Wenlan's Escape

Wenlan makes it pretty far into the woods before stopping for a moment to catch her breath. She hated the idea of coming in here at night, she’s heard the rumors, but it was the best shot at getting away from the locals chasing her. From the looks of things, Wenlan had successfully lost her tail. She's not even sure if any of the villagers were brave enough to follow her in anyway.

That rotten Garion may have taken the loot, but at least I have my pack with me.

She trudges forward, and momentarily loses her bearings in an exceptionally dark section of the wood. It all begins weighing on her... the lost score, the burned reputation, the untrustworthy partner... she balls her fists in rage and swears to settle the score, one way or another. After a couple deep breaths, she calmly and quietly makes it through the darkness and into a small clearing.



Maybe it's just her eyes adjusting to the light, but it looks almost as though some of the plants are glowing. Before Wenlan can investigate further, she hears a twig snap and spots some movement in the trees about 100ft away. It is a man with a shovel, and he doesn’t seem to be very good at treading softly or quietly.

When she sees the man, Wenlan's first reaction is to hide behind some bushes. She was chased after all.

Are there any less glowing bushes or tree trunks that she might be able to use for cover?

Wenlan ducks into a nearby bush, and gets a better look at the man as he gets closer. He is wearing fine clothes for someone travelling in the woods, underneath an exquisite cloak. Appears to be early 20s, muttering something under his breath while holding on to something that is hanging from his neck. The man is about 50ft away and is looking around frantically, almost paranoid.

Does Wenlan get a better look of the thing hanging from his neck?

Just in case She takes a tighter grip of her sword and readies herself to move quick if need be. At the moment she is still hiding tho', making sure that she keeps quiet.

The man continues forward, looking all around him. Closer Wenlan can make out his ramblings a little clearer: "...demonic mutt, doesn't even know what he's done...".

Let's do a DEX save to stay silent and hidden. Roll a D20, if you get under your stat you succeed and he walks on by without noticing. If you fail(roll higher than your stat), he won't necessarily see you but he will stop walking.

Wenlan's hiding spot is so fantastic, that the man gets quite close to her location without spotting her at all. Muttering to himself while looking around frantically. He heads to the south. Looking around Wenlan can see that the north and the east directions lead deeper into the wood, the west seems to get less dense.

For your 1, Wenlan gets an extra piece of information about the man. It can be related to his background, current situation, etc. You can just phrase it like a normal question in OOC, and the answer will be added to the next response.

As Wenlan goes deeper into the wood, she notices some of the plants really are glowing softly, it doesn't help her see very far but does help her see where she's stepping.

How long would Wenlan keep going for? It is her intention to possibly rest sometime soon, or not until the night is over and she's confident the tail hasn't followed her?

If there is something hunting the man who came from the north, Wenlan steers a bit to the east. She goes deeper into the woods for a while and if nothing suspicious turns up, she tries to catch some rest.

Wenlan goes further in, finding somewhere secluded to close her eyes. It's not a full night's rest, but it definitely helps her recharge a bit.

In the morning, she is awoken by some movement. A figure in a dark red robe is strolling through the area, as if on some type of patrol.

DEX save to avoid detection, failure means Wenlan is spotted but won't result in any harm (at least not yet).

The robed figure walks on by, missing Wenlan entirely. They are heading in the same direction that the muttering man went earlier.

As she makes her way down the path where the woods thin out, Wenlan sees a large valley. It is mostly open plains, at least as far as she can see from her current angle, with some small mountains on the horizon on the other side. This doesn't match with the geography Wenlan is familiar with in this area. Also notable in the valley, there seem to be well-tread pathways where the grass doesn't seem to grow the same way, creating kind of a pattern.

She sees some kind of ruins to the north, and to the south-west a small settlement. Wenlan could also try crossing the valley, but it looks large and would likely take most of the day.

As Wenlan approaches the settlement, a small scouting group of three men notice her. Two are in red robes, and another in more of a soldier's uniform in the same dark red color.

The soldier is portly with a dark brown beard, and waves toward Wenlan in a friendly manner before bellowing out, "Hail newcomer! Allow me to greet you."

He separates from the robed figures, which remain where they were, and lightly jogs in Wenlan's direction.