"Deer that drink there?" Bydar looks alarmed, "Baron, have you seen any signs of sickness or plague in that area? We have seen two gnomes wandering about we wonder if they might be involved in spreading of such."
"Or kobolds not of the Sootscale Clan, their hide is purple." Arumil adds.
Bydar nods and shoots Arumil a grateful look for the catch.
"Or trolls or hobgoblins?" Arianna adds.
or Tatzlwyrms? Bridgette adds
Temerith merely shrugs, not having anything to add.
Tyg squints his eyes and frowns, obviously deep in thought. "I don't know about any sickness, but I have seen some gnomes to the south. None of those others though. The gnomes were wandering around, following the river, but one had a Royal Signet of the First World. Their business didn't involve us, we we left them alone - no sense interrupting people on royal business."
He looks at Bridgette, "The only tatzlwyrms in the area are those down to the southwest. There was an ugly lady headed that way a week or so ago. She was carrying a large sack over her shoulder. Really large. Kept talking to the sack, saying things like, "You deserve better than her!" and "We'll be together soon, my love!".
Tyg shakes his little head, "She was really weird, so we hid until she passed. Pervalish is crazy enough, we don't need more of that around here."
"Correct me if I am wrong but is it normal for First Worlders, much less a royal court to trust a gnome with a task. Gnomes are not fey after all, you would not happen to know of the royal court in question?"
"It wouldn't be strange if the gnome was sworn to service. And it's The Royal Court. There's only one, despite what people might think."
Tyg coughs into his hand, "Of course, there are thousands of members of that court, so it's impossible to know where he got it. But as members ourselves, we couldn't risk interfering. If we caused problems, and the gnome's patron was influential enough, it could have cost us our Barony!"
"Oh boy, I think that might have been Gunda, and Soloman might have been in the sack."
after a few moments of though
"How many days ago and exactly where was did you see her?"
Tyg thinks hard again before answering, "I'm sorry, she didn't say any names. But I know it wasn't yesterday, and it wasn't the day before that. That day Pervalish and I went to the stream and played in the water, and before that we had a visit from our friend the red fox. Before that, we played games, then we had the rain... So seven days ago!"
"She was carrying that sack down by the oak tree that looks like a man bending over to pick flowers. It's by the flowers." Tyg hops up and down and points vaguely southwest. "Just go that way, you can't miss it!"
"Oh, and there were two human women following her. At least, I think they were women, they didn't have any hair, but they seemed to have... um..." Tyg moves his hands to indicate a female chest. "They wore grey robes, and didn't have on any shoes!"
Temerith looks at the fey Baron with a curious eye, but can't glean anything of importance from Tyg's words. He shrugs noncommittally, before crossing his arms across his chest and leaning against a tree.
"Thank you for this information, Baron" He looks to the others, "It seems we have a lot more direction than we did before. I would suggest we head after Howls. He could be drinking contaminated water for all we know."
"She was with two others?"
"Our thanks for this information, Baron Tyg. It is most enlightening. Please give our regards to Baron Perlivash when you see him again," Arianna says, bowing respectfully to the grig as the group takes its leave.
"Indeed, yes, yes! Two others were following the woman with the sack, never more than a few paces behind her. They seemed like servants, or students."
The group begins preparing to leave when a sharp whistle draws your attention upward. Pervalish comes flying down, spinning and twirling. He makes several loops around you, then comes to land right in front of Tyg. Bowing low, he grins back at his companion. "Hello, friends, hello! 'Tis good to see you this fine day! I was just..."
He pauses a moment, then sniffs the air. His eyes widen, "Treats! Where are they?!" He lifts off and begins circling the area, quickly darting in and out of the trees. "Where are the sweets? Where are they, Tyg!?"
As quickly as he lifted off, he dives down to land on the stump facing Tyg. "Baron Tyg, where are the sweets?!" The little dragon shrieks.
Tyg has the grace to look slightly ashamed, before leaping down from the stump, gathering as many treats as his tiny arms can hold, and jumping away. Pervalish screams again when he sees his friend's arms carrying so many delicious candies, "Come back here, you thief! We share everything here, that's the deal!"
The dragon lifts off and flies into the forest, chasing after the sweet treasures in Tyg's arms. After only a few seconds, the sounds of the fey disappear, and you are alone in the woods.
"Baron Perlivash! I brought a gift for you as well!" Arianna calls out, trying to catch the faerie dragon's attention as she retrieves a flask of honey mead from her pack. As the fey leave the clearing, Arianna places the flask in the same hiding spot in the stump as she placed the candy and bells earlier. "It'll be right here when you get back!" she calls loudly.
Bydar looks at Arianna "You thought ahead," He's clearly impressed at her diplomatic acumen.
The group rests through the night with minimal interruption. The morning dawns bright and early and everyone is mildly surprised to see the flowers surrounding the camp area have grown and blossomed literally overnight. Obviously, your fey friends were watching over you during your rest.
Finding the river is relatively easy, though dealing with the challenges it presents won't be solved very quickly. The river itself is roughly thirty feet wide on average, and can get to be almost twenty feet deep in places. The current is placid in places, but swift in others, so the speed of the river may be a concern, but the real challenge will be the smooth rocks under the surface causing anyone moving through the water to be extremely cautious on the slippery stones.
A few hours pass before the first signs of others are found. Worg and wolf tracks are found that appear to be moving toward the bandit camp that was once used by Happs, Miles, and the other captured men.
-----
The bandit camp, and its ford crossing, is about a half mile ahead of you, and appears to be where the wolf tracks are leading you.
I need a couple of things from everyone:
1. You have rested, so please give me a list of prepared spells as necessary.
2. Please give me two Perception checks.
3. Please let me know what, if anything, your character is doing. Also, the characters begin on the south side of the river, so let me know if any characters move to the north side. (Doing so is automatic since you can take your time crossing the river; doing so in combat is another issue, and will require several skills checks to successfully accomplish).
Both Dawn and Dusk begin acting strangely as the group continues toward the ford. They begin sniffing the air, and Dawn even growls at one point. Despite their behavior, nothing is revealed and the forest around you remains peaceful.
Before you reach the ford, Dawn stops again and bares her teeth, obviously disturbed.
They do not appear to have spotted you.
Raxus raises a closed fist and crouches low, not moving. He points and waits for the others to see what he's seen.
Bydar nods at Raxus, seeing it and frowning. He found himself wishing he had prepared a spell for detecting the fell and evil, but one doesn't need that to suspect these are up to no good. A glance to Arumil, and then another to the purple Kobolds before looking back to her for silent confirmation.
Arumil whispers to the others.
"I think we should split into two groups. One will try to speak with them while the other remains hidden ready to deal with them should things prove hostile. We should try to gain information first and foremost."
Temerith stays low and out of sight, but draws his weapon at Arumil's suggestion. His choice between the two groups is immediately obvious.
Raxus shrugs, knowing full well that they will probably scatter as soon as someone tries to make contact. He follows Temerith, slowly, keeping a grip on Dawn and Dusk's harnesses.
As the group begins to move, Dusk and Dawn crouch down and look to the side of the path. From the forest, a gray worg emerges. It looks at the group, then down the path toward the gnomes and kobolds.
It approaches Raxus and quietly speaks, "Honors to your pack, Red Eyes. Might this one accompany you on your hunt?"
Raxus carefully let Dawn and Dusk go through the usual canine greeting rituals as the newcomer arrived. They were nervous, but Raxus calmed them with soft words and gestures. As the sniffing and shuffling happened, Raxus said "Today my pack is yours, friend. We hunt to capture, not to kill. The gnomes can vanish to the eyes, and may run when we come upon them."
"What do we call you?"
The worg sniffs both Dusk and Dawn, but it's obvious that it isn't really interested in getting to know the dogs.
Moving up to Raxus, the worg softly replies, "This One thanks you. Red Eyes should call this One ... Mist."
"This One will try to capture the prey. It is an interesting hunt you lead, Red Eyes."
The worg waits beside Raxus until the group begins sneaking up to the gnomes/kobolds.
Bydar nods at Raxus, seeing it and frowning. He found himself wishing he had prepared a spell for detecting the fell and evil, but one doesn't need that to suspect these are up to no good. A glance to Arianna, and then another to the purple Kobolds before looking back to her for silent confirmation.
Arianna's eyes narrow in barely suppressed rage as she spies the purple-scaled kobolds. Catching Bydar's eye, she nods tersely in response to the priest's questioning glance.
"This could go badly, but let's see how it goes," Bydar leads the speaking group back slowly, then circles them around so they can then approach from a different angle and be less likely to betray their fellows who are hiding.
"Your pardon, have you a moment?" The cleric says as he comes into their sight.
The gnomes and kobolds both stop their discussion and watch as the group moves closer. While the gnomes maintain their composure, the kobolds reach for their weapons - they do not draw them, but they certainly indicate a more hostile disposition.
One of the kobolds looks at the gnomes and speaks:
The other one curses in another language, then replies:
A gnome glances at the kobold that spoke, then back to the characters. Smiling, he waves and holds his hand up when the party gets thirty feet away, "Thats close enough. Time is precious, even a single moment. What do you want?"
-----
Temerith grips his blade in both hands as he, Raxus, the dogs and the worg prepare to move in to ambush the kobolds and gnomes if things go poorly. Even from this distance, the tiefling can sense how nervous the strange group has become at the other part of his group's appearance. He looks to Raxus, a slightly worried look on his face.
Bydar speaks, "Good gnomes, you have been seen at our outpost , going within, but making no introduction. Waters in the land have been plagued, strange alliances are forged in the shadows. So with that in mind, you understand my concern for a people I have grown to love, and a land I admire. So I ask... who do you serve, and to what purpose?"
Raxus clearly does not speak the gnomish tongue, but as the kobolds speak he shrugs and speaks quietly. "They know some of us are here. Probably me. They want us gone. No reason to keep hidden."
He stands and walks out of the tree line, his dogs flanking him.
Temerith looks shocked as the half-ogre gives away their position, but quickly regains his composure and follows after the larger man. His weapon rests at his side, still in hand.