25 Ches 2255

After an interesting night involving covering Anton in the scent of ursine urine to scare off a wolf, followed by a bizarre encounter with another, your group resumed travels on your journey to Brodriskal. A few hours of traveling into the morning, you came upon a long, blonde haired man standing in the middle of the road, just beyond a pair of bushes closely aligned to each side of the road. Both Torgarion and Anton’s keen perception noticed an unusual amount of leaves covering the road in between the two bushes, as well as some movement in the bush on the eastern side of the road. Anton and Fin immediately stopped the horses, and Fin and Ander jumped off to investigate the issue.

After some awkward back and forth non-conversation, the man seemed to indicate that his horse would not move and was not responding to being fed. Torgarion picked up a hefty rock on the side of the road and threw it into the road, where the leaves lay. The rock struck a leaf, moving it and showing something not quite visible underneath. After a brief attempt to lure the blonde-haired man to the group, Torgarion picked up another rock and threw it into the bush where he saw movement before. A solid thunk, followed by an aggrieved “Owww”, the blonde-haired man yelled “Cheese it!”, grabbed his pack and bow and began running for his horse.

After a quick mop up of the would-be ambushers, a hostage named Barai was restrained, interrogated, and put in the back of the front cart to face the Hounds‘ justice. The journey towards Brodriskal continued for the rest of the day until night began to fall where the rumble in their bellies and the receding sun over the Western Crown mountains caused Anton, Torgarion and Ondel to decide that it was best to make camp and complete the rest of the journey tomorrow.

While pulling off to the side of the road, the party saw a small figure approaching slowly with a limp, his right arm alternating between waving and holding his left arm tightly to his side.

The party was supremely suspicious of this small halfling stranger, and they proceeded to ruthlessly interrogate him. The halfling, a man named Faliman, was a restrained and stowed with their other captive, a prisoner turned brigand named Barai.

During the long night’s watch, Torgarion and Tangle both spotted two figures slowly approaching the horses and carts stealthily. Halting them 30 feet or so away, one of the figures who looked like a human-sized halfling identified himself as Feeble Fobble and began asking if the group had seen his halfling brother in a strange cadence of voice. The other figure stood on all fours with razor sharp teeth and retractable claws, nearly doubling the size of the humanoid, roughly the size of a horse.

Trust was not easily found, and the group refused to give information while firing a few warning shots at the bipedal figure. Patience grew thin for the strange figure, and after the 2nd shot was fired at it, the figure transformed into a standing bestial terror, his nose growing to a snout with sharp fangs, fingers growing into razor-like-claws, fur sprouting all over his body, and his shimmering eyes flashing in the dimly lit grassland, bathed in a bright full moonlight.

A fight ensued, and the party easily dispatched these two interlopers, with the shapeshifter transforming back into a small animal, a hyena, after it gasped its last breath.

Faliman was let go from his binds, and given instruction from Ondel to go and free Neter from the shapeshifter’s camp. He was given his gear back, three days ration, and given the ultimatum that he would meet an untimely demise if he does not accomplish this task.