Nevyn was able to drop his sleeve as he followed Dumoss and Jeffery away from the tannery.
He caught up with them as they slowed to pick the hoof prints from the human ones as the area away from the tannery was more traveled.
This was made easier my Dumoss turning back towards him.

In reply to Oracle (msg # 31):

Jeffrey walks up to Edmond, "Hey Edmond, that carving looks like it is coming along well."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:19, Sun 28 July 2019.

Edmond looks up from his carving.
"Thanks. You're that Smith boy aren't you?"
Turning the carving this way and that in his hand.
"It's coming along. Been tough getting the legs just right."

The concern about Alvar was bothering him more than he had expected.

As Megan Swineherd was outside slopping the hogs, he forced himself to strike up a conversation with her.

"Have you seen anything usual this morning Mrs. Swineherd?"
This message was last updated by the GM at 20:45, Tue 30 July 2019.

"Good morning to you, Tobias."

"Seeing you out and about is already unusual but nothing like hearing Cenric the Shoemaker squeal like a girl when he entered the tannery."

"I was surprised myself seeing a golden colored deer dash out of the shop."

"Cenric asked me if I knew where Alvar was and said to tell him he'd picked up his basket of leather. I guess he was embarrassed about the squeal cause he didn't say anything about the deer and hurried off before I brought it up."

"Well I would say you have managed the legs very well." after a short pause "Edmund, have you seen anything unusual this morning?"

"Well now, I must say that having a deer run out of town is unusual."
"It being a golden color too."

"I grabbed my spear to get a throw at it but, it was too fast."
"Sure looked healthy. Someone is going to eat well if they can shoot it."

"You looking to hunt it, it went off that way," pointing towards northwest.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:04, Thu 01 Aug 2019.

"That certainly does seem odd. I would want to try and track it, if anyone else wants to."

Well then, Let the Hunt Begin. The tracks lead to and through The North Gate of town.
Time to head north into the forest.

In reply to Dumoss Nindir (msg # 39):

"Lets go then"

"Thank you Mrs. Swineherd. That is most unusual."
Considering what he had just heard, Tobias decided to try and track down the deer.

He thought to himself that there must be some magic involved and he should try to learn more about what had happened.
There might be something he could use to further his own magical abilities.

That his Fae friends favored following the deer trail only made the decision easier, as did the thought of leaving the local stench behind.

"Mrs. Swineherd, please keep an out for Alvar and let him know we are looking for him, if you see him."

With that he hurried off towards the North Gate.

Muttering to herself and looking after Tobias and the others, "That is most curious."
"You'd think they had never seen a deer before."

After dumping the rest of her bucket, she headed back inside.

The group of friends followed after Dumoss as he tracked the deer across the fields outside of town. Before long they had reached the edge of the forest.
Even the morning sun on a partly cloudy day didn't lighten past the first line of trees.

As they were preparing to plunge through the weeds and brush at the edge of the woods, several children ran out. When they saw the friends, they hurried up to them.

The kids were disheveled. A couple had bits of twigs leaves in their hair. They reminded you of what you looked like at that age.

"Help help! The bear got Leland."

"We was playing in the woods like usual and Leland fell in."

"We're sure the bear got him! We heard it growl!"

"Please come save him! Our folks will be real mad if the bear gets him."

In reply to Oracle (msg # 43):

Jeffrey tried to calm the children down and then asked, "Let me get this straight, did you ever see this bear or did you just hear it?"

Du'Moss; with much concern, says quietly to his friends so no one else over hears,

"Guys, I need to tell you something before we track down this golden deer.

I think we need to trap it and NOT kill it.

Because if what I believe is true.

The boot and deer tracks we found outside the tanner shop are made
by the same creature or person. And I think it is Alvar.

How to determine if this is the case I am still not sure.

And now this bear issue?

Alvar is a large man maybe he is following the deer and the kids mistook him for a beer?

Or if I am correct him transforming into a bear or back to Alvar?

Either way.

Let's make sure we take care in this hunt.
Keep a watch on what/who maybe following?
Make sure we protect whatever this is, and find it before anyone else."


...Edited for bad spelling, and format...
This message was last edited by the player at 01:57, Sun 04 Aug 2019.

"We heard it growl!"

"The cave must be his. We weren't sure before."

"Leland thought it might be bandits's or a dragon's lair and wanted to sneak in."

"We was just pretending."

"He slipped and slid deep. That's when the bear growled!"

Slightly out of breath after following the swift moving Dumoss, Nevyn had been about to comfort the children and ask for more information when he heard Dumoss's words, and his eye widened.

"Wait, are you sure Dumoss? How could this be, is Alvar some form of shapechanger?" he asked Dumoss incredulously, before looking around at the others to see if they had ever heard of this before. "Has anyone heard a rumor of Alvar being a creature such as this, or being under a curse?"

The children look desperately from one grownup to another.

While the friends had heard of shapechangers, in all the time they had lived in the town, they had never heard of anyone that had actually knew of any.
If Alvar was, he would be the first and had never been known to do anything unusual before.

Du,Moss responds to Nevyn, "I am not sure, its just a feeling. I do not know if he is a shapechanger, or if a Spell was cast on him in someway? It just the foot prints seams to combine at the Tanner's Shop, and only the deer ran out the gate."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:38, Tue 06 Aug 2019.

Du,Moss to the kids, "Can you point the way to this cave? And then run home while we investigate and sort this out."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:44, Tue 06 Aug 2019.

"You're overreacting Dumoss, Alvar - no doubt - saw the deer and wished to harvest it for the pelt. From its description, I'm sure he expected it would fetch a fine price, or perhaps he desired it for a particular project..."

But the seed was planted in the Haggard's mind. Could this be true? Tobias wondered. His own strange experiences with magic would certainly make him less of a skeptic, but it would do no good at all to feed wild speculation.

"Let's go fetch Leland out of whatever hole he's fallen into, then we can return to our hunt." He listened carefully for the children to explain where the cave was located.

With Tobias showing he was paying attention, Torr blurted out, "There's a big hole we like to throw sticks and stuff into not too far that way."
Torr and one of the other kids point towards the north and slightly west.
"It's a big old hole and pretty deep. Leland was on the side that doesn't hang over when he slipped."
"He tried to climb back out but, said his arm was hurt and couldn't."
"That's when we heard the growl and ran for help."

"Can you help him?"
"Please?"

The other children had very pitiful yet concerned looks as they waited for an answer.

In reply to Torr (the Oldest) (msg # 52):

"Of course we will help him. Come on people, we have a child to save, and Alvar to find." Then Jeffrey heads off in the direction the children pointed.

"Y-yes, of course," Tobias sighed. He was the least physically capable of the group. The lifestyle of study and research combined with perpetual sleepless nights filled with nightmares of unspeakable things when he did sleep, left him weak and then, his appearance being one much older than his youthful age. If it came to hauling the lad out of some dangerous pit, he wasn't sure he'd be able to manage. Glancing at the others, he turned to follow the children toward their dilemma.

Dumoss follows Jeffrey to the hole; thinking how big is the hole. I hope Leland is ok and I can jump in lift him out.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:25, Thu 08 Aug 2019.