Dragoknighte

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 16 Conditions: N/A Location: Bob's Public House Action: Eating Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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While it was somewhat vexing that her question didn't exactly lead anywhere of tangible benefit based on the fact Robert could answer, she didn't particularly expect it to. If there were such a situation where a whelp who had barely started learning magic somehow became the mastermind behind this entire situation, things were likely fucked up beyond all repair. At least what could be accomplished by a ragtag group of outcasts with little pull on the greater world around them.

However, Marita's expression changed when Robert brought up Waterside. At first a flicker or recognition, but then it became a fair deal more troubled. She recalled a story she heard a year or so ago, apparently something had been living there amongst the populace undetected, killing the townsfolk until it was located and killed by adventuring types at great loss. She didn't know the exact details of the situation, but the structure of that event was eerily similar to the one they were in now. Despite this, Marita composed herself and elected to not bring it up. Right now, as far as she was aware the two situations weren't connected and at worst it would be a red herring that directed them away from what needed to be done and further alarm the others for no substantial gain. For now, she would simply keep this tidbit of knowledge tucked away in her back pocket until it became clear that it was an actual lead to follow.

The cleric remained silent and simply ate her food while the others spoke. When Victoria knocked over the coins, her eyes flicked over to that direction, but she otherwise did not react or comment. Marita could also think of a variety of reasons that a (former) assassin could take to adventuring, but the topic was a triviality at best. As far as the business-related discussion went, it seemed that the others weren't entirely sure about the direction to take and her food was mostly finished at this point, so she might as well speak up once again.

"In our current situation, it would be best if we stuck together." Marita turned to the Dragonborn, "Blueberry was it? You weren't hired for the job, so you don't have the obligation to follow if you don't want. If you'd like, we could try to help escort you out of the township if you'd prefer to remove yourself from the situation entirely. Otherwise you should either stay put in the pub or come with us to the silversmith. When we get there, unless things go better than expected, only Victoria and I should go in, everyone else keep watch outside in case we have any spies or surprise unwelcome guests."

"As for where the nest is located... unlike any of my prior conclusions, this has absolutely no proof behind it. It's merely a gut feeling, but it might be the Municipal Building. Make of that what you will." Marita went back to her soup.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 16 Conditions: N/A Location: Bob's Public House Action: Eating Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Robert's doublespeak was bothersome, but Marita could tell that he was trying to be as straightforward as he could be without coming into conflict with the Geas. As far as she could tell, what he was trying to say was:

I can't speak in such a way that obviously tells you the answer even by omission or the geas will probably kill me.

I cannot do the ring test unless you forced me to because it would set off the Geas.

You should really go to the silversmith for weapons/someone you can talk to.

Although she did say that she wouldn't be able to trust him if he didn't take the test, she also said that she was going to have faith in them and he's under magical duress not to so she decided to give him the pass there. She did have the tools to force him to do it, but it would both be a waste of time and resources that would be better utilized elsewhere.

"If we're insisting on splitting off into separate groups, I would strongly suggest not traveling alone. People by their lonesome are the ones who seem to be targeted for abduction, not to mention that with all these people in town for the festival you don't know who you might run into. Regardless, I will be going to the Silversmith, but I'm not taking Robert's money. I'm not desperate enough for coin to take from others who need it more than me. That note would be very helpful to get us into the door though." Of course, the pay for the job would likely be snatched up by Victoria or one of the others, and she wouldn't stop them, but it went against her principles to directly profit in a situation like this. That said, she was really bothered by how much she didn't know about many things still going on in this township and the promise of finally getting some answers was quite appealing. As for Blueberry's questions she'd provide answers there. At least what she could.

"We don't know who has returned or how they've changed unless Lea or Daisy know something. I have a list of people who have disappeared and not returned, but people coming back is hearsay told to us by our employer. Apparently anybody who has returned had some answer as to where they were so it's hard to pin them down on top of the apparent cover-up going on. We have been investigating, but realistically speaking we've only been able to actively investigate for less than a day so far so there's only so much we've been able to do." Perhaps an unsatisfactory answer, but that's what she got, and that's all she could give.

With most of the pressing points addressed, Marita finally felt comfortable enough to eat and she was starving. When she thought about it, she really had barely eaten anything at all in many days. The biggest meal she'd had in weeks was that breakfast in Darenby before leaving. It was all she could do to retain her manners and not resort to shoveling food into her gullet.

However, there was one major thing that was bothering her that nobody else seems to have addressed. Who could possibly have been able to cast the Geas on Robert in the first place. Maybe everyone else didn't know but a Geas was quite a high level spell that only a select few could cast. Even she only knew of one person in her church who had the capability of using it, where and how was such a powerful mage hiding in a place like this? Judging by the conversation she had overheard that morning, the Constable likely didn't know about the geas and that probably extended to the rest of the law enforcement. Something tipped off in her head and she set down her spoonful of soup.

"Say Robert, when I was chatting with Lea and Daisy last night they brought up Samthe and Carl. Apparently it's been a long time since they've come back. Did they ever mention where they were going before they left?" Samthe was the only one she heard about possessing any magical talents in this town, although Carl potentially could have some as well. She wanted to see if the geas prevented him from talking about them as well. Although Samthe's sudden blossoming of magic pointed towards him being either a sorceror or Pholtus forbid, a warlock and she was fairly certain a geas would be beyond the capabilities of those with unearned power.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 16 Conditions: N/A Location: Bob's Public House Action: Exposition Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: Oh shit.

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Marita was almost out the door when she heard Robert's remark. She held her hand against the door for a moment before she slowly turned around, a humorless expression plastered across her face. She watched in silence as he wrote out something in Elvish, a language she could neither understand nor read; however, Kathryn was there to unwittingly provide translation. The cleric's expression didn't change, but there was a twinge of understanding before Victoria could provide for those not magically inclined. She remained silent for a few minutes longer before taking a tentative step away from the door.

"If the people the sheriff sent over to help weren't a bunch of idiots, they wouldn't have taken this job that has been compromised a dozen times over from before the beginning. Especially considering the scope of the threat is potentially much greater than a small handful of people could possibly handle. And this is before one capable of casting a Geas became part of the situation. No, anyone with some sense would have abandoned ship long ago. The people Gregory Arbalest sent over are a special group of idiots." Marita returned to her seat at the table and downed her glass of wine in one go.

"I'll have faith in those here, which means committing all the way, despite the numerous risks at hand. Sorry Lea and Daisy if what I'm about to say alarms you, but since we're in this deep, I'm going to lay my cards on the table." Marita cracks her back against the table and sits upright. "Robert might already know, but the reason we're here isn't to sort out the goblins, but to investigate the mysterious disappearances that have been happening as of late. We've only been here a couple of days, but I'm fairly certain about the primary threat at hand."

"Lycanthropy, the curse that enables people to shift between man and beast. I came to this conclusion from a few key pieces of evidence: first all the disappearances happened during night. Second, the boarded up silversmith and his erratic behavior. Third, not everyone who has vanished remained that way, some have returned changed. Fourth, at the location Victoria and I were investigating had beast hair and claw marks on the inside of the cupboards. However, thee behavior isn't consistent with the most famous variant of lycanthropy, werewolves. Werewolves are brutal killers, and the messy bodies left behind would not be easily covered up, even if law enforcement were in on it. However, when I saw the boy morph in my grasp that sealed it. He didn't take lupine features, but those of a rodent. I'm no expert on lycanthropy, but I'm fairly certain we're dealing with a nest of wererats. What their goals are I don't know yet, but given the reactions to the people on the street to the boy's display at least I could say that they haven't overrun the township just yet." Marita picks up the silver ring from the table and holds it aloft.

"Silver is anathema to lycanthropes. It is likely that if one pressed this ring onto their tongue that it would quickly burn them and leave some sort of mark. Robert, Lea, Daisy, I would like each of you to perform this test, or I'm afraid this is the extent to which I can trust any of you in this town"

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 16 Conditions: N/A Location: Bob's Public House->Somewhere else Action: Detect Magic Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: Oh shit.

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Marita took note of the fact that Robert cleared out the Public House for them. While others might still be suspicious of him, knowing what Marita did, she felt that they could trust him. Not completely, but enough. She wasn't going to directly acknowledge his actions, that would potentially dispel the plausible deniability he had. If nothing else, she now had the freedom to speak freely about the rest of the things she had to share with the rest of the party.

"The others have already agreed, but I'll formally accept this job as well. I've already worked here one night, might as well do another. That said, while we should all go there together, only Victoria and I should go in the building. He would likely bar entry if he saw Kathryn or Kosara again and no offense Blackberry, but you saw what happened the last time you tried to approach a random townsperson politely." If they were in a less backwater region it'd be a different story, but those were the breaks when it came to operating an inquisition in a rural environment like this. People tended take one look at them and see a monster acting like a person.

"As for the ring. I'm fairly sure it's mundane. I'll check with Detect Magic." Marita makes a few swift gestures.

"Light, reveal thy nature."

The clerics irises flash with light quick quickly fades away until all that remains is a mere glimmer that you could see if one looked closely at her pupils. Her spell cast, she focuses on the ring for a few seconds before turning back to the group.

"I see no magical aura about it. It's simply a ring, which means that that's enough to do its job." Marita didn't mention what that job was with Lea nearby, hoping that Victoria would be able to figure it out and planning to tell the rest when they weren't in a public place. She saw all she wanted to, but the spell lasted another 10 minutes. She figured that she didn't need it for anything right now, but perhaps there would be something else Kathryn or Kosara had yet to bring up, and it was in poor form to waste a spell given how few she could use in one day.

"Yes, I'd also like the soup and some bread. Oh, and a glass of Zinnoberrot if you still have some available." Last night Marita's justification for not getting wine was because she was on the job. That was still the case, nothing had changed in that regard, but the past 3 days had been so bad, she decided 'Fuck it, I'll treat myself just this once.' One glass wasn't going to impair her abilities or judgment.

"Well since we're divulging our reasons for traveling instead of having a real occupation, it wouldn't hurt to tell a bit more about myself. I'm out here because I don't have a home to go back to. My family home was destroyed long ago, and I'm exiled from my church for... let's call it heretical reasons. Perhaps one day if I can do enough out here I can return, but I doubt I'll have that kind of fortune. Regardless, even if I'm stuck in exile for perpetuity, staying on the path will see me rewarded." Idly she thought about how her situation was mirrored to Victoria's. Her relatives may still be out there, and while it may be good to see them, she dearly wished to never find out what became of them, lest she have to investigate. A worst case scenario involved her having to kill her own kin, an outcome she would prefer to avoid.

Around this time, Robert happened to pass by, and she noticed a magical aura about him. She focused further and saw that it was magenta, enchantment. Uh oh.

"Actually, sorry to do this to you after all you've done to help us, Robert but I just remembered something we forgot to do. We won't be able to run that errand for you after all. In fact, it's pretty urgent so I think we'll be leaving about now." The tone of her voice brokered no discussion or argument about this course of action. Marita stood up, dug in her coin purse and placed a gold coin on the table. "Here, to compensate you for the trouble and make up for the lost business." She fixed her clothes as best as she could and turned to leave the Public House.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 16 Conditions: N/A Location: Bob's Public House Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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By the time they had managed to get to the hayloft, almost all of Marita's makeup had run off completely. All that remained was a mere echo of streaks showing what had used to be on her face, obvious to anyone who looked, but no longer giving her the visage of an angered specter of one who had perished with a grudge against the living. As they approached, Marita saw Kathryn wave them over towards the Public House. Although she would much prefer the privacy to talk about what she wanted to discuss, if they were being flagged to go elsewhere by Kathryn, there was likely a good reason to do so.

When she stepped into the Pub, for a brief moment an expression approximating contentment briefly crossed her face. The Hayloft might have been more secure, but there wasn't much in the way of climate control in the building, and the cleric was very wet and absolutely frigid. Sure, if she was some sort of mage she could whip out a Prestidigitation cantrip and instantly clean up and light a fire, but things were not so convenient for those of the faith. At least in here she would dry out before nightfall and perhaps they could wait out the poor weather. Unlike Victoria, she resisted the temptation to head towards the fire. It would take far too long to get dry and there was much to discuss. No, she would simply bear with her sodden garments.

Marita took the ring from Victoria and looked over it. It appeared to be an ordinary silver ring. She briefly considered casting Detect Magic to see if that really was all that there was to it, but then decided against it. Such an action would likely be read as a brazen display of suspicion and the argument from 2 days prior was still fresh in her memory. No, she would trust in the others. Marita stuck her tongue out and moved to place the ring there, but stopped short, thought better of it and flipped it around so that the side to touch her was not the same as the one that had been on Victoria's. It was gross, she had to do what she could to mitigate that. After a few seconds of nothing happening she removed it. She didn't question why they had been asked to do that, she had a pretty good guess as to why.

She listened to what Kathryn had to report of their doings and thought about how much she should say in return.

"First Victoria and I headed over here where we met Rickard. Rickard was another outsider we met yesterday," she quickly explained to Blueberry, "He wanted to check in on a friend of his who owned a woodworking shop here before we would talk to the dressmaker about his missing daughter. I asked Lea a few questions about some other leads while they went ahead. By the time I caught up to them, Rickard was gone. I'm not sure where he went, but I think he'll be fine. However, the woodworking shop was abandoned. It was almost like nobody had been in there for several days. However, upon closer inspection, there were signs of a hasty clean up, and Victoria found an lock of beast hair. Furthermore, it appeared that everything of value had been looted, and there were deep claw marks on the insides of the cupboards. It was around now that I had an epiphany on what is likely the reason behind things." Marita very specifically did not name what he conclusion was to avoid spooking anybody who might overhear the discussion or tip off any errant eavesdroppers.

"Unfortunately, before we could do anything about it, I noticed we were being spied on. He was a young boy, quite thin and clothed in threadbare hand-me-downs. He gave us quite the chase before I managed to catch him in the main thoroughfare. It was then that he changed as Blueberry mentioned it. His flesh and bones warped and twisted in my grasp before he broke free and ran off. It was then that we met Blueberry looking for the Sheriff. After that it started to rain and now here we are." Marita made an expression that she hoped would be read as There's more I'd like to say but I can't here before shifting around in her seat. Wet clothes and mail made cheap seats even more uncomfortable to perch upon.

"Would you like to explain your plight to out comrades," she off-handedly asked the Dragonborn. If nothing else, it would fill the silence with things that were not security liabilities while they were waiting for food and drink.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 16 Conditions: N/A Location: Avonshire Main Street->Hayloft Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Marita listened to the Dragonborn's reasons for seeking out the Sheriff, her face scrunched up in puzzlement. That certainly wasn't a reason she was expecting to hear about. The man definitely came off as a grizzled veteran, but more in the vein of one who spent most of his life on the force rather than somebody who would carry a title such as "hero." Certainly if she were in need of one with a reputation of that, Avonshire is definitely not a place she would seek such personage out. However, from the sound of it, he was getting rather far down this list of people to seek aid from. Regardless, this new tidbit of information lit a spark in Marita's mind, connecting a few more things regarding the situation in the region, although it likely had nothing to do with their biggest problems at hand.

Marita noted that the first thing he went to when it came to providing assistance was combat prowess. They weren't necessarily wanting for that, but in the context of potentially the entire town being hostile, every bit helped. Judging by his martial-mindedness, lack of armor and light weapon, she guessed that he was like Hugh. To a degree. He certainly didn't seem the stealthy type. It would be seen if he was another such 'ki cultivator.'

The cleric followed behind the Dragonborn and tried her best to shield herself from the rain, to little avail. Now was the time that she regretted not bringing her shield. It wouldn't have been a great source of protection, but it would have been leagues better than nothing. To make matters worse, their new friend completely fumbled his first question and the lady ran off before she could try to interject. When Blackberry turned around, the face he'd be greeted with was one of irritation and disappointment, devoid of surprise, makeup ruined and running from the weather.

"It's about high time we get out of this rain," Marita said authoritatively. "We and our compatriots are staying at a hayloft in town. There we can get dry, have some privacy and catch up on the current situation before any of us catch a cold. We're supposed to rendezvous with the others around now. Hopefully they haven't gotten into trouble somewhere we can't locate them. I'm Marita, and my partner over there is Victoria by the way." With that said, she turned around to go to the hayloft arms crossed to maintain some degree of warmth.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 16 Conditions: N/A Location: Avonshire Main Street Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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"Technically he is in Avonshire, as in the greater region of Avonshire, but that's different that the township itself. I can see how that kind of confusion might occur," Marita replied to the Dragonborn. She didn't know why she was trying to create an explanation for why he was pointed in the wrong direction, after all, there were lots of reasons that could potentially be the root cause and none of them mattered to her in actuality. The sudden sensation of cold water hitting her scalp reminded her of that.

The cleric briefly scowled in surprise, but otherwise remained composed as she listened out both Victoria and the Dragonborn's cases. Well, her face did twist in displeasure when he referred to Victoria's meat golem as if it was a sapient member of the group. Even if he didn't recognize it as the mindless facsimile of a pig that he was, a real living porcine wouldn't need to be addressed as if it were a person. But that was a minor annoyance all things considered.

"Unfortunately, we don't know the sheriff's whereabouts and when he may return. For all we know he might already be back. After all, we haven't been in Darenby in over a day. Furthermore, would be more accurate to say that my colleague and I are working for the Sheriff at the moment rather than having any sort of prolonged experience working alongside him. For what reason are you asking?" The question was more of a formality than anything. This obviously foreigner likely only had one reason to have business with a small-time local lawman like Arbalest, he had received a likely fake copy letter like the others had and was interested in the job. But did he know that he had already missed the day? Judging by the way he conducted himself, probably not.

As for his offer of help... Marita looked at the Dragonborn and then looked back at Victoria, maintaining eye contact for just a fraction of a second before returning her attention to the scaled figure before here. She wanted to give him a flat out rejection, their situation was rather delicate already, and the added volatility of the help of one who didn't know better was not a factor she did not wish to willingly invite into her home. However, this place was also not safe, doubly so for foreigners and she knew the best way to keep him safe was to have him in eyesight.

"I'm not sure exactly how much you'd be able to assist us, but if you wish, you can accompany us for the time being." At this moment, Marita remembered the time and looked over to address Victoria. "Actually, didn't we agree to reconvene at noon? There's some leads I'd like to follow right now that would still get us out of this weather, but we should probably head ba-" out of the corner of her eye she saw their new blue friend start marching off on his own and stopped herself mid-sentence.

"Holy light break through these dark clouds and give me guidance," she said under her breath, pinching the bridge of her nose as she followed. It looked like they were going to be a bit late getting back to the Hayloft. Then again, knowing Kosara and Kathryn, they probably had plenty of time before they'd leave anyone waiting.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 16 Conditions: N/A Location: Avonshire Main Street Action: Investigation Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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At first Marita's reaction to the boy screaming was of annoyance. What did he think they were going to do to him, especially in a public area like this? She was going to admonish him to calm down and they weren't going to hurt him, but the screaming didn't stop. Not only that, right before her very eyes, he started to warp and disfigure. As she felt the arm in her hand shift beneath it, her expression changed from irritation to puzzlement to concern. Although she had just a while ago hypothesized that this town was suffering from a cabal of hidden lycanthropes, logically coming to that conclusion based on a handful of facts and oddities was much different to seeing it happen with your own eyes. However, she noted that the changes she saw were rather un-lupine in nature.

So perplexed by and invested in the changes that were going on with the boy, Marita almost didn't notice the stares of townsfolk around her and the wild accusation that she'd done something to him. She almost opened her mouth to talk back to him, but after their captive fled, Victoria decided to take public relations into her own hands and seemed to placate everyone enough to mostly go back to their own business. It was probably for the best this way, in the back of her head, Marita had been weighing how likely it would be that she would have to use her Voice of Law to settle the matter peaceably.

With that taken care of, she turned her attention down to the coat at her feet. She picked it up and looked over it. Almost worn to the point of usability and obviously meant for someone taller and larger than the waif who had been wearing it. It also had the same kind of hair Victoria had found in the Woodworking shop, no surprise there and on the inside of the collar: G. Porter, the anme of another missing person, this one the orphan boy.

Before she could report her findings back to the bard and retreat to a less open environment, they were approached by a dragonborn of all things asking about Gregory Arbalest. Her first instinct was to guard him with suspicion; however, somebody like him was obviously an outsider to this town and far less likely to be compromised than some random human stranger. And knowing her luck, he was probably one of the fake letter receivers and had gotten lost. Well at the least it probably wouldn't hurt to answer his first question.

"Sheriff Gregory doesn't actually live here. He's in Darenby, a hamlet about a day away from here. His cousin is the one who lives here in Avonshire."

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 16 Conditions: N/A Location: Brindleton's Woodworking->Avonshire Main Street Action: Chasing Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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"I would love to be wrong," Marita tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear "and that the answer to this mystery is something far more mundane. I have no hard proof, at this point it's little more than a hypothesis, but at the moment I'm about seventy percent confident in it. Even if it's not lycanthropy, I'm fairly certain some degree of shapeshifting is involved now. There's no way that something that could have caused those gouge marks would have been able to avoid detection in a village like this otherwise." Marita shifted her body weight from one leg to the other, as if manually changing her mental gear.

"As for where to acquire silver," the faintest of smirks briefly flickered across the cleric's face, "my amulet is composed primarily of sterling silver, although at best it would likely only work as a minor ward. I doubt it would be very useful if we were unfortunate enough to end up in a combat situation. Well, aside from acting as a focus. Perhaps we ought to check out the silversmith. It's boarded up, but maybe there's something inside there we can use." Marita grabbed her holy symbol and inspected it before frowning. The jewelry was in shadow, while the arm that held it was bathed in sunlight. She knew she was standing in front of a window, why would this happen. She turned and saw the silhouette of a head peeking through at them. As annoying as such an outcome was, she silently thanked Pholtus for using the light to clue her in on the spy.

Without explaining anything to V, Marita rushed out of the store to chase after the kid. She knew there was no time to lose before he got away, and she trusted the bard to recognize that there was a good reason for her actions and follow suit. Luckily for her, Victoria (and Morty) lived up to her expectations, their foot(hoof)steps thudding behind her. As she made it out of the building, she cursed that the boy was too far away for her Voice to effectively reach, a bit closer and there was a good chance that this entire encounter could be cut short. Alas, things had to be settled the hard way. However, her daily diligence in personal training paid off in moments like this, there was no doubt in her mind that she would be able to run him down.

And in the initial stages of the chase, that's exactly how things were playing out. The combination of her physical fitness and longer legs had her quickly close the distance between the two of them. If nothing changed soon, the boy would be caught in the blink of an eye. He knew that too, so suddenly her veered off into the gap between two buildings, trying to lose the women in the nearby alleyways. However, Marita was able to keep track of him throughout, and although she had a much harder time maneuvering through the tight spaces and sharp corners, she managed to keep pace all the way until he emerged back onto the main road.

What Marita hadn't seen coming was that they would emerge right by a nearby group of boys wrestling with each other to pass the time. As the fleeing target ran past, he yelled to them "You gotta help me out! They're going to give me a whooping!" The children who weren't busy heard his cry and immediately began pelting Marita and Victoria with rocks. The cleric tried her best to avoid getting hit by them and not to run directly into any of the children, raising her arms to shield he face. It was then that she dearly wished she had brought her shield with her. By the time they had managed to circumnavigate the youths, the boy had managed to gain a significant amount of distance between them again. Marita took in a deep breath and picked up the pace, sprinting just as the child turned another corner.

"At this rate he might be able to slip away before we can catch up. We need a change of tact. Victoria, I'm going to slip through those buildings there, you keep following him and we'll catch him in the middle." Of course she didn't know the layout of the village alleys, but as long as the boy was on the main road, it wasn't too hard for Marita to navigate for this purpose. Through the cracks of the buildings she caught the boy looking behind his shoulder trying to see where she went, but he was looking in the wrong direction. Foolish child. His distraction slowed him enough that she was able to overtake him and emerge on the other side. They almost had him, except he managed to make a last ditch course change and run into the main thoroughfare, straight into the crowd of people.

Marita clicked her tongue in distaste, he had managed to break out of her line of sight, however such was not the case for Victoria. With a quick call, she was able to direct the cleric's attention to him trying to hide behind a wagon full of imported produce. Breathing hard from the extended chase, and having had enough, Marita walked around to find him crouching behind a barrel. He yelped in surprise and tried to bolt again, but she firmly grabbed his upper arm and held him still.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's improper to spy on others?"

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 16 Conditions: N/A Location: Brindleton's Woodworking Action: Investigation Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Marita looked all over the building and found the place more or less empty and untouched, at first. For awhile it seemed like perhaps nothing had actually happened here and this was merely a red herring, a dead end with no actual clues. However, her inborn meticulousness drove her to keep looking, you might not know what you miss if one gave up early. Although her years in the clergy didn't cover any physical investigations such as this, they also taught to not let up the light, let it burn away even the smallest fringes of dark to fester and renew.

And her vigilance paid off. She opened a pantry: empty, but more than that, deep gouges in the wood. Neurons began to connect pieces of information together that had previously been left unchecked. She opened the next drawer to find it the same. She moved from every pantry, cupboard and dresser opening them to find them in a similar state. At first she did this calmly, but as the pattern repeated itself, her pace increased until she was frantically moving throughout the building. When she throwing open the last cabinet door she simply stared at it for a long minute before turning to Victoria.

"Call this a leap in logic," Marita spoke up, her voice shaking just the slightest bit, "but I think I've figured out the underlying mystery. At least to a degree. People disappearing only at night. Sometimes returning changed. The shadows in the eyes of the locals. The locked up silversmith. That hair. Lycanthropy. Werewolves."