Zoom 2023-06-20 21:00

Having slipped out of Tobar, the party is sheltering in woods at 50.010
For the 2nd day of travel (9th November) we revert to standard outdoor spell lists in place of levitate/fly combinations. The forecast is for rain all day. Joshua changes shape to a warg and Brokev mounts him to ride at the rear of the party.
We find it slow going through the thick woods, heading SE to reach 53.011 by the end of the day. Minor first aid is needed for the chafing from wet leather armour & straps.
On the 3rd day the forecast is for drier but colder weather. About lunchtime the sky is clear enough for Khurak to go aloft, but nothing to report. In the afternoon Francis spots a log cabin half a mile away through the trees, no smoke rising from it. We decide to pass it by without a visit (and don't eat the porridge). Our day of tramping through the woods ends in 56.013
On the 4th day we strike out from the woods, continuing SE to cross Smoky Valley to Clawthorn woods. The forecast is for clear weather and the first frost of the year.
Early in the afternoon, Quercuis spots a small cluster of houses in 60.015. There is smoke, but we don't detour to say hello. We would probably learn nothing useful, while leaving a good description of some strangers for any pursuers to discover.
We camp for the night in 62.016. During 3rd watch Twoo is woken by Twit, who has seen a human a quarter of a mile away. He approached from the NW, paused for a look and then left to the North.
On the 5th day, the forecast is continuing cold, with the possibility of early snow. Brokev finds that unusually early for this part of the world.
We check the spot where the human stood watching. He didn't leave a big trail, just slight traces, like he was trained in fieldcraft. Kirsten recognises a scent, but can't place it.
The party discusses whether to switch direction in case of pursuit, but carries on as planned, reaching 66.018 by evening. The thicker woods shelter us from the snow that is now falling.
Commune with nature notes the lack of wolves in the area. So we ask where we can find a dead animal, and it locates a deer three miles to the South. Kirsten goes to see it. The throat was torn out and there are claw marks to the head, but the rest of the carcass has been neatly quartered, as if by a human butcher. The kill is about 2 hours old, but has not been consumed. There is a smell of cats and some atavistic terror that drives Kirsten straight to a latent form.(*)
One of the druids speaks with plants and asks a nearby tree what creatures have been around, bigger than us, but smaller than the tree. It tells that there are predators on 2 and 4 legs. We note that Tobar is a centre of were-creatures and speculate about were-tigers. Asked how many of them, it answers vaguely "one, lots, more than there are of you". I subsequently wonder whether this is a changing population over the lifespan of the tree. The tree reports that they do climb trees.
During the 2nd watch of the night, an animal screams and is quickly silenced. At a guess it was a couple of miles away.
In the 3rd watch, just before first light, Twit reports the same human took another look at us and went away to the North.
On the 6th day, we checked the spot where the visitor stood to watch and we found a piece of waxed paper pinned to a tree. The note reads "Suggest South and West are bad for your health". The writing is not Thirson's, although this is his style. We decide to change direction and travel due East, missing out on investigating the clearing to the SE of our present location.
(*) To clarify: Kirsten had been instructed to go latent using her 'remote recall' ability if she felt at all threatened. This wasn't some powerful fear affect that can drive totems latent. David G.