Through the Hymbergonds
Travelling through the Hymbergond wilds in the dead of winter was not an easy task for an outsider, but if there was ever a group that could do it, it was these three, uniquely capable of handling the cold as they were. The only reason they could have for seeking out settlements was food, though for the most part, Raori could supply them with that. He ran out of luck just as they were getting close to Lord Ironhammer's keep, though, as he decided to grapple with a large animal caught in his trap. It would keep all three of them fed that day, easily, but it was not keen on ending up as their dinner and fought back valiantly. By the time Raori had made the kill, he was sore, and tired, tongue hanging out between his jaws. Both Tindri and Perrima saw that he would not be able to continue towards the village that day, but had to rest up. Perrima stayed with him in the camp, while Tindri pressed on. Her cloak would keep her hidden from prying eyes.
She managed to find the village, all right, and with her keen elven eyes, she could she a small encampment of Trakorian soldiers just outside. There was only about two dozen of them, though, which left her somewhat bewildered. She guessed they were here on account of the ongoing rebellion in the province, but was unsure of whether they were hostile to the locals or not. She watched the place for a while, memorizing what she saw as best as she could, before returning. Unfortunately, going back proved harder than getting there, and she took a wrong turn somewhere, which she noticed when she stepped through a thin sheet of ice hiding a nasty bog underneath. Thus, she was quite wet and miserable when she got back, in spite of her elven clothes and fortitude.
The three discussed her observations. Perrima leapt to the conclusion that the soldiers were going to attack the camp, but when Raori asked, Tindri explained that she had seen no siege weapons. The wolfman thus concluded that they were here more as a show of strength and possibly to keep rebels away, rather than to attack anyway in the immediate future.
The next decision concern whether they should go around the village or enter it and see if they could pick up some tidings. Maybe the locals knew something useful about the ruins of the Shagulite tower? Tindri wanted to go around, but Raori and Perrima voted to go to the village and speak to the locals.
They got up early the next morning to head out, and where greeted by a blizzard. It was hard going, and at least the swirling snow made sure that very few people would bother to go outdoors, which kept them safe from prying eyes. As resilient as they were, the village was not an unwelcome sight. They found the local tavern quite full of people, and the air thick with smells accordingly. When they threw back their hoods, they drew a lot of attention. The villagers had seen or heard of wolfmen before, but the ice druid and the elf was something very much out of the ordinary. Try as they might to chat the locals up - Raori moved easily among the soldiers in the corner, and Tindri offered her skills as healer to people suffering from the cold - Perrima's charms proved, for once, insufficient to gain the trust of the locals. They clearly didn't trust the girl, and all they learned about the Shagulite tower was that it was haunted and nobody ever went there. Oh, and apparently the local lord was a good enough fellow, or something.
Perrima was shaken by the reception - she was so used to people being friendly to her that this type of response was just difficult for her to handle. However, Raori and Tindri had been able to keep their eyes about them and noted one of the villagers leaving in a hurry after they started asking questions that were unusual for strangers to ask. They quickly decided to leave - and by this time they had at least filled their stomachs on a very thin langock soup - to track the shady character. Luck was with them now: the storm had abated during their time inside, and it was easy for Raori to follow the man's scent.
Raori got really eager. So eager, in fact, that he managed to leave the others behind without noticing as he kept his nozzle to the ground. He could smell the ambush before he saw it: the shady figure had joined up with two more men, and they were waiting ahead. Thus forewarned, he grabbed his bow and ambushed the ambushers: the shady man with his axe and two bowmen. His first arrow hit one of the bow men through the eye, killing him instantly. The second bowman started, and missed his shot, spilling all the arrows from his quiver as he tried to spot the attacker. When he knelt to grab a new arrow, Raori nailed the man's hand to the ground. By this time, the shady figure he had tracked came storming through the underbrush, axe held high. Raori didn't quite have time to get out of the way, and the axe buried itself deep in his shoulder.
Being a wolfman, Raori just lost it and hurled himself on his prey. His body weight overwhelmed the attacker and nailed him to the ground underneath him, and he then chewed his face to a bloody pulp when he bit him and shook hard from side to side.
Thus, the fight ended with Raori victorious. Perrima and Tindri arrived just in time to save the life of the fellow the wolfman held to the ground: "He is just a pup!" Tindri screamed loud enough to snap Raori out of his rage.
The ambushers turned out to be locals, rather than combat trained assassins. The axeman was young, in his mid-teens, and Raori's attack had ensured that he only had one eye left now. Tindri had little difficulty in scaring him into revealing everything he knew.
He talked about the Green Witch, who apparently had promised them to heal all their ailments and even immortality. Old Rufar - the bowman now nursing hand - had a bad cough, and the young fellow wanted to help his ailing grandmother. Tindri warned him against the lies of the Green Witch - no doubt a surviving Shagulite - and told him that her way of promising immortality would be to turn him into a plant. That scared the kid even more, and without much more pressuring, he was soon very loyal and supportive to Tindri, thanking her for revealing the lies of the Green Witch to him.
Tindri would not proceed to the castle before talking to the grandmother as well, and see what she could do to help the old woman with some remedies, even though she knew it would put a dent in her supplies of medical potions. It was not a very long walk to get to the small cabin. The old woman was very frightened when she saw her grandchild badly mauled, but the fact that Perrima and Tindri had given him and Rufar some very good bandaging at least took the edge off the fear. She also was most grateful for Tindri's caring attentions - her legs ached something atrociously during the winters these days - and also approved of the Green Witch being revealed as a liar. She had, she said, repeatedly warned the child that nothing good could come from following that sorcerer. In return for the medical services, she offered them some langock soup and some bread for dinner, and they decided to spend the night, using the evening for rest and attending to their wounds.