While considering whether or not to go back for Baylen to obtain his bird's eye view, Auger studies the sky and realizes that he was missing on obvious possibility. He looks around a little and listens to the surrounding sounds of nature. Not immediately lucky, Auger thinks how this would be so much easier if he was a trained woodsman, or with Py to help him. Hmm, re-summon Py, yes that could help, but first give it time to see which tent is Omar's in case that would be important to know. Still though... "I think I have a resource, though it will be slow to net us anything," Auger says for the others

Auger thinks on the various calls he had heard in the night from the various birds of the surrounding area. Then he gets into his rations and tries to find a few likely items. Some bread perhaps. Did they even like cheese? He steps a short distance from the others and lays some of the food out, then steps away from the food. A small distance. But a safe distance. Then he sits on the ground. Briefly touching the Sea of Stars to renew his connection to his patron and her gifts, Auger calls to the birds. They were not smart. And the small ones he could hear would not trust so easily. But given time they would come over. They would want the food and they would trust if he was persistent. After all they were not smart. But they could see. Perhaps they could see where trees had fallen. And a gorge opened up. Three black pillars. But how to describe the color black to a bird. Was that no color to them? Perhaps like a shadow... and counting to three. He would think of something.

Auger then begins calling to the birds nearby, "Little friends. There is food here. Come and eat." Or so he imagines himself saying as he finds himself creating whistles and warbles, tikking and even the sound of branches scratching together. First trust, then the slow process of getting information from them. Perhaps asking some to scout around. Py will be useful in this, but summoning it back should wait a little longer.

Snow channels his magic through the Saraswati Violin, focussing and enhancing his intellect, before re-evaluating what they know.

"Let's go over this again", he says, as much to himself as to any of the others. "We know from Safiya's account that she was traversing twisting mountain passes when the ground shifted. Tall trees were felled in that earthquake, but there is no sign of them that I can see. She then stated she fell down an ancient stairway. Again, from here we can see no such stairway, however that would be harder to spot. But that stairway led to a shallow gorge, whereas the imperials are digging in a creek valley", as he speaks he starts to pace back and forth, staying out of view from below, and not raising his voice too loud.

"In this shallow gorge she claims is a pool of clear spring water. Again, highlighting that this is not the place that Safiya found. Lastly in her account, are the black pillars that you say are key, Granophyre. Well we do not see them, but Safiya said they were only visible from below, so that makes sense. However, Omar has not seen them either, further corroborating this is not the same location. All this information is from approximately 70 years ago, which is incredibly recent and reliable in the context of archaeology".

He ponders on this for a minute, his eyes scanning the dig site and the mountain peaks.

"Then we have the image from the mima stone. Now this was taken 3000 years ago, and from all appearance correlates to this exact position. But the feeling from those at the dig is this is more of an outpost. Which could make sense, the Core of Dacite was a city, and it's boundary could stretch quite far. The obvious interpretation is that Safiya's account and this position are unrelated. Where she fell and where she found an entrance to the city is somewhere else. We know the signs that will identify this location. Fallen trees, an ancient staircase and a clear pool of spring water. And from that point, we should see the black pillars when we look up at the hillside", he stops pacing and looks down at the dig site.

"3000 years is a long time, it is possible that the location of the city has shifted some in that time, the landscape could have altered both above and below ground since the mima stone image was taken".

He looks to Granophyre.

"The mima stone is therefore not a completely reliable source. 3000 years ago, yes, but now it can only really be used to tell us we are in the vicinity of the Core of Dacite. So we have three choices that I can see. We either work out the shifts in the landscape in the last 3000 years so we can track the new position of the city. We wait for the expedition down there to figure out they are in the wrong place and either leave or spread in the hope of a random discovery. Or we focus on the more reliable source, Safiya's account".

History: (18,13)+5=23

As Snow speaks, his eyes scanning the mountains which now stand before him, the Twin Anvils, an image forms in his mind of the peaks enduring the passage of time, at first, sharp-edged, then slowly softening as decades, centuries, millennia pass. He envisions a time 70 years ago, the earth trembling, Safiyah, a teenager, thrown off her feet, ancient trees pulled from the earth as it abruptly jerks and like a long Oraccan rug, pulls down the corridor formed by this creek valley.

Snow envisions the striations which would form at the line where subterranean movement encountered resistance. And now his eyes fall upon a section of the western Anvil’s lower slope. Shallow diagonal striations. Covered almost entirely by forest. He would not have noticed them without having intuited where to look for them. But they are there. Jagged. Newborn, on a geological scale. Not millennia old. Mere centuries. Perhaps mere decades, for the forest trees there are thin, supple, young.

The deer path along which Omar and the patrol had walked points in the direction of those striations before curving back to the encampment. (OOC: Snow’s successful roll indicates that the striations angle downward in the direction he seeks.)

As this thought forms in the bard’s mind, Auger entices local wildlife to him. He hears a trembling chorus from small birds of “Food!,” “Mine!,” and “Danger.”

Py returns and sends to Auger, ‘Omar el Idrissid has safely returned to the encampment.’

"Actually", Snow says to the others, "I think I have just spotted what we are after".

He points at the striations on the western Anvil's lower slope. "There, do you see? The jagged line of younger trees, angling downward?", he asks, his tone a little more excited. "That could absolutely have been the result of what Safiya described".

He turns around to see if they had understood and saw it as well, only to find Auger the centre of attention to some local wildlife.

Auger's slow process begins and a few birds come and start saying something to him. Danger. They probably thought Auger was the danger. Still he looks around and noting Py's return asks it to keep an eye out for things nearby. As the birds start to converge and start chirping, Auger hears Snow shares his insight. For the birds he thinks well perhaps they may still be of some use. Perhaps build a local reputation. Who knows when it might be handy. "This is yours little ones. There might be more later," he says in a few whistles and ticks.

Auger then gets up to go, looking at the others. "What Snow is pointing out makes as much sense to me as anything we have tried. Lets head over there. I'll keep Py near us to help look for patrols."

Granophyre looks around at each of you, a proud smile on his face.

“You do not cease to amaze me with your abilities and incisive thinking. Let us make haste, before another patrol comes to hinder our passage.”

Benita La Cass catches Varielky’s eye, her glance sliding to Snow and then back to the shield-maiden with an almost comedic grimace. “I’m glad someone knows what the flock to do,” she whispers to her friend. “If you ask me, this mountain vacation is getting too crowded with tourists,” she adds, eyes pointing to the imperial encampment.

The hillside is thick with old growth woods and rocky protuberances. To make your way toward the striated slope, you’ll need to either walk upon the same deer trail used by Omar and the patrol, or blaze your own trail, cutting away undergrowth and circumambulating ledges and steep inclines. 

"Imagine if it were only you and me. Lots of dead Empirial soldiers, and the Core would have to find itself." Varielky answers. "Mmm, maybe it's not as bad as it sounds? But I don't think Granophyre would appreciate that. Tourists tend to be found at the same places of interest, don't they? I doubt we've heard the last of the Empire, even for the very near future."

Varielky doesn't mind taking either route and would go along with what the others decide. 

Snow looks around the group and evaluates the best course of action with his magically enhanced mental acuity.

"Blazing our own trail will take longer, be louder and has more of a chance of someone hurting themselves", he says. "I can use my magic to conceal us on the deer trail, which I believe is our best course of action", he determines.

"If we can get an early warning of anything approaching, we can simply move off the trail and wait for them to pass", he says nodding at Auger's suggestion for Py to help.

"Move ahead then Py. Help us see what is coming or following," Auger says out loud, watching Py zip away, before it turns invisible as per usual.

Before moving away Auger looks back at the spot where the food was laid out for the birds and speaks to them one last time. "Enjoy the food, little ones. Maybe we will meet and speak again." Auger takes a moment to see if any of the birds are paying attention, if one appears to do so, he notes its appearance as best as he can. Perhaps I can find a helpful friend in this, Auger thinks.

As Auger comes back to the group he half half hears some words pass between Varielky and Benita and he finds himself replying even without knowing the full thread of the conversation. "The last of the empire," he says wistfully, "I think I would like that." What had been added to the list? Leaders commonly seeking bribes? Abduction of children? And now Omar's child held at the capital, under some kind of death threat? Would the child die just because Omar was digging in the wrong spot? The end of the empire sounded like a great idea. 

As the group move towards the path, Auger maintains his connection to the gift of his patron and listens as best he can for what nearby animals have to say, wondering if there are things they might know that would help them in this quest of theirs. Moving while under Snow's protection had given them great powers to move without being noticed, the chances of overhearing wildlife would be stronger than usual.

If everyone is agreed, Snow will try and determine how long it will take to get to their destination, and when is most optimal to use his magic to hide them, if it is not needed straight away.

When it is needed, he will run his bow across his violin, and as before light and sound are absorbed into it.

Auger notices — indeed, everyone does — that a pair of blue and gray nuthatches with white eyebrows which had responded to the warlock’s treats have decided they like his shiny diadem, and twirl and chirp merrily around him as you walk, dancing blurs whisking through the air. “Fun! Shiny!,” they chirp while Auger’s spell still lasts.

Going slowly and quietly, proceeding with caution, you follow the deer trail for perhaps 30 minutes. It forks at this point, one branch turning downslope in the direction of the encampment, the other branch continuing west, following the creek, some 20 meters above it. Here, you are perhaps a mile from the encampment, and the trail continues directly away from the imperials. You have perhaps another 10 or 15 minutes to go until you reach where the mountain’s diagonal striations meet the creekbed, the point which the archaeologist in Snow is drawn to. 

There has been tree cover over the trail until now. Ahead and below, the trail descends and then opens out upon a meadow of tall young highgrass and lavender which borders the creek and through which the stream cuts, near where the woods pick up again on the opposite slope where you wish to head. 

(OOC: Snow will have to determine if/when to employ his concealment magic.)

Making the decision to to use his magic to cover their tracks from the start, to ensure if Omar did reveal they were there they couldn't be followed, Snow heads along the deer trail to the point it forks. Stopping briefly to survey the view of the camp, he continues to the edge of the open meadow.

He looks out across the long highgrass, scanning it for a good few moments to determine if there might be something lurking there.

"We should be cautious, my magic ensures we leave no tracks and conceals us to a certain extent, but there is less cover here. There also might be things hunting in that grass", he whispers loud enough for the others to hear. Turning to Auger, "Your ability to speak with animals is very impressive, and your two new friends are certainly beautiful, but it would be best to try not to draw attention to ourselves at this time. As unlikely as it seems, eyes drawn to them could perceive us by accident".

When they are sure it is safe to proceed, he will carefully and quietly move out, making sure he is not the first in their marching order.

Perception: 7+9=16 (Passive 19)
Stealth (+10 for Pass Without Trace): 16+6+10=32

Special: Concentration: Pass Without Trace - approx 25-30 minutes left

Auger looks up at the birds circling around his head and shoos them away. "Danger. Go be safe," he says to them and removes the diadem if he must in order to help them lose interest.

As Snow pauses to scan the high grass Auger considers it as well and chooses to maintain his connection to the gift of his patron and continue listening to the local wildlife, to hear if they have learned anything of any value.

The nuthatches flit away, trilling, which Auger hears as playful giggles.

The party, protected by Snow’s concealing magic, moves ahead into the meadow. Several minutes later you have made it three-quarters of the way across the meadow, when Py sends a warning: ‘Rocs! Coming from ahead of us, beyond the next woods! Flying low, a minute away, maybe less!’

The high grasses come up to your hips, and up to Granophyre’s shoulders. You could sprint ahead and possibly reach the woods before Py thinks the Rocs will fly overhead.

Auger lets everyone know immediately that trouble was approaching from above and starts moving forward as fast as he can while staying inside the effect of Snow's spell.

As Auger relays the news of the Roc and starts to hurry, Snow sighs and increases speed as well.

"Very well, let's try and reach cover, but the moment we see it, drop to the ground and let the high grass and  my magic grant us cover", he says.

As he moves, he keeps a wary eye out for both the Roc and also any dangers at ground level.

Usually, it's best to stay still when trying to hide. Especially given the cover of such high grasses. Otherwise, keep a fixed slow pace, to avoid suspicion. But before she gets to say anything, Auger's already on the move, and Snow soon follows after. Whatever, have it their way. Varielky rushes after the two, occasionally looking back to see if Granophyre and Benita are keeping up, and whether the roc riders are in sight. If she does spot them, she'll dive down and pull whoever she can reach with her.

Benita keeps pace, but Granophyre lags behind.

The ground is uneven, and it is hard to see it through the grass, especially for Granophyre, and to keep eyes on Granophyre.

Please roll DEX12 saves to avoid tripping and make it to the tree line before Rocs appear overhead. If you trip, take 1d3-1HP damage.

Dex Save: 11+6=17

Snow moves quickly, adjusting to the uneven ground a couple of times and managing not to twist his ankle or worse. He keeps an even pace, to ensure everyone remains in the area of magic.

"You can do this Granophyre, one foot in front of the other, let's get there", he whispers to Strewn, granting him inspiration.

Bonus Action: Bardic Inspiration to Strewn (d8) - if I am allowed at this time.
Special: Concentration: Pass Without Trace - approx 10-15 minutes left (?)

Dexterity save: 15+1=16.

Varielky has no problem running in this uneven field, or perhaps she was just lucky, her feet stepping in stable spots with nothing to make her trip. Once she makes it to the tree line, she'll hide behind the nearest tree (if they're wide enough, otherwise she'll just lie on the ground wherever she won't block anyone else) and search for the roc riders. If she sees them before everyone made it to cover, she'll call to them to dive into the grass, in hopes they won't get spotted. And in hopes that the roc riders don't spot the group before she can spot them, which she'd think unlikely if it weren't for Snow's magic that had kept them hidden many times before.