Go ahead and give me your characters planned actions during the attempts to track your way back to the goblins trail. Keep in mind that you were running over a long distance chase at night, so things will look very differently in daylight and after a nights rest.

Elde Kon took note of various statues and pillars on the walk back, noting their similarity to the temple ruins the party is currently inhabiting.  That will get the party at least part of the way I'm sure.

After finishing a light breakfast with tea, Kon quickly washes up his cup and pot.  "So, about the path back.  I'm guessing we don't all remember the way?  As I said, the temple's ruins extend quite a ways out there into the marsh, so we can probably follow those part of the way...  We just need to find them again."

Haznut finishes cleaning and putting on his armor before he eats. “I can try to follow our tracks back at least part of the way. Neither us or the goblin we’re trying to cover them as we went.”

As he rinsed his cup off and passes it to Spirit to dry for storage, Saidou would exhale a deep sigh and think for a few moments. I think my size will come in handy here. Im a lot closer to eye level for any pathfinding trail sign the goblins may have left for navigation.

for Saidou, I'm planning to use as many of the goblin-sized escape paths as I can, following and looking for markings as I go.

How many Familiar abilities do I need to pick, since one will be used for speaking language?

The familiar gets a total of 2 abilities: https://2e.aonprd.com/Familiars.aspx.

The Witch gives it an additional ability: https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx?ID=16
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:50, Mon 23 Oct 2023.

"Shouldn't be too hard, we crashed through barrier after barrier, should be blood, mud, and debris showing our path, but is that path leading to where we want to go? The creep was well aware we were pursuing, I bet it wasn't leading us back to his cam, but just through every dangerous place he knew about."

“The goblin probably did lead us through hazards but eventually he’d head home. If that’s where their god is, it’s we’re they’d seek sanctuary,” Vostiun says as he gently strokes Sargon’s head. The cat is sullenly curled up and has been silent since last night.

"I agree," Kon chimes in, "while he certainly wouldn't want to run straight home, he would have been running for help.  The trip through the brush was merely to slow us down and prevent us from following him back.  We don't know how close we got, but if we retrace our steps from the trek back last night, I feel we can find clues as to where their camp is at the other end.  It will at the least be in keeping with our mission of mapping out the ruins."

"More to the point, unless I am mistaken, it's the only lead we have got." Samara searches through her Adventurer's kit to see if there is a hatchet or something in there that can be used to clear away brush.
Sighing, "Chalk. I have chalk. not going to do much againsh that brush. You know, I don't think the person who sold me this kit has ever been on an adventure in the wilderness."

“That way you can leave clues for the people who find your body. I mean think how helpful if the professor had left us some written clues that weren’t destroyed by goblins,” Vostiun says as he carefully deposits Sargon into his pack.

The car grumpily mews in response.

"Hey Vos, How is Sargon doing?"

“Sore,” comes a voice from out of Vostiun’s backpack. Vostiun for his part gestures at the backpack.

“Alright, let’s wrap up and get to it.”

Haznut will be tracking the goblins once it becomes relevant.

Saidou quietly packs his things away, seeming to carry on a commentary with Spirit as he does. His eyes have been lingering on details around him as he seems to be trying to restore some of the clues of their presence, from turning the bloody ground and masking it with leaf debris after, to cleaning up some of the projectiles from the night before. It actually looks, in some ways, that Spirit was directing him rather than the other way around, guiding him with knowledge into tracking.

[Language unknown: "Ntnoni all er lin ncetannd e noar Whiametra, Itiesa ... Ch lesomeounday uton whess seplei po ur larovetin ntiee roes ourus ounil ioncomwit, larrutdin. La es tontch i enca oernc ome taate pr esfi caivma tertinted pa ntos atndfi ... Ckel N ec korwhiorttin ta m ad om Eeceni. Ul and lolias potand wanc dimael n der undectwither adugh trna eimo u oulonsbut utnind, fo toie u ticbutearlesnce t hebe pr ivewaswit stasio thcon.]

Spirit will be helping Haznut with scent and tracking, to find the trail from before. Saidou will be studying the trails found, for more details, landmarks, and ruins left behind- and will be trying to keep a catalogued record of their path from the first shrine ruin on paper. Mapping.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:33, Sat 11 Nov 2023.

Kon rises, pack restored, ready for travel once again, "Alright, let's get moving.  I can help out with mapping as we go."

"Eventually, we will get to a point where the two paths diverge - The trail of their approach last night, and the trail we made pursuing them.  Which way will we go then?"  Samara takes position near the front, weapons drawn, ready to defend the party members who are concentrating on the trail.

Vostiun finishes gathering his pack and gently shoulders it when the others are ready to move out.

Vostiun is going to use the Detect Magic exploration activity to hopefully notice any active magic before we stumble into it.

As everyone is packing up for the journey, Haznut begins looking for tracks in the immediate area of the camp, the hope being to find the trail or trails that the goblins used to arrive at the camp as suggested by Samara. With Spirits help, he is able to locate two trails that deviate slightly from where the camp is.

It appears the goblins came into the camp from the north and then split, with one goblin veering towards the west side of the camp and the other to the east side. The goblin on the eastside was slain, wile the western one ended up being the one the party chased.

His exit trail headed north for a brief distance before veering off to the east, while the trail of the goblins advance on the camp looks to continue to the north. From this split the camp is less than a 100 feet.

Continue backtracking the incoming trail to the north or follow the exiting trail heading east?
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:43, Sat 11 Nov 2023.

“It looks like they came from the north and we chased the chased the survivor east. Do we want to backtrack them or follow the trail we took last night?”

"We know we spotted points of interest on the route of giving chase."

"I believe heading East is probably for the best.  We're here to take down notes and map out the ruins, we know there are ruins that way, and we know he was trying to escape in that direction.  Whether it's the long way around or not, we'll find the camp eventually."

"Well, breakfast is that way, but it's past the Wall of Thorns, the Quicksand Pit, the Chasm of Bottomless Sorrow, and... what was it? Was there Giant Ants? I can't remember."

"We don't know how long or where they were scouting before they found us. When it fled, did it know which was was home, and then try to lead us astray, or did it just flee in a random direction then head for home?"

"If I had to guess, I'd guess that it fled in panic, then headed for safety - I don't know how smart these things are, if it would have the forethought to conceal its base from pursuers."

"I think it's more likely it was headed to base than they headed straight here from base, so I say we follow its trail away from here.  The fact that breakfast is also in this direction is pure coincidence."

“East it is,” Haznut says and gets ready to head out.

Change of actions. Cover Tracks until we reach the point where we lost the goblin last night and then switch to Track.

Following the trail back the way they came proves to be slightly more difficult than they suspected. The fog and mist from the night soaked the ground and leaves, virtually removing any of the blood that was left behind. The terrain itself looks much different in the light of day for some, but Haznut manages to keep the party on the right path and avoiding the natural roadblocks.

By early evening the party finds themselves soaked, caked in mud, and a ruin is just visible ahead in the fading light of the setting sun.

The map is up on Foundry. To keep things flowing smoothly we'll be going by combat rounds.

Elde Kon is up.

"Hmm..." Kon puzzles as he looks off to the North and West, "It would seem the clearest avenue would be to just go across here approach from the South, but..."  He looks off to the North East and starts moving toward the nearby patches of surfaced ground, "Let's loop around."


Triple move (25ft x 3 = 75ft)
6 NE (5+10+5+20+10+20)

This message was last edited by the player at 18:20, Fri 05 Jan.