The eldritch chains lash out from Salazar's outstretched arms and wrap around the Ancient Jade Wolf's neck.  With a sharp yank the merchant pulls them towards him and you hear the dull crack as the wolf's neck snaps. 

Ahhh, my friend, yes!  Feel the power of the broken chains!  You are released from slavery and you begin to see your full potential.  That creature was a relic from a bygone age; a creature of immense power and magnificence.  But it falls to your inner strength my friend.  So much you could accomplish if you open yourself up to tapping the unfulfilled potential inside you.  And I can show you how.

The huge beast crumples to the floor and as it does so it seems to rot and dissolve before your very eyes.  It is as if the link to the centuries-old magic is now broken and suddenly over five hundred years of decay takes hold in an instant.   You watch in fascination and a little horror as a luminescent green glow escapes the corpse and fades away.  As it does so the body seems to rot in seconds before your eyes and moments later there is nothing left of the creature.  The mangy-looking wolf on the perimeter of your camp shakes its head as if coming free of a dream.  It sees the fire and your group as if for the first time and quickly turns and limps off into the darkness.

(Combat is over!   Well played!)

What do you do next?

Vaclav dusts himself off a bit from where he got dirty climbing the rock. "Well, that wasn't exactly the type of visitors I was hoping for. Good work with the stabby stabby and all that." He seems a bit more punch-drunk than the last time you were in a fight.

Salazar, feeling the resistance suddenly snap, smiles.  Ah.  Yes.  Bend to my will...  He puts a hand to his head.  He visibly pauses.  Where did that come from...?

When his patron speaks to him, he thinks, I could get used to this.  I feel strong.  Good. Yeah, I can work with that.  How do I get stronger?

"We all good down there?"

Claire leans back, panting, feeling her racing heart slowly calm down.  She takes a moment to gather her wits by cleaning off the blade of her glaive carefully, making sure that the weapon doesn't rust or corrode.  It is only after the blade gleams back at her in the firelight that she manages to speak to the others again.

"Good?  That... was an Ancient Jade Wolf," she says slowly.  "An abomination created by power-hungry magi to impose their will upon innocent creatures, and turn them into the monstrosity we just fought," she explains.  "We did that poor thing a favor by ending its so-called life, but it was the hand of man that perverted it.  Humanity's own lust for power and supremacy created that thing.  We experimented with that which we don't understand, and cannot hope to control, and so we corrupted ourselves in the process."  She looks bitter as she says this.

The kernel of power in her own body had sung with delight at the sight of the wolf, thrumming in resonance with the power of its magical howl.  It had frightened her, and her attacks had been particularly vicious, fueled by her own panic.  Claire knew she was scared.  She also knew she was surrounded by the wrong group to air her fears to.  Vaclav, who fought with magic himself.  And Salazar, who drew on something similar... or perhaps darker, judging from the brief look that had overtaken his face as he killed the wolf.

And that left... Claire took one look at Nos Heliwr, doing all but licking the blood off of his daggers in delight, and decided to keep her concerns to herself.  Troubled, she stows her weapons and drags the wolf she had slain towards the edge of the clearing.  "Does anyone have skill at skinning this wolf?  It would be a waste to let this creature's death pass for naught," she said, pulling out her dagger.

(If someone wants to dismantle this wolf, have at it with help from Claire.  If no one feels like doing so, she can make a survival roll.  It won't be impressive.  XD)

"I'm afraid me talents dinna go in that direction, Claire," Nos Heliwr says. "Since we're all up. p'rhaps we should be on our way.  I bes thinkin' thet there would nae be any critters likely to wanna take a bite out o' us bein' round thet thing," he jerks his thumb to where the Jade Wolf disintigrated.  "Most self respectin' carnivores 'd bes hidin' out ,what.  'sides, I think wes all awake now, yes?"

The fight plainly got Nos Heliwr's blood moving faster as he paces around wound up wire tight.

'They're kinda mangy and flea bit anyways, too bad thet thing didna have gold teeth!"

"A pelt is a pelt," Claire says stubbornly.  She then relents a bit.  "But I find no joy in killing a wild animal not in control of its own facilities.  It would give its death meaning to try to make the most use of its remains.  A funeral of sorts, if you will.  I may botch it, but it's better than just leaving it here as if it were a piece of discarded trash." 

With her limited knowledge, she proceeds to attempt to skin and harvest the still-usable parts of the wolf.

Survival: 13

Claire is no hunter but she salvages a semi-decent wolf pelt. She even manages to make a small necklace of wolf teeth. 

You can elect to pack up camp and head on to Grunal now but that would mean foregoing a Long Rest for those that care. Up to you. 

Vaclav sits back down. "I would much prefer the rest. If we get into a fight I'm not much good without magic at this point and if we don't rest I don't have magic." 

"Okay, restin' 'tis," Nos Heliwr says agreeably, "I'll keep watch up there," he points to the higher rock SE of the fire. "Someone can spell me in three, four hours; how ever much time d' ye need Vaclav, wes dinna 'ave anywheres special t' be 'n' no special time t' bes there."  He makes a soft whistle, "If ye hears that, trouble bes about.  O'course it could jes announce itself as last time," he chuckles.  And with that he climbs up to the top of the rock and sets about becoming unnoticeable and watchful.

Salazar paces outside the tents for a time, worried.  The excitement of the past few moments was wearing down, leaving behind cool dread.  What else is out there?  These creatures probably were just looking for a meal, meaning there would be other hungry predators...  We handled these ones fairly easily, but what else could be watching us and gathering forces?

Salazar goes back into his tent, and when he lays down, his thoughts do not rest.  He begins to study his tattoos, discovering that he can will the writhing shape to any position on his body that he wants,though it feels like pond scum sliding around on his skin when he does so.  Willing everything to his wrists, he watches as the chains squirm bizarrely.  Weren't they smaller before?  Were they growing?  Such questions were pushed from his mind as Salazar watches the tattoos and he feels his mind loosen.  He functionally hypnotizes himself to sleep.

Hidden and silent in the night, Nos Heliwr watches, listening for things that don't belong.

The rest of the night passes seemingly without event.  The sun rises over the fields beyond the craggy cliff face and you're greeted with another bright, crisp spring morning in Northern Ibini.   Those of you new to this land would guess the climate here is fairly decent judging from the last few days since you made land fall.   Those of you who call Ibini home know this is unusual and spring is usually quite wet, even north of the mountains.

You can all benefit from a Long Rest.

You have a pleasant breakfast and go through your various morning routines, reading spell books, swinging glaives around, sharpening knives and the like.  Claire remembers to pick up her circle of caltrops after nearly standing on one during a sleepy-eyed warm up routine.

The road leads on to the north in the direction of Grunal.   If you set a good pace, Nos Heliwr tells you that you should make the town by lunchtime.  He recommends the Torrent as the best inn to stay in, but says the best food in the region is cooked by Mrs Ramsbottom of the run down and aptly named Shack tavern.  He does not recommend staying there but the food is apparently sublime.

Vaclav sends Chernobog ahead of them again to scout the road. He raises an eyebrow at the comment about the food. "Seems like she would do better if she improved the rooms, no? Why limit your income?" 

Chernobog grumbles that he's been up all night watching and needs to rest, but dutifully goes off to scout the road ahead.  He also tells you that he'll be flitting about a bit as he needs to hunt.  He reports a few people out and about in the fields nearby but they all just seem to be farm hands going about their usual business.   Nothing untoward worries you as you set off down the road north.

"Some people don't have the business acumen to juggle those sorts of concerns.  It's rare that those people make a living running a tavern, but if she is really as astounding a cook as Nos says she is, maybe that's really all she needs."  Claire shifts her pack and rolls her shoulders.  "Let's get there in time for lunch.  Hard tack and dried fruit only take you so far before the longing for a warm meal kicks in," she says with a slight smile.

Despite the banter, Claire keeps an eye on the road for any brigands or wildlife that might pose a threat to the party's travels.
Perception: 11

Still, she's completely distracted by the owl circling overhead.  It isn't really an owl, is it?  She can sense that much even without her own abilities, just by the way it pays complete heed to Vaclav's commands.  It looks like an owl, though.  How can something so innocent-looking be the product of magic?

Once Chernobog has given him an all clear Vaclav snaps his fingers, sending him off to his own little portion of reality to rest. "Chernobog says there's nothing to worry about in the surrounding area. He's not infallible but he has pretty good eyes so I'd say that this should be an easy walk. And hopefully no one else has made experiments like that wolf in this area anymore." 

"As for business, I'll leave the understanding of that to you and Salazar here. My father taught me about book keeping and the like but I'm afraid I was never very good at the human side of running anything. Father always said that my talents lay less in convincing people and more in other areas, though I think I've gotten better since he's gone." 

"I'm actually with Vaclav here.  If she's gone through the trouble of providing rooms at all, it'd be best to hire someone to maintain them, and even with the increased cost, it'd still be profitable.  I guess that getting enough money together to properly hire someone is a leap enough as it is.  Oh well.  I'm still excited for some excellent food."

Sal looks around, seeking any potential ambush, at times resembling a meerkat with its focused stare.  Perception 10

You head on along the flinty road which crosses farmlands and gently rolling low hills.  The air is crisp and the sun rises slowly into an azure blue sky.   Around mid morning a few clouds start to form and as the sun reaches its peak it is obscured by fluffy white cumulous clouds which cover about half the sky.  It's still pleasant but you note the chill quickly returns when the sun goes behind the clouds.

Topping a low rise around midday, you see the town of Grunal laid out before you.  A wooden palisade surrounds it and a wide and fast flowing river, the Ardeth, flows right through the town.  Barges are moored up in the middle of the town and the road you are on leads right in through the southern gate.   A lesser travelled road leads on to unknown places out through the northern gate.   The east side of the town is dominated by a huge mansion which sits inside its own palisade and is heavily guarded by orange bandana-wearing enforcers.  That is the home of Baron Gilbert, the ruler of this part of Northern Ibini.

Enforcers guard the town's southern gate as you approach.  One steps forward, hand on a short blade at his side.  His bandana is tied neatly around his waist and he has the look of authority about him.  He's middle aged with shaved hair and light stubble on his chin.  He's dressed in the typical leathers of his station.

"Well met travellers," he greets you not unkindly.  "What brings you to the metropolis that is Grunal?"   Around him three other enforcers look on, half bored.

Vaclav gives a bow of respect to the man. "We have come to look for work. We had heard that your lord needs help with a, special, matter and had hoped that we could be the ones to provide the help he needed."

The enforcer gives you all an appraising look.  "Ah, mercenaries, are you?  Well, in that case you are welcome here.  The master's chamberlain, Nevil, is the man you need to see.  You can go straight up to the manor house and ask the men at the gate there to see him.  If you're looking for lodging then there is the Shack and the Torrent, the only two choices in the town.  Walk on to the cross roads.  If it's the Torrent or the Manor House you want, then turn right there.  You'll pass the Torrent on your left soon enough and just follow the cobbled street to where it ends for the Manor House.  If you would prefer the comforts of the Shack then turn left at the cross roads.  Follow that road across the bridge to where it ends, right outside that tavern."  He runs a hand across his shaved head and scratches a stubbly cheek, looking you all over once again.  "I dunno what skills you bring that we don't but good luck if you're going to take on the master's job.  He deems us unsuitable, which to my mind means it must be right dangerous.  I hope you are feeling brave."

With that he steps aside and lets you enter the town through the south gate.