The journey was mostly done in silence and the occasional chatter about potential reasons for the attacks. It seemed unlikely it was just some random monsters since the pattern was due to numerous reasons, though Lex did point out that smart monsters were a thing.
"But even so, why do this?" I asked. "Monsters are malicious against humanoid races, and only the humans in the lumber business were attacked. It seems more likely they only targeted the animals because they were the most important thing about the farms, and the humans in the lumber area because they were the ones who did all the work."
It was a basic theory, but it made sense.
"Could be," Lex said, stopping by a tree and trailing a hand over it. He raised his other in a stop sign. "Someone's passed through here recently."
Tenna and I walked over and found what he was looking at. Carved into the tree was an odd symbol, like a swirl with curved horns at its top. It had been crudely carved, and then filled with some black substance. Lex leaned in for a sniff but quickly pulled back. "It's monster dung."
I took a step back, glancing at Tenna who was pinching her nose shut. She had the highest perception so she'd probably smelled it more clearly than either me or Lex.
"What is it?" I asked.
"No clue," Lex said. "Could be from a wandering beast tribe or some adventurer."
"There are no tribes around Winsby," Tenna said, moving far from the tree.
"Not anymore," Lex said. "But there once was, and an orc group. They often use symbols like this, although never have I seen one stuffed with shit, so maybe it isn't. We should probably get going, there's not much more I can find out about this."
"Hold on," I said, reaching into my bag and pulling out a notebook. I bought it for cheap and used it to store information. I could write in the language I was speaking as well as speak it. I did a quick sketch of the symbol and wrote a summary of what Lex had said.
We continued on, keeping an eye out for more symbols. Tenna had told us after we'd left the city walls that no adventurers had found anything concrete. No monsters, no lead, just fragmented clues. Most had given up after dinging nothing, but then another attack would happen and more adventurers would come. We were the latest after the job had gone public.
It was mid-afternoon when we made it to the first farm. It was a modest affair, although the fields lacked in livestock. There were only a few cows, pigs, and some that looked like a chicken but were green, and had scales. They were in different areas, and the first thing to greet us was not the owner, but a pair of large dogs. I stopped in my tracks, not because I was surprised there were dogs, but at their size.
They looked like german shepherds, except they were bigger. Closer to the size of a wolf, if not larger, and they looked wilder, and less domestic, though I noticed glowing collars on each. They showed no signs of aggression and we gave them a few rubs and pets before they led us to the farm's owners who were waiting on the front steps of a large, and wide two-story home.
"I didn't think we'd get another group so soon," A tall, bulky man said. Beside him stood a younger teen and an older woman.
"The job went public," Lex said. "We thought we'd take a crack."
The man's face went sour, but it wasn't directed at us. "I see. Will you be staying?"
"Likely not," Lex said. "We just want to ask some questions, look around, then we'll be gone."
That seemed to surprise him. He walked down, and we shook hands. "I'm Toka, my family runs this farm. Jameson!" The younger teen walked over, nodding at the three of us. "This here is my third son, he'll show you around and answer any questions. If you need anything tell him."
With that, he walked away, but it wasn't that much of a surprise. We probably weren't the strongest people to have come, and with bounty public, he had assumed we were weaker, and probably wouldn't get anything just like the others. I didn't mind, and neither did the others. We only wanted info.
"The attacks happened to the east," Jameson said, leading the way. "It was night and we were all inside sleeping when the dogs started howling and barking. We ran out and found our dead cattle and more."
"Were the dogs injured?" I asked.
He chuckled at that, though there was no mirth and a hint of fear to the sound. "They were all the way at the other side of the farm, scared. They started whimpering the moment we got to them."
"Do they normally do that?"
"No!" He said, his voice angry. He glanced at me and sighed. "No, they're expensive breeds. Da spent a lot of them, and they can take down most monsters that come prowling near us, but all they did was run and hide when whatever came killed our livestock."
"Did you catch a glimpse?" Tenna asked.
Jameson hesitated. "I'm not sure. I told the others the same. I saw something like a person near the tree. But I don't know if I was just seeing it like some fake thing in my mind. It was gone in seconds."
The area was barren and pretty torn up. Jameson took us over to some tracks that had been preserved by magical means. It was fairly large, and definitely didn't belong to any humanoid race I'd heard of. It was a print with three normal toes and a fourth that was bigger than the others and oddly curved. It looked like something a wolf or similar animal would make, except when looking at the other, it was clear it was bipedal, not a quadruped.
"You know any bipedal wolf monsters?" I asked Lex who was looking over them.
"Not around Winsby," He said. "But in the deep green? Sure, there are some types, but that's to the west not east, unless something came around, but I don't know of any monsters that would fit such a description and be smart enough for attacks such as this."
"Smart?" Jmaeons said.
"Mhm," Tenna said. "They attacked at the dead of night, were gone before you could do anything, left minimal tracks if this is all that's left, and the rest of the attacks done seem random. After this farm, is a similar-sized property but it wasn't hit. The one after it was hit. If it was just killing and eating, then why skip targets? The farms are close together."
"We sent a warning to nearby farms," Jameson said.
"How quickly?" I asked.
"A day after."
"They could have gotten the nearby farms as well," Lex said. "Look at the gap between the sets of prints. They were moving fast in long strides. If there wolf-like then they're probably fast, and if they have pack mentality with this level of intelligence, then we're in trouble."
Everyone grew silent as we processes his words. He was right in that whoever was behind this was not going to be so simple as just a bunch of low-level monsters like the sordogs Lex and I had taken on.
"Should we continue?" Tenna asked.
"We can for now," Lex said. "But we should take care. None of the adventurers who came looking died, but never say never when it comes to monsters, especially this sort. They might have not attacked because the strongest adventurers of Winsby are no pushovers. Who's to say they won't come after us? We're strong, but still at the lower end of the adventures spectrum."
"As much as I hate to say it, you're right," Tenna said. "This job was B rank and above only, so those who came were far more dangerous."
It was a sobering thought, and some fear did come through. I wasn't eager for another incident like the sordog alpha so soon. However, I had faith we could handle a lot, and that we would be careful. We weren't going to rush things. If we found out it was too much, we'd head back. Failure was preferable to death in this case.
Jameson showed us a few more clues and described the wounds on the bodies that hadn't been taken or fully devoured. The more he showed, the more confident Lex and I were that it was some canine humanoid. The bites were similar to wolves, as were the claw marks. The only difference was the fact that these things had useable thumbs. Lex let out some guesses as we went ranging from werewolves to lycans to timber culls, and even maybe a wild beastman group who did occasionally roam around.
By the time we had collected all the information there was, it was getting dark, but Lex wanted to keep going. Apparently, the area wasn't particularly dangerous at night, save for whatever had done this, but it was unlikely they were still around here. As we figured out, they were moving north. Toka gave us some food before we left and a pray that we found who or whatever had done this.