Above & Below

"Hmm... I do hope our luck will hold out," Effort agrees as she packs up her things.  She sends Cadmael up into the sky to scout, and readies herself for another day of marching.

Cadmael's looking around as we go: 17 

That's the spirit, Brask says.  Hey, we're owed some good luck I reckon.  He also packs up his things and is ready to head out, following Effort and keeping an eye on the whole party and the surroundings, but mostly daydreaming.  Perception 5

"Well, let us hope it continues when we finally meet the Sisters."  Kurama adds on as he packs up his belongings as well.  

• General precepting as the party starts to move again: 13

I was worried, you guys historically roll terrible on luck checks, haha.

Most of the day passes with the same monotony. Overcast skies occasionally mist or rain down, with leafless branches extending upward from the ground. You break briefly mid-day, and then continue on your way. It's soon after that that Cadmael notices a change. The forest has grown shorter, and far off in the distance he sees that the landscape changes into a more brushy grassland. An unnatural structure hangs over the road - something manmade. You approach with caution until it comes into view. As the trees thin, you can make out a wooden archway going over the road. It doesn't seem to connect to anything on either side, but there is something concerning about it. Two humanoid figures are hanging from either side. They appear to be deceased.

"Cadmael has spotted something," Effort tells the others, explaining to her what she sees, as she trades vision with Cadmael for a closer look.  "We should probably not saunter up to that archway without some sort of plan."

Brask, who had been sauntering towards the archway and not approaching with any sort of caution, halts and looks at Effort and Kurama.  Sounds cool.  Let me know when you got one.  He wanders off, not too far though, looking for fruit to eat.

Effort folds her arms together and sighs.  She then looks at Kurama.  "Do you think you could sneak up to that archway unnoticed and look for any tracks?  See if whatever hung those two up there has been about recently, or if there's any sort of warning sign on the archway?  I would assume it is a marker to the end of Rin's territory and the start of a harsher hold, but one can never be to sure."

After casting guidance on herself, she sends Cadmael to circle around the arch, her eyes going white as she looks through the owl's vision to search for any kind of sign, as well as study the corpses for any sort of identify marks, gender, or even simply how long they've been hanging there for.

Medicine? : 10

Brask, give me a nature or survival check. Your choice.

Cadmael doesn't get too close, but allows Effort to see the bodies a little more closely. It's tough to make out any details, still. They appear to be wearing drab clothing, and look to have been dead for at least a few days. Maybe longer, although they haven't decayed enough to have been there for an extended period of time.

Quote from Billtacular >>

I was worried, you guys historically roll terrible on luck checks, haha.

That's why I didn't roll this time around XD

Quote from Enkida >>

Effort folds her arms together and sighs.  She then looks at Kurama.  "Do you think you could sneak up to that archway unnoticed and look for any tracks?  See if whatever hung those two up there has been about recently, or if there's any sort of warning sign on the archway?  I would assume it is a marker to the end of Rin's territory and the start of a harsher hold, but one can never be to sure."

"I'll see what I can find..." Kurama responded as he gingerly approached the archway to see what he could find.

• Perception: 24
• Survival: 19
• Stealth: 3 (Nat 1)

Kurama, becoming entranced by what he sees, stumbles and trips over a rock in the road as he approaches the archway. Eyes darting back and forth for signs of danger, he sees none, and stands back up. He walks up to the archway, observing the two dead men hanging from it.

Their skin has been partially burned. In some places it appears to be an even burn, and in others, more severe burns seem to have targeted their flesh to the point where their insides are almost exposed. They seem to have been stripped of whatever they might have been wearing, and now don drab, brown cloaks that are free from any burns. Belts cinch the cloaks at their waist, and each is weighed down by a coin purse. The pouch on the leftmost man is tied, but the pouch on the other has opened, spilling a few gold coins onto the ground below and revealing a handful more inside the pouch.

As you study them, you hear something flutter nearby. Looking up, a huge raven has perched atop the archway. It looks down at you, cocks its head, and then flies up to the nearest branch. It quorks softly.

Brask's Nature check: 10

Brask, you end up finding a patch of bushes that have dried, shriveled berries on them. They're dark and don't look to be very substantive, but they also don't appear to be rotting!

Brask picks a few, and brings them back to show to the others.  Berries, he says.  Since we're not hunting the weird animals, maybe we should eat the weird plants.  Recognise 'em?  I don't.  

Effort comes back to herself and relays what Cadmael saw.  Touching her forehead for guidance, she takes a quick glance at Brask's berries: Nature 21

Sending a message to Kurama if he hasn't rejoined them at that point (or just talking if he has), she says "I don't think we should gather the coins in those pouches.  It is much too suspicious, if you ask me.  As if it is a test, of some sort.  I have no desire to be a part of any such test.  We are here for one reason, and it is not the collection of gold from the dead."

Kurama History check on the bodies to see if it's any kind of ritual he may be aware off: 4

Quote from Enkida >>

Effort comes back to herself and relays what Cadmael saw.  Touching her forehead for guidance, she takes a quick glance at Brask's berries: Nature 21

Sending a message to Kurama if he hasn't rejoined them at that point (or just talking if he has), she says "I don't think we should gather the coins in those pouches.  It is much too suspicious, if you ask me.  As if it is a test, of some sort.  I have no desire to be a part of any such test.  We are here for one reason, and it is not the collection of gold from the dead."

"I am in agreement on that." Kurama replied to Effort.  "Do you see that raven up ahead?  I have a strange suspicion that it may be a similar creature to Cadamel.  What do you both think?  Should we attempt to communicate with it?"  

"I've no method of communicating with a familiar which is not my own," Effort says, though she does cast comprehend languages just to be sure.  Then she calls out to the raven, "May we pass?" just to see its reaction.

The raven stares down at you, then turns its beak to scratch at the base of its wing.

Kurama, you don't recall any rituals that would leave bodies looking like this.

Effort, the berries look very similar to some that you once had back in your younger days. Some garden in Gorta was filled with them. You're confident they're fine. Just a bit dried out.

"They're edible," Effort says passingly to Brask, indicating that the berries are snackable and not poisonous, if a bit off-putting in their half-withered state.

Seeing no response from the bird, she casts guidance on herself once again and begins to inspect the bodies and the gate closely, looking for any sign of what gruesome message they might be trying to pass along to travelers.  She studiously avoids touching both the corpses and any of the coins associated with them, however.

Investigation: 12

Quote from Billtacular >>

Kurama, you don't recall any rituals that would leave bodies looking like this.

"The way the bodies are displayed are curious...  I cannot think of any rituals or the like that would display them in this particular fashion.  Perhaps it's simply meant as a warning..." Kurama conjectured out loud. 

Afterwards, cautiously, Kurama decided to take a chance and venture forward a bit past the archway to see if the raven, the corpses or anything else of note suddenly happened to or around him.

Brask follows Kurama, munching on berries and keeping the monk close.