The Tarxian expedition

The small band heads out towards Tarxia, and finds a land that is nearly undisturbed. They spot a few herdsmen with fairly small flocks, but the lands seem relatively under grazed, and the herders seem to avoid the area with the raised aura. The area itself is hardly distinguishable from the surrounding land, though the grass grows much more sparsely. The area of the aura and thinned grass is approximately 175 feel by 275 feet, and when you arrive at the site there is not a soul in sight.

Tomas looks at the sparse ground, and at the locals.
"Aren't high auras usually MORE fertile and idyllic? The locals clearly know this is a bad area. Is there something about this Aura that we missed the first time around? An aspect?"

Ismael understands little of the magi due to his broken Romany and lack of Latin, but frowns anyways when he sees the sparse grass. He will use his Sense Holy/Unholy to see if there is anything amiss with the area (unholy Per+skill=4+8 roll=12, holy =3+7 roll=10)

Regardless he'll observe regarding the sparse grass, "Grass, no good. Grow food, animals, away here some." His duty as a gamekeeper done, he'll go back to contemplating the use of metaphoric Platonic Forms in the Hadiths.

Anyone who makes a perception roll of 9+ will realize that the thin grass seems to be in geometric patches...

Ismael: Per-1 +6 roll = oblivious. It's just bad grass. Still he'll look around the area for anything of interest. As he is here primarily as a translator, he'll just more or less wander and look for any plants or animals that are new to him.

No joy from Tomas: Per 1 + roll of 3 = 4.

I believe Henri is at Hagar Qim, and Tomas is at Tarxien.

according to the securing land thread, Tarxian should be:
Tomas
Cheech
Vicente
Ismael

of which Tomas has rolled.
Cheech has Per:0+6 (die roll)
are vicente and Ismael being played or NPC for this adventure?

I'm handling Ismael. Vicente is held for JeanPatrick, if he wishes, otherwise is NPC.

I'll play Vincente

As the mage looks around, Vincente eats an apple while looking out for potential trouble:

"I don't know about magical places... fertile and idyllic maybe, but since I joined the caravan, most of the magic places we visited were just a bunch of old rocks... What exactly are you looking for, don Tomas ?"

Per roll: 1 + 2 -3 + 7 = 7 Nope !

"At this point, I think we are looking for the source of the Aura. We will have to go further in. Reports talked of some ruins, but I am having trouble finding anything. I wonder if there is an intermittent regio." After waiting to see if there are any other observations, Tomas will start moving forward into the area of the Aura. He will look back frequently to try to watch for accidental Regio boundary crossing. After going about a third of the way towards what he guesses is the center, if nothing else has become visible Tomas will spont a spell to retest the Aura level.

The land is on top of a hill, and unusually flat, with no trees and sparse grass, in short nothing that could mark a region boundry, unless it is so old and weathered that it is buried.

Does the spell confirm the expected Aura level?

yes, the aura is level 10. It is also clearly not due to the exceptional natural beauty of this particular hill, a somewhat flatish and sparsely vegetated hill in the middle of what would be best described as unremarkable pastureland.

Though you do notice a few other people in the area now, it looks like a small band of 4 men, lightly armed, who appear to be keeping their distance and keeping an eye on you.

"lightly armed" such as shepherds might carry to defend their flock against rabid bunnies, or "lightly armed" like fighting men who do not anticipate a hotly contested battle, but nonetheless feel uncomfortable without steel?

Regardless, Ismael is of the opinion that if there was anything here of note, it has long been buried to centuries of drifting sand and dirt. And he left his favorite shovel at home, too bad!

Lightly armed as in fighting men who seem to expect more of a chase than a fight. It isn't certain if they anticipate chasing or being chased.

Tomas turns to Cheech "Do you think you can get close enough to hear them without attracting their attention? It would be good to learn what they are saying. Come back quickly if they chase you."

Vincente looks at Ismael and then Tomas, and slowly put his left hand on the pommel of his longword, still in its scabbard.

"What's the plan, don Tomas ? I would rather not have to fight four armed men by myself, I am not as agile as I used to be. I think we should at the very least explain to give them why we are tresspassing on their or their master's land."

He then look at the armed men to check that they are not approaching, and then at Tomas, awaiting an answer.

Tomas looks at them. "Lets see if Cheech can learn anything before they get too close. Also, is one of them the leader? Once they are close enough to talk, we should see if we can get them to pause and communicate. Is there one you think is the leader? I can give him a "lift" if they charge. What I would like is to talk to them, as they probably have some useful information." Tomas will also look around for a couple of rocks he can throw if need be, and any other materials that might be handy."