Yes, the consensus is owl bear, but likely owl bears as none have heard of any with both white and brown feathers.

As the group decides that admiring the stonework isn’t worth the hassle of dealing with owlbears, it’s easy work to keep moving on.

Having decided quickly enough not to investigate the cave and with only Avaria scrambling to catch up, the group is well back on the trail when they hear noises in the bushes behind.

When Avaria looks back over her shoulder she sees two young, round and rambunctious owlbear cubs tumble out of the bushes near the cave entrance. The paw at each other and play fight as they do. One is bright white and the other is brown. From their size, these two are not the owners of the feathers Avaria found.

The bushes begin shaking even more but Avaria (and others) would have to stop moving and wait to see what came out.

————————————-

Any one stopping? Assuming not, and if that’s the case, some more perception rolls please.

Why bother with a guide if you don't heed their warnings? Jan keeps riding, but is alert to other dangers.

Jan Perception: 6
K'oshash Perception:  8

Marrin only has eyes for her new feathery accoutrement, owlbears completely forgotten.

Perception: 3 (crit fail!)

"This is going to look amazing in my fancy lady hat, Ava."

She closes her eyes and visualizes how good it will look.

Noting Soren's body language at what she had fine, she does obey and rejoins the party as they head away from the interesting cave.  As she sees the owlbear cubs, it takes a lot for her to not stop... they are adorable!!  Only the large shaking of the bush of most likely the mother stops her from staying her horse.

Trying to turn her attention back to the road...

Perception: 12

She smiles at Marrin, "Glad I could help.  I'm sure it'll be beautiful."

Marrin opens her eyes to look at Ava and will say to her, very seriously,

"Ava, just so you know, I am going to lie about how I got it if anyone asks. No offense to you, but being given it by a friend doesn't really fit the persona I've got that wears the hat."

She gives Ava a hopeful half smile,

"You understand, right?"

Dan is, more or less, being allowed to do whatever he wants at this juncture.

As the group moves along, discussing fashion and bardic tales of adventure, Jan and Marrin trusting so much to their horses common sense that they barely look at the narrow trail, Avaria does spot a large black snake off to the side but is able to avoid it without too much difficulty.

Ula hears a distant cracking of wood in the darkness of the forest but nothing materializes from it.

The group continues along, following Soren, without much worse than getting leafy tree bough slapped in their face. Marrin almost gets knocked from her saddle by a branch that she's positive wasn't there a second earlier.

Eventually Soren leads the group into another clearing. Tall trees try to lean in over the clearing and cover the sky with their canopy, but still enough light gets through to confirm that it's almost evening.

A head of the group, everyone can see a low, three-feet high timber palisade encircling a camp. About have a dozen tents can be seen over the top of the wooden walls. And from the vantage of horseback, some of you can spot what appear to be firepits in front of each of the tents, with spits and cooking gear arranged around them. One tent flap hangs open, revealing two cots and a chest.

Along the far wall are stacks of cut wood.

However, there's no sign of any occupants and a low gate in the wall sits open.

Ethel guides her horse nearer to the camp.  

"I must admit... this is more than I had expected."  Not one to feel safe or secure after these last few weeks, she scans the camp one last time before guiding her horse inside. 

Perception:  16

Marrin scolds Dan for, presumably,walking her into a branch.

"Come on Dan! You've really only got the one job."

Marrin brushes off the twigs and tree debris, doing her best not to look too hard at the offending trees.

At the camp, Marrin has to agree with Ethel.

"Ya... This is an actual camp. I was expecting a clearing with a fire pit. You under sold the place Soren. How long ago did you say it was abandoned?"

Marrin let's Dan do his job, following the leaders in.

Soren looks puzzled by the state of the camp.

"It wasn't much more than a clearing the last time I came this way but that was a year ago," Soren says. "It looks like woodcutters are back at it."

Ethel doesn't spot any smoke or signs of active fires in the firepits but a slight change in the breeze brings the smell of charred wood to her nose. The pits might not have been used today but they've been used since at least the last rain to still smell from this distance.

From the entrance to the camp, the group can see axes left in the open leaning against the stacks of wood. Pots and kettles sit out on metal grates over some of the firepits.

Through the one open tent flap you can now see a pack resting on the far end of one of the cots.

Jan isn't a fan of the seemingly active camp being abandoned, so shunts her senses through K, leaning forward and gripping R'iyatka's mane to stay stable, having her familiar creep into the camp invisibly, feeling for vibrations and what they can see.

Stealth: 16
Perception: 3 (using K's Perception, but if Jan riding piggyback allows for advantage, 2)

((Man, perception checks haven't been working out for Jan and K! If you wanted Investigation instead, subtract 1 from each...))

K'oshash seems more interested in testing out their invisibility to see if they can see their own hands, and then gets distracted by looking at the dirt, to do much more than confirm back to Jan that these are indeed real tents, real firepits, and the like. They spot signs of clearly visible pathways that have been worn down into smooth, hard, dirt trails. K' notes that the dirt is mostly rich loam that you'd expect to see in a forest and not dusty sand. They have all sorts of thoughts and comments about the dirt, but not much else to offer.

"Looks like it. Probably all out working."

She suggests, hopefully.

She'll edge forward before she clears her throat loudly and calls,

"Hello? Anyone home? We'd like to spend the night here if that's okay?"

She listens and watches for a response.

Perception: 11

Avaria's grin broadens with Marrin's explanation, "I wouldn't expect anything more, you spin your tale as you see fit."

At the camp, she scowls, this wasn't what she had expected.  But as the others trot in, she follows, trying to listen for any signs of others...

Perception: 9  (man, we're all rolling exceptionally well =p)

There's no sign of anyone in the camp and no response to Marrin's calls.

Hammerdasher points out more tools than just the axes by the stacks of wood - sleds, some with runners and some with wheels; shovels: large saws; chains. These couldn't be seen from outside the palisade but once Hammerdasher points it out everyone can see it now. The tools and equipment are just in a jumbled pile.

"Don't think they're getting much work done with all that just left there." Hammerdasher says. "I'd have words with anyone working for me that treated their tools like that."

From what you can all see, the camp has been in recent use but there's no one visible or answering. Apart from the one tent that has an open flap, the flaps on the other five are closed but not tied shut.

Jan sits up as K invisibly returns to her and she's looking through her own eyes again.

Sleight of Hand: 11

((When it matters for RP...))

"Well, hells. This is about as foreboding as a deserted ship in a thick fog."

Marrin hops down from Dan and heads to one of the closed tents. She stops after a few steps and takes half a step back, half turning to Jan,

"Hey Jan? Any chance your grime gremlin can open these up so we can get a peek in?"

@Jan

Avaria gets down off her horse and heads over to the open flapped tent and takes a peak.