On the case

After the battle, Ili seemed to be feeling a bit sick, so we let her return to the inn and sleep. We had deciphered the message, and it was clear that neither the humans nor the elves were involved, so we had someone word to the Elves, in hopes they would understand that the Free Kingdoms were not involved.

One of the assassins was still alive, and we needed some questions answered right away, so I healed him back to consciousness. Obegard cast a spell that turned the prisoner temporarily into his friend and questioned him. After a series of interrogations we were able to learn that the assassins had captured a dwarf a few days ago and were taking him to parts unknown. He did indicate that they came from the nearby elven forest. The commander of the keep recommended that we get an elven tracker to guide us through the forest.

I didn’t like the idea all too much, but we didn’t have much of a choice and we went to the elven camp. We had a list of three potential candidates, but I sensed that the first two were both evil. I knew that Ili would refuse to work with them. Fortunately, the third elf seemed a bit friendlier than the others, and agreed to work for an amount of gold, which the commander paid.

We set off the next day to follow the assassins through the secret tunnel in the stables. The assassins didn’t make any attempt to hide their passage, and it was easy to follow them. Unfortunately, the group turned into the road, where their tracks mixed with the others traveling along the road, and we had no idea where they were headed. We had no choice but to instead head toward where they came from. Since the Dwarf was also being taking in that direction, the effort wouldn’t all be wasted.

We traveled for several days in the twisted elven woods. We eventually approached a small clearing that had a collapsed cave entrance. Something just felt wrong about the whole thing, and we proceeded cautiously. Our suspicions were right, and we heard heavy but strange footsteps behind us. It emerged from the forest, and we saw it – it was some sort of a giant skeleton of a bear, animated with foul magic no doubt. Son of Clouds and I went forward to attack, but its heavy claws and bite wounded me severely and knocked Son of Clouds unconscious. We also heard several footsteps behind us, but Obegard unleashed a tremendous ball of fire that burned the forest away and left behind nothing but smoldering bones.

I retreated for a way into the forest, and realized that if I were to beat the bear, I would have to tap into my lycanthropic heritage. The woods were dense, so it was unlikely that anyone would see me. I rushed forward and attacked, striking the bear as hard as I could twice, shattering it into a pile of bones. I returned to my normal form, and from the reactions of the other members, it did not appear as if anyone had noticed.

We investigated the cave entrance for a bit and discovered that the assassins that passed through had purposefully collapsed the. Our elven guide also noticed that a different set of tracks led to the other side, toward the plains. It appeared that they were also dragging someone with them, most likely the captured dwarf. They didn’t seem to be going very fast and we were catching up. However, they still had several days lead time over us. In a few days, we emerged from the forest into a vast plain. We kept following them and in a few more days, we came across some corpses. It looked like they were peasants that unfortunately crossed paths with the assassins. We didn’t have time to bury them and pushed forward.

We eventually came across a small town. Obegard wanted to cast a divination spell before heading to town. He picked a bad spot to begin his incantations, however, and a guard from the town approached. He explained that the group we were following had passed through not too long ago, and that they indeed had a badly beaten dwarf with them. They apparently had robbed several supplies from the town, and hurt one of the town healers when she tried to heal the dwarf.

We stayed just long enough to buy more supplies, and ask a few questions about the group we were following. There was about a half dozen of the thugs, plus the dwarf--I didn't think that we would have much trouble dispatching them. We kept following the group and came across a cliff. Son of Clouds climbed up, and tossed a rope and helped the rest of us up as well. We continued forth and eventually came across a ruined monastery. I saw some shapes moving about inside. Could this be where the assassins set up camp to rest?