Chapter 2: Wolf Mother
The trio secured Jimmy's house, ensuring that all traps and locks were engaged, before leaving for the night. The group didn't get too far from the porch, before seeing something that made Jimmy's blood run cold, freezing him in his tracks. The woman stood on a nearby hill on the property, whistling a tune known by Jimmy's half-human, half-elven, family. The woman's whistling whisked wolves, whilst warning the woeful wanderers.
"Praise the sun…" Father Locke gasped, counting the group of over twenty werewolves that gathered nearby, their figures illuminated beneath the golden moonlight. The growls and snarls of the horde of werewolves and Lycans didn't quite mask the sound of the woman's whistling. The shaggy figures, though great in number, didn't attack, nor did they move past the mysterious woman. The overwhelming group of monsters stood still, resembling soldiers in the presence of a commanding officer. The woman ceased her whistling, extending a hand to Jimmy, as if offering for him to take it and join the group.
Angrily rejecting the woman, Jimmy ordered his new friends close to him. He planned for them to retreat to the house, knowing most of the monstrosities would be killed, before they could enter, thus reducing the group of dozens to a handful that, in theory, wouldn't be a handful, after they've sprung the traps, both the enchanted and the normal. The last obstacle, and the most dangerous, would be the leader of the creatures. The woman rested her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side, as if to question Jimmy's decision. The woman, highlighted by the glistening, golden, ray of the moon, laughed, causing the horde of burly bipedal bedraggled behemoths to bellow boisterous laughter.
"I've never seen a wolf laugh." Roy whimpered to his friends.
Keeping his eyes on the woman, Jimmy adds "They do that, sometimes." Sweat fell from Jimmy, as if someone had splashed his face with water. The woman stopped laughing, extending an expecting hand to a nearby werewolf. The creature passed her a bow and arrow, the recipient of the loaded weapon, fastened a small glistening item to the shaft of the arrow, before shooting it in Jimmy's general direction. The arrow was clearly not mean to hit anyone as gravity drove it into the dirt several feet away from the trio. With a roar, the woman turned away from the property, whistling for her numerous comrades to follow and fallback. As the group of horrors receded, the woman halted briefly to glare at Jimmy, her eyes beaming a luminous red, before she snarled, angrily walking away. Retrieving the arrow, Jimmy suggested that they remain in his home, until the latter part of the next morning. Without hesitation, the three men locked themselves in the safety of Jimmy's home.
Having retrieved the arrow, Jimmy made sure he was in private, before untying an expensive ring from the woman's arrow. Clenching the ring in the fist of his right hand, the man slipped the ring into one of his pockets before returning to his private bar. While Roy turned in for the night, Fr. Locke joined Jimmy at the bar, inquiring about the ring. Jimmy refused to answer, simply claiming that it was just a ring, nothing more. The father knew better, but he chose not to pry, assuming it was from a deceased loved one. Assuring James that their hunt will be successful, Locke said he was very grateful for the shelter, before toasting his host and gulping down the beer.
"So much for the body being a temple of the lord." James thought, keeping a hand over the ring in his pocket while he and Fr. Locke gulped down the alcohol.
The following morning, having found rest despite their recent encounter, the three sought their partners in the nearby town. Jimmy and friends found the other hunters having breakfast, before they set out. Roy called to the barmaid to bring three more beers and plates of the daily special. Meeting the other hunters, Jimmy watched as one of them argued with an Aasimar woman who accompanied them. The hunter pulled the woman by her leash, angrily whispering to her, before slapping her across the face and dropping her wooden plate to the floor. Aghast at the atrocious behavior, Fr. Locke chided the hunter, advising him against tormenting his slave in public.
The slave wiped the blood running from her nose with a handkerchief stained with blood. The young woman apologized to the group, before sitting on the floor, beside the booth. Keeping her gaze on her plate, she seen a hand gently raise it from the floor, returning it to the table. After repositioning the plate, Jimmy cautioned the man that the townsfolk were vehemently against slavery.
Exiting the booth, the hunter replied that the law stated otherwise, asking "What's it to you anyway?". The security passed by, warning the men not to cause a spectacle, for the law also forbade fights, unless done professionally, and public beatings, of slaves and convicts.
"Do no harm, or we'll bring you in for both crimes, respectively." The guard sternly warned.
As he scruffy hunter took his slave by the leash and exited the building, leaving with some of his team, Jimmy heard a woman's voice thanking him for his kindness, in the back of his mind. A short green goblin, wearing fancy, silver armor, stayed behind to trade info with Jimmy's group. By the goblin's account, Dunon, the scruffy hunter and slave owner, led the hunt. On this excursion, the groups have ended the lives of several werewolves & lycans. Despite their conflicting opinions Jimmy still wanted to help clear the area of werewolves and similar dangers in the vicinity. The goblin assured the half-elf that his help would be invaluable, due to his history and knowledge of the area. Before the goblin rushed after his departing partners, he assured Jimmy that their party preferred to split up, thereby covering more ground. The half-elf wouldn't have to put up with the other hunter's habits.
The city of Ruthell is a small one, it still has the typical blacksmith, locksmith, general store, and potion/magic shop(s). Though the shops themselves are small, their lists of wears are larger than most stores of a similar size. The city itself is located near the end of a vast forest, stretching from the Southwest coastline, across the country to the Southeast coastline. When the large forest was first charted, the explorers named it Green Tongue Forest, for it was wide and seemed to end in the shape of a rough arrow, at the Southeastern coast. The groups parted and departed, Dunon's group went along the outer length of Green Tongue, hoping to stop half way through, in the town of Wood Bell. There, Dunon's group would repay a different group of hunters for giving them the lead on the werewolves that the hunters, of Wood Bell, were too unorganized to tackle.
Jimmy's team traveled to the Southernmost part of the country to deliver a progress report. The trio were to go to the magical, port-city, Emerald. When the five explorers went to explore Green Tongue, they made it their mission to (verbatim) "See how far down it went". To their dismay, the forest covered the rest of the southern tip of the country, it was certainly a vast forest. The group became hopelessly lost, and most fell ill. The group of five fell to four, after a large pack of overgrown wolves, larger than any dire wolf, attacked, wearing down the weakest member. Fortunately, the group was saved by a hunting party of Elves, from the magical city of Emerald. Luckily for the explorers, the elven city was built with silver imbued by strong magic that further helped to repel the wolves. After the travelers were nursed to better health, they shared their knowledge with their saviors, the elves. The elven townsfolk had no idea that other people inhabited the island, they just assumed it was all a vast, dense, forest. The elves mingled with the other cities and races. Sometime later, one of the explorers retuned to the city of Emerald to reunite with a female huntress from the hunting party that saved his expedition. The two got married, leading to the Human-Elf hybrid that is James E. Rustle (aka Jimmy).
James, Roy, and Father Locke walked into the shallow end of the forest, so much so that if they looked in the appropriate direction, they could see the smoke from the chimneys of Wood Bell. Sadly, this sight was soon replaced with a nigh blinding light, followed by a cacophonous sound, resembling a great, shrill church bell. Roy and Jimmy cursed while Fr. Locke shrieked as a sudden gust of wind threatened to topple the trio. The forest itself seemed to flinch before the immense light, and its prevailing wind, loosened branches, twigs and other debris hurled towards the trio. Only Roy managed to stay upright, whilst Jimmy fell to his knees. Fr. Locke took the brunt of the gust, the poor man was swiped by a small cluster of tiny branches, luckily, he received mere scratches and slight bruising around the right side of his bow.
Shaking off the minor injuries, Fr. Locke hurried towards the direction of the light with his friends following close behind. The small group rushed toward the light source wondering its origin and purpose. Whatever the bright light was, it was most certainly long gone, tinting the sky a grim shade of maroon, this darkness went on for miles, replacing the once clear, blue sky.