Saving Face

Shadow, glad the horrid birds have left opts to just let them be as she turns and rushes over to the old man who they'd come to save. "Are you alright?" she asked with genuine concern.

"Well met, Peg," Hugh says as he comes riding up, holstering his freshly reloaded pistol. "Good to see you aren't too much the worse for wear." His eyes glance in the direction the disgusting birds had flown off.

"We should track them down and kill the creature responsible. Clam Fest can wait."

Lorenzo places pieces of scrap and esoteric engineering back in his cart, making sure nothing was lost. The sad donkey at the front of the cart looks even more depressed than usual as it stares at the swathes of bird shit scattered over the road. After a couple of reassuring pets, the priest looks over to the others.

"I echo Caranthir! That manner of plague has to be dealt with before Clam Fest turns into a massive quarantine zone. Fortunately, I placed a tracker on one of the birds. If they're fleeing back to their nest, we can eradicate them and hopefully find some clues as to the plague's origin."

Fachtna gives a very small bow to Peg. "I'm glad my spell had the desired effect and you were spared the ire of those birds." When the others begin speaking of revenge against barely sentient undead birds, Fachtna cocks his head. "I don't think the birds will understand the concept of revenge. They also could have flown miles away which will be long and tedious to track. I believe our efforts would be better spent elsewhere."

"I am of course open to alternatives. But the argument that they went far away is not a good reason why we shouldn't. Our efforts are best spent resolving the issue at the source. How can we do that if we do not pursue?"

"By using our deductive reasoning and investigative skills. Perhaps Master Peg here can enlighten us to any strange happenings lately tha will give us a clue. Or we could continue with our mission to meet Eidella Haraldsdotter and gain information that way. Chasing the birds relies on two assumptions: that they will head back to their nest, and that their nest is the source of corruption. If either of these are false, we will have lost valuable time."

Lorenzo blinks a couple of times in confusion, furrowing his brow as he looks to Fachtna.

"No one said anything of revenge. This is a plague from rabid birds near a festival that will see people coming from all over. That's a serious cause for concern. Also, I can tell you exactly where and how far the birds are thanks to my tracker. Its range is one mile."

The priest pulls out a metal sheet with a hole in the center and a small metal orb the size of a marble. Holding the sheet horizontally, he places the orb on it. It immediately moves to a new position on the sheet.

"The hole in the center is our position. The orb is the bird. Also, even if their nest isn't the source of the plague, the birds still are a source and must be culled. There might also be clues as to the plague's origin."

"So one recommends canvasing people for second hand intelligence which could give us some actionable rumors and suspicion. Going to Eidella is a waste of time, undead birds are a symptom and were she aware of the cause it would have been included in our summons. She is not our authority, we do not answer to her. One has first hand intelligence we must work for. One that will give us concrete data. What do you want to do gang?"

"Why do I get the feeling 'not get covered in undead bird shit' isn't a viable answer here?" Hugh says with a groan. "The obvious answer is to follow the foul birds themselves and wipe them out, and once that's done we can look into if there is more at work here."

"Yes, let us eradicate this menace!" Sigrid agrees. "And then we can eat our fill of clams to celebrate!"

Caranthir looked dubiously at the insane hobo and his mixed herb dip. Wondering for a moment if it was toxins in the herbs or generations of intermarriage between cousins that had addled him. He decided it was most probably both. He looked over to Sigrid sharing a knowing glance. This madman, proof patent as to why humans were despised by their kin. He raised both eyebrows as if to say "well that figures," but said nothing.

Shadow listened as the others discussed their plans of what to do next. She wasn't liking the idea of purposely looking to reengage those disgusting birds again but the argument for doing so did seem well reasoned. The fact that they could track them and not just have to hope to come across them by chance was a boon to that course of action. With their talk of plague and it spreading among the populace she looked at the old man. He didn't seem to be suffering from anything and he'd been amongst those foul creatures longer than they had.

To the old man she asked, "Um, Peg... How do you feel? Did your encounter with those birds leave you feeling ill in any way?"

Sigrid smiles at Caranthir's look. She turns to Gnarly Peg. "You mentioned a witch? Can you tell us more about her?"

Lorenzo listens with some curiosity to the seemingly mad ravings of Gnarly Peg. His attention is divided by the magical device tracking the supposedly cursed seagulls.

"And what's this face taker? He's mentioned watching our faces twice now."

"The Face-Taker sounds like one of the Wraiths of Morhogg." Caranthir mused thoughtfully. He traced the runes of the Navigator's staff idly. "Maybe not an enemy, but certainly a hazard."