[sblock=OOC]Because of the extended break, I'm going to interject a bit of time into the game as well. We pick up with the heroes about a week's journey from where we left them - in other words, 8 days' travel into the Noonshadow forest. At this point, they are far past the farthest anyone from Cuirlen has gone to and returned from.[/sblock]
The past week has been equal measures agonizing, tedious, thrilling, and tense. Everyone is fully aware that everything you have seen for days has been new. You have seen wondrously beautiful scenes of natural beauty, such as the pristine forest glade with the miniature waterfall spilling into a crystal-clear pool of water, untouched by the ashfall; at the same time, you've seen things that make even the most hardened hunter cautious - trees with massive claw marks fifteen feet off the ground, swaths of underbrush trampled by creatures that must be of immense size, strange and frightening hoots and calls at night.
And yet, nothing significant has happened. Your progress has been slow but steady as you blaze a trail through the forest in a generally northwesterly direction, towards the distant mountains. You've managed to hunt and gather enough food along the way that you havn't needed to eat into the supplies given to you by the Council. The weather has been relatively pleasant, with only one rainstorm, on the fourth day of your journey, which presumably cleared away most of the lingering ashes, as you havn't seen any since then. All told, things have been tiring but almost pleasant.
This day, Artemisia volunteered to be the forward scout for the party, with Thane watching behind the group. Travel is uneventful again for the first half of the day, but when the main group stops for their mid-day rest and meal, neither scout returns to the camp, as is the usual procedure. Even by the end of the hour break, there has been no sign of them.
