The group enters the treeline and then hits the trail... Zook out in front, darting from tree to tree... Luthal and Kolarred further back. After about thirty minutes of having the top of the seven-foot lance keep getting caught on overhanging tree branches and such... Kolarred realizes that perhaps taking the lance with him wasn't such a good idea. But he battles through it.
As they walk, Luthal continues to watch the trail for any sort of tracks. As they get higher into the mountain, the ground turns mossy and it actually makes it easier to determine numbers. A quick search reveals approximately three horses and at least one pony or mule. As far as humanoid tracks... there are probably about eight booted individuals that walk normally, and another two or so whose boots are dragging or scuffing. Having heard what the thugs said about the dwarf being killed then raised as a zombie... these might be the tracks of that. Which would indicate a second(?) zombie now in their midst.
Out in front, Zook constantly runs ahead to listen and search for any signs of life... but comes up empty. He also notices the tracks on the ground but can't get as much detail out of them as Luthal can. The trail into the mountains is actually pretty easy to follow, and he notices on occasion a number of broken branches off of bushes and so on that probably had been blocking the path until the previous group came through.
After about six hours of heavy hiking up and around the short mountain peak... during which Kolarred has tripped and fallen about a half-dozen times (due to the lance on his back and the platemail armor he's wearing... 6 points of damage), the group comes down the far side and breaks through the treeline to find the crevasse.
The crevasse looks to be about forty feet across and about a fifty to sixty foot drop between the two mountains of the Ashen Spires. There are numerous branches and small trees growing out of the rocky walls of the cliffside, and spanning the breadth of it is a rope and wooden plank bridge (a la Temple of Doom). As they advance, it is not difficult at all for all three to hear the sounds of horses breathing off to the right.
As they walk, Luthal continues to watch the trail for any sort of tracks. As they get higher into the mountain, the ground turns mossy and it actually makes it easier to determine numbers. A quick search reveals approximately three horses and at least one pony or mule. As far as humanoid tracks... there are probably about eight booted individuals that walk normally, and another two or so whose boots are dragging or scuffing. Having heard what the thugs said about the dwarf being killed then raised as a zombie... these might be the tracks of that. Which would indicate a second(?) zombie now in their midst.
Out in front, Zook constantly runs ahead to listen and search for any signs of life... but comes up empty. He also notices the tracks on the ground but can't get as much detail out of them as Luthal can. The trail into the mountains is actually pretty easy to follow, and he notices on occasion a number of broken branches off of bushes and so on that probably had been blocking the path until the previous group came through.
After about six hours of heavy hiking up and around the short mountain peak... during which Kolarred has tripped and fallen about a half-dozen times (due to the lance on his back and the platemail armor he's wearing... 6 points of damage), the group comes down the far side and breaks through the treeline to find the crevasse.
The crevasse looks to be about forty feet across and about a fifty to sixty foot drop between the two mountains of the Ashen Spires. There are numerous branches and small trees growing out of the rocky walls of the cliffside, and spanning the breadth of it is a rope and wooden plank bridge (a la Temple of Doom). As they advance, it is not difficult at all for all three to hear the sounds of horses breathing off to the right.
