Act II: Ill Fortunes (Part 2, the morning after)

Stopping (presumedly) about 30 feet away, Veroth crouched on his ankles and blows on his empty hands. "Suffer no false life, brother. I am Veroth , of the Lightbringers. I am looking for Janis Baragh. I need his help."

Veroth is ready to flee to the sky with a good luck upwards, but dares to hope.

The man is not entirely sure what to do with Veroth. The sight of a Stryx must be quite unnerving to humans, but curiously enough, it is not the wings which seems to attract the man's attention, but rather the ears. After a quick look around to make sure no one else is sneaking up on him, he finally address Veroth.

"I am Janis Baragh. Now what business do you have with me... elf... ?"

This last word is spoken with disdain.

Veroth ignores the elf comment, instead pointing back the way he came. "My team follows. We are looking for tools to use against HIM. We have been plagued by werewolves and were told that you could help us prepare. For we must continue, to infested woods."

He gestures backwards again. "Will you join us for a brief time, friend, teach us your wisdom? We will assist you as best we can."

The man still on his guard has quick looks from side to side as Veroth speaks to him, his hands never too far from his weapons.

"Friends eh? And you say you were attacked by werewolves... Was it close from here?"

"Most recently, it was just down the path back toward the town. Three elves, at least elves once they were dead. Not our first encounter - wolves seem to follow us, unnatural like."

He carefully draws his rapier to reveal six inches of the blade, before resheathing it fully. "At least some of us have silver."

"Hmm, guess I got careless camping in the same place for too long, those furry tree-huggers were getting close to me. Well, maybe this is all for the best. You can tell your friends they can come here."

Veroth nods and jogs off back to the others.

"I found Janis, and he invites all of you to his camp. He might be a paladin - least, he didn't try and kill me straight off," he adds grimly.

"Well done, Brother Veroth!" Ujjaya says, seeming relieved. He has been more withdrawn than usual after the execution of the werewolves. It's not the killing itself that bothers the monk -- it's the things that were said. He cringes at the memory of some of his own words and knows he must seek atonement. Veroth's discovery is a welcome distraction from such thoughts, and Ujjaya follows the strix's lead with renewed purpose.

Heather is also happy to have found their next lead and quickly joins the others to go meet this Janis.

"Oh no dear friend. He's definitely not a paladin, that much I can assure you. Any paladin acting like he does would have lost his paladinhood long ago. He's seems to be more like some sort of ranger, albeit, one specialized in hunting creatures."

"Hyle Janis, long days and pleasant nights. I am roland, gunslinger. We have come seeking allies in the fight against the curses of this land."

"So you seek to kill werewolves. I'll admit, I've done well all by myself, but I wouldn't mind a helping hand. No matter how many I kill, they still keep coming. I wonder if they're not calling in some sort of elven reinforcement from outside the valley to replace those I've killed..."

"We captured and interrogated some on our way to you. They are agents for the vampire strahd. If we eliminate his power in this region then the wolves will no longer have the pull to outside clans. They will be weakened and more easily defeated. We seek to cut the head off the snake so to speak."

"Pardon the interruption, but you said you work alone... Have you met a man named Jerref Maurgen?"

"No, they don't work for Strahd. More like they're smart enough not to get in his way. And if they told you they did, they lied to you. As for killing him, a noble goal for certain, but I believe the werewolves to be a more pressing matter. Strahd may be powerful, but he is alone, his predations are limited and isolated. The werewolves, those savage beasts are another matter entirely. They will not hesitate to attack anyone outside of the relative safety of the village."

He then turns to Ujjaya.

"No, I have never heard of that person. Should I have?"

"I was told the man had gone into this area to hunt werewolves. That's really all I know. It's important that I find out if he still lives and if not, what fate befell him."

"Never met the guy, but outsiders to not tend to fare well in this valley... not offense to present company. Well, I should probably give you an example. About three years or so ago, this group of adventurers came by. Now I don,t know why they came here, I don't hang around in town, probably to kill Strahd or something... Anyways, those poor suckers got attacked by the local werewolves and infected. And now they started their own werewolf tribe, settled in some old ruins farther south-west of here, and have been a torn in my side ever since because those guys, while not as numerous as the elf pack, are much stronger than your average elf werewolf."

"Oh yes, I remember those guys. a couple of barbarians and a ranger and some spellcasters... I'm not entirely sure what they were, magic tend to look the same to me... sorry... We thought they had been killed by Strahd..."