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"Murder, Lies and Civic Duty."
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<blockquote data-quote="Kidjake" data-source="post: 6747252" data-attributes="member: 6776876"><p>We pick up the following morning, Ibaeli and the gorilla accompanied Kavos back home and the secretive mayor writes them off as being nothing more than a pair of bodyguards he acquired in Eastbank, citing the deaths of two sheriffs in less than a week as being a good sign they were needed. The people understand, though the sight of the wild elf Ibaeli and his hairy friend still draws heads wherever they go.</p><p></p><p>Kavos goes to Elder Hadran and asks the old man if there's been any news since he left. Elder Hadran reports that Looman arrived early in the morning with several carpenters from Eastbank who ignored the locals and went directly to work forming the foundations of their projects. Looman also reports that the traps have been set up by the mouth of the river.</p><p></p><p>Kavos mentions that Looman makes an alright sheriff and Hadran sighs. Kavos raises an eyebrow and Hadran says "Speaking of sheriffs....they found Gandil's body in the forest. It was tossed behind some bushes stripped bare."</p><p></p><p>Kavos excuses himself and heads to the temple to pay his last respects to Gandil's corpse, finds it and its severed head laying on a slab next to Longarm. Father Adrian is standing there with his sleeves pulled up around his elbows with a scalpel in one hand and needle and thread nearby.</p><p></p><p>Father Adrian moves in front of Gandil's corpse quickly and says that Kavos shouldn't be here, that he hasn't finished preparing Gandil for viewing yet. Kavos shakes his head dismissively saying that he's seen worse and that this isn't his friend anymore just an empty vessel, but that he appreciates Adrian's concern all the same.</p><p></p><p>The two clerics sit there awkwardly over Gandil's corpse for a moment before Kavos says that he actually came here to talk to Adrian. The priest asks what he needs him for and Kavos explains that he intends on questioning the bandit he captured and would like a little assistance.</p><p></p><p>Father Adrian seems surprised, but agrees. Tell Kavos to give him time to wash up and he'll meet him at the jail. Kavos agrees and uses this opportunity to send for Looman as well.</p><p></p><p>They all meet up about half an hour later in front of the jail and head inside. The bandit appears withered and dehydrated from such severe bloodloss and can barely hold his eyes open. Kavos casts Create Water over the bandit's head and a veritable deluge crashes down, waking him up but good.</p><p></p><p>"What do you have to say for yourself, scum?" Kavos demands.</p><p></p><p>The bandit glances around, terrified. "What do you want? I done told you that it wasn't the one what killed your friend. I wanted nothing to do with it!"</p><p></p><p>"Who leads these bandits?" Kavos shouts through the bars.</p><p></p><p>The bandit stammers before finally answering "Big John leads <em>these</em> bandits. He's the one you should be going after."</p><p></p><p>Kavos glares at the bandit like a predator about to strike, "Tell me where he is and maybe I will."</p><p></p><p>"I don't know!" the bandit wails. "He offered me a job in an Eastbank tavern, said if I passed his little test he'd make me one of his guys. Since I'm pretty sure you killed everyone he sent but me, I don't think I passed the test."</p><p></p><p>"I don't care if you're the one that made the killing blow." Kavos explains. "You were willingly affiliated with the group that murdered our sheriff and in my eyes you're just as guilty. Do you have any evidence that would sway me otherwise?"</p><p></p><p>"I don't..I mean we don't..I mean.. We're highwaymen! We don't keep evidence!" he shrieks pleadingly.</p><p></p><p>Kavos turns to Looman and asks what the proper way of dealing with Criminals in Westbank was, prior to Kavos assuming leadership.</p><p></p><p>"Hell..." Looman says with a shake of his head. "Local? We usually just kicked 'em around some and turned 'em back loose, unless of course someone got killed; then it's a hanging. But this fella from Eastbank? I say we use him as bait on the river."</p><p></p><p>Kavos smiles, "Of course. Interesting. We will let Pelor decide his fate. If he is truly innocent then he will be protected."</p><p></p><p>The bandit's cries turn from pleading to threatening, he begins shouting that "You people don't know who you're dealing with! My friends are going to burn this whole damned town down!"</p><p></p><p>"You have no idea who you're dealing with. Do not speak unless spoken to!" Kavos shouts, casing Cause Fear and smiling as the suddenly terrified bandit screeches, curls into a ball in the corner of his cell and cries.</p><p></p><p>Kavos dismisses everyone back to their duties and walks with Father Adrian back to the temple. Adrian doesn't seem to disapprove of his methods though he does point out that Pelor isn't traditionally a god of judgement. Kavos says that Pelor doesn't have to judge him, only punish him. Father Adrian smiles slightly and excuses himself once they get into the temple, saying that he has much work to do but will send when he's ready to perform Gandil's service.</p><p></p><p>Kavos watches Father Adrian head back downstairs to tend to his lost sheriffs before walking over the the altar of Pelor and resting a hand on it. He decides that he's had enough of Pelor and wants to drive his presence from this place. He mutters a prayer and casts Desecrate, however he's surprised to find that this wasn't a Consecrated area to begin with and the aura of corruption spreads over the altar unopposed.</p><p></p><p>He glances around to make sure that nobody noticed what he done and then smiles and exits the temple, meeting a parishioner on the way in he nods his head and pleasantly says "Pelor grant you strength."</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p> Kavos finds Ibaeli and the gorilla lounging by the river and tells the young druid that he's ready to deal with the unicorn's nuisance now. Without another word, Ibaeli gathers his things and follows Kavos, eager to prove himself to his brutish master.</p><p></p><p>The trip is uneventful, several times they discover wolves following them in the forest; though the wolves seem to smirk when Ibaeli notices them, almost as if they know him and are looking out for him. Briar's Pass itself is as dilapidated as ever and it looks like they just stopped caring.</p><p></p><p>Kavos and Ibaeli head to the Inn to ask around about the wizard they're after. The only two people in the place are a strange pair. A human and a halforc, each in handsomely fitted armor who seem to be serving themselves and discussing which of the town's women they find least repulsive. The human wears a large shield across his back and a longsword at his waist, while the orc wears an ornate greatsword on his back.</p><p></p><p>Kavos introduces himself and his traveling companion and they do likewise, momentarily giving up their tasteless game. The human's name is Bartan while the half-orc is called Rutgard.</p><p></p><p>Kavos asks if either of them know of a wizard in the are and Rutgard shakes his head, saying that no wizards live around these parts. The man known as Bartan however nods and says "Remember? That coot Rambalt is some sort of magic user, that's probably who they want."</p><p></p><p>The half-orc disagrees and says that wizards are, by and large, useful people; whereas Rambalt is a waste of good food and the two of them begin debating this new topic with gusto.</p><p></p><p>Kavos interrupts them again to ask where Rambalt actually is and the half-orc says that the idiot barricaded himself in the shack on the northeast border of town when the spiders came through.</p><p></p><p>They head where directed and find a shack that's just as descriped, four battered walls that look barely large enough to house a man; let alone a supposed wizard's ego. Kavos knocks on the door.</p><p></p><p>It takes several moments and another knock, but a thin; wiry man with peachfuzz hair and thick glasses eventually opens the door barely a crack. "Afraid I'm busy at the moment, not safe I'm afraid." he says with a chipper inflection. "Maybe next week."</p><p></p><p>"Afraid not," Kavos says, barely able to get the end of his staff inside the door in time to keep it from closing. "I need to speak with you now. I'm the Mayor of Westbank and I'm constructing homes for the people of Briar's Pass. May I come inside?"</p><p>Rambalt glances over his shoulder nervously. "Erm...I..I suppose." he finally says, unleashing the various locks and latches on his side of the door and allowing the PCs entrance. As he opens the door they can see that his plain, utilitarian clothes are soaked in blood and gore and that he's wearing thick gloves up to his elbows covered in the same. The shack has two chairs, a bed and a chamber pot; but not much else. However there is a door leading down into what is presumably a cellar which is barred and chained shut.</p><p></p><p>"To be honest, it might be better if I stayed here." Rambalt says sheepishly. "My experiments make me a rather lousy neighbor at times."</p><p></p><p>"What sort of experiments?" Ibaeli asks, his eyes focusing. The gorilla senses its master's irritation and glowers as well.</p><p></p><p>"I'm attempting to create a hardier; more expendable security force to help counteract the local bandits." Rambalt explains. "We've lost enough good men, no sense in losing more you know...." he adds with a sigh. "However so far they've proven...less than cooperative, although that might just be the nature of my test subjects."</p><p></p><p>"Abomination!" Ibaeli shouts in disgust.</p><p></p><p>Rambalt staggers back a few steps stammering. "I-i-is it abominable to save lives? Is it abominable to h-h-hope for a better future?" he asks, holding up his hands defensively.</p><p></p><p>"Show me these experiments, manflesh." the angry druid demands.</p><p></p><p>"One of them is umm...resting." Rambalt responds, looking at his shoes.</p><p></p><p>"While I disagree with Ibaeli's disgust, I do believe that people have a right to know what sort of projects you're working on. They could be dangerous after all." Kavos says with a frown. "Show us."</p><p></p><p>Rambalt looks at his uninvited visitors for a moment and then sighs. "Give me a moment to make sure it's safe..." he says, slowly removing the bolt and chains so as to avoid making noise and motions for his guests to stay upt. He slips downstairs as quietly as possible and for several moments there's no sound.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly however there's an indignant roar and the rattling of chains as Rambalt stumbles back upstairs breathlessly. "Alright, he's ready for company"</p><p></p><p>Kavos steps downstairs after Rambalt nervously, followed by Ibaeli and the gorilla. the 'cellar' is many times larger than the shack itself and has half a dozen tables and workstations set up around it. Several staffs, wands and rods hang upon the wall and a massive bookshelf seems equally stuffed with strange volumes and magical scrolls..</p><p></p><p>A strange, massive figure better than 8ft tall and made of clay is laid upon one of the tables, but only half finished. It's obviously supposed to be in the shape of a man; while a pair of arms narly the size of rambalt himself and made of wrought iron rests on another table.</p><p></p><p>Far back against the wall is a creature that once may have been a man, but seems to be cobbled together from different men and even races. It flails against a collar recently placed upon its neck and attempts to free itself violently, seemingly more concerned with killing Rambalt than its own life. In fact, it's so singleminded that as they watch; it breaks its own neck with a mad rush forward and falls to the ground without another sound.</p><p></p><p>Rambalt rushes forward in tears, grabbing the creature by the head and cradling it like an overgrown infant. "No, no, no, no, no....not again. Not again!" he wails over his creation between gasping sobs.</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli soundlessly shuts the door to the shack, letting neither Kavos nor Rambalt know what he's doing. He's growing visibly angry at this man playing god.</p><p></p><p>"All I have to work with are these damned bandits!" Rambalt laments, releasing his failed experiment and collapsing back onto his haunches. "They're too unwieldy and temperamental while they're alive. Spending a few days rotting on Bartan's handcart doesn't make them any easier to work with."</p><p></p><p>"How long would these monsters take to finish?" Kavos asks, immensely intrigued.</p><p></p><p>"If I had quality parts? I suspect less than a month. Maybe even a couple of weeks." Rambalt says, shaking his head. "But I have need of surgeons, when all I can hire are butchers..."</p><p></p><p>"Do you know that your magical stench plagues our forest?" Ibaeli asks with a low growl.</p><p></p><p>Rambalt seems surprised and sniffs the air. "I know that people don't sit next to me at the tavern...but I didn't realize it had gotten that bad." the pathetic little mage says obliviously.</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli lunges forward, becoming a wolf as he does so. Kavos moves to cut him off screaming that the elf isn't to hurt this man, however he's too slow to stop the gorilla from sidestepping him and grabbing Rambalt by the throat as he attempts to crabwalk out of harm's way.</p><p></p><p>"You don't need to kill him!" Kavos shouts, "Your master only wanted him to leave and <em>I</em> will bring him to Westbank. The forest will be pure once again!"</p><p></p><p>The gorilla holds Rambalt by the neck as Ibaeli starts sniffing around the room with his wolf senses. He smells where Rambalt's corpses are kept and growls at the locked door intently.</p><p></p><p>"Release him!" Kavos demands again. "I will do your master's bidding, but I will not let you kill this man."</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli barks for the gorilla to kill him.</p><p></p><p>As soon as the gorilla flexes to tear open Rambalt's throat Kavos unleashes the spell he'd been readying and hits it with Command: Fall. Rather than murdering Rambalt, the gorilla takes its turn to leap face forward onto the ground. Rambalt rushes to the wall the second he's free and snatches a staff, spinning around and gripping it tightly as an aura of perceptible cold springs up around his weapon.</p><p></p><p>Seeing that Rambalt is now armed, Ibaeli charges him but is held off by the plucky mage's staff.</p><p></p><p>This is the point where Ibaeli's player says that he wishes he'd wildshaped into a gorilla so that he could speak with them. I point out that gorilla's can't talk and he calls BS, citing that he's seen Planet of the Apes and they seemed to have a pretty good grasp of English.</p><p></p><p>Kavos rushes towards Rambalt's storage closet and throws open the door. "Iabeli, look!" he says, indicating only an orc and half-orc who seem to have been slain in battle before being brought here. "No animals! He's not threatening your master's domain!"</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli pulls away, sniffing the air. The only smells he can find are those of rotting flesh and strong chemicals. Rambalt cradles his staff as he presses his back further against the wall.</p><p></p><p>Kavos takes Rambalt by the hand and drags him towards the exit. "I'm bringing this man back to my town Ibaeli. He isn't harming the forest and there's no reason for you to object to this!"</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli growls as the two of them leave, but makes no further move to stop them. Once they're upstairs Kavos leads Rambalt to the inn for a drink and laughs nervously as he says "Druids, right?"</p><p></p><p>Rambalt gives a nervous laugh of his own and nods.</p><p></p><p>"Let me set things straight." Kavos explains. "I am not opposed to your experiments and I can offer you shelter, unimpeded research and any necessary resources. All I ask is that you continue just as you're doing. This is a step up Rambalt, believe me."</p><p></p><p>"What about the druid?" Rambalt asks nervously.</p><p></p><p>"I'll worry about the druid." Kavos assures him.</p><p></p><p>Rambalt asks if someone could bring his things to Westbank; the iron arms alone represent more than a year's work in wages and effort. Kavos nods and says that he'll hire someone, he suggests that Rambalt wait until Ibaeli leaves and then pack his things. He then hands Rambalt a key and instructs him where to find Longarm's old house.</p><p></p><p>They hang around town for a bit and hire out Bartan's handcart and services for the day and then Rambalt asks Kavos to stop by his house with him before heading back to Westbank. Kavos is a little nervous about complying, but doesn't want to seem rude.</p><p></p><p>Once they're sure that Ibaeli is no longer here (though to their horror he's stolen the clay golem by using ant haul on his gorilla) Rambalt rummages in his belongings for a moment before returning with an old, rusted iron rod. He hands it to Kavos and says that it's one of his more useful tools; but he'd like for him to have it for saving his life.</p><p></p><p>"Uhh.....thanks" Kavos says unconvincingly, taking the rod.</p><p></p><p>Rambalt tells him to press it against the desk and as Kavos does so the wood splinters and rots before his eyes until a tower shield sized hole is simply missing from the top. Rambalt explains that it's a rod of Ruin and that he's used it in the past to clear debris during explorations; he apologies for the appearance but explains that its entropic energies give it a rather lackluster appearance.</p><p> </p><p>Kavos expresses genuine gratitude for such a useful tool and decides to help Rambalt pack his things.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> It takes several hours for Ibaeli and the gorilla to drag the clay golem to the unicorn's grove but they find the unicorn waiting for them all the same. The unicorn makes a distasteful face as the golem is dragged before it.</p><p></p><p>Ibeli quickly tells the unicorn what's transpired. The unicorn seems quite impressed that Ibaeli went to such lengths to please him.</p><p></p><p>"This clay-man reeks of the mage's magic." the unicorn growls. "Did you kill it elf-flesh?"</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli shakes his head. "No, it was never alive to begin with. A failed experiment of the wretched wizard. There was another made of sewn together manflesh, but we didn't think you would want that to spoil the grove."</p><p></p><p>The unicorn nods. "You have done us a service...Ibaeli." it says, awkwardly using the elf's name. Reaching down, the unicorn appears to bite a snake amid the foliage which strikes the great beast's face several times with its venomous bite as the unicorn shakes it savagely. On the third shake the snake is replaced by a leather belt which the unicorn tosses at Ibaeli's feet.</p><p></p><p>"You serve the forest and the forest rewards you elfflesh." the unicorn says with a tinge of pride.</p><p></p><p>Kavos interrupts this tender moment by stepping into the grove, having followed the trail left by dragging a clay sculpture more than a mile. "The wizard is taken care of, he is not dead but I am moving him out of the forest. The deal is done, may I harvest my trees?" </p><p></p><p>The unicorn nods and says that Kavos may take what he needs and then adds "Iabaeli has proven himself a worthy wervant of our realm; we ask that you assist him as he surveys your town. We have been long removed from the affairs of men and would know more of you if we are to be...allies."</p><p></p><p>Kavos agrees and adds that he's evacuating the people of Briar's Pass so that the unicorn can reclaim that portion of its forest. The unicorn says that it will see once the manstink is gone.</p><p></p><p>Kavos nods and says that he believes their deal is done, however the unicorn gets a glint in its eye and says "Oh, before we forget."</p><p></p><p>Kavos braces for an attack as the unicorn jerks its head, signaling for a great brown bear to emerge from the brush carrying a battered and bloody piece of chest armor. Kavos relaxes a bit. The bear drops the armor and the unicorn flips it face up, revealing the image of two fullsized mirrors facing each other but blank; the symbol of the Wandering Duke.</p><p></p><p>"Several creatures tried to pass through our realm." the unicorn says, absently stomping on the tattered breastplate. "Do these belong to the one who seeks you?"</p><p></p><p>Kavos nods. "Yes. Yes it does."</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli asks what happened and the unicorn says "They tried to use our forest to hide their presence, our wolves watched them and they struck one with an arrow." the unicorn growls low at this. "There were twelve such creatures with arrows and armor and cutting blades. Now there are only filled bellies and refuse."</p><p></p><p>Kavos asks where these men came from and the unicorn describes the northern border of the forest, the absolute edge of the unicorn's territory. Kavos asks if he can take the armor and the unicorn seems eager to be rid of it.</p><p></p><p>"How do you propose we establish this alliance unicorn?" Kavos asks.</p><p></p><p>"This realm is ours, it always has been, it always will be." the unicorn says bluntly. "If strange manflesh trespasses, then it will die. Stand with us and you are not strange manflesh."</p><p></p><p>Kavos agrees, much preferring the unicorn being on his side than against him and assures the unicorn that if the forest needs him, he will heed its call. The unicorn in turn promises to alert Kavos if any other soldiers follow. Kavos thanks the unicorn and says that he must leave now, his town must be warned.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, while Kavos and the unicorn speak, Ibaeli settles down next to an older, matronly druid in the form of a great shewolf. Her name is Yara and Ibaeli remembers her being an elderly halfling in her natural form.</p><p></p><p>"Do you ever get the feeling that unicorn doesn't care for us being in its forest?" Ibaeli asks.</p><p></p><p>Yara laughs and says that it's just his way, she explains that he was never meant to lead the druids; he never actually studied among his people's priests. She points out that he was one of the protectors, the warriors meant to keep the priesthood safe. She mentions that he was always taught to be wary of the outside world and that that training is all he knows; the other unicorns, the ones felled by the ettercap, were the open minded ones. The ones actually equipped to deal with the outside world instead of just squash it to keep it away.</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli asks why they would follow him if the other druids know that he's not fit to lead. Yara answers only that their kind has always venerated the unicorns and that it's the hope of the druids that this one can be taught to lead. </p><p></p><p>Ibaeli excuses himself as Kavos disappears beyond the grove and approaches the unicorn, asking what his mission is now that the mage is gone. The unicorn tells Ibaeli to get acquainted with the town of men and see if they are a threat to the forest. If they are, he wants to know how best to raze them to the ground.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> Kavos calls an emergency meeting the second he arrives in town, having Elder Hadran, Father Adrian and Sheriff Looman all use every ounce of their authority to drag in the town as fast as possible.</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli hangs around the front of the town hall, making small talk as the locals files in; probing for how safe they feel and what they think of recent events; just trying to get a feel for the town's condition. Unsurprisingly, the whole town is on edge having lost two sheriffs in as many weeks and finding out they're about to be taken over. When Ibaeli finally tires of questioning townspeople he goes to the townhall as well, noticing Rambalt has slipped in without him noticing and that the sheepish mage refuses to make eye contact ouf of fear.</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli snatches Rambalt by the scruff of the neck, his clawlike nails digging painfully in the book worm's flesh. "I need armor for my gorilla and you're the man to do it." Ibaeli growls low.</p><p></p><p>Rambolt flinches and grits his teeth before nodding his head ever slightly. " I th-th-think I can do that." he murmurs. Ibaeli tells him to make it top priority and Rambalt says that he'll have to have a fitting for the gorilla at this home since he didn't bring any of his stuff with him.</p><p></p><p>Before Ibaeli can extort the poor mage any further Kavos stands upon the raised stage and loudly proclaims "The Duke is coming!" holding up the bloody armor for everyone to see. "We all know why he's coming - thanks to Longarm's letter. The Duke is a slimy rat and will do anything to take this place we have built. He will do one of two things, he will either try to sow dissent and take it quietly while we bicker among ourselves or he will invade by force. The outcome will be the same; he will destroy your way of life."</p><p></p><p>Kavos paces about the stage. "I know enough of the Duke to know that he will attempt to turn you against me. He despises leadership which bows to the will of the people. So that each of you may have peace of mind, I will bare my soul to you."</p><p></p><p>Kavos casts Zone of Truth centered on himself. "I did not forge the letter Longarm was carrying, nor did I kill our sheriff, I did however assist in slaying the ettercap which controlled the spiders. I became your mayor honestly, I never interfered with the votes and have given this town my all ever since my election. I am not employed by the Duke or the rebels though the Duke may claim otherwise. I beg you to understand this." he says, cleverly avoiding his actual involvement in most things through technicalities.</p><p></p><p>"What brought you here to begin with?" Yard the dissident from before asks.</p><p></p><p>Kavos almost stammers but then smiles and says "I needed a new home and when I found this town, I knew it would be perfect."</p><p></p><p>The townspeople seem impressed and after a quick Q&A session that deepens Kavos's cover story (and makes even those formerly for a military presence question the Duke's intentions now that blood has been drawn) he asks that everyone return home, except for those looking for work.</p><p></p><p>A handful of tradesmen stick around and Kavos explains that he needs people to go into the forest to the north and collect as much spider silk as they can find. He stresses that spiders are neither to be killed nor approached, only their silk is to be collected. Only three tradesmen stay behind when they hear the job.</p><p></p><p>Kavos explains that he's worked out a trade agreement with Eastbank and while several of them curse and spit at the mention of Eastbank they all seem desperate enough for the coin that they still agree. Once that's settled Kavos approaches Elder Hadran and has him work on setting up the traders that they have to deal with incoming merchants from upriver; Hadran is understandably impressed.</p><p></p><p>As Kavos is finished with the minutiae of the trade agreement he exits the town hall and slams right into Deputy Horace who's running towards him excitedly. Grabbing Kavos by the collar he leans in and whispers "They caught something!"</p><p></p><p>Kavos's eyes widen. "At the river?" he asks, receiving an affirmative nod from Horace. "Alive?"</p><p></p><p>"They've been watching the traps for days and one of those ugly monsters swam RIGHT into it! The damned thing's kicking up a fuss, but it' still alive." Horace says excitedly.</p><p></p><p>Kavos glances around the town for a moment thinking. This might be bigger than silk exports, he muses. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> Kavos rides out to the mouth of the river as fast as he can and finds a group of people crowding around and gawking. Sheriff Looman and his deputies are there, along with several of the hardier farmers and the ranger Jonathan Lark, although Lark is sitting off to the side staring into the water and smoking his pipe.</p><p></p><p>When they realize that the mayor is there Looman rushes over and tells Kavos that they saw several of them pass by, but they retreated back into the lake when they saw one of their number get trapped. </p><p></p><p>"What is it Looman?" Kavos asks, but Looman says that he might as well see for himself.</p><p></p><p>Kavos approaches the net and finds a creature roughly the size of a man with a vaguely humanoid shape, though covered in deep orange scales and large fins; its mouth is filled with rows of needle-like teeth.</p><p></p><p>"Some kinda damned fishman." Looman says, unable to believe his eyes.</p><p></p><p>"How long has it been out of the water?" Kavos asks, seeing the fight the creature's putting up to get free.</p><p></p><p>"A little longer than it took you to get here." Jonathan says, exhaling a small puff of pleasant smelling smoke. "Seems like it can breathe alright."</p><p></p><p>"Think it could survive a few days outside the river" Kavos asks the ranger.</p><p></p><p>Jonathan nods, "I'd be willing to bet its life on it."</p><p></p><p>Kavos nods and looks around before asking Looman "Where's the bandit? I thought you were using him as bait."</p><p></p><p>Looman seems surprised. "Noone told you? The bandit's dead boss."</p><p></p><p>"How'd he die?" Kavos asks irritably.</p><p></p><p>Looman shakes his head and shudders, "Swallowed his own tongue. Father Adrian took him some food after we finished up, saying that everybody deserved a last meal, and when Devon went to get the platter back the guy was dead."</p><p></p><p>Kavos shakes his head, he didn't think the bandit had it in him. "Well set up another trap and get this one to a cell in Westbank, I'll be able to question it tomorrow."</p><p></p><p>Jonathan stows his pipe and starts measuring out rope while Devon and Horace haul the creature to a wagon for transport. Kavos rides back to town with them.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile Ibaeli and his gorilla have cornered Professor Rambalt in his own home, forcing him to take the gorilla's measurements in order to create it a suit of magical armor for protection. Rambalt nervously assures the terrifying druid that he'll have the armor ready as soon as he can gather the materials.</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli growls and grabs the timid mage by the collar of his shirt, "You have until the sun rises to finish it or else my gorilla crawls inside of YOU!"</p><p></p><p>Rambalt whimpers and says that that'll be fine, he'll do his best with what he's got.</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli hurls him face first into the wall and tells him that he wants better than that, and that his life depends on it. Ibaeli and his gorilla leave the whimpering mage to his work and head off to the edge of town to claim a spot to sleep.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The next morning comes quickly and Kavos arrives at the jail before first light, the creature inside is livid; growling and snarling and hurling itself against the bars. Deputy Devon is more than happy to be relieved of his watch.</p><p></p><p>Once Kavos and the creature are alone, he reaches through the bars and quickly casts Share Language, giving the creature the ability to converse with him in goblin, one of the many languages he's picked up over his long life. The creature continues thrashing and cursing until Kavos calmly says "I can release you to your people you know. I'm the leader here."</p><p></p><p>Once the creature realizes he can understand it, its eyes grow wide and it ceases its hissy fit.</p><p></p><p>"I've allied myself with the creatures of the forest, why not the denizens of the lake as well?" Kavos says pleasantly.</p><p></p><p>"Why have you taken me?" the creature asks, obviously confused.</p><p></p><p>"My people are disappearing and they're worried about that. I've only done to you what you've done to us for months." Kavos points out.</p><p></p><p>"We only take what we need to survive. You have so much..." the fish creature says jealously.</p><p></p><p>"Your people...what do they need to survive?" Kavos asks.</p><p></p><p>"Meat. Fresh, filling meat. There are so many of us and nowhere to go, nowhere to hunt. The fish are too small to feed families." the creature says, the desperation apparent in its voice.</p><p></p><p>"We have food." Kavos offers helpfully. "But then you already know that. Tell me, what can you offer us in exchange?"</p><p></p><p>"We have so little..." the locathah says pathetically. "We have the river...but it is so empty now. My clan has lost much."</p><p></p><p>"How many of you are there?" Kavos asks.</p><p></p><p>The locathah grins devilishly, a hint of pride creeping through its 'poor me' act. "Many."</p><p></p><p>Kavos opens the cell door and draws his dagger, the fish man looks panicked and tries to back away, but trips onto the bed. Kavos leans down and cuts the ropes binding the creature's hands together. It seems surprised and flexes its arms to get the feeling back.</p><p></p><p>Kavos leaves the cell and asks the creature to sit with him at the table in the room. It shuffles out at an agonizingly slow pace, its legs are not meant to travel on land but it does as it is bid. Retrieving a bowl, Kavos casts Create Water to fill it up and passes it to the locathah which drains it almost immediately.</p><p></p><p>"Humans do not like being stolen from my friend." Kavos says with a tsk, tsk, tsk sound. "The livestock was one thing, we could have almost handled that. Jessup's son was another. Do you know who was responsible for taking the boy?"</p><p></p><p>The locathah seems genuinely confused. "Meat is meat?" it seems to ask.</p><p></p><p>"Not our meat. Our meat is off-limits. Do you know of anyone who eats it?" Kavos demands.</p><p></p><p>Shamelessly the creature admits "We do. I do, clan does....when meat is brought, we eat. No time for questions, eat or go hungry."</p><p></p><p>With a wave of his hand Kavos summons a pony, "I can make endless meat." Kavos says as the creature obviously salivates at the thought of sinking its teeth into the little horse. "You have a food shortage and I have the solution."</p><p></p><p>The locathah reaches for the pony and Kavos dismisses it with a second wave of his hand. "If you want what I have, you'll have to work for it. First off, you no longer eat our meat. It's forbidden."</p><p></p><p>It's hard to tell if the creature is even listening, but it nods its head all the same. "Fair..." the creature mutters.</p><p></p><p>Kavos refills the bowl with water a second time. "I'm going to let you go locathah. I'm even going to feed all of your families."</p><p></p><p>The creature's eyes narrow and it snaps from its reverie. "If....?" it asks suspiciously.</p><p></p><p>Kavos shrugs. "We'll have to see. Consider this a down payment on a mutually beneficial relationship."</p><p></p><p>The creature has no objections, not even when Kavos rebinds its hands and leads it from the jail and to Elder Hadran's house. The elder is quite surprised at the sight of his new visitor, though he invites them in all the same.</p><p></p><p>"I have a plan to deal with these creatures, but it involves letting this one go. I need to send it back to its clan with a gift of meat, can you purchase some sheep from the farmers for me?" Kavos quickly explains. "They don't mean any malice, it's only their food shortage that causes them to raid us."</p><p></p><p>Elder Hadran says that folks won't like dealing with these creatures, but he's personally for any solution that limits casualties. Hadran asks how many sheep Kavos wants him to procure.</p><p></p><p>Kavos turns and asks the creature which responds with "I...don't know. We take what we can, but the clan still goes hungry. Many haven't eaten in days and some....some turn to kin for meat."</p><p></p><p>Kavos counts up how much gold he has left and tells Elder Hadran to see if he can get 10 sheep for it, and that if it's not enough he'll work something out with the farmers for the rest. Elder Hadran voices a little surprise that Kavos is paying so much out of his own pocket for the town's benefit and Kavos smiles, saying that he's not going to force another man to give up his wealth for his plan.</p><p></p><p>Elder Hadran has even more respect for the newly elected mayor as he calls on his contacts for a good price on sheep and has 10 delivered to the river bank within the hour.</p><p></p><p>Kavos and the locathah are the only two along the river bank, save for the sheep, and Kavos tells the fishman to deliver these sheep to his clan as a gift and to return for more within the month. The locathah humbles itself before Kavos's generosity and takes the bleating animals one at a time upstream to the lake. Kavos stands on the bank, slitting each beast's throat before tossing them in with the locathah to save time and in just over an hour Kavos is left alone on the bank.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> Just as Ibaeli promised, as soon as the sun rises he visits Rambalt's house to collect his companion's armor, not caring that it's been less than 10 hours since the request was made. Approaching the door, Ibaeli notices a note pinned to it and he snatches it down irritably before turning his eyes to it.</p><p></p><p>It reads "Ibaeli, there was a very minor setback with assembling your armor on time. It turns out that I didn't have enough leather on hand, but luckily I did have enough ink to write a Sepia Sigil."</p><p></p><p>The second that Ibaeli finishes the letter his eyes widen and he leaps out of the way as a transluscent serpent strikes out where he just was, dissipating into the air harmlessly. Ibaeli looks at his gorilla to make sure he's ok with a little panic in his eyes, it just occuring to him that giving a wizard 10 hours to think of a way to avoid getting his ass kicked may have been a bad idea.</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli orders his gorilla to find Kavos and begins throwing rocks at Rambalt's house, one of them shatters his front window and is rewarded with a soft flash of light from within that Ibaeli can't identify but is glad didn't hit him.</p><p></p><p>Eventually the gorilla finds Kavos and drags him to the house, Kavos sees Ibaeli trying to jimmy the lock and sighs. "Ibaeli, what the hell are you doing here?"</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli doesn't even look back, he simply says "Gotta kill the wizard."</p><p></p><p>Kavos rubs his temples. "<em>Why</em> Ibaeli?"</p><p></p><p>"BECAUSE WIZARD MUST DIE!!!" Ibaeli shouts by way of an explanation.</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli orders the gorilla to go in first and it leaps through the window without any ill effects, follow by its master. The whole town is standing there gawking at this spectacle.</p><p></p><p>Kavos lunges through as well and snatches both Ibaeli and the gorilla by the scruff of their necks and with a miraculous burst of strength (several natural 20s vs their unimpressive rolls of 4-5) he literally drags the pair out of the house and tosses them into the strength. </p><p></p><p>"Why do you care about this so much?" Ibaeli shouts.</p><p></p><p>"Because this isn't the wild Ibaeli, this man is a tax paying citizen and as both the mayor and a sane human being I'm not going to let you do anything to him. Why do you have such a bone to pick with this guy anyway? What's he done to you?" Kavos asks exasperatedly.</p><p></p><p>"You know what?" Ibaeli says, growling as he shifts to the form of a wolf. Whatever he was going to finish with is replaced by a malicious bark and the gorilla charges Kavos with a roar.</p><p></p><p>Kavos responds by casting Cause Fear on the gorilla which shrieks in fear and rushes past Kavos and towards the woods, unable to control its sheer terror. Kavos isn't fast enough to stop Ibaeli in his wolf form from tackling him off his feet and biting into his throat painfully.</p><p></p><p>Kavos wrestles with Iabeli's jaws desperately before another lucky string of rolls allows him to toss Ibaeli away from him and draw his staff. Ibaeli growls and shifts back into his elf form so that he can cast spells once again.</p><p></p><p>"That <em>man</em> nearly killed me with an exploding hunk of paper tacked on his door! It was left there specifically as a trap!" Ibaeli snarls.</p><p></p><p>"Then you should have let me deal with him. Tell me this Ibaeli, why are you at his house to begin with?"</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli stammers, unable to explain his presence in a way that doesn't make him look like power-drunk bully and instead casts Aspect of the Bear, becoming considerably more bearlike. "Just get out of my way Kavos." he growls deeply.</p><p></p><p>Kavos sighs. "I can't do that Ibaeli, I'm afraid you're going to have to go through me. Nobody's going to bully my townspeople."</p><p></p><p>"Have it your way!" Ibaeli shouts, rushing Kavos with a wild howl and intending to break the elderly cleric's spine.</p><p></p><p>Kavos hold up a hand and casts Cause Fear as Ibaeli gets close, simply whispering "Boo."</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli can't control the panic inside and flees after his gorilla and towards the forest he left behind.</p><p></p><p>Kavos takes a deep breath to clear his mind and then knocks on Rambalt's door, it takes several moments before the nervous mage appears in the doorway clutching a staff to himself and sporting a brace of wands along his waist. "I-i-is he gon?" Rambalt asks.</p><p></p><p>"Why was there 'an exploding paper' on your door? What was Ibaeli talking about? I told him to not speak with you." Kavos asks.</p><p></p><p>"He came by last night and demanded I make a set of armor for his beast. I told him that I would need time to gather the materials and fashion it; but he gave me until sunup to have it finished. Then he assaulted me." Rambalt says nervously. "I simply didn't have enough leather to complete such a project and he didn't seem like he was going to listen to reason, you know druids... The sigil was perfectly nonlethal, I just thought that if I had a few more days perhaps I could work something out."</p><p></p><p>"Dear gods! Where did the unicorn find this loon?" Kavos exclaims. "Rambalt...you're in a lot of danger."</p><p></p><p>Rambalt swallows nervously and says that he'll be prepared next time, he won't bother with nonlethal.</p><p></p><p>"No!" Kavos says firmly. "You're not leaving explosives lying around for children to trigger. If you feel threatened, then find some way to get in touch with me."</p><p></p><p>Rambalt says that he understands, but that he'll be beefing up his security just to be safe. He warns Kavos against coming into his home unless personally greeted because it's about to get dangerous in here.</p><p></p><p>Kavos tells him that that's fine, so long as his traps are contained INSIDE the house. He also tells Rambalt that he believes in his work and asks him what he needs to complete a golem. Ibaeli lists off one ludicrously expensive component after another until he gets to...flesh.</p><p></p><p>Kavos asks him what kind of flesh he needs and Rambalt replies that he either needs fresh or perfectly preserved bodies, at least six of them. Kavos smiles and says that he knows where to get at least two.</p><p></p><p>He returns within the hour with Gandil (who he's been preserving magically just in case) and the bandit who'd died only the night before. He'd told Father Adrian that he had found Gandil's will among his things and that the young man had very specific wishes, the bandit he said was to be burned so as to avoid despoiling their holy burial site with his filth.</p><p></p><p>Rambalt looks them over and smiles like a child at Christmas, proclaiming them perfect.</p><p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Ibaeli finds the unicorn in its sacred grove, being tended to by its beasts and druid servants in beast form. He tells the unicorn what has transpired without any attempt at embellishment and stresses that Kavos has repeatedly protected the wizard at the expense of their interests. Ibaeli calls it an outright betrayal.</p><p></p><p>The unicorn paces, a strangely human display of worry. "The wizard will fall elfflesh..." the great beast says coldly, attempting to comfort the distressed elf. "As will all of the manflesh if they resist our influence. But for now, we bide our time. The manflesh spoke true when he warned of a coming threat and we will have need of their blood in our defense before this is done."</p><p></p><p>"I demand that we storm the town now!" Ibaeli shouts. "Have you forgotten your ideals unicorn? Those manflesh made fools of us! We don't need their protection!"</p><p></p><p>The unicorn's eyes flash dangerously and it snorts loudly. "Demand, little elf?" the beast says, jerking with rage. "WE demand. YOU OBEY!" it roars.</p><p></p><p>"Not anymore." Ibaeli says tossing the serpent belt at the unicorns feet, trembling with a rage of his own. </p><p></p><p>The unicorn bellows in barely restrained fury and slams into a tree in irritation, just for the pleasure of feeling something break under its strength. A little calmer it says "You have done us a service elfflesh, so we will spare your life. But do not count yourself among our number again."</p><p></p><p>"I wouldn't dream of it." Ibaeli scoffs. "Any druid who stays here is a fool and I will welcome them on my journey. I intend on finding someone <em>iworth</em> leading this forest." the elf says, turning to leave with his gorilla.</p><p></p><p>The elderly wolf, Yara, starts to step forward as if to follow Ibaeli and the unicorn snaps, it brings its massive hooves down onto her back her spine shatters from the pressure. Her tattered body oozes beneath the unicorn's weight and no other druid dares do anything other than stare at the ground in fear.</p><p></p><p>Ibaeli turns and gawks at the carnage before him. "Look how he exterminates us, no better than the ettercap before him! Protector of the forest? No, just a clueless tyrant that inherited the throne!"</p><p></p><p>"We protect this realm from all who threaten. This elfflesh would cast aside allies for its petty feud." the unicorn growls.</p><p></p><p>"Petty feud?" Ibaeli says, nearly laughing if not for the horror that he just witnessed. "You saw the unicorn eviscerate our sister just for wanting to escape his tyranny!"</p><p></p><p>"Its life was ours to do with as we wished." the unicorn says flatly. "Now leave this place elfflesh, our generosity is at an end. Your next words will be your last."</p><p></p><p>"You're right..." Ibaeli says emotionlessly. "Attack!" he bellows as he shifts form to a wolf and both he and the gorilla charge the unicorn with a roar.</p><p></p><p>The unicorn charges forward as well and skewers the little wolf on the end of its massive horn and tosses Ibaeli's broken corpse into the bushes in one smooth movement as it simply crushes the gorilla beneath its immense bulk.</p><p></p><p>The fight is over within a round with time to spare and the unicorn glowers at the rest of its followers who quiver in pure, abject terror under his gaze. "<em>We</em> lead." it says, gore dripped from its face and legs.</p><p></p><p>Nobody says otherwise.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Ibaeli wakes up, surprised to find that he's still breathing. He discovers that his gorilla laying next to him, panting painfully. A short, emaciated orc woman is hovering over both of them. </p><p></p><p>"You've seen the light too." she says, sadness in her voice. "The beast is no leader, only a blunt instrument, and the forest withers under his rule....but he is powerful. He is powerful and our brothers believe the forest his by birthright."</p><p></p><p>"Who are you?" Ibaeli asks, sitting up quickly and being rewarded with a sharp pain in his side.</p><p></p><p>"I am a friend, for what that's worth." she says with a smile. "A former disciple that left him, much as you did."</p><p></p><p>"How did you save us?" Ibaeli asks.</p><p></p><p>"I swooped down once he left. You are lucky that he didn't gloat any longer than he did, you barely made it." she answers. "I watched your speech from the trees, it was quite...moving." she adds, a mischievous glint in her eye.</p><p></p><p>"Are there others like us?" Ibaeli asks hopefully.</p><p></p><p>"Not living." she answers sadly. "He will not suffer a threat to his power to survive. Remember that if you return to the forest. Do so quietly or he <em>will</em> find you. I do believe that there are others who feel the same as us however, they are just conflicted. Scared. With your help though Ibaeli...perhaps we will reach them."</p><p></p><p>"What should I do?" Ibaeli asks desperately.</p><p></p><p>She almost laughs and shakes her head. "If I knew that Ibaeli, I'd have already done it." and with that she leaps into the air gracefully, becoming a crow and disappearing amid the trees as she does so.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kidjake, post: 6747252, member: 6776876"] We pick up the following morning, Ibaeli and the gorilla accompanied Kavos back home and the secretive mayor writes them off as being nothing more than a pair of bodyguards he acquired in Eastbank, citing the deaths of two sheriffs in less than a week as being a good sign they were needed. The people understand, though the sight of the wild elf Ibaeli and his hairy friend still draws heads wherever they go. Kavos goes to Elder Hadran and asks the old man if there's been any news since he left. Elder Hadran reports that Looman arrived early in the morning with several carpenters from Eastbank who ignored the locals and went directly to work forming the foundations of their projects. Looman also reports that the traps have been set up by the mouth of the river. Kavos mentions that Looman makes an alright sheriff and Hadran sighs. Kavos raises an eyebrow and Hadran says "Speaking of sheriffs....they found Gandil's body in the forest. It was tossed behind some bushes stripped bare." Kavos excuses himself and heads to the temple to pay his last respects to Gandil's corpse, finds it and its severed head laying on a slab next to Longarm. Father Adrian is standing there with his sleeves pulled up around his elbows with a scalpel in one hand and needle and thread nearby. Father Adrian moves in front of Gandil's corpse quickly and says that Kavos shouldn't be here, that he hasn't finished preparing Gandil for viewing yet. Kavos shakes his head dismissively saying that he's seen worse and that this isn't his friend anymore just an empty vessel, but that he appreciates Adrian's concern all the same. The two clerics sit there awkwardly over Gandil's corpse for a moment before Kavos says that he actually came here to talk to Adrian. The priest asks what he needs him for and Kavos explains that he intends on questioning the bandit he captured and would like a little assistance. Father Adrian seems surprised, but agrees. Tell Kavos to give him time to wash up and he'll meet him at the jail. Kavos agrees and uses this opportunity to send for Looman as well. They all meet up about half an hour later in front of the jail and head inside. The bandit appears withered and dehydrated from such severe bloodloss and can barely hold his eyes open. Kavos casts Create Water over the bandit's head and a veritable deluge crashes down, waking him up but good. "What do you have to say for yourself, scum?" Kavos demands. The bandit glances around, terrified. "What do you want? I done told you that it wasn't the one what killed your friend. I wanted nothing to do with it!" "Who leads these bandits?" Kavos shouts through the bars. The bandit stammers before finally answering "Big John leads [i]these[/i] bandits. He's the one you should be going after." Kavos glares at the bandit like a predator about to strike, "Tell me where he is and maybe I will." "I don't know!" the bandit wails. "He offered me a job in an Eastbank tavern, said if I passed his little test he'd make me one of his guys. Since I'm pretty sure you killed everyone he sent but me, I don't think I passed the test." "I don't care if you're the one that made the killing blow." Kavos explains. "You were willingly affiliated with the group that murdered our sheriff and in my eyes you're just as guilty. Do you have any evidence that would sway me otherwise?" "I don't..I mean we don't..I mean.. We're highwaymen! We don't keep evidence!" he shrieks pleadingly. Kavos turns to Looman and asks what the proper way of dealing with Criminals in Westbank was, prior to Kavos assuming leadership. "Hell..." Looman says with a shake of his head. "Local? We usually just kicked 'em around some and turned 'em back loose, unless of course someone got killed; then it's a hanging. But this fella from Eastbank? I say we use him as bait on the river." Kavos smiles, "Of course. Interesting. We will let Pelor decide his fate. If he is truly innocent then he will be protected." The bandit's cries turn from pleading to threatening, he begins shouting that "You people don't know who you're dealing with! My friends are going to burn this whole damned town down!" "You have no idea who you're dealing with. Do not speak unless spoken to!" Kavos shouts, casing Cause Fear and smiling as the suddenly terrified bandit screeches, curls into a ball in the corner of his cell and cries. Kavos dismisses everyone back to their duties and walks with Father Adrian back to the temple. Adrian doesn't seem to disapprove of his methods though he does point out that Pelor isn't traditionally a god of judgement. Kavos says that Pelor doesn't have to judge him, only punish him. Father Adrian smiles slightly and excuses himself once they get into the temple, saying that he has much work to do but will send when he's ready to perform Gandil's service. Kavos watches Father Adrian head back downstairs to tend to his lost sheriffs before walking over the the altar of Pelor and resting a hand on it. He decides that he's had enough of Pelor and wants to drive his presence from this place. He mutters a prayer and casts Desecrate, however he's surprised to find that this wasn't a Consecrated area to begin with and the aura of corruption spreads over the altar unopposed. He glances around to make sure that nobody noticed what he done and then smiles and exits the temple, meeting a parishioner on the way in he nods his head and pleasantly says "Pelor grant you strength." Kavos finds Ibaeli and the gorilla lounging by the river and tells the young druid that he's ready to deal with the unicorn's nuisance now. Without another word, Ibaeli gathers his things and follows Kavos, eager to prove himself to his brutish master. The trip is uneventful, several times they discover wolves following them in the forest; though the wolves seem to smirk when Ibaeli notices them, almost as if they know him and are looking out for him. Briar's Pass itself is as dilapidated as ever and it looks like they just stopped caring. Kavos and Ibaeli head to the Inn to ask around about the wizard they're after. The only two people in the place are a strange pair. A human and a halforc, each in handsomely fitted armor who seem to be serving themselves and discussing which of the town's women they find least repulsive. The human wears a large shield across his back and a longsword at his waist, while the orc wears an ornate greatsword on his back. Kavos introduces himself and his traveling companion and they do likewise, momentarily giving up their tasteless game. The human's name is Bartan while the half-orc is called Rutgard. Kavos asks if either of them know of a wizard in the are and Rutgard shakes his head, saying that no wizards live around these parts. The man known as Bartan however nods and says "Remember? That coot Rambalt is some sort of magic user, that's probably who they want." The half-orc disagrees and says that wizards are, by and large, useful people; whereas Rambalt is a waste of good food and the two of them begin debating this new topic with gusto. Kavos interrupts them again to ask where Rambalt actually is and the half-orc says that the idiot barricaded himself in the shack on the northeast border of town when the spiders came through. They head where directed and find a shack that's just as descriped, four battered walls that look barely large enough to house a man; let alone a supposed wizard's ego. Kavos knocks on the door. It takes several moments and another knock, but a thin; wiry man with peachfuzz hair and thick glasses eventually opens the door barely a crack. "Afraid I'm busy at the moment, not safe I'm afraid." he says with a chipper inflection. "Maybe next week." "Afraid not," Kavos says, barely able to get the end of his staff inside the door in time to keep it from closing. "I need to speak with you now. I'm the Mayor of Westbank and I'm constructing homes for the people of Briar's Pass. May I come inside?" Rambalt glances over his shoulder nervously. "Erm...I..I suppose." he finally says, unleashing the various locks and latches on his side of the door and allowing the PCs entrance. As he opens the door they can see that his plain, utilitarian clothes are soaked in blood and gore and that he's wearing thick gloves up to his elbows covered in the same. The shack has two chairs, a bed and a chamber pot; but not much else. However there is a door leading down into what is presumably a cellar which is barred and chained shut. "To be honest, it might be better if I stayed here." Rambalt says sheepishly. "My experiments make me a rather lousy neighbor at times." "What sort of experiments?" Ibaeli asks, his eyes focusing. The gorilla senses its master's irritation and glowers as well. "I'm attempting to create a hardier; more expendable security force to help counteract the local bandits." Rambalt explains. "We've lost enough good men, no sense in losing more you know...." he adds with a sigh. "However so far they've proven...less than cooperative, although that might just be the nature of my test subjects." "Abomination!" Ibaeli shouts in disgust. Rambalt staggers back a few steps stammering. "I-i-is it abominable to save lives? Is it abominable to h-h-hope for a better future?" he asks, holding up his hands defensively. "Show me these experiments, manflesh." the angry druid demands. "One of them is umm...resting." Rambalt responds, looking at his shoes. "While I disagree with Ibaeli's disgust, I do believe that people have a right to know what sort of projects you're working on. They could be dangerous after all." Kavos says with a frown. "Show us." Rambalt looks at his uninvited visitors for a moment and then sighs. "Give me a moment to make sure it's safe..." he says, slowly removing the bolt and chains so as to avoid making noise and motions for his guests to stay upt. He slips downstairs as quietly as possible and for several moments there's no sound. Suddenly however there's an indignant roar and the rattling of chains as Rambalt stumbles back upstairs breathlessly. "Alright, he's ready for company" Kavos steps downstairs after Rambalt nervously, followed by Ibaeli and the gorilla. the 'cellar' is many times larger than the shack itself and has half a dozen tables and workstations set up around it. Several staffs, wands and rods hang upon the wall and a massive bookshelf seems equally stuffed with strange volumes and magical scrolls.. A strange, massive figure better than 8ft tall and made of clay is laid upon one of the tables, but only half finished. It's obviously supposed to be in the shape of a man; while a pair of arms narly the size of rambalt himself and made of wrought iron rests on another table. Far back against the wall is a creature that once may have been a man, but seems to be cobbled together from different men and even races. It flails against a collar recently placed upon its neck and attempts to free itself violently, seemingly more concerned with killing Rambalt than its own life. In fact, it's so singleminded that as they watch; it breaks its own neck with a mad rush forward and falls to the ground without another sound. Rambalt rushes forward in tears, grabbing the creature by the head and cradling it like an overgrown infant. "No, no, no, no, no....not again. Not again!" he wails over his creation between gasping sobs. Ibaeli soundlessly shuts the door to the shack, letting neither Kavos nor Rambalt know what he's doing. He's growing visibly angry at this man playing god. "All I have to work with are these damned bandits!" Rambalt laments, releasing his failed experiment and collapsing back onto his haunches. "They're too unwieldy and temperamental while they're alive. Spending a few days rotting on Bartan's handcart doesn't make them any easier to work with." "How long would these monsters take to finish?" Kavos asks, immensely intrigued. "If I had quality parts? I suspect less than a month. Maybe even a couple of weeks." Rambalt says, shaking his head. "But I have need of surgeons, when all I can hire are butchers..." "Do you know that your magical stench plagues our forest?" Ibaeli asks with a low growl. Rambalt seems surprised and sniffs the air. "I know that people don't sit next to me at the tavern...but I didn't realize it had gotten that bad." the pathetic little mage says obliviously. Ibaeli lunges forward, becoming a wolf as he does so. Kavos moves to cut him off screaming that the elf isn't to hurt this man, however he's too slow to stop the gorilla from sidestepping him and grabbing Rambalt by the throat as he attempts to crabwalk out of harm's way. "You don't need to kill him!" Kavos shouts, "Your master only wanted him to leave and [i]I[/i] will bring him to Westbank. The forest will be pure once again!" The gorilla holds Rambalt by the neck as Ibaeli starts sniffing around the room with his wolf senses. He smells where Rambalt's corpses are kept and growls at the locked door intently. "Release him!" Kavos demands again. "I will do your master's bidding, but I will not let you kill this man." Ibaeli barks for the gorilla to kill him. As soon as the gorilla flexes to tear open Rambalt's throat Kavos unleashes the spell he'd been readying and hits it with Command: Fall. Rather than murdering Rambalt, the gorilla takes its turn to leap face forward onto the ground. Rambalt rushes to the wall the second he's free and snatches a staff, spinning around and gripping it tightly as an aura of perceptible cold springs up around his weapon. Seeing that Rambalt is now armed, Ibaeli charges him but is held off by the plucky mage's staff. This is the point where Ibaeli's player says that he wishes he'd wildshaped into a gorilla so that he could speak with them. I point out that gorilla's can't talk and he calls BS, citing that he's seen Planet of the Apes and they seemed to have a pretty good grasp of English. Kavos rushes towards Rambalt's storage closet and throws open the door. "Iabeli, look!" he says, indicating only an orc and half-orc who seem to have been slain in battle before being brought here. "No animals! He's not threatening your master's domain!" Ibaeli pulls away, sniffing the air. The only smells he can find are those of rotting flesh and strong chemicals. Rambalt cradles his staff as he presses his back further against the wall. Kavos takes Rambalt by the hand and drags him towards the exit. "I'm bringing this man back to my town Ibaeli. He isn't harming the forest and there's no reason for you to object to this!" Ibaeli growls as the two of them leave, but makes no further move to stop them. Once they're upstairs Kavos leads Rambalt to the inn for a drink and laughs nervously as he says "Druids, right?" Rambalt gives a nervous laugh of his own and nods. "Let me set things straight." Kavos explains. "I am not opposed to your experiments and I can offer you shelter, unimpeded research and any necessary resources. All I ask is that you continue just as you're doing. This is a step up Rambalt, believe me." "What about the druid?" Rambalt asks nervously. "I'll worry about the druid." Kavos assures him. Rambalt asks if someone could bring his things to Westbank; the iron arms alone represent more than a year's work in wages and effort. Kavos nods and says that he'll hire someone, he suggests that Rambalt wait until Ibaeli leaves and then pack his things. He then hands Rambalt a key and instructs him where to find Longarm's old house. They hang around town for a bit and hire out Bartan's handcart and services for the day and then Rambalt asks Kavos to stop by his house with him before heading back to Westbank. Kavos is a little nervous about complying, but doesn't want to seem rude. Once they're sure that Ibaeli is no longer here (though to their horror he's stolen the clay golem by using ant haul on his gorilla) Rambalt rummages in his belongings for a moment before returning with an old, rusted iron rod. He hands it to Kavos and says that it's one of his more useful tools; but he'd like for him to have it for saving his life. "Uhh.....thanks" Kavos says unconvincingly, taking the rod. Rambalt tells him to press it against the desk and as Kavos does so the wood splinters and rots before his eyes until a tower shield sized hole is simply missing from the top. Rambalt explains that it's a rod of Ruin and that he's used it in the past to clear debris during explorations; he apologies for the appearance but explains that its entropic energies give it a rather lackluster appearance. Kavos expresses genuine gratitude for such a useful tool and decides to help Rambalt pack his things. It takes several hours for Ibaeli and the gorilla to drag the clay golem to the unicorn's grove but they find the unicorn waiting for them all the same. The unicorn makes a distasteful face as the golem is dragged before it. Ibeli quickly tells the unicorn what's transpired. The unicorn seems quite impressed that Ibaeli went to such lengths to please him. "This clay-man reeks of the mage's magic." the unicorn growls. "Did you kill it elf-flesh?" Ibaeli shakes his head. "No, it was never alive to begin with. A failed experiment of the wretched wizard. There was another made of sewn together manflesh, but we didn't think you would want that to spoil the grove." The unicorn nods. "You have done us a service...Ibaeli." it says, awkwardly using the elf's name. Reaching down, the unicorn appears to bite a snake amid the foliage which strikes the great beast's face several times with its venomous bite as the unicorn shakes it savagely. On the third shake the snake is replaced by a leather belt which the unicorn tosses at Ibaeli's feet. "You serve the forest and the forest rewards you elfflesh." the unicorn says with a tinge of pride. Kavos interrupts this tender moment by stepping into the grove, having followed the trail left by dragging a clay sculpture more than a mile. "The wizard is taken care of, he is not dead but I am moving him out of the forest. The deal is done, may I harvest my trees?" The unicorn nods and says that Kavos may take what he needs and then adds "Iabaeli has proven himself a worthy wervant of our realm; we ask that you assist him as he surveys your town. We have been long removed from the affairs of men and would know more of you if we are to be...allies." Kavos agrees and adds that he's evacuating the people of Briar's Pass so that the unicorn can reclaim that portion of its forest. The unicorn says that it will see once the manstink is gone. Kavos nods and says that he believes their deal is done, however the unicorn gets a glint in its eye and says "Oh, before we forget." Kavos braces for an attack as the unicorn jerks its head, signaling for a great brown bear to emerge from the brush carrying a battered and bloody piece of chest armor. Kavos relaxes a bit. The bear drops the armor and the unicorn flips it face up, revealing the image of two fullsized mirrors facing each other but blank; the symbol of the Wandering Duke. "Several creatures tried to pass through our realm." the unicorn says, absently stomping on the tattered breastplate. "Do these belong to the one who seeks you?" Kavos nods. "Yes. Yes it does." Ibaeli asks what happened and the unicorn says "They tried to use our forest to hide their presence, our wolves watched them and they struck one with an arrow." the unicorn growls low at this. "There were twelve such creatures with arrows and armor and cutting blades. Now there are only filled bellies and refuse." Kavos asks where these men came from and the unicorn describes the northern border of the forest, the absolute edge of the unicorn's territory. Kavos asks if he can take the armor and the unicorn seems eager to be rid of it. "How do you propose we establish this alliance unicorn?" Kavos asks. "This realm is ours, it always has been, it always will be." the unicorn says bluntly. "If strange manflesh trespasses, then it will die. Stand with us and you are not strange manflesh." Kavos agrees, much preferring the unicorn being on his side than against him and assures the unicorn that if the forest needs him, he will heed its call. The unicorn in turn promises to alert Kavos if any other soldiers follow. Kavos thanks the unicorn and says that he must leave now, his town must be warned. Meanwhile, while Kavos and the unicorn speak, Ibaeli settles down next to an older, matronly druid in the form of a great shewolf. Her name is Yara and Ibaeli remembers her being an elderly halfling in her natural form. "Do you ever get the feeling that unicorn doesn't care for us being in its forest?" Ibaeli asks. Yara laughs and says that it's just his way, she explains that he was never meant to lead the druids; he never actually studied among his people's priests. She points out that he was one of the protectors, the warriors meant to keep the priesthood safe. She mentions that he was always taught to be wary of the outside world and that that training is all he knows; the other unicorns, the ones felled by the ettercap, were the open minded ones. The ones actually equipped to deal with the outside world instead of just squash it to keep it away. Ibaeli asks why they would follow him if the other druids know that he's not fit to lead. Yara answers only that their kind has always venerated the unicorns and that it's the hope of the druids that this one can be taught to lead. Ibaeli excuses himself as Kavos disappears beyond the grove and approaches the unicorn, asking what his mission is now that the mage is gone. The unicorn tells Ibaeli to get acquainted with the town of men and see if they are a threat to the forest. If they are, he wants to know how best to raze them to the ground. Kavos calls an emergency meeting the second he arrives in town, having Elder Hadran, Father Adrian and Sheriff Looman all use every ounce of their authority to drag in the town as fast as possible. Ibaeli hangs around the front of the town hall, making small talk as the locals files in; probing for how safe they feel and what they think of recent events; just trying to get a feel for the town's condition. Unsurprisingly, the whole town is on edge having lost two sheriffs in as many weeks and finding out they're about to be taken over. When Ibaeli finally tires of questioning townspeople he goes to the townhall as well, noticing Rambalt has slipped in without him noticing and that the sheepish mage refuses to make eye contact ouf of fear. Ibaeli snatches Rambalt by the scruff of the neck, his clawlike nails digging painfully in the book worm's flesh. "I need armor for my gorilla and you're the man to do it." Ibaeli growls low. Rambolt flinches and grits his teeth before nodding his head ever slightly. " I th-th-think I can do that." he murmurs. Ibaeli tells him to make it top priority and Rambalt says that he'll have to have a fitting for the gorilla at this home since he didn't bring any of his stuff with him. Before Ibaeli can extort the poor mage any further Kavos stands upon the raised stage and loudly proclaims "The Duke is coming!" holding up the bloody armor for everyone to see. "We all know why he's coming - thanks to Longarm's letter. The Duke is a slimy rat and will do anything to take this place we have built. He will do one of two things, he will either try to sow dissent and take it quietly while we bicker among ourselves or he will invade by force. The outcome will be the same; he will destroy your way of life." Kavos paces about the stage. "I know enough of the Duke to know that he will attempt to turn you against me. He despises leadership which bows to the will of the people. So that each of you may have peace of mind, I will bare my soul to you." Kavos casts Zone of Truth centered on himself. "I did not forge the letter Longarm was carrying, nor did I kill our sheriff, I did however assist in slaying the ettercap which controlled the spiders. I became your mayor honestly, I never interfered with the votes and have given this town my all ever since my election. I am not employed by the Duke or the rebels though the Duke may claim otherwise. I beg you to understand this." he says, cleverly avoiding his actual involvement in most things through technicalities. "What brought you here to begin with?" Yard the dissident from before asks. Kavos almost stammers but then smiles and says "I needed a new home and when I found this town, I knew it would be perfect." The townspeople seem impressed and after a quick Q&A session that deepens Kavos's cover story (and makes even those formerly for a military presence question the Duke's intentions now that blood has been drawn) he asks that everyone return home, except for those looking for work. A handful of tradesmen stick around and Kavos explains that he needs people to go into the forest to the north and collect as much spider silk as they can find. He stresses that spiders are neither to be killed nor approached, only their silk is to be collected. Only three tradesmen stay behind when they hear the job. Kavos explains that he's worked out a trade agreement with Eastbank and while several of them curse and spit at the mention of Eastbank they all seem desperate enough for the coin that they still agree. Once that's settled Kavos approaches Elder Hadran and has him work on setting up the traders that they have to deal with incoming merchants from upriver; Hadran is understandably impressed. As Kavos is finished with the minutiae of the trade agreement he exits the town hall and slams right into Deputy Horace who's running towards him excitedly. Grabbing Kavos by the collar he leans in and whispers "They caught something!" Kavos's eyes widen. "At the river?" he asks, receiving an affirmative nod from Horace. "Alive?" "They've been watching the traps for days and one of those ugly monsters swam RIGHT into it! The damned thing's kicking up a fuss, but it' still alive." Horace says excitedly. Kavos glances around the town for a moment thinking. This might be bigger than silk exports, he muses. Kavos rides out to the mouth of the river as fast as he can and finds a group of people crowding around and gawking. Sheriff Looman and his deputies are there, along with several of the hardier farmers and the ranger Jonathan Lark, although Lark is sitting off to the side staring into the water and smoking his pipe. When they realize that the mayor is there Looman rushes over and tells Kavos that they saw several of them pass by, but they retreated back into the lake when they saw one of their number get trapped. "What is it Looman?" Kavos asks, but Looman says that he might as well see for himself. Kavos approaches the net and finds a creature roughly the size of a man with a vaguely humanoid shape, though covered in deep orange scales and large fins; its mouth is filled with rows of needle-like teeth. "Some kinda damned fishman." Looman says, unable to believe his eyes. "How long has it been out of the water?" Kavos asks, seeing the fight the creature's putting up to get free. "A little longer than it took you to get here." Jonathan says, exhaling a small puff of pleasant smelling smoke. "Seems like it can breathe alright." "Think it could survive a few days outside the river" Kavos asks the ranger. Jonathan nods, "I'd be willing to bet its life on it." Kavos nods and looks around before asking Looman "Where's the bandit? I thought you were using him as bait." Looman seems surprised. "Noone told you? The bandit's dead boss." "How'd he die?" Kavos asks irritably. Looman shakes his head and shudders, "Swallowed his own tongue. Father Adrian took him some food after we finished up, saying that everybody deserved a last meal, and when Devon went to get the platter back the guy was dead." Kavos shakes his head, he didn't think the bandit had it in him. "Well set up another trap and get this one to a cell in Westbank, I'll be able to question it tomorrow." Jonathan stows his pipe and starts measuring out rope while Devon and Horace haul the creature to a wagon for transport. Kavos rides back to town with them. Meanwhile Ibaeli and his gorilla have cornered Professor Rambalt in his own home, forcing him to take the gorilla's measurements in order to create it a suit of magical armor for protection. Rambalt nervously assures the terrifying druid that he'll have the armor ready as soon as he can gather the materials. Ibaeli growls and grabs the timid mage by the collar of his shirt, "You have until the sun rises to finish it or else my gorilla crawls inside of YOU!" Rambalt whimpers and says that that'll be fine, he'll do his best with what he's got. Ibaeli hurls him face first into the wall and tells him that he wants better than that, and that his life depends on it. Ibaeli and his gorilla leave the whimpering mage to his work and head off to the edge of town to claim a spot to sleep. The next morning comes quickly and Kavos arrives at the jail before first light, the creature inside is livid; growling and snarling and hurling itself against the bars. Deputy Devon is more than happy to be relieved of his watch. Once Kavos and the creature are alone, he reaches through the bars and quickly casts Share Language, giving the creature the ability to converse with him in goblin, one of the many languages he's picked up over his long life. The creature continues thrashing and cursing until Kavos calmly says "I can release you to your people you know. I'm the leader here." Once the creature realizes he can understand it, its eyes grow wide and it ceases its hissy fit. "I've allied myself with the creatures of the forest, why not the denizens of the lake as well?" Kavos says pleasantly. "Why have you taken me?" the creature asks, obviously confused. "My people are disappearing and they're worried about that. I've only done to you what you've done to us for months." Kavos points out. "We only take what we need to survive. You have so much..." the fish creature says jealously. "Your people...what do they need to survive?" Kavos asks. "Meat. Fresh, filling meat. There are so many of us and nowhere to go, nowhere to hunt. The fish are too small to feed families." the creature says, the desperation apparent in its voice. "We have food." Kavos offers helpfully. "But then you already know that. Tell me, what can you offer us in exchange?" "We have so little..." the locathah says pathetically. "We have the river...but it is so empty now. My clan has lost much." "How many of you are there?" Kavos asks. The locathah grins devilishly, a hint of pride creeping through its 'poor me' act. "Many." Kavos opens the cell door and draws his dagger, the fish man looks panicked and tries to back away, but trips onto the bed. Kavos leans down and cuts the ropes binding the creature's hands together. It seems surprised and flexes its arms to get the feeling back. Kavos leaves the cell and asks the creature to sit with him at the table in the room. It shuffles out at an agonizingly slow pace, its legs are not meant to travel on land but it does as it is bid. Retrieving a bowl, Kavos casts Create Water to fill it up and passes it to the locathah which drains it almost immediately. "Humans do not like being stolen from my friend." Kavos says with a tsk, tsk, tsk sound. "The livestock was one thing, we could have almost handled that. Jessup's son was another. Do you know who was responsible for taking the boy?" The locathah seems genuinely confused. "Meat is meat?" it seems to ask. "Not our meat. Our meat is off-limits. Do you know of anyone who eats it?" Kavos demands. Shamelessly the creature admits "We do. I do, clan does....when meat is brought, we eat. No time for questions, eat or go hungry." With a wave of his hand Kavos summons a pony, "I can make endless meat." Kavos says as the creature obviously salivates at the thought of sinking its teeth into the little horse. "You have a food shortage and I have the solution." The locathah reaches for the pony and Kavos dismisses it with a second wave of his hand. "If you want what I have, you'll have to work for it. First off, you no longer eat our meat. It's forbidden." It's hard to tell if the creature is even listening, but it nods its head all the same. "Fair..." the creature mutters. Kavos refills the bowl with water a second time. "I'm going to let you go locathah. I'm even going to feed all of your families." The creature's eyes narrow and it snaps from its reverie. "If....?" it asks suspiciously. Kavos shrugs. "We'll have to see. Consider this a down payment on a mutually beneficial relationship." The creature has no objections, not even when Kavos rebinds its hands and leads it from the jail and to Elder Hadran's house. The elder is quite surprised at the sight of his new visitor, though he invites them in all the same. "I have a plan to deal with these creatures, but it involves letting this one go. I need to send it back to its clan with a gift of meat, can you purchase some sheep from the farmers for me?" Kavos quickly explains. "They don't mean any malice, it's only their food shortage that causes them to raid us." Elder Hadran says that folks won't like dealing with these creatures, but he's personally for any solution that limits casualties. Hadran asks how many sheep Kavos wants him to procure. Kavos turns and asks the creature which responds with "I...don't know. We take what we can, but the clan still goes hungry. Many haven't eaten in days and some....some turn to kin for meat." Kavos counts up how much gold he has left and tells Elder Hadran to see if he can get 10 sheep for it, and that if it's not enough he'll work something out with the farmers for the rest. Elder Hadran voices a little surprise that Kavos is paying so much out of his own pocket for the town's benefit and Kavos smiles, saying that he's not going to force another man to give up his wealth for his plan. Elder Hadran has even more respect for the newly elected mayor as he calls on his contacts for a good price on sheep and has 10 delivered to the river bank within the hour. Kavos and the locathah are the only two along the river bank, save for the sheep, and Kavos tells the fishman to deliver these sheep to his clan as a gift and to return for more within the month. The locathah humbles itself before Kavos's generosity and takes the bleating animals one at a time upstream to the lake. Kavos stands on the bank, slitting each beast's throat before tossing them in with the locathah to save time and in just over an hour Kavos is left alone on the bank. Just as Ibaeli promised, as soon as the sun rises he visits Rambalt's house to collect his companion's armor, not caring that it's been less than 10 hours since the request was made. Approaching the door, Ibaeli notices a note pinned to it and he snatches it down irritably before turning his eyes to it. It reads "Ibaeli, there was a very minor setback with assembling your armor on time. It turns out that I didn't have enough leather on hand, but luckily I did have enough ink to write a Sepia Sigil." The second that Ibaeli finishes the letter his eyes widen and he leaps out of the way as a transluscent serpent strikes out where he just was, dissipating into the air harmlessly. Ibaeli looks at his gorilla to make sure he's ok with a little panic in his eyes, it just occuring to him that giving a wizard 10 hours to think of a way to avoid getting his ass kicked may have been a bad idea. Ibaeli orders his gorilla to find Kavos and begins throwing rocks at Rambalt's house, one of them shatters his front window and is rewarded with a soft flash of light from within that Ibaeli can't identify but is glad didn't hit him. Eventually the gorilla finds Kavos and drags him to the house, Kavos sees Ibaeli trying to jimmy the lock and sighs. "Ibaeli, what the hell are you doing here?" Ibaeli doesn't even look back, he simply says "Gotta kill the wizard." Kavos rubs his temples. "[i]Why[/i] Ibaeli?" "BECAUSE WIZARD MUST DIE!!!" Ibaeli shouts by way of an explanation. Ibaeli orders the gorilla to go in first and it leaps through the window without any ill effects, follow by its master. The whole town is standing there gawking at this spectacle. Kavos lunges through as well and snatches both Ibaeli and the gorilla by the scruff of their necks and with a miraculous burst of strength (several natural 20s vs their unimpressive rolls of 4-5) he literally drags the pair out of the house and tosses them into the strength. "Why do you care about this so much?" Ibaeli shouts. "Because this isn't the wild Ibaeli, this man is a tax paying citizen and as both the mayor and a sane human being I'm not going to let you do anything to him. Why do you have such a bone to pick with this guy anyway? What's he done to you?" Kavos asks exasperatedly. "You know what?" Ibaeli says, growling as he shifts to the form of a wolf. Whatever he was going to finish with is replaced by a malicious bark and the gorilla charges Kavos with a roar. Kavos responds by casting Cause Fear on the gorilla which shrieks in fear and rushes past Kavos and towards the woods, unable to control its sheer terror. Kavos isn't fast enough to stop Ibaeli in his wolf form from tackling him off his feet and biting into his throat painfully. Kavos wrestles with Iabeli's jaws desperately before another lucky string of rolls allows him to toss Ibaeli away from him and draw his staff. Ibaeli growls and shifts back into his elf form so that he can cast spells once again. "That [i]man[/i] nearly killed me with an exploding hunk of paper tacked on his door! It was left there specifically as a trap!" Ibaeli snarls. "Then you should have let me deal with him. Tell me this Ibaeli, why are you at his house to begin with?" Ibaeli stammers, unable to explain his presence in a way that doesn't make him look like power-drunk bully and instead casts Aspect of the Bear, becoming considerably more bearlike. "Just get out of my way Kavos." he growls deeply. Kavos sighs. "I can't do that Ibaeli, I'm afraid you're going to have to go through me. Nobody's going to bully my townspeople." "Have it your way!" Ibaeli shouts, rushing Kavos with a wild howl and intending to break the elderly cleric's spine. Kavos hold up a hand and casts Cause Fear as Ibaeli gets close, simply whispering "Boo." Ibaeli can't control the panic inside and flees after his gorilla and towards the forest he left behind. Kavos takes a deep breath to clear his mind and then knocks on Rambalt's door, it takes several moments before the nervous mage appears in the doorway clutching a staff to himself and sporting a brace of wands along his waist. "I-i-is he gon?" Rambalt asks. "Why was there 'an exploding paper' on your door? What was Ibaeli talking about? I told him to not speak with you." Kavos asks. "He came by last night and demanded I make a set of armor for his beast. I told him that I would need time to gather the materials and fashion it; but he gave me until sunup to have it finished. Then he assaulted me." Rambalt says nervously. "I simply didn't have enough leather to complete such a project and he didn't seem like he was going to listen to reason, you know druids... The sigil was perfectly nonlethal, I just thought that if I had a few more days perhaps I could work something out." "Dear gods! Where did the unicorn find this loon?" Kavos exclaims. "Rambalt...you're in a lot of danger." Rambalt swallows nervously and says that he'll be prepared next time, he won't bother with nonlethal. "No!" Kavos says firmly. "You're not leaving explosives lying around for children to trigger. If you feel threatened, then find some way to get in touch with me." Rambalt says that he understands, but that he'll be beefing up his security just to be safe. He warns Kavos against coming into his home unless personally greeted because it's about to get dangerous in here. Kavos tells him that that's fine, so long as his traps are contained INSIDE the house. He also tells Rambalt that he believes in his work and asks him what he needs to complete a golem. Ibaeli lists off one ludicrously expensive component after another until he gets to...flesh. Kavos asks him what kind of flesh he needs and Rambalt replies that he either needs fresh or perfectly preserved bodies, at least six of them. Kavos smiles and says that he knows where to get at least two. He returns within the hour with Gandil (who he's been preserving magically just in case) and the bandit who'd died only the night before. He'd told Father Adrian that he had found Gandil's will among his things and that the young man had very specific wishes, the bandit he said was to be burned so as to avoid despoiling their holy burial site with his filth. Rambalt looks them over and smiles like a child at Christmas, proclaiming them perfect. Ibaeli finds the unicorn in its sacred grove, being tended to by its beasts and druid servants in beast form. He tells the unicorn what has transpired without any attempt at embellishment and stresses that Kavos has repeatedly protected the wizard at the expense of their interests. Ibaeli calls it an outright betrayal. The unicorn paces, a strangely human display of worry. "The wizard will fall elfflesh..." the great beast says coldly, attempting to comfort the distressed elf. "As will all of the manflesh if they resist our influence. But for now, we bide our time. The manflesh spoke true when he warned of a coming threat and we will have need of their blood in our defense before this is done." "I demand that we storm the town now!" Ibaeli shouts. "Have you forgotten your ideals unicorn? Those manflesh made fools of us! We don't need their protection!" The unicorn's eyes flash dangerously and it snorts loudly. "Demand, little elf?" the beast says, jerking with rage. "WE demand. YOU OBEY!" it roars. "Not anymore." Ibaeli says tossing the serpent belt at the unicorns feet, trembling with a rage of his own. The unicorn bellows in barely restrained fury and slams into a tree in irritation, just for the pleasure of feeling something break under its strength. A little calmer it says "You have done us a service elfflesh, so we will spare your life. But do not count yourself among our number again." "I wouldn't dream of it." Ibaeli scoffs. "Any druid who stays here is a fool and I will welcome them on my journey. I intend on finding someone [i]iworth[/i] leading this forest." the elf says, turning to leave with his gorilla. The elderly wolf, Yara, starts to step forward as if to follow Ibaeli and the unicorn snaps, it brings its massive hooves down onto her back her spine shatters from the pressure. Her tattered body oozes beneath the unicorn's weight and no other druid dares do anything other than stare at the ground in fear. Ibaeli turns and gawks at the carnage before him. "Look how he exterminates us, no better than the ettercap before him! Protector of the forest? No, just a clueless tyrant that inherited the throne!" "We protect this realm from all who threaten. This elfflesh would cast aside allies for its petty feud." the unicorn growls. "Petty feud?" Ibaeli says, nearly laughing if not for the horror that he just witnessed. "You saw the unicorn eviscerate our sister just for wanting to escape his tyranny!" "Its life was ours to do with as we wished." the unicorn says flatly. "Now leave this place elfflesh, our generosity is at an end. Your next words will be your last." "You're right..." Ibaeli says emotionlessly. "Attack!" he bellows as he shifts form to a wolf and both he and the gorilla charge the unicorn with a roar. The unicorn charges forward as well and skewers the little wolf on the end of its massive horn and tosses Ibaeli's broken corpse into the bushes in one smooth movement as it simply crushes the gorilla beneath its immense bulk. The fight is over within a round with time to spare and the unicorn glowers at the rest of its followers who quiver in pure, abject terror under his gaze. "[i]We[/i] lead." it says, gore dripped from its face and legs. Nobody says otherwise. Ibaeli wakes up, surprised to find that he's still breathing. He discovers that his gorilla laying next to him, panting painfully. A short, emaciated orc woman is hovering over both of them. "You've seen the light too." she says, sadness in her voice. "The beast is no leader, only a blunt instrument, and the forest withers under his rule....but he is powerful. He is powerful and our brothers believe the forest his by birthright." "Who are you?" Ibaeli asks, sitting up quickly and being rewarded with a sharp pain in his side. "I am a friend, for what that's worth." she says with a smile. "A former disciple that left him, much as you did." "How did you save us?" Ibaeli asks. "I swooped down once he left. You are lucky that he didn't gloat any longer than he did, you barely made it." she answers. "I watched your speech from the trees, it was quite...moving." she adds, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Are there others like us?" Ibaeli asks hopefully. "Not living." she answers sadly. "He will not suffer a threat to his power to survive. Remember that if you return to the forest. Do so quietly or he [i]will[/i] find you. I do believe that there are others who feel the same as us however, they are just conflicted. Scared. With your help though Ibaeli...perhaps we will reach them." "What should I do?" Ibaeli asks desperately. She almost laughs and shakes her head. "If I knew that Ibaeli, I'd have already done it." and with that she leaps into the air gracefully, becoming a crow and disappearing amid the trees as she does so. [/QUOTE]
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