Kyrian growls "Damn it, they're going to get away. Our horses will tire faster than theirs."

He thinks back to the map in the queen's war-room, trying to remember if there's somewhere they could corral one of the riders into to cut off their escape.

(History 19 or Survival 20 if either is needed)

(Refer to the map in the OoC, that's essentially what Kyrian would remember.)

Kyrian recalls the general landscape of the area from the map he'd memorized: there weren't any crossings he was aware of for the river to the east. The woods to your south that the group seemed to be heading toward would be dense. Far too dense to keep up this pace, but your horses won't be able to keep up the gallop long enough to reach them.

"I say we try to catch one of the groups," Feliks suggests. "If we can even catch one of them, we can hopefully gain some information!" He seems intent on continuing on and trying to catch one of the groups.  As they split, he tries to look for any signs of one of the groups - or just one of the riders - might be faltering or less steady than the others. (Survival: 13; OOC - not sure this is the right ability but let me know if it should be something else.) 

Alaric pushes his horse onwards, watching the group split in front of them. "Kyrian is right, we won't be able to keep up the pace long enough, we're going to lose them." Eventually, they would begin to pull away, probably disappear in the woods, where Cruentus wouldn't be able to track them from above...

"We can keep up for as long as we can, so long as Valeria's winged friend sees where they enter the woods, we may be able to track them from there."

"There's little point, we don't want to lame a horse before we actually reach Marne. They're not headed towards the town, not yet at least. Our best course of action is probably to get to Marne and inform them of the danger." Kyrian's voice is reluctant. 

"As much as I want to apprehend these savages, they’re beyond our reach now. They outnumber us and, if we’re not careful, they’ll outmaneuver us as well. I agree with Kyrian. Our best option is to warn the nearby town if there not already aware.", admits Kertez.

As you watch the riders make haste towards the forest, you wonder: where could they even be going? 

The four of you native to Muindor and Thilia recall that its lands are peppered with the ruins of ancient strongholds from the Age of Priests. At some point in your education or upbringing you vaguely remember one being placed somewhere within these woods.

It is Valeria however, that recalls more detail of it: Ironwood. One of the largest castles on this side of the continent, though throughout history no one has tried to reclaim it. During the Dark Years it was burned with a fire hot enough to melt stone, leaving it in ruin. Locals avoid it like the plague, out of fear that some curse may remain from the God-King's armies. The perfect hideout for a group of ne'er-do-wells.

"Ironwood..." The young red-haired lady calls out to the others. "...they might be heading for Ironwood. It's an old ruined castle that probably is their hideout." She continues. She looks around at the others, she herself torn over wanting to pursue these ruthless murderers and staying on the course as the queen's envoy. What would her queen want her to do?

"But... we should try and catch them," Felkis says, now sounding a bit uncertain. "We can't just let them get away."  He hears what Valeria has to say. "Ironwood seems like a reasonable guess. It's something to be investigated.  But I'm not sure if we should just barge into a place like that. And we do have our diplomatic mission.  If we really can't catch them, perhaps we continue on with our mission, let my mother know of what we have seen, and then come back to investigate." 

Alaric pulls the reins of his horse, slowing it down as they seem to have given up the chase for now. "We can at least confirm they're holed up at Ironwood, I'm sure Lady Ellys will understand our delay." 

Feliks gives Alaric a glance. "Fine, if we're all agreed.  But if we proceed towards Ironwood we need to be cautious. Scouting, not attacking." 

As you slow your pace the group of riders pull ahead, still riding apart from one another while heading towards the forest. You eventually lose sight of them as they pull further away. After an hour and a half you reach the forest yourself, greeted with a dense treeline that stretches for miles in either direction. You're able to maneuver your mounts in between the trees, but the large four-legged beasts would be hard pressed to move quickly here (the forest counts as difficult terrain for your mounts).

Valeria recalls that the Ironwood was located somewhere in the south-eastern portion of this forest - near the river, but not built upon its banks.

The trees loom before you, how would you like to proceed?

"Perhaps we should leave our mounts and continue on foot. This forest may be too dense for the horses. It might also be safer, should things become messy with these raiders.", suggests Kertez.

"Leave our mounts?" Felix says when Kertez suggests it. He clearly sounds reluctant about the idea. "Yea, I guess it might be easier going and a bit easier to keep ourselves concealed. But what of the animals? I'm not sure they'd be safe just leaving them." 

Kyrian nods "Yes, we'll likely be faster on foot." He looks over at Feliks. "You can summon your dragon over long distances, can you not? Would it be possible to leave her to guard the mounts?"

He absentmindedly taps the side of his scabbard as he talks. After they've halted for a few minutes, he looks around, clearly worried about a possible ambush.

(Perception: 23)

As soon as the decision to continue towards the ruined castle is made, Valeria sends her mostly trusty familiar to scout out the supposedly hidden lair of the ruthless raiders, flying there swiftly but being cautious once starting to investigate the castle, hoping to find out if the raiders were indeed hiding there and how many of them there were approximately.

Cruentus
Stealth: 5
Perception: 23

Meanwhile the young red-haired lady follows along, leaving the decisions on whether to ride or go on by foot to the boys. She preferred to not walk but she realized comfort was not a primary concern right now. 

"Yes, I am able to summon Nixri," Feliks says in reply to Kyrian. "It would make sense to leave her with the horses as a guard."  If the others are agreeable with the plan, he would then dismount, preparing to continue on foot.  

You tie your mounts up at the forest's edge, leaving behind the drake Nixri to guard them. It's noticeably darker and cooler as you step into the trees, as the thick canopy above blocks most of the sunlight. The trees here are large, towering above you. 

Cruentus flies ahead, deftly darting around the tree trunks as he flies off in the direction of the castle. You follow after the familiar, trekking for a further 4 miles on foot, heading vaguely southeast while keeping an eye out for the raiders. While you brace for an ambush, none arrives.

The crumbling gatehouse of the ruined castle finally comes into view of the small dragon familiar. It easily dwarfs even the tallest keep of Dragon's Tooth. You may have heard tale of how massive the Ironwood is, but nothing prepared you for this. The outer wall stretches out beyond your sight in either direction, reduced to rubble in some sections. Cruentus flies up above the wall to get a better view of the entire castle. Through his eyes Valeria would see that the outer wall must easily contain more than 300 acres worth of land. The main keep stretches up just barely above the treetops, and looks large enough to fit the entirety of Dragon's Tooth in it alone.

There are no signs of the bandits immediately...But with how massive this place is that doesn't really surprise you. The castle is large enough to hide an army without outward signs. A small group could be almost anywhere here.

(Assuming Valeria shares what she has seen.) 

Realizing they are nearing the Ironwood, Feliks slows, then stops. He looks around for any small animals that might be close-by.  (Perception: 9; his intention is to use Speak with Animals to ask if any have seens signs of humanoids amidst the ruins, if he can find animals to speak to.) 

"The place is massive. The horses should have left fresh tracks by the entrance if they are here though right?" The young red-haired lady, now on foot, says, looking around at the others, seeming to assume one of the boys would be able to tell.