"Many thanks, Azerna," Mihara bows. "Your hospitality is greatly appreciated."
Mihara retires to whichever room first strikes her fancy as looking comfortable, and undertakes a bit of cleanup. Once behind closed doors, she reclaims her true kitsune form; after all, her three tails would make for wonderful dusting tools, and she was already due for a bath either way.
Azri exhaled a bit - then focused on the power within her, expending one use of mythic energy to cast Unseen Servant and directing it to start cleaning the area and making it look nicer. Meanwhile, the lich simply settled down to read and occasionally direct the magic, intending to see to it that the areas she visited were made spotless.
The night passes without any incidents, other than possible sneezing fits as the dust is defeated via magic and unsleeping hands.
The next morning sees a simple breakfast served from a kitchen that is only partially usable, as some of the devices and machines have given in to time's abusive caress. Still, it is well done and of good quality, even if it is mainly cold foods.
Your trip into town reveals people are waking up to discover the water once again working. The fountain in the market square has spent the night cleaning away the weeks of dirt and grit that has been blown into the basin. People in the streets seem brighter, happier and smell less strongly of heavy perfumes. The former slaves, especially, seem to be enjoying washing the misery of there time in the galleys off themselves.
A simple wand of Cure Light Wounds is easy enough to find at the store owner by Quera, which she is happy enough to part with at the normal price thanks to the water being restored.
Now you stand near the bridges. Khalharum is built over seven islands, with the one with the town on being the most southern and closest to shore. The central island holds the Towers and the Thirsty Dryad, while the most northern holds the temple to Pharasma and it's graveyard. You have yet to step on four of the island, two to the east and two to the west.
From what you have seen and heard there have been sightings of the people in the ruins on all the other islands, but most commonly in the North West.
Aibek, after helping with the cleaning for a while, ended up crashing in a small room in the upstairs of the Thirsty Dryad. As long as a door had a good lock, or Aibek was high enough away from anyone, the witchwolf could comfortably sleep almost anywhere...
In the early morning, Aibek once again spent quite a long time locked in a washroom. Feeling clean, fresh, or presentable in three forms plus putting on the firm weighted clothes, spot cleaning barbed vests and neck guards, and styling up the long wild dark hair to appear mostly flat under a wrap cloth turned into a makeshift cloth cap in humanish form took time - and even then a few dark wild hairs poked through as usual at the nape of the neck. Aibek gave up fighting those..
After joining others downstairs, Aibek once again thanked Azerna for her hospitality and quietly munched away. When in town, Aibek seemed mainly concerned with triple checking people's water and checking on the people they had brought on boats...
While approaching the bridges, Aibek looks for an easily accessible high point to look over, bouncing slightly with chaotic energy, looking towards the North West, "Shall we head towards those ruins? Maybe later we can try mapping them?"
"I just want to know who those other people are and what they're doing here. If they're saboteurs and slavers..." Azri smiled slightly - and it wasn't a nice smile. "Still, I suppose we'll find out when we get there. I suppose I don't really want to judge anyone before we have the chance to see what they're doing... that would be bad form."
The north western island was once the heart and soul of Khalharum's industry. Smaller than most of the others it is also more densely packed. The streets once formed a grid pattern with wide avenues to allow the transport of goods and materials, but now are heavily chocked by the rubble.
All around former factories and warehouses rise, even ruined, three or four stories into the air. The broken remains of water wheels surround the side of the island, suggesting at least one source of power. From there position it's obvious that at least some of the buildings extend underground too.
It is, in short, the perfect place to hide, a ruined urban jungle with no real map or inhabitants. But, you suspect, not uninhabited.
Selena grins at Ayreth's comment as she scans her surroundings.
"Well, looks like it'll take us some time to search this place." the half-succubus looks at the nearby buildings "Is there somewhere to you that looks fishy to start searching?"
Mihara's sleep that night is fitful and disjointed; without the constant business of adventure to distract her, her mind keeps wandering back home, to her concerns for her siblings, and the thought of the Stripes and their meaning.
Please let my message reach them, and their answer come soon...
... at least we found some look today. A small consolation at best.
The rest of the party might notice Mihara taking a strangely long time to prepare in the morning, for someone who has the luxury of magically wearing any clothing she could possibly want.
After tossing and turning all night, Mihara required a lot of brushing to deal with a bad fur day.
Mihara gives the area a cursory scan, hoping to find a spot of interest or two.
"Everyone stick together; we don't know where an enemy might be lurking."
Aibek looked around, spinning about in loose circles while dark eyes moved up and down the rubble and buildings, looking into the shadows and for anything interesting.
Glancing over at Mihara, "True, wasn't there talk of people out here? Might still be supplies and tools people need in these warehouses..." Aibek commented while thoughts wandered off with dark eyes wandering over the buildings, seeing if anything sparked interest or an idea...
After some searching, a short distance from the bridge you entered by, you discover a small passageway has been cleared through the rubble leading deeper into the ruins.
"My, my. I wonder who's been digging through the rubble here." Azri said with a smile, sneakily and silently moving down into the area before so she could take a look around.
...Rather more quietly than observantly, though.
Hearing Azri's comments, the witchwolf stopped spinning and focused on the small passage way. Smoothly walking, Aibek moves to the darkest spot where the witchwolf can view the passage and melds into the shadows in a step to give coverage...
...the shadow creature smiled softly, crouching while feeling at home in the dark, and began having a closer look at the passage...
Seeing Azri and Aibek stealthily disappear into the passage, Selena waits for them to scout ahead before barging into the tunnel.
Figuring that two people are plenty for scouting, Mihara opts to stay back rather than risk alerting any possible enemies. She draws her blades and holds ready.
The passage opens up into what was once a major street, until some kind of mill collapsed. Now only a small section has been clearned. Beyond the tunnel is the remains of a campsite. It has obviously been some time since it was used, however.
"Hmm..." Azri said as she poked around. They'd have to do some rebuilding here at some point - and in the meantime, she began examining the campsite, checking for both clues and magic. If there were tracks here, maybe they could follow them...
Selena follows after Azri, looking around while the quasi-lich examines the campsite.
...Or she should, but instead distractingly looks around while she focuses to overhear her sister's and Mihara conversation.
Ooooh, interesting. Though, Foxy seemed worried about her family for some reasons: I hope she won't get depressed because Ayreth asked her that...
Aibek walked around the old campsite in the shadows, looking around hoping to find something interesting to show the others...
"Very close, Mihara nods with a smile. "My older brother was always there for me when I grew up," she reminisces, with a smile. "The kids too, they're like precious treasures to me..."
"It's hard, being so far from home for the first time," Mihara confides. "How about you, Ayreth? Do you have any siblings?"
Azri's search led her to a small source of magic - an Everburning Torch that had been kicked underneath a collapsed pillar and apparently missed when the mysterious whoevers broke camp.
All told, the signs around the camp suggest a rapid and hasty exit from this paticular site - the campfire was allowed to burn to ash rather than being put out and covered, several small items such as now rotted food and a water flask have been left behind and a small, once neat refuse pile has obviously been kicked.
The tracks are a mix of humanoid boots, some small enough to be a child or one of the smaller races, some large enough to be a monstrous humanoid. They come and go from the site in several directions, through more holes in the rubble or up makkeshift ladders and ropes into the looming ruins around you, making it hard to determine which was the way they finally departed.
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"Oh, how many brothers and sisters do you have?"
Ayreth gives a significant glance at the tunnel that Selena and Azri went through. "Me? Well, now I have..., oh, you probably mean from before." She thinks for a moment. "I guess I don't really know. I could, but I didn't grow up with any of them if I do. My mother,..." Ayreth shudders. "...she is not a good person."
"Oh... My apologies. I did not mean to dredge up bad memories... Though, if you are ever in need of an attentive ear, please do not be afraid to ask."
"There are five of us total." Mihara explains. "Three sons and two daughters. Quite close in age too; my older brother, Hakeru, was only two when I was born, and our youngest brother, Kiromu, will be celebrating his seventeenth in the spring."
Nigrum studies the tracks and signs of passing. He was used to tracking people, while normally this meant a lot of city work. It was not uncommon for those with prices are their heads to seek refuge in the wild, thinking it a easy place to get lost.
Aibek followed the footprints around for a moment, glancing towards the conversation for a long moment, before circling back around the dead campfire, taking in deep breaths before ending up in a dimmer part of the area, looking up at the makeshift ropes and ladders before speaking up, "Should we head up? Might get a useful view from up there -- if these things are still sturdy enough...probably still quite climbable"
"I'm more interested in why they left." Azri mused, holding out the torch for whoever else wanted to take it. She planned to be stealthy in the near future, and endless light was of minimal help for that.
Mihara nods at Ayreth's comment, not sure whether to pry further or not. In the end, she assumes that her companion would have been more direct if she did want to discuss such things.
"Ah, nothing personal there. Kits are able to transform more or less from birth, though their transformations are rather sporadic until they learn to control them, generally shortly after learning to walk and talk. On the other hand, taking on various appearances rather than only the one that comes to me instinctively... that took me years to master."
"Perhaps we should follow the others, if only from afar; I would rather not lose track of them."
It's quite difficult to determine which path led away permanently from this camp.
The ladders and ropes seem sturdy enough. A couple have obviously been built with someone or something significantly heavier than anyone in your group in mind.
Aibek investigated each route up and finally chose a sturdy looking ladder against a dim wall - in case it wasn't as sturdy as it first looked, Aibek wanted to advantages that dim light would give the shadow assassin in getting up.
Aibek climbed carefully up a few rungs, before looking back over to the others, "I'm going to see if there is more to learn up there..." Aibek said softly before continuing up quicker than before. Stopping just before the top, Aibek carefully listened and smelled before peeking over the top...
Azri just watched as Aibek moved, casually playing with electricity that crackled between her fingers as she waited. She appeared to be having a lot of fun with that... though she remained ready to dart over as soon as necessary.
The area was once the second floor of a mill of some kind. The wooden frames of what appear to be some kind of loom, suggesting that at some time Khalharum had access to silk, cotton or wool, now sit in shambles, the wood warped by wind and heat.
Aibek's keen eyes spot something in this area that wasn't obvious below - non-humanoid tracks in the dust. A pool of long dried and now flaking blood near the ladder suggests a sentry met an untimely end before the creatures made there way into the main camp.
Hearing nothing, Aibek finished climbing up into the second floor, skirting around the dried blood to look at the tracks. Obviously not humanoid in appearance, Aibek eyes kept being pulled towards the flaking blood and the shadows around them. Aibek moved back towards the ladder...
Aibek called down, "Odd tracks up here, by odd I mean not humanoid looking, and there is quite a bit of old blood. Might be pieces of the puzzle of why they left, Azri." said with a grin before turning back to look around this floor of the building. Aibek began to investigate this room quietly wondering if something of more interest could be found...
"Blood? I see." Azri mused, though it would have been a lie to say that this news got her own blood racing. After all, she, uh... well, y'know. She carefully ascended the ladder and joined Aibek in looking around, casually keeping an eye out for anything else they ought to be seeing.
Selena scratches her head at Aibek's comment "If it's a puzzle, I still haven't managed to put together even one piece.".
Still unsure of what had really happened, she follows Aibek in her investigation.
Once the others are done looking over the trail and barring any insights, Nigrum tries his hand at it so to speak.
"The tracks are kobold by the look and placement of them. That odd dot and line between them is their tail, they tend to alternate slightly dragging them between their strides."
The kobold could be a lackey to the group that was here. Kobolds were weak and cowardly, at least when they lacked numbers and an array of advantages.
With the high perception, it appears as though the Kobolds had followed the people who made camp from somewhere else, and attacked them there. There are no other signs of the sentry or any Kobolds, however.
"We could ask the people in town if they've had problems with kobolds when we get back" Aibek responded to Nigrum while looking at the long warped equipment. "Though they're like more likely to be out here I guess" Aibek mused, dark eyes trailed around the room along with shadowed steps. "Should we look through the building or maybe elsewhere. Maybe a way up to the roof..."
"Well, at least we know with who we are dealing with." the half-succubus says "I really don't know much about Kobolds though: anyone know if we'll have more luck searching the ruins or the roofs?"
"I think they would have mentioned that. Maybe they don't want to be noticed." Azri mused thoughtfully, considering their options. She carefully began to prowl around the area, checking to see if anything they could use to identify a group had been damaged and dropped.
There are no more obvious clues in the remains of the camp.
Your choices are simple, for now - check the roofs to see if there was anything up there and get a better view of the city, try once more to hunt down the path the running battle took or begin to comb the ruins in a methodical manor to see what can be found.
The ladders and ropes leading up to the roof are well secured and make climbing up trivial. The flat roof is only partially there now, much of it having collapsed into the building and onto the street, but the part of the roof you are on seems solid.