Dragon of Icespire Peak - Campaign 1

Mr. Dark makes quite the stealthy entrance but only disappointment follows as he searches around blindly for a Group spot. Finally, he decides to try a different approach. Like actually pay attention and really search. Light helps right? With a gentle touch, Dark gets his rocks off deeper into the cave.

"Who-Who goes there!?" A voice calls out timidly.

Although there were some oil lanterns in the room, Dark's light pebbles really brighten up the place. They come to a halt at the feet of two women, illuminating them with a dramatic shadow. One huddles into the other while she looks around with darting eyes.

Mr.Dark looks at the women, "Just a tired soul looking for a place to rest. I mean you no harm. Who are you?" 

The women relax a little from the man's words. The one uncurls herself from the other. She'd look him over for the first time and twitch. "R-rita." She holds her hands together to try to stop her trembling.

"Rizzo." The other one would speak up. "Who are you?" Her eyes would dart from Dark to the areas around him and behind him. She'd crane herself a little as if to try to look behind.

Mr. Dark crouches down, not advancing but getting sorta comfortable. "My friends call me Mr.Dark. It's a long story involving the military. Nice to meet you Rizzo and Rita. How is it that you're in this cave here? Are you cold, thirsty or hungry?  I have food."   He makes no move to offer them any. Though he's acting friendly he's still very much in threat assessment mode, and he is examining them to make sure they look 'normal' and there's nothing 'suspicious' about them.

Rizzo takes some cautious steps wide to the side to creep forward to see what Mr. Dark might be trying to take out of his bag. "We're here for shelter, much like you." She'd say, eyes darting from him to the cave entrance and back.

Meanwhile Rita too perks up with a twitch at the mention of food, but doesn't make an approach. "Where are your friends Mr. Dark?"

Examining them, Mr Dark sees that they have a wiry muscle structure and thin hair. They both seem to have quirks, twitching with darting eyes. Could it be they were just cold, hungry and frightened from being here a while?

Mr.Dark's skin crawls a bit as he watches the two twitchy sisters, "My friends? They're actually just outside. Shall I invite them in?"

He raises his voice to a shout, "Hey folks, come on in, there's a couple sisters here who are cold and hungry!" 

Auric:

Entering in at Mister Dark's invitation, Auric bathes the room in a warm amber light from his dragon orb.  Looking at the inhabitants, he says, "Greetings, I am Auric.  I was given to understand that we enter a working mine, yet mine eyes see only an abandoned cave, used by thee for shelter.  Tell me thine tale of where thee came from and how thee arrived here."

Auric is alert for deception, considering that these two women may not be what they seem.  He is concerned that there may be miners in distress deeper in the tunnel, and this might be a misdirection...

Persuasion if needed:  8

Insight:  23

     Kaemgen whistles for the wolves to come and then follows the sound of Dark’s voice.  He has his hands on his weapons as he approaches but since Datk didn’t sound distressed he didn’t draw them yet.,.

     “Friends of yours?” Kaemgen asks as he enters.

Their heads would tilt and jerk to every sound and movement. My what big ears they have...

"Oh, hello friends." Rizzo would move closer to Dark, at his side, to make room for the others to enter.

Their pupils dilated and darted dramatically, especially to the light coming from and reflecting off the gold dragonborn. My what big eyes they have... 

"This is a mine." Rita would confirm, taking tentative steps to the side so that Auric's light could reveal the two doors in the corner behind her. She places her shaking hand on a handle and opens the door a crack to reveal snaking tunnels just beyond.

Once they spoke, it was difficult to miss. My what big bucked teeth they have... 

"We have been displaced from our home and take refuge here." Rizzo confesses, her eyes darting around from one adventurer to the other and back outside.

Auric you know they are telling the truth, though there's something definitely off about them. They aren't your average humanoid...

Xenophon stows his maul and enters the cave.

Scott follows shortly after Xenophon. He makes a quick survey of the lane outside the cave, checking to see if anyone/thing noticed them entering the “mine”. 

Auric:

it was the teeth, after all, that gave something away.  Auric looked carefully at the two sisters and decided to take a chance, saying, “And thine home, oh mysterious ladies, wert thou run out due to thine affliction of lycanthropy?  Hast thou come upon this mine and feasted on the miners herein?”

Mr.Dark gives Auric a "I can't believe you just asked that" look, but can't quite open his mouth to blame him for the question...because....it makes a lot of sense.

He silently waits for the sisters to answer.

     Kaemgen looks from Auric to the sisters and then back again.  “Huh??”

     Kaemgen squints his eyes, furrows his brow, scratches absently at his head and tries to puzzle this out.  “Wait… what?”  Not totally successfully.

     “If they’re werewolves then they’d be living out there, in the woods,” he’d point out, shifting his head the way the entered to indicate the direction.  “And they’d of probably ended frozen stiffs like those orcs out….”

     “Hey!!  Are you hiding from the orcs?” Kaemgen asks suddenly.  “‘Cause if so, they’re totally freeze dried died!”

Checking their rear, Scott didn't sense any eyes watching them from the outside.

Rizzo's eyes dart around the approaching group, one by one, landing on the golden dragonborn. "My, what a knowledgeable group you are." Her mouth would pull into a twitchy smile.

Rita's head would jerk and tilt various angles. "They aren't completely accurate."

"That's true." Rizza would agree, returning her unsteady gaze to the others in the cave. "The orcs pushed us out of our home, and we came here."

The other would gesture to the doorway she had opened. "Would you like to speak to our overseer?"

(Auric detects no lies. And they would lead you to their leader if you'd like to talk to them.)

Xenophon holds up a hand. "What isn't completely accurate? Are you lycanthropes or aren't ya? I'd like to know if the people I'm talking to are werewolves or weretigers or whatever other werecreatures there are."

Scott keeps his eyes trained on the pair of twitchy women as he draws and knocks an arrow… just in case. Something about this situation feels off

Smiling wider for Xeno, Rizzo would chatter. "Rats." Her eyes dart from him to Scott then Auric. "Wererats." She confirms.

Auric:

”Forsooth, as I suspected,” says Auric, truthfully somewhat surprised he had hit so close to the mark.  The golden dragonborn considers what he knows of lycanthropes other than they share characteristics of the animals to which they are related.

History:  21

”As an outsider in this region myself, I would not judge thee for thine race, though I would judge thee for thine actions concerning the miners.  I ask this of thee once again—what of the miners who toiled here? Is their blood on thine teeth or claws?” presses Auric, willing to listen but becoming concerned by their evasiveness.

      "Huh," Kaemgen shrugs and... waits.  He casts an eye about for Castor and Pollux to ensure they're not getting up to any mischief but otherwise just... waits to see how this plays out.