A chill wind blows across the plains of Golarin, broken into swirling eddies by the still great walls of the ruined city of Osmar, stirring dust here and there which shines in the light of the silver moon.

At a narrow breach of the great wall, Jaxar the Jaka, and Mirna the Danuvian stand gasping for breath after a mad dash through the ruins, the exertion of the run making the chill air welcome.

Joining them comes the Rahastran Athellin, and the two Marukans, Rioniv and Rammid, gasping and covered in sweat as well.

The sweat is not just that of exertion, as all still feel the presence of whatever It was that extruded from that ruin, just the thought of It makes Jaxar's hackles rise and stirs a sense of wrongness in his sixth sense.

Rammid looks at the others, drags his arm partly across his sweating brow before stopping abruptly as the mail he is not yet accustomed to contacts his skin.  "I say we call it all even and get our tails gone from here!"

Athellin squints up into the night, and adds, "If Kar has survived, he should be able to fly free and join us."  He glances at the moons and stars, continues, "the time draws nigh to our appointed rendez vous with our windship.  Perhaps that would be best." 

Rioniv only looks on quietly, panting, and nods, and looks to the others.

In reply to GM (msg #1):

"What *was* that, and how do we kill it?"

After a few deep breaths, Rioniv says, quietly, "I am not certain, but I think we did the right thing.  The look and feel of it was definitely of the lower planes."

In reply to Rioniv (msg #3):

Panting heavily, Jaxar replies to Mirna and Rioniv, "It was Death personified, and we did the only thing we could. Had we held our ground we would no longer be drawing air, of that I am certain." Scanning the night sky, he perks his ears and tastes the air questing for any signs of life.

"I only hope Kar fared as well as the rest of us. Although newly met his actions so far have been honorable, and he has had plenty of opportunity to betray us if that were his goal. Let us hope he lives yet, and continues to prove trustworthy."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:13, Fri 26 Feb 2010.

"I hope you are right, and Kar has escaped.  If he has, I'm sure he will catch up with us on the wing.  Jaxar, you seem to have the best sense of direction here -- could you lead us back to our rendez vous with the ship?"

In reply to Athellin (msg #5):

After providing an aerial diversion, Kar wearily drops under the treeline in an attempt to lose the... thing. There, gliding for tree to tree, he continues to seek out either his companions or the ship, hoping if nothing else to meet them there.

In reply to Athellin (msg #5):

Nodding to Athellin Jaxar begins to survey the area looking for reference points and sampling the air for familiar scents. "After our reckless flight it may take some time to locate our backtrail. Keep alert, as there may still be beastmen and other foul beasts still searching for us."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:47, Mon 01 Mar 2010.

A clearly distracted Jaxar drops low to the ground and starts searching for signs, and quickly realizes that the breach of the outer wall he's at is the very one the group had entered from, nearly a full day ago.

He then backtracks out from the walls of the ruined city across the plains frequently coming up and dropping back down again, checking the stars and landmarks.

A lengthy hike stretches before you, and the cool air relaxes sore muscles and taunt nerves from your recent encounter.

Jaxar appears uncertain at times, but after a long hike out into the grasses of the plains, you round a small hillock that perhaps looks familiar to your original drop point from the windship.

The chill wind blows, and after a time waiting, while the graymanes finally calm enough to graze some on the plentiful grasses, you become glad of the shelter of the hill.

Midnight comes, and passes uneventfully.

Yawning and stretching, Rammid comments, "Shouldn't the windship have arrived by now?"

In reply to Rammid (msg #9):

Hearing Rammid's inquiry Jaxar inspects the landscape again for familiar landmarks. Not feeling reassured, he next scans the night sky trying to discern the silhouette of the ship blocking out the stars.

Still having doubts, Jaxar rises and stalks over to Mirna. "I am beginning to have doubts about our position. I am going to go out and walk the perimeter to see if I can pick up evidence of our previous trail. I will also be looking for any signs of beastmen, we know they are operating in the area. Keep an eye out for the ship while I am out, I shouldn't be gone long." Before leaving Jaxar takes a last look at the area to set landmarks in his head before slinking off into the black night.

In reply to Jaxar (msg #10):

Mirna nods curtly at Jaxar, ensures her weapons are easily to hand, and prowls the perimeter of the "encampment" watching for anything unusual.

As Jaxar scouts about, all is quiet about the hillock. 

Mirna returns from her circuit of the camp to find the others still in the lee of the hillock, and Athellin is wrapped in a blanket and snoring softly in the grass.  Rioniv looks to him and back to Mirna, "He seemed to think it best to get some rest.  I agree, unless we are going somewhere, we should get some rest in shifts."

Shortly after, Jaxar returns from his scouting mission.

In reply to GM (msg #12):

Stalking back into camp Jaxar addresses the group, "The good news is that I could find no evidence of beastmen in the area. Unfortunately, I was unable to spot the ship, either. I do not know how I could have erred, and I could find no signs to support or contradict my suspicion, but am uncertain as to whether we are in the correct spot to meet the ship." Absently stroking the amber charm at his throat he continues, "Regardless, we should have been back aboard ship long before now so either we are in the wrong location or something has happened to the ship. I suggest we discuss our next course of action."

After a pause, Rioniv says, "Perhaps we should rest, and gather our wits, and see if we can spot the windship in the light of day?  If there are no Beastmen about, perhaps we are safe enough for the night?"

In reply to Rioniv (msg #14):

Out of curiosity, is this a cold camp or is there a fire lit?

OOC:  No one has mentioned lighting a fire, and none of the NPCs has, so it's a cold camp.  For reference, figure that it is about 40 degrees.  Windy in general, but you are in the lee of the hill, so not much wind in the camp itself.

In reply to Rioniv (msg #14):

"Should we risk a fire? If the ship is in the area our comrades should easily spot it. Of course, this could also draw a lot of unwanted attention."

"There seems to be precious little wood to burn, although we might fashion something of the dry grasses to make a fire.  Would not any Beastmen in the area see the fire as well?  Or could you somehow build it to be visible only from the sky?"

OOC: Is it overcast? Can we see the ship at all?

The skies are clear, with the silver moon of Talisandre shining full.  It is clear and cold.  Even the sharp night eyes of Jaxar the Jaka cannot discern the windship in the night sky.

In reply to Rioniv (msg #18):

Growling quietly, Jaxar responds to Rioniv's question, "I might be able to build a fire and shield the light from view on the ground, but there will still be the smell of smoke to give us away. If there is a general concensus for a fire I will attempt it, but also realize that dawn is not far off. We might be better served by resting through the remainder of the night and searching for the ship tomorrow."

Contemplating a dark thought, his ears lower as he scans the darkness engulfing the camp, "For that matter, we don't know that our friends aboard ship will investigate the fire if they see it, . . . or even if the ship is here to signal." After pausing for a moment to let the group consider he puts forth the question, "Who is for a fire?"

Rammid listens to Jaxar, and responds, "When you put it that way, perhaps we'd be better off without a fire.  I say we hold off until morning, get some rest, and see what we see."

Rioniv just nods quietly to this, looking sleepy.

Athellin continues to snore softly.

In reply to Rammid (msg #22):

"I agree, best to avoid the fire. Everyone, try and get some sleep, I'll take first watch."

While Mirna is on watch she's going to scan the horizon (not leaving camp) for any irregular patches of ground that might indicate the ship crashed. And, of course, any incoming hostiles :)

The night passes uneventfully, with no sightings either of the windship, or any hostile attention.