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Two days later, you come upon a small spring where you stop to fill your waterskin. As you sit crouched on the bank, you hear heavy, weary, footfalls approaching from the opposite side of the spring.
Two days later, you hear the sound of a fresh spring off in the distance and decide to fill your waterskins there. Cyrus realizes that a source of fresh water would be precious in this enviornment and is likely watched if not defended.
Mortimer stays calm, confident in his ability to escape if necessary. He double checks that his spellbook is hidden away, then finishes filling his waterskin and watches where the footsteps are coming from.
Cyrus will approach as quietly as possible, keeping an eye out for traps and signs of recent traffic.
Erianna follows Cyrus from a distance to investigate the area.
Esther just imagine pumping the surprised wizard full of arrow.
Cyrus points his finger at Mortimer then the sisters activating his message spell-like ability.
"It's us." he whispers from afar.
Mortimer frowns. "I hope you have a good reason for finding me."
"I was just following these two..."
yes, just outside of the city we encountered a men with his two sons, we know that he has talked to you, did you enchant up his chest? And in the forest close by a squad of solider were brutally killed by three people who didn't leave a single tracks as they left the killing field. she whispers back to him
"Biel, scout the area." Mortimer waits to hear back before proceeding.
Mortimer casts invisibility on himself. "When you need to contact me come here and put a pile of rocks beside the water."
Erianna moves into hiding, urging her sister and Cyrus to do the same - "Hide!"
Cyrus activates his other spell causing him to blend into his surroundings then he quickly climbs the nearest tree.
Esther will cast a barskin on herself and her sister
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A handfull of minutes later, 5 men bearing skins and buckets enter the clearing and begin filling their containers.
The men work efficiently, clearly having done this before.
They are a wirey sort: clearly stron, yet accostomed to a life of hard labor and want. Each carries a number of weapons, most of which seem to have known use as tools as well.
One of the men, one of the older looking ones, obviously spots Cyrus and Erianna, but tries to play it off like he didn't.
Erianna stays put, attentive to any flanking moves, or something along those lines.
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The men continue their work in silence and when the last container is full the make ready to leave. However, the man that spotted two of our heroes makes a curious gesture with his hands: a thumb drawn across the throat followed by two hands pulling down (like a pull-up or donning a shirt).
Instantly, all five reach into the satchels at their hips and slip on fine chain shirts of blood red links. The shirts are finely made and clearly designed to don and doff quickly.
Now armored, the men gather the water and troop off in the way they had come.
Those chain shirts are the signature marker of the Red Shirt Mercenaries from the impenetrable Ledranos Mountain to the north. They are fantastic warriors and even the very worst of them is said to have the skill of 2 or three Amerysi soldiers.
Anyone retaining even one such fighter is considered very well protected indeed. To see five at once should cause concern at the very least...
What was all that about i wonder
Once far out of eat shot Cyrus speaks up. "Red Shirt Mercenaries, they're kind of badass so I wouldn't recommend scraping with them. Ever."
Once the men have left, Erianna turns to Esther and Cyrus again - "Good to know that, but what are they doing here? And what now friends? Should we wait for Mortimer's infiltration to pay off, and his contact?"
No sure. First we still haven had any answers to non of our previous 2 encounters, and now i wounder who those men are fighting for.
"It's the kind of plan you don't half-ass can't exactly turn back now with half the country looking for him. Might as well follow through and hope for the best at this point."
and so we just move on after him then. I really wounder what those merc were hired for
if that rogue wizard is traveling in that direction so must we she says trying to find his tracks
Cyrus shrugs and tries his best to locate the wizards trail.
"I don't think he'll be as easy to find a second time." he comments.
We have to try now don't we ? she says ready to travel
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Erianna stands and adjusts the weapons on her belt. "As long as it looks like we're tracking that 'scoundrel', we're fine. Anything else is gravy."
The three wander about, following the "tracks" Cyrus finds. By the end of the day, the three are good and lost, knowing only that the road lies to the west.
What are you up to sir?
I am having enough of this. We need to find some solution to our tracking problem this can't go on for ever. I am going to have to learn this stuff she says venting her frustration as she beds down
[spoiler=DM]Mortimer stares after the red shirts for a bit, then follows them, staying invisible.[/ooc]
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After an hour or two, Mortimer's pursuit of the Red Shirts leads him down an embankment and into the root system of a massive oak tree. Once through, the ground opens up into a wide hollow with massive roots closing in two sides and a rock face closing in the last.
This place would only be visible from the sky, and with only one entrance, easily defended...
What is odd, is that there a wooden posts littering the landscap in here, and men walk along wooden boardwalks between the posts.