The road north from Stonebarrow is sparsely populated, but shelter is easy to come by thanks to the many ruins and abandoned buildings along the way. It takes ten days of travelling before Alptraum, Tulani and Arkold join up with the main road once more and are able to enjoy a night spent in a tavern, and can pinpoint where they are again on the map made from the late Fyodr Dunklestein. There is no recent news of any gypsy caravans or strange creatures as they start heading north again.

The group is extra cautious when travelling through the lands claimed by the Chevalier DuValle, whom Alptraum is not keen to run into. Luckily, the Gallisian is reportedly busy dealing with disturbances at the easternmost border of his territory, and the trio is undisturbed in their passage.

Finally, they come upon a small, abandoned church. Like most Sylvanian churches, it has a stylized representation of the four-pointed Star at the head and repeated on various surfaces, symbolizing the Creator. There are also statues depicting the various Sylvanian Saints of varied species, and also of the angels, which are all shown as Eeee. The most prominent of them is a smiling beauty with an inscription labeling her "Inala: Angel of Happiness."

Alptraum curls the fingertips of his right hand around his left elbow and looks at the church. He draws a breath, then lets it out slowly. "Well, here's a place I hadn't really wanted to see again. The place where my life … changed," he comments, looking somewhat resigned. "But, it's on your map, and a good stopover place. Shall we look around for clues?"

"Where you life … " the wolf copies the bat's pause and wiggles his fingers in a mock-ominous fashion," … changed, bats?" He stands resting against the frame of the doorway looking a bit tired. "Sure. Clues. I'll just examine this, uh, doorway. Very nice. Whew."

Tulani cocks her head, looking over the face of the church, her eyes pausing at the angels and 'Inala' before replying, "Sounds like a good idea to me". She begins to pick her way towards the entrance, examining the angels closer as she passes.

"Avralie, a day I wish had never happened," Alptraum says with a shrug and heads toward the entrance with Tulani. "Should be a harmless enough place, though," he says. "We can see if the map markings match anything here."

Raising an eyebrow at Alptraum's initial comment, Tulani nods to the second, pulling 'Dunky' out of a pocket and unrolling him to take a closer look.

It's clear that the church hasn't been used by people in quite some time (although at least one large animal built a smelly nest between some pews in the not too distant past). At the base of each of statue of an 'angel', there is a symbol that corresponds to the ones that mark the church on the map.

"I've had days like that," remarks the wolf as he pushes off from the door. He slowly makes his way inside and cocks his head to examine the leftmost statue from the entranceway. "Thing is I usually can't remember what happened. Heh, heh. Hey did you see that witch a few towns back? She was cute, bats."

Alptraum makes his way to the statues and kneels down to get a closer look. "He was cute, you mean," Alptraum says without looking back. "The witch was a guy. I could tell because of the dress and uh, I could hear things swinging." He pauses and cants his head, saying, "Hey, I think the Inala statue has been moved some. Raised."

Frowning at the map Tulani runs her eyes over the statues, before calling out, "Yes, and the order of symbols on the map doesn't match the order of the statues here," while stepping closer to 'Inala' to get a better look.

Arkold has a moment to wrinkle his nose at Alptraum's revelation before being distracted by further information. "Huh? Oh! Yes. Eh, heh heh. Statue. Right. Lemme look at that, 'eh?" He steps forward and kneels down by the base of the statue while putting a hand on it to give it a testing push.

Alptraum quirks a small grin. "That's the disadvantage of having good ears. Sometimes you hear things you don't want to know," he says and takes a step to the side, examining the statures next to Inala's.

Tulani takes a step back, as Arkold studies the statue, before turning to check for signs of if any of the other angels have been moved.

The statue of Inala pivots around slightly from Arkold's push, although there's a nasty grinding sound as it does so.

"Funny, I just heard something I didn't want to know," grumbles Arkold. His ears flicker at the grinding noise and he turns to look back at the others. "It moves, uh, sort of. Might be a mechanism. Maybe it, ah, er, needs to point in a certain direction or somethin'?"

Alptraum tilts his head, listening. "Tulani, you said the map showed a different order? I suspect we need to move the statues into that order," he says, then looks at Arkold. "Can you try to lift it up? Maybe they're on posts."

Tulani checks the map to see just how much the statues need to be moved around.

Arkold steps back from the statue and scratches his chin as he looks at it. "Too big for me," he confesses. A quick glance around and he adds, "But I can move the others, eh?"

"Then maybe the Inala statue is the key, and the others move?" Alptraum suggests and goes over to the statue of Sunala. "I'll try to move this one. Where does the map show its mark?"

Tulani walks from statue to statue, tapping the ones that need to be moved lightly (Blakat and Rephath, Barada and Zakaro) before saying, "These are the ones that need to be moved. The map indicates that Inala doesn't need to be moved, but these other two pairs need to be switched.

"I'll get this other one." Arkold steps over to a statue, pauses, then steps over to another one suddenly. "Naw, I'll get this one. Cute, y'know. Better luck."

Alptraum nods, then says, "I'll handle Barada and Zakaro. You can have the crazier ones, Blakat and Repath." He grins fangily, then moves over to Barada.

Moving to assist Alptraum, Tulani takes a firm grip on the Zakaro statue and attempts to lift it.

"Ain't gettin' my cute statue bats. Barada? Mine," the wolf insists. He gives the other man a good-natured shove on the chest when he gets close and grabs the statue for himself, grinning.

Only managing to raise the statue a few inches before it almost slips, Tulani sets it back on the floor saying, "I think I'll let you guys handle this.)

Alptraum glances at Tulani, then grips the Zakaro statue instead and slowly lifts it to help the Sphynx. It slowly comes up and out of its alcove. He steps back, then sets to down on the floor with a grunt to wait for Arkold to put Barada in its place. "Glutton," he tells the statue with a grin.

The statue of Zakaro doesn't reply to Alptraum's accusation.

Arkold holds the statue and waits for instructions. "Why don'cha tell us where to put these Tulani? Grab the map an' you can help us both out before we strain somethin'," he offers.

Alptraum rests his elbow on the top of Zakaro's head, waiting for instructions. "At least we don't have to move Gorphat," he says. "I don't want to end up green."

Tulani motions Arkold to place the Barada statue in Zakaro's alcove, and vice versa for Alptraum, saying, "They just need to be switched over," and grinning a little at Alptraum's comment before wrinkling her muzzle and muttering to herself, "Green??"

It doesn't take long after the first switch to do the same to the statues of Rephath and Blakat on the opposite wall. Now the order of the statues matches the order on the map.

"So, I vote for the old guy to move Inala again," Alptraum says with a grin.

Tulani nods, saying, "We should probably see how far it turns." She looks down the various pathways Inala could be facing.

The chapel only has the one entrance, which the statue was originally facing. After Arkold's initial nudge, the Angel of Love is looking off to the left of the doorway for now.

"Didn't anyone teach you to be kind to your elders?" Arkold asks as he gears up to move the Inala statue. "I hope this isn't blasphemy." He taps the statue's wing before fixing a good grip and giving it a turn.

"If anything opens up, ah, I offer to go first. Given I'm an Eeee, I might be able to hear something. Or hopefully, won't be attacked outright," Alptraum offers and steps back, ears swiveling some and listening.

Nodding to Alptraum's comment, Tulani says "Ok, you can hear better than the rest of us."

Alptraum scratches his ear. "Ah, does the map have any lines on it giving an idea which way to point?" he asks. "Maybe we're supposed to point it at one of the statues. We're after the light of Nala, right? The symbol was of Rinala, so aim it at Sunala."

"Bah we don't need lines. Just turn it until it does somethin'." Arkold pushes the statue more and keeps on going until either something happens or it rotates completely.

Tulani steps back from Arkold as he continues pushing, but does pull out the map to check, in case nothing happens.

The statue turns much more freely this time, and stops when it has been fully reversed to expose the symbol for Rinala on its base. There's a loud CLICK, and a stone panel beneath the alcove pops free.

"Nothin' to it," the wolf remarks, grinning. He drops on to a knee and peers inside the alcove.

"Until the demon spider leaps out and sticks to your face," Alptraum mutters and moves closer, trying to get a look.

Rolling her eyes at Arkold's remark, Tulani moves forward, just a bit behind Arkold, and peers over his shoulder at the alcove.

The loose panel swings open like a door, revealing… a folded up ceremonial robe, and a small wooden box.

"Bah." The wolf shakes his head. "Tha' only happened once, bats. This a completely different world." He reaches in and carefully gathers up the contents of the hidden compartment so as to show the others.

Arching an eyebrow at the alcoves contents the Sphynx remarks, "Hmm, I wonder what's in the box?" while peering at the lid.

"So, what did you find in there?" Alptraum asks, his ears actually perking some. "Open the box. Unfold the robe."

The wood stain has darkened over the years, but the symbol of the Srinala is still visible on the lid of the box.

"Oh this?" Arkold holds out the box where the others can both can see it. Then he shrugs, grins mischievously, and acts like he's going to throw it over his shoulder. "Can't be anythin' relevant … "

Giving Arkold a mock swat to the head, Tulani rolls her eyes and takes the robe, unfolding it carefully and shaking it out a little.

Alptraum bares his fangs and says with a grin, "There are two of us, gramps." He holds out his hand and says seriously this time, "May I open the box? I know that symbol well."

"Knock yourself out," Arkold answers as he hands Alptraum the box. "Literally or figuratively, eh Mr. Tough-Guy Two-of-Us?" He scoots around to get a good look at what the others examine.

The black and white Sphynx flicks a glance towards Alptraum at his comment about 'knowing' the symbol, before examining the robe for pockets, markings, or anything unusual.

The robe is in good condition, since it's made of high-quality zolk. It is mostly white with red trim, has openings in the back for wings, and is decorated with the embroidered symbols for Rinala, Srinala, and Sunala.

Alptraum grins, then turns his attention back to the box. He runs his fingertip over the symbol on it, then tries to open it slowly. "I was born from what this mark represents," Alptraum explains. "The Srinala."

Arkold eyes the robe a moment before pointing at it. "That's zolk," he informs the others. "Abu Dhabi sees a lot of it. High-quality stuff. Not something you'd usually find out this way, so, eh, the owner had money." To Alptraum he asks, "Really? Does it mean smartass in Babelite?"

"It's someone stuck in-between life and death," Alptraum mutters absently.

The box is long and thin, and resting inside on a bed of zolk is a ceremonial dagger. Or, most of one, since it lacks a blade… even though there is the impression of one still in the zolk padding.

Alptraum reaches in and lifts out the hilt of the dagger. "I wonder if this is part of the blade used in ceremony to send the Srinala into death fully?" he muses, then looks at the other two.

Tulani's eyebrows flick upward as she turns to Alptraum, eyes a little wide, saying quietly, questioningly, "Really?."

"Hey we met a few of those along the way. The undead you mean?" Arkold remarks, glancing over when Alptraum opens the box and peering at the half-dagger. "Looks like somethin' took the blade. Probably recently, too, eh, or else it was lying there a long time to make that impression. Maybe the blade's around here somewhere. A bit odd thoough, eh, ain't it? Who takes just a blade without havin' a specific reason for it? Thieves'd take the whole dagger."

Tulani says, "Maybe the blade is hidden elsewhere?"

Alptraum blinks for a moment. He holds the hilt out two feet from his face and chirps at it, then listens for rebounds. Hearing no his eyes narrow and he hmms. Slowly and carefully, he waves the box over where the blade should be. "The balance on this feels strange, like the blade is there," he explains.

The box passes through the empty space unaffected.

Blinking, Tulani reaches out to touch the hilt and runs her finger down it and into the space where the blade should be as well.

Again, the space is empty, and Tulani doesn't feel anything unusual.

"Ain't that somethin'." Arkold steps around to get a better look at the weapon as Alptraum experiments. "Magic? Ceremonial eh? Mmm, heh, maybe it only cuts the living – or dead."

Alptraum's ears flick and he offers the box to Arkold. He then says, "Careful!" to Tulani, and holds his hand very steady.

Tulani hmms when she doesn't feel anything there, looking over the hilt for any odd markings.

Arkold takes the box and begins systematically searching it for hidden compartments. Given the way he goes about it you might think he's done it before. "Try lookin' around for somethin'. Maybe it only stabs certain things, or maybe it's like a key. Y'know? Ceremonial. Think on what those symbols mean. Maybe it's a clue," he offers as a suggestion.

This time, Alptraum waves his hand over the place where the blade should be. "Probably won't do anything, but given my birth, I wanted to try too, hmm," he muses.

Like the robe, the hilt of the dagger is marked with symbols for Rinala, Srinala and Sunala. When Alptraum moves his hand across the space the blade would be in, the fur on his hand stands up and he feels like someone ran ice across his palm.

The zolk padding comes out of the box as Arkold examines it, but nothing is revealed underneath, just the wood of the box.

The Sylvanian Sphynx begins searching around the church for any slots, depressions, or places where it looks like something might be missing.

Alptraum hisses and pulls his hand away quickly. Then, the bat puts it back over the spot, unsure if he really felt that … or is hallucinating. "This is … weird. Watch my hand," he says.

Again, the fur of Alptraum's hand is disturbed, as if something really were pushing it out of the way. The longer he holds it there, however, the number the limb begins to feel.

Tulani walks back over to Alptraum to observe the affect of the dagger saying "Weird, I wonder why that's happening?" and taking his hand to examine it for a moment before going back to her search of the room.

Arkold shakes his head and puts the box down. "Nothin' hidin' here. You say it moves your hand around?" He turns back to the bat and stares at his palm. "I don't see anythin'. Wanna try me?" He holds his hand out.

Alptraum takes his hand away from the dagger. "Actually, yes," he says and runs the hilt near Arkold's palm. "Do you feel anything?" Alptraum asks and holds out the dagger towards him. His other hand closes and opens slowly, trying to work off the numbness.

There's no feeling of resistance as the imaginary blade passes through Arkold's hand, and the Jupani doesn't feel any effect at all.

Not noticing anything particularly interesting, Tulani does one last quick search around the doorway before returning to the group saying, "I couldn't find anything, but several pairs of eyes are better than one, I could have missed something."

"Hey maybe you should try puttin' the robe on. Maybe a few prayers wouldn't hurt either." Arkold looks down at his own hand and wiggles his fingers, then shakes his head. "Nothin'. Just you bats. Maybe try, ah, stickin' something dead? Doesn't touch the living, kind-o touches you being half-an-half, so maybe it works with the dead. Try the statue and a corpse if you can find one?" He nods to Tulani. "I'll go take a look, eh?" Then he's off to do just that.

"So … this is freaking me," Alptraum says and looks between the two nervously. "I can feel a blade of sorts on this. It's like ice going through my hand. So … you two want to search while I change, perhaps? If anything happens though, I may need you to pull me out."

Alptraum holds out his hand to Tulani for the robe.

Tulani stares after Arkold for a moment before handing the robe to Alptraum, standing near him, obviously just in case something goes wrong.

Alptraum removes his jacket, followed by his shirt. He leaves his pants on, however and slowly pulls the robe on, mindful of the wing holes and the like. "I never thought I'd put on another robe again," he mutters.

Even with the robe, Alptraum doesn't quite look like a priest. But it fits, and is lightweight in a way that big ceremonial robes usually aren't.

Alptraum looks decidedly uncomfortable in the robe, even though it doesn't look like the robe itself is uncomfortable "This feels just … strange," he says, then looks down at the dagger again.

"A dress might be your style bats," remarks Arkold distractedly as he searches around.

While looking around, it isn't Arkold's eyes but his nose that notices the remains of an old fire in an otherwise unremarkable and half-broken terracotta bowl behind the altar.

The Sphynx shift her wings for a moment before reaching out to test the dagger again, trying to touch where the blade would be, saying, "Maybe it's a combination of the robe and dagger?"

"Hey a – ah! Of course. Hey I got an idea, yeah? Look," the wolf says and points behind the altar, "a bowl where something was burnt. Burnt, fire, light, eh? Followin' me? Rinala? Nala? Light of Nala? Maybe it's too dark in here. Anyway if I'm right or wrong I think we ought to light another fire in this, yeah?"

Even with Alptraum wearing the robe, Tulani still doesn't feel any phantom blade.

Alptraum casts a glance at the hilt again, then runs his hand over it once more and says. "Not a bad idea, Arkold. I'll be right there if you want to start making a fire."

Nodding at the wolf, and a little disappointed with the phantom blade, Tulani passes some flint to Alptraum from a pocket and makes an 'after you' motion towards Arkold before saying, "I just had a thought, maybe you could scan the room and listen for any odd echoes?"

Arkold waves Alptraum off before digging in his belt pouch. "Don't worry about it your worship." He grins and pulls out his flint. "I got it. Keep your eye on the blade, eh? Or try what Tulani suggests. Maybe these secrets were for bats only, eh?" He begins working at lighting a fire.

Alptraum nods and lowers the hilt to his side. "Sounds good," he says and walks to the center of the room. He closes his eyes to block out any visual distractions and starts to slowly spin, echo-scanning the room from top to bottom.

Tulani attempts to stay behind the bat so as to not confuse or block whatever feedback he's getting.

The old pews and alcoves make for a complicated sonic environment, but nothing that isn't expected. The only moving things in the building are the three of them, as far as Alptraum can tell.

"Nothing," Alptraum says and turns to look at Tulani. He offers her the dagger and says, "Hold this for one second? I want to see if it feels like it's got a blade when it's in your hand too. What the weight feels like."

Taking the hilt from Alptraum, the Sphynx checks its balance for what Alptraum described.

After sniffing at the contents of the bowl again Arkold reaches in to scoop out the remains of the previous fire – careful to put them aside for later inspection – and then fumbles around until he finds a scrap of parchment. A scrap that happens to be from his journal/logbook. A scrap with writing he grimaces at before wrinkling it up and throwing it in the bowl. Then he lights it.

The little piece of paper burns away, sending up a tendril of smoke that twists its way upwards towards the peak of the roof without forming any odd shapes or mysterious symbols.

Shifting the dagger hilt in hand Tulani replies to Alptraum, "Nothing, just feels like a hilt to me… But I just got another idea." She pauses to pull out the map, and brings the dagger close to it, parallel, to see if anything happens.

Alptraum nods and watches the map. "If nothing happens, mind if I hold onto the dagger for now? I'll just search the room manually," he says.

The edge of the map closest to the dagger begins to take on a dull red glow.

"Anticlimactic. C'mere and give lighting this a try Alp. Maybe you have to do it ceremoniously." Arkold steps away from the small fire and kneels down to have a look at the burnt scraps he removed. Carefully he checks them for lettering, or perhaps religious doodling.

Alptraum blinks as the map glows. "Woah … careful," he says, "Isn't there a spirit in the map? Maybe it does just affect the dead."

Tulani starts a little, not really expecting much of a reaction. Looking closely at the glow she replies to Alptraum, "That's probably it", and moves the dagger quickly away before checking the map for any sign of damage that it might have caused.

One of the scraps Arkold uncovers has some unburned space with writing still legible. He can make out the words 'possessed child', and on the line below part of a word that could be 'relics' and finally 'ful exorcism' below that.

Tulani says, "Just wondering what would happen."

The glow fades away, and the map appears to be undamaged once the dagger is moved further away.

Alptraum puts his hand on Tulani's that holds the dagger. "May I?" he asks. "I guess this means I'm half dead, or possessed, or something," he adds, looking non-too-happy about it.

"Got something here," Arkold announces. "These scraps say somethin'. I got, ah, "possessed child," somethin' that looks like "relics" and lastly, "full exorcism.""

"How long ago did that fire seem to be burned? Maybe this dagger is to drive out spirits," Alptraum says.

Tulani frowns at the half-dead/possessed idea, not looking too happy either, before handing the dagger hilt to Alptraum.

"I'd say a year at most. Just scraps. Wouldn't last long y'think," Arkold answers. "It's in Standard."

Alptraum goes to search the room now, looking for other things out of the ordinary. "Arkold, you have a good sense of smell, yes? Can you check around the entrance? Maybe someone has been here recently," he suggests.

"Eh. My smell ain't that good. Too much smellin' the stuff, you know? Heh. I couldn't find anyone unless they smelled bad and were here a while, and recently," the wolf insists. "Still this stuff is a find, eh? I'd wager that dagger will be useful if we run in to more of the undead. Also you say you were here before eh? Know any group that frequents this place? Obviously they wanted to destroy that paper. Orders maybe, religious musings perhaps. Plenty o' wood here. No need to burn your writing unless you want to."

"My guess is someone must've come here to exorcise a spirit from a child," Alptraum says as he comes back toward Arkold. "At least, the papers you found suggest that to me. So, what do you think we should do? Stab the map? Search the surrounding area for residences? As for groups, not really. Last person I met here was a Yodhsunala, a priestess from Babel."

Leaning against a wall for a moment in thought, Tulani comments, "Well, we probably don't want to stab Dunky, after all, he's been helping us. We could check the map for other land marks?"

"Well, uh, why was she here bats?" The wolf sits on a old pew and raises a brow. "Don' think you want to stab the map, eh? If it harms the undead, well, Dunky is kind of like that. An' you'll kill him. Deader. Dead again I mean. The undoing the un from undead. Some friends we'd be, eh? If I recall right the map shows a trail off from here too. Maybe we found what we were meant to find," he answers.

"She was here for me, Arkold," Alptraum says bluntly. He then nods and says, "But I think you're right. We should probably move on some and see what else we encounter near here. I certainly don't hear or see anything else here."

The map does indeed show the route to the Light of Nala heading east from the church.

Taking one last turn around the church for anything strange, Tulani states, "It's getting late, maybe we should stay here for the night and move on in the morning? There's better shelter here than on the road."

"Mmm, good point," Alptraum says as he glances out of the door. "I camped here last time. It was safe then."

"Well maybe the paper was about you bats. You fit the description, right? Possessed child, relic," he points at the dagger in Alptraum's hand and then at the map, "an' the dagger responds. Might be your friends here for a report. An' this place sees use, too. Seems to me that whoever wrote that had some kind of clue, too. Ordinary folk don't usually remark about "relics" out of the blue when lookin' for divine intervention. So we know someone with knowledge – maybe about YOU bats – has been here before, and knows about "relics," and wanted to destroy their little note." He nods to Alptraum. "Could, yeah. I'd be weary though if we stay here. Try and hide yourself, eh, an' be prepared for visitors."

"Paper is more recent than when I was here," Alptraum says. "It's been two years or so." He then shrugs and says, "And we can take turns keeping watch as usual, so no one can sneak up on us."

Tulani nods in agreement.

"Fair 'nuff. Just wanted to give you a heads up. Maybe it's nothin', y'know? But considerin' where we're goin' and what's at stake we can't be too careful. Never know who might be interested in what we're doin'." The wolf rises and stretches his legs. "I'll take the first watch if you don' mind. Today was a long walk, an' I'd like to sleep a stretch."

Alptraum nods to the wolf. "No problem. I'll do some nearby hunting for food if you and Tulani want to prepare camp here. I don't intent to go very far," he suggests.

The Sylvanian Sphynx quietly agrees with Alptraum's words, saying, "That sounds great. We should probably camp in a spot where we can easily see the exit, but not so easily be seen ourselves." She starts looking for an appropriate place to settle in.

"Can't do much about the smell of a fire really – not unless you want cold food. An' I don't. But I'll try and make the fire somethin' we can hide well enough before we turn in," says Arkold. "I'll turn the statue back around too. No need to leave traces that we found somethin'."

Alptraum removes the robe carefully and folds it back up. "All right, "I'll track down some food, then we'll settle in for the night… " he says.

---

After a wary, uneventful night in the chapel, the trio takes some time to find the overgrown path heading east into the woods. By midmorning, the old path joins up with a genuine road, although one not kept in good maintenance. On the northern side, they pass the occasional fields and farms, but all of them have been abandoned, leaving behind fallow or burnt fields and skeletal buildings.

"See? I told you the chapel was safe," Alptraum comments. He pats his pack again, triple-checking that he still has the robe and dagger. "I wish I knew what this thing was and why I can feel it," he says, then looks around. "And it looks like war's hit this area now," he says grimly.

Tulani's eyes narrow as she peers about at the emptiness. "Yes, it looks like it has, or something as bad," she replies to Alptraum.

"Cheery," quips the wolf as he overlooks the farms. "More Gallisian war effort I'd assume. Keep an eye out for Gallisians, especially hidden sentries and the like. As for the dagger I say the next walking dead that messes with us you stick 'em, but leave some for me at least."

"Maybe we should check the ruins for people who might need help," Alptraum suggests to the others.

In the clear morning air, a column of smoke can be seen rising beyond the crest of the hill the road is currently climbing.

"Normally I'd suggest one of you two fly up and take a look. But bein' up there means any sentries can see you that much better. So we better walk it, unless you don't mind the risk," Arkold responds as he walks along.

"Well, I'm an aerial acrobat. I might be able to do it, but I think it's safer to stay on the ground, too," Alptraum agrees with Arkold. His ears flick forward when he sees the smoke and listens intently.

"I can scout ahead and off to the sides a bit on foot?" the Sphynx suggests then, noticing the column of smoke. "Looks like we're about to run into something anyway."

"I only hear fire ahead. If you think you can scout safely, go for it," Alptraum tells Tulani. "We'll back you up."

"Could be a camp. Just one plume though, eh, either one fire or else a small camp. Get ready anyway," says the wolf. He gestures Tulani to go on and do her thing. "Splitting up may be good anyway. If we find trouble we'll have someone out of sight."

Tulani quickly sidles off into the brush and trees at the south side of the road, hunching down and moving quietly, attempting to avoid stepping on any loose twigs leaves and other debris and folding her wings as tightly to her sides as possible.

Even in the sunlight of late morning, it would be difficult for someone to spot the stealthy Sphynx. As Tulani reaches the top of the hill, she can see the burning remains of an overturned wagon in the middle of the road. The ground around is has been churned up a bit, and there's also the smell of animal blood. Nothing moves, however, or she'd spot it even at this distance.

Arkold waits a bit to give Tulani a head start. "Y'know bats, this has been a real adventure." He turns to the other man and offers his hand. "Good to have you along. Can't tell you how much I missed this stuff, eh? When this is done you're coming with me north and havin' a beer. You can meet Raneah."

"As strange as it's been, I've been glad to be on this trip. After the last year for me, I wasn't sure I'd be happy again, but here I have been," Alptraum says and glances over at Arkold. "Even though I'm a freak, you two aren't afraid of me," he says and grins. "And great, I'd love to meet the fish who has you whipped."

"We love you BECAUSE you're a freak. You make us both look better by comparison," retorts Arkold with a grin. "Whipped! Pshaw. Raneah an' I have an equal arrangement. S'not like we're some kind of couple. I mean. Well. Y'know, bats. BOY Tulani is takin' her time, might want to go check … "

"Right. Not a couple. No, not at all," Alptraum says with a mischievous grin. "And don't worry about Tulani, if something happens to her, I should hear it."

Tulani scouts up ahead a little further, before turning and making her way back to the main road and reporting her findings to Arkold and Alptraum.

Panting a little, Tulani reports: "There's an overturned wagon in the middle of the road, I didn't see anything moving, but there could be someone underneath or nearby who needs help." She then turns and starts moving up the road a little more quickly than before.

Alptraum looks at Tulani, then nods. "Let's hurry, then. Arkold and I ought to be able to lift it," he says, then breaks into a light job up the road.

"A cart? All right, let's go," Arkold agrees.

At the scene of the burning wagon, a quick search reveals… very little. The wagon itself looks undamaged, aside from being on fire, and there are no bodies, arrow shafts or other telltale signs of struggle. The ground, however, shows the imprints of Drokars and Dromodons, and near the front of the wagon the earth is pressed down in the shape of a fallen Dromodon, with still damp blood making it muddy.

"Why would someone take bodies?" Alptraum muses and looks around the area. "This is strange. Something isn't right here. Invaders would have no reason to take bodies. What do you make of it?" He then starts searching the area, looking for any odd marks on the ground.

There is a second set of wagon ruts barely visible on the drier side of the road.

Arkold begins to circle the wagon as he examines the finding. "Ain't this odd. Let's see. We've got Drokars, blood, a fire, no bodies, no signs of fighting. Reasons to take the bodies I'm thinkin': food, maybe they got up – as in undead – maybe the attacked people survived – doubt they'd carry off a dead animal though. Someone set it on fire, so, eh, I'd wager an attacker was smart enough to use fire. Leaves out random beasts. Huh. Some people use fire to ward off the undead, right? Maybe they set a fire and tried to fight. Just a guess, eh?"

Alptraum nods at that and starts to listen, aiming his ears further up the road. "That may be it," Alptraum agrees with Arkold. "Still, strange."

Searching around the cart herself, the Sphynx pauses to examine the other set of wagon ruts, saying, "Well, whoever did this or any survivors couldn't have gotten too far, so, although it's risky we could do a short air search, or we could speed up? Or I could scout a bit further ahead?"

"I'm willing to do a short air scout. Want to split up and each scout a section, Tulani?" Alptraum suggests. "While Arkold could look for clues in this battlefield."

"Of course," and the wolf stops to glance at the other two, "maybe someone was just cleanin' up the place. Burn the cart, grab the bodies. If the Gallisians conquered this area they might have come through to clear their handiwork. Hm. Yeah. I'll go check the farms for bodies. Usually someone dies in things like this." He grimaces.

Stepping a bit back from the two so as not to smack either of them with her wings, Tulani pauses to say, "Sounds good," before taking off. Gaining altitude with a few quick flaps of her wings, the Sphynx heads off at an angle from where they were on the main road.

"See that farm?" Arkold points at the one the group passed. "That's where I'm goin' if you need me." And then he's off jogging that way.

Alptraum unfurls his wings and snaps them wide. He sighs as he feels the sun and wind on them, and with a smile … he launches himself into the air gracefully, flapping upward and forward, angling in a V away from Tulani to scout from a different angle.

Once the pair gains sufficient altitude, both the Eeee and the Sphynx can make out the shape of a fortified roadhouse some four miles along to the east. But it is Tulani who first catches sight of two figures walking along the northern verge about two miles ahead of them.

Doing a quick scan of the fortification, Tulani swerves towards Alptraum, calling out, "There are two people walking ahead, do you see them?" She points in their direction.

Alptraum peers ahead. "I do now," he calls to Tulani. "Want me to greet them? Being an Eeee, I won't stand out and hopefully they won't presume me an enemy. Well, unless they're Gallee."

After searching the barn Arkold begins on his way back towards the others. Given the range and speed available to him this takes him some time.

Tulani says, "It is a fortification, now that we know they're there we should probably go by ground, where we can do another scouting if we need to. We should probably see if Arkold found anything too, Unless you have a better idea?"

Alptraum gives a thumbs up. "Sounds good to me," he says. Hsi wings snap and dip, causing him to drop and rapidly swerve around and back twards the way they came from.

Tulani follows close behind, back towards the broken wagon on the road.

They land to find Arkold jogging up the road. He gives a shake of his head long before he's in casual speaking distance. Once close he explains, "Nothin'. Not anything you wouldn't expect anyway. How about you?"

"Fortress ahead," Alptraum says as he lands. "People too. We should meet up wit them and try to see what is going on. We need to hurry."

"People? Fortress? Okay, ah, guess we better get a move on then. Lessee. Try and figure out their species you two. If they look like Sylvanian natives you two go ahead. If they look like Gallisians I'll handle it. Then when we're sure it's safe we call the others? Right? Right. Let's go." The wolf begins jogging down the road.

After several minutes of jogging, the pair of travelers is in sight of the trio. Once they close to within a hundred yards, they can make out the banded tails of two Rath'ani, one short and the other either unnaturally tall or else carrying a large load on its shoulders.

"Hm, can't say if they're Sylvanian or not. I suggest we just go greet them together. I bet they're the wagon owners," Alptraum says, then heads down the road again.

"Sounds good," the wolf agrees as he follows along.

Following close on their heels the Sphynx says, "You're probably right."

The raccoons aren't setting a very brisk pace, so even walking the trio catches up in short order. Once they're in easy calling distance, the Rath'ani notice them and stop. The little one waves.

Alptraum waves back. "Good day to you two!" he calls out. "Are you the owners of the wagon on fire back there?"

Tulani waves back in a friendly manner adding in, "Yes, we found some sign of struggle and were afraid the owners might be hurt."

"Former owners, yes… on fire?" the larger Rath'ani calls back in a masculine voice, then goes about setting his load down. "They didn't say they were going to burn the wagon! What a waste!" he laments, sitting down on the grassy verge despondently.

Tulani says, "May we ask what happened?""

"Who were they?" Alptraum asks as the close in on the two. "What happened?"

"They?" The wolf raises a brow questioningly before glancing at the one with the heavy burden. "Need some help with that?"

The smaller raccoon, barely more than a child really, moves to hide behind the bulk of the adult. "Blasted raiders," the older Rath'ani spits. "Karstein's men, I'm certain. Shot our dray just as we got to the bottom of the hill and rode out of the woods."

"Karstein? Didn't Pike mention that name to us?" Alptraum asks Tulani, then looks back to the others. "What did they take from you? What did they say to you?"

Arkold shrugs in response to Alptraum's query. "No idea bats. I think I saw the name on the map, or heard it somewhere, but I don't remember what's to it." He glances at the two travelers. "Sure you don't need help?"

"Your money or your life, that's what they said," the man grumbles. "Oh, they were very polite about it and all. Let me take as much as I could carry, pat on the back, 'Up the Gallee!' and so forth while they moved all my stuff to their own wagon."

Alptraum pfffts. "Typical," he mutters. He smiles and waves to the child, then says to the father, "Well, where were you headed?"

"To the roadhouse," the man says, then sighs and gets back up. "Was bringing them nearly a sphere's worth of supplies, too. How'd you get past the brigands?" he asks, somewhat suspiciously.

Tulani crouches down to smile brightly at the small child, flicking an ear towards the conversation, piping up as the man asks, "We didn't run into any. They were gone, your wagon was on fire, and there was hoof-churned mud on the road."

The raccoon boy flashes Tulani a quick smile, but doesn't get any friendlier than that.

"We didn't encounter any," Alptraum says with a nod to Tulani. "They must've cleared out pretty quickly. Or decided since we weren't carrying much we weren't worth harassing."

"Hey, hey. If we were brigands there would be easier ways of stealin' what little you have there than having three of us come and talk to you so close to a fortified structure," explains the wolf mildly. "We're just travelers, an' we mean you no harm. In fact we were worried. Still are." He nods slightly.

Breaking into the conversation for another moment, Tulani asks, "Do you know what the fortification up the road is?"

The Rath'ani really looks at the group for the first time, noticing the wings on Alptraum and Tulani, and then going wide-eyed at the sight of Arkold. "What the Dagh's that thing?" he exclaims, pointing at the Jupani.

"He's our pet," Alptraum says with a wide grin.

" – who's about to bite," the wolf adds.

"At least he's housebroken", Tulani says, with an even wider grin.

" – who's thinkin' of leaving," Arkold adds again with a woebegone look to the Rath'ani. "See what I deal with? Youngins. Pfft."

The raccoon puts his hands up and says, "No offense meant! That building up the road is the roadhouse, of course. I'm Barnabas. Barnabas Scurj."

"It's either us or fish. We're more fun," Alptraum points out and keeps grinning. "Alptraum Bar Reisender. We'll help you to the roadhouse. I'm sure we could all use a break."

After introductions are completed, Barnabas takes up his load again, and the group moves on towards the roadhouse. The boy, introduced as Timothy, stays between Tulani and his father as much as possible, and occasionally sticks his tongue out at Alptraum and Arkold.

Alptraum sticks his tongue out in response at the child, then grins goofily. He looks at Arkold and comments, "You know that comment about me being a freak? I was wrong. Looks like you're the freak." He grins, elbows the wolf, then whistles as he walks.

"I can't believe someone actually asked what I am," Arkold remarks for the fifth time as the group walks. "I'm with you bats. You two are odd, believe me. Me? I'm plain as can be. I don't get Sylvania sometimes."