Delta looks up at her slightly surprised. “Um. Yeah,” Delta replies, looking a little disturbed that this enthusiastic elf is all of a sudden in her space. She slowly starts to pull the book back and put it away. “And you are?”

She scoots back some, "River" She glances over the outside of the book she was reading.  "I have interrupted your studies, but you should get out and stretch a little before we head back on the road." She climbs back out of the wagon and goes to the other two. 

“Alright. Thanks.” Delta hesitates for a second before deciding to take the elf’s advice. She stows her book away and gently picks up something about the size of her palm from beside her before sliding out of the cart and beginning to stretch a little bit and explore the surrounding area (keeping within eyesight of the cart/group).

Sulvarax has also been distracted by a book as he walks alongside the wagon. When the wagon stops, he looks around. "Oh! Are we there already? Sorry, I must have lost track of time. This tome is so interesting." He holds the book out and grins.

(OoC: Changing my character's speech color, because a lot of people were using similar ones, and I don't want it to get confusing.)

Gilmys eyes the people who were reading books and smiles.

"Wow... I can see we have lots of readers in here, this is good, I myself, have also been reading a lot these few years back, but y'know, I'm recently thinking 'bout slowing it down, I read so much all books were 'coming insipid to me."

He lays on the floor, and grabs a bite of some ration he had on one of his pockets.

DM Note: How far from the cart/road are you wandering Delta, and in which direction?

OoC: Maybe 40ft or so to the South

South of the road Delta walks to the edge of where some rough vegetation and small trees start. It's not a forest, but the proximity to the road is somewhat disconcerting as it could still easily hide bandits or monsters.

As you look east, the road bends a little north, and you can just see the back half of what appears to be a dead horse

Delta quickly walks back to the group. “In case any of you are interested, there is half of a dead horse a little up the road. Just so you know.”

DM note: The horse is about 200 feet away

"That seems mighty curious. I wonder how it got there. Could it have been sick, maybe lame? Either way, it might be worth looking into." Sulvarax turns to look in the direction of the dead horse, lost in thought

"Um, sorry, did you say half a dead horse?" asks Anton, hopping down from the cart and spitting out the last berry. "Who in their right mind would..." he trails off. "We should move carefully," he continues after a few seconds. "That can't be the work of anyone we should be eager to meet. We can check it out if you want," he says, turning to Sulvarax, "but keep an eye out for bandits or... worse."

Gilmys gets up, and tries to see if he can spot the horse from where he is, which he doesn't succeed of course, but he answers nonetheless.

"If it's in the middle of the road, I think we can't avoid it now, can we? We're either going back, or entering the forest to not pass through that, so I say we might as well take a closer look at the horse."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," says Anton. "We should go over on foot. If there are bandits or something, we'll be able to hear better without the noise from the oxen and cart." Looking over the comparatively fragile-looking group, he continues, "Alright, I suppose I ought to lead the way. Let's go," as he heads toward the deceased demihorse.

As you approach the bend, you spot two dead horses sprawled about fifty feet ahead of you, blocking the path. Each has
several black-feathered arrows sticking out of it. One of them has been crudely hacked in half.

The woods press close to the trail here, with a steep embankment and dense thickets on either side.

ooc - "demihorse" lol

"Well, this clearly wasn't natural causes. We better keep a sharp eye out for whatever has done this."  He motions towards the horse that has been cut in half "The thing that bothers me about this is, who would cut a horse in half and why?" After posing the question, Sulvarax looks around the area for any signs of who might have done this.

"What, you don't think this horse died in its sleep of old age?" Anton says sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at the sorcerer. Then, muttering to himself, "Didn't I just..." He sighs.

OoC: When you say "the trail" do you mean the road we're headed down? Or a different trail? I don't think Anton has any interest in going off on a side trail, but if they have to go that way anyway, he'll suggest they check out the immediate area first, in case anyone has set an ambush.

"Anybody want some free arrows?" he adds, gesturing at the horse, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

DM Note: Yep, it's "Tribor Trail" leading from the coast to, well, Tribor.

 I'm going to need initiative rolls from everyone.  

DM Note: In the future, do you just want me to roll initiative for everyone?

Edit:

Anton 19
Delta: 5
Sulvarax: 5

Riverwing: 7

Gilmys: 13