Ogre

Aixa rejoins the rest of the group. "Almah's guards didn't see anything, but they say Dashki was hiding behind a tree. Apparently he has an 'unhealthy interest' in Almah, and is known to spy on her." Noticing Ugh talking to the gnoll expert, she adds: "Let's see what Ugh learns from him, and if we need to question him more."

Anala nods at Aixa's statement and repeats her assertion about Dashki to her before following the group over to join Ugh.
She makes sure to stand behind Dashki just in case he tries to bolt when confronted.

Silently following Ugh as he questions the gnoll expert, Thor continues to mutter into his beard. Upon hearing Dashki say he was near the cookingfire, Thor immediatley heads back to mercenaries and asks as politely as he can "Do any of... yous happen to see if Dashki over there" Thor gestures back towards the group " near the cookingfire when the wagon lit up?" Thor tries to be as diplomatic as possible
Diplomacy (1d20-1=3)

Dm

Bump

Savrah:

Apathy:

After talking to the guards and Dhaski the party regroups near Almah's tent. The conversation goes something like this.

Ugh: "Dhaski, stinky man, he need shower."
Aixa: "You're one to talk."
Ugh (Sniffs pits, shrugs): "You will see. Dhaski was at fire, he not see anything. He no like gnolls."
Aixa: "Wait, Dhaski says he was at the fire? The guards said he was over here." Aixa gestures at the tree.
Ugh: "Dhaski's story stink like him."
Anala: "Yeah, seems like he's hiding something."
Thor: "Where's Savarah?"

ogre

"Also, Dashki say Almah stupid for hiring Eloias."

"Has anyone seen where our druid disappeared off to?" Thor asks the group. He pauses for a moment before continuing "lost sight of 'er when I was 'elping ti move the wagon"

Anala looks around for a moment. "Now that I think about it, no I haven't. She went off to help the animal herder with his livestock and I have not seen her since, even when I went past them on my rounds."
She looks concerned for a moment. "I think it wise that we split up and diverge our efforts."
She turns to Aixa. "You and I shall inform Almah of Dashki's possible involvement. The rest of you spread out and find Savrah. Strat at the livestock pens and search from there."

"Have we lost one of our own already? I hope this and the fire are not portents of things to come."
Aixa nods at Anala's suggestion. "Fine. Call out if you find something," she tells the others. "It's getting dark, and it is probably best if we don't go wandering off into the wilderness alone."

I haven't abandoned you... just waiting for actions if you want to interact with any NPC let me know.

Savarah, I'll have a post up for you tomorrow AM.

Bump

"Hmm, where druid lady go?" Ugh wanders off in search of Savrah.

1d20+4=8 Perception

*Bump*

Role call. I'm not quite ready to get this back going but should be putting some new posts up shortly. Do we need to get some new players?{Post here Plz

Just checked in.

Ugh ready to continue.

Bits of ash whirl in the night air and the cloying smell of smoke clings to Luxius' heavy robes which are slightly crusty with sweat from the long day of treking through the desert in the hot sun. The cooler evening air offers some comfort but the robes are long overdue a thorough wash and the accumulated sweat makes them a bit crusty and chaffs. Between the odor and the crusty white salt stains Luxius is concerned about the impression he makes on potential converts.

Anala rubs her nose in an absent minded gesture, unknowingly rubbing a little piece of ash into her skin, leaving a small black trail. While Garavel speaks she absently brushes here hair, watching a couple vultures just barely visible in the last bits of sunlight, circling something in a patch of cactus not far from camp. Seeing the vultures she wonders idly where the druid wandered off to. Anala remembers the druid talking to the camel drivers but hadn't seen her since then.

"Almah, expects some sort of resolution on this issue, Ugh, Anala, Luxius, I'm counting on the three of you to see it's resolved. The rest of you come with me, we're going to see if we can salvage some of the wagon parts or other items from the wagon for trade."

Ugh rubs his scalp with the edge of his axe blade and spits in the dirt. Still a little frustrated that the ranger and gnoll expert turned out to be such a jerk. It's then that Ugh pieces together a couple facts. Dashki said he was by the cook fire when the seer's wagon went up in flames but the guards at Almah's tent complained that he was creeping around stalking her at the time. Ugh had been lied to.

let me know if you need any more details.

Ugh turns to Anala and Lucius "What we do? I say we go clobber Dashki and bring him to Almah to explain himself. In Ugh gut, he sure Dashki cause fire, why else he lie about where he was."

Anala glances around the camp, searching for a sign of Savrah.
Has anyone seen Savrah?" she asks, interrupting Ugh. "I only ask because it has been some time now since I have seen her and I have noticed vultures circling out there," she points towards the birds.
I think I might just go and talk to the animal herders, I think that they were the last ones to see her before she disappeared.
She truns without waiting for a response and heads over to the animal enclosure to ask the herders about Savrah.

Anala: As you approach the camel herders you see are talking quietly near a small dung fire towards the rear of their wagon. They talk with the ease of people who have been together so long they know what the other is thinking and only have to tell half a joke to understand it.

They are pretty oblivious to your approach, Hadrod, the husband, is clearly upset and nearly weeping.

Ugh: ?

Lucius: ?

Ugh frowns at first when Anala goes to search for Savrah instead of following his suggestion of clobbering Dashki. But then he takes in to consideration the darkening skies and the vultures and sees the wisdom in Analas action. So he decides to follow her. He will let her address the people at the wagon as his interpersonal skills are somewhat lacking.

Anala walks over to the seated couple, patiently waiting for them to acknowledge her before speaking up. "Greetings, my colleauge came to speak with you regarding the fire and it now appears that she has gone missing. I would be eternally grateful if you would tell me what you told her so that I may try to piece together her whereabouts."
She is quiet and respectful towards them, given their state.

"If the animal herders don't know what happened to Savrah, we should go look for her. In numbers. I think it's easy to get lost in the desert at night - everything looks the same, and all manner of wild beasts come out at night. Aixa joins Ugh and Anala at the herders' corral.

As you get with in the light of their campfire Hadrah (the wife) starts a bit at your approach. "Oh, Oh it's you. That is the prettiest red I have ever seen. Can you tell me where you got it from? I really..."

Hadrod interrupts "They're here about Savarah wool for brains. She came over here right after the fire askin' 'bout my Rombard." At this point Hadrod sort of shudders and starts to pull on his hair. "A right good lass. I was tellin' her about how he was a prize winning long ha..."

"Now who's ramblin'? She found yon rope by the our wagon.". Hadrah just talks over her husband and points towards the back of their wagon where a small section of rope dangles. "She said something about the rope bein' cut then her animal showed up. Big cat, it looked pretty fierce, skerred the daylights out of me and darn near spook..."

"She went off that way" the husband says giving his wife a glare. "She said something about tracks and such. I'm worried some thief stole my Rombard, he's a prize winner... took the red ribb..."

"I'm sure your friend is fine, she seemed a rough one and that cat she had." Harah shudders a bit, "Nothing was messing with that cat."

"..on at the last county fair. It's the horns you see, ..."

It's pretty clear Hadrod is ready to spend the next hour talking about goats horns before he moves on to the coat and the special lineseed based shampoo he uses on him. Any other questions for the camel herders?

"Someone cut yer goat free at sameish time as fire start!? Dat sound suss-pish-uss to Ugh." Ugh says more to his traveling companions than to the herders.

Ugh then starts to see if he can find the tracks that the herder mentioned.

Survival: 1d20+4=9

Lucius is going to take a short while to take a dust bath and air out his vestments, then rejoin the investigators.

Analah looks on at the exchange between the two with a blank but polite expression. "So, as Ugh so eloquently put it, someone cut your prize free around the same time as the fire started. Is it related, or is it just a coincidence? I assume that is what Savrah was attempting to deduce."
She turns to the rest of the party just as Lucius arrives. Well I am going to go in search of Savrah. Lucius, you come with me. Aixa, you and Ugh alert Almah to this new development. If Once you are done, then please feel free to come and assist us in our investigations if you so desire. Otherwise, I am sure we can handle ourselves, so you should continue to poke around camp until we return."
"Come Lucius." With that, she heads off in the direction indicated by Hadrod.

Lucius follows Anala, not quite sure where he's being led.

"Come, Ugh," Aixa says. "Let's inform Almah of these developments and see what next steps she thinks we should take."

"Aye, maybe she will have us go clobber Dashki." Ugh says as he follows Axia to Almahs tent.

Ugh/ Aixa:

Lucius// Anala:

After her runin with the cactus, Anala rumages in her packa nd pulls out a Sunrod, cracks it and holds it above her head to get a better look around.

"There has been some confusion with the camel herders' animals," Aixa tells Garavel. "It seems one of their animals was stolen, at about the same time the fire started. Apparently our companion Savrah went after the thief, but we don't know where she went. Anala and Lucius have gone after her, to see what she may have found." She pauses to take a breath, glancing at Ugh before continuing. "There is also something suspicious about Dashki's story. I don't think we can say he started the fire, but his story doesn't add up. Ugh, tell Garavel what Dashki told you."

As the light dims, Lucius begins to mutter in Infernal. <I summon implight, to show my way in darkness.>

Casting dancing lights.

Lucius will inspect the tuft of hair.

Aixa/ Ugh
Garavel intercepts you on the way to see Almah. I'll assume for the sake of simplicity you guys talk to him.

"Savarah is missing and you let Aixa and Lucius wander off into the desert looking for her? Do you think this is wise?" Garavel scratches his chin for a moment then looks to Ugh.

"You aren't stirring trouble up with Dashki are you? I heard about what happened with the guards at the fire. It hasn't gotten back to Almah and I will try and keep it that way. Why do you think Dashki is suspicious?"

Lucius/ Aixa
There are a few drops of blood on the cactus with the hair, it appears to be the color of Savarah's but it's hard to be sure. A few feet back it looks like she stumbled over a cactus just under the surface of the sand.

The tracks in the sand leading from here go directly towards a large cluster of cactus which looms on the edge of the radius of your lights. You feel a sense of dread wash over you and the sounds from the camp seem strangely distant. The light from the sunrod seems to flicker oddly giving everything a harsh, almost sinister appearance.

"Dashki tell Ugh he think Almah stupid for hiring Eloias. He tell Ugh he at cooking fire when fire start. Guards tell Axia that Dashki hiding by tree spying on Almah when fire start. So either Dashki lying or guards lying. Ugh think Dashki story stink as much as he does." Ugh says emptying his brain of all he knows about the situation.

Lucius/ Aixa

There are a few drops of blood on the cactus with the hair, it appears to be the color of Savarah's but it's hard to be sure. A few feet back it looks like she stumbled over a cactus just under the surface of the sand.

The tracks in the sand leading from here go directly towards a large cluster of cactus which looms on the edge of the radius of your lights. You feel a sense of dread wash over you and the sounds from the camp seem strangely distant. The light from the sunrod seems to flicker oddly giving everything a harsh, almost sinister appearance.

Lucius will direct his constellation of lights toward the cluster of cactus to see what they reveal.

"Perhaps we should go after Anala and Lucius," Aixa tells Ugh. She turns to Garavel. "What will you do about Dashki?"

I'm not going to bother with spoilers. Hope you don't mind, kind of a PITA

Ugh/ Aixa:
"What would you have me do with him? Have you asked him about what he said? I think you should find out more before you make any accusations that might backfire on you." Garavel scratches his chin and sighs but doesn't comment one way or the other regarding going after Lucius and Anala.

Anala/ Lucius:
Lucius' Implight flickers an eerie color in the desert air, highlighting a huge jumble of mis-shaped and deformed looking cactus. Long sharp cactus needles like tiny daggers are visible on the cactus even from a distance. The sound of something large moving through the cactus causes Lucius to chase the noise with his light briefly but other than perhaps a gently swaying cactus plant you see nothing.

The tracks lead directly into the center of the cactus patch, it appears was Savarah was running directly into the cactus patch at this point. Or you assume the tracks are from Savarah anyways.

"Perhaps we should go after Anala and Lucius," Aixa tells Ugh. She turns to Garavel. "What will you do about Dashki?"

Ugh furrows his singed eyebrows clearly deep in thought, or as deep as is possible for this half-breed. After a moment he speaks "Ugh think Anala and Lucius will be okay. Ugh think it better for us to continue investigating cause of fire. Ugh really want to clobber Dashki but maybe we should give him chance to explain what the guards said about where he was when fire start." Ugh then sighs and says "Ugh not so smart so Ugh go where muh-lady goes. If we go see Dashki you should talk, Ugh will say something to start fight. You should ask sun-lady to protect your nose if we go see Dashki he smell bad."

Anala raises the Sunrod above her head to give more illumination to her immediate area then Lucius' light afford.
Warily, she starts forward, drawing her Bich'hwa as she goes and moving towards the centre of the cactus patch.

"Right. Back to Dashki then." Aixa turns and goes looking for the "gnoll expert". Forewarned by Ugh, she tries to breathe through her mouth as she approaches.

"Good evening, Dashki," she says. "We have a few more questions we'd like to ask you, if you don't mind. With your assistance, perhaps the light of the Dawnflower can illuminate the truth behind the recent tragedy."

Lucius spreads his hand in the direction of the cactus patch. "Who goes there?"

Casting message to any creatures in the direction of the patch.

Aixa, Ugh:
As you approach In spite of Ugh's warning as you approach Dahski his smell makes you taste bile in the back of your throat. His odor goes beyond just normal body odor, it's overlaid with something akin to foul meat.

Dahski eyes you speculatively and gives you a big grin which is somewhat disturbing. "Just ask what you want Dhaski has no secrets."

Lucius, Anala:
The path ahead of you is treacherous, sharp cactus needles line both sides of your route. You briefly wish you were a halfling because you can see there are some tight squeezes ahead. You back off a bit but don't see any better way through the thick patch of cactus and the path ahead of you is the obvious route taken by whoever proceeded you. Just ahead a piece of hair or fur is caught on a cactus plant. You briefly wonder why Savarah would have come this way then you hear a sound ahead of you. The pitiful plaintive cry of a baby or a young child in the even.

Lucius: There is no response to your spell

If you guys could please make a listen check and a acrobatics check to move forward without getting skewered.

Dashki is a human right? I mean he is a human who is an expert on gnolls and not a gnoll(race) expert(NPC class).

Ugh resists the urge to knock Dashki silly (and to hurl) he looks to Axia to continue her more diplomatic approach.

Yes, Dashki is a human expert on gnolls.

Perception (Listen) Check. (1d20+6=18)
Acrobatics Check. (1d20+7=18)

Anala continues to make her way through the cacti, heading in the direction of the cry.