"I'm not worried."  Shiaran's words are said absently as she retreats into her head.  Her face reads in a manner that the rest of the group is beginning to recognize as lost in thought.

Sypher sees it and sighs heavily, likely knowing that whatever Shiaran is thinking, its going to get him into a lot of trouble.

One everyone has had a chance for a break, Shiaran plops back down in the driver's seat.  "Beloc, you recognized this tree.  Did you recognize this specific tree?"

"It's just a tree", Beloc says with a wink. "Aside from being a remarkable work of art, there isn't any significance to it. There are many more like it, but these are used specifically to mark the border of the Fyreworm clan."

"Cute.  What I'm asking is if you know where we are and more importantly, how to get out of here to the road.  A road.  Any road. "

Beloc scans the area for a moment to get his bearings before responding. "I'm no pathfinder, but I have a general idea of where we are. What knowledge of the area I have comes from spotty reconnaissance missions. The Fyreworm keep a tight grip on everything that passes through their lands, so my experiences here are few and far between. Normally, I would stay off the beaten path, but there's no masking our travel with that monster of a vehicle announcing our presence. Given where I believe we are right now, there should be a main road an hour or two west of here. If you don't feel like dealing with the barbarians, you could always just go straight west and take our chances with the dwarves in the mountains."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:11, Tue 19 Dec 2017.

Shiaran makes sure all are aboard and turns the wheel to the left.  With course laid in due west, she punches the gas and roars through the forest with more confidence in their path than she's felt since they entered the trees in what feels like months ago.

The Badger speeds along just outside of the edge of the forest. The grass below is nothing more than a blur, as the terrain is hospitable enough for the armored car to reach near its top speed with only brief slow downs due to rocky outcroppings and hills.

Beloc informs the group they should be getting near to the hamlet that sits on the borders of Argonette and the Clan Lands. No sooner than the words are said, Shiaran spots a few tendrils of hearth smoke curling up around two miles out. She slows the Badger down to a halt behind a large rock.

The winds of the plains are far more robust than the gentle breezes of the forest, and likely have masked the loud rumbles of the diesel engine. The only thing that can be seen in the immediate area are rocks and grass.

On the giant rock the hides the Badger, there are painted runic symbols written around crude pictures of several species of grazing animal. They appear to have been applied with blood quite some time ago, leaving behind a sort of rusty discoloration of the granite.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:54, Thu 21 Dec 2017.

Beloc hops out of the vehicle to inspect the area around the stone then looks over the stone itself but does not progress beyond it. He returns to the others to report. "The stone is a marker for their hunters indicating a game trail nearby. There's been fairly recent activity in the area, a mix of booted and barefoot tracks headed west, so the smoke ahead could be hearth fires or a razed hamlet. It's hard to say judging from this spot."

"So either way, it's safe to proceed into the town driving the Badger?"

"I would take the Badger in a little farther, but it's probably worth scouting ahead to know what we're walking in to."

"Guess I'm up, then.  We'll just leave the Badger here.  I'm sure the villagers don't need any stinking Badgers in their quaint little village.  I'll be back soon.  In fact, if I'm not back within the hour, come rescue me."  She reaches up to Sypher's face as if to caress him.  Instead, she comes away with an errant eyelash.  "Thanks, Sy.  You have them to spare and now I don't have to use mine."

With a wave to the others, she skulks off down the ridge to the village.

"What would you have us do in the mean time, Beloc? What's our plan should we be discovered?" asks Darius.

"I don't want to leave Shiaran too far ahead of us. We ought to be able to get within a mile or so before the noise of this thing will give us away. Let's give her a little lead time, then move out."

He looks over the others for suggestions only to find R.E.B.O.R.T. heads down and hard at work with his golem. "Sypher, if you could keep a lookout while I drive, I'd appreciate it. Should we be discovered, it seems we have three options. If it's the PCA, we put them back in the ground. If it's the elves, then they might be able to give us a better ley of the land. If it's the Fyrmworm clan... we'll need to tread lightly. They may be more receptive to you or Sypher before me."

R.E.B.O.R.T. looks up briefly when mention of a plan comes about but quickly returns his attention to a number of tiny glass vials.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:23, Fri 22 Dec 2017.

Shiaran continues her mission.

Once everyone is loaded, the Badger creeps forward with Beloc being light on the pedals as to not rev the engines too loudly.

Shiaran tries not to get herself in too deep in trouble.

Beloc brings the Badger to a stop about 3/4 of a mile from the hamlet, parking it just off the beaten path as to not draw too much unwanted attention.

He steps outside with Apache and begins to surveil the area.

At that time, R.E.B.O.R.T. corks the last of three vials. He walks over to Sypher and hands him one. "I noticed your strong connection to the divine and thought this would compliment that nicely, should you need a boost in defense."

The other two, he stows away in a compartment.

Sypher, if willing, receives a potion of Shield of Faith (+3). It offers +3 AC deflection for 6 minutes.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:46, Fri 22 Dec 2017.

Shiaran has left a clear path through the tall grasses, which do little to help conceal passers by. At this short distance, the hamlet is in plain view. A multitude of tree stumps, long since rotted are scattered all about the hamlet's perimeter. The area of inhabited land cuts in to the forest's edge a fair distance. Eighr wooden homes are arranged in a semi-circle, with a larger building at the center of the row - it shares the same visual characteristics of the homes, but seems to be some sort of meeting house. The houses are rectangular and elevated on stilts. They seem large enough to fit a family of 6 with plenty of elbow room. The entire row faces easterly, likely to catch the first rays of light in the morning.

A shallow pond sits center of the semi circle. A few women appear to wash children in the cold waters, wrangling them to stay still. Several large wooden racks are set up around 30 feet away, with a plethora of animal hides in various states of a tanning process hanging from them. You cant squarely see the source of the hearth fires, as there are no chimneys on the homes, but you can see smoke rolling up through a central opening in the roof of each house. To the south a short ways, a large wood pile sits, with two younger men - probably late teens - splitting logs into firewood while a young girl takes the pieces and stacks them orderly.


In front of the meeting hall looking building, six armed men stand around the steps, and appear to be speaking to a woman. One of them is peering in the direction of the Badger, with a hand over his forehead shielding his eyes from the sun. He freezes for a moment, and then points in the direction of the vehicle. The woman wears a familiar coat, and Beloc recognizes it's Shiaran.
Three of the men, upon being alerted to the sight of the Badger at a distance, draw swords.

Beloc speaks quietly to the others. "Look lively, gentlemen. Shiaran appears to be speaking with some armed men over there, and it would seem that they are aware of our presence."

Shiaran keeps her hands spread out wide and slowly, calmly sits cross-legged on the ground in front of the men.

"Sypher", he says, motioning for the man to join him outside. "You know her best. Any idea what she's up to?"

Sypher scratches his chin for a moment in thought.  "If I had to guess, she's trying to talk down the locals from killing her and attacking us and inwardly cursing us for getting so close they noticed us before she was done negotiating."  He chuckles.  "Those villagers are safe.  Her hands are out and not up.  If you see her hands go up above her head, that's when people are about to die."

Beloc sighs heavily. "I'm sure we'll hear about that later. Honestly, I didn't expect her to confront the locals. Scouting doesn't usually involve engagement."

Sypher turns to Beloc and raises an eyebrow.  "Oh?  I think maybe that's a difference of opinion.  Many times on the mainland, Shiaran or I would just saunter into an unknown village to scope out the locals while the other waited to see if there was trouble.  I rescued her once or twice."  He pauses, then shakes his head looking down.  "She pulled me out of local trouble more often than that."

He clasps Beloc on the shoulder.  "Just give her a chance.  She's good.  I've come to trust her judgment in these kinds of situations."