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Naven helps the injured Mocle down the catwalk.

"I'm alright. Was that one of the creatures Nightfrost had mentioned?," the cleric asks, climbing back to her feet quickly, adrenaline still kicking. Not that she wished to appear uneducated in the matter of supernatural beasts, but she'd never actually seen a hellhound or a werebeast before.

"Rae, would you accept the blessings of Ulesh?" she asks as she looks toward the oily mist as well. It dissipates completely as the 3 adventurers look at the spot. No blood soaks the ground there.

"This how 't always leaves?"

A stern, hawkish man sporting a long mustache and fierce eyes seems to be the leader of the watch and lowers his sword when he sees the hound has already been defeated... for tonight. Two parallel scars run across the left side of his face. "A few times," he answers, looking at them (including the hobgoblin) with respect. "Usually it kills 1 or 2 people and then leaves again before we can hurt it enough to do what you just did to it. Hirot can sleep easy for the rest of the night... but it'll be back again tomorrow."

"So it ain't dead yet, grrr, figures!" Xepil said with no small amount of frustration and scratched his back with his atl-atl, using the weapon like a back scratcher.

"This is bad, grrrr. I saw the thing looking at me right before I shot it, grrr. It knew that I was taking pot shots at it, grrr. If it comes back I won't be able to pull the same trick on it again, grrr. It'll probably go straight for our archers-- or even our cleric, grrr."

The Hobgoblin looked at the others. "We have to take it out in its lair, grrr. Tonight if at all possible, since it'll be weakened. Grrrr."

"Aye, miss, if ya'd like! I won't say 'no' to it's for sure," Rae replies to Galiena's offer. "Lucky ta have ya 'round! An' I ain't too read up on all them critters the elf lady mentioned. Darned if it kin really be called a hound though. I s'pose it's one o' them things..."

She turns her attention to the leader and mutters a bit to herself at his descriptions. Before she can respond, that crazy hobgoblin pipes up about hunting the creature down in its lair. "Aye, not a bad idea, that. I've certainly heard worse. 'S't always come back wi' it's full strength, then? An' have ye any idea what 'tis or where 't goes? ... I wonder if there's anybody 'tain't never been seen when it's about...?" Her questions are a mix of being aimed at the watchmen and rambling thoughts just spilling out instead of staying inside her own head where they might be better suited to live out their momentary lives.

Josh walks back to the base. "There was a fight with the Hound outside the walls. And the newcomers are pretty mild fellas in the money," Josh told Master Jenks.

Galiena hung her mace back on her belt and laid both hands upon the dwarf's wound. "Hold still," she says and then prays to Ulesh, channeling his healing magic to close and repair Rae's wounds.

The leader of the nightwatch, Nothan, pulled at his long mustache as he looked at Xepil, probably wondering why a Hobgoblin is here trying to aid them with this problem. A few months ago, he might have made a fuss about it, but after losing several of his own men to the beast, he's not about to go turning down help from unexpected sources. "Iraco, that's the Jarl's Hunt Master, figures it lives somewhere in the Sunken Fens, dangerous terrain to the north and west of here. He lost two men there trying to track it down."

His gaze turns to the dwarf as he realizes what she's implying, for he has harbored similar suspicions. "You think someone here controls it?" he asks her, not volunteering his own opinion. Though, a few of his men volunteer theirs.... "The Jarl's pet sorcerer, I'd bet." "Gotta be that mad widow Ymae... everyone knows she's a witch!"

---

"Guess that weasel Sylle Ru was wrong 'bout the sacrifices keepin' it away, huh? Who'd the hound get tonight?" Jenks asked to Josh, barely looking up from the game of cards he was playing with Oleen and Catkins.

"None as far as I know. It either died from the attack group or fled with weird vodoo magic," Josh replied, taking out his dagger and sharping it on a small rock, "I didn't see the whole thing, but there was two or so nightwatch men, a dwarf and a few others I didn't recognize."

Rae feels a warmth run through her shoulder as Galiena prays a blessing of healing over it. She rolls her arm a bit when the cleric is finished and hefts her weapon - no pain. "Lah, lass, thank'ee! Good as new!" She then turns to the leader of the watchman with a wink, "Your words, not mine! Yahr sure the beast will nae return tonight then? Anythin' else we ought ta know before hunting it up?"

Xepil, who by now seems to be perfectly comfortable interacting with humans, gives Nothan a weird look as he mentions already having tried to track down the beast. "And you lost two men hunting it down you say? Grrrr." His eyes raise a bit. "How exactly? Did the beast get 'em or is the terrain there is that dangerous? Grrr." The Hob doesn't seem to be too interested trying to find out who's controlling the beast in town, since tracking and hunting is more his style rather than investigation and espionage.

"Both," Nothan answered Xepil, "or rather one of each. I did not accompany them, but I was told Barrow was killed by the hound and Haelf was lost in the Fens. It is not a place to be taken lightly."

His gaze turned to Rae and shook his head, "I don't think it'll be back tonight, but how to slay it? Wish I knew." He pulled at his moustache and then added, "But I'm afraid the gates cannot be opened until dawn except at the direct order of the Jarl."

---

"They bested it, huh?" Jenks said with interest.

"It bite anyone?" Tocs, who was busy playing cards with the others, asked. "I 'eard if you get bit, you'll get turned into a wolf."

"It seems so," Josh said to Jenks, then, looking at Tocs, he said, "I was too far away to see if anyone was bit, but that would be really interesting to see happen."

Rae chuckles at Nothan's imagination of a problem with the opening of gate. "Ah, but there are always other ways in and out of a city, I s'pose."

She turns to Galiena and Xepil. "Well, dae we gae after it t'night or wait until morning or next evening? There's always the fixin' o' the wall, an' a good night's sleep,... mebbe muster some help - no shame in stayin'... 'Course, ain't never no shame in puttin' a problem ta rest, neither..."

The Hobgoblin crossed his arms and closed his eyes looking deep in thought. "Hmm.. seems like a shame wasting a good opportunity like this to kill it good, grrr.." As Rae pointed out the hole it made, he rubbed his chin. "And yeah, the logistics are in our favor right now, grrr..."

"But it's true that we don't know how to kill it grrrr, and if the wilderness is that perilous we could drown or fall off a cliff before we even reach its lair, grrr."

"Guh.." He said finally. "I hate waiting... hmm, how about... we go.. in the morning! Grr!" Xepil said snapping his fingers. "Yeah, with any luck the beast will still be sleeping its injuries off AND it'll be easier to navigate during the day, grrr."

"Waddaya guys think? Grrr." He looked at the human and the dwarf.

Jenks stood, quick to anger, particularly when he was well on his way to being drunk, "Didn't get close nuff?! Kid, when I says to scope out the newcomers, I don't mean from a mile away. What goods 'at? You no good slouch! You're just like Stein!"

Tocs smirked, always glad when their leader's ire was directed at someone else. "Oh... Poshy Joshy's in trooooouble!" he mocked.

Jenks strode toward the boy and pointed toward the door, his breath reeking of cheap alcohol... "Get back out there and don't bother comin' back til you got something useful!"

---

Nothan's mouth tensed slightly, Rae's suggestion putting him in a position to potentially outright defy the Jarl. "If you wish to leave, we can get you out, but cannot permit you to come back until after dawn," he replied carefully. "At least not without permission from the Jarl."

Galiena looked torn. "I'm no tracker or skilled woodsman," she said, uneasy about the idea of traversing the dangerous and unfamiliar terrain in the dark. "You think we really might kill it in its lair?"

Sighing, Josh walked back outside. Why can't I get a break?he thought to himself. Then he went beside a wall, sat down, and thought about a lot of different things.

"Oh, I dinnae mean yeh'd have t'get yerselves involved." Rae winks nonchalantly at Nothan before continuing on, "...But I wonder why nobody's found out a way t'keep that beast outside... hm, strange." Her voice begins to trail off as she considers the possibilities and observes the wall.

Suddenly, she turns round to the other two. "T'morrah mornin' then? If we take the description back to the others, maybe they'd have an idea how t'defeat this thing for good."

"The sacrifices seem to be the only way," Nothan answered, missing the dwarf's implications.

Galiena, though she would have gone with Rae and Xepil in search of the beast this night, looked slightly relieved as the dwarf agreed to wait until daybreak. If the nightwatch leader was to be believed, the beast would not present a danger again until the following night.

The trio make their way back toward the Wolf Spear (A3) and pass through the village square (A2). Though it is night time, they notice a locked strongbox that rests atop a short wooden post in the center of the square. A tattered banner displaying a sable wolf rampant hangs forlornly above the strongbox.

In the shadows of the chapel (A4) ahead, they might see Josh, barely visible, sitting against the wall of the building. And he would most certainly notice them... an armored woman, a dwarf, and a hobgoblin were certainly conspicuous.

Quite sleepy now that the adrenaline has passed, Xepil isn't really paying much attention to his surroundings and is instead more focused on finding a bed to sleep.

The Hobgoblin yawns and tries to put his arms around Galiena and Rae in a pitiful attempt to charm them. "You guys wanna share a room? Safety in numbers, right? Grrhehe." He gave a toothy grin that was probably going to fall flat considering his fang like teeth.

What a strange journey it had been.

Resting unnoticed atop a shelf bedecked with all manner of liquor, the young Nysphina Petalgleam observes the trio from above. She followed them into the Wolf Spear Inn, wordless. In thanks to her small stature shadowing the party had been mostly simple, though not without a bit of extra hiding on her behalf. The fae had heard tell of the troublesome beast plaguing the base of the Dragonbone mountains. Though cautioned against it, she could not be dissuaded from her thrill-seeking ways.

And so for days she had traveled with the party, stowed amongst the goods of the wagon where none would find her. Thus far the information she gathered proved useful enough. But it also proved this was no task for a lone fae.

Coming to stand, her wings spread, accidentally knocking an empty bottle of wine to the floor that shatters loudly into pieces.

"An' what d'yeh think yer doin'?" Rae inquires loudly as she hastily brushes Xepil's arm from her shoulder. "Laddie," she continues in a stern voice before eventually cracking ever so slightly at the complete absurdity of his idea, "Yeh best be glad ya done so well back there, or I'd be givin' yeh a thrashin' yeh would nae soon forget!" She shakes her head as she continues mumbling to herself.

As they make their way through the town center though, the strongbox catches her attention. "What d'ye reckon this is for? Strange thing t'have in the center of town, don'chyeh think?" She wanders over for a better look. "An' don'chyeh think it odd they kep' the wolf on the banner? Makes yeh wonder 'bout how this place even came t'be, don' it?"

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"...his name was Ulfheonar. That's his wolf-spear here," Lloré, a young man of about 20 and Hirot’s sole bard and storyteller was telling Nightfrost, his latest audience and reached up to tap the spear hung above the bar. "... course this is just a replica. See it's made of wo..."

The bottle crashes down next to them and Lloré's eyes widen, momentarily concerned that somehow he'd caused it to fall by touching the spear before catching sight of Nysphina. "Hey!" he grabs ahold of Nightfrost's arm and points at the fae creature, having only ever heard of their existence in stories, but a moment later he grins. "Are you ok, pixie?" he asks her, wanting to ensure she had not hurt herself when the wine bottle shattered.

---

The strongbox is secured with a padlock. There's a slot in the top to allow something small to be inserted. (Such as paper or coins)

"Seems we're safe enough for tonight," Galiena said, ducking away from the hobgoblin's arm and went toward the strongbox that Rae was looking at. "Some kind of collection for the families that have lost someone, maybe?" she suggested. "I bet the tavern-keep would know."