As she rips her axe back out of the tree, Catherine gives the bisected goblin's top half a kick for good measure, an expression of her displeasure that such foul vermin have infested Ror'nav while her own people stay parted from it. Looking to find her next target, she nearly charges ahead with bloodlust before realizing that it's already over. She growls at the retreating goblins as she catches the last glimpses of them fleeing from view, frustrated that any of them managed to get away. They'd have their day, though. Arlo was right--sooner or later, they'd all have to die. Left to Catherine, the choice would be sooner.

"Aye," Catherine says in agreement with Arlo. "We may as well cull them while we're nearby, if we can find their camp. Such filth will take little effort, and my axe is hardly satisfied by this one morsel," she remarks, kicking her kill's head hard enough to nearly snap its neck.

"I think we should stick to completing our current objective. We have to meet the other team."

Sieghart stands up and points toward what little trail of blood he was able to find. "The goblins ran towards the northeast, presumably back to their camp. They will probably be expecting us if we were to attack. I agree with you all that they need to be dealt with, but later."

Happy seemingly unimpressed from the combat says:

“You are right, we should keep on track. We can hunt those goblins on our way back.”

Making a note of the area for your way back, you all set out north again. Sieghart, you are able to pick back up where you left off. You all continue through the forest, pushing through patches of dense brush, and climbing up and down small valleys that creeks and streams have cut. A couple of times you all have to back track, because the direction you all were travelling ended in a couple of cliffs no more than 40 ft tall. You make notes of a 25 ft wide sink hole with a tree growing out of the bottom and an area that strangely had a swath of trees destroyed and now replaced by 3-5 years of new growth.

You all grow tired and feet sore by the time the sun begins to sink in the sky. A year of town life made you somewhat soft to this amount of activity. As you make it to the top of hill with sparse vegetation you all begin to ponder when everyone else is ready to set up camp, then you see it. The mountain you were to keep an eye out for. The sun dips further. Everyone make a perception check, please.

Nox: 7

Helio: 19

(If you all want to ask any questions about the sink hole or swath of new growth, feel free to ask. If not then your characters simply made notes of them.)

Perception check (not sure if I should still be using the double proficiency for this. If not, just subtract 2 from the result): 21

(How large is the area with the new trees? Does it appear to have been the result of human activity? I assume neither settlement as ventured this far in the land, so it couldn’t be them.)

(I'll take the double proficiency for this, since you are looking out above the tree line from the top of the hill. As far as the new trees go, it was around 50 to 60 yards long and 35 yards at the widest. There's no sign of human activity. The old tree stumps didn't look cut, but as if they were broken off at or near the base. The area wasn't littered with fallen logs, but there was a fair amount and they were all pointing in a westward direction. Almost like a great force pushed the trees over, but nothing looks to have hit the ground. There should be more fallen trees though. You were unsure what that was about, as you are correct in assuming that neither settlement has made their way this far into the forest.)

Perception check: 6

Happy looking around, soaking all of the landscape in. He is glad to be in the wild once again.

Arlo looks to see what he can see

perception 5

Catherine grumbles under breath as they pick up and move along, disappointed but not surprised that her companions didn't want to give chase.

Perception: 10

I accidentally rolled 11 d20s at first, that's why I edited (keep forgetting you don't need to type 1 into the die roller). I'll make a new post with a fresh roll if the DM prefers.

Nox, Arlo, and Happy: All you see is a vast tree top canopy that spans as far as the eye can see with a ridge of mountains there extend both north and south beyond your vision.

Helio, Catherine, and Sieghart:

 Sieghart and Helio:

You all take notice of the sun and estimate about a half hour or so of day light remains. Would you all like to set camp up now, or walk a little further off of the hill to find a different spot? Or push further?

 Looking over in the distance, Sieghart squints his eyes to try and get a better idea of what he sees.

''Look over there, he says pointing toward the rooftops. Could those be the ruins that the Margrave mentionned? And beyond that, do you see that green light over the tree line?''

Sieghart turns to Happy and Helio with a quizzical look on his face. ''You two seem familiar with magical phenomenon. What do you make of it?''

Catherine squints hard at the rooftops among the trees, trying to make out whether they're the ramshackle huts of goblins or something more well-constructed. At this distance, it's impossible to tell anything for sure.

"I see no.... 'green light,'" she says. "Though I trust some eyes are sharper than others. There is only one way to get a better look," she continues, tapping her foot to indicate that they should keep going and get closer.

Arlo looks at Catherine quizzically. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t see well in the dark - which it will be soon. Seems unnecessarily risky to go looking at whatever it is now. We can look in the morning, it’ll still be there.”

Happy squints his eyes, but can't see the green light.

Then says to Sieghart: "I'd really like to answer your question, but from that distance that phenomenon is really hard to make out. We should take a closer look, tomorrow. Arlo has a good point, it's getting dark. I don't want anybody to get lost. We should set up a camp."

Helio stares in silence for a few seconds before she answers, "The light could be a number of things ranging from mundane lighting to something that could sinister... Given where we are, I feel like it might fall in the dangerous range."

Taking another moment to look at the roofs and then turning to Catherine, she says, "I know you are anxious to get to the ruins, Catherine, but I think it may be best to set up camp for the night so we are at the top of our game for tomorrow. My reasoning is that we see roofs. An ancient ruined town shouldn't have roofs anymore, at least I wouldn't think they would since I've seen 30 year old abandoned homes that have succumbed to deterioration. We should be there by noon as long as nothing gets in our way."

Nox stares intently during everyone's discussion, determined to see the roofs or the mysterious light... Shrugging her shoulders after the talking takes a pause, she turns to everyone and asks, "Do we want to build a fire for tonight? I can see in the dark, but I'm guessing you all cannot. If we do build a fire, do we want to move camp to the lowlands so we are not a beacon for anything looking for a midnight snack?"

"Very well then," Catherine agrees. While she is indeed anxious to continue, she's already waited a year for this--whatever's down there will still be there in the morning, she reasons. "A wise suggestion," she says in response to Nox's idea of setting camp in a defensible location. "Shall we set a watch through the night? Those goblins may seek vengeance under cover of darkness."

“Aye. I’ll take the first watch.” Arlo will assist in gathering wood for a fire, and finding a more sheltered place to lay his pack and sleep.

"Good idea. Wake me up Arlo, I'm taking the second watch."

Once there is a fire going Happy starts to unpack some food.

If Sieghart and/or Catherine don't want to take a turn on watch, I can have Helio and/or Nox take a turn. Either way watch 3 and 4 need to be assigned. And if anyone wants to talk while you eat/before you fall asleep, feel free to strike up a conversation. If not, then we'll move to perception checks after all watches are declared.

Sieghart helps to mount camp and attempts to forage for food in the form of small game that he can hunt. He offers to take the 3rd watch.

Survival (if necessary): 9

Once the camp is settled, but before anyone goes to sleep, Sieghart attempts to resume the conversation from earlier that day. "You all look to be a long way from home. What made you want to travel to this desolate land?"