Fenrick listened to Alekos' play by play with shock and confusion.  How could there be a fight going on there yet only Alekos could see it but couldn't interact with it?  Fenrick was used to loud battles with the sound of metal clanging, people screaming, and blood covering the landscape.  An invisible silent battle concerned him greatly.

He also had some concerns about meeting this figure outside the keep.  While it sounds as though this person helped stop the 'attack' as it were, they must be very powerful to take on the other creatures in such a way, much more powerful than any of them.

Fenrick started to close his eyes and nod in agreement with Alekos, it was time for rest.  "I agree, it sounds like a very 'interesting' day tomorrow.".  Fenrick yawned as he fell asleep.

You all awake with a long rest. And Those that remained awake have an interesting story to tell. And decision to be made.

After Alekos relayed what happened to the others who had been sleeping, Fenrick commented to the group.

"So, we should probably meet this 'person' as they could prove to be a valuable ally, but I'm not so sure that we should all go.  It could be construed as confrontational. Then again, if this person ends up being hostile, it may take all of us to protect ourselves."

He then looks at Alekos "This was your idea, how do you want to proceed?"

These days on the road were different. Just arising so late, with no routine to it, and no real space for what he considered a normal start for the day.

Days like this were the reason that you put in all the hours, days, weeks of work. But some things could not be put aside.

Morwinyon rose and took care of things that everyone does in the morning. But then he returned and pulled out an old book that he carried along with him. "Thank you for watching over our rest friends. It sounds as if we will have a chance to act against these sleep fiends. But before we go, allow me to share something with you." He read from his book. The story was clearly religious but obscure, a story of Light searching the Darkness, diminished but not defeated.

Perhaps it did not matter what your faith was, perhaps it had something to do with the person telling the story. Those who heard the brief passage and felt the message also felt better about this start of the day.

OOC: Inspiring Leader feat, so give yourself +6 Temp Hit Points! 

Anders awoke feeling well-rested. He had been very tired. Using magic and reading for long periods of time was not for everyone, and most wizards had to learn how to do it properly. Sora had been a big help, though! So he was glad she had wanted to go through everything too.

He blinked a few times, smiled sleepily and then slowly came more fully awake. He listened to Morwinyon and then nodded. "Yes. Thank you. Did you learn anything?"

Afterwards he shared as well, "Sora and I found out...well, quite a bit actually. Some of it isn't really usable right now, some of it might never be, but it was...very interesting." He smiled. "To me, at least."

He frowned lightly. "The Demonolgist's name, or what he calls himself I'm not sure, is 'Istrum Uras Oni'. He had a rambling journal that was...well, we don't need to get into it too much. It was unpleasant. There were three rituals, all of which were terrible: draining someone's life force," His lip curled up at that, but he continued, "an incomplete path to becoming a powerful spellcasting undead," A sour frown there and then more disgust as he continued again, "and how to summon demons. Of course."

He waved a hand. "Some unfinished custom spells he was trying to create, a code I can't decipher for now, at the very least - and several letters. Those were interesting! Talking about two relics - the Book of the Dead and the Book of Amun-Ra, along with a lost city called Hamunaptra!" He was clearly very excited about these. "I very much hope we get to look in to these further at some point!"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:17, Wed 19 Aug 2020.

Throughout the night, Sora had twinged and moved on the edge of a nightmare. Truly, in her mind, the demon appeared again, and she felt the usual warmth come to her in her state of panic.

But then there were others. One she recognised....Alekos, on the edge of her mind. The other she did not know, or even properly see, but whoever it was, it chased away the darkness, then the two left after talking.

And she dreamt of happier times.

She woke the next morning, one of the last, refreshed and brighter.  She looked around the room for signs of something, and audibly sighed with relief. She listened to the tale, and realised that the dream was not entirely a dream...that Alekos and the figure did chase away the nightmare.  She looked at the rogue and smiled, mouthing a silent thank to the man.

When Anders spoke up, she became more alert. "The magic in the writing was dark, necromantic in nature. In truth i think Master Anders understood more than me. I recognised the unfinished spells only from the fact my former master had shown me the process of this, even though my magic is different."

she also tapped her cheek. "There was also the cod, a mixture of various languages...I only recognised the common language and the scrawling's of orc and the script of elvish, though can't read them. Even if we could, the code was chaotic and impossible to decipher without a proper key."

It sure was nice to feel rested again.



"This guy seemed to know what was going on and I don't think he'd be upset if we all showed up. After all he requested our presence. Might as well all go unless any of you have something else you want to do before dawn."

Inspired by Morwinyon's reading, Alekos rose and prepared himself to head out while listening to what Anders and Sora had discovered.

"This demonologist sounds like bad news. Do you think it might be connected? And should we share this stuff with the Witcher guy or keep our cards close to our chest?"

He held the door open for everyone as he looked out the window, trying to figure out exactly how much time they had to meet the mysterious guardian from the night.

Fenrick shrugged.  "Ok, I'm game either way.  As for the demonologist, I would keep that to ourselves for now unless it comes up in the conversation.  Don't need to show all our cards before the final bet."

He got up, thanked Alekos, and passed thru the door to meet the mystery figure.

Gathering their gear the group just before daylight head down to the bottom of the hill the keep rests on and waits standing in the cool damp morning air. A few minutes pass, a half-hour passes, the sun still on the horizon final fully exposed when a tall slim handsome man walks up to the group. His eyes are feline shaped, is hair a light blue, darker in the shade. On his waist to shortswords the hilts obvious of the weapon's power. On his back two-handed sword, its hilt also obvious of its power. There was more, strapped across his chest was a belt of two dozen throwing daggers, hanging from his waist belt a whip, handaxe, and several more throwing daggers, also several potions. This man was obviously the Whitcher.

"You are the watcher in the night? Your eyes glow through the darkness, the Hags did not notice, you are lucky. It was a dangerous thing you did. Why would you stick your neck out? There have already been killings, and missing people, my contract is already under the gun, did you wish to create problems with me? or are you just dumb?" His voice was calm, relaxed, and bared no emotion. His face and body language demanded attention.

For one of the few times in his life, Fenrick was scared, bordering on terrified.  The stranger was calm, emotionless, and that meant dangerous.  Fenrick was reasonably sure that the stranger in front of them could likely kill them all before he even drew his sword.  That meant this encounter certainly wouldn't be about bloodshed and weapons, but words and knowledge.

Fenrick knew this wasn't his battle, and stayed out of the way of those better equipped to handle it.

Ho-ly hells, this guy was the real deal. Alekos noted the stone-cold killer vibe the witcher was giving off and went for a bit of levity to start things out.

"Really? Never knew they glowed, huh... Well given those two options and knowing myself, I'd probably say it was being dumb... and lucky. Seems to work out that way for me a lot. Dumb in that I didn't really have a clue what I'd be seeing if I saw anything and lucky as all get out that you happened to be fighting those things when I gave it a go. No I'm not trying to mess with your contract just trying to figure things out so that my new friends and I could get a good night's sleep here in the keep. Looks like this was all a bit more than I bargained for though so I'll gladly let you do what you have to do. Is there anything we can do to help or even things we shouldn't do to stay out of your way? Cause I'll be honest. Looked like you knew what you were doing in there. It was fascinating to behold."

Realizing these to be, as Alekos said it, lucky idiots, his stoic demeanor, and tight muscles relaxed. It was at that moment you all realized just how actually tired he looked. It was more than not sleeping or having walked or run for along time. It was deep hurt, a tired beyond physical weariness, even still the strength and will of the man were powerful. Seeing how hurt he was further showed the man's fortitude.

"Actually, you have shown yourselves at the right moment. The Coven is far stronger than I expected. You see, I am trained as a Spirit Shaman, I walk the Dream realms, the shadows, and the great astral sea. This coven has proven far more intelligent than the normal evil trash I content with. They walk in the shadows and only feast on out of towners. I believe I have located their lair, I was able to follow their thoughts further last night. But, walking in other realms takes great energy."

He pauses for a moment, turning his head as the cool morning breeze blows his hair, the wind and sun seem to give him grace and strength his weary frame.

"I would contract with you lot to finish the coven. I can not do it on my own, especially weakened as I am. I fear to sleep knowing they will hunt me down and take their revenge."

Anders watched and listened. He was patient, the wait did not bother him. When the stranger showed up, Anders looked him over. He carried himself well and carried a lot of weapons. But he didn't have any bravado, just a tired tightness that spoke of power or confidence or maybe both. Anders was not frightened, but intrigued.

"You have told us but a little. Might we know your name or are we to keep ours from you as well as part of this contract?" He wasn't being snide or anything, but genuinely asking.

Sora was refreshed from her sleep, better than she had been for weeks. The sleep on the road was haunted by memories and nightmares, but the arrival here of the foreign nightmare was something else. With the assistance of Alekos and this wicher, she had the best sleep in a long time.

She accompanied the group, standing towards the back, and even at the first sight of him, Sora was both shocked and timid by the figure. his demeanor, his weapons and his cold eyes hid a power that most did not see....but the tiny woman had hidden power herself, and knew all too well that looks can be deceiving.

...this was a dangerous man.

She listened to the offer, and when Ander's and she bit her lip. she however had the courage of her new friends around her to speak up, though her voice had a waver in it of either nervousness or fear.  "Can you tell us how large this Coven is?"

Morwinyon listened to the brief explanation. "Direction and a relatively clear goal." He nodded in the affirmative as Sora asked a good question to go along with things. "I have gone farther and risked more with only vague details. But that is the way of following things written in the stars long ago."

"When we are ready to go count on me to make this journey with you all." They'd just met so it seemed important to state his intentions clearly.

Gryphon wakes up and gathers all of his gear, then he takes several minutes to meditate before standing up. "We should meet this man, he sounds like a witcher. I have wanted to meet and talk to one  anyway, this way might just work better aiding him."

Producing a folded piece of parchment unfolding it you see in a small script a legal document. Only, different, the script is all black, except for names that are written red. And at the bottom, there are four locations of seals. One, a wax seal, the sign of the castellan of the keep. Second, blood sign a wolf's head with an open mouth, the sign of the Whitcher's guild. Third, a thumbprint in blood, the Spirit Shamans sign, and Fourth, an unknown thumbprint, most likely a second to the legality of the signing of the contract. The man points to the end of the contract and simply states, "Your sign here will work, unlike myself, you will not need to make a magical pact of completion. If you walk away nothing happens to you contractually."

The contract is simple and delicate in its word choices. The Whitcher is given the task to hunt down any and all creatures that prey on the Keeps Dreams. The creatures are left to be identified and written in after as, Night Hag Coven, with the Whichters and Castallens signs as an acknowledgment of the contractual change. The reward for killing the Coven is promised 10,000gp. 2,00gp to the Whichter at the time of signing contract to purchase necessary supplies. 6,000gp more gold at the completion of the Contract. The last 2,000gp is to be given to the guild.

"I will give each of you 750gp. For killing the Coven. My contract will, of course, be fulfilled you may take your share in the loot found in their Lair, and take your reputation as killers of the Coven." His tone was matter-of-fact, giving no indication or room for negotiations.

"To answer the other questions. There are three hags, one far more powerful one, and two, still strong, weaker ones. Their origin, making killing them easier, is unknown to me. I believe the two weaker ones to be the two women that disappeared a few months ago from the Keep. But, that has not been confirmed. Last night I was able to discover the entrance to their lair. It is to the south in a low lands swamp about an hour off the road. If you have any other questions now is the time to ask, otherwise, it is time to hunt Hag."

Looks at the witcher, "You have been contracted for this job so you must know about Hags. Any knowledge you can give about thier powers and abilities would be helpful as I have never encountered any yet. What weaknesses are you aware of, or anything which might give us the advantage with them?"

"This is... Quite the contract." Alekos looked it over and considered the offer nodding toward Gryphon as he asked a great question. "I'm sure with some knowledge we'd be more than happy to agree to your terms. Part of that would be good to have or rather know how we could combat them if they are in this between place I saw them in last night. I could see into it but I wasn't able to physically interact with it as far as I know. You on the other hand were quite capably walking around and dealing out punishment in that existence. Is there some way we could achieve the same or will it even be necessary?"

Fenrick stood there, perplexed.  This was a Witcher, one of the famed beast slayers, asking this rag tag group of relative nobodies for help.

Was this simply a case of strength in numbers?  Was the Witcher simply using them as a way to weaken the hags to finish them off, and if the group died in the process, well, oh well?

On the other hand, this is possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and if they are successful, the Witcher could potentially be a powerful ally to have in the future.

Gryphon and Alekos had asked very good questions, but Fenrick had one more.  "Once we begin the quest, the hags will know we are coming, but we may need to rest.  Is there some way to prevent them from attacking us in our dreams, short of your 'abilities'?"

Sora didn't know too much about hags, but knew enough that they held a decent amount of magical power. To invade a dream was proof enough.

Given the wicher was not only asking help of them, but willing to share the riches and glory, was a testemant to the guild. She looked at the others.

"Even three hags will be tough. If we can separate them for a time and attack them seperatly would be ideal. The three may be a match." Sora knew she had a dormant power within her, fighting to come out.

...perhaps the battle with the hags would be that time.

She loomed at Fenrick with a weak smile. "If you and your group go, I will come....i can help Anders with magical assistance for you all." even though her mind was set, there was a slight waver in her voice.

She was still young.

Anders restrained a sigh or any other physical sign of the very slight annoyance at being ignored completely. Maybe they didn't have names or were forbidden to give them to others for all he knew. He listened to what the witcher had to say about the contract and the hags.

The others seemed interested so they were likely taking the contract-of-a-contract. He thought about what information he may have read about the things they might be facing, never having searched out information about hags or covens specifically, but likely came across tidbits in his readings nonetheless.

People kept on using the word 'hag' like it meant something specific beyond being an impolite term for a woman. And others managed to ask a wide variety of good, meaningful questions. Hoping for more information about these hags. There was a contract and money involved as well.

Laying a price upon this quest meant little to him but would not be so meaningless to everyone in their group.

"So we go together to take on a trio of beings, these hags. If putting a stop to them also puts a stop to the dream invasions, that is enough to make it worth our time. I think that just because they can maneuver in dreams does not mean that they only exist in that place. They have a place of residence, a place we will travel to and invade. If they were only existing in other realms, well, there would need to be others to take on this task."

"Other than having another Spiritwalker as myself or the magic ability to step into the ethereal plane there is no other way to combat them when they walk through the dreamscape. But, that will not be an issue they only walk at night to feast. Otherwise, the inhabit horrible lairs with mortal bodies. They bleed and die like you or me."

Unless anyone wants to ask anything else or needs to go to the Keep he takes you south from the Keep.


OOC: Any other discussion with him can be taken to the Roleplay thread. I will do my best to be in the thread and answer questions as they come. We will continue the adventure on the new Thread, Chapter 2 Scene 3 Lowland Nightmares
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:43, Wed 26 Aug 2020.

(OOC Fenrick is good to go)

"I am ready, lead the way" Fenrick stated to the SpitirWalker.

He followed him quietly, as he expected the man would not be much for small talk or idle chit chat.  Fenrick mostly watched for signs of trouble.

19:23, Today: Fenrick (Fen) Uther rolled 16 using 1d20+5.  Fenrick Perception.