Sapphire:Sessions:20141011

Rory scribbles a note -- "We got company up here. Don't stick your head up" -- weights it using a small bag of coins, and drops it down the hole. He sends Striker to circle around behind the unknown intruder.

Chalker picks up the note, reads it aloud, and climbs up to where he can peer over the edge of the hole. Shawna follows.

Rory nocks an arrow and points it straight at the intruder, who quickly moves behind cover. Shawna vanishes and heads for the woods. Rory notes movement in the trees from both right and left.

Shawna heads right and catches sight of a man dressed in camouflage, scrambling along branches and leaping from tree to tree. Invisibly, she follows him on the ground. When he jumps down from the trees, she tackles and pins him face-down. Chalker soon arrives (he had checked the movement to the left and found only a sleeping bag). Gradually the young man responds to their questions. He gives his name as Evan Bernard and admits he's an advance scout for a gang of thieves (20 in all). Their headquarters is near a village called Ben's Barrow. "The rest are hunkered down to wait out the Days of the Spirits," after which they would join the celebrations in Dethome and "pick up some coin." Not being as superstitious, Evan was headed to Dethome (across Count Bastress's property) when he happened upon this place.

Shawna lets Evan up. Chalker searches him while examining his aura. Evan's greedy and not very nice. Chalker asks about the iron ring he wears, and Evan admits it's engraved with his gang's symbol.

Chalker tells Evan to go back whence he came, and not to go to Dethome for at least the next couple of weeks. Without a glance backward, Evan walks away.

Trace plants some of the magic vine and accelerates its growth. He finds that it reduces his personal high-mana zone (generated by his wizard's staff, to which are attached the black pebble and the silver cone) from three yards to two. He waits for the Count's party some 200 yards away from his excavation (which is covered over by an earthen plug). As they pass before him, he examines every living thing, including the horses, for signs of possession, and finds none. He returns and unplugs the hole.

Rory gathers the mounts and wagons and takes them down a small gully near a stream. A couple of Bastress's servants have been diligently covering their tracks since they left the keep. Chalker leads the Count down to the gate, then installs the last crystal to open it. Once everyone has gone through, Trace casts the spell he created to pull the crystals through and shut down the gate. The night passes uneventfully.

Early in the morning, Chalker, Rory, Trace, and Shawna decide to go to the keep to see if any attempts were made during the night.