Praelia munched her potato quietly.  She agreed it was good and paid her respects to the chef but her focus was on the mission, not culinary critique.

"Use your judgement Peregrin.  This is a fact-finding mission but if you see an opportunity, I'm sure you'll make the right decision as you go.  All I suggest is if others are skilled at scouting they should go with you.  I am concerned if one of you got in trouble you'd be too far away for the main group to support you."

Sister Tanique nodded in agreement
"Scouting is also not my specialty.   I'm happy to leave this to others more skilled. "

The priestess smiled at Peregrine
"Thank you,  for your food and your skill"

Naeldil, idly enjoyed the treat Peregrin had prepared. "Well that's all in the past, you are with us now. We can't have you blundering into trouble all on your own." Said the elf before finishing what remained of her food. "I will go with you." Somehow, she was more fond of the new halfling than the last already. It didn't have anything to do with the cooking though but his integrity and strength of character, or some such thing, probably...

"Yes, your sharp Elven eyes will be appreciated," Peregrin says, welcoming someone to scout with him. After finishing dinner and having a brief smoke from his pipe, once the sun has fully descended, he proposes they set off. He takes his pack and gear with him but leaves his bedroll laid out, anticipating going to sleep promptly when they return.

"Rest well, but keep one eye open!"

With the plan set in motion, Thum and Praelia set about creating a campsite with a large fire, Xandria and Tanique going about cooking a meal. Peregrin nods at Naeldil as dusk falls, and the two set about making bedrolls, stuffing them with their packs and such, making it look like a sleeping person.

with watches set, Peregrin and Naeldil exit the camp, nodding at Praelia who was on watch.

The two disappeared into the darkness with barely a sound.

Praelia watched the two go, her emotions mixed.  She didn't like seeing members of the group go into potential danger without her but she had to trust in them.  Sneaking around was what they were good at.  She would only be a burden should she try to hover over them.  Instead she focused on their campsite.  While the bonfire was designed to make them look stupid and vulnerable she planned for them to be anything but.  The site had been chosen with minimal approaches and a strong defensible location.  She planned to ensure the camp's defenses were as strong as possible.

"Now that is rather intriguing. Hermits may not concern themselves much with material things, but I have yet to see an ascetic group to let their monastery to fall in this state of disrepair..." If it was indeed that. The elf moved a bit closer to give the wall a closer inspection. "Don't trouble yourself with the drain. There is no telling where that leads to and if we were to use either, I rather go for the one I can exit through." She mentioned to Peregrin, obviously not very keen on the idea.

After a few hours, there was movement on tbe edge of the light as both peregren and naeldil returned to camp

Praelia nodded in acknowledgement as the scouts returned but remained in her watch position.  She trusted the scouts not to be followed but they were still advertising their position quite obviously.

As the passed she asked.  "Any news?"

Sister Tanique looked up with wide eyes

Naeldil sat on the ground by the fire and proceeded to share their findings. "Nothing much to say, there are several points of entry that could be used to go inside, but they vary on their usefulness and danger. Some would even require a bit of mining effort. That monastery of theirs has some kind of basement and tunnels beneath, that's for sure, but for all we know it is just their catacombs and sewers. If you ask me, these monks are more in need of a few good masons than an armed band of do-gooders, many points of the exterior are in an awful state of disrepair or even have caved in."

Tanique nodded, looking at the scouts
"But what can you tell us about the monks,  themselves?  Are they just an eccentric bunch of hermits,  or is there something nefarious going on?  Are they just being rude, or are they being held against their will?"

"Sounds like who were looking for, the Earth Cult."

Praelia listened carefully to Naeldil's description.  So far nothing they hadn't hypothesised.  The monks were reclusive but that wasn't a crime.

Her attention turned to Xantria when she made her comment about the earth cult.  She'd seen nothing that remotely linked these monks to the cult.  Had she missed something?

"Why makes you say that Xantria?"

"All the broken ground, the disturbed masonry easy things caused by things like those bugs or earth magic and easy things removed the same way."

Praelia frowned, but looked to the scouts.  "I had assumed you were suggesting the damage was due to general disrepair.  Was that what you saw or is it more likely from more agressive and recent damage like magic or burrowing monsters?"

The elf held her hands out in front of her. "One thing at a time. There was no 'broken ground' that I saw, simply caved in walls and sections some of which lead to whatever catacombs, basement, shrine or whatever these monks have beneath the building proper. It could even be a wine cellar for all we know, like I said, seemed to me like they are in need of repairs, rather than some kind of attack or infiltration. Suppose we are talking of mysterious bird creatures, are you suggesting that we should break into every house that is missing a handful of roof tiles?"

"Now, as for the monks themselves, just how do you suggest I ascertain that? Abduct and torture one of them? We had a look at the place nothing more, everyone stays inside at night, or so it seems. Fittingly enough for what we know them to be, a group of monks and hermits, which is what I am inclined to think they are at this time. I didn't hear your exchange but, so they are rude, lack in social skills and want nothing to do with outsiders. Sounds like a bunch of reclusive hermits to me." The elf sighed. "If you stand by your suspicions, we can lay low and monitor the place fro a few days, both the entrance and the damaged sections and other alternative entry points. See who comes and goes, if anybody at all."

Tanique sighed, nodding at the information,  though she'd been hoping for more.  Naeldil wasn't wrong,  though.  It would have been difficult to really spy on the monks with the kind of detail she wanted.
"We can stay in this relatively secure campsite for a few days, perhaps explore other areas nearby, and keep an eye on the monks, just in case."

Praelia listened quietly to the report.  Like Naeldil, Praelia had seen nothing to date that suggested the monks were anything more than they claimed to be.

"Good job, both of you.  While we haven't really learned anything new about the monks and their intentions, that in itself is valuable information.  Personally, I agree with you Naeldil.  At present there is no reason to suspect the monks are cultists, merely reclusive."

"The plan was to stay an extra night anyway, just to give any cultists a chance to try to ambush us.  So we have time to do any exploration we want.  I know there was a wish to search the area for any broken ground."

"While I'm not eager to do so at this point, would the damage to the building allow us to enter the under levels of the building?  Could we enter through the cellars/catacombs if we needed to?"

"There are several potential entry points, an opening on the wall in the Northwest corner and a drain by the East. I wouldn't recommend the later, there is no telling where it leads to, wet and slippery, one could be very well end up drowning in some water reservoir or at the very least having a very hard time coming out through the same place they went in." The elf made a small pause before adding the third option. "Now, as for the tunnel. There is that entrance I mentioned but is partially collapsed, we would need strong arms dedicated to the task of clearing a way through, much caution too. I don't imagine a collapsed section would lose it's taste for it after the first time. Not that I am a miner or some other kind of expert when it comes to these things, I am at home in the woods not in some tunnel."

Thum sat carving on a piece of wood with his dagger. "Let's sleep here tonight. If nothing happens, then we can move on tomorrow, look for cultists somewhere else. If these just shy monks, no reason to pee in their soup."

Praelia eyed Thum curiously for a moment after his comment.  Then she shrugged it off.

"I'll finish the first watch.  We have this place well secured but be prepared for trouble.  Be it tonight or tomorrow.  We want them to tip their hand but we don't want to be caught off guard.  The bonfire is a beacon so don't camp near it."

She knew she was being repetitive.  The scouts had helped find this spot and make it defensible.  Still, years in the military had instilled that instructions were clear and clarified often.

She nodded then moved off to her watch point.

The watch went by uneventful, with Praelia finishing the first watch, it was hard to hear any sounds over the snoring of Thum. The second watch, manned by the half orc too was uneventful, though he jumped at a few sounds in the dark. The final watch saw Tanique (With Xantria helping somewhat as she memorised spells), saw no movement and sounds.

The next morning came cool, with a light frost on the ground away from the area of the fire, which people kept stocked overnight. Had it died overnight, it would have been cold.

With the decision made to remain at least another night, the decision to explore for clues was issued.

<OOC: OK guys...you have 4 days to tell me what your doing at the camp. Exploring in general, a specific area, etc. For those in general exploring, i need a perception roll with advantage IF you have the survival skill. If a certain area, investigation (Naeldil and Peregren have advantage on this from previous scouting if its near the cave or monastery) AND an order of watch tonight and perception rolls (Need at least 3 people)

You have 4 days people, then I move on>

Tanique would suggest a methodical search, perhaps spending half a day going north, then returning to camp, then a day going half a day south, the ln returning,  then the same for east and west.
But she would defer to the more tactically minded

"My focus in this will be defense of the team and the campsite, not the search itself.  I leave the search plans to those more knowledgeable.  I personally don't think the search will yield much.  My goal is to ensure we're visible to the monks while we poke around.  If they are indeed the cultists we seek, or are sheltering them, I want to provoke them.  If so my vision needs to be outward, not inward."


OOC: Any perception/investigation checks Praelia makes will be focused on protecting the group rather than searching.

When on watch she prefers first or last watch as she lacks darkvision
This message was last edited by the player at 01:53, Sun 13 June 2021.