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Arcana check: 5

Mica seems worried at the sight of the misshapen villagers and echoes the sentiments of Phineas, but what really sets him on edge was the talk of massive, giant wolves. He’s dealt with wolves while in the wild, of course, but they had been no larger than a domestic dog, and then certainty hadn’t spoken to him. The talk of two missing people was concerning, but that wasn’t at the top of Mica’s list. Still, he gathers his nerves, and approaches the townsmember with the most fashionable dress, attempting to speak to someone who likely holds a lot of influence on the area, and will ask - “Look for Toril. Where can I find it?” in piecemeal wording.

Rak would walk into the town rubbing his hands together and cursing the cold. As they spot the group talking about wolves, the githyanki would grin and give the kenku a nudge with his elbow. "HA! Maybe we should hang around this village for a while.. seems we may be two of the best looking folks here!" He would say before giving the bird a slap on the shoulder.  When Mica asks his question, Rak would stand behing both him and the halfling. As they spoke the gith would just shake his head as he mutters to bane under his breath as he asks for guidance and offers his hand to the smartest looking of the group.. hoping to help the simpleton understand what his companions are asking 

(OOC: I wan't to guidance the snow hill billies so they know enough to answer our questions the right way!)

Phineas while your search comes up full of holes, the inbred townsfolks stare at the rest of you with a sense of wonder and hope.

"Toril?" one of them says, unsure, but a more pressing issue come to front. "We've got a wolf problem! Town speaker won't help! They're kid nappin' us towns folk, ya see! Can you's all help us?"

After trudging through the snow for four hours, Fintan was indeed agitated. Yes, this was a noble cause, and she still believed it was a noble cause. Yes, the wind had whipped at their faces, burning them with the icy cold of this place no matter how many layers they wore. Yes, her side ached and her limbs were stiff, her mind still pondering the way the crowd had cheered with blood lust. Yet after coming to this small town, seeing the dire in which they lived, relishing in how last moon fall was the first time she lay in a bed, that made the situation even more bleak. It gnawed at her mind, walking past the crumbled stone circle and seeing the people in their stature here, something was off like a darkness waiting to pounce in this place.

She tightened her grip on her short-sword at the talk of wolves, keeping it carefully concealed under her cloak so as to not introduce further spectacle upon their group. Commoners tended to like her, realizing she was many steps below them in the manner of stature. She could play upon it, but first she intended to look about the place herself. Upon hearing talk of a king's ransom, Fintan pulled Rak aside,still on alert in listening to her companies words, shielding their exchange with the height of her body. ''Rak, show me the wee pieces of metal you had to of gained from that fight. We must not tell the towns folk but I would like to find if one such as I could guess what it may be.'

Arcana: 7 added guidance roll 3

Nothing. You've never seen this metal before. How strange.

Mica gives a halfhearted laugh at the gith’s nudge, but otherwise ignores him. ”Town Speaker?” he repeats. A ‘Town Speaker’ would probably be able to string together a concise message, and would possibly know about Sephek. He points to the group and repeats the same word, along with the message about help, indicating that the townspeople would need to take them to the town speaker in order to have any of their help at all.

Rak would turn and whisper to Fintan. "Sure... Bane knows I don't know much about metals..." He would say as he opens his pack to show her the metal contents the Verbeeg had been carrying. He would also place a hand on her shoulder for a moment and grants her guidance as well.

add 4 to your arcana!

If Fintan though that the scraps were magical at all.. Rak would take another look as well (rollign arcana instead of investigation! 7)

Kilmus knew wolves.  Knew how they circled and snarled and then attacked.  He knew how to keep them at bay and kill them if needed.  He would step forward at the villager's entreaty

'The Speaker is the law in these parts I assume?  Why won't they help?'

These people were strange.  There was definitely something amiss with them, but that didn't mean they didn't deserve the protection of the law - or the protection that he could bring to them.

Phineas grimaces. "Wolves, huh? A pack of them...and they be talking?" The halfling raises an eyebrow to his allies while giving the inbred townsfolk a slow nod. "Sure...let me counsel with me friends here." He moves away from the townfolk, calling the others into a huddle. "Doesn't sound like they've seen the caravan, but they do be needin' some help...maybe in more ways than one," he says, raising both eyebrows in a whimsical manner. "Let us be about it if in is you all are in the helping humor and then we can quit this Hole before we find ourselves part of the family."

He returns to the townfolk. "Abouts where can these wolves be found," he asks, adding quickly. "We can rescue yer kin, but we'll be needing a favor in return. We've a long trek ahead of us. Some of that fine Knucklehead trout for the road would be nice."

"I've never heard of talking wolves.. but I guess they could be talking about werewolves. I've never seen one before but I watched a hol..uuhhh... a presentation where my commander briefed us on them before an expedition years ago.." Rak would say with a grin before looking from his companions back towards the townsfolk. 

Insight: 17

''Odd.'' She murmured more to herself then anything. The material seemed familiar in a way to her but she could not grasp it, much like the words these townsfolk said. Fintan moved towards the group, a quiet presence before casting a gaze bordering on frigid to the towns people they spoke to. ''What are your true intentions? Why are you asking kin you do not hear speak of?'' She spoke, a deep distrust harboring in her core, pulsating with suspicion though her face was smoothed by a seemingly innocent look. Something was not right here and her sharp eyes would detect any flinch in their eyes. ''Perhaps you know of any fellows in the dust that block out the sun like windy trees in the alleyway?'' She questioned, mouth curling around the jilted words of the Thieves Cant. She would attempt this just in case. (OCC:Do you have to roll to use languages?)

Kilmus: "Town speaker thinks they dead, yes! Dead! Stubborn! Won't help, no!"

Phineas: "Oy, sure, we be givin' ye fish, if ye brave enough to go! Just head out of town, east! They'll come! They'll come!!"

Fintan: The inbred townsfolk look at you like you're insane in the membrane. And no, you don't have to roll to use languages.

Rak: This metal is unlike anything you've seen before. You can't tell anything else. It's strange, that much you know.

Mica returns to the group, eyeing the surrounding villagers with caution. The task seemed frightening, but provisions would definitely come in handy. Maybe they could ask them to keep an eye out for the caravan they're searching for. "Head out of town, East?" he repeats, before making a face at the strange manner of speaking the inbred villagers had. He'd mimic elsewhere from now on. 

Mica's still curious about something Hlin said. This was one of the three villages that still practices human sacrifice, but frankly, he doesn't know if they are sophisticated enough to fathom the necessary thoughts to perform ritualistic sacrifices. Is there an altar or some sort of sacrificial pedestal in the city? 

Kilmus turns to the rest of the party - 'East, then? See if we can take these wolves down?  Can't see us leaving them behind without any law to help them.  Phineas, think you can pick up the trail?'

Phineas survival: 19

Nope. Not a chance. 

Luckily, the road east is the opposite way you came to Dougan's Hole from Good Mead, so you were able to leave town just fine. About twenty minutes down the road out of town, two very large winter wolves flank both sides of the road ahead of you, slowly approaching you all.

"Greetings, travelers!" the one on the right says in a friendly tone. "I am Koran! What brings you to the outskirts of Dougan's Hole?"

"Fresh meat!" the other winter wolf growls, "Come brother, let us dispatch them, now!"

"Come now, Kanan." Koran scolds. "They are not food, they are friends! Let us be nice and talk to our new friends, shall we?"

Koran appears to be limping. He seems injured.

Kilmus steps to the fore of the part, making a subtle hand signal to Phineas, hoping the halfling ranger hangs back and spreads out to look for an ambush.  Wolves liked to surround their prey, circling and snarling and looking for weakness.  Planting himself firmly in the middle of the road, the shepherd grounds his Halberd, letting the blade rest on his shoulders, a casual, easy rest position, meant to signal accommodation, but still ready to strike if the wolves closed on his position. 

'Greetings, we are seeking information on some townfolks who seem to have gone missing.  They believe you and yours may be holding them?  Perhaps in return for a ransom of some sort?  That doesn't sound like a very nice thing, but that's what we've heard.'

"Hey! Are you two werewolves? I've never seen a talking wolf before." Rak would shout towards the two creatures through the wind as his dark cloak billows in the breeze. He would a couple steps towards the injured one.. positioning himself between it and the rest of the group. 

Fintan would eye the wound of the animal, resting her hand against her own wound, before stepping besides the dark figure of Rak. She eyed the other wolf while keeping her grip form on the handle of her shortsword. Fintan forced herself to relax her posture in an open-ended manner, before speaking to Koran in a formal tone, a tone of equality. '' Hello fellow travelers. I see one of you be hungry and the other injured. Do you perhaps know the reason there is chaos around these parts? Maybe in exchange, one of us could subdue your current struggles.''

Mica is unnerved by the large size of the wolves. He hangs back after the rest of the party, unable to approach any closer, his instincts from years of living in the wild stopping him from approaching what would likely be a natural predator for Kenku. Still, his trepidation is offset by the curious nature of the wolves' speech, but still - creatures intelligent enough to speak were intelligent enough to contrive a scheme or plot a cunning ambush. "One of you...injured...maybe in exchange...information on some townsfolk who have gone missing...head back to town?"  he pieces together in the words of Fintan and Kilmus, offering an exchange to 

Mica's naturally incredibly suspicious. May he make an Insight check to see if the wolves are attempting to set up an ambush or lie to us in some malicious way? - 12