Natalia wtands at the river’s edge, watching as the others cross first. She scans the treeline and searches the ground for human-made disturbances that would alert them of others.

“Who are these brigands?” she asks Bayle. “Are any from the town?"

Natalia's scan of the treeline reveals nothing she's able to perceive. Her study of the ground reveals no obvious footprints either. This area does seem to be accessed by humans with some degree of regularity, but nothing to suggest a trap, alarm or ambush.

In response to her question, Bayle nearly stifles a laugh. "No. Not from our town. None of our folk never did anything more exciting than kill a bear or help ready a heifer for calving." He gestures northward, then eastward. "Tastra says most of the bandits are outlaws fled from Twin Rivers... or castoffs from Ciär Beyond the Mountains. Those of us from the town've got nothing for them. The occasional shipment of wool and grain... Maybe some fresh hogs now and then.... But sometimes travelers come this way to get through the mountain pass to The Windstone Tower. Folks with real coin in their purses. That's the real reason the brigands are here."

He does his own casual study of the treeline as he talks. "Hopefully, if they see us, they'll figure we're just a village hunting party. It's close enough to the truth... But no guarantee they won't hurt us anyway just to get their blood up, you know?" The boy attempts a tone of brash desensitization, but his very real fear shines through as clear as day..

Natalia nods. "Then they won't be missed if we need to strike down a few. I advise you hide as soon as you recognize them." She looks the group, impressed by their wit, and her posture slightly relaxes. "Bayle is right. Seems like this path is rarely traveled. I don't see any evident threat."

Kas steps out and almost slips on the first rock (Acro - 10) but gets his footing and hops across. 

The entire party successfully crosses the river without incident and continues following Bayle's lead.

Over the next half mile, the foliage starts to become rather close.

The more experienced travelers among you keep a keen eye out for bandits or predators, as this seems to be a perfect ambush spot. Day old footprints in the earth confirm your fears. However, before anyone has a chance to mention anything your attention is drawn to Bayle's sharp intake of shocked breath.

You look ahead and see bodies strewn across the ground.... Motley, salvaged armor leave no doubt. These were bandits. About a half dozen or so, give or take. Hard to determine an exact number since the corpses are not all in one piece.

Music Cue

You see sundered limbs, blood-spattered trees, melee weapons cast yards away from their owners. Something savaged these cutthroats. Something that can rip and bite and rend.

Bayle remains still, his eyes wildly scanning the environment. He doesn't say a word but the questions scream from his face.

"What did this? Is it still here? Are we going to die? Can I run? Should I fight? Can I do this? How do I not die?" 

Natalia gently turns Bayle away from the gruesome scene. "Keep watch. Let us know if you see anything unusual out here," she instructs. "Especially if you find any inhuman tracks."

With her axe in hand, she carefully approaches the bodies, using her foot or the handle of her weapon to examine the more intact remains. She nonchalantly flips the pieces over, looking for any signs of life or identification. She scrunches her nose at some of the more mangled parts.

"Looks like our bandit problem is solved," she jokes. She tries to make sense if the weapons were torn from the victims before or after, finding the afrermath puzzling. 

Gregor places a hand on Bayle’s shoulder as Natalia crosses to the bodies.  He keeps Bayle facing away from her work and smiles at him. “You have led us well.  There is much sorrow in the world and yet we must follow our path and help where we can.  Should danger fall on us, please run a short distance and hide.  If it goes ill for us, run all the way to the village. Someday you may learn to fight, but better to do the learning first and the fighting second.”  Gregor watches Bayle for signs of calming and over his shoulder watches Natalia and her surroundings for signs of trouble.

Once Bayle is calm he joins Natalia and examines the bodies to see if he can discern anything.

Kas lets the others know and will search the area stealthy (Stealth - 21)

Bayle looks pallid as he obeys Natalia's instruction to turn away. However, he quickly warms upon hearing Gregor's words. He nods silently in agreement with the monk's instructions, light returning to his eyes. He takes a few steps away from the carnage, setting his back flush against a tree.

As Natalia approaches the bodies to take a closer look, Kas silently creeps through the devastation to search the wider area. He sees a few tree limbs the bandits must've been collecting to build an ambush blind, but otherwise finds nothing out of place.

Meanwhile, Natalia's inspection reveals a pretty clear pattern... Whatever attacked the bandits was an averaged sized quadruped, pawed feet, canine. A wolf most likely.

It was an ambush, for sure. The predator took them out one by one, dragging the bodies here and there, away from their dropped weapons. Bracing violence. The body parts look like they've been fought over, pulled apart, yet Natalia only registers one set of prints. Very strange...

The bodies are strange as well. It seems like they were killed yesterday but the decomposition appears further along than that. As she pushes one of the bodies over with her foot, Natalia's eyes go wide with an eruption of movement. A swarm of writhing grubs spills out of the corpse. A couple of them start crawling up her boot!

(Music Cue)

Natalia, make a DC 10 Constitution Saving Throw to avoid the rogue grubs burrowing into your flesh... AAAAAND WE ARE IN INITIATIVE!

(To be continued via Discord...)

Kas Init 21

Gregor checks the back of Natalia’s armor for grubs.  He lights a torch to burn away any remaining grubs on the ground or bodies. He shakes his head considering Natalia’s analysis. “Then there is something unnatural in this wolf.”

Natalia nods at Gregor. "I agree. In my professional experience-- as the founder of Nightmare Corp with a long history of service and protection, it's hard to believe a group of bandits were easily torn apart by a single creature." She gazes into the distance, her great axe resting over her shoulder, and her earlier rage now faded. "It is big. And it is bad."

She points to the tracks ahead. "This is the direction it took. Does it mirror our route to the Weeping Rock?" She asks.

Gregor retrieves his shuriken and cleans it, tucking it back into a sleeve.  He looks to Bayle to see how he is faring. 

Tormund looks around at the bodies and nods approvingly as Gregor lights a torch. "These bodies should be burned and put to rest, do we have time to do so now? We would have to stay a short time to ensure the fire does not spread. I would hate to lose the trail of whatever did this, but I'm not sure what I could do when faced with such a creature."

“We can do that.”  Gregor burns the last of the visible grubs. “But the sun will not stay in the sky forever.  I would rather be greeted by the warm hearth of the giant slayer than the jaws of this creature at night.”

Gregor puts out his torch and stows it.

”These men are dead and the villagers may yet live.”

Natalia nods. "We should move on ahead for Bayle as well-- this is beyond what he or we were asked to do." 

Bayle remains standing near the tree, clearly shaken by the rot grubs but heartened to see how quickly you all dispatched with the threat.

In response to Natalia's question about the route he replies, "It's possible... The tracks you're pointing to lead into the woods... If it went in there, it could come out again just about anywhere... Nothing you all can't handle though, right?"

In response to your discussion about how to proceed, Bayle nods at Natalia's suggestion. "I agree. I didn't come out here to fight a wolf if we don't have to. I just want to get you guys where you're going and help the town." He nods toward the east. "We should be able to pick up the trail a few hundred yards that way. Come on..."

Weeping Rock

(Music Cue)

The path continues to wind uphill for some time, but eventually the trees begin to thin out and you find yourself following a fast-flowing stream. Coming to the top of a small rise, embedded in the sheer, smooth stone cliffside you spot the source of the water - the ‘Weeping Rock’ itself.

The massive grey rock outcropping is easily 50’ high and covered with moss. From this angle, the huge formation bears a striking resemblance to a stony face with a low, shallow cave for a mouth and craggy nose. Various scalable crevices resemble age lines.

Water seeps steadily from two wide patches of porous stone that resemble sad, weeping eyes, before flowing down the hill toward you.

Bayle stops, indicates toward the formation.

"This is her," He says. "Weeping rock."

He turns to you all and beams, proud to have brought you this far.

He looks to Tormund and continues, without missing a beat, "You want me to climb up with the rope like last time? I can do it, no problem. I've climbed this rock a hundred times."

"Well done Bayle." Kas adds. "I think we can take it from here."

Gregor eyes the rock face. “Hundreds of times?  Either you are a heroic climber indeed or you have found a path with little risk.”

(Does he seem to be exaggerating?)