Neverwinter Forest i will deliver; you know i'm a forgiver

@Mal after he howls! MSP members included in other threads (arct, dirge, lyra) might pop in as well as  they were around. SEVERELY backdated, sorry! but maybe we can spree this out

 

Hydra had heard the howl, though it take time to get from point A to B. The Queen moved swiftly, but no doubt by the time she had come to arrive upon the scene the villains of the hour would have fled. It mattered not; she caught their scent on the wind, and their blood in the Forest. Tempted though she was to cross over the boundary, Mal had respected her enough—unwittingly, perhaps—to call to reveal to her the whereabouts of her enemies. 

Loud indeed. 

The Queen lingered mutely near the borders, searching for @Mal himself; the source of his own howl had been around this point, but no doubt he might have moved some to hide his own location... if he was smart. There were more enemies than comrades for him, and surely those savages had known it. Even injured, they likely could have overwhelmed him.

I'll be aroundish most of the weekend!  Just @ me in Discord if you want a quick post. :P  Will be able to do so unless I'm out or streaming.

When there'd been no initial response howl, he'd started moving again.  He wove his way through trees and hunkered down in bushes to listen to see if he was followed.  He swept by the borders, taking glances for anyone approaching before moving back to the web of trails he'd woven just today.  When it progressed to night, perhaps Mal would go see if the trio had actually left -- he'd make sure to track where they'd gone for a short distance, rather preferring to be the bearer of useful clues rather than risking his own neck without a promise of benefit.  Besides, he had one or two packmates to guard at this point and nobody he'd ever recruited was someone he thought could risk a fight against someone that nuts, let alone multiple.  It was best to bluff, best to hide, best to be as annoying as possible with as little danger as possible.

On one of these laps he saw someone (perhaps there were more, but at least one was visible) waiting.  Hm.  He stayed hidden for a moment or two and observed, but she was waiting, not charging in... So seemed less likely to be one of their allies.  Probably.  Nice to see his guess that they'd be hunted was actually on point -- that's the problem with showing you're perfectly willing to rip out throats, it certainly destroys the ability of others to believe you might be innocent.

Getting closer, that was when he could smell Moonspear.  Ah.  Well, then even less likely to be their ally, he'd hoped.  Still, he was cautious. He stayed on his side of the border, watching for a trap.  One ear was consistently listening behind him.  He spoke loud enough to be heard, but not much beyond that.  Looking for three -- two screwed up wolves and a Nightwalker?  Caiaphas was super old in his eyes, at least.  Anyway, Mal pointed his nose at their entry point, asking her to confirm that was the right scent.  This whole thing did bring up an interesting point -- here was a Nightwalker causing him problems already... Maybe she'd just defected, but it wasn't exactly a point in their favor.

Going to say this happens before she leaves and gets lost, I think that fits within her timeline lol :) Just a cameo!

Ceilidh had not run into Mal when he had been in the thick of his preparations. She had been settled somewhere off from where had woven, but no wolf could have missed the call he'd tossed up and left hanging in the night, like a loosened noose begging to be pulled tight. His words set her on her feet, and she peeled toward him.

Murders? On their land? Is that what he had meant?

His scent was never hard to miss. He patrolled this forest like a madman at times, which at times she found humourous -- yet tonight, she found comfort in the obsession of his diligence. Ceilidh picked up his trail and followed to the point where he had given the muster call, until she reached his station and found it empty, with another track leading somewhere off to the edge of their woods. And she could do little else, but turn on her heels and follow him still, hoping to aid in whatever way -- and hoping his familiar company would reassure and offer her some peace of mind.

She came upon him through the shadows, and from what she could see, he was already engaged with a stranger she had never glimpsed before. Dark, and imposing. Ceilidh felt her hackles bristle and she drew up beside her friend, appraising the newcomer with cautious eyes. She assumed this was the hunters -- the wolf-hunter -- her nerves shivered again. What world was this, that there was a need for such duties at all? Yet -- she should be grateful -- yet -- she feared, and Ceilidh remained silent, comforted, at least, by Mal's proximity, no matter how uncertain she was, in what to do with this new information being dealt her.

Mal emerged then; young and uninjured. Those that had come to lurk in his woods had not sought to damage him, but if they were the manner of wolves she thought them to be... they likely would. Hydra's ears pricked when he spoke, one swiveling to the side as her eyes caught sight of one other wolf. It seemed he had found another for his claim, but she did not look like the sort of wolf who would do well against Mal's latest enemies. Her gaze fell back to him, and as she interpreted what it was he had said Hydra considered. Three wolves, then—which meant another of the Nightwalkers likely fled in favor of Merrick. 

Yes, she drawled, though they do not know I hunt them, as of yet. They may think only the Nightwalkers seek them; one... hm, two, I suppose, for betrayal, another for an old vendetta. Hydra shared this information freely. You risk much by revealing them here. They know where it is you live; they seem to be the sort who enjoy their revenge, her spirit was one with their own, and she felt the residual echo of their vengeful song in her heart. Were it not for her being so against them, she might appreciate this. As it were... well, it was not so. 

Hydra's ears swiveled. I thank you for it. Here she nodded, tailtip swaying behind her. She wondered what he might make of this all, though supposed if rumor was to be believed she might find out soon enough.

He looked to Cèilidh when she arrived, saying quietly to her, Know those scents.  I'll... Explain later.  He wasn't gonna go through another chunk of his memory that wasn't too pleasant in front of strangers...  Aside from the cursory way he was going to do so now.  Looking back to Hydra, it seems he'd guessed well.  Probably more than that after them overall. I saw the black headed hag randomly rip out someone's throat, get her own chewed up, but apparently she then refused to die.  She's deranged.  Simple as that.  Mal had no desire to get anywhere close to her.

Was it like he had much of a choice?  If he ignored it, these bullies would probably decide he was totally harboring them of his own free will, and then try to kill him just for funzies.  He would have been fine with nobody responding as long as the trio moved on, but here they were and he wasn't sure if it was the best case or not.  If their noses weren't so full of blood, they'd already  realize we live here and this wasn't an open sanctuary.  Trespassing has consequences.  Just in this case, figured someone else might want the honor more.

If you want to go after them now, bring your people. I'll lead you to where they were staying.  If you just want information, I can let you know where they're headed.. Eventually. I'm otherwise not going back there solo until dark. Her choice.  But if she wanted to hunt them, he wanted to get moving sooner rather than later.  The faster Moonspear and friends caught them, the faster they'd hopefully kill them and end one patch of trouble before it appeared again.  Either way, the maniacs were almost certainly on the move right now -- either towards them or away.

Perhaps the call was not meant for him, he didn't really care. Merrit would be the one to decide that. For once he had a clear ambition, an end by the name of Caiaphas -- and if that was not a mark of a wolf-hunter, then what was?

He did not know if the boy meant the witch, but that hardly deterred him. Through the trees now, he could hear the low cadence of conversation; murmurs, and then, words. He recognized the female -- how could he forget -- the Queen of Moonspear drawled her sentence closed, and the boy began to speak -- words that brought a shiver of dread and cold anticipation.

The witch was here.

Merrit peeled from the shadows and stepped where the conspirers could see him - a gutsy move, perhaps, but he would deal with the consequences if they came. He doubted they would. The boy had called for him, even if he had not known he had called from him, hadn't he? He turned his watch to the Queen, and tipped his head. "Hydra," he offered, and procured a like gesture to the speckled boy. Amicable, proper. Such a contrast to the bitterness that ran within his breath. "I hunt the hag, too," for the boy was right. There were more after the witch, and he would gladly reveal himself to stand within that number. "That witch tried to kill my sister. I will not rest until she is dead."

In a way, he desired to take her himself. To destroy her, with the touch of his own fangs. But if she died by the tooth and claw of another, that end was just as well.

Hydra nodded to Mal's words, agreeing entirely. For the record, Hydra echoed his sentiment: With the food being as scarce as it has been, likely they may not have cared at all for your borders and hoped to raid what you may have stored. Moonspear has no mercy for trespassers either, she drawled. If others made a habit out of it, Hydra hoped to break it in whatever way she could—

The sound of another beyond who lurked in the depths of Neverwinter caused Hydra's attention to shift only slightly with the swivel of an ear and the flare of her nostrils. The scent was familiar to her, as was the voice she heard; Hydra next adjusted the way in which she stood to accomodate this new presence. More news about the actions of Blackhead; her history was long, and none of it good. Her hatred of Easthollow ran deep, it sounded like. And Mal's own added information added a piece of the dead mercenary's history in some more odd detail. Hydra had yet to put the puzzle of it all together, though even now she worked at it. Some edges fit seamlessly together, and others did not; she wondered if she might ever get the whole picture of it all. 

What she did know was that the nameless boy would join her on this witchhunt; the more, the merrier.

Hydra considered Mal's words, thinking on them. She had the scent of Merrick and Caiaphas both, now. What she did not have was the scent of the she-wolf among them. If I may, she began, I would like to know the scent of the girl with them. I know the scent of the boy and the witch. Before I collect more to continue the search, I would like to know her scent too in case we happen upon her trail, she requested. Or upon the bitch herself. Who knew? Hydra liked to be prepared for any scenario, and knew she could only benefit from getting a grasp on the scent, in case on the way home one was not with the rest. 

missed that ce was just a cameo, DERP

Sorry for the huge delays on my end.  Holidays mess me the heck up. X.x

And then someone else showed up.  Huh.  Okay, so he definitely had made the right call.  Heck yeah.  But Mal still wasn't gonna be chasing after three even with three wolves here.  He wanted it to be certain.  Well, go sniff it too, make sure it's the right people.   It wasn't like he was gonna stop them from doing that.  Charging off into his packland without another word would be super irritating, but just scoping the scents out was fine.

Back to the Moonspear chick, Then they're not very smart if they couldn't make up some story about coyotes attacking or whatever so they could outright ask for help.  I might not have known better if I didn't already know that chick liked killing other wolves.  Elysium couldn't be the only outlier that would accept people without much fuss -- he wasn't sure what he would have done if they had done that.

Yeah her trail's just a little bit away from theirs, over there. He pointed with his nose a couple of yards.  It would have been a comfortable distance for her to have been following the trail of the earlier pair.