"Well…. the monster- or monsters love to kill livestock, but not to eat them, it seems. But as for other reports, they're all over. You might have some luck if you talk to the lumberjack or the fishmonger. They're both in the woods a lot," she continued, As for your reward, the posted amount was baseline. And you're more than welcome to stay in the nearest inn for free. I arranged something with the keeper, since this is such a pressing matter."
"Thank you, ma'am," Castor replied, "I know we can't bring your son back, but we'll do everything to make sure no one else has to end up like him. Anything else you guys want to get out of the way before we go pay someone else a visit?"
Finn and Delta nodded again and prepared to leave. "That's all very helpful ma'am, thank you." Finn dipped his head politely and fastened his cloak. Delta wrote down the names of the people that the woman suggested they check with and put the notepad back in their bag.
"We'll do that, and we'll get to get this issue resolved as soon as possible." Delta bowed and looked to the others. "I think we've got enough to get a lead, at least. It's getting late now, so we may want to start our investigation in the morning once our witnesses are awake."
"Right, let's get down to that inn. Maybe we can mingle with some of the townsfolk in the tavern part, get some information before we go to bed," Aesir suggested, "The inn is only a short walk away."
They again led the way, but this time it was only a few rows down before they made it. The inn was usually bustling, but it seemed fairly quiet now. People must not want to travel here with monsters running amok.
Finn and Delta followed along behind Aesir, looking around as they walked. Finn was more curious about what the best ways to get around might be, and Delta was trying to figure out the layout of the town so that they could find the correct witnesses in the morning. The tavern was a good place to start as well; all sorts of people mingled there, so they might have some information.
"Right. It'll be good to ask around the inn… there's a decent chance that there might be witnesses in there as well." Delta sighed softly, pulling their notebook back out just in case.
"I can also draw out a rough town map for us," Aesir suggested, "so you guys can familiarize yourselves."
"That might be helpful," Castor agreed, "We can do that if there's time after interviewing people."
Aesir came to the entrance and held the door open for their companions.
"Yeah, that would be nice." Delta replied, dipping their head in thanks to Aesir before they headed into the inn. Finn did the same and looked around curiously. "It was really nice of that lady to let us stay here for free. We should try and resolve this quickly so she doesn't have to pay as much, assuming she's the one paying for it."
"I think the innkeep might be giving us free board," Aesir replied, "This problem is affecting the whole town, so I'm sure they want to do what they can to make sure we can get rid of their problem as quickly as possible."
Castor nodded. "Sure. Once we find whatever it is, I'm sure taking care of the monster will be easy enough."
Aesir walked up to the tavern counter, looking behind them to make sure the others followed.
"Hey, we're here on that contract. The woman who lives in the farmhouse- the woman who lost her son- sent us," they explained, "She said we could board here, and we might like to ask around about the monster, if that's alright."
"Ah, that makes sense…" Finn mumbled, looking forward again once the group made it to the counter. Delta was already scribbling down a few notes on something, but Finn didn't ask them what.
The tavernkeeper glanced up from where she was cleaning the counter and straightened, nodding. "Yes, I was told we'd be seeing adventurers soon. You're welcome to ask around as long as you don't disturb the guests too much." She replied. Finn and Delta nodded.
"Thank you very much, ma'am. We'll be sure not to irritate the patrons if we can help it." Delta replied politely before looking around at the people in the tavern.
"Of course. Thanks again for letting us crash here," Aesir replied with a smile.
They started off towards one of the tables and began to quietly ask around for tips. Castor was much less subtle and less tactful. He sat next to an old man and started asking questions. The man was clearly irritated and eventually asked Castor to leave. He took a deep breath, apologized, and went to bother someone else.
Finn and Delta parted ways to ask around as well. Delta wrote down anything they deemed important, trying to piece together a physical description of the beast or beasts. Finn relayed information from his informants to them so they could get as much down as possible. Once they were relatively certain they had talked to as many people in the tavern as possible, they met back up with Castor and Aesir.
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.
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