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Castor was already sitting alone by the time the others gathered back together.
"I've got nothing," he sighed.
Aesir laughed. "Yeah, probably because you were bothering them."
"H-hey, I was doing the same thing you guys were doing!"
Aesir shook their head. "No tact. None whatsoever. But no matter. I got a bit more intel, and I'm sure they've both got at least a little something, yeah?"
They glanced back at Finn and Delta.
(Any idea what we want the monster(s) to be?)
(Uhhhh gnolls maybe? Looking at dnd stuff lol)
Finn snickered and Delta nodded, starting to flip through their notebook. "Yeah, I think I've got a decent idea of what it might be. The descriptions I'm getting describe it as being roughly human height with animalistic features, and carrying some kind of weapon. The description of the weapon varies, but that's not the important part." They quickly scribbled down a drawing and showed it to the rest of the group. "If I'm right, I think that it might be a rogue gnoll. But it could also be a small group since the descriptions vary, and they're usually in packs."
"I thought they usually ate their kills," Castor said, "What about the livestock they killed but didn't eat?"
"Castor, they're not wild animals," Aesir replied, "They're sentient. They may usually eat what they kill, but if they have reason, maybe they'll just kill. I also got some pretty convincing evidence that fits that guess. Furry, big teeth, silvery claws. But some people did say weapons. I don't really know much else that fits that description. I wonder if they're within reason, or if we will ultimately have to kill them."
"It's possible that someone in this village made them angry." Delta suggested. "So they're more inclined to try to kill their livestock and children even if they don't need the food. They might just be trying to get revenge for something. If we can figure out what they're angry about, it might be possible to reason with them, but… it may not be possible." They sighed and Finn considered. "Well, we might as well try. I can try to put some protection spells around the village in the meantime."
"That may be the case," Aesir agreed, "But even if there's a reason, most gnolls are irrevocably evil. Even when humans do their best to keep the peace with gnolls, sometimes they'll lash out. It was a stupid question on my part."
"Even if we reason with them, they might come back," Castor added, "The only way we can guarantee the safety of this village is if those gnolls are dead. It's not exactly savory, but it's most likely what needs to be done."
Aesir sighed deeply. "Yeah, yeah… I hear you. Well, anyone actually tangled with a gnoll before? All I really have is textbook knowledge."
"I… actually have," Castor said, "I cleared out a camp alongside a small mercenary band."
"Yeah, it's not likely we'll be able to get through to them, and like they said, they'll probably only come back." Delta said to Finn, who sighed and nodded. He'd hoped to avoid killing them if it was possible (it felt a bit wrong to be killing something sentient, after all), but it didn't look like it was. "I haven't personally fought one, so all I've got is textbook knowledge as well."
"Same here." Finn chimed in. "I'm more of our healer anyway, though, so I guess it isn't as big a deal. I'm here to be a supporting force."
"Well, Cas. Looks like you'll be leading the charge," Aesir said, "Got any tips for us?"
"I'd already planned on it," Castor sighed, "But… I suppose? Gnolls are sentient, like you said, so they're smarter than most monsters. They don't only act on base instincts. It's more like fighting a man than a monster. And they're tough fighters. Thick hides, they hit hard, and they have sharp teeth and strong jaws to top it off. They're not to be trifled with at all. We lost a couple of mercs back there. Several more were injured. So Finn, you're going to have to stay on top of it. As for the rest of you, you can stay at long range if you'd really like, but you'd better be a damn good shot, because if you don't make good shots to vulnerable spots, you might as well have not hit them at all."
Aesir crossed their arms. "Alright, so I'm sneaking in there. I'll need your support, but I think we can get the jump on them."
"Ah, r-right!" Finn straightened a bit, his heart quickening. There was a lot of pressure on him to do his job right, after all. He needed to make sure his team members didn't get badly injured or killed, of course, but he'd prefer if they didn't get injured at all. He'd have to apply protection spells on them, but trying to keep up several spells at once was exhausting. It drained his own energy to keep them going, but he supposed he would just have to manage.
"Don't worry, I'm a good shot." Delta nodded decisively, glancing at the bow on their back. "And regardless, I can enchant my arrows to make them more effective. Should we head out tonight or in the morning?"
"Well, given that gnolls can see in the dark," Aesir said, "We would be at quite the disadvantage. My mom gave me the little gift of darkvision, but I can't say the same for all of you."
"We should probably rest up anyway," Castor agreed, "Get a meal, go to bed. We'll be ready to go as early as possible. The sooner we get rid of this problem, the better, but we can't approach at night."
(Tttttempted to throw in another new oc ngl 👀💦)
"Yeah, that's a good point… I guess we'll have to deal with them in the morning, then." Finn sighed softly. "Sorry, I'm dumb. I was just thinking… well, I dunno. I figured they'd most likely be attacking at night, so it might be easier to track them or something."
"You're not dumb. It's fine. We'll just do it in the morning." Delta offered Finn a reassuring smile and turned to the rest of the group. "Let's get to our time then, yeah?"
(You're welcome to! I may at some point, just not yet)
"No, you're right about that much. It's just, that the very thing that would put us in danger," Aesir replied, "They attack at night because they know most of us can't really see them coming. But don't worry, you have at least one good tracker on the job, so we'll be able to find them, no matter what time of day it is."
"Yeah, let's," Castor replied to Delta, "I just hope that no one else comes to harm during the night."
Finn nodded, running his fingers through his hair with a soft sigh. "Right… I'm sure you'll be able to track them down in the morning." He smiled softly. Delta nodded and headed up to the counter to ask the tavern keeper where they should stay before returning to the group. "Alright, they've got two rooms, so we'll just pair up. Finn and I are already dormmates, so it probably makes the most sense for us to share a room. Are you two comfortable sharing a room?" They asked Aesir and Castor. "It doesn't matter to me where I sleep, so if you'd rather switch it up, that's fine."
(I'll have to figure out how to add him sdghjk)
(His name is Nich Brooks 👉👈)
(Oh my god, I adore him already. Maybe he's out in the woods, trying to travel to this town, and he's attacked, right as the gang is coming to fight?)
Aesir looked over their shoulder to Castor, as if waiting for approval.
"That's fine with me," he said with a shrug, "It doesn't matter that much, as long as we're well-rested when we go."
Aesir smiled. "Alright then, we should probably call it a night, huh? I might do some light reading before bed, as long as it doesn't bother you."
"Light candlelight, and I don't really care," Castor agreed, "Any more than that, and we're going to have a problem, elf."
"I can see in the moonlight alone. You'll be fine, Cas." Aesir turned to the other two. "Anything else we need to get out of the way before we go to bed?"
(Ooh that could be fun! And I'm glad you like him <333)
"Nope, we should be ready to go tomorrow. See you in the morning." Delta bowed politely and led Finn to their shared bedroom. They both got ready for bed and headed to sleep immediately. In the morning, Delta awoke early and was out in the tavern, making sure that the preparations were finished. Finn was still asleep for a while, but he eventually came out as well.
The two went off to their room together. Aesir read for a bit, but fell asleep with the book on their chest. Castor slept minimally. Again. The new place had him on edge even more so than usual, but he was exhausted and still managed to sleep in short fragments. He was the last one awake, but not by much; Aesir woke him upon noticing that he was still out.
The two came down to the tavern together, both in their armor. Aesir was clearly ready to go, but Castor was yawning pretty aggressively. Yet, it never seemed to affect his performance, so he didn't give it a second thought.
Finn and Delta both had on lighter armor than Castor and Aesir, but that wasn't surprising considering their roles as healer and ranger respectively. Finn still looked a little sleepy, but Delta was ready to go, and had been for quite a while. They nodded to the other three and looked around at the scarce amount of patrons in the haven. "Let's get moving while it's early. We don't want to waste any time." They adjusted their bow on the back and headed out, looking to Aesir since they were supposed to track the gnolls.
Aesir took the lead for a bit. After learning about another attack last night, they insisted that the group go to the site of that attack. Someone had been killed this time. Castor stood back on watch, feeling rather useless otherwise. His eyes fell upon the spatters of blood, and over the body in the clearing, which the townsfolk had left there so they could better investigate.
Aesir was visibly unsettled, but pushed on nonetheless. They examined the area for footprints, blood spatters, fur, anything that led away from the scene. That's when they stumbled across a foreign piece of plant matter on the body. They plucked the long strand of grass and held it up.
"This grass looks like what grows in a nearby meadow. They're probably camped near there."
Finn paled at the sight of a body, as well as the scattered spots of blood. He felt sick to his stomach, and he could hear blood pounding in his ears. Delta placed a hand on his shoulder for a moment to reassure him before they headed forward to investigate as well. They came across a chip of ivory colored material and picked it up carefully. "This looks like a piece of a weapon. We should head to that clearing and see what we can find." They said gravely, pocketing the piece for the time being. "Before anyone else gets hurt." Finn nodded and swallowed nervously before starting to follow the group again.
"I wish we'd gotten here sooner," Castor snarled under his breath, "I know we would've been in danger last night but-:
"We're doing what we can," Aesir promised, "No one can be faulted for the poor timing. Now, this way."
They started to lead the way to the meadow, keeping a watchful eye out for anything else unusual. Castor followed with his sword already at the ready.
Delta kept their hand on Finn's shoulder as they walked, knowing he was still disturbed by the body. They knew he felt guilty as well, especially since he had suggested dealing with the issue last night. "It isn't our fault. We're just going to do our best to deal with the issue today so that no one else gets hurt." Finn nodded quietly, looking around for any signs that the gnolls were nearby.
Nich adjusted his bag on his shoulders with a soft sigh as he made his way through the woods. He was just returning from a long journey to visit his parents in his hometown, and was now coming back to this one, where he now lived on his own.
He heard a soft rustling sound and looked around, taking a few steps forward. Suddenly, he felt himself yanked upwards by one leg. He'd been caught in some kind of trap and was dangling from a tree now. He managed to disengage his prosthetic and fell to the ground with it still dangling from the tree. Then, he heard footsteps approaching and looked over his shoulder to see a few gnolls coming towards him. He swore and tried to get up to defend himself, but couldn't manage it with only one leg, and he cried out for help just before they jumped on him.
Once they neared the meadow, Aesir motioned for the group to stop as they scoped out the landscape.
"They're likely off the edge of the field," they murmured, "In the field would be too exposed, and I don't see the encampment from here."
Castor whipped around his head when he heard sounds of struggle in the distance- perhaps even a scream.
"That noise- we're going that way," he insisted.
"Yes," Aesir agreed, "but let's not get ahead of ourselves-"
Delta and Finn took off running towards the source of the noise. It was close to where they planned to go anyway, and they couldn't just stand here while someone was getting hurt anyhow. Delta was remarkably fast, and much more graceful than Finn, who was still trying his best to keep up.
Nich grunted with strain as he struggled to keep the gnolls off of himself. He'd already sustained some significant injuries, and he was bleeding quite a bit, but he was still alive and fighting. He kicked hard with the leg he still had and got himself some breathing room for a moment, but the gnolls were soon back on him.
Castor also took off. Despite his larger stature, he was every bit as fast as the others. Aesir was given no choice but to follow suit. They kept up, but were still in the back of the group, trying to come up with a plan then and their- not that the others would follow it.
"Good gods- be careful," they hissed, fumbling for their dagger.
Soon, they were upon the scene unfolding ahead. Aesir paled a bit and came to a hard stop. They were not, in fact, going to get the jump on the gnolls.
Delta pulled out their bow and whispered something as they loosed an arrow, which swiftly struck a gnoll through the head and knocked it over. They pulled out another arrow and shot another of the gnolls while Finn was muttering protection spells to try and keep his team members safe. He couldn't get close enough to Nich without endangering himself.
Hearing that help had arrived, Nich fought that much harder to free himself from the horde and managed to break away. He kicked a gnoll in the face with his remaining leg and jumped up into the tree as well as he could with blood pouring from several wounds on his body.
Aesir dropped their sword and pulled out their crossbow, placing in a bolt. They exhaled softly as the bolt flew free, lodging itself in another gnoll's armor. It only caused a minor wound.
Without much more thought, Castor rushed in, engaging the gnoll closest to him. He got the first hit, but the gnoll was quick to fight back, pushing Castor over. He hit the ground, which knocked the breath from his lungs. Yet, he rolled out of the way before he could come to harm. The gnoll changed direction and swung its axe. Castor threw up his arm, which had a small shield on it, in order to protect himself. The blow rattled him and likely bruised, but he was safe, at least. Castor thrust his sword up into the gnoll's leather armor, piercing a little into the other's flesh, but not giving a full deadly blow.
Aesir saw the struggle and turned their attention to Castor and the gnoll he fought. They prepared to fire again, carefully aiming to avoid Castor and actually help.