We left the party. At the adventurer's guil lies the corpse of the poor merchant and the "killer". The newly aquired Shady and the others investigate and a weird interrogation start (ESP from Shady, threats from Gillian, which is Grim, as always).
It seems that there's a mysterious Assassin's Guild with many "unknown" faces... But ESP doesn't fail and from the killer's mind a "guy with many masks" is revealed, along with Fynch, the sarcastic councelor of the Adventurer's Guild! This is something the group don't wanna share with the others, at least for now...- The killer says that the idea of the "job giver" being an elf woman was his. It seems that Hleib The Merchant "saw something"... inappropriate at best. In the meanwhile, Shamyr, the merchant's child, disappears...
- Shady meets "Darrell" (the guy with many masks) and confess him the recent discovery. He says nothing, but neither negates her accusation of him being a "head" of an assassins' guild. He asks about the "killer" and tells her that he has to take care of him, soon.
- In the morning, while the party sleeps and recovers from the harsh summer's end party, the adventurer's guild investigates on the crime scene again and finds a new piece of scroll with a quick scratch... "Plan changed. Abort." This adds layers and too many details seem missing.
- Darrell confesses another details: he knows that "someone" has followed Celemor (the red, chubby elf sister of Lanathiel, the "Greystone" matron) and Morgan Harrow (father of Cirice the Shaman, lord of the Alchemists' Guild) outside Tradeport, in the Magic Academy general direction, where Celemor studies and often teaches some tricks to new adepts. Why?
- Cirice, in the meanwhile, has a weird chit-chat with her mother and father. Morgane (her mother) tells Cirice that she suspects her husband having an "affair" with Celemor. Seems weird, especially if compared with the Darrel statement of the chubby elf teacher and lord Harrow meeting outside Tradeport.... Further investigation required. Cirice doesn't take the notion well, but moderates herself. At the moment, world is safe.
- The day after, the group decides to follow the lead and go to the woods where Darrel says Celemor and Morgan camped a bunch of times (it is located in between the city and the academy, thus it wouldn't be that weird, but the investigation demands high attention threshold.
Before leaving, they decide to go to the adventurer's guild to see if everything's ok (since Gillian wanted the killer and the corpse to be "stored" in the Witch Hunter's secured rooms)... But it seems that someone really took care of the killer. His body lies on his bed, clearly poisoned with a purple substance. It is possible it did it himself, or just not...
Anyway, no more informations are available, so they have no more options available than just leave and investigate in the woods.
- The woods are... woods. Hunters' facilities and a huge estate where hunters stay during autumns and winters' hunting expedition dot the forest, as well as small abandoned houses and tiny places where modest hunters stay on and off.
A modest and house with lights and smoke coming out from the fireplace (even in summer, the woods are kinda cold, especially when it rains forever, like it's just happening).
A pack of wolves passes by, with other animals don't putting much care on the group. But someone followed them... The "shadow" seems to have a cloak. Gillian the Grim is more grim than ever, freaks out and shoots a quarrel, hitting the mysterious being on the leg. A woman scream comes out of the cloak and soon the weird accent reveals her identity: Shamyr, the merchant's child. She wanted to do investigations "by her on" and followed the party outside the city.
The screams attract the wolf pack and a short and dangerous combat takes place in the woods, under constant raining.
From the house' windows, someone looks.
The combat ends with a bunch of wounds and four dead wolves. The House' door opens and an old woman (obviously a witch, huh?) appears, smiling, a bit confused.
- The group doesn't have any choice to accept hospitality. She seems to be the only living non-animal being in miles and one of those old woman (obviously a night hag, huh?) finding a reason to live in unrelevant gossip.
They eat and drink. The woman shows 'em some paintings. She seems kinda good in her art. They notice lots of colors, fairly expensive for a lonely old woman living in the woods. She says that some good merchants and old friends bring gifts here and there.
One of the paintings portrait a red elf chubby girl with a confused man at the old woman's door... They obviously investigate, she confirms: they've been there, asking for a place to sleep and to shield themselves from a long, dark rainy summer night.
She says that she had poisoned one of the meals and that only her, once every three moons, can create and adminster the right antidote.
They don't trust her, but shadows move a bit and her voice seems to hide a male voice, grim and dark, in an accent resembling the Xannen harsh dialect. "I never joke. If you don't trust me, just don't come back and see what happens."
She puts four colored drinks on the table and tells them to drink, in order to demonstrate that she can heal the poison effects.
Shady, Liam and Elowen drink. Shady throws up eggs with vermins coming out from them.
"See? I never joke" says the hag... ehm, the old woman (which is not tecnhically a hag but... I digress).
"See you in three nights. You can sleep here if you wish. Oh, and report back any further discovery. I'm interested in those two weirdos. You know, I'm a lonely woman" she laughs.
The night is there. Where to sleep. Trust the woman or just find a spot in the dangerous woods under a constant rain?
And more questions arise... who's the woman? What does she know? What brought Celemor and Morgan outside the city? Why Darrel knows about them? What is the real intentions of the Assassins' guild and Fynch?
What did the merchant saw or heard?
The night is dark and full of terrors.
And loooooong.
See you next week.
Maybe.
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