"Another creature? Can you look at it more closely? Can you tell what it is?"

"It's an enormous snake thing. I haven't seen anything like it before. Here—" Kanuwa casts Telepathy and relays the image to Feya and Marina.

"Sorry, I don't recognize it either. What do we do?"

The road they're traveling on is flanked on both sides by forest — their four wagons would not be able to pass through.

"Shit. Shit. It's coming closer, really fast!"

There is now an enormous snakelike creature barrelling towards the caravan.

Feya goes to fetch the Clear Bell from the inside of the wagon, but stumbles.

The Clear Bell clatters to the floor. Without being imbued energy, its clear ringing sound is simply a clear ringing sound.

The snake opens its jaw — way too wide for any normal snake — and swallows the wagon whole. And then the other three wagons too.

They find themselves on a remarkably similar road, through a remarkably similar forest.

The trees are deciduous, and grow in a natural tangle that shows few signs of forestry. Despite that, the narrow road has been recently cleared of downed branches, and there are two parallel grooves made by the passage of many cart wheels.

The weather is gloomy and overcast, making determining the exact time of day a bit difficult. Water drips from the trees, suggesting that it has recently stopped raining. Hills rise to either side of the road, mostly obscured by the trees.

...this is not where they were.

Never mind that — they got ?eaten? by a gigantic snake.

"Status check!" he yells.

Each member of the caravan shouts their name in turn. No one is injured. The wagons and their oxen are also untouched.

"Marina, do you have any epistemic location workings? What about you, Kanuwa? How much energy do you have? Do you think you can cast Greater Ping?"

"I do, but I only know The Walls have Mouths. It won't work here in the forest."

"I can do that. What range do you want?"

"I think...could you spend half your remaining energy for it? What range could you get then?"

"About two kilometers radius, as a spell. You do want it as a spell?"

"How long would the ritual version take?"

"Waving Hand would take ten minutes, by the formulation I know.

So, I really advise against having me cast that, given that, while it would tell us if anything was here, it would also tell them that we are here. And I don't want anything like what just came after us coming after us again."

"Valid. Alright. Let's...continue traveling. There's a road here. I would assume it would lead us somewhere. Can you maintain lookout?"

Feya gives the order to move forward, but at a slow pace.

"Can do."

Kanuwa and Marina are practitioners of the Way of the Open Door and the Way of Flowers, respectively, both being blessed with better senses. But only Kanuwa has the ability to see behind obstacles, as though having light bend around it. Only to a certain degree, but it will mean that he would be able to spot someone down the road even if there was a sharp turn.

Then Kanuwa will be the first to spot a young woman resting on a rock by the side of the road. She has a shapeless cloth sack by her feet, made of the same material as her skirt and breastband, although the latter is decorated with some simple embroidery. She is sitting under the boughs of a large tree, in a relatively dry location. She is holding her nose with a tired expression, staring silently out into the forest.

"Someone on the road. Young woman, unarmed, uninjured." He will do the same protocol of Telepathy sending a snapshot of his sight to the others. Engage?"

While Kanuwa can see her, can she see him? Assuming she has normal human vision.

Even if she were looking in their direction — which she isn't; the road bends a bit around the foot of the hill, and she is just beyond the bend — it seems unlikely. The undergrowth is not too thick, but there's a good number of trees between her and the caravan.

"She currently can't see us."

Hm. So on the one hand, even to someone who is accustomed to Telepathy, it would be very alarming to have someone talk to you with it when you can't see them. But on the other hand, this is a person who is presumably in the...giant snake stomach world...so who knows whether they're even like. Human.

"I want to try talking to her and asking about this place. Does anyone want to come with me?" He makes it clear that he's not giving an order as caravan master.

"I'll do it. She might not speak our language, so you'll need someone who can cast Telepathy."

"Nope, way too cowardly. I'll observe you two from a distance, though."