Lupe does not understand half of Casper's rationale so he starts trying understand it aloud.
"We were instructed to help the caravan by the person who is paying us, Garavel. We have two leads on that job, Dashki and Pugwampi. Members of our group suggest he be guarded while we leave, which seems fine to me as there are mercenaries here but that means he can't do his job for Almah. As for dealing with the Pugwampi if they started the fire dealing with them protects us from similar attacks and then is part of the job we are here for. Dashki doing his job for Almah has no effect on me doing my job for Garavel. So, to resolve this I suggested Dashki comes with us, we watch him, he does his job, we free up the mercenaries to guard the caravan and we get to do our job. Everybody wins."
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a lot
"You know, I have heard it said that brevity is the soul of wit," quips Vulpina.
"Well, I suppose I could talk to Daski later. Why don't you and your team sort this out between yourselves. I'll tell him to join you if you wish, or if you are unable to find the things on your own."
Almah takes Daski into her tent and has a discussion with him while your group decides on the best way to hunt pugwampis.
"So, do we start the search on our own or take 'that guy' with us and have him help?"
Vulpina sighs. "If he is our expert on all things gnoll, and our primary suspect if we do not find pugwampis… then I would think he has a vested interest in helping us find them. Let us keep him with us."
She twirls her pistol; "He will not make it far if he elects to run."
"Ya, that weapon you have is scary."
"Rest assured, if he decides to run, the odds of him successfully escaping us are slim at best." Sarona finally speaks up again.
"However, I would rather reserve my spells for more pressing threats."
"Lead is cheap," Vulpina says with a wry smile.
"Sounds like we have our decision then." Katsumi was getting the impression he would need to stick close to Dashki, mostly for the poor man's safety. While he hoped it would not be necessary, it was possible he was the best equipped (or at least the most inclined) to deal with the fellow in a non-lethal manner.
You head out into the broken terrain, filled with chaparral and hardy plants of all kinds. It is dark and the shadows shift subtly in the light from the campfire (or torch if you are using one), and you are constantly distracted by the night noises. It may be dry and harsh, but there seems to be plenty of life out there. Noisy life, or so it seems to you while on high alert. Each interruption proves not to be the Pugwampi, but it inevitably turns out to be a mouse or bird or just the wind.
Everyone give me a tracking roll. Provided you have light or darkvision.
DC 15 tracking and you, indeed, find tracks of something small and humanoid.
a lot"You know, I have heard it said that brevity is the soul of wit," quips Vulpina.
Casper snaps,
"And who says I was trying to be witty? Honestly, I feel like I'm the only mind here working to make sure we're not all being taken advantage of by our mysterious employers. I'd be rather gratified if the rest of you thought as much of your own well being as I do."
Sarona looks down as the party moves, her eyes adjusting perfectly to the darkness.
"Tracks." She points to an array of footprints, small and humanoid in origin.
Rahella was not the least bit pleased they were bringing Dashki along with them. She disliked him enough to half consider giving him an "accidental acid bath" but knew that would be wrong unless he gave her a reason to do so. Instead she tried to keep her distance from him as much as she could as they began their pugwhami hunt.
Rahella was a city girl and it showed really badly just then. She was trying to walk around in the dark with no light source of her own, because of course she was not prepared with a spell for that, so she could barely see her own feet on the ground and kept a careful watch where she stepped. She was looking down so hard at the ground right before her that she really couldn't see anything else, particularly not where her companions were, and she had ended up slightly separated from them.
Vulpina can see slightly better than some of her companions, but not well enough to make out details. Mostly, she is simply able to avoid ambling into any of them...
...until Rahella starts walking off, eyes straight down at her feet.
"Miss Rahella!"
She turns her head to the rest. "Has anyone brought a lantern? Unless you think that not wise, Mister Dashki."
She ignores Casper's retort entirely; thus far he has not proven to be worth the camel's work in carrying him. Vulpina is not one for hard labor, of course, but the way he rankles at every attempt to make him useful wears on her.
Lupe heads out of sight and comes back.
"I can see in the dark now."
Lupe and his bud lead the way like a couple of pros while the rest mill about behind him until he points out the tracks and they figure out that he is the only one who knows where to go. Dashki produces a torch he brought from the campsite and lights it when Rahella complains, having a somewhat smug look on his face.
"Plenty of these back at camp if any of you want one of their own. Since some of you don't trust me, for whatever foolish reason, you may want to carry one of your own in case I decide to plunge us into darkness and sic a hoard of screaming demons on you." He rolls his eyes at you as he says this, his smugness amplified by the fact that there is proof of the Pugwampi right before their eyes.
The tracks lead into ever more rugged terrain. Once the other PCs have been pointed out the tracks, they become pretty easy to follow even for the unskilled. Along the way, after travelling a few hundred feet, you each begin sense an almost palpable feeling of wrongness and dread. Lupe notices that the small prints are accompanied by some hoof prints. And from what he can tell, whatever was leaving those prints was not coming along willingly. In fact... you hear the cry of something from the direction of the tracks. Like the plaintive cry of a child or something.
Eventually the tracks lead right into a vicious looking field of cacti and the hoof prints struggles ramp up.
Lucky you, the tracks lead right through it and there does not seem any way around the cacti if you want to follow. Making it through without injury will require some kind of feat of dexterity .
Sarona looks around, puzzled. "What is that noise? And where is it coming from?"
Lupe pops in and out of the darkness as the travels but the torches let him see further with his lowlight vision. Upon hearing Dashki speak Lupe offers a follow up.
"Plenty of these back at camp if any of you want one of their own. Since some of you don't trust me, for whatever foolish reason, you may want to carry one of your own in case I decide to plunge us into darkness and sic a hoard of screaming demons on you."
"Hey, can I offer some advice. I'm not smart like the rest of you and this armour is mostly fake, but I see things and do things."
Lupe looks down at himself, "I look like a little monster, yet people keep me and wolf around. If I had to guess why it's because we are nice and helpful. Imagine how that caravan would have reacted to me if I hand not put out the fire. You and I would be in the same boat. I jump to help because when you look like a little monster people blame you and then you have to prove your good. If you prove your good first it makes it harder for them to blame you. You know what I mean?"
"It's a goat. Maybe one from the caravan." Lupe leaves out that it is in distress.
"We have to go through those."
"A... goat?" Sarona tilts her head at Lupe.
"What is a goat?"
"A goat is like a small fuzzy horned mountain pony, or a mean short haired sheep, or a little deer with horns not anetlers."
Lupe has never had to explain an animal and it kind of at a loss but tries to help.
"Does that help?"
Katsumi followed along with his lit torch. It made them more of a target, but at least he would be competent at following the tracks. He was beginning to see why the others disliked Dashki; clearly he didn't care about making friends. He rolled his eyes behind his mask but didn't try to chastise the squabbling children. They would learn eventually.
Of course, it turns out him being competent wasn't really a prerequisite what with Lupe jumping on top of everything. So instead he just plodded along behind, alternating between carefully watching his step and scanning the darkness for enemies. He frowned when he heard crying, drawing one of his kukris with his unoccupied hand. His instincts told him to rush towards the child, but another part of him urged caution. He if tripped and fell on this uneven terrain, it would do whoever needed his aid no help. As he carefully made his way across the area, he murmured softly "You don't look like a monster, Lupe."
Dashki is a bit shocked by Lupe's kindness.
"Well, uh, ..." It's quite obvious Dashki is at a loss for words. Before he can respond with something sensible Lupe has moved on and pointed out the goat tracks and, almost with relief, he supports Lupe by saying, "Yes, goat tracks. Probably that Burly fellow. He's always the one that gets himself into trouble and he did go missing."
He gives Lupe a considering look that is both hopeful and suspicious at the same time.
"Will pugwampi eat goat? Or do gnolls? If the second then I think we will be fighting a mixed group. Also do you have fighting skills? Can you share them with me."
"I can fight, don't worry. The pests will eat most anything."
When Vulpina called out for her Rahella stopped and looked at her. It took a moment to realize just where she was in comparison to the others and Rahella began making her way that direction as she said, "No, I was too focused watching where I was going." She stayed close to Lady Vulpina from then on as they continued their search.
It wasn't long after that they came upon the goat tracks and Rahella heard Lupe's words to Dashki. She knew he might have a point but but Rahella didn't think she'd ever like the guy. She felt sure he was involved in what had happened, and he certainly had done nothing to smooth things out, but she also kind of hoped that he would be proven innocent and the whole thing an accident. She didn't want to think about one of the hired help being a murderer because if one got in then there could be more.
"I'm going in. OUCH.""
Katsumi decided to walk around the cacti.
Lupe and his wolf bud find the cacti duecedly difficult to navigate. Even at the best of times it would be difficult, but chance seems to be conspiring against them. If there is a sharp object to step on while looking out for cacti, it isn't a cacti when looking out for sharp objects. And when stuck with something it seems that wherever they turn to there are more sharp objects or cacti. Before long they both have lots of fine cacti spines stuck in them and they are bleeding, though lightly.
Lupe, please make a DC 12 perception check, rolling twice.
Rahella saw the cacti and hesitated. The cursed things were densely packed and looked incredibly sharp and she wanted no part of them if it could be avoided. She looked ahead at where Lupe was and said, "If you need us I'll come through otherwise I think I'll stay here to avoid crowding everyone."
Aid is just normal and adds +2. But your roll is adequate. Not sure what aid you were providing the wolf though.
Lupe gets a bit into the cacti forest and see ahead of him a goat (one might assume it is Rombard Burly - or is is Burly Rombard? - tethered by a hairy knotted rope to a scrub brush at the edge of a drop off. The goats bleating are growing increasingly more frantic. He looks in pretty bad shape, like he has been forced unwillingly through the cacti.
The Lady chuckles. "There is hardly a reason to slow down so; observe!"
"Approach cautiously it could be a trap.""
Any other creatures that Wolf can smell in the area.
Sarona looks around at the cacti and pauses, keeping Aaliyah close.
Seeing that everyone had decided seemingly decided to go into the cactus field, and not wanting to be left alone in the dark, Rahella sighed and began to thread her way through as well. She decided quickly that she wasn't taking chances with getting hurt by those wicked looking thorns so she focused and drew on the reservoir of power she contained within. Her eyes flashed blackly as the effect took ahold, coating her body in a thin layer of black and gold that hugged her form. Her protection in place Rahella began to work her way through the cacti towards where the goat was and heaven help the cacti that popped the protective field around her.
Lady Vulpina and Rahella make it up to where Lupe waits for them. The Lady has some close calls but miraculously makes it there unharmed, in spite of her laces snagging on a cacti, one cactus head being knocked into her by Rahella's progress (that was a really close one requiring that she bat it aside with her blade), and her pistol nearly discharging accidentally when it snags on another cactus. Rahella fares a little worse. Part of that cactus she inadvertently batted towards Lady Vulpina is embedded in her hand, the penalty for breaking a fall caused by a loose rock with her hands.
Lupe's bud can now recognize the smell of the gremlin they are tracking and knows that it is somewhere up ahead, but he is not sure where. There is a heavy concentration of it's smell by the goat, though you cannot see it there. Either it is invisible, hiding, or there was a lot of unpleasant contact between it and the goat. And from the goat's panicked bleating, that may very well have been the case.
Rahella was not having an easy time of wading through the cacti and had one of the cacti slam into her hand as Vulpine broke her fall. While she winced back the barrier around her held, though it grew dimmer, and saved her from any lasting harm though it did weaken. Despite this she continued to make her way through the cacti towards the goat, cursing as she knew her clothing was being torn by the cactus needles even of her flesh wasn't yet.
Lupe waits for the rest of the group to catch up before proceeding.
"Wolf is uneasy there is something here."
Lupe
Wolf
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Lupe
Wolf
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Lupe
Wolf
Lupe, Rahella, and the goat make it through having collided with just about every cacti they can (total 3 damage each, it was a DC 15 acrobatics check and though there were some good rolls in there they were always paired with somethign under 15 :( )
Lupe
Wolf
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Lupe
Wolf
Lupe looks back through the cactus field using detect magic. Thinking that this all seems harder than it should be.
Katsumi turned to address Sarona. "Do you believe we should go in there after them? I cannot help but think there was a better way to approach this. Perhaps by trying to wait out the creature or creatures; I did not see any tracks exiting the cactus fields."
As she made her way to Lupe Rahella seemed to run into all of the most inconveniently placed cacti she possibly could and each time the barrier around her dimmed just a little. Just before it would have burst she made it to where Lupe was. "Have you figured out what is happening here yet Lupe? Are these Pugwhampis here still?"
"Wolf smells them maybe more than one. Mr. Dashki maybe you could tell us what you know abou these creatures."
Dashki is a bit shocked by Lupe's kindness.
"Well, uh, ..." It's quite obvious Dashki is at a loss for words. Before he can respond with something sensible Lupe has moved on and pointed out the goat tracks and, almost with relief, he supports Lupe by saying, "Yes, goat tracks. Probably that Burly fellow. He's always the one that gets himself into trouble and he did go missing."
He gives Lupe a considering look that is both hopeful and suspicious at the same time.
"Clearly, this is going to be a very difficult journey if we just try to push through this gods accursed bramble. Why don't we try to find an alternative route, burn it down, or devise some kind of protective measures for our persons before we just try to push through?"
Sarona shakes her head at Katsumi. "If they require aid, they will call for it. If there is a better way to traverse these cacti, I do not believe that I know of it."
"...aside from simply burning it, that is."