Act 1: Journey Phase - On the right track?

[silverfoxdmt73]

You travel on through the morning and into the early afternoon, all with your various tasks at hand. The fog has mostly burned away, revealing a flat and fairly featureless landscape that seems to extend as far as the eye can see. Other than one thing. The river.

It's course drifts slowly southward through the flat marshes, the banks of the river blending in with the surrounding lands, occasionally marked on the eastern shore by stands of rushes or reeds. On the western bank the land is more solid and climbs a little higher out of the waterlogged marshes and so is more noticeable. In the distance, the darkening canopy of the Mirkwood forest can be seen and climbing toward the skies beyond that, the Mountains of Mirkwood.

The trail followed by Dobbin takes you up to the bank of the river, where the trail seems to disappear into the slow moving waters of the Running River.

[Vardaen]

"Let's get up on some higher ground and takes a look around." Torwald heads for the highest point he can find on this side of the river hoping to get a look around.

[Wbweather]

Dolenril follows Torwald and begins scanning the ground for evidence of their quarry's passage through the area.

[Omenstar]

"Well that's a queer sort of dead end," Dobbin says, scratching his chin. He remains by the water's edge, bends down to examine the tracks up to the water carefully, trying to discern some sign of watercraft or any other hint as to how they may have crossed.

Dobbin also searches his memory as well as the features of the river bank, and the river bed, if it can be determined, as he wonders, "Is there a ford of the river at this point?"

[Bounder]

Eofor watches the far bank, in particular looking for points from which the group could be ambushed. His bow is in hand but without an arrow yet nocked.

[Olligarchy]

Orin grunts and follows along, eyeing the area suspiciously. Despite the... crofty appearance of the area, he could not shake the feeling they were being watched. Mayhaps it was just his nerves after having seen off such a slimy beast, but he was far more worried now than he'd been before.

Bandits and vagabonds were one thing, but bog creatures and possible creatures of shadow? Another thing entirely...

[silverfoxdmt73]

Dolneril is the first to notice, though he is quickly followed by Dobbin in his discovery. The keen eyes of both elf and hobbit picking out the unmistakable signs of someone's clumsy attempt to climb up the muddy river bank. Around fifty yards from your position, across the river there is a small area of the opposite bank where a number of people - you make the assumption based on the fact you are pursuing a band of men - have clambered out of the water and slipped and gabbed onto the soft earth of the bank, tearing off chunks of the grassy lip of the river bank in the process.

Dobbin is quite sure that this is the sign you have been looking for. Now all you have to do is find the best way to cross the wide, slow moving river safely.

[Omenstar]

"Look!" says Dobbin, pointing, "After all that, we ended up on the wrong side of the river! Now, that's a pickle. And where d'ya suppose they're off to on the west side of the river, anyways? Well, I'm no waterman, as I've said before. Is this where our job ends? Anyone have any bright ideas?"

[Vardaen]

"We can try and make a raft, but there might be a ford around here, hold on let me look about. In the mean time see if you can find a boat they might have left on this side hidden away." Torwald curses their luck and scans the banks for any hope of finding a way across, going up and down for a good way in each direction.

OOC

Use any of my ranger skills to know/find away over. Perhaps he know of a ford nearby, and could locate it now, etc.

[silverfoxdmt73]

It looks like they swam across, for as you scan the far bank you can see no evidence of a raft or any other means of their crossing. The current is not particularly strong and from what little tracks remain on your side of the river, it appears they entered the water more or less directly across from their point of exit.

Torwald nor Dobbin can find nothing of substance to use as a raft - reeds and hardy marsh grasses are all that grow around here, though Torwald seems to recall that although the river is quite wide, it is not very deep, possibly little more than waist height on a man around this area.