"I don't know but this one looks like a Camilla, this one looks like a Humps, this one I would name Bumps, that one's name is Spits or at least it should be."
Lupe shoots an evil eye at the camel he calls spits.
Though it didn't matter a whole lot who got which camel, Katsumi had made sure two of the camels would have enough provisions for the extra animals, so he made sure to lead those ones towards Sarona and Lupe. He handed the reins over to each. "If we are naming our own camels, I think I will call mine Humphrey."
"Man that's a good name!"
[dice=Knowledge (Local): Druma]1d20+9
Sarona remembered the nation of Druma all too well. She could still remember the displayed wealth of Kerse--the golden-coloured columns of the Guilded Vault Opulent and its marble halls, the gemstones embedded in the brickwork...
...the undercurrent of greed and treachery in its courts. The blatant, self-assured air of superiority of her old master.
The memory causes heat to flood into her limbs again. And the man before her, waving his white-gloved hands about and (perhaps) trying to build a rapport with her is standing a little too close for her.
She fixes Casper with a stony look and rolls up one of her robe's sleeves, revealing the blue line tattoos running down her arm and interlacing with her fingers. "Followers of the Prophecies are forbidden to bear tattoos. So I suspect any misconceptions will be swiftly corrected."
"But if you are truly concerned with potential cases of mistaken identity, perhaps you should change your clothes."
Casper smirks again and thinks to himself,
:::"Well, that cleared that up didn't it? Not well disposed towards followers of the Prophecy as well? How... interesting. I wonder if she'd be more receptive to a devotee of the Reaper of Reputation if this allegiance were presented in a.... suitable fashion.":::
Vulpina smiles, reaching into her pouch and retrieving a small piece of dried rabbit to offer the small creature.
Today she is dressed in more desert-appropriate attire: lots of loose, flowing clothing to keep the heat off her skin without trapping her own.
"Aaliyah-- such a pretty name!" she says with a small grin. Regardless of whether the fennec takes the piece or not, she turns back to her camel after a moment .
Casper approaches the elegant lady,
"I don't believe we were properly introduced last night, Mistress, and, judging only by my well-honed intuition, and your noble bearing, you are one whose friendship I would have, and have quickly on this perilous journey."
The ginger effects a slight flourish,
"I am Casper Cantour of Druma, and humble follower of the Prophecies."
Casper then raises his inclined head to fix Lady Vulipina with both of his emerald eyes as he seeks an answer,
"And what regal Lady might I presently enjoy the company of, Mistress?"
The Lady smiles at Casper’s approach. Slightly presumptuous—but outside of court, presumptions were to be expected. A necessity, even. Otherwise, crops would wither and die while farmers spent their days curtsying and dodging questions with answers.
How pleased she was to be out of court!
”Good day and good journey, Mister Cantour,” she says with an easy smile. ”I am the noble Lady Vulpina.” A slight distinction, but an important one—many kings and queens would have to die before she was considered for a throne.
”If you will forgive the question, what brings someone of your complexion out under the Katapesh sun?”
The Lady smiles at Casper’s approach. Slightly presumptuous—but outside of court, presumptions were to be expected. A necessity, even. Otherwise, crops would wither and die while farmers spent their days curtsying and dodging questions with answers.
How pleased she was to be out of court!
”Good day and good journey, Mister Cantour,” she says with an easy smile. ”I am the noble Lady Vulpina.” A slight distinction, but an important one—many kings and queens would have to die before she was considered for a throne.
”If you will forgive the question, what brings someone of your complexion out under the Katapesh sun?”
Casper smiles,
"No dutiful child of my clan would deny their mother. We have a saying handed down in the wisdom bequeathed to us by our venerable founder. "The will of one's Mother is as to the Thread of Fate -- it wends where it will and ends as it must." I was dispatched as a representative of our esteemed clan by the same. The Clan of Cantour and that of Garavel's employer are along associates of Katapesh's dark markets, and our assistance was sought in this venture."
Garavel smiles slightly at the naming of the camels. Whether they already have names or not, he does not contribute. He does not seem the most communicative of men. He is, however, efficient and has all the pack camels loaded before some of you have managed to saddle up you own camels. When everyone is gathered, he instructs you all to observe.
"I expect each of you to learn how to saddle, groom, and care for your animals for the trip. Observe."
No pleasantries, but that is his way. He demonstrates how to saddle the camel step by step and keeps it slow, then watches as each of you make your own attempts. When he notices a misstep, he steps in with a grunt and shows how it is done. And then undoes what he has done.
Sarona's inexperience with animals is quite obvious as she fumbles with the saddle. Just when she thinks she's managed to secure the saddle, it falls off the side.
The results of her second try don't even do her the courtesy of staying on the camel for longer than a second before it falls off.
The third try seems to have worked--the saddle is now sitting in its proper place, secured and ready to bear her weight.
Garavel smiles slightly at the naming of the camels. Whether they already have names or not, he does not contribute. He does not seem the most communicative of men. He is, however, efficient and has all the pack camels loaded before some of you have managed to saddle up you own camels. When everyone is gathered, he instructs you all to observe.
"I expect each of you to learn how to saddle, groom, and care for your animals for the trip. Observe."
No pleasantries, but that is his way. He demonstrates how to saddle the camel step by step and keeps it slow, then watches as each of you make your own attempts. When he notices a misstep, he steps in with a grunt and shows how it is done. And then undoes what he has done.
Casper smiles,
"Despite hailing from a family which had the beginnings of its economic good fortunes borne in the fur trade, I find myself rather at a loss with this request to come to such close terms with your dromedary."
He nods,
"I'm sure you have some other personnel, even your own person, capable of bringing this humped beast to heel for me?"
"I will do it. It's A knights job to care for animals."
"I will do it. It's A knights job to care for animals."
Casper nods,
"Much obliged, noble knight, I'm sure."
"As I said, I do not care much for slackers. Did you expect me to do all the work?" He give Lupe a 'look' but does not say anything for now.
"As I said, I do not care much for slackers. Did you expect me to do all the work?" He give Lupe a 'look' but does not say anything for now.
The ginger just smirks and thinks to himself:
"Well isn't that just the most terrific degree of brusqueness considering that my family helped in finance this little desert wandering fiasco! I'm sure to have words with his employer, this mysterious Lady Almah, when the opportunity arises! And for sure I'm going to devote his soul to Blackfingers if ever the need arises, first on the little list I've got, no doubt!"
"Don't worry fancy fellow I have yours and mine ready to go. I will be riding Wolf. That means we can give the camels a break now and then. I bet with will be happier that way."
Lady Vulpina raises an eyebrow at Casper's inelegance.
Still, she says nothing of it, and her face has a tendency of smirking and raising eyebrows with some frequency anyway, and Casper is more-than-likely busy with his eyes on... well, many other things.
"One must make oneself useful," she says simply of the matter, taking careful note of Garavel's lesson. "After all, a lesson learned through another's experience is much better than one learned through one's own failure."
Once Garavel is quite finished, she rubs her gloved hands together. "Not so different than saddling a horse, then," she figures.
She isn't a natural, but she does follow instructions well enough and has done similar in the past, and soon enough her own mount is ready to go.
Behind his helmet, Katsumi smiled, pleased that Lupe approved of the name. Before he had a chance to respond, Garavel called them over, and he obediently turned his attention to their employer. Despite the fact that he had, in fact, already packed his camel, he gave the man his full attention. After all, perhaps he could still learn something from him?
Though Katsumi turned out to be mistaken on this front, he tried not to think of his time watching Garavel as wasted. He was putting his best foot forward by continuing to be polite and showing that he was willing to learn, even if truth be told, he didn't care for the man. He was just a little too...condescending? Was that the correct word for it? Like he simply expected them to fail. Expected them to be slackers. Expected them to be incompetent.
No...that can't be right. Behind his mask, he frowned. Surely he could not think so little of them if he was also willing to hire them for this expedition, could he? Unless he was truly strapped for cash and willing to take on anybody willing to accept his pay? Not that he had bothered to ask what the pay was; it was enough for him that their supplies would be taken care of on their journey to see if Haleen was in this town they were to reclaim. Perhaps he should ask Lupe about it? But maybe not in earshot of the others. He didn't want them to think he was a heartless mercenary who was only in it for the money.
As he watched the man patiently help others with their task, something about his assessment still felt off. He wasn't insulting when he helped them. Just in his assumptions about them. So what was...Oh. It's not that he thinks so little of us. It's just that he assumes he's better than us in all respects. A subtle distinction.
His shoulders slumped slightly at the realization. It was hardly a new experience, yet that didn't stop it from stinging about as much as if it had been. Clearly, he had been spending too much time alone with Lupe. He had gotten used to the feeling of being viewed as a worthy comrade capable of holding his own. He had gotten used to being seen through the eyes of family. He needed to stop that. He needed to remember his place.
He quickly looked around for something to do in the hopes that it could distract him from his gloomy thoughts. Should he offer to help those who were struggling? No, that would likely just result in Garavel scolding him like a small child, much as he had done to Lupe. He knew his brother might look like a child, and might in many ways be child-like, but he still felt the comment and the look had been uncalled for. Lupe had only been expressing his dedication to duty and willingness to help out. Why had he been treated thusly while the man who actually wasn't helping out received no similar condemnation? He felt the heat of anger starting to rise. Was Garavel playing favorites? Picking on the smallest there? His brother was just as capable as anyone else! He shouldn't be treated like that!
No, calm down Katsumi. He took a deep breath. Don't jump to conclusions. Give him a chance. It would do him no good to blow up at their employer. Sighing, he pulled out some dried meat and wandered over to Wolf. Maybe playing with him would take his mind off of all of this. There wasn't much else for him to do anyway, seeing as his pack was already neatly made, he wasn't supposed to help the others make their packs (though now looking around, those seemed to be done as well), and those had really been the only things left to do before leaving.
He took out a few more strips of meat, trying to subtly catch...'Aaliyah' 's eye? He thought that was what he had heard the woman call her fox. Maybe he could at least make friends with her. Animals tended to be less judgey.
As they all gathered after breakfast by the camels to prepare to leave Rahella went out to meet her camel. She eyed the creature warily as it glared at her, likely sensing the taint of undeath ingrained upon her by her homeland and her magic. She had a thought and asked, "Do the camels have names?"
As they discussed names for their camels and Garavel appeared to teach them how to saddle their own mounts Rahella decided her camel was a Clyde. She considered how she was going to saddle it, let alone ride it, when Garavel came out and showed them. The creature continued to glare at her and she took a chance, holding a piece of fruit out she'd kept from her breakfast for it as a peace offering.
Fortunately it seemed the creature was pleased with her offering as it snatched the treat up and turned it's head from her. Rahella took the opportunity to saddle Clyde and then mounted him while she could and looked to see if the others were ready as well. "I think I am as ready as I will ever be."
Aaliyah looks over at the strips of meat held out by the armored human and trots over to nibble on them. She lets out a little bark.
Sarona turns her head towards the fox. "Aaliyah, you just had breakfast."
Katsumi smiled as Aaliyah barked. He then looked up from where he had crouched down, one hand held out with the proferred food and the other half-way towards the fox in his attempt to see if Aaliyah would let him pet her. "I'm sorry. Should I not be feeding her then?" If that were the case, perhaps he could convince the woman to let him give her lunch.
'The woman'. He hadn't even asked her name or introduced himself yet. How could he be so rude as to forget? "I'm Katsumi."
"Katsumi is amazing! He is amazing with a blade."
"I'm sorry. Should I not be feeding her then?"
"I suspect that she would find a way to steal your offered meat if you were to take it away now." The tattooed woman replies. "So you may as well finish feeding her."
Aaliyah lets the armoured man give her headrubs.
"I'm Katsumi."
The redheaded mage waits a beat.
"...Sarona. My name is Sarona."
Lupe steers Wolf around in circles, obviously very excited to get on the road.
"I am...decent with a blade." Katsumi couldn't help the rush of warmth that flooded his chest at Lupe's belief in him. He wished he shared in it.
He continued to hold the meat out to be eaten as he gently stroked the fox's head. A part of him wished to take off his gloves, so he could feel her fur, but he thought better of it.
"How did you and Aaliyah meet, Sarona?"
You all mount up and make your way out of the town. The environs quickly turn into inhospitable scrublands ideally suited for camels but not humans. In a distant haze to the west you can barely make out the immense outline of the Pale Mountain, looming over the mid-afternoon horizon like a tombstone. Garavel distributes the work to be done and Casper finds that he is unable to escape his share as there is plenty to do during their stops and nightly camping. Whether it be collecting wood, getting up early and the the fire stoked and ready in time for breakfast, cooking meals, or cleaning dishes, he finds a way to make you each useful.
Finally after a hot and dry trip of over a week, you all spot a craggy tree with 5 immense mostly barren branches splayed out like the claw of a skeleton. Galavan announces "The Sultan's Claw, we are almost there."
The camels speed up, perhaps sensing water or perhaps the calls of their kind, but when you top one more rise you find that all is not well. The caravan before you is in complete disarray for one of the wagons has erupted in flames. Camels in a nearby pen mill about in agitation, goats and other livestock are dashing about contributing to the general confusion. Perhaps a dozen men and women rush around the campsite trying to bring order or carrying water to put out the fire. As you approach a zephyr blows a number of colorful fortune-telling cards in your direction. One singed representative of fate is forced up against the chest of Katsume. The Cyclone! A card that portends war, destructive plans, and, of course, arson! It is at that moment that the Sultan's Claw itself erupts into brilliant flame.
A regal looking woman who can only be Almah steps out from a tent into the firelit night. “Douse that flame!” she shouts to the men surrounding the wagon before turning in your direction. “Ah, Garavel!” she says. “And just a moment later than the nick of time, as usual.” Looking specifically past her major domo and directly at you all, Almah barks out a simple order before running off toward the fire: “Find some way to help!”.
Lupe take a moment to Gage the situation. First is eye goes to the fire. Think of the barrel vs the spell.
Then he looks to the wound man. That may not be too hard.
He looks at Casper and the cart. Casper looks like the only person strong than Lupe. It may be best to let him do it.
With rope maybe more people could help.
Wolf will scare the animals bad choice.
Whatever there is to see over the course of the trip, Vulpina does not see it.
She seems reasonably amicable during the journey, and does not hesitate to dirty her gloves when there is work to be done. Although she doesn’t seem to be particularly strong physically, she moves with an undeniable grace, even over the desert sand.
Coming upon the scene, she cuts her saddlebags free with her blade in case the camels spook and run off, then slides off her mount, hustling to grab a pail and start putting out the fire.
”Pick a place to help and get straight to it!” she barks.
"How did you and Aaliyah meet, Sarona?"
"She came to me while I was incarcerated by my previous master." Sarona answers without even looking at the armoured man, focusing on the road ahead.
----------------------Sarona notices the group of gnolls shadowing them. "It appears we are being followed."
----------------------
"...hmm." Sarona wrinkles her nose when she sees the disarray the caravan before them is in. She dismounts and moves to the burned mercenary's side, attempting to provide assistance.
And her complete lack of experience shows as she tries to move the dying swordswoman's head.
The android's eyes widen for the first time on this trip.
"...oops."
Her fennec, on the other hand, snatches a roll of bandages from the nearby priest's bag and shoves them into Sarona's hand. She then makes a series of barks, seemingly directing the android in saving the poor woman.
All the while, the fennec has a visible expression of disappointment on her face.
Hearing Vulpina call out Lupe looks for immediate danger. Then does at Vulpina says.
Alertness near Wolf.
Lupe heaves a barrel nearly his height and certainly heavier carries it and tosses it spilling its contents on the fire.
Work and or aid whichever is better.
"Go help with the cart wolf." he says as he strains under the weight.
"You bunch go help my friends."
"She came to me while I was incarcerated by my previous master." Sarona answers without even looking at the armoured man, focusing on the road ahead.
Katsumi took the curt reply as an indication Sarona did not wish to continue the conversation. He wasn't sure if that was a reflection of the topic, her opinion of him, or simply her own manner. Either way, he didn't press his luck.
*****
Katsumi mostly kept to himself on their trek. He did his work without complaint and always with an eye to help others or do more when possible. In areas where he lacked skill, he made up for it with persistence and patience. As a result, even though he had meant to start up a conversation with at least some of his traveling companions, he found he was often too busy. Each night he collapsed in the tent he had brought, enjoying the few moments of privacy he had either alone or with Lupe.
At the chaotic scene, instead of immediately rushing in somewhere, Katsumi took a moment to stop and analyze the situation. Lupe's got the fire handled. Looks like Sarona is tending to the wounded. As much as I would love to help the animals, that cart may be in more danger.
His mind made up, he headed over to help pull the wagon out of the way.
Rahella rode as well as she could but it was obvious she was not used to riding animals like this. Still she managed to handle Clyde well enough, the bribery of treats served her well, and the trip turned out to be manageable. She did what she could to help with camp each night but it largely to helping with cleaning things using elbow grease or a simple cantrip.
When they were nearing their first destination and it burst into flames Rahella felt her eyes go wide in shock. As they reached the caravan Rahella followed Sarona's lead and cut her saddlebags so they wouldn't leave if Clyde fled on her before sliding off of Clyde and moving to help as she could after grabbing the pack with her spellbook in it. There weren't many options for her so Rahella quickly grabbed a bucket and began to help put out the fires.
Vulpina feels the heat on her skin and is so very thankful that she is not barefoot on the fire-adjacent sand... though she worries about her gunpowder going off.
She flings the contents of her bucket from a greater distance than the rest, to account for it.
When she turns around, her expression moves through shock, humor, and encouragement as Lupe stomps past her carrying the heavy barrel; she tosses her bucket to the side and helps him stabilize it, but he starts tipping it before she even has a chance to ask.
”Well done, Mister Lupe!” she cheers.
With a big grin, "Thank you." then Lupe quickly remember the seriousness of the situation at hand and focuses.
Lupe pauses for a bit, weighing the merits of using his create water spell to douse the fire a bit at a time vs. just smashing the whole barrel over the wagon. While he is pausing in thought, Rahella and Lady Vulpina rush over to join the fire line and each grabs a bucket of water and rushes toward the conflagration. But they each only get the chance to hurl one bucket each as since the water runs out as Lupe comes staggering by with the whole dang barrel. The men in the line look on with astonishment and a bit of concern as their entire water supply is used to douse the fire. They shake their heads, but whether in admiration or consternation has yet to be seen.
Sarsona heads over to the medic and tries to help the unconscious Kallien, who's head is bent at an odd angle. When she tries to straighten it, as seems the obvious thing to do, the swordswoman makes a sharp painful bark, opens her eyes for a moment, and lapses back into a deepter unconsciousness. Deciding that was a *Bad Idea* she decides to deal with some of the less complicated wounds, such as the ones causing her to bleed out. A sensible decision her fennec helps her to come too. Indeed, the bandages do the trick and it seems like she will live to fight another day, provided nobody tries to yank her head around for a while.
Katsumi joins the crew trying to keep another wagon from catching fire but makes no headway in his doomed attempt. But it soon proves to no longer be a problem as the other wagon is deluged and the fire is brought under control.
There is still the burning tree throwing sparks and smoke and the animals dashing about, but the calamnity changes abruptly to a more organized chaos with the extinguising of the fire.
"Don't worry I can make you as much water as you need. It will be ok. If everyone could be so kind as to grab a camel that would be very good."
Lupe whistles at one of the camels then walks over calmly and scratches its leg.
"Good, girl."
He takes her by the reigns and ties her off to a cart.
Not being trained in the ways of manipulating animals like Lupe was, Katsumi opted to gather up their own, non-panicking camels so he could be sure they wouldn't run away.
Lupe seems to be having problems with the panicked animals and they are still causing problems. Katsumi, now unable to perform the one task he feels up to, and knowing that he would have no chance at calming the animals down, decides to deal with their own animals.
Vulpina heaves a sigh as the creatures make a ruckus. She isn't particularly trained at animal husbandry... but it can't be that much different from communicating with humans, right?
She steps out into the sands, carefully trying to corral them back in the right direction, keeping her hands up (hoping it will prevent her from being stampeded) and cooing softly where appropriate, and "whoa"-ing where necessary.
She's pretty sure she's seen someone else do it this way...
"I'm not so good with camels. Maybe we can toss some food out to help us?"
Lupe take a moment to Gage the situation. First is eye goes to the fire. Think of the barrel vs the spell.
Then he looks to the wound man. That may not be too hard.
He looks at Casper and the cart. Casper looks like the only person strong than Lupe. It may be best to let him do it.
With rope maybe more people could help.
Wolf will scare the animals bad choice.
During the journey to the Sultan's Claw, Casper has continued to skillfully play the role of the son of privilege, uneasy with the more physical mundane tasks assigned to him by the Lady Almah's Major Domo Garavel. Of course, this is a practiced ruse on his part. Indeed, the upbringing of the youth of Clan Cantour is far from luxurious, despite the outward manifestations of wealth which their family makes sure to display to the eyes of the wider population of Druma. During his coming of age ceremony, like his other siblings and relatives, the ginger was left in the wilds to find his way home. If he had failed, he would not have been retrieved, or even mourned.
Nevertheless, he does not wish to immediately reveal such things to his companions or erstwhile employer. Better by far for them to think that he is a simpering urban weakling.
Taking the current chaos into view, Casper exchanges a meaningful glance with the halfling warrior named Lupe.
"Come, my limbs are strong from an education in a gynasium of my homeland, let us move these carts together warrior."
"We carts not in danger with the fire out. We do need to range these beasts." Lupe says while being dragged around by a camel.
After securing their own animals safely, Katsumi started to look around for a bucket and another water source to help put out the still burning tree in the hopes that that would help calm the animals.
The fire is dealt with quickly and both of the wagons are safe. Some of you turn your hands toward trying to help collect the animals, but only contribute to the general chaos. The 6 mercenaries are not much help either. They seem like a disreputable lot, with greasy hair and soiled army. In the end it looks like you will not be enjoying much chicken for a while, though the camelopards in the region might.
During the search, one of the men, Hadrod, keeps asking you, and everyone else, if you have seen his buck, Burly.
"No, no. Not Burly. He's the only one I got and it's nearing time to freshen."
He is obviously quite distraught and unhappy with everyone, even his wife, who tries to reassure him. Though, if you have ever experienced the smell of a rutting goat, you can count your blessings. The two seem to be in charge of the animals.
Once everything settles down, an older human cleric sets to tending wounds. Almah gives the wagon a glance and frowns.
"That does not look like it was an accident. The old astrologer was not the type to be careless. Comes with the profession, I guess. Garavel, find out what you can." With that terse and incompassionate command she dismisses Garavel and returns to her tent. When she does so the four soldiers that always seem to be near her take up posts outside her tent. She seems a bit aloof, which combined with her grace and beauty has probably frustrated a lot of men.
Garavel approaches your group and says, "Well, they say s&!& flows downhill and you lucky fellows seem to be standing downhill of me. Since you are the only ones that weren't here when the fire started I think we can safely assume that none of you were involved. I have too much to do to conduct an investigation and I'm hoping you will be able to untangle this mess. Why don't you start with the wagon and start asking questions. You're new and nobody will think twice if some of those questions are a bit pointed." Garavel hurries off and starts ordering the mercenaries around having them repair the broken coral, clean soot off of the tents, and restart the campfire which, ironically, was toppled by one of the goats and need rescuing.
DC 20:
"I think you need more fibre, eat vegetables." Lupe starts to whisper, "That will help your number 2 issues.:
Then he is off to investigate.
'Big guy, give me some help finding out what happened here.' Guidance.
Alertness Guidance
Katsumi briefly considered mentioning the card that had hit him right as they arrived, but quickly dismissed the idea. It was a mere coincidence and mentioning it would only make him seem superstitious. He approached the charred remains of the wagon, trying to find any obvious clues about it. He frowned at the skeletal remains, pointing them out to the group.
"Do bodies normally burn so quickly? I would not have expected to see just a skeleton as opposed to a charred corpse like this. Perhaps the fire was especially hot? Or perhaps this body has been planted to make us believe it is the astrologer mentioned?"
The candles, if lit, could have been a source of ignition for the fire. And perhaps the vials had held some alcohol or another accelerant? Surely something must have caused the fire to spread quickly or it would have been dealt with well before it had gotten as bad as it had. After all, it wasn't night time, so it wasn't like most of the people were sleeping.
He moved to take a closer look at the vials, in an attempt to see if he could in any way discern what they once held. He looked for scraps of paper labels that somehow escaped the flames. He examined the glass fragments for captured liquid that hadn't spilled or burned. He sniffed around them for the telltale tang of alcohol.
[ooc]I probably identify nothing. Alas.[/dice]
Vulpina follows Katsumi, though she keeps a few steps' distance from him.
"I am no expert," she admits, "but I would suppose it would depend on the heat of the flame. It is certainly not something I am willing to discount, at any rate."
"I almost wonder if the fortune-teller was in a trance when the fire raged, and that is why they did not escape the blaze..."
Alertness Seek
Wolf helps by identifying to ruling out anything that would be out of place, detecting any odd scents.
"Wolf does not smell any intruders. I don't see signs of killing before the fire. So, fire was the weapon."
With the immediate threat dealt with Rahella staggered back when the man asked her about his bick Burly. She had no clue what he was talking about. "Burly," she asked, "who is Burly?"
When they were all gathered by Garavel Rahella listened to what he asked of them. It made logical sense to her and she nodded in agreement. "Of course Garavel," she said.
Heading towards the shattered cart made the most sense so Rahella went to examine it with the others. She began to look it over carefully as the others spoke trying to spot things herself as she did.
Unfortunately she couldn't even spot the things they had so she shrugged and said, "I'm glad you can see what I can't about the wagon. As far as bodies burning," she considered, "Yes, I think it would have to be a very hot fire or a very dry and old body to burn that quickly." Rahella cast a spell and then began to examine the wagon under augmented vision to search for magical auras.
Sarona takes a look at the wagon's burnt wreckage--and notices something odd.
"...there does not appear to have been a struggle in this wagon. The fortune-teller was likely burned to death or suffocated by the smoke."
[dice=Perception *Familiar*]1d20+4+2
Sarona takes a look at the wagon's burnt wreckage--and notices something odd.
"...there does not appear to have been a struggle in this wagon. The fortune-teller was likely burned to death or suffocated by the smoke."
Casper overhears the other redhead's investigations.
"So she was trapped in the wagon?"