The Claws continue ahead of you, an endless sea of rocky fingers jutting into the darkening sky. Lah'thys and Ava lead the way, keeping the group glued to the winding trail of your quarry. Along the way you notices occasional bones picked clean, and other signs of animal life. Small shrubs with dark brown leaves and long thorns peek out from cracks in the rock. Despite being mostly barren, this wilderness does still bare at least a little resemblance to wild areas you all are more familiar with.

It takes another few hours of hiking, but eventually Xandar hears faint sounds of voices echoing through a canyon about a quarter mile ahead. Snowball confirms this with his keen eyes a few minutes later, relaying to Liafial that there is a group up ahead. Lah'thys signals for you all to proceed quietly, hoping to get a jump on the devils. You all creep forward through the stone structures, and to your surprise a howling wind begins to blow from behind you just as you begin to move. This seems like a boon, the noise drowning out the sounds of your approach. When you peak into the canyon, you get a glimpse of the party you've been tracking. There are three humanoids you all recognize as tieflings, accompanied by two wolf-like canines with black fur and glowing embers for eyes. They seem to be harnessed with leather straps, each dragging along crates. As the gust blows past them, one of the beasts lifts up its head, sniffs, then turns with a growl in your direction. Those of you in front jump back around the corner, and you can hear shouts in a language you don't understand. They don't seem to have spotted you, but clearly they know something is there.

(You won't get a surprise round, but you do have a moment to decide how you want to engage. They're about 200 feet down the canyon and possibly moving closer to investigate. As always feel free to plan a bit in the OOC thread for brevity. If y'all are going to attack, gimme some initiative rolls)

Ospos turns to Lah'thys and asks, "Those are tieflings, right?  Do you know or can you tell if they belong to the Shadowfell or come from one of your demon gates?"

Ospos: "Yes they're tieflings but even those few that live on the plane are not native. And they don't walk around with hellhounds. These guys are definitely from the Hells."

Ospos nods, "Understood.  Fight first, ask questions later.  Not much I can do from here.  They need to be a third of this distance before I can do something."

Bram looks at the others, his back up against one of the natural formations. Before he says anything, he winks and then transforms into Frank. He becomes leaner and even more elven in features, but with the sometimes darker coloured skin, of a wood-elf and the darker mood that comes with this persona.

Frank lets out a quiet sigh.

"Well, looks like they are aware of us, or that something is up, at least."

"I suggest we don't sit around too long, in case they decide to try leaving, or sneaking up on us and gutting us while we daydream."

Frank turns and starts to head closer to the targets, trying to keep the natural formations between himself and the targets until he is within 120ft.

"Xandar, go high, keep an eye on them, report any movement to me."

Stealth check to try and remain hidden while moving from, natural formation to natural formation: 18

Perception check for Xandar, to keep track of the targets movements: 5

Without speaking, Ava will follow behind, doing her best to remain quiet.

Stealth check : 2

As you all stir back to action, darting around into the canyon in pursuit of the smugglers, you find yourselves face to face with a snarling hellhound bounding towards you. You barely catch sight of the other hound and the tieflings fleeing farther into the canyon, ducking behind the rocks. The bouncing echoes mean even Xandar can’t pinpoint them in the chaos.

Everyone give me some initiative rolls, map coming at some point this weekend

Frank's Initiative: 19

Ava's Initiative: 18

Ospos initiative: 24

Clermar initiative: 22

Initiative for Nean: 7