Through Darkness, Light ("the plethora of prospective permutations")

[dead_radish]

Aelin peers at the clearing, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "No particularly fond of cleanliness, are they? But why is it so obvious? Are they trying to draw us into a ambush, supposing we would be lulled by the obvious signs of prior activity, and would assume they were long since vanished? Or are they truly gone, and unconcerned with such things as stealth and concealment? Hmmmm."

He brightens. "Hmmm. Perhaps an experiment - send in the giant, see what shakes out of the trees, so to speak!"

 

[Arador]

Maedril, Sibeccai Champion of Death 1

Maedril surveys the scene, suspiciously, carefully fingering the hilt of his sword.

"The giant? And let them know we are here?" As usual, Maedril takes all comments with grave seriousness. "Let the scouts go forward as we agreed, and the rest of us take up positions along the sides of the trail. Who amongst us has the best vision - perhaps they should examine the woods, and see what they spot."

Maedril eases off the trail, and passes into the woods that line the trail.

 

[Murphy's Law]

Kel, male Sibbeccai Snake Totem Warrior

"Yes, I agree, send the scouts forward, I could even go with them if you like. We could strike like a snake: silent and unexpected. Sending the giant in would confirm or belay our fears, but that might also lead to a dangerous battle."

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Kelsis the Bright-Eyed, Female Sibeccai Akashic 1

"Yes, let's go with our original plan. This is not what I expect to find, but scouting ahead is still a good tactic. Let us go, if we're not back in fifteen minutes... go to the backup plan," Kelsis says, anxious not to get into another long planning debate when action seems so close. Besides, the minute we stop to plan we can bet our fur that we'll get peppered with arrows.

 

[dead_radish]

Aelin sighs, and shakes his head slightly. "Indeed. Like Lo-Garazet against the Chorrim, at Balefan's Pass, we can send a scouting force to test their mettle, then hold ourselves in reserve! I myself will best be used as artillery, as you know." He wrestles a very large (for him) crossbow up into his arms, loads it, and rests it on the saddle.

 

[Aernoeth]

Aernoeth Swiftblade level 1 Quickling Unfettered

Aernoeth moves at the front of the group, skipping along and humming and singing to himself as they go.

At the ambush site, Aernoeth gives it a good looking over to try to determine numbers of attackers, as well as anything of interest, such as dropped weapons, strange track marks, and so on. [OOC: Search +3]

He stares at the bloody spot, trying to remember if the old woman had been wounded, or if she had mentioned hurting one of her attackers. "I wonder who bled here," Aernoeth mutters to himself in Faen, as well as saying a quick prayer to Greanoelith, the Goddess of Learning Information From Spilled Blood.

As for what to do next, the Quickling is ready to head into the forest. "Sure, come along, Kel," Aernoeth tells the Snake Totem Warrior. "It'll be slow and quiet though!"

Once it has been re-affirmed that they are splitting up into a scouting group, Aernoeth heads out in full sneak mode [OOC: Sneak +9], with his dagger drawn, listening and spotting for danger as best he can [OOC: both at -1]. He tries to stay within thirty feet of his sneak-pals, Kelsis and Kel.

 

[Erekose13]

Chenroeth, male litorian mage blade 1

"Perhaps while the others are scouting out our marks, we should prepare for the ambush. Standing out in the open away from the trees like this just presents big targets. If we were to take cover in the eaves of the forest, hopefully we could find some highground to attack from. If we were to find adequate cover on both sides of the small trail then we could ambush them from their flanks. I will lead the charge after we have begun the ambush so wait for the signal - my warcry - to advance upon them."

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

As the group nears the treeline, Aoe-Narara's demeanor changes. She stops speaking and becomes quiet and focused, observing the surrounding terrain.

She raises her eyebrows as Aelin speaks, impressed at the feykin's command of military history and tactics but unable to figure out why he wouldn't speak up and share his knowledge with the group earlier.

She nods as Chenroeth speaks, clearly agreeing with his suggestion.

As the scouting group moves forward she watches and listens intently.

 

[dead_radish]

Aelin nods. "Fair enough. Though I would hesitate to traverse too deeply these woods, that I lose my sight on the meadow, and our erstwhile compatriots."

 

[Erekose13]

"Let's have a look just within the edges of the forest to see if such an ambush would be possible." Chenroeth says, as he too peers intently towards the scouting party and the dark edges of the forest.

*He is looking to see if he can spot any place that he might plan his ambush from here, though he knows that he will most likely need to have a closer look. He will wait for the consent of the rest as it was not originally part of the discussed plan and some seem to be a bit picky about sticking plans.*