Alem furrows his brow, the corners of his mouth tightening in an inquiring frown. "I agree that our friend Dashki has a certain...offputting demeanor, but what reasons might you have for believing that he is responsible for the death of the seer? From our investigation so far, we believe that the arsonist was motivated by jealousy that a foreigner such as our deceased friend had come into Almah's good graces in so short a time. Do you have reason to believe that Dashki might have had some grudge of that sort or any other?"
Garavel looks at Alem and says "I never said that I thought that he was responsible for Eloais' death, only that it wouldn't surprise me if he was. Right now we do not know if it was murder or just an unfortunate accident. That is what you must find out."
Kallit turns as he sees the others begin to approach. "Looks like Goddess found something. Maybe we've caught a break, or at least perhaps an opportunity to sneak into the cripple's tent and do some poking around."
He leans against a barrel casually, and begins rolling a coin along his fingers back and forth, watching the others' approach.
Alem sighs, nodding resignedly. I hope the others are faring better than we...
Stepping outside the tent with Kallit, Alem's voice drops just above a whisper. "If you desire, I can attempt to keep our friend distracted if the others don't provide enough of a preoccupation."
Once Ashad reaches the middle of the camp, he clears his throat and announces loudly, "We've found tracks leading from the camp! This way."
With that, the paladin motions back toward the direction he'd just left, trying to bring attention to the tracks Hurom had found.
"Thank you, Zastoran. I must help with these tracks. Come, Pateba."
Rashid and Pateba go to investigate the tracks Hurom found. Rashid pulls Pateba's head down to the tracks and gets him a whiff of the pugwampi's trail. "This, Pateba. Find me this. Probably you can eat it."
Pateba sniffs the area around the tracks and immediately picks up on the direction the creature fled. He pauses, almost quivering with excitement, to wait for his master.
"We should go while the trail is fresh."
Garavel shouts in a voice used to command "Mistress Almah wants a report and a report is what she shall have!" then in a more normal tone of voice he continues "If you have finished your investigation then we will go present your finding to my lady. If not, then I suggest you continue to investigate. Once you are satisfied with your conclusions we will report to Lady Almah, , you can take off on this wild hare chase of yours."
"We will report then, Garavel. But if we lose the scent because of this delay, it will be you who tells Mistress Almah why justice was not done here."
Ashad is about to speak, when Rashid rebuffs Garavel. The paladin couldn't help but nod in agreeance. "Indeed. Let us report to the Mistress so that we may be on with this unfortunate business."
Hurom looks expectantly out at the direction the trail leads, but sighs and nods at Garavel.
"On with it, then..."
Alem's eyebrow raises as he steps forward, interrupting the procession. "We cannot be sure that the tracks lead to our culprit. It is unreasonable to expect conclusions if we are not allowed to follow the possible leads. Does a gnoll sell a slave before he has taken one? We may give a report, but there is no way of ensuring that our investigation is concluded." Stepping out of the way, his voice takes a more diplomatic tone. "If Almah desires a preliminary report, by all means, report. All I ask is that we do not treat the mystery as though it is solved. Remember my friends, all things are yet possible."
Kallit tugs gently on Alem's sleeve and nods slightly in the direction of Dashki's tent. He lets the others argue abour whether they should follow the strange tracks and waits to see if Alem catches on to his intent.
Regardless of whether Alem does or not, he watches the crippled tracker out of the corner of his eye and waits for a moment when the man seems distracted before attempting to casually slip away.
Kallit will slip outside the ring of tents and cargo and make his away around the perimeter of the encampment towards Dashki's tent. Once inside he searches quickly for anything tying the man to the Fortune Teller or the fire, or anything that seems out of place or unusual.
With a knowing glance to Alem, Ashad turned to the others. "Perhaps it is simply best to inform the Lady of what we know, and that we intend to follow these tracks so as to eliminate them, or capture the culprit if they are his tracks. I would perfer to quickly absolve this conversation and get on the with hunt. A strong wind could easily remove Hurom's find."
Hurom nods in agreement with Ashad. "This course is sound..."
Alem acknowledges Kallit with a barely perceptible inclination of the head before returning his attention to the discussion. "Yes, I agree. Am I correct in my thinking that our friend Dashki was party to this find? He should join us as well. Let us waste no more time. Come, my friends!" Turning, Alem makes to lead the party to Almah.
Kaspar, spotting the group from his perch, scampers down the tree to return to his master's shoulder holding a small branch with a few pitiful leaves attached. Chattering excitedly, he leaps from Alem's shoulder to Rashid, sticking the branch in the cleric's headdress.
"Ha! Thank you, little friend. Be sure all your gifts to me are nice or you will be a snack for Pateba, yes?"
A quick search of Dashki's tent turns up nothing suspicious, except for a necklace made up of oversized canine teeth.
As you prepare to accompany Garavel to Lady Almah's tent, the major-domo looks around "Where is the boy?" As he begins to look around , Kallit comes strolling up from behind one of the wagons. Scowling at the young rogue Garavel leads you to the pavillion, where you are ushered in by one of her guards. She looks up at you from a table upon which is laid out a map of a small village. "Have you completed your inquiry already? What do you have to report?" she asks somewhat impatiently.
The monkey chatters irritatedly at the Rashid's playful threat, retreating to the safety of his master's shoulder. Laughing, Alem scratches Kaspar's head affectionately as the group filters into the tent.
At Almah's interrogative, Alem bows politely, and inclines his head in deference to those who witnessed the discovery.
"Hurom found tracks leading away from the wagon. I have seen them also and Pateba got a good scent to track. With your permission we will follow them to the culprit. We would like to proceed with haste before the scent is lost."
"So you believe the fire was deliberately set and the perpetrator snuck off into the desert? Then take Dashki with you, he is an excellent tracker and knows this area quite well. Find this person and bring him back here to face judgement, if possible." With that she waves her hand, dismissing you before turning back to the map upon the table.
Strolling back to the others Kallit makes eye contact with Alem and shakes his head subtley, shruggling slightly as he does so. He steps up beside Dashki and slaps his hand on the man's shoulder.
"Well Hop-along, looks like you're the man of the hour now. Lead the way so we can find these Puggies you say likely started this whole mess.
He flashes his most winning smile at the tracker.
He bows deeply to the laday, showing great respect. "It shall be done immediately." Stepping back out into the sun, Ashad glanced off into the direction of the tracks. "I believe we have more to beware out there than we think, and this Dashki character will be of very little help."
As you prepare to head out from the base camp into the gathering darkness, Dashki grabs a torch from a neaby pile of gear and thrusts it into the campfire until it catches fire.
Raising the torch high he says gruffly "Let's get this over with."
After travelling a couple hundred feet from camp you enter an area of scrubland, marked by several dry ravines. Dashki's torch throws grotesque shadows upon the looming walls of the ravine you're travelling through.
As you approach the exit of the ravine you hear the plaintive cry of a small child carried on the wind.
You recognize the sound as that of a baby goat in obvious distress
As you emerge from the ravine you are confronted by a dense thicket of cacti. The thicket spans to your left and right as far as the torchlight spreads, although you can see ahead of you a small kid tethered to a nearby bush, struggling to escape the rope that binds it to the bush (Area A).
"Ashad, can you cut through these with your sword? I do not think my spear will help."
"I dunno Jungleman, something doesn't feel right about this to me. Maybe we could do some scouting around a little more stealth like before we start hacking our way through things. You know, and draw a lot of attention to ourselves." Kallit glances over at the torch that Dashki is holding and frowns slightly. "Then again, we're pretty much a shining beacon out here as it is. See if you can fell a few foul spikey plants Ashad, I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for trouble."
Kallit takes out his crossbow and loads it, scanning the surroudings for any signs of trouble
Ashad raises a gauntleted hand. "Your logic is sound Kallit, but we may be pressed for time. Action is in order. Stand back, if attention is drawn, it shall be mine alone."
With that, the paladin drew his cresent blade and set about the task of hacking his way through the cacti, making as much haste as possible.
"Saerene perseve me."
The hacking agitates Kaspar, who begins chattering raucously. Ignoring Alem's attempts to calm him, the monkey bounds over and through the thicket toward the kid.
"Curse that addle-brained simian! He has the temperament of a marid and all the sense of a dung beetle!" Fuming quietly, the wizard incants a short spell and peers in the direction of his bygone familiar.
As Ashad begins hacking his way through the cacti many thorns from the surrounding plants find their way trough the chinks in his armor and become lodged in his skin.
Kaspar dashes into the cacti coming to an abrupt stop as soon as the thorns prick his skin, turning around and rather sheepishly returning to his master.
Alem you detect no other magic in the area.
Ashad, you feel as though you can chop your way through, the thorns from nearby cacti will continue to pierce through the opening in your armor causing continued discomfort.
Pausing to take stock of the situation you believe that by moving slowly and deliberately through the field that you can make it to the other side without further damage or you can continue to wade through taking further damage from the spines.
"This is worse than useless. New plan. Pick your way through as best you can. I will come last and heal any hurt taken from these thorns."
Kallit chuckles to himself as Ashad is showered in thorns and is in obvious discomfort.
"Looks like 'swing somethings heavy at it till it moves' isn't always the best plan eh? I like Jungleboy's idea, see if you can keep up O valiant slayer of cacti."
Kallit begins slipping slowly, but nimbly through the cactus patch, leading the way unless someone moves first or attempts to block his way.
Grunting softly to himself, he shrugs off the stinging cacti and Kallit's words in a similar manner. "This will be a long journey..."
Drawing his shield, Ashad took a more careful approach, moving carefully through the cacti patch towards the noise, hampered by his heavy armoring.
The paladin winces for a moment, before glancing back, making sure he's being followed by companions. Then he presses on...
Watching his companion drive into the thorns, Hurom briefly checks to the rear of the group and turns to follow...
Alem laughs as Kaspar comes running back to the relative safety of his shoulder. "You see? That is what you get, Kaspar. Now behave yourself," he says, picking the thorns out of his familiar's fur.
As the others push themselves through the thorny hazard, Alem takes a deep breath, steeling himself for the unpleasantness to come.
With the whole party through the mess of thorns, Rashid reaches within himself again for the healing power of Shimye-Magalla.
Kallit sits back on his heels as the others dig at the thorns in between the folds of their clothing or armor. He smiles to himself and chuckles, "You porcupines ready to do some actual invesigation? This whole 'goat in the cacti' thing smells strange to me."
Kallit approaches the tethered goats cautiously, searching for signs of a trap or ambush as he does so.
Acrobatics 1: ;
Acrobatics 2: ;
Acrobatics 3: ;
Moving through the cactus forest you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as you get closer to the trapped goat. After several missteps and an unforunate twisting rock cause you to accidentally brush up against several cacti you emerge into a small clearing where you can see the the goat, the missing Rhombard, is tethered to the tree by a frayed rope.
Although he walks with a pronounced limp and a cane, you notice that Dashki moves through the catci quite nimbly, despite several unfortunate accidents that cause him to keep brushing up the cactus thorns,
Alem: ;
Ashad: ;
Dashki: ;
Hurom: ;
Kallit: ;
Pugwampi:
Rashid: ;
Hurom: ; Kallit:
As Rhombard sees you he begins thrashing about the clearing coming perilously close to the cliff face behind him.
"Who wants to try to corral an upset goat? I have had my fill of animals running wild today. I think I would just let Pateba eat eat it."
Observing the thrashing goat, Alem strokes his bearded chin in consideration. "One could attempt to untie the creature, risking the pitiful wrath of the goat, or we could simply...cut the rope?"
Picking a few thorns out from his armor, Ashad seemed slightly annoyed by the situation. "We've two trackers with us. Surely one of them will be skilled enough to calm the beast. I've the agility of a boulder in this armor..."
With that, Ashad drew his shield from his back and began scanning the cacti patch for any signs of movement. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled outward, his heart reaching out to his goddess.
Dashki looks at the rest of you saying "Keep an eye out for the little bugger. I can feel that he's somewhere nearby. Those rocks that tossed you into the cactus didn't just turn under foot by accident." Approaching the frightened goat Dashki murmurs some calming words
Perhaps it's the tone of his voice or just the animal's familiarity with the strange man that causes rhombard to cease his struggles long enough for someone to untie him.
"I suppose that works just the same," says Alem, stepping forward to untie the goat. "Dashki, do these 'pugwampi' often tie goats to cacti in the desert? I have little knowledge of such things, but this seems...unnatural."
Ashad turns a cautious eyes towards the desert behind them, "I sense nothing of evil intent near us... perhaps your feelings are wrong Dashki."
"It does seem strange that the goat would be tied here. But I suppose anything clever enough to set fire to wagons must also be able to tie a simple know, yes?
Rahid goes to the cliff edge to look below.
"What mighty heroes, we saved a goat," Kallit mumbles sarcasitically. "I'm sure the good mistress will lavish praise upon us.
After peering around intently, and watching the others do the same, Kallit turns his attention to the tree. "Maybe I can get a better look around from a higher vantage point."