Thom snaps out of the quiet he's been in and his grey eyes take in the trees, "Now this aint really what i expected. Anybody know where the hells we're goin'?"
directions:
"Er, well, you sort of head down the valley, go into the woods, cross the river using the old log, go through the fairy clearing, over the ridge, round the flat rock, under the tree and you're there. More or less. Though it's easy to get lost. Guess that's why Kressle put the camp there. There's normally between four and eight there at one time - most of the time we're out foraging, not banditing. Me, I don't like the banditing, much prefer the foraging. Er, yeah..."
perception
"does this look like the fairy clearing?....I gotta go squeeze a sloppy dumplin..."
Having lost sight of Quinn, Hasren tries to locate a landmark & regain his bearings.
"WHat? We are not exactly where we intended to be?" MArc asks with feigned interest. He is busy playing with a tiny ball of magical flame floating between his fingers,...
Heimoth looks around helplessly before a flash of inspiration comes to him. "Now, I might be a city boy who doesn't know really his way around the wilderness, but I think that my old man once told me that moss only grows on the south side of trees. Now, I think I've seen moss growing on the left side, the right side and every which way on the trees we've passed - so it looks like we're not going in one consistent direction. Let's backtrack a bit, get our bearings again and then make sure we're actually going south."
Hasren and Heimoth examine the trees while Aleph blunders through a stand of nettles with his hose about his ankles to do his business.
A minute or two after Aleph wanders into a particularly thick spot of brush to 'squeeze a sloppy dumplin', he bursts from the brush, a wordless scream of pain ripping from his lips, frantically jumping around grasping at his behind.
Fearing a snake bite or wise, Thom's first aid treatment training kicks in and he vaults from his horse and (despite the potential awkwardness/grotesqueness of his positioning) bends down to inspect the afflicted area.
Somehow Aleph had sat on what appears to be an aggressive thorn-bush, and now is wearing the prize for said action. Thoms' quick actions keep the group from losing hours of tending any serious wounds, and he's able to remove the offending thorns before they can cause any real harm to Aleph's posterior or the trip's timetable. (Aleph's waning love of nature aside.)
With a (small, not TOO offensive) sigh of the long-suffering, Marc snuffs his tiny flame and slides off of his mount.
"Right! So what's the problem then? I confess i'm not much of a woodsman, but Father said I should apply myself and learn new things! And I've found that ofttimes two heads are better than one! Where can I be of assistance?" The dandy declares happily, (somehow making it sound more like a statement than a question.)
Also, if it's kosher, Thom will spend the day trying to help the group spot the landmarks we got from the bandits at Oleg's.
As the group approaches a clearing in the woods, Hasren will ask Marc if he can tell if this is a fairy-ring He also suggests that getting a vantage from higher up might help with figuring that out, or help locate more landmarks.
Also, with the opening in the canopy, Hasren will ask if anyone can see Quinn? If so, let's try to get his attention & have him join up with us to let us know what he's seen from above.
Or, Marc could just shoot a flashy spell up into the air from the clearing. That should probably get Quinn's attention (and hopefully not also attract any hungry predators...)
Marc turns his attention to the ring in question, and actually looses most of his nose-in-the-air attitude as he examines it. (Although it returns shortly after.)
AFter his examination of the mysterious ring, he ditches his jacket and vest, and attempts to shimmy up a tree to get a better vantage point for landmarks.
While the dandy displays more natural skill than one might expect from a city-slicker, he has difficulty finding good hand-holds on the tree, and does not make it up as far as he was obviously hoping. Nevertheless, he makes a valiant attempt, and peers from his swaying vantage point attempting to locate the described landmarks,...
Unfortunately, all he sees are the branches hitting him in the face! ;P
Taking a clue from Hasren, Heimoth makes his way into the nearest clearing, hoping his shiny armour will act as a beacon for the airborne Quinn. And if he can't see me, he can probably hear Aleph and Marc blundering into every sharp object this forest has to offer.
Quinn quickly realizing that he has lost track of the group in the heavy woods, flys down to a point in front of the struggling party.
"I'm here." he says quietly, stepping out onto the trail in his human form.
After a moment, he bends down to take a handful of loose soil and run it through his fingers. With a sniff, he casts it into the air, and stands a moment observing its fall. He walks around a large tree, one hand running along its bark, looking at the tree from top to bottom. Every few moments, he looks back along the path they've come, then forward along the direction of travel.
The party meanders through the woods, looking for the landmarks described by the erstwhile bandit. Their search is in vain, and after several hours in the forest, they have to admit that they are lost.
Eventually they find themselves emerging from the trees on to the plain again. However, from where they are now, there is no sign of civilisation - certainly, Oleg's is nowhere to be seen.
"Well this is a jam."
Head to....the right, following the treeline, I reckon.
"Well. This is embarrassing I must confess." Marc mumbles contritely.
"For one of my skills i mean. I mean for one who can find his way to any pub in town blindfolded, whether i've been there before or not!" He explains with a shrug of his shoulders.
"So, any other ideas? Other than the treeline I mean, that one is brilliant of course, but I was hoping for one a bit more,... inspired." He says apologetically, nodding towards Aleph.
;P
"Fine with me. I'm partial to doing that though....I understand if you get lost and somebody's looking for you, you should start a fire and stay put.
But nobody's looking for us. So, unless somebody has an inspiration, I think I'd rather die striving than mummifying right here.
I don't reckon it as we're lost anyhow, just gathering our bearings."
Quinn stops to take a look around. Long moments pass as he looks out at the plain, back to the forest, and back out towards the plain again.
"We are strangers here. The land will tell us where to go." He says softly.
"That's good......"
Aleph looks around; puts his hand behind an ear, literally hoping for the ground to grow a mouth and give him directions.
"Yeah, and unfortunately the only ones that MIGHT be looking for us are the ones that WE want to find! FIrst!"
"Oh, Sorry!" MArc adds softer, aware that he might be distracting Quinn from actually figuring out where they are.
Thom stands dumbfounded as Quinn literally listens to the ground. Well I've never… can he actually hear anything?
Aleph gets down there too....
Heimoth sends Thom a skeptical glance before shrugging his shoulders. "Gorum certainly does not speak through the ground. But maybe the gods of unspoiled places do?" He looks out over the open plain. "Well, it looks like we are well and truly lost. If Quinn could take to the skies again, perhaps he can spot Oleg's trading post? Until then, Aleph's suggestion is as good as any other. Let's follow the treeline."
Quinn concludes that the party has strayed west and north, emerging from the woods maybe ten or twelve miles south-west of Oleg's.
Thom nods in response to the paladin's words and waits for Quinn's report. When they are informed, he shrugs, "Well, much as I hate the opportunity for problems it presents, it's worth thinkin' a bringin' one of them bandits with us for direction." he runs an eye over the rest of you, "Unless we think we can make the second time the charm."
"Let us return to our starting point. It will be the best way to find the bandit camp." Quinn says. "Take one of them with us...yes. He can show us how 'repentant' he is then, or die like the rest."
Head back then? We should find somewhere to camp some time soonish. I bet we won't make it back by nightfall.
Any way to know what time it is?...
Despite Aleph's bleak assessment, they make it back to Oleg's as the sun is just dipping behind the mountains to the west, guided by Quinn from above. Oleg and Svetlana greet the conquering adventurers warmly.
"So, did you give those bandits what they deserved?" asks Oleg.
"Uh,....we didn't. Not yet. We're just....gathering our bearings I guess....got lost..."