Realms S1E4 Wolf Among Sheep

The party faces down Svend. Burakubuu gets an ominous warning. And the party must wrestle with another important decision: Can they accept such a nice gift??

### Synopsis

Standing amongst his fallen men with our heroes surrounding him, Svend begins to mutter anunrecognizable language. Dark purples and blacks swirl around his hands. Burakubuu rushes him, attempting to cover his mouth in hopes of preventing the spell’s completion, but he is too late. Svend releases a violent burst of energy and his fallen henchmen rise once more. Horrified but stalwart in their resolve, the party downs their foes once more and manage to knock Svend unconscious.

Dorius arrives on the scene with him men. They take Svend into custody and help the party free the captive civilians. Jeidobii attempts to offer the small children among those imprisoned some comfort. Dorius’s men escort the civilians back to town. The party heads back to the tavern to rest and recover from the taxing battle.

In the night, Burakubuu is awoken violently and dragged out into the stormy night. Blindfolded, he cannot see his attackers as they interrogate him, beating him mercilessly when his answers don’t satisfy. Repeatedly his attacker asks who sent him, where is he from... who is he? Buu answers honestly that he doesn’t know. With that, his captor urges him to stand and fight. Burakubuu attunes himself to the sounds of the rain and wind, and places his captor, striking with precision and fury to defeat them. He lifts his blindfold and sees... Phici. She explains that she needed reassurance of Buu’s intentions, and is satisfied. As she and her monks escort Buu back to the tavern, she leaves him with a final warning that a great evil is coming.

The next day the party wakes and with Jeidobii’s urging makes their way back to the Emerald Keep. There Jeidobii has a moment with his nephew and niece before taking an aside to speak privately with his sister. She confirms what he suspected, that it is she who creates the shield protecting the city. She assures her brother that she is safe, and happy, and that the Duke loves her dearly. With that, the Duke himself shows the group to a grand surprise: a stately and fully furnished manor, complete with servant. And it’s theirs so long as they need it.

Venus immediately claims the largest of the bedrooms. The others explore the house. Jeidobii wrestles with accepting this extravagant gift, wanting to turn it down, instinctively resisting the idea of any sort of permanent settlement after years of wandering. Ultimately, with some urging from his sister and the Duke, and taking into consideration the comfort and joy it brings his new companions, he acquiesces. That, and it has a pretty fantastic courtyard with a lovely tree imported from his homeland.

It is then that Venus excitedly reminds the group that it’s finally time for her puppy to arrive! They had long been separated on alternate ships but now the other ship is finally making dock. The party follows her to the docks where they are shocked to see the ship plowing dangerously into the docks at high speed! The heroes rush to aid the passengers and townspeople and mount the ship desk where they find many injured and once more, orc raiders. The orcs are slain, and a lone boy stands frightened upon the deck. Behind him appears two glowing eyes and a hulking figure approaches from behind him...

And it’s Venus’s beloved Ava! Her puppy is in fact a giant direwolf, and it pounces upon the boy gently licking him. Venus rushes to embrace her friend and the party realizes this direwolf laid waste to the orcish raiders all on its own. Jeidobii heals any minor wounds the direwolf incurred and the party heads back to the manor.

At the manor the party is accosted by Julette, a young girl looking for safe escort to the town of Reheragord. She insists she needs to leave immediately, and after some deliberation the party agrees to aid her. All except Venus, that is, who elects to stay behind and convalesce with her beloved direwolf, Ava. The party gathers their supplies and loads up Carlox for the journey. They travel for several hours and make camp, where they learn little of Julette’s reasons or intentions but they do know that there are reports of lost scouting parties and guards that were headed to Rheragord. In the early morning, the party is awoke by a monstrous roar in the distance.