In the world of The Misplaced Dungeon.

{Timeline: September 2018 – MD just after Ch. 21}

Harrassan was disgusted, “Water, Earth, Air and Life. And Azurea wanted us to kill her because of demons and undead. No way can this dungeon summon or control either.”

Warminor added, “yes but it’s cunning, I’d rank it Novice for the first level and Apprentice for the next two levels, I suspect a fourth level when it appears will be Journeyman ranked.

“A decent enough starter dungeon, though the rewards are kind of low on the third level. The guild will have to keep an eye on it as it shows signs of growing stronger.” Decided Harrassan.

“Um... is your business...” “... with this mission done?” interjected Avor and Essa in their unique way of sharing sentences.

“Basically yes, we just have to deliver our report and escort Gressissa the seer back to the guild in Arsouk,” explained Warminor.

“Look, is someone really offering four royals...” “... for a Were and would a Jackalwere serve?” asked the twins.

Harrassan racked his brains, “I don’t know much about Jackalweres but I think so. Why?”

“Um... there are several lairing in these hills, and...” “... they mark their territory so we learnt how to...” “recognise the signs...” “... when we were still goatherds.” Explained the two urchins.

Gressissa snorted, “you’d be doing everyone a favour if you only eliminated even one of those evil things.”

“What can you tell us about Jackalweres?” asked Zashaan.

“Not much, they’re evil man eaters and there is an entirely inadequate bounty of a guilder for every head that is turned in at the mayors office. It is very seldom claimed I think these two were the last to claim that bounty almost one year ago.”

She puffed a couple of times on her pipe and continued, “they are said to be able to assume the form of a man, and they roam about seeking to waylay and murder people. It is also said that they can stun people with their gaze.”

Zashaan cocked her head to one side and addressed the twins, “anything to add?”

“They are usually solitary...” “... never more than four in a pack.” The twins shared a long look then while Essa concentrated Avor continued, “Never known one stun but if they catch someone by surprise they can put them to sleep. Their human form looks very... jackal like, not likely to fool anyone. You need iron to hurt them and their wounds heal fast. We were told enchanted weapons work but we can’t say for sure.”

Harrassan grinned, “so you’ve killed them before, are you planning to do the quest?”

“No... well maybe, we figure if we find the Jackalwere and explain how we killed the others...” “... you would agree to even shares on the bounty. You see we can kill them, no way we could catch one alive.”

Warminor shook his head in amazement, “Why did you start hunting Jackalweres?”

“Um... well after our parents died we went to live with our uncle, but he drank a lot and after auntie died...” “... one night after an argument about money, we were afraid he would sell us like he was selling everything else...” “... so we left. We figured we needed to be registered as free citizens somewhere...” “... to make sure uncle didn’t sell us to slavers and then send them after us. If you...” “... pay the annual poll tax of a guider Arsouk will register you...” “... as a citizen and free citizens can not be enslaved,” they explained.

Warminor clenched his hands into fists as a bolt of rage shot through him at this matter of fact tale.

“So how did you kill them?” asked Harrassan.

“We used a noose trap baited with a young goat just outside...” “... their territory. Then we used our spears.”

“I’ll check at the guild when we get back if the quest is still available we’ll take it,” Harrassan then he turned to Gressissa, “do you wish to join us on this quest?”

“I’m an old lady, I’m not that fond of the outdoor life any more so thank you for offering but no.”

They were back in Arsouk by the middle of the next day, Harrassan and Gressissa made their separate reports to the guilmaster and then Gressissa left heading home.

“That quest for a were is it still available?” Harrassan asked of guildmaster Burritis.

“Possibly, let me check,” Burritis yelled for his clerk and sent him to check.

Fredar poked his head in a few minutes later, “Yes boss, apparently the lifestones of the last party to take it have all died.”

Harrassan shook his head sorrowfully, “We’ll take that quest, that is Creevar’s Killers plus two non-guild helpers, Avor and Essa.”

“We’ll need to get them keyed to lifestones,” offered Fredar from the door before leaving with, “and I’ll get you registered to undertake the quest before someone else grabs it.”

On his way out Harrassan stopped by the front desk and handed Fredar two guilders, "pass me two lifestones and I’ll get them keyed, and return them by tomorrow at the latest, the youngsters are Avor and Essa, as yet classless but fully paid up citizens of this town. They have previously claimed the bounty on at least two Jackalweres.”

Fredar facepalmed, “Jackalweres! Damn!”

Harrassan left the guild chuckling, located everyone in the common room of The Songbird Inn and persuaded the twins to activate the lifestones after explaining that they had the quest. “So Avor, Essa what will we need for the hunt?”

“A young goat, the younger the better, a couple of coils...” “... of rope, provisions for a week and a bronze cage.”

“Why bronze, wouldn’t iron be better?” asked Horaxanna.

“Not for Jackalweres, they get hurt by iron, they would...” “...chew through wood and copper would be too weak,” Avor and Essa explained.

Harrassan went back to the guild to hand over the lifestones. “Oh, soul-linked twins,” stated Fredar as he filled two scanty forms, took a signature from Harrassan and passed over two provisional members badges.

Harrassan was waiting at the inn nursing his second beer when the others returned from their errands, Sreecator shook his head at his brother, “The cage will be ready tomorrow, just two guilders, provisions, rope and one young goat, a further guilder and six bits. We have been consistently ripped off in this town brother.”

The next day they collected the cage and gathered every scrap of information they could from the twins, the twins offered to take them to the location they had found one of their victims so that Zashaan could study the territorial markers used by the Jackalweres and anything else a professional like her might find useful.

Two days later Zashaan was grumbling at the faintness of the sign, Avor and Essa considered it a miracle that the scout could see anything as the sign was close to nine months old. The markers with their little piles of animal skulls were still quite clear however. The following day saw them heading south parallel with the foothills and near evening they found their target, or rather they found a recently “watered” boundary marker.

They withdrew to set up camp and kept a careful watch, a double watch given the creatures ability to induce sleep.

The twins with the help of Zashaan soon had a noose trap set up and baited it with the goat artfully placed to look as if it had got itself trapped by some wireweed. They withdrew downwind and concealed themselves while the goat started bleating piteously.

They waited patiently, it took several hours, but they finally heard the rock drop accompanied by a yip of pain and snarls of rage. Creevar’s killers were easily able to subdue the creature and bundled it into the cage. The Jackalwere’s broken leg had healed before the cage door was secured.

Harrassan examined the valley one last time before they started back to Arsouk, once there they stabled the camels and persuaded the twins to accompany them to claim the reward. They made use of the group’s links to the temple of Creevar to use the local shrine’s internal gate to the main temple in Vaidon.

They spent the night in Vaidon at their usual lodgings and they also visited the local bath house where Harrassan, Sreecator and Warminor grabbed Avor and Horaxanna and Zashaan seized Essa and dragged them, loudly protesting into the female and male baths respectively, the protests grew shriller when they were unceremoniously dumped in the baths and then covered in soap and scrubbed free of a lifetimes accumulation of grime.

New clothes were provided for the sulky and somewhat red eyed pair. Avor and Essa still smarting from their scrubbing were not impressed by the, to them, rather bland fare accustomed as they were to Arsouk’s fiery curries.

The next day saw them in Drakoton; the priest supervising the gate welcomed them and advised them to be careful as the populace was restive because of the invisible assassin.

“We need to get to the Silver Dolphin Inn in Silverton on the Blue Lagoon to complete a quest,” said Harrassan jerking a thumb at the caged Jackalwere.

The priest ambled towards the entrance of the temple of Creevar with the party, “that’s easy, there is a regular service linking Drakoton and the Blue Lagoon, I think the temple of Ocidon subsidises them, just ask on the docks, or ask the harbour master, but he’s more expensive than the dockers.”

They left the temple with appropriate salutations and made their way to the docks, considering that the occurrence causing a furore amongst the population was the assassination of the chief magistrate and a judge the reactions among the locals was unexpected, the shopkeepers and other solid law abiding citizens appeared delighted while the shiftier individuals seemed incensed and unhappy.

The offer of a bit gained them an eager guide, it seemed they were lucky as one of the ships they had been told about was in port, the Alessandrina’s Glory turned out to be an elegant fast looking brigantine that didn’t look anything like a fat bellied merchantman.

The crew consisted entirely of beastfolk, the captain was a catman, his mate a wolfwoman, the crew was overlarge for a peaceful trader.

Apparently their passage had been paid by Thomas Felix, a nice touch. Avor, Essa and Horaxanna proved to be very poor sailors and terribly prone to seasickness, the crew for their part were sympathetic which surprised their passengers.

Harrassan looked past the three figures bent over the lee rail of the Alessandrina’s Glory at the low lying islands that had climbed over the horizon and were slowly growing larger, they seemed to be headed for the twin towered castle at the south end of the island they were approaching. They had been in the Blue Lagoon dungeon’s domain before the islands became visible on the horizon.

“Well brother, while we were messing about with two dungeons that kept running away this one was making alliances and playing at politics,” observed Sreecator. “Just let me go and heal those three again,” he added indicating Avor, Essa and Horaxanna bent over the ship’s rail.

“What do mean playing politics brother?” asked Harrassan as Sreecator approached after easing the grateful sufferers’ sea sickness.

“Creevar warned me last night. This dungeon is a formal ally of Ocidon and the Old Gods, not a follower or worshiper. An ally. She, and this dungeon is both intelligent and a female, was able to trick both Azurea and the System. She has been rated Elite+ because they couldn’t legally classify her higher. Arranging a crusade to destroy her was flatly vetoed by Ocidon.”

“Does Creevar want us to classify her,” asked Harrassan.

“Creevar No! The team that was sent to evaluate this dungeon about a month after she established herself was the Stinging Hornets. She killed them all in the first encounter. No Creevar wants us to learn what we can and mend bridges in case the New Gods lose favour with the Higher Gods. We are forbidden from antagonising Mary Silvestre, the Blue Lagoon Dungeon.”

“Bah! The Stinging Hornets weren’t as good as us,” asserted Harrassan as he watched their ship ease its way into the channel between the islands, and glid up to one of the harbour’s two stone piers, where it docked smoothly.

“True but they were close.”

They went ashore carrying their prize in a solid bronze cage. The Silver Dolphin was easy, it was the biggest building in the small settlement and the only one to straddle land and sea. The innkeeper seemed to be kind of excitable and disappeared into the underwater part of his establishment when they asked for Thomas Ferlix.

A large cat beastfolk male emerged from the pool that served as a stairwell for the underwater part of the inn, shook himself partially dry and approached them. “Morning, I’m Tomcat, sorry I mean Thomas Felix, I see you have completed our quest. Will you sell me the cage, if so how much do you want for it?” said Tomcat wile placing a small purse in front of Harrassan.

Harrassan checked the purse and inspected one of the coins and passed it to his brother. “Interesting design, the cage? How about two guilders.”

“Fine, my principal suggested giving you seven imperials as a bonus for a job well done, I hope you’ll accept,” said Tomcat slipping two guilders into a second purse and placing next to the first.

At Harrassan’s nod Tomcat signed the appropriate document signifying a satisfactory completion then gestured to a wolfman sitting nearby, they grabbed the cage and walked away.