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  1. Journals

The Hunt

One Shot
2022-09-16

A small group of individuals were gathered together within a hunting guild. The guild is located within the city of Greckas and is known to hunt not only game, but monsters as well. Members of the guild are skilled with a variety of talents and abilities. Mimi, Crispy, Fleece, and Uk. were called upon by the guild master to conduct a rather unique investigation and hunt. Prior to their meeting, a job was posted within the guild by the farmer Alarus who claimed that his livestock was being slaughtered by an unknown creature. Deeming that the job was simple, a group of hunters went out to take care of the problem. However, after the hunters did not return the guild master was worried. He pulled together what would be named as the IT Squad in order to find out what was happening. 

After receiving their instructions and before heading out on their mission, they made their way to the shop attached to the guild. Here is where they met the poor little shop girl who was only trying to do her best. The poor girl wasn't very good at math and informed the group that she wasn't normally left alone nor in charge of the shop. After knocking down a couple of potions and trying to clean them, she tried her best to sell the team what they had asked for. A few tears were shed and some magic was displayed. The team left the shop now in a bit of a disarray as the girl was about to be disciplined by her boss. 

Before making their way out, there was one more stop that the group needed to make, and that was to a shop that handled in a variety of leathers. Here they were able to trade off any unwanted gear for upgrades and purchase anything new.  Here is where Uk was overwhelmed by the scent of cows, causing him to immediately accuse the shopkeeper for the death of the livestock. Wanting to see the receipts, the keepers pulled out a book of all of the invoices he had for all items he has purchased, and even the ones he had sold. After Uk shared his illiteracy, Fleece went over the papers very briefly and they were able to identify Alarus' name. With their shopping and accusations now concluded, they were finally ready to head out to the farm. 

The farm wasn't far from the city. As they approached they were met with Alarus who was rather, odd to put it nicely. Alarus was described to be an intelligent being with only one brain cell. Alarus explained that the attacks are often happening at night leaving minimal traces of the attacks. The first group of hunters came and then disappeared out of the blue. The group was able to go around the back where the animal pens are and began to conduct their investigation. They split up as a team to cover more ground. Fleece picked up on a set of canine tracks of varying sizes while Uk dug through a waste pile. Crispy went to the old shed where Alarus had informed that it was broken into the other day. Still proceeding inside to see the chaotic mess of a room, Crispy was able to find a jingle bell attached to a pink ribbon. Meanwhile Mimi had approached the chicken pen where she would be attacked by the chickens and found a small brooch with the guild emblem on it and tracks. 

Fleece discovered evidence of the other hunters when he noticed the pile of their belongings. When he questioned Alarus on the matter, he was informed that they were left behind by the other hunters who had came to investigate. Alarus shared, that he found them in the forest where the tracks were after being lead there by his dogs. 

Uk was able to determine that the pile of garbage was a mixture of rotting flesh and other bits and pieces. Crispy began to grow concerned that the armor he was wearing was potentially made out of human flesh. He questioned Alarus on if he was conducting anything illegal. Alarus, confirmed that there was nothing illegal happening on the farm as the screams of Mimi could be heard from being attacked by chickens. Crows began to come to Mimi's aid prompting Alarus to scream at them as if they were the ones at fault. Once free of the feathered creatures, Mimi question Alarus on the tracks she had seen. Noting that the tracks were potentially of a female, she asked if there was a woman in his life that could have made them. He explained that there was no wife or daughter on the farm and that it was just him with his dogs and cat. 

While the discussion was happening, Crispy made his way over to the vegetable field. In the dirt he was able to pick out the same canine tracks that Fleece and seen along with the female tracks that Mimi saw. Along with the tracks, Crispy noted the crows that appeared to be hanging around. He especially noticed the ones that Alarus had started to yell at, blaming them for the accidental destruction of his well. Uk calmly stepped away and acted as if nothing had happened after he was the one who caused the sudden collapse. 

Crispy brought his attention towards a scarecrow that was at the edge of the field. Believing that the scarecrow could be alive, Crispy began to talk to it and examine it a little closer. He began to touch the scarecrow and noticed a few subtle twitches here and there. The scarecrow came to life and revealed that his cover was blown. He used the crows around the farm to make his getaway causing Crispy to call out to the others. The group gathered back up together and shared their clues and decide what their next course of action would be. After a brief back and forth, they came to the conclusion that it was best to make sure that the town was safe from the "Crow Man" before heading into the forest.

They made their way back towards the town as quickly as they could. On the outskirts of the town, they noted that crows were increasing in numbers. Fleece took it upon himself to cast Speak with Animals to try and see if he could ask a crow where the pumpkin man was. After receiving minimal help, they were at least able to determine that the being had made their way towards the town tavern. 

Once at the tavern, the group was able to learn that the individual they were looking for was named Copper. They learned that he was conducting an investigation of his own in exchange for examining the bell Mimi had in her possession.  Although he revealed minimal details, he was able to share that the creatures on the farm were wolf like amongst an abomination of some sort. With that information shared, he explained that he had his own job that he needed to do and left the group. 

With the confirmation that Copper was indeed not an enemy, they eagerly made their way back to the forest where Fleece would be able to guide them through the darkness. He followed the tracks that were laid out and were able to lead them towards a south east direction where Uk would climb through a log. Once on the other side of the log, he made a new friend Steve and was able to find a campsite nearby. Uk used his stealth to determine that Piper and their wolf pack were present. The group approached Piper to question them a bit on the farm attacks. 

After a bit of a back and forth between everyone, Crispy and Fleece picked up on the sounds of a jingle bell before a smoky black scythe dug through Piper. The scythe left no mark, but turned them into an abomination. A fight begun between the now out of control Piper and the others. The fight eventually came to an end with Piper returning back to normal and the wolf pack disappearing from the magic Piper had kept under control.