Nioxen looked around and said "Nice to meet you all, my name is... uhh... Ni... Nioxen Yeah im Nioxen How is every pony?"
Illudo's eyes flared in rage while the remainder of his face remained emotionless. He trotted briskly over to Nioxen and grabbed him tail. He turned to the West, the direction in which the Botanist pointed while he prepared a volley of hushed scoldings. "Will you imbeciles quit clowning around. This isn't some stupid muffin and tea party, we're here to track down villagers that could be dead. Now either you shut up so that we don't get caught, or I'm going to take the nearest rock and jam it down your throat so you don't endanger the rest of us, got it?" He breathed out slowly after venting his anger and pulled the blood-stained cloak on and proceeded down the path. "The rest of you follow me. I have much sharper eyes than most, and with this cloak on I'll be more incognito than ludicrous muffin jockeys. From now on, we remain quiet unless it's absolutely important. There's no path here, so it's of the utmost significance that we maintain the element of surprise, or else they'll have it on us. Now come on."
Winter nodded in agreement, he had been slowly edging towards the forest in case of attack. "Let Illudo lead, everypony else, fall in behind me, I have the glowing torch horn here."
''Okay, but take this, illudo.'' Hunt removed the lens from his rifle. ''You may need it more than me.''
Illudo took the rifle scope in his hoof and nooded. "Much obliged." He turned and looked at Winter "You may want to put that light out, it makes us easier to spot from far off."
"Right, I'll have it on just a little for the others, but not enough to be spotted." He said, then the fire around his horn flickered down to the size of a candle's, "That should be good, let's get going."
Spoiler: Average Luck for entire party after they set off Average Luck: 5 No modifiers Rolled: 4 The group forges onward through the dense forest, until they come across a clearing. There are torches here. Spoiler: Party perception Average perception: 5 No modifiers Rolled: 6 Upon initial examination, there is obviously one of the big stone structures described by the Botanist in the middle of the clearing, and the aforementioned torches as well. There are not any hooded ponies in plain sight.
Illudo sticks his foreleg out as a signal to the rest of the group to halt their movement. He signals Winter over while continuing to motion for him to remain silent and points up into a tree. He obviously is indicating that he would like some help getting into the tree. Pulling the rifle scope out and holding it in his mouth, he prepares to ascend.
Winter knelt down and Illudo stepped up, and then Winter stood fully up, getting him much closer to the branches so he could climb up.
Nioxen sits next to a torch and grabs a map from his saddlebag. trying to read it Nioxen gets a bit confused. (Int check please)
Illudo grabs the lowest branch and pulls himself up into the tree. He spends a minute or so ascending to the highest point before resting on a branch and using the scope to survey the surrounding area. (I'm assuming a Perception Check will ensue.)
[I'll let you have the map, but please no more random supplies. ] Spoiler: Nioxen Intelligence Intelligence: 1 No modifiers Rolled: 7 Nioxen can't make heads or tails of the map. He also neglects to mention the fact that he has it to his fellow party members. Spoiler: Illudo Climbing Strength + Agility average: 4 + 1/2 of Winter's Strength: +3 Rolled: 1 Illudo successfully makes it into the tree. Easily, in fact. He climbs to the top and takes a look around him (I assume this was the point of climbing the tree with a scope): Spoiler: Illudo Perception Perception: 9 Dark: -2 Scope: +1 Roll: 5 He sees more lit clearings to the west (deeper into the forest). To the north he sees the path and the lit area around a small hut, and to the south he sees the silhouette of a structure rising slightly above the treetops, though he can't make out much more than that.
Illudo's attention is drawn to the hut to the North in particular, but the figure to the south is specifically noted. Perhaps the hut belonged to the forest's resident Zebra, Zecora. Her status during this crisis had never been mentioned, perhaps it would be best to pay her a visit and learn more of the information. He drops out of the tree and lands in front of the group. He points North and signals for the group to follow silently once more.
