Facing the scout, Gar asks "how big is the clearing around this Inn. Are there overhanging trees? Any estimate of their numbers? All men, or were women and children present as well? If there are families, we might be able to scare them off, then dismantle their building."

"It has a wide enough clearing for people to work around it" Rifnox told Gar "No tree's really close enough as far I have seen and no children, perhapse inside and there were males and females about". Stuffing the stick into the ground of the Inn, he looked at Gar "Don't think scaring them off wil work, like I said, it seems it can be wel defendable".

Victoria walked to a tree and sat down against it. She had tried to gather wood for a fire, but had not been able to do much more than gather branches and sticks. She listened to the conversation and sighed, reaching into her lunch pouch to see what was there. She snacked on some crispbread, then reached into her other pouch, to see if there was a blanket or something.

It made her sad to hear them talk of driving men and women and children from their village. Were they truly so evil? Was she so very evil, in their eyes? Perhaps she was. She pulled her cloak about her, mentally berating herself for her sadness. She was alive, was she not? To cheer herself, she then began to sing softly, tapping her hand against her pouch for rhythm...

"Now is the month of maying,
When merry lads are playing, fa la,
Each with his bonny lass
Upon the greeny grass. Fa la.

The Spring, clad all in gladness,
Doth laugh at Winter’s sadness, fa la,
And to the bagpipe’s sound
The nymphs tread out their ground. Fa la.
Fie then! why sit we musing,
Youth’s sweet delight refusing? Fa la.
Say, dainty nymphs, and speak,
Shall we play at barley-break? Fa la.

Now is the month of maying,
When merry lads are playing, fa la,
Each with his bonny lass
Upon the greeny grass. Fa la."

Everyone is tired, and looking forward to a decent nights sleep, with a leisurely breakfast before going out on patrol.  There was really no rush to push out just yet.  Packs were put under the cover the niche provided, and bedrolls were put out in preparation of getting some bed rest.

---

Players need to tell me what their characters plan to do during the night.

Where and how they sleep..

There is room in the niche for two normal sized characters...  Abyss and Daubra can sleep in the more shallow area of the niche closer to the clearing and not count for this limitation.

Brigitte is too large to fit comfortably in the niche and will have to sleep outside.  When she lies down, she easily takes up a 1/3 of the free space in the clearing.

Please let me know of any special sleeping arrangements being made, else I just presume youre sleeping on a bedroll, perhaps with a blanket, and you have a light weapon (presuming a dagger) close at hand, either off your belt, under your pillow, or what not....

Please let me know what your character is doing during their watch (are they staying in the camp, on the perimeter, past the cover of the treeline?

Are they doing anything special before bed, or are they just going straight away to bed?

No right or wrong answers here, modifiers will be noted for anything you want done for the upcoming encounter, and will presume you use the same routine for the rest of this chapter.

---

Your response will also serve as a real time readiness check, encounter will be posted in two days, if you havent posted by then you 'fail' and a suitable modifier will be noted.

Brigitte understood the realities of sleeping in a world that always seemed too small for her. She lay out her gigantic bedroll at the edge of camp and removed her armor to sleep. She welcomed anyone who wanted to benefit from her body heat - she was essentially a giant heater to snuggle in close, no sexual shenanigans intended.

Prior to laying down she stowed her pack, armor and weapons leaning next to the others. She foraged for and made a pile of a dozen or so rocks of varying sizes from tiny to tombstone-sized boulders within arms reach.

On watch she'd move as quietly as she could to her pack and put on armor and weapon, then sit watching on the perimeter of the camp.

Victoria watched the others, then made her way to the niche, endeavoring to make a bed with a blanket and her pouches. She shivered as she made her bed, it not really occurring to her to snuggle with anyone else. Besides, as a human, she doubted she would be welcome.

Once done, she did some prayers (which was NOT her normal habit) and stored her dagger under her makeshift pillow.

When on watch, she would stay near Brigitte, with her dagger on her hip.



* moved from ooc thread for victoria *

Seeing as people were getting their things ready for tonight to get their sleep, Rifnox sets his bedroll in the darkest spot near the group, mostly to stay a bit more hidden during the night. He kept his dagger around his waist  to grab it if the situation called for it.

On watch, he stays in the shadows and makes sure to keep his gaze on the surroundings and the group itself.

Nisor, having grown quite fond of his shade tree, sets up his bedroll beneath it. He keeps his bag with the others but has his staff laid beside him. In the back of his mind he considers getting the alarm spell for situations such as this.

Getting set up for the night, Gar will sleep on a bedroll with his pack as a pillow. Turned upside down, with blade and Chakram below, it provided comfort and weapons at hand with a quick tumble. When on watch, he walks the perimeter quietly after climbing the Bluff to see the surrounding area from a high vantage point.

Maybelle had cooked a large dinner for the group at the start of the evening before, doing her best to make sure of everyones dietary needs including her own need for a lack of meat, and Brigitte's very large portions. Needless to state, she used multiple pots sitting in embers both for less smoke and to heat the meal. Once everyone had been fed she asked the casters to prepare light orions and set up a small torch lit under the overhang. If not she would set up and feed a small fire under the overhang so smoke was minimal and only a dull glow It shouldn't be a beacon outside the clearing.

During her own clearing she would keep watch but avoid going into the tree's, often circling just to keep her body limber and her blood moving and prevent her from tiring. Her own bedroll would be beside Brigitte's, as the large woman knew Maybelle always slept better near someone else as a 'Taur.

mmm... you're going to have to have a fire at some point to generate 'embers', and better to do that at night, than during the day when it's more easily seen...

Late afternoon passes into early evening.  The party goes out their business quietly scouting out the immediate area to a hundred paces in each direction.

Andrew and Rifnox rove through the nearby woods and report that there is no obvious den, nest, or otherwise lair of anything in the immediate area.

Gar climbs while Abyss flies up the bluff to checks out the immediate area over the bluff, and report that there are more trees at thet top, making easy access to the area for any one with out flight or impressive climbing ability unlikely.

Brigitte with Daubra's have a quick discussion and carve out bits of the cliff buff into several nicely sized rocks, perfect for her to hurl.  The smaller ones are easier to carry and hurl one handed, the larger ones while more hefty leading to more damage when it lands are nice, they aren't easy to carry, and would require her to use two hands to hurl.  There's good  give and take in the discussion, and with Brigitte's input on what works... and what does not... some truely masterful stones are found, crafted, and hefted for appropriate hurling.

Daubra, make a Craft: Stone check... DC15 to craft Masterwork Boulder for Brigitte.  These boulders are perfected weighed and balance for her to throw and provide a +1 to hit when hurled by her.  These boulders are considered 'ammo' and once hurled the perfect shape and balance will be ruined.  If she rolls VERY well, for each '4' point above DC15 her check is made, an additional masterwork boulder is crafted.

Jeanne and Victoria work on cleaning up the clearing, removing twigs and branches from the area and organizing the various packs  to fit efficiently under the overhanging.

Meanwhile ... Maybelle drags Nisor off to help with the cooking.  Not wanting to reveal their location with a campfire, she convinces Nisor to help with the cooking.  It feels a little trivial and wasteful, but he indulges her in heating up the various pots being used for cooking.  It takes longer to warm and heat things up, and you dont get things past a luke warm temperature but there is no fire, and those that really want meat, wont mind it being a cooked somewhere between rare and raw.  Which is pretty much as good as it's going to get without a fire.  (you may start a fire if you desire to cook the meat more throughly)

Warm meals are had, bed rolls are put out and final preparations are made before settling for bed.  A half hearted watch is kept during meals, but the clearing is out of the way and all is quiet.



Brigitte dominates the small clearing by rolling out her bedroll and laying down to catch some sleep before her turn to watch.

Victoria goes about her business quietly, lying out her bedroll, and saying a quick prayer to Nyte, lady of the Night, Keeper of mysteries and secrets ... to watch over them and keep them all safe.  It's a quiet prayer, and those near at hand might wonder at the choice of divinity but really... the act of prayer is not really all that out of the ordinary.  Jeanne herself, does something similar, though appealing to Creed.

Rifnox, is pretty pleased about the campsite, it was rare to be able to sleep in something as comfortable as under an over hang.  The danker, dark area a comfort to him, as he lays out his bedroll to sleep.  The entire concept is ruined for him a little when Maybelle declares he area a 'well lit' area and set up a night light in the area.  Not impossible to sleep by, not as ideal as it was before her night light.

Nisor settles near his tree, close enough to the cave entrance to do some late night 'light' reading before going to bed.  A bit of test about the nature of undead.  How among undead they are not all considered equal.  That's the lesser undead such as skellies and zombies, are considered mindless and soulless, and hence treated as a sort of expendable plebeian caste.  Greater... or for some 'High' undead are considered the 'Risen' and as such Rise up to their second life with varying degrees of self awareness... so his reading goes for a half hour before he decides to retire with a stretch and a yawn to rest.  Then... there were the 'demi' undead, like himself, not a true undead, but often mistaken for them.

Andrew stays up a bit longer till Lady comes in, and then beds down with her curls up beside him for mutual warmth.

Gar curls up on his bedroll with his lumpy backpack, and keeps his weapons close at hand.

Abyss, Daubra, and Maybelle have the first watch.  Abyss flits among the trees, never going deeper than a dozen paces or so.  Not so far in as to get lost, but far enough in to spot any lurkers that might be spying on them.  Daubra carves out a ledge in the overhanging and settles to sit on it for her watch.  When her watch is over, a guard will be added to the ledge making for a nice 'bed' for her to use for the night.  Of the three, only Maybelle is an obvious sentry as she walks a slow pace around the camp.

So the first watch passes quietly.

---

The second watch starts and a serious effort is made to rouse the snoozing Brigitte, while a nudge is all it takes to wake the lightly sleeping Victoria, who wakes with a start.

Daubra rolls over and sleeps on her ledge, while Abyss enters the alcove with Rifnox.  She looks for the most comfortable pack that she can find and lays out on it to use as a bed.

Theres a jingle of metal in the camp as Brigitte gets her armor on.  This rouses some to half sleepy awareness before rolling over and back to sleep.  She settles to sit by the bluff, leans her favorite axe against the rocky cliff face, and hefting one of the smaller rocks Daubra had crafted.  It was so well sized and balanced, that she had to resist the urge to hurl it.  Instead she puts it down on the pile beside her and hugs her knees.  While there was light in the camp, there was no extra warmth, and the late winter/early spring air was plenty frosty without the fire.

Victoria stands half asleep, Aaron's flintlock held pointed down.  It was unloaded at the moment, a good state for it to be in.  She was no marksman and really having it was a mixed blessing.  She catches Brigitte's gaze and offers a half nervous smile from her.  Really... that rock she was hefting up and down was the size of her head and could easily crush her if she made an attempt to escape... was that the message?  or was she over thinking?

Maybelle is glad for the change of shift.  The silent company allowing her to walk with someone making sentry duty less lonely.  Abyss and Daubra while nice and capable, were out of sight, gave her sentry duty an isolated solitude feel.


During Watch 'Two' there is an encounter.

I require some perception checks, as follows.

Brigitte - DC 14 - Status/Alert sentry

Maybelle - DC 15 - Status/Bored sentry

Victoria - DC 12 - Status/Nyte blessed and Nervous sentry

Also ...

Abyss    - DC 23 - Status/ light sleep

Andrew   - DC 25 - Status/ sleeping {no roll needed for Lady}

Daubra   - DC 23 - Status/ light sleep

Gar      - DC 28 - Status/ fitful sleep

Jeanne   - DC 25 - Status/ sleeping

Nisor    - DC 23 - Status/ light sleep

Rifnox   - DC 28 - Status/ fitful sleep


Current Map
Link back to this game

* You have till 03/06 to submit a die roll, else you will be presumed to have failed your check for the next update *
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:48, Tue 05 Mar 2019.

Gar sleeps soundly.

Perception 13 on d20+5.

Victoria is awake and very nervous indeed. In many ways, she is more afraid of what her party of 'friends' will do that any other group out there...

Victoria Edenburg rolled 6 using 1d20+1.  Perception.

Maybelle keeps up her sentry duties even if after several hours it’s boring and dull. She much preferred the homestead at times like this.

13:24, Today: Maybelle rolled 12 using 1d20+5.  Perception
+2 vs Humans

Rifnox remains in a deep sleep, his face pointed away from the light as he smiles a bit in his sleep, apparently having a nice dream.

21:55, Today: Rifnox rolled 10 using 1d20+1.  listen check.

Brigitte tossed one of the rocks from hand to hand idly, like someone might with a favorite ball. It was a good rock (Masterwork rock!) smooth but just rough enough to grab the air so that she thought she might be able to get a little curve out of it if she spun it while throwing.

She chatted quietly with Maybelle and Victoria if she wanted to join in, to pass the time. Victoria didn't seem to have much to say. Seemed to be afraid of rocks too, for some odd reason. Humans, right? Who could figure them out?

She froze when she heard the sound, and scanned the clearing looking for trouble. She held out a sign for Maybelle and Victoria, indicating they should look around more carefully.

---

15:52, Today: Brigitte Morndottir rolled 26 using 1d20+6.  PerceptionDC 14. Didn't adjust for light conditions, but hope it doesn't matter!

It's a really nice rock, it's perfectly round, but she gave the surface an artsy pattern design that's really easy to grip.  Yes, it does have the feel of a largish softball to you.

23:14, Today: Andrew Turner rolled 17 using 1d20+6.  Perception.

Sister Daubra went through her evening prayers, and meditation. This was pretty much normal for the devote woman who offered quick prayers over little things, like accidents, and eating. Really the only way morning and evening prayers stood out was she preferred to perform them barefoot so she could feel the ground with her feet and connect with it directly. She slept in her armor while on patrol. She never let her holy symbol out of reach. She kept her kunai close and tucked behind her while she slept. She slept fairly soundly.

OOC: Perception 3 (after -10 from being asleep) if a comrade started conversing noisily within 30' she might roll over and scold them to keep it down. Otherwise she's unlikely to wake with that roll

Jenna sleeps quietly on her side curled up slightly under her blanket.

11:41, Today: Jeanne d'Arc rolled 15 using 1d20+2.  Perception check.

Most of the party is sleeping soundly, a few sense some activity around them and start to stir slowly from sleep.

~ Ambush / Surprise Phase ~

- Party Status -

Abyss  Sleeping ~ DC 21 Player Currently absent / Character asleep ~

Andrew Sleeping ~ DC 17 Perception check to wake.  {Character stirring}

Daubra Sleeping ~ DC 15 Perception check to wake.  {Character stirring}

Gar    Sleeping ~ DC 24 Perception check to wake.  {Character asleep}

Jeanne Sleeping ~ DC 17 Perception check to wake.  {Character stirring}

Nisor  Sleeping ~ DC 21 Perception check to wake.  {Character asleep}

Rifnox Sleeping ~ DC 24 Perception check to wake.  {Character asleep}

---

As for the characters that are awake ...

Maybelle is rather bored.  She had spent the two hour shift with Abyss and Daubra in hiding, and so it had felt rather lonely.  With the weight of the party's security at the time feeling to rest on her shoulders alone she had been overly alert... and nothing had happened.  Now that Abyss and Daubra had been relieved, she felt more at ease with Brigitte and Victoria's company.  Already bored from an uneventful first shift, she let's her attention wander.  She makes quiet polite conversation, admiring the bowling ball sized rock that Daubra had crafted for Brigitte.  Ornate designs were etched on the surface giving it an artistic look, and improving the grip on the rock for Brigitte.  It was pretty... almost too pretty to be a lethal weapon... almost.  Lost in thought Maybelle doesnt quite realize anything is amiss.

If Brigitte does not alert Maybelle, she becomes aware of the danger, and gets her normal actions next round, if she makes a DC17 Perception check.

Victoria has a disconcerting few moments ... her sight starts to sharpen slightly as the area around her seems to brighten with illumination for a moment, then phase into sharp monochrome shades of grey that present everything in sharp detail as if it were daylight.  The effect is pretty distracting, but she feels all she needs to do is give it a mental 'nudge' to have it steady.  Just normalizing her vision is the most natural and would take next to no effort, though there is some novelty to considering the others.  Distracted by this personal crisis, Victoria is clueless about the current dangers near the camp.

If Brigitte does not alert Victoria, she becomes aware of the danger, and gets her normal actions next round, if she makes a DC14 Perception check.

Brigitte, fresh from a two hour nap is still alert and paying attention.  She has in hand one of Daubra's masterfully crafted mini boulders.  The balance is perfect, and she's almost wishing she had something worthy to hurl it at to test it out.  It's then that her she thinks she sees something from the South West Corner of the camp, near the trail.  Even seated she was taller than Victoria, and her advantageous view notices some trees moving near the trail, something was approaching, something large... or something numerous.

This is the round BEFORE combat actually starts.  Brigitte has a standard action to expend to prepare for combat.  What ever is coming is in the shadows of the trees, and has tree cover.  So attacking it now would be impractical given the lighting and the cover of the trees.

Brigitte is currently seated with a rock in her hand.

With her standard action, Brigitte has time to stand.

With a free action, (as a fighter), she can grab the weapon beside her.  She does not have to drop the rock unless she plans to ready the axe immediately to use.

With a free action, she can take a 5' step in some direction.

With a 'quick' action she can do ONE of the following.
-  Direct Maybelle and Victoria's attention to the South West corner of camp improving their response time.  (Next round instead of getting a standard action, they have a normal one to act)
-  Make an effort to wake a sleeping character, improving their chances to wake for the encounter.  She grants them a +2 bonus to wake if she's being gentle and shakes them awake or nudges them with the toe of her boot, grants them a +6 bonus to wake if she's rougher and inflicts one non-lethal point of damage to wake them.

No map update, the map has not seriously changed, except Brigitte senses something approaching from around D-11
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:17, Wed 06 Mar 2019.

Nisor, being a fairly unperceptive individual, sleeps through the night soundly. Unaware of the potential danger his guildmates and himself are faced with.

11:28, Today: Nisor rolled 19 using 1d20+2 ((17)).

Rifnox remains deep asleep, turning a little.

19:09, Today: Rifnox rolled 7 using 1d20+1.  Perception to wake up.

Gar starts to stir, the background noises changing and alerting the fighter.

Perception 17 on d20 +5.

Andrew senses makes him feel he need to wake up.

OOC:
19:52, Today: Andrew Turner rolled 19 using 1d20+6.  Perception.