods.
Freyja notices the locked compartment and pulls out her thieves' tools again. "I hope this goes better than last time." She blushes fiercely.
The comparment's lock snicks open and Freyja grins proudly. Inside, Oona finds:
- 112 gp
- 2 potions
- A quiver with 20 normal arrows and 5 awesome looking arrows
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Katia sorts out the items. "Minor curatives here," she says listlessly, pointing vaguely toward the potions. "Magic bow. Magic arrows with fire properties."
She watches the lynx's entrance, behavior, and exit dully. She wants to feel bad for the creature, but she's just too numb at the moment. She hovers out of the room and waits outside, staring vapidly into the distance.
Oona watches the lynx with a mixture of curiosity and sadness. She can't imagine what it would be like to lose Mac, or what he would do if he lost her. Sometimes integrating another creature so intimately into your life is a damned terrifying prospect.
She watches Katia float out, slightly disconcerted by her levitation. Best leave her be, for now, she thinks, though a small, guilty sliver of her knows it's mostly because the witch's behavior and strange new powers have begun to rattle her.
Freyja is too busy admiring her new arrows to notice Katia's mood, but when Katia floats morosely out of the room, Freyja looks up. Her smile drops off her face. Maybe you should let her have the next kill shot.
She looks at Oona and points at the body. "We should probably burn him, eh?"
After divvying up the magic items and trying on her new boots--gods, I move so fast now!--Oona steps outside with Mac at her side to see where Katia floated off to.
Katia sees another bear trap in the tall grass next to the house, but avoids it easily. The door is not trapped or locked, and she opens it to reveal a smokehouse positively filled with heavily smoked and salted meat and fish, all still edible .
Freyja audibly gasps at the sight of the smokehouse. "We can use this! I know how to cure and smoke meat! If we have extra meat, we should bring it here to preserve it."
"Good find, Katia. Well done." The witch doesn't respond to the compliment, and Oona finds herself more uncomfortable than before. She has no idea how to deal with this sort of thing. At least she's not floating anymore.
With a sigh, she and Mac wait for Freyja at the edge of the clearing, also ready to return. Before they go, however, she turns back to the small hovel with a curious eye.
This site has two advantages over the current campsite: the cabin and the smokehouse. How significant these advantages are, and whether they outweigh the morale hit that will come from moving again so soon (and losing a day of hunting, etc), is up to you.
The cabin can in no way shelter the entire camp, but if you cleared it out, it could probably sleep 4-5 comfortably (8-10 if you really cram them in). It has a fireplace, which could help quite a bit once the weather turns cold. It is also a solid structure with a roof, which cannot be understated.
None of you are experts on psychology, but having a warm, comfortable shelter for some people but not all could cause morale issues.
These are the factors you'll need to weigh in your decision. Have fun!
Oona surveys the cabin. "This could probably sleep four or five comfortably. The problem is, who gets it? There could be some infighting over it, which may be a serious penalty to morale. I suppose we could build more structures, if anyone in camp is skilled in carpentry. Plenty of wood around, so long as we don't deforest too deeply. But that will take time, and I don't know how appreciative the refugees will be of moving again so soon."
She turns to Freyja and Katia. "What do you think?"
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Katia shrugs, staring off into the woods. "Four or five isn't any more than the outcropping is sheltering now. The roof over our heads could be handy come winter, but we should probably have a more permanent spot to settle before that happens. One roof is not going to save the other twenty-some people from frostbite. If there are carpenters in the group, that may be a different story. We can ask Aubrin, she'll know."
Oona feels a little relief at Katia finally chiming in, and with sound advice. "Good idea. Let's head back."
The sun is still out when you arrive back at camp. Aubrin notices your arrival and scampers up to you. "You lot are back early today. Somethin' wrong?"
Oona shakes her head. "Not wrong. But there is a matter I'd like to discuss with you, in private."
She takes Aubrin aside and tells her about the cabin they found not far from camp. "As you can imagine, a solid building will be damned useful come winter. But it's only one building, and there are several of us. Are there any carpenters among the refugees? If we could set up a few more buildings so everyone had a roof over their heads, it would certainly keep in-fighting at bay."
Aubrin frowns. "I think Zane did some repair work on the inn a while back, but I am not sure how he'd fare building something from scratch. Besides, we don't even have a saw, much less a full set of carpenter's tools." She thinks a moment longer. "I think your instinct is right on this one. Better to spend our energy looking for a shelter that can support us all. That smokehouse could come in handy, though."
Oona squeezes Aubrin's arm. "I appreciate your counsel. We will hold off on moving to the cabin. If winter comes and we have yet to find a permanent stronghold, well..." She shakes her head. "A roof for a few is better than a roof for none. But we will keep looking."
She heads over to help prepare dinner with Jet. She's not much of a chef, but she offers the woman her hands for peeling apples, cutting meat, and whatever other tasks the innkeeper might have for her.
She goes to bed tired but pleased. As she strokes Mac's rough fur, she looks over his hefty form and sees Katia deep asleep at her tent. Good. I was worried she was developing catatonia. We need her lucid.
She drifts off soon after.
Freyja works on her project for a few hours, then lays staring at the sky for another hour before getting up. She sits in silence with one of the warriors standing watch for a while, then says she's going to take a walk. "Don't worry. I won't go far."
It isn't until she catches herself looking for lynx tracks that she realizes why she can't sleep. Freyja doesn't know how the half-elf became a wight, but she is sure that the lynx witnessed the whole thing. It must have been devastating for her. It is foolish to think that she might be able to tame the lynx, but the timing feels awfully coincidental. Did Gozreh bring them together? Is that even possible?
She walks around for another hour, and of course she doesn't see any trace of the lynx.
Freyja returns to camp, nodding to the warrior on watch, and goes to sleep.
It's another rainy morning. At least it's not so hot anymore.
Freyja wakes up a few minutes before dawn. She stands, stretches, and begins to head out of camp to relieve herself... and stops. At the foot of her bedroll is a dead rabbit. Its neck has been broken.
It seems someone has left her a gift.
Freyja shakes her head, grins, and looks around the edge of camp for any sign of her benefactor. Shrugging, she picks up the rabbit by its ears and carries it to Jet. "Can you do anything with this?"
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Katia is awake shockingly early, setting about helping to get the various refugees set on the day's activities.
She also spends some time in the morning working with Adelbert and Shiri to continue crafting the antitoxin, though she knows they won't make much progress today--especially if they have to go exploring again.
Oona wakes up, ready to set people about their tasks, only to find that Katia is already on it. The young woman's sharp turnaround leaves Oona somewhat flabbergasted, but she doesn't question it. She prepares her things and gathers Lirosa and Taidel to begin exploring once more.
You spend four hours exploring this area of the forest. You find some small game, but not much else. You are heading east to scout out the next section of forest when you spot a tiny shack hidden in a thicket of brambles. There is a thin wisp of smoke emanating from the chimney.
Oona looks at the others quizzically, but Katia only shrugs in response. "I guess... we should knock?"
Oona sheathes her scythe and approaches the door slowly, checking for any hidden surprises.
Once she reaches the door of the shack, she knocks lightly. "Hello? Is anyone home? My name is Oona, I'm from Phaendar. I don't know if you're aware, but there is a legion of hobgoblins roving the area. You're in terrible danger if you stay."
You hear grumbling on the other side of the door, then a groan and what sounds like shuffling feet. The door opens and a positively ancient woman answers. She looks you over briefly, then croaks, "What do you want? I live out here so I'm not bothered."
"As I said, you are in grave danger out here. The Ironfang Legion is roving the Fangwood looking for stragglers; they've already overrun Phaendar and killed or enslaved nearly the entire town. A few of us escaped and we are hiding in the woods. You would be safer with us than all alone out here. If the Ironfang find you, they'll..."
She swallows, not sure what to tell her. On a hunch, she says, "If you had seen what they did to Gilida Dravonich, you would know how dangerous they are. You are of course free to stay here by yourself. I simply wanted to extend the offer."
She smiles condescendingly. It's rather unnerving. "I assure you, I am just fine. You are only here because I allowed you to be here. I have seen worse than a hobgoblin army in my time." She steps back and begins to close the door, then stops and considers for a moment. "I do have some wood needs chopping. I can pay you in supplies or scribe you a scroll or two."
As soon as you chop the last log, the door opens. "Ah! Wonderful. What would you like? I can scribe you some scrolls or give you some cured meats."
She nods curtly and closes the door without a word. Five minutes pass, then ten. Just as you're wondering if she's going to stiff you out of payment, a cat with a rolled up scroll in its mouth walks through a hole in the door you had not noticed before just this moment. It sits on the stoop and looks at you.
The cat releases the scroll, turns and primly walks back through the hole in the door.
Oona begins leading the trio back to camp, utterly flabbergasted as to what just happened. Once they're well away from the shack, she says to Katia, "What in the Nine Hells was all that? Why did you stop me? She's in danger out here all alone and she acted like she could take on the whole army by herself."
You arrive back in camp to find an odd scene. Aubrin, looking worried, is fussing over three refugees. Each of them is pale, gaunt, and just generally looks terrible. Aubrin sees your approach. "Back early again, I see, but I'm glad you're here. These three have come down with filth fever. I am treating them best I can, but I can't for the life of me figure out how they got it. They're gonna be down a few days but they can talk just fine. We need to figure out where this came from so we can keep it from spreading."