I see the clearing and call out, "There is a clearing ahead everyone and a very sudden incline. Be ready, this is a good ambush point." With that I draw "GoldFire" and an arrow, getting ready to stop and nock it if any danger appears.
With Jaestra's warning, Vorik cautiously readies his hammer and shield in case of attack. He then carefully guides Valor down the trail and into the clearing. Concentrating on the rough trail, he forgets to scan the clearing carefully for any sign of trouble or danger.
Seeing Vorik ready his weapon and shield, Vladimir does the same, following the paladin down into the clearing.
The trail widens as you reach the base of the ridge. The trees thicken around you. After moving another hundred feet closer, Vladimir and Jaestra both spot tracks through the underbrush... winding all through the area.
There are several types of tracks here... deer, elk, humanoid, and thylacine.
It looks like what made the canine tracks , chased the other creatures into the area, and down this ridge toward the clearing... herding them in packs.
Most of the tracks are weeks old. None of what you have found seem to be within the past few days.
Looking down at the tracks I keep my mare going forwards towards the clearing, "These tracks belong to Deer, Thylacine, Elk and some Humanoid beings, but none are more recent than a couple of weeks, maybe a week. There is no sign there has been anything here within the last few days at least. The worrying thing however, is that all the tracks indicate that the Thylacine herded the others into the clearing, so we may find a small den hidden there."
Hrafen rubs Archiblad behind his right ear affectionately, and nods at Jaestra's words.
"Very well. I will be on my guard. Hopefully, the Thylacines will back down after we kill a few of them, though..."
Kesten speaks quietly to Nouri "Stay back with Brother Kavken, Nouri." He moves his mount up to just behind the charter holders.
As you ride into the thickening wood, a dozen thrushes evacuate a fallen tree fused with the underbrush to your left.
The remaining stump is seven feet tall, and at first glance the tree looks like it was hacked down with a dull axe. You then notice slashes in the smooth grey bark... sets of four perpendicular gouges in the bark about three times wider than a man's hand.
The tree looks like it was gnawed in half by something large enough to make those claw marks on the bark.
There are no more tracks from Thylacine.
You start to see clawed paw prints from a very large animal.
"Hmmph...no more brush dog tracks down here." the swordsman says observing the area. His eyes widen seeing the large, clawed prints, "That looks to be the tracks of a damned big bear, any thoughts on the matter, Jaestra?"
I look down at the tracks, "I agree that the Thylacine tracks stop here, but I am unsure what bear tracks look like and these look very unfamiliar to me. I have never seen Bear prints before, but if it is a bear ... then it would be a very large bear, even more reason to be on our guard. Would the bear have been able to do that to the tree?"
"If one was large enough, I suppose it could." Looking back at the bear tracks, "And if those are the tracks of the bear in question, it would certainly be large enough to damage a tree in that way. Like you said, we best be on our guard."
I nod at everybody and slowly move forwards, reading to shoot at anything that comes at us in a threatening manner.
You pass through another decline - peeking above the equally declining canopy, you see large stone protrusions covered in vines. After a few more feet, you see they are antlers as you catch glimpses of the large deer head carved into rock on the west side of the clearing (On your right).
The path narrows again as the center of the clearing comes into view... allowing you to enter mounted only in single file.
Less than 100 feet from you, in the center of the clearing past an overturned broken column, you see a large oval "bird-bath style" ornamental piece. It looks about 15 feet by 50 or 60. What isn't covered in vines and algae, appears to be covered in carved images and artful detailing.
Jaestra can feel her mount resist with slight irritated tugs of her head, and Vorik feels similar but more subtle reluctance from Valor. Archibald slows as he commits 80 percent of his focus to sniffing the air.
The woods are silent apart from a brief low whistle from an occasional gust of strong breeze, and a "tuuuuuurik tik tik tik tik" from the few birds high in the trees.
"Pretty narrow path through here, who wants to lead the way? I am willing to do so, provided no one feels strongly against it."
"Hmm, if everybody is able to agree with me, I would like Vlad to lead, followed by myself, then Master Hrafen and then Sir Vorik protecting our rear? Unless Vlad and Sir Vorik want to reverse their roles. We need a strong combatant at both the front and the rear to protect us both ways. Then both Master Hrafen and I will be protected to attack at range if we are dragged into combat. Does this sound acceptable?"
"Works for me." The swordsman says with a grin. "Which would you prefer, Vorik?"
Vorik gives Valor a quick pat on the neck to help reassure the horse's fear.
"Sounds like a good plan to me. Both you and Vlad have a better eye for spotting trouble than I do anyway." Vorik says with a smile as he slides to the side of the trail. He lets the others pass and then falls in behind Hrafen at the end of the line.
Hrafen nods, scratching Archibald behind the ear to try and relieve his tension.
"That seems eminently sensible."
As you move forward, you see the outcropping of rock on which the elk head is carved. Thick shaggy vines cover much of it, and filth streaks down from its face like tear stains... giving it a somewhat dark melancholic appearance. The massive sculpture hangs over crumbling stone stairs which lead into a dark cave in shadow. Around the clearing are a dozen or so pillars which are also crumbling... some have toppled.
Kesten offers to hold Jaestra and Vlad's horses, and hangs back unless needed. Jhod and Nouri stay back another thirty feet.
I place a hand on Vlad's shoulder, getting him to stop for a moment and then raising the same hand to get the others behind me to stop. I then look around what I can see, trying to see if I can see or hear any movement or dangers.
Vladimir, obviously in awe at the sight before him, says in a hushed tone, "Amazing...this place must have been truly magnificent in its prime."
Glancing up toward the massive elk's head sculpture, "No doubts this was an Erastilian shrine, it has to be the place Jhod had dreamed of."
Seeing the elk head sculpture, Vorik slides out of the saddle and hands Valor's reins over to Kesten. Drawn to the ancient stone symbol of Erastil, the paladin steps forward only to see Jaestra hold her hand up in warning. Coming to an abrupt halt he gives both Jaestra and Vlad a questioning look. "Surely we've nothing to fear from the ancient god within his own shrine?", he says in a whisper.
You hear a muffled sound repeating every five or six seconds. It is slightly reverberating - suggesting it is coming from the cave. It sounds almost like a grunt... but a "softer" sound... similar to the mating call of a moose.
The sound could be a mating call, but it probably isn't. It is too muffled to hear it well enough to identify.
You also start smelling a robust musk, along with faint animal and vegetable rot.
Hrafen glances around nervously.
"I don't know... This place may once have been a holy spot, but it looks fairly forgotten, now..."
I whisper back to Vorik, "Can't you hear that? It sounds like a soft grunting coming from the cave, repeating every few seconds. It could even be snoring. Then there's the smell, rotting animals and vegetables. I think something lives in that cave and has taken up eating animals to survive, it sounds a little like a mating call of a Mousse; but it isn't that, and the fact that it smells of rot so much, I would say that we are dealing with a omnivorous animal, not a person."
Thinking back to the tracks and downed trees the group had seen earlier, "Jaestra, bears typically live in caves do they not? Do you think the noise you are hearing is the beast who's tracks we saw earlier?"
"I certainly hope not, not with the size of those tracks. But it would seem to be the most accurate assumption. I also don't think we will be able to avoid fighting this fight either, so we should try to get the upper hand and surprise it as soon as possible."
With that I put the arrow back into my quiver and draw one of the new arrows.
You move into formation, and begin to creep forward.
Vorik shakes his head at Jaestra. "Don't hear a thing." He says.
"But it does look like a good cave for some creature to take refuge. Especially if the god has abandoned his protection of the place."
When Jaestra draws an arrow, Vorik nods and readies his shield and hammer. But instead of charging in, he stays back and waits for those who move more quietly to get in position.
Vladimir moves slowly forward with his sword and shield at the ready, attempting to be quiet as he does so.
In the vines hanging from the north antler, you see easily a dozen birds... you aren't sure what breed they are, but they are the noisy ones that scattered earlier when you came within 15 feet of them. They may raise the awareness of the (assumed to be) sleeping creature if you get too close and spook them.
"Stop, a flock of those noise birds are ahead, we shouldn't move any closer to them otherwise they will make a racket and fly off, waking up the creature or alerting it to our presence. We should head East a little bit, maybe 40 feet and circle around, heading straight for the cave head on. That will avoid the chance of being noticed."
Vladimir nods in acknowledgement of the ranger's advice and begins to move as directed.
Vorik nods his understanding and continues to follow behind the others.
Hrafen nods in acknowledgement, and follows the others as they move carefully around the birds.
You veer around the nesting birds, and walk along the west edge of the water. It is full of clumpy algae and water-skimmer bugs... A near-swarm of mosquitoes sample the buffet of warm bodied adventurers as you continue.
Rounding back to the south part of the steps, there are two large rocks a few feet apart framing your path. One flat-top 3' high rock and one somewhat conical and closer to 6 feet high.
From here, you can see a little deeper into the cave. The first set of steps lead to a 30' by 40' landing/foyer. There is just a little light in here. A row of five pillars support the roof to this area, as well as the elk head above. Against the north and south walls, on the far end of the room are two sets of steps... both lead west into darkness.
You see debris starting around the pillars, which seems to cover the ground more fully, the further back you go. The stairs look completely covered. The nearest debris you can see looks like broken bones, antlers, semi-masticated fur... The stench of rot seeping out from the cave is strong.
I nod at the others and continue to quietly sneak forwards, over the debris and up the stairs.
The snoring sound mentioned earlier by Jaestra is now audible to everyone... a low rumbling intake of breath, and a grunt-like exhale.
you will need to make a ride check. You really should have at least one point in animal handling as well... I had missed that earlier and then forgot.
In fact, I would prefer if you would put a skill point in animal handling now, and then take one less skill point when you level.
Vorik stays back from the steps in order to avoid making any noise while Jaestra continues to move closer. Finally able to hear the snoring, he quietly readies his shield and looks for good ground to make a stand.
Vladimir follows along, attempting to move quietly, sword and shield readied.
At the top of the short set of steps, Jaestra finds a dark circular room... the walls and ceiling are covered in vines which converge in a center point of the ceiling (the source of very dim ivy-diffused ambient light). Just northwest of center is a large pile of bones. Nestled inside and partially obscured by bones, is a very large bear with forward-curving tusk-like protrusions on its jaw. It also appears to have a slightly elongated neck.
You see the creature in profile. One eye is visible... it looks open and caked over.
It continues snoring as the group moves into position. A single sniff in its sleep alters and slightly quickens the steady rhythm of breathing... then two more sniffs and a snuggling shimmy before it returns to the slow breathing rhythm.
Seeing the large bear I hold my hand up and slowly beckon them over to get everyone to come in quietly. Before anyone has moved I draw back "GoldFire's" string and loose the arrow at the sleeping creature.
With that I start to walk back down the steps whilst drawing another arrow, this one of a lesser quality.
Well, so much for getting to the creature before it wakes up... the swordsman thinks to himself as begins singing a song to lighten the spirits of his companions and aid their combat prowess.
"A bear there was, a bear, a bear!
All black and brown, and covered with hair!
The bear! The bear!
Oh, come, they said, oh come to the fair!
The fair? Said he, but I'm a bear!
All black, and brown, and covered with hair!
And down the road from here to there.
From here! To there!
Three boys, a goat, and a dancing bear!
They danced and spun, all the way to the fair!
The fair! The fair!...."