[Oct 27, 2019]

Having spent their night gambling (Shael Ash), and the morning shopping (Aneirin e'Mylel)- among other things left mysteriously unmentioned (Ceiba Lanael, and Mala'kai Avirotka), the ragtag group of new and old friends find themselves gathering for a quick lunch together at the Wanderer's Tale in the small village of Keskala.

The inn greets them with a warm and pleasant atmosphere- a welcome relief from the coldness outside; inside, it appears busier than usual, their fellow villagers likewise attempting to escape the cold rainy season mist that cloaks the village outside. Still, they're able to take their customary spot by the only public fireplace, located near the back of the inn's tavern hall- exchanging a friendly nod with Marleana Boreman, the tavern's owner, before taking their seats.

As they wait for their lunch, they talk amongst themselves. In the background, a toddler- about 6 years or so- feeds Mal's cat companion Rashara scraps from her own stew. Mal takes the action lightheartedly and encourages her. Eventually their own lunches of Pheasant stew, light Ale, and bread is delivered, however- placed by Nazrani Bormann, the daughter of the Inn's patronesses- and they turn to discussing the day's plans.

Quickly, group discussion focuses on the map that was given to them by Marlena Bormann, the Inn's owner, after they helped her catch a thief that had stolen an heirloom ring from her; setting the map in the center of the table, Ceiba examines the map for any discernible markers that can be used to figure out where the ruins Marlena informed them of are located. Meanwhile, Shael attempts to find the easiest route using roads- instead of cutting straight north through the Donesh Dry Forest as was originally suggested my Marlena when she gave them the map.

Ceiba is tired of inactivity and wants to go- a sentiment which Aneirin echoes. Mal believes that because they got the map together, then they should explore the ruins together as well and split anything they find equally. At this point, Ceiba suggests looking it to see if there's anything good, then selling the map to someone like an Archivist. Shael agrees, especially with the looting- but Mal expresses that he's mostly just curious.

Together the group decides to leave the same day- taking the western road out of the village until it intersects with the Wildroad, then traveling north before finally cutting east near the location of the ruins. Since they have no business to attend to in Keskala, they decide to set out immediately- after Mal makes a stop to say goodbye to his parents, and Ceiba collects a few things from the house she shares with Shael and Aneirin.

After leaving Keskala, the party travels for a while on the western path. Shortly after leaving what's considered the outer boundary of homesteads associated with the village, however, Ceiba notices what looks like a wagon just off the road, obscured by some trees and underbrush, and points it out to the group.

The group stops the wagon to investigate and determines that the wagon had been there for about a week. Mal, walking ahead, notices that the covered roof of the wagon looks torn, as if something had attacked it as it was heading away from the village. Shael confirms later that the wagon was run off the road while leaving Keskala after finding the tracks further back. Mal then discovers several medium sized humanoid tracks around the wagon, but is unable to gauge how many people were involved; by all accounts, the tracks could be either from the wagon or the road and don't tell him much- though they definitely indicate some sort of minor scuffle.

Ceiba, communing with the trees near the wagon, is given an image of a Tamerian man with dark, dreadlocked hair. The trees also confirm some kind of attack on the wagon- though the details are unspecific and mostly consist of fragmented emotions; she shares this information with the group before checking for further dangers near the wagon and finding nothing.

Mal, at the same time, attempts to meditate on the area to see if any more people lurk nearby. He discovers three located about 2 miles to the north of the wagon's remains, further into the forest, and alerts the party- though they're too far off to see or hear them at the moment, and don't pose any immediate danger. Afterwards he attempts to figure out what caused the damage to the top of the wagon to no avail- though he does determine that the tear wasn't caused by an animal, but likely from the passage of time.

Shael loots the strewn bags around the wagon to see if anything is salvageable- though only finds low quality items that aren't worth anything. Mal suggests that they take the rations, at the very least- which Shael agrees to in case they need to feed the people when they find them. Shael then begins looking for any identifying personal information in the Wagon, eventually finding a small postal package addressed to a remote village further west that her associate Kod Zuzagar regularly delivers mail to.

At this point, Shael informs the party that they run a minor smuggling operation with Kod through the postal service- moving items and people "off the record"; mostly escaped slaves, who they attempt to help start new lives in Talaina'vao. They find it concerning that Mal has identified three people further into the woods as, based on the postal package they found, they believe the people attacked may have been a group that Kod was scheduled to smuggle to Rothshield last week- which was a family of four.

The party decides to do a bit of reconnaissance on the people Mal detected before it become too dark to do so, and set off into the woods- Aneirin taking the lead. After a bit of walking, they come upon a small clearing with a creek that runs alongside a rock outcropping. Mal signals to the group to stealth, and ... ?