Ilura stood with her back to the sea, protecting her eyes from the brightness of the silver moon, but also watching the cliffs for any signs of threat or overwatch. The rain rolled easily off her cloak and the deep hood kept it from her eyes. Their small party had travelled well and she was glad of their company.
The two moons had made the tracking straightforward, not that it had been a hard task. Lower-level undead didn't pay much attention to covering their tracks. Or much of anything beyond their assigned task. She'd seen a couple of skeletons walk right off a cliff once when the summoning wizard hadn't been paying enough attention.
Zombies were the easiest. They had more flesh and clothes to catch and tear, but no sense of pain to notice what they were leaving behind. Skeletons had no flesh and far less clothing, though some bore the odd fragment of decaying cloth. But their tracks were clear enough as were the broken branches as they mindlessly pushed through obstacles. She put the number of the zombies at 4-5. At least one of them had been a female - unless one of the males had been a fan of gingham dresses. The skeletons numbered between two and three. Plus there was something else.
The last creature troubled her. It left far less evidence of its passage. The odd bent blade of grass, a scuff mark on stone, but no real tracks. At least partly manifested in the physical world, but perhaps not wholey. Whatever it was was certainly controlling the band. Their quary had made several turns in their march rather than following the typical mindless straight line. And from the depths of the tracks, they were carrying something. From the tales of past attacks, probably victims. A shudder went through her. She wondered if the thing in control was the creature with the blue sword she'd encountered before.
"This time I must be strong enough"
She nodded her agreement at Eryn's urging and moved to the mouth of the cave. If they hurried, there might be a chance of saving some of from the homestead. Plus Eryn's tale wasn't making her want to wait for the water to encroach any closer.
Arrow at the ready and keeping to the cover of rocks at the edge of the cave mouth, she peered inside. The pearl moon was near full, reflecting off the sea and carrying at least some light into the depths of the cave, though the black sand absorbed more light than she wished.
With a quiet rustle of feathers, Thomas lifted from her shoulder and entered the cavern, his eyes probing the darkness even more surely than her own. If there were sentries or other obvious dangers, he'd let her know.
Seeing no obvious targets, she turned her head to the group.
"Keep your voices low once we enter the cavern. The waves cover our sound here, but echoes may carry our voices far once we are within the rocks."
With that, she moved inside, continuing to scout with her bow at the ready.
quote:
15:48, Today: Ilura rolled 9 using 2d6+2 with rolls of 3,4. Discern Realities.
+2 is for Thomas' aid while scouting. Forgot to include the +1 for my Wisdom, which takes it to 10 :)
"What here is not what it appears to be?"
"What is about to happen?"
"What should I be on the lookout for?"