Shemar will bring the color over to the others near the wagon, unable to make heads or tails of it himself.
We might need to take time to track down our missing pony is they can't bring her back. . It's a wonder anyone makes this trip, isn't it?"
With Dapple well in hand, except for his still crazed eyes and hard breathing, Elry moved back to the wagon to grab a crab apple with which to please the pony with, when she spied the dog collar in Shemar's hand. She studied it and pondered the emblem/heraldry.
"I can't recollect such an emblem. Sorry, Shemar. One of the others might."
Collecting her dropped shield and sickle from the ground by the wagon, Elry tossed them into the wagon for now and made her way back down to the still wary pony and tried to entice him with the crab apple.
Even with magic folding the fabric of space beneath his feet, Sebastien is unable to keep up with Misty through the woods. Danus's efforts to call out to the pony prove futile. In a moment, she is lost.
Back at camp, Oona notices the emblem on the dog tag, "That's the emblem of Silverpine Watch! These must have been Lord Arpaad's hunting hounds... But they look as though they've been out in the wilds all winter!"
Sébastien stops pursuing the spooked donkey, mule, animal. The exasperated halfling glances up at the setting sun. He glances over at Danus.
Getting on Dusk, my friend. Perhaps, we regroup and attempt to pick up the trail in the morning.
Sébastien shakes his blond head.
I hate to leave her roaming alone in these woods, but something far worse could happen if we keep going.
Danus scans the ground around them, looking for any spoor that might help them track the wayward Misty.
Hunt Prey (Misty): Survival
Tor: Survival (Scent):
”Many questions and few answers,” Valkor observed as he examined the dog tag. ”Nevertheless, this might be a good spot to set camp. We can gather Misty in the morning and decipher the mystery of these hounds with clearer heads. Perhaps even back track the dogs trail.”
The forest floor is soft and muddy from the melting snow making Misty's shoed hoofprints easy to spot and follow, and besides, the spooked pony made a mess of the underbrush as she plowed through in her flight from danger. So, although the light is softening in the late evening, it shouldn't be too hard to follow.
"Hmm. Many questions indeed. We might not wish to camp with dead dogs. I even grilled some of them. You never know who might show up for dinner in the night. Let's take the tag, see if our fleet friends come back with the pony, and move down a ways to make camp. Maybe they can find the pony in the morning if need be."
Danus looks over the tracks and tells Sébastien what he has discovered.
"If you want to return to the others that is fine, but I think I can probably find Misty and bring her back before morning. Tor and I should be ok...I hope!"
"Wait, Lord Arpaad was the bloke we were gonna send Cato here to, right?"
Boros asks what seems like the obvious next question. "When's the last time anyone heard from that lordy? Any chance he already died a while back?"
Shemar nods along with Boros' logic. "Or was booted out and went the way of the bandit, though that's less likely."
The bard nods to Danus.
Absolutely not. I go where you go. Lead on.
The City halfling begins following along, peering and following the obvious tracks of the frightened pony.
Danus smiles in relief.
"Thanks Sébastien! I am glad to have you with me! Now let's get moving and see if we can find Misty and bring her home."
Having a relatively clear path, Danus and Sebastien continue their pursuit of Misty. Only after 10 minutes or so trekking through the forest, they come upon a clearing in the woods. An earthen mound sits in the clearing, about 15 feet at its tallest, and about 30 feet in diameter. The mound is overgrown with grasses, small shrubs, and sapling trees. At the northern end there is a notch cut into the mound, and a rough hewn stone door leads within. The door is slightly ajar.
Misty is standing in the clearing, nibbling on the soft green shoots of grass poking up from beneath patches of snow. She lifts her head as you enter the meadow, but calmly goes back to the comfort of grazing, her lead rope trailing behind her.
Meanwhile, back at camp, an upset Oona responds, "Well we can't go anywhere without your friends, and unless one of you wants to hitch yourself alongside Dapple, this cart isn't going anywhere until we get Misty back."
In response to Boros she replies, "There's never much traffic along this road during the winter months, so I'd assume no one's passed through Silverpine Watch since the Fall. Anyways, we should reach Silverpine Watch tomorrow, unless we suffer any further setbacks." She looks off into the woods, worried about her pony.
"Good point. So, we'll stay here until they get back. Wait, the fall of Silverpine?"
Oona clears her throat, "You know, Fall, Autumn, uh, the season between Summer and Winter, ehem."
Boros shakes his head at the unfortunate choice of words. "Gots a bad feelin' 'bout this," he says, looking at the dead dogs. "When we get ta Silverpine Watch, best if some of us scout ahead, make sure that place is still friendly."
Boros starts dragging the dog corpses out of the way. "Don't want Misty ta get spooked by dead dogs," he says. "Wanna just camp here again? Might be a while 'fore they find Misty."
The monk helped Boros move the dogs and agreed with the halfling, ”It makes sense to scout the place beforehand.”
"Good thoughts all around. Erm, I'll keep watch then.". He says, watching them move the dead animals.
[Ooc] Splitting the party's not such a big deal in pbp, but this is still a first for me. As long as we don't dodge the plot now...[/b]
I wonder if the other two are finding anything interesting.
Society:
As he comes into the clearing, Danus stops and takes the scene in. Seeing the pony peacefully nibbling grass and the weird hill with the door brings the ranger up short.
"Ummm, Sébastien...do you know what a barrow looks like? I think that might be one right in front of us...and the door is open!"
He keeps Tor from entering the clearing for the moment not wanting to spook the pony or have the inquisitive boar enter the open door.
Sebastien tip toes through the tulips closer to the grazing mare. The halfling attempts to move carefully and softly.
Having blue eyed that there is a notch cut into the mound, and a rough hewn stone door leads within and that the door is slightly ajar, the bard whispers uneasily.
Good Misty. Now everything is fine now. Come back with us for apples.
Misty raises her head, looks at Sebastien, and begins walking towards him. Soon she nuzzles his open palm, looking for apples, and he can easily catch hold of the lead rope.
"Well we can't go anywhere without your friends, and unless one of you wants to hitch yourself alongside Dapple, this cart isn't going anywhere until we get Misty back."
Elry followed Oona's worried gaze toward the forest and she wondered what was taking her friends Danus and Sebastien in corralling the runaway Misty. I hope they weren't waylaid by other bandits or wild dogs.
Remembering Cato had tossed himself over the edge of the wagon to find cover beneath it, she went to check on him and his current condition. The bandit had his hands tied and was nursing an injury. Once she was sure Cato was alright and still tied up, Elry joined the others in the conversation surrounding Lord Arpaad, "The dogs were hungry and feral. That doesn't bode well for their master Lord Arpaad. I can't believe he would allow his animals to decline this way if everything was alright with the Silverpine Watch. I think scouting ahead once we drew near there is a sound idea, Boros." Elry was happy when Boros and Valkor moved the dead dogs away from their party as she wouldn't have liked to make camp in a place with decaying animals. When the two men returned, she said, "Thank you for handling the dead creatures."
Cato looks up from beneath the wagon, "Is it safe to come out?" With Elry's assistance, he worms his way out and sits idly on a log while everyone goes about making camp for the night.
Elry was happy when Boros and Valkor moved the dead dogs away from their party as she wouldn't have liked to make camp in a place with decaying animals. When the two men returned, she said, "Thank you for handling the dead creatures."
”You’re welcome lass.” He looks in the direction that Misty fled and reassured himself, ”Hmm…. they should be back soon.”
Sébastien grabs Misty by the reins, leading her away from the mound. The bard also grabs his friends belt leading Danus back to the others.
Let's regroup and be better prepared and with the others first.
"Yeah..umm..your probably right. Let's get back to the others and tell them what we found. Then maybe we can come back and explore?"
It is a task, but somehow the young man sounds both excited and horrified at the thought of examining the barrow.
They trace their trail back through the trees to where the others are waiting.
After about half an hour waiting, keeping themselves busy with the tasks of camp, wondering what became of their companions and the wayward pony, Sebastien and Danus emerge from the woods, Misty in tow. Oona squeals gleefully and claps her hands "You found her! Oh thank the Gods she is safe and sound!"
Boros seems to be enjoying the fire he's trying to build as part of their camp.
"Nice work boys, was gettin' worried we'd have ta drag this cart by ourselves!"
Sébastien tethers Misty near Dapple once they return to the others. The bard checks on Oona before gathering the others.
We found some hidden mound that looked like a Warren of some kind where we found her. May be something to explore before we continue on in the morning.
"We might need to mark it on a the map, along with the bandit's hideout, and return after delivering Oona. We will be limping in as is. At least we have plenty of interesting things to do after this job."
The idea of a burial mound does interest Shemar very much.
"What, it's just 15 minutes away, right? May as well take a look when it's light out." Boros peeks over at Oona to see if she seems to mind, showing a little bit of concern for a fellow halfling.
Oona replies "If you want to check it out at daybreak, that's fine, as long as you're quick about it. The dogs are a sign that something is amiss at Silverpine Watch, and I'd like to get there as soon as possible."
”While I frown upon grave robbers or anything unnatural that may have opened that tomb I think it best we deliver Mistress Oona and her goods first. As we were contracted to do,” he points out.
"With the barrows door open I am afraid tomb robbers have already been within...or maybe it is the hiding place of bandits? Maybe we should take a quick look... it's not that far from here..."
Danus looks around at the others to see who might be interested.
"Well, for the safety of the realm and to put those buried within, I suppose we should see what there is to see. Cato, have you and your friends stumbled upon this place?"
Wait, is that Boros rubbing off on me?
Sébastien smiles. The excited bard prepares to lead the way back to the mysterious burrow, warren, hole in a mound.
A bit of a mystery to excite the blood!
Cato shakes his head as he chews on a piece of stale bread, "Nope, we wouldn't travel this close to the watch. Too risky to get caught by one of their patrols."
Valkor shrugged in resignation.
Boros grins in anticipation for the morning!
Morning it is!
Once everyone has regrouped, they settle in for another night of camping. The night is clear and cold, although the surrounding forest helps to break the wind. With ample cover from the trees, it feels safe to let the campfire roar without fear of drawing attention. At the very least, it should help keep predating animals away. Through the trees, the night sky is plainly visible. Laoruta is half-full, glowing red amid her veil . The occasional, yet common, shooting star is spotted by those prone to stargazing.
The night passes quietly, save for the occasional howling of wolves on the hunt. Sleep comes uneasy to those eagerly anticipating exploring the mysterious barrow.
In the morning, after everyone has warmed their bones by the rekindled fire, Danus leads the way through the woods back to the barrow meadow. Just as it appeared the day before, the barrow mound sits in a clearing in the woods, about 15 feet at its highest, around 30 feet in diameter. A stone door sits ajar within a notch set on the northern end, providing an entrance into the barrow. The surrounding clearing is full of wild grasses, small shrubs and sapling trees, with patches of snow still left on the ground. Here and there, hints of green shoots announce the arrival of spring.
Boros is grateful that a bit of walking warms up his bones. Approaching the barrow, Boros draws his weapons, just in case. He checks out the area for tracks or signs that something has gone in or out of the barrow mound recently.
Waking up the next morning, Shemar is beginning to miss some of civilization's luxuries. Namely a bath. He is beginning to feel a little crusty, sleeping out in the open ground with no way to refresh.
I knew I should have learned prestidigitation! Did I think that I would always be somewhere to have all of my needs met in a mundane manner? Flinging fire, electricity, and ice doesn't make this any more enjoyable.
As they approach the barrow, Shemar casts light on his left boot.
"Alright, let's see what there is to see."
Sébastien wakes and readies to explore the mysterious mound. The bard seems excited.
At the mound, the halfling looks about at the partially opened door before entering.
Danus is awake early and packs waiting for the others to rise and gather their things. Like his friend Sébastien, Danus is excited by the prospect of actually entering his first 'dungeon'.