I write down:

 

I meant a wizard capable of manipulating sound through magic. I myself seem to have some small talent, I have in the past been able to create the sound of instruments without playing or having any playing near me. And I am not the only one to have heard this, I know the talent exists.

-Rocco

 

The guards seem to have been allowed to flee. However, Rocco receives a longbow from the shopkeeper and twenty metal arrows. "Well we no longer have any leads. Do you have any more ideas?"

 

-Pieis

 

"Well he was a falconer, so maybe someone had an affinity for rats," he says sarcastically.

 

-Earth

 

A large sea troll emerges out of the water and attempts to give chase, but Earth scrambles up the cliff face before the monster could catch him.

 

-Ross

 

There seems to be four lines, roughly the size of a human hand. The lines converge towards each other. The marks are about a centimeter deep.

 

-Ieyfura

 

The apothecary sneers before pointing at the door and replying coldly. "Get out. This is the merchant's quarter, not a charity. Go back to where you came, you peasant."

 

-Nex

 

"Most of the wizards here control the elements, darkness and light. Sound must be a new kind of magic, because we have never heard of it during our day. Perhaps the wizard's guild near Brinefir would be able to give you more information about that."

Perhaps it was the druid who took my cub?

That's what I was thinking, but we don't have any reason why the druid would attack the falconer.

 

Theros goes back upstairs and looks more closely at the indentations on the furniture and walls. (Same type of information Ross asked for.)

Sudden rage fills her body, and she grabs what she hoped was emberweed and threw it at the clerk. Ieyfura then proceeds to destroy every vial on the shelves before running out.

 

Her rage extinguished, fresh tears strolled down her face as she looked for a place to hide.

Ares goes outside the house, and tries to find the march of soldiers quickly, before jumping in front of them and shouting that they have it all wrong.

I write:

 

Would I find better tutors in Fire magic here or in Brinefir?

-Rocco

 

"It could be. The rangers can't spare any men right now, but maybe you should try and find this druid and question her. They're always up to something."

 

-Pieis

 

The indentations seem to be of all different shapes and sizes. They are spread out rather evenly, unlike the marks downstairs.

 

-Ieyfura

 

After reaching her hand into the various herbs, Ieyfura accidentally pops the caps of several whistling mushrooms, which soon fill the air with high pitched squeels, deafening both her and the apothecary. As she reaches to break the vials, a magical barrier throws her back.

 

After looking around, she notices several alleyways, as well as a group of wealthy merchants bartering over the yearly shipment of salt.

 

-Ares

 

Ares finds the soldiers coming back towards the merchant square, defeated by the wizards. "What do you mean," they ask.

 

-Nex

 

"There are more teachers in Brinefir, as most of us are retired, but our magical skill could match theirs easily. They have been pioneering a new method of magic, which doesn't appeal to us."

 

(Back later)

Ieyfura crawls into an alley and cries herself to sleep. (I g2g for now)

"I have been looking around the house, and given the evidence there, I think that what you have on your hands is no necromancer, but a werewolf."

 

He calms down, closes his eyes for a second, opens them, and then starts explaining.

 

"Think about it, chunks of flesh torn away by claws, the falcons have all been eaten, or taken, but they're gone is the main point. If it was a necromancer, why would he take the falcons? Then I found claw marks on the floor, roughly the size of a human hand, and in roughly the same shape as well, and then it clicked; What you are facing is, I suspect, a werewolf. I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert, and it would be a good idea to get a wizard or some knowlegable figure to confirm it, but I believe there is a lyincathrope hidden in the town or the surrounding lands somewhere"

Theros attempts to use the angles of the indentations to determine if they all came from a specific point in the room. He also checks to see if there's anything in the indentations that would give clues as to their origin.

 

(Werewolf druid! Or a druid just brought in, y'know, a BEAR....)

i head back to town with the seaweed, and head to apothecary.

I write:

 

What method of magic is that? I would avoid unscrupulous teachers.

Edit: Disregard.

Yeah, that was worthwhile.

I buy a sack to lug around all the bread and meat.

 

I then head out into the forest, wander through the undergrowth for a few hours, then begins building a wattle fence.

 

I will just build it, and then combine that into a house, over the next few days, since I seem to be on at a different time to you.

-Ross

 

"A werewolf? We haven't seen one of those in generations. But how would a werewolf produce so many droppings, and why would a werewolf attack a falconer? As a wizard, I have no knowledge of animal feces, but if we found a druid, maybe they could identify it for us."

 

-Rocco

 

The guards point to the forest.

 

-Pieis

 

They seem to have come from one direction, but it is too difficult to determine whether they come from one point. The indentations seem to be produced by some sort of shrapnel, from something splintering.

 

-Earth

 

"Ah yes, you have some brine kelp. I will give you...two gold pieces for all of it."

 

-Nex

 

"Well instead of gathering the arcane energy from the enviroment and shaping it, they seem use the energy within their bodies to channel it. Apparantly it increases the power of spells and makes them simpler, but it makes the user tired and could have potentially disastrous effects if anything goes wrong."

 

-Archi

 

Archi begins working on a wattle-fence house.

Theros digs through the furniture pile to see if anything's under it, then examines the piece of weathered wood that was a part of the pile (examine as in figure out what it was used for, where it used to go, etc.)

"Maybe it holds some kind of grudge against the falconer? Can you think of any reason anybody would have for not liking him?"

 

"I'd heard there was a druid nearby somewhere, though I am hesitant to take the case to them, in case they are the werewolf, or the one controlling whatever ferocious creature attacked the falconer."

-Pieis

 

There is no one under the furniture pile. It seems that the piece of weathered wood was a branch of a tree, after some observation.

 

-Rocco

 

Rocco travels into the forest, but the druid was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, he hears the sound of cracking twigs further in the forest.

 

-Ross

 

"I didn't really know the falconer, but he was well-liked by the people of the town. If we are ever going to solve this, then we need to find a druid. Wizards never felt at home in the forest, but perhaps a villager such as yourself would find yourself comfortable there?"

Theros looks outside to see if there are any trees that seem to be missing a branch, then walljumps up the walls of the narrow staircase to investigate the rafters of the house.

"Very well then. I shall try to get to the bottom of this"

 

Ares returns to the house in the old quarter to check if Kemios had returned yet

-Rocco

 

Two druids appear to be facing each other in combat. One of the druids is wearing traditional druidic dress: flowing green robes with an abundance of leaves and flowers. The other druid is wearing a swampland dress, full of swampweeds. They spar with their quarterstaffs while the traditional druid raised vines and called on the woodland animals. The swampland druid replied in kind with swamp roots and dire rats. Soon, the dire rats overpowered the woodland animals, distracting the druid. A swamp root took advantage of this and knocked her to the ground, as the swampland druid disappeared into the brush.

 

-Pieis

 

There doesn't seem to be a single tree outside the house. The rafters are rather close to the floor, and Theros can almost touch them on the tip of his toes.

 

-Ross

 

The glass orb quickly checks your magical aura, before Kemios opens the door. "Ah, you're back! I've been adding extra magical defences to the house. It seems dark times are ahead."

Theros goes downstairs, and tells the guards that he is definitely sure that druids are involved. He then asks that he be allowed to go outside the city to investigate further.

-Rocco

 

"It is Sumpfratte, the druid of the swamps. He has become corrupted in his desire of perfection and begun the change of nature itself. The man has forgotten that nature is perfection. Instead, he has begun using the town's rat population and changing it, combining their speed with the size and aggressiveness of the swamp rats. Mother nature has already severed his connection with her, but the swamp he gains his power from is not an ordinary one. The swamp outside the town has been fed by years and years of waste from the waste channels. Several druids have already attempted to find him within the swamp, but we suspect that he is somewhere else: beneath the town itself.

 

We cannot go down there ourselves. The town is too polluted for us to stay for even a minute."

 

-Pieis

 

"Go right ahead. It's not like we have any leads."

"An excellent idea, given the news I have to report. After thourough investigation of the Falconers house, I have come to the conclusion that a werewolf, or some other lycanthrope is somewhere in or around the city. I've been told to talk to a druid about it, but something about this seems a little off. If these druids haven't been around for long, and the falconer has suddenly gone missing...

 

What if this druid, or druids, are behind it?"

 

He also notes that he'd like to study another few magic tomes, especially if they focus on air and pressure manipulation, since he may need to defend himself from threats soon.

Theros goes outside the city and starts walljumping around the forest, looking for a druid.