With who you assume is Roth apparently taking the tree road, Arrgha'n, as the more experienced tracker, takes to the branches while Maavnod stays on the ground to search further. Both of you are cautious, not wanting to set off another trap or invite another attack, whatever that ice was.
Your caution pays off, as when moving through the trees, Arrgha’n spies something odd and stops before touching a strange, metallic object. Spined randomly, like a god made a hedgehog while drunk, the spherical thing is perhaps the size of a halfling’s fist and stuck in the tree trunk. As Maavnod stops below you, that horrible shrieking sounds again, sounding for three full breaths before cutting off suddenly.
There’s a faint movement further into the trees, and then a sudden burst of light. Oliver is struck temporarily blind, while Yatrax, Arrgha’n, and Maavnod are merely dazzled. With a whump like an inrushing of air, what faint movement that could be seen is now gone. Arrgha’n has the educated guess that the filcher just took off with your suspect.
Irthos, as the deafness eventually wears off, you see Kurst return to the inner circle of wagons, where both of you notice Valerian puzzling over some marks on the ground. He has most of the bits and pieces of the marauder collected neatly, with the exception of the head.
The Blademark defenders, wanting no truck with running through the darkened woods after people that shoot snakes, pull back to make a full sweep and thorough defense of the camp.