1. The hunt ends?

[Pulpatoon]

Oelle drops and scoots.

[Spartakos]

Bedwyr crouches and moves forward on all fours, looking rather spider-like with his long limbs; when he is closer, he unslings his sword so the hilt doesn't stick up, and tries to get a peek over the crest of the hill.

Naturally, he will try to avoid being seen.

[mb.]

As you join Neff, squatted just below the peak of the hill, he points ahead, "a body." Cautiously peering over the rise, you see it too: a large man in chainmail, lying face down on the river bank. His dark blood stains the water, a large sword lies in the mud nearby, and the hand of his severed arm is still wrapped around the grip.

Neff looks to you and shrugs. What do you do?

[KingOfCowards]

Boggs whispers to the others, "This seems an odd place for a swordsman. Might be a trap.""
Is there ample cover for Boggs to sneak up closer to the body? Boggs will look for a trail of trees, bushes, or stumps to hide behind in an attempt to traverse the distance between the hill and the riverbank unnoticed.

[mb.]

There's lots of cover – bushes and trees everywhere. It's no problem (no roll necessary) to remain relatively well hidden as you get closer, but to get close enough to examine the corpse you'll have to come out in the open, since the river bank is relatively clear of brush and trees.

[Pulpatoon]

From their position of cover, Oelle looks intently at the corpse, looking for any signs of life (just in case), or indications of what happened to the man.
Discern Realities [2d6+2] = 6+2 = 8

[mb.]

On an 8 you can ask me one of these questions:

What happened here recently?
What is about to happen?
What should I be on the lookout for?
What here is useful or valuable to me?
Who’s really in control here?
What here is not what it appears to be?

[Pulpatoon]

What happened here recently?

[Spartakos]

Bedwyr unslings his bow and nocks an arrow; he looks down at the fairly shoddy weapon in his hands and thinks wistfully of his old longbow, which made this one look like a toy.

Seeing Boggs steeling himself to head down there, Bedwyr signals him and gestures with his bow, indicating that he will be providing cover.

[mb.]

What exactly happened here you can't be sure, but judging by what you can see – rent chainmail, churned mud on the bank, his arm which appears to have been ripped, not cut, off – this swordsman lost a fight against something wild. As far as you can tell from where you're crouched, he's definitely dead, and whatever killed him is nowhere to be seen. To know much more, you'll have to get closer.

[ooc]That's not really a Discern Realities answer, because Discern Realities requires more than just looking from a distance:

[quote]To discern realities you must closely observe your target. That usually means interacting with it or watching someone else do the same. You can’t just stick your head in the doorway and discern realities about a room. You’re not merely scanning for clues—you have to look under and around things, tap the walls, and check for weird dust patterns on the bookshelves. That sort of thing.[/quote]

And for some reason the [] codes aren't working. Odd.[/ooc]

[KingOfCowards]

Boggs nods to Bedwyr, then begins moving towards the body using cover from trees and bushes. He crouches behind a rotted stump of a tree, as close to the riverbank as he dares go and holds his breath to listen for danger before daring to poke his head out to get a look at the body. How close can he get to the body before he runs out of cover? I am assuming its not qualifying for a discern realities result yet, but he will look around/listen for signs of trouble before moving closer.

[mb.]

Boggs: you move as close as possible without leaving cover, which is about six feet from the body. From this vantage you can see a few things that surprise you...

Firstly, it's a woman, her fine features drained pale and contorted in pain and surprise, half submerged in the mud of the bank. Secondly, she's an elf. Other than that, you see she's carrying a leather duffle over her shoulder, wearing a broad leather belt tooled with intricate floral patterns, and lying in a large patch of mud stained dark where her blood drained through the gruesome hole where her right arm used to be. Flies buzz happily around the wound, but the forest is otherwise still. Her arm lies a few feet from her body, hand still tightly wrapped around the grip of a fine looking sword.

Bedwyr: as the party's elf, you're the expert. How does the average elf look? Do they differ from the stock standard fantasy elf, and if so, how?

[Spartakos]

Elves are of a similar height to humans, but are considerably slimmer, and have a lower body fat ratio. Their ears are large and pointed, with minimal lobes, and their eyebrows and cheekbones are very pronounced. Their hair is very straight, and often grows with a strong widow's peak; it is usually a fairly metallic color, gold or silver or copper, but occasionally pure white or black. Elves have no hair except for what grows on their heads. Their skin is quite fair, and they do not suntan or sunburn easily.

That's all I've got right now, and it honestly doesn't differ too much from your average "fantasy elf".

[KingOfCowards]

Boggs will slowly creep closer to inspect for signs of danger, possibly tracks of what creature attacked this elf, where it came from and where it went.

[mb.]

As a city thief born and bred, what you can tell for sure is there are some large paw prints – each about the size your hand with fingers outstretched – of something heavy in the mud around body, and they lead away from the water into the bushes. You also notice a large gash across the elf's ribs under her remaining arm, by what looks like large claws...

[Pulpatoon]

Oelle scoots forward to join Boggs and examine the body.
Discern Realities [2d6+2] = 10+2 = 12
TELL ME EVERYTHING!

[mb.]

Please see this post and give me some tasty, tasty fiction.

[KingOfCowards]

As a city thief born and bred, what you can tell for sure is there are some large paw prints – each about the size your hand with fingers outstretched – of something heavy in the mud around body, and they lead away from the water into the bushes. You also notice a large gash across the elf's ribs under her remaining arm, by what looks like large claws...

Boggs feels a little safer that nothing from the water is about to jump out at him. He beckons Bedwyr to come closer with a wave of his hand. We might need a forest elf, born and bred, on this case.

Boggs will impatiently wait for Oelle to check over the body before looting the corpse. Now that the thief's safety seems to be intact, financial benefits are the next thing on his mind.

[Pulpatoon]

Pulling a couple tools from his medical bag so that he can poke and prod the figure without having to touch it (at least, initially), Oelle begins with a cursory medical examination, looking for what condition the elf was in prior to combat, what killed her, and as much as he can about the circumstances of the death. After the initial examination, he will set aside the tools and, requesting Boggs help, manipulate the body for a more thorough review. He will roll the body over and inspect under the clothes.

[Spartakos]

Seeing Boggs and Oelle poking around in relative safety, Bedwyr stows the arrow back in his quiver and reslings his weapons, heading down to join them. He gestures impatiently for Neff to come as well.

Once there, he is willing to assist Oelle in his examination of the corpse; in contrast to his comrade's caution, he heedlessly pulls the duffle free of the body and hands it to Boggs to rifle through. He examines her blade with a critical eye, and if she has a scabbard he will appropriate both.

He will examine the body and the immediate area around it, as well, and will direct Neff to look about as well. If Boggs points out the prints or Oelle describes the wounds, he will use his forest lore to try and take a guess at what kind of critter we're dealing with.

[2d6-1] = 7-1 = 6 Discern realities
[2d6+1] = 3+1 = 4 Spout Lore
I am so terrible at this...