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[h2][color=FF6C5C][i][b]Marita Bärbel[/b][/i][/color][/h2][i][b][color=FF6C5C]Human, Cleric, Level 3[/color][/b][/i]
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]HP:[/b][/i][/color] 18/18	[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Armor Class:[/b][/i][/color] 16	[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Conditions:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Location:[/b][/i][/color] Brindleton's Woodworking->Avonshire Main Street
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Action:[/b][/i][/color] Chasing
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Bonus Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=FF6C5C][i][b]Reaction:[/b][/i][/color] N/A 
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[color=FF6C5C]"I would love to be wrong,"[/color] Marita tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear [color=FF6C5C]"and that the answer to this mystery is something far more mundane. I have no hard proof, at this point it's little more than a hypothesis, but at the moment I'm about seventy percent confident in it. Even if it's not lycanthropy, I'm fairly certain some degree of shapeshifting is involved now. There's no way that something that could have caused those gouge marks would have been able to avoid detection in a village like this otherwise."[/color] Marita shifted her body weight from one leg to the other, as if manually changing her mental gear.

[color=FF6C5C]"As for where to acquire silver,"[/color] the faintest of smirks briefly flickered across the cleric's face, [color=FF6C5C]"my amulet is composed primarily of sterling silver, although at best it would likely only work as a minor ward. I doubt it would be very useful if we were unfortunate enough to end up in a combat situation. Well, aside from acting as a focus. Perhaps we ought to check out the silversmith. It's boarded up, but maybe there's something inside there we can use."[/color] Marita grabbed her holy symbol and inspected it before frowning. The jewelry was in shadow, while the arm that held it was bathed in sunlight. She knew she was standing in front of a window, why would this happen. She turned and saw the silhouette of a head peeking through at them. As annoying as such an outcome was, she silently thanked Pholtus for using the light to clue her in on the spy.

Without explaining anything to V, Marita rushed out of the store to chase after the kid. She knew there was no time to lose before he got away, and she trusted the bard to recognize that there was a good reason for her actions and follow suit. Luckily for her, Victoria (and Morty) lived up to her expectations, their foot(hoof)steps thudding behind her. As she made it out of the building, she cursed that the boy was too far away for her Voice to effectively reach, a bit closer and there was a good chance that this entire encounter could be cut short. Alas, things had to be settled the hard way. However, her daily diligence in personal training paid off in moments like this, there was no doubt in her mind that she would be able to run him down.

And in the initial stages of the chase, that's exactly how things were playing out. The combination of her physical fitness and longer legs had her quickly close the distance between the two of them. If nothing changed soon, the boy would be caught in the blink of an eye. He knew that too, so suddenly her veered off into the gap between two buildings, trying to lose the women in the nearby alleyways. However, Marita was able to keep track of him throughout, and although she had a much harder time maneuvering through the tight spaces and sharp corners, she managed to keep pace all the way until he emerged back onto the main road.

What Marita hadn't seen coming was that they would emerge right by a nearby group of boys wrestling with each other to pass the time. As the fleeing target ran past, he yelled to them [color=darkgray]"You gotta help me out! They're going to give me a whooping!"[/color] The children who weren't busy heard his cry and immediately began pelting Marita and Victoria with rocks. The cleric tried her best to avoid getting hit by them and not to run directly into any of the children, raising her arms to shield he face.  It was then that she dearly wished she had brought her shield with her. By the time they had managed to circumnavigate the youths, the boy had managed to gain a significant amount of distance between them again. Marita took in a deep breath and picked up the pace, sprinting just as the child turned another corner.

[color=FF6C5C]"At this rate he might be able to slip away before we can catch up. We need a change of tact. Victoria, I'm going to slip through those buildings there, you keep following him and we'll catch him in the middle."[/color] Of course she didn't know the layout of the village alleys, but as long as the boy was on the main road, it wasn't too hard for Marita to navigate for this purpose. Through the cracks of the buildings she caught the boy looking behind his shoulder trying to see where she went, but he was looking in the wrong direction. Foolish child. His distraction slowed him enough that she was able to overtake him and emerge on the other side. They almost had him, except he managed to make a last ditch course change and run into the main thoroughfare, straight into the crowd of people.

Marita clicked her tongue in distaste, he had managed to break out of her line of sight, however such was not the case for Victoria. With a quick call, she was able to direct the cleric's attention to him trying to hide behind a wagon full of imported produce. Breathing hard from the extended chase, and having had enough, Marita walked around to find him crouching behind a barrel. He yelped in surprise and tried to bolt again, but she firmly grabbed his upper arm and held him still.

[color=FF6C5C]"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's improper to spy on others?"[/color]