The Long Road of the Mage King (Game Thread)

"Myon can you get a scent from Nev or Genny from any of this? Try and follow them." Keyrie will try checking the tracks to see if she can follow them, while Myon searches for a scent (would that be perception or survival for Myon?)

Survival Check for Keyrie to track: 9

(To find it in the area, perception. To follow it, survival.)

If Dog can help he will...

Yes, but Myon already gets advantage.

(Uh oh, sorry, but it looks like it is not for all WIS checks, only Perception checks. "Keen Smell. The lion has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.")

Starting at the south gate, Keyrie gives Myon the cushions from inside the carriage. He begins with some initial confusion with the lion snuffling all over the rest of the party. Perception check: 13. The result is some relative certainty that Neventi and Gentoa came through this way. There is little doubt that whomever has them followed the Long Road. But unless they can determine more about who they are tracking, the party will have no way to know if or when they actually leave the road.

(Oh dang forgot it was only for perception checks :<)

"Myon do you smell any demons around here? Do you recognize any of the other smells besides Nev and Genny? Since we know they came this way, we can try and see if there are any tracks that are going the same way, or that we recognize, Dog could you help me?"

Myon Perception: 23

Keyrie Survial: 18
If Dog doesn't help then ignore the advantage.

Keyrie, with Dog's help, manages to find the hoof prints on the long road. After only an hour of following the road and checking periodically for the tracks and the scent of Gentoa and he mother, the sun begins to dip behind the hills to the west. It is getting harder and harder to see any trail on the road as the light fades...

"Doesn't anyone have a light to see better? We're not good at hiding from these hellish freaks so why bother trying. And can anyone tell if these hoofprints were made by something with four legs or something with two legs?"

Minor conjuration: a bundle of torches? Maybe just one. 

Gash lights the torch with fire bolt. “This is the best I can do. I could conjure a lantern but I haven’t got any oil. I never learned any illumination spells because I hadn’t the need before. Sorry.”

Dog has been mostly quiet during this whole impromptu hunt, apart from those last words. He speaks again. "Any theories on who took them? Tock, did you get any clue at all? Notice anything weird as you were chasing the carriage? I'm assuming we're assuming it was fiends, and if so, did they take them on a whim because we were distracted, or was the whole assault of that town planned?"

He also thinks back to the town - were there any people who were overly interested in them? Were people fleeing? "I barely processed that town at all, its people. We circus folk are good at reading new towns at a few first glances. Did anyone notice anything weird?" The gears of his mind are starting to turn and it comes out as lots of questions.

The torches work somewhat but tracking the hoof prints is tedious and sloppy, with someone accidentally walking over the prints as they are searching for them more than once.

“This isn’t working. I know it wasn’t a popular idea before but I don’t think we can keep this up. If we do we’re not just going to lose the trail but we’re going to ruin it for when the sun is up.”

Gash tries to scratch his head but only feels the helm. 

“What’s the next city on the long road!? Maybe we can teleport there if we know it or maybe if I can visualize it on a map. It’s a risk but maybe we can head whoever took Gen and Nev off!”

Dog stops, reaches into the bag of holding, and pulls out the map they found that shows the road. He tries to puzzle out whether they're near the turnoff to the route someone would want to take to go to Aucasia, the warlock that Bael told us should raise Genny on the southern coast of Alcion? He remembers that the angels wanted them to bring Nev and Genny to the end of the road, to the mage king. The demons wanted Genny and Nev to go to the warlock. He tries to figure out if they are near that turnoff, and if the hoofprints have been bringing them along the road with the angels or potentially off the road with the demons. (He will also help someone else investigate whether the hoofprints are quadrepedal or bipedal.)

"Keyrie do you have any way of scrying or divining the location of a person or object? Let me look at what they left in the carriage to see what they might still have with them. I'm not processing this loss yet because I don't have the capacity."

“Hold on...” 

Gash gets really low to the ground, “Dog look at these hoof prints with me.”

Investigation: 13

”do they look like a riding beast to you? Or are these tracks close enough to be something bipedal?”

Dog already knows, despite his hopes, that they are much too far from Pallaxus or the road to Vallas. The map confirms that.

Putting it away in frustration, Dog helps Gash pore over the clearest tracks they can find. It becomes clear rather quickly that they are of a bipedal creature.

“BIPEDAL! Dang Gash you’ve done it again!”

(how far away are we from our horses and cart?)

”this means they can’t have gone far. If we stick to the road we might see them... it would be so much easier with friend here...”

”Keyrie do you still have enough energy to transform? Maybe you can become a bird or something to see if you can spot them?”

(I am assuming you left Tamsarus with all 4 horses and the carriage.)

“If we move quickly and push our horses a little maybe we can catch up!”

"I'm not strong enough to turn into something that can fly yet. I could however turn into a fast moving creature and try and check the surrounding area for them, if we can get as close to them as possible. A giant weasel has dark vision is fast, good perception, and is stealthy hopefully I can find them."

Dog says that sounds like a good idea to him and offers to help however he can.