"The tracks lay in that direction..." He points "Before they stopped."
Drellik describes the area and offers to lead the group to the tracks. Perhaps somebody else can find something he and Omaz overlooked?
Alem thanks Garavel for the information and turns toward the tent, only to see Asanna and Gethric leaving the tent to meet with the others. He approaches the forming group and is joined by Kaspar, bounding across the sands. As the monkey reaches his master, he scrabbles up onto the man's shoulder. "Kaspar! Where have you been? Up to no good, of that I can be certain." Alem feigns a scowl, but drops it and scratches the monkey's head as he joins the others. "I see you have already spoken with Dashki?"
Drellik asks the group to follow him and heads over to Garavel's tent. He begins explaining everything that he has found, along with the details that Dashki has provided.
"Spoken with Dashki, yes... however answers are less certain." before following the others to Garavel.
Garavel listens to all the information that the group had given him before saying "I see, we must tell Almah.",He takes you to the her, she listens to the group as well before saying to no one “If my expert is correct, the hills around here should be crawling with these pugwampis, or at least some sign of their passage. If what Dashki says is true, it should be easy for him to find one and bring it back to me.”
She than turns to the group and says “As he is, however, our best suspect in this affair, it would not do to send him out into the darkness alone. I’m afraid that your investigation is not yet at and end. Go out into the desert with Dashki and find me one of these pugwampis.”
Barakus bows to Almah and gathers his weapons and equipment.
"The Desert... very well."
Eyebrow raised in challenge "Why this night? - surely it would be easier to track the beast in the morning light?"
"If night is when we will find them, then we should get Dashki and head out at once."
Omaz nods, "If it will speed our journey onward up, most certainly."
Alem nods slowly. "If it is to be this night, we should make haste. It would not do to linger in the desert any longer than necessary; whatever beasts there may be will have a dangerous advantage." Kaspar chatters irritatedly and grooms his fur. The monkey's eyes shine with unnatural awareness; he appears to have an understanding of the danger of the proposed task.
Gethric follows along, using what skill he has to assist in finding tracks and signs of life...
Survival:
Asanna laughs at their task as she gathers her belonging for an evening romp through the desert, "So off we go hunting snipes in the dark. Has anyone other than Dashki even seen one of these pugwampis in person? We sure they aren't some made-up folk story?" She has zero skill in the wilds of the desert so Asanna trails along behind one of the actual trackers of the group.
"Nothing solid comes to mind over them," Omaz admits to Asanna, "But it's a lovely night for a snipe hunt if snipe hunt it be." Omaz smiles softly as he too searches for signs as they travel.
The group readies themselves, Dashki is seen waiting for them. The group finds some odd tracks setting out into the scrubland hills north of the Sultan’s Claw, the group search about in darkness for signs of the pugwampis. Dashki tells you all that pugwampis look like little humanoid creature that’s much smaller than a halfling, with light fur, dirty claws, and a tiny jackal head. Walking through these hills takes some time, the group has to watch out for cactus that cover the hill.
After some times the group finally finds some tracks that seems to match a being as small as Dashki had spoken of as well as tracks of what appears to a goat. The group follows these tracks until suddenly the group hears brief cry of a human child comes out of the darkness ahead of them.
The group progress toward the sound, the local cacti growing more and more intense, until the groups finds themselves at the edge of a dense thicket of the prickly plants. The sound of the bleating goat is now loud and it seems to be coming from somewhere deep within the cacti.
Drellik heads into the thicket with Tamuud directly behind him.
Omaz listens, cocks his head, nods and follows Drellik, moving as silently as he may as he does so.
Gethric hangs back a moment as those before him plunge headlong into the thicket of thorns.
Barakus draws his crossbow and heads into the thicket.
Alem sighs, spying that the only path lies through the clusters of cacti. Readying his staff, he tries to poke his way through, using the staff to steady himself and to try to push away cacti that block the path. Kaspar screeches and climbs on top of the mage's turban, perching out of the reach of most of the cacti. Alem grumbles at the sudden weight. "Foul, insipid creature..."
Asanna eyes the thicket with a weary eye. Cactus spines hurt, even more-so when you had to pull out dozens of the little prickly sons of jackals. As the others proceed to trapise unabashedly into the cactii, Asanna shakes her head as she proceeds to step very carefully after them.
Omaz follows with the others
Everyone in the party sees Rombard the goat, seems stuck to a scrub bush by a hairy, knotted length of rope. The groups takes their time to get to the sound of Rombard. The group is forced to move carefully because of how thick the cactus are. As the group near Rombard he lets out a loud cry, finally the group reaches Rombard and see that he is tied to a cactus instead of stuck. Rombard seems injured as well as seems to be moving about. It seems like you can untie him or cut him down.
Omaz will take it slow and steady through the brush pretty much due north
"We should be cautious. Whoever would rope an animal and just leave it here is up to something." As he gets closer to the goat, he'll try to calm the beast, "Shhh... easy there."
Barakus covers anyone going near the goat with his crossbow, he'll remain where he is.
Gethric remained outside of the field of thorns... not yet seeing a need to expose himself to the same uncomfort and pain that the others must be enduring.
Asanna creeps close slowly through the cacti, picking each step and movement carefully through the living minefield. As Omaz attempts to calm down the goat, the tiefling slips up quietly and starts to attempt to unwrap the rope from its current cactus spine pinned location.
"This seems too easy..."
Drellik heads for C-3 and Tamuud moves to C-4. He attempts to watch for anything that might be hiding near the goat.
Alem walks up to the area about the goat, with Omaz right behind. Omaz than moves up to Rombard and attempts to calm him down which does not seem to work. Asanna moves up and attempts to free Rombard, but not seeming to be able to do the task. Drellik moves up to follow the others with his companion Tamuud looking about. Gethric and Barakus hold their position waiting. Rombard stills struggles and cries out even with the group around him.
"apparently not TOO easy," Omaz says with a sigh as the goat stays agitated.
Asanna curses under her breath as she struggles to untangle the rope from the cactus. As Rombard struggles and bleats in fear, she looks to Omaz, "Please calm the goat otherwise it's just going to hurt itself once it makes a break for freedom." She goes back to attempting to unwrap the rope once more.
Drellik begins making soothing noises, attempting to calm the goat.
"Apologies, Asanna, the beast is stubborn." He tries again, perhaps between Drellik and himself, it can be done.
Gethric remains outside of the briar patch and watches his companions attempts at freeing the goat.
After some work the group finally gets Rombard to calm down but are still unable to free him from the rope.
Asanna growls with fustration as she pulls back a pricked finger. She sucks on the blood welling up from it as she gives the rope another try. Curse all goats and cacti to the Nine Hells.
Drellik attempts to cut the rope with his dagger.
As the others busy themselves with the goat, Alem regards it with thoughtfulness. "It is curious that the missing goat should be tied to a tree in the desert. Perhaps the goat is a talented knot-maker?" The wizard looks suspiciously around the clearing for signs of...something. He knows not what he is looking for. Perhaps some tracks, or a shadow out of place among the cacti.
The landscape looks strangely alien in the dim pale light beaming from the sliver of Somal. The flickering flames of the torches cast queer shadows in the night, and it seemed as though the thorny inhabitants of the cactus patch were dancing, advancing and withdrawing with every slight breeze. To Alem's ears, even the frightened bleating of the goat sounds warped somehow by the faint magic of the desert night. A slight chill forces its way down his spine, and Alem is momentarily captured under the desert's spell.
"We are being toyed with, of that I'm certain," Omaz glanced about keeping his own eyes peeled to see if someone else was watching them as they struggled with the knot.
Rombard the goats cannot seem be be be let loose from his rope, from what the members of the group have tried. Alem and Omaz do not seem to see anything as they look around for what might of tied the goat to the thicket.
Asanna is ready to throw her hands up in defeat as she keeps struggling with the rope, "If any of you menfolk are better with a rope, you're welcome to come try this damnable knot."
Drellik stands back, perplexed about what is happening. He once again tries to cut the rope.
Asanna finally manages to free Rombard from the rope. The goat seems happy to be freed when you all hear an odd noise. Out of the thicket came a small jackal headed creature that seems to be saying something in gnoll. The creature than attacks Asanna, hitting her with its little bow, not seeming to do much damage to her.
"Get away from food!"
Alem:
Asanna:
Barakus:
Drellik:
Gethric:
Omaz:
"It claims the damned goat is it's food," Omaz translates. However, he doesn't seem too sympathetic, or maybe the blasted goat has just put him in a bad mood.
He backs up a bit, draws and fires at the gnoll headed thing in one smooth motion