The Forgotten Wish

((Rick looks around for the inevitable pair of cubs missing their mother.))

Pallen shrugs softly. While he's not in a good condition, he's clearly not too worried that a few hours would make the difference. Though the mood has certainly shifted a bit upon the realization of the amount at work. 

"Maybe just leave it be, then. Scavengers will make use of it I'm sure. And... Presuming you will be heading back before long, it probably won't have gone bad by then," he states, the last part with less confidence.

Rick looks around, trying to find something, but nothing seems to have shown up... Must have been a male bear, and the powers that be not wanting to give them a new mascot. What a killjoy. 

Breldo is a bit quiet for a while going forward, his normal borderline braggadocios nature a bit squashed by being a bit squashed. He does give Nuria nod of thanks as he returns her arrow to her.

(Is the group looking to continue forward, or are there any actions they want to take? If Khond is looking to hoist up the bear, it's definitely too heavy for him. Although, most of the cart they have is empty beside Pallen, so if he could get enough leverage, and the elf wouldn't mind...)

"Ah, I was being sentimental about the fact that you all won a battle against a great beast, but we really don't have time.  Let us move!"  And Oren starts heading down the roadway.

Anyone paying any attention can probably tell he is being overly enthusiastic, probably feeling bad about his idea, which would slow everything down.

"Friend Oren is right Boss Pallen, we go!"

(I'll take another set of perception rolls from everyone if simply continuing!)

Sylvera is ultimately relieved when they decide to move on (assuming that's what we are doing lol). 

Perception: 15

Rick resumes his position near to Pallen as the walk on.

Perception: 8

((Nice, double crits 🙄))

Breldo Perception: 15

perception:  2

Oren continues forward, leading at the front and moving at a semi-brisk pace.

The hours of the day slowly tick by as the group continues on their travel. For the most part, nothing strange is spotted, except the things they've already seen, that being the ruined remains of the road and the occasional dysfunctional "lantern". The road ahead is calm, and all but those not really paying attention to the road (which to be fair, is a sizable number of the group) take note that up ahead the terrain is shifting, going more uphill, and in the distance the first hint of a structure can be seen as they must be getting close to their destination.

It is only Sylvera who notes something that may be of interest beside this, should she choose to investigate or otherwise call attention to it. Just a little bit off the path, it seems as if something has been buried off the path. She can't quite tell what it is. On first sight, some kind of long handle for something bigger, buried underneath the dirt? The greenish metal seems similar to what she's seen so far en route here, but that's about all she could tell just from a distant glance.

Sylvera eyes the unidentified object for a moment, quickly realizing that none of the peasants have taken notice of it. She looks to Pallen and asks, "Do you know what that is?"

If the answer is negative (or simply alludes to checking the object out to be a good idea), then she'll look to Breldo and says, "You, come with me." Then starts walking towards the buried object, expecting Breldo to come with her... likely because she wants someone else to dig up the object rather than dirtying her own hands. However, before "asking" him to do anything, she bends over to investigate it further. 

Perception: 18 Investigation: 21

(lol what are the chances of that...)

Breldo refrains from eyerolling and follows the noble.

Pallen confirms he has no idea what it might be, never having paid that close attention. Going closer gives her little more idea of what she may be dealing with, however. It seems pretty obviously at least tangentially connected to these ruins, given the same material, and her first impression is that there is something larger attached to this one thing sticking up from the ground... Though she's not sure what. Seems like it's something significantly bigger than just a simple tool, but hard to tell without putting in some effort to uncover at least a part of it.

Once the group departs again after the bear fight, Nuria falls back in line a little behind Breldo. She fails to notice the thing the elf sees, and jumps when she suddenly demands that Breldo follows her. Without really thinking, she scurries after the two of them. Following the noble's gaze, she finally realizes what she was looking at.

Hesitantly, she starts attempting to uncover it. She has no qualms about digging in the dirt after all.

"Hmm..." Sylvera places a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "We may need to come back for this..." She trails off, realizing that Nuria already started digging. Frowning, she looks back at the wagon, as if blaming the rest of the group for letting Nuria follow them when she only asked Breldo to come. 

With a sigh, she says, "This could take a while, but if you two think you can excavate it in a timely fashion then I am not opposed to waiting." She again looks to the wagon, "But I also do not want to keep Pallen waiting." 

(Is Nuria using just her hands? It's easy enough to remove some of the topsoil, but it becomes obvious quite quickly that might not be enough to dig it out.) 

Pallen for his part, hasn't really said anything. In fact, he's not been saying, or reacting to much of at all. Just judging from the exterior, he still seems fine, but it seems like he's coming to realize the gravity of the situation he is in. Almost there, at the end of the road, and he's retreated into his thoughts, not even having noticed the group is investigating the odd piece of metal.