"I think the shadows are undead," Dante told Volsh. "They kill the living, but wouldn't have done the damage to the wagon. That required a physical form they don't seem to have. So, we may be dealing with someone who can control them -- unless they're using living beings as lackeys?" He looks questioningly at Preet as he speculates on that.

The bats chitter angrily at Narthian for quite some time. 



Taking a careful examination of the claw, it doesn't seem to be a wolf claw (you're fairly familiar with those), as it's too big.  However, a bear claw, that seems likely.



Bellis nods at Averdante's words.  "Aye, the sub-chief in charge would have the key, and I hope to their gods they escaped.  None of the dead here have the beards of a sub-chief, nor the armor of one."



"Or only after specific things.  The Commander didn't say there were special order weapons in this lot, but it may be that there were some included in secret, with instructions carried by the caravan chief.  That's happened a few times before.  Once the wagon was broken open, if the attackers could see magical things, they could see what they wanted to steal" Bellis says diffidently.



"That's a thought to chill the blood," Sir Aberlayne says with a shudder.  "'Twould be a powerfully evil creature to draw the living to work with them...  Such a person would have to be bitter against life, for such things are often endlessly hungry and treacherous, so Yondalla's texts say."

Prreet nuzzles Averdante's ear, cocking his head as if in confusion.

Narthian takes his leave of the bats and returns to the party, his face looks troubled and more pale then usual. "The bats are normal bats from what I can tell," he reports. "And they had much to say, if not entirely clearly. My guess is that the attacker is... a druid." The last said with obvious discomfort. "Probably one with a grudge against the dwarves, but I cannot be sure. Bats are not the most clever of animals, and these have been brought into the attacker's thrall. They had many threats for the likes of us, and I was powerless to sway them."

When he learns of the claw, he asks to examine it.

Know Nature - Bear claw? 15:22, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 16 using 1d20+10 ((6)).

"The other two wagons," Lantamori said as she returned on Cloud and came to a stop, "they turned back but something big followed them.

"I think it's time to send back a messenger."

Upon examination, Narthian is certain the claw is not only from a bear, but a bear of exceptional size.  One of the massive varieties, perhaps a cave bear or a dire bear, or even a bear under the effects of an animal growth spell. 



Bellis nods and calls up young Wedd as she pulls out a piece of pampliset and scrawls down what they've found so far.  She waits, silverstick raised, for any other information the group wants to add.  Once everyone has had their say, she'll pop the pampliset in a scroll case and hand it to Wedd, who will begin trotting back to Fort Cross.

As Wedd trots away, Narthian sprints up along side. "Do not tarry by night, but fly! Fly like the wind! We are watched and you will not be safe!" He returns to the party. "These clues convince me of my guess," he says to the others. "We must assume that everything we do and say from now on is made known. This druid can command powers of nature that I cannot. As nature provides, it can also be cruel, and some are bent to this aspect. Nothing that I have learned can rule out the possibility of a command of the undead as well. This is the most danger we have been in since we faced the small god of the marsh."

Dellas smiled at the idea of it being a large bear, his imagination began to run wild as he imagined a bear as large as a house swatting these carts about.... After a moment he turns back to the others "But we have seen no tracks here... how would such a large bear get here...." he stopped midsentence as Lantamori mentioned large tracks following the carts "We should rush after those other carts and see if they are harmed as well? While the messenger rides on. The messenger should bring back horses to take this wagon back."

"I think that the attacker got what it came for. You have seen me as a wolf. But I could as easily be a bird. ... Or a bat. Or a bear. As I grow in my understanding of Nature's Secrets, the oftener I can change. And the wider the range of sizes. If you doubt the power of the druids, go there," he points to the path he took towards the bats. "And find where my feet fell. Even now, in my nightly commune, I seek to unravel the secrets of Natural Magic so I can use spells in my wolf form. We cannot underestimate the abilities of our quarry. We will find him or her when he or she wants to be found." Narthian looks as anxious as any of you have ever seen him.

As Wedd goes, and Narthian urges him to speed and caution, Wedd turns back to Bellis and makes a few gestures.  She nods, and waves up Fothbar, one of the other messengers.  "Guard his back, move fast, no detours, sleep light!" she admonishes, and both quickly gallop down the road back towards Fort Cross.  She turns to Dellas.  "Commander Brighthearth will send back beasts and drivers with them, or not, depending on who can be spared.  The dwarves use battleboars for a reason, though.  We're going to need some big draft horses to move that wagon.  I'll board it back up best I can, just in case anyone else comes along, and we can get seeking the other wagons."

She and Garvin, the other messenger, use the broken boards and rocks to pack in the staved side, making it at least a lot more difficult for anyone to casually loot.

At Narthian's pronouncement that they face an evil druid, Sir Aberlayne curses quietly.  "A vampire seeking minions is one thing; their powers of charm lend them their aid.  For a servant of nature to take up with some life-draining thing must mean a very bitter and rotten soul indeed."

If all are in agreement, you can follow Lantamori to find the tracks she saw.  Narthian can see (once you get further down the road) that there are indeed the tracks of a large bear, one that would stand ten feet or more, that abruptly appear.  They seem to be chasing the boar, wagon, and dwarf tracks.  There is no blood, nor sign of unnatural cold, at least not at first.  The bats do not follow you (Mystique cannot see them budge from their crevice), but Averdante, Narthian, Mystique, Prreet, and Volsh all occasionally spy bats clinging to crevices as you move along the road.  Some of the bats are surely just bats.  Surely...

As midday stretches to afternoon, then getting on towards sunset, the tracks take an abrupt turn into what seems to be solid tumble of boulders on the side of the steep canyon walls!

Normally Narthian would be the first to scramble over the pile stones, curious to find what lies beyond, but he hesitates now.

Mystique flies back to Haazheel. He looks around and says, "With so many bats, there will be a lot of night insects or, if not, the bats are most unusual..which means we should prepare to be attacked by them."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 00:31, Sun 02 Dec 2018.

"No, I don't think they will," Narthian says to Haazheel quietly, not taking his eyes from the pile of stones and looking uneasy. "They are the Watchers. The bats that I spoke with said that their master would destroy us ... And it would make them happy."

Once again at the rear of the column, Lantamori kept her eye out for bears lurking in the forest behind them.

Dellas mounted up back up and followed along as they followed the tracks, his attention on the claw he held in front of him as he rubbed his thumb along it repeatedly.

A druid that likes to shape change into a giant of a bear, and commands undead things without substance... Dante's uneasy as he runs his fingers over Prreet's smooth stone form and eyes the tumble of rocks blocking the road. Five arrows weren't going to last throughout a serious battle, let alone all night long.

"We havn't reached the wagon Lantamori saw," he says, studying the rockfall and the area around them. "Has it been moved, or was this put between it and us after she returned? Because if it's been put here afterwards... I think we need to fall back to a place of our own choosing for the coming battle, and not stay where this rogue druid wants us."



16:37, Today: Averdante rolled 27 using 1d20+10 ((17)).

Bruenor follows the party with alert senses and growing unease.  His immense distrust, even fear, of magic returns in a big way.  He'd grown somewhat comfortable with those magic users in their own company, but this powerful druid-bear (and who knows what else) reminded him of why he had no love for the mystical arts.

He places a hand on the hilt of his sword, taking comfort in the feel of real, solid steel...and pats Demon's neck with his free hand.  He was glad to have the dark horse beneath him.  Demon had some connection to other planes, or hell, he had no doubt...but mixed in with that was a noble heart, and not something evil.

"Clearly someone doesn't want us following," he voices aloud.  "Someone with the strength...or magic," he spits out the last word with more distaste than intended, "to cause such a rockslide."

Bruenor dismounts and puts his foot on one of the boulders before them, checking that it's not some sort of illusion.  He'll then bend down to see if the wagon tracks seem to fully continue under the boulders, or stop shortly before as if they'd vanished.

Curiously the wagon tracks seem to go right under the rocks.  As Bruenor touches them with his sword, there is a faint resistance, and suddenly his sword plunges through them as if they aren't there!

"We are facing an Initiate of the 6th Circle," Narthian says. "At the least. I have known some of that level that could make such deceptions. By comparison, I am of the 3rd Circle. This is the least of the obstacles we might face." He studies the surrounding terrain intently.  "If there is some other way then through the valley, and if we can avoid the bats, we would stand a better chance."

Dellas sat there looking at the roadblock and then over his shoulder as he looked around for any bats "Well we could roast the bats...." His eyes widen at the illusion and then a smile crosses his face, he quickly jumps down and walks over to the rocks "Do that again." he remarks to Bruenor as he seeks to study the illusion. He will then press his hands against the rocks himself...

Haazheel lets Mystique fly up to look around.

Volsh follows the group mostly watching the bats with a unsettled gaze. "At this rate w can expect this 'druid' to be fully aware of our presence." He growls in a down cast voice. "But I don't see much of an alternative, shall I climb the boulders and see what is on the other side?"

"No, Volsh. Wait to see what Mystique can tell Haazheel. If I had bothered to put up an illusion like this, I would leave something nasty just beyond." He looks to the walls of the valley. "However, if you wanted to climb around them..."

Bruenor's eyes widen as the tip of his sword pushes through the nearest boulder, and he quickly pulls it back, as if recoiling from the heat of a flame.

"Bah! More magic!  What trickery is this now??"

He quietly listens to the others discuss their apparent foe.

Despite his concern at this unseen druid, he lets out a good-natured laugh at Volsh's comment.  "Yes, friend...let's see you try to climb these boulders!"

Impressed with the extent of the illusion Bruenor's revealed, Dante checks that his arrow is securely nocked before he takes a harder look at the rocks. "Have care, Bruenor, Dellas -- that illusion may be concealing something more than just an open road."

The canyon road is fairly narrow, but the floor of it is smooth; likely this was carved out as a road some centuries before by dwarven craftfolk.  Every few miles is a slightly wider place that can be used as a temporary campsite or a place to turn the wagons more easily.  The vegetation here is sparse, and there is more of it at the top of the canyon and on the cliffs above than down here on the road.  The slump of rocks at the side of the canyon do not block the road, but they do narrow it.  Likely there was some kind of cave entrance there that was blocked by the rocks after the wagons went into it.  But whether this was done by the dwarves in desperation to protect themselves, or by the druid (or one of his allies) to either trap them in there with them, or trap them forever inside there, or something else, is uncertain.  There are no bear tracks immediately near the rockfall zone that Narthian can see.



Mystique flies up and down the canyon, and then soars higher to get the lay of the land. 



Dellas examines the rocks carefully, then touches them.  After seeing Bruenor's sword go through them, he concentrates, and after a moment, his hands go through the rocks too, as if they were not there! 

When Volsh tries to climb the rocks and Averdante examines them more carefully, both realized that the rocks, while very real in appearance, have no more substance than air.  Volsh finds he can gain no purchase, and ends up seemingly ankle-deep in rocks, while he feels like he is just standing on firm, flat ground.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:08, Sat 15 Dec 2018.