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[Dwarmin]

Eli nimbly knelt high on a heavy tree branch by the river, and whistled musicially downwards to catch Lady Bethanys attention-he knew by nature he could be invisible if he chose to be. She hoped he wouldn't mistake him for a colorful bird and pick up a bow...

His eyes glimmered in the shadows, however, since he was quite pleased with himself.

He called downwards.

"My Lady. I'm pleased to report I've found a positive trail-scuff marks, tufts of hair, monkey...leavings...-and, it leads Northwards. Unfortunately, the exact route is quite difficult to follow if one can not fly or climb."

[Grek]

Steffan has no better luck trying to identify the language than Vray did. Despite this, he is able to read the writing through magic. It says:

"Blessings of the Great Ones and the Creator upon you, servant of Itheil, servant of Maanzecorian, who is dead but not forgotten."

That last name is one that both Vray and Rohan would recognize - the name of an ancient deity of the mind flayers.

[Harbingerjm]

"... Well. I guess that makes more sense than Drow, anyway. I vote we don't follow them."

[lawastooshort]

"What, fiendish hellgibbons manipulated by worshippers of ancient evil? Not follow them? That sounds sensible.”

Bardic knowledge check if necessary – what do I know about mind flayers? What do I know about these dead but not forgotten gods/things?

[Grek]

Mind flayers are a common topic of horror stories and tales told to misbehaving children:

Supposedly, a mind flayer is a seven foot tall monstrous humanoid with grey and slimy flesh, incredible psionic ability and a mouth surrounded by tentacles that they use to crush skulls like walnuts. Allegedly a mind flayer must eat the brain of a thinking being at least once every month, and prefers the flavour of bad little boys and girls who don't do what their parents tell them to. Powers attributed to them in stories include mind control, telepathy, thought reading, a "mind blast" that dazes or kills those that are struck by it, sorcery and psychic powers of all description and the ability to teleport. You suspect some of that may be an exaggeration.

You know very little about mind flayer religion, or even if they have a religion at all.

[Harbingerjm]

What does Vray know about them? Bardic Knowledge.

[Zako]

"Ancient evil gods of the mind flayers? Hmm... Let me think..." Rohan murmured to himself.

Try to recall what I know of about the mentioned gods that the writing spoke of.

[Grek]

Through careful collaboration, Rohan and Vray are able to recall that Maanzecorian was the deity of a religion devoted to sacrificing living brains to a dark god. It was eventually revealed that the priest-kings of the barbarian tribes that practiced this religion were all mind flayers.

[GiglameshDespair]

Ashii looked up at the mention of mind flayers and suddenly spoke.
"Mind flayes? I have heard of them before. It emerged from the great caves north of my circles and took over a tribe. Eventually the Jarl of the land sent his huscarls who destroyed the beast, though a great many of them were slain."
Her piece said, she continued listening to the discussion, more visibly attentive.

[lawastooshort]

"So, does it seem reasonable to assume that these little monkeys,” and here Steffan pokes one about with his foot a bit, "Might be under the influence of these… mind flayers? Or is it possible that the monkeys have acquired both these items and this praeternatural intelligence from another source? This latter might be wishful thinking, no?”

Steffan barely waited for a reply before continuing.

"And if mind flayers, that we know to have already subjugated and manipulated entire tribes in the past, are responsible for these monkeys, then they could possibly be trying the same thing with every one of the unknown tribes in this area. Right?”

"This could explain the reports of overly intelligent animals, and of kidnappings and disappearances, and if this did explain it, then it seems unlikely that we will find any survivors – or at least any survivors with brains, if the tales are true. Although I suppose depending on how many there are, they might want to keep the survivors alive for a while to eat their brains fresher. And a final if, I think, if supermanipulative brainthieves are behind all this, do we feel ready to go off on any path that may lead to a confrontation with them? Having said that, I don’t think we can jump to the conclusion that this is what happened to the five missing explorers we’re after. We clearly need to investigate further, but I’m not sure where, or how."

"Eli, you say they probably came from the North? Unless they’re intelligent enough to double back on themselves, or change their route to deceive us… We’re headed North to the river fork. I say we should continue to the blessing site, but with more caution than we have displayed thus far. What do you think about the tracks, Eli?”

[Harbingerjm]

"That they might be under the influence of the Mind Flayers? Certainly. After all, if I went around eating the brains of others, creating my own devoted slave race, unlikely to attract sympathy or attention from other races, and making up in delicious numbers to attack others what they lack in physical capacity to resist me... Well, it just makes sense. For them. Evil creatures."
Vray coughs.
"As for potential survivors... Given they obviously like using others as minions, and that they are possessed of legendary abilities to control minds... I would not trust any survivors we found. This might explain the rumours of Ghouls, too. We should continue the task of escorting the... priestess, if the Mind Flayers are active in the area then blessing the river might hinder them. I for one am all in favour of objectives that contribute to keeping my brain in my skull."
Vray coughs again, then clears her throat, muttering briefly in a language nobody else here speaks (except possibly the priestess. If she speaks Aquan). Her tone is somewhat hard to judge, given her accent and obvious difficulty speaking, but there was a certain amount of disdain audible when she said "blessing".

[tryrar]

"Indeed, I like my brain where it is already, thankyouverymych!" Morazin looks around for a second. "If we are done here, I think we should continue to the fork. The sooner we get this done, the better."

[Dwarmin]

Eli dangled his legs over the group, sitting on a tree branch. He was remarkably at ease in a tree.

"The tracks indicate a certain ease of movement, and with the terrain-even in in panicked fleeing. It's clear they were going somewhere, not merely fleeing blindly. Or perhaps they merely know this area well.

As for my own thoughts, I believe we should continue to the fork-we've no evidence that the expedition met their fates here, and our only chance otherwise is to retrace their steps as best we can. Which means finding the Elven village, if it exists."

[Weirdsound]

Eli dangled his legs over the group, sitting on a tree branch. He was remarkably at ease in a tree.

"The tracks indicate a certain ease of movement, and with the terrain-even in in panicked fleeing. It's clear they were going somewhere, not merely fleeing blindly. Or perhaps they merely know this area well.

As for my own thoughts, I believe we should continue to the fork-we've no evidence that the expedition met their fates here, and our only chance otherwise is to retrace their steps as best we can. Which means finding the Elven village, if it exists."

Bethany nods in agreement at Eli's words, but hops out of the canoe. "Agreed. But lets mark this place before we leave so we can find it again. I know the town wants the creepy animals investigated at some point, and if after searching up the fork we find no evidence of the party we might wish to return here ourselves as a last ditch effort."

The Paladin regards each party member in turn. "Does anybody here have the strength and gear to fell a few trees? Otherwise I'll just mark a few by cutting into the bark."

[tryrar]

"I could burn scorch marks into the bark with my fire breath, that should be noticeable from the river."