Finn frowns as he realizes that they are stuck on the rock for he guesses more than knows that sooner or later the current will spin them around, and thanks to his relative inexperience with water craft who knows where that could lead.  But he soon finds out.  Tipping over, that's where.  The small canoe begins to pitch with the current and Razzel realizes that he must act quickly for if he doesn't both men will be drenched and they could potentially loose their supplies.  Finn squints, thinks he sees the rock under which is giving them trouble and he stabs at it with his oar.


OOC:
Use my oar to fix being stuck, try to unstick us.

Finn recognizes the danger of his situation.  Without swift, assertive action to keep his craft upright, the thing will certainly be caught up in the current on one side while held firm by the rock on the other, likely rolling the craft over right there on the rocks.  However, assertive action has never been something that Finn has had trouble with...

With a quick shift of his grip, Finn spears the paddle down hard into the bottom thrusting the boat hard away and off the rock.  The trick works perfectly, that is, until he attempts to remove the paddle from the silt floor of the small inlet.  Though he tugs with a quick heave, the soft bottom only gives slightly and the murky water sucks back in to fill the void, pulling the paddle along with it.  Frantically trying to remove the oar, Finn pulls hard again and though he is successful this time, he is so overzealous that he pulls the top-heavy craft out of balance and the two men tumble out of the craft and towards the rocks!

Finn splashes down with the paddle still in his hands, the cold biting water rushing through his clothes and gripping onto his skin with skin with a freezing sting.  Finn screams from frustration and tiredness, sending a stream of murmured bubbles dancing to the surface.

OOC:  So close on making it out, but your craft tipped and both you and Behar have pitched over into the water, which is freezing (ok, probably more like 50 degrees F or 10 degrees C).  No need to give me too many specifics, but there are a few more rolls I'll need from you.  Make 1 more boating roll, if you succeed, the craft itself (and more importantly, your sack of gear) stays upright and dry.  Also make a swimming roll.  This isn't really a roll for survival, you are only in water that goes up to about your waist but is more about getting yourself back to a standing position from being in the canoe.  If you miss the first one, you still take 1 fatigue, but add 1 to your next swimming roll until you make it.  Lastly, tell me your general intentions.  You (and Behar) will lose fatigue based on the rules for cold weather (which I haven't looked up yet) and when you get to less than 1/3 FP your DX will be halved in addition to ST and move/dodge (to account for the affects on hypothermia to your manual dexterity).  I'm specifically looking for if you plan on drying off immediately, continuing for a while before you stop, or just continuing to go for the night or until you start really noticing the cold.

Finn Razzel has been in tight spots before.  As he pokes and jabs his paddle at the underwater rock and silt bed he isn't worried.  The hard part is over.  They have eluded and slipped past the town guards and more importantly the Ministry of Serendipity.  Now he and Behar just have to make an overland trip to the drop off point.  Easy as pie.  Just a few days of roughing it and he can collect another fat pay day.

Finn pitches back against the canoe as it rolls forward.  Then he leans forward as it suddenly rolls the opposite way.  He tries to crane his neck to see what Behar is doing, is this idiot actually thrashing about and making the small boat tip?  Finn is a good boater, a great boat man in fact but even he cannot push them off the rocks and constantly adjust his position for balance all the while reacting to Behar and counter acting his movements.

And the unthinkable happens.  As Finn is jerking himself backwards to keep the canoe from pitching over, it shifts the other way and pitches over.  In the blink of an eye both men fall out of the canoe.  Ice cold water stings and stabs at his skin but Finn knows he must right the craft before the gear falls out and becomes water logged.  As quick as he can he wrestles his feet under him, lurches up to grab the supplies to keep them dry and just as he is about to snatch them the canoe smacks his hand away and they slide out and submerge below the surface of the water.  Finn frowns.  Clearly Behar moved the canoe or else Finn would have secured the gear.  Oh well, still better than being stopped and questioned within the city limits.

Fighting off shivers and trembling limbs Finn swishes a hand around and around under the water in search of the lost gear.


OOC:
Made the Swimming roll but missed Boating.  Looks like everything is wet.

When I was about 18 I went to the UP in MI and went canoeing in March.  I got paired with a boyfriend and girlfriend and we tipped and all fell in.  The ice had broke on the river one week earlier.  It was freezing but the best way we had to keep warm was manual labor.  Meaning we got back in and paddled as hard as we could for as long as we could.  Despite being last place (out of 5 canoes) we finished first by about 10-15 minutes.  We weren't dry by the time we finished but basically working out for an hour plus kept us warm enough.

My plan is the same here.  I don't want to light a fire and we're still too close to the city to dawdle much.  As uncomfortable as it is, we're gonna get back in the canoe and just paddle, paddle, paddle to stay warm.  Keep going unless a serious problem pops up – such as one of is developing frostbite, etc.

Retrieve the gear.  Right the canoe.  Get back in and go, go, go.  Check to make sure I haven't lost personal possessions, such as my money.

Though he flails his body in an attempt to at least keep the equipment in the canoe, even that effort fails and both his own sack and the bag of gear that the Row had provided sink underneath the surface somewhere near him.  Ahead, Behar seems to struggle for a moment longer than Finn, his leg caught up on the side of the boat which keeps his head under the water as he struggles to right himself.  Luckily, the boat tipped in an area that is both shallow and with almost no current, so it takes little effort to bring the two bags of gear back up the surface and put them back into place, then to recover their positions and get themselves back out into the open water.

At the moment when he had fallen in, Finn's scrotum had shrunk like a deflated balloon, latching his poor testicles in a vice like grip against his body.  Though as he managed to get himself out of the water, he gained a reprieve from the freezing water, now the brisk wind across the bay licks at his clothing and the small places of exposed skin causing him to shiver uncontrollably.  Still, Finn knows that hanging around the city would be foolish and that lighting a fire would be even more so.  Instead, he directs for Behar to start paddling his hardest, and Finn does the same.  With surprising efficiency, the two men press each stroke in and out of the water, pulling the paddle along their side as the water slides by their craft at an even clip.  Sitting in the back, Finn does what little navigation there is to do, keeping the dark mass of land off to his left side and far enough away to avoid any other rocks that might pop up.  On they trek, a half hour passes as the small buildings of the outskirts of the city slowly dwindle to farmland.  After an hour even the farm cottages disappear into a dotted landscape of trees and brush.  Ahead the forest that this island is known for breaks out of the horizon, reaching upward towards the sky.

Taking a moment's pause from his rowing, Finn appraises the situation.  The city has long passed, though he doubts that he has seen the last efforts of the Ministry of Serendipity.  His clothes are still sodden, though the continuous effort of rowing over the past hour or so seems to have staved off the worst of the cold.  Still, Finn is tired from casting, running, rowing...  The current had picked up as well and Finn could tell they were making less headway.  Though certainly he could keep up this pace for weeks if he had to, what of Behar who likely had only a fraction of the resolve?  The thought brings Finn's attention back to the man in front of him.  Behar had impressed him with his effort - it seemed the man wanted to get away from his pursuers at least as much as Finn did.  Still, now that he took a pause, Finn could hear a slight chattering of teeth from the form in front of him.

OOC:  It is 0330 on the 16th of December.  You are paddling south, up the Dycastle River which is very wide at this point and the current is slow, but not negligible.  Note your cumulative fatigue lost on your character sheet from casting/running/paddling and being cold.  I have not added any lost sleep fatigue yet, which will likely start making a difference in the very near future.  You are a few dozen feet from the east bank of the river which is progressively turning from the outskirts of the city to a forest.  You can't see the west bank from here, although that's probably just because of how dark it is.  Since you left your last post a little vague I decided to stop after a little over an hour of paddling to give you choices.  You can certainly continue on upstream but give me some guidance as to when you want to stop of nothing serious happens, are we going to sunup?  Or just keep going until you reach exhaustion?

Finn shivers in the night cold.  He is uncomfortable.  He once saw a stone cutter get trapped under an unbalanced wall as it collapsed and fell on him.  The cutters leg broke so that the bone pierced the skin and was showing white.  Finn isn't that pained but he is aching.  The cold, pushing himself beyond bed time, being wet, any one of these things might be annoying but all together they are painful.  Still, not as painful as a crushed leg or crossbow bolt in the gut.

As they paddle Finn is aware that Behar isn't him.  He is a foreigner, from a different land.  Truly a stranger here.  But more than that Behar is the most trusting kind of fellow.  Only hours ago he was a chained prisoner of the Ministry of Serendipity.  Since then he was freed by Finn and Mary and told he would be escorted to a town miles away.  And he has been as compliant as a sleeping baby.  For that Finn is almost in awe, and extremely grateful.

To show this man some gratitude Finn wishes they could stop.  He wishes they could light a fire.  Or even talk the time away.  But right now putting distance between them and the city is imperative.  And a fire in the middle of the night will not only attract the agents hunting them but who knows what else.  Wolves?  Bears?  Highwaymen.  And prolonged dialogue is the devil's distraction.  Get your lips to flapping and not only is your focus pulled away from the here and now but you can't hear thieves whispering in the night.  So, reluctantly, Finn offers a simple, ”Behar, you're doing great.  Paddle as long as you can.  We'll stop at daylight, or when you can't go anymore.  Let me know.”



OOC:
I don't want to light a fire in the darkness.  And I would like to put some more distance between us and the city.  But I also want to reach a manageable balance.  I don't want to push us until one of us literally falls over into unconsciousness.  So if Behar says he can't go on but its still dark, we'll stop and see if a fire is needed at that point.

If we can both make it til daylight, then if we're wet, we'll stop and make a fire.

Behar nods and acknowledges Finn's comment as he turns his head.  "He's not so bade has being chained to a person no?"  Behar laughs, and Finn can't help but appreciate the fact that the man sounds truly joyful.  Though he is cold, miserable, likely hungry and perhaps in one of the worst situations he has been in his entire life the man has a positive attitude, and Finn can't help but remember that less than a day ago the man was shackled to the floor of a carriage, guarded by one of the most feared organizations in Megalos.  Perhaps in contrast this situation isn't so bad at all.

So the men paddle.  And paddle.  The minutes drag on in relative silence with the exception of the labored breathing of each of the men, broken at moments by the percussion of chattering teeth as a gust of wind breaks over the water.

Finn is tired.  He is exhausted from lack of sleep and from paddling for the last two and a half hours.  Though his underclothes seem to have warmed somewhat from his exertion he feels a perpetual chill from the freezing wind that swims against him constantly.  It is just as Finn himself is thinking that going on might not be the best idea as he hears Behar speak out from up ahead.  "Ha thin I kneed to stop."  Even without the words, Finn knows that the pace has slowed drastically over the past several minutes.  Certainly, Behar's own lack of effort has been most of the problem, but Finn can't judge him too much for his own muscles feel like rubber.  "Ha can kip up his pace nah more."  Behar finishes from up ahead.

Gracefully recognizing that Behar is too exhausted to continue, Finn agrees to pull their canoe over towards the shore and to stop for the evening though he knows he could continue on his own for hours if needed.  By now the forests of the island have completely engulfed the shores of the river and the pace of the river flow has picked up substantially making the trek less than easy under the best of conditions.  Finn shifts his paddle as a rudder, pushing their craft over towards the side of the river as he gently guides it into the shallow waters.  Without incident, the craft glides into the shore and Finn is just about ready to put a foot out of the craft as he hears a shallow splash in the waters in front of him.  He looks up into the darkened night and sees a pair of glowing eyes looking at him from the depths of the forest ahead.  In a moment the things blink out of existence and Finn hears a rustle of the forest from that same direction...

OOC:  It is 0430 on the 16th of December.  Please note your dwindling fatigue on your character sheet.  You are currently at half ST, move and dodge, though you maintain a full DX for the moment.  Your pace has steadily decreased over the past hour, but in the past few minutes you aren't even sure you were making headway.  You cannot tell what the eyes in the distance are, nor how far away they are, though you would in general call them at fairly close range.  Your boat is in the shallows but not entirely pushed up on the beach yet.

Finn can feel his strength dwindling.  The cold, the long night, the work of propelling this small craft and his spell work have all taken a toll on his body.  His guess is that this man from a foreign land would give out before him but truthfully Finn is thankful when Behar at last says that he can go on no more.  Razzel is nearing exhaustion.

And then just as Finn is steering the canoe for the nearer bank he hears the unmistakable splash and spies a pair of eyes darting into the woods.  Can it be a deer?  Or something bigger and meaner?  Under normal circumstances the young plucky mage wouldn't be flustered by such an encounter but now Finn is extremely tired.  The thought of going fang to toe with some beast in his condition, even the thought makes him more tired.  And what of Behar?  Can this man fight?  He doesn't even look to be able to defend himself currently.  His job is to escort this man, not deliver a dead body.

Deciding in a rare moment to be cautious Finn angles the paddle to try to send them away from the glowing eyes.


OOC:
The new plan to make it to the opposite bank and try to rest.  I want my fatigue back.  Whatever way I think the current is, try to go with that.  In other words if I back track that is ok.

Finn is not sure what creature he has seen in the night, but he is sure that encountering anything with less than perfect intentions in his current state of exhaustion is probably a poor idea.  Without any ado, Finn digs his paddle back into the water, swinging the aft end of the vessel towards the land as he shoves himself back off towards the other shore.

Finn is not long left in mystery however.  Reappearing from the treeline, much closer to him now stands a monstrous animal that has all the size and thickness of a bear but with an extended snout and narrowed eyes like a wolf.

"What the fuck?"  Behar interjects as he too grabs his paddle and furiously begins to dig into the water.

With a Herculean effort, Finn pushes himself as far out into the waters as he can, but the thing charges forward with massive strides leaping from the bank straight towards Finn!  Flinging his paddle up in front of him, as he weaves to the side, Finn manages to displace the monster just enough so that the thing hits the boat instead of him.

Crack!  The vessel shrieks in agony as the blow propels the craft forward.  The splash of the monster sends water over both the men, drenching them freshly with the freezing cold water of the river.  Even before he sees, Finn knows that the hull of the vessel has been breeched and they are taking on water.  With a glance over his shoulder, Finn sees the wolf-like head break the surface again as the thing glares hatefully towards him.

OOC:  Rough time for a random encounter.  Your assailant is a Night Stalker, a monstrous animal that is about the size and strength of a polar bear with the aggression of a fully worked up berserker.  Luckily, you took no damage from the assault, but your craft took a heavy blow.  Right now you are at range 2 from the animal, who's head is barely breaking the surface of the river.  Assuming you are going to try and flee, roll straight up against boating, you may add 1 additional skill to your roll for each fatigue spent.  Otherwise, you may cast spells, abandon your boat, or do anything else that comes to mind.

Night Stalker

It all happens so fast. There is a splash followed by a pair of eyes. He turns the boat away from the shoreline. Suddenly he can hear movement, water, and followed by a crack as the small craft jerks forward. In this moment now Razzel knows what they face. A Night Stalker. Under normal circumstances this is a deadly beast. For these men, cold and nearing exhaustion, it won't take much to kill them. Most men would shit themselves in fear but not Finn Razzel.  Though is he scared? Of course! He's not a living statue.

Finn sees behind them out of the corner of one eye as he paddles madly that the beast is almost covered in water.  He hopes, as he did before he knew the source of the splashing, that this threat will not want to cross the river.

"Fuck!!!", he yells in fear.  "Behar paddle!!", he shouts forgetting his earlier plan of silence in the dark.


OOC:
Paddle as fast and hard as we can to get to the other side of the river. I am hoping that the beast cannot or does not want to cross the river, assuming of course but it gets deeper before it gets shallow.

Though Finn may at times be a self-important twit and drastically overestimate his abilities, he is not so foolish to think that now, exhausted and freezing his ass cheeks numbed from having sat on a wooden plank for the past few hours and with nothing but a paddle in his hands, is the time to take on a night stalker.  Instead, he shrieks at the top of his lungs to Behar, who needs no prodding to start flurrying his arms in vicious strokes to try and put some distance between themselves and the monstrous beast.  Finn is betting that the beast is not willing to put himself into the deep water and the stronger flow of the middle of the river.  He is betting that if the beast were to follow them out that it will not have the strength to best the river.  But Finn is wrong on at least one of those counts...

The two paddle with all they are worth, sending the craft forward in long strides across the water.  Finn cannot yet see the opposite shore, though he is betting everything he is worth it is simply because of the darkness, and that if they just push a little longer the craft will hit land at any moment... and it had better, for the small craft is beginning to take on significant water and it's movements have become sluggish in the water.

"Shit!"  Behar screams, and Finn looks backwards into the water to see the beast splashing about behind them awkwardly with rage in it's eyes.  Behar flails if possible even harder, though the difference is negligible with the canoe stuck in a lurching slog as it's guts are filled with water and it battles against the current.  Panicked, Finn looks back at is feet as he looks at the pool of water circling about his ankles.  They have put some distance between themselves and the Night Stalker, but their progress won't last for long if their craft capsizes in the current.

OOC:  I really thought you were out of the woods on that one, but the dice roller loves your enemies as much as it dislikes you.  You have put some distance between yourself and the Night Crawler, you would guess 20 yards or so but the thing is following you into the deep waters and has not been upset by the current yet.  Also, your canoe is taking on water due to the damage which is progressively slowing you down more and more.  Here are your options:  1.  Bail out water.  If you choose this, Behar will be entirely responsible for moving the canoe forward, but he will be at no penalty to his roll, and follow on rolls will be at a decreased penalty (less negative).  2.  You can continue to paddle.  If this is your choice, roll against boating again, at -2 though you can add +1 to your roll for each fatigue you spend.  3.  You may also choose to try and attack the thing or cast against it while it is disadvantaged in the water.  Remember that you will need to add a -2 to attack rolls if you attack from sitting, or make a DX roll to keep your balance if you want to stand up.  Include in your decisions the fact that any more damage to the craft will likely cause the two of you to capsize in the dark, not to mention damage to your person from this monster bear will probably not come in the light or moderate category.  Let me know what your choice is and roll if appropriate and the best of luck to you.

Finn is a streets educated young man. He didn't go to some fancy school full of books and scrolls. He didn't get to sit in on some class where a teacher lectures on and on about fantastical creatures such as pixies, owl-bears, and night stalkers. But Finn knows a killing machine when he sees one. And if he were on dry land and well rested this monster would still pose a high degree of danger. Early on Razzel has realized that the cold swift moving water is his best ally. If the beast gets washed downstream and loses their scent they will live to fight another day. Even in a worst-case scenario, the thing will exhaust itself fighting the current and then he and it will be on even fighting terms. Looking down at the swelling pool around his feet Finn begins splashing at the water to try to remove it from their sinking craft.


OOC:
I choose option 1. I will do anything it takes to bail out water and let Behar paddle.

Lol.  This is nothing.  The Dice Roller unquestionably hates me in another game I play in. In that game I have come to look at a roll of 12 or 13 as average and a roll of 9 or 10 as well below average.

Finn's heart is beating through his chest like a hammer, he knows the monstrous thing is only some dozen yards away, still treading its head out of the water and slowly closeing the distance.  Still, Finn knows that soon their sinking craft will be so filled with water it will be simply moving with the current and not long after it will be so unstable it will tip.  So Finn does the only thing he can think of to help the situation, he places his paddle in the boat and starts flinging the water back into the river.  It is bitterly cold, the water stings his hands like jellyfish and he cannot help but shudder as the seeping cold makes its way through his body.  To make matters worse, Behar does not seem to be doing very well without him, though he paddles with effort, the canoe moves little if at all against the current, and behind him, Finn can hear the murderous roars encroaching ever closer.

But by grace, the beast seems to lose its grip in the water just as Finn's craft slows.  It's muzzle drags under the surface for a moment as it barks madly, then it is caught by the current and slowly starts drifting away into the night.  Over the next several minutes, the two bail and paddle at interval, and finally find themselves scraping onto the grasses of the opposite shore.  The two men spew out of the craft, landing on hands and knees at the shore as they gulp down air.  But even here, Finn cannot escape the wet, for the morning dews have already condensed on the moss of the forest floor.  Finn is exhausted, both his mind and his body utterly spent.  Still, he knows that the two men must do something to escape the cold and the wet.  A fire is the first thing that comes to mind but there are dangers in sending up even a meager column of smoke so soon after their escape...

OOC:  Your pursuer finally missed a couple of swimming rolls in a row and got pulled away by the current.  The two of you managed by the skin of your teeth to beat the current and make it to the other shore.  You have lost 1 more fatigue in the effort and are rapidly nearing exhaustion due to the added effects of your spellwork, paddling and the ravaging cold.  You are still at 1/2 ST, move and dodge.  Let me know what your big picture plans are.  If you want to make a fire, to warm up, roll twice against any survival skill (one to find wood and another to make the fire) or an appropriate spell.  Behar can also do some of these rolls if you wish.  If you have another plan to get warm feel free to execute and let me know what you are doing.

Finn and Behar paddle and bail water through minutes of coordinated teamwork. As the small broken canoe makes the opposite bank Finn casts his gaze downstream and behind him. So fearful is he of an attack that he feels little of the freezing cold which even now is draining his ever-dwindling strength. He is nearing collapse and fighting to stay on his feet. Through sheer force of will like a drunk man he stumbles from the small craft, sloppily draws his blade from his belt, pivots on a foot and stands facing where he thinks the giant aggressive beast will emerge from the water. He has no more strength to give which means that melee will be poorly executed and without the aid of magic. But Finn Razzel rarely is disadvantaged by a dampened spirit. He stands riverside in the dark early morning shivering and teeth chattering for what feels like an hour though in reality it is but a minute. When it seems that there foe has been washed a good distance away, thanks in part to Finn's own brilliant plan, he sheaths his knife and turns to address Behar.

Finn's speech comes between ragged, heavy breaths and constantly chattering teeth. "I don't think it's coming back. But we should be ready in case it does.  Now, in the meantime let's get warm."

Finn places his trembling hands near his belt ready to hoist his coat over his head and fling it to the ground. He means to strip naked, surely he'll be cold but colder in wet clothes. And then it occurs to him even if they can start a fire doing so on the bank it's going to attract a lot of unwanted attention. Finn sighs. At least the heavy lifting is going to keep them warm. The young mercenary eyes his forced partner sympathetically.  He speaks in a clear slow tone to be understood.  "I know you're freezing and tired.  So am I.  Let's try to start a fire.  But we need to get away from the river.  Help me carry the canoe and then we'll see if we can get warm."


OOC:
Try to carry the canoe about 100 yards in land. Then take some brush and try to erase about 50 yards of our tracks starting at the river. We will stay together at all times.  If we have a sufficient digging tool attempt to dig  about a three-foot hole so that we can put the fire in the hole so that the light will be obscured. Then look for firewood. Then try to start a fire.

This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 23:37, Wed 18 Oct 2017.

Finn is exhausted almost to his limits.  He knows for a fact that he could not cast a single spell in his repertoire without damaging himself physically in the process.  Yet, still, he knows that if he simply falls to the ground here to start his fire then they will be completely visible from the water... something he cannot afford when Behar is still sought as a wanted man.  So, wanting to leave nothing to chance, Finn takes a moment to catch his breath, then takes his pack from the canoe and puts the aft end of the craft over one shoulder, as Behar carries the front and the two walks slowly away from the edge of the river.

But Finn is not halfway to his goal away from the river before he tromps out unexpectedly from the forest and onto the hard packed ground of a manmade path.  It stands perhaps twenty feet across, with shallow ruts dug in from wagon wheels and horse prints glistening with the morning dew.  Finn curses his luck, knowing that if there are people sent out from the city, they are far more likely to be riders than men going upriver on a boat.

Still, there are problems that exist in the here and now, so Finn beckons Behar to continue on ahead, and the two get themselves a reasonable distance off the path before dropping their canoe in an open patch.  Finn, ever expecting trouble walks his way back to the river and does his best to obscure their tracks and marks from landing.  As he finds the path again, he decides he had better do the same there as well and erase their marks to the best of his ability.  Though the darkness in the forest is nigh complete, Finn finds himself comfortable that only a great tracker with knowledge of their whereabouts would be able to find their trail.

As luck would have it, by the time Finn makes his way back towards their impromptu camp, Behar has located a dead tree and has collected some of the larger branches with his to serve as fuel.  Finn himself manages to find a downed birds nest on the forest floor to serve as their tinder.

Their supplies in hand, Finn thinks upon digging a trench for the fire to sit in but even the thought of removing twenty seven cubic feet of dirt with nothing but a knife to aid him makes Finn queasy and in the end he decides on setting their canoe up as a barrier between themselves and the path so passers by are less likely to see.  Within a few minutes of careful use of their flint and tinder, Finn has managed a modest fire and both of the men have removed the most of their wet garments to dry, hanging them closely by the small flame.

Finn also takes the moment to empty out his bag of supplies, recognizing in an instant that the blankets that had been provided are sodden and worthless for the moment, and that all of the wayfarer bread that he had grabbed from the safe house was now mashed and dissolved with in his pack.  Finn still imagines however, that even in the worst circumstances, they still have a couple of days worth of meat and cheese to last between the two of them.

As Finn looks up, he notices Behar is no longer sitting, but is starting to lay down between the fire and the canoe, using the craft as sort of a reflecting board for all the warmth.  He glances up at Finn and smiles, laying his head down on his extended bicep.  "Than you Roabbi."  Behar says, and it takes a moment for Finn to remember that this is the name he gave to the man only a few short hours ago, when they had been sitting in the Row's safe house in Azer.

OOC:  Ok, with a few combined rolls you have managed to get a fire going and have stretched out all your gear to dry out.  Digging a trench with nothing but a knife would have cost you hours that you didn't really have so you ended up deciding to place blockers between yourself and the path rather than making the fire below ground.  You do still have blankets and clothes set out to dry though, which could be recognizable from a distance if someone was specifically looking for you.  If you want to hide yourself a little better, roll vs. camouflage (defaults to IQ-4).  Also, if you plan on setting a watch, let me know the order and the amount of time you want to set them for.  If you are the first watch, roll vs. Will.  It looks pretty plain that Behar is getting ready to take a nap.

When given this 'errand' late yesterday Finn imagined himself laying back in the canoe, feet up and chewing on a cinnamon and honey flavored flaky bread stick while sipping on a cup of hot apple spiced tea.  He saw himself floating down river, the current doing most of the work as Behar merely steered their small yet reliable craft.  Sadly, the reality of their situation is less than pleasing.

Razzel stands as he looks down at the now prone foreigner who must be entirely exhausted.  He smiles.  For all the trouble of this adventure the man has been more cooperative than Finn could have hoped for.  The young mercenary takes up a blanket, still soaking wet and moves it to the left about half a foot.  He squints at it trying to decide if that helps or hinders their cause from prying eyes that would be coming down the river or the nearer road.  Satisfied that he has improved matters the young man sits down near the fire while putting his hands out to warm them.

Finn picks up the mash of what was once dry bread, now turned to a soggy, gooey paste thanks to the river water.  He lets it drip onto the ground as he stares at it before throwing it down.  It reminds him that sometimes now matter how well you prepare and plan ahead, you're fucked anyway.  He looks to his client and speaks in the same slow easy tone to help this man understand.  "Go ahead Behar.  Get some sleep.  I'll keep a lookout.  But I do not want to stay very long.  An hour or two at most.  We need to keep moving."  For a moment he thinks about correcting the strange man, telling Behar to call him 'Finn' but despite his youth Razzel has learned several valuable lessons as a man who can be called upon for a variety of services, including spying.  If Behar is eventually captured and interrogated he cannot give his subjugators Finn's real name if he doesn't know it.


OOC:
Seeing that we have nothing good to use to dig and that the canoe on its side offers some camouflage and a way to hold a little heat in, your alternative is perfect.   I do not wish to sleep as in a proper watch.  I will rest for an hour to regain fatigue and then take an assessment of our situation at that time.  I.e., is Behar still sawing logs or does he look well rested, that kind of thing.  I want to put a little more distance between us and the city before we take a proper 8 hours rest/sleep.

Finn does not argue as Behar curls up beside the fire to sleep.  Instead, the treasure hunter and thief sits on a larger root and leans himself against the base of a tree to rest, taking out a slab of dried meat from his pack as well as his skin of water.

As he takes a bite from the venison and begins grinding the dry meat between his teeth, Finn ponders his situation, recognizing that while things could be far worse, they are not sitting upon the best of ground.  Their canoe was damaged badly enough that it would need to be bailed fairly continuously to stay afloat.  Their choices were from this point were to continue taking their damaged craft upriver (which would prove challenging as the currents were only getting stronger), to take the road farther south (which was likely their worst chance of being seen by the authorities), or to continue trekking through the forest (and God only knew what other horrors this forest had in store for them).

All that being said, Finn could not say that the two of them had done poorly.  In fact, they had successfully evaded both the authorities of Azer and the Ministry of Serendipity.  Finn had single handedly beaten a night stalker.  And even with all their misfortunes they still had two days worth of rations which would likely cover them so long as they made good time walking time to Trent.

As these thoughts are rolling through Finn's mind, he realizes that the low light of the dawn is starting to soften the darkness in the forest.  Finn glances upwards and notices a single snowflake making its way downward through the trees and towards his face...

OOC:  It is 0600 on the 16th of December.  You have waited an hour while Behar slept.  You have recovered a good chunk of your lost fatigue which can be noticed on your character sheet.  Behar is definitely still sleeping, it's hard to tell just how well rested he is.  More importantly, your underclothes have all dried out, though your heavier outerwear is only partially/mostly dry.  It is beginning to snow, and though you don't know exactly where you are, you would guess that you are about 1/3 of the way to Trent and it would be another day and a half walk to make it all the way there.  I've listed above the three options that occur to me, the river, road, or forest, each with their own dangers though obviously you have spells that could potentially help you out along the way with each.  If you want to attempt to repair the canoe, the effort will likely take a few hours and take a roll against engineer (unless you have a spell to help you, engineer defaults to IQ-6) at -2 for not having to improvise equipment.

Finn Razzel is one of the smartest men he knows.  And he is gifted with amazing grace, agility and a heartiness usually only found in soldiers and lumbermen.  With his knack for magic its a wonder why he isn't the leader of some gang.  Finn has resigned himself that it is due to jealousy, nepotism, cronyism and prejudice against his young age, but all that will change with time.

He sits contemplating his next move as he watches over the sleeping form of his 'cargo', this foreigner who continues to surprise him.  Behar has done well, performed better than Finn expected actually but still their trip is far from over.  Hopefully he will continue to impress this young mercenary.

Three avenues lay in front of them:  the river, the road and the forest.  It does not take Finn long to realize that repairing the poor canoe may be a hopeless cause.  While he knows many spells most of them are what is called in the business, cantrips.  And without proper tools fixing the hole could take days if it can be accomplished at all.  The road, while probably the easiest path before them will no doubt come at the cost of ducking and dodging those searching for them.  And if Finn were in charge of the hunt he would put a bounty out on their capture, so if that has become the case anything from potters to bakers looking to make a quick few coins will be ready to jump them at every turn.  It is the fastest way to round up outlaws.  Therefore travel by road is out.  Finn is a talented man with many skills but one he lacks is any sort of apprenticeship in crafting.  What is required here is a carpenter, while Finn is clever he lacks the spell power and mundane knowledge to mend wood.  So by default navigating the forest is their only suitable option.  Still, Razzel is not bothered in the least.  It is a day and a half perhaps two and currently they are fitted nicely with food supplies so barring bad luck from treasure seeking bounty hunters or wandering deadly creatures he should see his man safely to Trent and cash in on this lucrative assignment.

But as he sits and ponders his strategy Finn is tempted to have a go at fixing the hole left by the night stalker.  The young mercenary moves to it, examines it and begins to plan how he might prevent water leakage but soon gives up.  Even with his ingenuity this task is well beyond him and he fears wasting hours on a pointless effort.  So the young man sits back down by the fire and rests some more.


OOC:
Finn will spend about 5 minutes trying to deduce how best to repair the small boat and then come to the conclusion that without experience in woodworking and tools he fairs almost no chance.  He will give up on the canoe and return to sit by the fire and rest.  Rest to regain fatigue for another 30 minutes.

If all goes well without incident wake Behar and tell him that we have tarried long enough to need to get moving.  We will take the canoe back to the river and place it in the river.  Let it go.  This is to cause someone to stop to investigate if they see half submerged.  Then we will make for the road making no effort to hide our tracks.  Watch the road to make sure no one is in sight.  Walk on the road for about 200 yards.  Then leave the road for the forest and make an effort to hide our tracks leaving the road.  In other words I want trackers to think we stayed on the road.

Finn is a man of so many talents that in truth, he believes he could do anything if only he had the time.  Such is the case with the canoe, for even the most skilled of tradesman would likely have quickly resolved that the craft was beyond saving: that even if the wounds were to be patched to make the ship worthy of the waters again, the process would likely take long enough to make the effort not worth the gain.  Finn thinks of his spellwork, but it is obvious that his limited spells would not cover the heavily specialized work that needed to be done here.  Still, the man takes his time, running his hand along the damaged inside wall, feeling the splinters and clawmarks in the wood for several minutes before he decides that, as they say, the juice is simply not worth the squeeze.

Instead, Finn takes another half hour to rest, and then wakes his walking mate, Behar, before the two gather their gear, don their winter clothing, and prepare to depart.

Their first stop is to drop off the canoe in the river, a process which Finn half expects to take only a short time, but without the weight of the two men, the water is slow to fill the craft, and the canoe starts drifting down the river slowly with the current.  Even as Finn turns to go back towards the path, the thing is still mostly out of the water as it is carried further towards the middle of the river.

The two make their way back towards the path with no attempt to cover their tracks.  However, despite their best intentions, the fat flakes of snow are still making their way through the treetops to land on the forest floor.  If someone did manage to find their landing site, it's likely that even an experienced tracker might have trouble finding their path if the snows kept falling at this rate.  All the same, Finn did not trouble himself yet with anything other than starting to make as much headway as he could.

Making it to the path without trouble, Finn carries on towards Trent for a few hundred yards before finding an open spot between some trees and making his way off the path towards the west to parallel the course towards their destination.  By now the snow is falling so heavily that Finn would be surprised if even he could track their progress with anything more than a few minutes of lag behind his quarry.  Finn picks a reasonable distance from the path, something far enough that they will not be seen from the road and close enough that he can double back and check their direction without too much hassle.

As they walk, Behar and Finn converse at interval and Finn is surprised at how much easier the man's dialect is to recognize after most of a day of talking.  Finn has to ask him at times to repeat words, or to say something a different way but for the most part, he the two converse quietly without pause.  It is one such moment when Behar is discussing his life before the Banestorm when Finn's ears perk up to the surroundings.

"...I wasp surprised that no one had tit here.  I wasp an engineer of expulsions, tacking down buildings and such.  Bot when I got here and no one knows..."

Finn can only force a sssshhh! out of his mouth as he hears the sounds of horse shoes clomping on the path beside them, some several yards off.

OOC:  It is 0800 on the 16th of December.  While the heavy snow is doing good work to obscure your tracks at the moment, it is worth mentioning that at some point, when it stops it is only going to make your life more difficult.  The tracks you hear are off to the east (likely on the path) proceeding from Azer towards Trent.  You guys have not had a breakfast yet, and you are currently on 24 hours without sleep.  Your fatigue is noted on your character sheet.

His rest is short lived which is to say that after less than two hours sitting in the cold by a small fire somewhere between sleep and standing guard he does feel amazingly better.  In fact his mind and body are almost as good as new, surely thanks to his fantastically athletically fit body and dedicated training.  So the pair of men set about being on the move again for sitting around resting and warming their cold bones isn't going to get them anything but caught.  Within a small time the men have ditched the poor cracked canoe into the river where hopefully it will serve as a distraction to would be hunters.  They have donned their packs and likewise set a false trail on the road but the snow fall has done much to cover it, whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen.  Now Finn finally feels as if they are making progress towards their goal.

Not long after setting out on their true path, through the woods, Finn can hear hooves rapidly approaching while Behar is explaining what he did back home.  Finn ducks low into a crouching position as he grabs Behar and pulls him down too.


OOC:
How far are we from the road?   I assume I cannot see anything, just hear it?  In this case just crouch and wait.  I am essentially waiting 2-10 minutes to see if they double back, notice our tracks and come to investigate, are escorted by men on foot, etc. 

With the sounds of hooves clomping off on the path, Finn drops to his haunches onto the snow below, pulling on the collar of Behar to get him out of the line of sight.  Finn stares towards the roadway, but only sees an occasional flash of motion that he imagines is a rider on a horse more than actually being able to make that assessment.  Though the sound and the specks of motion pass, Finn is not about to jeopardize his task and waits in silence, expecting more to follow, or else the rider to double back to research the area.  But after two, five, ten minutes, Finn neither hears nor sees anything else, and he stands cautiously, mostly sure the rider is gone, though he is unwilling to wait longer to make perfectly sure there is no one following them.

And so the two carry on, trudging through the snow which has now built up to an inch or more in thickness, wet and warm enough that the white powder crunches down into a perfect imprint of their boots as they pass.  The two eat as they walk, taking more of the dried rations from their stores to keep up their strength.  Behar seems slightly more nervous about talking after having been dragged down to the ground as quickly as he was, but the two converse intermittently and Finn is happy to realize that it has become easier to interpret the man's accent into actual conversation.

With little ado, the two men break for a short lunch but press on with Finn's urging, still nervous that their pursuers are closing on them if they haven't already passed on the road to Trent.  The snow piles up as the day warms, though now big, fat droplets of half-frozen rain are spitting down through the treetops, refreezing as they hit the snow.  The crunch beneath Finn's feet is enough to make him nervous as to what they are going to do this evening...  The sleet continues to fall all about them but Finn does not have a tent, and he is unsure even if their blankets are completely dry after their tumble into the river.  Finn is loathe to waste time where it is not warranted, but the cold winter night is quickly re-freezing and he wonders just how much longer he can carry on without real sleep.

OOC:  The dice have been remarkably kind to you.  It is 1500 on the 16th of December.  Roll HT-4 (+2 for Fit advantage) and for each point you fail by you lose 1 fatigue from the hike.  You have about 2.5 hours until sunset, and the weather has turned from bad to miserable.  The snow has piled up over a few inches, even on the forest floor, and now the snow has turned to sleet, which is refreezing and casting a layer of ice on the snow.  Luckily your pace has only slowed slightly as of yet, but if things continue at this pace, you may be impeded by the accumulation of snow.  Note that your fatigue has continued to dwindle due to having missed sleep.  The only way to regain this is to get a full sleep period... which may be difficult in the cold with no tent.  Let me know what your general intentions are.

Finn walks throughout the day with a carefree attitude about his face and body. He smiles, he laughs, he asks this foreigner about his life where he came from. It makes him wonder about so many things.

He is troubled little about the weather.  True, it is cold and the freezing rain does not help their condition but Finn has had worse. And the journey to Trent is a short one so too will be their suffering.

By the time the dinner hour is closing in Finn looks up at the sun. Freezing rain pelts his eyes, nose and mouth. He frowns as he addresses his new friend with speech that is quicker than before.

"I don't like the look of these raindrops. We need to get undercover somehow. A barn would do nicely. Or even a cave in a pinch. I'm going to use a bit of magic to turn into an animal.  A small hunting bird to be exact. But after I transform I'll need a little nap, so keep a look out if you could. Then I'll fly up and have a look and see if there's a suitable shelter around."


OOC:
Cast Shapeshift: Falcon.  Rest 60 minutes.  Fly up and around in a circle large enough to scout about a mile diameter.  Look for a place we could keep dry and sleep for about 8 hours safely.

This message was lightly edited by the player at 05:38, Fri 27 Oct 2017.

Though the day has come and gone quickly, Finn is expressly concerned about their conditions for this night.  With the cold and rain and no shelter of their own, he wonders just how much rest he is going to be able to get.  The answer to him seems easy, scouting the area for existing shelter, which necessitates more spellwork.  For who would scout on two feet when it would be far easier to glide on two wings?

Finn hands over his sack to Behar, murmurs a few words as he gestures with both hands, frowns and then repeats the ritual before his whole body begins to slowly turn in on itself, sprouting feathers as the skin churns and shrinks into nothing.  Before a few moments are over, Finn has entirely changed, his body now barely matches where his shin used to be, and it is talons that rest upon the ground rather than booted feet.  His whole form, clothes and all has been changed into a small falcon, or a Merlin to be exact and though he had thought to spend some time napping, instead he realizes that if he wants to fly he'll need to spend some time preening and oiling his wings.  Finn flaps over to an area that is mostly covered by branches up above and begins his work of making himself fit to fly in these conditions.

After perhaps an hour of rest and grooming, Finn flaps off, at first seeking to get above the forest canopy to see down, but it does not take exposing himself to all the elements to realize that the task would be pointless.  The whole cap of forest is topped with snow and ice, making getting above it difficult and seeing down through it impossible.  Besides that fact, Finn finds that even without being above the trees he has to stop himself at interval to clean off some of the water and ice that begin to accumulate on his feathers.  After fifteen minutes of searching for the best answer, Finn finally finds that zooming between treelimbs at 100 or 200 yard intervals is the best answer giving himself enough distance to see new things on the forest floor yet close enough that he is not working too hard getting there.

Finn knows that some birds do not fly at all in the rain.  It does not take him long to realize why.  The whole process is exhausting, for while droplets seem nothing to a hundred fifty pound man, they are much more significant for a half-pound bird.  Add that with stopping every few moments to clean himself, and having to dodge every tree that litters his path along the forest and Finn is starting to wonder if the whole process had been worth the energy.  However, as luck would have it, Finn finds a dead tree that has partially fallen over and the ground below eroded away were the roots are pulled out.  While it is no thatched roof barn, it is enough to get the two men out of the elements.  Finn wings his way back to where Behar is waiting, transforms back into his normal self and leads the way towards the small natural cave.

Though the task of finding the enclave is somewhat more difficult from the ground level, the two manage to locate the small makeshift shelter just as the forest is starting to settle into the darkness of night.

OOC:  It is 1730 on the 16th of December.  I took some liberties with your intentions again (flying in sleet/freezing rain is suicide for anything, let alone a medium sized bird) like flying below the canopy to keep some shelter and stopping to clean off the nasties as you were going.  I probably would have given you an IQ roll to realize this, but with your overcon, I think I played it out reasonably realistically.  Roll vs. HT-4 again (+2 for fit) to see how fatiguing it was.

The shelter you found is by no means safe but it at least gets out of the elements and the opportunity to sleep.  You may keep looking if you want, but it is already getting dark, and darkness penalties are beginning to apply.  You are also down another fatigue from lack of sleep.

Let me know what actions you want to take.  If you want to look for better shelter, roll against forest survival (Defaults to Per-5).  If you want to find wood for a fire roll vs. Forest survival at -2 for the crappy conditions.  Also make two rolls against perception, one at no modifier and one modified by -2.  Behar can also make any of these rolls if you want to task him with something.

Finn feels rather good after his scouting foray.  It isn't a farmstead or a natural cave but it will do considering what they have to work with.  Razzel leads his new friend to the hidey hole he saw.  He shrugs and begins stoically.  "Its no bed at the inn but it'll do for a few hours.  It's the best we have.  I suggest we break out the blankets and try to get some sleep.  I have a spell that will help."


OOC:
I will attempt to sit in a dry spot and rest for 50 minutes.  Then cast Mystic Myst of radius 9.  Then crawl under the log, wrap myself in a blanket and sleep.

This shelter will do as even Finn realizes looking in the dark could be pointless and dangerous.  While I rest before my spell ask Behar to look for firewood.  If he finds some we'll just save it in the shelter as it will likely be too wet to light.  We'll hold onto it and later maybe it'll be dry enough.  If we're hungry eat a ration before bed.

Finn curls himself up in the nook with a blanket while Behar takes a few moments to gather some wood.  The other seems wary of moving too far from the campsite and so gathers whatever is in the immediate area.  The results of his lack of wandering are immediately apparent, the wood is wet and frozen and there is little in the way of tinder to actually get the stuff going.  Never the less, Finn nods and pushes the stuff into a corner of their hidey hole to hopefully dry out by the morning.

Ready to set themselves up for the night, Finn makes a few motions of his hands, whispering "nevoa mística!" and watches as the air begins to shimmer around him.  Much like himself, Finn's spell is perfect, and he knows that anything that attempts to get anywhere near him will quickly find itself heading in another direction.

The two men curl themselves together and chew on a few shards of dried rations, sharing their two blankets and heat as the darkness fades away into dreams...

It is a sound that wakes Finn the next morning, a rooting and grunting that echoes somewhere about his feet that wakes him from his stupor.  Though the darkness is near complete, Finn knows in a moment that his spell has expired.  Above him, Finn can tell that the snows have continued through the night, and there is a ledge of the white stuff that sits at his feet, just beyond their shelter.

OOC:  It is 0500 on the 17th of December.  The snows have continued through the night and there is now about 4 inches of accumulation in places on the forest floor.  The noise you hear is high pitched, like a medium sized animal and though it is coming from your feet, it seems to be a more of an echo of sorts.  You have regained almost all of your lost fatigue other than some which is directly due to your lost sleep.  Behar continues to snooze beside you, curled up beneath the blankets.  The overall light penalty right now is at -9 due to the cloud cover, tree canopy, and the shadows of your shelter.

Finn's eyes open slowly.  His face is cold despite being under the blanket and while the remainder of his body is chilly he is not freezing, or wet, and he is quite grateful for both.  He pokes his head out of the security of the thick grey woven covering and frowns slightly at the small cloud of steam exiting his mouth.  He stretches without poking his limbs out and then he hears it.  The muffled sounds.  It is unmistakably an animal.  Perhaps a wolf or a boar.  Immediately as his mind switches from his sleepy dreamland state to the reality before him he knows that his protection spell has faded having completed its long duration.  That is good news and bad.  Good in that the men slept unmolested for over ten hours which is something they desperately needed.  Bad in that now they are vulnerable to the wilds of the woods.  But once again thanks to Finn's remarkable abilities his mind alerted him to the danger in his sleep and woke him.

The young mercenary instantly grabs his dagger and pulls it free.  He mutters the incantation for a spell to chase away the darkness.  Then he kicks out at his partner to wake the man, muttering as he does.

"Behar.  Wake up.  We have company.  A boar, I think."


OOC:
Just a heads up.  Mystic Myst has a 5 minute casting time if memory serves right.  I imagine this to be drawing the circle and then enchanting it through hand and verbal ritual.

Fast Draw knife.  Cast Continual Light on the hilt of the blade.  Wake up Behar as quietly as I can.