[AU] Siege on Ebonring Keep - Part 2

[Mirth]

"If that rain starts to fall we may loose this trail. Let us move hastily along their trail." Ys-Korros says, trying to take in the wonders of the floating forest while keeping his mind on the task at hand. It was truely a wonderous sight to see small islands with trees and even lakes floating up there high above the ground.

Seeing his brother look up, Ys-Baddaden comments, "The green is beautiful beyond measure, is it not, big brother?" Bringing his focus back to the matter at hand, the giant follows quickly behind his kinsman.

 

[Rybaer]

The giant brothers strike out along the trail and the others hasten to keep up. With the weather changing there is a sense of urgency.

The path is easy to follow in some spots. Other places, it has disappeared entirely and the group must search for a while to find where it picks back up. The reason for this becomes apparent once the rain starts. The floating island canopy of the gassar trees causes the rain to collect in small pools high above. By the time the rain water reaches the ground, it is in thousands upon thousands of miniature waterfalls. Where these hit the ground the tracks have been washed clean. Under larger islands, however, the tracks remain in evidence.

The group continues to follow the tracks for a couple hours. The rain is steady, but the nature of the forest protects everyone from the wind and much of the rain. Ys-Baddaden estimates that less than half of the rain ever makes it to the ground. Rather, it is absorbed into the micro-ecologies of the floating islands.

It is around midday when everyone agrees to pause for a brief lunch in a dry spot under one of the larger islands. While munching on dried meats and fruit, Danwyn spots a shadowy figure slip behind a tree trunk a couple hundred feet away. He got only a glimps, but it was clearly humanoid and moving in a manner intended to avoid being seen.

 

[rangerjohn]

Danwyn too wonders at the sight of the floating islands. ~Who would of thought islands in the sky, so this is what grandfather meant, when he said to the world.~

Later, when he spots the movement, he tries to tell the other with his eyes and hands, without alerting the stalker.

 

[Mirth]

Picking up on a facial tick from Danwyn, Ys-Baddaden nudges his brother and raises his eyebrows. He looks back beyond the left shoulder of Danwyn and tries to put together what is going on while casually unslinging his crossbow and lightly holding it in his hand.

 

[Erekose13]

Taking the cue from his little brother, Ys-Korros watches Danwyn for further signs. Wary of attack in such a foreign environment, he too will prepare his longbow.

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Picking up on the wary glances around him Pyior whispers, "It might be Keetor, or Kamkit, whatever his name was. He might have followed us."

Pyior considers a moment then suggests a plan. "I recommend after we start moving again that a couple of you move forward as if you are going to scout ahead, and then either hide and wait in ambush for whomever follows or circle back around. But don't be too quick to strike with deadly force!"

 

[Rybaer]

Picking up on the wary glances around him Pyior whispers, "It might be Keetor, or Kamkit, whatever his name was. He might have followed us."

Pyior considers a moment then suggests a plan. "I recommend after we start moving again that a couple of you move forward as if you are going to scout ahead, and then either hide and wait in ambush for whomever follows or circle back around. But don't be too quick to strike with deadly force!"

"Yes, please don't use deadly force on our account," a voice says from less than thirty feet away in the opposite direction from the figure Danwyn had spotted. Everyone snaps around, startled.

A litorian with a short, damp mane steps out from behind a gassar trunk. He is dressed in the green-dyed leathers of Yaren's scouts. His arms are bare and criss-crossed with the scars of many conflicts. A short bow is slung over his shoulder and a short sword sheathed in his belt.

"Game's up, Chonder," he calls out. "They spotted you. That'll cost you a bottle of Grimsberry when we get back home." Another litorian, dressed in a similar fashion, appears from the brush in the vicinity of where Danwyn had seen movement.

"Runther," he says by way of curt introduction, nodding at the group. "I can only assume that you're one of the groups that Truthspeaker hired to find her lost trinket. If so, I'll at least have to give you credit for finding the rhodin's path. It's not difficult to follow, but it can be tricky to find in the first place."

 

[Erekose13]

"Runther," he says by way of curt introduction, nodding at the group. "I can only assume that you're one of the groups that Truthspeaker hired to find her lost trinket. If so, I'll at least have to give you credit for finding the rhodin's path. It's not difficult to follow, but it can be tricky to find in the first place."

"I am Ys-Korros. Yes we were hired by Iriana Truthspeaker to recover the trinket you speak of. I assume you are the scouting party who were searching for the rhodin who fled. The trail though is not to hard to find if you find the rhodin who were still hiding beneath the keep and their secret exit first. In any case have you found the rhodin who fled the keep?" Ys-Korros says to the scout.

 

[rangerjohn]

Danwyn nods and says "Danwyn" by way of introduction.

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Pyior grins at the litorian, a certain old friend coming to mind, "I'm Pyior Silverleaf, novice magister, student of exotic creatures and um... the rhodin tongue."