Exodus

Vixen's body felt full of power even though none of her stats had increased. She wanted to experiment with her sin ability since it seemed powerful, but now was not the right time to do so.  Barterlo was just close by and wanted to make it there before noon, the two men quickly packed up the camp and they left. 

Barterlo, as the name suggests is a bartering town, most of their economy stems from travelers selling wares and providing survival items unique to the region. One such item is a repellent for a giant poisonous insect type monster, and since the population in the town is measly hundred or so people there are not a ton of services the town is able to provide. They have an inn, trading post,  and a monster processor or butcher. 

The three had arrived to Barterlo just after mid day with no hang ups to speak of.  The minute they had arrived, however, they noticed something amiss. Even though the town had a low population and would even have less travelers due to its remote location, the streets were far too barren. They saw almost no one upon entering, and while it was not quite alarming they did find it strange. A lone person was walking across the street and Jimbo decided to call out to them, "Excuse me sir, where is everyone?"

They were only thirty or so paces from the man but his lack of reaction eluded to him not even hearing Jimbo. The group elevated the situation from strange to concerning. 

"Lets go to the tavern in the inn, I'm sure we will see someone there," suggested Vixen. 

"What is with this town, it shouldn't be this desolate," asked Sedi. 

"I'm not sure, lets find out but keep your guard up." 

The three of them walked towards the inn and when entering immediately noticed something odd, Vixen didn't know what was so unsettling about the whole scene. There were tables filled with people drinking, the bartender  cleaning glasses, waitresses walked around picking up empty drinks and bringing them back to the kitchen. Then it clicked for Vixen, she was unsure if Sedi and Jimbo had caught on.

'People are here, but there's no music or no smell of food being cooked, theres no talking or dancing, everyone's movements are stiff. Something is going on here,' she thought. 

The three walked up to the barkeep, and Sedi was the first to speak, "Good day my good man, what do you recommend for pints?"

The barkeep did not respond and continued to clean the glasses, but when seeing the man's eyes they understood. Even though the man's eyes were open, they were glossy. The man was alive but no one was at home upstairs, this was someone's nefarious dealing and the whole inn seemed to be affected. They did not yet know the scope of it yet or why, but they needed to find out.

************************************

Meanwhile, in the basement of the inn sat a man with nearly a hundred different screens up. Each screen was made of his unique magic allowing him to see through the eyes of all he has control over. Touching one screen he moved the barkeep to look at the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. 

'Oh my what have we here?' 

He moved a few of his fingers as the barkeep obeyed the man's will. He knew the barkeep would be the least suspicious one to spy on this woman who came in with two men. It did not appear to him that the men were with her other than company. He had been capable of controlling more people simultaneously but didn't need to at the moment. He had programmed set actions into them while he wasn't actively controlling them. 

He stared at this woman the entire time she was in the inn and could not calm down his excitement as only a single thought invaded his mind, 'I can't wait to turn you into my puppet.' He sneered at his fortune, he touched six screens then quickly began moving his fingers as six men dropped their tools to return to town leaving shiny green exposed to the sun. 

************************************

"Its not safe to stay in this town, I don't know what is going on but everyone seems zombified in some way," Vixen voiced her concerns. "I think we should camp outside the town, no one here is able to provide us the supplies we need until we can solve this."

"Why is it up to us to solve this?" Asked Jimbo.

"We have the power to, otherwise if not us then who?"

"The world is a cruel place miss," said Sedi.

"I can't turn a blind eye. You two are free to leave if you'd like."

"We couldn't just leave you."

Nodding approval she instructed, "I appreciate it, lets camp just outside of town on the west side." 

'I guess deep down I am still the same person,' she thought shaking her head.

Vixen, Sedi, and Jimbo set up their camp a stone's throw from the town, a small fire smoldering out as the two laid down to rest, Vixen went used her bat form to fly to the other side of the town.

Vixen observed the ongoing of the town all night using her shroud ability to stay hidden. The town was like a ghost town, except every now and then there would be a group of two or three with pickaxes that would leave town and a different two or three would arrive back in town. Curiosity got the better of her and followed the small group out of town flying around stealthily. She landed on a thick branch high in the trees and peered down at the group.

'Ah, it looks like they found something quite valuable here, some jade by the looks of it. Is that why this town was targeted?' She thought.

After getting an idea as to the root of the happenings in the town she returned to her camp to find Jimbo and Sedi gone. Her face turned dark, 'Going after my people?! I'll end you,' she thought as ten people jumped out at her including her two thralls, their eyes unfocused.