Daewen stands up and points to the west (which is pure woods…she’s obviously lost). 

Arora moves over to Daewen and whispers "The woods?!  I can't figure it out either but the woods can't be right...  You know, if Zhi figures this out with his magic it's just going to bolster his pride...AGAIN!" Arora lets out a long sigh "Hold up Doc" she turns around and walks over to Zhi "So, whatcha got Zhi?  North??"  She gives Zhi a good pat on the back "See, we are going to make a ranger out of you yet!  Nice job Zhi!"  With that she turns and starts moving towards the northern trail "C'mon Daewen, we got tracks to follow!"

“What are you doing?” Zhisshikassa hisses towards Daewen and Doc, dusting some mod from his robes with his usual irritated glare. “Even I can see the North tracks are fresher. I thought some of you were rumoured to be experts at tracking.” Zhisshikassa didn’t really care which way they went - he simply jumped on the opportunity to be irritated and took it. Headquarters would hear about these people being practically incapable at their jobs. He seems more grumpy than usual in the cold climate. 

"Grab a leg for the road, Kash.  I think the others have finally decided on a way to go."  Raza says, getting up from where she was sitting, waiting for the trackers to decide what to do.

Quote from PlumPie >>

“What are you doing?” Zhisshikassa hisses towards Daewen and Doc, dusting some mod from his robes with his usual irritated glare. “Even I can see the North tracks are fresher. I thought some of you were rumoured to be experts at tracking.” Zhisshikassa didn’t really care which way they went - he simply jumped on the opportunity to be irritated and took it. Headquarters would hear about these people being practically incapable at their jobs. He seems more grumpy than usual in the cold climate. 

"Zhi, remember what we discussed about lashing out at the squad..." Doc sighed out as the wizard directed them in a different direction.  Pausing in his tracks though, he did see the lizardman's point that west was probably not their best option.  It seemed that whoever was traveling here recently had to have gone either North or West.  Coming to a decision, he gathered the team.

"Squad, huddle up a second.  We've got two paths in front of us so I think we should split up and see where each path takes us.  Meet back here in a few hours if they don't meet up at the other end.  Arora, Neph, Raza, Zhi, go North.  Daewen, Kasha, Mock, you're with me into the woods.  Any questions?  Concerns?"  

Arora couldn't help it "So, who's going West?" she starts laughing a bit.  "OK, Aye aye sir.  Neph, Raza, Zhi, I guess we go North." she says with a bit of a sarcastic sigh.

"Unless someone is willing to argue this" she mentions under her breath.

Daewen shakes her fists pleadingly at the great DM in the sky, and then begins to pace around in circles, inaudibly mouthing an argument against splitting up the group. 

Zhisshikassa's eyes narrow in disbelief at the audacity of the party. He swivels around towards Doc and clears his throat - a sound that is reminiscent of nails scraping on chalkboards. Doc had attempted to give Zhi several talks about politeness and formality. Doc certainly found it frustrating because of Zhi's adherence to logic - and absolute social ineptitude. "Forgive me if I am 'lashing out', Centurion. I find myself the only one here capable of thought." He cuts a look towards Daewen. At least she was arguing against splitting the party. "I retract my last statement - capable of voicing my thoughts. The Drow unquestionably have adequate defenses established. I am unwilling to risk failure by splitting our resources," he snaps. "I advise we remain together and choose the most probable direction - North." 

Arora looks back at Zhi "Oh my gosh, thank you for saying something... I knew your logic would kick in and argue this!!"  She turns her attention towards Doc, head tilted a bit to the right "You know, I have to agree with Zhi, I don't feel like splitting the group is a good idea.  Whether we go North, East, West... well, maybe not West but anyway, whichever way we go we should go together - remember there is safety in numbers."

Nephvir chimes in, “Agree with you Zhi, we need to stay together.  Doc can we make a different plan?  I think we should follow those fresh tracks going north.”

"Grab a leg for the road, Kash.  I think the others have finally decided on a way to go."  Raza says, getting up from where she was sitting, waiting for the trackers to decide what to do.
Upon hearing her name, Diresha looks up from her meal, then continues eating, tugging and ripping a leg off for the road. Her maw is bloody and gross.

"Squad, huddle up a second.  We've got two paths in front of us so I think we should split up and see where each path takes us.  Meet back here in a few hours if they don't meet up at the other end.  Arora, Neph, Raza, Zhi, go North.  Daewen, Kasha, Mock, you're with me into the woods.  Any questions?  Concerns?"  
Kashpooch thumped down next to Raza, in the group, gnawing on the leg she had taken, occupied by finishing her meal while everyone else talked.

North it is? Ok. The North Path. You all continue along the north forest path, trying to catch up to the drow, the village captives, and the Moonshard. Suddenly, you can hear clumsy footfalls and cracking branches that herald, in the distance, the arrival of this great beast, which features the head of a giant bird of prey and the massive body of a large brown bear. Its claws rake the bark from a nearby tree. It has not spotted you yet, but Kasha's immediate growling alert you that she has activated protective stance.

"Apparently I was wrong, Kash."  Raza sits back down, flipping her dagger as she waits for a decision.  "I know you guys wanted to help but the fight was too short, next time, ok?"  She says, her eyes on her blade.

Daewen quickly steps off the road, and hides behind a tree. Wetting her finger, she sticks it in the gentle breeze, trying to ascertain whether they’re upwind or downwind of the beast.

Flipping the hood of her cloak up over her head, she quietly attempts to flank the beast (Audible Stealth: 12).

20

The owlbear easily sees you coming, and makes a terrible squawking noise as it detects you. With surprising speed, it rushes at you.

Roll for initiative.

Suddenly, you can hear clumsy footfalls and cracking branches that herald, in the distance, the arrival of this great beast, which features the head of a giant bird of prey and the massive body of a large brown bear. Its claws rake the bark from a nearby tree. It has not spotted you yet, but Kasha's immediate growling alert you that she has activated protective stance.

Arora quickly dashes into any available underbrush, trees or shadows that are around trying her best to be as stealthy as possible... I might get off a good sneak attack.

Stealth: 17

Arorative: 7

Owlbear: 18

I THOUGHT YOU SAID WEAST
Owlbear(18)(AC/13/HP59), Arora7, Diresha6

Unless held back, Kash charged the owlbear. 6. Slowly.

Nephvir whips out his rapier and dagger, avoiding any magical attacks this time.  He circles around the owlbear.  

Nephitiative:  19

I THOUGHT YOU SAID WEAST
Neph19, Owlbear(18)(AC/13/HP59), Arora7, Diresha6

Waiting on more inits.

 Raza draws her bow, not wanting to get up close and personal with a beast like that.

Init: 18

Okay, look, Mock may or may not have been tuning the whole group out for a while now. Figuring out directions and the like? Not really her style. She's been trying to get that last annoying bit of blood out from under her fingernails while the others have been talking and walking. But now her head whips up at the weird noise to see the owlbear rushing at the party. She can't help but snort at the audacity of this thing to come charging at them, pulling out her axe yet again. At least her weapon's been seeing quite a bit of action lately.

Let's Rumble: 12