[Game Thread] Chapter 1: For Love or Money

[KronosWarrior]

Drognan's eyes turned back to their normal green color. "There were no magical auras that I could detect, nor could I find any tracks," he stated. Turning to Wil, he spoke, (and to anyone in general) "Young man, it is possible that this Ned might have known something related to either Jacob or Aravon and the artifact he carried with him."

Drognan thought a moment, then continued, "In any case, related or not, it seems the same party did not want our ride or your Ned getting to where they needed to be." Feeling he was of no more particular use at the time, Drognan leaned against a nearby tree, trying to make some heads or tails of the whole situation. That artifact has got to be related in all this, it's not just some old relic. He glanced at Marcus, who appeared to had been disturbed by his recent spell casting, but didn't feel the need to say anything.

[Insacrum]

Ollona stayed weary of the surrounding forest. She wasn’t usually one for caring for the dead. Their spirits were gone, so unless something evil in the area decided to use the lifeless corpse, it was now food for whatever decided was worth the effort.

Seeing the ravens flaying around, Ollona unhitches Chompy from her backpack, letting the little guy wander around the immediate area on his leash. ’That should keep the ravens away while we look at the body’ She knocks her bow, looking at the surrounding area, and the trees themselves, looking for any and all ways someone might have done this without leaving tracks.

 

Dice survival check:

1d20+3

(18)+3

Total = 21

OOC If any of the ravens make an attempt on the body, Chompy will try to attack/catch/eat them.

[darthcharon]

Wil blinks. "I doubt it, I mean, unless your caravan was going around parading that it was coming, its not like we keep records of every one that passes by. And also, don't you think that if the artifact or whatnot was their goal, they would have taken it with them? I mean, no offense, but judging by your condition when we found you, it didn't look like it would have been hard to steal from you if we had been near when the crash happened. But then, why did the hell didn't the bandits rob you? This doesn't make sense." Wil shakes his head in fustration. "I betcha it has something to do with the girl. Dem bandits know we're coming for her, and they're getting antsy."

[Glenn Coco]

Groz had been happy to let his companions take the lead. Show him the bad guy and Groz would show him a good fight, but all this uncertainty was making him uneasy. Upon discover the smith's body, Groz felt for the lad but it was a tough world and this would only make him stronger. Seeing that the others were already searching for some clue as to what happen, Groz decided to try his hand.

 

Dice Survival:

d20+5

(17)+5

Total = 22

[Quadra Wield]

Holly stands up after inspecting the body, and turns back towards the party. With no emotion she says,

"There's a tattoo of a coin being shot through an arrow on his left breast, if that is of any relevance." Holly crosses her arms and in a look of contemplation starts to walk back, "It doesn't look like anything is here, we should go back to town and ask about this tattoo and Ned's relation to the girl or the bandits. Maybe someone will know about it and maybe we can figure out what Ned was doing out here."

[darthcharon]

[Insacrum]

"Hold on. I don't know if Marcus just wasn't looking in this area, but there are some tracks here. Some type of clawed feet, biped."

[KronosWarrior]

Drognan's eyes twinkle and was slightly amused as he sees Holly hide the piece of paper she apparently found on the man's body. Moving off from the tree he was leaning against, Drognan started walking over to where the elf had found tracks. As he passed Holly, he gave a wink that only she could notice, then walked over to where the Elf had discovered the tracks of...whatever it was. Drognan was not familiar with such tracks, then again, he wasn't familiar with mostly any tracks to start with.

[DukeofTuring]

"I could have missed it. Again, I'm not much of a tracker." Marcus responds to Ollona, giving up on a second career as a ranger and moving over to examine Ned's body. As turns and walks over, Marcus stops for a moment, sighs, then says, "Holly, what did you just do?"

[Quadra Wield]

"Oh you found some tracks? I must have missed them."

Holly turns back towards the party, ignoring Drognan's gesture, as she walks towards where the elf said she saw tracks. She turns her head towards Marcus's when he asks his question and with a half-smile says, "Oh the piece of paper? It's my own notes that I keep on me. Kind of like a diary, its sort of personal. That's why i keep it there." She winks at Marcus and continues on to inspecting the tracks, and where they lead.

With a more serious disposition she looks at the tracks. "Maybe whatever made these tracks are the same things that fired those weird crossbow bolts." Holly says pointing at the crossbow bolts still in the man's back. "We should follow them, probably the same things that attacked your guys caravan as well."

[darthcharon]

Having been pointed out the tracks, they clearly lead northwest: away from where the bandits supposedly are.

[Insacrum]

"Wil, when you were attacked yesterday, can you tell me, were the arrows that were used similar to the ones in Ned, or closer to the ones that I have?" Ollona holds up one of her arrows as she waits for Wil's reply.

[darthcharon]

Wil shrugs. "To be honest, I didn't get a good look. All I saw was things flying through the brush, and..." Wil trails off at the memory, then shudders."I'd rather not think about it, sorry. If it helps though, I don't remember the arrows being quite as large as the one your holding. I am pretty sure they were using crossbows, but I could be wrong. Don't know much about weapons."

[KronosWarrior]

In his mind, Drognan was going over the illusions he planned to use whenever they found trouble. The rest of them wouldn't know if it's real or not, he thought to himself, maybe I'd better say something now. "Friends, I thought it would be wise to alert you to some of my illusions should we enter battle. I wouldn't want you thinking it's actually there or the sound is real." Sylvia nibbled one of his long silvery strands of hair. "My images usually take the form of an Empire soldier, an Orc, a fire, and a wave of water." Drognan glanced around, then continued, "And my illusory sounds usually are the sounds of an Orc again, several humans arguing or shouting, and sometimes before a fight I would have it sound like arrows are being fired or swords clashing, something of that nature."

He concluded his little warning then moved a few paces away from the tracks and seemed to go into thought, not having any real concern about the tracks or weapons. Lets hope that they can remember most of those, I'd hate to be blamed for tricking them or some similar idiotic accusation.

[dbaque]

Lunigen looks on the exchange between Marcus and Holly with some suspicion but says nothing, leaving the matter for another time.

He turns to Wil with a reassuring smile: Thank you, lad.

He then tells Ollona: Well done! Your keen eyes are a testament to your people. Is there anything else you can glean about the creatures from the tracks? Size? Kind?

The knight looks at the direction of the trial and then addresses the party: This seems to confirm our suspicions that our murderous quarry may not be these bandits, after all. While I understand if you all would like to pursue the bandits, I recommend seeking out these assassins first. Beyond an admitted desire to bring them to justice, it would surely be most unwise to leave these assassins unchecked while journeying to the bandit camp and back, especially trying to escort this hostage home unharmed. The odds are poor, at least for the hostage, for surviving an ambush such as the ones we have seen. Thus, my counsel and my vote is to follow the assassins' trail first and deal with them before seeking the bandits' camp and rescuing their prisoner. Unless, of course, you know a reason why the hostage's life would be in graver danger among the bandits? Lunigen waits for the others to consider his words and to give form to their thoughts.

Turning to Drognan: We shall keep your ruses in mind, lest we fall to them ourselves.