The river does not appear deep enough or wide enough to handle a boat or a barge. A simple flat bottom raft could be used but no signs of one is found around the edge of the river. The river is about 30 yards wide. There appears to be a natural crossing a little bit up-river.
Bastion shakes his head, "They would have beaten us to the river regardless. Even if they'd dallied long enough for us to catch up, we'd be doing so in the middle of the night, and they'd likely have little trouble evading us."
"Also, the tracks stop too soon. Even if they had a barge, the drag marks would lead right up to within a few paces of the river edge at the very least. Perhaps they used some sort of spell to cross the river? Some means of flight or levitation? Perhaps even a short range teleport of the sort that Kat and I make use of?"
"Regardless, if they had a means to just disappear, they'd have pulled this stunt before now. I suggest we fan out and look for additional tracks. Up and down the river for a ways, and the area directly across from here."
Kixarn sends his friend up into the air to scout out the other side of the river, and a little bit up and down as well, looking for signs they actually DID cross. Before he leaves the area, he tosses a few pebbles ahead of the tracks end, curious if something is hidden, since the enemy has proven adept at excellent illusions. After that doesn't (IF it doesn't) pan out, he joins the group that goes upriver, looking there for signs of the foes they seek.
Spot Kixarn/Korvo 12,12
Search 11,20
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?" "Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied ― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kat studies the situation. " We can travel day and night if needed to catch them. We should engage during the daylight though. That will be a huge advantage for us. " She heads downriver to look for signs of where they went.
As everyone spreads out and begins searching both sides of the river as well as upstream and down stream you only see natural inhabitants of the area and no other tracks or signs of the drag marks or other foot prints other than the area leading to the river and your own as you search. It is as if they have vanished in thin air. Even throwing rocks in front of the tracks end reveals the rocks sitting there where they were tossed. The time is now early evening as the sun is slowly heading down. Will you camp here, in the ruins or back at the village.
Bastion glowers at the trail's end, not for the first time. "Okay, so what are the possibilities here? This could be a fake trail of some kind, they could have found a way to hide their tracks from this point on, they could have long range teleporting after all, or they could have flown away from this spot by one means or another. Anything else I'm missing?"
"Regardless, if it is any of those possibilities, that leaves open the possibility that they are back in those ruins right now, hiding and waiting for us to give up and leave, or get too far away on this hunt to defend the town."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Thier illusions are expert, I don't know if we see real here, or magic disguise. I'll try best to find out, but they are beyond me, this skill." Kix offers, looking closely at the area, trying to find discrepancies. Using detect magic, he'll scan the area nearby, going to the edge of the water.
Disbelive 9
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?" "Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied ― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Myth will preface that question: Can anyone cast or create a warding so we can camp here or on the trail if we decide to travel in the dark? I know it was mentioned about traveling nite & day, but I for one do not care to be at a disadvantage while we sleep. No offense Badstion, but you are only one.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Avan wouldn't have dallied so long. While the group went off on their searches, Avan walked upstream towards the natural ford looking beside the river for a still, naturally formed pool of water. He begins his low chant and waving his carved bone around, stirring and impacting the water as the spell requires, and clearly picturing the vampire that we fought as the firsthand witnessing of his face wouldn't impact the spell's difficulty. An hour later, with a final impact on the water's surface the ripples slowly dissipate as the Scrying is completed. (Will save negates)
He agrees with the theories put forth so far, and adds, "I don't think they doubled back, the bootprints are all in the same direction. Where the heck could the coffins go? The tides could be different right now, this area could be prone to flood regularly and wash away tracks. Possibly also they could have transported themselves to another plane, but if so why here and not at the dungeon? What is different here that they could not have done this trick earlier...?"
He also shared candidly what he saw in the Scrying, mentioning every little detail, if there was anything at all.
He commends Kixarn's quick thinking with detecting magic auras, hoping that if the spell was powerful enough, some residual energy was left behind. He also joins in disbelieving any illusions that may be around.
Avan scrying reveals a room made of stone with a door. In one corner he can see three coffins as the person he remembers sits there on a table. He can see that there are others moving about like they are preparing for something. He is about to move the view when he sees a white glove cover the view and it ends. As you try to disbelieve nothing happens. Kixarn is able to see that some magic was used at the end of the trail but there is no ongoing magic in the area.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Rivoril, continues to hunt and scour around preparing to camp in the vicinity if the group so decides. Seeing, if the area is to dangerous to camp or if moving on is better.
"I think we need to decide if we are camping here? or going back to defend? We, can wander to the ruins instead,"? Rivoril asks.
"They know I have checked on them," Avan concludes when he relays his vision to the group. "I could not instantly tell if it was one of the rooms we've been in or not, but it's a safer bet to return to the ruin since we have no other clue."
"Unless they dug themselves in here, under where we're standing," he adds, jokingly, but he does look down.
Bastion nods, "Yes, heading back to the ruins is the safer bet for the villagers. We can search that area again, and ask if the locals if there are any other structures that might contain such a room. Let's try to get in position to watch over the area before nightfall."
Kat looks surprised. " How did they get back there? I saw no teleportation circles. If they are capable of getting back some other way they are beyond our capabilities. "
Bastion shakes his head, "All it takes is one person among them skilled at erasing tracks. Leave a trail heading out this way to the we start hunting in the wrong direction, double back to the ruins to wait us out, and erase the return part of that journey. Perhaps they simply flew off during the night."
They might not be at the ruins and instead have used whatever trick they have up their sleeves to head somewhere else. But in the absence of other possible locations with stone walls..."
Arilynia looks around but nothing more than the others. she nods and states that she agrees that going back to the ruins would be the best settling in for the night.
Kate grits her teeth and turns her horse back towards the ruins. " I don't see this being a false trail though. Why not continue it to the river? Then we would have wasted a lot more time going up and downstream looking. I feel they were here and used magic or flight to get away. It doesn't make sense for them to return to the ruins. We just drove them out and they know we will return and do it again. " She shrugs and rides along.
The group turns around and begins following the track back towards the ruins once again. You still are making good time and should make it back to the ruins before the sun sets. As you near the ruins you can see what appears to be a haze in the air and settling dust at the edge of the ruins.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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The river does not appear deep enough or wide enough to handle a boat or a barge. A simple flat bottom raft could be used but no signs of one is found around the edge of the river. The river is about 30 yards wide. There appears to be a natural crossing a little bit up-river.
Bastion shakes his head, "They would have beaten us to the river regardless. Even if they'd dallied long enough for us to catch up, we'd be doing so in the middle of the night, and they'd likely have little trouble evading us."
"Also, the tracks stop too soon. Even if they had a barge, the drag marks would lead right up to within a few paces of the river edge at the very least. Perhaps they used some sort of spell to cross the river? Some means of flight or levitation? Perhaps even a short range teleport of the sort that Kat and I make use of?"
"Regardless, if they had a means to just disappear, they'd have pulled this stunt before now. I suggest we fan out and look for additional tracks. Up and down the river for a ways, and the area directly across from here."
Kixarn sends his friend up into the air to scout out the other side of the river, and a little bit up and down as well, looking for signs they actually DID cross. Before he leaves the area, he tosses a few pebbles ahead of the tracks end, curious if something is hidden, since the enemy has proven adept at excellent illusions. After that doesn't (IF it doesn't) pan out, he joins the group that goes upriver, looking there for signs of the foes they seek.
Spot Kixarn/Korvo 12,12
Search 11,20
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?"
"Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied
― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Myth dismounts and begins his own recon:
Listen: 22
Spot: 25
Search: 11
Kat studies the situation. " We can travel day and night if needed to catch them. We should engage during the daylight though. That will be a huge advantage for us. " She heads downriver to look for signs of where they went.
Spot: 19
Listen: 12
As everyone spreads out and begins searching both sides of the river as well as upstream and down stream you only see natural inhabitants of the area and no other tracks or signs of the drag marks or other foot prints other than the area leading to the river and your own as you search. It is as if they have vanished in thin air. Even throwing rocks in front of the tracks end reveals the rocks sitting there where they were tossed. The time is now early evening as the sun is slowly heading down. Will you camp here, in the ruins or back at the village.
Bastion glowers at the trail's end, not for the first time. "Okay, so what are the possibilities here? This could be a fake trail of some kind, they could have found a way to hide their tracks from this point on, they could have long range teleporting after all, or they could have flown away from this spot by one means or another. Anything else I'm missing?"
"Regardless, if it is any of those possibilities, that leaves open the possibility that they are back in those ruins right now, hiding and waiting for us to give up and leave, or get too far away on this hunt to defend the town."
"Thier illusions are expert, I don't know if we see real here, or magic disguise. I'll try best to find out, but they are beyond me, this skill." Kix offers, looking closely at the area, trying to find discrepancies. Using detect magic, he'll scan the area nearby, going to the edge of the water.
Disbelive 9
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?"
"Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied
― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Myth will preface that question: Can anyone cast or create a warding so we can camp here or on the trail if we decide to travel in the dark? I know it was mentioned about traveling nite & day, but I for one do not care to be at a disadvantage while we sleep. No offense Badstion, but you are only one.
Avan wouldn't have dallied so long. While the group went off on their searches, Avan walked upstream towards the natural ford looking beside the river for a still, naturally formed pool of water. He begins his low chant and waving his carved bone around, stirring and impacting the water as the spell requires, and clearly picturing the vampire that we fought as the firsthand witnessing of his face wouldn't impact the spell's difficulty. An hour later, with a final impact on the water's surface the ripples slowly dissipate as the Scrying is completed. (Will save negates)
He agrees with the theories put forth so far, and adds, "I don't think they doubled back, the bootprints are all in the same direction. Where the heck could the coffins go? The tides could be different right now, this area could be prone to flood regularly and wash away tracks. Possibly also they could have transported themselves to another plane, but if so why here and not at the dungeon? What is different here that they could not have done this trick earlier...?"
He also shared candidly what he saw in the Scrying, mentioning every little detail, if there was anything at all.
He commends Kixarn's quick thinking with detecting magic auras, hoping that if the spell was powerful enough, some residual energy was left behind. He also joins in disbelieving any illusions that may be around.
Disbelieve Will: 26
Avan scrying reveals a room made of stone with a door. In one corner he can see three coffins as the person he remembers sits there on a table. He can see that there are others moving about like they are preparing for something. He is about to move the view when he sees a white glove cover the view and it ends. As you try to disbelieve nothing happens. Kixarn is able to see that some magic was used at the end of the trail but there is no ongoing magic in the area.
Kat scans the area around the tracks ending with sense undead.
Rivoril, continues to hunt and scour around preparing to camp in the vicinity if the group so decides. Seeing, if the area is to dangerous to camp or if moving on is better.
"I think we need to decide if we are camping here? or going back to defend? We, can wander to the ruins instead,"? Rivoril asks.
Spot # 27
Listen #9
Search#19
"They know I have checked on them," Avan concludes when he relays his vision to the group. "I could not instantly tell if it was one of the rooms we've been in or not, but it's a safer bet to return to the ruin since we have no other clue."
"Unless they dug themselves in here, under where we're standing," he adds, jokingly, but he does look down.
Bastion nods, "Yes, heading back to the ruins is the safer bet for the villagers. We can search that area again, and ask if the locals if there are any other structures that might contain such a room. Let's try to get in position to watch over the area before nightfall."
Kat looks surprised. " How did they get back there? I saw no teleportation circles. If they are capable of getting back some other way they are beyond our capabilities. "
Bastion shakes his head, "All it takes is one person among them skilled at erasing tracks. Leave a trail heading out this way to the we start hunting in the wrong direction, double back to the ruins to wait us out, and erase the return part of that journey. Perhaps they simply flew off during the night."
They might not be at the ruins and instead have used whatever trick they have up their sleeves to head somewhere else. But in the absence of other possible locations with stone walls..."
Arilynia looks around but nothing more than the others. she nods and states that she agrees that going back to the ruins would be the best settling in for the night.
Kate grits her teeth and turns her horse back towards the ruins. " I don't see this being a false trail though. Why not continue it to the river? Then we would have wasted a lot more time going up and downstream looking. I feel they were here and used magic or flight to get away. It doesn't make sense for them to return to the ruins. We just drove them out and they know we will return and do it again. " She shrugs and rides along.
The group turns around and begins following the track back towards the ruins once again. You still are making good time and should make it back to the ruins before the sun sets. As you near the ruins you can see what appears to be a haze in the air and settling dust at the edge of the ruins.