The men are barely out of earshot, when Terri turns to Odelia and repeats in complete exasperation, "You may want to circle around the town?  Gawd that man can be an idiot sometimes.  You'd think he'd realize that the more we move the more likely we are to draw attention to ourselves..."  She pauses for a second, still holding the bag of caltrops in her hand.  "It was a right smart idea to set a few traps though.  Then if something does come we'll at least have some time to get out of here if something does come.  Might not hurt to put together a getaway bag either."  Terri busies herself next to the cart, shoveling a few things into her bag using only the dim lighting of the stars above.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep any more, but you are welcome if you want to."  Terri adds to Odelia, pulling up a rope from amongst the items as she appraises it aloud.  "Looks a little thick, but I should be able to get some use out of it..."

OOC:  It is 0315 on the 22nd of March.  Terri is going to set some traps around the area just in case any threats as well as pack a bag in case a quick escape is needed.  Feel free to take any action you want.  You may decide to try and go back to sleep.  If so roll vs. HT+1, a successful roll means you manage a full nights sleep.  On a failed roll, or if you opt not to go back to bed, roll vs. HT-2.  On a failed roll you lose 1 fatigue due to lost sleep.
This message was last updated by the GM at 04:01, Tue 01 May 2018.

   After the Men had taken their leave, she heard Brandald's wife, Terri, as she exercised her own thoughts. She nodded her agreement to what had been said and tapped the side of her head before she shook it slightly.

   She turned her attention to the cart, where her own things were stored. Everything she owned, outside of the tent she used at night, was loaded in the pack she carried. It was bulky, but her life was inside that gathering of things. Anything of value, she usually carried on her person.

   Walking over to where Terri was and tapped lightly on the side of the wagon. First, she shook her head, and then placed her hands together in what a Christian might interpret as a gesture of prayer, then pointed to where her tent was. She hoped that her gesture, along with the times of the day she'd paused to pray, would deliver the message of her intent. It would be light soon, and there was little excuse for not attending to what was necessary.

   With a short walk to the river, the girl sat on the edge and took a moment to roll up her sleeves, then her robes to just under her knees and began to use the freezing water to wash. She worked as quickly as she could, not only for the temperature of the water, but the fact that she felt exposed in such a way. Usually, when the others were about, she'd used either her canteen and a small amount of water to clean herself, but with the Men off on their duties, she risked the possibility to be caught immodestly attired in order to perform the Wudhu, or ritual cleansing.

   Once finished, she unrolled the emerald robe back down her arms and legs and walked to her tent to begun her devotions ...

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Odelia thinks in a manner similar to Terri that there simply isn't enough time left to get a decent sleep before she'll have to be awake anyway.  Pointing towards the river, Odelia informs Terri of her intentions and though Terri has a slight look of concern on her face, she smiles and waves as she continues about her work.

The trek to the river turns into quite a longer journey than Odelia intended.  The short hike down the steep hill proves only mildly difficult though the hike across three or four farmer's fields adds more time and distance between herself and Terri than she bargained for.  Still, it is well before sunup as she reaches the bank, disrobes, and performs the Wudhu with none of the men or the locals being the wiser.

The trip back proves similarly uneventful, with Odelia taking a longer route up the backside of the hill to keep from having to climb any significant grade in the darkness.

Odelia makes her way back to her tent, unrolls her prayer mat and performs her devotions as she has so often these days, estimating the direction of Geb'al Din, somewhere to the south southwest.  By the time she is complete, the black of the night is ebbing from the east and the light blues of the dawn have started to creep across the skies.

Terri has proved to have been busy.  "Don't go there."  The other warns as Odelia walks towards the tower, attempting to get a decent vantage of the valley below.  "I set up a few trip wires with some extra precautions...  I don't think it'll be an issue going out, but I don't want to you fall on any of it coming back in."  She smiles.  "Besides, you'd make me have to set it all back up... easier just to go around."

Perhaps it goes without saying, but Terri has been much more talkative with the men gone.  Knowing full well that Odelia won't respond in kind, she fills both ends of the conversation, asking rhetorical questions and then answering herself, all the while taking care of minor errands.  She has Cutlass saddled, a bag packed and Firebrand set up with a lead rope in addition to all of her own small items taken.  "Can't be too careful."  Terri says, half to herself and half to Odelia.  "If we do have to leave we want to take everything we can.  I'd rather not lose the horses if we have to run."

The morning light spreads orange and crimson across the sky before the sun starts it's slow climb upward.  Odelia has spent the past several minutes with a whetstone against her knife, honing the blade to a keen edge.  The moment of quiet seems to go overlong, and Odelia looks after a moment towards Terri, who has her gaze cocked upward to the sky.  Odelia looks upward and notices some blackbird or crow circling high overhead.

OOC:  Thanks for the patience.  It is now 0555 on the 22nd of March.  The sun has risen perhaps a half an hour ago and you have stayed mostly in camp to keep out of sight since then.  roll vs. perception.

   As might be expected of someone that couldn't speak, the emerald-eyed rogue went about her own duties without a word and half-listened while the Seafarer's wife projected her thoughts in her direction. She was accustomed to some level of noise - she had lived in cities or major towns most of her life - so a level of din was expected. As Terri spoke here and there, Odelia managed a small nod of acknowledgement to let her know that she was following what was being said, and 'saying' little in turn.

   Although she would have preferred the thought of having a hot meal prepared in the morning to give her some warmth as well as something to do in tending the fire, she knew it was a risk as a fire, as well as the smoke,  could be seen from a far-off distance. The last thing that they needed was a curious look at their makeshift camp by anyone that might give away their position. So she ate her morning ration without the comfort of a campfire ...

   After spending part of the morning seeing to food and the care of her weapons and the security of her things aboard the wagon, she walked the edges of the Camp - mindful of where Terri had placed her trip wires - when she caught the look of the woman who was looking up at the sky. Odelia looked up as well and squinted as she tried to make out any details about the blackbird that circled overhead. From what she could tell, it wasn't the Magician's prized falcon ...

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
14:06, Today: Secret Roll: Odelia La Faelis rolled 9 using 3d6.  Roll vs. Perception (IQ 13 w/ Acute Vision).

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Odelia watches the bird in curiosity at first, for she is not outdoorslady and has little idea much of what the bird is, but as she looks upward she can't help but linger on the black avian circling overhead.  There is some bobbing motion, some awkward shade about the bird's wings that she simply can't place.  It is only after several moments of staring that Odelia recognizes there is an arrow lodged somewhere near the thing's torso.

"That's not normal..."  Terri mutters, still staring upward.  "There isn't a bird alive that could take an arrow to the chest and live long... let alone still fly.  I guess that thing does look pretty big though."  High above, the bird continues to wind in lazy circles...

OOC:  Let me know if you want to do anything, if no then that's fine, I'll fast forward to the next decision point for you.

   Looking up at the bird, she wondered about it - wounded and yet still managing to fly? She didn't think it was possible that something like that could happen, but here it was.

   She had a sneaking suspicion that it might be magical, but there was no way to communicate that effectively to anyone. One of the Men might have easily considered such, with the amount of magic they possessed, but they were off on their own adventure.

   She looked about to see if there was a crossbow about. She didn't trust that the bird might be magically in contact with someone who could see through the bird's eyes ...

Odelia grabs her crossbow from her things, thinking to get her first real use out of it.  Of course she had practiced some since she had won the crossbow back at the fight on the road to Three Corners, but that was all practice at bags of dirt so that she could grab the bolts again afterwards.  Watching the bird as it circles, she cocks the weapon with some significant effort, loads a bolt and aims for several moments before squeezing the trigger.

Twang!  The bolt flies from her weapon, pressing back against her shoulder with a sudden force.  Her aim looks true, though the bird proves a smaller target than she was counting on...

"Agh!"  The thing cries shrilly as the dart misses by a half a body length, whizzing by and sailing on upward into the sky and back down the hillside to the west.  Still, the thing seems undeterred, and continues it's circling motion overhead.

OOC:  The bird is circling overhead about 25 yards overhead, which puts the range penalty at -8 (shots upward count double for the range for penalty).  It is also SM-3, so even if you aim for the full three seconds, you are still rolling against a 7.  You can feel free to use the rest of the bolts in your inventory if you wish (9 left total) or you can dip into the ones you took from the fort that are sitting on the cart.  Let me know how many you want to shoot or if there is anything else you want to attempt.