Ranchers Wasting Away

Five Freelancers trouped upstairs after breakfast.  Well, "trouped" was a strong word for their disorganized upward journey from the tavern below.  Cathance led the way, the Mikumwes halfling climbing determinedly up the stairs.  Behind her came Ana, a well-dressed Maker gnome sporting a monocle, with a large book at her side and a hawk riding her shoulder.  Next to Ana was Nix, a human wearing black clothes and a witch's peaked hat, twirling the most ridiculous frilly lavender parasol over her shoulder.

Far enough back to avoid the parasol was Kaikoa, a tall Wind sagani whose knees had seen better days.  He was categorically unimpressed by Ana's faux dignity and monocle, and teased her about the latter in a gruff voice.  Bringing up the rear was Fine Branch, the whimsical nekomata cleric of The Cat, who had managed to alter her appearance to that of a tuxedo cat, and was looking around slyly.

Damakaios' door was open, and the hanyou put a paper away as he saw them approach.  As they passed through the waiting lounge in front of it they saw the trophies on the wall had been rearranged, and the empty space had a placard.  But the Freelancers entered his office and sat down.

Nix sat front-and-center, looking at Damakaios directly.  Mercury twined around the chair legs.
Cathance sat behind Nix, trying to figure out how to get Mercury to play dragonchess with her.
Ana sat in a chair too large for her, and Hawkie transferred from her shoulder to the back of the chair, looming above her head.
Fine Branch sat politely in a chair that could handle people with two tails.
Kaikoa wandered up to the mahogany desk and hitched a hip onto it.

The desk did not creak, but Damakaios raised an eyebrow at the tall Wind sagani looming over him.  Kaikoa, not missing a beat, offered Damakaios a swig off his flask.  Frowning, Damakaios cautiously sniffed it, then accepted the swig.  "This is really good rum," he said, a note of surprise in his voice.  <Narrator voice:  someone rolled a nat 20 there, but that's all it says.>

Damakaios opened a shallow drawer, and reached far into it, extracting 5 papers.  Kaikoa, from his vantage, saw into the drawer:  it was very deep, and had papers in it stacked such that the top of each was visible.  Then the Freelancers' leader shut the drawer.

First two missions are House Hadid:  phase spider venom & silk, and troll blood & teeth.

Third mission ‒ Track down clockwork owlbears.

Cathance:  can't bring our mounts.
Ana:  can leave them at the cave entrance
<Cathance gave Ana a dubious look.>
Kaikoa:  can leave them in town
Damakaios:  it will pay 250gp each and probably take several days

Fourth ‒ followon from the monastery.  Track down the person who was raising undeads, and siccing them onto the monks.  Also will pay 250gp.

Fifth ‒ investigate Waypoint Tickler for Daystar lotion.

Cathance:  I thought Daystar problem was taken care of.  <looked at Kaikoa>
Kaikoa <unruffled>:  mostly taken care of; there were too many people, and an airship.
Cathance:  the lotion makers were, um, toast.
Damakaios:  chased out of Duquesne, but still two high-level people.  This is also 250gp each.
Kaikoa:  what do the silk/troll blood ones pay?
Damakaios:  that depends on how much you bring back
Ana:  I forgot how un-crispy the creatures need to be.
Damakaios <deadpan>:  you probably don't want to immolate them.  Just lightly crisp.

A pause ensued.

Kaikoa:  anyone have thoughts about which to take?
Cathance:  not into spiders.
Nix:  owlbears sounds interesting.
Kaikoa:  that wasn't [missing]
Fine Branch:  pretty concerned about the monks.
Ana:  that is interesting
Kaikoa:  all of you were there?  Any idea where to start?
<Cathance shook her head; she hadn't been there.>
Damakaios:  gryphon rider fled to the east.
Cathance:  what's time-sensitive?
Damakaios:  owlbear and monks.
Kaikoa:  if all we have is "flee east", not much to go on.
Cathance:  if we think monk attacker is coming back, we can lie in wait.
Ana:  set an ambush
Cathance:  not exactly.  Like the owlbears, follow back to origin
Kaikoa:  what monks?
Damakaios:  Te Mārie and Rohe.
Kaikoa:  sounds boring <frowned in thought>
Ana:  up for either
Kaikoa:  those owlbears were a pain in the ass!  I'm always up for slicing up a would-be lich.
Cathance:  my hesitancy for owlbear is not having darkvision.
Kaikoa:  I'm not exactly up for caving <gestured at legs>
Fine Branch:  I'm a bit more set up for dealing with undead.
Kaikoa:  okay, let's go rescue some monks.
<Everyone nodded agreement.>
Kaikoa:  what do we need to know about this monastery?
Ana:  pretty normal monastery, they don't make beer there.
Kaikoa:  Damakaios, got anything
Cathance:  what's east of the monastery?
Damakaios <sternly>:  that's why there's a mission.

The group left Damakaios' office, to prepare and travel to Tranquil Crossing, which was an ambitious journey over mountains by foot, but rather pleasant on a flying mount, as long as the weather cooperated.  Since they were anticipating undead, everyone bought holy water except Cathance, who figured she had two holy symbols.

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, and the Freelancers' travel to the monastery was mostly flying into a stiff cold breeze and stinging drizzle.  The monks were happy to see the Freelancers return, and some took the mounts to the stables to rub them down and dry them off.

They had arrived in time for the midday meal, and the abbot accompanied them to the dining hall.  Grigorio, a calm Pterotus with an unnerving, unblinking gaze, told them, "there's not been another attack," and noted they've done funeral rites on the monks that had been killed.

Ana:  have the patrols seen anything odd, since we've been gone?
Grigorio:  previously, we bumped up patrols so everyone had buddies, but people were going off by themselves.  Have not had this happen since.
Cathance:  have they been looking up?
Grigorio <nodded>:  have not seen anything.
Kaikoa:  know of anything within a day's journey eastward that might attract people who commune with the undead?
Grigorio:  we don't; they are mostly ranching, hobgoblins.
Ana:  have there been any disaffected monks, or suchlike?
Grigorio:  no, there haven't been.  But, there are a steady stream of pilgrims visiting.
Cathance:  did you notice anyone casing the place?

Grigorio shook his head slowly, the light reflecting off his scales.  He gestured and a half-elf joined them, who some of the Freelancers recognized as Gaidaros.

Ana:  any problems with neighbours or nearby farms & ranches?
Kaikoa:  is the monastery built on especially holy ground, or …?
Gaidaros:  it was picked because of the closeness to Gata Nahaki & Ripa Daneo, and after the thalassa hit Commerce … well, before, they were not separate cities … after, there was bad shit going on, then the gorge appeared and we … <voice trailed off>
Kaikoa:  so, nothing specific, just happened to be there
Gaidaros:  … actually that's kind of lost in time.  <more confidently>  with regard to neighbours, as far as we know there are no settlements within a days' journey.  Maybe small villages, south & east.
Kaikoa <to the other Freelancers>:  shall we fly around, and find out?
Ana:  yes, but how to speak to them?
Kaikoa <smiled>:  I speak goblin
Cathance <in Primordial>:  I learning Primordial

After the meal, the Freelancers took their leave of Gaidaros and the other monks, and retrieving their mounts from the stables took off for the south & east.

Fortunately, the drizzle had subsided into more of a damp mist, so while the Freelancers still had limited visibility, they no longer were stung by the moisture.  As they flew, they tried to talk through what they'd even ask any hobgoblins.  Just blurting out "have you been attacked?" Most were dubious, but Ana said, "that's what I'm hoping for."

Ana adjusted her monocle, but it kept getting wet and she'd have to wipe it off, then try to settle it again while Pelorus was flapping away.  The others fanned out, looking around for any sign of civilized life.  The limited visibility hampered them, but Nix was used to such mists from Sheerness, and flew low across the rolling hills.

After crossing a river, the Freelancers spotted cattleherds, and upon approach, they saw hobgoblins mounted on horses.  When the hobgoblins spotted the hippogryphs, they nocked arrows on their bows, but relaxed a little when they saw the Freelancers.  Even so, they spread out in defense of the cattle.

Kaikoa was the only Freelancer who'd interacted with hobgoblins before.  As he circled forward, the others held back, studying them.  Even in the saddle it was clear the broad-shouldered hobgoblins were tall, slightly more so than humans.  Their pointed ears clearly moved independently by conscious control, and the broad bases made their heads look wide.  Their facial features were obviously goblinoid: heavy browridges over wide-set eyes; fairly prominent, curved noses that extended beyond their nostrils; thin lips and pointed teeth.  Their eye colours ranged from yellow to tawny, and their swept-back hair was dark brown or black.

Cathance joined Kaikoa on his second circle.  Kaikoa kept his weapons stowed, including the lance bigger than he was seated next to his foot.  The hobgoblins looked at each other, and a person came forward.

Hobgoblin <in Primordial>:  who are you and what do you want?  These are our lands.
Kaikoa <in Goblin>:  don't want to do anything with your lands.  We have some questions about some asshole on a gryphon. <in Trade, to Cathance> was a gryphon, right?
Cathance:  yes, a gryphon
Hobgoblin <relieved, glanced back at others>:  haven't been having issues with gryphons, but a mysterious sickness in the village.  It doesn't seem normal.

Kaikoa landed a bit back, and waved the other Freelancers down.  They all landed a bit further back, but nobody dismounted.  Kaikoa told them about the sickness.

Fine Branch <in Primordial>:  what is the nature of the sickness?
<The hobgoblins conferred quietly, then their speaker started using a pidgin of Primordial and Goblin.>
Hobgoblin:  people seem to become – less sensible – they make a lot of poor choices – then kind of wither
<It was the Freelancers' turn to confer.  Nix, Fine Branch, and Ana looked at each other…>
Nix <in Trade>:  sounds like what was killing monks
Fine Branch <in Primordial, to the hobgoblin>:  how long did it take?
Hobgoblin:  variable amount of time – some people got worse, then better, then worse
Fine Branch:  currently someone afflicted with this?
Hobgoblin:  a couple people died – burned the bodies – a couple people are afflicted
<Kaikoa relayed this to the others.>
Fine Branch:  would like to meet these people
Ana:  we are trying to find out about something similar.  We are Freelancers
Cathance <in Trade>:  are they mostly afflicted in the night?
<Kaikoa relayed this back to the hobgoblin, who nodded.>
Hobgoblin:  seems to be a night-time sickness.
Cathance:  seems to have afflicted the monastery

The hobgoblin conferred with the others again, who all nodded once, unhappily.  After a hesitation, one of the other hobgoblins started riding off.  Their speaker pointed.  "Village that way," he told the Freelancers.

The Freelancers followed the rider, but kept their distance behind without losing sight.  The others turned their attention back to the cattleherd.

The hobgoblin herdsman put his horse into a canter and entered the village, which was entirely nomadic yurts, but on permanent foundations as if the entire village would move from time to time to other such locations.

Some others came out to talk to him in surprise, and after he spoke, they glanced at the Freelancers, who stayed at the outskirts.  A commotion broke out, and Kaikoa heard them call the headwoman.  A rather old female hobgoblin with silver hair emerged from a yurt, and the conversation repeated.  The hobgoblin woman listened, hands on her hips.  Then she walked over to where the mounted Freelancers waited.  Kaikoa and Cathance were in front, with the others ranged behind; Kaikoa's lance still holstered.

Headwoman <in Trade>:  yes, we've had problems with people sick and dying.  Who are you, and what are you going to do about it?
Cathance <clearly relieved to speak in Trade>:  we are trying to figure out the origin of – illness – at the monastery to the west of you.  If we can help, can be good, even if we can't, if we can figure out the origin and stop it, also good.
Headwoman:  I am Rek, the leader of the hobgoblins in Krowa currently.  Leave your mounts here.

Rek turned and called out to others, who came to take the Freelancers' mounts; the Freelancers dismounted and followed her into the village.  "We are trying to contain contagion," she explained, as she led them to a small yurt, "We burned four people, who died."

At the headwoman's statement, Cathance visibly started.  Ana pulled out her tome and began a ritual cast of detect magic, but the others followed the headwoman into the yurt.

A hobgoblin lay in the bed, staring vacantly at nothing, ears drooping as if no muscles controlled them.  His mouth was a little open, and Rek reached forward and closed it gently.  He had clearly stopped having the ability to take care of himself; a family member was tending him.

The mumbling of Ana's ritual cast echoed through the yurt, as Fine Branch carefully and respectfully examined the lethargic hobgoblin.  After manipulating the fingers and elbows, she straightened, and spoke in Primordial.

Fine Branch:  looks really similar to the monks we saw.  It appears to be slower; some weird middle state.
Kaikoa:  have you encountered any undead recently or run into someone, somewhere, new & different?
Rek:  no; this is our usual location.  This disease is the only thing different.
<Ana entered sort of dramatically.>
Ana:  detect magic is ON!

Ana knew to expect and tune out all the pings from the various bits of magic her fellow Freelancers acquire and hoard as gear, but she was surprised and distracted by the glow of divine magic from only one of Kaikoa's ass-cheeks.  She circled around the much taller Wind sagani… yes, just one ass-cheek.  With an effort, she turned her attention to the rest of the room, and saw faint traces of necromantic energy on the sick hobgoblin.  She also examined him, differently than Fine Branch had; the magic was the remains of a spell that was no longer active, so dispel magic would be useless.

In Trade, Ana explained her findings to Fine Branch – about the hobgoblin, that is; she kept her curiosity about Kaikoa's ass-cheek to herself.  The headwoman understood her, but the other two hobgoblins did not.  Fine Branch's ears flattened slightly as she considered what to do.

Cathance asked, "do you think this could have been a trap or a magical caster?"  Ana shook her head.  "I can't tell," she replied, but looked around more broadly at the question, and realized Rek was also sporting some magical items.

Fine Branch moved away from the sick hobgoblin, who had started to drool, and the other Freelancers.  Fishing in her pack, she got out a very ornate, fluffy mouse, and some herbs, which she stuffed into the mouse.  She placed it on top of two crossed sticks of incense on the palm of her hand, and lifted it up above her head; it disappeared almost as if swiped by a cat's paw.

In a voice more sonorous than normal, Fine Branch queried, "How do we prevent any more deaths, like the ones we are currently investigating?"  She closed her eyes, hand still in the air, one tail twitching, and held that position for a while, as everyone watched.  Ana, who still had detect magic going, was especially fascinated as divination magic surged from Fine Branch's hand and enveloped her entire self.

What the others could not see, was that Fine Branch was looking at the great nebula of The Cat, with one eye winking.  As Fine Branch watched, The Cat moved, and stretched, and shook out her hind feet, and sat up fully.  She wrapped a tail around Fine Branch, and the nekomata fancied she wrapped a second tail around the other side of her feet.  The Cat's coat was a shifting pattern of feline colours, and no longer looked like the nebula at all.

The Cat yawned, as if bored by the question.  Her voice was all cat voices.  "Defeat the Silver Scion, to save this hobgoblin and others," she declared, and Fine Branch's vision winked out.

Fine Branch opened her eyes, and her pupils were fully dilated; the nebula field could be seen within.  She blinked, and her eyes returned to normal, as the divination magic faded.  "I'm going to try remove curse," she told the others, and cast it on the drooling hobgoblin.

Nothing happened.

Fine Branch, pressing her lips, told the others what The Cat had said.

Ana:  the effect will only end when the caster is defeated, assuming that's the Silver dragonborn we saw.
Kaikoa:  what the fuck is a "silver scion"?
Ana:  silver child.
<Cathance thought of Tai, and his quest for his lost son, but said nothing.>
Fine Branch <glanced at Nix>:  we have two augury, here.
Nix:  been considering it.
Cathance <to Rek>:  have you heard of other villages having troubles?
Rek:  we are to meet up in a couple of primes.
Fine Branch:  we could draw a compass on the ground, and use augury
Nix:  I've more affinity with North & South, than East/West.
Cathance:  perhaps, not in here.

At this, Rek herded the Freelancers out of the yurt, and also left, after saying something in Goblin to the family member.

Cathance:  is detect magic up?
Ana:  yes
Cathance:  can we confirm the same thing is on the other person?
Rek:  yes

Rek led Cathance, Ana, and Kaikoa to another yurt, while Nix and Fine Branch continued to consult and set up to cast augury.  The afflicted hobgoblin was a child this time, with enormous ears and soulful yellow eyes, the parents hovered worriedly nearby. The detect magic revealed the same necromantic energy.  The Freelancers left again quickly, while Rek stayed behind to consult with the parents.

Kaikoa:  I thought you saw some dude on a gryphon.  Now it's a Silver dragonborn?
Ana:  I saw a Silver dragonborn on the gryphon.
Cathance:  how old was he?  You said a child
Ana:  "scion" means "child of"

They got back to where Fine Branch and Nix were preparing the augury.  Fine Branch had balanced 5 large shark teeth on her claws and was staring at them intently.  Nix was emitting a stream of mildly disturbing mumbling while rattling wyvern knucklebones in her hands.  The Daystar was westering and the others watched, vaguely bored.  After a couple minutes, Rek joined them, looking worried.  Cathance, at her most winsome, asked the headwoman about the closest villages, and learned one was much farther west, and one was southeast, close to where the skylith ground was too vertical for a settlement.

Fine Branch declared, "We go more west than east, to look for the Silver Scion!" and threw the shark teeth up in the air.  They came back down, and she shook her head slowly.  "Woe," she said, not disappointed, since that just meant they should look east.

Nix declared, "Is it better to go North then South?" and rolled the wyvern bones.  She studied them, and nodded.  "Weal," she said.  She and Fine Branch straightened, dusting themselves off, and picked up their augury tools.

Cathance looked at the setting Daystar.  "Guys, they said it was a night sickness," she reminded them, "we should stay, and see what happens."  Ana agreed, "Let's pitch tents and keep watch."  <Narrator voice:  here we enter a serious fantasy, as nature-hating Ana is likely the only Freelancer with a tent.>

They all turned to Rek. "Will you permit?" Rek was happy with this idea, and also offered to feed the Freelancers and their hippogryphs.  She directed them where to put their tents, and then went around the village, to tell the others.  As the Freelancers set up their camp on the south side of the village, Fine Branch cast detect poison and disease, then took a stroll around the village.  Notably, the only ping she detected was as she passed the herbalists yurt, from some of the medicinal herbs.

Fine Branch took the first watch.  She stayed on the ground, but had Nighthawk near at hand.  The evening was quiet, other than the nearby herd of cows lowing and stamping.

Ana & Nix took the second watch.  Ana flew around on Pelorus, while Nix stayed on the ground and had Mercury reconnoiter.  After a while circling, Ana frowned; a corner where a yurt met the ground was darker than it should have been.  Nix, from her vantage, saw a shadow moving.

…Two, actually; moving towards the yurts with the two sick hobgoblins.  Nix sent Mercury to wake up the closer Freelancers.  She got on her broom of flying to wake up the others.  Ana moved towards the shadow going towards the adult hobgoblin's yurt.

Cathance, awakened early with news of shadows, touched her bracelet of holding, and materialized her gem of brightness.  Fine Branch thought back to the prior fight, and remembered these shadows fared poorly in light, and against holy radiance.

After waking up the Freelancers, Mercury flew over to Snowbolt and perched on the pegasus' shoulders, ready to dodge any badness coming his way.

• Kaikoa moved to Mordant and mounted up, then pulled out a hooded lantern and lit it.  Mordant moved towards the shadow Ana had moved towards; the lantern made it far less sneaky.
• Ana, remembering the shadows at the monastery had resisted her fire, sent a chromatic orb at this shadow, which settled on cold before it crit and killed the thing.
  • She did note that despite killing the shadow, it hadn't struck as hard as she'd expected.
  • Pelorus flew over the other shadow.
• The remaining shadow flew up to a surprised Ana, who hadn't known they could fly.  It did … something, and for a moment Ana thought making bad choices was a great idea, but she shook it off.
  • The shadow flew down and hid, and apparently bad choices were still an option, for Ana drew her daggar and stabbed it.
• Two more shadows appeared!  One immediately hid, but the other tried the same something on Nix, with the same result.
• Cathance called Jigsaw to her quietly, and the little hippogryph came over for her to mount.  They flew up, and Cathance used the gem of brightness to shine a beam of white light on the shadow attacking Nix.  It was blinded, and hurt by the bright beam.
• Nix, on her broom of flying, estimated the distance to Ana, and moved past Fine Branch.
  • The shadow struck at her again, with the same poor result.
  • Nix used her sorcerous abilities to twin cast a twice-uplevel'd chromatic orb at the nearest two shadows.  These settled on fire before they hit.  The first one crit and the blind shadow dissipated, the second one struck the shadow under Ana, but did not do enough damage to eliminate the thing.
• Hawkie flew through the village, scouting for more shadows, ending up on Ana's shoulder.
• A pair of arrows streaked down from above, barely missing Ana and Cathance.
  • "There's arrows!!" Cathance cried out.  "Guys, someone is shooting arrows!!"
  • They all looked up to see an archer flying up and to the north east, moving quickly.
• Fine Branch mounted Nighthawk.  She destroyed the closest shadow with a guiding bolt as Nighthawk launched them after the archer.

Lights were coming on in some of the yurts, and Ana cried out in Primordial, "Stay inside! There is still danger!"

• Kaikoa crit the shadow under Ana with his magical lance, destroying it, then flew east towards the cattleherds.  He saw nothing threatening them, but saw the cattle guards breaking out their bows, looking worried.
• Ana cast invisibility on Hawkie, commanding him to stay out of sight and follow the archer.  Pelorus put on a burst of speed after the archer as well.
• Cathance had Jigsaw put on a burst of speed as they flew at a converging angle, and prepared to cast chill touch on the gryphon the archer was riding.
• Nix mounted Snowbolt and also piled on the speed.
• Hawkie launched himself after the gryphon.
• The archer on the gryphon shot Pelorus twice with arrows, but the gryphon took off.
• Fine Branch stayed in Krowa village, scanning for anything left behind that was still hidden, but saw nothing.  By this time all the yurts were alive as the hobgoblins were awake, but they stayed inside.
  • Fine Branch looked at the fleeing archer, which she saw clearly because she had eyes of the eagle.  The rider, a Silver dragonborn, had a shield on their back with the symbol of Te Mārie, but no visible identifying marks.  The gryphon was a peregrine gryphon.

Mercury, still on Snowbolt, who was now moving very quickly, stuck all his claws in her withers, ready to dodge.

• Kaikoa noted the gryphon's direction, and knew there was no way to catch such a fast flyer.  Eyes twinkling, he preened and prepared to dodge, making sure the winged cat could see him.
• Ana, worried about how injured Pelorus was, had Pelorus drop back and to the ground.
• Cathance and Nix flew back to Krowa.  Nix looked for injured parties, and Cathance called out it was safe to come out, as if the hobgoblins spoke Trade.

As the Freelancers landed in the center of the village, Rek did come out, concerned and curious.  When the other hobgoblins saw she had emerged, they also came out of their yurts, murmuring in Goblin and Primordial.

Hawkie, meanwhile, pursued the peregrine gryphon, alone and invisible.

Cathance told Rek excitedly, "There were shadows and then a gryphon, and they shot arrows!"  Ana was calmer and more thorough:  "There were shadows that we suspect was causing the problem, but then a person on a peregrine gryphon shot us" here, she gestured at Pelorus "we didn't get it, but we did chase them off."

While they were talking, Nix saw dust remaining on the ground where the shadows were, and noticed it fading under the light of the hobgoblins' lanterns.  She realized it would fade out in the daylight, and quickly collected 2 vials of this shadow-dust while nobody was looking.  Just in time, too, as Ana led Rek and other hobgoblins to see where the shadows had been dispatched.

Once the explanations were provided, everyone went to sleep, other than Cathance, who took the next watch, followed by Kaikoa.  But all was quiet.

While all this sleeping was taking place, invisible Hawkie followed the Silver dragonborn knight northeast into the hills.  Their path took them across a fork in two rivers, and by then it had been an hour, and the invisibility wore off.  Hawkie remembered to drop back, but the knight shot a couple arrows anyhow, which the red-tailed hawk easily dodged.

Hawkie dropped and circled, as hawks do, but more to remember this spot, and then headed back to Ana and Krowa village.  By the time the sky was lightening, a wild hippogryph decided the hawk would make a great snack, and Ana's familiar poofed out of existence.

The next morning the weather was much better; the drizzle had cleared and it was shaping up to be a nice day.  As the village stirred to life, the two sick people started to recover, displaying less of the brain fog than before.  The Freelancers arose and broke their fast, during which Ana realized Hawkie wasn't returning.  She went around the village seeking eggs; she would need to feed those to Hawkie upon a resummon, to placate his displeasure at whatever fate had befallen him.

The Freelancers discussed the next steps with each other and with Rek, and concluded it would be best to keep watch another night in case the mysterious rider would return with more shadows.  However the night was quiet and there was no sign of either the gryphon or the shadows.

The next morning the two hobgoblins were much better, and the morning was full of celebration.  After that the Freelancers took their leave.

The Freelancers flew northeast, retracing Hawkie's flight, because Ana wanted to have a look around and fix where they were in her head.  As they got there and circled, Cathance asked, "Is that shield unique enough for locate object?"  but nobody answered her.

Everyone looked around to see what they could see.  The area was picturesque; the fork in the river would be a nice location for a fortified keep, but they saw none.  After a brief time, they turned westward and flew back to Tranquil Crossing monastery, arriving in the early evening.

After dinner, the Freelancers followed Grigorio to his office to report their findings.  They were surprised at how challenging it was to keep pace as the Pterotus slid down the hall.

Kaikoa:  a similar thing is happening to local hobgoblin tribes, and we chased the dragonborn northeast.  If you pay us more, we can continue to investigate.
Ana:  they were also affected, but over time; and not dying all at once.
Grigorio:  glad you helped them, but unhappy they too are affected.

The abbot paid the Freelancers 250gp each, saying "Please give Damakaios the Freelancers' cut."  He told them they were welcome to stay the night, and they took him up on his offer.

The next day, the weather changed again, and was rainy and gross.  The Freelancers were soaked through before they were even properly mounted up.  Fine Branch, trying to retain her tuxedo-cat appearance, tried to use create or destroy water to stay dry, but the result was her coat puffed up, and the colours ran together, and she looked like the cheezburger cat.

Once back at Freelancers Tavern, the group reported into Damakaios, who absolutely did not stare at whatever the fuck had happened to Fine Branch's fur.  Perhaps contemplating this circumstance is how he kept calm in the face of their frightening report that these shadows were potentially a widespread occurrence.

Ana:  how many knights with a peregrine gryphon, symbol devoted to Te Mārie?  That can't be that common.
<Ana was clearly unable to comprehend why anyone was devoted to serenity.>
Damakaios:  no it is not, I will try to look into it, or leverage that into a mission.  Will talk to Grigorio.
Cathance:  we don't know how widespread these effects are

They didn't; but a census of the hobgoblin tribes and villages was clearly beyond the Freelancers' scope, so acquiring such information would have to happen another day.