Heironymus responds to Kyara's request by moving over to help the wounded. "That arrow certainly doesn't look like an illusion. Ok, lets get that taken care of."

After healing the leg wound Heironymus looks around and say, "Now, who else needs to get up to speed? I'll worry about the dog last, but I should be able to heal the good beast as well."

He also nods towards the wagon and notes that "we probably still need to fix that wheel." (I think the wheel is still broken, correct? Or was that an illusion as well?)

(The wheel is still broken.)

Raif puts down his staff, heading towards the broken wagon. "If you are able to heal Marga, I would greatly appreciate it. Otherwise, I can look after him." He looks towards the remaining drovers. "Come on and lend a hand." He will bend his shoulder to the wagon, ready to aid in getting it fixed as quickly as possible so they can get the wagons moving and they can continue their search for the girl.

As the party trumped out of the woods Aryn greeted them with much energy.

"Where is my daughter? Did you find her? What happened? Where is she?" Allyn pauses looking at Raif's unfortunate load. "She's not..., no she can't be... she's not... dead... is she?" The concern seems real enough. Virif thinks to himself looking closely at Aryn. However I still say that that was a bit much for a kidnapping. Virif looks over at the bodies. Strange I don't remember killing elves. More illusions, but why would someone go to the trouble of casting illusions and then abandon them. If they were trying to hide their true identity then would it not have made more sense to find a way to dispose of the corpses? An easy firebolt spell could have turned them to ashes if aimed correctly. Or they could have resumed the attack once all the guards were otherwise occupied. They must have been watching in order to know my location in the woods. Come to think of it why didn't they resume the attack? We are to small a caravan for it to have been a slave raid.
"I may be speaking ill of the dead but I think Harl was as much a part of this attack and abduction of Jocelyn as the dark-skinned elf that hid in a tree in the forest. When Itried to shot him he turned invisible, Certainly he was the source of the illusion spells that had us seeing things." Kyara answered the merchant.
"Harl was unusually friendly with Jocelyn going out of his way to gain her trust. and I cannot figure out why he led her off from the only real safety of the wagons and her father and all of us into an unknown woods when we were surrounded by bandits, unless he was in on it. His surprise was that that black-skinned elf killed him to prevent us from gaining information. That is why he looks so surprised in death."

"Yes indeed." Virif laughed at the last line. "And truly the dark elf was a spellcaster, but consider the timing. If you saw the elf before you met up with me then the illusionist was already busy and could not have been the same elf. Also consider the complexity of the illusions. During the raid someone managed to keep the illusion of the fixed wagon wheel while another illusion existed to keep us from realizing we faced dark elves. I believe that we'll find more than one spellcaster in their party."

"Let us camp here now. We can fix the wagon wheel while we send a force out to find the girl." Raif pets the slightly wounded dog next to him. "While Marga is a faithful defender of myself, I am still working on teaching how to track on a specific scent." he looks to the others of the group. "If there are some here who are expert trackers, I will travel with you." He looks to the merchant to see what his decision will be..

"I must stay with my wagons." He decides after long minutes of thought and emotion. Tears appear in his eyes, showing the emotional tension behind the now calm facade. "If I lose my goods, then both my daughter and I would be destined for a life of poverty, one I couldn't force her into. I hope you do not think less of me." He bows his head, almost in shame, and walks slowly back to the lead wagon to sit sulking in the drivers bench. That is a really bad idea. Virif thinks walking after the merchant.

"Sir. Perhaps we would have a better time of finding your daughter if we knew of potential enemies." Virif began, "If this raid was just aimed at kidnapping Jocelyn then the elves were probably hired. At the very least Harl was. If the raid was not aimed at your daughter then I'm afraid I must insist on you coming with us, as I didn't take the job to protect your goods but instead your body."

The comment about insisting the merchant come with the group drew Heironymus' attention from the task of healing.

"Unless our employer can shed more light on the situation, I think we can safely assume that the girl was the target of the raid. Once they had her they left. No further attempt was made on the wagons or their owner, even when the rest of us had disappeared into the woods. No, they had what they wanted and they left. And they wanted it badly enough to leave three of their group behind. They didn't come with enough manpower, or elf power, to take the entire caravan. They came equipped for a snatch."

Turning to the merchant he continued, "But that does raise some interesting questions. Why your daughter? Blackmail? A child makes sense for that, but not when the principle source of wealth was also right at hand, and yet it seems no attempt was made to capture you. In fact, one of them seemed to be attempting to kill you. Why kill the father just as you are kidnapping the daughter? Odd, isn't it? Yet it clearly was not random; Harl was put into this group and he went out of his way to get to know the girl. They knew what they were after."

Lowering his voice in sympathy with the merchants loss, Hieronymus contnues, "I realize this must be a hard time for you, but we need answers if we are to find your daughter. Do you have any idea who would have done this? Do you recognize this symbol? Dark elves? They don't mean much to me (I'm assuming since my new arrival in the area I have little knowledge of them??) but do they to you?"

"Perhaps it is best that you look after your livelihood, but if you want us to be successful we need help. There didn't seem to be any clear path to follow in the woods, and who knows if we will be able to trust our senses even if we do find a path, so do you have any suggestions on where we should start? We were hired as guards, not for search and rescue. Not as trackers."

As he finished Heironymus couldn't help but wonder if the lack of a trail leaving the clearing where the dwarf was accosted might also be an illusion.

After taking a moment to compose himself and wipe his eyes clear he looks at the symbol as Heironymus present it to him. After a moment of thought his eyes light up in recognition.

"This is the symbol of Illuria! The pyramid there, I think that is their capital though I've never seen it. You didn't see any other symbols on them did you? A mark of a noble house or such?"
His body shakes for a minute as he takes a deep breath to steady himself again. Strong emotions still show plainly on his face.

"I trade with several houses of Illurian nobility, but none of them would know of Jocelyn. I've never brought her along before."
Allyn wipes his eyes once more and looks down at the dead brigands.

"They look like Valshari, the dominant elven race of the Illurian Empire. But why would they be after my goods? Or my duaghter for that matter? I don't understand why this is all happening!"
His eyes water and he is wracked again by intense sobs as he practically collapses on the ground, momentarily consumed by grief and fear.

Did you mention Jocelyn to any of them? asks Kyara Why was she with you on this trip. What made you take her alone? SOmething is not right The usual walth is in goods and gold. Unless the girl is desired for some purpose we yet do not know.

"Is she untouched?"

Allyn chokes back his tears once again, but only for a moment.

"What kind of question is that!?! Is she untouched?! His tears quickly give way to anger. "My daughter is missing because all of YOU failed to protect her! And you are interested in her virginity?! What kind of mercenaries are you?! The volume of his voice is growing ever greater, yelling by the end of his sentence. His face has flushed red in his rage. "I brought her with me because she is my only child! She'll take over the business when I'm gone and I wanted to introduce her to my contacts. Is that alright with you!?! And I DIDN'T take her alone. YOU were with us!"
(Did I adequately convey that he is a bit... upset? Bear in mind that he isn't entirely himself due to the sudden kidnapping of his daughter, so he would logically be a little more... touchy than normal.)

Kyara waits until Allyn calms down. "My apologies for the tenor of my question but I asked them with all good intentions. Something about this trip was different, Was this the first trip your daughter was on to teach her your trade. Someone knew of this. This kidnapping was well planned ahead of time. Whoever did this knew your daughter was with you."

"Unbeknownst to you, most likely, is a some pieces of information that will help us recover your daughter. I swear to you I will undertake the quest to return her to you if it is at all possible. What you know though may be of help. The person who did this is certainly more powerful than anything we are able to do to match it. Any clue any piece of knowledge I can gain will help us get her back to you. Someone with powerful resources is behind this, a powerful spellcaster and uniformed troops disguised to appear human and wearing the symbol of the Illuria Empire. Unless that is a false plant as well and there is some third party at work here." Kyara concludes

Allyn seems to ignore you, consumed by his grief (Diplomacy check was a 6).

Raif stops what he is doing, evidently everyone is watching the interplay with Allyn. He doesn't want to interrupt, but they have got to get moving. "These are questions that can wait," he says, wanting to get some attention of the broken man. "The first action we need to take is to find the girl. Finding out why won't get her back here any earlier."

He points back to the wagon. "Let's get this fixed so they can get on, then let's get after her."

The forest seems to be quiet now. The normal sounds are returning. The calls of birds and such break the previous silence and bring a feeling of normalcy to the situation.

(Raif is going to have a bit of difficult repairing the wagon on his own as he can't lift the wagon, remove the old wheel and replace it all on his own. Is anyone going to attempt to aid him?)

Allyn seems to calm after a few more minute have passed. He slowly rises from the seat of the wagon and approaches the group. Tears stain his face but where emotion once dominated his appearance, you see only stone and anger.

"I have not made any enemies in Illuria so far as I know. Though the markings on their armor mark them as soldiers of the Illurian Empire. As to why my daughter was targeted, it could be as simple as to negotiate for cheaper rates from me or a ransom. Perhaps they couldn't transport all of my goods and knew I would give them up willingly for her safety once I reached my destination. I can only hope that is all there is to it."
He stops and rests his chin on his hand for a moment, thinking.

"I will return to Maruk. Perhaps I can rally some of the guards or some of the mercenaries that particularly despise the Empire for a low price. If you four are willing, please find my daughter. You have my word you will be well-paid for your time.

Heironymus had watched the various discussions carefully. His heart went out to the merchant, yet information was needed.

After the merchant returned to the group and expressed his intent to return to the city they had recently left, he spoke up again, "Sir., I can only officially speak for myself, but it appears these others agree with me when I say that we will do everything we can to find your daughter. This is a burden no father should have to bear. Yet bear it you must. We will do what we can to lesson this burden."

He looked around at the rest of the group, "It seems our task has changed. We are no longer guards, but hunters. I suppose we must go back to the woods and see if we can locate a track to follow. Otherwise I am not sure where to start. Well, we must start by fixing the wagon. As soon as I have finished with the wounds, I shall help with the repairs. Someone had also better keep watch. We have been attacked once here already."

Kyara leans a hand in changing the whell. GOing into the forest she finds a downed branch or spaling that can be used as a lever and adds her weight to the end to help ligt the wagon so they could free the broken wheel and put on a new one.

"WHo else will join us to regain Allyn's daughter?"

Raif nods in agreement. He nods towards the dog Marga. "We will lend our aid. Let's get the wagons back ont their way so we can focus on the girl."