Tavros: Following the Trail

 The path was easy enough to follow, though Tavros would never have been able to pick out details the way Olvern did. That many feet had crushed the dry grasses, churned up the patches of softer soil, and tracked bits of mud across the rockier stretches. The land here wasn't quite marsh, though it would have been if they were closer to the lake; instead, they followed a wide trail between high grasses and bare-limbed trees. 

In another month, Tavros thought, the whole area would be green and blooming; but winter hadn't yet released its grip -- not completely. There was a dusting of frost everywhere the sun had not yet touched. The grasses were still brown and the trees were still bare. 

Olvern held up a hand and they stopped. The older man was frowning, puzzled. "The trail turns north here, but... that doesn't make any sense. If they were angling towards the hills, why not head that way in the first place? And those hills are..." He trailed off, thinking. 

The paladins glanced at each other, but waited. Tavros was patient, trusting Olvern; the man might be a vagabond, but he clearly knew the area and could read things from the land that no amount of training in the temple had taught Tavros to do. Tarric looked impatient, and Anica intrigued. 

Olvern crossed to the line of grasses beside the trail, stopped, and then put a hand out. "Here," he said, and lifted a handful from the ground. They weren't growing there; they'd been cut and then set back in place, and a softer set of tracks lay underneath them. "Trying to throw us off the trail." He paused, looking warily around. "Well, hopefully not us in particular. But trying to throw any pursuers off the trail."

Tarric nodded. "So the apparent trail probably turns north and then disappears." 

"Count on it," said Olvern. 

"Do we want to check?" asked Anica.

"Yes," said Olvern and Tarric at the same time. Tavros nodded. With the village already reduced to ashes, they could afford to take the time to confirm their conclusions. 

Thirty minutes later they were throwing the cut grasses aside and following the true trail. As expected, the obvious trail had run half a mile north and then stopped as it reached a rockier area; but Olvern had looked over the rocks and noted the absence of muddy footprints on them, and pronounced it a false trail. Trekking back was tedious, but Tavros found that the prospect of actually finding these raiders kept him plenty interested.