1648: Stranded in a Foreign World IC

[Metastachydium]

Averting her gaze and closing her eyes as tightly as she can Qamar takes a cautious little step back upon hearing Samuel's welcome warning. At some level, she's certain it would be useful to see what he sees, but she really doesn't want to know any more about this than she absolutely must. Accordingly, the suggestion that the bodies should be burned draws a series of quick nods from her… Until the point when she realizes that the resulting smell would be even harder to shield herself against.

[JbeJ275]

Only some of the bodies have these poolings of blood around them, with others instead lying dead with no clear wounds. Most of the wounds are clean though, with a few bearing shallower cuts around the hips instead.

The wagon is devoid of any clearly supernatural influence, and was left almost untouched by the Jannisaries. It seems to have craashed in a more mundane way, as if from the horses and driver paniking and crashing. There's no sign of any bodies around it, but blood has stained some of the wheels and the side of the crashed form there.

When looking inside, you do note that several large crates it would have once been carrying inside it have been disturbed greatly, looking like they were pried open and whatever was inside (Ahmend claims it was likely tax revenues, weapons taken to the capital from local forges and various written reports) is no longer there.

[Toliudar]

Prudence

Prudence gratefully accepts one of the containers of holy water, and then hopes that she won't need to use it.

Trusting Qamar and Samuel to learn what there is to know about the bodies themselves, Prudence stands back to look at the scene as a whole. Were the travelers' weapons drawn, dropped or still in their holders? Had they all been facing the same way, or had they been surrounded? Are the bodies close together, as if they stood together against multiple enemies, or spread out, as if they were fleeing a single pursuer? Are the pools of blood about the right size for someone bleeding out, or perhaps less or more?

"Interesting that the spirits were interested in the people, but not the horses, which seem to have escaped or been rescued by the soldiers. And as you say, Qamar, a cut on the neck very much suggests that the spirit can either take on firmer form, or else had an ally. Well spotted."

Spoiler: OOC

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I never know what to roll for these kinds of things. Search? (1d20+6)[24]

[JbeJ275]

Spoiler: Prudence

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Two have weapons still in their holders, the rest tend to have dropped them, mostly close to where the lay though, as if they dropped them while being attacked rather than dropping them and then turning to run. They're mostly looking in the same direction, but many look as though their bodies were facing another direction and they turned to face a new direction before dying. There seems to be a cluster of soldiers who died together in the centre, and the fading rings out from there. Interestingly, there is a pattern with those in the middle bearing no clear cause of death apart from knife wounds that seem to have been inflicted post mortem and being totally untouched by even the first steps of decay, while those on the outside tend to have been finished off with knives and have started to decay, if slower than you might have expected. The pools of blood around the outside are smaller than you'd expect, and while you don't have much expieirence with he cutting of throats you expect that they'd thrash around more than these men seem to have.

You also spot a series of footprints, created by someone wearing something over than the standard issue Jannisary boots leading off onto a deer trial that heads towards the coast, through the nearby wood.

[Metastachydium]

A small smile appears on Qamar's face for a brief moment upon getting complimented, but it's quick to disappear. A-an ally? I mean, how? Why would anyone, like, team up with… Qamar bites off the end of her sentence and even quits shuffling backwards for a moment to try and concentrate. Some dark thought is clawing at the back of her mind; but she's not quite sure she has the right words to properly circumscribe it. Nevertheless, she dives deep into her memories, messy and disorganized as they are. The answer might be there, after all.

Spoiler: Rolls.

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Knowledge (arcana): (1d20+7)[20];
Spellcraft: (1d20+2)[19]; Qamar has some semi-formal schooling, so she'll try to remember any group, tradition, spell and whatnot that might have something to do with this.

[Thundercracker]

Samuel attempts to see any magical signatures in the area.

Spoiler

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detect magic.

[Toliudar]

Prudence

Rising from her inspection of the overall pattern of the bodies, Prudence waits politely as her colleagues complete their examination.

"It would seem that there are two forms of killing at play here. The soldiers in that grouping died quickly, and without an obvious cause. The others, further out, bled some but not as much as you'd expect.

"There are a set of footprints heading off along a trail toward the water. If there is a mortal ally, or at least a physical one, I think that we should follow that trail and see if we can find them. But only after you've both completed your examination of the scene here."

[JbeJ275]

Spoiler: Qamar

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There are several possible answers, clerics of various evil gods, as well as some arcanists can command or create undead with magic. But that magic is complicated enough that it couldn'tt realistically have been figured out so quickly by the natives, not unless it was old knowledge once forgotten. Or perhaps others coming from other planes? But if it's locals it'd have to be those unable to command the undead but working alongside them without magiccal affinities. While some undead are mindless others are fully intelligent and capable of making complex decisions and choices, though they often tend to be driven by a singular emotion to the exclusion of all else.

Spoiler: Samuel

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Any magical signatures within the area have since faded back to the slowly rising natural levels in this world.

[Thundercracker]

Samuel

"It's also possible there were two groups who attacked, one right after the other. Those cuts about the hips, perhaps made by some smaller creature," Samuel said, "also someone covered the bodies and took the goods, probably the soldiers sent to recover it."

"I don't see any traces of monsters, so maybe we're better off following that trail to see what we can see for now," Samuel said.

[Metastachydium]

I don't know. Qamar shakes her head ever so slightly while wringing her hands quite frantically, her eyes still closed. It's… I know that's our best bet, kind of, b-but… she purses her lips pausing for a moment. But I've been thinking. If those, those things with the red eyes and no body were made or brought along or, I don't know, used by someone from… From home, like us, that, well, that's bad. Really bed. It… she unclasps her hands to draw a couple of vague circles in the air. That'd take a very strong mage, a lot stronger than… Than even you two or one of thiose clerics that wield death a-and boss dead things around, however that may work. The green elf wishes Darius were still with them; he could tell, she's certain of that. He served the gods and they talked to him. But Darius stayed in the City. That was clever and lucky. She should have stayed as well.

Clenching her fists again, she dismisses the thought. Even if Samuel and Prudence didn't need all the help they can get to figure this out, she would hate to travel this road all the way back to Istambul. She's stuck here, effectively; she may as well try to make herself useful – as useful as she gets, anyway. I don't really like the, the other option, either. she continues. If it's just… I don't know, some nobody with a knife from… From somewhere here, that'd mean those things are smart, they… They plan and give orders and they can talk with, with the Turks. she is still to consistency manage that herself! Oor… she adds, drawing out the vowel and rolling her right shoulder with a dry crack. It has, I don't know, something like those charms I have. Maybe something stronger, even.

[Toliudar]

Prudence

Prudence nodded slowly. She appreciated how differently their three minds worked. That might contribute to keeping them alive, if they were lucky. Even if, sometimes, she had trouble following the exact trains of thought.

"Right. Let's keep those theories coming, but I don't think we have enough information to settle on one."

She pulled out out of her satchel something she hasn't touched since the battle on the ship, a slender bow that would likely be useless against spooks, but might discourage an everyday opportunistic human being.

Spoiler: OOC

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Leading the way down the trail. With bardic knack, Prudence does her best with spot (1d20+3)[13] and survival (1d20+2)[10] to succesfully follow the footsteps.

[Metastachydium]

R-right. Right. Qamar repeats Prudence's word uneasily, as she moves to follow her, her fists clenched, her arms pressed tightly against her sides, watching the sky instead of her own step and recoiling with a nauseous shiver each time a toe of her boots bumps into something. This is going to be a long day.

[JbeJ275]

After following the trail for some time, you quickly come to the realisation that it's been used for hauling other things about on accasion, from scuffmarks against the ground or nearby foilage. Further, along you come to a small campsite, with what was once a firepit left abandoned, and signs marking a temporary shelter being built then left behind. This later deviates onto a seperate path, but at this point you've seen enough partial prints to match the full pattern of the boots.

After nearly an hour of further tracking down game trails, side roads and through a few open spaces you approach the shore, while in many places here it's made up mostly of cliffs, here there's a small inlet with a tie-point where a small rowaboat might be tied up, and a series of creates scattered around the inlet. There's also some points showing clear mrks of fires strted here and allowed to burn put, all relitively recently.

[Metastachydium]

Qamar gulps and murmuring something while nervously vawing a finger towards each of her companions, peeks out from behind Samuel's back to see the ominous little campsite before them. So, um, we're not going any closer. she mouths, hoping her spell worked well enough and the others hear her sound amplified to an agreeable strength in their ears. Are we?

Spoiler: OOC

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Qamar's scared enough to do the reasonable thing and casts Message; it will be active for the next 40 minutes.
She also instinctively tries to detect anything that looks more alive (or undead) than a crate:
Spot: (1d20+1)[6]
Listen: (1d20+1)[10]

[JbeJ275]

Nothing of that nature is immediately obvious. Nor is the recent presence of such a thing. This looks less like a currently inhabited camp and more that has been left alone such that others might be able to use it later.

[Thundercracker]

Nothing of that nature is immediately obvious. Nor is the recent presence of such a thing. This looks less like a currently inhabited camp and more that has been left alone such that others might be able to use it later.

“What do you think happened… the caravan was robbed by pirates who sailed away from here maybe?” Samuel asked. He pondered what else might lead to the scene they see before them.

[Metastachydium]

Qamar's eyes narrow as she tries to make sense of what Samuel's just said. Like… Like the lion people? I'm not sure I follow. she whispers through the Message link, even more confused than before. I mean, that's… They can't have the magic that'd take, right? she ponders (none too) aloud further. Or you think… You think that's two things? Two groups, I mean. The dead ones and… I don't know, bandits or pirates or whatever looting the site once… she gulps. The sight and smell of the bodies scattered around the road resurfaces in her mind, and then, that of the lion pirate on the deck, his face gone. She closes her eyes and shifts back half a step, a wave of nausea washing over her again.

[Thundercracker]

Qamar's eyes narrow as she tries to make sense of what Samuel's just said. Like… Like the lion people? I'm not sure I follow. she whispers through the Message link, even more confused than before. I mean, that's… They can't have the magic that'd take, right? she ponders (none too) aloud further. Or you think… You think that's two things? Two groups, I mean. The dead ones and… I don't know, bandits or pirates or whatever looting the site once… she gulps. The sight and smell of the bodies scattered around the road resurfaces in her mind, and then, that of the lion pirate on the deck, his face gone. She closes her eyes and shifts back half a step, a wave of nausea washing over her again.

“Yes, it could be, the caravan was attacked by monsters and then a second group arrived, maybe led by survivors of the attack, to loot the wagons,” Samuel said.

[Metastachydium]

Survivors? the green elf shudders. I know I wouldn't go back there after seeing those… Those things at work. Though still queasy, she cautiously half-opens her eyes to peek out from behind the man again. So, um, what do we do now?

[Thundercracker]

Survivors? the green elf shudders. I know I wouldn't go back there after seeing those… Those things at work. Though still queasy, she cautiously half-opens her eyes to peek out from behind the man again. So, um, what do we do now?

"Not sure, the trail seems to end here," Samuel said, "let's at least check the crates first, and search for signs of any wounded like bloody bandages and the like."

Spoiler

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(2d20)[11][16](27)

[Metastachydium]

Qamar gulps again, but follows it up with a silent nod this time. She's not going to argue, and she's definitely not going to stay behind all on her own while the others take a closer look at the campsite. Pulling out her wand of Mage Armour very slowly, she gets ready to follow, wherever she's led.

[JbeJ275]

There are some bandages and other mundane medical supplies in the camp, but they seem stockpiled here but unused.