Finn squints his eyes galvanizing himself to memory the flowery poem like rhetoric as if he'll only ever hear it once.  A lake.  A cave.  A forest.  Why does everythin' have to be so damned cryptic!, he whines to himself internally.

And then Razzel pauses to consider the loot he pilfered from the necromancers tower.  Not only the spellbooks but also the book on alchemy, the high quality cookery and the ingredients.  Their sum was more than Finn has seen to this point in his young life, and if he were settled he would likely hide his belongings and only allude to them by way of treasure maps as well.

While his mind wandered he missed part of what Munt was saying but thankfully the mage-thief is able to piece it together.  Finn chuckles a snorting kind of laugh in response.  ”Sure as yer paw's a...well, ya.  I'm goin'.”  Finn catches himself, careful to not get too comfortable, yet.  Poking fun at his friends was one thing but these foreigners might not understand and forgive the context.

Then the plucky agent of the Row is hit with what is really going on.  Munt is the map.  And he needs him.  But can the man survive?  ”Say Munt 'ol buddy.  How are ya with a blade?  I mean, say we run inta mountain lions, or grizzlies.  Or giants.  You handy with a long sword or axe?”


OOC:
Am I missing something?  Munt said he transcribed the texts/notes for his master and the stranger took the copies.  Where are the originals?  Why cant I have those?

Ok, I see The Great Forest on the big map.  Remind me again where I am please.  So Munt is talking about where the mountains touch the southern end of the forest on the map of Al Wazif, just to the left of the N-S-E-W symbol?

And Al Haz, its another Arabic state?

"I haven't ever swung a sword...  I've used an axe often enough when needed to split wood, but I've never needed it for anything other than that."

Munt thinks on the matter.  "Most times my hands have done the trick for me if I've needed to defend myself.  I've seen my fair share of lion come near the village at night, trying to find an easy meal in the dry season.  They have served me well enough."

OOC:  Presumably the originals weren't Haj-Umr's to begin with.  Instead, he borrowed the texts, had Munt transcribe them, then returned them to their owners.  You never found anything of the sort when you were rummaging through the tower.

It's worth noting, that although Munt is a hunchback, he as arms as thick as your thighs.  He is quite obviously stronger than an average man, and likely as strong as Magnus if they were put toe to toe.  While he has a calm demeanor, it's hard to imagine (especially with his gruesome face) that he wouldn't be able to hold his own.

The location Munt is talking about is farther north than you are looking.  It's just at the western foothills of the unnamed mountains in al-Wazif, near the 'n' in 'Pillars of Heaven.  It's still 100 miles from your location, which is on the northern slopes of the same mountain range, just south of the last 'm' in Mackarem.  The mountain range you are talking about is the 'Fence of God' which was mentioned briefly in the elder's discussion.  Al-Haz is indeed another Arabic state, in general more conservative than al-Wazif, though the rural areas you are in right now are fairly conservative in comparison to the larger cities.

Finn regards his best asset as the thing between his ears.  While some would say his mouth he would say his mind.  The often overly optimistic entrepreneur has heard it said scores of times 'There is safety in numbers', but the wise know this is conditional.  Those numbers don't account for squat if they ain't loyal.  Razzel has heard many, many stories of traveling companions turning on the guy holding the most loot.

The plucky mage sits in silence for several long moments as the wheels of his keen brain spin and churn.  He looks around the room appraisingly.  He is thinking, and sizing up the men.  He is after men with skill, bravery but most of all loyalty towards ones employer.  With a burning desire Finn will not let himself forget that he is an infidel in a foreign country.  While these people might be honorable and good people sometimes those rules are thrown out in the cases of second class citizens.  Or non citizens.

What Finn needs is a pitch.  A story.  A grand tale to convince the bold and talented to sign on and see it through, to protect the life of their employer if necessary.  So the thief-mage smiles a devilish grin and begins to spin tales.  Most if not all have heard these tales in the last week.  Some lived through them.  But it wouldn't hurt to remind them of Finn's virtues.  He tells how when Rondald fired upon Munt it was Finn who called a halt to the fighting and argued for talk.  Again at the fire room fight Finn tried diplomacy instead of out right killing.  But more so it was his brilliant plan and superior gifts that allowed him to rise above the crowd and be mostly unhurt by the swarm of arrows.  Finn speaks of it as all planned ahead of time to draw them away from his friends inside the room.  The thief-mage makes the argument that without a plan, a good plan, there is only chaos and luck.  And men who rely solely upon luck end up dead sooner or later.

But he doesn't stop there.  Finn is a stranger in a strange land.  He will be outnumbered for weeks.  He needs to cement as much loyalty as he can on day one.  So he aims for 'over the top'.  He scours his memory for a story that conveys his genius, talents and drive to get the job done.  He wants these men to know that the only way to come out alive and wealthier on the other side is to follow his directions until the bitter end.  And so he decides to tell a story of a job he was handed.  It seemed difficult if not impossible.  But those are the jobs Finn loves partly because others are scared of them.

”See, couple 'a years ago my friend brings me this job.  He wants me to grab this cup.  But not just any 'ol cup.  The cup 'a Saint Berachus.”  Razzel pauses for a moment.  A few of his fingers twitch while he utters a few words carefully and clearly spoken to ensure the spells success.  Now just as an imagine of a man had appeared before an image of a golden cup forms in the air before Finn.  It is larger than a drinking cup and his rendering is decorated with a handful of sparkling blue, red and green gems.  ”I don't 'member the exact size 'a the pile its worth but its a big 'un.  An' my friend already has a buyer.  Trouble is the owner is ready for some jack boys so he's got dogs an' spotters.  An' a big 'ol fence.  So I put my 'ol noggin' to the job - how do we get in, grab it an' get out without bein' snatched?  Every time I think I got a fool proof plan I find some hole.  But this is where I shine.  I don't give up.  An' so finally I crack it.  I sneak in alone an' grab the cup.  If I get out clean it's off to our payday.  But if the spotters spot me an' call for the ol' bills I need a way out.  So I go buy half a dozen ol' bill uniforms.  An' let me tell you they don't come cheap.  So when the spotters call for the ol' bills guess who shows up to put the cuffs on me?  My friends, dressed in the uniforms I bought.  But instead 'a takin' me off to the klink they take me right to the buyer.  Let that sink in a minute.  I had an armed escort with a free pass past any other hoodlums all the way to our buyer.”  Finn smiles as he wraps his arms around himself, quite satisfied.


OOC:
Jack boy is slang for thief.  Spotter is slang for a guard.  Old Bill is slang for police.  In this instance Finn is using Spotter to mean something like a modern day security guard while an Old Bill refers to a fully trained police officer with heavy duty gear.

Ahhh, that makes complete sense about the texts Haj Umr had were borrowed.

Good to know about Munt being able to handle himself in a fight.  For this I want at least 3 people who can handle themselves in a fight, myself included.  We've talked behind the scenes about me recruiting more people.  I will include some more details below in PM.

Regarding Boots I will attempt the following arrangement.  Since its likely that I cant take Boots all the way to the module site and I don't want to leave him away from our daily camp for extended periods, I will seek out in town someone I can leave Boots with for the next few weeks.  I want a recommendation from Munt or Khaldun.  Ie, not the town drunk or crook.  The deal I am aiming for says that they can use Boots as a work animal, transport animal while I am gone and in exchange they will feed him, care for him (board him) and treat him well (not neglectful).

Still on the table is selling some loot.  I want to see what I can get before I pull the trigger.  At a min I would like 1 week in cash for each hireling before we leave town.

I took a few liberties with crowd reaction here.  It was just for flavor of story telling.  I hope I didnt cross any lines.  I also took some liberties in time.  Technically I should have rested for a long time after casting the first illusion but in the grand scheme I assumed it would all work out the same anyway.

Finn will cast another illusion.  He will maintain it for a few minutes as he tells his story of a clever heist.  He will change the illusion to make it fit whatever the central point is at that moment, to help illustrate the level of difficulty and how clever he was at overcoming tough odds.

If the locals make a fuss about Finn being a dirty scoundrel thief he will say that yes, he steals.  But he is upfront about it.  And he steals only from bad people.  Evil people.  Crooks.  Etc.  He doeant steal from good hard working people and he doesnt steal from working associates.  He would ask the the locals to ponder his actions.  He was honorable inside Perdition.  True, Finn did loot the tower but he considers that spoils of war.  If Haj Umr had not been planning to attack Finns people Finn wouldn't be here.

This message was last edited by the player at 19:00, Mon 27 Apr 2020.

Over the next few days, Finn tells his tale many times, sometimes to the individual farmers out in the fields, sometimes to a gathering of men around a fire.  Though he is no expert in the Muslim culture, Finn finds out quickly that trying to spin his tale in a group of women (or even trying to talk to the women while the men are gone) is a rather sticky prospect.  Though it isn't his own style, it seems that modesty, or at least the outward appearance of modesty, is of vital importance to the village.  Finn quickly adapts his attempts in the interests of trying to hire the best hands at the least cost.

It's a simple plan really.  Finn wants whatever treasure is in the library...  Though Munt has already expressed his interest, Finn has the sneaking suspicion that he'll need a little more help than just the patchwork man to really get what he is after.  So he tells his story, weaving it in a way that spends the most time describing Finn's cunning, his initiative, and most importantly, his success.  The plan works much better than even Finn had envisioned.  He had been skeptical of finding real help -- after all, the village had just lost somewhere just shy of half of their men on the expedition to Perdition which was in large part their skilled farmers.  It seems that the loss of Haj-Umr had made it's own shakeup of the village.  Especially those who had been employed in the tower previously seemed eager to escape their newfound duties of farming and cultivating.

Finn eventually had three men picked out who seemed to fit his purposes.  Omar was a former soldier and gamekeeper for Haj-Umr...  A quiet man, fit and quick he was skilled with a sword and a bow and seemed more than capable to hold his own in just about every environment.  It didn't hurt that Omar already had his own suit of chain armor that he had kept from his time protecting the tower.  Labid (there were a lot more names after that... Finn had become quickly confused and had settled on calling the youth by just the first one) was a young man, perhaps only fifteen and he was still growing into his body, though he seemed agile and strong enough to hold his own.  It seemed Labid was a sort of outsider to the village, an orphan of some noble blood that had been sent to Haj-Umr for a better upbringing, though he had quickly been swept into the masses of the tower.  Most importantly to Finn, Labid had spent a good amount of time assisting Khaldun and had learned extensive game and rope traps, not to mention swordplay and fighting.  His last hire was Bashar...  Though the man was not as skilled as the other two, and was mostly a farmer by trade, he had been Haj-Umr's messenger to the surrounding villages and cities.  Few of the villagers knew much of the surrounding areas, though Bashar had traveled much more widely.

"So when do we leave?"  Labid interjected in Arabic as Finn brought the three together with Munt and himself.  "I figure as soon as we can get going the better, there's nothing much here that's keeping us back and we may as well get some of this treasure Finn's been talking about.  I mean, shit I bet there's all sorts of gold.  Plenty to go around."

OOC:  Nice work on the recruiting roll.  No issues with taking liberties in your story, though it would have less effect on the room full of the elders than it would have had on some of the normal populace, so I went ahead and fast forwarded you a couple of days.  It seems that people are pretty receptive to your tale and the idea of finding more loot/adventure.  Though al-Hassan has had it's share of misfortunes, there are enough people that aren't interested in doing the hard work of rebuilding the village that you've managed to fairly easily find the three you are looking for.  You had mentioned you wanted a sort of contract before leaving, so if you want to get one set up, this would be the time to do it.  You also managed to find someone that seems trustworthy to look after Boots and they are happy to use him as a plow horse in exchange for feeding and caring for the animal.

In the first days after leaving Perdition Finn found himself in a foul mood.  The loss of his backpack was most painful.  While his companions could not understand his feelings since the loss was merely physical possessions it was the rarity of the find that pained him so deeply.  That too was accompanied by the acrid taste in his mouth over the fact that little of the black prison cells were opened, which after dealing with the apprentice and the deamon was the entire point of making the dangerous trip.

But as it often happens within days of parting ways with his companions he begins to forget the pains and more remembers the joys, and so by the time he leaves the small village of al-Hassan he is missing his friends.  Most of all the often overly reflective and too cautious Magnus.  Finn even recalls Rondald fondly.

Razzel grew up on the mean streets.  His profession of choice was that of thief and con man so subtlety and deception were the name of the game.  Its no surprise then that a knife became his weapon of choice since its a bit difficult to hide a long blade down your trousers or up a sleeve.  But over the past several weeks and more so in recent days thanks to the help of Omar, his new hired bodyguard, Finn has improved with a long sword by leaps and bounds.

As the plucky entrepreneur approaches his three hirelings and hopefully new long term friends he cannot help but smile a charming sort of warm grin.  He is exactly where he wants to be.  Going on another adventure, his recent growth giving him a solid floor of stability under him.  ”Soon as we can all gather our stuff I 'magine.”


OOC:
Ok, I think I am ready to go.  We worked out most of the issues behind the scenes.   I was waiting on you to spend my CPS but maybe you've been waiting on me to post before you dedicate time here.  Anyway, lets move on.  With the admin out of the way I should be able to handle a few posts per week.  But I understand you can only do what you can do, with your busy RL and multiple threads.

Lol.  I forgot Munt was going.

We didn't talk about this but I would need a new backpack.  I don't want to carry my gear in saddlebags.  I assume one is for sale in town?

Have Bashar estimate how long it will take walking the round trip, add 3 days for searching for site, and then multiply that result by 50%.  Everyone should bring at least that much food.

This message was last edited by the player at 18:36, Wed 27 May 2020.

"Hmm."  Bashar murmurs as Finn asks for a calculation of the time it will take them to get there.  "Hard to know for sure, but I would say it would be about five days to get for a suitable path Southward, then maybe another three to get where we are looking for?  Five maybe if we have to go all the way to the caravan road.  So I guess ten days tops to get there."

Finn does some quick math in his head and estimates that everyone will need about twenty days worth of food.

"How are we supposed to get that when you haven't paid us yet?"  Omar quirks an eyebrow at Finn.  "We'll all get what we can, but it's probably too early in the season to try and get a surplus anyway, the harvest isn't for another few months...  We're just starting to get the apricots and zucchini.  Maybe I can pull down an antelope before we go...  Take a while to dehydrate though."  Omar muses.

"Antelope would be good."  Labid adds.  "I think strawberries might just be coming up too."

"It's spring."  Munt shrugs.  "There will be plenty along the way."

OOC:  Ok, admin stuff.  Good thought on the food, but you are leaving from a village, where there isn't a huge surplus of grain that you can draw off of, nor is there a stockpile of dried meat.  Also, it sounds like your hirelings might not be able to get all the food you think is pertinent.  10 days is about the farthest away Bashar thinks the place could be based on Munt's description, which by your math makes 20 days of food, or 60 rations.  Multiplied by 5 is 300.  That sort of stockpile doesn't exist here.  You have a few options: let your hirelings fend for themselves, get as much food as you can all on your own and distribute it out of their pay (or give it to them for free), or just plan on finding your own food along the way.  If you want to mix among those three, you can, or else try anything you want.

You did manage to find someone willing to sell a backpack, a 40lb. capacity bag with limited wear that the person was willing to part with for $72 after some haggling.  Let me know where you want to go from here and when you are ready (no need to roleplay buying the food.

Finn chats with the men casually while mulling over any other administrative points that need to be dealt with.  He had a friend back in Azer who was fond of saying 'the devil is in the details', whatever that means.


OOC:
The $975 on my char sheet + $820 (yes, I will sell it all) nets me $1,795.  I will pay each of the 4 a weeks pay now in good faith for a total cost of $600.  I will also buy the small pack for $72, and I will buy as much food as the village is willing to sell me.  I will provide the men with food at a cost to me but we will have to forage the rest.

Concerned about food, Finn decides to pay each of his men for a weeks worth of work.  The three of his hires accept the money gladly, though Munt looks confused, and declines the offer.

"I've never found much use for it."  Munt explains as Finn's complete confusion spreads across his face like a disease.  "Master has given me some before.  It just takes up space."

Finn spends the afternoon selling some of his last remaining items from the journey, a handful of gems which net him a tidy sum, and trying to find a supplier of food that will travel well enough to stay in his pack for a week.  Finn does eventually find a villager who parts with a stash of dry beans and root vegetables, enough that Finn estimates it will work for him for about a week.  Added to his other food though, he was well on his way to being able to eat for the entire journey.

Finn also manages to find an old worn backpack to replace his that had been burned in Perdition.  Though the price was higher than Finn would normally want to pay, it was serviceable, and given that Munt hadn't wanted any compensation for coming, he had a little more money than he had been counting on.

Of course, it seemed that not everyone had managed the same luck as Finn.  It seemed debatable that Omar had looked for food at all, and Labid and Bashar had only managed a small stock - likely not enough to hold off the rest of the group for a full day.  For his part, Munt did not come with any supplies.  He simply shambled toward them, his back malformed so that he nearly scraped his knuckles as he lumbered, carrying nothing but the stitched up rags that covered his body.

Though he wasn't happy with the situation, Finn decides that staying longer will not help their case, and after all, there was certainly the chance of finding food along their way.

The beginning of the journey starts simple enough.  Everyone is familiar enough with the area to know they are heading Westward, keeping the mountains far enough to their left side to keep the terrain manageable.  Omar travels at the front with Labid walking at his side, the younger man jabbering on at every opportunity, though Omar remains fairly quiet, at times answering with only a word and at others going long stretches without saying even that.

Finn is far enough back that it is difficult to make out the particulars of the conversation, though in a moment of introspection, the dynamic strikes him as somewhat similar to his own trip back from Perdition, where he was doing the talking for everyone... and everyone else seemed happy enough to just keep the silence.

Munt walks alongside Finn, and though the rambling hunchback seems ungainly, he walks with a surprising quietness to his step, his movements quick and fluid despite their awkward appearance.  "You know."  Munt offers to Finn after an hour of walking together.  "This is only the second time I've left any farther than the village.  And the only time where I didn't have a master to serve.  I wonder what wonders this new day will bring?"

Though Finn had hired Bashar as their guide, the man was the slowest out of the five, often falling back behind Finn and Munt so that when the group took breaks, half of them were dedicated just to the slower man catching up.  Though as for navigation, it made little difference, at least this early, for it seemed that all of them knew, at least in general, where they were moving.

After having broken for lunch, waiting out the hottest moments of the day under the shade of a handful of boulders, the group sets out again across the hilly plains, braving the slowly ebbing heat of the afternoon.

As he begins to approach the crest of a hill, Finn watches Omar stop suddenly ahead.  Labid too slows, though he does not seem to have the same urgency to his action, and keep on talking in Arabic at his normal pace.

"So anyway, I'm glad that things have settled out, I'm not sure I ever would have gotten the upbringing my family wanted in the tower, the Amir never gave me much attention, and Khaldun was good and all, but he had all sorts of other stuff he was expected to do.  This gives me the opportunity to spread my wings, you know?  Learn some stuff, get a few good stories.  I've got to get out of the small town and back into the cities, but I've got to learn enough here that I don't just get taken advantage of as soon as I get back..."

Labid seems he is going to go on, though he is cut off by a single word from Omar.  "Quiet."

Sensing something amiss, Finn hurries his footsteps over the rise and is soon standing next to his other two men, looking on the wash below.

"I think I solved our food problem."  Omar says, pointing down the hill.  It takes Finn a moment to see them, though when he does he quickly recognizes Omar's point.  Two massive birds are wandering idly in the wash, churning up earth and roots with their feet before picking at the mess with their needle-thin beaks.  Though the two things have wings, they seem small and ineffectual - not nearly the size they would need to be to carry such a massive creature up into the air.  "Striders."  Omar offers simply, a smile playing on his face.

OOC:  it is 1400 on the 26th of May.  The birds look like 10 foot tall ostriches, and they are maybe a quarter mile away.  They don't seem to have noticed you yet.  You can roll vs. Naturalist-3 or Area Knowledge (Al-Wazif)-3 to get any additional information about the birds, though they are rare in this area and there is no default to IQ.


Striders

Back at the village as Razzel digs deep to hand out four parcels of a weeks wage well in advance of the work done he runs into a surprising and quite unexpected event.  Munt refuses pay.  Finn initially smiles waiting for the punchline as he cant believe his ears.  But when no 'gotcha' moment occurs Finn takes the oddity in stride, but also making sure to say aloud for the record, ”Suit y'rself friend.  Well do it yer way, no pay.”  It isn't until later when Munt shows up on the edge of town, with quite literally nothing to bring for the likely two weeks journey that Finn is almost stunned into confusion.

As the men walk along Finn is rather pleased with himself.  His first and second official jobs with the Row, stealing Behar and then escorting him across land and water were a smashing success.  His next two jobs, destroying the daemon seduced necromancer, apprentice and their plans, were equally definitively successful.  Now the plucky mage-thief feels as though his work has as it should be taken a more self directed route.  He is a loner so to speak.  No overlording boss.  No company agenda to serve.  No equal part co-workers to bicker and argue protocols with.  His success or failure is entirely up to him, based entirely on the directions he chooses.  Finn is as happy as a pig rolling in warm shit.

But something pulls him from his happy place.  As they walk Munt mumbles something about this being only the second time he's ever been away from the village and that he's never before not had a master to serve.  Razzel stops in his tracks, again almost literally stunned.  Was this patchwork man having a laugh at Finn's expense?  The entrepreneur waits a few moments until he's sure the answer is no then he scuttles to catch up to Munt.  Razzel's crafty calculating mind whirs at the statement. Was Munt saying he is in search of a new master? If this monster of a man proves himself in a fight he would be a diamond in the rough. Imagine the partnership!  Finn mage and thief extraordinaire, Munt brutal unpaid loyal bodyguard.  It's a match made in heaven!

Finn isn't sure how long he walks just uttering simple phrases constructed with no thought to keep the conversation going.  He is temporarily lost in fantasies of exploring ruins without sharing the spoils when suddenly the discovery of the striders abruptly yanks him free.  Clearing his mind he concocts a brilliant plan immediately.

Finn's eyes hungrily search the vicinity for a suitable spot to drop his pack as he begins unbuckling his weapon belt.  As the pack falls Razzel quips sarcastically but jovially,  "Don't burn this up now".

"I'm'a make like a tiger..." he begins casually.  But when the groups confusion seems apparent he explains with some measure of detail.     " 'Member my stories?  I'm a wizard.  A warlock.  A sorcerer.  I got a few tricks ta bend nature the way I want it.  Anyways, I'm'a turn into'a tiger an' creep up on them birds.  When I jump 'em, if they run they likely gonna run up that way.  So be round there.”  Finn points.  ”But make sure you got one eyeball on me in case I need a hand".


OOC:
For dramatic effect Finn will remove all gear that would fall off anyway when he cast his spell.  Again for dramatic effect he will leave on gear that transforms with him.  When he removes his gear he will take a moment to hide it just in case.  The goal is 30 seconds or less.  Under a bush, behind a rock.  Something simple so its not in plain sight.

For what its worth I will share my food with the others.  In other words we all eat until the food runs out and then we all starve together.  Hopefully the striders will solve our food problems.

With Bashar falling behind does it seem that he isnt fit, or does it seem to be an issue of laziness?

The plan is pretty simple.  Finn will explain it and take time to make sure everyone understands, answering questions if needed.  He will offer his bow to anyone who wants it but not his Fine weapons.  He will cast his spell turning himself into a tiger.  In tiger form Finn will trot off to hopefully spring a trap.  Finn will attempt to approach from a position that is not downwind, ie, they cant easily smell him.  When he gets within about 50 yards begin using stealth.  When I get within striking distance pounce on one of the big birds.  I am expecting 1 of 2 outcomes.  1, I miss and the birds flee.  My men are to be waiting at a point where I would expect the birds to flee to.  The idea is that I drive the birds into the waiting weapons of my men.  Or 2, I grapple one of the birds.  In this case the men should use their best judgment as to whether to chase the other bird or come to aid me.  They can all work as one unit or split up.  Since Omar is the fighter he is my field lieutenant and therefore in charge when I am gone.

Always the over plucky enthusiast, Finn immediately begins to generate a plan to take one of the striders down.  Using a finger, Finn tests the wind, and though it seems they are mostly downwind of the animals as the breeze cuts across the mountainside, he surmises that it is going a little downhill as well.

With all the bells and whistles of a campfire saga, Finn explains the details of his plan.  He will take the form of a tiger and approach the striders from the bottom of the wash.  The other four will approach the striders from above in the wash, though not too closely.  Their main goal is to cut off any avenue of escape.  Meanwhile, Finn will attack one of the birds from behind, trying to either grapple it and fix it in place, or scare it in the direction of the others.

Once Finn is confident that the others know the plan, he hands his bow to Labid, who takes it with relish along with Finn's quiver full of arrows.  He removes his weapons and gear, placing them under a nearby small bush.  He talks briefly with Omar about the best place for them to wait before he finally casts his magic.

Using a complicated set of hand gestures and a word or two of power, Finn feels his body transform.  His legs coil and thicken as his jaw expands.  His teeth grow like lances in his mouth as his fingers shrink and his nails are ripped from their beds and move to the gaps of his pads, growing and morphing into wicked, retractable claws.

Finn would not describe the process as pleasant, in fact it was extremely uncomfortable, but if there was something to say for it at least it was over in only a moment, his human body replaced with the powerful form of a jungle cat.

It had been some time since Finn had needed to become a tiger.  His eyes winced in the midday sun, trying to shield his night-loving form from the glare.  His nose seemed to shrivel at once in the dry Wazifi air losing every bit of its moisture, bringing a cracked discomfort to Finn's face.  Still, everything was well enough to be getting on with and with an attempt at a smile (that did not seem to be accepted as such based on the look of surprise and fear on Bashar's face) Finn loped off on the backside of the hill towards the base of the wash.

Though Finn was no doubt a confident man, he was practical enough not to be foolish with his actions.  He knew that he had to wait for his team to be in place before he attacked, not to mention that it would take longer for them on their human legs to get in place.  Finn also recognized that patience and stealth was his best way to bring down one of the animals.  If his first attack missed, he had likely lost his only chance, and would be dependent on the others to take it down with a few lucky arrows.  As such, Finn went farther down the wash than he thought he needed to, and his movement back up was slow, using the full of the cover available as he sorted through the foreign smells and sounds that his new body afforded him.

One thing was clear.  These were not like any birds that Finn had seen before.  As he crept ever closer, Finn realized he had not underestimated their size from a distance.  The two were easily ten feet tall, with legs and neck like the tree trunks of a juvenile oak.  Their body too, was thick, and even in his tiger form, Finn was sure the things outweighed him.  Waiting for the two to be facing the other direction, Finn slinked to the cover of a nearby rock, lurching his body forward to get the shortest avenue of attack available.

He waited.  Finn waited until the moment was perfect, with the nearest of the birds bent over, his beak searching through the dug up earth.

Finn surges forward, his supercharged body springing on his dinner plate sized pads.  The farther strider recognizes the attack in a moment and bolts, his massive legs carrying him away at nearly the speed that Finn is approaching, but the nearer one, the one Finn had been after, tarries just long enough.

Finn collides with the massive bird, his tiger form hurled five feet in the air, all four pads with claws out, digging into the flesh of the great bird.  Finn had been hoping to knock the thing over, but he is surprised by the thing's mass.  As his own body drops back to the ground on all four paws, the strider merely pedals backwards a step to regain his balance as his head swings upwards and turns to look at Tiger-Finn.

OOC:  I think I got your plans right with a pounce as the first attack.  Your stealth roll was good enough to get as close as you could ask for and while you hit, the damage wasn't overwhelming enough for an automatic knockdown.  The strider did manage to keep his feet, and you managed to keep yours as well.  You are one hex away from the strider who is now in a normal standing position.  Let's do one round of combat.

Finn:

With Bashar falling behind does it seem that he isnt fit, or does it seem to be an issue of laziness?

No, it just seems like he's the slowest out of everybody by a decent bit.  He's not whining or moping about the pace, he just isn't able to keep up.

Its been some time since Finn has been in tiger form.  The sensations are wonderful!  Too bad humans cant smell, see and hear like this.  But then again who wants to smell a chamber pot from a mile away as if you're standing next to it.

As Finn trots off towards his prey he recalls an amusing story.  His teacher in the animal arts, a rural hedge wizard named Muldune taught him the spell and then accompanied him into the wild to make certain Razzel had the hang of it.  Muldune, a tall thin rough looking but handsome man was more than fifteen minutes late to the rendezvous spot.  When he changed back into human form his hair was disheveled and his face and hands red with scratches and light cuts.  ”Don't...”, was all he offered when he eyed Finn staring at him with curiosity.  But when the students questioning looks wouldn't subside Muldune responded gruffly and unhappily.  ”I forgot.  Its mating season.”

Finn would have preferred he were standing over his quarry but he'll take what he can get.  Not wanting to waste an opportunity he feints left slightly then ducks right to go in for a vicious bite.

OOC:
Yup, you got it right, thanks boss.  And good to know about Bashar.

In a solid position despite the fact that he had not been able to knock the thing off its feet, Finn dives forward in his tiger form.  His teeth fully bared, he snaps at the bird's leg, the only real target available without stretching himself up on his hind paws and exposing his underbelly.

Though his attack is well executed, the strider seems to know it is coming, and the thing darts off madly on its massive legs up the stretch of the wash, directly towards the others.  Finn dashes off in chase, initially closing the gap though it quickly becomes apparent that the strider is much faster than him.

Still, Finn charges madly in pursuit, hoping that the others can add something to the case.

Twang, twang!

The twin bowshots zip out from the sides, meeting in the middle at the form of the strider as it surges onward up the draw.  The bird crows out in surprise and pain, though it quickly redirects its motion and changes its path upwards on the hill.

Finn sees Munt stagger out from behind a shrub as well, though the beast seems too far away for the hunchback to spring his attack.

Finn follows the bird, the smell of blood saturating the roof of his mouth and causing him to salivate profusely...

OOC:  Ok, the bird is faster than you and managed to escape your trap, though it has been injured.  That being said, plenty of prey are faster than the predators that end up exhausting them and taking them out.  What is your plan from here?  Do you want to keep tracking it?

Finn creeps in for the kill using his predatory skills as a giant feline.  When he is close enough he jumps!  His body thuds into the big bird but thankfully due to his heightened grace he lands on all fours.  Instantly and sensing the bird is facing partially away Finn the jungle beast gnashes out with razor sharp and powerful teeth the size of daggers.  But the damn bird is too quick and it runs off.

Some would be disheartened in this situation but Finn isn't flustered.  This is part of the game of hunter and the hunted.  Finn bursts into a run knowing the trap has been sprung.  Will the spring loaded wire catch the rat?  Only time will tell.  Seconds later he can hear the twin twang of bowshots and the plucky mage-thief giggles internally with delight as he hears the bird cry out in pain and he smells blood in the air.

As it races off he knows this too is part of the game.  Following the wounded prey until it can run no more or corners itself.  Razzel, not wanting to burn himself out, bounds off at a lope after his prey.


OOC:
Could I tell if the bird was hit by 1 or both arrows?

Dont sprint.  Follow at a lope.  Do my best to track it using the scent of the blood.

Finn lopes gracefully after the bird, his paws flitting between the dry summer grasses as he easily follows the the massive bird whose massive fingers and claws leave gouge marks on the earth as it runs.

Finn has hunted before, though it has not been often that he has done so in the form of an animal.  He is always surprised each time by the amount of patience a hunt requires, by the investment of time that goes into the process.

Minute after minute slinks by, Finn still following the trail of blood and churned earth.  Bit by bit, the smell of blood fades, the patters of bright red growing less and less, though the flavor still remains at the top of Finn's palate.  The dry air sucks the moisture from Finn's soft nose as he remarks again to himself that this is not a conducive place for tigers.

Still, slowly but surely, Finn managed to catch up to the bird.  Once or twice he spooks the thing, setting it off into another jog, though as the minutes ebb by, and he is nearly set to give up the chase, Finn tops over a rise and finds the bird some hundred yards off, digging at the earth again.

OOC:  This post encompasses to 20 minutes of loping behind the strider and you have well outpaced the others.  You are left with 35 minutes or so in your tiger form without renewing the spell.  You can sneak up on or charge straight at the bird, or take another tack if you wish.  If you opt to sneak up, make a roll vs. Stealth.  This will be a contest of skills with the bird's perception, with you at the disadvantage since the bird already knows you are around.  You may improve your score by increasing the time you are taking sneaking up on the bird.  Normally under stealth it would take you about 2 minutes to get there.  Every factor of 2 you increase the time gives you a plus one modifier (so taking 4 minutes would be +1, 8 minutes +2, 16 minutes +3, etc.).  If you opt for this modifier, please include it in your roll.  You are still at full move and dodge, but only need to lose 2 more fatigue to go to half move and dodge.

Finn Razzel is a man ahead of his time.  Everyone says it.  Finn doesn't really know anyone who says it, except himself of course, but he is sure people are saying it when they talk about him.  In a different world in a different time Finn would probably be an actuarial at a large insurance firm.  His job would be to take a pile of seemingly unrelated data and with it calculate the odds of certain outcomes.  Because Finn does this constantly in his own life.  Most who only know Finn casually think he is a gambler, likely because he wins so often.  But nothing is farther from the truth.  Razzel does not bet on purely random events.

Finn the tiger lopes along easily following the turned up terrain from the large birds enormous feet.  While its size was a definite disadvantage in attacking it its size proves making it exceptionally easy to track.  That and its wound.

Cresting over the top of a low hill Finn spots his prey once again.  Immediately his mind begins whirring, calculating the odds.  If he fails this time he might have one more solid chance and that solely depends on how much time it takes to sneak up on the bird here.  His men wont be of help unless he waits for them, and if they've lost the trail they might not show up until well after his spell has ended.  No, if Finn wants to solve their food problem its now.  He must act and alone.

The great hunting feline with the brilliant mind crouches low so not to be seen.  He spies the thing anxiously poking its head and looking around occasionally.  Finn knows that it knows he is out there, somewhere.  He must be cautious if he wants to trap this rat.  Moving quietly, and with a patience he is not known for, he moves in.


OOC:
Sneak up on the bird.  When I get in range opt for a Run & Attack (Wild Swing).  Attempt to bite.

Finn takes far longer stalking the bird than he thinks he needs.  After all, he's not the greatest treasure hunter of all time for nothing.  Still, an abundance of caution was not a bad idea, especially given the fact that the bird ran so much faster than Finn did when it put its mind to it.  Arcing far wider, approaching from an angle that seemed most advantageous... Finn stalks as close as he can before charging at the bird.

It is perhaps not quite as successful as he wished.

Finn dives at the bird, who notices him at the last moment and charges away, leaving Finn's teeth near a half a foot short of the thick, giraffe-like legs.  Finn redirects his massive body as he dashes forward madly.  He does not slow his charge even slightly, his breathing coming now in mad pants as his tongue lolls out off the edge of his front teeth.  For the moment, Finn seems fast enough to manage keeping up...

OOC:  You managed to get close enough on the stealth contest to get an attack in, though you alerted the bird and he was moving as you got there.  You are both now moving at speed, you are behind the bird and can manage one more attack (at speed - either a wild swing or a slam/pounce) before he starts to outpace you with his much longer legs.

Finn is beginning to get irritated.  Twice now he has failed to take down this giant bird.  Sure, this thing was ten feet tall and out weighed him but he was a tiger!  The greatest of all feline predators.  As Finns cat legs begin to churn and grind into the chase he wondered almost absent mindedly.  Did the teacher who sold him this spell give him a defective version?  Does the wording and finger movements of this incantation produce a sickly tiger?

Pushing such trivial garbage from his mind he again focuses on the hunt.  He must time it right.  When he sees the leg come back close enough for him to grab onto Razzel lurches out with all his might.


OOC:
Lets try a Wild Swing to try to grab onto it and make it trip.

His paws surging underneath his body, Finn reaches with his razor-sharp teeth, snapping at a leg just as it is stretched backwards in the bird's long stride.

However, it is simply not to be.  Finn's jaws clamp just shy of the leg, and within another moment the thing is gone again, sprinting out of reach along the slopes of the steep hillside.

OOC:  Rough luck.  I see why you did success points in your game rather than single issuances of the luck advantage.  The bird sprints well beyond your reach and will keep sprinting until he's a few hundred yards ahead.  You have the same options as before, you can try and sprint to keep up, keep up at a lope or a walk, or just give up.  If you go at a run, you'll need to roll against HT every 10 seconds, If you go at a lope, you'll need to make an HT roll for every minute (against Tiger HT).  Remember that you are just 2 FP from being half move and dodge.  If you want to go after the bird at anything other than a sprint, roll vs. tracking (your skill) and let me know what your general plan is.  I probably won't know how many HT rolls are needed until I do some significant math, though last time it was on the order of 18.

Finn feels exhilarated by the new fresh sensations of his cat body.  Everything feels different, it all smells different.  His muscles are so powerful and at the same time loose.  Oh to have this power all day every day in his own body.  Now that would be powerful magic!

He knows what he must do and how he will do it.  He can see his mouth reaching out and grabbing hold of the leg.  He tenses and exerts himself to his maximum.  But it is not to be.  The quicker bird simply snatches itself from his trap and using its superior legs sprints far enough away to escape his deadly jaws.

Razzel's padded feet slow to a walk and then he stops, staring at the huge avian meat covered body get smaller and smaller in the distance.  How many meals would that thing have been?  But before Finn can dive into self pity he redirects, as he so often does.  Damn bird was prob'ly all grissle an' fat anyways.  He thinks to himself.


OOC:
Lol.  I remember when Rylock fell into the river while the evil band of thieves was escorting him to the ransom point.  I had to succeed in a Swimming roll.  Each failure meant the loss of 1 FP.  If I couldn't succeed before I reached 0 I would pass out and die from drowning.  I didn't have any HPs.  I made it just barely with 1 FP left.  My aim at having success points instead of hero points was two fold.  As you pointed out one was to avoid the frustration of rolling a bunch of times and still failing.  But the other was that my success points were earned and couldn't be purchased.  I wanted to reward players for hard work at writing and RP.

Ya, I give up, lol.  If I could somehow find the bird again likely I'd be fighting below 1/3 FP and I've learned the hard way that's bad news.  So turn around and jog back at a pace that doesn't burn FP.  Travel until the spell wears off and let it end naturally.  Then continue my way back to the others.  When I get there explain what happened, rest and then we'll set out again.

Finn's chapped nose huffs outward with each breath as he watches the bird speed away at an unnatural pace.  While he wants to keep up the chase, and feels confident he could pull the thing down with just a single lucky break, Finn knows well enough not to push exhaustion.  Consciously turning his frustration into cynicism, Finn begins his way back to the others at a leisurely walk.

The trek takes far longer than Finn expects.  His spell lapses after only twenty minutes, leaving Finn in the form of a man, near exhausted, weaponless, and baking in the mid-afternoon heat.  Still he pushes on.  Minutes pass, maybe an hour.  The sweat beads on Finn's face as his body aches beneath him.

He should be there by now shouldn't he? For the briefest of moments, Finn doubts his own path as the sun begins to plummet down towards the horizon.  He did not want to be alone by himself at night if he could help it.

Luckily, just as Finn is thinking of resting and scouting the nearby area as a bird rather than from the ground, he sees a massive, hunchbacked form at the top of the next rise.  It does not take long to recognize the expansive lump as Munt, and before long, Finn is back with his group.

Finn rests as he relays his tale, Omar seems somewhat glum about the outcome, though he pushes it aside with a shrug.  "Could have been worse.  Nobody got hurt.  Would have been a hell of a job trying to find the thing and flay it once it got out of our noose too.  Sounds like you chased it a few miles at least."

Though Finn had been eager to get a move on, by the time he was rested enough to go the sun was already on a collision course with the horizon.  "Maybe we should just wait until tomorrow morning?"  Labid offers, handing Finn's bow back to him.  "I bet we don't have more than an hour before things start getting dark.  And we already found a decent bit of shelter here while we've been resting."

OOC:  I thought about fast forwarding a few days (and I've done the food accounting through 28 May, even though this is still the 26th) but then I remembered that you had wanted to bring up some questions to Munt.  Feel free to move yourself forward if you wish, make camp here or keep walking, Munt won't normally initiate conversations about himself, but he'll respond if you ask him questions.

Once reunited and able to speak Razzel pats Omar on the shoulder, glad the man is taking the lighter side of things.  ”Exactly.  No'body was hurt an' we lost nothin'.  We'll just keep 'er eyes peeled an' somethin' 'ill turnip.”

It takes the others no effort at all to convince the wily mage-thief that the most prudent decision is to bed down for the night rather than give up their solid shelter when night is so near.  While the men ready themselves for slumber and the watch in their own way Finn gets close to Munt, deciding that this is as good a time as any to flex his curiosity.

Finn looks the man up and down appraisingly but careful not to judge.  Some shut down when they feel they are being criticized and in truth Finn is merely curious.  ”Munt.  You didn't bring nothin.  No food, no bed.  No flint...'er rope 'er ax.  What gives?  You take a vow 'a poverty 'er somethin' ?”


OOC:
Ok, sounds good.  We'll stop here for a brief RP convo with Munt.  You did say recently that he's just weird and not to expect a lot out of it so we can touch on the idea that Finn is curious but I don't think we need a bunch of back and forth.

Regarding the food situation Finn would want to solve it before it grows out of hand, but at the same time he isn't worried about it because through his massive talents things seem to have a way of working themselves out.  Overall since we're not on any kind of schedule and these guys are more or less hirelings Finn doesn't feel rushed.  Ie, I dont have a boss to answer to.  And the last thing we want to worry about in the middle of a ruins exploration, is food.  So my plan is to find days worth of food before we get to where we're going.  The overall plan is this.  Each morning when we are ready to break camp Finn will turn into a falcon.  Again, after explaining in detail what is about to happen since he cant speak while in animal form.  I don't want the men guessing or shooting me while in animal form.  Finn will fly up high to get a birds eye view of the surrounding land, and if necessary fly in a circle with the group as the center.  If Finn sees nothing he will land, change back into a man, rest and we'll begin marching onwards.  If Finn sees something he will fly down and land on Omars arm.  Finn will do his best to communicate the direction.  The men are to ask about distance like this.  “Less than a mile?”.  Finn will nod his tiny bird head, or shake it side to side.  This isn't perfect but it should give the men a rough idea of how far our prey is.  I will stay in bird form so that I can fly up, get a view, and redirect the men to a new course if necessary.  We will do this 2x daily until we find food.  Once when we break camp and once at around 4 pm so there is plenty of light left should we find something.

The three set up for the night, still somewhat disappointed in the loss of the striders, though upbeat about their potential for future hunts.  As the afternoon withers away into evening, Finn takes a moment to ask Munt about his suspicious lack of any worldly goods.

In response, Munt's face seems more confused than anything else.  He quirks an eyebrow at Finn's suggestion that he has taken a vow of poverty, though eventually he shakes his head.

"Should I have an axe?"  He asks Finn.  "I've no need for a bed, so it doesn't seem worth it to carry one with me.  The ground is just as good if I need to lay down.  As for food, I will eat what nature provides.  There is always food."

Finn tries to drive the point further, though Munt merely shakes his head.  "Perhaps you carry too much instead.  You may have a bed, a tent, and fire, but I see little point in those things."

The last comment makes Finn somewhat more agitated, sputtering at the fact that without fire, they wouldn't be able to cook or smoke any of the game they eventually bring down.  Again, Munt shrugs as if this possibility isn't worth considering.

Finn sets the watch order for the night.  Munt offers to take the whole watch, though Finn throws the suggestion to the side, insisting that the work be split evenly.  To his great surprise however, Munt ends up staying up the whole night anyway, silently sitting with each of the men as they stand their turn, or else conversing in his soothing baritone.

Finn takes the opportunity during his watch to ask Munt more questions.  What he finds disturbs him slightly...  Munt doesn't sleep, he finds that cooking raw meat is mostly a waste of time (though he does not complain of it), and he does seem to be able to eat literally anything.  He seems to make a point of it by grabbing a handful of the high plains grasses, chewing on them, stalk and all as a sort of midnight snack.

The next day passes mostly uneventfully.  Finn comes up with an elaborate plan, whereby he as a falcon would go out and scout for game, come back to Omar and go through an elaborate series of questions to determine where the game lies.

Omar laughs at the suggestion, then offers that they simply hunt like normal falconry.  He goes on to explain how a trained falcon acts in a hunt, and Finn has to agree that the process will likely save time and effort for both of them.

The first attempt is massively successful, Finn finds a herd of antelope and Omar approaches them from a flank, close enough to spear one of the larger animals through the chest with an arrow before the whole of the herd is spooked.  The shot is as good as it gets, driving the shaft clean into the animals ribs, knocking it to the ground.  Though the beast attempt to get back up and run, it does not make it far before collapsing again and bleeding to death without much farther effort from either of the two.  While Omar treats the kill, Finn waits for the spell to expire and the two man both carry back the prize to the applause of the others.

The next two days seem to drag on.  Omar and Finn attempt to reenact their first successful result, though the sticking point always seems to be Omar getting close enough to the game without spooking it.  Finn eventually submits to Munt standing the night watch by himself, after admitting that keeping two people awake was a waste of resources.

As the morning of the fourth day dawns, Finn wakes to find the mountains receding to the south and an odd image of solitary spires far off to the west.

"This is close to the edge of the mountains, where the caravan route approaches from the Southeast."  Bashar offers.  "It sounds like you were thinking that our goal was near here?"  Bashar asks.  "How are we going to find it again?"

OOC:  It is 0700 on 29 May.  You managed to get a significant amount of food from the antelope, enough for over a day's worth of eating for all of you.  Food is still dwindling.  You can notice the food you have left, there are also 17 rations left in the group horde.  Munt is no longer eating out of the group stock, but instead has been pulling up grass and roots whenever there is a break, which seems to keep him happy.  From Munt's discussion, you should head south from here, though there isn't a whole lot of clarity as to how far.


A much closer view of what the spires to the east may look like

Munt was truly an oddity with no peer, such as the duck billed platypus or the great salt lake of Deneb where people can crawl on the waters surface.  The man is a picture of physical deformity but even more odd is his mind.  He is not only happy with his choice of no currency, no bed and no food but he seems proud of the lifestyle he's chosen.  Finn inquires deeper and deeper into the mystery expecting to eventually find some crack in the armor where he can point out Munts misguided plan and how it will someday backfire.  But there comes no such crack.  Finally Razzel quietly moves beyond and turns the conversation to another topic, deciding in the end that some mysteries just dont have a solution.

Over a few days time Finn and Omar embark on a simple yet complex plan to provide food.  Their immediate success of course gives a boost of already inflated confidence to Finn who naturally expects to be rewarded in like kind daily.  And as usual his disappointment is roughly muted as he instead sets his mind about to alternatives.

“How are we going to find it again?”, Bashar inquires.  Finn turns to him and scrunches his nose and mouth in thought while sighing deeply.  He cocks his head to one side while putting his brilliant mind to work.  ”Say Munt.  That poem you tol't 'bout.  Say it again.  The one from Haj Umr's books.”

Munt speaks again the simple lines.

"In a cave
On an island
On a lake
Where the phantoms drift.
On a mountain
In the forest
At the edge
Where the ancients keep."


OOC:
Slight edit to the plan with Omar.  We will continue with me as a falcon as stated previously.   However Omar will bring along my bow & arrows and weapon belt.  If we spot something worth hunting I will turn back into a man.  Omar and I will use Stealth to sneak up on the prey from opposing sides using the natural terrain and winds to our best advantage.  Ie, we dont have to be exactly 180 degrees apart if the landscape suggests 130 degrees is better.  When I am within 30 yards I will take aim with my bow, Aim for maximum benefit and then fire.  Assuming the animal runs from me and more or less towards Omar he is to Aim for 1 turn and then throw his spear if in range.  If not, run to try to get in range.  I will continue to fire using 1 turn to Aim for each shot after the first.

I'm kind of at a loss.  I looked back over the thread to see if there are clues as to what we should be looking for or where and I cant find much.  Sounds like we're in the relative place you mentioned awhile back, you said “It's just at the western foothills of the unnamed mountains in al-Wazif, near the 'n' in 'Pillars of Heaven.“  So we're in that general area now?

The above was a poem Munt recalled from transcribing the masters texts.

And to reboot my memory supposedly this place is called The Library of Malak Almawt?  And I don't see where anyone actually speculates what we might find there, other than magic.  I would like to ask Munt during our travels if he could speculate what he thinks might be there based on his time at the tower and time spent translating the texts.

So I guess we're looking for a forest on a mountain, and within that forest is a lake, and on that lake is an island and on the island is a cave.  Inside the cave is an intelligent vorpal sword +10 of giant slaying.  But its white.   And I wont find it til after Labor Day, so I wont be able to use it.

After Munt says the lines of the poem he nods emphatically for emphasis.

"Master had always said that fact and myth blurred almost incoherently in the history of Malak Almawt, though he was sure those few lines held the key to finding the remains of the keep.  There was little doubt in master's mind that the forests have receded drastically since that bit has been written, though the mountains have likely not changed much..."

Munt sighs.  "One of the texts that I copied was an account of the soldiers who had marched on the keep.  They described the very mountain the keep was sitting atop collapsing in on itself as the armies approached... as if the whole of the inside of the hill were hollow and the top had given way.  The soldiers went to the edge of the catastrophe and said all that was left of the keep were bits of the outer walls, sunken deep into the center of a massive crater..."

Munt pauses, grabbing a fist-full of the high grass which he begins to grind between his back teeth.

"Master was sure that what Almawt had done was not a spell of self-destruction, but one of self preservation.  That he had taken the whole of his keep, along with his library into the mountain..."  He pauses for a moment.  "I do not know about that, though I can say that the site should be fairly apparent when we find it."

OOC:  There is a bit more back story for you.  I'm sort of out of the rhythm of posting, and I don't feel like I did much justice to Munt's character here, though I imagine you will forgive me.  I'll keep rolling for your hunting attempts, and fast forwarding through them, rather than playing them out like the strider interactions.

For finding the 'library' you have a few options.  You can immediately head up into the mountains and start hiking the ridges as you go south and back east, or you can keep to the foothills, and try and recognize the mountain from the areas where travel will be easier.  Or you can try any other method you can think of.  I just need a way to try and figure out how to modify your perception rolls and the speed of your travels.  If you have a better method, feel free to describe it and I'll modify the rolls as makes sense to me.

Finn listens to Munt ramble on, hanging on the mans every word for some kind of clue as to where this magical trove might be tucked away.  He begins with 'Master had always said that fact and myth blurred almost incoherently in the history...'.  Razzel smiles in a relaxed way.  ”I think me an' 'ol Haj Umr wood'a got along famously.  I sees things the same.  The truth is nestled somewhere 'tween fact an' fiction.”

Finn pulls a piece of dried and salted meat from his belt pouch and begins chewing on the tough stringy thing while he looks out at the foothills of the mountain ahead.  He taps the meat stick against his lips several times without quite being aware of the silly behavior as he's lost deep in thought.  The vexing question haunts him, proceed to the library or delay to search for food?  This is the age old dilemma, do what is needed or do what is desired.


OOC:
No worries, that was just fine and helps.  Yes, please continue to roll for foraging.  As stated I feel as though once we find the library we'll be focused on exploring it and wont want to take breaks looking for food.  So it would be nice to score some major food before finding the library.  In fact Finn would make this a priority.

Rather than wander all over the mountainside with little to no food here is my plan.  When I change into a falcon to scout for food I will take a detour to fly over the mountain to see if I can spot any of the above mentioned clues.  A forest.  A lake.  A hill that has turned into a sinkhole.  The plan will be to forage for food as described earlier, but stay in falcon form 1 extra hour.  This extra hour in falcon form will be used to search for clues about the library.  If at any time I spot food and it is reasonable to bring the group to it then abandon the search for the library to attempt to capture some food asap.