Chapter 19
The Company You Keep
The four rode their borrowed horses under the gray afternoon sky through farmland and pastures and up the winding trail through the tended oak and fir groves which fueled the city. They traveled northwest for two miles before reaching a rise nestled between Lake Zarovich to the north and the head of the Luna River to the West, where upon was built a mighty manor, larger in scale and opulence than any structure within the city. It's ancient exterior walls draped in vines, its grounds untended but far from neglect, the building looked to have stood for centuries yet remained in use just as long. Despite Pieron being unable to pick up a trail on their approach it was agreed that Fiona could still possibly be inside and that after coming this far it was certainly worth a look. As the group took a moment to admire the manor, they noticed that a small gatehouse along the perimeter wall was manned by a hired sword waving them hello. They realized that they did not have a plan, and what followed was an impromptu brainstorming session that involved disguises, sneaking around the back, and pretending to be attacked by wolves. In the end a plan had formed that managed to incorporate all three. The guard curiously waited for them to approach as Erros took a moment to alter his appearance just enough to pass as someone else and rode his horse up to the gate alone.
There he spun a tale of their attack by wolves in the night and begged for food and water from the suspicious guard until he obliged, walking up to the front of the house and entering the door. Erros took a look about and dismounted his horse, first attempting to squeeze through the tight bars of the gatehouse before relenting and mounting again. He then saw the low height of the gate itself and did his best to scramble up it and leap down the other side, his horse meandering back to the group with a slap on the rump. He dove into the bushes to the left just as the guard returned and began sneaking further around the house. The guard approached the gate even more perplexed, and called out to Eliza to know where they're friend had gone, a question she did her best to avoid as she quickly snatched the supplies. She, Pieron, and Athrin retreated back down the path deciding to await Erros outside Vallaki.
Inside the perimeter wall Erros crouched low behind a shrub and watched the guard begin snooping about the grounds looking for him. He held his breath as the guard approached, stopping at Erros' bush for an eternal moment before continuing on. With a sigh of relief he relaxed and waited to see the guard disappear behind the back of the house before continuing to sneak around, looking for an opening to the house. To his dismay he realized once closer that all the windows on this side of the manor were a good fifteen feet up. He clutched the empty patch of his robe that once held a ladder with a pang of regret and snuck to the back of the house. Here it became clear the guard had entered the manor, but just as Erros rounded the corner the guard emerged with two similarly battle-hardened mercenaries. Erros ducked back just in time to avoid getting caught, hearing the guard whisper a command before the three split off to begin scouring the grounds. Hiding behind a berm he lost hope of entering undected and ripped off a strange patch from his robe. It grew, unfolding itself like a massive black sheet until it was 10 feet on all sides. He laid the cloth out across the ground in his hiding place creating a spotaneous hole ten feet deep, just as the guard approached. Erros ran, looking back to see the guard fall, catch himself on the lip and start chasing after him. Erros looked again as he ran for the gate, the guard was gaining, almost impossibly fast. Erros vaulted over the gate impeccably and ripped off the horse patch. The guard scuttled over the wall unnaturally and reached Erros just as he mounted up, leaping onto the back of his horse before being thrown clear as the now dubbed Patches made a full gallop for the trees. Erros was out of breath but he rode the horse hard for two miles, luckily keeping his footing and rejoining with the rest of his party.
When he described the unsuccessful events, the party grew suspicious of the guard's nature, and Pieron noticed ten long cuts along Patches' haunches. The evidence seemed to add up to one thing: a vampire, or so the party thought. Meanwhile, Dyson and Fabian had spent their afternoon searching the Vallakian healer's and physicians, ultimately turning up no luck. One name of interest did come up, one Jenny Greenteeth, a woods witch that supposedly lived a good distance to the west of the city atop a hill near Lake Baratok. While she did tend to come to the city once a month around the new moon, she wasn't expected for several weeks. The two of them also checked the three gates into and out of the city and none of the guards reported to have seen Fiona exit any time recently, though it was peculiar to Fabian that the Gatemaster Ulga had not been told to keep a look out for anyone. They traveled to the Baron's mansion to inquire and found him in his study with the quiet precense of Izek. The two, or mostly the Baron speaking and Izek listening, seemed to be plotting how to capitilize on the victory, saying they had something really big planned for the festival in a few days. The Baron initially claimed he wasn't concerned with the missing Fiona now that she had, in his eyes, lost all power and support, but his high spirits made him an uncharacteristically good listener. He accepted Fabian's request for the gate guards to be notified and used to prevent her from leaving the city, though he saw no reason why she would leave Vallaki knowing the rest of the valley meant certain death. Somewhat satisfied the two departed and made for the Inn to await the rest of their party's return. They didn't have to wait long before the four returned.
The full party caught each other up on both sides, stressed that a vampire at the Von Holtz estate meant one more problem to solve but interested to eventually meet the witch Jenny Greenteeth. Since going that far west meant the possibility of running into werewolves, the group wanted to be prepared, and all asked Pieron, who'd once read a dissertation on the knowledge of lycanthropes, questions to aid them in battle should it come to that. They learned from her that werewolves can assume their hybrid form at will and that their ties to the full moon is believed to be a misnomer. Werewolves live in pack's much like wolves, consisting of family structures ordered hierarchical generations, the victims who are bite and receive the curse are seen as children of their inflictor. She also confirmed that werewolves act independently and maintain their own free will, even when in their hybrid form. To the group's dismay, it was revealed that werewolves cannot be detected as such when in their human forms, except through the use of magical means. Thankful for the information, the party logged it away and decided first to tackle more urgent issues, and set out for Ireena in the Church of Saint Andral.
The party said hello to Milvoj on the grounds, then went inside. There they found Ireena in her quarters reading and asked to speak with her about her secret lead on a place to stay outside of the city. It was as they had suspected, Ireena had met Vasilli von Holtz and described a draw to him that she couldn't quite understand. The two saw each other at the church the first night she was here then stepped outside for a conversation. Since then they have been meeting regularly at the inn. They informed her of their suspicion that one of the guards under his employ seemed to be a vampire. Ireena was upset but felt she couldn't cut ties with Vasilli so easily, that she needed to confront him and see in his reaction what he knew and how he was involved. The party agreed that could be arranged only if they could be there in case anything went wrong. Their date that evening in the inn would go according to plan, as would Fabian's rendezvous with Rictavio, though everyone would certainly be in attendance prepared for the worst.
