OOC: Sorry I accidentally misread the post when I was writing I thought donar was picking it up, sorry

"Hmmm. So the letter seems pretty battered, but it seems that it came from the outpost we are headed too. If I'm reading it right, it seems that shades appeared in the middle of the night, accompanied by a horrible smell. Everyone just kind of disappeared after, and whoever wrote this was being chased, and was asking for help. Long story short, not good." Alexander stated, rolling the letter back up after reading it and then holding it out in case anyone else wanted to read it. He let out a sigh, this being much more in depth than he originally had expected.

"Horrible smell, though... Sounds like what happened when The Cursed showed up. Particularly combined with everyone disappearing alongside it. It seems more like we're working for the bad guy as we go on." The Tiefling told the others, heading back to where his sleeping bag was set up. 

OOC: No worries at all, man. I assumed it was a simple mistake. We all make them.

Feng wakes up partway through the Alexander's thoughts, and interjects a sleepy: "Bring something to plug our noses with so we can't smell it and we'll be fine." 

Then he rolls over and falls back to sleep.

The sound of sawing logs continues throughout this entire conversation. It’s hard to tell if it’s passive aggressive mimicry or actual Kenku snoring.

Sounds like we are finishing the night, then checking for any clues when there is sunlight (the trail of the zombies guard and the skeletons).

OOC: I’m up for some scouting if you guys want :D Xing just has not been alerted to what’s happening. 

Whats with these people? We battle and then they fall asleep. Oh, well better keep watch for a little bit. We can sort what exactly everything means tomorrow. I suppose I should move the bodies away a little bit. 

During Donar's watch, he'll move the body of the man and then say a quick little prayer for the dead. After a couple hours, he'll wake up the next person for their watch before going to sleep himself.

OOC: only read this if you all decide to take a long rest.

The night from then on is uneventful and you are met by the incredible heat of the desert sun eight hours later.

Alexander let out a yawn as he woke up, sitting up as he stretched his arms over his head. His sleep had been good enough, if a little off putting. He looked around, making sure his allies were still around. 

"So, are we still doing this thing?" He asked

Xing let’s loose a rooster crow before looking with shock at the dead body. He makes some hand motions questioning what happened? 

I'm assuming that today is entirely travel, and the outpost is tomorrow after another night of rest.

Cast Goodberry to get 10 berries, and hand one to each person (to save on rations). Depending on how much food there is for the steeds around the oasis, the remaining five berries will be for them, or a snack for the party at the end of the day.

Xing takes a berry with a thankful nod, “Ey yo, what happened? What’d you mooks do!?-” Xing points to the dead body. “Who might he be, dearie?”

OOC: Not gonna lie - I’m confused why XIng is confused. He helped kill this guy, right? 

OOC: Xing doesn’t know about the illusion. In his mind, he killed a zombie and then went to sleep. Sorry if it’s a bit confusing haha

"We didn't actually kill a zombie and a skeletal horse. An illusion was cast on both of them, to make it seem as if they were those things. However, the skeletons were real, so there's that. Oh, and I found this note on the man." Alexander nonchalantly stated, walking over to Xing. He handed the Kenku the night from the night before, then turning back to his horse and preparing it for the trip ahead. He nodded towards Hadran, thankful for the food. As he had pointed out the previous day, he was a city boy, and so finding his own meal in the wild was not the easiest for him.

"... Huh..." Xing mutters/mimics as he looks at the note. He gives a respectful gesture towards the body and returns to the rest of the party. "So boys, where we off to?- Never did like the shade too much- Ugh, I hate undead...- Thoughts?"

“Guess we keep going,” says Feng, bundling up his pack. “We’ll probably have to deal with more of these before we’re done.”

Do you wish to venture on away from the camp and towards the the trading outpost?

OOC: sorry for the delay my internet has been a bit spotty.

OOC: Do we want to take one last look around before we leave now that we can actually see?

Hadran takes a moment to look around.

Wants to know if the guard/horse/skeletons had been running from the outpost (and happened to go through the oasis), or from another direction, or if something else was going on at the oasis.

In case: Perception 19 (if it is Investigation, subtract 4) (natural 20 works either way)