Ean pushed open the heavy wooden door of the cozy two-story inn, its warm glow inviting him inside. To his left, he spotted the dining room and its long tables bustling with a lively crowd of patrons. To his right, a friendly innkeeper greeted him with a welcoming smile.
"How may I help you, stranger?" the middle-aged woman inquired.
"I would like a room for the night and something to eat," Ean replied.
The innkeeper smiled and gestured. "While your room is being prepared, please enjoy a free dinner in our banquet room to your left."
As Ean made his way to the dining room, he couldn't help but overhear the hushed conversations of the other patrons.
"They found another victim in the forest."
Their voice tinged with a hint of morbid curiosity, another patron asked, "Any idea who it was?"
"Definitely a foreigner based on what was left of his clothes. From Brindle if I were to guess," the first replied.
A third voice, laced with fear, chimed in, "I tell ya'. Someone is hiding in the forest. Killin' anyone that finds them."
An elderly female diner snapped, "Do you mind? Some of us are trying to enjoy our meals."
LOG ENTRY UPDATED: RUMORS - ARGONIA WEST
Ean finished his meal in silence, the grim news weighing heavily on his mind. Returning to the lobby, he found his room key waiting for him at the check-in desk.
"Your room is ready, sir," the innkeeper said. "Have an enjoyable evening."
As Ean climbed the stairs to his room, the events of the evening replayed in his mind. The rumors of a killer in the forest and the dead foreigner worried him. What was happening here? Those were questions to be investigated tomorrow. A warm bath and sleep were what he needed now.
* * *
He awoke refreshed after a quiet night. The scents of a hot breakfast made him salivate as he descended the creaky stairs. The innkeeper had prepared a breakfast large enough to feed a grizzly bear and he ate heartily.
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After exploring the village all morning, Ean made his way back to the park to see if the local spy braved the darkness to leave a message.
When he arrived at the park, bits of fur were being blown around and there were numerous blood trails. Worried someone might need aid, he grabbed a thick stick and ran around looking for any wounded survivors.
As he rounded a hedgerow, to his right and his left, he heard growling and snarling, followed by yelps.
His blood ran cold. Wolves.
It's daytime. Only humans, someone I might beat off with a stick, should be here. Wolves were not part of the equation!
The growling intensified. They had his scent.
Tightening his grip on the stick, he stepped into the open, forcing the wolves to reveal themselves and foiling any plans to ambush him.
From out of the hedge, two battered and bloodied wolves moved at him on unsteady feet. Their eyes glowed with a fierce desire to seek revenge. Ean put his back to the hedges to narrow their avenues of attack.
His heart raced and the stick in his hand quivered uncontrollably.
SIDE QUEST ADDED: SQ-01 Avoid being eaten by wolves.
CODEX ENTRY CREATED: Argonian Wolf
He changed his grip and stance half a dozen times, trying to find one he thought would give him an advantage. The last fight he'd been in was with an angry goose. Recalling how that encounter went, he was thankful wolves can't fly.
Step by step, the wolves inched closer.
Ean reclassified their advance as a hobble and realized they wouldn't be charging at him. His initial fear subsided. Perhaps their growls were meant to announce their presence to discourage him from getting closer? Too late now. He took an aggressive lunge forward and shouted, "Bad dogs. Git!"
The wolves stopped.
They exchanged a puzzled, concerned glance. In the laws of the jungle, prey flees as predators advance. This solitary human was doing both.
Ean lunged forward and swung his makeshift weapon wildly. He barely missed one of the wolves and it leaped backwards. His backswing caught the other in the ear so hard the stick cracked.
Both wolves yelped and turned tail. Relief washed over him.
SIDE QUEST COMPLETED: SQ-01 Avoid being eaten by wolves.
REWARD: +2 XP (8/12)
Full of newly gained confidence, Ean continued his search for survivors… or any wolves looking for another beating. He found no signs of any humans.
He assumed his spy had battled the wolves when he found a new message in the dead drop. Whomever they were, they had his respect.
Encrypted_Message_03 added to Inventory
QUEST ACCEPTED: Q-009 Decipher Encrypted_Messsage_03
He examined the slip of parchment, trying to apply his current skills to decrypt the message.
ML ZXGRERGB GL IVKLIG
After ten minutes of trying to do the work in his head, he realized the message was encrypted with a new cipher. He returned to the inn to settle his bill, made a quick stop at the trading post, and then hiked back to Argonia Central.