Camping at night in the dense woods to the south of Woodwall, Katan took the first watch of the night and Olly took the second when they were set upon by some kind of monstrous beast. Olly wakes everyone and Katan casts entanglement to entrap whatever the beast is. Katan and Talys, exit the tent to explore a noise that roused them from sleep. Seeing a wolf like creature but larger, knobby, and shabby in appearance. It is trapped in the middle of the circle of entanglement and has not noticed them. Upon examining the thing closer, they find that is a diseased looking wolf, a large hump in its shoulders, split skin under matted fur, and puss colored eyes. Katan feels instantly sorry for it and coos at its misfortune.
Hearing her, it breaks free of the entanglement to
move toward them. Talys has the blade drawn and readies for combat. The wolf
struggles but manages to break free of the spell's effective range to attack
Talys. She is ready for the hit and uses the blunt edge of the blade to push
the wolf's muzzle away as its teeth chomp for her leg. She held her ground for
the next attack. Katan rushed off a ways and flung a stone from her sling, just
glancing off the fur. Talys makes a significant strike to the back and side of
the wolf, cutting deep into the shoulder. It bites but misses her again,
turning to flee and chase after Katan, being the easier prey of the two.
Katan
attempts to clock the wolf with her cudgel, however, does little more that push
the head to the side. Before the wolf can land a bite, Talys feels a rage
boil within her and she charges to drop the blade upon the wolf's back,
bisecting it at an angle. It roars a final pained cry and falls dead at Katan's
feet. She balks more at the appearance of Talys in the throws of a receding
rage than the dead wolf at her feet and heads back the tent right away. There
she finds an etching in the tree that had not been there when they arrived earlier that evening. Being the second such mark they've encountered, she marks
it in her journal.
While Katan settles back into the tent, Talys lingers outside, exercising the remains of her rage
on the wolf's corpse. Finally she is about to head back when she sees the flit of a
cloak behind the tent and rushes over to catch a fleeting glimpse a mysterious figure.
There is no trail and no sign of the being having been in the camp. Eventually, after calling out to
whoever it is, Talys returns to the tent and both women attempt to fall back to an uneasy sleep.
In the morning, Talys is up first. She investigates the wolf carcass and gains more
understanding of the corruption that gripped it. On the body, she finds
intentionally placed twigs laying upon the top of the fur. She shares this with
Katan when she rises, who then marks the pattern of the twigs in her journal. She collects the teeth from the wolf, inspecting what appears to be hollow
tubes for some kind of venom transfer in the bite. She also examines closely to determine the extent of corruption.
…The pair continue their journey south to the town of Crowden. Once within its gates and nestled in the Copper Hearth tavern, Katan expertly appraises the holy symbol they stole from the magistrate of Woodwall. She finds that the cross is real, both gold and gems. She estimates that the gems alone would be worth 1700g and the gold of the cross would be worth its own weight of about 80g. She hatches a plan with Talys to pass these through Nimin, Katan's contact and fence, over time to get the most out of it. She takes a gem estimated at 50g and decides to offer a 30% take at an asking price of 35g and heads to his office.
Nimin is a lanky, short man who is essentially a
mathematician running tallies for farmers, businessmen, etc. He has an abacus
on his desk and many piles of parchment and paper neatly stacked. He is obviously surprised by
her presence, seeing her much sooner than he would otherwise expect. She takes
a seat as they exchange pleasantries and Nimin adjusts the lantern on his desk
brighter. In the back of the office, Katan notices a man laying back in a chair
with his feet up. In the two previous interactions she's had with Nimin, she
knows that he does not feel comfortable with dealing with more than one person
in the office at a time. She quietly questions him about the guy and Nimin says nothing, but she
gets the impression there is something wrong regarding the man.
She makes her pitch and Nimin is clearly interested,
but as he plies his trade of speaking in innuendo to cover the trade of illicit
items but in a way where the party in question completely understands what is
being discussed, he scribbles a note that he passes to her saying,
"Beware!!! Being watched." They conclude the deal, indicating that
there is the chance for more at a commission of 25% for him as the middle man
for much larger value. He says that he will crunch some numbers and get back to
her, in fact he offers to send her a message to meet for lunch the next day. He
asks if she is staying at the usual place, being careful to not say the name.
Katan confirms, equally careful not to say, and takes her 35g and leaves the
office. She is paranoid instantly by the strange message and the presence of
the man. Upon exiting, she hears the bell of the Nimin's door chime immediately after she
passes through and she heads down the street a ways. She ducks into an alley and
successfully evades the tail. Panicked by the situation, she makes a dizzying, maze like path through the town to elude the tail further and finds a hiding spot to
scribble a quick message that she sends with Olly back to the Copper Hearth for
Talys.
Talys, back at the Copper Hearth, spends some time
talking with Gertrude, the proprietor, and develops a nice rapport. She asks about the swordsman Katan mentioned being in town, and
Gertrude assures her that he, Remus, will likely be there. They make an arrangement for
a drink and meal to be delivered to Remus when he arrives. Some time later, the door opens and in walks an imposing figure covered in a cloak. His once closely cropped silver streaked hair growing a bit wild and a sour expression upon his face. Gertrude
stiffens and motions to Talys as the man approaches the bar.
In a gruff voice, he orders a drink and Gertrude
calls him an asshole in what Talys figures to be a friendly jibe. Especially as he smiles in response. The drink and meal Talys requested is provided to him. He is
immediately on the defense, but Gertrude helps to ease his concern. He looks
Talys over, being the only unfamiliar face in the tavern, as the likely source of the meal and drink. Remus heads to his apparent usual table, the only one with a single chair at it, and sits with his back to
the wall to keep the whole tavern in view.
Talys waits until he has enjoyed the
meal and light drink before heading over to him. When she does, he offers her a chance
to sit with him in repayment of the meal. It is pretty clear that she is there to learn secrets of the
blade, and as he interviews her the name Rufus comes up as the initial fellow
she was looking to learn from. His mood instantly sours and the rest of the
interview he is moody and resistant. He asks her if she wants his advice, she counters the
obvious "go home" statement by calling him on it. He tests her by asking
her motives, if she has ever cleaved a man in two, covered in his gore. Seen a
friend slain next to her, or been run through on the edge of a mortal wound
herself; insisting that there is no glory in battle like the tales of her mentioned Walling father.
She passes that test too, stating that her village has no defender,
indicating that it is not glory and adventure or fame but actual, practical
benefit to others. He tests her by asking if she could slay a man if he gave her reason. She passes that too by saying
that she would not hesitate in defense, but would not do so without valid
reason, indicating she is not a murderer looking for more skill to kill easier.
He thinks it over silently as they sit, she passes that too by not succumbing
to the void of silence. Finally, he says it is late and gets up to leave
without another word. She rises to give him room to pass, he reacts to her
motion defensively but, as she clearly does not attack, he goes to the door to leave.
Talys' returns to the
bar. Gertrude compliments her on a successful meeting, though Talys does not
fully understand what just happened. Gertrude tells her that the last person to
try to ask for sword training had his jaw smashed savagely by Remus for his
trouble. Talys decides to stay for a while, figuring that she will prove her
dedication to Remus as she was already committed to the potential for training for a long term.
Olly returns to the inn and Talys addresses the note sent by Katan, seeing that
there has been a change in plan and that Katan will not be joining her. Talys has her own meal and a light drink in addition
before returning to the room for the night. Olly escapes back out into the night to return
to Katan.
Katan is left out on the street waiting for Olly's
return for a long while. Finally, as he returns, she stealthily moves back to the
Copper Hearth to keep an eye out for danger to Talys. She sees no one watching
the tavern itself on the outside. Eventually the night's cold, her own hunger, and loss
of her room force Katan to find shelter. She finds an attic of a residence
accessible and manages to climb up to the high window, easily picking the lock to
get inside. It is warm at least and she and Olly eventually pass out.
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