Aldridge picked up one of the corpses, holding it afar for inspection. "Bugger," he huffs. All that magic wasted on a trophy that can fit in his pocket. He pockets it anyway.

"Now that we've expended all our magic," he says with mock enthusiasm, "who wants to go fight a nigh-invisible bear?"

Flutterwing chuckles, “It matters little. Spells seem to be of no use against it.”

"All the more reason for us to not fight it if we don't have to," Aldridge replies. "How far are we from Stormcaller, Flutterwing? If you can lead us to within 100 meters of him, I'd like to see how stealthily I can approach him. If we can get downwind of the bear and catch it in line of sight without alerting it before approaching him, even better."

“We camped on the other side of that hill last night.” Flutterwing points north. “Perhaps half a mile, at the most?”

Rather than going over the hill, Aldridge leads the party around the side of the hill. He constantly checks around for the bear, or signs of it still being nearby. (Perception 14, Survival 9)

When he does see the camp, Aldridge signals that the rest of the party stay behind while he approaches. "Keep an eye out, and signal subtly if the bear appears." He leaves, darting between trees as quickly as he thinks is still somewhat stealthy (Stealth 16).

Westra sits down to rest her feet and keeps an eye out for anything in the shadows (Perception 8, Nature 9).

As the camp comes into view, Flutterwing's eyes set with a steely resolve. The cause is obvious. Her mentor has been picked clean by the bear and is now nothing more than scattered bones and a wide red smear across the landscape. The nearby shelter is dishevelled, but unmolested. Amidst the bones, Aldridge can see a pile of small stone tablets. The bones and snow are in the open, with no cover nearby.

There are bear tracks nearby that suggest a moderately large bear, perhaps no more than eight hundred pounds. The tracks do not go next to the bones, but rather around them. It's as though each bone were tossed to the size when the bear finished its flensing. A pile of bear excrement lies near where Aldridge is hiding. The rest of the party is hanging back, to avoid giving away the sneak-bard. Flutterwing is holding very still, trying to keep her armour from shaking with her rage.

Aldridge quietly inspects the excrement. He figures what is left in the bear's waste is enough to tell him many details about it, such as its breed, appetite size, whether it travels alone, the strength of its nose, its travel habits... (Perception 5, Nature 16) He isn't able to see much in the excrement other than... well, exactly what one would expect.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:39, Thu 28 May 2015.

Alwan also has a look around, while remaining as inconspicuous as possible. (Perception 8, Stealth 19)

The bear appears to have a great deal of animal flesh in its diet. Given by the size of the tracks, the creature must eat quite a bit to sustain itself each day. It's difficult to tell precise travel patterns from the refuse, but you can't imagine a creature being able to eat that much without travelling quite a bit. Aldridge additionally notes that the poop is really quite hot. The snow nearby melts as Aldridge pokes the pile open, as though he'd uncovered a few live coals from a dead fire.

Alwanzatar is noticeably quieter, in an unnoticeable sort of way, but does observe anything other than what Aldridge has taken note of.

Alarmed by how recently the bear must have produced the leavings, and even more concerned at the reports of its immunity to magic, Alwan quietly slips a stone into his sling. (Readied action: ranged attack)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Thu 28 May 2015.

Aldridge panics, but keeps quiet. He sneaks back to the party to convey that they were very, very, very close to a big white bear. "Look alive," he whispers as he nocks an arrow. "That thing is probably still hungry, and I want to get eyes on it before it gets eyes, ears, or nose on us. And definitely before claw or tongue."

Westra gets to her feet and readies her staff, trying hard to sense if there is anything around them (perception 19).

Westra has a sort of sense of impending doom, but no clear indication of where the bear might be. All appears to be quiet.

Aldridge sighs and casts a Silent Image: a plump, appetizing, clueless human in bright garb. He wills it to walk toward the bones, circling them and moving in a path that leads it out in the open along the hilltops.

The plump human walks around rather convincingly for about ten minutes. The party sits nearby, ready to strike. But after ten minutes, the illusion fades to no effect.

Aldridge slaps his forehead in frustration. "No bear," he moans. He looks down at the remains. "Well, I suppose it wasn't a total loss. We can still reclaim his journal." He leads the party down to the skeleton, searching his belongings.

Aldridge walks quickly out into the snow-covered field. As he approaches the bones, all of the sudden, the bones, the tablets and Aldridge disappear into a sinkhole! The air is filled with the loud sound of cracking bones, far more bones than could belong to Aldridge. Any creature nearby could easily have heard the sound.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:33, Thu 28 May 2015.

Flutterwing is horrified! “That wasn't there when we camped! I walked over that spot many times!” She starts to move carefully toward the hole, watching the ground where she goes.

Airdsgainne moves quickly to the edge of the pit and looks in.

The pit is roughly dug, but about 40' deep and 5' across. There are sharp bone fragments stabbed into the walls, now broken. At the bottom, standing among more spikes is Aldridge, unharmed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:34, Thu 28 May 2015.

The instant Aldridge begins to fall, Alwan snaps his arm forward, palm and malachite facing the plummeting adventurer. He mutters an incantation with great haste. (Feather Fall, Aldridge takes no falling damage.) Then, he hurriedly withdraws a rope from his pack, ties it around a nearby tree, and tosses the end down to Aldridge. As the others react, he does his best to vanish back into the foliage, once again readying the sling. (15 stealth)
This message was last edited by the player at 20:42, Thu 28 May 2015.

Flutterwing immediately grabs the rope, “Songsmith, take hold!”

Westra moves closer to the group and concentrates with all her might on her surroundings, willing herself to perceive what is causing the dread settling all around them (perception 24).