As she waited for the bladesinger to decide–whether to hunt further or continue on their way–the huntress and cleric turned their conversation her way: “Seleninel,” Rosariel called, “Do you know much about this field of magic? The creation of things like these? Do you have any thoughts on why a mage would want to take these thing’s babies?”

Violence, clearly. She tilted her head toward Roasariel, “I prefer more… direct… forms of magic.” “These things seem unlikely to take direction . . . more for sowing chaos.” She looks contemplatively at the humanoid footprints. “That said, they are surely more valuable alive than piecemealed. Yet, such a pet would draw attention–for maker and owner alike.” Nodding at the splayed owlbear, “tamed or not, this is not everyday magic.” After another moment’s consideration, “such an auspicious mage would tend to draw attention regardless of such… questionable interests.” “Yet I’ve no knowledge of such a mage in these parts.” Her slate grey eyes return to the huntress’s. “Further evidence that they are not someone to cross without good reason.” Judging from Rosariel’s look, the existence of these creatures was reason enough. For her own reasons, Seleniniel was inclined to agree, yet she had spoken more than she cared to already.

Seleniniel looked back to the bladesinger, still listening contemplatively. She shrugs, “either way, it seems we’re done here.” Seleniniel follows Ruadhri from the cave, welcoming the warmth of the mid-morning sun and fresh air of Alloryen to the stink of rotting meat. 

I watch the massive bird fly down and look at how tall Dak is. We found Dak's new best friend Ruadhrí chuckles at his own joke before the raven begins a loud group of caws and Ruadhrí unclips his warhammer and moves up. Before he can tenderize this messenger of the dead it flies away.

"We should have killed it. Letting it run will only bring us problems" Ruaghrí squints at the now distant bird "The sindrians use scout crows, this could be something simular. Especialy if this person can tame Owlbears" Ruadhrí contemplates pulling out his sling before sense gets the better of him and he puts it away.

I turn to the rangers "Do you think you could hit it from here?" I question and gesture at the retreating crow. Ruadhrí turns to watch the bird no matter their answer and see what direction its heading as its onyx feathers glisten in the day light, another thing that confuses Ruadhrí as ravens are crepuscular

Quitting the cave was simple enough with investigation as complete as was possible. Isilmewen was full glad to be outside again, breathing deep of the fresh air to cleanse the unsavory smells from the owlbear den from her lungs. Every time she set foot outside dwelling, whether animal, Syl or otherwise, that first breath was always a reminder of the freedom offered by the wild.

After taking that moment to feel, Isilmewen's gaze turned to the ground. Amidst all the foot traffic, the group's included, it was a bit tricky to isolate the prints she was after.

"It's definitely been some time since they were here last," Isilmewen spoke as she looked around the nearby grounds, "For a blessing, that does mean that it's likely been long enough that they've no reason to suspect pursuit. But at the same time, that also means following will be harder. Rosariel, see anything amiss?"

[possible tag: Rosariel]

Between both their efforts, Isilmewen picked back up the trail, and honed in on the path. Isilmewen even took to following the footprints with her own, partially measuring the gait against her own, and partly because...

"This feels familiar," Isilmewen noted after a while of tracking, "In the sense that if I were traveling alone, I'd take similar footings. Whoever it is, they're no stranger to walking softly amidst the forest, even when alone."

[tag: Rosariel to point out that they're not alone because bear prints ] 

Isilmewen blinked at that, a sheepish look crossing her face as her focus didn't let her register the other prints as aligning. Now that her attention was brought to them, she quickly stepped over to examine them. She frowned a bit, "I'm not sure they're just bears," she mused.

"And they travel alongside them freely," Isilmewen didn't need to say more to know the others would pick up on how bizarre that was. 

For her own thoughts, she had to wonder, what did it take for an owlbear to accept a humanoid in such a way? Did they borrow the same scent, perhaps a manner of appearance as borrowing their feathers in their attire?

Many questions continued to fill Isilmewen's mind even as she helped the others with identifying a suitable location and setting up camp.

(a before-camp post, will add a camp and/or post-camp post as appropriate) 

The sun dappled through the canopy on the second day of their hunt–well, what had started as a hunt. Blood now cooled, the woodswomen muttered and tracked, consulting each other and the dirt, then onward again until some bootprint revealed some hint that, to her, simply meant more walking. For Seleniniel the hunt had long since devolved into another mundane march, the drudgery of which she escaped into her thoughts… They say these things are solitary, yet these aren’t–neither among their own or with this syl they apparently tolerate. They say they don’t linger long in one place… yet these clearly did. There’s an answer here… Magically wrought.. but.. from whole cloth? Could these be cursed souls bound to the form by some singular magic.. Hmm. Residual sentience might explain this. Or perhaps just beasts imprinted with their master’s will. She chewed at a frond from her satchel, juice long extracted. Even without the chemical clarity, it helped her focus as she chewed the thought too. Lycanthropy seems unlikely… but.. possible. Sarigraamin. If some new breed of shapeshifters is loose in Alloryen we’re  walking into more trouble than we’ve bargained for. She eyed the others, assessing their strength, as she often did, to her dissatisfaction. We need more firepower. Her gaze eventually settled on Ruadhri. He contentedly plodded along, occasionally offering a good natured comment to the Cid, but his hand was never far from the hammer. The Cid, too, traded quips but she noticed his eyes stayed on the treeline just beyond the narrow forest path. 

She saw his reaction to it before the bird itself. As the massive black dulin descended to leer at them with its unnaturally keen stare, then departed as abruptly in a squawk that sounded more ominous warning than mindless trill, her hand and mind began to form the gesture to blast the godsdamned thing from the sky, but too quickly it was gone behind the leafy woodland canopy. Ruadhri echoed her thoughts: “We should have killed it. Letting it run will only bring us problems.” She tried to catch another glimpse, but quickly realized the futility, though she curiously waited to see if either of the rangers’ skill… or hubris.. extended to blindly sending an arrow to pluck it from the sky. 

She turned to the bladesinger, watching too through furrowed brows. “I’d suggest we proceed as if whatever we’re hunting knows we’re here… I’m no tactician, but we’re in unknown territory facing an unknown foe.” “Perhaps let the Cid scout this time.” Seleniniel punctuated the last with a raised eyebrow, aimed at Dak, whose attention turned earthward having heard his mention.

[tag Dak and Arathea]

The conversation the clergy gathered from eavesdropping, even if unintentional, did not please her at all. Sylvari traveling into an Owlbear den made her think a couple things, but she still gave them the benefit of the doubt, hoping for an explanation. Sylvari openly traveling alongside the most vicious of creatures had far little explanation. Mae'rel was left with but one conclusion to draw, this person, whoever they were, was a wizard, who was almost certainly practicing magic in a way that was unfavorable to others. It seemed they had created these owlbears on purpose if they traveled into their nest, and alongside them.

The night was uneventful. Though she unconsciously found her way to the bladesinger once more by the campfire, offering a couple words. It was best if she formed an alliance with her allies, after all. "So what do you think, Madam Arathea? Surely this individual's intentions must be.. subpar to travel alongside an owlbear on purpose. At the least.. they're foolish and lucky. At the most.. they're breeding vicious beasts for some unclear reason."

[tag Arathea]

Mae'rel was no stranger to ravens and other black-feathered birds. Ravens were often treated as wicked, evil creatures, but the Monk knew better. Ravens were actually quite smart, cooperative, and compassionate creatures, as far as creatures went. She had a pet raven at a point, if it could even be called a pet. Though she had to admit, the behavior of this raven was strange, even for an intelligent bird. This failed to account for the bird's enormous size, and while it wasn't quite unnatural perhaps by a mage's definition, Mae'rel figured there must have been some tampering due to it's size.

"I’d suggest we proceed as if whatever we’re hunting knows we’re here… I’m no tactician, but we’re in unknown territory facing an unknown foe.” “Perhaps let the Cid scout this time.” The Mage said, and Mae'rel found herself agreeing with a silent nod. Her experience was limited, but she knew at this point, something was certainly off, between the Raven, the tracks, and the Owlbears.

In the owlbear’s den

It was hardly a surprise that, at his offer for one of the magic users in the party to inspect the amulet, it was Seleniniel who stepped forward and offered her austere estimation. “Mayhaps it’s no boon, Master Whisperfoot,” she glowered as she bent over him and scrutinized the trinket, “I’d hate for you to fall victim to a curse beyond my modest abilities to remedy.”

“I’m sure you would,” Dak replied from behind a dubious smirk as the wizard palmed the thing and played at assessing its arcane properties.

“Definitely magical,” she announced after the gibberish spell fell from her lips and her eyes opened, “but I’ll need to study it without these...” nodding at the carrion cave “…distractions to discover its purpose.” The Syl woman’s tight lips twitched up into some semblance of a smile (or, more aptly, a sneer) and, with a gentle tug, relieved him of the pendant to secret it away in her robes. “Best if I keep it safe, for now, Master Whisperfoot.”

“But of course, Mistress Isil’nari,” the Shawlin shrugged, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he lifted a brow to match hers, “Far safer with you than me should it truly be cursed, hmm?” Besides, he mused, giving a curt wave of his hand and letting his attentions drift back to the others as discussion of the owlbears and their creator/keeper continued, should I want or need it returned at some point, it’s not as if it would be too difficult to just ferret it back into my own pocket.

Once the conversations and conclusions came to an end, leaving Dak with a plethora of ideas and insights to muddle over on the next leg of their march, the troupe put the cave to their backs and dogged the tracks of the enigmatic Syl who had apparently walked among and with the monsters for quite some time. As they travelled, following Isilmewen and Rosariel in their trailing of the sporadic prints, the little thief maintained a scrutinous eye on their periphery, watching for signs of trouble more distant than the footprints they followed. No such worries assailed the party for the remainder of the march, though, and, while there was an underlying air of tension and disquiet around their camp that night, the sun rose on them the next morning with little having transpired aside from some fretful sleep.

Back on the trail

Having broken camp and set back out in pursuit of those mysterious tracks, it seemed, at first, that the start of this day would pass much like the end of the last. That presumption was quickly quashed though when the serenity of the woodland was sundered by the ominous beating of great black wings. Dak’s gaze lifted skyward and watched as an enormous raven plummeted through the canopy and settled itself imperiously on the path ahead of them. “Keithee’s nuts,” the Cid muttered as the bird’s head cocked to one side and fixed the group with an evaluating obsidian gaze, “That thing’s nearly as tall as I am… No ordinary dulin, that… ” His staff dipped to scoop a stone from the trail and into the sling. Before he could line up a shot and let the bullet fly, however, the raven squawked out a series of cacophonous caws and took flight northward, vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared.

“We should have killed it,” Ruadhri rumbled as the ebon-feathered bird disappeared into the forest’s shadows, “Letting it run will only bring us problems…”

“Problems are one thing we have in surplus,” Dak agreed, slinging the stone in the direction of the raven’s retreat, knowing it was unlikely to hit anything but a tree or the forest floor.

“…The Sendrians use scout crows,” the man-bull continued, “this could be something similar. Especially if this person can tame owlbears.”

“I’d suggest we proceed as if whatever we’re hunting knows we’re here,” Seleniniel interjected, drawing Dak’s gaze from the distant trees into which the bird had vanished, “I’m no tactician, but we’re in unknown territory facing an unknown foe. Perhaps let the Cid scout this time.”

“As if I’m more suited to tracking in these environs than Lala or Rosariel, there,” Dak returned, gesturing to the ranger and the huntress and quirking a brow of his own at the wizard, “Though, I suppose, if the thing snatches me up, the rest of you can follow my screams to wherever it takes me.” When the masked monk nodded in silent concurrence to Seleniniel’s suggestion, though, the halfling’s gaze skimmed over the remainder of the party. “Very well,” he rolled his shoulders in the semblance of a shrug, puffed out a faint sigh of resignation, and started off in the raven’s wake, “Quickly and quietly, hm? And remember, follow the screams…”

Arathea watched the tracks with great curiosity, now she was no expert in owlbear behavior and she did not ever intend to be, but she understand owlbears and people were not great working partners. The tracks showed a man walking side by side with these animals which had shown themselves to be incredibly aggressive, Arathea decided the most likely conclusionwas that the beast master was clearly an incredibly threatening force but decided to let it rest until there was more evidence, no point in overanalyzing footprints. Arathea kept her head cool until camp was reached.

Once it was decided upon to settle down fire was set up Arathea elected to spend her time running over The Eighty Nine Steps, at least until she was rudely inturrupted. The raven was not easy to ignore, it was a curious sight and she saw how it consumed the whole parties attention. The Bofir brought up the possibility of a Sendrian spy, which Arathea believed to be an interesting yet fairly unlikely theory

She nodded at Seleniels statement, "I suppose there is wisdom in letting the boy scout ahead in this case, as long as he doesn't stray too far and stays out of trouble." She looked down at the halfling, letting her hand down to pat his head. "Try not to die, alright? It would be a tragic affair finding someone to replace you, plus you're stature makes you a wonderful thing to rest my arm rest." She chuckled and turned her attention elsewhere, specifically to Mae'rel and her question.

"Well if you like making company out of monsters that seem to want to eat anything that moves I predict that whoever is their friend probably is not very pleasant." Her mind drifted back to the battle, another near death experience to add to her own story. "They're almost certainly malicious, which means I have a duty to stop them. Though I take it we all agree on that."

Isilmewen frowned as she looked at the bird. Though wariness may prompt the instinct to fire first, she hesitated. On the one hand, she understood Raudhri's words, but at the same time...

"If it is scouting behind, then not returning is as much a message as returning like it is right now," Isilmewen reasoned, "And on the offhand chance it is familiar to someone who could be called friend, I'd rather not have to explain its loss to them. That said, I'm in full agreement with Mae'rel. But as to how we go about this..."

"It'll take longer, but rather than scouting straight ahead on this trail to close the distance, we might instead consider traveling parallel while checking the trail on occasion to ensure our heading as we go, similar to the predator stalking elusive prey. As benefit, none of us will be headed straight into ambush if they indeed try to set something directed towards their tail and this exact path known to both them and us."

"I can check the trail as we go, and if we notice evidence of camp or settlement, then our friend Dak might be able to gleam information on our possible quarry without alerting them then" Isilmewen offered