Valley of the Dead Campaign Thread

“A royal steed to be sure!” Lirander says. He seems genuinely enthusiastic about the mounts. 

Kimryn pats the goat and looks it in the eye. Seeing a small spark of intellect there, she looks at the back of the goat and digs about in her pack. She takes out a small packet and puts it in her pocket. "Butt cream to ease the pains of a rough ride."

After hopping on, she announces, "Ok you let's go."

Merdath chuckles at the butt cream comment, and the goats seem to enjoy the positive attention they're receiving with shakes of their head and various licks to nearby hands.  

Vyrrak had never been much of a rider in his years, but no time to dwell on that. Far more greater things were at stake than his backside later tonight. He takes the reins and gives the goat a pat on its head and a stroke down its neck.  "Yes, you're all going to be just fine. We'll certainly keep them safe ma'am and get them returned to you."

Vyrrak turns to the group, "Yes I do believe it is time to hit the road. We shouldn't be out too long though unless we want these goats taking off without us, ha!"

Each of the goats is a serviceable mount, carrying you out of the village and passed the guard with relative ease. As you pass the watchtower, the archer calls out, "If you get into trouble, I'll see it and provide assistance if I can!" 

The beach isn't all that long, and you reach the hills within the hour you left. The goats carry you up to about 150 feet from the tree line and then stop. They aren't making noises, but it appears as though they're either not a fan of tall leafy greens, or, they're simply not interested in going into them. They wander about the hill, grazing as goats do upon the small grasses and bushes that have accompanied you through your journey here since you left the sand. 

The forest from this distance is thickly wooded. The easy to see through and navigate cypress trees that dotted your ride up to this point have given way to densely packed pines and the occasional redwood. Its hard to look more than a couple hundred feet into it before they entirely obscure whatever might be lurking beyond this point. Just to the South of your position, you can see the entrance to the pathway through, and just to the North of your position Kimryn would recognize this is where that herd of something was weaving in and out of the trees moving seemingly towards the pathway. 

From here, the small town you've ridden from can be seen but only slightly. The watchtower looks like a small drop of ink on a map, and its a reminder of the guard's competence that he could actually see whatever was over here. 

Are there signs of what it was? Animals? Men?

Perception check 13 

Rhoc scans the area, looking for any kind of danger or signs of anything unusual worth further investigation and keeping a tight hold on the magical shield that greatly amplifies his senses. He also examines the area to see if he can determine what kind of creatures have been around this area.

OOC: Perception 18, Survival 2 (Nat 1)

Kimryn...

Rhoc...

"Appreciate the back up," Vyrrak calls up the tower as he travels with the group on goatback.

When they suddenly stop though he gets very curious. The goats sure know more than we do at this point, which sparks an idea. He could simply try to speak with the goats themselves but he puts this idea away for the moment. He knows the goats were only going to take them all so far, but still they could have heard something so he keeps his eyes peeled and scans the treeline for the possibility of something being out there.

Perception: 13

"There. Those trees are damaged all at typical chest height. Whatever it was, there was a lot of them and they don't seem particularly dexterous, battering themselves into whatever is in front of them. Hmmmm..." Rhoc scratches his chin thoughtfully. "Could be bears. I thought I heard they were solitary things, but maybe this region has given them reason to adapt and form herds. Could have also been a rengale of deer that were terrified of something and not especially careful of where they were fleeing to. Look here."

Rhoc gestures to some trees with the dried blood. "That blood was more or less dried when it made contact with the trees. The smear is all wrong for fresh blood. Maybe whatever it was was previously injured. Or perhaps it... they, were carrying carcasses to feed on later. Are any of you survivalists? What can you make of these?"

Vyrrak notices all the broken branches the same time as the others and begins walking towards then to investigate further but stops when he hears Rhoc weigh in on the situation. Vyrrak looks up and eagerly answers him, "Fantastic deduction! I had missed that. By all means I'll take a closer look at that blood, my magical lenses will help as well give me a moment."

At which point Vyrrak reaches into the sack on his hip and pulls out an ornate item looking like a sextant but with crystal lenses the size of his eyes. He puts them up to his face as if he were to about to go to a masquerade party, blinks 3 times and the crystals glow a faint blue. Vyrrak then starts pacing around the scene closely inspecting the blood smears and broken branches looking for any clues as to what creature or creatures could have caused this.

Survival: 6

Investigation(A): 16

Vyrrak...

"Well the goats seem to think this is as far as we should go.'

"You guys want to continue on foot?"

Vyrrak quickly snaps the eyes of minute seeing shut and shoves it back into his sack rather aggressively. He turns to the rest of the group and gives them the unfortunate news, "Well I didn't turn up much more to work with. Rhoc you might just take my detective job," Vyrrak finally breaks his displeasure with a hearty laugh then continues, "It certainly seems like a dozen bears, or something along that size and strength, out hunting together and this blood is from their recent meals. Still strange why they would herd together though...they aren't known for that or even traveling during the day..."

As Vyrrak trails off he hears Kimryn and gets jolted from his thoughts, "Wh-Oh yes, I'm sure they aren't going any further. We should certainly continue on foot at least for a bit. Unfortunately it doesn't look like whatever we're tracking continued through this clearing. Seems like they just turned tail and ran for some reason, they could have even went towards the valley..."

Rhoc dismounts reluctantly, trying to gauge how Wind Dancer feels at the present moment and whether she can sense something he cannot.

OOC: Animal Handling 17

“This road leads where we are going. Whatever caused this appears to be following the road. We could cut a more direct path through the forested hills, but that could be just as dangerous. How far do we want to take this investigation?” Rhoc asks the group. “Whatever path we do choose to take, we could get to the Keep today, just a little after sundown if we don’t encounter any… bears.”

Rhoc...

Rhoc grows pensive. What could all this mean? This is likely the direct cause of the lost contact with Lord Harkowitz, but why? What birthed this terror on the lands? What could be so destructive that Lord Harkowitz would fail to beat back whatever this is with his own standing soldiers?

He thinks back to the last time he heard from his son, many years ago now. By letter, of course, and little more of value was in the letter than to tell him that he was now a grandfather. Adalin has a home… somewhere outside the Keep. A cottage, if he recalls correctly. Is he still there, or would he have moved into the Keep at some point given his scholarly mind?

Don’t let worry make you stupid, old man. You can’t help him if your blood is smeared across a dozen trees.

Rhoc swallows hard. “Is anyone feeling any particular way about our options?”

“I don’t think we should be traveling at night,” Lirander says. “Why don’t we stay the night in town and head out at first light?”

Rhoc nods, grateful for the wisdom. "Agreed. Do we proceed down the road some or head back now?"