When the companions are sttled on their spot for the night, Dreamljocht walks around the perimeter of tghe camp. Usually it would have been the first thing to do , but he had seen Jemimwith and his companion doing it already, so he takes his time.
He walks for some minutes in an ever widening spiral path around the site, before he joins his companions again, starting to make a meal for all.After the meal he sits on the spot where his gear is, to meditate for some time.

Dreamljocht rolled 10 using 1d20+6. Perception.

The rogue stares out into the wilderness as if he sees something. His eyes narrow and he drops down near the group.

"...I feel we are being watched." He whispers.

The dog stares to growl with the halfling upon his back out in the woods.

13:11, Today: Sam Cascious rolled 24 using 1d20+9.  Perception.

"Muffins is rarely wrong about this sort of thing, take heed, comrades."

Jeimimwitt readied his lance, and prepared to spur his mount to rush. This was the sort of terrain that Muffins had been bred for: the fey curr could ride low, below most branches and brambles.

"Come and speak openly as a friend, or be marked as a foe!

His eyes gazed out towards where Muffins seemed to be indicating the danger.

Out of the darkness a rises a figure who slowly but steadily walks into the flickering light of the camp fire. First impression is likely that of an orc, but closer examination reveals a more mixed origin; a half-orc. The figure is dressed in a thick winter-cloak, though loosely worn, and he holds a short spear as if it were a walking staff.

The half-orc's skin is marred by thick scarring and decorated by intricate tribal-like tattoos, and a grotesque mask is worn on a thin chain around his neck.

"I mean no harm", the figure states in common as he reveals himself, his accent harsh, reminiscent of that of an orc. "You have encountered a group of goblins I presume?", while stated as a question, the tone is more that of a statement, "Did any survive and flee?".

Dreamljocht observes the half-orc when he enters the clearing. As he tries not to act with the same prejudice he knows half-orcs encounter almost everywhere, he waits for a opinion till his words and deeds tell more about the newcomer.
"Yes, we encountered a group of goblins. Not one survived the skirmish and got a chance to flee. We had only minor wounds ourselves. Are you following their tracks?"

The half-orc nods once, then silently looks around the group for a moment. "Yes", Barae states simply, adding, "I was following them to their lair". "They are a plaque on these lands", then continuing with a sneer, "Worse, they burned my house and ate my dog."

He looks around the group once more, "A pity they all died,", he says without a shred of sorrow in his voice, "It makes locating their lair more troublesome." "Then again,", the half-orc adds with a shrug, "it does show that you are capable..."

Finally, with a mischievous grin, Barae asks the group, "Care to do these lands a favour and make these goblins scarce?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:08, Tue 18 May 2021.

Jemimwitt had been silent during the brief conversation, though he'd relaxed his grip on his lance and had faced his lance and mount away from the newcomer once parlay had begun, preferring to let the others speak for now since he was a newcomer to the group.

But the mention of eating the newcomer's dog brought obvious shock and anger to his face, and Muffins responded to Jemimwitt's sudden anger with an unpleasant snarl.

"Such hideous acts against noble beasts deserve just and swift retribution."

He caught himself after a moment. Anger was not helpful at the moment, however justified. But he certainly felt empathy towards the man.

Not to mention the destruction of your home. I'm sorry for your loss.
I am Sir Jemimwitt Haethy, Order of The Sword, at your service.
This is my loyal steed, Muffins."

He gave the best bow he could from the saddle.

Barae returns the bow with a small dip of his head. Then the half-orc looks about the rest of the group, as if to ask for their ideas on the matter.

The rogue glances at the ranger to see what her intake on what has happened is. He stands there, arms crossed as he watches the half-orc. Not sure if he trusts him, he leans against the wagon "We have a mission, one that Jemimwitt must have forgotten." The bum pushes off the wagon. Muffins. Seriously? He spits onto the ground "Take one down, two emerge." The rogue watches Barae "We have a tracker but we have a mission. I don't speak for them."

"We're on a mission for the king. Otherwise we could have followed their tracks to their lair. Then it seemed not important, not knowing what we hear now. But I question the extinction of this group of goblins is important enough for us to stray from our quest". Dreamljocht thinks a moment and adds: "But I'm sorry for your loss. As you live in these woods: can you tell us more about the dangers we can expect allong our way?"

Jemimwitt felt the need to speak up.


"I do not mean to be rude, but a distinction should be made.

What I said holds fast: the goblins are in need of swift retribution and justice for such a crime. I never said I was going to charging off.

He totally would have though if he was on his own.

Of course, he wasn't sworn to and particular oath. He'd just agreed to help these people on the road because they said they were on an importnat quest. He didn't even know what the quest was.

"The path of the honorable knight can be strange." Thought Jemimwitt as he considered briefly.

He looked over sadly at Barae and gave him a look of empathy.

"I am very sorry. Were this not an important mission, I'd happily help you seek justice immediately."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:26, Fri 21 May 2021.

The rogue doesn't seem impressed by the cavalier "I never said you were rude, I stated we have a mission. I know what was said." He watches Jem and sits down by the fire warming his hands. His eyes dart between the witch and cavalier, trying to figure them out. He places his palms to his face blowing on them and leans in further for the fire "Sit." He doesn't state that to anyone.

Time passes. Barae is invited the spend the night with the group as he probably feels safer with the group. Everyone is fed and given water. The group is place near the fire, and things seem to be relaxed. Sam waters the horses but they seem skittish. Soon everyone seems to relax. Sam sits against the wagon for a moment as everyone sleeps and then moves around the campsite.

While they are doing their camp chores, Dreamljocht offers to take second watch.

Halie’s hand unconsciously moved to the hilt of a dagger that sat on her hip as the half orc moved into the camp. He seemed harmless (in the sense that he was not there to kill them) but she didn’t just openly trust him either. The conversation was tuned out for the most part as Halie went back to keeping an eye out. Had circumstances been different, she would have welcomed all with a smile and open arms but with the mission and such, she had taken on a more serious tone. With time passing and camp being made, Halie went to help see to the horses after tending to Peto first. With that done, she found a spot near the fire to settle down.

Barae too is cautious and will stay on the periphery of the camp, making due with the hard-boiled rations he brought with him instead of completely joining the group. While staying the night with the group will improve his changes against outside threats, the group itself is an unsure element. They do not seem to exhibit the usual prejudice against his race though, and with his volunteering first watch, he can observe them a bit longer.

After his watch, he will commune with his mask, hanging the grotesque thing on a branch on a nearby tree and remind himself of the pain and torture of his apprenticeship and the meaning of his totem.

Time passes...

Sam watches the area with Barae. He is silent, watching this odd half-orc but knows he seems to be fine. He checks on the horses as well, watching Halie and then rests beneath the wagon once it is time for the next watch to begin.

More time passes...

Dream and Halie watch the area, wandering around and keeping a close watch. Nothing creeps up and it seems uneventful. Some sounds come from the woodlands but its just some squirrels in the trees. And a raccoon slowly creeps towards the fire but it is shooed off.

Even more time passes...

The cavalier wakes up and nudges the dog but realize the dog isn't there! He rushes around trying to find his companion but Muffins is nowhere to be found! The rest of the group is asleep, unaware of what has happened.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:53, Sun 23 May 2021.

Heathy took a brief look around the camp, increasingly annoyed as he did do. He blew his dog whistle as well but there was no response.

That was seriously bad.

He walked over to Dream and Halie and for once he wasnt smiling. His voice was quite serious.

"Muffins isn't in camp, and he's not responding to his whistle.

That's beyond unusual. He's about the most well trained warbeast you'll ever see.

I don't suppose you happened to see what happened on your shift? "

(OOC So, did they not wake me up or did they just fall asleep instantly after they got me up? I'm not sure how they could be asleep when my shift starts otherwise)
This message was last edited by the player at 14:09, Sun 23 May 2021.

Dreamljocht wakes from the dogwhistle and the halfling pacing around nervously. When Haethy asks him whether he had seen Muffins during his watch, he has to think a moment: "He was here, once he got up short, to take a leak I suppose, as dogs do. After, he was here again and in the same spot as before, just besides you and the fire. If he's missing, he has gone without anything visible intruding in the camp or without any hostile reaction from Muffins."

Groggly, the rogue woke up and saw the halfling looking up at the ranger and cleric. He stands up, wiping dirt from his clothing and he keeps the bum thing going. The rogue goes to every person still asleep and tries to awaken then. Seeing the mask with the witch asleep, he takes a deep breath and tries to wake him up as well. Sam goes back to the others and crosses his arms standing in front of the ranger. He seems to be slowly waking up but with the current confusion, something doesn't seem right "Something happened?"

"Dog disappeared," Halie stated as she stretched, following by popping her back. She was clearly tired but getting little sleep was something she was used to, especially when hunting. "I honestly wasn't paying attention to the animal," she said to Jemimwitt.

Jemimwitt frowned. He was angry, but they couldn't understand. They thought of Muffins as just an oversized dog, trained in someone's spaer time.

"He's a fey curr, not a "dog." They are far smarter, and they are trained relentlessly from weaning, nearly six hours a day. And my bond with muffins is greater than most.

This would be the first time he's tried to wander off 'to take a leak as dogs do' since he was three months old."

He pulled out a dog signal whistle and gave it a loud call. It hardly made any audible noise at all, but a dog would hear it for quite a distance.

"If this doesn't bring him, something is extremely wrong."

He considered. No one had seen Muffins leave the camp the second time, but he was gone. HAD that actually occurred though? He looked at the prints right next to him as he waited for a response to the whistle, and brought up a torch.

Assuming Muffins did not return promptly, he took a look around. Something wasn't right, but his mind was racing.

"Halie, could you please look at the tracks? Muffins are easy to identify comapred to the others. There should be tracks going out, back, and then out again."

Jemimwitt wasn't the worst at tracking, but he assumed she was better than him, particularly right now.

21:16, Today: Jemimwitt Haethy rolled 7 using 1d20+4 ((3)).
This message was last edited by the player at 07:45, Sun 30 May 2021.

She gave a snort. "I perfectly understand that bond," Halie stated as she reached out and pet Peto's nose. "My apologies for referring to him as just an animal." It was interesting for one to have such a bond with an animal that equaled her own with her horse. "I can try to track...just keep in mind...I am tired and I will need some light..."

---

00:14, Today: Halie Delmenn rolled 29 using 1d20+12.  Survival.

The rogue stares at him and Halie like they were nuts. He never had the bond, as most animals were afraid of him probably because of his heritage. Of course they didn't know this. All of this because of a dog? But its important...

Kneeling down, Halie checks out the location of where the dog was last seen and checks out the area and finds a small dart, cacked with some sort of poison or something else near the woodlands and a path leading out into the unknown like something dragged through it. Upon closer look it looks like the dog was hoisted up and several small footprints are scattered about. The location seems to keep going but they are a few yards from camp.

Sam follows, with a lit torch to help her out. He pauses for a moment "We should wait till dawn. Some of us cannot see and if we walk into a trap..."

Jemimwitt looked incredibly pained at the discovery "Those look like they might be goblin tracks. And we know that there are dog-eating goblins in the area.

Of course, your safety comes first." He said through clenched teeth.

This effort clearly pained him, and he looked like he wanted to charge off alone right now.