Marikel clears his throat.
"We defeated the orcs and giants attacking Trunau. But meanwhile a little girl was kidnapped and brought to a farm near here. We seek her captors and their leaders. They were near the river, we were told."
The arrow moves back up a little. "I am the only farmer near the river, but there is no child here."
Dorn switches his attention from the group to the arrow and back to the group as he strokes his beard in thought. Not a moment later, "Okay, what in the blazes does she mean by 'Stand and state...'? We were all standin' as far as I can tell. Was that a 'short' joke? 'Cause I'm thinkin' that was a 'short' joke. Not to positive I'm gonna care for this lass very much," he says, obviously a bit irritated by it.
The arrow moves back up a little. "I am the only farmer near the river, but there is no child here."
Still a bit irritated at the whole 'Stand' remark, "We're not lookin' for a child, ya git, we already rescued her. We're lookin' for her CAPTORS and LEADERS just like the lad said. And also like the lad said, they were somewhere near the river. We've got a bone ta pick with these scum and we would be grateful if you could help us out a bit. Ungrateful git."
The arrow lowers again, slightly. "I am the only farmer near the river," the woman repeats. "Have you no other landmark than 'the river' to guide you? Surely you can follow the riverbank without seeking further directions."
Zola may have referred to her prison as "a dumpy little farmhouse", but it seems unlikely she would dignify the Shoanti woman's lean-to with even that description. It seems certain she wasn't held here.
Marikel shows his empty hands.
"The girl was moved down the river by boat. She said she was held at a farmhouse. There were other people. The guides hired to take her to safety took her to this farmhouse instead. I assume that there are not more than a dozen, this side of the river and more than half a days journey from Trunau, who could also reach the river that easily."
He shrugs.
"Maybe a small tributary? I'm not a local."
"Empty houses, abandoned farms," Tama concedes. "Any travelers may use them who need a shelter over their heads. Would it be toward the mountains or away from them?"
Mahath frowns, then checks his pouch. He pulls out a small rock that glitters in the light."We think they may be near someplace with deposits like this." He turns it in his hand. "It looks like flecks of quartz in the stone..." He holds it closer to her, offering it without violating her zone. For a moment he considers tossing it to her, but thinks even a gentle toss could be misconstrued as an an act of aggression. He just gives her a genuine smile and waits.
The hide is pushed aside, and the woman walks out a few steps, watching the sunlight glisten off the rock. "That would be nearer the mountains," she says. "There is a place with a half-collapsed hill where the stones sparkle like this. It is a foolish place for a farm; the ground is too rocky and uneven. The person who built there had an eye more for flashy rocks than for crops." She points up-river. "Half a day on foot, less on your beasts, though the ground becomes more broken and difficult to travel near the foothills. There is a gully; when the rains come, it will be a tributary, but now it is only a trickle. Follow it to the southwest, toward the mountains, and you will see the fallen hill of sparkling stone. But be wary: there are spiders that lair in the gully, waiting for prey that comes down to drink from the stream."
Dorn looks to the others, "Sounds like we've our next destination. What do you lot think?"
Mshsth nods in agreement with Dorn. He turns back to the shelter. "We are obliged to you for the information. Can we do anything for you? Marikel has some ability to heal, and Dorn is an excellent scout." He shrugs and adds "Of course, we can just move on if that is all you want."
Alicia grunts and nods to Dorn. "I assume the spiders are large? Dog-sized, or horse-sized?" Ali asks the other woman.
"Smaller than a horse, larger than a dog," Tama replies. "The ones I have seen are about the size of the dwarf." She nods at Dorn. "I am not injured, and those of my quah seek no outsider's help in hunting," she turns to Mahath, "but I will call on you in the future if I am in need of anything in your power to give. May your spirit guide you." She nods with finality, the exchange completed in her mind.
Breathing a sigh of relief, "Finally. Time ta go, lot. No time like the present." Dorn then immediately heads out, Skyreaver behind him.
Marikel gives a stiff bow.
"Thank you for your assistance. And your warning of the dangers ahead. Should you need anything, I am Marikel Selentin. You can contact me through the church in Trunau. Sanctuary."
He nods once, then moves off with the others.
The party turns their horses' heads back upriver, following Tama's directions. After a while, they recognize the path down the riverbank to the drake's nest where they met Gorewillow and retrieved Zola Sawyer.
"That trail looks familiar. Wonder if another drake settled in there," Alicia muses.
Marikel nods.
"A wise decision to check it out. We left in a hurry last time because we had little Miss Sawyer with us."
Marikel turns down the path.
"Let's see if we missed anything. Let's see if Gorewillow missed anything."
The party tethers their horses at the top of the rough and uneven trail down to the cave mouth. The scattered bones on the ledge without appear undisturbed since the last time they saw them. Dorn peers in with his darkvision to make sure that there's nothing lurking. The first chamber appears empty, but there is no telling about the second chamber around the corner, the nest room.
Rubbing his hands together, "Alright, let's see what we got, hm?" Dorn then walks around the corner with the healer and scans the area, moving closer if he musts to get a better view of whatever may or may not be residing within.
Marikel holds his sword aloft and it glows with a bright light at his murmured prayer to Iomedae.
"Check around where the girl was. That's where he may have dropped something. Or if there's a seat or camp area. Miss Alicia, can you see if there's signs of his arrival or departure anywhere?"
Nodding, "Consider it done, lad." The dwarf then proceeds to do just that.
With a grunt and a nod, Alicia looks around for any obvious signs of Gorewillow's ingress and egress.
As near as Alicia can tell, there is only one way in and out of the drake's nest, and that's the cave mouth they've been using. Near the large stalagmite in the second chamber, a scorch mark indicates that a campfire was lit there sometime fairly recently.
Wading into the dry branches that are the remains of last season's drake nest, Dorn kicks them this way and that, uncovering the bare floor to see if Gorewillow might have inadvertently left a clue behind beneath the detritus. As he does so, he hears something that chinks and scrapes like metal on stone, instead of rattling and bouncing like wood. Leaning down, he splays his hands under the nesting material, scrabbling with his fingers until he feels the telltale sensation of worked metal.
Setting the item on his flattened palm, he examines it. It is small, light, and rounded on one side, with a short, sharp prong on the back: some sort of decorative tack. The front side is gilded to look like brass, but it is cheap pig iron.
While he is examining the item he has found, Dorn feels something tickle against his leg. It is a tree branch like the others, but this is fresh, green wood, with tiny wrinkled leaves just emerging from tight buds. It appears that a drake has claimed this location and is beginning to prepare its nest for this season. It would behoove the party to exit the cave before the new occupant returns with more nesting material.
Picking up the newly looking branch and giving it a sniff, the dwarf's eyes go wide as he drops it. Turning toward the others, "Lot!" he calls out as he quickly heads in their direction. "Time ta go. Time ta go, now. This is a nest. A nest of a very large beast. A very large beast indeed that we would do well not ta be disturbin'," the hunter warns as he continues on his way, making his way back outside in a hurried fashion.
Marikel nods and follows.
"Everyone out."
He gives a wave of dismissal to the others that may be a shooing motion.
"Did you find anything else? Never mind. Let's get to safety first. We don't want to lose any horses."
When they make is outside and the coast is clear, Dorn turns back to the healer. "Just this, lad." He reaches out and opens his hand, showing him the tack. "Odd for a beastie ta be gatherin' somethin' like this for its nest but I guess that doesn't really mean anythin'. Could've picked it up anywhere I'd gather. You can examine it if ya be wantin'. Not really that interestin' ta me." He shrugs.
Marikel examines the item for a turn before passing it back to Dorn. "I don't recognise it. It may be something from that university he kept blabbing on about. Let's keep going. We've lost time to make up for."
Looking at it one more time, Dorn ponders tossing it aside but shrugs and decides to throw it in his pack for who knows why. "Sounds good ta me."
The party beats a judicious retreat back up the path from the once-and-future drakes' nest and retrieves the horses. They continue upriver toward the Mindspins. The larger the mountains loom ahead, the rougher and more broken the ground becomes, as Tama warned. Here the river is sunk deeply between high bluffs which, when the spring thaw arrives at the higher elevations, will barely contain the rushing snowmelt.
As the folds in the ground begin to graduate to foothills, the group finds what must be the gully Tama described. In the middle of it, about five feet below the horses' hooves is a muddy trickle, but the gully itself is nearly forty feet wide and spotted with opportunistic clumps of scrubby bushes that sprouted last summer after the flood and have no idea of the deluge that will uproot them and wash them violently into the Kestrel in a matter of weeks.
"Wonder where the spiders are," Alicia grumbles, looking balefully at the innocuously-bare gully.
Shrugging, "Ya got me, lass. Let's keep goin'." Dorn then continues on, keeping his eyes out for said spiders all of the sudden.
Marikel wheels himself down from his mount and passes the reins to Mahath.
"The last thing we want is the horses getting spooked or killed. Stay well back and keep them under control."
Marikel draws his sword and readies his shield.
"We'll go ahead and see if we can flush out these critters or clear a safe path."
And with that he forges onwards.
Mahath dismounts himself and accepts the reins. He watches nervously after the rest of the group.
Marikel and Dorn half-scramble, half-slide down the bank of the gully while Mahath stays at ground-level leading the horses. The going is actually easier inside the gully, as the ground is smoother, having been evened by the spring floods, while Mahath and the horses still pick their way over rough terrain above; still, the priest and dwarf are in no hurry, moving slowly and keeping their eyes peeled for oversized arachnids. Overhead Skyreaver wheels, doing the same, as the party moves away from the river, following the muddy trickle.
Alicia stays up top with Mahath, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings (as well as the gully).
"Guys, there's a burrow up ahead!" Alicia calls, quietly and urgently. "I see insect legs in it! Right-hand side, in the bank!"
"Well spotted, Miss Alicia," Marikel effuses.
He murmers a quick prayer to Iomedae as a blessing to them all and makes his way towards the bank that Alicia has indicated.
Dorn nods in agreement and draws his weapon, following right after the healer. "REAVER!" he yells.
The bird angles his head in the dwarf's direction as he circles before finally focusing on following directly.
Mahath was so focused on watching the three advancing, that he started when Alicia called out. He looks where Alicia warned them of, but failed to see what she was talking about. "Good eye," he murmurs. Then he quietly casts a spell on himself if case things go badly.
Marikel and Dorn cross the muddy trickled in the middle of the gully and approach the area Alicia indicated. Scrubby brush is clinging precariously to the bank, camouflaging the burrow and its inhabitant. The hole is just large enough to be an uncomfortable and claustrophobic fit for a human to wiggle into, and even a halfling would have a hard time turning around in a tunnel that size. Mingled with the branches of the shrubbery are a half-dozen legs, their chitin glinting in the sunlight. There is no motion as the pair approach.
Marikel approaches carefully and stops near the legs.
"Something may have got to this thing before us. Everybody be alert."
The spider legs dangle motionlessly out of the burrow's entrance. From outside it is impossible to see the body to which they are presumably attached.
"Hmm. These may have been placed here."
Marikel prods a leg.
"Do you think these are a trap, Miss Alica, or merely a warning to scare off interlopers?"
Dorn moves up to take a look for himself. "Ya gotta be kiddin' me. Who in their right mind would stick spider legs out like this? And why? Because it didn't scare us off. There's got ta be more to it than that."
As Marikel prods the extended legs, the whole arachnid rattles and topples out of the burrow. The long segmented legs appear to be the only intact part of the spider; the once-meaty abdomen is hollow and torn open like a popped kernel of corn, the pedicel and cephalothorax half-eaten from the inside. The extremely-dead spider slides down the gully's bank and tumbles over a few times in the wind before catching in the scrubby brush.
A heavy, droning buzz fills the air, growing progressively louder and seeming to come from a branch in the gully ahead. As the group turns to look, a wasp-like creature the size of a horse flies out from around the corner and heads straight for Marikel, Dorn, and Skyreaver.
As Dorn gives the command for him to attack, Skyreaver - unfazed by the size of the wasp - unleashes a barrage of attacks.
"By Calistria's honeyed thighs, that's a big wasp," Alicia curses. After a moment's hesitation, she darts ahead, unholstering her hand crossbow and loading it with a bolt.