Liriel tells you .. She will catch up with the rest of you at the first opportunity.

Wishing the determined-looking lady elf well, Petar shifts to the rear guard spot.  He's a little reluctant, it seems he wanted to spend some time walking beside the Priestess and getting to know her better.  For the stories ;)

"Walk and talk with me for now Petar. We could both use the company." He gives an apple to Rosey.

After an hour in town to get what you need to prepare for the hunt, you regroup at the round and start your trek southwards, where the goblins are supposed to be found.

You approach the edge of town and spot the temple of Chiress, a remarkable round structure built with a dome and many columns. The front of the temple is set with a combination of blue, red, yellow, and white stones, creating a mosaic of a rising sun over a large sea. On the grounds before  the building lies what you know as a Chiress fountain, an enchanted spring of water that provides small boons for travelers and all followers of the goddess.

"Let's refill," Camille mentions to everyone, and she breaks off and approaches the pouring water. She drops her pack off her shoulders and pulls small ceramic vials out of it. These she dips into the shallow pond of the pool, closing them off with a cork, and putting them back into the pack. She gets up when she's filled eight of them.

"If you have any empty bottles, fill them with blessed water."

As you wait by the pool, you notice the bottom is also a mosaic of yellow, gold, and orange stones, depicting a full sun with wavy rays. The colors fill the pool with a gentle yellow reflection. The air around you seems peaceful, almost welcoming you to stop for a moment and take a rest.

"The water's potency only lasts for three days, but I don't think we'll be away that long."

Angus fills his waterskin to the top.

You approach the edge of town and spot the temple of Chiress, a remarkable round structure built with a dome and many columns.

Temples such as these had to be popular spots, Petar figures, with citizens coming around for aid and advice from time to time.  He was amazed at the folk with the patience to deal with all those problems.  The elf perches near the fountain and watches the area, humming to himself.

The colors fill the pool with a gentle yellow reflection. The air around you seems peaceful, almost welcoming you to stop for a moment and take a rest.

He could sit here the whole day, if the weather held.  Already he was tempted to languidly stretch out and watch clouds pass overhead and listen to the gentle commotion of the village outskirts.  But as Petar's gaze lingers again on Camille, he's reminded of the mission and it sits him up with a jolt.

A blessing such as this was not one which should be lightly ignored, Aila thought, and so it was that she took a waterskin from her pack and unrolled it, filling it from the fountain.

After fill his waterskin to the top, Angus gets his mule and himself back in line for travel.

Phelan empties the remaining water from her waterskin and fills it as the others have done then says, "Ready."

After filling with water from the fountain, you march past the edge of town and into the wilderness. Following the walking trail you continue for a short spell and then come to your first bridge. This is a serviceable old wooden bridge, wide enough for a full cart.

Once crossed, the bridge gives way to the wild grasslands of the area. South of you the terrains has a gentle slope, mildly tilting down further towards the south. Not too far off you see the cultivated rows of plants and orchards from various farms. You can barely see the people as small dots in the distance, working on the soil and kneeling between the rows of stalks growing steadily upwards.

Less than an hour later you arrive at your first farm settlement. Here you see approximately a dozen steads, scattered along the land, each one consisting of various buildings. The few farmers on the trail watch as you come and go, giving you a casual nod but not saying much. That is until the see Camille, then their demeanor changes to friendly.

"Good day, priestess."

"Bless you, priestess."

She stops for a moment to greet them, taking their hands into hers, and asking about their families. There is a bit of chit chat about the weather, the crops, the wives and children, and the health of the livestock. She introduces you as new adventurers, with the promise that you will rid the lands of the goblins, and then the orcs. They look at you with promise in their eyes, but keep their distance. Once all the pleasantries are done, you resume your trek.

The trail ends past the farmsteads, and you find yourselves approaching the wild grasslands of the area. The grass resembles a sea of green, with the spring breezes gently bending the stalks like waves over an ocean. It is as tall as three feet in some parts, making it difficult to walk through it, slowing you down considerably. To Phelan, this grass can come all the way to her head, making this quite an interesting challenge.

You keep walking towards the south-east, or towards the forests you can see in the distance, until you arrive at a few hills after about two hours. From this slightly higher vantage point, you can tell the grasses are not as tall here, and the land begins to open into different varieties of plants. A few more scattered trees are visible, but they remain sparse until the edge of the woods, about a mile away. You spot a wild cat, a tan medium-sized beast, but it decides to give way to your group seeing as there are six of you and it is alone.

Camille takes several drinks of her water skin. Carrying all that metal is hard work, and she's sweating profusely. Which is more of an indication of her strength, as she has not complained in the least about travelling in all that heavy armor.

It is now perhaps an hour before midday.

Not too far away, perhaps a third of mile to the west, among a cluster of trees, you spot a large of group birds suddenly lift into the air.

This is a serviceable old wooden bridge, wide enough for a full cart.

As they pass over, Petar examines the river closely.  It may just happen they'd need to cross the water elsewhere, and he wants to get an idea of how swiftly it runs and how deep.  "Good fishing here, Priestess?" he asks Camille.

She introduces you as new adventurers, with the promise that you will rid the lands of the goblins, and then the orcs.

Petar tries to look as 'adventurous' as possible, not easy when you lacked any sort of facial hair and were not quite over-tall.  He shadows Camille as she makes the rounds, understanding the duty of the clergy and seeing first-hand how central a cleric was to rural life.  Here was someone who would birth, bless, marry and bury whole families as well as cure wounds and diseases.  All for really no profit at all except the prosperity of the community.

With that last in mind, Petar seeks out and asks the following questions of a younger farmer who might be a militiaman, or at least more traveled than the older folk: "Goblins are taking tools?  Animals?  Is there something you can tell us about their numbers?  Did they use bows?"

***

You spot a wild cat, a tan medium-sized beast, but it decides to give way to your group seeing as there are six of you and it is alone.

"No one go wandering off alone," Petar says pleasantly, watching the beast stalk off.  One solitary cat might attack one solitary hiker, or a wounded group.  "No wolves troubling these areas?" he asks Camille.

Not too far away, perhaps a third of mile to the west, among a cluster of trees, you spot a large of group birds suddenly lift into the air.

"It might be nothing," Petar says, quickly readying his bow and studying the birds, in case they were arrowing right at them instead of flying away normally.  "Goblins don't like daylight, but those trees are shaded.  Let's expect the worst and laugh about how it was just the wind after."

Hmm, about 500 yards away .. any cover between us and those trees?

Edit: Perception result is a 2+6 = 8 vs WIS 10.  Success?

16:30, Today: Petar the Elf rolled 2 using 1d20.  Perception check, scan the woods.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:31, Mon 11 May 2020.

"Something spooked those birds. Maybe another wild cat or worse. Can anyone see anything?" The group can sense the irritation in her voice as she is not enjoying the terrain in the least.

Marille unsheathed her sword and took an at the ready position as she tried to see what her dwarven companion saw. She squinted, but the muscled female did notice the birds take flight.

"Me wee friend dwarf. Ye want te take a wugerin un gublin heads?"

OOC: If you are trying to investigate the area, give me a Perception Check. This is a WSD roll, lower than or equal, with a +6 penalty for very long distance.

"I can't really tell anything, especially from here," said Aila, a hand over her eyes as she peered toward the place from which the birds had taken flight.  "I can try to sneak a little closer and see if I can tell more. Not that I'd be trying to take something on myself," she added.  "Just that I can be quick and quiet, if need be."

---

Wouldn't have made the check even without the modifier. 21 v 13

Taking just an educated guess, and considering how dark the water looks, he would estimate it being at least two fathoms deep. The river bed slopes deeply into the center, and the current is moderately strong. While a swimmer could easily cross it, they would be carried quite a distance downstream before arriving at the other side.

Camille comments back, "No, no fishing here. They don't reach this far into the river."


The farmers look at each other and try to answer.

"Yes, tools: shovels, spades, buckets, axes. They even took firewood. Strange. They can get wood anywhere. And some chickens. They came at night, like goblins do. We couldn't catch them. They ran when saw us. Not a hardy bunch, or maybe not too many of them," they laughed. "Bows? I don't know. They didn't shoot at us."

***

"Not right now. Game is easy to come by, and the wolves travel along the forests to the west and south-east. They wouldn't come out in the open here anyway. Hard to hunt for them like that. But wait until fall. You'll see more of them when game is scarce."


No, not much. Just some more grass and a few scattered trees. The lack of cover is the reason you can see that far away.

14:02, Today: Camille rolled 19 using 1d20.  Perception.

Camille took the opportunity to take a quick breather.

"Yes, something spooked those birds. Could be anything. But it could also be the goblins we are looking for."

She turns to scan the area, slowly circling the southern hemisphere from west to east.

"Nothing. I don't see a thing."

Phelan turns to the group and says, "Let's take advantage of this damn grass. If there is something there it  may have spotted all of you by now but I am too damn short to be seen in all this. Keep walking and talking as if you took no notice of the birds. I will try and sneak around to the other side and see if I can spot anything once I get to a spot where the grass isn't as high. If nothing else, I may hear (or smell) something. But be ready just in case I get caught alone.Ok?"

"Should we check it out? They will flee before us if it is them. Try it Phelan, but be careful."

This message was deleted by the player at 13:38, Tue 12 May 2020.

"I can try to sneak a little closer and see if I can tell more. Not that I'd be trying to take something on myself," she added.  "Just that I can be quick and quiet, if need be."

Far be it from Petar to boss anyone around, but he looks very alarmed at the idea of anyone going off alone.  "No, no let's stick together.  If there are watchers, we've been spotted in this terrain ourselves.  I mean," he grins, "we have a pack animal."

Petar's elven eyes prove keen at this juncture, and he spots movement amidst the trees. Whatever it is is moving with rough motion and low to the ground. Something with dark colors. But it is too far to make out any more detail.

Describing to the others what he sees, Petar concludes its not goblins.  He thinks if they move ahead together, they'll be able to search those woods safely but, of course, if someone was determined to scout then it was their decision!
This message was last edited by the player at 15:35, Tue 12 May 2020.

Marille looked at the dwarf then at the elf. She knew she had no skill in spotting or being sneaky so she simply resheathed her sword and took took the advice of the dwarf. In her mind she thought A thief or scout would be nice right about now. The burly woman scratched her chin with her thumb in quiet contemplation.

"Don't worry," said Aila.  "I only mean to go as far as I must to tell for sure what we're looking at.  But perhaps--if you start off that way," and she gestured an angle that took a slight turn away from the place the birds had flown from.  "And then I shall return when I've had a better sighting.  And if you hear a whip-poor-will, please get that bow ready."  She smiled and gave her elven acquaintance a slight bow.

Since clearly there were several in the group who wanted to know more, she started off then in her own way, moving in a slight arc opposite the way that she had suggested for the rest of the group and not straight on to the bird-leaving-point.

Perhaps I will put those lessons to use now, she thought, as she allowed herself to bend and move like the grass in the wind as she made her way toward what she presumed to be the bird-startling thing, keeping her eyes moving to check the ground as well as keeping the destination in view, watching carefully so that as soon as the thing became recognizable she might pause before retreat to re-join the others to relate what she discovered.

Keeping a low profile, Aila began her approach towards the trees nearby. It was slow progress, with the occasional poking head cautiously above the grass in order to measure the advance and direction.

OOC: Give me a Hiding roll (+15 from Grass), followed by another Perception roll (no modifiers).

Aila gets to within maybe 70 or 80 yards from the trees. There is rustling along the undergrowth, with the shade making the contrast of the area hard to peer in, seeing as she's out in the sun's glare. But there is something there.

Every One Else: Aila vanishes into the grass. For a while you can see her trail as she pushes the stalks aside, but as the distance between you and her grows even that fades away among so much greenery.