I stop in mid stride. There is a feeling that something isn't right. Something is in my home. My new cave home. " I can't leave just yet. Don't ask me how but I know that something has entered my hidden cave home. Nothing should be in there. I must check this out first. The two of you can go ahead and Ghost will lead me to you. Ghost, lets go. " I go to my horse and head towards my cave home.
Out of Character: Not in your cave yet but you know they have invaded your home which is the lake area and the ring of trees that surround it. The number of trees and the way they are spaced conceal the lake very nicely. Think of many rows of trees spaced in a way to hide the lake from view. Anything entering into the first ring of trees before getting to the lake itself will set your warning off.
I look at Den. " You two can come along. I figured you would rather head off on the quest. I think this might be some sort of danger. " I grow frustrated. " I don't know what to make of some of theses powers yet. You can see my home as well. No promises for how clean it is. I wasn't expecting guests. " I grin as we head out.
I raise an eyebrow, "Rachel, it seems we yet have a lot to learn of each other if you thought we would rather go gallivanting off while you faced probable danger on your own. Err, I mean mostly on your own. Frankly, if you didn't want us coming, I suspect you'd have to beat us off with a stick. Now, let us get moving before whoever this is disturbs something."
I'll grab a handful of berries on my way out the door, enjoying them as I make my way back to Morgenstern and the other horses.
Just before we leave I talk with the Sergeant of the Guard and explain challenge and password and running password. "Challenge and password is used at night when you can't see a person until they get up close. You can also use it during the day if you feel something is amiss. You challenge and if someone you know to be a friend gives the wrong password you know to be on guard How does a challenge of Griffon followed by a response of Dragon sound? Running password is if we come back this way running, or at a gallop because we are being chased by something or someone. We would yell that at the top of our lungs so you know we are trying to enter and something bad is chasing us. My team in the Army used to use Cadillac… which is to hard to explain and also probably too hard to remember since it is foreign. I recommend we use Hippogriff. Do you agree to do this and, if so, do these terms sound right to your ear?"
As we ride out I urge caution, "If you sense something amiss I fear we may have a fight on our hands. This time I urge extreme caution. Once we get close we may want to tie our horses somewhere and approach on foot, quietly. Surprise in any encounter is always a plus and those that get it often have enough of an advantage at first to win out."
"Welp, in that case… " I pull out the red cloth, lay it across the swell, and spend the next minute or so muttering over it. I then hand it off to Dennis. "That will remain charged with a Cure Minor Wounds cantrip for an hour. Like I said before, just will it to work while the cloth is touching the wound. It should be enough to stop someone bleeding out at least"
"Incidentally, if you can get me a minute or two of advance warning on what kind of creature we face, I can stick a Bane property on my own crossbow. Turn it from an okay weapon into a great one."