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[The river here is calm enough he should have no trouble crossing as described. The area Asani indicated is shallow enough to wade for human-sized peoples.]

Indendien nocks an arrow as she prepares to follow. Elden rushes ahead into the stream, anvil still attached. Fortunately the water is shallow enough his head and neck break the surface. The wild elf smirks at the human and waits for Nocturno to go before wading in after.

Suddenly Elden's head slips beneath the surface of the water as the human completely disappears! A moment later he comes back up, shaking his wet hair like a dog. Found a hole. Careful there. he says to the others, still grinning. Eventually the group make it to the shore. Upstream, Jordek slips in, chitt perched atop his head andtwitching about nervously. The forest cleric is able to half dog-paddle, half-float his way across; the current of the river cooperating with him for now.

Nocturno will toss Jordek an end of the rope from the raft.

"Here tie this off, don't need to lose you already."

He will start to cross, after Jordek starts to tie himself off.

=================

Ninja'd! You really are back!

[Good thing too :p the raft is on the other side of the island but it's ok. Characters without swim proficiency can navigate calm waters with effort via dog-paddle and dead-man-float]

Nocturno will watch, probably coming off condescending but will rush to aid the diminutive fellow if needed.

[Everyone made it across safely if there was any confusion]

[apparently lol]

"Well let's see if we can find this evil doer."

Jordek calls out to the rest of the party as he heads to the tree Indendien hit with an arrow earlier "Last I saw the person was beside this tree, we should be able to pick up a trail here"

[sorry for delays. been working overnights and busy days with other life stuff]

Indendien begins to search the area, and soon comes up with the trail. He does not seem to be very skilled at moving through the woods... a child could follow this trail. She gestures off into the woods.

====
[how and in what order would the group like to proceed?]

"Excellent! Would you care to lead the way?" He will say to Indendien.

"Jordek and Elden follow? I will bring up the rear."

With his training coming to use, Nocturno will feel settled after the "touch" of the Dryad.

Jordek nods in agreement to Nocturno's suggestion and turns to Elden "Let's see what we can do to help you move a little quieter while we travel"

[As they travel Jordek will be giving whatever advice or small pointers to Elden that seems to be appropriate, knowing that he used the human in some of his jokes lately this is his way of attempting to engage with the human to smooth over any ruffled feathers that may have risen.]

Elden seems about as adept at moving quietly as a sack of broken glass. Jordek begins to give pointers but eventually has to give up when practically every step the human takes lands amiss... Even the heavily armored Nocturno makes less racket; though only marginally so. Indendien follows the trail easily through the woods, though their prey has a head start and no need to move slowly.

The undead animals seem to have peeled off from the main trail in other directions. After an hour or so, the stink of decay and stagnant water reaches the group. Before long the trail leads them to an area of brackish water as the source of the smell becomes clear... a vast swamp reaching to the West. Swollen trunks of Cypress trees rise from the filmy liquid. Indendien points to the final marks as they lead straight into the murky muck. The trail ends here...

[picture not mine, from http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/ ... large2.jpg]

"Well damn..."
=====
Did the Dryad follow?

[The Dryad remained on her island]

Indendien nods. Swamps are dangerous places. Either our prey is foolish and will soon blunder into its own doom, or it knows this area far better than we... either possibility is not encouraging...

[If the others are in agreement, Indendien leads the group back to the riverbank near the island.]