"Herbert here can help with scouting... he is good at spotting threats from above. He also has a powerful sense of smell." William says as his vulture stands a little taller and puffs out its chest a bit.

"Yeah company don't mean much great. Last time I was out here got thrown around by some bandits demanding mead and gold. That's why I asked for some hires. But then that first team stiffed me. Glad to have all of yous though!"

Upon seeing that the tiny artificer was a squirrel (and also the fact there was a bird-girl and a talking deer), Eren had almost guessed that it might be possible that the dog too was also another adventurer, but when they fed it some random beef jerky it was clear that the dog was just a dog. Or at least they hoped it was. With the vulture flying overhead, Eren worried for the little guy. No matter. This wasn't his first rodeo, they assumed. Tiny squirrel got spunk and that's all 'ttuide it takes. 

"He's right," Eren points over at the chainmail figure, "Drakkenheim ain't no easy feat, but ya'lls'd manage in no time. Seen the tiniest of fairies to the biggest of dragonborns take on that place and all them came back alive. .... Well, maybe not all in one piece... or in their right minds, but hey you know what's? It's all goods! Now, don't you worry. Hehe" Eren frowns and chuckles nervously, trying real hard to keep a straight face on with that. Turning to the bird-girl, "Sparkles suits you," they say to lighten the mood.

"Also gots some cook’s utensils in the back. I tends to be the first night's cook, but hey I ain't opposed to no free meal. Sounds good. Thanks," Eren clicks their tongue. "Most of the food's been dried, though we can make a stop along the way to get some fresh ones. I know an outpost two days from here that got some good ones."

They smile at the sight of the magic uses between the groups from the dice to the Light to the turning off of said Light. "Nice. Goods to see that. Don't say nothin' but I ain't much ones for the Amethyst Academy or whatever (saw that nones of you have the purple emblems and the whatnots). Mah cousin wents to one of their schools bright and big-eyed. Had all sortsof questions. Now he ain'ts never been the same real since. 'came an accountant. Beat the creativity right out of ya," they make that noise when suck their teeth. "Live life, young and free." The sullen look on their eyes only show more of the dark circles under them. Various wrinkles splay across their mid-forties face. They straighten their brown slacks and you all hit the road with a "yah!" as they pull on their reins.

You pass the outskirts of the city of Altberg and into a shabby dirt road. About three days in you do eventually find that outpost that Eren was talking about. You manage to pick up some various dried meats, fruits, and vegetables for a decent price. Eren talked their way into a discount for they seem to know the vendor. They likely would have chatted for hours but cut it short as it was only a quick pitstop.

Eren doesn't seem to notice but you guys hear the cries of a young elk in the thicket about a hundred feet away from the dead one.

Throughout the weeks of travel, Sparkles becomes more comfortable around her new companions. Sure, the ride might not be the most exciting thing, but they got to know each other well, and she picked up more of an understanding of things she couldn't get just from observing, like how to read and write.

Fast forward to the afternoon where they encounter the elk carcass, and Sparkles is in the back of the van, discussing the ins-and-outs of dragonchess with the party ('But why do you play if there's no stakes? Seems like you're just moving wood around a board until you agree who did it best.'), until the caravan stops. She hops out, happy to stretch her legs, and looks at the dead beast. Seems such a waste of a creature, but what could have killed it? She knows that if it's rotting, the predator probably would have moved on by now, but that doesn't stop the soft downy feathers on the back of her neck prick up. As she gets closer to the noise, she hears the cries of the younger elk nearby. She calls out to Eren and the party, saying 'Wait! There's young nearby!' She brushes away her initial thought of Let's eat it! and instead says quietly to the party 'If this older elk has been left long enough to rot, then how come the younger elk has managed to survive on its own for so long, and not strayed from the body? I suspect it might be the beast that killed the other elk, and it's trying to lure us in as a trap!' It's a pretty paranoid theory, but Sparkles has developed quite the line of thinking; she's very good at focussing on what's odd about a situation and then taking it to an extreme.

Shayara enjoyed her company as the road was long and the journey mostly uneventful. She, like the feathered girl, had a lot to learn about this world. Though while her new friend seemed to have a childlike wonder Shayara missed her home. She missed the Azurpetal flowers and the birdsongs and she missed her friends and family. She too thought the dragon chess game was odd. "where I come from we play rune-tile but we do not compete, we work together toward a common goal. I wish I had thought to bring some with me." 

Once as she spoke with Syed about his craft she related that it was rather amazing to her. "We don't have anything like that at home, we are simple folk I suppose. I had never seen a horse-cart before coming here, we don't have horses.... But we do have dogs" she smiles as she gestures toward his mastiff.

When the Caravan stopped for the poor animal Shayara was quick to her feet though mainly just to observe. She wasn't about to touch the creature and wasn't sure what else she could do. So she kept a watchful eye until she heard the sounds of another animal. Ever cautious she allowed the others to investigate.

Prologue:

During each rest or camp, Kolette calls upon the power of Pelor to "conjure a small flagstone hearth with a simple iron cooking pot whenever you rest. This hearth helps warm you and your companions, and can be used to prepare hearty and nutritious meals on the road. If you or any friendly creatures you make camp with would regain hit points at the end of a short rest by spending one or more hit dice, each of those creatures may choose to re-roll one of their resting dice, taking the higher roll between the two."

Current Events:

These days have been interesting. Kolette feels her companions are trustworthy and that they deserve her utmost efforts in the future. An anger simmers in her soul but vengeance can wait. When she sees the dead animal, she sighs, "Oh the poor dear...ah Pelor, I can't believe I said that!" She steps off the wagon the get a closer look and see what happened to it. Guidance on Sparkles.

William spends much of his free time playing Dragonchess with Sparkles to pass the time as they travel. Occasionally he will look to the sky and nod towards Herbert as the vulture feeds him information regarding the surrounding area.

This afternoon The bandaged mage immediately looks up in excitement as his stomach rumbles. With a quick nod from Herbert, William immediately leaps from the wagon and heads towards the rotting carcass. Herbert lands nearby a few seconds later and begins ripping pieces of rotting flesh from the carcass. "Don't you all worry! I'll take care of this dead body. I used to be an undertaker after all!" He shouts as he quickly pulls a dagger from his belt. a large grin spreads across the man's face revealing teeth that almost look a bit too long and too sharp. Those of you looking closely enough may even see a bit of drool drop from his mouth as he bends over and begins to carve up the remains. "It'll be easier to move out of the road if it's in pieces... and I want to make sure I collect some for Herbert after all.." William says as he pauses from carving the corpse to remove his leather backpack. 

the brown leather backpack appears to be heavily stained. and you soon realize that the stains are likely from blood as he begins to place large chunks of raw meat into his pack.

Prologue:

Zeren takes advantage of the hearth Kolette conjured, the ingredients provided, and some scavenged ingredients to create a thick stew. Jerkied meat melts as it's added to boiling water, vegetables provide additional flavor and thicken the liquid, and a sprinkling of spice from a pouch Zeren has on him finishes the dish. He pours it into bowls and serves it to the group along with pieces of stale bread to dip in it.

Anyone watching him notices his teeth seem unusually pointy for a human, his eyes seem to reflect light, and his skin's incredibly pale.

Current Events:

Sighing, Zeren draws his sword and straps on his shield.

"Well. If this is a threat then it's time to see what the rest of you can do. Just don't get in my way."

He approaches the elk carcass blocking the road, alert for any possible dangers.

Syed, having spent most of the journey working diligently inside his backpack, emerges only briefly with an oil smeared face for food or to stretch his legs. He is used to his companions’ varied personalities and finds their interactions intriguing. The sounds of his tinkering often accompany the rhythm of the journey, adding a mechanical symphony to the otherwise quiet travel.

As the caravan stops and Sparkles alerts the group to the presence of a young elk nearby, Syed pokes his head out of the backpack, his ears twitching.

"Sparkles, you might be right. It is unusual for the young to stay near a rotting carcass for this long," he telepathically communicates to the group. "It does feel like a trap. Predators often use deception to their advantage. We should proceed with caution."

He watches as William and Herbert approach the dead elk with unsettling eagerness, and the armored figure Zeren prepares for possible threats. Syed nods in agreement with their cautious approach.

"I'll stay ready here," he continues, his small form still perched on the edge of the backpack. "If anything goes wrong, I'll provide support from a distance. Stay vigilant, everyone."

Sparkles nods. Will and his vulture seem enthusiastic to tear apart the elk, but she couldn’t care less about the body. As Syed said, what’s really concerning her is the presence of ‘young’, if it is such a creature. She turns to the great armoured figure, Zeren, as he approaches the carcass, sword in hand, along with Shayara, and says ‘If Will, Herbert and Eren check out the body, and both Syed and Kolette stay with the wagon, would you two mind checking out that young elk with me?’ Hoping Zeren and Shayara agrees to assist her, Sparkles moves with them over towards the thicket, listening out and searching the roadside brambles for the creature. She would use the mote of magical assistance granted to her by Kolette, but she feels her senses can do just fine on their own. Best save that guidance for later, she thinks. 

Perception: 22

Meanwhile everyone is checking out the elk or the young, Syed started a ritual to cast Detect Magic as a precaution, you never know if everything always appears as it is. 

(OOC: Not sure if we have ten minutes to act but I guess he can stop at any moment.)

Prolouge

Eren was real grateful for having seen that the deer-woman, Kolette, can conjure up an impressive stone hearth on the go. "Wow, I'd wish I'd had that skill," they had commented. 

"Real good!" Eren had said, tasting the stew. "Better than anything I could've made." They officially dub Zeren the cook and even give him an apron.

 Eren steps back once William offers to check out the body. They lean on their shovel while you get to working. The elk's body tears easily. You estimate there is about 170 pounds of meat on this thing. It was a female so there is no antlers for you to take off. The body was very intact before you got to it. There is no visible wounds to show it was attacked by a predator. It did have its legs bent in strange angles, something that Eren pointed off before you started working. Once Eren notices those sharp teeth of yours, they decides to leave you at it.

"You got it," they say with a smile before leaving towards the caravan. "Guess I should fix that tear while you're at it." They rummage through the cart to find some sewing kit and starts patching up some holes in the outer layer of the wagon cover that had happened a day prior when there was an unexpected hailing. 

A bird flies up above the caravan and perches on it. Eren shoos it, so then it flies towards the other end, and it eyes Syed with a curious look before another raven joins it shortly after. They caw. Another one flaps its wing in the air nearby the vulture.

The first one lands right on top of Syed's backpack. It hops, blinks, then tilts its head. 

@the now dubbed 'Sparkles' and whoever goes with her

You walk towards the noises. It is to the left of these ditches. You reckon this was once a small stream, which had dried up decades prior. Now it's just muddy. All the plants in the thicket, about 50 feet away, are all dried up. The only things left are the scrubgrasses and the thorned stems of the bramble. You slide down the ditch. The cries of the young elk are more louder now. Then you see it.

The elk is a young bull with antlers too big for its head. Those antlers are stuck in the thorns. It keeps trashing against the thorns, which only causes more scrapes and scratches on its already thorn-adorned body. It startles once it sees you, pulling on its antler, but as soon as it tries to steady itself you see that it is limping. It tries to keep its weight off its front right hoof as it brays. 

 A light rain falls on all your heads.

Sparkles doesn't mind the light rain; the shimmering haziness across the landscape reminds her with a mix of nostalgia and foreboding of the starlit nights she spent in the woods. Seeing the young elk, she feels sorry that she suspected it was a monster; clearly it's just in a pickle, though surely it must have been struggling for days. She approaches the creature, and then tries to soothe it, although she hasn't done such a thing before. Most of her Animal Handling skills were picked up as hunting methods, but she can still apply it to this situation. Animal Handling: 10. Next she takes her shortsword and cuts the elk loose of the thorns (20 to hit, 5 damage), and if his antlers are freed, she then touches it with a quivering palm and uses her Healing Hands to restore 7 hit points to the beast.

Intrigued by the ravens, especially the one that circles the sky, Syed keeps a watchful eye on them. He pulls out a small pyramid from his backpack, presses a two buttons and lets it fall out of his pack next to his trusty mastiff. As soon as it touches the floor it emits a strong smell of burning wood (Magical Tinkering). 'Hopefully, the smell of fire will keep the ravens at bay,' Syed thinks to himself.

Then he whispers a Message to Sparkles and Will, and to Kolette by means of telepathy:

Sparkles stops in her tracks when she received the message. She then quietly relays this information to the two following her, Zeren and Shayara, but says not to act further for now, just be prepared for a fight if it comes to it.

Shayara notices everyone moving around with such eagerness and foolishness. She has always been one to take her time and consider her surroundings. When she is asked if she will go to help the monk she thinks for a moment before reaching in her pocket for her tarot deck. "In moments like these i prefer to let fate make my decisions for me."  (Cast Augury)

WEAL:

 WOE:

@Sharaya

You cut the tarot deck and draw your cards, five in total. You take out the first. You reveal it to be one of the Chalice (a symbol of money and gold, you either lose some or win some. You never know). The other is of the Ship (a picture of sails in the wind. This card seems to always shift. The picture never seems to stay still. Its meaning is it could go either way). The third is of the Geode (the symbol a rock and sword slicing through it to reveal water. It means a breakthrough). The last two are of a Daffodil (a semblance of hope and new beginning) and a Thimble (meaning to take precautions and to not take the little things for granted). The cards nearly slip through your fingers each time you pull them out.

You read these to be a bit ambiguous, though mostly leaning towards weal.

@Sparkles, Zeren, and Sharaya

Sparkles slices through the thicket. The young elk frightens and raises its hooves. From its bony ribs, it is clear it hasn't eaten in days. Sure, it's a fighter, but it wouldn't have lasted this long without invention. You get slightly grazed by its hooves. They hit your shoulder with a packed punch ((-1 HP)).

Though you freed its antlers, it appears it is more than just stuck. It has an arrow in its side and each time it tried to free itself and its antlers, the arrow burrowed itself deeper into its hide. Maggots have already laid claim. The healing closes the wound, making the maggots move elsewhere. They fall to the ground but rush to take up residence in its hooves. 

@Syed

The raven in the caravan (the one on top of your backpack) squawks as you take out that wooden pyramid. It flaps its wings as it flies back. Then after taking just a moment's hesitation, it swipes it from the floor with its beak and tosses it to the ground. The one on top of the caravan already caws. The one who swiped your thing flaps for a second before joining its friend. They both start squabbling. They flap their wings up and down as if arguing. It becomes just a hurricane of raven noises. They make sure to stay clear of the weird smelling object now on the dirt.

The one circling seems to take notice. It descends its position just a little before flying off to a nearby farmhouse. It is about five football fields (the most well-renown sport of all of Westëmar) away. No less than a minute later a man emerges from its front door. He whistles, waving his arms about. "Hey! Hey! What are you doing out here?!"

William pauses for a moment when the voice in his head mentions magical. With a nod, the mage sends the familiar back into the air to keep a closer eye on the raven. Herbert quickly rips a few beakfulls of meat from the car ass before taking to the sky and following orders. 

William however continues his bloody work, carving off slabs of meat and placing them in his pack. Once his backpack is full, he pulls out his own shovel that had been strapped to his pack and begins work on digging a hole for the carcass. all the while he is in constant communication mentally woth his familiar

Herbert circles above, watching the raven and keeping its eyes peeled and nose open anything else that may pose a threat. (Herbert perception! 23)

Kolette perk up her ears when the warning was given but doesn't notice any present danger. It is difficult to be helpful and watchful at the same time.

Sparkles flinches slightly as the hoof hits her shoulder but otherwise continues to try and help the elk. She's cautious though, since the curious behaviour of the maggots taking residence in the hoof and the beast surviving so long makes her suspect that this young elk might have something to do with the ravens that the group's been warned about. She goes to soothe the elk again but clearly her nerves are too high and it's clear to the elk she suspects something's up with the creature. Her movements appear threatening as she tries to wrangle the beast and bring it closer for inspection. Animal Handling: Nat 1 for a total of 3

Syed, hearing the commotion, pauses his work and retrieves his small contraption, now free from the ravens' interference. He lifts his head, trying to see who is calling out to them, but his tiny size and the wagon's position obscure his view. The man's distant shouting doesn’t seem immediately threatening, so Syed decides to leave the newcomer to his more physically capable companions.

Instead, he remains by the wagon, keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings. He directs his mastiff to patrol around the wagon, ensuring no one approaches unnoticed. "I can’t see much from here, but I’ll keep watch. Let me know if you need assistance."

Satisfied that he’s doing his part, Syed stays alert, ready to spring into action if the situation escalates. For now, though, he focuses on ensuring the safety of their supplies and the wagon while his companions deal with the elk and the supposed farmer with the strange, magically enhanced raven.