Saddling up in the darkness, waterskins and rations loaded, the Leafblade Company is joined by their Guard tracker, Bellis Tral, a human woman just entering middle age.  Sturdy and tanned from a life out of doors, with hair bleached pale by the sun, her keen hazel eyes are often roving, missing little.  She rides a little bay mare with a neat pack attached to her saddle.  Along with her are Fothbar, Garvin, and Wedd, three young members of the Guard who will act as messengers, relaying back to the Fort at regular intervals.

The Troll Hunters, plus Grollock's band and a few more members of the Guard, are finishing up their own preparations.  Commander Brighthearth goes and hands a scrollcase to the Lieutenant in charge of the troll party, then goes to hand another to Bellis before addressing the Leafblade Company.

"All right, Grollock and the Troll Hunters will go back along the priests' road, and you'll be heading along the tribute road, looking to meet at Smoke Peak.  If all goes well, it's a three-day journey to Smoke Peak from here, and then another week and a half to Firegold Citadel.  Fharlangn watch over your journey, Heironious grant you victory," he says.

With that, the gates will open once more, and you can begin your journey.

Though most of the Leafblade Company can either see in the dark or have little difficulty navigating only by moonlight, those few who aren't so visually blessed can rely on the senses of their mounts.  Demon seems to relish the dark, not surprisingly.  Bellis leads you along the paths, selecting various turns through the rock walls of the peaks until the moon climbs high in the sky and it's clear it's growing close to midnight.

You can rest for the rest of the night without incident, the night warm enough to do without a fire - useful, as there is little to burn here.  The next day and night also passes quietly, and though you keep yourselves alert looking for any sign of the tribute caravan or anything else odd, you spy nothing out of place.  By noon that day you are beyond the reach of Fort Cross' scouts and now into the less-tamed part of the mountains.  In the morning of your second full day, you begin your search anew.  By mid-morning, the vultures give you your direction.  Around the next bend lay the shattered remains of a what was once a sturdy treasure-wagon pulled by battle boars.  The wagon's off-side wheel is broken and part of one side is staved in.  The battle boars, big as oxen, with their studded leather armor and iron-shot tusks, lie dead in their traces.  The bodies of three dwarves with shattered weapons lie scattered around the site.

The drone of flies and the cawing of vultures fills the canyon, as the stench of death is thick on the wind...

"Is it usually just the one wagon?" Lantamori asked Bellis quietly.  She was dismayed by the carnage and loss.  Had they even had the chance to fight back?

Dellas had been cheerful as they traveled though he seemed somewhat forlorn at the thought of not having a fire at night but the others were able to convince him that it was for the best so as to not give away their position. So instead he had to dream of the fire and as he did so the fire changed shape once again to a bird of Fire at the base of a mountain. Smiling as he laid there resting over the nights as he watched this magnificent beast of fire soar into the sky.

His smile quickly diminished as they came upon the scene of the wagon cart. He slid off his mount and moved around the outer edge looking things over more as a reason to look busy but not get close to the carnage.

Farian dismounts and approaches the corpses of the dwarves as they lay dead along the road. Kneeling down, he carefully looks the bodies over, trying to figure out what killed them.

OOC: Not sure if this is the right skill to use, but it was the best I could find...

16:22, Today: Farian Raymellie rolled 15 using 1d20+1.  Search bodies for cause of death.

Haazheel asks, "Who is good at finding tracks and such?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 02:53, Wed 31 Oct 2018.

Dante takes a close look around the area, first for any sign someone still lingers, and second, for some over-looking point from which someone might have kept watch for the approaching caravan.   While the wreck seems abandoned at first glance, he keeps an arrow laid across his bow in readiness.

"Given that the boars are still harnessed, it doesn't appear their attackers waited for them to set up camp, but attacked them while they travelled." Travelling with the caravan has taught him that much -- at the end of the day, the animals are unharnessed. They're not left hitched to the wagons all night, or on any lengthy stop. It seems reasonable that even with boars, that rule would hold true.

15:58, Today: Averdante rolled 13 using 1d20+10 ((3)).

Narthian does not approach the wagon, staying on the mountain-side of the battle field. He and Thunder search the terrain for signs of creatures passing, or blood, or ichor. Thunder is using his nose, Narthian primarily his eyes.

Gave Averdante my 3 magic arrows before leaving.

Thunder Track (by scent): 22:12, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 13 using 1d20+5 ((8)).

Narthian Search: 22:13, Today: Narthian Goldleaf rolled 19 using 1d20+5 ((14)).