Western Gardens:
"Your dog is rather odd. Does he always act like that or is he on to something?" Breva asks curiously.
"Mutt is my fierce guard dog," Tuck says defensively, but at the same time he worriedly rushes after the dog.
"What is it, boy? What did you find?"
Tim will follow, because he trusts Mutt's nose and instincts.
One by one the gathered group of heroes rushes behind Tuck and Tim to see what big dog is tracking. With Tuck in the lead, they find themselves in a quieter part of the cultivated section of the Gardens where several tenders are working to trim the foliage and Sylemis stands in the center of a a gazebo singing to the plants in his native tongue. Tuck find Mutt sitting quietly in front of the dragori druid listening to the dragon-kin's voice. The dog is enthralled by the low-pitch music. The notes are deep and melodious. Mutt barely glances at Tuck when the kobold and the other arrive at the gazebo.
The other gardener, Huverel, watches over his mentor with joy. It seems the dragori is still feeling better. Two others sit in the gazebo as well. The first you know. The grizzled old arcanus, Detch, from the guard tower where you met Kaleb and heard his story. The other is a female guard, likely and Elite.
Once Sylemis finishes his song, he greets you warmly. "You have returned and just in time." The druid walks over to Tuck and scratches Mutt under the chin with his walking stick. "Two of the guards from the tower have gone missing."
"I don't know if they are in trouble, but both vanished shortly after you all left the tower," Detch explains. "It's not like them to leave their posts." He looks at Tuck and Big Tim. "Nathaniel you met, I believe. He's from a very wealthy family here in Old City, the Acerons. I don't think you met Geoffrey Suggitt while you were at the tower, but he was on duty. His family's reputation is a bit tarnished."
"That is an understatement," the other guard says."
"This is Elvira Thalmann. She runs the watch for the other tower in the Eastern Gardens."
"One of my underlings has gone missing as well," she says. "His name is Titan Razeart. It seems like he disappeared around the same time as the other two. If this creature is killing tower guards and Elites, it needs to be found and stopped. If I had a stronger force of guards, I'd go in there myself and deal with it, but most under my watch are youngsters. The bulk of the Elites have been placed here in the Western Gardens and I don't have the authority to order them away from their posts."
"Neither do I," Detch adds.
"But they respect you more."
"It's still not my place to countermand the Lord Commander."
Elvira throws her hands up in disgust.
"Calm yourselves," Sylemis says. "Tuck and his friends are here now. They can handle it and it looks like they've added some new allies to their numbers, although I don't see Custodio. Did he get called back into the Elite?" The dragori asks Tuck.