Altani nods at Kestrell.

"I have never seen a man pull over a centaur yet."

OCC:

If needed, Athletics to pull the rope tight and keep him from being swept away Athletics 13

The steeply declining river bed along with the fast running water and swirling eddies caused by large rocks protruding from the bottom of the river make Kestrell's wade short and his swim perilous. Quickly spun about and tugged downstream by the trecherous current, it is only his own strong, steady movements and the support of the rope held by Altani that keeps him from being swept far downstream.

Finally reaching the spot where the item lies below the surface, Kestrell dives beneath the water and his groping hand tangles in the target object, which the sorcerer tugs free of a submerged rock that it was snagged on. Resurfacing and then arduously swimming back to the bank with the aid of the anchor line that his centaur ally reels in, the sorcerer extracts himself from the water to collapse with fatigue on the warm, long grass. Squinting against the bright noon-day sun overhead, the half-elf sees that he holds a long, handcrafted net in his hand, the kind clearly used for fishing in these sorts of environs. A few clumps of riverweed, a number of small fish and a single broken arrow are caught in the nets weave.

Coughing and sputtering, Kestrell finally gets out: "Thanks Altani.  That was a tough one!  What did we find?".

Kestrell gets up and begins to dry himself off with his hands, and then struggles to put his clothes back on his still wet and shivering body.

Altani picks up the arrow and has a closer look to see if it reminds her of anything or could be distinctive in some way.

"When you pull a fishing net from a stream Kestrell, you get fish yes? But also arrows it would seem."

She holds out the arrow for him to see.

"Do you recognise anything distinctive about it?"

OCC:

What would I roll to see if I can get any info from the arrow about who could have possibly made or used it? Survival?

Picking the missile up, Altani immidiately notices that the tip and head of the arrow are missing. The shaft is made of some light coloured wood and the fletching appears made from white feather. 

[OOC] If you want to discern what wood or feather the arrow is made from, make a nature check. If you want to try to deduce whether it's a hunting or war arrow, make a survival check. A general investigation check is also fine (and may reveal the same or even more information), though I tend to reward creative and more specific skill use with slightly lower DCs.

Kestrell takes the arrow from Altani and turns it around in has hand, looking at it thoroughly.  "Hmm, let's both look it over and see what we can figure out about it."

OOC:
Survival Check to see how long it is, did it come from a long bow or a short bow? 20
Nature Check to see what kind of wood and see if I know what bird the feathers are from: 7

Examining the length and heft of the arrow, Kestrell quicky deduces that it's a hunting arrow, almost certainly designed to be shot from a short bow. The sorcerer is unable to place the wood or feathers used in the arrow's construction.

"This looks like a hunting arrow to me.  And more, I'm pretty sure it comes from a short bow.  It's not long enough to have come from a long bow."

"I don't know what this wood is, or these feathers for that matter.  Do you, Altani?" 

"So, was this used in the murder, do you think?  How long has it been in the water?"

Altani takes the arrow back and examines the feathers. She looks closely along the shaft and takes a little nibble of the wood.

OCC:

Trying to determine the type of wood used and the species of bird.

Nature 21

Altani's keen eye easily places the feathers as belonging to a chicken, which isn't reknowned as the best fletching around, but is often used by poorer folk due to it being readily available and cheap. The light, almost spicy flavour of the wood also clues her into the fact that the arrow was made of birch... a tree that grows plentifully in these parts, including around the town of Ambersilt itself. 

Mazin has been hanging back, deep in thought and reflection about there unconscious friend they left behind. He was completely oblivious to there friends endeavors, until he heard a splash at the river. He comes around just as they are examining the arrow. 

"Ahh, what did you find there? A clue? Should we go back to town and see if anyone recognizes it's make?" 

OOC: Sorry for the delay, weekends are a tough time for me to post. I'll try to be better about it. 

Altani spits out the taste of the wood, gazing over at Mazin.

"It has been a eventful few days, and not for all the best reasons", she says as she runs a concerned eye over the goliath.

"Actually I believe we have discovered a lot. This fetch is made form chicken feathers which basically rules out any military or even adventurers. Only poorer folk who could not afford better quality would use such fetch. Also the wood has a very distinct taste, a little spicy on the tongue even. It is clearly birch wood which as you can see grows a lot around these parts, particularly around Ambersilt.

I think between this and what Cypress said we can definitely rule out any external killers, like the orcs or yuan-ti. Unfortunately I think the killers may have been under our noses from the start, back in Ambersilt."

The centaur puts the arrow away inside her backpack.

"Interesting!  Nice reasoning, Altani.  I wonder if it is another lizard folk killing his own kind.  That would explain the shortbow."

Kestrell nods to Mazin, "yes, we should go back to town and poke around there.  See who knows what about fletching."

"But first, maybe you should take a look around the murder site here and see if there is anything we missed."

(Aren't we at the murder site?)

Alwin makes his way over to Atlani and blinks looking around "H...ow can I he...lp? I ha...ve never been involved in an inve...stigation." he said looking around trying to figure out how he could help them.

Kestrell nods to Alwin, "Same as Mazin here.  Take a look around and see if there are any clues that Altani and I missed."

Mazin will look towards Alwin. "We should take another quick look around, then head back to town."

Mazin will look over the area to see if there is anything else out of the ordinary. 

Perception 4
Nature 13

Moving along the riverside bank and even wading out into the shallowest parts of the water, the only other thing of note that Mazin sees are a few unfamiliar medium sized, yellow-finned fish swimming in the river. Misjudging the strength and unpredictability of the current, he almost falls further into the swirling river's hold when he missteps along its trecherous bed, though Mazin's height and powerful limbs ultimately save him the embarrasment. A few clouds pass by overhead, one or two darker than the others, but the large warrior cannot tell if they are a prelude to rain. 

Alwin just nods as he begins to walk along side Mazin trying to help him however he can.

OOC:
Using help action to give Mazin advantage on his rolls.

"Well, should we head back to town?  Seems like we've gotten all there is to get from here.  Let's go inquire about fletchers."