The dragonborn looks curiously at the hawk when it alights upon the boat. That was odd. He had never seen a hawk be so comfortable around humans. Maybe it was-
He jumps back a bit and lets out a small yelp of surprise the the hawk shifts back into Shay, and then he immediately looks embarrassed. Of course it was Shay! How could he have forgotten that she could turn into animals.
Shuffling slightly, he responds sheepishly, "Technically, we attacked them, but they were attacking the folks on this boat first. Their leader managed to escape on the back of a giant crocodile down that way." He points with an ashen finger to where the crocodile and its rider fled. "I have no idea where they went after that, but they weren't too keen on sticking around once their minions started... dying."
The realization of what he just did started to finally sink in. He had killed people. Suddenly, the scent of charred flesh and sight of smoking corpses assaulted him, and a waive of nausea washed over him. A part of him rationalized that if he and Harold didn't intervene, these innocent people on the boat would have been slaughtered, but that still didn't change the fact that he killed several people. The part that terrified him the most was how ridiculously easy it was. He didn't even want to contemplate what would have happened if his magic went rampant like it did the other night.
The boatmen shake their heads to Harold’s question. No one recognizes the tattoo, or if they do, they keep their mouths shut about it.
Some are injured, and they tend to each other's wounds while the pilot keeps an eye on their course downriver. Soon, two of the boatmen jump the gunwale into the shallows and pull the keelboat ashore at the sandbar from which Shay, Harold and Rastrin had split up an hour earlier. Wit and Marcos are both there, approaching the keelboat with interest. Marcos arches an eyebrow, awaiting a report, and after hearing about the melee on the water, and seeing Harold’s drawing of the X-rune, Marcos holds up a pendant.
“This was found at the site of the delegation ambush. A similar rune is carved into it.” He passes it around. The rune is a triangle lying flat on one side with a notch in its base. Like a doorway into a mountain. “None of us knows its meaning. But it was by itself, not on one of the fallen escort.”
“And, no clue as to where the delegation captives — if indeed, they were captured and not merely incinerated or otherwise disposed — no clue where they may have been taken?,” he asks, his glance falling on Shay.
Rastrin’s recap earns a proper look of puzzlement from Shay, particularly regarding the attacker’s leader taking off on a crocodile. “There must be something in the water over here for people to choose such unconventional mounts.” The Dragonborn man quiets soon after and Shay gives what space she can afford, still getting used to his abrupt silences.
Shay lingers back as they regroup with Wit and Marcos, mostly out of interest in what information her companions came across during their split. She assists those that need help as they get off of the keelboat and on to land, going to join the others soon after as talk of a mysterious symbol is brought up.
With nothing to offer to their conversation, Shay simply waits until Marcos finally turns to her expectantly. “The only thing I managed to find on my outing relating to the delegation was one of their keelboats tucked away in a spot hidden from where anyone could immediately see it down on land. If there was anyone there alive or otherwise they weren’t visible from the air.”
The dragonborn's interest is piqued when Shay mentions she found one of the delegation's keelboats. Did that mean that one of the ankheg-riding bandits were still in the area? "Were there any towns or anything near the boat that the bandits could have dragged the kidnapped delegation members off to?" His knowledge about the area's geography was shaky at best, so he had no idea where the closest town even was.
"Well damn... I guess we should have kept one of the bandits alive for questioning. I didn't think that there was a connection between them and whoever ambushed the caravan." Harold says with a sigh. "I didn't see which way the crocodile rider went either, so I imagine tracking them down would be quite difficult." He adds with a frown before running his hand through his beard. "Unless we are able to pick up any ankheg tracks... speaking to the crocodile rider might be our only lead..."
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RASTRIN
The dragonborn looks curiously at the hawk when it alights upon the boat. That was odd. He had never seen a hawk be so comfortable around humans. Maybe it was-
He jumps back a bit and lets out a small yelp of surprise the the hawk shifts back into Shay, and then he immediately looks embarrassed. Of course it was Shay! How could he have forgotten that she could turn into animals.
Shuffling slightly, he responds sheepishly, "Technically, we attacked them, but they were attacking the folks on this boat first. Their leader managed to escape on the back of a giant crocodile down that way." He points with an ashen finger to where the crocodile and its rider fled. "I have no idea where they went after that, but they weren't too keen on sticking around once their minions started... dying."
The realization of what he just did started to finally sink in. He had killed people. Suddenly, the scent of charred flesh and sight of smoking corpses assaulted him, and a waive of nausea washed over him. A part of him rationalized that if he and Harold didn't intervene, these innocent people on the boat would have been slaughtered, but that still didn't change the fact that he killed several people. The part that terrified him the most was how ridiculously easy it was. He didn't even want to contemplate what would have happened if his magic went rampant like it did the other night.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
The boatmen shake their heads to Harold’s question. No one recognizes the tattoo, or if they do, they keep their mouths shut about it.
Some are injured, and they tend to each other's wounds while the pilot keeps an eye on their course downriver. Soon, two of the boatmen jump the gunwale into the shallows and pull the keelboat ashore at the sandbar from which Shay, Harold and Rastrin had split up an hour earlier. Wit and Marcos are both there, approaching the keelboat with interest. Marcos arches an eyebrow, awaiting a report, and after hearing about the melee on the water, and seeing Harold’s drawing of the X-rune, Marcos holds up a pendant.
“This was found at the site of the delegation ambush. A similar rune is carved into it.” He passes it around. The rune is a triangle lying flat on one side with a notch in its base. Like a doorway into a mountain. “None of us knows its meaning. But it was by itself, not on one of the fallen escort.”
“And, no clue as to where the delegation captives — if indeed, they were captured and not merely incinerated or otherwise disposed — no clue where they may have been taken?,” he asks, his glance falling on Shay.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
SHAY
Rastrin’s recap earns a proper look of puzzlement from Shay, particularly regarding the attacker’s leader taking off on a crocodile. “There must be something in the water over here for people to choose such unconventional mounts.” The Dragonborn man quiets soon after and Shay gives what space she can afford, still getting used to his abrupt silences.
Shay lingers back as they regroup with Wit and Marcos, mostly out of interest in what information her companions came across during their split. She assists those that need help as they get off of the keelboat and on to land, going to join the others soon after as talk of a mysterious symbol is brought up.
With nothing to offer to their conversation, Shay simply waits until Marcos finally turns to her expectantly. “The only thing I managed to find on my outing relating to the delegation was one of their keelboats tucked away in a spot hidden from where anyone could immediately see it down on land. If there was anyone there alive or otherwise they weren’t visible from the air.”
RASTRIN
The dragonborn's interest is piqued when Shay mentions she found one of the delegation's keelboats. Did that mean that one of the ankheg-riding bandits were still in the area? "Were there any towns or anything near the boat that the bandits could have dragged the kidnapped delegation members off to?" His knowledge about the area's geography was shaky at best, so he had no idea where the closest town even was.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
Harold
"Well damn... I guess we should have kept one of the bandits alive for questioning. I didn't think that there was a connection between them and whoever ambushed the caravan." Harold says with a sigh. "I didn't see which way the crocodile rider went either, so I imagine tracking them down would be quite difficult." He adds with a frown before running his hand through his beard. "Unless we are able to pick up any ankheg tracks... speaking to the crocodile rider might be our only lead..."