At some point during their breakfast, a messenger came in and located them.

"Are you the people who helped the Mayor last night?" (they should notice he doesn't say by doing what.) "He talked to a local noble, Sir Mann, and he in turn sent me. He is interested in hiring you to work for him."

(The messenger then stands there, waiting for the group's answer. And no, he won't say what the job is, either. He doesn't know or was told not to say.)

edited 19th Aug '17 2:20:26 PM by Sijo

"I am a scholar - with a deal of renown I should add - and plan to be in the area for a while, at the very least," Mialee commented.

"A noble you say? Lead the way!" she added to the messenger.

Gabatim nodded toward the messenger. "I'll go." He didn't believe a word that was said, but it would not do to sit around either. Nor would say much and give away much info to someone who had nothing in return.
Oh and the green woman, scholar eh? The vaquero had mistook her for a really mobile green cannon.

So the centaur was named Fyterion. That was good to know. Whistler had gotten Gabatim to explain his name, although the Kenku hadn’t informed the others of the fact that he couldn’t speak normally; it had seemed too much trouble at the time. Privately, he wondered if Fyterion had a common or rare name among his people. He knew little of centaurs and their customs.

The elf was named Mialee. From what he knew of her kind, there was no doubt that she was much, much older than he was, although she didn’t look like it. Her attitude was rather annoying, but she seemed a powerful ally.

After they had introduced themselves, they headed back to the Inn, and the Kenku lay down for some much needed rest.

During the night, Whistler had slept well. He almost always did; he didn’t know whether or not that was a Kenku thing, or if it was just a him thing. Whatever the reason, it was nice not having to fear sleep. It also meant that he could generally wake up at a moment’s notice and assess the situation without having to worry he was still asleep.

In the morning, the Kenku had grabbed his favorite book, and ordered bread and cheese. Some found it strange that he would reread anything; but the fact that he had a perfect memory didn’t mean that he understood everything he read. He learned best through repeated practice, and having something like said book on hand was useful for learning.

The book he was currently reading was a survival guide; it detailed many things about the wilderness, from plants and animals to the tactics of avoiding charging foes. The latter was intended to be used to avoid charging stags and boars, but Whistler had no doubt that he could apply it to fighting more humanoid foes with a bit of practice.

They had all decided to work together. Well, the other adventurers had discussed working together and hammered out their terms, and Mialee had asked him if he’d like to come along, and he had agreed. It wasn’t that they had ignored him- instead, it was more or less that he was more interested in listening to them and working out their respective personalities.

The elf asked how long they planned to stay. Tucking into his breakfast, Whistler shrugged. “As long as I need too,” he said gruffly, before continuing to eat and read at the same time. Eventually, he learned that she was a scholar; apparently one of great renown, although he didn’t particularly care. He would judge her based on what she did, not what she said she had done.

Eventually, a messenger showed up. Apparently a noble wanted something done for him. Whistler looked at Gabatim, and when the vaquero nodded his acceptance, Whistler did so as well. It would no doubt be wise to mimic the human- he seemed intelligent.

Berth

Seeing the others at the table agree to follow Fyterion gave a nod as well, seeing how there was little chance that he would find some of his usual work in this small town it was only wise to follow the others for now, if nothing else it would likely bring him to a bigger town with more need of a messenger like him. After having eaten the last bit of his bread the Centaur slowly rose. "Please, lead the way then."

Seeing that all four adventurers had agreed, the messenger nodded, turned around, and led them- to the Town Hall.

There, surrounded by many guards, they would meet a stout, middle aged man with dark hair, beard and eyes, who looked energetic for his age, in very fine clothing. He was sitting at a table having a sumptuous breakfast when the adventurers came in.

"Ah, greetings, heroes! Yes, rest assured, the Mayor has informed me of everything you did for him" he said, standing up. "My name is Sir Yentl. I'm in charge of this county. Which is why I have need of daring heroes such as you."

His tone turned somber. "For the past couple of weeks, some people have gone missing from Berth" he began."No one is sure why. Some say it was kobolds, others, bandits."

"There is no pattern to the victims either. Rich and poor, male and women, all gone. The only thing in common is that they all were coming to or leaving town on the road to east. The only thing there is a forest, which some claim is haunted. But that's just an old wive's tale."

"In any case. You can see why I want this investigated. My own men have failed to find much. And I cannot afford to send a larger force, as it would leave the town itself defenseless."

"If you accept this mission, I'm willing to pay you 1000 Silver Pieces if you successfully resolve this situation. Plus, you may keep any treasure you find, of course."

"So" he added with a smile, "Do you accept?"

A thousand.

A thousand silver pieces.

That was actual, real, tangible money. Maybe not enough to catapult (or trebuchet) one into a life of luxury, but it was certainly a respectable enough amount for a simple job. A simple job which, if things panned out, would simply just involve having to kill another goat. This seemed like the sort of place where nothing of any significance ever happened, some peasant no doubt mistook an abnormally loud escaped farm animal for a horrifying beast.

"Absolutely! That monster is as good as dead, Milord!" she said quickly.

edited 21st Aug '17 4:06:29 PM by nman

Sir Yentl, Gabatim mulled the name, but the vaquero had never heard of the man. Just as well. He was already unimpressed. No one completely disappeared. Even on the wastes of the tundra and forests where he used to keep his own herds. Animals "mysteriously" got fatter, gullies where incidentally bodies might be stashed began to stink, etc.

Then this Yentl says that there's no pattern to the victims right before mentioning that all of them vanished on the road to the east, said vanishing going on but a couple of weeks, and that the responsible party/parties were able to evade patrols. Oh, and this noble that Gabatim had never heard of was offering quite the sum to clear a road...

Gabatim's face wrinkled, unnoticeably as usual. The vaquero accepted the task, with rather less enthusiasm than the green cannon. Then he went further and peppered the man with questions: "How far had these "patrols" gotten? Did they find any discarded items/footprints/etc? How many victims went missing at once and how large was the largest party to vanish? When did the victims leave each time? Do people go missing every day?"

edited 22nd Aug '17 6:02:10 PM by CenturyEye

The nobleman stared at Gabatim, perhaps a bit miffed at being questioned so much. Still, he answered politely: "Only one victim at a time has vanished, no more than once a week. There were no witnesses at any time. Usually they left town near the evening, and never were heard of again. My search patrols, understandably, did not search very far from town. They found plenty of tracks on the road, but then after all, it is a well-traveled, merchant road." He sounded sincere.

edited 21st Aug '17 7:49:46 PM by Sijo

Berth

Fyterion stayed silent for now, thinking about what he just heard, it really didn't seem like your everyday band of thugs, robbing and kidnapping travellers. Goblins - while indeed possible - were also a rather unlikely cause considering they were quite unlikely to only kidnap people in the evening. Then the Druid got another idea, eyeing the nobleman. "I have a few questions, and, if you can't answer them yourself it'd be more than enough to tell me who could; 1st of, did the people here in Berth complain about noises in the night? Maybe overly loud singing or something? Also, were there maybe other things - for example animals - going missing from farmers before that? And lastly, would you say that the people here are superstitious?"

The nobleman found the centaur's questions more intriguing than the vaquero's. "Hmm... now that you mention it, a farmer complained that some of his animals were missing, but that was months ago. It stopped as quickly as it started. We never found the cause."

"And a few weeks ago, some travelers who passed by the Wildwood forest at night swear they heard some kind of chanting. Of course, they did not investigate the matter. For as you suggest, the people of Berth are very superstitious. That's why we paid little attention to it."

He grew more serious. "Do you think there might be a connection?"

edited 22nd Aug '17 4:09:28 PM by Sijo

"Missing animals, chanting, has this town ever had a history of cultists or secret societies?" Mialee asked the nobleman. "And who was in charge of the force of men you sent into the forests to investigate?"

"Cultists?" the nobleman reacted, in shock. "No! Berth has always been a peaceful town. And I assure you, my men are all of the highest moral fiber."

But then his tone seemed to change slightly. "Although... well, you realize this is a traveler's town. People come and go from everywhere, and the gods alone know who they are and what their intentions might truly be. Not that I see what a cult could profit from here... but if you suspect so, then perhaps you should investigate the forest."

edited 22nd Aug '17 5:59:40 PM by Sijo

Whistler clicked his beak, sighing. This certainly sounded like a cult. Glancing at his newfound friends, he once again took out a piece of parchment and began to write- since, after all, not everything that glittered was gold. It might have very well been a cult; but then again, it could be something far more sinister, possibly aided by said cult.

The kenku pushed the paper towards the noble. If you would tell us what the tale says of the forest being haunted, it would be a great help. Whether or not an unearthly presence dwells there, all it would take would be a group of fanatics to believe in something unholy to begin kidnapping people, it said.

Sir Mann grew grim as he read the kenku's note. But he nodded.

"Very well. I will tell you the story behind the forest's supposed haunting."

"Decades ago, there lived in Berth a wealthy merchant's family, the Eveningstars. They had little contact with most of us. It was rumored that they looked down on the poor, especially on nonhumans."

"But then, they began dying off over the years. Diseases, mostly. People began wondering if they were cursed."

"In any case, the Eveningstars refused to have their dead buried at the local cemetery. Instead, they paid to have a tomb built in the forest."

"And this went on, until the last Eveningstar died, childless."

"And that was it. No one has found the tomb. Not that anyone wants to, either. For all the tales of hauntings however, we have yet to find a single undead in the surrounding area. Our local cleric has checked."

"I'm sure if anyone can find a use for a haunted hidden tomb of a cursed bloodline, it'll be cultists," Mialee commented. "We'll need to start by tracing their paths. Where is this farmer? And in what direction have the victims left town?"

"I believe you have already met him" the noble explained. "It is Pedro, the herder whom you arrested for robbery. He claims he was forced into it due to the loss of his goats."

"As for the direction, as I mentioned it is towards the east, on the road that passes by the Wildwood forest."

"Pedro?" Of all people...The man has biting rats, thieving ravens, and charging goats and doesn't go charging into the forest? Maybe that was just a vaquero thing...

Well, Gabatim had intended to make his welfare visit to the goat herder shortly if no adventure intervened. Charitably, the call put Mr. Pedro right in the middle of things—and probably deserving of an apology from Gabatim for his outburst to boot. Well, he'd go take his medicine. Hopefully, the goat herder would know more.

"Perhaps we could benefit from another chat with Pedro, unless you have something in mind," the vaquero addressed the others. Returning to their employer, he added, "We won't delay too much in hunting your disappearer-thing, but I need to know what to bring."

edited 24th Aug '17 1:22:02 PM by CenturyEye

Berth

Fyterion nodded "Yes, this seems to be the best course of action." He sighed internally, if this was true then this man really was punished enough.

Sorry >_< I totally forgot to watch my threads over the Gamescom, I'll watch them more again I promise

"If we're going to be in the woods for an extended period of time, we'd need to bring some rations - and fortunately I know just the baker to talk to about that," Mialee said.

"Perhaps I can go and acquire some rations for ourselves, and you deal with the foul-odored goatherder?"

After some discussion, the adventurers agreed on their course of action. First they would go talk to Pedro, while Mialee went to get supplies. They excused themselves and left the nobleman's presence.

The baker was more than happy to supply the elf with enough bread for one round trip to the nearby forest.

On the town galley, the other three party members encountered Pedro, and were allowed to speak with him.

Pedro recounted how his goats began disappearing at night, months ago. He complained to the authorities and they investigated, but told him they could find no clues as to what happened to them. He snorted. They just didn't care, he was sure of that. Then when he had only goat left, the disappearances stopped. And no, he had no idea what happened, other than that it must have been someone's doing, since a monster would have left some kind track. He had assumed it was a thief, except neither the goats nor their meat was sold in town, and it would make no sense to steal goats from a remote town like Berth only to sell them elsewhere.

(They would also get the feeling that right now, he did no longer care any way. He stupidly got himself in jail, and did not expect to be released any time soon.)

edited 25th Aug '17 7:30:24 PM by Sijo

Sigh. Gabatim thanked the herder for what he knew, even if it amounted to that thing that went bump in the night like goat. Maybe there was something else, but the green scholar was not present. Ah well, off to the woods then. Although they didn't need to march straight under the something's sight out of the east gate. Based on what Pedro had said, they could keep a watch from his hut—or at least set it up as a fallback/starting point. Again though, they knew not what they were hunting.

"To the woods then. Unless you've thought of something." And thinking a bit, the vaquero added "Should we make our search during the day or the night?"

The Kenku shrugged. He personally didn’t have a strong opinion on a course of action; let the other adventurers come up with the plans. They almost always went pear-shaped immediately after, since no battle plan survives contact with the enemy, so he preferred to simply look and listen. That was the way you picked up on useful information.

He went with Fyterion and Gabatim to visit Pedro; while he didn’t know the centaur very well, he didn’t know the elf at all. While he held no ill-will towards her, there was still the fact that he didn’t really want to go on a bread-gathering visit.

The goat-herder’s experience was… interesting, if depressing. There was the distinct possibility that a flying monster had taken his animals, since it would have not left any tracks. Certain undead or clever thieves would have also been able to avoid leaving any trace of their actions.

When the vaquero asked about the time that they should undertake their expedition at, Whistler handed over a note. It depends. We will not be able to see well in the darkness, but we could surprise human thieves. If the things doing this can see in the dark, however…

"Well, based upon its pattern, we can only catch the thing by night in any case." Gabatim sighed. It seemed they would just have to walk into the thing's own element. "No one seems to know what we're dealing with after all, and we might not know the thing from any given drifter while the Sun's up. No reason to just waltz through the woods though. Perhaps we follow a small group of travelers out east. Or we form up so that a couple scout ahead while the rest wait to react to trouble."

Berth

Fyterion gave a small nod "Yes, I'm also for trying it at night, but I'm against splitting up." He thought for a bit "Maybe I can ask the animals in the forest if they know more as well, after all it is their home, also chances are that the cultists or whatever is in there won't take the effort to kill any animal coming close."