00. Intro: Garth & Shannigans [Nuke66 & Stonjuz]

[dmw71]

Shannigans ambles over to the base of the tree and readies himself for a climb. Garth provides him with a boost and Shannigans, eventually finding himself standing on Garth's shoulders, is able to get close to the strapped in form. Even at his new height, with the two of you combined standing barely nine feet, Shannigans must fully extend himself to reach the motionless body if he wants. Otherwise, Shannigans does see where the binding is fastened and believes he could undo the knot without much effort.

[Nuke66]

"Sure thing " Garth approaches the tree and clasps his hands together forming a cup. Bending at the knees he offers a boost. After, he looks to see if he can climb up as well.

[Stonjuz]

"Cant... reach ....it . Closer to the tree....wanna try something, and watch out.... in case it falls". Taking the blade from his mouth and moving it back to its sheath, Shannigans braces himself to the tree, points, then wiggles his finger a bit and casts his favorite cantrip on the binding.... "Untie".

[dmw71]

The minor magic passes through Shannigans as he focuses on the knot fastening the body to the tree branch. Upon completion of the casting, the knot begins to magically unravel. The rope loosens around the body, causing its arms to fall and dangle to the side. Its weight slowly begins to shift and the body begins tipping to one side... and tipping... and tipping.

The body reaches the tipping and comes crashing to the earth below, landing face down.

---

Stonjuz, nice usage of a cantrip! (+50xp) Please update your character sheet to reflect its casting.

[Stonjuz]

"Well if it wasnt dead before...", the halfling takes up his bow with arrow and watches the perimeter, in case the predator returns.

[Nuke66]

Garth tends to the fallen body (assuming it was humanoid) to see if it were still alive.

"Yea, well, we'll see."

[dmw71]

Shannigans quickly ambles his way down off Garth and readies his bow, watching the perimeter of their surroundings to make sure the thud of the body falling didn't attract any unwanted visitors. Garth tends to the fallen body, a human, and quickly is able to determine that whomever it was has passed.

The man was apparently stripped clean before being hoisted into the three. No armor. No weapons. No supplies. The only thing this man has are the clothes he was wearing, empty pouches left attached to his belt, and a lengthy necklace dangling a simple pendant which you suspect to be a religious symbol of some kind.

The source of the blood is a long gash in the man's left arm. It was crudely bandaged, but from the amount of blood that seeped through the coarse bandaging, you suspect the man simply bled out. The fact that the wounds look relatively fresh and the body is only now starting to stiffen, you suspect whatever happened, happened fairly recently.

[Stonjuz]

Why would prey be hoisted such? An animal could drag food up into a tree, but not tie it off. If bandits are to blame, why not finish the job and take that luck pendant, and why would they bother hoisting at all? Shannigans' whispered questions to the elf only lead to more questions in his head.
What if he tied himself up there? ...to avoid the ground. His attention scan now turns to include their immediate vicinity for signs of earth shifting as the halfling goes quiet.

[Nuke66]

"Aye, I do not believe he was hoisted, but he climbed and tied himself off before he bled out." Inspecting the would on his arm, Garth remove the bandage and tries to determine if it was done by blade or claw.

"So, there was a fight. This man and another fought something to a draw. The foe fled, and this man's partner drug him to here and left him. I'd guess he was alive when he was tied to the branch." Garth stands and begins to look around, wondering which direction he left in.

"Me thinks he went for help, which would mean that he will be returning."

Garth spreads about ten yards away and begins to circle the tree looking for tracks.

[Stonjuz]

Shannigans watches the druid encircle the area, but begins to clear out sticks and stones near the human for a more respectful place for the body to be laid. After rolling the human into the cleared spot and ensuring that the man's eyes are closed,he begins straightening the legs and arms making the dead more restful. After a quick appraisal of the pendant, the halfling lies it in proper place on the chest of the fallen.

[dmw71]

Garth deduces that the gash in the victim was inflicted by blade, not claw or other natural weapon. He rises, surveying the area for tracks and, while no actual footprints are detected in the hard earth, he suspects a disturbance in some of the ground-level foliage indicates someone (or something) has traveled in a northern direction from their current location.

Shannigans prepares a makeshift resting place for the victim, taking a moment to study the man's pendant. He is of the opinion that it doesn't have any real value, aside from the potential faith-based courage or peace it may have bestowed.

[dmw71]

Excellent roleplaying by both for your first 'encounter.' (+100 xp each)

Do know that I won't always be so liberal with my disbursement of experience points, but you've been a good group. You stumbled into an admitted odd situation and I'm impressed with how well you've played it.

[Stonjuz]

As the elf's body language signals that the trail continues north, Shannigans turns from the dead and readies his gear and hustles to the druid's position. "Leaving the dead?" More so stating the obvious, than asking rhetorical, the halfling thinks about the man..."no other signs of animal around, maybe he will still be there later"
"Alert someone for a proper ceremony?" Once again, not really expecting an answer.

[Nuke66]

"That's the idea, but not so sure who we'd run into would be friend or foe." Garth follows the trail a bit, looking at the vegetation for signs of passage.

"Well, he went this way", pointing north, "At least for a while."

"I assume your woodcraft is rather honed, can we go quietly?"

[Stonjuz]

Shannigans gives the tried and true signal for silence. A single finger pointed up, directly in front of the lips.

ooc : LOL, i first imagined and almost typed in the 'zipper' signal

[Nuke66]

The pair continue north, following the sign as best he can, expecting some one coming toward them. Trying to maintain silence, they move forward.

[dmw71]

The two begin to quietly follow the path left behind by... whom (or what) ever had left the scene alive. Still not sure what to really expect, the two privately wonder what they're getting themselves into as they head north, protecting themselves against the potential return of that which they're following.

The further they progress, the less obvious the path they're following becomes, but suddenly, off in the distance, they believe they hear the sound of water.

[Stonjuz]

Shannigans moves off to Garth's left, hoping to increase the sensory field the two share and he will do his best to hear the differentia in any noise from the sound of water.

[dmw71]

The water sound you hear is faint and no discernible difference is detected at this point despite your best efforts.

[Nuke66]

As the trail evaporates, Garth continues toward the sound of water. He stops at the edge of the tree line, not exiting cover.