Kelda has a thoughtful expression on her face, "Aye, that might make gettin' it out a bit easier. I think we ought ta look around a bit first, and make sure none o' the little buggers are hangin' round anywhere, just waitin' for someone else to git the loot free."
Looking over at her love and Tori she takes her hammer from its place on her back and says, "I'm gonna have a bit of a look around the bushes over there." Nodding towards the brush on the sides of the slopes, "Anything could be hiding in there, I think we ought to be cautious. My ma always used ta tell me that it was always better ta be safe than sorry. Right?"
As she waits to see what they think, Kelda takes a cursory visual if the surrounding area.
As Evert retrieves the rope, Lysithia also looks around the area.
"Once we tie the rope to it, I can make Kel and myself bigger, to have a better chance of pulling it up."
Astoria nods and moves closer to their objective. "I'll take a closer look at the wagon here and make sure there aren't any surprises."
Evert, likewise, looks around for anything of note.
There is no sign of ambush as you head to the wagon. Lysithia and Evert notice that the wagon had rolled some distance to end up in its current position, but the halfling notes there are no other tracks in the area.
"The wagon must have been cut free at some point," Evert surmises. "And rolled down here."
Kelda nods, "So, should we pull it free and get it back to Duncan before trying to figure out what happened to the folks that were bringing it, or should we try to find them first?" She asks, trying to get some other opinions as to what they should do first.
"If we see obvious signs of tracks or something that might lead to them, then we should investigate it, otherwise we can return it then come back." Lysithia suggests.
Astoria nods. "We might as well deal with the wagon first and come back after and have a look around."
Kelda nods, "Aye, Duncan could probably use this stuff sooner rather than later...and we'll be able to concentrate better on tryin' to find the others when we're not pulling a heavy loaded wagon. Alright, let's get this show on the road, I'd like to be back out here to have time to look around before it gets dark." Kelda says, agreeing with Tori as she secures her hammer to her back.
Evert ties his rope to the wagon and hands it to Kelda after clambering back up the slope.
Kelda takes the rope and gives Lysithia a nod, "Ready whenever you are love."
With a quick nod, Lysithia utters a brief incantation in druidic, resting a hand on her love's shoulder and channeling the primal power of growth into her. Once the spell takes effect, she grabs the rope, calling upon her own innate connection with the energy of pure growth and expansion.
Lysithia and Kelda haul up the cart with ease. Other than some slight jostling, the contents appear undisturbed.
"Okay, let's get this back to Duncan, and we can come back and check out the surrounding area if needed." Lysithia says as the magic subsides.
You return to town with the cast in tow. After stopping it in front of the inn, Duncan emerges and hands you each ten gold pieces in thanks. He then busies himself unloading the cart while you head back out to see what happened to the cart's crew.
Evert starts over by where the cart went down the slope and looks for any tracks.
Evert finds the likely spot where the crew was ambushed, but there are so many prints that he cannot discern what happened or where they may have gone.
Kelda attempts to assist with search.
Lysithia joins the others in looking for signs of what occurs, or where those responsible for hijacking the cart might have headed.
Lysithia finds tracks that lead off toward an overgrown field to the east.
Kelda looks at the ground and huffs out a breath, 'How are we supposed to find anything in all this dirt?"
"I found tracks! Whoever was responsible for attacking the cart, it looks like they went that way." Lysithia says pointing out the tracks.
Evert takes a look at Lysithia's findings and sees if he can follow them.
Evert picks up the trail once more and leads the group through the field. A short moment later, the group finds the beast of burden that was pulling the cart, a mule, dead in the overgrowth of the field.
Kelda looks sadly at the dead mule and shakes her head before inspecting the poor creature and the area around it for more clues as to which direction they should go.
Astoria walks over to the beast and gives it a once over. "How to you think it died?" She questions.
Lysithia studies the carcass, looking for signs of how the donkey deai, and what predators, if any, might have been responsible.
Astoria sees little signs of blood around the mule's body. Lysithia determines that the animal was stabbed with a blade, but more elegantly than any goblin could have done. Whatever the poor mule went through, it did not suffer long.
All Kelda sees is some wild summer flowers, and goes to get a closer look and breath in their sweet summer scent as she waits to see what the others discover.
Not hearing anything or seeing anything other than the wild flowers, Kelda looks back over at where Lysi and Tori inspect the poor mule and surrounding area, "Did any of ye find anything?"
"Whoever killed the mule did it with a blade, and it was done with some skill, far more than any goblin I've ever heard of."
Kelda sighs as she picks a large handful of the flowers, and walks back over to the mule. Placing the flowers on the deceased mule, "Ach ye poor creature. Ye did nuthin' to deserve this fate. Rest well now, ye are troubled by this life no longer."
It's rather obvious how upset Kelda is about the purposeful destruction of the innocent animal that was only doing it's job.
Stepping away from the carcass after offering up a silent prayer, Kelda looks back at the others with damp eyes.
"Shall we just keep going this way then? I really want to find those that were with the cart....before something happens to them too." There is sadness, but also anger in her voice. The ones responsible for this could not go unpunished. God's help them if they did something to the innocent people traveling with the cart, because she would have no mercy for those that treat life so carelessly.
Kelda takes a few breaths to calm herself down. She couldn't help anyone if she lost control of her emotions.
Evert scans the area to see where to head next.
The halfling spots a dilapidated barn a short distance ahead.
Evert points out the barn. "That's the likeliest place they'd be."
Kelda nods, "Alright, let's head that way." Kelda begins to head toward the run down looking barn.
Agreeing with the assessment, Lysithia follows as Kelsa leads the way towRds the barn, nothing it's state of disrepair.
Astoria looks away from the felled mule, glancing toward the barn. "We should tread carefully. They might have lookouts or possibly traps." The mage warns.
Evert nods in agreement with Astoria. "Once we get there, I can take a look, quiet-like, and see what's going on."
Kelda pauses as she hears Tori's warning, "You're right. My armor isn't made to be quiet, so I'll hang back a little as to not give us away too soon." She says while letting the others pass her. Klda brings up the rear in an effort not to have them spotted too soon.
With a nod, Lysithia take up a position ahead of Astoria by giving Evert enough room to not affect his stealthy approach.
Evert crouches down and approaches the barn quietly.
Evert peeks around the barn door and sees a group of four hobgoblins, surrounding three bound people. They seem to be rather alert and suspicious.
Evert retreats back to the group and informs them of his discovery. "We might need to draw them away from the prisoners."
Keldsa nods, "I wonder if there's a way we can draw just one or two of them at a time? I don't think they would completely abandon their prisoners without a guard...but with the way the goblins have been acting so out of character, there's no telling what they might do. I'd rather not risk something happening to the prisoners, but I think taking on all four at once would prove rather risky for us. Maybe if we make noise a little ways away they'll send out a scout or two?" She whispers to the others while trying to work out the best way to come out of this with everyone in tact, "Does anyone else have any ideas?" She asks, unsure of how to exactly implement her idea in a practical manner.