Cedar smiles "I would bet a days rations that the single tracks are Tanye's, and the group is our quarry."

“I would not take your food Cedar, but I doubt Tanye escaped and the bandits just left her alone. But we won’t find out the truth until we get there. If we hurry, we’ll only lose an hour or two on the bandits.” 
Helena starts to walk into the woods, looking to Cedar for their more informed knowledge of the forest.

As the group appears to have agreed to head down the path of the single set of tracks into the woods, Caine keeps watch as they go.

Perception: 9 

Cedar leads the party in the forest, following the single set of tracks, while Caine keeps a close watch out. There’s a foreboding in the forest as the dense undergrowth seems to try to hinder the party’s every step, but Cedar’s expertise allows quick movement through the woods. 

After a half-hour walk, the party begins to approach the location the birds were circling around. As they enter a small clearing, Caine senses a pungent scent. The odor of death and decay. 

What do they do next? 

Helena looks around for whatever that smell is coming from, and if there is anything that might attack them.

Perception 22

“Be careful where you step,” Caine says. “The diseased bear may have come from here and whatever animated it may still be here.”

(OOC Is this smell the same as how the bear smelled - a smell Caine now associates with the stress inducing events of last night?)

Tam hangs back by the edge of the clearing, still inside the treeline. He is jumpy, listening for anything trying to sneak up on them.

Perception: 15

Nolla looks around on the ground, trying to see if she can find any tracks or trace of what happened here...

survival: 16

“This may be the one who ventured out on his own the other night,” Caine says.

“It was an error to point the group on this direction,” Caine says with a small bow to the others.

”We will need to move quickly to catch up with the other group now.”

He picks up the satchel and looks inside to see if there is anything that should be brought back to town.

(Stress Check: 12 )

Stress Check 15

Helena looks at the desecrated corpse and locks down her emotions. Unfortunately she’d seen too many destroyed bodies in her mountains before, and was used to the sight. She instead walks over and looks through the remainder of the person’s equipment, looking for personal effects to take back, or anything useful. She turns back to the group sadly.

”We can’t just leave them like this. We have to at least bury them. Dying is one thing, but having animals just snack on your corpse isn’t right.”

Stress Check: 2

"Been some places, where that is burying. Leave you out on purpose so you can get eaten. But don't reckon it's that way here." Jaesali steps a bit away and drags the point of her javelin in the dirt, checking to see if the ground is soft enough to dig.

Stress save: 12

"I don't think we have time to bury them, not now. Not with the mayor's aid in danger, we've already spent too much time. We can come back? Or...or maybe burn it?"

Tam looks back into the forest.

Nolla stress check: 21

It takes Nolla a moment to take in the scene and it revolts her. She backs away, moving to the edge of the clearing.  "Do what you think you must, but I'll stay over here." She tells the others.  "We should not be here too long though, as we are burning daylight..."

(@Caine, Tam, Jaesali, Nolla. Gain 1 Stress) 

The mutilated corpse of the former adventurer is unnerving...will that be you one day, too? 

Caine and Helena scavenge the remains for equipment. Inside the satchel, the rations have already by consumed by the wildlife. However, there's enough equipment to constitute 2 slots of Adventuring Gear. On the corpse itself, they find the oak staff and crossbow, along with two daggers.

(If you are burying the corpse, please convert a use of Adventuring Gear into a shovel.) 

Stress: 9

(OOC convert one of the found adventuring gear to a shovel).

“My kind bury their dead in shallow graves and plant a tree at the site to allow the passed to continue to be part of the forest.”

Caine digs quickly, only a shallow grave. Keeping his gaze away from the scavenging crows.

“I fear a tree will not likely grow here but life is full of possibilities.”

When he is done he nods a very slight bow to the grave and turns to follow the others to the trail back to the other route.

”Life is a corridor and death merely a door.”

Tam watches the shadows moving along the ground as he waits to go, tapping anxiously on a nearby tree.

Cedar sighs "Yet not the wisest nor the strongest can tell us what lies behind it."

After the dead has been buried, Helena takes the staff and plants it at the head of the grave as a marker to this unknown person. She turns and looks back at the group who seem to be impatient to keep going.

“I know we’ve wasted some time, but if one of you were to perish out here, would you like your body to be torn apart and left to rot like that? We couldn’t just leave. The dead deserve respect.”

After making her point, she turns and starts to head at an angle towards the road to make up some lost time.