"The truth is, once we attack we are unlikely to have very long. As you suggest Snow, one of the riders getting away on its Roc to bring reinforcement might be among the slower options. Any of them might be able to call for help via spell or stone. Granophyre I do recall you having a conversation with Omar via such a messaging stone. Would it make any sense to try and contact him now? They don't have to know we are close. Perhaps lead him to believe we are elsewhere but just obtained critical information and see if there is a reaction?"

"It seems that we will likely need to remain here until morning to get the answers we seek, unless anyone feels the need to return to the Reaver's Word? If there is a way to contact Omar el Idrissid, we may as well do it here while we wait for daylight ", Snow says as he listens to Strewn and Auger. "Is there a way we can get a message to my father and Driss without travelling ourselves?".

Depending on the answers to those questions, he might well start to cast the ritual to create the hut he spoke of.

"Py can carry a message back, and a reply if we are going to wait till morning before we act."

The sky turns teal then shifts to gray-black. Stars are bright and clear overhead, and many dozens of them swirl together to form the aspect of D’ya Boabab, the God of Magic. A bad omen, the superstitious will say.

Snow’s magical hut comes into being. Py brings a message to the Reaver’s Word, but is unable to find you upon its return. Auger dismisses and resummons the Fey alyasub from its pocket dimension, bringing it to him in an instant. Py tells the warlock that Driss says he’ll wait as long as needed.

Do you want Granophyre to contact Omar using the clairvoyance stone?

When discussion turns to the subject of communicating with Omar el Idrissid, Snow favours caution.

"I am not so sure it is a good idea. Not until we know if they are in our way. I just feel that contacting Omar el Idrissid now shows our hand a little bit, and brings Granophyre back to the front of mind. These people are not stupid, if he is in league with them, or being forced, either way we put ourselves at risk of being overheard. Perhaps we wait for the daylight, Granophyre checks to see whether they are in the right position, and we make our decision then?".

He will not push back if he is out voted, and if it is an even split, he will be happy with Strewn's being the casting vote.

Auger weighs Snow's words and finds that he cannot disagree with them. His point had been to stir the nest and see what happens, but it introduced some risk to an already risky affair. Perhaps waiting would be helpful.

"I'll leave Py outside to keep an eye out for things. It does not see well in the dark but can at least listen invisibly from a nearby tree," Auger says as he settles into the small hut to rest for the night.

Varielky is restless, she wants to go already, but everyone else makes it clear they wish to wait for daybreak. Alright then, daylight works better for her anyway. Varielky lays out her bedroll, but she is far from sleepy. She asks Auger for his woodcarving tools, to continue her work on the shield she started some weeks ago. She was very close to finishing, and for any who have seen it before, it was easy to fill in the blank and see that Varielky was carving. Formed by many smaller, various runes, the symbol that she's seen in many places in the last few months. The one that, as it turns out, is supposed to be her family's crest.

It takes her over an hour to finally complete the task, and only then, after laying her shield down and the tools next to Auger's bag, she tries to rest. 

An armed patrol of four men passes near shortly after sundown, carrying lanterns. Perhaps 100’ away, they do not seem to see your magical shelter in its hidden spot and are on the point of leaving the vicinity. Do you let them pass? 

“If I step out of the shelter it will disappear, but I think it would be worth it, and I can always recast it. I can attempt to hypnotise all of them so they won’t be able to raise the alarm whilst you handle them”, Snow will suggest.

At Varielky's request, Auger lays the tools down for her to use. He was thankful to see them in use after all this time. He had not done much to work on his carving in recent weeks.

"I think four is the wrong number. We would not weaken them substantially and their absence would be noted. Still though," Auger whispers at Varielky, "if you want to take them out then I will aid quietly."

Probably still busy carving then, Varielky keeps her eyes fixed on her work as she speaks. "It depends. If we plan to attack them anyway, every enemy defeated early will make things simpler for us later. It wouldn't really matter whether they know we're coming or not, would it? Not to mention, they'd have no reason to suspect it was us. I'm sure not all are content with the empire's stay here. Not to mention wild beasts and other non-human beings. Who knows? The Azhvuv, even." She pauses for a moment, even though it is clear she has more to say. The shield's enchanted wood was particularly hard. While it was great for a shield, else it would easily break, it made carving into it difficult.

"If, however, we won't end up fighting them - which I personally doubt - then a few missing men might cause a problem for us. Despite what I said before, it is likely they'll at least search for them, or their bodies. In these searches, they might find us, or the ship. And if we didn't attack their camp, that means they're in the wrong spot, so we wouldn't want to be found in the right one."

The patrol has not stopped, and continuing on at a steady pace, leaves your position behind within a few moments. (In the interest of maintaining momentum, I’m going to move us forward too. You gain the benefits of a long rest.)

During the night, nothing more occurs except for bats flitting between trees, and other nocturnal creatures shifting and rustling quietly in the underbrush. Eventually, the D’ya Boabab constellation breaks up as it falls slowly to the western horizon. 

You take watches, you sleep.

Birds chirping hours later presage the rising of the sun, and soon, the sky’s tint dials back to gray, then teal once more. You see the surrounding peaks illuminated on their eastern side by the rising sun. Fires are lit in the camp below as water is boiled for strong tea. A family of macaques moves past, looking for worms and other insects but one of them stares at your hut for a good minute then screeches and the family climbs and leaps away through the canopy. 

Granophyre, eyes firm, chin set, once again draws his mima stone from its pouch and attempts to line up the image with the mountains in their current aspect. Lit from the opposite direction, their forms seem every so slightly different from before, the shadows they cast, their mass almost appearing to have shifted with the change of light. A few minutes later, he shakes his head.

“They have found it,” he says. “The position lines up exactly with the map. But I will not be satisfied until I see the three black columns Safiyah described. Her account, though only one voice, compared to the combined chorus of an ancient civilization  I hold here in my hand, is far more contemporary. Though I lose hope, the location of the columns is the last piece of the puzzle which remains unsolved. Although…perhaps they are there, in the encampment itself.” 

Your solitude is once again disturbed when you now hear footsteps crunching through pine needles. Stopping below your position and turning to observe the imperial encampment, a lone figure in an embroidered gray kaftan, a scarf thrown loosely over his head, lights a pipe, perhaps 150’ away. Apparently there is a deer path running along the slope which the patrol the prior night, and now this individual, have followed.

(Snow: Have you maintained concentration on the hut?)

Snow is about to respond to Granophyre when he hears the footsteps and freezes, trying to remain silent and not draw attention to them.

"If we have questions, we can always just ask?", he whispers, pointing at the pipe smoker.

They are a fair distance away, and to get there without the person spotting them and drawing the attention of the camp was critical. He carefully takes hold of his violin and the bow, ready in case magic was needed.

As Varielky's intently works her craft, Auger observes and tries to catch the details, how she holds her hands, the depth of this or that cut. When she responds about the patrol he accepts her reasoning and relaxes to watch more of the carving before retiring for the night with Py outside observing. As Granophyre makes his observations in the morning, Auger stands by his side, trying to see if he could catch anything the old scholar missed before realizing how silly that would be. Auger then steps to the side and focuses on his own view of the camp proper, trying to discern if anything about their behavior had changed since the previous day.

When the stranger moves into view, Auger makes eye contact with Snow and nods, readying himself to support Snow if needed.

(Remember THP are lost upon long rest, btw.)

"So in the end, all we did was delay the inevitable." Though she never believed it would play out any other way, they still needed to decide on a plan. Or just go in, whatever works. Varielky stands up, her things packed and she's ready to move. Even if they stayed here a little longer, she had no reason to keep anything disorganised. It is then that the lone figure draws their attention.

Grey, not light blue. Probably not empirical, but even so, she should probably check. The others seem taut, too. There was no reason to assume they were an enemy, though no reason to believe they were a friend, either. A stranger. "I'll go. In case something goes wrong, I'll call on you, and you can try to stay hidden until then. Perhaps Py can tag along and eavesdrop, in case there's something you all can hear?" Either way, Varielky takes her things and starts walking towards the lone figure, making no effort to stay quiet. Rather, she wants to make it clear she bears no ill intent. Just two travellers who happened to meet along the way.

When the figure notices Varielky, or if she gets considerably close and it still doesn't turn around, she'll call to them, though not too loudly: "Hello there!" And, upon getting closer: "Beautiful morning, don't you think?" Varielky wasn't one for idle talk, but she needs to start a conversation somehow, if she wants to make sure the person is not an enemy.

It takes a moment for the man to respond, for he doesn’t seem to hear Varielky at first, and the shield-maiden is within a dozen paces by the time he stiffens slightly, raises a hand to shift his head scarf aside, and turns to look.

You see the face of Omar el Issidrid, his five o’clock shadow deeper than before, and his eyes, red-rimmed. But when he sees you, Varielky, those red-rimmed eyes widen in confusion, he seems to lose strength in his legs, his knees buckle, he backpedals away from you a step, raising a hand in fear. He trips on a tree root, and nearly falls back against the trunk of a white pine.

“Varielky!,” he gasps.

As Varielky approaches the man, Py invisibly above and behind her, Auger reaches into the Sea of Stars and prepares to send an attack into the mind of the walker. As the person steps back and then falls, Auger almost strikes, thinking Varielky had already acted, but he holds and observes, seeing what will happen next. 

Can you see who it is Py? Who is that man?

Snow crouches down to become less visible, indicating for the others to do so as well whilst Varielky heads towards the person.

He watches and waits.

Hearing Varielky's name spoken by the stranger in such a surprised manner, he half stands to get a better view, but awaits Varielky's instruction before acting.

At first, Varielky realises she had made a mistake. Not just a passerby, and there's no going back now. For a moment, she considers feigning ignorance, as if she wouldn't expect to meet him here. Well, not truly that far from reality.

But upon seeing his reaction, Varielky gathers this is no mere surprise. She could be misjudging the situation - after all, her name is adorning posters all over the Vale - but even if so, this was a great opportunity.

She walks on forward, but wary of any sudden movements Omar may make. Was he afraid because he is surprised, and may have heard of her supposed attempt to assassinate the emperor, or was it because he knows whom she left his house with, and perhaps that means something? 

When she finally closes the distance and is within reach of Omar, Varielky reaches forward, grabs Omar's wrist and helps him regain his footing, but does not let go. She holds his wrist firmly. 

"I must thank you again for finding Dreygaard - the sword you gave me - and then keeping it with you until you could deliver it to me eventually." Not that these were the exact way the events unfolded. "I do not know if the gods chose you specifically, or if it were simply a comfortable coincidence that you happened to be there. Either way, for serving them - even unknowingly - I'm sure you'll be rewarded, if you haven't been already. But for now," she looks up straight into his eyes, to make sure he understands she isn't asking. "There's someone who would like to have a conversation with you." 

She will then lead Omar back to the others. If he tries to resist she'll forcefully pull him after her.

Athletics, if needed: 20!+9=29. Crit lol.

Varielky lifts Omar back to his feet with such nuanced strength that he feels no discomfort, merely the strange sensation of floating fully upright in answer to the shield-maiden’s pull.

“No, no, please! Wait! Wait!,” the academic says to her, keeping his voice low and casting fearful glances over his shoulder back toward the camp. In Varielky’s firm and implacable grip, he all but floats along behind her, and soon the two are in the company of Auger, Snow, Granophyre, and Benita.

Omar El Idrissid now stands there speechless and pale, his eyes wide and haunted, stunned when they fall upon Granophyre. He slowly shakes his head, and just the corner of his eyes crease ever so slightly in a wan, sardonic smile.

“Master Strewn.”

“Is that so surprising, Omar?”

“They showed me. An Eye. He relayed a sending from one of the Shian nobility. Tazzelayt. You were slain at Abziri Castle. And now your spirit — your spirits — are here. What do you want from me? I have little left to give, but I beg you to spare me, though that which you would save thereby… is even less tangible to those whom I love than you ghosts who stand before me.”

His voice is hoarse and sheathed in sorrow now more than fear, and his spirit indeed seems bowed under a heavy weight. As he speaks, his gaze shifts to each of you, though not dwelling on Snow, whom he has not met, or Benita, whom he only saw fleetingly, but seeming to recognize Auger, and focusing mournfully on Varielky and Granophyre.