Chapter One: The Iron Sphere of Sthombo

"I do not fear death, but nor do I welcome it. There is still much to be done in this world, before I move on to the next."

Leth stood there, arrow aimed directly at the man's forehead, his expression growing darker and darker as his mind raced, trying to come up with a solution. What could they do to prove their innocence? He wasn't sure they could... because if he was perfectly honest with himself, Leth wasn't even sure if HE knew if they were all innocent. Leth had only just met these people; aside from Frekki whom he could only barely count as an acquaintance. Maybe they DID know more than they were letting on. Maybe not. Regardless, he knew there was no way to prove it. Even so, perhaps if they let the man go, he could -

At that moment, Leth's finger twitched, weary from the strain of holding back the string for so long. The string released from his grip. And the arrow flew from the bow before Leth could even realize what had happened.

Leth gave a dismayed shout as soon as he realized what had happened. He took a few steps forward, towards the man, and stopped. His shoulders dropped as he stood there for a few moments, then in a burst of frustration, punched the nearest tree.

"..... I'm sorry, guys. It's... it's been a rough day."

He had very much intended to kill the man at first, but as the conversation had progressed, it seemed less and less likely that their attackers had anything to do with Kells' execution, and Leth became less willing to take his life. Sure, he was angry, but he wanted to be sure that it was taken out on the right people. The people responsible. He did not want to get in the habit of killing every "treasure hunter" that threatened them.

Sorry if I rushed the story here... seemed like you guys were kind of hinting that we should move on.

Felor relaxes, and leans on his spear.
"Don't worry yourself. He tried to have us killed, remember." He pauses for a moment, then continues. "May as well search him, see if there's any clues."

Felor searches the corpse.
Leth: No worries, I wasn't sure how to deal with the guy anyway!
Should we rest at the longhouse for the night? I'm out of spell slots.

Vad lets out a sigh as he breaks concentration from holding his spell in reserve. "Looks like you aren't the only one having a rough day", Vad says to Leth as he points to the dead man. "At least we know we need to watch our backs as we continue our search."

OOC: It's unclear to me if Vad holding his spell as a ready action actually cost a spell slot or not? Anyone know?

A chill goes up Felor's spine as he recognises the portrait.
"They must have been using this to identify her. But how did they get hold of it? This was one of Kells' personal possessions."
Felor inspects the vial, looking for any indication what it contains.

"That symbol again..." Felor mutters. Turning to the others, he continues "But what does this mean? Do you think these men carved the symbol in the ruins? Was it them who ransacked the house?"

Assuming we should put the pouch, money, striker, vial, knife, and scallop shell into the shared stash

Opening his hand, Vad produces a small orange globe just above his palm as he ponders Felor's questions. "It would appear that these men are somehow related to what happened back at the house. I'm guessing we'll be visited again by someone from the group before too long. Maybe next time we'll capture one that isn't so willing to die."

Closing his hand, Vad lets out a sigh as the orange globe disappears. Kneeling next to the dead man, Vad does the best he can to remember his face and how the man is dressed. "The next ones we run into will be in for a bit of a surprise."

"Let's get this guy hidden, wouldn't want any one of his buddies to know that he's dead."

Leth froze for a moment, and looked back at the body, brain whirling.
So.... they WERE responsible? What's at play here? Who exactly are we dealing with?
Finally, he spoke up.
"Well... I guess he DID get what he deserves then." He said coldly, before turning to Felor and Carillion.

"Now... I hate to be the suspicious one here, but we don't really know each other very well yet, so I have to ask... is there any reason there would be 'rumors circling around' that you two would know anything about this?"

"Aye, it's a fair question. As the man said," Felor nods towards the corpse, "We lodged in Kells' village on occasion. If I were looking for something Kells supposedly hid, me 'n Carillion'd be good targets." He looks directly at Leth. "But I can assure you, if I had any inkling where the damn thing was, I'd have told you by now."
Felor pauses, and sighs.
"Anyhow, I think we'd best be setting up camp for the night. The longhouse is as good shelter as any around here. Vad's right, we should hide the corpse too."

Leth relaxed a bit at Felor's answer. He glanced around them and sighed.
"Yeah... This longhouse should be good enough. I can go ahead and start gathering some supplies." He still couldn't shake the fact that there was something they weren't connecting; like they'd found a piece of the puzzle but hadn't figured out where to put it yet.
"Did Kells ever tell say anything to you that could possibly be a hint at where he would hide something? Or maybe where Zora would go if something happened to him? Anything at all would be helpful at this point, even an offhand comment. Think hard."

I was waiting to post to give everyone else a chance at doing something, but it does seem to be taking a while. It helps to be subscribed to the thread so I get an email notification whenever someone posts a reply.
I'm okay with whatever you guys want to do though.

Felor goes to light a campfire while letting his mind wander back to the late nights spent with Kells and his kin, telling tales and setting the Werld to rights.

What check should I do to see if I can remember anything helpful? Insight?

I'm fine with splitting the party but obviously they are welcome to join us again if they can. Seconding that subscribing is handy!