Insight's Histhaven - IC

[Insight]

As he walks, Aleksey tries to fall back in the good humor of travel, recalling the amusement had with the Calendsr Troupe, and pusnhing away the fears - paranoia? - that these people are leading him into a trap.

A trap?

Quickly, suddenly, and with haphazardness, Aleksey begins checking his pockets, pouches, belt, and pack, taking an inventory of his gear against his memory.

"Everyone has what they should, right? No missing items? No added surprises?"

OOC: No one finds anything unusual in their pockets, pouches, or packs; you have whatever is on your character sheets.

 

[Insight]

OOC: At this point, we are still waiting on Goken100 to submit Erasmus to the RG thread. For now, Erasmus is with the rest of you, but seems sluggish or out of it for whatever reason. He will not be able to take part in the game until the character is posted.

 

[Insight]

IN THE DEAD FIELD

Seems we just pick a direction. After lowering the halfling to the ground, Markal stands, looks around, and points. Thataway, he says, and then begins to walk.

Carric
"This direction is as good as any." Carric says and follows behind.

The gathered march in the designated direction, heading towards the edge of the treeline.

"Tenebre, up here girl," he says, before the black cat skips up his arm to perch on his shoulder, partially curled around his neck.

"Carric, do you know... Does the Raven Queen have a history of appropriating folk for her own ends, or is she merely using tools that conveniently landed in her lap?"

Gods, Aleksey smiles wryly at the curse. Gods forbid they ever ask permission first...

The travelers cross a section of field that looks like it was once farmland. The rows of dirt are barely visible through the years of erosion and whatever other calamities may have befallen this land. Broken tools... and weapons... and pieces of armor... are visible just beneath a layer of gray dirt. A battle took place here.

[sblock=Aleksey]As Tenebre climbs and stops at Aleksey's shoulder...

"A lone rider... follow the arrow."[/sblock]

 

[Cor Azer]

Aleksey

OOC: Bah! Edits don't trigger the "subscribed to thread email"

"Arrow?" The vistani says aloud, puzzled, looking at his cat.

"Carric, when next you commune with your Lady, can you ask her to use complete sentences?" Aleksey sighs, recalling his mentor's lessons in obfuscating fortunes and noting the hypocripsy in his request. "I think... I think your Raven Queen is talking to me through Tenebre... She speaks of a lone rider, and of following an arrow..."

He begins to sift through the nearby debris of a battle with the toe of his boot, looking for any particularly noteworthy arrows strewn about. "Anyone see any arrows that seem deliberately placed?"

OOC: If any can be found, note the direction they are pointing, and then Aleksey will perform an Object Reading rutual for more info. Don't have my book handy, but I believe it takes an Arcana check so...

 

[Insight]

After a few minutes, Aleksey (and anyone else who wishes to help out) find a LONE arrow, slightly bent, but not broken, in the gray dirt around where the broken weapons, armor, and tools were found. The arrowhead points at about a 45-degree angle from where the group was heading, still into the trees.

OOC: Object Reading takes an hour to complete, FWIW.

[sblock=Object Reading]Good use of a ritual, BTW!

According to the ritual description, Aleksey sees two images:

1. (Newest) Flying from a longbow across the open field (much greener then) towards a raggedy torso, possibly armored, wielding a sword.

2. (Next Newest) A young man, with short, black hair, wearing some sort of noble-looking tabard, inserts the arrow into a black leather quiver. On the quiver is a heraldric symbol that Aleksey does not recognize. Aleksey can either draw this symbol or try to remember it for future reference.
[/sblock]

 

[Cor Azer]

Aleksey

The vistani relates the images from the object reading to his companions, regretting his lack of storytelling ability to convey the full vividness of the scenes. Using a stick, or some equivalent, he tries to sketch out the symbol in nearby dirt, asking if it was familiar to anyone else.

 

[Insight]

The vistani relates the images from the object reading to his companions, regretting his lack of storytelling ability to convey the full vividness of the scenes. Using a stick, or some equivalent, he tries to sketch out the symbol in nearby dirt, asking if it was familiar to anyone else.

No one else recognizes said heraldry.

 

[Shayuri]

Penny scuffs around the debris of battle while the mage chants and does his magic to the arrow. It doesn't take her long to decide it's all useless...scraps from a battle long won or lost, but for the ones who'd left these almost certainly lost.

She'd absolutely no kind of luck at all, she decided. Whoever said halflings...and who'd come up with that godsawful name for a people?...were lucky was as crazy as two bobcats in a wet sock. First she'd turned to the powers of death for revenge...more bad judgment than bad luck, but good luck might have saved her before it was too late. Then she'd found a path out of the shadows, a path illumined by Sehanine's light...but the Silver Lady had pawned her off to a darker goddess by far long before she'd been redeemed.

Just her luck.

And now she was stuck with this bunch. Not exactly outstanding in this field.

Not that I'm doing much to help.

She kicked that idea around a bit, then decided to go have a look in the direction the arrow had been pointing.

"I'm gonna go scout ahead a bit while he's doing his thing," Penny reported. "Come running if you hear me screaming or something."

 

[Insight]

Penny scuffs around the debris of battle while the mage chants and does his magic to the arrow. It doesn't take her long to decide it's all useless...scraps from a battle long won or lost, but for the ones who'd left these almost certainly lost.

She'd absolutely no kind of luck at all, she decided. Whoever said halflings...and who'd come up with that godsawful name for a people?...were lucky was as crazy as two bobcats in a wet sock. First she'd turned to the powers of death for revenge...more bad judgment than bad luck, but good luck might have saved her before it was too late. Then she'd found a path out of the shadows, a path illumined by Sehanine's light...but the Silver Lady had pawned her off to a darker goddess by far long before she'd been redeemed.

Just her luck.

And now she was stuck with this bunch. Not exactly outstanding in this field.

Not that I'm doing much to help.

She kicked that idea around a bit, then decided to go have a look in the direction the arrow had been pointing.

"I'm gonna go scout ahead a bit while he's doing his thing," Penny reported. "Come running if you hear me screaming or something."

[sblock=Penny]Penny walks several paces in the direction that the arrow points and enters the forebidding woods. She finds the trees almost closing in on her. Their wooden, though humanoid-looking "faces" seem to mock her or show her disdain, or, at the very least, are quite disapproving. After what seems like an eternity (probably five minutes), Penny comes upon a stump. This tree appears to have been cut down with some significant force - this is not something a saw or axe would do.

Just as Penny starts to examine the stump, she hears hooves pounding on packed dirt. The rider or riders are close, but Penny cannot tell in which direction they travel. Not without heading further into these forbidding woods...[/sblock]

 

[tiornys]

Markal takes his ease

While Aleksey communes with arcane forces, Markal watches Penny's explorations for a few moments before settling himself on the ground, leaning back with his pack as a headrest. He dozes lightly, humming a recently heard ballad under his breath until Penny mentions wandering off and screaming for help if she needs it. Opening an eye, he watches as she moves toward the trees, then sighs and clambers to his feet, securing his pack and readying his equipment. If we're in this together, he mumbles as if needing to explain himself, best be ready for trouble when someone goes looking for it.