Lyra punches the bard in his arm "Stay safe or I'll be irritated AND cross, you understand?" the young woman does not like having people she cares about out of sight and out of her ability to protect.
But in some cases, she has No choice.
Grinning at Pigeon's reaction, Maximus looks to Gaius with a raised eyebrow. "If you're sure about this, buddy, then more power to you. Hope you find what you're looking for. We'll catch back up with you when we return."
"There will, indeed, by just four of us." Gavin replies to the elf.
Turning to Giaus, he says, "I wish you peace and resolution in your quest, even if that may not look like what you envision. You search for your kin has made you a fine knight, and good man. Even if you never find him, his legacy will live on through your treatment of others."
Gaius chuckles just a little at Lyra's words, and places his hand affectionately on Maximus' shoulder while his fellow knight speaks. His smile disappears at Gavin's mention of never finding his father, and of leaving a legacy. "Come now," he answers, his smile returning. "You're talking like we won't ever see each other again. I'll meet you all tonight to summon our shelter in Redwatch." With one final wave, the bard trots off towards the staircase and then up towards the Research Institute.
As he goes, Captain Henethil steps closer and says (in Elvish), "very well then, if the four of you would be so good as to grasp the hem of my cloak, we'll be off." As soon as everyone has taken hold, he teleports the group to a fifteen foot wide by thirty foot long chamber made all of the typical, white stone of the Tower except for a five foot wide section in the middle of the wall straight ahead of the group. That one section looks to be made of old, slightly damp wood, with a tattered and similarly damp wool curtain covering a doorway in the center. A hallway exits the chamber behind them. "Here we are," the elf offers gesturing towards the wood and wool.
”Did the first group report any findings that would benefit our own efforts?” the wizard asks Henethil.
"The portal leads to a swamp or bog, and they reported there being fog," the captain answers. "They had very little to offer beyond that."
As Witness asks and investigates, Lyra begins to cast her series of spells to help protect herself and expand her combat abilities.
"Was the last group the first to explore this place? That you know of."
Gavin casts a bit of protective magics as Lyra makes her preparations.
After a quick flurry of last minute spellcasting, the four field agents step through the wooden door. On the other side, they find themselves stuffed into a small, rustic, wooden structure with curtained doors on both ends and arrow slits on both sides. Maximus recognizes it as a hunting blind. Through the slits they can see tall grass and mostly bare trees rising out of dark waters. Wisps of fog hang in the air and, though they do little to obscure the immediate area, they limit visibility to around a hundred or so feet. Beyond the far door, three sets of footprints--most likely belonging to the previous expedition--are clearly visible in the muddy areas of exposed earth.
Gavin quickly points out all the visible footprints.
"Do we want to track the footprints? Or take Wind form and cover more ground quickly from the sky?"
"We don't know what is out there, and our wind forms are not invulnerable. Teams of two, instead of four?" Lyra counters, not wanting their spellcasters left vulnerable. Other than that she agrees, since their time might be extremely limited.
"I tell you what, I'll stay on the ground and track the footprints as best I can while the rest of you take to the skies. I'm not a big fan of being all 'wind' anyway. It'll be a challenge! Which flat out makes it tons of fun!" He smiles big, excited at the thought.
"Okay, then one group walking and one group flying. Which one of you want to go with Maximus?" she folds her arms, ready to die on this hill of no spellcaster left alone.
"I'll go with Gaius, though ten minutes of tracking is not likely to get us far." Gavin replies.
The Witness nods in agreement with Gavin. ++ Out of an abundance of caution, I'm going to delay using external divinatory magic for the time being. Something triggered the portal recalling the first expedition prematurely, and seemingly their only notable action was to use my preferred exploratory divination spell.
++ Though I suspect the first expedition was in fact the second expedition. I posit the older footprints belong to someone who entered before them, thus triggering the portal destabilization which concluded shortly after the second party arrived.++
With the Witness' telepathic bond in place, the group splits in two. Gavin and Maximus begin examining the footprints while Lyra and the Witness transform into mist and begin ascending.
Lrya swirls around the Witness, misty eyes trying to watch for all dangers, but leaving the path and heights to him.
Scratching the back of his head, "Well, Gavin, looks like we've got our work cut out for us, my friend. What do you think, should we try following what looks like the fresher prints or the ones that appear older? I'm game for either."
++I do worry about finding our way back without magic.++ the pigeon worries mentally to her companion. ++But if we use the sun as a direction, and your mind to count the seconds as we fly, we might be okay. Should we try?++
"The fresher tracks, I think. Better chance to make contact with some locals" Gavin replies.
++ Who knows how much higher we may have to climb before we see the sun - if there's even one to see. This weather appears quite extreme for the prime material plane, possibly to the point of being unnatural. I'll consult The Choreographer for her thoughts.++
The wizard engages his familiar in a brief conversation.
The hummingbird eagerly shares its speculations and opinions on the weather.
"Sounds good. The fresh ones it is then."
The two of you follow the fresher footprints around as they circle the hunting blind and then begin travel in wider circles around the muddy land nearby. After about 20 minutes, the trail ends so abruptly that you're left to imagine that whoever left them must have teleported away, or been suddenly drawn back through the portal.
++Witness, your hypothesis that some kind of magical action triggered the last groups premature return to the Tower seems to be correct, as it has been longer already for us. Given that we are no longer under an assumed time constraint, might it be wise to reconnect and continue exploring together for added safety?++
++ I agree - regrouping is likely our best course of action. We’ll begin our descent now, returning as best we can to the hunting blind.++
The Witness waits for confirmation from Pigeon, then flies straight downwards with her, hopefully ‘landing’ within view of their original spot.
++ The Choreographer and I believe this weather to be unnatural for the prime material plane. Either it’s magically induced, or we may be on a transitory demi-plane, similar to the maze we encountered before entering the elemental plane of earth. In this case, it may be transitional to the ethereal.++
++ Gavin, Maximus, what can you tell me about the older set of tracks? And are there any signs of what one might expect to hunt from this blind?++
++ I suggest we follow the old tracks. Whoever made them appears to have known where they were going; given our limited range of sight, they’re our best chance of finding something of interest to our employers. Allow me ten minutes to familiarize myself with the immediate area of the portal in case physical translocation becomes necessary, and then we may proceed.++
Nodding, "Sounds good. Old tracks it is this time."
The field agents meet back up at the blind. The Witness and Maximus agree, based on the location and the style of the blind, that birds—such as egrets, cranes, and herons—that hunt the shallow waters are likely the primary quarry, though the slits extend low enough that it could also be used for flightless swamp dwellers like river otters or marsh rabbits. After their brief discussion, the wizard sets about studying the area in preparation for potential future arcanotranslocation and the warrior isolates the older footprints again.
Lyra will keep her eyes and ears open.
"Might it be worth the effort to test the portals tolerance to magic now?,while we can just pass back through?" Gavin says.
"We'll be able to pass back in? I thought the last group got torn out and couldn't make it back in?"
++ I'd prefer to explore rather than experiment. Redwatch requested information on the portal's destination, not the portal itself; I assume the Institute's interest is similar, as the simulacrum gave no additional instructions. The result of "successful" experimentation would be the collapse of the portal and our return to The Tower, preventing us from achieving our goal.
++ The definite direction of the older tracks leading away from the portal implies there's a destination of note achievable at regular walking speed within the normal stability period of the portal. The lack of return tracks implies it may be far enough to obviate the possibility of a timely return to the portal by the same method. Or it may simply be the traveler engaged in activity at their destination which took too long to allow such a return.
++ Regardless, it seems likely following the tracks will allow us to discover a landmark of interest. If we do so in windform we'll likely make better time than the original traveler, even accounting for the reduced speed necessary for us to follow their tracks.
++ Helain Fowl stated the elves believed the portal would remain open for a number of hours. Assuming this base period is correct, we can decide how best to proceed with our remaining time once we've found something of note - explore further, return via windform, return via translocation, begin experimentation, or engage in other unforeseen activity.++
The Witness convinces his fellow field agents not to employ any magics and they wait patiently while he familiarizes himself with the area around the blind more thoroughly. Then they set out following the older footprints.
Assist Maximus (DC 10)
Maximus has little trouble locking in on the older footprints and begins leading the party after them, along a ridge of higher, dryer ground. It doesn't take terribly long for them to reach a point where the truly swampy ground has all but vanished and the flora is growing thicker. The footprints lead to a narrow path of trampled ground cutting through the brush and just before they vanish onto the hard-packed dirt the tracker notes that several other sets of footprints also end at the path. There are three that he can make out: one about a day older than those they've been following, and headed in the opposite direction; and, the other two around a week or so old and headed in opposite directions of each other (one set towards wherever the group is currently headed, and the other back towards the swamp).
The strange fog still obscures the field agent's vision, but they can see trees poking through it ahead and it appears they are headed into a forest.
Pausing, "Well? Any thoughts on which ones we want to follow? I'm game for either."
"Following the freshest tracks is most likely to lead to contact. That's my vote."
Pigeon nods, "Following the most used path gives us the greatest chance to run into people."
The field agents press ahead, following the packed-dirt path into the forest. The trees here are not nearly so grand as those they saw in the Great Forest while visiting the Northern Anchor, but they are old enough, and tall enough, that the agents walk beneath the canopy of their branches in the sort of dim, mossy wilderness usually reserved for ghost stories and tales of fey mischief. The fog and moss both also serve to dampen sound, creating an unsettling silence as they walk.
Fortunately, it's fairly short lived and less than a mile later the trees abruptly stop. The fog is thinner here and across a narrow clearing they can see a fairly large keep. The lowest five feet of the outer wall is made mostly of expertly cut stone blocks that, based on their weathering, look to be rather ancient, though there are large cracks and missing sections which have been filled in with newer and more hastily cut stones. Atop that foundation, the rest of the wall's twenty foot height is composed entirely of those newer stones.
A worn banner hangs in the still air above a gate in the wall. It's fabric is gray and it bears the image of black roses encircled by a wreath of black thorns. The clever agents recognize it as the same pattern that adorned the shield they saw through the strange mirror they encountered weeks ago, though in that case it was red roses and green thorns.
There are, at first, no obvious inhabitants from where the field agents are observing from the safety of the forest. However, after several minutes of silent observation, a lone elf walks along the top of the wall, as if on a half-hearted patrol. It’s hard to make out much detail under the circumstances, but he he looks to be wearing chainmail beneath a tabard with the same black roses and thorn, and he’s carrying a sword on his hip. To the Witness’ keen eyes, he seems a bit pale.
Gavin casts Honeyed Tongue as softly as he can, then calls out to the sentry.
"Greetings! Might lost travelers find some respite here?" he calls out in Elven.
Lyra walks beside the cleric, waving pleasantly, and keeping her hand off her sword hilt.