Nadiya is used to traveling through the wilderness, and while she tries to avoid the badlands, she uses her experience to point out pitfalls and potential ambush points.
Valeska tries to piece together what she knows from maps she'd seen and tales she's heard.
After a while, it all starts looking the same... doesn't it?
Not nearly as familiar with the region as Nadiya, Miruna still does her best to keep an eye out for landmarks and the like to keep them on course.
Nadiya proves almost as adept at getting along in the Belkzen as native guides like Gargan and his band. Of course, your orc guides make sure to boisterously take credit for giving the medicine woman a metaphorical leg up as she takes point on scouting the environs. Thus, besides guiding the party to precious, rare spots of water to replenish your canteens or forageable food to supplement your travel stores.
Miruna, on the other hand, brings ill tidings with her knowledge. She knows that an infamous site lies due south along your route. It was the site of a terrible battle between soldiers of Lastwall and orc warbands, and the aftermath seems to have left a permanent curse upon the ground. Ever since, whenever other groups gather nearby, a flaming apparition emerges and brings fiery destruction upon them.
Crossing too close to this possibly haunted battlefield could prove highly dangerous. On the other hand, going around to the west would add at least an extra day to your travel, and possibly more. What's more, it would bring you closer to Urgir and all the gathering tribes, potentially exposing you to conflict without the protection of the travel tokens you seek.
What are everyone's thoughts on the matter? The natural or the supernatural? Valeska awaits counsel.
"Orcs may be charmed by a clever tune, or entangled by the weeds of the earth, but curses and ghosts hold little heed to either. My vote is go around."
"Leta's right on both points. We can negotiate with the tribes, the Floodway Truce is on and our aim is to buy tokens of passage in any event."
Nadiya nods along with the orcs' boasting. She is not one to fight for credit.
At the dilemma posed by Miruna and Valeska's ensuing question, Nadiya chuckles as Leta and Nashik weigh in. "Maybe I am getting too much fresh air. I was going to suggest the opposite: that we are well equipped to handle undead and would be better off doing that than prematurely angering the locals before we can obtain. The tokens. I am never one to want a fight, but if things went poorly, I'd rather have to kill undead than an orc. Or other person. That said, I trust Leta's knowledge of what lies in the wilderness and what Bashuk knows of the peoples here, so I will readily defer to what they think is the least likely higher risk. What do our guides recommend?"
"I hadn't realized we were so close to that place," Gargan says when made aware of the situation. "I've never seen it myself, thankfully, but I'd hoped it was further away from our route.
"A few small warbands have been consumed by whatever haunts the place. Most tribes know to avoid it by now, but I've heard that bands of explorers from human lands have ventured in to investigate. I can't say I've ever heard of them leaving, so I guess it went poorly for them, too.
"They say that a walking flame, in the vague shape of a man, moves about the old battlefield on moonless nights. They also say that if you hear a sobbing child, you are about to meet with fiery misfortune."
Ultimately, Gargan agrees that it would be better to go around.
"Even if my own - I believe the human term is 'silver tongue' - isn't enough, her ladyship and her companions have proven to have a talent for negotiation and persuasion, so I think we can collectively talk our way past any potential danger from hot-headed young warriors looking for a fight."
Nadiya shifts, frowning at the description. "A sobbing child? Perhaps souls need putting to rest. But... a challenge to consider when we are better prepared and can count on allies in the region."
She frowns, at herself, wondering why she suddenly feels drawn to the danger, when she full knows the others are right. She absently reaches for Mishka's head to scratch. Perhaps she has been on the road--by her reckoning, years, not this specific trip--too long.
"All of this only makes me more certain we should go around. Come, we're wasting daylight."
= Whisperfall Vultures
Vultures
You adjust course and take a wider, arcing path to avoid the haunted battleground. As you veer westward, you find a proliferation of tracks indicating that many orcs and their animals have marched across these stretches of land towards Urgir. Thankfully, Nadiya identifies that these tracks are many days, if not weeks old, so their creators are probably long gone.
The first two days and nights of travel are tense but uneventful. On the third night, you make camp on a defensible land rise that affords a view of the river valley to the south. A few leagues away, you can dimly make out the lights of Freedom Town, situated upon a bend in what Miruna identifies as the Aren River. You will reach your destination not long after breaking camp on the morrow.
Unfortunately, the night and your streak of good luck are both broken by terrible, animalistic sounds. The rush of air and rustle of feathers presages an avian screech, which itself precipitates frightened yowls from Mishka, and then growls from Sasha.
Quickly investigating, you discover a flock of about seven birds with 8-foot wingspans diving down to hunt. These dark-winged vultures have wickedly hooked beaks stained with bright red blood from previous meals. These traits make it plain that, rather than scavengers, these specimens of vulture are predators.
Nadiya's feline familiar is their present prey, but she has thus far been spared thanks to the timely intervention of the countess' eidolon.
As soon as Mishka's fear prickles the back of her mind, Nadiya jumps to her feet. She still has strapped to her the harvester's basket turned cat satchel on her hip, and waves her hand, mentally sending to her cat that jumping in would be a good idea.
If she has, she will turn turn, eyes blazing in anger, and cast ear piercing scream at the nearest predatory bird.
; DC 15 Fortitude save halves damage, failure dazes target in addition to the damage.
Init:
Leta will begin Inspire Courage (+2 morale bonus to hit and damage).
Nadiya's silent scream sends one of the vultures crashing - hard - into the ground, dead even before it gouges a furrow into the soil.
Sasha, careful!
"Oh for the love of--" Bashuk drops her half-made bedroll and turns to stare daggers at the vultures, her hands already shaping a spear of golden fire to hurl.
One of the vultures may as well be a cooked goose when it is struck down by Bashuk's fiery blast.
Kain quickly mounts Valere, and Silverwing swoops down behind the flock of vultures and attempts to spook them with a screech.
Miruna conjures a spiritual weapon that cuts some feathers and leathery hide from one of the birds. Sasha then finishes off that vulture with teeth and claws.
The remaining four vultures swarm around Sasha and peck at the eidolon but fail to harm the countess' companion.
Valeska draws and tosses a starknife with protective ire. Away, fell beasts!
As the vultures continue their attack, Bashuk scowls in sudden suspicion. "Animals don't act like this, something is driving them!"
"Is this really unusual for hungry carnivorous scavengers in a wasteland?"
Nadiya moves closer to the vultures and points at one of them, incanting her Slumber hex.
Mishka carefully slinks away and moves toward her mistress () and jumps into Nadiya's basket.
In round 2, Leta keeps singing, and attacks with her bow:
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...
Valeska's starknife shears the wing from one of the vultures, leaving it a prime target for Leta to finish with her bow.
Bashuk roasts another, and Silverwing swoops in from the side to gobble one up in practically a single snap.
The very last one collapses into a deep sleep thanks to Nadiya's hex, bringing an end to this dusk-time disturbance.
Nadiya pulls out her dagger and swiftly ends the slumbering one. She is still troubled by Bashuk's observation.
Bashuk, do you think something else is out there? That drove them here?"
Whisperfall Vultures, a common enough creature in the Belkzen, are predators rather than scavengers, unlike their vulture cousins found in other regions. Thus, it is not too unusual for them to attack like this, especially in a larger flock.
However, with the flood road turning into a river and bringing new seasonal game to the region, this may also be increasing their aggression, compelling them to grab food while it's plentiful. Similarly, with much of the flood plains around Urgir occupied by thousands upon thousands of orcs, the vultures may have been more inclined to hunt near your comparatively smaller group. The fact that they initially targeted smaller prey like Mishka shows that they were opportunistically hunting less dangerous game at first.
"Bashuk, do you think something else is out there? That drove them here?"
"I wouldn't rule it out. It's rare to see animals so unafraid of fire, and more than a few tribes use trained warbeasts as skirmishers for their raiding parties. But maybe they've just been riled up by all the tribes' being gathered for the flooding." Bashuk's grim expression takes on a slightly chagrined cast as well. "And, well...my shapings will have given our position to anyone and everyone in the area. Sorry."
"You were not the only one evoking, Bashuk," Nadiya says. "I'm afraid I'm rather protective of my dear one, here."
Per
Mishka and Sasha are the first to alert you to the new development. Perhaps they hear or smell something on the air, but their attention is keenly focused towards the west.
Leta spots them first, soon followed by Nadiya and Valeska. A small group of humanoid figures moving stealthily in your direction. There's at least a half dozen of them that you can pick out among the shadows of twilight. Leta sees that they are armed, but they do not look like an outright raiding party.
"Bandits? Scouts?" Leta asks Nadiya quietly while carefully retrieving another arrow from her quiver and holding it with the bow in her hand. She refrained from nocking the arrow just yet to avoid tipping off their opponents.
"Bandits? Scouts?" Leta asks Nadiya quietly while carefully retrieving another arrow from her quiver and holding it with the bow in her hand. She refrained from nocking the arrow just yet to avoid tipping off their opponents.
"Would bandits have already attacked? Perhaps we shout a warning?"
Mishka sniffs the air. Anything particularly alarming on the wind?
Bashuk frowns at the animals, looking up to peer fruitlessly into the darkness. As Leta points out the group sneaking towards them the half-orc's shoulders grow tense.
"Scouts? We could drop an arrow or a burst of flame at their feet to let 'em know we've seen them--but with the Truce on we shouldn't kill anyone, that's a good way to make a lot of enemies."
Everyone take positions and cover.
Gargan, you and your men... stay in the open with me. Sasha also remains.
I'll parley. If they don't... reciprocate, she looks around.
You'll convince them otherwise.
Nadiya stands near Leta, watching carefully.
"They are our kin, to be sure," Gargan says quietly, as though worried the approaching group could keenly hear him. "The human outlaws of Freedom Town would need to be a particular kind of stupid to sneak out at night during the flood times to prey upon an unknown group.
"Your very impressive display when dispatching those vultures likely drew the attention of a wandering band. We'll have to see what they have in mind, though."
"Well then, let's say hello," Bashuk shapes a fist-sized sphere of golden fire and sends it spinning out into the darkness, splashing to the ground a few paces ahead of the sneaking figures.
"That's close enough! Who are you and what do yo want?" Bashuk challenges, first in Orcish and then in Taldane if she doesn't get an immediate response.
Kain will stay mounted on Valere, keeping no more than 80 paces (feet) from Valeska. Though much less preferably. For now though, other than striking an intimidating figure, he allows Bashuk to do the talking.
Like an arrow in the night, a man's sharp voice comes from the night's deepening dark in reply.
As they inch closer, you can more clearly see that the band is entirely orcish, made up of a mix of men and women outfitted either as scouts or hunters.
Valeska steps forward and replies in her best Orcish.
We seek audience with Grask Uldeth. We would appreciate your escort.
She then smiles shaking her head.
I am the Countess Valeska Talanova and these are some... of my fellow rulers of Canterwall.
We come to warn Grask Uldeth of coming danger to both our peoples. We come seeking alliance such that all may have peace and prosper.
Nadiya listens to the conversation intently but the Countess has everything far better in hand then she could, so she just stays put.
Countess Valeska's explication intrigues the leader of the scout band, who introduces himself as Nirdosh, son of Ardax the White-Hair.
He also asks if you have paid for your passage tokens, without which even his escort cannot ensure your safety.
"Well met Nirdosh, your father's name carries a great deal of weight." Bashuk hesitates, glancing at the Countess before continuting. "We haven't had the chance to obtain passage tokens yet--we were headed to Freedom Town to buy some there, your group is the first we've meet since setting out. We would of course be glad to purchase from you instead, if that's allowed..."
Nirdosh clucks his tongue and considers Bashuk's offer.
"My protection carries much weight, and thus much value," he says, his expression shifting from that of a hunter to that of a merchant - being quite predatory nonetheless. "And for a group of your size..."
Ultimately, he quotes a price of 1000gp to grant you safe passage into Urgir and allowance to walk the city under the protection of his father's name.