Zaza looks at the longbow but can't really figure out what makes it special. The wood seems the same as a normal composite longbow. She also doesn't find any magical auras.
Amari signs to his comrades, pointing down at the drainer.
<Found something.
See, the drain was loosened.
From below.
Any idea what you could do with an opening that small?
Or maybe ... it was used to bring out the bows that way.
The spy entering the hut "officially" and handing down the bows to someone waiting down there?
We should find out where this drain leads to.>
Peering down the drain and experimenting with the bows, Zaza and Amari find that the bows could be put down the drain, until they reach an elbow in the clay pipe a few feet down.
After having discovered the sink, Amari will turn to Lo'Laan and reproduce the complex hand gesture the other makes when creating that tiny light of his from nothing and points on the tip of one of the bows.
Once it is emitting a bit of light, he will put the bow down the sink again, using the light on the end to light out the sink.
Two key bits of magical information come to mind as you examine the situation here. The reduce person spell and magical containers.
<They have a gnome.
Can you shrink a gnome even further?
If so, he could probably pass through there, stuffing the bows in that magic bag and get back out like a rat.
Yeah, let's ask the Commander.
It will probably lead down to the river I'd guess.
Maybe his allies waited down there for him and they made a quick escape by boat?>
"They had someone who could take the form of an animal as well. We'll need to see if there is another entrance and search for recent passage to know for sure." Lo'laan comments.
You step outside briefly to ask the guard and he tells you of a spout by the river where the drain empties.
<Let's go and check it out.
If it is near the river, it should be mold.
Good chance for finding tracks.>
Amari finds evidence that someone has been walking around near the pipe's outlet but he can't quite make out which direction the tracks went.
Ashivla aids Amari as best she can with the tracking.
She says, "I'm not sure. I wasn't properly trained to follow people like this."
"Leave it to us." Lo'Laan says with a grunt.
Lo'laan and his feline companion pick up the scent and begin following the trail to the northeast. After a little while, you come to a depression in the side of a dune where a rough camp was set up. Here you find some bits of bowstring and bow and some strange, muddled tracks.
Amari bows deep down to the ground, staring at the tracks for what feels like minutes, before making another step to follow the tracks around the campsite.
From time to time he consults with Lo'Laan with a few quick signs.
Amari and Zaza examine the site. Zaza determines that the bows were disassembled and schematics of them were drawn out as some of these sheets seem to have discarded, unsatisfactory drawings.
Amari notices that a desert fox was attracted to this site and then left. It seems that the two humanoids here then began cleaning up the site but then left very hastily. From sets of footprints about 100 meters away (I'll try to switch to metric as it's better), it seems a patrol from the fort came too close for comfort. But the departing spies made time to cover their tracks away from the camp, and those of the fox, very well.
Looks like an animal messenger spell was employed here.
Foxes can get distracted by prey and dislike traveling without stop. You think that a fox under a spell would travel 10 miles a day toward a destination.
Seems that the plans were relayed to the hidden ahncibel.
<The only fort within that range would be Ya-Aldin.
We could go that way, hoping to find the trail after some time?
It would be a travel through the sands.>
Ashivla shrugs at Zaza's suggestion. "We could try to pick up the trail. They seem to have obscured it effectively but we may succeed. At the very least, we have gained some information here regarding their methods and possible location of their device."
"Do we wish to proceed without inquiring further of the guards and staff here?" Lo'Laan asks.
<We must be careful.
There might still be an enemy agent inside the fort.
And if so, he might tip our departure and the direction we took off to the enemy.
We should obfuscate what we found and take our leave along the river.
Then turn east and follow the trail.>
The sun rises high, pouring down the heat of the day. It begins growing uncomfortable.
<We could split up for the day.
I can follow the tracks for a while to ensure they aren't turning or run off with Lo'Laan.
You two could talk to the guards.
At sunset we meet up and either follow the trails or investigate further?>
Amari nods at Zatinya and leads them back to the river.
Pointing at the fast flowing water he knees down, fills his water skin and drinks with long and deep gulps for a full minute.
<Good. We follow them through the dessert, this will be hard.
Cover your heads and get of armour and dress in wide, light clothes or you may die from the heat even before we find the enemy.>
Once everyone is as ready as possible to tackle the brizzling heat of the dessert, he will lead the way together with Lo'Laan and Serenity, searching the ground for tracks.
Ashivla follows along as the group heads into the desert. After searching very carefully for a while, he manages to pick up a trail of a medium-sized humanoid and a small humanoid leaving from the area of the animal messenger spell. Amari believes the tiny, fragmentary signs he is following are almost a week old.
The trail seems to head east by northeast. You look at the map and conclude the trail may lead toward Fort Ya-Aldin.
<They have quite some headstart.
I think they were here a week ago.
Does that even match with the time frame of the stolen bows?>
It would take at least 5 days, if rushing, to craft a new type of composite longbow of the type you have seen.
Amari struggles a bit with his quite detailed, hand-made maps at some point, halting you all for 10 minutes to watch the shadow of his bow wandering over the sand before nodding at something.
<As I though.
This trail leads towards Ya-Aldin.
They have at least a few days of a headstart.
But I don't think they expect us to follow them.
Let us hurry up for half of the way .
Then we should probably slow down and be more careful in our pursuit.
Too bad we didn't bring a couple of camels with us.>
You move forward through the desert at speed following the tracks. At time, the medium humanoid's tracks disappear for a while then reappear. You also find the scat of some large bird on the tracks at irregular intervals.
You pass through a small ravine when Zaza holds up a hand to stop you. She recognizes that the vine-like cactus on the other side of the ravine looks far too much like an assassin vine for comfort. You move to head back the other way when Lo'Laan holds out a hand to stop you. A large jackal-like creature, 4 feet tall at the shoulder, seems to have stalked you into this ravain and moves toward you with a hungry look in its eye.
With a fluid motion, Amari pulls the bow from his back and sends a quick arrow at their shadowing predator-jackal...
... but the arrow zipps past the head of the jackal by a good handswidth.
Then he takes a quick step to the right to make the way free for Lo'Laan while reaching for the next arrow.
The will canine dodges past Lo's reach and bites at Amari.
Amari falls, bleeding from the bite.
Lo'Laan and Serenity focus their efforts on the canine.
Serenity trips the canine and lashes into it. It growls in pain.
The vines move up behind Lo'Laan and grasp at him hungrily but the canny warrior dodges and deflects them.
The black man falls with a deep grunt from the powerful attack of the predator, bleeding from long gash across his chest.
He gets back up just as his assailant is falling to Serenities fury and stomps at the lying creature with all his weight.
The creature seizes it's opportunity to bite Amari as he stands.
But Amari scrambles away from the predator's jaws and stomps right on it's throat. The beast gasps and chokes for breath, trying to struggle to its feet.