Babes in London: Act Two, Scene Three B (Anika’s House, Part 4: Flashback—Hounds of the Law: Investigation)

SCENE THREE B: HOUNDS OF THE LAW

PART A: INVESTIGATION

Let the PCs work out what to do. At the moment, they are in the alternate form most useful for this age. They can use the abilities of that form, or take on their draconic forms if they so choose. They do have dogs available to them, and a guide can be found to take them to Breytos’ house, where one of the dead man’s daughters can be found. She can give them something of her mothers that the dogs can get a scent from and the hunt can begin. The PCs are also able to move around the village asking questions. The following skills apply:

·               Research (Mental):

TH1: Karymnos, Breytos’ neighbour, was a fur trader and hunter. He has not been seen since yesterday evening when he was gathering supplies for another of his hunting trips. Breytos’ wife, Brinna, was last seen locking her doors an hour after dusk. (Neither of her daughters saw her this morning, however, but assumed she had business in the village—a fact that is easily checked and found to be false.).

TH3: Karymnos hunted mostly the eastern side of the mountain above the village, but traded with Marethykos village, another community on the other side of the mountain. There is a trail to the community, used only by hunters and peddlers.

·               Knowledge (Atlantean Geography): Characters aware of Atlantean geography for this age may try to work out other ways Breytos could have taken to escape the village without taking the main trail.

TH1: There are numerous small trails all over the mountain. Some even lead to communities on the other side, but are mostly used by peddlers and hunters.

TH3: If Breytos wanted to avoid using the main trail, and still reach a port, he would try to reach Marethykos, a village on the other side of the mountain. From there he could make his way down to the sea, and take passage from the fishing village of Kykos to any of the ports. Marethykos is two days away which means the runaways won’t reach it until tomorrow mid-morning at the earliest (tomorrow evening if they stop to rest for the night).

Other Notes: A guide can be found to lead them to the trail to Marethykos. Slender and wiry, this otherwise pretty young lady bears the scars of a lion’s strike across one shoulder and the top of an arm. If asked, she calmly informs the character that she forgot that mask cats hunt in pairs. If pressed for details a shadow crosses her face and she changes the subject to the location of the path, where she leaves them. Her name is Alyssia and she is a hunter by trade. If PCs are actively trying to gain more information from her they can make an Air (Interaction) test. The following THs reveal the following information:

TH1: Alyssia knows of no other trails that the runaways could have taken as a short cut, but Karymnos was a skilled hunter and kept his secrets well.

TH2: No-one has used the track for days.

TH3: Karymnos’ pack-horse has a distinctive track mark. His near-fore hoofprint has an indented triangle on the inner left-hand side.