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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 5282201" data-attributes="member: 9546">WOLVES IN SHEEPS’ CLOTHINGUpon returning to Veritas, the companions were quick to seek out Jhod Kavken, and so did not see the frightened, furtive looks on the faces of their subjects.  The priest examined Velox in silence, and then spoke his prayers over the oracle.  The strained and drawn look quickly faded from the young man, and his breathing eased.  After the better part of an hour, Jhod sighed and stood back.“He needs rest for now,” the priest said, “and while he’s getting it, I need to speak to the rest of you about what’s been happening since you’ve been gone.”Jhod let out another sigh as he lowered himself into a chair.“There’ve been two murders,” he began without preamble.“What??”  Mox exclaimed.  “Who?  When?  How?”“I’m getting to it,” Jhod raised his hands.  “A few days back, some livestock were slaughtered in their pens out at the Blackfeather farm.  Thought it was just wolves or maybe firepelts at first, but then two nights ago, Saki, the girl who’s been serving down at the makeshift pub in the town hall, never made it home after her shift.  Found her body in a berry patch just outside town.  Last night, that little shepherd boy, Beven, turned up dead, along with a half-dozen or so of his flock.  Tragic, both of them.  They looked like they’d been…eaten on.”“Where are the bodies?”  Mox asked tonelessly.“I put them in the larder up at the castle,” the priest said.“Then let’s go take a look,” the baroness said.___________________________________________________________The condition of the boy and the young woman was…sobering.  They were both mutilated, with much of their bodies missing…consumed.  Tungdill looked them over closely, the taciturn dwarf’s jaw clenched tightly.“Wolf,” he said in a clipped voice, “or somethin’ damn close.  Big one too, like a worg, or a…,”His voice trailed off and he looked up towards the ceiling.“What time of the month is it?” he asked no one in particular.“Middle,” Jhod answered.  “Why?”“The moon,” the druid said.  “How’s the moon?”“Full,” the priest said.  “Tonight’s the last night of it.”“That’s what I was afraid of,” Tungdill sighed.__________________________________________________________An investigation of the attack sites confirmed Tungdill’s suspicions of a wolf perpetrator.  Tracks of a large canine were in evidence all around the areas.  Stevhan followed them to a nearby copse of trees, but they didn’t emerge again.  Instead, he found a set of bare human footprints leading out of the trees and back towards town.  The ranger bowed his head as he noted the tracks.“The cure took, boy,” Tungdill growled.  “’Sides, we weren’t anywhere near here the night of the attacks.”“I…know that in my head,” Stevhan said, “but there’s a part of me that still has the dreams.”The sun was setting as they made their way back to town, and Mox quickly spread the word that a curfew would be in effect until the following morning.  No one would be allowed out of their homes after nightfall.  After that, she had her friends set up a schedule of patrols for the night.__________________________________________________________Tungdill crept near the mouth of the alley just in time to see the shadowy figure dart across the town square.  It ran on all fours, but at one point, stood up on two and sniffed the night air.  “There he is, lad!” he hissed to Stevhan.  “See!  I told ya ya weren’t no killer!”The ranger didn’t reply.  He pulled his bowstring back to his ear and loosed.  His shaft flew straight, but when it struck the creature’s flank, it bounced off as if it had struck a stone wall.  It growled low in its throat as it turned slowly, the moonlight shining in its yellow eyes.  With a feral howl, the werewolf charged, revealing the greataxe that it gripped in one hand as if it were a hatchet.  Stevhan braced himself, but before the monster reached him, Leaf stepped abruptly from the shadows directly in front of him.  The elf threw himself to one side as the werewolf swung for his neck, but managed only to graze his back.  He rolled to his feet behind the beast just as Stevhan drew his blade and rushed in from the front.  It was only then that the ranger saw that the elf’s blade was made of pure silver.  The pair struck in unison, and the shapeshifter howled in pain.  It threw itself at Stevhan, slashing and biting.  Stevhan fell back under the brutal assault.  His back struck the cobblestones and his breath was driven from his lungs.  The werewolf loomed over him, blood and saliva dripping from its jaws.  It raised its axe over him, but before it could strike, a large shape barreled into it.  By reflex, Stevhan rolled away and came to his feet, just in time to see Adam and the werewolf locked in mortal combat.  The lycanthrope, blood pouring from multiple wounds, flipped the giant ant onto its back and locked its jaws around Adam’s head.  Suddenly, the alley filled with several flashes of bright light as Mox stepped from the shadows and flung arcane bolts through the air.  With a soft grunt, the werewolf collapsed onto its side, and immediately began to transform.The man that lay on the ground before them looked almost as savage as his alter ego.  War paint streaked his face, and feathers were braided into his hair.  “He’s a Kellid,” Tungdill grunted, naming a local tribe of hunters.The next day, after asking about town, they discovered that the man had recently arrived in town, and had been seen drinking heavily at the town hall before disappearing into the hills each night.  He had never spoken to anyone, and no one had ever seen him prior to his arrival.  The townsfolk hailed their leaders as heroes once more for delivering them from the murderer, but from the south, rumors of even greater evils continued to grow.___________________________________________________________There were still two weeks until the next council meeting, and Mox felt that time would best be spent investigating the land to the south of their fledgling country to see if there was any truth to the disturbing rumors.  She and her companions set out once more, continuing their trek along the eastern shore of the Tuskwater, fording the Gurdin River at the point where it emptied into the great lake.  Two days out of Veritas, they came upon a strange discovery.  A large pool of bubbling mud sat in a narrow defile between several hills.  The noxious vapor the pool gave off was foul-smelling in the extreme, and large mounds of fungi and peculiar mushrooms grew around its banks.  Several of them grew to a height of over ten feet or more.  Cautiously, the group wound their way down the hillside to the pool.Halfway down the slope, the fumes became too much for Velox, and the oracle began retching and gagging.  Stevhan was turning towards his friend when a quick flicker of movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye.  As he turned back, his mind couldn’t quite grasp what his eyes were seeing.  One particularly large mound of fungus seemed to be rising into the air until it stood more than twenty-feet tall.  Snake-like tendrils began to unfold from its bole, and a huge, tooth-lined maw opened in its center.  “Ware!” the ranger shouted as he knocked and loosed an arrow, which caught fire as if flew from his bow.  Mox began to turn, a spell on her lips, but the nauseating vapors filled her nose and lungs.  She gagged and became violently ill, falling to her knees beside Velox.  “It’s a tendriculos!”  Tungdill roared as he began conjuring.  “It’s carnivorous!”“Obviously!”  Stevhan growled.A moment later that point was driven home as the plant seized Stevhan in one of its tendrils and lifted him into the air.  When Adam abruptly answered Tungdill’s call, the ant was unceremoniously swatted away like a fly.  Tungdill didn’t seem to notice.  He was too busy with his next spell.  A flaming sphere appeared, and rolled quickly down the hill and into the base of the plant creature.  An inhuman wail bubbled up from its throat.  Adam circled back around and landed squarely atop the tendriculos, sinking his mandibles into its spongy mass.  The thing shrieked again, but as its maw gaped wide, it abruptly dropped Stevhan into its gullet.“No, lad!”  Tungdill screamed, and he hurled handful after handful of fire at the giant plant.  Leaf never hesitated.  The elf sprang into the boiling mud and darted through the flames that were rapidly engulfing the tendriculos.  He drove his twin blades into its flesh again and again.  With a final groan, the great plant toppled like a falling tree.  Leaf leaped upon it as it fell and plunged his swords deep into it, ripping open a wide seam.  With a great, gulping gasp, Stevhan erupted out of the goo, flesh and ichor coating him, but alive nonetheless, thanks to the former brigand.__________________________________________________________South of the Tuskwater lay a second lake…Candlemere.  The lake had a notorious reputation for being haunted.  Stories from fishermen, explorers, bandits and traders alike spoke of eerie lights that danced upon its waters, and blood-curdling cries from what were said to be lost souls, as well as mysterious sightings of shapes rippling in the dark waters.  A small island in the lake’s center held a lonely tower upon its summit.  The companions wisely skirted the vast water and continued towards the south and west.They made a wide circuit around Candlemere and began travelling north again, this time along the western shore of the Tuskwater.  Still they’d found no sign of the missing Tannerson boy, nor had they encountered any evidence of troll activity.  They came upon a small swamp, and upon a small hummock in the midst of the fetid marsh, they saw a dilapidated mud-brick hut.  A thin trickle of bluish smoke trickled through a gaping hole in its moss-covered roof.  A wooden fence surrounded the perimeter of the mound, festooned with crude fetishes crafted from sticks, feathers, and animal bones.  A lone crow cawed noisily from the top of a nearby cypress tree.  A single gate hung askew in the waist-high fence, and a fist-sized, rusted iron bell hung from a hairy length of rope tied to a crooked post.  A pumpkin-headed scarecrow stood midway between the gate and the hut.  “I know this place,” Selena said quietly.“You’ve been here before?”  Mox  asked.  “When?”“I didn’t say I’d been here,” Selena replied.  “I just said I know it.  This is the home of the Old Beldame, as some call her.  Others call her the Swamp Witch.  Some say she’s a true hag, while others believe she’s sold her soul to a demon.  When children go missing, she’s often suspected of being to blame.”“Do you think she took the boy?”  Davrim growled, his hand going to his sword.“I’m a witch,” Selena smiled thinly.  “Do you think I eat children?  Don’t believe everything you hear…half-breed.  My kind value our privacy, and often we cultivate tales such as these to keep away unwanted visitors.  Still, this is her domain, and she undoubtedly knows much about what transpires here.  There’s only one way to find out.”Selena reached out and tugged on the old rope, ringing the bell with a dull clang.  Several moments passed before a wizened face appeared in the hut’s window.  The old crone had skin of a sickly greenish hue, and her gray hair hung lank over a pair of pointed ears.  “Who are you?” she barked in a phlegmy voice.  “What do you want?”“We come in peace, Old Mother,” Selena replied.  “A new nation is being birthed on your border, and we are its representatives.  We beg a few moments of your time.”The old witch chewed her lips for a few moments.“Come ahead then,” she snapped finally.The companions pushed through the gate and started up the path.  As they passed the lonely scarecrow, its pumpkin-head turned slowly to watch them pass.  Davrim gripped his sword hilt more tightly.  Selena only smiled.  The door to the hut swung open as they approached, and cautiously, they filed inside.  The interior was a simple, one-room affair, with a dirt floor and thatched roof.  The rafters were hung with dried herbs and swamp-reeds, and a bubbling cauldron hung over a firepit in the center of the room.  The Old Beldame stirred the pot absently while her piercing black eyes stared unblinking at her guests.“You’re a bold one, Little Sister,” she said to Selena, ignoring the others.  “You trespass were you’re not invited.”“Your pardon, Mother,” Selena bowed, “but we come only seeking wisdom.  Your legend precedes you, and if we are to tame this land, we will need knowledge only you possess.”“Ha!”  the witch laughed.  “Tame the Stolen Lands, will you?  You are even more brazen than I thought!  I have seen would-be conquerors come and go through the years.  Why should you be any different?  Still, I’ve never seen one of the Sisterhood in this role.  You intrigue me.  What would you ask of me?”“We seek a boy,” Selena replied.  “A human lad, no more than ten summers.  He’s been missing for over a week now.”“Then he’s probably dead,” the Old Beldame shrugged.  “Still, the lizardfolk occasionally have a taste for man-flesh, and they don’t always kill their prey right off.  They live in the swamps deep inside the Narlmarches.”“Thank you for your time, Mother,” Selena bowed again.  “We will take our leave now.”“I have a few more questions,” Mox interrupted.  The Old Beldame’s eyes narrowed, and Selena held her breath.  “I’ve never seen so few women speak for so many men,” the old witch said.  “I like it.  Ask.”“What can you tell us of the rumors of Candlemere?  Is it truly haunted?” Mox asked“If by haunted you mean ghosts, then the answer is no,” the Beldame said, “but it is the abode of many will-o-the-wisps, and they feed off of fear and death.  What else would you know?”“Have you heard any news of trolls?”  Mox asked.The Old Beldame shrugged.  “They’re around, but no more or no less than usual.  They get a wild hair every now and again, but it doesn’t usually amount to much.”“Thank you,” Mox nodded.  “We’ll take up no more of your time.”“There’s still the matter of my fee,” the witch smiled mirthlessly.“Fee?”  Mox asked.  She glanced at Selena who nodded slightly.“You don’t think I just give out information for free, do you?” the witch asked.  “No, I have given you something of value, and I ask for something in return.  A day or so’s ride from here, there is a mud bog.  An abundance of fungi species grow around it.  I’m interested in a particular kind known as Black Rattlecaps.”“Do they look like this?”  Leaf asked as he upended his belt pouch, revealing a dozen or more black-topped mushrooms.  The Old Beldame’s eyes went wide.“How did you get those?” she asked.It was Leaf’s turn to shrug.  “I’m a collector.  You never know when something trivial might actually have value.”“You are indeed a resourceful lot!” the witch cackled.  “I like you!  I suppose you’ve got as good a chance as any of making something of this land.  If you’re ever in this vicinity again, you may feel free to visit me.”____________________________________________________________The companions were hacking through another trackless section of forest when the old man appeared out of nowhere.  Behind them, a large puma stalked out of the trees.  “They told me you’d come!” the old man giggled.  “Said you’d be right here!  Now that you’re here, and I’m here, and they’re here, it’s killing time!”He drew a shortsword from its scabbard and uncoiled a whip that hung at his side.  The big cat began to growl low in its throat.  Tungdill sighed and snapped his fingers.  A green ball of flame appeared and bounced towards the crazed old man, and he shrieked as it set his trousers ablaze.  As he stumbled backwards, Leaf leaped towards him and plunged his rapier clean-through the man’s shoulder.  “Cat!  Help me!” the codger shrieked.With a hissing growl, the puma leaped on Davrim’s back, tearing into the half-orc with all four feet.  Stevhan turned and gave a high-pitched whistle.  A black and tan blur suddenly launched out of a nearby tree as a cheetah landed atop the puma, and the pair of them went tumbling and spitting away into the underbrush.  “I see ya found a new friend!”  Tungdill laughed.Davrim swept his falchion from its back sheath and chopped down with both hands as the old man tried to rise from the ground.  A few moments later the cheetah reemerged from the bushes, licking blood from its chops.“So what was that all about?”  Davrim asked as he cleaned his blade on the dead man’s clothes.  “Some random mad man hiding in the woods with his pet cat?”“Take a look at this,” Tungdill said.  He held up a tarnished silver locket that he’d taken off the old man’s neck.  When he opened it, there was a faded portrait of a beautiful, young woman cradling two toddlers in her arms.  “Do you remember what Bokken told us?  He said he’d come here looking for his brother…who’d killed their mother.  Said he’d gone insane and was living somewhere in a hollow tree.  I think we just might’ve engineered a little family reunion.”</blockquote>

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