Lucian scrunches his nose at the unpleasant smells, clearly unsettled by them, but forces himself to deal with it. He scans the ground, noting where the tracks and scent leads. He frowns, "Whoever took Cyrus...I...it... I think it was one of the people we met last night..." He tries not to gag as the scent fills his nose, "I can't tell for sure, but I have a feeling it was that small man." He doesn't really want to try to describe the scent, so he just...moves on. If he ever sees those travelers again... He clenches his fists for a moment, forcing himself to push aside those thoughts. Right now he needs to focus on finding Onika, there isn't much of a point in thinking about Cyrus since there isn't anything he can do about it right now.

Turning back to his starting point, he is a little confused to find a similar scent. Gritting his teeth as he wonders why she would smell that way, he moves in the direction of her trail. As he does this, he keeps Lenn and Eithne in sight, assuming that at least one of them will follow him. When he finds the new scent, and the blood, he stops and points it out. "It...looks...uh...smells like she met up with someone here..." He says shakily, "But... this blood is hers." He finally gives in and covers his nose, shaking his head to rid himself of the smell, "It...smells like decay and perfume... definitely not the same person as whoever took Cyrus." He swallows, "I...can try to keep following the trail, but... I think I'm pushing my limits as it is." He rubs his hands up and down his arms as if to warm himself, then presses a hand to his chest, feeling the wolf in him settle down as he suppresses his senses again. Shaking his head, he finds himself at a loss. To whomever had followed him, he says, "L..Lets go back to camp and decide what to do...maybe...maybe the imp found something." He hopes that Onika is alright, but something about this whole situation is really setting him on edge. Not only was Onika missing, but one of the people who'd shared camp with them had stolen and killed Cyrus, and then another stranger had taken Onika. But...why had Onika left camp in the first place? How had Eithne not seen her leave? None of this made any sense. 

When they returned to find Ichabod with Onika's puppet, Lucian hurries over, "How far away was that? Did...did you find anything else? I...found blood..." He lets out a shaky breath, unsure of what to say. "From what I can tell she met up with someone, but... I found some drops of her blood. Thats...as far as I was able to follow the trail."

Lenn follows Lucian and shares his thoughts and preocupations.

”That little and strange man was fascinated by the pup. “ he says while they are back with the others “But had a somehow sick relationship with that prick of a knight. I can only guess but I do think that Sir Roland found out that he has little Cyrus and… he didn’t like it.” He says lowering his voice and touching Chara’s forearm trying to bring her some comfort. 

“As for Onika… these are troubling discoveries. May be another of the strangers or don’t…” he looks to the mists “Decay and perfume… and blood. And the strangers were followed by the Monster himself… I fear that…” he silence himself, praying quietly to his Goodness to be wrong and for Onika’s well being… or her soul.

Chara takes the puppet from Ichabod and looks at it for a moment. The she-devil suddenly realizes how little she really knew about Onika... how little any of them knew about Onika. She glances over the puppet a few times, checking for anything that could possibly give a clue as to what happened (though she knows that she probably couldn't read any telltale signs even if she found them).

When Lucian comes back with his findings, Chara wishes she felt more surprised. But honestly, she kind of expected it... that or she was just emotionally burnt out.

"I... I think you're right, Lenn," Chara sighs, hot tears welling up at the corners of her eyes again as Lenn tries with limited success to comfort her. "Damn that self-righteous bastard... the next time we meet I'll probably get myself smited trying to strangle him with my bare hands."

She takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. If she lets her emotions get the best of her, she knows that she could make mistakes that the party can't afford right now. She turns her attention to the other problem Lucian was trying to solve.

"You... you found Onika's blood?" Chara asks Lucian. "C-could you tell whether she left on her own accord, or did something drag her off? I think... if she was taken by force then we have a duty to at least try to find her. If she left on her own... well, then she probably didn't expect us to wait."

Eithne also followed Lucian, to help Lenn in case... of need.

"All still too unclear" the savage stranger shakes her head. "About both Cyrus and Onika. Cyrus stolen by Rontic? Under our noses, without us noticing? And without waking the cub or, assuming he woke up, without letting him make a single sound? Hard to believe… But even admitting that it happened like this, the same wouldn't explain why no one then notices the puppy's disappearance until morning. How could the assassin have prevented us from seeing that it was no longer there? For Onika it's the same thing. She decides to leave in the middle of the night? For what reason? But ok, let's assume she has a reason. How it is that she also goes away unnoticed? She takes a crash course in stealth from Rontic and quickly becomes so stealthy herself that no one sees her leave? Well, let's assume that's the case. But how is it then that no one notices at least that she's not there until morning? I still fear the involvement of supernatural forces in all of this".

"Also because, as I feared," continues the last of the dusk elf maidens "although this time we at least managed to find some traces, our persecutor still escaped us. We found the puppy's body (if we can believe Ichabore) and so there's nothing we can do for him. And we found Onika's blood. Which raises fears that there's nothing more we can do for her also... but even if she were simply wounded and taken prisoner, we don't know where to look for her. Our stalker, has proven yet another time too powerful (or at least too stealthy) for us. I'm afraid our only chance is to hurry on with our mission and hurry back to the base. Before our persecutor takes us all one by one. When we have accomplished the mission, perhaps 'we know who' will be able to help us counter our mysterious adversary more effectively. We are not achieving any results, by ourselves, at the moment. I suggest that we conclude what we have come to do and go back immediately. Let's head to the cemetery now. Before we are brought there".

Lucian rubs his nose, "I...um... I'm pretty sure she left of her own accord... but... I smelled...fear? Amidst...other things..." He shakes his head, "I can tell that she went into the forest alone, and then met up with someone else. There wasn't a lot of blood so...well I don't know what that could mean. Is there a type of magic that uses blood? I mean...she is a witch so...maybe it was some sort of teleportation? But...I don't know why she would leave without telling us. ...Maybe the thing she met up with used some sort of spell to lure her into the woods?" He pauses, wondering if that would explain the strange mixture of scents. After a moment he continues, "The fact that all this happened without Eithne noticing doesn't make any sense. I...don't know much about magic, but... maybe there was some sort of spell that masked sounds? That would have allowed someone to take Cyrus and for Onika to slip away... at least it would have been easier." He says this assuming that Eithne does not have dark vision since she is 'human'. "Thats the only thing that would make sense to me...since...well I'm pretty sure Cyrus was awake."

He listens quietly to Eithne, wrapping his arms around himself unconsciously as he does. He'd nearly forgotten about their mission in the midst of everything else that was going on. He eyes Ichabod, still wanting to know how far he had to go to find the puppet. Even though the cemetery should probably be their priority, he still feels like they should do what they can for Onika. But...if everyone else thinks it better to press on...he won't object. At this point he knows he way out of his league. He trusts their opinions over his own. 

Nikolai sighs.  "Clearly, a vampire took Onika.  Maybe Strahd himself. She was glamoured and bitten, thus the blood. I'm afraid we have not escaped his notice.  Perhaps Roland and Alliana's crew, obnoxious as they are, will divert at least a portion of his attention.  But we should move, his agents even now may be en route to intercept us."

"You are probably right Eithne " says Lenn "There are still more uncertainties than facts. Thing is we cannot do anything for any one of them now. We can trace back and recover... Cyrus, if you want Chara, but... Being this time exposed in the woods... I... I do not want to be unsensible but... probably the scavengers... " he tries to change the subject not to upset more Chara even if he was trying quite the opposite " Anyway, I do not know how to look for Onika. Either she was taken, as I fear, by the Monster, or she had gone by her own accord, it seems that she is out of our reach... for now... I do want to come back to our... contractor. Have you noticed that the Visanti woman who was with the strangers had the same face that many of the dolls at the shop?" he asks, remembering that unsettling detail now that he thinks again on the puppeteer and his little shop of horrors.

"Indeed! I also noticed that!" Agrees Eithne "The false Nadezhda must be someone involved with our friends! Maybe she is in trouble because the Devil Stradh has learned of her. I want to speak of her to our friends as soon as I meet them again".

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Nikolai sighs.  "Clearly, a vampire took Onika.  Maybe Strahd himself. She was glamoured and bitten, thus the blood. I'm afraid we have not escaped his notice.  Perhaps Roland and Alliana's crew, obnoxious as they are, will divert at least a portion of his attention.  But we should move, his agents even now may be en route to intercept us."

When Nikolai mentions the possibility that Stradh or his agents may be after them, the voices in Eithne's head begin one of their much-loved mental shriek championships:

'The Devil Stradh is coming! If he finds you we're done, Eithne!'
'Run Eithne, you have to go back!'
'What's back! The book first! So we'll know how to fight it!'
'What are you waiting for, Eithne?! Don't just stand there!'

'I'm waiting for my mates to hit the road, damn it!' she even manages to insert a thought of her the last of the dusk elf maidens 'Do you really think I'd be safer alone?'

Well, with a hundred thousand voices in her head, the term 'alone' is ill-chosen... But her voices don't quibble and goad her:
'Then tell them to get moving!'
'Make yourself heard, Eithne! What do they think they're concluding by stalling here?'

'But if you always know so well what's best and what's not,' the savage stranger mentally growls 'how is it, that you're stuck in my head, unable to do anything but yell in my thoughts, instead of running around to put your wisdom into practice?'

However, with her temples still throbbing from the internal clamor, Eithne tries once more to propose, with the greataxe ready and Juhowly at her side: "Come on, let's do what we have to do. Let's continue our journey for the cemetery".

Lucian’s gut clenches when Nikolai mentions that it could be a vampire. Of course…that would make sense with what little amount of blood. And if she was charmed…well that could explain the other smells as well. But…why would the vampire just take her? Blinsky told them that Strahd would not you with them if he found out. So what was going on here? 

“Wait…one of them looked like the fold in Blinsky’s shop?” He asks in confusion, “Nadezhda? How do you know she is…a false Nadezhda? What if she isn't? That means she is traveling with those no good backstabbers.” He says that last word a little more forcefully then he’d meant. Finding himself very frustrated. They’d answered their questions, shared a fire with them, and all they got in return was a stolen puppy and zero farewells. For all he knew they could have noticed Onika missing and just didn’t see a reason to wake anyone to warn them. It was just…so wrong. And that knight called himself ‘the pure,’ he thinks glumly. 

Letting out a breath, he does his best to calm his racing thoughts. Eithne was right, they needed to get going and complete this mission before anything else happens. 
Needing something to keep his mind busy, he takes up the cart. “D…Do you want to ride or walk?” He asks Chara before they start moving. 

"I should probably ride in the cart for a while," Chara sighs. "The last thing we need is for someone else like our 'pure' friend, Sir Roland, to see me. If you want I can also send Ichabod to scout ahead for us and at least make sure that our path is safe from bandits."

'Our persecutor might detect him and, finding him alone, decide to free us of its annoying presence!' thinks Eithne, excited.

"Good idea Chara!" she approves "Send him!"

The savage stranger takes in the meantime the head of the group, weapon ready, trying to detect eventual dangers (she definitely does not trust Ichabore being able or willing to detect them).

Lenn takes the chart and pushes it once Chara is comfortably seated inside. 

When they had walked a few minutes Lenn starts to sing in a low voice a lullaby that his mother used to sing to him. He used to feel safe and it always comforted him in the cold, long nights of Barovia. He tries to share that feeling with Chara as they enter the mists looking for a graveyard.

You pack up camp, careful, frightened, and wary because of the loss of friends and loved ones fresh on your mind. Ichabod is sent ahead to warn of coming danger and Chara is settled in the cart. Just as you are about to leave, Lucian hears a small, whining whimper and, following the noise, finds Lydel, a paw caught between a couple tree branches. He is able to free the pup and brings it to Chara to hold in the cart. (sorry about the railroading there). 

You make your way along the road, slowly descending from the waterfall bridge back down to the valley floor. Eventually, the woods around you clear out and the fog lifts slightly. You see a lonely gallows by a crossroads, one road leading north and yours continuing to the east. There are about a half dozen broken and worn gravestones, jutting out of the ground like teeth from a broken jaw. 

On the gallows rests a large raven, which caws loudly as you approach the crossroads.

Eithne is happy that Lucian has managed to find at least Lydl and tries to console him and offer him some pieces of meat, while he is entrusted to Chara.

'We just lost both a puppy and a friend...' the savage stranger remembers Cyrus and Onika '...yet I'm glad that at least one other puppy survived. It might seem silly, yet seeing a helpless little creature surviving in this cruel place gives me a spark of hope'.

But those who didn't survive in the cruel place are quick to recriminate:
'There can be no hope as long as the Devil Stradh lives!'
'Think about the mission, Eithne, you have to find a way to kill him!'
'What is the life of a puppy compared to the death of an entire race?'

'Yeah, what is it?' finds herself reflecting the last of the dusk elf maidens 'Maybe just a drop in a river... But the river is made of drops, after all! And if Lydl had died too, this drop would be missing!'

On seeing the gallows, the savage stranger remember the fictitious Nikolai hanged and mumble: "At least this one is empty" and caws back at the raven. She tries to keep away from the broken and worn gravestones ... just in case there is a threat behind (or below!)

Chara accepts the puppy... though she's a little bit hesitant considering what happened to the last puppy that was entrusted to her care. She knows that it wasn't really her fault, since the bastard who took her pup somehow had the skill to slip past the entire party unnoticed. But she can't help but feel like she failed to protect Cyrus. She makes a mental note to give Ichabod strict orders to watch and protect Lydl whenever she is sleeping or otherwise unable to look after the little creature herself.

She settles in for the ride. When Lenn starts singing, she closes her eyes to fully appreciate the song. It helps is soothing to her frayed nerves and bring her pounding heart under control.

"Thank you," she says quietly when the knight finishes his song.

She doesn't say much else for the rest of the trip to the graveyard as she sits in the cart stroking Lydl gently and trying not to think too much about what might have happened to Onika or how Cyrus was so brutally slain.

(No worries, I would have had him do that anyways ;) )

Lucian helps Chara into the cart, and doesn’t protest when Lenn takes over pulling it. It seemed everyone needed something to keep their minds busy.

He stiffens slightly upon hearing the whimpering, but he quickly recognizes the call and scampers off to find the pup without saying anything to the rest of the company. Finding Lydel uninjured, he is relieved. His first instinct is to give the pup to Chara as a replacement for Cyrus. Though, he hesitates a little realizing that replacing Cyrus probably isn’t how he should look at it. He’d only had a pet once…a rat he’d found during his time on the streets. Sure, it was a rodent, but at the time it was the only friend he’d had, so when it was killed by…hopefully the local alley cat. Lucian hadn’t dreamed of replacing it. It was like trying to replace a friend. Animal or not, pets were like family members…well, he thought so anyways. 

Still, he hopes that Chara will accept the pup. Onika isn’t around to care for him anymore, so someone will have to take him. Lydel might not be Cyrus, but hopefully Chara will love him just as much as she loved Cyrus. 
As he walks back, he holds the pup up in front of him, looking it in the eyes. “I’m sorry boy. I…wish I could understand you…you probably know what happened to your brother and to Onika too.” He lowers the pup and cradles him in one arm while rubbing his paw where it had been stuck in the undergrowth. “At least you aren’t hurt.” As much as he dislikes his…connection to wolves. In this moment he wishes that he understood it better. If he did, maybe it would actually be useful. 

When he rejoins with the party, he gives a small smile. “Sorry…I heard…well…” He reveals Lydel cradled in his arms, then hesitantly approaches the cart to offer the pup to Chara.
When Chara hesitates too, Lucian says, “I know…he’s not Cyrus… but… I know he’s in good hands with you.” He rubs his arm, and almost says more but decides against it. Instead he just falls to the back of the party as they begin walking.

When they reach the crossroads and the graveyard, Lucian takes in the sight with wide eyes. He jumps a little when the raven caws, then ducks his head as if to hide from the fact that he’d been startled. 
After a moment he says hesitantly, “So…uh…do we just…want to start digging?”

As you arrive at the crossroads, the raven flies down and lands on one of the gravestones, pecking at it and then looking at the party. It does this three times, then flies back up to the gallows.

"I think the bird wants us to dig this one..." notes Eithne "And, well, since it is here from more time than us and likely know this place better than we do, why should we question its wisdom?"

The last of the dusk elf maidens prepares herself to dig, hoping in the help of some of her companions, but even starting alone, if she must.

Chara looks at the raven quizzically for a moment. It obviously isn't a normal raven... and she suspects that it isn't really a raven at all. She considers calling out to ask it if it is Ichabod, but decides against doing so. They don't have any other leads right now, and considering how much Eithne dislikes Ichabod, she might decide to pick another grave at random if it actually is Ichabod (not that Chara would really blame her... but the she-devil isn't in the mood to start digging at random). Chara gives the wolf pup a pat on the head, before picking up a shovel to help Eithne.