Into the New World, Chapter 1: Amongst the Verdant Towers

[Dire Lemming]

"That's a good point." Enko looks around the area again. "Hm, they might not have returned because they're too injured to move, I better go with you Ryon. If you two stay here you can take care of either of them if they make it back, they shouldn't be that bad off if they made it back by themselves." Enko starts following Ryon after Artimisia's trail.

 

[Zurai]

Enko and Ryon head out of camp in the direction they believe Artemisia to be in, leaving the other three women alone in camp.
[sblock=Erin, Alistia, Cleyra]The two menfolk quickly disappear into the thick undergrowth and densely-packed trees, leaving the three of you to wait for the return of Thane or Artemisia. Your small fire crackles quietly and, off in the distance, you hear the call of some sort of bird. Time stretches out...[/sblock][sblock=Ryon, Enko]Within a few minutes of leaving camp, Ryon notices a thorny bush that has been hacked up to clear a path, with a bit of cloth stuck to one of the thorns that matches Artemisia's cloak. The pair of you follow her trail for the better part of an hour until her tracks simply stop. [sblock=Ryon]You note that just a few feet before her footsteps stop, the branches of two trees flanking her trail cross overhead, almost like they were an archway. Artemisia's (presumably Artemisia's, anyhow) final visible footstep has a deep indentation at the toe, as you would expect from a person that was walking normally.[/sblock] Try as you might, you are unable to pick up any sign of her past this point.[/sblock]

 

[Dire Lemming]

[sblock=Ryon and Enko]"Ryon... The trail. Where is it?" Enko starts becoming agitated as he casts about for some sign of Artimisia.[/sblock]

 

[WarShrike]

[SBLOCK=Enko and Ryon]
"It's gone. It's just gone. The tracks, to my way of seeing, seem normal, as one would walk in a normal fashion. As far as i can tell there was no struggle. I noticed something odd though. The boughs above us, and above the vanishing tracks coincedently, form an arch of sorts, as though it were an entrance to a hut or whatnot. I'm at a loss here. Can the spirits tell you nought?" says Ryon with a grimace, backing away from the "arch".
[/SBLOCK]

 

[Dire Lemming]

[sblock=Ryon and Enko]Enko shakes his head, "It doesn't really work that way. I need to perform that ceremony to contact the spirits." He stares upwards at the tree branches, strangely forming an arch and goes back a few paces, placing his feet in Artimisia's tracks. "It's like she just... walked through a doorway, and then it vanished." He starts walking, placing each step in one of Artimisia's until he steps under the arch of branches[/sblock]

 

[Shayuri]

Erin finds waiting is not something she's well suited to, and starts wondering why she didn't elect to go. She busies herself for awhile exploring the immediate area. Then she manages to find some interest in laboriously climbing a tree (taking 20 basically ) and getting a look around, while Quoth snickers about her flightless fumbling. For a little while she fights an imaginary foe with her walking stick, until she's quite sure she could probably take on even a merchant's guardsman with her savage skills.

Then she's reduced to sitting glumly and throwing burrs at Quoth, who dodges them gamely, cawing and hopping about.

 

[Zurai]

[sblock=Enko]You carefully place your feet in Artemisia's footprints and follow her trail through the arched pathway. When you reach the end of her trail, you turn and look at Ryon to see if anything has changed - but Ryon isn't there. The terrain looks identical, and you can see Artemisia's footprints stretching out behind you just like they were. Turning again, you see her footprints continue past the point where they had stopped before.[/sblock][sblock=Ryon]Enko carefully places his feet in Artemisia's footprints and follows her trail through the arched pathway. When he reaches the end and leans forward to begin his next step, the air around him shimmers and he vanishes, mid-step.[/sblock][sblock=Erin]About two hours pass as you desperately try to keep yourself occupied. Alistia and Cleyra aren't much company - Cleyra decided that there needed to be a sentry, so she took off and began to walk a perimeter patrol of the campsite, and while Alistia tries to engage you in conversation, it seems to come out awkward and forced.
Eventually, just as you feel like you're about to go crazy from waiting (and afraid Quoth might be getting just a little irritated at being used as target practice...) you hear the sound of something fairly large crashing through the undergrowth vaguely to the west of the camp.[/sblock]

 

[Dire Lemming]

[sblock=Enko] Enko stares at the spot where Ryon used to be. It's clear that something happened when he stepped under the arch, which is what he had hoped might be the case. Looking at Artimisia's trail, he begins to follow it, but soon realizes that it it would probably be unwise to wonder off alone at this point if he has a choice and so stops and turns to watch the archway, hoping to see Ryon appear through it shortly. If he does not appear after five minutes or so however Enko decides that his best chance is to follow Artimisia's trail as best he can in hopes of finding her.[/sblock]

 

[WarShrike]

[SBLOCK=Zurai]
"Aww wolf-poo." says Ryon, dejectedly. He then immitates Enko, after ordering Growl back to the camp.
[/SBLOCK]

 

[Zurai]

[sblock=Ryon]Growl whines at you, but after a short while he turns and lopes back to camp. You repeat Enko's actions, following Artemisia's footprints, and as soon as you take the last step of her visible footprints, Enko appears about ten feet in front of you, further down the trail.[/sblock][sblock=Enko]Only a few moments after he disappears, Ryon shimmers into view along Artemisia's trail. Growl does not seem to be following him.[/sblock][sblock=Ryon and Enko]Artemisia's footprints continue onward to the northwest. Neither of you see any signs of struggle or haste.[/sblock]