Being no stranger to the sound, and having in participated in such slaughter once or twice in the past, Paavu continued to observe, but with a far more stoney expression throughout the whole ordeal. The only time it breaks is when a thought occurs. That being the distinct lack of growls, howls, or even a brief yelp of pain from a wolf being struck. Confused, but not nearly unwisely curious enough to give away their position, he stood waiting and largely out of sight, but with teeth gritted behind closed lips.

Any misbegotten goods mattered less to Paavu than the horses and Yue. As nice it may have been to have for any excess treasure the group might've acquired in Thundertree, it is the investment in the horses and in empowering what the goliath had hoped to be a long time companion that actually mattered to the male. And who knew. Maybe she ran off well before than, her instincts either having gotten the better of her, or what little training he'd been able to instill in her kept her from harm. 'Stop it, you old fool. It is done. Wishful thinking... is pointless. And you are no stranger to loss' He thought bitterly.

In the end, unless the others suddenly had a change of heart, Paavu waits a good thirty minutes after the procession left to ease enough to sit and continue their rest, albeit with his being utterly silent. After the full hours is up, and Cirrus had at least begun to regain some function would he, without a word to the others, cautiously step out and head over to examine the extent of the damage.

As Cirrus sits Paralyzed on the cold floor, Gwen sits stoically and silently, not wanting to draw attention to the group, as it seemed who, or whatever the group that was passing was, didn't think to look inside for whatever reason. The next thirty minutes go by tensely, but otherwise uneventfully. Cirrus slowly feeling .. well... ''feeling" in his limbs though not quite fully healed just yet. The wind blowing past mournfully and chilly as Paavu made his way around the housing to inspect the damage done. Obviously cart tracks heading to the Tri-Boar trail, but around it, is the bloody red ink stains covering the otherwise pristine white of the snowy bank of the road. A visible blood trail leading down where the cart tracks did, and likely would lead until the horse had been consumed entirely or discarded.

Cirrus begins to be able to move again finally able to stand as the last of the poison seeps too far spread to have any effect, though he'll have four sets of fang-holes for at-least a few days. As Paavu looks about, with melancholy, he feels a somewhat hard.. somewhat soft object about the size of a cylinder press into his butt hard, accompanied by several huffs of hard sniffing, before Yue reveals herself by running around him, and dropping on her haunch, tail wagging - happy to see him. It seems when the trouble came around the corner, she had snuck off - smart enough not to attack a massive group or howl and give away her own position.

An hour or so has passed, and its now the high point of the middle of the day... an hour past noon. You all receive the benefits of a short rest, except Cirrus, who received half. so if he rolls HP dice, he gets half the total. And regains half the total slots if any, rounded up to 1, if below 1.

What do you do?

using all 4 Hit Dice: 4, 8, 5, 9

total of 11 hp recovered

"We're in for one hell of a hike when this is over," he says quietly.

Burgee silently mourns the loss of the animals but his exhaustion takes over and does little other than rest. 

 Paavu jumps fairly early in all the sniffing, caring for some unknown creature having at his rear end. After spun about with his shield arm cranked into a painful but necessary warding position, momentary fit of caution gives way to shock in seeing the wolf. The goliath is taking a knee even before consciously aware of it, taking off Yue's little helmet and biting gear, before giving the wolf a gentle hug at the neck, crying manly tears.

"Very good, Yue. Very good." He whispers, as he tried and failed to keep the emotion from heavily tainting his words. His own helmet comes off, if only to plant a few kisses on her forehead, before going back to hugging the wolf as if she were a dear friend or a daughter. A solid good few minutes passes, yet he does eventually breaks the hug to pet her and give her firm look. "There is yet more to you then meets the eye, Yue. Of this Paavu is learning. Perhaps... its not too too late for this old war dog." He admits only quietly enough for ears.

Afterwards, Paavu gets it together long enough to have them both be re-armored up and rejoins the others at the house to finish up the rest. Albeit he keeps Yue close whenever possible, and just sits there for a while with a look of relief on his face.

Short Rest Healing: 12.

When Cirrus speaks, even Paavu is no longer in such an agitated mood to snap on the genasi. Although his mouth sort of moved as if chewing on his next words carefully before finally nodding over something. "It will be. We certainly will not be chasing anyone on the off chance they slip away initially. Which means if we find anything or one, we will have to make this count. Or else, we will have no choice but to use the little white haired ones request. A still last resort, after having come this far." He admits. "That said, I leave this to you all. We can either head straight for the tower as originally planned. Or, while we have recovered some of our strength, explore the eastern half of the village, and make sure there aren't any other surprise wandering through that might make any previous encounters with our target or their left behinds difficult for us, to say the least. So, what will it be?"

He looks over everyone, noting the various states of fatigue or unrest in their eyes. "Before any ask or suggest  more rest, we must make the absolute most of our time. We still search rest of village of other threats, potential obstacles. Cleanse it. Then on to tower. Might it be even spider's nest itself has clues that tower has not. So, we start there. But, I will hear your words.... Or, if this venture has become to much for you, know if you are to be left here. But Paavu will hear your hearts now."

Rose sits in silence, less worried about alerting the enemy to their location and more out of feeling of guilt for letting the horses die and the cart get stolen. She looked to Cirrus and had to remind herself that this was for the best. It wouldn't do to leave him like this. Still it took her a moment to feel up to moving again herself even as Cirrus was able to move on his own. Finally she goes outside and gives Yue a small smile before immediately turning the smile back to a frown. Looking at the tower Rose felt of mix of feelings. A desire to press forward and see what they find, a feeling of dread that whatever they find will likely want to kill them like everything else in town thus far, and a feeling cautious optimism that they could handle it. Still she wondered what else the town might have in store for them. When Paavu questions the group she says I think we should check the rest of the town. I have no doubt that anything we find will be hostile, but I think we shouldn't let hostiles behind us. We clear the rest of the town so we know we wont be flanked by something while we are in the tower. That said, if people would rather make a b-line for the tower itself I'm okay with that too. I just think it's a good idea to know if we have to flee that the way behind is clear.

Gwen didn't go outside. She stayed where she was. Unlike everyone else it seemed, she wasn't haggard, but she wasn't happy. She seemed less tired, than most everyone else here too. Her only real issue had been the spiders themselves, but that issue had long passed. She silently mourned the loss of the horses, the cart, while a loss in gold, was little else, perhaps they had lost a few rations in the deal at worst, maybe a few other knicknacks. When Paavu and potentially Rose had returned, if she had also left and the discussion was going forward, she listened to what they both had to say. Sighing periodically through it, not for lack of conviction, just tedium. When finally those two had said their pieces, she chimed in. The loss of the horses is ... regretable, my heart goes out to those poor creatures who were only of help to us. I'm glad Yue survived though. She's a beautiful, and apparently intelligent creature. She'll be an asset if she lives long enough. Who is the 'white one?' Maybe i just don't get who you're referencing, but.. anyways... For once, I disagree with you Rose honey. I've been keeping an eye on things, and this place is following predator-prey locationally. The weaker elements are on the outside edges... while the stronger.. or more cunning creatures seem to be in the center of town... and I think Paavu is right. The tower is the most obvious location for a meeting to take place, and everywhere else seems to be plagued with evil weeds or spiders.

And the more we rummage elsewhere, the more chances we give to be noticed. And.. from the top of the tower, we might be able to look down on everything and get a better clue if the tower itself turns out to not be what we think. We've already almost given ourselves away once with the fire - and no, I pass no blame anywhere.. it was necessary - And we were lucky that the dice were in our favor. Perhaps that warband or whatever it was was just passing through and they had a goal in mind. Or if they were allied with the spider slut, then maybe they assumed we were out hunting and may come back when their quarry isn't discovered to check back here.

So I say our best bet is to head straight for the tower, maybe stop and check the spider house... webs don't scare me at all, just the ones who make them. So a single pit-stop on the way to the tower, and if all goes well, and my second guess is right, we can wait for the warband to return, and take advantage of our position a hundred feet above them. I say we take our chances and move out. All we've done since we got here is fight some twigs.. rest... fight some corpses... rest. Lets push on!

I agree that we need to get to the tower quickly but my stamina is fading. What I have I will use, but know that before we ran in. Burgee stands slowly and prepares too push onward. Gripping the new staff and hoping it will you're enough protection to get through the day.

(posting soon)

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Gwen. If we're lucky, our target is in the tower, we fight, we win, and then we are in a defensible tower where were can have a great view of any threats below. I think it's a great strategic position to be in, never mind that it's our best guess as to where the Spider is."

At some point soon he would like to have a sidebar with Gwen (and Rose since they're probably inseparable, and he wants to talk too her anyway). I'm not trying to be secretive, more casually trying to say something without drawing a lot of attention, "I'm not wanting to know what happened in your past, I just want to let you know what it's like to succumb to fear at the mere sight of something. Bugbears scare the living daylights out of me. One time a bugbear threw a javelin through my gut. Just seeing one makes my breath short and my feet feel like lead. Fear is natural, and you're not alone."

He also addresses  Rose a bit later with a different topic of conversation, "Rose, perhaps sometime when we are not searching for murderous drow and I'm not paralyzed, you could tell me a bit about Selune? I am beginning to think... that perhaps the fact I was brought to this world, in the path of you and your faith, might mean something greater than me receiving a cruel punishment."

At the end of the discourse, such that it was, Paavu closes his eys and takes a deep breathe, then lets it out slowly. "Good." That said, seeing at least one wishing to having a last sidebar, Paavu wouldn't begrudging the genasi. Rather he say one last word about "Last gear check. Then we're out," giving that added excuse for any conversations to be had inside relative safety before the group had to move outside.

Only when all were well and truly ready did the goliath took point with Yue at his side, keeping an eye out on thanks as they went along to the north and east. Paavu relies on a more passive instinct for danger, but Yue stays on more active alert along the away.

Yue's Perceptiopn: 22.
(Adv. from Keen hearing and smell)

Apart from this, Paavu abstains from trying to be stealth up to reaching the spider's nest. Between the hobs stomping through earlier and their chaos, odds favored their not having to worry about more 'aggressive' foes barring returning spiders. To which, Paavu would be keen on dispatching, if only so that any immediate retreat from the tower did not end in disaster. Although before then he warns Gwen of as much, and ask she hang back a ways until the job's done, understanding, if only a little, her plight. All in all, after a fairly thorough examining of the nest for anything of use or clues to be had (including the cocoon Cirrus saw, but couldn't articulate last), it's on to the tower.

"It is likely fruitless, and with magic so depleted, we will have to try best to be quiet without magic on approach. Understood?" He would ask far enough at the base of any path leading to the tower as to avoid being overheard. With the okay given, he then presses on with Yue just behind him.

Ah.. Couldn't tell Cirrus. Must have had a change of armor since then but I can't imagine that not being excruciatingly painful. I'd rather not talk much more about mine.. lest I regress. But I get what you're trying to say and trying to do. And the thought is appreciated.

With everyone agree'd more or less to press on, though some more reluctantly than others - namely the casters. Everyone carefully sets out. Making their way back to the spiders nest. And now that the group had a chance to actually look at the building, it is clear it used to be an old store. And based on the shelving, a former sundries / general items shop. Everyone except Gwen enters, to help make the search faster, but after a thorough inspection, it seems the place abandoned, and looted long ago, the only items found are on the body. A body which is shriveled up and sucked dry, but appears to have been a male elf, and what little of him remains has been burnt badly. Marring the leather armor. The body wears studded leather armor and a short-sword in the scabbard at its hip.  Upon looking nearby in the tattered and burnt remains of a cloth satchel, you also find  a potion of healing, along with 23 gp and 35 sp.

Investigating for a little longer, nothing else of importance is found, and everyone continues along the path northward, towards the tower.  The path there is undisturbed, and silent. Aside from normal growth of foliage, not a single creature seems to be nearby. At the top of the hill stands a round tower with a cottage attached. Both are in good condition, although half of the tower’s roof is gone. A door leads into the cottage, and several arrow-slit windows are visible in the tower. You can’t help but notice an eerie quiet in the area and a strange, acrid smell in the air. The corpses of two hideous giant spiders are sprawled near the edge of the pathway, apparently dragged there. Their bloated bodies are puckered and blistered, and appear to have been mauled by a large animal. Though Paavu can tell tell they're not the same spiders from before. 

The cottage itself is about the size of a well off farmers house, enough for atleast two sleeping rooms and a kitchen/living space. however, on one side, a winding set of stairs  juxtaposes  itself into visibility. The rooms are covered in dust and soot, and cobwebs of smaller spiders that seem to be nowhere. The table and chairs within the room however seem to be mostly clean, with sings of recent use, though their recent occupant(s) are nowhere to be seen. The staircase looks like it can only fit a single person wide, meaning the party, if they chose to go up it, would need to go single file, and Paavu would have to walk sideways if they chose to ascend.

How do you all proceed, I need some detail on what you all do.

(Cirrus was trying to be clear that he wasn't trying to pry into Gwen's past, hopefully she sees it that way.)

Cirrus tries to speak quietly to the group, "Assuming our enemy is in the tower, I think walking the dirt road toward the tower is a bad idea. Perhaps if we don't make our selves immediately obvious, the Spider will believe we are exploring the rest of the town before going to the tower. I think going through the trees on either side of the road would be smart as they would give us cover. Our enemy may know we're here, but that doesn't mean that we have to entirely give up on any sort of strategy."

"Also, I don't know if it would help, but I can still contact Halia, head of the miners' guild. I doubt she has an army under her command, so she can't help us on that front. Perhaps if nothing else, I could see if she could get some means of transportation for us?"

(I had also got too caught up in the post to put this, but everyone gains 475 exp)

Just before the approach of tower....

Apart from the shortsword and coin, the latter of which Paavu puts with the rest, if only later disruption, the potion he hands off Gwen, trusting that she would be able to administer it, if magic should prove to fleeting or just not is an option.

Once at the foot of the path, Paavu sighs before saying quietly in turn, "Firstly, no. You can arrange transport if wish. But no further. Paavu does not trust that one, Halia, for more than that. Barely trust that one enough for transports. Don't ask why now. We talk of this later. As for approach, it matters not. More likely it is that other beasties -- spiders await in forestry than upon road itself. At least taking path we have almost as clear a sight upon them, as they would us. Which will have to do. Now keep up."

Back to present..(?)

After seeing the spider corpses, Paavu immediatly held up a fist to hold back the procession before getting closer to them for a closer examantion. The whole time somethingin the back of his mind began to painfully scratch at it. As if he should be remembering something, but couldn't quite piece it together. Even Yue appeared off put at the atmosphere, leaving him just that more at edge. He shunts the feeling further from surface thought to at least focus on examining the spider corpses more closely, searching for any further clues that might suggest what killed them. Obviously a predator of some kind, large if not huge to have dragged them so far, and with the power to melt its prey to some extent perhaps?

The fact that it wasn't lying it wait as some guard dog, and the emptiness to the area only served to further reignite his concern alongside a burgeoning thrill...

Medicine: 21. (or if a Int based skill, +1 instead).

Regardless of his findings,and with great mental effort, he steps back from it all, motioning for the others to follow him back down at least to the half-way mark on the hill's incline. "I know not what in full lies in that tower. But given the state of things near it, we won't find our targets there. Only something far worse judging by the signs." He admits. Paavu... I still has faith in us taking it even as we are. But based on it, this will far more  dangerous than expected for just a lookout position at this point... Yet at the very least, it is one danger once removed will not trouble our stay if things get a bit loud... assuming it's attracted to that sort of thing. It hunting range has to be large in order to require such large prey for food. But, we /will/ be walking on egg shells exploring the rest of the village. So... what shall it be?I... admit, I would prefer to face this threat, then have it loom on the horizon, waiting for just the right attraction or us being to weak to fend it off later. But, I will not march you there."

Prior - - - - Gwen indeed does understand, she was simply stating things for everyone elses sakes. Regardless, she says I don't think that's prudent Cirrus. Atleast not in general. We could walk back in the time it would take them to get here... defeating the point when we could just as easily walk back. I say we just get this over with, one way or another, and after that, we see what we need to do. And I like how much thought you're putting into this, but either the person we're after has been here and gone, or is still here. And while they may be in some other part of town... we've also been here long enough that if they were moving about, we would likely already know, or they would already know we're here. Especially considering we gave them time to do.. whatever it was they intended to do, so we're already working at a disadvantage. But I appreciate the spirit. And yeah, I agree with Paavu ... call for it if you wish, but don't expect us to sit here and wait for them to get here.  she says with a smile.

Later

Yue could smell an acrid stench, and she whined softly, backing away from the spiders corpses. Gwen turned around almost immediately after seeing them to keep herself from freezing again.Though she had began to hyperventilate just a bit, she seemed otherwise fine. Hands clutching together to keep her composure. Still shaking somewhat she says Well, n-not to play devils advocate, but, we don't know it took both of them on at once. It may have hunted them alone .. and just.. drags the remains back when its done. 

When Paavu goes to examine the spider corpses in an attempt to figure out what kind of damage could have caused such wounds, in hopes of determining what sort of creature it may be. As he inspects it, he see's deep fang marks and some odd secretion, but unfortunately he's nevre faced this sort of creature before. He can tell its likely something that spits either venom, or acid of some kind, and likely is reptilian in nature but aside from that, it's anyone's guess.

Rose gives Cirrus a friendly smile and says Sure but you may regret it Haha! I can tend to go on for hours if no one stops me. At least when talking about Selûne is concerned. But yes, I'd happily talk more about it once we get the time. As for getting a new cart, I don't mind calling her but let's wait until we know the town is safe. Who knows, maybe we'll be lucky and won't need it? Or maybe Paavu will get us all killed and we still won't need it. The last bit thought in her head. Rose quickly shakes her had to rid herself of the bad thought. And I'm all for using cover. But I guess the rest of the group isn't so onward we go.

Later:

Well as I said earlier, I don't care if we search the tower or the town first. Until we find our prey we will have to search all of it anyway. We might as well get this over with since you've already led us here Paavy.

Burgee moves closer to Rose and blinks as he looks at Paavu. "I have what I have. And if we've any chance to defend a rest, that tower looks best. Though not easiliy taken." He looked at little Rose. "But if the little one with the giant heart is ready. I will stand by her side through all that may come."

Cirrus does not feel the need to try and correct his party members on their misunderstanding of his intentions. "Well, I suppose going along the path would give us visibility on anything that would be forced to come out at us, but I can't help but notice how much the road to the tower winds. What if we start at the mouth of the road and make a straight line for the tower, cutting through the trees as necessary?"

Prior:

Paavu had again shook his head. "Could only cut through once. Maybe twice, if cut back again with more trees. But pointless. Trees on approach will cover enough without thrasing through brush and maybe stirring unnecessary trouble along way. We stay to path." He would say, if a bit with more finality to his tone. While he could understand the genasi' concerns after the spider debacle, there was such a thing as over-complicating matters. As he turned to lead the way up, he couldn't help but smile, if only a little, seeing the younger fellow dedicate more focus and energy on more productive thoughts and concerns.

Later/Present:

Seeing the vast majority at least willing to press on, and even acknowledging Gwen's assessment with a slow but thoughtful nod, Paavu takes a steadying breathe. "Then we press on, and slay whatever lurks beyond those walls." He said quietly to the group. To Yue, realizing the scent would probably only get worse going forward, he grudgingly has her wait just outside the cottage and as far upwind from the corpses as possible without leaving the hill to play lookout. Such was the excuse he gave himself with the unease having creep back into his subconscious.

With her settled, he looked to the buildings, then go wide-eyed for a second before turning on Rose. "Rose. The word -- Scroll of Silence. Mentioned before finding it goblin castle. Might you make use of it on cottage interior. At least mask one part of the approach inside tower, if door from there leads to it?" He request, willing to wait until she works her magic. Once she did, he takes point on entering the building, confident that so long as they weren't seen, they'd be able to get into the tower at least. With such in mind, he searched the first floor as much as possible for a door leading into the building to the next(ie Tower), and head for it before taking any stairs. They were something of a last resort for the goliath. Whenever they should find their to way to any door to it, assuming one still stood, he opens it ready to quickly draw grol's mace, and hill giant rune pre-activated for whatever lied beyond it!