Normont feels the hairs prickle up on the back of his neck as if they are being watched......but looking about there is only snow and bare rock for miles. Nowhere for an unseen observer to hide....unless they are buried in a snow drift...which seems a way to freeze to death quite quickly by Normonts reckoning.

"Um, do any of you fell like you are being watched?", Normont asks the others, as he starts to equip his shield. "I see no hiding places other than the snow, but I do get a funny feeling"

Amber takes to the skies to check a different vantage point after a few words of instruction in gnomish.

Amber Perception: 8+4=12

Amber doesn't seem to spot anything out of the ordinary.

(Lokilia Perception Check: 13)

(Dev Perception: 13+2=15)

Dev has a pretty good view of the group’s surroundings, and searches the area quickly for hostile eyes peeking out of shadows. But after a moment, he turns back to Normont and with a quick motion indicates that he sees nothing unusual.

Still, now that everyone is scanning the area, Dev then pulls back his hood, and using Thaumaturgy, shouts — in a diplomatic tone — his voice carrying across the mountain vale like an alpine horn.  

”Hello? Please come out. There’s nothing to fear from us, as long as we don’t need to fear you. We mean no harm.”

Some of the banked snow upslope shifts alarmingly at Devs shout but then settles again.  No one reveal themselves.

Normont watches the snow shift, trying to work out if it was people or a creature, or just the reverberations of Dev's shout possibly causing it to shift with the potential for an avalanche.

(OOC: DM - Are we at risk of an avalanche where we are?)

( OOC: Well......there's steep sided mountains and a lot of snow......not super at risk but there's always a chance...)

Lokilia says, "I don't see anything. But if you guys have a feeling, I'd rather keep moving then.  How much longer do you suppose we can travel before calling it a day?"  

"I would hope we can reach that tower, and potentially spend a night on a stone floor rather than a snow covered one", Normont replies, following Lokilia's advice and moving on. He does not put his shield away though, and keeps a wary eye on their surroundings.

If he spots a drift of snow large enough to conceal a person or creatures, he waits before approaching it, or chooses a path to avoid it.

Dev’s eyes widen warily when the snow shifts in response to his voice. But when no one replies, he pulls up his hood, frowns at his magic shoes — he stopped feeling his toes some time ago due to the cold — and follows the others toward the tower, nodding in agreement with Normont’s plan.

The four companions hike down into the snow filled valley, soon having difficulties as the snow depth increases markedly forcing them to guess their steps, the surface is smooth and unmarred by anywhere someone could hide but the feeling of being watched does not lessen as they approach the tower.

Each step becomes a struggle as the slope continues down but the snow makes it difficult to judge if solid ground is below or not, some find their footwear is assisting them greatly...others not so much.

( Survival Checks DC 14 from everyone and Perception Checks DC 12 from two of you.)

(Lokilia Survival: 24; Perception: 25)

Dev Survival: 8+2=10 / Perception: 2+2=4 (Passive Perception: 12)

Quinn Survival: 8

Normont finds the going more difficult than most. What would be knee deep to the others is waist deep to his little frame. Much like Dev, he relies on his magic shoes to keep him moving.

Survival: 19+2=21

Whilst Dev and Quinn struggle greatly as the pass through the snow, Dev because of his dense frame tends to sink ever deeper and has to constantly find his footing and force his way forward, Dev is simply unused to traversing snow at all and often finds himself stumbling forward.  It is hard work for Normont but a combination of following the wide path forged by Quinn and some deft footwork means he gets through quite well. Lokilia on the other hand almost skates across the surface, never stopping long enough to sink down as she effortlessly glides across the snow.

She notes the tower and recalling the map knows that they must be in the right spot.....this is the place...their destination.  Thylacala......but it was different than the writings in the journal Magnus had examined had said.....where were the dark towers and sand swept streets? Beneath the snow......or tumbled down and recalled only as a memory....

So the tower must be the library?  The place Tlu had fled and the Cerberus exhibition leader Ubo still resided in.....

Quinn says under his breath, "I hate snow" as he sinks deep into the snow.

Normont pats Quinn on the back trying to placate the big genasi, having used the path he furrowed.

"Soon be at the tower, and there shouldn't be any snow in there", he says cheerfully.

(OOC: Waiting for Lokilia to point out the tower is our destination)

Dev continues to be awestruck by Quinn’s strength and perseverance pushing through the deep drifts of caked powder while carrying the body of their so-recently deceased companion.

The teenager’s moribund thinking has had occasion to pause due to the repeated interruption of lost footing followed by face-planting in the soft snowbank to one side or the other. More than once he has pulled himself out of the accommodating white covering that flops over on top of him, found his feet, and looked around for the others, noticing someone missing and surprised, momentarily, that Magnus is not in his usual place guarding the rear.

But Dev keeps his thoughts to himself and smiles wanly and with quiet admiration when Quinn complains, not of the burden he alone is carrying, but of the treacherous terrain, to which all of them can readily agree. Well… maybe not Lokilia, Dev notices, in turn now gaping at her incredible lightfootedness and sending a delighted smile her way.

“You look like you were born to walk on the snow,” he says with forced cheerfulness.