Scar would grumble about the slowness of the travel but mainly just to himself as he knows the situation, at least he is not walking. Upon hearing about the bird he actively tries to spot it in the sky.

When the caravan breaks for the evening, he will continue to practice with his new greatsword and if anyone from the caravan wants to join in he will happily teach them.

Scar thoroughly enjoys the meals that Obsben makes and offers to fetch him anything he needs for a meal.

Obsben- The camp cook, a squat human with jet black hair and dark circles under his eyes, welcomes your company. He sips and incredibly bitter black drink he calls a "potion of sleeplessness"

Cassius- Searching the sky and surrounding environs, you can accurately guess that the "giant bird" would most likely be a giant vulture or giant eagle. They usually roost high up in the mountains but their hunting/scavenging grounds can span for several miles. 

Scar- A small crowd has gathered to watch your exercises, but as yet no one has worked up the nerve to train with you.  

Camp breaks in the morning after a quick breakfast. The caravan slowly jerks to life and the road and trees begin to crawl past again. This monotony continues for another day and a half before you come to the first evidence of the truth of the rumors.  Just after mid day, several lines of thick white smoke appear above the trees. Many of the plumes have smaller dark masses dancing around them.

OoC: Hot brown morning potion!

Geth will send Rhode ahead a bit to do some aerial recon near the smoke plumes. While she's doing that he will also begin the ritual to cast comprehend languages.

OoC: Forgot to mention it but Geth would like to have bought some incense and charcoal in town before we left (material components for find familiar). Are those things he could have found and if so, would you be ok saying that he had done that?

Geth- yes those things would be readily available.  

Your familiar rises up on the winds. As Rhode gets closer, you can see the dark masses around the plumes of smoke are actually birds. Crows, ravens, and various other carrion species circle the rising smoke.  Tracing the smoke to its source, Rhodes vision is met with wanton destruction. 

Three adjacent farms are in various stages of being burnt to the ground. The flame engulfed farmhouse are surrounded by the trashed remains of granaries and pasture fencing. The fields lay trampled and large swaths of the farmland appear to have been carved into makeshift trails. 

Other than the birds and smoke, no movement breaks the bleak, post-battle stillness. 

(OOC: I lost track, who is Rhode and what happened to Arianhrod?)

OoC: Rhode is Arianrhod. I just started using a nickname for her as Geth has bonded with her (added the 'e' since otherwise it sounded like 'Rod')

Geth shares Rhode's scouting report with the group. "Nobody there as far as she could see. But it certainly looks like a pillaging and sacking occurred here recently. I suppose we should go in and have a look around."

Clearly Arianhod was secretly cooked in the Gumbo on the down low.

Obsben isn't one to beg, so he offers an exchange of recipes for the secret of the potion of sleeplessness. Namely his grandpappy's extra spicey gumbo, who though he loved dearly, did not expressly tell him /not/ to share it with anyone. He even tries sweetening the deal with offering to handle breakfast so the man wouldn't have to rely on the potion of sleeplessness come morning. Even if he cannot, Obsben takes the loss well, and still freely offers to share some of his siblings more nonsensical cooking incidents as the two work, as he enjoyed the human's company. Yet, he is cautious, and only gives his first name, least word got to any other Overhill's about his whereabouts.

After the usual morning preparations both magical and the non-, the lightfoot joins the others in staring up at the smoke trails in a mix of wonder and worry. "I really hope those are only signal fires, I do dare say." He pauses, and then slaps his forehead. "Though those tend to be equally bad. Heheh... Should we investigate? Or are we not close enough to our destination anyhow?"

" Maybe i have s look around together with Arinrhod... I will catch up with you quickly. If you hear thunder or if Geth sees something, you can try to come to me."

24 stealth with cloak

25 perception

I aproach the closest source of smoke. 

"Take one of the sending stones with you," Geth says. "If you get into trouble you can let us know, and vice versa if we see something."

OoC: I'm not misremembering, am I? We found a pair of sending stones in the citadel? Who's got them?

Quote from Esker >>

OoC: Rhode is Arianrhod. I just started using a nickname for her as Geth has bonded with her (added the 'e' since otherwise it sounded like 'Rod') 

(Got it, thanks!)

Scar will move to the fire smoke side of the caravan keeping himself between the smoke and the caravan at all times. Though occasionally he will search the treeline on the opposite side just in case anything was trying to be sneaky. If anyone walks near him you will hear him whispering "Soon." to his greatsword as he tightens his grip on its handle, his muscles tight with the anticipation of the impending fight.

The camp cook hastily scribbles down your gumbo recipe. He smiles and nods and removes a small wooden chest from his chuck wagon. There is a merchant seal marked on the box and some Chultish text surrounding it. He opens the chest and scoops out a few handfuls of small, hard black beans and pours them into a waxed leather pouch. He instructs you smash the beans in a mortar and pestle and pour hot water over them like tea. He says the trick is, right before you serve it to pour in a small cup of cool water. "It makes all the ground up bits sink to the bottom." 

I take one stone with me.

(OOC: Boh, check the spelling of rogue in your sig.)

Bho vanishes from sight mere steps into the forest. He materializes out of the treeline at the edge of the farms. 

The most obvious thing he realizes is the lack of any bodies. There are no animals and no sign of bodies of the farmers or their attackers. The charred ribcages of the farmhouses peek out from the tops of the flames. The house closest to Bho has burned almost to the ground, more-so than the other two, leading you to believe that it was the first put to torch. 

The fields surrounding the farmhouses hold evidence of a sizable force passing. It is hard to discern individual tracks, but you gather three conclusions from their study. The main contingent of them approached from the South, they also returned that direction. The footprints are humanoid, not wearing hard boots but more than likely wrapped rough shod. Two smaller groups circled and approached the farms from the east and north, using the forests for cover. 

Another days travel to the south,  the peaks of Stone Tooth Mountain range rise above the treetops. 

Yay! I got some coffee beans! Now to drink a 100 cups of coffee in a day to unleash my full potential!

Also dang it! I just realized I could've bought myself some splint instead of wasting a casting on Mage Armor in the morns! 

 

I use my boots of false tracks and coppy the tracks i saw before i return to the mearchent caravan. 

While Boh does that, Anton tries going house-to-house, calling out and listening for sounds of any survivors.  Hopefully some were hiding and overlooked and might be rescued.

Perception: 22

Investigation: 15

Antons calls are met with only the sound of roaring flames. 

Once we are back to the caravan, i inform everyone, including the mearchents, about what we foundt and what we didn't.