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"I think its a shame." Locky gives a little semi frown, "You obviously have a pretty face, to cover it would be a waste." The Kender says, totally unaware of any of the social connotations behind the Veil.

"It is not our place to question the beliefs of others Locky." Jerrard says quietly, "Let us move before the sun sets and we are unable to reach our destination."

The gnome and kender together, with their gear, are considerably heavier than Imani and her gear alone. But the horse manages, and still moves at a faster pace than the two Greygem races would have on foot. Consequently, the party's overall speed increases and they start making better time. This is good, because the heat is unbearable.

After another hour and a half, the scene of the massacre comes into view. Dozens of fat vultures, too heavy from gorging on the dead, stand sentinel over the dessicated corpses of camels, horses, and humans. Jackals hover around the edges of the grisly scene, creeping in to steal morsels of meat whenever the opportunity presents itself. Other than that, there is no sign of life. The killers were brutal, if not efficient.

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Artemis is now at moderate encumbrance and moves at half speed.

It is now 105 F (40 C). For Babushka, it feels like it's 135 F (57 C).

Everyone but Babushka suffers a temporary -1 to STR, -2 to CON and -2 to hit in this heat. Babushka suffers a temporary -2 to STR, -1 to DEX, -4 to CON and -4 to hit in this heat.

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Locky makes three CON checks (1d20+1): 16, 7, 8. Locky takes 1 damage (temporary) from heat exhaustion.
Babushka makes three CON checks (1d20+4): 13, 8, 12. No damage.
Jerrard makes three CON checks (1d20+2): 16, 19, 19. Jerrard takes 6 damage (temporary) from heat exhuastion.
Ulster makes three CON checks (1d20+2): 18, 12, 9. Ulster takes 2 damage (temporary) from heat exhaustion.
Thuskar makes three CON checks (1d20+2): 22, 21, 15. Thuskar takes 6 damage (temporary) from heat exhaustion.
Imani makes a CON check (1d20+1): 12, 13, 19. Imani takes 6 damage (temporary) from heat exhaustion.
Dekker makes three CON checks (1d20+2): 4, 15, 14. Dekker takes 4 damage (temporary) from heat exhaustion.
Artemis makes a CON check (1d20+2): 14, 7, 9. No damage.

Babushka glides down from Artemis and, after giving Dekker a friendly pat, walks slowly around the perimeter, searching for clues where the attackers have gone.

1d20=14 tracking check just passed

Searching the outer perimeter of the scene, Babushka is ignored by the vultures entirely. If she gets too close to the jackals, they back away. Obviously, they are not willing to fight for any of this carrion.

Quickly, she finds some tracks--horse tracks--heading north by northeast. Looking in that direction, the gnome ranger spots some mountains in the far distance. Judging from the tracks, she determines that at least 10-12 of the bandits rode away from this battle. This means either the merchants did a far better job at defending themselves than expected, or Nejo was wrong about how many bandits there were.

She also finds the delicate, small footprints of a woman. From the looks of things, she was running from the camp when she was overtaken by a horse. The horse's tracks join the others, heading north by northeast. But there is something odd about the woman's prints that Babushka was not expecting.

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Babushka makes a tracking check (1d20): 14+2 desert, dry sand -5 for large group being tracked = 11, pass.

(Check your PM box.)

"This heat is." Jerrard pants hard, "Its unbearable." Sipping more of his water he groans. "So, Ambush, dead Guards and horses." He sums up the situation with dark look. "What do you see Babuskha? We are relying on you here."

Walking round to the bodies, is there enough left to ascertain how they died? I assume it was weapons, but is there any sign of magic?

Ulster sits down in the sand, pouring a little water on his face. "Yeah...what say after we save this princess, we go take a nice vacation in Icereach?"

Thuskar chuckles as he squats down and drinks heavily from his waterskin. "Sounds kind of nice. I really wish we had brought more horses with us," he laments.

Jerrard finds that when he tries to get closer to the carnage to ascertain more, the vultures become aggressive and territorial. They begin squawking and flapping their wings whenever the wizard gets too close. They are not about to risk losing this meal, which makes it impossible for him to get close enough to the corpses to learn any further.

Imani takes a few drinks of her water as well. Looking over the scene makes her stomach crawl, but she doesn't let it show. "Oh, I hope she is all right," she says softly. "Don't get too close to the vultures," Imani states to Jerrard. "They will attack if you get too close to their...food."

"Understood. I am no tracker, and they will not allow me to get closer without disturbing them." He steps back, feeling a little helpless, "I am sure she is find right now, if she is anything like you she has nothing to fear." The mage goes to place an arm on her shoulder but changes his mind, pulling it back sharply he strokes his beard.

"Those birds really are ugly aren't they?" Locky smiles, detached from the scene instead she hops down from the horse landing on her feet and gives Imani a hug around the waist. "Paladine is watching over her, I asked him to while we were riding, Babuskha will find the tracks and we will find her. Its that simple." The little Kender grins, totally unaware of any social protocol that might stop her hug.

Babushka examines the tracks very closely, frowns, looks again, then comes back to the group. She takes her waterskin out, drinking like everybody else, she seems deep in thought. Then she walks over to Imani and asks for a word in private.

"Is there a custom with your people to bind a woman's legs together, perhaps as a punishment if she wasn't »good«? I find footprints of a woman with bound legs trying to run from the camp, then being overtaken by horses and snatched away.

Imani, if there is anything special or unusual about your sister wife, please tell us. We are here to help you and her, and we need all the information we can get. If you do not tell us everything, possibly none of us will survive this."

Jerrard stays back, saying nothing as Babuskha talks to Imani.

Imani tenses up when the kender hugs her, but she gently returns the hug like she would a child. "Unfortunately, Syriana isn't anything like me," she says to Jerrard. Naturally, she knew that the two of them were just trying to help.

Turning her attention to the gnome, she raised a thin eyebrow. "No, as far as I know there isn't such a punishment," she says, sounding a little confused. "And why would I withhold any information on my sister wife when we are trying to save her?" she asks. "As far as I know, there isn't anything special or unusual about her."

Babushka laughs softly. "Yes, you are perhaps not consciously withholding information. But we are from a different country and don't know many things that every child knows here, so you won't think of telling us about them.

Do you have an idea why Syriana's feet were bound while she was still in the camp?"

The last question was not only for Imani, but for the whole group.

Ulster considers. "Hmm, didn't Nejo say the entire time the princess was kept in the sedan the whole time, under guard. Maybe they weren't protecting her, but...making sure she didn't try to escape?"

"What kind of sense does that make, though?" Thuskar points out. "Where would she run in the middle of the desert?"