The Shadows stop to make camp in the lee side of a dune, exhausted.
Lo'Laan casts Keep Watch as the night begins.
|
After passing the last pile of bird scat.
Looks at Amari attempting to determine how fresh it is Agaban seems to be hit with a small case of divine inspiration.
Amari can you tell the type of bird roughly that left this...cant remember if you said before but is it one that can fly...would hate to think they have it circling overhead and see us as we close on the group.
The scat's age matches the footprints closely enough that Amari thinks the bird stayed with the Taldanes. Given the dunes, it could only see up to 2 miles back very clearly.
You wake in the morning rested and refreshed.
<Might happen. But I can not think about a way to prevent that.
We must hurry now.
Not much longer before we reach the fort.
And I think it would be good to catch them before then.>
|
|
Waking refreshed Agaban takes a quick moment to cast Create Water in the waterskin before following a quick devotion to Pharasma.
Feeling like there he had a quick burst of insight from his prayer.
Amari at this point do we think they will deviate from the direction they are heading, and is there maybe a quicker way to close the gap at this point.
Looking around.
There isn't much in landmarks or cover and probably a riskier proposition but agree that it is better to reach them before they link up with the other 2 members
You follow the tracks rapidly until they lead you to Fort Ya-Aldin. Both are then obscured as they merge with a great amount of foot prints in front of the fort, apparently heading into it. Several guards keeping watch hail you as you approach.
"Hold! Who are you and what are you doing here?"
<We should have the commander lock down the fort and ask the guards to tell us who came here within the last two days.>
The guards repeat their challenge. "Who are you!"
One guard, who seems to be in charge, sends another off to inform the commander. He has you wait outside the fort for a few minutes until the commander arrives. A broad-shouldered man of military bearing walks up to you. "Yes? Who are you and why are you here?"
The commander turns pale and ushers you past the guards to a private room. "Yes? How can I assist the you?"
|
|
Unwilling to draw attention to himself; Agaban stay quiet and watches the crowd to see if anyone stands out.
Glad Zaza is back to do the talking.
<After we inform the commander do yall think the inn is the next place to go...set up a central point and see if there are any rumors around town...See if they are sitting around drinking while waiting for nightfall to do any more subterfuge.>
Turning to Amari.
<Do you think locking down the fort and letting them know we are searching for them is best or trying to find them again before they know they are being hunted?>
The man looks quite alarmed. "How disastrous! No there has been no such unusual appearances here. I don't know why you would think there had been. But you are free to investigate my premises or logs as you wish!" He points you to some papers which include a duty roster that tracks the movement of his men, a detailed inventory of the fort, and his recent reports.
Amari follows the words of the man with a scrutinizing gaze.
How could they NOT have seen them?
<I think they will know we are here already, given the turbulence we caused.
Better lock it down soon, than to have them escape I guess.>
Not being an expert in analyzing written reports, he tries to at least be of aid to any of his comrades trying their hands by pre-sorting the reports by date and topic.
The tracks merge with that of the general traffic into the fort yet the strangers were not noticed.
The small set of footprints sticks to the sides and shadows then splits off from the main traffic and slips behind a building. The medium set of footprints is not distinct enough to track.
The commander answers Zaza's questions, clearly eager to help and impress whomever on Earth you work for. "The men stationed here enter and exit on drills, patrols, and troop movements quite often. There are also suppliers who visit occasionally." He nods at the suggestion. "Yes! Yes! A demonstration!" He begins calling men to attention at the gate, creating a massive diversion.
From the duty roster, Zaxa notices the following anomalies and points them out to the others:
1. There are two soldiers (Alnir Howat and Mochbed Delar) have never been placed on the same duty together in the past two months.
2. The number of men aiding in food preparation has drastically increased in the past week.
3. Yesterday, an officer of the guard was reprimanded for losing his keys to the headquarters building.
4. A certain Alni Porrot is listed as on guard duty but is also listed as having left on a three day training mission yesterday.
Amari is pleased that Zatinya got his idea from the few signs he made.
Once the commander calls his men to the drill, Amari will stay back and carefully analyse the tracks.
Finally finding clues on the small footprints, he follows them carefully to a building.
He does not press further though but quickly returns to the other Shadows to inform them of his findings.
You determine the tracks headed north between a building and the inside of the fort's wall. Looking at them in very close detail, you realize that the small humanoid who made these tracks was faster than most, as fast as a human. You also determine these tracks were made some time yestersay.
The commander answers Zaza's inquiries ad they arise.
"That is odd. He shouldn't be back from training yet. Apparently an officer found him unoccupied and sent him to guard duty on the south wall."
"Ah yes. Emir. He is normally very responsible. But I do not think we need to change the locks. There are very few thieves out here."
"Yes they are preparing rations for a troop movements."
"Yes for the last month they have been on very bad terms. I do not know why."
|
|
While Zaza looks over the roster and Amari follows some trail it appears in the dirt. Agaban seems to have an idea though little unsure how to poise the question.
At the other fort they found a way to go after blueprints for a new type of bow...wonder is there anything located at this fort that would be an obvious target beyond troop numbers/readiness/movements.
After Zaza points the anomalies and starts to question the commander during the drill. He reaches again for the logs and starts to look over them to see if there was anything missed and is willing to take the time to really do a detailed search.
When Amari returns Agaban turns his back on the formation and signs quickly in front of his robes.
<Wonder if the commander knows of any high reward targets for them to steal/destroy to impact the readiness of this fort and border? Do you think we can possibly pass this drill off as a snap inspection/audit from central command?>
Looking through the logs, Agaban notices that orders from high command are routed through this fort to the others. They are kept in the headquarters building in a safe.
Amari return in time to hear about the safe.
Hastily he signs to his fellows.
<I have found a trail to their small member.
He is quite fast and loose in the fort no longer than a day.
I would guess they are trying to get to that safe.
Maybe we can set up a trap for them there.
Or ... They are acting NOW.
The drill may have opened the way for them just nice.
We should check it out.>
The commander points out Emir leading his platoon through part of the drill. "Perhaps. But even responsible men get lazy or sloppy at times. As for Alni, he is still keeping guard on the south wall according to the log. He is in... that sergeant's unit." He points out a short, broad-shouldered man who is leading part of the drill.
The commander hands you a sketched map of the fort, since you seem interested in the disposition of his men. "We are here by the gate."
The only small races you know of that are as fast as a human are goblins, kobolds, and grippli.
After a quick glance at the map, Amari signs:
<The path he took may lead to the HQ eventually...>
|
|
<Zaza will you stay here and watch the drill to keep up appearances and see if anyone tries to break formation while the rest of us follow the trail that seems to be heading towards the HQ.>
Thinking to himself.
Don't really want to split up but hopefully we can move faster than they expect and catch only 1 of them in the act.
Amari, Lo, and Agaban head off to follow the tracks. Amari follows them carefully through the buildings and scattered footprints of soldiers to the headquarters building. The guard outside the door lies slumped on his face, an arm sprawled out awkwardly while the other is underneath him. The door is open a crack.
Back with Zaza, the commander nods proudly. "Yes we are indeed! Be sure to include this in whatever report you file!"
Amari Checks the guard quickly trying to get a clue how long ago they were attacked.
Amari determines that the man was knocked unconscious by two blows from small blunt objects that struck him upon a nerve in the back of the leg. It looks like the objects were small saps.
|
|
Quickly signing to the group.
<Hmm...should I attempt to heal him or should we just try to get him to drink a potion...would prefer to have him conscious so he can run back and get the rest of the fort on lockdown. Also, didn't they get out at the other fort by a method that wouldn't be considered as viable, so feel like we should attempt to get them now.>
Amari holds the mans mouth shut and signs Agaban to heal him.
Once the man comes round, he brings his finger to the lips and waits for a nod or similar reaction of the man.
Once Agaban explains what he is supposed to do, Amari will lead the others in, arrow on the string...
Amari heads stealthily into the building, which has been mostly emptied by the drills. He passes by two rooms on the left and right as he heads down the center hallway. There he finds the door to the head office open. He moves silently inside while the others wait a little bit outside in the hallway. The room is full of file cabinets approximately 4 feet tall as well as three desks, each with its own chair. At two of the desks lie the assistants of the commander, slumped unconscious on the ground or on their desk. Amari picks up on the slight rustling of paper coming from the west end of the room near the commander’s desk but doesn’t notice anything at the moment.
After signing the others to follow him into the room, as soon as they hear a loud noise.
Then he carefully gets up on a nearby desk and picks up something heavy from it (maybe an ink pot?) and tosses it to the north side of room.
Even before the pot crashes to the ground, he has an arrow back on the string and aims at the chief desk, ready to shoot whoever rises behind it to check out the noise, hopefully catching him from a surprising direction...
Amari's aim is thrown off when a small head in a dark robe pokes around the side of the desk to examine the noise. His arrow goes whizzing by without hitting the intruder.
The mysterious intruder is caught off guard as the Shadows surge into the room and attack.