Aelar hears the bells as well. ((Yes, that's what the perception roll was for)) It's incredibly faint... but those bells can be heard for quite a distance.

The driver, being at the front and distracted by concentrating on the kite, turns the beast towards Guiston. With the wind no longer going against them, they can all hear it. It's a constant tolling, indicating that the walls have been breached. Guiston is under siege.
They've been flying for a few hours, but even this far away, in the late afternoon light, a dark haze of smoke can be seen rising from the direction of the town.
Raia stands, tensing, then drops to all fours. For a moment, her eyes glow hot, but she slumps and almost collapses.
"It's no good, I'm still too weak..." Raia says, then looks to Aelar. For the benefit of the rest of the group, she answers him verbally.
"On'Hull is the name of the titan beneath the Skell's land. The only reason it'd be called 'the betrayer'... is if its followers was attacking another titan.... like the one beneath Guiston. It must have imprinted itself on Kallista at some point..."
Geoffrey tenses, getting himself as battle ready as he can.
"There's a few religious groups in Guiston that attempt to commune with the spirits of the titans." he says. "I always thought they were a bunch of crazies... they referred to them as 'touched'." he says, hand tightening around the hilt of his blade. "I thought something was off with Kallista. She's in danger! Guiston is in danger!" he says, then turns to Raia.
"Can't you do ANYTHING? We're at least an hour away!"
"I'm trying!" Raia responds, attempting to summon up her strength. Straining, light begins to crackle between her fingertips and sweat beads on her forehead. She actually has to resort to verbal chanting to invoke a spell. She pauses her chanting as her hair lifts from her shoulders.
"Everyone hold onto something..." she growls.

Aelar moves to Raia’s side and puts his hand on her shoulder.

”Draw on me, Raia. Take whatever strength from me you need. I offer it freely and without reservation. Take it. I understand what I am offering.”

The elf looks at his friends and smiles. It’s a smile they know well. It’s the one the gave them every time he had to run home late. It says goodbye.

Raia looks to Aelar, withholding the last verses of the spell.
"That's... noble of you, Aelar, but even if I wanted to, it wouldn't be enough. I have enough strength to do this... I just can't transform. I'd need a dozen of you to have the strength to shift my shape." she says.
"I'm going to hasten the kite. I can't take us there immediately, but I can drop the time needed to make the trip back... and save enough strength to help fight off whatever is happening in Guiston." Raia announces.
"I don't want anyone to get startled and fall off the kite. I'm not sure how MUCH faster the beast will go, but you should be prepared."

((Secret rolls:

G: 6  H: 72 C:99 A: 52 D: 42 D: 96 B: 93 ))

Aelar nods and removes his hand.  He checks his Serpents Tongue, making sure it hasn't become tangled and is ready to go.

((Lettin' folks catch up))

(Sorry for not posting in a while. I like the pictures! Leon has that youthful determined look, and the facial hair was a nice touch.) 

Leon sits down with the swords and a grind stone. With intense focus, he begins sharpening them, making sure that Lazlo's saber is as razor sharp as possible, while keeping his a bit more blunt in case the great-sword had to rend through armor. 

Skill Roll?: 8

Afterwards, he takes a rag and some wax, applying a shiny sheen to both. Leon smiles. I suppose Lazlo should be satisfied with the outcome. 

Returning back to the group, he gives the saber to Lazlo and gets settled on the kite. Leon attempts to read one of the history books, but finds himself overwhelmed by the deluge of dry facts and dates. He preferred listening to stories rather than reading, as stories carried much more color and joy with them. Nonetheless, he grits his teeth and reads line by line. 

History: 20

Perception: 3

He didn't hear the bells as first, but as they turned around, his stomach sank as he saw the dark smoke above Guiston. He listened to his friends talk about titans and religious cults and magical imprinting, but it all went over his head. All he knew was that he had recently made Guiston his new home, and he wasn't going to abandon it like he did with Hon. 

Hoping that Kallista was going to be alright, he holds on tight to the side of the kite. 

Investigation  4 

“A warning bell??” He breaks from his training momentarily to give a listen

 Perception      1

Lazlo looks towards Atetra (retroactively)  "Yes! THE warnign bell- not ANY warning bell...The big one!"

((you also have a STR or CON roll to make Leon, but that's 2/3 successes for smithing. Leon has successfully made the blades battle-ready and sharp.))

As the group braces themselves, Raia finishes the spell and the manta lets out a surprised rumble as it surges through the air. They normally glide more than they do truly fly, floating on the gasses spread throughout their 'flight bladders' and flapping leisurely through the air, but the kite manta now slices through the air like a bird, flying just a little faster than the swiftest horse at full sprint. It isn't long before the group catches up to Kallista and even manage to get her back onto the platform.

Before long, the group can hear clearly the constant tolling of the alarm bells coming from Guiston. The smoke becomes clearer, but despite the speed, they are at least half an hour away and every moment that passes feels like an hour as the uncertainty of what's happened takes hold of every heart. Kina stands with her hands digging into the railing surrounding the platform, her jaw clenched.
"We need to decide a plan of action!" Kina calls out over the wind. It's not too loud that the group can't hear each other.
"I want to check on the Horseshoe! Hana would probably barricade the saloon and shelter a lot of survivors!" she calls out.
"What about the Mission? Sister Daar will be having to protect people with no place to go, and she's no fighter!" Barna objects.
"Grimbuld would help protect them, wouldn't he?"
"An old ranger?!"
"Stop it! We don't even know what's attacking them!" Geoffrey shouts back.
"We should fly over and find out what's going on before we try to land and rush in!"
"I'm not waiting! I'm going to the Horseshoe!" Kina says angrily.
"The nine hells you are! You can carry more victims than the rest of us, and we can't be splitting up! I understand your concern but we won't be of use to anyone if we end up getting ourselves killed too! We need to stay together!" Geoffrey argues.
Kina is emotional but she'll probably follow the lead of a strong argument, the same as Barna. Geoffrey's idea will eat up seconds that some survivors may not have to spare. Raia is busy concentrating on maintaining the haste spell and hasn't contributed anything yet.
The outline of Guiston is still far off yet, they have time to figure out where to go first once they arrive.

As before, on the metal wagon from Hon, Aelar feels a cloak of calm dropping over him.  "We cannot decide what to do until we see what's going on," he says.  Moving forward to the front of the platform, he gazes down, trying to see what is happening.  "It's the Skell attacking.   The titan beneath their land is the one named by Kallista.  It's sending them to attack Guiston now...I don't know that but it's what I think is going on.  We have little strength between us and can't be reckless.  Sir Geoffrey is right.  We don't know enough."

Perception 22

"I object." Hyre says. "It would make no sense if it were the Skell. When they attacked Hon, they were so swift no alarm was raised. Also, no fire was lit and pretty much all they did was take people and some food. The fact that Kina brought us our stuff is proof of that. I've read about the skell. They're experts of sneak attacks, not of storming with unstoppable power. I doubt they'd attack in broad daylight.

"Besides, regardless of who is attacking, I doubt there's much we can do. Geofrrey, maybe Kina - they can help. Us? The best we can do is not become a hinderance. If the guard can't deal with whatever is there, neither could we."

“We don’t know what we’re flying into! As much as I want to run to the Horseshoe- we may be of better use somewhere else. We’re certainly not going to supplement the guard- but maybe there are some people in trouble we can help.” Lazlo says, white knuckling the rails to keep himself steady.

Leon's face turns red as he grasps the railing tightly. He speaks impulsively, "We can't delay any further! There are people down here that need our help, and we can't waste any time while they die down there!" 

Aelar nods vigorously.  "I'm not suggesting we fight the invaders, whoever they are, but there's plenty we can do to help, but nothing from up here."

"The best way we can help them is by not getting in their way. We're not trained fighters. We're not capable healers. None of us is even strong enough to actually carry a wounded person for long, not even considering all the possibilities of making their condition worse." Why was it always like this? Did others fail to see what he does, or was he incapable of seeing what they do? "If we go down there, we're only six more heads in needs of protection. Six more people to take space in the crowded shelters. Or, if we aren't lucky, six more bodies needing burial ground later!" Near the end of his last sentence, his feelings rise up. He said he won't argue, but he can't just watch as, once again, they lead themselves into disasters. He stops, and takes a deep breath, calming down. "Whatever, do as you see fit." He didn't like being wrong, but he hopes he isn't right. He walks to the other side, facing away from Guiston, and stares forward while waiting until they arrive. He wanted to disappear, shut himself in his mind. Let his body act on its own and find out what happened later. He didn't want to see any of his fears coming true.

"Hyre makes a good point..." Lazlo says. "Let's find a way to help without getting ourselves or worse- other people, hurt." The Satyr glances at Kina, Sir Geoffrey, and then Raia in turn- hoping they could offer some wise counsel. 

Kina seems convinced, though she doesn't like it. Barna is also in agreement.
The driver looks back at the group.
"I'll try and keep the kite steady and we'll do a pass over, but if it's too dangerous I'm going to pull us back." he says, looking to Geoffrey.
"I agree with sir knight. We wouldn't be able to land in a dangerous situation anyway, I don't think the kite will obey."
Raia speaks up then when she sees Aelar focusing his eyes.
((Aelar can't tell anything more from this distance.))
"Keep that up, Aelar! I think I might be able to help!" she says.
Focusing, she touches her forehead to his while chanting some sort of spell. When she's done, he feels a little odd... as if all of his senses are on high alert.
"We can see who needs our help the most before we even arrive. I'm too distracted maintaining the haste spell but Aelar should be able to sense who's hurt... or at least, who's still alive." she says.
"It won't last long, though! Make the best use of it you can--as soon as you know who you want to focus on first, the energy I gave you will start running out!"

Aelar has been given the ability to 'pense' for one minute. The longer he spends focusing on an individual, the better his chances of getting a clear picture of their situation. Every 5 seconds he spends focusing on an individual gives him +4 to a perception roll (on top of ability score bonus). He must roll against a DC of 15 to get an idea of the individual's status; the more he beats the DC by, the more precise the vision he has. If he spends 10 seconds focusing on an individual, he'll have enough time to take a 'peek' at 6 people, but he may not get the best reading on what's going on. He'll need to make a decision on who to focus on and for how long separately, though if the subject he tries to focus on is dead, all he'll be able to do is tell that they've passed, he won't be able to sense anything else.

The group have enough time to suggest who Aelar should look at first. He can give his report after he's looked at all the people he wants to find out about or tell them as he discovers their fates, but that will eat up time.

((Kallista, roll a WIS and CHA save for me pls))

((Just to clarify my own confusion, am i adding my modifiers to those?))

Torn between being selfless and choosing someone who can stratgically help them or being selfish and choosing someone he cares for... Lazlo caves to his own interests. "Carrie? The Satyr, like me? This is her scarf if it'll help?" He says waving the perfumed fabric under Aelar's nose.  

Aelar shakes his head, trying to clear the odd sensation, then forces himself to relax.

He smiles at Lazlo.  "That's a better idea than you think, Laz.  She's likely to be at the inn so we can cover the inn, Hanna, all of it with her.  We should do Sister Daar, also."  He pauses then, looking at Hyre.  "Any other suggestions?"