The halfling comes up. ZEIG and DAI indeed recognize him as LEIF. He walks up about eight feet away from ZEIG and then plops down, sitting, to the ground.

Removing his boots, "Hoo, feels good t' get 'ese off. I'm sure bo'f of us are 'appy to see ev'rybo'y in good 'ealth. 'ell mostly ev'rybo'y. 'eres 'at dwarf?"

LEIF is wearing two small shortswords in sheaths at his side and decent-looking studded leather armor. He has a bandolier of sorts with one throwing dagger in it, and empty spots for five more. He's got a belt with several pouches on it, as well as a small cloak.

Meta-OOC: You guys remember LEIF and his cohorts as being fairly rogue-like, and vulnerable to dwarven waraxe damage.

"He's gone. You'd have better luck finding him in Elfheim or that halfling village a ways back."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:21, Tue 06 Mar 2012.

LEIF examines ZEIG's face for a moment. "Ah. Moving righ' along 'en. We ne'er got a chance t' a'tually talk about why you were 'ere. Maybe we should, eh? Maybe we could 'elp, an', yeah 'eah, I realize we got'ff to a bit o' a bad start; 'et's move 'ast 'at. Maybe you lot could 'elp us, likewise, eh?"

Sili steps up. "What, exactly did you have in mind?"

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...well...you can't get fooled again! They are tricksters, thieves, and poisoners, SILI. If that was all you had to say then begone from here and do not return. I'm sure Dai would relish paying you back."

"'ats'at 'hen?" LEIF slides his foot back into his boot then stands up.

"A'right. Good luck in 'ere." LEIF nods toward the empty town before the setting sun. "If, if... you lot come back 'is way, 'e'll talk 'en."

LEIF begins to walk away, stopping just at the range where he has to raise his voice to be heard over the wind without turning around, making an effort to speak more articulately than normal. "And camp further 'way you damn fools."

He joins his three comrades and walks back toward the forest. The wind appears to be dying down somewhat, and combined with the coming darkness and a likely attempt to be somewhat stealthy on their part, you lose sight of them before the tree line.

Sili looks ticked off. "Even if they're tricksters, we could have heard what they had to say and then made decisions. Now, whatever they know might come back and bite us on the ass."

"They were friendly the first time we met. Similar to this, in fact, right before they shook hands with Dai on a deal and poisoned him, then tried to kill us and take our belongings. I don't know about you, but I couldn't trust a word that came out of his mouth after something like that. You could try to talk with them if you like, but they'll probably just harvest your gold and equipment."

Zeig seems bothered by the whole encounter, but won't give up his stance.

"They did us a great injustice, and we let them live. He may have a point about us being too close to this village though. Damn place gives me the creeps."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:30, Tue 06 Mar 2012.

"You don't have to accept what he says at face value, or let him get close enough to  poison you again. But it would have been useful knowing what he says is there - either so we can prepare for an encounter with whatever it is or know how to avoid it. Worst case scenario, we could have discovered he was lying again and kill him dead this time at the inevitable betrayal. Now, if he attacks he'll do it from ambush, when we aren't ready."

"Little bastards...damnit! Well, should we go after them? I don't know what to do anymore, we still had Jack and Grim the last time we ran into them, and Jack's dead now...nothing here makes any sense."

Zeig is obviously worked up.

"I could probably convince them to talk, at least. Personally, I want to know what he knows; knowledge is always useful."

DAI was a little...surprised that ZEIG was the one to snap. "Hey ZEIG, I didn't like it either but if they had something useful it could have really come in handy...I mean I was ready to magic up some dead halflings if he went for a weapon, but we could have heard him out first...as odd as it feels to say that." DAI sighs, then looks to SILI. "Alright, well if you're goin out to meet them I'll go with you, if nothing else as backup."

We can ret-con you calling out to them before they disappear if you wish. With the amount of discussion you've had so far, they probably aren't anywhere actually near the tree line yet, though they are probably out of vision.

"Alright, alright. Fine. EH LEIF! Get back over here if you wanna talk, I'm done bein' pissy."

None of you see any indication that your offer has been accepted.

Sili shakes his head. "Don't worry about it. Let's sleep farther away from the town, just in case."

You are currently 400' away roughly southeast of the main entrance to the settlement. It is now full-blown dusk. Any ambient light will fade to dim moonlight within fifteen minutes.

"Yea, let's go ahead and do that, place is spookily empty."

2/3 for moving camp and Dai's probably ok with it! Go!

Nope, DAI wants to camp IN the town!

Aye, move us on GM

The three of you, taking LEIF's words into consideration, pick up and move much closer to the tree line away from the town.

Throughout the night, at some point each of you thinks they hear wailing coming from the otherwise silent and still village. The amount of comfort you gain from camping further away from the village is negated by the disease you feel camping closer to the forest full of giants, over-sized snakes, bands of malicious goblins, and no telling what else.

Crafting checks, anyone? Assuming SILI takes 10 with his Ballad to give DAI back his 2 mp. Not sure if he wants to roll for Paeon (don't have the source material handy, can you give temporary HP by taking a 10?)

17:08, Today: DAI rolled 20 using 1d20+15. back to making hastes I guess.

Or not, that works too >.>

20:46, Today: ZEIG rolled 24 using 1d20+13. Craft (alch) Cure. (2 hours)
20:47, Today: ZEIG rolled 21 using 1d20+13. Craft (alch) Cure 2nd. (4 hours)
This message was last edited by the player at 01:47, Wed 07 Mar 2012.

Yes, taking 10 lets me grant 5 thp to everyone.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:41, Wed 07 Mar 2012.

Don't forget the +2 for DAI aiding you, and the +2 from our lab.

I have updated the alchemy supplies remaining. ZEIG, add two Cure potions to your inventory.

The party eats breakfast while staring at ominous dark blue and black clouds overhead. Apparently yesterday's wind was bringing today's storm clouds.
Survival or Knowledge (Nature) (penalized)

The party finishes eating breakfast, and packs up their things. The clouds overhead put an imposing backdrop behind the keep on up on the cliff far to the northwest. No thunder is heard.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:07, Wed 07 Mar 2012.