The sun stood high and burned the skin of those out, even early in the day.
The coachman and as promised, the man Hermann stood ready, with his horse and bags, ready to depart. He appeared to have waited quite some time.

The departure was uneventful and you quickly notice that the road is in very bad repair and coach travel is rough and hazardous. Few travel along this route, usually the occasional coach and travelling merchants with their wares. That come as a surprise, but the group are more than in shape to deal with what should come, assuming it wasn't out of the ordinary...

In time you arrive at a medium size coaching inn.
The inn is three stories and in considerable need of repair. The roof is clearly patch-worked with a small odd shaped, domed wooden shed on top. A large garden can be seen in the back of the inn along with a small barn and chicken coop. The name of the inn is the “Cock's Crown,” a fitting name given the chicken mess all over the place.

Hermann nodded and pointed.
"Ah, thats the name, I reckon I messed that up, but that is surely the place. Faltdorf is not far from hear, but check inside with the owner...hmm..Axel was it?"
Hermann jumped off, and the coach was parked safely aside the inn, where space was. The stables were present but needed an overhaul and more care to not fall apart. It would however remain well enough for use.

"I've seen roads and buildings in better repair after a Norscan raid" she says almost to herself "Best we head in ask about this professor" she adds moving towards the Inn.

Jareik resumed his coach guard duties, and despite the rougher terrain  as well as the shoddy state of routes hinting that it wasn't used much and thus was unlikely to have received many visits of patrolling knights and roadwardens, as far as he could tell everything was quiet and it was another peaceful ride albeit a lot bumpier.

"Right. And maybe ask about local customs whilst we at it, folks at the last inn told me people 'round Faltdorf can get real cranky for some reason."

He followed Etain in.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:17, Wed 03 June 2020.

The inn was nothing out of the ordinary, it was midrange by any means of the word.
Inside a tall thin man in his early 50's, walked about and waved you on as you entered.
Inside the kitchen on your right, was a large cheerful woman and three girls age 13 to 17 who ran the kitchen and served the fairly large room.
The Innkeeper presents himself as Axel von Bücher, and showed you to the bar for rooms and drinks, as you noticed the main room was almost empty, aside from some patrons around the sides, enjoying meals and discussions.

Jareik noticed that the woman in the kitchen noticed him and nudged her oldest daughter in a manner that felt...unpleasant. Not in a dangerous way, just something was off..

Axel eyed anyone standing by him.
"Hello, and welcome! How may I be of service to you? Not a busy area this, so any face is welcome here. My wife Greta is a great cook, so do say if we can offer anything!"

Jareik flashed a smile at the women only for it to melt into a confused frown. Did he have something on his face? Did they have something against hochlanders? Or perhaps the mother was just warning her daughter not to run off with the handsome merc from out of town who might just wisk her off to a life of adventure and romance, yeah that was likely it... Jareik pulled on his hat and thought nothing more of it for now, turning his attention to the innkeeper instead.

"Evening. A tankard of lager for me to begin with." He waited for his drink and let the others order for themselves if they wanted to before continuing.

"We got a few questions if you don't mind. We looking for a professor from Altdorf going by the name of Herr Karl Magnussen, perhaps the name rings a bell? He was last seen around these parts and his wife is worried sick."

Etain looked around the inn, taking in the locals including the women in the kitchen and the mother's reaction to the newcomers in their midst. "I'll have a mead if you have it, if not an ale will suffice" She says to the man.

The innkeeper smiled.
"AH yes, He was here. Met a woman too. Hehe..He was a curious man. Very interested in Faltdorf and the doings there. No one here, even myself knows much to his dismay. The city is...sheltered and distant if you would. Not alot leaves it so to speak.
Pretty gal though. About average height and medium built, shoulder-length brown hair and hazel eyes. Never got the name sadly.."
Axel looked about.
"They seemed happy thought, and isn't that all that matters. One should not mettle in love."
Axel pointed to the distant corner.
"The fella over there, traveled with him, perhaps he knows more?"

A handsome man, above 6 feet in height sat with a glass of wine, halfempty.
Black hair, Grey eyes, strong refined build and charismatic.

Jareik shook his head and chuckled, this had been one of his likely scenarios for the man's absence and had joked as much in the other inn. In his mind this job was almost as good as done already.

"Heh the sly dog. Not sure our employer will be thrilled about that but we weren't paid to bring back good news nor drag him in. Cheers for the info, we will just need to confirm with our own eyes the man's alive and can consider it job done, will have a chat with that bloke then."

He took his drink with him and walked into the man's field of view, giving a tug of his hat in salute.

"Allright mate, sorry for barging in but we looking for a geezer called Herr Karl Magnussen and word is you roamed with him for a while?

People don't usually sit in a corner because they were looking to socialize so he continued on a bit to make it clear he wasn't going to be shooed away easily without the answers he was seeking.

"Been hired by his wife who reckons something might have happened to him to make sure he is allright, I already heard he met some lady and that's fine, none of my business who he porks, just need to confirm he is fine and dandy. Mind letting sharing when you last saw him and what he was up to? I'll be out of your hair then."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:23, Mon 08 June 2020.

The man eyed Jareik and smiled broadly.
In a thick bretonian accent he replied.
"Yes, Karl, the good man, we meet three weeks ago, had drinks, games and decided to travel south. He did mention he was to meet a colleague at this very inn before heading on to Faltdorf for research. Did try to ask about details, you know, to appear interested and such, but he only ever said, the dear Monsieur Magnussen that it was very important, and that is not an awful amount of help no?"
He took a deep sip and invited those over who would come, with cards in hand and coin on the table.
"He was very closed lip about the subject and always steered the conversation away from it, but that said, but that said I enjoyed my time with Monsieur Magnussen and do hope to have more time with him in the future....a game of cards?"
Steering away you notice a man sit by the bar, and upon hearing of Faltdorf merely blurt out in drunken stupor.
"Silly place...a bunch of peasants worshipping a circle of rocks, dancing about naked. Hah!
Those sorry sods claim to follow ‘the Mother’. More likely, they use her as an excuse to fulfil their lusts under the light of the moons. Small wonder the good priests of Taal ignore such an immoral place. If you all are people of any sense, you’d stay away from that  misbegotten village.”
The man becomes more and more incoherent from then on and shortly after Axel orders him to bed.

Etain walked up behind Jareik to Bretonnian man and asks [Language unknown: "Na loho e tiarpa erthu earen tedwheort, rat ut we?" ] before taking a seat across from him, leaving room for Marie to sit.

"Heh sure deal me in." said Jareik with a wry smile as the brettonian proposed a card game.

As Etain exchanged some words, his ears perked up at hearing the rantings of the man at the bar.
"What the hells are you talking about man? Dancing naked around rocks? Sounds like no ritual I know of."
He frowned as he thought this over for a second, coming from a village that was quite big on religious worship he could hazard a guess that "the mother" was referencing Rhyla the earth mother, wife of Taal. He recalled a brief history lesson from one of the priests about how she was a goddess whose worship went back to the old faith when humans lived in primitive tribes before the days of the Empire.
"Actually that doesn't sound so daft after all, could be some old ritual of Rhyla? And since Rhyla is Taal's wife that might explain the priests not caring." He added and scratched his beard as he thought this over some more, this does coincidentally align with the field of research Mangnussen was involved with, but he was still no priest so wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet.

"Allright what's the game?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:20, Wed 17 June 2020.

The man huffed of Jareik, his bigotry getting the best of him. He appeared to a annoyed man, angry at a small closed of society for no apparent reason, aside being scared of the unknown.
He returned to the drink, and sobbed in that.

At the table, the man nodded.
"Ah formalities. My name is Gaston L'vase and the game is Maidens Hand. Simple rules really..."
He began to detail a rather simple game, with the value of cards and what and how it was valued(Imagine a game akin to Poker but not quite).
To anyone who joined he started out, dealing and running a trial game, letting anyone learn. Upon the next game he smiled.
"So, to make this fun, should we not wager a bit?"
He found a small pouch and placed it on the table.
(Anyone game, can roll a gamble(+0%))

Jareik notices that the wife of the innkeeper keeps eyeing their table and the men in particular. Just out of sight, but she is not hiding it per say.

Some time later, a halfling walks in, sits by the fireplace, and warms himself.
He later approaches the bar and introduces himself to Axel (and everyone else nearby) as Toby Merryweather.
"Good sir, I am looking for a Winifred Braun..."
His description matches Axel's for the woman who met Herr Magnussen...for anyone who was present. The description is very uncannily similar, to the point where you can not dismiss the notion of it.
Axel shrugs.
Turning, Toby asks.
"Miss Braun was to meet me here, has any of you seen her, as it was this very evening?"

Etain accepts the cards and and tries to play a hand of game but after the first few moves she got completely bewildered and after lossing it so badly she says "Cards are not my friends apparently"

She looks over after halfling walks in and after he proclaims he's looking for the beau of Magnussen. "We do not know her but we are looking for someone that she has been seen with, do you know of anyone who may be in her company?"


Etain Seanait rolled 100 -- 7 degrees of failure using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 22.  gamble.

"Allright let's make this interesting." Jareik flipped a few coins on the table to buy himself in and his brow furrowed as he checked his cards.

The game was simple enough and prior experience playing bored card games on the campaign trail helped but truth be told he tended to lose more then he won.
Still games like these weren't about the cards but how you read people so he did his best to bluff when the cards weren't going his way and not trying to appear too happy when he had a good hand.


22:50, Yesterday: Jareik Schneider rolled 57 -- 1 degree of failure using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 39.  gamble.

When the halfling walked in asking about a woman similar to the one their professor had been cavorting with he was thankful Etain went to investigate, letting him retain full concentration on the game as he tried to figure out if he should call the brettonian's bluff or fold.

Those in the game notices that Gaston was quite skilled, more than he lead you to believe, and those participating found themselves a few silvers short.

When the Halfling arrived he looked up, curiously.
The halfling nodded at Etain and offered what he knew.
"I only know I was to meet her here. Sadly. Not who she was with."
Gaston apoligized and went to Toby with a warm smile, and lead him to a side near the hearth.
"I know a bit, that may help you, come.."
He implied he would return to the cards and wine.
Gaston seems calm and tells Toby what he knows of Karl as he moves over. He continues, but it is hard to hear what he says.
^{Characters with either the Lip Reading or Acute Hearing skill must successfully pass an Int-10 test to pick up what they say...}

Jareik smirked at the last hand reveal, seems his gamble didn't pay off this time.
"Well played."

He arched an eyebrow when the brettonian took the hafling aside but could only shrug, have a chug of drink and plot how to win the next rounds of cards.

Gaston spoke to the man in a cautious but attentive tone, which seemed a tad off, but still may just be the mannerisms of the man.
Shortly after Toby departed to the bar, and Gaston returned calmly and picked up the game.
At the end of it, Gastons cunning for the game had given him the upper hand, and you were down a few silvers.
(Roll a d3 if you partook in the game).
Gaston excused himself, and went to bed shortly after and Toby the same not long after.
Unless you decide to stay up, the rest of the night goes uneventful and you wake, a the crack of dawn, well rested and with a curious smell of warm bread and food below.
In the common room below, you find a large table with alot of food on it. Toby is present but Gaston is not.
The innkeeper and his boisterous wife welcomes you and offers you a seat.
Outside, the morning is cloudy with drizzle, and it is likely that a light rain will dampen the morning.

The coachman sits in a corner, as dourfaced as always. He nods.

Milly had been absentminded and more focused on the traveling experience and landscapes than she should, save for the occasional moment of vigilance in case more forest fiends decided to try their luck. Things like the lavish (to her) breakfast were just the kind of thing to pull her back onto reality. "Not much left now." She stated to her peers, save for the little scrap with those monsters, this job had been something akin to a vacation rather than actual work.

With the loss of 3 silvers Etain calls it a game and heads to bed with Roan and Eimear and hopefully Marie.

The next morning she heads downstairs with the smell of bread and cooking meat and the insistent licking and pawing by the dogs. She asks for some meat scraps for the hounds and has a plate of meat, bread, eggs and some fruit. When she sees the sky outside she says "Looks like a lovely day outside"

Jareik groaned as flipped over 2 silver coins with a flip of the thumb.
What were the odds he would come across someone who knew how to gamble that well this far in the sticks? He called it a night aswell and checked his arms and armor's condition before falling asleep.

When morning came he was greeted by the smell of a full table, returning the coachman's nod, he eagerly sat down to devour a sizeable breakfast. Halfling reputation for food was well earned indeed.
He ended with quite a happy full belly, tipping the halflings an additional full silver. He had already lost 2 the previous night so what was one more?

Fully fortified for the day ahead, he slapped up on his gear and was thus ready to face the world.

You set off, with a mild rain beating down on your, slowly growing worse at time passes.
The grey skies create a heavy pillow of grey over your heads as the coach sets off.
The rain stops by early afternoon of the first day. Unfortunately, the rain was enough to make the track to Faltdorf muddy and slow.
Occasional gusts of wind kick up and causes those not covered enough to shiver.
The coachman sighs.
"No inns in sight, this will be a long trip..."
As you travel eastward, the land gradually becomes hilly and the grassland gives way frequently to copses of trees. The land also becomes more spewn with large rocks and occasional boulders.
The rutted track to Herzendorf is little used and no wider than a few  feet. At times, it’s even overgrown with weeds and the odd thistle bush.
As the night becomes to dark, the coachman stops and turns slightly into the woods.
The close trees make for a secluded safe campsite, as he begins to find various blankets, bedrolls, tents and firewood. He turns to you all.
"Sorry, can't do more for now. We still have some distance. Make yourself useful..."

OOC:
Outdoor skills can apply here, but are generally not needed. A fire, setting up tents can be done with enough time...

Etain disembarks the carriage after telling the dogs to hop out, Roan and Éimear both bolting into the trees to try and avoid the rain falling on them. "I'll unlimber and set up the tent if you can find some firewood please and get some warmth going" she tells Marie as she climbs up to where her bags are packed and grabs her gear

*Setting up a 2 person tent she brought*

Back to being a coach guard, the worsening weather and deteriorating road conditions meant Jareik redoubled his vigilance. When the rain worsened, he elected to stow away his firearm lest the gunpowder get wet. Thankfully nothing of note happened and they travelled the full day without incident.

"Right, I'll work on the fire then."

As the passed Etain and Marie mounting their tent, he had a pang of envy. All he had was a blanket in his backpack and together with all the weaponry and armor he carried, it wasn't optimal for outdoor sleeping. Ah well, he could survive one night of rough sleeping especially considering they have had comfortable resting stops the previous days. Or with some luck maybe the coachman had spares.

He gathered rocks to form a circle around gathered pieces of firewood and started the process of blowing and rubbing the wood against each other to get a fire going as best as he could.

*Setting up campfire*
This message was last edited by the player at 00:44, Thu 20 Aug 2020.

Once the fire started going, Jareik tossed some dry wood to feed it and make it roar.

"I take it we leave at dawn? I'd rather not tarry here any longer then we have to." he commented to the coachman. "With what happened at the other inn we would be fools not to organize a watch rotation. Let's see, we will probably be resting here for 9 hours give or take, can make that three 3 hour watches or two four hours-ish watches..."

He glanced at his companions and called to them. "Oi, which of you is down for being on watch on tonight? I'm happy to cut down on some sleep, ain't likely to get much of a wink here anyways, so can cover 1st shift if we are doing 2, or middle shift if we are doing 3. Still need at least one volunteer though."
He volunteered for those shifts as they would be when the night is darkest and he trusted no one but himself in low light conditions.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:32, Thu 20 Aug 2020.

Milly spend her time setting up one of the tents, mostly by guesswork and observing how others were than actual know how, camping outdoors wasn't exactly a top priority for students in the colleges. Not like Milly hadn't been through the woods before, in fact, she had more than many but that and pitching tents was a completely different business. "Why three? I say we spread them further, in fact I will take first and then whoever can take over." Of course by now, Milly didn't exactly expect any kind of attack. Sure the other day they had a scrap with those fiends but with the expediently administered bloody nose they gave them for their troubles, she was convinced by now that they wouldn't come for more.

*Pitching one fo the tents*