"What a pretty spirit!" Katarina says with a huge smile.

She approaches and puts her paws out to pet the burning fox, stroking it gently until it leaves.

"Goodbye, fire-fox," she says. "Come back soon!"

Perception: 4

As you go between the small, rocky plateaus, your vision is being limited bu the plateaus itself and the sun getting lower every minute. The east part of the sky is already dark while the west side is burning with the red light of the setting sun.

You need to decide if you want to continue the pursuit or do something else as it will be dark soon.

Perception check: 18

After hours of tracking foot prints, cutting through the thick undergrowth of the forest and hiking over landscapes of jagged rocks, Tyto turned around.

"It is getting dark. In the dark, the enemy will have an advantage. I think we should find a place to rest. We need to give our souls some time to catch up with us - the last few days have been strenuous for all of us. Once we find the enemies, we need to be fresh in body and mind. Let us look for a place where we can make a small campfire without being seen - the fire will bring warmth and calmness to our hearts."

With that, Tyto began looking for a cave or at least a gap in the rocky formations where the group would be relatively safe for the night. Survival check: 17

As they are introduced to the fire-fox, Fiach smiles ruefully. “In my defence, it does look a little like a small dragon…what with the fire and everything.”

Perception: 26

Elmin ponders "If we push on during the night, we might have a chance to catch up with some of the attackers. We don't need to run but keep going slowly..."

OOC: I'm open for debate and totally understand the long rest if some of us have not resplenished their feat/spell slots.

As you move along the trail, keeping the tracks in sight is getting harder with every passing yard. The ground is covered with rocks and bits of moss here and there.

As Tyto is looking for a place for a night, he notices one - a small shallow cave about thirty or so feet above your current level, just at the edge of the rocky slide. It creates a slope from the plateu towering above you about a hundred feet. Up close the cave looks it could easily shelter the party from possible rain fall and could give a decent protection from possible attack.

Fiach and Tyto only:

 Nesim is keeping a few feet behind the last of you. It is clear he is not used to such escapades, but he is doing his best to keep up with you.

"I am happy to push on a little further for the night but I do not think it wise to go the night without sleep. Given the last few days, it seems wise to take the opportunity to rest when we can." The words seem to pour out of Cerau, after a long afternoon of remaining as quiet as possible and following Tyto, she had begun to feel out of her element. But the appearance of Mozilla had made her smile and reminded her that help comes in many forms.

"If anyone's eyes aren't adjusting well to the dark, I can grant you aid from the Moonmaiden. Swan and Tyto have made use of this blessing before..." Realising that in her rambling, the volume of her voice had slowly risen, she smiles and looks at the ground. "This might be particularly useful if we decide to push on." Cerau looks around at her surroundings, wondering if the forest will remain friendly as the night settles around them.

Perception: 8

Swan's head tilts slightly in agreement with Cerau's suggestion. "I'm fine with pushing further but I worry about the chance of getting too exhausted the next day. It might be best for us to find a place to rest during the night, then continue on in the morning." 

Perception: 23 

As Fiach turns her gaze from the light, she notices Tyto looking in the same direction. “Did you see that?” she asks, “and should we at least investigate before we set up camp?”

Tyto keeps looking in the direction where Fiach had noticed the fire, furrowing his brow.

"I did... It looked like a campfire to me, but I could be wrong. Perhaps we are closer to our prey than we anticipated... And I had forgotten about your capabilities Cerau, they would indeed come in very handy at this point. I think we need to investigate, if only to assess how many enemies there are and how close they might be. We might already be in bigger danger than we know."

Katarina is blissfully unaware of any danger until her new companions point it out.

"You say that danger there is?" Katarina says, unsheathing her claws (she doesn't pull out her axe just yet as it is quite large and could make it more difficult to sneak around if she's holding it in her paws). "Katarina is ready. Just tell Katarina what is needed of her and she will do her best."

OOC: Hi, Sorry for the delay. It was the first day at work after my holidays and it was a nightmare ;) I am now back and will resume posting scheme :) Hang on tight!

As Fiach makes her remarks Cerau and Swan as well can see faint flickers of the shadows on the rocky side of the plateau ahead. 

The land between the plateaus is largely flat, broken only by outcroppings and wandering streams in steep-sided gullies. The plateaus jut fifty to one hundred feet above their surroundings and are difficult to climb except where rock falls and subsidence created natural ramps. The one in front of you is about two to three hundred feet ahead.

“I agree. We should go closer to investigate. Let's approach slowly so we don't draw any attention, and see what we can make out from a distance." Swan says. She suggests they approach and see if there's a rocky outcropping they can hide behind to better observe where the flickers of shadows were coming from.

@Swan

It is dark. Some of the stars are not up yet and the moons do not shine in the partly clouded sky. It will be quite difficult for a human to navigate closer without any light source.

"Given the conditions," Fiach says, "the journey, although short, will be dangerous - and we cannot afford to use any torches. So, it might be best to leave this one to anyone who can see better in this light. I will volunteer, who is with me?"

"I'm happy to accompagny you Fiach" said Elmin. "Anything to keep moving" he added.
He then whispers to the tiny owl on his shoulder that flies off silently in the direction of the cave. "Fluffy cannot talk but it will warn me if there's any danger..."

Fluffy, while Elmin has whispered into its ear, blinked couple of times with its big eyes in understanding, flapped its wings and flew off.

As you all discuss the course of actions, Nesim walks around the cave.

"I think, I may sith here and..." he speaks while looking around "...guard this cave, perhaps?" 

You move out of the cave towards the source of the light. As you get closer, it looks like the light is located a bit higher than the ground level, on the rocky shelf in the side of the plateau. the light is not seen directly however from time to time a big shadow moves on the rocky wall. it doesn't look there is a direct way up, however a ledge runs around the plateau to the left and to the right that may lead to the way up.

Katarina would also be happy to join the investigation team... she can see clearly in the dark as well, after all.

Fiach whispers to those that have joined her in the investigation party. "I see a big shadow...but I'm wondering if that is the shadow of a big thing, or just the light throwing a shadow to make the thing look big? Either way, we need to be on our guard." She smiles sheepishly. "Apologies, I talk as if we're all amateurs at this. We all know the drill. But it would be good to find out if there is just one 'thing' or if the shadow is merely taking its turn to be on watch. I'd rather know what iI'm up against before I have to face it."

As you approach the rocky side of the plateau, you can spot more details. The few people (as you can hear them talking, although the words are not distiguishable yet) have their camp on a rocky ledge about 30 feet (10 meters) above you, in a small cave that could shelter them from possible rain. They made a fire near the base, however it is not visible from your point of view, but from time to time a flame sparks and lita the inside of the cave.

You can spot at least three figures from your point. You are currently about 50 feet from the base of the plateau, and those who have nightvision can see the rocky walls are climable, but that is not the way they came to the camp. About 50 feet to your right, there is a rocky slope with visible marks the people made while going up. The slope is made of loose rocks and debris that fell from the side of the plateau.

The edge that led them from the slope to the cave leads further to your left.

The talks above are fairly quiet - not that they try to be quiet and whisper, but they do not make any loud noises. It doesn't look like they held any guard or watch the approach...

If you decide to approach in any way, please add stealth roll.