"Ok now we need to make some spear-heads, Throwing spears and spear throwers. A ranged option would help if we do decide to try hunting. At least until we we some feathers for fetching arrows. For the shaft we want wood that is about 6 feet long."

Making a spear head should just be like making a over-sized arrowhead. The principles and procedures should be the same just on a larger scale.

I'll wrap the spear shaft about 6 inches from the end and then split the end in half with my knife. Then insert the spearhead in between them and then wrap and bind the it together with wet sinew. When the Sinew drys it will harden and shrink slightly which will make the spearhead secure to the shaft

For the spear thrower (Also called an atlatl) I'll select a slightly curved piece of wood that is about 2 feet long. I'll carve a notch on one end as a spot to fit the end of the spear.

I'll show it to them when I am done.
"This is a spear thrower. It used leverage to allow you to throw a spear harder and faster. Therefore it'll be more likely to kill what you throw it at. We should probably practice with wooden tipped spears so we don't shatter the stone spearheads we worked so hard on."

The others look on in interest as you show them the atlatl. They all pick up the production ability well, now that they have their start in stone working.

Gawyn suggests, "we could use non worked stones and attach them to the tips of the wooden spears, to simulate the weight better. It wouldn't take us long to fashion and I'd rather adjust for weight now than when dinner is getting away because I missed."

"That is a good idea Gawyn. All we would need would be relatively flat pieces of stone. Let's make a few to practice with.

after that We should make some stone knifes."

Again this is like making a over-sized arrowhead with a long dull section to use as a handle.

"Ok. Now that we have knifes, throwing spears and axes. We need to head out and look for food.
Two of us need to stay at camp to take care of the fire and work on trying to make a few buckets. The others should probably split into two teams of four. To hunt and gather eatable berries and nuts.

Another day or two tending the fire would be good for Lod's leg. Otherwise Who do you think should go where?"

Making the knives goes smoothly, everyone having the hang of it by now.  They're not pretty, but they will cut given enough force.

Gawyn says "Well, I should be with the group foraging, as I have at least a little knowledge of the plants that are poisonous. And Galad has experience hunting. Other than that, I don't think it matters much. It all needs to get done, and we're all relatively inexperienced at this type of ordeal."

"I'll stay here and work on making buckets and bowls and soch to help us out."

I'll cut a foot wide log with my axe into a fool long section. Then I'll carefully burn it out to make a bucket. I'll continue doing this until we have five buckets.

The buckets take an extraordinary amount of effort. The axes help, but stone axes require a lot of force behind them.

Between you and Lod though you get 4 done and have the fifth started before Gawyn and his group get back in the late afternoon, laden with berries and fruits carried in their shirts.

There's no sign of the other group yet however. It's maybe an hour from dusk.

"I wonder where Galad and the others are.
We also need to get some more water...
Ok. Gawyn and I will go and get some water.
Hopefully Galad and the others will be back by the time we get back."

I assume we will take two buckets with us.

Gawyn shrugs but does look mildly concerned "He may be following a game trail that's taking him farther out than expected."

Rory says when you suggest the two of you going, "we might as well get a third bucket right? It still would leave three in camp if I joined you two and we can always use more water."

Unless you object he joins you and takes a third bucket.

The buckets make the process much easier, and you're back in about half an hour. There has been no sign of Galad or his crew though, and the forest is starting to get dark.

I'm getting worried. Do you think we should go out and look for them?"

Gawyn thinks for a moment before responding. "Well, I am concerned. We may not always get along but Galad is my brother, and the others are upstanding men as well. I worry though that if we set off to find them that we risk all of us, or the cave being lost to another beast. And without all of us canvassing it will take a long time to make any substantial progress... In short I think we need to try and find out what's going on, but also I can't think of any good strategies on the issue."

By the way, What phase is the moon in? That will affect our visibility at night.

"... If we where going to do it I would leave two people at camp to prevent a beast from taking it. Then the remaining four would split into two teams of two. It would be nice if we had a horn or something to signal each other... Maybe we could make some horns but that doesn't help now...

Ok, We are going to look for them for an hour or two, then return to camp. It does Us no good if we get lost too. I'm heading out now. Who wants to go with me?"

Once someone decides to go with me, I'll shift into the Flame and the Void. And feel which way my gut instincts tell me to go. Or which way feels right. Then I'll head in that direction.

I'll search in that direction for an hour or two and then head back.

OOC) sorry for the delay between posts. iPad battery died as I was about to submit the post.

There was a new moon about a week ago so there is very little lunar light.

The flame and the void is helping mitigate the lack of light however, and you can still see decently if not as well as you would like.

Gawyn instantly says he's coming, and everyone else isn't far behind. The discussion focuses around who doesn't get to go actually. It's decided Rory and Lod will stay behind as Rory is the next best fighter after you, Gawyn and Galad so should the camp need defending it's a good idea and Lod is still at reduced mobility. You end up with Bogar and Darian, in addition to Gawyn.

Your instincts point you to set off in the direction Galad did that morning. It's not much to go on but at least starts you in the right direction.

Near the end of the second hour you find a body face down in a puddle of bloody mud. It's not anyone you recognize, though you do recognize the clothing. This was clearly a whitecloak. There are signs of a struggle around the body, broken branches and a few places where the bark of a tree is sliced.

Who went with me? I would have had us split into two teams of two. Although now I wish I kept us together.

"Great. These Idiots. It would be like them to attack Warders in Training..."

I'll examine the Whitecloak to see what I can use. Does he still have his sword? Any other tools on him? what other cloths is he wearing besides the infamous whitecloak?

Can I glean anything from the tracks around the body? Like how many there where?
Can I figure out which way they went and how many went that way?

Bogar went with you, Darian went with Gawyn.

Bogar asks "You've had dealings with the Children before I take it?"

The whitecloak has a belt quiver sized for crossbow bolts, but you don't find a crossbow or any bolts on him. He still has his sword, which is a short sword of fairly low quality compared to what you're used to. As to clothing he has riding leathers on and a dyed white set of leather armor. There's a puncture in the chest when you roll him over. One clean cut that looks to have pierced a lung, and led to the mans death.

To clarify by the way, whitecloaks do in fact where white cloaks but also are clad entirely in white. The leather armor is actually out of the ordinary here, as standard uniform from what you've seen is a mail hauberk with an emblazoned sun. They make a point of claiming never to need to hide in the shadows, and as such have no need for lowly leather. That's the public claim anyway, practical field folk know it to be bluster.

Other than that, you rifle his pockets and find a rolled sheet of paper bound with a cloth, fling and steel, and steel dagger concealed in his boot.

As to the tracks, you can tell there were at least 4 people total, but past that it's hard to say. There are a lot of footprints covering up each other from the apparent fight that happened here. The only reason you know it's at least 4 is because you see two sets go north and two west. You suspect the numbers of one or both sets are being masked by people who know wilderness. The set going north is more proficient at it and harder to follow after the first several feet.

"Yes, I had to deal with these Idiots before. I'm... not very fond of them. I'm planning on becoming a Warder. So you can see why I don't like them."

I'll take the short sword, the dagger, the flint and steel and the paper wrapped in cloth.

Does the dagger have a sheath?
Can I see writing on the paper?

"There are two sets of tracks leading away from here. One was concealed better than the other. I think Galad and his group will be that way. This is very weird though..."

If Bogar has no objections, we'll try to follow the tracks leading north.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:44, Mon 07 Nov 2016.

Bogar nods, though he does seem surprised with your previous run in.

The boot has a sleeve that the dagger fit into, so in a way yes it had a sheath but not one easily taken, unless you want the boots as well. They look like they might fit you, if a bit big.

You don't see any writing on the paper, though you think there probably is on the inside if you unrolled it (you're more than able to unroll it and see, but it'll take a bit of time to find an area with enough light to actually read by.) You're also not sure you could undo the cloth without cutting it. So opening the letter will also mean that it will be difficult to pass off as unread if that is ever your intent.

Bogar shrugs, "As good a guess as any I suppose. Though I don't know that Galad is really a good woodsman. This is most of our first introduction to wilderness survival after all. But let's go check it out, we have limited light."

You follow the trail north for several hundred feet before you get to a clearing in the woods. The tracks lead into the clearing but you don't see where they lead to after that.

"Well, ether we'll find Galad and the others or we'll find the Whitecloaks. Mayby we can convince them to not bother us...Like that will happen. But a man can dream."

I'll put the dagger in my belt for now. Did the short sword have a sheath?

As we enter the clearing.

"... Great. I can't find the trakes in here. And it woild take too long to find them again by searching the perimeter of the clearing. Let's head back and try the easier trakes."

I'll head back to the body and then try following the easier tracks.

Yes, the short sword had a sheath.

You get back to where you left the body and find that it's disappeared. The trail west also seems to have been covered up a bit more than what you remember and it takes you a few minutes to refind it, even knowing where to look.

"Well someone has been here. We just don't know who yet. Keep a hand on your sword. They might attack without asking questions."

I'll follow my own advice and try to follow the trail. I'll keep an eye out for a possible ambush.

Bogar is in the process of drawing as you mention it, clearly he had the same thought as you.

You press on, following the trail as best as you can. It's very slow going as full darkness has set at this point. How long do you want to press the search before trying to head back to camp?

I'll search for one more hour before we head back to camp.

About 45 minutes in you stumble upon a massacre. You see nearly a dozen whitecloaks corpses and slain horses. They all are wearing similar garb to the one you found already.

The scene is in a small clearing, but you can tell all of that immediately from the periphery.

...well. Looks like a massacre here. I guess I should feel bad for them... But...

I remember what would happen if they caught Susan, Then my heart goes absolutely cold.

"It looks like someone has been busy... They are probably heading back now. We should head back. We don't want to exhaust ourselves looking for them further tonight. We'll come back tomorrow to get the meat from the horses."

I'll examine a few of the Whitecloaks to determine what kind of sword killed them.

Then I'll head back to camp.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:25, Wed 02 Nov 2016.

You mentioned examining the whitecloaks, for the type of weapon that killed them. I'm assuming you get closer/enter the clearing and would thus notice the following.

You discern that each whitecloak was killed with a straight sword, similar to the type your group all wield and that is preferred amongst wanders. As you look up from inspecting the corpse, you notice a number of bodies slumped against trees. You have a moment of terror as you identify each of the companions you've been looking for, including Galad. Then in relief you notice that they don't appear to be wounded but... maybe asleep? They are all covered in blood however so it's hard to tell from a distance. You do note that one member of the party is missing. Dahvin is no where to be seen.

I'll draw my sword and enter the Flame and the Void
"Be careful Bogar. Something is not right here. We are still missing Dahvin."

I walk over to where Galad and the others are. I'll examine them to see if they are still breathing. Then I'll try to shake Galad awake.


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