Encounter 2: Dances with Wolves

[Nanshork]

"And we thank you for that.  Do you know in which direction we might find prey?"

[PhaedrusXY]

"There is a herd of bison we follow. We not only prey on them, but protect them as well, since herds of such creatures are extremely scare now. My mate and I take turns watching over them, and only hunt when necessary. We also supplement by taking other creatures as we can. We normally allow no other creatures to hunt them... but I will make an exception for you just this once.

You can find them to the North a bit, but beware that my mate will be nearby watching over them. If you want, you could instead travel with me when I go to relieve him and take my shift, but even if you avoid him there, he will surely smell your scent here in the den once he returns, and I do not know what he will do then."

[Nanshork]

Cujo appears to be thinking it over.

To the party

How do we want to go about this?

[archangel.arcanis]

Can we just do the same thing to the mate so he won't attack?

[Nanshork]

To party

We could try that, but it isn't certain that it will work.

[X-Codes]

Cyrus gets a little nervous and backs away to the far corner of the cave, away from the giant, snarling, intelligent wolf that he absolutely doesn't want to be eaten by.

I know what we should do, but you're just going to yell at me if I say it.

"Then don't say it!..." Cyrus says, again talking to nobody in particular.  After a moment of grimacing, he turns to the group and brings up his own suggestion. "We can just try telling him that we're allowed to hunt once.  Even if he doesn't go for it, it's still possible he will.  If we just go sneaking around after some bison first then he definitely won't believe us."

...I think I know now why it's so roomy here in your head...

[endgamecutter]

Alan fiddles with his gauntlet as he thinks. Eventually, he looks up.
"Either we present ourselves to him and risk him biting our faces off, or we sneak up on the herd in which case he might find us he...and bite our faces off. I'd trying to pacify the wolf is our best option. Anyone else have anything they can contribute to removing the 'other wolf' threat? Besides the obvious killing it option."

[Nanshork]

Tetch finally responds to the she-wolf.  "We will go talk to your mate.  He will smell your scent upon us and know that we came and spoke with you.  You stay here and protect your little ones."

[Nanshork]

Cujo leads the group North.

[PhaedrusXY]

The dog leads you North past icy boulders and rugged escarpment, finally turning down into a relatively sheltered valley. As he walks, he occasionally dips his nose to the ground and gives a low growl, but never stops for more than a few seconds.

The valley floor is shrouded in a steamy cloud, and the air feels warm and moist as it rises up to greet you. Far below, you hear the occasional bellow of some unseen creature, presumably one of the bison you seek.

[X-Codes]

"So, does anyone see him?  He can't be far, right?"  He looks across the valley floor and up the ridges as far as the steam allows, looking for any sign of the wolf.

"This place must be huge... Are you able to continue tracking him, Cujo?"

[Nanshork]

"Please, do not doubt my abilities.  I've tracked him this far have I not?"  Cujo continues to guide the group towards the wolf's mate as Tetch formulates a plan.

[PhaedrusXY]

As you enter the misty valley, your approach brings you nearer to the bison. Even to those of you without any extraordinary sense of smell still detect the odor of dung and wet fur. Through the mist those of you with keen eyes catch the occasional glimpse of a white, hairy body as well. Cujo's path leads you to skirt around the valley, rather than go through the middle of it, however.

As you feel the adrenaline begin to course through you in anticipation, you hear a commotion below in the valley floor. You hear a growl and then the snorts and cries of many beasts and thunder of hooves drown out all other sounds.

Visibility is pretty bad. Basically, everything has total concealment beyond 50 feet, and concealment between 10 and 50. Within 10, there is no concealment.

[endgamecutter]

"Well, so much for hitting the Bison without alerting papa wolf. Did we remember to make a plan B?"

[Nanshork]

"I will try to befriend him as I did his mate."  Cujo attempts to lead the group towards the commotion.

[PhaedrusXY]

As you move forward, the mist ahead of you thins until you can see a large white wolf chasing a group of bison. The bison are mostly staying together, but one younger bison gets separated from the others as you watch, and the wolf leaps onto it and grabs it by the throat, bearing it down to the ground.

The wolf then seemingly notices you, as it turns itself to face you, but its jaws never leave the bison's throat.

[Nanshork]

Tetch directs his thoughts to the wolf.  "I am the leader of this pack.  We just came from your mate, she agreed to allow us passage through your territory.  She also allowed us to hunt a single bison in order to feed my pack and help cover our pup with fur."  He motions towards Susan.

Psionic Charm, DC 19

[PhaedrusXY]

1d20+3=12
  

The wolf finishes strangling the bison calf and then raises its bloody maw and speaks to your group. "Very well. I will honor my mate's wishes. Have your hunt."

[Nanshork]

To the group Tetch says, "There will be no difficulty from this one.  We may hunt a bison, then you may eat and we can have its fur."

Haha, I can ruin one more encounter today.     Maybe I'll charm a bison and have someone coup de grace it.