The adventurers can almost smell the smoke from the flames as they make their way into town.
Jabbles pipes up and says, “We will race ahead and see what’s afoot” as he scampers into the night with Jango the Wolf.
Not long after the goblin disappears, the party is met with none other than a seemingly refreshed Mick E. Faus. The mouse-shaped sorcerer strides right up to them and remarks, “Sure is a lot of fire around here tonight.”
Jabari is irritated at Faus’ nonchalance and prods him about why he ran away screaming earlier.
“You feel the urge, you feel the urge,” Faus shrugs and continues saying, “I don’t know what’s going on. I was just looking around and saw a lot of fire. Don’t know where it came from.”
Mother Nirvea sighs and says, “This has to be Pollmer, or Yawim’s doing. The fire is coming from the docks. Those fools finally came to a head, it seems.”
Kristov whips out his spyglass to look at the fire and sees that Pollmer and Yawim are shouting at each other on the town bridge. Meanwhile, either side is backed up by a mob, as Rust Brother Sturkas grimly looks on.
“We should probably get down there. I don’t know if the best outcome is a civil war in the town,” Kristov says.
Faus moans quietly to himself and mumbles, “All that poor beer.”
The mob moves aside quickly as Jabari leads the way to the bridge. The adventurers see that all the townsfolk are looking at Sturkas, waiting for him to weigh in.
Kristov turns to the wolfkin and says, “Sir Jabari of the Hollows, this is your city now. How do you think this should go?”
Jabari growls in response, “If we don’t want to intervene, I’m fine with just letting them kill each other.”
Perko, the village idiot, motions to Faus to come over to him as he gesticulates wildly. The sorcerer can’t make out what the boy is saying and asks Kristov to help. Together, they figure out Perko is trying to call attention to Gamekeeper Vike. It seems the hunter is trying to hide something.
“You know the gamekeeper?” Faus asks Jabari. “Goofy here seems to think he’s carrying or hiding something dangerous.
The hulking wolfkin peers at the hunter and notices the man looking threateningly at Brewmaster Yawim, and that his cloak is strangely bulky. He leaves to confront Vike about what happened.
Vike takes umbrage at the confrontation and tries to convince the adventurers and the crowd that “bandits” lit the fire as a diversion for a new attack. Jabari can smell the fear on Vike and knows the hunter is lying.
Growing frustrated with the constant shouting, Jabari shoves Yawim and Mrs. Pollmer to either side of the bridge. As Pollmer falls into Vike, the burnt remains of a torch slip out of his sleeve and onto the bridge. Kristov quickly snaps it up.
The peddler turns to Sturkas and says, “Rust Brother! What do you have to say here? The arsonists are in our midst!”
The warrior-priest finally launches into action, now seeing the proof he had been waiting for. Sturkas points at Pollmer and declares, “You no longer have authority in this town. Hand over your amulet go home while we decide what to do with you.”
As the crowd begins to disperse, Pollmer and Vike try to slip away, but Kristov lures them back in with a well-timed insult.
He says, “You could have had it easier if you had just agreed to help everyone out, but you decided to take it out on them. It’s because you’re a weak leader!”
Vike turns and draws his sword and advances on Kristov in response. Pollmer glares daggers at the old peddler and says, “How dare you!”
Sturkas shouts at Vike, saying, “Be careful now, son. What you decide in these next few moments could be the last acts you ever do.”
The priest moves to take Pollmer’s amulet of leadership, but Vike blocks his path. Jabari lunges into the fray and swings at the hunter, but he thwarts the wolfkin’s sword.
As Vike turns to yell at the dispersing crowd, Jabari roars and slams his shield into the hunter. The mighty blow launches the man into the air and over the bridge before splashing down into the river. The warrior puffs out his chest at the crowd and says, “Anyone else cares to try me?”
As the crowd finally fades away, Jabari looks at Pollmer and chides her, “Looks like your support as all but faded.” Kristov nudges the old woman and says, “You can make this easy, or you can make this hard. The choice is yours.”
The would-be despot looks grimly at her feet before handing her amulet over to Sturkas. She glares at the brewmaster and mutters, “I hope you’re all happy.”
Meanwhile, Perko tugs at Faus’ sleeve and dances merrily, hoping to get the sorcerer’s attention again. Faus turns to him and uses the skulls he collected as a puppet. He says to the boy via the skull, “What’s up Perko?”
The poor fool moans in terror and shrinks away. He hurried gives Faus everything in his pockets before running away. Faus calls after him saying, “It’s just my friend Skully!”
The sorcerer looks at what the boy handed him and sees it’s nothing but dirt, worms, and bits of dead animals. Still, the sorcerer is pleased and finds the interaction oddly warming.
Sturkas, Yawim, and Nivea talk animatedly about what to do next and beg the adventurers for their input.
Jabari pulls the heroes aside and asks what they should do. He points out they could take over the town but might need to be on their way.
“It seems their petty town politics are leading them into trouble,” Jabari says. “If we turn this to our advantage, we could have representation on a town council. But I don’t think we should control it outright.” The wolfkin advocates at the least they shouldn’t leave one person in charge of the haunted village. Kristov jokes that they should just break the amulet in pieces.
Faus points out that a council of Yawim, Sturkas, and Nirvea could keep the peace and provide balance in the town. The only remaining issue is what to do with Pollmer.
Turning to the new town leaders, Kristov says that Pollmer should have a seat at the table but not be allowed to vote. “She has forfeited her rights to make actual decisions when she went against her own citizens. But her wisdom is worth hearing. She shouldn’t get a vote but be involved,” he says.
Before turning in for the night, Jabari tries to track down Vike to make sure he doesn’t cause trouble. Unfortunately, the smoke from the fires affected the wolf’s nose, and he could not find the hunter.
The next morning, Faus sneaks out early and attempts to trap an animal. He succeeds in catching a rabbit, but the bear trap he used maimed the creature grievously. Undeterred, Faus strides through the town square and sets up a ritual area in front of Pollmer’s house. Using his collected skulls, strange candles, and the rabbit, he conducts an arcane ritual.
The townsfolk are aghast as otherworldly energy envelopes Faus and the circle around him. Women and children shriek in terror as Faus drains the life from the rabbit and then the very earth itself. However, it seems the dark magic reinvigorates Faus, and he looks more vital than before. The people flee in fear wherever Faus goes after he ends the ritual.
Waiting for Faus at the Three Skulls Tavern, Jabari questions Kristov about the point of their travels. It seems the wolfkin has motivations of his own.
“I’ve been hired by you for a while now as an escort, is there, in particular, you’d like to go?” he asks.
The peddler ponders the question for a bit and says, “Just wherever the winds and adventure take me, I suppose.”
Jabari argues that they have a fair bit of coin and that he’d like to find a bigger town than deal with peasants regularly.
“Maybe there’s an elf city nearby, or even a village of wolfkin like me,” Jabari says. “These lands are foreign to me, but maybe you know of something grander than these dreary mud pits.”
Kristov says he feels they should do something about Undrue the Unmovable’s bandit army at some point but is also interested in tracking down Zygofer and Shadowgate Pass.
Finally arriving at the bar, Faus overhears their talk and shares what little he knows about the Elven lands and the Bitter Reach to the north. The sorcerer offers the remains of the rabbit to Jabari. The wolfkin takes a bit and scoffs, “Ugh, it’s all dark meat.”
Faus chuckles and says, “The darkest…”
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