Merin says, "Let's kill these vultures and collect their feathers. As we learned from the Da'Roneh, they can be useful. Then let's have a look at the bodies, to see if we can determine where they are from. If we can determine that, we could possibly bury them, and leave word with town officials of the location of some of their townsfolk."
NOTE: No peoples of the land bury the dead. It is almost the exact opposite of most practices. To bury a body is considered a malicious act or some type of obfuscation.
Before the vulture can generate much distance in flight, each man bends an elemental wayline that comes most naturally, to fell one of the birds.
"You should know from experience that it is not just the feathers that hold mystical potential, though that is likely the limit for me. You should look at the skulls and talons, too."
OOC:
Collected:
black vulture feathers, 2 sets
black vulture skull: 2
black vulture talons: 2 sets
The people are Centrin, likely immigrants or could have been traders, but no indication of pack animals or wagons is discovered. What of note is discovered are a few Halarin tipped arrows. While arrows can be signature items, these are not definitive to either man, as not much previous exposure has occurred.
I should have been more clear; I was using the term "bury" to include all funerary practices in general. Some tribes of Native Americans place their dead on wooden scaffolds, raised off the ground. Norse cultures burn their dead, etc.
Merin will look around to see if he can find any tracks, or other indicators as to who or what killed these men.
Afterwards, Merin will attempt to discern the proclivities for the skulls, talons, and feathers (in that order.)
Merin asks Sheldon, "I wonder how common these types of arrows are?"
Merin will also search the men, to see what types of belongings they have. He is not looting them, but rather, trying to ascertain from the belongings where they might be from. As he does so, he softly hums a song in Amiradthan, one that he can remember his mother humming when she was busy working.
Sheldon looks at one and thumbs the bladed head. "Hmm... Halarin. This is pretty good stuff. It is a combination of aluminum and iron. I hate to say it, but I think we are looking for some Amiradthae."
Sheldon meticulously scours the area with his friend. It is not a track that motivates decision, it is the direction of the remaining arrows. Due to the angle of impact, it appears that they were all fired from the west.
"Let's go ahead and head toward the west... Wait! Scratch that. They came from the west when they attacked, but they must have been heading east. This attack was likely opportunistic. Let's go east.." He keeps a fletched end for reference.
While traveling, Sheldon takes the feathers in hand, since Merin begins with the skull. It is not expected that the murderers will be soon overtaken, so the two men move at a pace that can be maintained. The thought is that it may take several days.
Unfortunately, Merin is certain that the skull will be useful, but the divining skill is not really his primary talent. It takes Sheldon most of the rest of the day to finally determine that the feathers will augment the existence of a person's life. As such, he decides to adorn himself with a set, attaching them like a fan on the back of his kilt.
By late evening, it is not any peoples that demands the attention of the two men, but a rather large and grayish colored, quilled rodent. It is perhaps a porcupine, except for the odd coloration and being twice the normal size. The creature is noticed, happily chomping down pine cones, at a distance where it could be approached or avoided.
Merin says, "Normally, I would avoid this creature. But its size, and the possible proclivities of its quills, piques my curiosity. What say we take it down? You go left, I'll go right? We'll need to bring it down with Wayline Manipulation, because I don't want to get stuck by those quills. Also, we'll need to be wary, because he can probably launch them at us like arrows. It's almost a certainty that the quills are venomous."
As he and his friend approach the big animal, Merin uses Soullessness on himself, and starts off the combat by trying to cook the thing, using his Phoenix Feather as augmentation.
Soullessness does not require a random roll. It is applied as a modifier to hiding.
Moving just close enough the bend waylines around the overgrown, gray porcupine, the men are not required to be very close at all. Seeing the phoenix feather, Sheldon signals to Merindell to hold off for a second and speaks quietly. As he speaks, his image seems to blend with the surrounding.
"I do not want to risk damaging that hide, if we can. Let me see what I can do with its mind."
bending + collegiate + d100 Sheldon: 81 + 47 + 139 = a really big overkill
Proving neither a threat nor any difficulty to the men, Sheldon completely dominates the mind of the animal, causing it to roll onto its back and expose its soft underbelly.
"Merciful and quick," he says, no longer needing to be quiet. He dispatches the animal just as he said.
It is later learned that the creature is, appropriately, called a Quillion.
Once the creature is dead, Merin allows Sheldon to skin it, because Sheldon possesses more aptitude at it than he. Merin will then take one of the quills to study, in an attempt to discover proclivities. When the pair decide to rest, Merin will try to update his map (thereby practicing his cartography skills) and add new landmarks and various other notes, as necessary.
A streak of bright light is seen crossing the sky. It is a bright as the sun and traveling rapidly closer. It intersects with the planet and both men lose consciousness for split second. The world appears to have changed slightly or perhaps it did not change at all and the sense of deja vu is from some previous dream for everything is now as it is remembered.
Sheldon shakes his head. "Gods."
Merindell scratches his head noting some slight errors in his map. He feels certain he had drawn it more accurately and takes steps to correct the discrepancies.
Sheldon begins trying to skin the animal and quickly realizes that he is out of his depth with this one. After a few terrible mars to the hide, he quits, and collects three loose quills, giving one to Merrin.
Taking much of and all of the night for Merindell, the two men realize the nature of the quills by the morning light. No matter what type of Bender is holding the item it gives significant augmentation to health. One can also be used to enhance the manipulation of chemical waylines with regard to toxicity.
OOC:
Quillion quill, (Health +3) {Toxicity x4}
There is still the matter of the murdered family, and the two men continue on their way. Noting that any desire to specifically track a several days' old passing would be fleeting at best, the two men decide to take the day at pressed pace in hopes of simply gaining some ground.
Two days are made in such manner, bringing the men to another river, without any proof of Sheldon's original hunch, and the two men are starting to have doubts, until the remains of two felled pigs are discovered. Examining the kill, it is surmised that the carcasses were no moved much from the place of their demise. Widening the search, the fletching of a discarded arrow shaft is matched to the one being carried.
Sheldon reaches up with his left hand and pulls his hair back from his face. "I am still thinking Amiradthae and a nomadic clan at that. Downstream should bring us to Bridgetown. Upstream heads into the mountains, away from civilization. Which way do you think?"
