The heroes spend their next few days exploring Arlan and training in their preferred skills. Spleen practices their healing while Kaja works to act a better protector to her new friends. Lokura’ heads to the woods to strengthen his elemental abilities while at the target range Cin puts his bow skills through the paces. In the back alleys and out of view of the others, Zmaj trains in the ways of the assassin.

While gathered in the center of town, the heroes are approached by Harold Fitz, the proprietor of Fitz’s Finds.

“Hello friendss,” he says, “I couldn’t hellp but noticcce you’re still in Aarrlan and I was wondddering if I could rrequessst your assissstanccce. You sseee, I have a small errannd to run, but I can’t leave my shop unattendddeed.”

“What did you have in mind?” asks Lokura’.

“An associatee of miiine, Crista, lives just West of town. I ordered a verry speccial item from her that was suppossed to be delivered days agoo. But alassss, she has not arrived. I was wonnnddering if you could check on her and bring me packaggee. I’d be veerrry grateful the next time we do bussineesss togetherrr.”

The group agrees to help and Harold hands over a piece of parchment with the details of where to find Crista, “Crista lives at thisss addresss. Her shop should be cllosssed for the day, buuutt her apartment is jusst upsstairrss. She can be very…. untrusssstttinng of strangers, so be sure to use the passsworrdss I’ve provided.”

Sure enough, written on the parchment the Crista’s password is also provided:

Wealthy K,

Ye Thivel,

Heresy Vet.

The trip to Crista’s address is less than an hour. As they approach their destination her shop sign can clearly be read: Pine Marionettes. Approaching the door reveals only a closed sign and no view of the inside. Shuffling can be heard on the other side of the door, but no answer to the heroes calls.

“Wealthy K, Y Thivel, Heresy Vet.” yells Lokura’.

The shuffling from within ceases, but still no answer. Spleen knocks on the door which proceeds to creek open revealing the shop interior. Rows upon rows of wooden marionettes fill racks on the shop floor. At the far end of the main passageway sits a clean countertop. Together the heroes approach. As they walk they get a closer look at the puppets. Each is unique, depicting a different protectorate animal; Opossum, Mice, Moose, Sheep, Etc.

Once at the counter, Kaja rings the service bell, excitedly. There is no answer though. However, not that they are beyond the marionette shelves, the stairs to the second floor apartment can clearly be seen. Together they ascend the steps. At the top they are faced with a locked door. Lokura’ speaks the password and the door opens.

Beyond the door is a basic one room apartment. A mattress sits on the floor, some dishes by the sink and a small table with a single chair has a stack of pamphlets, scattered notes, and a package addressed “Harold Fitz”. On the opposite wall is a grid of nails with wooden tiles hanging from each. Letter by letter on the tiles reads the passwords:

Wealthy K,

Ye Thivel,

Heresy Vet.

Below the password reads a new line reading:

It Kelly H-

This new phrase does not match the rest of the password as it is written in blood and the seemingly incomplete final word runs down to the ground where it joins the pool of blood surrounding the dead Wolf, Crista.

Curious, Lokura’ opens the package to find a marionette with a near perfect resemblance of Harold. Creeped out, he quickly re-seals the package.

Zmaj examines the password more closely. “Wealthy K, Ye Thivel, Heresy Vet. It Kelly H-” she whispers to herself over and over again. Then she yells to the group, “Got it! Wealthy K, Ye Thivel, Heresy Vet, It Kelly H! They Walk, They Live, They Serve, They Kill!” Before any further examination of what Zmaj had discovered a commotion can be heard coming from downstairs. Together, the heroes quickly descend the stairs to investigate the noise.

Once on the ground floor they are greeted by a new sight. The previously upstanding shelves have been collapsed and the marionettes that once occupied them are scattered about the room in piles concentrated on the windows and in front of the door. Kaja approaches the pile by the door and reaches to move the puppets out of the way. However, once within reach, a wooden hand reaches out of the pile and pulls her in. Around the room, the puppets begin to stumble to their feet and work their way towards the closest intruder.

Kaja expertly jumps to her feet and turns toward the nearest living marionette. A giraffe of about 2 feet in height is working their way towards her holding a meat cleaver. Kaja strikes with her battle-axe, removing one arm while dodging the giraffe’s knife attack.

Lokura’ notices pounding coming from within Harold’s package and decides to keep it safe and closed at all costs. He then fires an arcane blast at a small rhino, just missing and then taking the brunt of its charge. Nearby, Zmaj swings at a deer, decapitating it with her short sword. Unhindered, the deer picks up its former antler head and throws it at Zmaj, just barely missing.

Cin decides to take one of his new toys out for a test drive. Focusing on the now headless deer, Cin plays a song on his Guitar of Quad Gully. Within moments six marionettes open windows and walk out into the woods.

Spleen casts an electrified field over themselves to resist any melee attacks. Nearby a meerkat pops up, removes its strings and forms them into a lasso which it tosses and successfully snags around Spleens arm.

Kaja, overwhelmed by the seemingly endless number of puppets they are up against decides to return upstairs to look for anything they may have missed before coming downstairs to investigate the noise. Once upstairs she looks closer at the stack of papers on the table that once held Harold’s package. The neat stack is comprised of what looks like sales flyers for a new product. In bold on each is printed the password:

Wealthy K,

Ye Thivel,

Heresy Vet.



The other scattered papers are difficult for Kaja to make out. They look like research into various magic arcana and techniques. Unsure of what to do with them, she decides to bring them downstairs for Lokura’ or Spleen to look into.

Downstairs, Zmaj has worked her way up on top of the counter, firing her crossbow into the crowd of puppets below while Cin attacks from ground level. Lokura’ has managed to safely get outside the front door with Harold’s package. Spleen has been lassoed by four marionettes. One on each arm and two on their neck. Spleen swings their arms out in front of themselves, smashing the rabbit and rhino marionettes into each other and shattering them. They then proceed to kick the squirrel puppet across the room where it lands at the foot of the stairs. Kaja kicks it hard into the wall destroying it as she runs down the stairs. She approaches Spleen hoping they can make sense of the parchments.

Spleen deduces that Crista must have been trying to create a spell using parts of necromancy, psychic, wood, other various arcana. Spleen says aloud, “Wealthy K, Ye Thivel, Heresy Vet.” Around the room the various marionettes collapse to the ground, lifeless. Spleen opens the front door and informs Lokura’ of what happened and how to deactivate the Harold puppet.

Before heading back to Harold with his package, an idea comes over the heroes. A murder puppet could come in handy in the future. They pick through the various options, unable to settle on one. The decision is then made to make their own perfect murder puppet. Using the long, strong legs of a giraffe, the mighty body of a rhino, the hands of a raccoon, and the head of an elk, the “perfect” form is created.

The heroes arrive at Fitz’s Finds to find Harold behind the counter. “Ohhh, yesss, come in, come in,” he says, ” Is that my package?” Lokura’ delivers the package. Harold opens it with glee, “He’s magnificent.”

“Be careful with that,” says Cin handing over one of the pamphlets with the password, “One of those killed Crista.”

“Killed her? That’s really too bad. Crista made a mean marionette. Though the only thing she loved more than a good anagram was racism. Building a race of servant protectorate species? And did you know that Pine Marionettes is just an anagram for Terminate Ponies. I mean, I don’t even know if Crista was her real name, because that’s just an anagram for Racist. Not cool Crista, not cool.”

“So why did you buy one of her murder puppets?”

“It’s not supposed to be a murder puppet, I mean, it’s kind of a beta test right now, but with Crista gone it’s the best we’re going to get. It’s just supposed to help me out around the store, keep things clean and tidy, etc. I had to beg her to make a cat and I have to say, she did a splendid job. SO, your reward. I have 20 silver for each of you.” Harold hands out the coin as the door flies open.

“Murder puppets!” Yells a wolf between bouts of panting, “There’s at least six puppets wandering Arlan, attacking anything that moves! Lock your doors!” The wolf closes the door, leaving the room in silence.

Harold begins to take back the coin. “Maybe you should take care of that first.”

“Wait a minute!” interject Lokura’, “We burned down the marionette shop-”

Cin whispers to Zmaj, “I don’t remem-”

“Shhh,” Zmaj responds.

“-,we brought you your package, we did our job, we deserve our coin.”

“You burnt down Pine Marionettes?” asks Harold, “so those are the last ones… Very well! If you bring the remaining puppets, you’ll get the rest of your coin AND I’ll give you 50% off your next visit.”

The group scatters around Arlan, in search of the puppets. Lokura’ follows screams and burst into the front door. Inside are Abner and Reggie, a small wooden rabbit, gnaws at Abner’s shoes. Lokura’ runs over and punts the rabbit across the room, saying the magic words while it’s in the air. It falls, solid. He grabs the puppet and walks out with a nod and no words.

Cin Follows Koala tracks much smaller than his own. They reach the base of a tree. Above, Cin can see the Koala, taking a lookout over the town. Cin lures the Koala down with a Peppermint Patty and whispers the magic words to the marionette.

Kaja flies high above the surroundings of Arlan. Below in a clearing she spots a lemur. A calculated dive strikes the lemur from behind. She lifts it high into the air before deactivating it.

Spleen searches downtown. They spot two marionettes fighting over a large knife, a warthog and the meerkat that lassoed them back at the shop. Spleen smashes the meercat into splinters by stepping on it and deactivates the warthog.

Zmaj takes her time. She walks back to Pine Marionettes and grabs an already deactivated squirrel.

Back at the shop Harold is pleased with his new helping hands and promises to keep a close eye on them and grant the heroes earned discount next time. “I do have one question though,” Harold says, “What should I call you? I mean, I know Spleen, Cin, Zmaj, etc. But what about this team?”

Lokura speaks up first, “You can call us The Sus Crew.”

“The Five Susketeers,” chimes Cin.

“SPIDA’s!” exclaims Spleen.

“We’re going to have to get back to you on that,” says Kaja.

“Oh-, okay. Come again soon?” responds Harold.

It’s a few days still before Talbot approaches the heroes again. “Hey, thanks for your help with that whole puppet thing? Any idea what that was about?” he asks.

“None, just Risen Veil stuff we guess,” says Lokura’.

“Yeah, yeah that makes sense,” says Talbot, “Anyways, I got word you’re needed in Holn. There you’ll meet Kalatz, who’ll be able to tell you more.”

The journey to Holn from Arlan is long. It takes weeks. During that time, a rest stop is taken at Cin’s home. Throughout the Hyena protectorate, the magical growth is gone and normalcy is on the horizon. Cin’s home village is no different. His families modest home was destroyed but here it stands, almost complete as it’s been rebuilt in the preceding weeks. The heroes take a night off from their journey for a home cooked meal.

The village asks many questions about their journey so far. They’re particularly impressed by the feats of Cinereus and have many questions about the homes of the heroes from beyond Caven. Cin gives out his last few peppermint patties to the kids of the village.

The following morning, Cin’s family bids them farewell and safe journeys. They tell Cinereus how proud they are of him and remind him to come home safe.

Without much dispute over land, the border between Holn and the Hyena Protectorate of Caven is not very clear. The differences become more clear as the terrain changes. Soft changes in elevation bathed in tall grass give way to rolling hills of smooth rock and luscious wildflowers. A few days beyond the border the growth begins to dissipate. The normally rich soil below the heroes feet begins to dry and crack. Soon there is no growth and only the dry earth below their feet.

The heroes reach the mouth of a canyon. Further in sits two large round boulders, covered in moss, resting against the canyon walls.

“I think we may have taken a wrong turn,” warns Kaja. “I don’t think we’re supposed to be here.”

It’s decided that Zmaj will sneak ahead to scout potential threats. Zmaj keeps to the wall, eventually rounding one of the boulders. As she does, the boulder shifts. It doesn’t roll though, instead it stands up as arms and legs fold out of its body and a head pokes out of the top. With Zmaj in its sights the boulder monster’s left hand transforms into a battle-axe, jabs at Zmaj and follows up with a cannon blow from the now transformed right hand. Kaja charges in for the attack but gets the same response. Cin is able to climb a few feet up the canyon wall and lay both boulders flat but each time they simply stand back up. Lokura’ launches fireballs and rock blasts, all efforts leave the boulders unscathed.

Spleen searches their memory bank to see if the seemingly robotic enemies have a weakness. They realize that these are prime examples of sentry Orean. They guard the perimeter of the forbidden zones, keeping access near impossible. They’re extremely powerful, self-repairing, and almost invulnerable. Before being able to give the order to retreat, a blur falls from the sky. A kestrel lands a powerful dive atop one Orean, forcing it to the ground. He then lays the other flat with a precise swing from his battle-axe. Before they can stand up again, he looks around at the heroes and yells, “RUN!”

The heroes run back the way they came, the kestrel following in the air. Behind them the Orean have gotten back to their feet. With no targets nearby, they revert to their boulder-like state, maintaining watch of their perimeter.

Once regrouped the kestrel asks, “Who are you guys?”

“We’re, well, it’s Sus- something, we just don’t know what yet.” Responds Lokura’.

“Okay, well what are you do-. Wait, are you Kaja?”

“I am.” says Kaja.

“I know who you all are then. What are you doing in Holn?”

“We were sent here by Talbot, we’re supposed to meet Kalatz.” say Spleen.

“You guys definitely went the wrong way. That’s the beginning of the forbidden zone. You’ve got to be more careful around here,” he says, “My name is Kraig, I’m a scout. I can take you to Kalatz. The tribe should only be a few days journey from here.”

Back in Arlan

“Soon,” Harold says, “Ssoooooon.”

Harold closes the lid on his chest of peppermint patties. He turns to face seven wooden puppets and speaks the incantation, “Wealthy K, Ye Thivel, Heresy Vet.”

With the magic words spoken, the marionettes shift and stand at attention.

“Come, Harold,” the eerie miniaturized Harold puppet, works its way to its master. “Yesss, gooood.” Harold places his paws on the puppet’s shoulders, “You will be strong. you will be brave. You will be their leader. Yes. Yeeesssssss.”