Be Vewy Quiet, We're Hunting Wath...
With the writ in hand, you are able to pass the front gates. They are not pretty, but they are sturdy. Doom, who is manning the gate, give your orders a careful perusal.
"You sure I can't talk you outta this? It's certain death out there. Your friend is probably already riven."
Inwardly you might suppress a smirk until he adds, "Like we soon will be..."
Anyway, since neither of you have tracking skills, it will be a difficult task indeed. The best you can do is to follow the road to Adala, which is plainly visible so close to the fort. You probably decide to stay off of it and keep it in sight more than walk openly down it, but this quickly proves unworkable for long periods; the jungle is too thick. Nevertheless, after much searching and hiding:
I am going to let you roll default PER rolls at 8- in alphabetical order:
Beka: 5, 5, 3 STUN: 13 BODY: 3
Celeste: 1, 2, 2 STUN: 5 BODY: 2
Amazingly enough, Celeste's keen ears pick out the sound of distant argument. Voices are raised in heated exchange. As you creep closer, hardly breathing, you hear Rath's voice slowly become clearer:
"...come on the caravan, your stupidity is showing, how many Riven you know fall in with rich merchants? The more we talk the more convinced I am that you should be relieved of command."
This is followed by a thin, dry voice, like brittle paper being rustled:
""To begin with, it is a 'fort', not a town, Mako is a 'Commander' not a guardsman and Horn is still a broken idiot. I have confirmation from Ash when I communicated with him while you were helping us. Finally, Master Ash gave express orders NOT to kill Mako.
"Oh my little friend in a big savage world, if you do come from Master Ash, you would know how he communicates with us. He would surely tell a trusted lieutenant...?"
[EDITED on Sat March 1, 2003 @9:16 AM (PST)]