Briny will look at each carrion crawler to see If there are any signs that they encountered anything other than sewage and wild animals. She checks for wounds not made by the fight just now, or any cloth that might be stuck in teeth or claws, anything like that.

Near the blackened portion of the floor, made difficult to see from afar by the shadows cast by the stairway leading to the open air above, is a third dead carrion crawler. Three quarters of the creature are torn apart as if eaten. While in that vicinity, Hex also sees a mangled backpack, its contents spilling out onto the floor. Laying beside it is a length of parchment.

Examining the most recently killed carrion crawlers, Briny notes that both of the creatures bear scorch wounds that were in the process of healing over - separate burns from those caused by Uragum's flaming sphere.

Sylyra follows Hex and watches her for a few seconds, but loses interest and begins looking around the chamber casually.

Hex goes to check out the backpack and parchment.

((Is there any way to tell how old the wounds are, based on how much they have begun to heal?))

OOC: Sorry for that delay! May not be able to post tomorrow, but should be back on schedule by Wednesday.

Briny can deduce that the burn wounds are fairly fresh - not nearly as fresh as those from Uragum's fire, but certainly no more than a few days old.

Hex finds the length of parchment to be just that, an empty length of parchment. The backpack contains a set of common clothes along with 35 gold pieces. Among these items, she also finds a collection of documents further inside the pack:

The first document is a piece of paper with what appears to be a list of book titles. Most of them have been stricken through, but three have check marks next to them: Lords and Lineages, The Weave: A Practical Observation of Impractical Occurrences, and Ren o' the Blade Memoirs.

Folded next to the checklist is a rough map showing Phlan and its surroundings. The map details a location about half a day's ride east along the Phlan Path and is labeled with the word "Rythnax" which has been circled.

The last document is an unsigned note that reads:

Ellison

Once you have secured what you can to aid us in our search, meet with Rythnax in the marsh east of the city, along the Phlan Path. Slay any that discover your work. Do not fail us again.

While searching through these items, Hex also sees a smattering of fresh blood near the backpack that leads away towards the steps.

Hex puts all the items back into the backpack except for the map and calls out to the others. "Found out where they're going." As she glances at the fresh blood, she looks up towards the steps. "Hmm... there's some blood here... maybe they didn't make it."

Hex heads up the stairs, trying to be as stealthy as she can, to get a glimpse of what is up top and see if she can find Ellison's body nearby.

(Uragum wanted a short rest. Would it be possible to start one while Briny and Hex were looking for stuff? Hex is good, she doesn't need one so she can keep looking around while the others are resting.)

Sylyra moves to the stairs as well. Seeing Uragum lagging behind and appearing to need a rest, the elf whispers loudly, "Come on, Uragum. Just stay behind us. We can't let them get further ahead than they already are."

DM, the blood is "fresh" as in still wet?

OOC: A short rest is certainly possible here, just let me know if the party would like to take one. It wouldn't have taken Briny and Hex very long to investigate, so the party really hasn't been here that long.

Sylyra examines the blood, deducing that it is between one and two days old, and belonged to a humanoid.

Hex moves quietly up the stairway, which she discovers emerges into the open air at the base of Phlan's exterior wall on the banks of the Stojanow River. She does not see a body within sight.

Hex heads back down the stairs to the party. "No bodies up there, don't know if that's a good thing or not... but if you need to rest a little while longer, Uragum, just say the word. You took quite the beating. If you're good to go though, we can follow this map to wherever Ellison is."

Sylyra expels a breath through his thin nose. "It looks like they didn't waste any time getting out of the city." He turns to look at the others, and finally (somewhat impatiently) says, "I'm going up to have a look around." He climbs the stairs and examines the area for signs of their quarry's trail. He knows the map is almost assuredly going to lead them to where they need to go, but he's feeling irritated. However much he wants to barrel forward — alone, even — the idea of falling even more behind is almost more than he can bare — Sylyra doesn't want to leave his friends behind. He expels another short breath through his nose — this time, it's a self-deprecating snort. Friends. Who am I kidding?

Uragum sighs, "It seems I'm once again slowing us down," he says while looking at his ripped up arm.  "Maybe give me some time to wrap this up.  If you all want to go on ahead, I'll catch up as I can, just leave me a trail." Uragum says.

If taking a short rest, use 2 hit die for recovery and regain 2, 1st level spell slots.

Healing 17

(Actually, would it be possible to take a short rest while travelling? Maybe just take it slow for an hour at the beginning for the rest and then continue on at a normal or fast pace?)

OOC: Quoting from the PHB, "A short rest is a period of downtime, at least 1 hour long, during which a character does nothing more strenuous than eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds."

The party does have the ability to travel at a "Slow" pace, but the only mechanical benefit to that is the ability to use Stealth as you travel.

Briny and Uragum have said they could do with a rest, but since the other half of the party seems more uncertain still and time may be a consideration, I'll hold up here until we have more of a consensus (or confirmation that the party would like to split, though I typically advise against that unless it's for RP or shopping purposes).

(Yeah, I didn't want to split up the party either. If there isn't any other way then I'm good with taking a short rest now.)

Hex gives Uragum a reassuring smile. "It's alright, big man. Take your time. If it weren't for you, all of us would probably be needing a bit of a rest right now as well. I'm gonna head up and check things out with Sylyra. Give us a shout if you need anything." 

She heads up the stairs and goes to join Sylyra once she spots him. She pokes him in the side to get his attention and tilts her head. "Doing alright? You seem a bit upset."

Briny stays with Uragum, looking around the room in awkward silence at first as he tends to his wounds. After running out of things not to say in her head she starts up a conversation. "So, you're a wizard then? That's probably a stupid question. I just said it because you must have read a lot of books on magic to learn so much and get to where you are now. It's funny how many ways there are to be able to use magic. Like reading about it. Not always bright and cheerful stuff though. You ever come across a darker side of magic in any of your books?"

OOC: The short rest completes without interruption. Sheets have been updated with the benefits of a short rest. If you would like to roll any hit dice, please do so now - I'll apply Uragum's retroactively, but try to wait for a short rest to be completed without interruption before rolling hit dice. Feel free to continue/resolve the good RP here and I'll advance once the next action has been taken!

Sylyra turns his handsome smile on Hex. "Of course, beautiful." The juxtaposition of the red-skinned, black-haired tiefling and the olive-skinned, white-blonde-haired elf is quite remarkable. "I hate that we're already a day behind, but I don't want to a repeat of yesterday, so if we need to take a break to get Uragum back on his feet, that's what we need to do." Hex can hear the slight impatience in the druid's words, despite his attempt to hide it.

Hex laughs aloud as Sylyra calls her "beautiful" and shakes her head in disbelief. "Beautiful? I think that's the first nice thing you've ever said to me. But yeah, I get it. I want to catch up as well but I'd rather lose the killer than any of you guys." She gives him a smile and pat on the back before turning her attention to the river. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath of fresh air, enjoying a brief moment of peace in an otherwise chaotic journey as they wait for Uragum and Briny. 

Sylyra's smile falters at Hex's comment, but he reaches out and gently touches her shoulder as he leans in a little. Speaking in an undertone, he says, "Don't let it go to your head. As you said, I'm upset." He turns to watch the river as well, his smile disappearing completely as he continues to evaluate his place here in Phlan and what his future might bring.

I guess I'll go ahead and roll a hit die: 5