"He waste Crush distraction!" The orc would say with a disappointing grunt in between puffs on his pipe.

Sen stares into the hole for a long time.  He's shaking a little, though it seems to get a bit better with time.  He looks up at Mother.  Where does it go?  Is it safe?  He doesn't really listen to the answers, he's mainly just trying to get a grip on himself. 

Eventually, he takes a deep breath.  You have to promise me that you won't touch it.  Won't try to look inside.  Please.  Please promise me.

If she agrees, he will take something wrapped in a waterproof cloth, deposit it in the hole, and then pull his hand back as though he had been holding a poisonous snake.

She answers, but Sen doesn't hear her.

In response to his request that she not touch it, she nods, and turns her back and takes a few steps away, trying to busy herself to give Sen the privacy he wants. When she senses that he's deposited whatever it is he's carrying, she turns and shuts the hidden door, replaces the spells locking and concealing it, gives him a polite smile, and goes back to her work.

"He did say that he would meet up with us, so I hope the camp really isn't too far from here and he can catch up."  Aria looks to the group. "We have to get back while the bar is open so we can get more info on Anna."

(I assume the rest of the party is reunited outside of the gate. If they aren't, for whatever reason, we can retcon this.)

The party reassembles outside the gates, a safe distance from the city wall and the "security" monitoring traffic into and out of Waterdeep. They move cautiously, listening for the ravens and trying to discern which sounds of nature might be suspicious and which might just be their imagination. Muad is pulling this way and that, thrilled to be out in the world and excited for all of the new smells there are to experience. It doesn't take long for the city to be well behind them, a monstrosity looming behind them.

About an hour outside of the city the party catches sight of what looks like smoke in the distance - a campfire, maybe? - but they are still a ways away and have some time before they arrive.

Looking ahead at the smoke, Usul will ask the group "I'm pretty good at being unseen... Should I go ahead and see what I can find out?"

If the answer is yes: Usul will sneak ahead a bit, and get close enough to the camp to see generally what type of camp it is. If there are trees and bushes and things that are easy to stay actually hidden behind, he might try to get closer to get better information. He would also look to Aria and say "You seem to be good with animals yeah? Watch Muad for me until I get back please."  ((if 'no', ignore))

stealth 18; perception 16

Aria nods.. "Be careful. Rather do this as quietly as possible and not as messy as with those thugs in the alleyway."  Aria squats down and pats Muad before pulling a piece of jerky from her pouch and gives it to him.

After depositing the bundle, Sen sits and stares at where the hole had been.  He doesn't notice Mother leaving.  He doesn't notice, for a good long while, that his eyes are wet with tears.  He wipes them, cleans himself up, and goes back to find Mother, and simply says Thank you.  Um, I need to go find the others.  I think they might get into trouble.  He walks out of the Saving Point, and heads back towards the gate, unsure of how he is feeling.  He ought to feel terrified to have left it behind where it might be found.  He ought to feel like the weight of the world has dropped from his shoulders, to be finally away from it.  But he doesn't feel anything much.  He picks up his pace towards the gate.

Usul thinks to himself "Messy with the thugs...? We wouldn't have had to deal with them all if it weren't for you..." and heads off to scout.

Usul is able to scout ahead, staying low and making use of the brush to remain hidden once in sight of the camp. 

The camp is bigger than some ordinary "just stopped by the side of the road to setup camp" kind of situation, and fairly well defended, with 4 people standing guard that Usul is able to see. They're all wearing leather armor and armed with swords and shields. There are two humans, a dragonborn, and a dwarf. They look like they've seen some combat, and I think would look more intimidating to him than the thugs they fought in the city. In the camp, there's a good sized fire going and several people around it roasting some sort of meat on the fire. It seems like they've been out hunting and are feasting on some of their catch. There are a few tents set away from the camp, one larger than the others. He stays long enough to see at least The camp definitely appears like a hunting camp of some sort to Usul (ooc: he's always been in the city, right? or is generally an urban dweller? I'm trying to guess what he would know about this type of stuff). 

((He wasn't born in the city, but has been in it since he was very young, like maybe 5 years old, so remembers very very little of anything other than it. He may have gone outside just a bit but likely never even this far. So, all fair assumptions~))

Seeing all this Usul will head back to the group and report what he's seen.

(I've been crazy busy. I'll try to catch up and post tonight but move me if needed)

(( Would Aria know of any large hunting parties/groups/clans in the area?))

Veryes listening to Usul describe what he saw says says "Well, how many were in the camp? There's supposed to be 24 of them. Did you see that many? I'd hate to walk into the wrong camp."

I'm fighting another flu bug one of my kids brought home. Taking the night off, back when it passes. Sorry for another disruption.

Aria would probably know about different hunting lodges and things like that, but nothing this big. 

Usul would've been able to get the sense that this was a pretty sizable group, but as for an exact count, there's no way he would've been able to get an accurate count, and unless I'm completely misreading this and misunderstanding the character, I think he would probably say as much to the rest of the party.

So you're near the camp, but not immediately next to them or anything like that. You know it's a good-sized encampment. What's the plan?  

Veryes says "Maybe it's a bit of Sen's paranoia rubbing off on me but I don't think is going to be just an easy "Thank very much here's your gold" and we leave kind of thing. Maybe we should leave the bag behind with a couple people while a couple of us go mention Sunkx and see how it goes?"

Usul nods and says "That's a good idea. I'm not very good at talking... Maybe I could sneak up again and just watch in case things go bad."

Veryes laughs "Well, I can talk, that's for sure. How about Crush and I go talk to them. Usul you keep hidden and keep a lookout. Aria, could you cover us with your bow?"

Crush would look to the others and then to the camp. "Crush go to camp" He would say with a grunt "Who else coming?" the orc would say as he puts his bone pipe away and give his armor and weapons a quick inspection.