“I hate going on these investigation missions for the Lodge. These anomalies are rarely what they think they are. It never is a drifter. Probably just some fey causing a ruckus. We’ll just get to run around in circles for a pittance of coin” A tall and burly wolf-woman, wearing a heavy Armor compins loudly while reading from a crumpled piece of parchment,
”My clothes and armor consist of more patches than original material. We need to find some higher paying jobs, some actual adventures. Or do you want to spend your life as an errand boy for the lodge Theo?”
“Cil, I know that, but firstly we currently need all the coin we can get and secondly our party of two is too small for higher profile jobs. I’ve said it and I’ll say it again, you need to learn to be more polite and less abrasive to others in the guild so we can finally find some trusted individuals to join our group if you ever want to get more profitable jobs.” A beanstalk shaped man of simir height wearing long, grey robes answers.
“Yes Theo. I know. But those you would actually want get swept up by the higher tier teams and those we have access to are either incompetent idiots or don’t want to work with a Forestborn. I don’t even know why you keep following me around when you could have a cushy job as a mage in the citadel.” Cil murmurs solemnly.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. I kept following you around helping you out of holes you dug yourself since our dear mother picked you up off the street all those years ago and adopted you. You know how she always told me to put my books down and meet people, so she found it ideal to get me someone my age to py with and to get me out of the house. When I didn’t get the job at the hospital in the citadel because some snotty highborn noble was ‘better suited’ than me she made me promise to keep you safe after I followed you into the Mercenaries Guild. Additionally you always run into any situation head first, so you are in dire need of a healer most of the time. At least I get some experience in my field this way.” Theo answers, putting a comforting hand on his sisters shoulder.
“This time the guild at least provided transportation. We wouldn’t be this quick without the horse sled in this snow. I hope the weather pys nice, if we get into a blizzard even the Kings Road will be impassable. We are already behind schedule, solstice was st night.” he adds, shuddering while warming his hands at the campfire.
”In every settlement, vilge or homestead we went to today they told us that they saw a fireball fall from the sky to the east from there in the night. There is only a logging camp before the White Mountains. I wouldn’t dare to cross them in summer, even less now with all this snow. I hope the lumberjacks there have better news for us.” She mumbles concerned.
A pleasant smell wafts over from the pot on the campfire and envelops both of them “Ah, I think the stew is done, I’m gd you caught those rabbits” Theo says to his sister. “What can I say, I have an excellent nose.” The lupine warrior replies with a smug look on her face and pours them both a bowl of stew
“Let’s just eat up and then rest. The day was long and we have another long day ahead of us. I can take the first watch if you want. Go, warm up in the tent.” She adds.
“Yeah, keeping watch is a good idea this close to the forest, you never know what lurks in the dark. I’m fine with taking the second shift.” The human mage mumbles between spoonfuls of stew. After Theo finished his bowl of stew he walks over to the sled “Do you also need bnkets?”
“No. I’m fine”
“In times like this I really envy your fur.”
“Just wait for summer, then you’ll be the one looking smug.”
As Theo, covered in thick bnkets, retreats with a mumbled “Good night” into his tent
Cil pours herself another bowl of stew and readies herself to keep watch. What follows is a quiet and uneventful winter night for both of them.
At first light in the morning Theo wakes his sister. After a quick breakfast, consisting of now cold stew and bread with dried meat and fruits from their rations they load all of their gear onto the sled while the horses feed on the sparse greenery and some hay the guild supplied.
Theo wraps himself in heavy wool and fur bnkets while Cil quietly snickers on the perch beside him. “What is it with you” he asks exasperated. “Does my suffering delight you? It’s not my fault I wasn’t born with warm fur all over my body”
“It wouldn’t be so much fun to annoy you all the time if you wouldn’t get so huffy. And I know you are not actually mad at me, so calm down big boy.” She teases her brother. As she speaks she sees a smile creep up on his face.
“So let’s get going. We still have a lot of ground to cover” Theo decres, yanking on the reins to get their journey going.
After an uneventful journey through the snowy ndscape they reach the lumberjacks settlement in the early afternoon, with the winter sun already on its way down. The main entryway into the vilge is fnked by two weathered sculptures carved out of tree trunks. Theo guides the horse sled off to the side of the path and inspects the statues. They depict the same rge man with a mighty, muscur build and a thick beard.
“There was an inscription on the base but it has withered. Can you read it on the other one?” He asks, scratching his chin “No it’s the same here. No guess who this is. Probably the patron deity of this vilge.” As the two continue to study the statues they notice an elderly man making his way towards them
“Greetings dear travelers and welcome to Svatobors Remembrance. I am Bohdan Jelinek, the vilge elder. How can I help you?”
“Greetings to you too, Master Jelinek. I am Theodor Vojtek and this is my sister Priscil.” Theo answers and extends a welcoming hand.
“Just call me Bohdan. There are no nobles here.” The elder says in a friendly tone and accepts Theo’s hand. They introduce themselves again as “Theo” and “Cil” as they all shake hands.
“So these must portray Svatobor then? A bit worse for wear don’t you think? The name is hardly readable.” Theo questions in a thoughtful tone.
“Yes, we are aware of that” Bohdan answers downtrodden. ”our artists are currently working on new ones. They will be revealed at our next annual spring festival to remind of the destruction of the forest Sanctum. I think you both know the tale” The vilge elder gnces at the two mercenaries “Where he in his rage created the Beastfolk –”
“We prefer Forestborn,” Cil interjects with an edge to her voice.
“I am sorry, it was not my intent to offend you. I’m sure the history of our little settlement wasn’t the reason of your visit, how can I help you two?” Bohdan says in a soft tone to deescate the situation.
Theo looks over his shoulders to see if their arrival attracted some onlookers and says to the elder in a hushed voice, ”We are here on behalf of the Magicians Lodge to investigate a certain anomaly, have you noticed anything unusual around here?”
“Ah, yes. It’s better to talk somewhere more private. Please follow me to the vilge hall,” Bohdan says in an equally hushed voice, “I’ll let the maid bring something hot. Tea, mulled wine or maybe some soup? I am sorry that we can’t provide more on such a short notice, we rarely get visitors.”
“No problem at all, we still have plenty of provisions and Cil here is a proficient trapper,” Theo says in a cheerful voice. Cil just nods, still not sure on what to think about the vilge elder.
It is a quiet walk to the vilge hall. The citizens are either cleaning up or follow their various trades, they mainly involve the felling and processing of lumber, some take wary gnces towards the newcomers.
Once in the vilge hall the elder leads them to an office with a rge table in the middle and various chairs around them. “Please take a seat,” he says and waves at the chairs. He takes the seat at the head of the table and calls for the maid to bring tea and wine and beckons them to pour themself.
“I was wondering,” Theo starts, “Was this settlement really established during the Great War when Svatobors Sanctum was destroyed? I thought this vilge should be much bigger then, that was millennia ago”
“Oh no, nonono,” Bohdan answers with a chuckle, “This is quite a new settlement. The king had this vilge sanctified to that incident when the Gold Coast Empire threatened to invade some ten years ago, but nothing happened. It was meant as a warning what aberrant greed can lead to.”
“Ah … that makes everything clearer,” the mage mutters.
“Any more questions? No? So, let’s talk business then,” Bohdan says as he cps his hands together, “Two days ago, in the middle of the night we heard an explosion and saw a giant fireball in the forest about half a mile north of here. Some of the vilgers went out in the morning and found a crater of about seven feet in diameter and three feet deep dusted in a yer of fresh snow. There were no scorch marks visible, neither on the ground or on the trees. What’s the Lodge’s theory about this?”
“They think it’s a drifter,” Cil says and hands over the letter from the lodge. “Ah, that makes everything clearer. See, the vilgers found deep prints of paws and cwed hands. So maybe your drifter is Be … Forestborn,” Bohdan theorizes, shooting a cautious gnce towards Cil.
He continues, “Additionally we noticed a series of thefts in the vilge. Four pounds of smoked pork straight from the Smokehouse, the tavern owners wife is missing a tunic she left outside to air out, the coachbuilder is missing two sheets of waxed linen with brass eyelets, a coil of rope and my grandson is missing his tinderbox and pocketknife, but he could just have lost them,” and hands Cil a list of the stolen items and the victims.
“If the drifter committed the thefts the Magicians Lodge will reimburse you of course. Can you show us the spot of the crater?” she says.
“You are free to look for yourself if you don’t mind I have other business to attend to. Just follow the northern path into the forest, you won’t miss it,” the vilge leader answers.
“I am sure we can find it on our own. Thanks for the help and your precious time, can we leave the horses and the sled here while we inspect the site of the anomaly” Theo says while getting up, Cil follows.
“Yes of course bring everything to the stables, no one will touch your personal items. Talk to stable master Hugo he will take good care of the horses. Ask him how much he charges for feed.”
they say their good byes and proceed to do as advised. They only pack enough to stay the night in the forest, they leave the rest on the sled. On their way out of the vilge they notice that the citizens are a bit on edge around them and constantly look behind their shoulders looking for a thief. Maybe one of them called for the vilge elder once they saw unknown visitors.
On the way to the site they chat about the mission, “What do you think about this situation?” Theo asks his sister, scratching his chin.
“I think we actually got a drifter this time. Paw and cw marks would indicate a Forestborn, like he said. Stole a woman’s tunic but no winter gear? Definitely one with warm fur”
“One like you?”
“Maybe, we’ll see. The stolen rope and sheets though?”
“Maybe they built a camp”
“He didn’t say anything about finding a campsite, so maybe a hammock?”
“He also didn’t mention finding a firepce, but are missing a tinderbox.”
“True – Look, there. We are here!” Cil shouts and points to the crater, both rush over.
They find everything like Bohdan told them. “Cil, what’s your opinion of the tracks?”
“Yep, definitely Forestborn, retractable cws and the general shape and depth of the paw prints makes me think … rge feline. See, there they stumbled on the way up the crater. Cw marks at the hands as well, probably also them,” she mumbles, completely in her element,
“Look here, the tinderbox. In between a pile of wood, probably wet. Poor thing has no survival skills. The paw tracks over there lead back to and from the vilge, so our drifter did rob the vilge. Theo note that down, please”
“Already on it,”
“There are scratch marks up those two trees and something light has been drug through the snow,”
“So… Hammock as you thought?” “Mhm.”
“But more important is they just 4 pounds of smoked meat and that was two nights ago. According to the lodge’s records the transference is very taxing on the body, so either our drifter is going hungry, or has tried hunting. There are no other vilges to steal from around here.”
“Considering the fire making skills they showed, probably going hungry.”
“See any tracks going deeper into the forest?”
“Here. Follow me.” The track leads them deeper into the forest through some thick undergrowth, slowing progress significantly.
“There in the thorns. Look! A piece of fur,” Theo shouts excitedly and hands it to his sister.
“Grey fur. *sniff *sniff Yeah, that’s our drifter. Feline Forestborn. Female, but we could have assumed that, based on the missing tunic,” Cil deduces.
“I’m spent. Let’s make break here on the clearing, it’s ideal here, there is even a river over there that hasn’t frozen over and it’s getting te and harder to see, for me at least. Watch for the poison ivy over there, there is a rge field on that side,” Theo groans as he sits down on a tree stump and unpacks his rations.
Cil paces around in front of him.
“An elusive one she is, that woman. Too shy to ask anyone in the vilge for help. Could you stop pacing around, you are making me nervous!”
“Just put yourself in her pce. Waking up in an unfamiliar pce, with rules you don’t understand. Far off from civilization, only a settlement of odd people around. Maybe even changed, in a new body you don’t know. Probably scared and hungry. As if you wouldn’t make yourself scarce if you would be in the same situation. I don’t know how you can stay so calm!” Cil shouts irritated.
“You don’t know if she changed. Out of the thirty recorded cases in the st five hundred years only seven reported changes to their body. Five of them just have shrunk or grown a bit and only two became a different kin, so it’s highly probable that no severe changes happened to her. Maybe they have Forestborn in her world as well, or whatever they call them there. And all were transported back home once they reached the citadel,” Theo tries to calm his lupine sister.
“I know. It’s just I…I don’t know why I feel so strong about her.”
“You got anything else from the fur sample?”
“N…No, Nothing unusual,” she says. Her ears folding down.
Theo could swear he saw a tinge of red in the inside of her ear as she turns away and goes to the river for water. >When was the st time I saw her this flustered?
He thinks back and remembers taking his sister to fencing lessons, back when they were both teens. There was this girl, minor nobility, she reacted simir around her. >But no … it couldn’t be … or could it?<
“She seems to be our age,” Cil calls over from the river.
>or maybe it is< Theo lights his pipe with a quick spell, deep in thought and starts looking for firewood. Suddenly both hear a rustling in the trees. Of course Cil sees it first and whispers, “Look up there. A hammock!”
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