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"Attacks? From what? And if you cannot open the gates, why not let me in through a ladder or rope? No need to wake up your Jarl, I'm sure he needs his rest if you're being attacked."

"That would be ill-advised, friend," Naven said, putting some emphasis on the word 'friend', as if to point out that that designation could change quickly. He was growing suspicious of this mage and his insistence on Naven bending the rules in his favor. "A ladder or a rope might earn us both a stay in the stocks, at best."

"There's a beast been attacking Hirot," he continued cautiously, trying to gauge the traveler's reaction. "But he's been turned away this night."

"Aye, we 'ave," Rae responds to the bard's exclamation as their group returns to the inn. "Would be nice ta know 'ow that story begins, though..." She motions for a drink, "Somethin' strong, friend! I've a mind t'forget 'bout them teeth."

She hardly even notices the pixie as she ponders over some of the more troubling aspects of the night's encounter. Why haven't they reinforced the wall? Built it higher? Why did none of the watchmen sound an alarm before the hound was tearing at houses in the town? How had they not noticed such a beast leap the wall? Did it come from within? But then how would it get to the sacrificial grounds? And what the divil was with the thing vanishing into oily mists?

Xepil's never been in the mood to listen to bards. The Hobgoblin walks in the bar along with the others looking sleepy and somewhat annoyed.

"Why are we sittin' round drinkin' instead of hitting the sack? Grrr!" He complained. "Did everyone forget the plan to attack the beast at dawn already? Grrr! We gotta be up bright and early if we want a shot at this! Grraa!"

In his frustration, he also didn't see the tiny pixie sitting on the bard's shoulder. Or maybe he did and just mistook it for some fancy bard ornament.

"Guh, I'm bored, can't wait to get back to the killin'. Grrrr!" For all his talk about resting, Xepil still had plenty of energy and didn't feel like going to bed just yet. In his restlessness, he walked up to a nearby bullseye and started playing darts to brush up on his atl-atl throwing.

So the Jarl has seen decided to let none pass after the sunset because of beast attacks? Wouldn't that make travelers an easier target for this creature and keep on feeding it? What kind of ruler is this Jarl? thought John, whilst maintaining his usual curious face.
"Your Jarl surely knows more on the matter of defense than I do; I'll keep out of town for now if necessary. What is that beast you are talking of? And if it is mighty enough to attack whole towns, do you know whether the Jarl would like to hire a trained mage to help hunt it down?"

Lifting from his shoulder, Nysphina suspends herself in the air with the continued swaying of wings. "You mistake me. I intend to trap it. There aren't many creatures impervious to the slumber-inducing enchantments of my people!" Pointed ears twitch, and the fairy turns her eyes on those entering—in particular, the Hobgoblin. She carefully weaves her way about tavern patrons, ducking this way and that.

"You're attempting to attack the beast come morning?" She wonders, an incredulous note in her tone.

Naven's hand unwrapped from the horn, relaxing slightly. "Like a huge black hound. Just saw it myself this very night," he said, giving a shudder at the memory and the way its claws had torn at Mocle and its teeth had sunk into the dwarf. "Was five of us facing it," he started, taking a bit more credit than he probably deserved. "And we felled it. Dissolved right into mist! It'll be back though. Always is. You ever heard of such a beast?"

"On the house," Bull says, bringing the dwarf a drink.

"The one about Ulfheonar?" Lloré asks Rae, unable to resist a potential new audience that might want to hear his stories. He slides into the seat beside her as Galiena sits down on the other side.

"I was just telling Nysphina 'bout him. One of the great kings of the savage tribes that used to inhabit this area. That's his wolf-spear there," he points to the one hanging above the bar. "Well, a replica of it anyway. The real one's supposed to have been magic and could slay the hound!"

Meanwhile, Josh had followed the others into the Wolf-Spear, but seems not quite to know what to do with himself. And despite Xepil's obvious displeasure at having the kid tag along, Josh sits where he can watch the Hobgoblin's throw darts, an activity he used to enjoy with Kej, Stein, and Ilham. "Can I try?" he asks after a couple thows.

"Grrrr!!" Xepil's fangs clenched and he twitched almost violently when Josh asked him if he could throw some darts. "Did you just ask me for permission? Grrr!" The Hobgoblin whirled around and glared down at the young human warrior. "Listen here, pup! I'm not yer freakin' dad! Grrr!! If you wanna play darts you pick 'em up and shoot like a man! Grrr! Same goes with adventuring, out there in the field I better not be hearin' any of these 'mother may Is' grrr!"

In his own twisted brutal Hobgoblin logic, Xepil was trying to give Josh a warrior lesson. Ultimately, he couldn't afford Josh second guessing himself when it came to decisive action, and if he was asking to play darts with him like a kid then he was already doing it wrong.

Of course, as things often worked out for Xepil, the moment he starts acting like a veteran adventurer he is swiftly served a dose of his own medicine.

In retrospect, he should have known not to barge into the bar while loudly barking their plans for tomorrow since someone could be hearing them.

In this case, it was a tiny fairy who flies towards him and asks about their plans.

"Eh? GRAAA!" As soon as Xepil lays eyes on Nysphina he recoils in fear and loses his balance, falling right on his ass with a crash. While Xepil doesn't share the evil tendencies of his kin, he is still a Hobgoblin, and due to his upbringing and nature it causes him intense pain to stare directly into a fey like that. The usually fearsome Hob warrior averts his gaze from Nysphina, shutting his eyes tightly and covering his face with his hand. He looks like he's genuinely paralyzed from just laying eyes on the fairy.

"It just dissolves into mist instead of dying, and regenerates well enough to come back later? No, I have not heard or seen any such beast. It must be magical for sure, but I would need more information to know what it is."

In fact, John had already heard of demons creating a form of their own whenever they had the chance to leave the infernal places they came from, but didn't want a guard to spread rumors.
It seemed unlikely that a powerful demon would come to a small town, and even then rumors would create more panic than caution.

Due to his Mage Oath, which he respected even as fugitive, John had to protect the people from magical dangers of any kind, and saw it as an opportunity to gain in knowledge and make allies in Hirot.

"Could I get an audience with the Jarl as soon as he is available? It would be an honour to speak to him, and I might be able to identify the beast, using the Jarls libraries and knowledge of the land, maybe even fight it." he asked the guard in a both friendly and confident tone.

Naven nodded. "I'm sure he'd speak with you," he said. "He and the seer, Sylle Ru, been working on a plan to get rid of it. Come back at dawn and I'll tell Ansich .... he and Will should be taking watch later... I'll tell him to look for you when the gates open. Hey, what's your name, so I can tell him?"

Good heavens, I'll have to wait until dawn! Better answer the guard though; I've put him into enough trouble stressing the fact I want to get in town soon, and he can't do anything about it.
"I am John, of the Silvershield family. We had trade agreements with the Jarl some years ago, trading our silk against healing herbs if I recall right, so you might have heard the name. What is yours?"

"Thank 'ee, sir," Rae eagerly takes the offered drink and chugs down a few mouthfuls while the bard slides into the seat next to her.

"I dunnae. Is 'at where't starts? The hound's been 'ere for that long? An' are ya sure that ain't the real spear, now?... Come on 'en, tell us yer tale! I s'pose there's somethin' ta glean from it." She tries to sound gruff and unpleasant, but the little wink and tiniest smirk both indicate that she's actually interested in what he has to say - at least as long as he isn't too long-winded.

"Naven," the guard replied. "Silvershield, huh? Yeah, that rings a bell." He wasn't quite sure why that trade had fallen by the wayside. Probably the Jarl being too hardheaded about something.

"I'll be sure to pass it along. There's a couple other folks here, just arrived earlier today, that offered to help." he added, even though the Jarl didn't seem overly keen on accepting it. "There's those that say the hound won't stop til everyone here is gone. Sure would be nice to prove that wrong."

---

"Seems so..." Lloré says. "Though why it's suddenly come back after so long absent, I cannot say..."

I could take a guess, thought Josh, just catching a bit of the conversation between the bard and dwarf as Xepil lectured him. But he says nothing, instead snapping his attention back to the hobgoblin.

"Well, you're holdin' 'em! I ain't gonna snatch 'em outta your hand so I can have a turn," the boy complained, feeling as if the lecture were unfair.

"... Ulfheonar was the last of the kings that worshipped a chaos spirit. Or at least the last important one as there seem to be no tales of any that came after him. He was known as the wolf-slayer and was supposed to have a magic spear and a magic shield that could turn the beast's attacks," the bard continued. "Morgan and I found his tomb once... at least I'm pretty sure it was his, up to the north of here."

"GRAAA!" the hobgoblin's cry interrupted the story and Galiena leapt to her feet as if they were again under assault by the beast, only to find the fearsome warrior cringing and cowering away ... from a fairy.

"Are you hurt, Xepil?" she asks quickly, hurrying to his side and looking for a wound though could see none.

"Naven - I'll keep that in mind. Indeed that would be nice. What kind of people arrived? The average adventurers with cheap equipment or some more experienced looking party?"

"My freaking eyes! Graaa!" Xepil said, still on the ground and shielding his eyes with his arm. "What was that thing?? Grraa! It was so pretty it freaking blinded me!! Grrr!" Though Xepil was very far removed from his Hobgoblin kin, his upbringing was just about the same as any other Hob and he was therefore very much not used to seeing fey of any kind. Having seen one for the first time seemed like it legitimately blinded the Hobgoblin momentarily, and he rubbed at his eyes, blinking, and slowly regaining his vision.

In the darkness of the falling night, a small creature sped across the tall grass of the Hirotian plains, hidden from prying eyes through nature's silhouettes and evening's shadow. Its path stopped short of entering the town as it realized the gate was closed. Slowly walking amid the undergrowth, Guile eavesdropped on the conversation between a Johnny-Come-Lately and one of the town guards, hoping to find out exactly why its way was blocked.

The guard hadn't been able to even begin an answer that movement caught John's eye... Although he couldn't clearly make out the foe, it was smaller than the grass or crawling. "Don't panic, but did the creature already change shape? It seems we are not alone..." John said, slowly reaching for his dagger as he began casting an Orb of Light for blinding the foe or at least finding its appearance out.

((the goal of this spell is not to throw it directly but get it prepared in case of a fight))

Rae leans in to Lloré's words as he begins to spin a tale - perhaps a tall tale, but certainly worth listening to. "Turn its attacks? So, it couldnae even kill the beast, aye? An' how do ye know that spear ain't the real thing?"

She had hardly finished asking her questions when Xepil let out an ungodly howl. Rae spins about, ready to fight if needed. It takes her a few seconds to realize what the fuss is about and then a few seconds more to recover from her own shock at seeing a Fae flitting about. Once she's recovered, she bursts into a heart belly laugh and almost falls off her seat.

Something tipped them off considered Guile as he saw the road-weary one of the two prepare himself in his general direction. A clever idea entered the Animal Thief's brain however, to see if he could still make it out of this under cover.
Hidden from view by his bush, he reached up slightly and shook the branches, as if to stimulate movement. Opening his mouth, he began to chitter and chatter with his natural noises. With any luck, this ruse would be convincing racoon enough to disarm the situation and disinterest these humans.