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Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 A Crone, A Marquis & Missing Medallion RPG - Page 62

Mina looks around the slaughter with an uneasy feeling. She whispers, mostly to herself, "This doesn't seem right. It's so blatantly out in the open."
Mina tries to think back to when the men came back to town. She wonders to herself why these three remained alive once again after a second run-in with "The Brigands". Especially since this meeting seemed so bloody.
She speaks out to the others, "Does any of this seem odd to the rest of you? Three workers for Goatshearer have twice been encountered by assailants, and have lived both times? Also, from their story earlier, it seems the attackers knew they were coming this way as to set up a trap. And yet, these three live, again? Something is wrong with this. Can we look to see where the goods went in the carts? Can we try to discern how many foot tracks there are? Let's look around the bushes for the archers and the path here for the swordsmen that they claimed were here."


With that Mina walks the path looking for the swordsmen shoe prints in the ground.

(Out of Character: looking for shoe prints and how many tracks- I'm guessing it's spot or Survival? Spot check:11+7=18, Survival check 4+9=13)

RPG Medallion Missing and Marquis Crone Dragons and Dungeons

"Yes, yes! Lets us finds the Bandits! We musts avenge these poor souls." Ferrin bends down to look at the ground as well, quickly wandering in meandering circles in hopes of finding something.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 A Crone, A Marquis & Missing Medallion RPG Archive Pathfinder / D&D

Spotting tracks on the road's stone pavement is an easy task. You can see footprints everywhere. The soil on both sides is now starting to dry but this morning was still quite wet, judging from the amount of mud prints left by the men's boots. Looks like they were not concerned about stepping on the blood pools either: all around is a mosaic of brown and red marks. You can also recognize the trails left by the wagons' wheels.
Seeing the tracks is one thing, following them is a totally different matter. Both Mina and Tomas realize that following the footprints brings them to walk in circles. Also the wheel marks apparently go in two different directions: north and south of the road. The thin grass that flanks the Southern Road has been stomped all around and doesn't provide more clues.
All looks quiet now. Faruq examines the sparse bushes: few of them are big enough for a man to hide and is very unlikely that they could have given shelter to the big number of feet that stepped on the road.... An ambush is not an option.

Page 62 RPG Medallion Missing and Marquis Crone Dragons and Dungeons

At the Ranch:

Ja'laron looks at the commoner sitting on the barrel. The man sits quietly, enjoying his dried tobacco roll while his legs swing back and forth few inches from the ground. He looks like a child sitting in the front yard of his parents house. He has a content expression on his face that makes him look...stupid. Ja'laron wonders if the guy already forgot about being involved in a slaughter only few hours before. While examining the strange peasant, the rogue mentally reviews the informations obtained so far.
As he imagined, all the shipments are set up at the stables. Zachary, the supervisor, is the man in charge of organizing them. Twice a week, on different days, two small caravans bring the carded wool to Loya and Nedo. Once a month, a bigger shipment is sent to the capital city, Sor.
The organization is standard: three wooden carts, pulled by mules, and eight men traveling on foot. No escort. Usually the men are armed with crude wooden clubs, more than enough to keep the unorganized bands of brigands at bay.
The route is not a big issue: there are only three big, stone paved, roads in all the Empire and reaching the destination is an easy task. Anyway, every shipment has a man in charge. There are three designated leaders but Ja'laron still doesn't know who they are. From what he heard talking to the other party members, Zachary should be one of them. There are also two "Second men", whose identity is also still unknown.
People were also talking about special shipments, involving five carts instead of three.

RPG Medallion Missing and Marquis Crone Dragons and Dungeons

Mina follows the shoe falls around in its circle and notices the others do as well as they are followed. She replies, "This does not look like an ambush, this looks more like a cover for naive townsfolk who would not look for such things."

Mina then sees the cart tracks split two directions and that the southern way was trampled over. "This is more than mere Highwaymen," Mina says.

On a hunch Mina starts to search again for foot tracks for anything that can haul away a cart other than Humanoid. She will see how far the tracks to the South are trampled and try to search there.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 A Crone, A Marquis & Missing Medallion RPG

While Krusten awaits the time for her meeting with the servant she tries to observe trends, the things people do and when they do it. She is especially interested in Abigail and her father, although she won't speak with them if he does see them she will observe.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Crone Marquis & Missing Medallion RPG - Page 62

Tomas states "The other set of tracks also headed along a parth to the north, I bet the main camp will be that way. So we must decide if we wish to follow to a smaller group of bandits to the south, or a large one north. Then again the south path could be a diversion."

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Crone Marquis & Missing Medallion RPG D&D / Pathfinder Archive - Page 62

Ja"laron continues to process all he has learned as he walks over to the man on the barrel.
"Mind if I sit awhile?"

Ja"laron doesn't smoke tobacco rolls, but he does carry a pipe (looks remarkably like that of his old boss) and he sits down beside him and lights it.

Ja"laron hopes to slowly work his self into a conversation with the man as he rolls into trying to fish for information.

"Names, Ja"laron, yours?"

"So, tell me what is going on here? I have been part of shipping companies before but nothing like this." Pointing around with his pipe.

Using his charisma, bluff, and gather information to find out what this guy is thinking and about. He tries to avoid showing any leanings towards his employer or the workers. More of its just me and him and it's an odd dangerous world.