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[Tiruin]

((Grahhh, sorry Draig and the rest! I was indisposed for quite some time x_x))

Joan surmised the many ideas which bothering the creature would result in a benefit, and noted that it wouldn't help her or her tracker buddy if such a fight broke out--they may find something, but other than the idea that 'this camp has been laid to waste for a very long time', no apparent situational benefit was obvious to her.

"Whatever happened here--this was very long ago. Brynd, let's head to where Lora indicated. We're obvious here, but Mudren can back us up with situational fire if anything goes wrong. However, this seems really out of place for me. We may be facing a foe in numbers."

Continue scouting and just lay the food down, glancing back after moving away a few meters for anything happening--if nothing significant has occurred: Push on with buddy Brynd!

[Draignean]

Svurrl
The small Aoul glanced back to the human who advocated silence, then back to Svurrl. Svurrl had been introduced to her briefly along with all of the other members of the caravan crew. It couldn't remember her name, but she knew that Svurrl's task was to keep her safe. Despite that, she remained still for a long moment. When she did move, it was in a rush; bolting around the dead kadi to stand beside Svurrl. She still wept, and she never seemed to dare look either Svurrl or Averrco in the eye.

Averrco
While Svurrl separated the Aoul with the strongest reaction to the events, Averrco spoke to the remaining with trail hands. He kept his voice calm and reassuring, trying to gain control over the fear and shock that was currently commanding the group. [Auto-Success from skill: Soothe]

Averrco had practiced this before, in both practical and mock situations. Despite having to communicate reassurances to various races simultaneously, Avverco retained a calm and fluid tone, giving enough eye contact to make the message seem personal, but not so much as to be accusatory. He did everything perfectly, and, while the group seemed calmer, they still seemed to radiate a certain degree of fear. Odd, not entirely unexpected, but odd.[Finesse+Speed: Fail]

A dark haired human in his middle years shifted after Averrco finished, his eyes flitting on between the leif and the dead kadi."Thank you, Master Averrco, what happened... it wasn't..." The human trails off, shaking his head. "Please, can you stop the wagons and allow us to leave? I think... I think everyone would appreciate being away from... this."
 

Mudren
[Finesse+Wisdom: Pass] Mudren heard nothing out of the ordinary from where he was, though the silence was perhaps a bit deeper than expected. Still, that could be owing to his presence and the fly-overs by Lora as much as anything else.

Hearing nothing unusual, Mudren moved closer to the peculiar rodent, taking a wide arc to get a better vantage point. [Grace+Finesse: Pass] Mudren made little noise through the sparse vegetation, and his shifted form served him well. A bit of careful maneuvering let the sniper see the rodent more clearly, and, more importantly, what the rodent was attached to. The rodent had appeared to be hanging in the air behind a tree, but that was only because the human who had strung the dead creature from his belt had been hiding successfully behind the tree. Mudren had closed about half the distance, and he could see that the human was roughly dressed in furs, and the tip of a stout bow protruded from over the man's shoulder. Details were still lost at his range, but it appeared that the human had not seen him.

Joan
Joan laid down a few strips of food, then retreated a little ways. The scale shrike eyed her distrustfully, but wasted no time in darting out and skewering the rations before retreating back to its nest when it became clear that Joan didn't mean to interfere directly. After a moment, something more unusual happened. The scale shrike reemerged, this time with the skull of a medium sized snake in its jaws. It deposited the skull in the exact same place that Joan deposited the rations, then retreated back into its nest.

[Wisdom+Brilliance: Fail] The behavior was completely puzzling to Joan, and she had little idea of what it meant or how she should react.

[Harry Baldman]

Keep a bead on him, watch what he's doing. Maybe motion for the pairaan to go closer and investigate while I cover her.

[Tiruin]

Joan was...admittedly, taken aback by the gesture. She did not encounter such in all her years of training and experience life. Deciding to treat the creature like a fellow, she took a bit more out of her ration and approached the skull. . .kneeling down and giving a sincere "Thank you", though tinged with curiosity, as she acted.

Take ye skull.
Examine ye skull. Replace skull position with food.

Continue previous action in previous post.

((Seriously. My zoological knowhow doesn't tell me anything either. Kudos Draig :3))

[The Ensorceler]

Svurrl curls its lampades defensively around the Aoul in a rough set of arcs to prevent interference, open towards the door. "Will you come see the captain? They are supposed to be good at..." Svurrl hesitates momentarily, before continuing,"Things." The intricacies of interacting with one, or even several non-Drogue at once could be interesting, even enjoyable, but so many together were almost disturbingly similar to a sick Drogue, whose words and actions did not fit their self at all. Hopefully someone who could join them would be better able to handle the wagon.

Take the Aoul With me to go find Joan. Ruminate.

[Draignean]

Joan
Joan took the skull and thanked the small lizard, then replaced the skull with a little more food. Curiously, the pattern repeated. Joan stepped back to give the scale shrike a little distance, and it darted out and grabbed the food. There was a rummaging from within the nest after it retreated, and the scale shrike popped back out with something dark but shiny clutched in its mouth. It deposited the peculiar object where the food once was, and again hid inside its nest.

The dark object seemed to be an obsidian arrowhead, the edges flaked down to where Joan could see the translucent feathering within the stone.

"Curious creatures," Brynd said suddenly from behind Joan. The hunter had finished his circle of the camp, and now stood watching the other mercenary's exchange with the diminutive predator. "In richer climates, they have bright scales and frills, and they dance to show their strength. These are duller creatures, too many predators capable of seeing their colors, but they are not lesser. One would say that the dullness of flesh has given them sharpness of mind."

Mudren
Getting a bead on the human was easy, particularly through a scope. He(?) appeared youthful, scared, and was doing a surprisingly good job of staying out of sight. If it hadn't been for the fresh kill hanging from the belt, the human would have been quite difficult to spot. Young and skillful with the terrain, but not experienced yet.

Svurrl
The wispy Aoul nodded, though she suppressed a sob and flinched away from the lampades as they began to curve towards her. Not an unexpected reaction coming from individuals with a more rural upbringing, considering that many still considered the Avernales to be playing with the tools of the Rippers.

Averrco, Rol, Svurrl
A lurching ripple shook the wagons as the drivers lower the power on the steam engines in unison, the great machines slowing and stopping as the friction of the trail causes their bulk to slowly grind to a halt. There's a number of alarming creaks from Rol's wagon, but the splintering crack of timber that would herald a critical failure never comes.

There was, however, little time for Rol to breathe a sigh of a relief. Mara came jogging back from the front of the wagon train. Her face was calm, but there was a subtle difference in the way she carried her rifle. Rol didn't really remember a moment when the Aoul didn't look ready for a fight, but the change made her look as though she was expecting it now. Mara half-shouted a few commands in her rushing native tongue, and Borou unquestioningly formed his hands into a stirrup and gave her a jumping boost up onto the top of the wagon.  "Rollun," Mara called down once she was in position, "Ralai is stopping everything until that shot is resolved. I can keep eyes on anything approaching us while we're still, and Hamana is flying out to inform your captain that there's trouble.  You and Borou need to get to Averrco and Svurrl. Find out what's happening and send a flash to get the rest of us out of the dark. Be quick, but don't escalate," she added, her eyes seeming to direct the last comment towards Borou.

Both Svurrl and Averrco absorbed the motion of the wagon easily, though the Aoul staggered a step and the cards on the rough table scattered at the sudden shift in pace. The dark haired human seemed to nod slightly to himself as the wagon ground to a halt, though the grim expression never left his face.

[micelus]

Averrco clicked in his tongue then remembering his company, switched to a more familiar tongue. "There is a disturbance."

He turned to the human. "Though normally I would at least consider your request, I must ensure that this stoppage isn't something...unplanned. I would not want you to come in danger, after all. Please, can I convince you to transfer to another wagon for the time being?"

Say the above.

[Harry Baldman]

"You there, with the rat on the belt! Do come out, I can shoot you just as well in your hiding spot as anywhere else! That I haven't yet should serve as a statement of good faith!" Mudren Gude shouts from afar, his Keelai companion apparently not very inclined to do anything at all, disastrous layabout that it is.

Keep aiming at the human. If he tries to make a run for it, shoot him in the leg. Kneecap, preferably, but anywhere on the leg ought to do.

[Tiruin]

Joan cast her pathfinder buddy a very curious look, and decided to use the remaining leftovers of her 1 whole ration to continue the trade with the creature. She was dumbfounded--and very intrigued by its behavior. This time, she would stay near the area...like, right next to where she dropped the food.

"Sharpness of perception, sharpness of wit. But I'd like sharpness to communicate with. I am not trained in these though. Just me and Tala. That, and we may need to move soon--its not been long since we left, but I'm not finding much more here compared to your trained senses." Joan replied.

[The Ensorceler]

Continue on, heedless of such foriegn things as social cues.