Bear Hunt

Following his little chat with Damon Ristwhite, Thor chose to go and find a bear without the aid of the party, setting out the day after they arrive in Siriath.

The Ironshade Forest is about a full day’s trek from Siriath, but the local Hunters guild has weekly expeditions to the woodland, and with a kind word they allow you to travel with them early next morning. Hunting etiquette dictates that if you see another hunter moving in for a kill before you sight their target, or see them staking an area out you should give them space to do so. The expedition arrives at 10am and leaves at 4pm.

On the cart to the forest are four other hunters
 * Cornel Grigore (M H’Orc Barbarian/Ranger, dresses in grey fox hides, carries a belt of throwing axes and a large sling, hunting deer today)
 * Bryce Aylmer (M Human Ranger, dresses in muddied leathers, wears a crown of ferns, carries a longbow and a two quivers of arrows, hunting Black Bear today)
 * Faith Emery (F Human Ranger/Rogue, dresses in a navy blue cloak, carries a pair of hand crossbows, hunting goblinoids for bounties today)
 * Alexis Heidrun (F Elf Ranger/Monk, dresses in a black gi, carries a pouch of shurikens and a butterfly sword, hunting rare game fowl)

The Ironshade Forest bristles with towering pine trees that stretch up into the sky. Silvery bark rots underfoot in a dense autumn mulch, and a cool, fine mist clings to the ground this morning.

Chatting to Bryce briefly as the hunters step off the cart, Thor gets a pointer as to where the three main dens of Black Bears lie in the land, mostly so that they don't overlap. Thor heads off in earnest towards the north west den and starts looking for tracks to follow. Within minutes he's found a vague trail consisting of at least three bears heading in the right direction and starts to follow it.



Some time in the smell of fresh woodsmoke begins to drift through the forest and Thor comes across a clearing. Approaching quietly, he spots two human figures and a Halfling woman across a large camp built for ten or more people, roasting meat on a spit. In the centre of the camp is a tall, elegant white pine which seems to sway and creak its branches despite the lack of wind. The camp seems otherwise deserted. Thor identifies them as "probably druids" and approaches with a casual "Howdy."

The trio are startled and don weapons, but cautiously keep them by their sides. The nearest, a man in leathers carrying a shortbow begins to approach, and the two awkwardly exchange greetings and intents. Thor explains he wants to know where the local bear dens are so he can avoid them, omitting that he only wants to avoid them so he can get the jump on them. The druidic huntsman falls for the ploy and warns of a lone male to the north-west, roughly outlining his territory. They warily part ways, with Thor heading south before doubling back to pick up the trail.



A short while later, Thor happens upon a hunter's lodge secluded in the forest, though it appears to be unlit and abandoned. The interior is still in tact, but leathers left to dry on tanning racks have long since peeled off and begun to rot in the undergrowth, and the fire around back is completely burnt out. It looks cosy enough inside, and there's even a nice bow and a set of arrows hanging on the wall. Not one for breaking and entering, Thor heads around and continues his journey.



The sound of rustling from the rear catches his attention, and two particularly wiry thatches of branches and thorns appear to be following. Taking a closer look, it's obvious that they're living creatures rather than people hiding in bushes, and both lunge towards the Ranger. Not wanting to fight unless absolutely necessary, Thor takes flight and runs away, outpacing them easily. After a solid ten minute chase they give up and turn back, lost in the foliage.



Picking up the trail again, a single set of pawprints gets singled out and Thor follows them to a sparser part of the forest with denser undergrowth, finding the den. He spots the lone male at the entrance and makes a tactical approach. While he's almost impossible to spot crawling around on his belly and moving from tree to tree, the big Black Bear does hear something a-rustlin' and moves out of its cave entrance to find out what it is. Thor attempts a pot-shot with one of his pricey sleep arrows and fluffs it, losing the magically imbued arrowhead in the den's interior. His next shot (after backing up a little) is more successful and he gets a good minute to hog-tie the bear with his handy 100 meters of hempen rope.

Helpless, and unable to break free once the spell wears off, Thor moves in and bashes the Bear on its head with the flat side of his rapier till it gets knocked out, and proceeds to drag the damn thing back through the forest towards the caravan.

With his black bear secured in tightly bound ropes, Thor is able to get a message back to the hunting caravan using a free signal arrow that trails sulphur yellow smoke through the air when launched.

Four of the organisers approach the flare a good thirty minutes later, carrying with them ropes and sturdy wooden poles. The bear gets neatly bound between them and carried along on their shoulders back to the meeting point with our heroic ranger covering their retreat.

Faith, who had been hunting goblinoids, fails to return from the hunt. Having waited an extra hour for her to show, the caravan has no choice but to roll on back to Siriath.

Damon's pleased with the size of Thor's catch. He does seem a bit put out that the bear's got a wound from the sleep arrow, but it can all be put right with a healing spell, and he's got plenty of casters on his books that can put right the damage done. The animals are kept in a separate tent around the back of the main big top, and he leads Thor to two of his tame old bears, letting him choose between the two.