IC X

[thirdkingdom]

Flaurmont 16, AC 1000

Shortly after midnight those on watch become aware of a commotion in camp. There are shouts of "The Beast! The Beast!" as two exhausted looking figures stagger in from the south. Within moments the camp is abuzz with activity; men rushing about with torches, extra guards grabbing weapons and patrolling the perimeter. Before too long Josiah can be seen stalking towards the adventurers' tents, accompanied by a dozen or so logger.

I'm working on the assumption that those on night watch rouse the other PCs.

Josiah surveys the awakened party, his face contorted in a barely controlled fury. "The Beast has struck again, the camp just south of here, and three men are dead, while you sit here and practice your spells and prance about with swords!" He spits on the ground at their feet. "You take our food, use our pack mules, spend a few days out in the woods and come back without one of my most trusted guides, and you won't even give me a straight story about where Jaceo is! For all I know you got those wounds killing him! Bah! Some heroes you are! Now get out there and kill that thing or begone with you all as cowards and fools!"

The men behind him nod in grim determination, gripping the handles of their axes and mauls sullenly. "I owe Jaceo my life, scum!" shouts one, "what'd you do to him!" "Bunch of blowhards," another mutters, "always out to make themselves look good! Let's see how good they look when the Baron hears of this!" "Yeah!" shouts a third, "The Beast is prolly one of their pets; you know how the long-ears love their animals." He mimes an act of sexual congress. "Frakkin' elves, never did trust those blighters."

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

Is it a rule that we can't just kill these guys?

Innana's face turns red with fury,"what beast? Oh, you mean the one that took out my throat?" What happened to Jaceo? Innana steps in closer ,"that is a damn good question. All we have to go on is that Jaceo disappears about the time a doppelgänger shows up in our camp!!"


Innana throws up her arms and spins in a circle, Brilliant! Did you guys all wake up this morning and think it a great idea to piss off the very Heroes that were sent to help ye all, or was it a planned thing?
Innana looks Jasiah in the eyes, and her voice lowered, "prancing around? did you see me prancing around?

[thirdkingdom]

Josiah

"That's it!" He turns and points to three of his men. "You, you and you. Saddle up and ride to Threshold. I want you to rouse the Baron's men, tell them we're holding these folks for attempted fraud and the murder of Jaceo." He turns back to the party. "Nothing wrong with your neck from where I stand, lady, but there's a whole lot wrong with that story you spun. Now, you can drop your weapons nice-like and we wait for the Baron, or you're going to have to go through us."

[Finglas]

Bregalad the elf

Bregalad attempts to reason with the boss and assuage his anger. "Josiah, you are right. We have not been completely straightforward with you since returning to this camp. But it is not for the reasons you think......

We went deep into the wilderness to hunt the cat, but learned almost too late that it was in fact the cat that was stalking us. It waited, until most of us were asleep and unarmored, and then it struck. Innana was the first to face the beast. Valiantly she held it back, while the rest of us were roused and picked up our weapons -- and she fell, her throat slashed. The monster's claws passed through her armor like a sword cutting through paper. Look there -- the marks on her mail are still there for you to see. The reason she walks before you now is because we possessed a magical stone that brought her back. And the healing prayers of our clerics eventually closed her wounds.

Thordin was the second the face the cat. He, too, fought bravely, marking its hide with his blade while the rest of us surrounded it. Although we were far from being able to slay the beast, we proved to be a defiant meal, and so it leaped off into the darkness.

And Jaceo....... When the battle had ended, he was nowhere to be found. However, in his place was a strange creature. It attempted to mimick our mystic: its appearance and behavior were indistinguishable from Rhys'. If not for Drudsa's magic, we would not have learned who was the real Rhys, and who was not. This creature, too, ran off into the woods, but not before Thordin was able to slash deeply into its thigh.

After that attack, we knew we were not fully prepared to face that monster. And so we returned here to fully heal, and better prepare ourselves in our next attempt. And if it was not for that strange creature, we would have told you everything. But we could not be certain if it returned to camp before us, and took on another person's form, possibly even yours.

This is the complete truth of what had happened when we had left."

The elf's eyes do not stray from Josiah's, hoping the boss will realize the truthfulness of his words.

[Alethan]

Rhys the Traveler

Rhys steps up, arms ahead of him, palms of his hands moving in an up-and-down motion.

"Let's everyone calm down. Innana, go take a breather," he points to an area by the party's tents.

"Josiah, I am Rhys, a member of the monastic order of Castellan. As many of you may know, our order holds truth above all other virtues. Please believe that what my friend, Bregalad, says is the truth, as much as we know it to be."

"You don't really believe such men of means would traipse all the way up here to thieve the food and supplies of a logging camp just for sport, do you? You don't really believe the Baron's own Father Varis would have sent us up here if he did not believe we were capable of handling the situation, do you?"

"We were planning on heading back out in the morning, but now is as good a time as any. Allow us to go track this thing down and rid the land of it. Allow us to go do our job."

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

Innana figures that Josiah is not the doppelgänger since he was not limping. Too bad. Innana knows Josiah is all bark, and is in no way a threat to her friends, so she backs away reluctantly, and cools off near the tent area where Rhys had pointed.

Innana will let the group reason with the loggers. Innana paces back and forth It is not in her nature to reason with anyone who attacks.

She is just waiting for someone to give her a good reason to pull out her girls, and strike. She would rather use her blades to kill the real threat, but Innana waits to see if these loggers will reason things out.

[frobozz]

Lanny the Elf

Lanny rises to his feet as the angry loggers approach, but listens in silence as Josiah speaks his mind.

"Josiah, Bregalad speaks the truth. And what we initially said to you about Jaceo was also true - he did, in fact, go off on his own following our confrontation with the great cat. A moment later there were two identical forms of Rhys in our camp... and Jaceo was nowhere to be found. I can only deduce two possibilites from this - either Jaceo IS the doppleganger, or the real Jaceo was mimicked and then killed by the doppleganger. We were hesitant to mention this fact to you before first searching the camp for any signs of evil, in case there were any other dopplegangers entrenched in the camp. Fortunately, we found no signs of evil. But the last thing we wanted to do was spread unneccessary panic in the camp, and have one logger unreasonably suspecting that the logger standing next to him is a doppleganger. But now, the whole truth is out... So, with that said, if Jaceo appears again in this campsite, be on your guard, for it might not be the Jaceo you know."

Lanny pauses quietly for a moment, reflecting on his own words.

"Our first confrontation with the great cat left one of our party at death's door... That is why we returned to the camp. We had no intention to stay any longer than necessary - one or two days at the most. The training we have undertaken in the past day, while we were healing, will be crucial to our ability to defeat the beast. You must understand, this is a highly intelligent creature. Simply throwing a lot of swords at it will not defeat it. We found that out the hard way... So now, it looks like we will have a fresh trail to follow in the morning. We can start our tracking at the camp to the south where the attacks occurred. I do hope you reconsider the idea of trying to detain us... for we have a quest to fulfill to defeat this beast."

[zebediah]

Drudsa the dabbler

"Your reaction is understandable master Josiah, had we been more effective when we first met the creature and this would not have happened. Show us where it has struck and we will chase the beast."

No point arguing with the loggers now, the tempers will only get more flared up and that won't help.

Of course, if the shapeshifter has replaced Josiah he won't let us go so easily.

[riftstone]

Thordin the dwarf draws his mystical sword, looking at Josiah, his voice both low and dangerous.

"You insult the humans, and they take it because they want to play nice. You insult the elves and they take it because they take a long term view on such things. But don't think for a second that a dwarf is going to take that from anyone. Maybe you should be more careful with who you get involved in all this, and you should be more careful about who you insult. I await an apology, or the survivors can finish digging your grave."

[thirdkingdom]

Josiah

The old man's face turns scarlet. "You know what I think? I think that y'all had something to do with the Beast -- maybe you released it from some wizard's tower, or angered the Immortals somehows -- and Jaceo found it out and you killed him! I don't give a shit about your honor, or letting you finish your 'quest', or whatever fancy words you cloak your inaction is. Three more of my boys are dead this night, a trusted employee missing, and you say nothing for days before coming up with some bullshit story about facestealers! 'Evil' here? The only evil I see is a bunch of sellswords sitting around while my men get slaughtered. You're fired! I'll take my chances with the Beast until we can get us some real heroes!"

He motions to the three he had pointed out earlier. "Go on, ride!" then turns to the party again. "The Baron's men'll be here by days end. I'm going to station guards to make sure you don't try and escape, so you best sit in your tents and think real hard about what you're going to say." Josiah is approached by one of his hands, who whispers briefly in his ear. "Y'all claim to be friends of Varis, I hear? Then I guess you'll be surprised to hear that the man's missing, been gone for about a week. Come to think of it, he went missing about the same time you boys showed up here!" He nods grimly, "Yeah, I think the Baron's men are gonna be glad to see you."

I am using Lanny's Charisma modifier of +1 in this situation. Josiah's current attitude is "Hostile". A good roll indicates a shift towards a more positive attitude. (Unless, of course, Josiah has been taken by the doppelganger ) Reaction roll: (2d6+1=4) Huh. That's not so good.

[Alethan]

Rhys the traveler

Rhys leans over to Lanny and whispers, "Our mimic might have a new face already... Time to put Josiah and his gang to sleep? If he doesn't fall, then we know. At the very least, we can escape without doing them harm..."

[Innana]

Innana he fighter:

Is watching the whole hot mess, and decides that she will rejoin the group now with swift fang drawn. She comes up and stands next to Thordin.

Innana understands the elves might be just about to cast a spell so she does not attack. "Something is not right here in this camp,". I have seen their hostile looks and gestures since we have arrived. There is a distinct smell of meat, and yet I find no meat. These men can not be trusted. I would not let them detain me, nor any of us. Varis is missing. That is sign enough that there may an infiltration, and that things are not what they seem."

Innana says in Elven tongue' "Use your magic now, or I am taking Josiah's head clean off if anyone attacks us."

[zebediah]

Drudsa teh dabbler

Drudsa whispers back to Rhys and Innana

"We do not know if Varis is indeed missing. For all we know these men here are pissed off at seeing their friends die while the people who promised to save them were sitting around, I don't find that hard to believe. There might be more to it, certainly, but if that shapeshifter is in action here I think we will find out soon enough. We should not take action here unless we are attacked first."

Plus, as Lanny points out, we lack spell power as you can see in the Standards thread. Most of our stuff has been used during the day, including healing.

Josiah

The old man's face turns scarlet. "You know what I think? I think that y'all had something to do with the Beast -- maybe you released it from some wizard's tower, or angered the Immortals somehows -- and Jaceo found it out and you killed him! I don't give a shit about your honor, or letting you finish your 'quest', or whatever fancy words you cloak your inaction is. Three more of my boys are dead this night, a trusted employee missing, and you say nothing for days before coming up with some bullshit story about facestealers! 'Evil' here? The only evil I see is a bunch of sellswords sitting around while my men get slaughtered. You're fired! I'll take my chances with the Beast until we can get us some real heroes!"

He motions to the three he had pointed out earlier. "Go on, ride!" then turns to the party again. "The Baron's men'll be here by days end. I'm going to station guards to make sure you don't try and escape, so you best sit in your tents and think real hard about what you're going to say." Josiah is approached by one of his hands, who whispers briefly in his ear. "Y'all claim to be friends of Varis, I hear? Then I guess you'll be surprised to hear that the man's missing, been gone for about a week. Come to think of it, he went missing about the same time you boys showed up here!" He nods grimly, "Yeah, I think the Baron's men are gonna be glad to see you."

"Again, I understand your anger master Josiah and I regret not being sufficiently prepared to deal with the creature when we had a chance. Your accusations, however, make no sense. Why would we return here if we done such things? We have been recognized as heroes in Threshold even by the Baron himself, as I am sure you have heard, there would be nothing to be gained by us on putting up such a scheme. Also, had we anything to do with Father Varis' supposed disappearance why would we remain at his doorstep, working on a task given to us by him? Please call in the Baron's men if that will make you feel safer and ease your temper, but we intend to continue our hunt in the morning. With all due respect, it was Varis on behalf of the Baron, not you, who gave us this mission so it is up to them to dismiss our services if they ever decide to do that."

Thordin the dwarf draws his mystical sword, looking at Josiah, his voice both low and dangerous.

"You insult the humans, and they take it because they want to play nice. You insult the elves and they take it because they take a long term view on such things. But don't think for a second that a dwarf is going to take that from anyone. Maybe you should be more careful with who you get involved in all this, and you should be more careful about who you insult. I await an apology, or the survivors can finish digging your grave."

"Calm down master Thordin, let the tempers cool down and truth become clear. If these men are in good faith and we are successful in the end I am sure friendly words will be exchanged again."

[frobozz]

Lanny the Elf

Lanny nods in agreement with Drudsa. He addresses Josiah one more time.

"There is no need for more dead bodies tonight - yours or ours - although we are fully prepared to defend ourselves if attacked. If the Baron's men appear tomorrow, so be it - we will simply tell them exactly what we have told you, and then we will continue on with our mission to find and kill this beast..."

He speaks quietly to his companions.

"Whether we like it or not, these loggers are the very people we are entrusted to protect. They are crude and ill-mannered, to be sure, but not intrinsically evil. It would be a castastrophe if they were to die not only under our watch, but by our very swords. I too urge patience and restraint while we sort out the truth of what is happening here..."

Lanny thinks for a moment about possible strategies.

"We should not lower our guard tonight, nor surrender our weapons. Mages, get some sleep tonight, and then prepare Sleep first thing in the morning. It will not only protect us from the angry loggers, but also might help to expose any dopplegangers in our midst. Non-casters, you may need to do double duty tonight, for we should be as prepared as possible if they should try to attack us during the night..."

[Alethan]

Rhys the traveler

Rhys nods in agreement and prepares for a double watch in the evening.

[thirdkingdom]

Rhys the traveler

Rhys nods in agreement and prepares for a double watch in the evening.

It is actually a little after midnight, the 16th of Flaurmont.

[Alethan]

Rhys the traveler

Rhys nods in agreement and prepares for a double watch in the evening.

It is actually a little after midnight, the 16th of Flaurmont.

Ah, apologies.

Rhys ushers the elves and casters back to their tents and stands alert in front of them for his shift. When he cannot effectively keep watch, he wakes Thordin for his turn.

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

can pick up one of the shifts

[thirdkingdom]

The adventurers modify their watch routine as the loggers do the same. Some minutes later, the sounds of hooves pounding the dirt track can be heard, heading for Threshold, no doubt. It does not take long for the camp to settle back into a sort of stupor; the warriors standing watch over their slumbering companions, and burly, nervous lumberjacks standing guard over them. It is obvious to all involved that the loggers are no warriors, and though they may be able to fell mighty trees with but a few swings of the axe they would stand no real chance before the formidable steel and spells of the adventurers, claims of cowardice notwithstanding.

It is several hours before dawn when one of the loggers sidles up to whomever is standing guard and breathes out of the side of his mouth. "I ain't lookin' to get involved, mind, and I'd always heard the skinwalkers were naught but old wives tales, told to frighten the little ones, but I seen somethin' the night afore you left that first time. It was on about this time, just before daybreak, and I was walkin' the perimeter when I got the urge to piss somethin' fierce. Now, I got a bit of a shy bladder, so I went off a ways down to the lake and almost stumbled over Jaceo -- he didn't see me, thank the Immortals, or I might be dead now, from what you say, but I saw him peering into some kind of dish and talking to it; there was light spilling out of the dish like the moon was trapped within." The man glances around and moves away a bit. "Mebbe you ain't lyin', I don't know, but I ain't want shit to do with you either."

[zebediah]

Drudsa the dabbler

Assuming the logger's comments are shared by those on guard with the remainder of the group at daybreak Drudsa makes the following comment "Bargle's finger, the plot thickens. Perhaps Bargle got sufficiently annoyed with our heroics and is working to get us out of the way. If Varis is indeed missing that could be connected, maybe even with the whole strife involving the Iron Ring. I wonder if we shouldn't have travelled to Penhaligon sooner... Alas, nothing we can do now but get done with the situation at hand."

Drudsa will prepare Charm Person and Sleep as his first level spells, and Continual Light and Invisibility for second level. Cantrips unchanged.

"If the loggers are not opposed to it let us leave and investigate the site where the creature attacked last night. If they try to keep us here until the Baron's men arrive I suggest we play along. The Threshold guards should be on our side unless some evil has been at work to defame us in the city. I am preparing some spells that should help us escaping, if it comes to that."