WATCHFIRE
"Gailwind" hailed the paladin with concern " Where are we exactly?"
The Lorist stumbled over a hidden stone while reaching into his inner jacket.
Teflar looked around the area as the team finished their saunter down the declivity. His eyes searched the twilight shadows as they swelled around them. After some moments, the ranger turned back to face the group.
Looking to the dark road ahead, Morray replied
Gulius volunteered " Well, I'd be thinking it a good idea for us to stay put here. I could gather some wood and some rocks to put around the fire. Then everyone who searches the area will know where to meet so we don't be missing each other going back en forth."
Morray, Vaedamir, and Teflar formed a search group and headed west.
Aramil sat in contemplative thought as the archer counted out his arrows. He planned an evening practice shoot once a fire was started. Nerendil and Gulius set to the difficult task of finding wood in a treeless area.
8 PM: The trio recollected onto their old spot where a low, smoky fire awaited them snapping away in the cooling nightfall {45F}.
The night was clear and starry as the fellowship bedded down. Hebron tested his bowstring by stretching it ritually until he was satisfied. Though the atmospheric mood was glum, team unity seemed to hold the spirit strong. 10 PM: Uneasy eyes scanned the darkness around the grassy hills; only half the group was asleep by now. The owl had not returned. Many tossed and turned as the tension grew.
11 PM: It was the wizard, Aramil, who woke them with a shout.
" Well, we have just crossed the thinnest portion of the Landretta's and now we have come upon the Morgesic Fens."
He opened a thin atlas and thumbed to an appropriate page as the sun squinted its' last great gleam upon the party.
" I do not know this road. It's more of a bushwacked trail that leads towards the Tolx Crossways about 15 miles through the swamp."
" Rest is important. I propose that we look around and see if we can determine what path our thieves went upon. After a search, we could set up camp here or somewhere nearby and rest for the night."
" Well I, for one, do not wish to camp in a swamp. It is still early and there's no telling how far the road actually goes or if we'll find anywhere to camp once we enter."
She stretched and looked cautiously at the mysterious lands about them.
Taking off his backpack, Oktavianus slumped on a flat rock. Breathing rather heavily, he grumbled
"Perhaps the owl can be of some use for this. Can it notify and direct others if something is found?"
Glade answered " It can, but I would not send my friend into flight just yet. Let's see what our gang turns up first."
The ranger reported " The west contains no evidence of passage. The north had imprints upon the road more than a day old."
The group ate their cold rations and set up sleeping spots around the ashes of the dying fire. All seemed fine except the uneasy feeling the ranger got from the bog area. He constantly arose from his prone position to scan the darkness ahead.
Without warning, the owl flapped away into the night with only a word from his confident owner
" Aeshema ora Moonshade ~ Sleep well Teflar."
"Alas! A fire flames in the distance!!!" He roused every person from
their slumber with a soft nudge. Since eyes were accustomed to the blackness, the stark contrast of the orange-yellow flames was most alarming.
" How far away is that? Twenty miles?!" the wizard gauged abstractedly. Far and away in the distance, a towering inferno licked the sky with ferocity.
" A watchfire?" mumbled Gailwind as he scratched his temple.
" What does
that portend, I wonder?"
