The Church of Alvis

[OOC how much do I remove of my gold on my sheet or did they pay for it themselves?]

As Stavis leaves will bow to the owner "Apologies, may you and your family be safe and prosperous."

Once outside "Yes lets make with haste though be watchful of those coming or going to Brackton as whoever is at the mine is likely to have communications happening especially to be on the watch for us and the bishop."

Though probably to prove fruitless will be on the look out for any signs of others traveling the road.

Perception
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The money came from you and Trinal (who offered to pay) 20g each will suffice.

The snow on the road does have some tracks going up and down, but nothing recent as best you can tell.

(ooc: sorry, been busy and not watching the thread closely)

To the inkeeper, Trinal merely gives a sad smile and a nod as he leaves.

"Girded for the day, one hopes, my friends? Off we go."

So we begin our week long trek to silverdeep. Syric keeps his eyes open for bear tracks or other signs of ursine activity.

Perception
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Along the walk you do not notice any signs of recent bear activity.

So we walk on towards Silverdeep, stopping for a quick rest and food if the weather allows it before continuing on, trying to get the most of the daylight available. Once we find a suitable place to stop for the night we make camp and set watch.

Rinse and repeat

the party travels along the road. that generally slopes upwards while winding through the mountains on the way to Silverdeep. The mountains grow larger as you progress and thought of how small you are compared to them flutter into your thoughts from time to time.

Around day 3 (of 5) you notice a dead Drow elf hanging from a tree with the word "Warning" written in Elvish.

BTW in case it wasn't clear, spending the night in the trading post restored the lost healing surge.

Syric will walk up and investigate the tree with the drow head, carefully, looking for traps or any other information.

Perception
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[ooc] I know my roll is poor but I was just interested in how fresh it was, i.e. was it clearly meant for us or just a general warning. Does it look like Elves did this or is someone using their script to scare outsiders, i.e. were the blast points too accurate for sandpeople?

@Stavis Seeing the drow reminds you that this mountain range (which is thousands of Square miles) housed the main Drow Kingdom further south from your current position, as well as the Dwarven kingdom of Silvermoon. You wonder whether the Dwarven Kingdom's ruin has proved to be a boon for their old enemies in regards to territory gains.

Looking at the tree and the body in particular, you see that the drow was not hung, but likely died of bludgeoning wounds. The handwriting and the sign have traits which indicate the writer is not likely a native or highly fluent elvish speaker (mostly the verb tense is off from what you'd expect from a native speaker). The tree has no traps. It seems very much a warning to other drow.

Victae says "So I don't think this is personal to us. I think this is a warning to other Drow that these lands aren't theirs and that they should stay out. But that also means we should be wary of drow patrols. Seems like we leave one battlefield and into another way too much."

"Doesn't help that the underground is practically controlled by either the Dwarfs or Drow, which may well mean increased Drow influence here. So yes be wary of patrols but with the warning would suggest entering territory of some who are strong enough to combat any encroachment"

Stavis will step up closer to get a better look at the sign, paying little mind to the body "On second look with how poorly that's written doubtful the author was Elven but merely a curtsy to any Drow reading it, though not knowledgeable enough to know the Drowic version. So entirely possible not really meant for the Drow but to keep other out as a really patrol of Drow would see this as a challenge and insult."

"Best to be stealthy in our approach as I doubt the group will be friendly in any case."

"Indeed. Should we try to make our way overland off the road?" Trinal looks around. "I'm not sure that's practical, actually. The terrain may not allow it."

Just a quick side note, since the trading post Tony will be investing time each night working with Franklin and Richard doing weapon drills, talking about small until tactics and how to best integrate their skills into the party. I likely would have enlisted or would have at east attracted Victae's interest as well I assume, especially discussing tactics and the like.

If you want to RP any of that Joun let me know, but basically Tony is trying to take them under his wing a little to help ease them into both the party and the adventuring lifestyle in general.

Training montage: Tony is the encouraging tutor showing them a few things, and Victae is the never pleased drill sergeant yelling at them for the smallest mistake.

"Maybe travelling openly up the road would be safer then being found sneaking through the woods" Syric suggests.

When the pair plus anyone else head off to be about ten to fifteen minutes ahead, far enough to scout ahead but not too far for the group to catch up if necessary, Stavis will be mindful of any signs of recent activity or hidden checkpoints.

Stealth
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Perception
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