Robin darts forward and takes the bow. "Dibs!"
"Well, Robin, if you don't mind cleaning it off I think you've got a new weap-"
Farrukh blinks at the speed with which Robin rushes forward.
"-on" he finishes lamely.
Carina cringes as she sorts through the bloody mess.
"Eugh... these are fresh kills, no doubt. Three, at least."
She takes the bloodied scroll and unfurls it, hoping it isn't too badly damaged.
She absentmindedly knocks a stray bit of flesh near the owletcub, not really paying attention to anything else but the scroll.
Carina's head swims as she beholds non-euclidean scrawl reminiscent of Draconic. It seems to climb off the page, and she struggles to comprehend the meaning.
Carina cringes as she sorts through the bloody mess.
"Eugh... these are fresh kills, no doubt. Three, at least."
She takes the bloodied scroll and unfurls it, hoping it isn't too badly damaged.
She absentmindedly knocks a stray bit of flesh near the owletcub, not really paying attention to anything else but the scroll.
The owletcub snatches the piece of meat and starts chomping eagerly. It swallows the whole morsel in moments and bounds to Carina's side.
After blinking her eyes a few times to refocus, she deciphers the scroll!
"Wow! A scroll of invisibility!"
She rolls it up again. "Anybody have any objections to me taking this?"
She glances over at the owletcub briefly, an eyebrow arched.
"Um... hello?"
The baby owlbear squeaks at her, happily chewing on the tattooed arm.
Carina looks around at the party, confused.
"...uh..."
The poor girl has no idea what to make of this. She tentatively tries to give the owletcub a pat on its head.
"We should find out who that arm belonged to. That'll lead us to whoever dug up those graves and whatever they did with the bodies."
The owlbear leans against Carina's hand, chirping contentedly. It snuggles against her leg.
"Watch it cub. I saw her first", Tanith says with a laugh.
Carina starts giving the owletcub a scratch behind its ears.
"Now I'm starting to wonder what Mom would say if I bring this little guy home..." She says, still visibly bewildered.
"Probably 'Awww...cute!' followed by 'Eeek! It's trying to kill me!' several years down the road." Farrukh grumps.
"Come on Farrukh, the little guy is harmless and we did just kill its mother. He deserves a chance."
Robin giddily plucks his new bow like a harp. "Plus, it's almost certainly useful. Can anyone talk to it?"
After glancing at the arm a second time, Tanith's eyes light up. "I know this mark. It's the symbol of Garavin Vesst, a greedy mine manager who branded his workers with it as a mark of status. He was bankrupted by Smenk years ago. The branded workers were happy to come work for Smenk afterword... the poor fools. Kullen wears this mark as a tattoo on his forehead. He might know what happened here."
Robin kneels down by the owlbear and thinks really hard.
"Greetings! I don't suppose you saw who left those shovels over there, did you? Or where they went?"
The little cub looks up, chirping back at Robin.
"Dig-dirt! Dig-dirt came from humans! This day is nice! How are you? Hungry. Humans came in. Fought Old Momma. Other humans came. One of the first humans had big teeth! Bored. I can eat your leg? New Momma smells nice. Old Momma kill many humans. Humans run."
Robin rolls his eyes. "Of course."
"Where did dig-dirt humans go? What did dig-dirt humans look like?"
He looks up at the rest of the group. "Neglect to mention this at my funeral."
The owletcub's head tilts. "The humans that dig ran. They ran back to town. One had big sharp teeth like boar. Bored."
Robin nods and stands back up. "Well, I achieved 'big teeth'. Tanith achieved knowledge a mine manager's involvement and a name to follow. Carina achieved a new pet. Does anybody else have anything else to do?"
"Neck itches. Want to eat Old Momma."
Carina scratches her new pet's neck.
"Is this little guy a boy or a girl?" She asks, looking down at her owletcub.
She listens to Tanith & Robin expound on things. "So... we need to look for someone with big teeth. Those are likely tusks, so... half-orc?" She offers.
"Sounds like a reasonable assumption."
"Maybe Kullen was here himself", Tanith muses.
"Let's go find out. He hangs around the Feral Dog."
"Come to think of it, isn't Kullen a half-orc?"
Confident they were on the right track, Tanith gestures for the party to follow him and heads back toward town.
Carina walks back alongside Tanith, her new owletcub at her side. During the trip, she mixes up her last extract for the day. This one is a light blue in color, and smells a bit like almonds.
"Here, Tanith, drink this. It should help with your injuries." She hands him the bottle.
Tanith tosses back the contents of the blue vial like a champ. His torn flesh knits together almost instantly leaving only smaller scratches behind.
”Thanks again Red. I’m beginning to think you like seeing me in one piece”, the big man comments with a wink.
Carina turns slightly maroon. "Well, better in one piece than several, right?" She says, folding her arms behind her back and swaying a bit as she walks. Her tail twitches.
As the others finish searching and befriending, Astraden checks the owlbear's wounds. "I wonder if it was just Kullen's gang fighting . . ."
Because she doesn't want to be responsible for any more parents' deaths, and because it'd be hilarious if Kullen's Kutthroat Krew met up with Old Momma again someday.
She lags behind the others on the way back to town. When they reach there, she says, "Maybe we should check the Feral Dog for Kullen." She pulls her hood up and leads the group to the tavern, if they're willing.
Carina isn't particularly enthused by the idea of a fight.
With that in mind, she hands off her other shield extract to either Cuetzpalli or Farrukh, whoever claims it first.
I still need to think of a name for my owletcub...
As the others finish searching and befriending, Astraden checks the owlbear's wounds. "I wonder if it was just Kullen's gang fighting . . ."** spoiler omitted **
The one distinct injury on the dead creature is the crossbow bolt.
Cuetzpalli will happily agree to the plan to go to the Feral Dog and find the albino half-orc. "If Kullen is there, Spiny, Tanith and I will talk with him. Farrukh can watch one door and Robin the other ."
"Spiny talks?!"
"No, we talk, he bares his teeth," Cuetzpalli replies, chuckling.
The group arrives at the Feral Dog, a sleazy tavern on the Vein’s central square. Two mangy mutts circle each other in the pit as patrons eagerly place bets.
Kullen sits at the bar, drinking heavily from a large tankard of ale. A notched greataxe is tied loosely to his belt. He is accompanied by his four comrades:
Rastophan, a wiry goon whose long, clumpy black hair hangs down over his large eyes, giving him a sullen look. A longsword and shortsword hang from his belt, along with a couple potions.
Todrik, a human with an angry red scar marking the left side of his sneering face from the forehead to the tip of the chin. He wears a fine yellow cloak and has a guisarme strapped to his back.
Navius, an older man wearing the holy symbol of Fharlaghn. Navius is shouting obscenities at one of the dogs in the ring.
Merovinn Bask, a bald, scowling human who alone isn't drinking much ale. A wand is strapped to his belt, and a scrawny weasel is draped over his shoulders like the world's ugliest mink.
Tanith enters with a good deal of swagger. The Dog was an old haunt of his and he knew it could be a rough place for folks that let themselves look like victims. The big Kordite gestures toward Kullen and then starts pushing his way through the crowd.
Carina presses her remaining shield extract into Farrukh's hand.
"This should help you avoid being hurt. I have a feeling this is about to get ugly..." She whispers to him before following Tanith through the crowd.
Making sure to keep Carina close in case any other patrons get grabby, Tanith muscles his way through the crowd.
”If we get into a scrap, how long does that protective oil you gave me last?” he asks quietly.
"It should last for 2 minutes." Carina whispers back. She keeps close to Tanith, her tail not moving much; it wouldn't be a good idea to accidentally spill a patron's mug and spark a brawl that way...