Seeing the wounds and hearing the workers' descriptions, Phevari recalls having fought both alongside and against people that could convince animals to do their bidding, even summon them seemingly from nowhere—and a few that could even shapeshift into animals forms themselves. Could such forces be at work here?
Rejoining his companions, Tanglar clears his throat to make himself known, "Sorry to interject Tygven, but I believe I can answer that. I found tracks of a bear, but I do not see any bear corpse." Glancing back toward the gate, Tanglar tilts his head to the side and squints for a moment, "There is another point that I believe to be relevant to this situation. Most animals that I have seen do not open gates, so we must be dealing with a sentient being that can control animals, or sentient being or beings that can shift it's or their form to become animals."
“Shapshifters? Pah!” The halfling spits to the side in disgust at having said the word.
”Here’s a thought for you all, though…”, he continues. “Perhaps the gate was opened from the inside? Perhaps our shifter still walks, or limps, among us?”
He casts his eyes from side to side in an exaggerated manner, looking accusingly at some of the more injured people nearby.
A growing crowd begins to form around the group as people realize they don't recognize the new faces. Could this mean help? At the mention of the unnatural, however, people recoil in fear. Hushed murmurs flood the area as the crowd grows restless in the face of these new possibilities. Sensing this shift in attitude, the Sheriff steps forward before anyone can speak. "Now, now, good folk. I assure you that my friends and I will get to the bottom of this as quickly as we can, and if there *is* someone responsible, they will be held accountable by the fullest extent of the law." However, despite his reassurances, the crowd continues to grow restless, one man eventually shouting out. "You mean to say one of us could have done this? Or worse, it be some demon of the woods?"
"Or one of you, controlled by a demon of the woods?" The halfling shrugs with a indifferent expression on his face. "Wouldn't want to rule anything out..."
Tanglar looks around at the growing concern on the gathered people’s faces, “Once we leave, just keep your gate closed and you will all be fine. Animals can’t open the gate without help. Post two guards just to be safe. No need for all the hysterics.”
‘Nibs, help us find where the animals went.’ Tanglar sends through his bond. “We will continue to hunt down those that attacked your compound, so there is no need to worry.”
Tanglar seems to realize how much he has spoken in front of all these people. “Excuse me.” Is all he says as he backs away from the group, and begins to summon Quill once more.
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A dark expression briefly crosses Phevari's face at the word 'demon'. "Let's not overstay our welcome," she says quietly to the sheriff. "These people need time to recover, and grieve, and I think we've learned all we can inside the camp. I'll do a quick perimeter check to make sure nothing's waiting for us to leave, and hopefully Tanglar will be able to tell us which way to go."
With that, she heads out of the gate and walks around the outside of the camp, on the lookout for signs that anything has passed by recently, or is still lurking nearby.
The halfling gives a 'hmph!' at Tanglar's attempts to mollycoddle the inhabitant's of the camp. "Just as well then that there's no one opening gates for wild animals. Oh, wait..."
Tanglar gives the Halfling a side eyed look while he continues to pull the arcane threads that make up the weave that flows through everything. Between gestures Tanglar gives the standard ‘one moment’ hand sign to the Halfling. He carefully lays out specially carved bits of wood over a lattice of string. The pattern is complex, but Tanglar has created this pattern eight times a day, every work day for years. At this point he only refers to the ritual in his spell book to check his work. Every watchful that he doesn’t accidentally summon something worse, from somewhere else.
Turning to the Halfling once he’s done, “Sorry about that. Did not want to have to begin the ritual over again.” Tanglar glances over at the gate again, “I’m not sure that this was the work of just a wild animal. Attacking a fortified location with a mixed group of beasts does not seem like normal animalistic behavior.”
"My point exactly!" The halfling nods triumphantly, "So it's demons then. Probably. Anyway, I need to go to the little halfling's room, don't leave without me." He saunters off, whistling merrily, at odds with the carnage around him, and disappears round the back of a building. He reappears a few moments later, waving cheerily at everyone as he wipes his hands on his shirt.
Preoccupied with settling the frayed nerves of the workers--a task not made easier by the party's talk of demons--Sheriff Hagenauer scarcely acknowledges Phevari's leaving. Deputy Simms tags along, however, as the rest of the party seems content to continue this discussion. "We can't stay here!" Someone shouts at Tanglar's suggestion, another adding, "We have already lost workers, you want us to dedicate more to guarding the gate? No work will get done!" The bickering in the camp continues despite the Sheriff's attempts to calm the crowd. Finally, one announces, "Sod it all! We have a boat, I'm going home."
"Like hell you are!" Comes the retort from elsewhere in the crowd, some minor supervisor trying to assert his authority, not that it seems to help as other cries of defiance rise up, and a group of workers start walking towards the gate themselves. Outside, Phevari and Deputy Simms take in the scene. It's an even more chaotic scene than within the camp's walls, detritus covering what was once a forest floor. This time, however, it is only the byproduct of the logging in the area, as discarded wood and the forest undergrowth lay where it was cut or trampled. With all the debris around, however, Phevari fails to locate any of the animal's tracks or any other sign that they'd been in the camp. She is so focused on this failing task that she nearly doesn't notice the lone figure at the edge of the woodline roughly a hundred feet away. He wears brown overalls under a dark leather duster, and smiles warmly at her when she raises her head to look at him, waving.
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A smile and wave to an outsider—a tiefling—after an attack like this? When the rest of the workers are half panicked at best?
"Uh, hello there," Phevari calls out as she approaches the stranger cautiously, gesturing for the deputy to stay behind her. Stopping maybe twenty feet away, she asks, "Are you one of the loggers here? Did you see what happened?"
Seeing the sheriff beginning to loose control of the situation, Tygven stomps over to the middle of the crowd. "All right... That's enough out of all of ya!" he growls. "No I understand y'all are scared, but running off right now isn't going to be the bestidea."he points his spear towards the group heading towards the gate."Especially when whatever did this is still out there. Best thing y'all should do is hunker down here for a bit and me and my friends will try to take care of things."
"And what are you gonna do, little dwarf?" Scoffs one of the dissenters, "Stick us with that spear of yours?" "I'd like to see him try!" Sneers another, but the group does stop as their attention turns back to the conversation.
The man outside the camp watches Phevari close the distance, seemingly unperturbed. He doesn't answer, that warm smile plastered on his face even as a mange-ridden wolf emerges from the undergrowth behind him. It moves awkwardly in jerking, stiff-legged motions, but comes up upon the stranger's side in mere moments. The stranger absent-mindedly rests his hand on the creature's fur.
"Again, it's not me you should be worrying about. You can do whatever you want. I'm just here tryin' to help you all out,"Tygen gruffly replies. "Tryin' to offer you a bit of advice. So, you gonna run off like a 'fraidy-cat, or you gonna get in the boat and row? Now, I'm gonna go see if we can track down who, or what, did this."With that he stomps off toward the gate.
"Well that's not unnerving at all," Phevari mutters under her breath. "I think maybe you'd better go get the others," she suggests quietly to Simms, while slowly lowering her hand to rest on the haft of her hammer, unconsciously mirroring the stranger's hand on his wolf.
Louder, she asks the man, "Sir, can you understand me? I just want to ask a few questions."
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Seeing the wounds and hearing the workers' descriptions, Phevari recalls having fought both alongside and against people that could convince animals to do their bidding, even summon them seemingly from nowhere—and a few that could even shapeshift into animals forms themselves. Could such forces be at work here?
Nature 5
Rejoining his companions, Tanglar clears his throat to make himself known, "Sorry to interject Tygven, but I believe I can answer that. I found tracks of a bear, but I do not see any bear corpse." Glancing back toward the gate, Tanglar tilts his head to the side and squints for a moment, "There is another point that I believe to be relevant to this situation. Most animals that I have seen do not open gates, so we must be dealing with a sentient being that can control animals, or sentient being or beings that can shift it's or their form to become animals."
“Shapshifters? Pah!” The halfling spits to the side in disgust at having said the word.
”Here’s a thought for you all, though…”, he continues. “Perhaps the gate was opened from the inside? Perhaps our shifter still walks, or limps, among us?”
He casts his eyes from side to side in an exaggerated manner, looking accusingly at some of the more injured people nearby.
A growing crowd begins to form around the group as people realize they don't recognize the new faces. Could this mean help? At the mention of the unnatural, however, people recoil in fear. Hushed murmurs flood the area as the crowd grows restless in the face of these new possibilities. Sensing this shift in attitude, the Sheriff steps forward before anyone can speak. "Now, now, good folk. I assure you that my friends and I will get to the bottom of this as quickly as we can, and if there *is* someone responsible, they will be held accountable by the fullest extent of the law." However, despite his reassurances, the crowd continues to grow restless, one man eventually shouting out. "You mean to say one of us could have done this? Or worse, it be some demon of the woods?"
"Or one of you, controlled by a demon of the woods?" The halfling shrugs with a indifferent expression on his face. "Wouldn't want to rule anything out..."
Tanglar looks around at the growing concern on the gathered people’s faces, “Once we leave, just keep your gate closed and you will all be fine. Animals can’t open the gate without help. Post two guards just to be safe. No need for all the hysterics.”
‘Nibs, help us find where the animals went.’ Tanglar sends through his bond. “We will continue to hunt down those that attacked your compound, so there is no need to worry.”
Tanglar seems to realize how much he has spoken in front of all these people. “Excuse me.” Is all he says as he backs away from the group, and begins to summon Quill once more.
A dark expression briefly crosses Phevari's face at the word 'demon'. "Let's not overstay our welcome," she says quietly to the sheriff. "These people need time to recover, and grieve, and I think we've learned all we can inside the camp. I'll do a quick perimeter check to make sure nothing's waiting for us to leave, and hopefully Tanglar will be able to tell us which way to go."
With that, she heads out of the gate and walks around the outside of the camp, on the lookout for signs that anything has passed by recently, or is still lurking nearby.
Survival, I guess? 7
The halfling gives a 'hmph!' at Tanglar's attempts to mollycoddle the inhabitant's of the camp. "Just as well then that there's no one opening gates for wild animals. Oh, wait..."
Tanglar gives the Halfling a side eyed look while he continues to pull the arcane threads that make up the weave that flows through everything. Between gestures Tanglar gives the standard ‘one moment’ hand sign to the Halfling. He carefully lays out specially carved bits of wood over a lattice of string. The pattern is complex, but Tanglar has created this pattern eight times a day, every work day for years. At this point he only refers to the ritual in his spell book to check his work. Every watchful that he doesn’t accidentally summon something worse, from somewhere else.
Turning to the Halfling once he’s done, “Sorry about that. Did not want to have to begin the ritual over again.” Tanglar glances over at the gate again, “I’m not sure that this was the work of just a wild animal. Attacking a fortified location with a mixed group of beasts does not seem like normal animalistic behavior.”
"My point exactly!" The halfling nods triumphantly, "So it's demons then. Probably. Anyway, I need to go to the little halfling's room, don't leave without me." He saunters off, whistling merrily, at odds with the carnage around him, and disappears round the back of a building. He reappears a few moments later, waving cheerily at everyone as he wipes his hands on his shirt.
Casting Mage Armor on the sly.
Preoccupied with settling the frayed nerves of the workers--a task not made easier by the party's talk of demons--Sheriff Hagenauer scarcely acknowledges Phevari's leaving. Deputy Simms tags along, however, as the rest of the party seems content to continue this discussion. "We can't stay here!" Someone shouts at Tanglar's suggestion, another adding, "We have already lost workers, you want us to dedicate more to guarding the gate? No work will get done!" The bickering in the camp continues despite the Sheriff's attempts to calm the crowd. Finally, one announces, "Sod it all! We have a boat, I'm going home."
"Like hell you are!" Comes the retort from elsewhere in the crowd, some minor supervisor trying to assert his authority, not that it seems to help as other cries of defiance rise up, and a group of workers start walking towards the gate themselves. Outside, Phevari and Deputy Simms take in the scene. It's an even more chaotic scene than within the camp's walls, detritus covering what was once a forest floor. This time, however, it is only the byproduct of the logging in the area, as discarded wood and the forest undergrowth lay where it was cut or trampled. With all the debris around, however, Phevari fails to locate any of the animal's tracks or any other sign that they'd been in the camp. She is so focused on this failing task that she nearly doesn't notice the lone figure at the edge of the woodline roughly a hundred feet away. He wears brown overalls under a dark leather duster, and smiles warmly at her when she raises her head to look at him, waving.
A smile and wave to an outsider—a tiefling—after an attack like this? When the rest of the workers are half panicked at best?
"Uh, hello there," Phevari calls out as she approaches the stranger cautiously, gesturing for the deputy to stay behind her. Stopping maybe twenty feet away, she asks, "Are you one of the loggers here? Did you see what happened?"
Insight 12
Seeing the sheriff beginning to loose control of the situation, Tygven stomps over to the middle of the crowd. "All right... That's enough out of all of ya!" he growls. "No I understand y'all are scared, but running off right now isn't going to be the best idea." he points his spear towards the group heading towards the gate. "Especially when whatever did this is still out there. Best thing y'all should do is hunker down here for a bit and me and my friends will try to take care of things."
"And what are you gonna do, little dwarf?" Scoffs one of the dissenters, "Stick us with that spear of yours?"
"I'd like to see him try!" Sneers another, but the group does stop as their attention turns back to the conversation.
The man outside the camp watches Phevari close the distance, seemingly unperturbed. He doesn't answer, that warm smile plastered on his face even as a mange-ridden wolf emerges from the undergrowth behind him. It moves awkwardly in jerking, stiff-legged motions, but comes up upon the stranger's side in mere moments. The stranger absent-mindedly rests his hand on the creature's fur.
The halfling laughs at the commotion and winks to the group. "Careful, I've seen him turn monsters to ice, then smash them to pieces with his spear!"
"Again, it's not me you should be worrying about. You can do whatever you want. I'm just here tryin' to help you all out," Tygen gruffly replies. "Tryin' to offer you a bit of advice. So, you gonna run off like a 'fraidy-cat, or you gonna get in the boat and row? Now, I'm gonna go see if we can track down who, or what, did this." With that he stomps off toward the gate.
"Well that's not unnerving at all," Phevari mutters under her breath. "I think maybe you'd better go get the others," she suggests quietly to Simms, while slowly lowering her hand to rest on the haft of her hammer, unconsciously mirroring the stranger's hand on his wolf.
Louder, she asks the man, "Sir, can you understand me? I just want to ask a few questions."