Grimkell looks up at the grey sky, and watches the snow falling down.
"Snow is falling, if we do not hurry, the traces may disappear." he says, forgetting the jewels for a short moment.
However, his attention is drawn again toward the box when Fizzlewhisk speaks up. Curious again, he picks it up and looks into it while the gnome dresses up. Once the ranger is done, he hands him back the box. Then, he proceeds to add an extra layer of furs over the ones he had already been wearing.
"Right" he answers to the dwarf before turning to the others,"Ready?" he asks, drawing his sword and strapping back his shield.
"Why would the bandits that attacked leave behind such valuable loot?"
"I'm ready as I'll ever be," Runa said, rubbing her hands together to try and warm herself up before looking up at the rest of the group.
"What was found in the carriage?" She asked.
"Perhaps there si something worse than bandits, something that cares nothing for material wealth, at play." Aðvinr says leaning on his spear.
Looking over his shoulder as he starts down the trail.
Who knows what passes through the mind of those whom prey on the weak.
Runa starts down the trail after Ordrik, looking around as she does so before turning to the rest.
"If we are to find the lady, we should hurry, precious time is ticking."
Annalisa grunts in response and stands ready, watching, and stroking Hundur's fur as he stands at her side.
Grimkell, right behind Ordrik, shrugs and his expression shows some disgust as he thinks about the dwarf's question.
"Fear, inability to face strong enough foes for fear of death. That is what passes through their mind." answers the skald seemingly not connecting the question with the discussion about the jewels.
Trudging into the snow, the air quickly begins to chill, the cold more severe than most in the party are used to at the very least. Light fluffs of snow filter down from an iron gray sky.
Sure enough, the snow is piling up in greater mounds the further into the wintry pocket you all go.
Grimkell walks close to Ordrik, helmet on, sword drawn and shield at the ready.
Following the tracks, Fizzlewhisk looks about, poking at tracks with his staff, collapsed back into a walking stick.
Wandering along, Ordrik, continues to look around.
As it enter's the the full expanse of the Wood, the trail begins to wind through a small clearing before continuing uphill and out of sight. A large chest lies half-buried in the snow, apparently dropped or discarded by those who hastily passed this way.
"That might have more of the Lady's belongings inside of it." Fizzlewhisk shuffles through the snow towards the chest.
Ordrik stops, what might ?
He then walks off the trail to the right to look around.
"This chest!" the gnome explains as he tries to see if it is locked.
Marcian drops his massive hand on Fizzlewhisks shoulder to stop him from moving to the chest, if possible.
Haste is not needed at this time, caution is.
The snow, there, do you see it?
It has been packed in place, not fallen from the sky.
The end of the rope there, see that, I think this to be a snare of some kind.
After surveying the surroundings for a short moment, not noticing any dangers, Grimkell approaches Fizzlewhisk sides and kneels next to him to see what the chest will reveal, with great anticipation. The later is broken by Marcian's comment.
"Right, well sighted. We owe you much I believe... I will go to see what the trap is and whether we can disarm it." says the Ulfen before heading for the source of the rope.
Ordrik, moves back away from the chest, and the packed snow, now that it has been pointed out to him and starts looking around again.
A possible trap, should be covered by an ambush
"Ambush? If the trap is decent you come back for the kill later." Fizzlewhisk stays where he is, not wanting to make the situation worse by moving.
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"I'll, ah, I'll just stay over here unless you need someone to, ya know, smash it or something."
Runa followed along and at the mention of the chest she looks over, seeing Fizzlewhisk trying to move the chest before she stays where she is, this could be probably cause for ambush and she wanted to be sure she was prepared.
Thankfully with Marcian's timely stop, nothing appears to happen. Simply removing the very top few inches of the snow line reveals that the rope was indeed hidden beneath it.
Grimkell approaches the tree, closely following it, but avoiding touching the rope linking it to the chest.
You can tell that the rope goes up into the trees, but a mix of the snow and number of branches prevents you from seeing where it goes from there, sadly.
Ordrik, seeing people playing with the chest and rope, moves back away from both, and looks around for anything that might be covering the possible trap.
Following the rope, Aðvinr tries to determine the purpose of the trap.
Fizzlewhisk waits for the all clear so he can attempt to open the chest. "Jus' let me know when I can try to see what's inside!"
Ordrik, sadly, is too far to see what it could be, but Runa spots it. A slight glint of metal in the treeline, well hidden in the branches: A heavy crossbow that appears lashed to a limb!
Now with the trap discovered, you all can attempt some way to either disable the trap, or just walk away. All up to you guys on this one, what with no rogues in the party and such.
Grimkell observes the what he can see from the trap for a moment before turning toward Fizzlewhisk and the others who stayed close to the chest.
"Anyone has a rope, we could tie it to a handle of the chest and drag it from far away. Or should I simply cut the rope from where I stand?"
"Maybe cut the rope, but let's make sure no one is in the way of the crossbow for it to go off," She stated.
I agree, stand clear of where it is aimed, and then cut the rope.
Assuming you all take the time to make sure everyone is clear, and Marcian is being assisted, he's able to get up in the braches after a few minutes. Once there, he successfully is able to pull the bolt free as the crossbow fires emptily into the air. Unlashing it, it is an ornate crossbow with gentle carvings on it.
If no one minds, I will take that for now indicating the crossbow.
"Fine by me."
After helping Marcian down, Grimkell walks over toward the others to help open and investigate the chest.
Runa wanders over to the chest to investigate it as well, wondering what was in it that needed to be guarded.
The moment the crossbow is fired, Fizzlewhisk attempts to open the box, turning his head to the side in case it is filled with snakes or other nasty surprises. If he is able to open the chest, after a moment he will eagerly look within.