Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Part #1

Her eyelids flutter open with an immediate panic that everything is wrong. How did I get here? What happened? What the bloody hell happened? "Calm down my dear, you were brought in by adventurers from the Cloakwood up north" speaks the healer in a soothing voice. "I am Mishka healer, I thank you" she says as she springs from the bed and rifles through her pile of belongings, pulling out several valuable gems and offering them in thanks. The healer accepts the tithe with a grin and protests at Mishka leaving her bed before she is ready. Mishka does not hear him, she has concluded her business with him and in her mind he is no longer there. She is already dressed and out the door.

As she walks the streets of Beregost she tries in vain to recount the last day's events. She must have been attacked by men, nothing in the Cloakwood could or would harm her, after all it's her home. That makes little sense though. Mishka is not a warrior, nor intimidating at all. She is a average looking halfling girl from the far north that does not seem out of place anywhere she goes. She is not one to draw attention to herself, she avoids crowds.... she doesn't even carry a weapon. She only wears light padded clothing and carries a wrist buckler on her left arm and a pack on her back.

There is nothing to be done about it, somehow she was overcome in the Cloakwood, and she must return there and make sure it's safe for the other denizens. As soon as she clears town she shifts into the form of a puma and slinks blindingly fast through the trees, avoiding men and goblins and the occasional predator.

A days easy travel and she is home. The woods seem ok, nothing horrible has happened here. She begins tracking herself from home to see where the path leads, but she is unable to track her own footprints ironically. Perhaps there were witnesses. She shifts to a wolf form and begins to locate other predators of the forest. Their speech is very basic, but they mention that she had been seen shifting to a bear form and walking to the eastern Cloakwood. Further to the east she is told she was seen near the rocks, and it's not long before she finds a dried pool of her own blood. It's most certainly her own blood, she knows the smell of it.

There are blatantly obvious footprints here, some men, some unknown, and a set of fiendish prints as well. Those are what bothers her. She knows the spell that leads to those footprints. She only uses it if she is threatened by something dire and is deprived of her time to prepare her blessings. There is no sign of who the assailant was, other than an arrow someone must have pulled from her. It's a long shaft, ash wood, well made arrow. That means it was a human or elf that shot it by the draw length. The clues all lead to one unavoidable fact. Mishka now knew she had been murdered in her own territory by someone who was obviously despicable enough to be attacking an unarmed halfling girl.

Part 2

A few weeks pass without incident. Mishka adventures across the lands north and south of the Cloakwood and stirs up no sign of her attacker. An expedition to Durlag's tower ends in flight and another week passes. Mishka walks south along the road, just in sight of the Friendly Arm. She is lost in thought today, trying to rethink her strategies on dealing with black dragons. She has stopped walking and now stands on a hillside, oblivious to all but her mental list of her druid spells she is capable of casting.

She suddenly notices eyes on her. Across the hilltop is a man she has never seen before, staring at her in anger. She is not close enough to tell if he is elf or human, but the build is about right and he has a bow slung across his back with the same kind of arrows peeking out of a quiver on the opposite shoulder.

Miskha is highly intelligent and even wiser. She knows if this is the man who murdered her, she is in danger, even being so close to the Friendly Arm, she must be cautious. She greets him, as if oblivious to the hatred in his eyes. He introduces himself as Catarn, a ranger of Mielikki. He is obviously foolhardy as to appear before her, regardless of his confidence or skill. Mishka is not alone..... never alone.

He makes some offhanded comments and asks Mishka very personal questions she has no desire to answer. She replies curtly as she contemplates what move to make. He bluntly accuses her of being a Malarite as if it's a crime. Other insults fly just as quickly. He seems to think Malarites torture animals or some such rubbish. Why would the god of the beasts condone harming beasts? This fool has no brains or education it seems. The Malarites only hunt animals for food.

Suddenly Catarn verifies his identity as her murderer without being asked, as he proceeds to boast of his deed to others around, revealing the full details of the encounter. Mishka had been chatting idly when he grew suspicious of her being of Malarite faith. He drew arrow on her and demanded she confess. When she shifted to defend herself and escape, she was killed.

This information baffles Mishka. She has always been wise enough to mind her tongue and manners, despite the feral spirit inside. She couldn't have provoked this man into killing her for any crime. The rangers of Mielikki have only hunted Malar's servants rarely, when one became a real problem or broke some silly law. Yet here is this fool, boasting for all to witness. Boasting that he entered the Cloakwood, realm of the Malarites, and killed an archdruid of malar.

Mishka is seething in rage, she wants to shift, to taste his blood and rip his entrails. She wants to grab his head and rip it from it's place, bathing in the gore as she howls her vengance. Only her formidable wisdom keeps her anger held. This is bigger than just her and this fool. The rangers of Mielikki have attacked us unprovoked.

Mishka concentrates on walking away calmly. She is unmolested as she reaches the edge of the Cloakwood. With a glance back to ensure nobody has followed, she shifts into a massive wolf in mid sprint. Deeper and deeper into the woods, till the sky is nearly black and HOWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLS.

The answers come in reply in mere seconds. Druids, Werewolves, Beasts that hunt the day and the night. This shall not go unpunished. The servants of Malar will make our displeasure known to all who dare to wander the Cloakwood and it's surrounding lands.

It is time to Hunt.....