Roughly an hour's walk from Smith's Gambit, lies a hill, steep on the north, west, and south sides, but approachable with a 15 minute hike from the east side. At its highest point, it is about 200 ft high. On the northwest edge, a watchtower overlooks the route to Three-Claw Point. Beneath that, the hut of the Goliath warrior, Orilo Skyeye, and the campsite of Nutcracker. A few dozen yards south of the hut, there is a burrow where a family of badgers once lived, some time before humanoids started scouting the area for a place to build a tower.

[Nutcracker's Campsite]

The journey had been a long one, but finally Nutcracker had made it off the boat and back onto land. Cold, snow-covered, partially frozen, but still land. The town looked like a decent outpost and the people there were many and varied. That worked out for the little kenku who was used to standing out inside walls.

But out here he was making his space: the tent set up with bedroll and blanket, extra clothing, a basket for storing extra goods that could be moved in a hurry, and a nice fire pit in front. Wood collecting would be a daily chore, but he had enough to last him a few days with what he found by clearing the site.

Now all that was left was to prepare to go out and see what the workings of the town were like. Would the people in charge be quite reasonable? Or were they deep down overly ambitious and greedy, willing to risk all for minor gain? He could feel a large pressure pressing down on his shoulders and it wasn't a cold front.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:42, Fri 02 Apr 2021.

[Nutcracker's Campsite]

Having had his fill at the tavern, Nutcracker returned to his campsite that - despite being set up as soon as he had arrived - had not been able to be used because of the immediate job that saw him having alternate lodgings for the day. This place was definitely interesting with lots of individuals he hadn't thought to see after living in the woods amongst the wildlife and fey creatures for years. But this place was his new home, this land his new demesne, and this settlement to be watched. There was more life out there that had to be seen and places to explore to have a better idea if outside intervention was needed.

While it was cooler than the inn that had been provided, the ranger was much more comfortable settling in to his bedroll out here than he was in the padded bed inside the wood and stone structure in town. It felt cut off from the world around him. The tent wouldn't last forever, but something out here on the fringes felt nicer, quieter, allowing him to sleep more comfortably.

While kenku aren't allowed to be creative because of the ancient curse that plagues their everyday lives, it never prevented them from having dreams as they slept. This time, he was back in the woods with the Green Knight, enjoying a revelry to celebrate something. Satyrs always celebrated something to the point of making up things to have a drunken party over. This time was a particularly large batch of honey mead as everyone's horn was constantly overflowing with the stuff.

Even though the Knight never really took their helm off Nutcracker could tell they were smiling by the tone of their voice. "The forest is brimming with life, health, and joy. They are right to celebrate this wonderful drink. Honey is a marvelous substance made by the bees. If it were not for them, the forest would begin to die out from lack of pollination. Bees are a sign of a healthy forest."

With the winter set in on this area, would there be bees? Was this normal? Or a curse? It would be hard to tell without learning about the area. It did seem unnatural, from what he could tell. But for now Nutcracker would help to bring health and joy to the forest.

After a good long rest.