Zeke moves to the front of the caravan and drops his shield onto his fist and draws his blade, shaking the Kwando out to its full length.  

Stepping into the middle of the road, Zeke drops his glaive so it extends out in front of him.  As he does so, he shrugs off his cloak and frees his large bat-like wings to extend out on either side of his body, blocking as much of the High Road as possible. 

As the rider closes in on the caravan Zeke calls out 'Ho there rider.  Stand to!'

Hearing Zeke's call, Arvel stands up and readies himself in case diplomacy is needed.

Fae's eyes would follow Zeke make his way to the front. She'd turn her body to get a good view over the cargo. Her eyes would go wide in awe when she watches him spread his wings. She'd reach over without taking her eyes off him and pat Ethan or Elra, whoever was closest to her to make sure they were looking as well.

As Elra returns and Zeke and her discuss Vincent and keeping an eye out, Ethan perks up.

"Oh you have some special connection with Vincent? You can see what he can see? How interesting, I would love to study the effect sometime, using my magic detection and visualiser device, if thats ok with you."

-----

As the group leaves Neverwinter and starts travelling the high road, Ethan opens his gauntlet and start pulling out components and tools.

He keeps most things in his gauntlet, swapping components and tools in and out, so he has an easier time working in the moving cart.

-----

As Fae remembers her question for Elra and anyone else interested, Ethan looks over to see the symbol sketched into her book.

Ethan doesn't comment, not appearing to recognise anything.

-----

Later as Elra is again remote view through Vincent, Ethan is watching with fascination.

As Elra reports a coming rider, Ethan puts away his work and stands up to try and see ahead.

At Zeke unfurls his wings, Ethan smiles and comments to Elra and Fae,

"Oh I love when he does that! Doesn't that look so great? For some reason he mostly likes to hide them though. This is only the second time I have seen him do it."

Ethan indicates Zeke to the others who might not be able to see from their positions in the second cart.

Ethan jumps down from the cart and makes his way forward to stand a short distance behind Zeke.

"Trouble Zeke?"

Ethan's hand rests on his holstered fire shooter, ready in case it is needed.

Ethan nods to Arvel, as he comes forward, letting his friends handle the first contact.

Hidden behind Zeke's wings, Arvel runs his hands over his face.

"Vaihda kasvoni."

Maxie's back!

Finnan taps Arvel’s arm with and extra water skin, raising his eyebrows as he does so.  He seems happy to share his honeyed mead with good company.

The rider slows while still a good distance from the party's small caravan and trots to within about forty feet of Zeke.  He appears to be a young human man wearing leather and traveling light with only a few small saddlebags, a water skin, and a short sword sheathed over on his saddle.  At the sight of Zeke he stops and rounds so that his horse is facing mostly south yet again.  He looks nervous and keeps yanking the horse back and forth to keep it it facing away from Zeke but still allow him to see the ominous warrior.  He looks unsure of what to say but finally shouts out "it's not safe, the road, to the south."

Ethan smiles as Arvel transforms into Maxie, but keeps quite, waiting to see what happens.

"Bonjour, fellow travellair. What do you mean by 'not safe'?"

(Ooc: we don’t need to rush ahead with the rider meeting! Should we finish up the conversation with Fae first? I suppose I won’t have much to add to it but zeke or elra might)

Tarja would not be familiar with any of the names in Fae’s journal, though she could think of a few animals that would find salted preserved fish quite tasty. 

She would try to remember if she’s encountered those names or that crest in Phandalin ( History check: 3)

Upon news of the rider, she would stay off to the side of the wagons. She would examine the rider as they approached, looking for a sign of his allegiance. Do they bring news of Gundren or Sildar? Or a threat from the Redbrands? (Perception: 13). 

(OOC: hah, with those rolls, I don't see anything past what's already described I think. Unless the rider is wearing some very evident insignia.)

Tarja would be more taken aback by Zeke's wings than by the timid-seeming rider and his spooked horse. She stays close to the wagon and does not try to look threatening. No sense scaring the poor guy and his horse any more, Zeke's got that covered. 

 Tarja thinks the symbol and words Fae is inquiring with the others about seem familiar, perhaps common even, yet any specific details seem to slip her mind.  She knows that Yartar is a large, fortified trade town not far to the east, but of course everyone knows that.  The rider's three main features appear to be his youth, his sheer terror at the sight of Zeke, and his overall appearance of most likely being a messenger, riding swiftly from town to city and back again for pay.  He has no defining symbols.

The nervous young rider keeps his eyes fixed on Zeke but calls back to 'Maxie', "we've all heard rumors, of attacks, but mostly off the main road."  "Today though, there's a whole caravan, destroyed.  Few hours back, more for you with them."  He gestures towards the oxen and the wagons.

"Any signs of what caused zee attack? Bandits? Wild animals? Or something more...exotic?"

"Ah, I didn't stop for long.  You won't believe me.  Something big.  Their faces, they didn't look right.  I did hear rumors of giant spiders.  Would they do that?"

"Um, are you all going to let me pass?"  He stares at Zeke.

Fae would look to Tarja, "Did he say giant spiders? Can that be more than rumour?"

As Elra feels the book being pushed at her, she blinks a couple of times as she looks into the book. "Hmm..." She takes the book and holds it closer. "Ya, it does look familiar." She pulls out her own journal, an elaborate book she wears on a strap that has a blank scroll emblazoned on the front of it. She flips to a page and holds both the books side by side. "It doesn't look exactly the same, but it's very similar." On one side of the page seems to be quotes from a book or scroll, while on the other side is rough sketch of a white lion on a blue shield.

 She hands the book back after that and goes back, seeming to stare off into space, but is still looking through Vincent's eyes. After contacting the party of the coming rider, she comes back to herself when Fae taps her. "Huh, what?" she looks over at Zeke. "Fascinating..." she trails off. 

There’s giant spiders deep in the woods, deeper than I would go. I see ‘em sometimes. Don’t see why they would be out on the road, though, unless something else was chasing or leading them there.

Nature check for what else I know about the giant spiders: 8

On top of the usual such as using webs and poison to catch prey, Tarja knows that giant spiders should be rare, or at least not spotted very often by most folk and certainly not in great numbers.  They defend their own territory and trap their prey there, but would not be known to go on the offensive.

Zeke furls his wings and pulls his weapon back to something more closely resembling port rest.  

'Relax, no harm will come to you if you offer none to us.  Where are you headed in such a hurry?'

"I'm just a courier.  We used to ride alongside merchants and the like over two days to Leilon, then back again.  We didn't have to rush.  These days there are fewer people on the road, and we ride swiftly and race the sinking sun."