Jordgubb steps out into the night having seen a solitary shadow on the edge of the streets. He thinks that one person couldn't have possibly made all of the towns people disappear, right? So this must be unconnected.
As he reaches the person he realises that their body is twisted and wrong under their long all covering coat, a chest shouldn't bend that way, where are the arms? Why are the knees that low? Why is it's face enshrouded in shadow and it's eyes glowing red?
Suddenly two more unknowable shadow creatures come stumbling out of the darkness like unbalanced zombies, "we're gonna eat you little piggies!"
Jordgubb runs back to the house much faster than the shambling creatures. As Jordy reaches the threshold, screaming for Nefire and the Doc to help him, he turns and casts entangle as a line of defence.
The creatures tumble...
Fall apart...
...and reveal themselves to be nothing more than three sets of three kobolds in a trenchcoat, albeit with stolen dread cowls for added terror effect. With the creatures mostly restrained the awake members of the group are able to kill the kobolds off at range, then follow the tracks back to some nearby caves and take back the things looted from the deserted town. Maybe on their travels should they bump into an old resident of this forgotten town, the group could send them on their way back, the dreadful monsterous beasts slain and no frightening presences remaining.
The thing about Kobolds is that their numbers are exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think... The party indeed wins this day and slaughters a few stray Kobolds who sought to scare them away from the ripe for pillage abandoned village they had found, and slain the weak and infirm inhabiting the caves nearby. They recover plenty of goods, a few cattle and some coin that they gift upon a rather confused but happy stranger who had never so much as had a home but now had a whole village to call his own. But you all feel good about yourselves and believe you did a good did, getting revenge and returning what you could... Never suspecting the old man was no resident nor that the bulk of the Kobolds lived in secret tunnels and warrens accessed through secret and disguised passages the group never found of suspected. You may have killed a dozen or so, but you have unknowingly birthed the enmity of hundreds!
Raevyn is the only one amongst you with concerns... The fact that she saw no signs of struggle or bloodshed in the abandoned village rubbed her wrong when the Kobolds got blamed for the missing people, and the fact that none you encountered seemed like warriors... But your not in the Barony to solve abandoned villages or worry about Kobolds so she, and the rest of you, soon brush it off and continue on your way... There's just that little annoying tickle in the back of her mind... The feeling like maybe someone is following...
((Just summing up the scenario and setting up stuff that may be used in the future... Or totally forgotten about. *shrug* I believe it is between Nefire and Raevyn to do a scenario next, I'll settle that in Discord...))
After an uninterrupted sleep, Krumar would indeed wake refreshed and ready to face the day. So pleased with himself, he’d don his new blankie, with a suspicious stain on it, like a cape and strut his way forward.Unbeknownst to him, he’s also sporting a unique inked moustache which was accompanied by other various doodles upon his visage. The cocks cry, the dogs howl, and cats hiss as he passes. Leading the group, Krumar waves and hails them as a praising crowd, singing and playing their way out of the village.
During Krumar’s lengthy early morning preparations, Raevyn would have had enough time to have prepared a ritual to detect the weave prior to their departure. Once the doctor had inked her concerns in her journal, she was able to tuck them away to free her mind to focus on what’s to come. Having the haunting feeling of someone following them, Raevyn would focus her concentration and maintain her detection senses as much as possible going forward.
As the adventurers made their way down the road, they came across a strange sight: a couple horses, abandoned and standing still in the middle of the path. Their coats were dusty, and had bloodstains on their necks and mouths, but none showed any signs of struggle. One horse, a black stallion, lay dead on its side, its eyes wide and lifeless. The air was thick with an unsettling stillness.
The group approached cautiously, noting the horses’ odd behavior—no signs of bandits or predators nearby. Jordy observed the tracks, or lack thereof. There were no signs of a typical attack; the horses seemed more frightened than harmed. However, upon further inspection and consultation with a second opinion, they appeared sickly. And as if their time was up, one of horses wobble and opens their mouth. Nothing but gurgles escape as they go wide eyed and suddenly collapse.
A soft whimper from the brush nearby drew Raevyn’s attention. Hidden beneath a cluster of bushes, they found a small wolf pup, trembling and weak. Its fur was matted with dirt and blood, and it appeared barely able to stand. The pup was alone, no pack in sight, its eyes wary but too exhausted to flee.
Despite the unease settling in the air, Raevyn couldn’t leave the pup behind. She takes it with her, assessing, diagnosing and treating it for its ailments. Of course it couldn’t be ignored, the silence of the road and the unnatural stillness around them made it clear: something had caused the horses' death, and whatever it was, could still be nearby, watching from the shadows.
"I would be wary of lone wolvesss if I were you..." Jordgubb postulates, keeping his distance from the horses but keeping a keen eye out and trying to connect the dots "look here, the horsesss have blood on their mouthsss, a lone pup nearby and one of their own dead... They might have moon sickness, it effects animals too hmm, maybe even effecting their mood in the day, werecreaturesss can be cannibalistic."
Krumar wakes so well rested. To his surprise he finds a little tray of breakfast sitting there waiting for him. He without hesitation eats the breakfast of eggs and bacon with some coffee believing his fans left it for him. He feels his musical genius course through his veins. He’s ready to hit the road and play for his fans far and wide, but for now he will have to play for these ungrateful lice, these uncouth brutes, these…well they’re keeping him alive so he better play nice. He goes through his regular morning routine, but now adding tucking his blanket away and . Fixing his hair, washing himself, finding some mint to eat to combat morning breath. He notices something different as he looks in his mirror. He notices he has facial hair. He admires his five o clock shadow although he’s unsure how he came to grow it, never having facial hair before. He finds it makes him look even more alluring to the female eye.
on the road he plays his music working on new tunes, writing notes and lyrics but is disrupted by the sight of the horses. Disturbed by the sight he looks off into the woods. There he notices several vulture like birds. He’s not entirely sure of the bird life here but they look like they’re waiting for their next meal. He watches the newcomer go towards the woods and pick up a wolf…A wolf! He turns to Neff and mutters “Here I thought Jords was the craziest….this newcomer is a little bit fruit loopy eh?…….Wait what’s that about werewolves? Get rid of that thing…I don’t need to become its dinner”
Nefire stares at the scraggly hairs going every which way on Krumar's chin and raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Was your dagger not sharp enough to take care of those hairs? If not, my axe is sharp enough to split one of those in two if you need um, help."
As Krumar mutters to her about Raevyn being crazy, the halfling just smiles. "We all are a bit, don't you think?" She doesn't see the issue bringing along the pup as long as she doesn't have to take care of it. But Nefire also gives the horses a wide berth and keeps an eye open to the bushes and trees to make sure nothing is going to catch them unawares.
"This is no werewolf," Raevyn insists and goes about lecturing the group on the salient details that prove her case. Some she recite from memory, others she pulls out books from her pack and turns to relevant pages and passages to prove her point. It is akin to attending a PhD level lecture on Dadaism and it's relevance to the modern socialist movements and influence on blockchain technology without any of these things have yet being invented. Eventually everyone else just agrees with her point and wanders off rather than listen to more...
Arcana check of 15 to know the following...
Truth is that the bloody neck and mouths, no sign of trouble, and lack of any tracks suggest that you may have stumbled across the leavings of a Spectral Pack - In effect a grouping of predator ghosts created when animals are sacrificed for dark rituals. If too many of these sacrifices happen in too short a time there is rumored to be a chance that a Spectral Pack forms and the ghosts of the animals hunt the material plane around the time of the New Moon. If the legends are true it would suggest there is a Hag practicing in these parts, or perhaps some other dark practitioner of dark magics... A power your group is surely not ready to tackle yet!
Moving right along the group continues on deeper and deeper into the Barony of Baldenan. You work yourselves past the small villages and towns coming now to places that could be more rightfully referred to as cities. You are not always given a warm welcome, specially by the guards, but somehow despite your antics you manage to continue on without much hassle. No official is willing to talk to you all about the boneless corpses or claims of people missing from the outskirt villages but in pubs and public houses and such you are able to gleam some information...
Each of you roll a two D10 and I will use that to determine what information you each gained. If you yourself roll the same number twice then roll again... Don't worry about rolling the same as someone else as you'll both just pick up a variant of the same information. You can roll here or in your Discord channel... ((I still need to make up this random chart so no rush. lol))
Krumar sits with the others after many a nights playing for his adoring fans "Let me tell you how exhausted I am after playing for my throngs of fans. It's hard being so talented and loved, but I digress....One of my admirers told me they suspect the baron. They said it was a half dozen years or so when it started. When he got infected. Not a vampire… but some other thing with uhhh with weird tastes and odd proclivities...I believe them....they had a nice cushy job in the castle and everything, but she quit! She quit a cushy job and a good life....."
Nefire narrows her eyes at Krumar, "Not everyone wants a cushy job. How boring! Especially in a castle, no thank you." As they start discussing what all they had discovered, Nefire does scoff at Krumar, "The baron? Like they could make a corpse boneless! No matter what weird tastes they have. I heard there may be a dragon in the Harwoord Forest! Can you believe that? And that it sucks the marrow right out of the bones! Think it's tasty? I never thought about doing that." She looks to Jordgubb to see if he had.
"dragonsss are mostly elemental, fire, ice, acidsss... I, for example, am descended of poisonousss draconic bloodline. There are no dragons to my knowledge who specialise in sucking out bonessss" he responds with a heavy dab of sarcasm
None of you can really think of any creature or race who do specialize in removing bones from otherwise pristine bodies, but the fact that there is no incisions or such would obviously lead to some kind of magic being involved...
Are we still sniffing around the cities, and if so how? Or we headed elsewhere?
Krumar nods "Dragons eat things whole....everyone knows that. So dismissive from someone who knows so little...little see what I did there because you are little..."
"I have spoken to the animalsss, they seem hesitant to go nowhere near the Harwoord forestsss to the south, Raevyn and I think there issss a possibility that the culprit could be fey, tricksy beingsss with powerful magicssss though we'd need more evidence to confirm thisss, we should start either asking more townsss close by about these forestsss or just go and investigate it ourselvesss" Jordgubb suggests as the group decide how best to proceed.
"Ah yes the tricksy tricksters themselves....Well let's check there I suppose if you feel that strongly about it. Going there will give me good material for a new song....I am one song away from stardom! I can feel it"
After what feels like weeks, it's almost as if a fog has faded for the moment and Raevyn finally lifts her head from her notes. Her eyes look around expectantly to her companions for a moment before considering whether they were waiting on her or not. She inhales a breath and adjusts her glasses as she glances back down at her notes. One pass. Two pass. She had to flip between multiple pages so it took longer than expected. Eventually she rests her forehead between her fingers in thought, rubbing her temples with her finger and thumb. Were they ever going to hook onto something concrete enough for some sort of progress or certainty? She wondered. And they definitely weren't going to find out unless they went to see for themselves!
"So. A baron. A dragon. And fey." The doctor tries to boil it down to the bare bones summary before breaking it out again. "Almost sounds like the beginning of a Krumar joke." She lets go of her head and starts collecting her things. "A man got infected with non vampirism, but has 'weird tastes and odd proclivities'." That sounded like any mans wild night out. However, to be thorough and to consider a potential diagnosis, Raevyn will have to request Krumar expand on those details should he be aware of them. "A dragon who sucks marrow from bones, yet we know of no species which sucks bones from bodies." Thinking back on Nefire's post thought process of sucking marrow, the unique habit seems to have enough weight to be mentioned and leads to the question of whether it's a natural characteristic, or perhaps uniquely human? And if it could suck marrow from bones, why not bones from bodies? She too will have to ask Nefire if she may be able to expand on any other characteristics of the dragon. Perhaps they can narrow down species, or at least even simply rule some out. "And then fey tricksters, who's existence is questionable to the masses (if player remembers correctly), with powerful magics within the same woods." She finishes the summary then adds. "Do we believe in coincidences?" The doctor mused as she started to lead the way to the forest. They weren't going to learn anything standing around (waiting on her player). "Perhaps the baron made a deal with the fey tricksters and becomes a dragon with a taste for bone instead of flesh." She casts out the thought with amusement. Was she making a joke? Was she serious? Could it be a bit of both?
"the storiesss of fey creaturesss that I remember from my commune were alwaysss a warning, they could help or hinder, but when a deal isss made then you'd better keep your side of the bargain, lesssss you like being transformed into something elsssse... Thisss could be a lead, but I do want to go into the forestsss and investigate. I have the relevant survival skillssss to keep usss alive in there asss long asss you can all do your part hm?" Jordgubb speculates excitedly, merely wanting to get into the thick of it and back into his more natural habitat.
"As much as I like a jaunt into the woods, I didn't bring my hiking boots...." Krumar sighs "I am more suited for the baron but if this is where we are to go, I will find something suitable to wear..."
Ah yes, where to next? After gathering information at various cities and pubs you have all heard some rumors, garnered some tidbits of information, and had to decide on which should be trusted and acted upon.
Krumar had heard some dark rumors about a local baron - Baron Baldenan. All other clues that seem reliable seemed to lead to the dark regions of a local forest. But the Baron was closer and Krumar can be quite persuasive (or perhaps annoying?) when he wants to. Investigating the Baron won out!
It was touch and go there for a while, you are not the most subtle or covert group and approaching the Baron’s manor, none the less infiltrating it, was no small task…. Yet you all got inside in various ways and dug around.Turned out it was touch and go, indeed!Baron Baldenan was indeed guilty of being too hands on with his more attractive staffers but the only thing he was infected with was contracted through all too normal and prurient means.
So… Off to the woods!!
The Harwoord forests are expansive and the idea of searching them is a bit… farfetched. But with the limited information Jordgubb can get through speaking with animals, a pattern Raevyn believes she sees in where the boneless corpses were found, and pure damn look you think you may have narrowed down the area you want to check out. There are many trying times where one true looked like the other and you thought you would be lost… But somewhere along the way Nefire spotted something shiny. Perhaps being close to the ground is beneficial, for she picked it up and found herself some jewelry! After that she seemed much more sure about directions and how to weave the group through the forest in a coherent manner.
(Yeah, it was Nefire’s time to write up a bit of n narrative and find herself a magic item but the whole campaign got put on sabbatical so rather than try to get her to do that I’m just ramming us through back into things! Nefire - You’ll find it in your inventory!)
Pushing through the forest wasn’t overly easy at all. There had been some creature encounters, some hunts for food, and much complaints about, and from, Krumar. Specially after he caught that rash in a rather embarrassing area…. But you all managed. It is the fourth or sixth night, or there about. You are looking for a good place to camp more than anything at this point and Nefire believes she sees a clearing ahead… She tells the others she sees a path and something to the south and signals them to follow. While following, Krumar steps on a falling branch cause a rather loud snapping sound and screaming out in a bit of surprise and anger at almost turning his ankle…
In response the group hears a screech of some sort from the south (Well southeast since that works better for the map…) and the immediate flapping of what sounds like wings…
Now what?
(Imagine the "clear" area as having trees, just sparser and smaller than the more plush areas...)
Jordgubb steps out into the night having seen a solitary shadow on the edge of the streets. He thinks that one person couldn't have possibly made all of the towns people disappear, right? So this must be unconnected.
As he reaches the person he realises that their body is twisted and wrong under their long all covering coat, a chest shouldn't bend that way, where are the arms? Why are the knees that low? Why is it's face enshrouded in shadow and it's eyes glowing red?
Suddenly two more unknowable shadow creatures come stumbling out of the darkness like unbalanced zombies, "we're gonna eat you little piggies!"
Jordgubb runs back to the house much faster than the shambling creatures. As Jordy reaches the threshold, screaming for Nefire and the Doc to help him, he turns and casts entangle as a line of defence.
The creatures tumble...
Fall apart...
...and reveal themselves to be nothing more than three sets of three kobolds in a trenchcoat, albeit with stolen dread cowls for added terror effect. With the creatures mostly restrained the awake members of the group are able to kill the kobolds off at range, then follow the tracks back to some nearby caves and take back the things looted from the deserted town. Maybe on their travels should they bump into an old resident of this forgotten town, the group could send them on their way back, the dreadful monsterous beasts slain and no frightening presences remaining.
Krumar continues to snore, dreaming of playing to a sold out crowd at MSG, tucked in with his new blankie and queen sized bed.
The thing about Kobolds is that their numbers are exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think... The party indeed wins this day and slaughters a few stray Kobolds who sought to scare them away from the ripe for pillage abandoned village they had found, and slain the weak and infirm inhabiting the caves nearby. They recover plenty of goods, a few cattle and some coin that they gift upon a rather confused but happy stranger who had never so much as had a home but now had a whole village to call his own. But you all feel good about yourselves and believe you did a good did, getting revenge and returning what you could... Never suspecting the old man was no resident nor that the bulk of the Kobolds lived in secret tunnels and warrens accessed through secret and disguised passages the group never found of suspected. You may have killed a dozen or so, but you have unknowingly birthed the enmity of hundreds!
Raevyn is the only one amongst you with concerns... The fact that she saw no signs of struggle or bloodshed in the abandoned village rubbed her wrong when the Kobolds got blamed for the missing people, and the fact that none you encountered seemed like warriors... But your not in the Barony to solve abandoned villages or worry about Kobolds so she, and the rest of you, soon brush it off and continue on your way... There's just that little annoying tickle in the back of her mind... The feeling like maybe someone is following...
((Just summing up the scenario and setting up stuff that may be used in the future... Or totally forgotten about. *shrug* I believe it is between Nefire and Raevyn to do a scenario next, I'll settle that in Discord...))
After an uninterrupted sleep, Krumar would indeed wake refreshed and ready to face the day. So pleased with himself, he’d don his new blankie, with a suspicious stain on it, like a cape and strut his way forward.Unbeknownst to him, he’s also sporting a unique inked moustache which was accompanied by other various doodles upon his visage. The cocks cry, the dogs howl, and cats hiss as he passes. Leading the group, Krumar waves and hails them as a praising crowd, singing and playing their way out of the village.
During Krumar’s lengthy early morning preparations, Raevyn would have had enough time to have prepared a ritual to detect the weave prior to their departure. Once the doctor had inked her concerns in her journal, she was able to tuck them away to free her mind to focus on what’s to come. Having the haunting feeling of someone following them, Raevyn would focus her concentration and maintain her detection senses as much as possible going forward.
As the adventurers made their way down the road, they came across a strange sight: a couple horses, abandoned and standing still in the middle of the path. Their coats were dusty, and had bloodstains on their necks and mouths, but none showed any signs of struggle. One horse, a black stallion, lay dead on its side, its eyes wide and lifeless. The air was thick with an unsettling stillness.
The group approached cautiously, noting the horses’ odd behavior—no signs of bandits or predators nearby. Jordy observed the tracks, or lack thereof. There were no signs of a typical attack; the horses seemed more frightened than harmed. However, upon further inspection and consultation with a second opinion, they appeared sickly. And as if their time was up, one of horses wobble and opens their mouth. Nothing but gurgles escape as they go wide eyed and suddenly collapse.
A soft whimper from the brush nearby drew Raevyn’s attention. Hidden beneath a cluster of bushes, they found a small wolf pup, trembling and weak. Its fur was matted with dirt and blood, and it appeared barely able to stand. The pup was alone, no pack in sight, its eyes wary but too exhausted to flee.
Despite the unease settling in the air, Raevyn couldn’t leave the pup behind. She takes it with her, assessing, diagnosing and treating it for its ailments. Of course it couldn’t be ignored, the silence of the road and the unnatural stillness around them made it clear: something had caused the horses' death, and whatever it was, could still be nearby, watching from the shadows.
just an unstable unicorn.
"I would be wary of lone wolvesss if I were you..." Jordgubb postulates, keeping his distance from the horses but keeping a keen eye out and trying to connect the dots "look here, the horsesss have blood on their mouthsss, a lone pup nearby and one of their own dead... They might have moon sickness, it effects animals too hmm, maybe even effecting their mood in the day, werecreaturesss can be cannibalistic."
Krumar wakes so well rested. To his surprise he finds a little tray of breakfast sitting there waiting for him. He without hesitation eats the breakfast of eggs and bacon with some coffee believing his fans left it for him. He feels his musical genius course through his veins. He’s ready to hit the road and play for his fans far and wide, but for now he will have to play for these ungrateful lice, these uncouth brutes, these…well they’re keeping him alive so he better play nice. He goes through his regular morning routine, but now adding tucking his blanket away and . Fixing his hair, washing himself, finding some mint to eat to combat morning breath. He notices something different as he looks in his mirror. He notices he has facial hair. He admires his five o clock shadow although he’s unsure how he came to grow it, never having facial hair before. He finds it makes him look even more alluring to the female eye.
on the road he plays his music working on new tunes, writing notes and lyrics but is disrupted by the sight of the horses. Disturbed by the sight he looks off into the woods. There he notices several vulture like birds. He’s not entirely sure of the bird life here but they look like they’re waiting for their next meal. He watches the newcomer go towards the woods and pick up a wolf…A wolf! He turns to Neff and mutters “Here I thought Jords was the craziest….this newcomer is a little bit fruit loopy eh?…….Wait what’s that about werewolves? Get rid of that thing…I don’t need to become its dinner”
Nefire stares at the scraggly hairs going every which way on Krumar's chin and raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Was your dagger not sharp enough to take care of those hairs? If not, my axe is sharp enough to split one of those in two if you need um, help."
As Krumar mutters to her about Raevyn being crazy, the halfling just smiles. "We all are a bit, don't you think?" She doesn't see the issue bringing along the pup as long as she doesn't have to take care of it. But Nefire also gives the horses a wide berth and keeps an eye open to the bushes and trees to make sure nothing is going to catch them unawares.
"This is no werewolf," Raevyn insists and goes about lecturing the group on the salient details that prove her case. Some she recite from memory, others she pulls out books from her pack and turns to relevant pages and passages to prove her point. It is akin to attending a PhD level lecture on Dadaism and it's relevance to the modern socialist movements and influence on blockchain technology without any of these things have yet being invented. Eventually everyone else just agrees with her point and wanders off rather than listen to more...
Arcana check of 15 to know the following...
Truth is that the bloody neck and mouths, no sign of trouble, and lack of any tracks suggest that you may have stumbled across the leavings of a Spectral Pack - In effect a grouping of predator ghosts created when animals are sacrificed for dark rituals. If too many of these sacrifices happen in too short a time there is rumored to be a chance that a Spectral Pack forms and the ghosts of the animals hunt the material plane around the time of the New Moon. If the legends are true it would suggest there is a Hag practicing in these parts, or perhaps some other dark practitioner of dark magics... A power your group is surely not ready to tackle yet!
Moving right along the group continues on deeper and deeper into the Barony of Baldenan. You work yourselves past the small villages and towns coming now to places that could be more rightfully referred to as cities. You are not always given a warm welcome, specially by the guards, but somehow despite your antics you manage to continue on without much hassle. No official is willing to talk to you all about the boneless corpses or claims of people missing from the outskirt villages but in pubs and public houses and such you are able to gleam some information...
Krumar sits with the others after many a nights playing for his adoring fans "Let me tell you how exhausted I am after playing for my throngs of fans. It's hard being so talented and loved, but I digress....One of my admirers told me they suspect the baron. They said it was a half dozen years or so when it started. When he got infected. Not a vampire… but some other thing with uhhh with weird tastes and odd proclivities...I believe them....they had a nice cushy job in the castle and everything, but she quit! She quit a cushy job and a good life....."
Nefire narrows her eyes at Krumar, "Not everyone wants a cushy job. How boring! Especially in a castle, no thank you." As they start discussing what all they had discovered, Nefire does scoff at Krumar, "The baron? Like they could make a corpse boneless! No matter what weird tastes they have. I heard there may be a dragon in the Harwoord Forest! Can you believe that? And that it sucks the marrow right out of the bones! Think it's tasty? I never thought about doing that." She looks to Jordgubb to see if he had.
"dragonsss are mostly elemental, fire, ice, acidsss... I, for example, am descended of poisonousss draconic bloodline. There are no dragons to my knowledge who specialise in sucking out bonessss" he responds with a heavy dab of sarcasm
Krumar nods "Dragons eat things whole....everyone knows that. So dismissive from someone who knows so little...little see what I did there because you are little..."
"I have spoken to the animalsss, they seem hesitant to go nowhere near the Harwoord forestsss to the south, Raevyn and I think there issss a possibility that the culprit could be fey, tricksy beingsss with powerful magicssss though we'd need more evidence to confirm thisss, we should start either asking more townsss close by about these forestsss or just go and investigate it ourselvesss" Jordgubb suggests as the group decide how best to proceed.
"Ah yes the tricksy tricksters themselves....Well let's check there I suppose if you feel that strongly about it. Going there will give me good material for a new song....I am one song away from stardom! I can feel it"
After what feels like weeks, it's almost as if a fog has faded for the moment and Raevyn finally lifts her head from her notes. Her eyes look around expectantly to her companions for a moment before considering whether they were waiting on her or not. She inhales a breath and adjusts her glasses as she glances back down at her notes. One pass. Two pass. She had to flip between multiple pages so it took longer than expected. Eventually she rests her forehead between her fingers in thought, rubbing her temples with her finger and thumb. Were they ever going to hook onto something concrete enough for some sort of progress or certainty? She wondered. And they definitely weren't going to find out unless they went to see for themselves!
"So. A baron. A dragon. And fey." The doctor tries to boil it down to the bare bones summary before breaking it out again. "Almost sounds like the beginning of a Krumar joke." She lets go of her head and starts collecting her things. "A man got infected with non vampirism, but has 'weird tastes and odd proclivities'." That sounded like any mans wild night out. However, to be thorough and to consider a potential diagnosis, Raevyn will have to request Krumar expand on those details should he be aware of them. "A dragon who sucks marrow from bones, yet we know of no species which sucks bones from bodies." Thinking back on Nefire's post thought process of sucking marrow, the unique habit seems to have enough weight to be mentioned and leads to the question of whether it's a natural characteristic, or perhaps uniquely human? And if it could suck marrow from bones, why not bones from bodies? She too will have to ask Nefire if she may be able to expand on any other characteristics of the dragon. Perhaps they can narrow down species, or at least even simply rule some out. "And then fey tricksters, who's existence is questionable to the masses
(if player remembers correctly), with powerful magics within the same woods." She finishes the summary then adds. "Do we believe in coincidences?" The doctor mused as she started to lead the way to the forest. They weren't going to learn anything standing around(waiting on her player). "Perhaps the baron made a deal with the fey tricksters and becomes a dragon with a taste for bone instead of flesh." She casts out the thought with amusement. Was she making a joke? Was she serious? Could it be a bit of both?just an unstable unicorn.
"the storiesss of fey creaturesss that I remember from my commune were alwaysss a warning, they could help or hinder, but when a deal isss made then you'd better keep your side of the bargain, lesssss you like being transformed into something elsssse... Thisss could be a lead, but I do want to go into the forestsss and investigate. I have the relevant survival skillssss to keep usss alive in there asss long asss you can all do your part hm?" Jordgubb speculates excitedly, merely wanting to get into the thick of it and back into his more natural habitat.
"As much as I like a jaunt into the woods, I didn't bring my hiking boots...." Krumar sighs "I am more suited for the baron but if this is where we are to go, I will find something suitable to wear..."
So, where were we?
Ah yes, where to next? After gathering information at various cities and pubs you have all heard some rumors, garnered some tidbits of information, and had to decide on which should be trusted and acted upon.
Krumar had heard some dark rumors about a local baron - Baron Baldenan. All other clues that seem reliable seemed to lead to the dark regions of a local forest. But the Baron was closer and Krumar can be quite persuasive (or perhaps annoying?) when he wants to. Investigating the Baron won out!
It was touch and go there for a while, you are not the most subtle or covert group and approaching the Baron’s manor, none the less infiltrating it, was no small task…. Yet you all got inside in various ways and dug around. Turned out it was touch and go, indeed! Baron Baldenan was indeed guilty of being too hands on with his more attractive staffers but the only thing he was infected with was contracted through all too normal and prurient means.
So… Off to the woods!!
The Harwoord forests are expansive and the idea of searching them is a bit… farfetched. But with the limited information Jordgubb can get through speaking with animals, a pattern Raevyn believes she sees in where the boneless corpses were found, and pure damn look you think you may have narrowed down the area you want to check out. There are many trying times where one true looked like the other and you thought you would be lost… But somewhere along the way Nefire spotted something shiny. Perhaps being close to the ground is beneficial, for she picked it up and found herself some jewelry! After that she seemed much more sure about directions and how to weave the group through the forest in a coherent manner.
(Yeah, it was Nefire’s time to write up a bit of n narrative and find herself a magic item but the whole campaign got put on sabbatical so rather than try to get her to do that I’m just ramming us through back into things! Nefire - You’ll find it in your inventory!)
Pushing through the forest wasn’t overly easy at all. There had been some creature encounters, some hunts for food, and much complaints about, and from, Krumar. Specially after he caught that rash in a rather embarrassing area…. But you all managed. It is the fourth or sixth night, or there about. You are looking for a good place to camp more than anything at this point and Nefire believes she sees a clearing ahead… She tells the others she sees a path and something to the south and signals them to follow. While following, Krumar steps on a falling branch cause a rather loud snapping sound and screaming out in a bit of surprise and anger at almost turning his ankle…
In response the group hears a screech of some sort from the south (Well southeast since that works better for the map…) and the immediate flapping of what sounds like wings…
Now what?
(Imagine the "clear" area as having trees, just sparser and smaller than the more plush areas...)
Jordgubb listens trying to ascertain what kind of winged beast may be around the corner, or what its intentions might be (nature check dirty 20)