Once you're done examining the scene of the crime as it were, Shaggar picks up the trail from where the beast must have entered the area from. The tracks themselves are actually fairly large, disturbing plants and dirt in the crops, with four large toe marks in each print. Luckily it seems the dirt here is quite rich, and the footprints (or paw prints as it were) are quite easy to follow.
The trail leads away from the cow deeper into the field, but Shaggar sees an extremely weird pattern in the tracks after a little bit of following them. Every few feet the prints disappear, but then pick back up in the same direction a few feet after that. The trail is still straight, just has weird parts every now and then where the footprints aren't there.
You follow the strange track for a bit before it hits the edge of the field and heads into the trees to the northwest.
"Let me know if you want some dancing lights here and there, I admit, so far I've felt about as useful as an ice vendor at the great glacier. But I can sense magic and well, a few spells to make folks regret causin trouble." He offers.
The gnoll stops in his pursuit of the creature to regard the halfling. He says with profound certainty, ”You don’t see it yet… but your moment will come and we will all be relying on you. Be patient – and be ready.”
He looks to the others, ”Wait here. I’ll be back soon.” The gnoll jogs back to Amos’ house. He grabs the crossbow and silver quarrel from the corpse, quickly searches for more quarrels before also grabbing the farmer’s journal and heading back to the team. He uncocks the crossbow and puts it over his shoulder then stores the quarrel in his belt. He tosses the farmer’s journal to the halfling. ”The farmer may have noted important things about his lost animals or the creature.”
Shaggar resumes his pursuit.
Rutilux smiles at the kind gnoll, and THERE is an adjective and noun that he never thought he'd put together, and nods as Shaggar resumes his pursuit.
”In case you don’t speak gnoll, he’s saying be a sweetheart and have a look to see if he wrote anything useful,” Ari says in a stage whisper to Rutilux, accompanied by a theatrical wink. ”Happy to help out if reading about the daily doings of cows starts to become tedious.”
"Oh no, no, best I do it. Wouldn't be the first time I've done the paperwork in my family." A wink, and he reads the journal...using dancing lights if need be to do so.
On the ‘gaps’ between the footprints… are the prints deeper just before they disappear and when they reappear? In other words, is there any evidence that the creature is leaping or maybe taking brief flight and that’s what is making the gaps?
He grabs the crossbow and silver quarrel from the corpse, quickly searches for more quarrels
Shaggar finds a heavy crossbow and 10 silver bolts.
The gnoll continues following the trail on his own past the edge of the field, and it leads him a few minutes into the forest. The trail itself is very straightforward, as if whatever made it knew exactly where to go. Eventually the 'hunt' ends at what looks to be an outcropping of rock in a, and Shaggar can see the entrance to a small cave towards the base of the small collection of rock jutting out from the ground.
The journal is weathered and old, with most of it being mundane entries that don't appear to be very useful or relevant. This changes in the writings about a week and a half ago.
Today was bad. Woke up to find my best cow, Bessie, dead in the field. Her throat was tore out, meat taken from her. Seen wolf attacks before, but this was different. Bigger, more savage. Worried 'bout the rest of the herd.
Entry 2: 21st of Uktar
Another attack last night. Two cows this time, killed same way. Whatever it is, it's strong and smart. Been hearing strange howls in the distance. Villagers whisperin' 'bout werewolves. Don't wanna believe it, but what else?
Entry 3: 23rd of Uktar
Attacks getting worse. Three more cows dead this morning. Doubled the fencing, bringing the cows into the barn at night. Nothin' stops it. Howling is closer now. Saw something big and dark at the edge of the forest, but it disappeared quick. Afraid for my farm.
Entry 4: 25th of Uktar
Villagers sure it's a werewolf now. The lady up at the manor says she seen it near her house. Huge, black creature with glowing eyes, she said. Keeping a crossbow by my bed now, but feel helpless. What if it comes for me next?
Entry 5: 27th of Uktar
Found tracks today. Big and wolf-like, but too big for any wolf. Followed them to the forest, but they disappeared like the beast vanished. Howling at night is unbearable. Villagers say call a hunter, but who would believe me or help?
Entry 6: 28th of Uktar
Saw the creature last night. Not a wolf or any animal I know. Massive, with glowing red eyes. Looked like a demon from old tales, not anything I've ever seen before. What else could it be? Gonna leave a trap for it, see if I can't end this for good.
As the hunt goes from field to forest, Kiley starts moving more carefully and steathfully. When they arrive at the cave, she speaks quietly, barely more than a whisper.
"Do we go in? I think most of us can see without any light," she says.
He reads then whistles low, "Anyone know anything about Werewolves?" and continues reading, "or a massive thing with glowing red eyes which the fellow set a trap for?"
Shaggar doles out the silver quarrels among the team. Since he has more than one of them, he reloads and cocks the crossbow before again storing it on his back. The other quarrel remains in his belt - an improvised melee weapon, if needed.
Hey BR, how big is this 'small cave'?
Rutilux is able to remember a handful of common things about werewolves (shapechangers, connected to the moon, weak to silver, etc), but not very much specific.
"Silver might do it. Thanks. Still not sure if this IS a werewolf mind you." He admits.
The gnoll sniffs at the entrance of the cave. "We go in. The path leads away from here so maybe the creature is out. Which means it could come in behind us." Having noted Rutilux used dancing lights earlier, he says, "You cannot see in the dark, yes? Follow behind us at a little distance with your light." He looks to Sasha for permission. "Perhaps Phelicks should guard him and our back?"
To the whole group, he concludes, "Make no assumptions on what this creature is." He nods to the halfling in agreement. "Amos may be wrong - the disappearing prints speak to this. And do not rush to be a hero. If we meet the beast and are over-matched... we retreat. Fight smart and stay alive."
He adds an after-thought, "If this leads to a cave system, be ready for attacks from all sides. And do not be surprised if we find another exit in the village."
With that, the gnoll checks the sharpness of his axe and leads the way into the cave with what stealth he can muster.
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Rutilux nods and takes rear Wait, they can ALL see in the dark but me? Well, shave my toes and call me a gnome.
He reads then whistles low, "Anyone know anything about Werewolves?" and continues reading, "or a massive thing with glowing red eyes which the fellow set a trap for?"
"Well I know to 'ware wolves and to avoid being where wolves are." Ari smiles weakly at the somewhat laboured wordplay. "And usually my tastes run to staying well away from large red-eyed monsters. But Leira hide us, here we are." She pats her boots and wrist sheath, ensuring that her many daggers, including a silvered one, are accessible beyond the one already in her hand.
"Wise words," she nods in Shaggar's direction. "Staying alive is a good priority." She whispers a prayer to the goddess of illusions to remain out of sight and tries to meld into the cave's shadows, watching carefully for knives in the back, and indeed the front.
Sasha nods and places Pheliks at the back of the party before taking a position near the front. She loads her crossbow with on of the silvered bolts and says, "The magic Selûne has granted me should make us all a bit more dangerous, but I lack anything to hold a violent monster at bay. If we have a chance, I will cast my spells before an attack. We should then strike hard and decisively," she says, seriously.
"...but I lack anything to hold a violent monster at bay."
Shaggar blows air, the gnoll equivalent of a quiet snicker, "Oh, you can just ask me to stop."
When Kiley sees Rutilux's amazed expression at hearing that he's the only one that can't see in the dark, she pulls the scarf from her head to reveal her ears. Whatever she may be, she's not entirely human, despite appearances. At Shaggar's joke, she let's out a snort of soft laughter herself, despite the rising tension and the freshness of the grisly scenes they've born witness to.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure that you don't have to worry about other monsters," she says, gesturing to Shaggar and herself. "And with any luck, there won't be any dancing, knife-wielding dolls to worry about either."
After, hopefully, calming everyone's nerves, Kiley follows Shaggar into the cave with her sword out and her eyes glinting like star or moon struck sapphires in the darkness as she looks about.
The small opening in the rock leads down through a tunnel that opens into a wider cavern are below the ground. The smell of death returns almost immediately, but instead of being the fresh metallic scent of new blood, it's the dry earthy smell of older decay.
There are claw marks all throughout the opening cave mouth, most of them seemingly just trails scraped into the soft earth. The sound of water echoes from around the corner that doesn't sound quite like a river or anything, more like a small pool lapping in the reverberations of the cave walls. Whatever it is, it makes it hard to hear anything else.
A few steps past the dirt at the opening and you notice the slight feel of something snapping underfoot with every further step.
The gnoll feels obliged to glance down at his clawed feet to see exactly what he’s stepping in even as he advances toward the corner where the cavern turns.
HP: 20 / 20 | AC:16 / T:11 / FF:15 | CMD:17/16
Arrows (20):
Arisen 2HP (1):
Effects:
Arisen - Die at -18 HP
Kiley follows closely behind Shaggar, trying to focus more on what's ahead than underfoot. Try as she might, she finds her eyes glancing down to see what was making that noise, and fearing what she may see.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure that you don't have to worry about other monsters," she says, gesturing to Shaggar and herself. "And with any luck, there won't be any dancing, knife-wielding dolls to worry about either."
"A dancing, knife-wielding doll? That's the nicest thing anyone's said about me in a while," Ari drawls, fluttering her eyelids flirtatiously in Kiley's direction. She tosses a knife in a simple loop and catches it. "Though she's right, you don't have to worry about me," she calls in the direction of Rutilux. With that she slips back into the shadows and pads down into the cave after Kiley and Shaggar.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure that you don't have to worry about other monsters," she says, gesturing to Shaggar and herself. "And with any luck, there won't be any dancing, knife-wielding dolls to worry about either."
"From your lips to Selene's ears."
Rutilux does indeed hang farther back so his lights, soft as they are, don't throw them off. Still, he tries to move quietly.
Unfortunately, it is exactly what Kiley thinks it is: bones. The floor is littered loosely with a thin covering of bones that, upon closer inspection, are from a wide variety of creature types. Most humanoid, a few very clearly not.
The group moves slowly up to the corner of the cave where it curves into the hallway further beyond, climbing up past a small slope after which the mostly dirt floor changes to full on rock.
Shaggar can see immediately that on top of the rock floor ahead of you is a worryingly large blood trail leading deeper into the cave in both directions of a fork. The blood is obviously old, not even close to being fresh at all. The water sound seems to be echoing from the southern branch of the fork.
Shaggar glances at the layer of bones, ”This seems to be more kills than could be eaten in a week or two.” He moves along the wall of the cave while following the blood trail. He stops to peek around a corner.
HP: 20 / 20 | AC:16 / T:11 / FF:15 | CMD:17/16
Arrows (20):
Arisen 2HP (1):
Effects:
Arisen - Die at -18 HP
Sasha shakes her head. "This is not a new problem - there has been something wrong here for a long time..." she says unhappily to the others as she continues to follow Shagger closely.
Kiley swallows as she hears Shaggar's and Sasha's assessments of the situation, and finds herself in full agreement. She follows her towering friend as much for the calming effect his presence has on her nerves as she does to keep an eye on his back. Unfortunately for her, she stumbles when her foot slips and she kicks some rocks, causing them to clatter through the tunnel.
Luckily, it doesn't seem as if anything immediately reacts to Kiley's misstep. Perhaps nothing is here, or perhaps the water sound echoing through the cave hides most sounds.
The group passes through the hallway and can see into the room on the right, which reveals a horrifying sight: an entire mound of skeletons about waist high on top of the cavern floor. A quick glance isn't enough to determine what kind of skeletons they are, as they mostly seem to be dusty and forgotten, but you could probably get a better look up close. Whatever happened here happened a long time ago.
The old blood trail continues down the hallway, the slaughter that caused it most likely long forgotten.
The gnoll glances at the bone pile for moment before continuing on down the main path.
HP: 20 / 20 | AC:16 / T:11 / FF:15 | CMD:17/16
Arrows (20):
Arisen 2HP (1):
Effects:
Arisen - Die at -18 HP
Kiley follows Shaggar down the main path. Despite her best efforts, she keeps picturing the horrors that must have happened here, distracting her from her surroundings.
Rutilux has a look of disgust and nervousness at the bone pile, when he gets to it later than the others, dim dancing lights trailing about him.
Sasha shakes her head. "This is not a new problem - there has been something wrong here for a long time..." she says unhappily to the others as she continues to follow Shagger closely.
From his spot, he nods "Do you think our High Initiate is in denial then?"
"Or she is a traitor - nothing is off the table yet," answers Sasha with an unhappy tone to her voice. "This many bones...someone is either hiding and facilitating this or deliberately looking the other way."
Another shudder from the halling at the idea of a priestess of Selune AIDING this, "If it's deliberately arranged, it's a very dark form of tithe indeed."
"And I thought I was suspicious," mutters Ari to herself. She looks at the scale of the stack of bones. "It's hard to disagree," she whispers. "Even if it's hunting for sport rather than just food, this looks like it's been happening for a long time. Surely in a village of this size they would know if animals - or people - were vanishing on a regular basis." As she talks this through, her logic leads her to the same place as Sasha. "So yeah, your conclusion seems reasonable from where I'm standing."
"That's-- that's an ill omen," Kiley says as she hears Sasha's disturbing theory gaining traction with the others, and finds herself agreeing with them.
Ari has seen enough goblin remains in her life to recognize them when she sees them, and the pile of bones inside the side chamber of the cave is nearly exclusively comprised of goblin bones. A few broken weapons of poor quality are scattered among the bones, but Shaggar finds a well-made dagger hidden deep in the pile.
Continuing on down the path leads you to a short downward slope into an larger cavern area, revealing the source of the water sound you've constantly heard throughout the entire cave: a waterfall pouring from an opening about halfway down the far wall empties into a pool in the middle of the cavern.
Standing in front of said pool is perhaps the largest wolf you've ever seen, bright red eyes focused on you the entire time you walk down the stairs.
"Ah, food. I smelled you." the beast says, its voice grating and hoarse. "Come, I am hungry."
Init:
16- Wolf
15- Kiley
14- Shaggar
13- Rutilux
7- Sasha
6- Ari
Shaggar snarls and closes with the monster knowing someone will have to give it the opportunity to attack to allow the others a chance to overwhelm it. Despite his fear, he moves to face off with the creature and attack – trying to cleave into the beast’s neck.
HP: 20 / 20 | AC:16 / T:11 / FF:15 | CMD:17/16
Arrows (20):
Arisen 2HP (1):
Effects:
Arisen - Die at -18 HP
Shaken – HIT, Saves, Skill, Ability checks get -2 (1 rnd of 2)
Ari stares at the wolf, instinctively trying to duck away from its hard, red-eyed stare. "I suppose this shouldn't come as a huge surprise but there are marks all over its fur and claws that look decidedly silver in this light. Rather like the ones on the bear, wouldn't you say?" She spins her daggers in her hands. In a lower voice she adds, "What is rather more surprising is that the wolf is conversant, though I'm not sure there's much need to reply."
Flexing her slim shoulders, Ari shrugs her backpack off in order to move more nimbly. She tries to stick in the shadows of the cave wall, moving around towards the beast's unprotected rear. For now, however, she's more than content to stick a blade in its flank and she darts forward with a thrust of her dagger.
"Noted." The halfling says, "A little talk can be informative, mind you, I'm told my voice can be piercing."
And then he lets the thunder break out of his throat... thunder only two can hear. Himself, and the target!
Kiley doesn't see the silvery markings Ari sees, but it hardly matters. If it wants to eat them, it's going to find that much harder than it thinks. She rushes in after Shaggar, moving to the side to give Pheliks a clear path to the beast.
Unfortunately, her strike is clumsy and rushed, and the wolf easily dodges out of the way.
Sasha whistles sharply to Pheliks, directing the big cat to attack the worg, and casts a spell to Bless the party! "Be brave everyone! Selûne is with us!"
Shaggar draws the beast's attention and almost takes a bite to the shoulder for his efforts, but manages to doge before delivering an equally punishing blow back to the wolf. Ari sneaks around but the beast's eyes pierce the darkness and renders her subterfuge useless, and yet her dagger still finds purchase in its flesh. Kiley misses, but Pheliks manages to draw a bit of blood as well.
The wolf roars in anger as the cuts mount up, silvery blood dripping from each wound. He lashes out at Kiley in anger, but she is too quick for him to latch his jaws onto.
Round 2
Init:
16- Wolf (27 damage dealt)
15- Kiley
14- Shaggar
13- Rutilux
7- Sasha
6- Ari
Round 2
Shaggar waits for Ari to slide into a flanking position. Then, with the wolf distracted by the rogue, and snapping at Kiley, the gnoll savages the worg’s hindquarters. His axe bites into its thigh and his neck snaps forward to deliver a vicious bite to the base of the wolf’s spine.
HP: 20 / 20 | AC:16 / T:11 / FF:15 | CMD:17/16
Arrows (20):
Arisen 2HP (1):
Effects:
Arisen - Die at -18 HP
Shaken – HIT, Saves, Skill, Ability checks get -2 (Rnd 2 of 2)
Bless – +1 to HIT and vs Fear (Rnd 2 of 10)
With her first attack a success, Ari sidesteps to avoid any potential retribution. She manoeuvres herself to face Shaggar, the huge feral wolf in between them. When the gnoll hefts his axe for a mighty blow, the tiefling darts in again, this time able to pick a spot with both knives.
Kiley tries to leap over the strange, malevolent wolf to surround it, but snapping jaws and the frenzy it falls into as she makes the attempt cause her to scramble back. Stymied, but far from cowed, she does her best to add to the wounds Shaggar, Ari, and Pheliks have given it.
Yet again, she fails to land a blow.
Round 2
Rutilux sees that his scream didn't do much but it's something. He moves a bit closer and flings a jolt of lightning at it, a flickering minor magic to be sure, but one might get lucky.
The wolf pounces on the opening left by Kiley's stumble and its large jaws clamp around her waist before it throws her to the side in triumph.
Its victory is short-lived, however, as a couple of good hits (including the finishing touch of Rutilux's electric touch) finally manage to take it down. As it dies, however, a horrifying and gorey explosion of that silver blood erupts out of the wounds it suffered as its corpse falls to the ground, washing over the group.
Everyone but Sasha and Shaggar are able to dive out of the way of the disgusting spurts in time, with those two being covered in the silvery blood.
Neither of the two of you notice any immediate side effects from the contamination, however.
Kiley gasps for air as the wolf clamps down on her midsection. The pain hadn't hit her, not yet, but she feels the pressure, feels the teeth dig in, and feels something crack as she's whipped around before being thrown against a small stalagmite. She tries to catch her breath, but her lungs refuse to take in air. Blackness swirls around her as she tries to move. Before the white-hot pain can come, she falls into the abyss.
The others see her crumpled against the rock, her sword dropped near the edge of the pool. She doesn't move, and she doesn't breath.
Ganging up on the wolf, the group are able to land a number of blows. Ari joins in, thrusting both blades into the creature's flesh and twisting them. Kiley is not so fortunate. As she attempts to move around the creature but is not quick enough and with a snap of its jaws, clamps down on her waist and tosses her aside with terrifying ease. Ari barely has time to react to this before realising that their repeated hits have done enough to fell the beast. Sensing that something is wrong, she flings herself cat-like out of the way behind a pillar as the wolf explodes in a shower of silver.
Picking herself back up, she dashes over to Kiley. She doesn't have any experience as a healer but she knows enough to state the obvious: the woman's unconscious form and the volume of blood pooling around her look very bad indeed. "Help!" she calls towards Sasha, knowing she has god-blessed powers of healing. "Quickly. She's really hurt."