Giles nods at the sentiment, smiling and jutting out his jaw with confidence, as if to say, “Yes, I am a good egg!”  He smiles at the lead guard.  “Thank you.  You are too kind.  We are just trying to help.  To be a service to the town, my good man.”  Giles looks at the guard then over to Izek, including him too.  

“With such evil deeds, things get tough, people get stressed out, it is hard to make good decisions….”  Giles trails off.  “We will certainly protect the Inn, Captain Strazni, sir.  We have the ability to protect your citizens of Vallaki.  I know that indeed, All Will be Well.  But we can help to make it that way.  If you have any need of us.  Are you going back to protect the Baron?  Or are you checking the westward gate?”  Giles smiles, standing broad shouldered and tall, giving a slight flex to his muscles, looking ready to help.

" So....how far is the prison from the mayors house?", Burr whispered to his companions as the demon-man ran away.

" You know....it'd be good if there was a way to blame the vampires for the mess at the Wachter house....but I'm not hurting those ladies."

Mastiff-Soren trots up to the guards wagging his tail and gives them a sniff, starting with the charmed one but getting to Izek.

Remembering all their scents for later, including Izek's, if he can, all while doing his best good doggie impression.  He really is a good boy!  (Though a little on the feral side because, well... Soren does not really think of animals as domesticated).

Zefla squares up and returns Izek's look.  She wasn't going to let this bully get the best of her.  "Always expect the worst.  That's why we want to make sure it isn't some kind of diversion, best to be safe than sorry, eh?"

She does her best not to smile as Giles goes into one of his shows, but once done she nods, "Yes, we will help with the Inn, but I'm sure we can do more."

In response to Giles' questions (Are you going back to protect the Baron?  Or are you checking the westward gate?), Izek answers only with a final glare, before he departs with his guards.  While most of the other men seem nervous or afraid, Izek radiates palpable fury and irritation.

When Zefla meets his look, his eyes narrow even further, and she can almost hear his mind turning over the question of 'where have I seen this little person before?'

Burr, the party actually has not seen a jail during their time in Vallaki yet.  Its precise location remains a mystery.

Soren is able to get a good whiff of all the guards.  Most of them are vaguely interchangeable, wearing armor that is a bit crossed-scented (as if the armor isn't personalized and is shared among them).  Izek alone stands out.  His scent is vile, not like the undead, but sick and unnatural in its own way, as if he has rotten-eggs running in his veins instead of blood.

The charmed guard and his allies carry on toward the gate, while Izek goes back the way he came with two guards.  The party is left alone in the street, the night sky of Barovia cold and cloudy overhead, and the Blue Water Inn another block away still.

[Where do you go?]

Burr looked annoyed, " Why are they sending able bodied warriors to cower in an inn? Shouldn't we be used to bolster the towns defence?"

" The owners live in the inn, wasn't there something about vampires not being able to come in unless invited? I guess it doesn't work for town gates...."

Mastiff-Soren whines and shakes his muzzle after scenting Izek almost as much as he did when scenting undead.

Growling to himself but unable to communicate further with his companions without losing his canine form, he looks up expectantly.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I don't work for Izek.  He can question us all he wants when we join up, but I'm not taking orders from him."  Zefla readjusts her pack and starts heading towards the Baron's mansion, "To the mansion right?"

She then stops and looks to her friends, "At the same time, we don't need to draw his ire, if they are heading to the same place, I think we regroup.  Want me to scout ahead and see?"

If so, stealth roll: 18

Creeping after Izek for a few blocks, Zefla sees that they do indeed hang a left, taking them back in the direction of the Baron's home... not on toward the west gate.

Burr is getting restless as Zefla looks ahead, he wants to be somewhere they can help and he wants to be there now.

Mastiff-Soren sneezes once, and shakes his head, trying to rid his snout of Izek's stench.

An idea comes to him, though he has no way to communicate it to the others without reverting back to half-elven form, in which case he is not sure how many more times he could resume beast form.  He takes a good, amiable whiff of Burr, Giles and Zefla so he can find them again from this spot by scent.

That done, Mastiff-Soren dashes off to where the Baron (and his son) had displayed Tourmaline Bauer, bound and beaten, to the mob.  Hoping to pick up the tiefling female's scent and use it to track to wherever she is being confined.

Lady Bauer was a magician.  And something tells me that she may not be kept at the same place that Ireena is.  Perhaps if I can find her scent and we can free her from wherever she is confined, she can help us then free Ireena in turn, as we seem intent on doing?

The party sees Soren the dog pad off into the night.

[Do they follow?]

Soren:

Mastiff-Soren's Perception to follow scent, with advantage:  25

(In Wild Shape, Soren retains his WIS and skill proficiencies).

Burr follows Soren as he always has.....

Soren pads along, his nose leading him in pursuit of the lingering traces of tiefling scent.  Burr and the others pursue at their own pace, letting Soren do his thing.

Eventually the mastiff-druid leads the party to a familiar cul-de-sac.  The Baron's manor looms before them in the darkness... but that is not quite where the trail leads Soren.  Instead, the tiefling's sent leads to the building immediately next door to the Baron's home.  It is another manor house, but this one is dark and sullen, with bars in the windows.  Soren's nose tells him that Lady Bauer was brought into this building through the back door.  

Giles sees Soren take off and has an idea that the druid is onto something, has caught a scent.  He sees Burr start to give chase and he says to himself “Oh, this just keeps getting better and better.”  And he breaks into a jog.  After the stockade where Lady Bauer was displayed, he sees the mastiff - Soren take off toward the Baron’s house, and the house next door.  He slows up, looking up and down the street, listening, looking for anyone who may be observing, listening for any shouts, feelling vulnerable and exposed.  He sticks to the shadows, watching the mastiff sniff and guessing where they will be led next…. “Eyes on, keep alert now, I have a bad feeling about this….”  

Mastiff-Soren trots up to the back of the dark, window-barred next-door manor house, tail wagging and friendly so as to defuse any suspicion (and potentially distract) any guards posted at the rear entrance.  He tries to listen for any voices or other sounds from within the house.

If no one is in sight, he glances back at his companions to see if they are still there.  (If not, and if stuck, he will trace his way back to them by smell).

(If anyone else is visible, he does not glance back, so as not to give his companions' position away).

Soren:

 The party stands near the edge of a low stone wall that surrounds the home next door to the Baron's.  Above, pale purple lights flicker from an attic window in the Baron's home.  Most of the other windows in the Baron's home have the curtains drawn, but the flicker of light from beyond shows that candles and lanterns are lit in most rooms.

The neighboring house, meanwhile, is mostly dark.  It almost looks abandoned.

Dog-Soren pads softly down a path between the two homes, disappearing into the backyard of house nextdoor to the Baron's.  A few seconds later, the party hears a man's voice call out in the darkness, "Arty!  One of the Baron's mastiff's got loose and wandered into the jail yard.  I'm going to walk him back home.  I'll be right back." 

Hearing the call out, Giles steps into the shadows in the house next door, hiding in the doorway and watching for a moment, watching to see how this will play out and if Soren will go along, or resist, or lure the poor man closer.  

For DM:

The party can hear a sudden, surprised dog yelp, followed by the sound of mastiff-Soren's canine whining and shuffling.