Cal smiles and shakes his head slightly, pleased that Dain seemingly endured the pleasantries of the evening.

He follows the dwarf to the inn.

The path to Pindangoogly soon takes you off the main road and onto a small dirt path. There are two obvious, parallel grooves in the dirt along this path, showing full well that a wagon of a particular size travels this way regularly. The path twists into the hills, mostly along valley bottoms, crossing small streams and moving through patches of young spruces and by patches of wildflowers of all colors. The only sounds in the area are songbirds and an occasional babbling brook. The beauty of the clear areas, the smells of the flowers and trees, and the quiet, relaxing sounds remind you of why these are called the Good Hills.


The wagon comes through every 4 days, but none have come in 6 days.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:42, Thu 02 Dec 2021.

A short distance in front of the others, Ulle has his spear in hand. Occasionally he drops to one knee to check something he sees on the ground, checking for tracks, especially as they leave streams, to see if anything unusual had passed that way.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:47, Wed 01 Dec 2021.

Kossoth kept a good distance ahead of even Ulle to ensure they aren't caught unawares, perhaps even catching any ambushers before they realize it, but also more to not have any more conversation with the witch in the group for awhile.  She had skills beyond the tainted magic which he had to respect but it was still hard for him to reconcile.

Luckily his legs were long and he had plenty to concentrate upon...to the others it might sound peaceful and quiet but to Kossoth it was still an alien world keeping him on his toes constantly.  His bow was in hand and he made sure his quiver was easily accessible if he needed to strike quickly if he surprised an enemy or if somehow he had gone past them and they hadn't noticed him either and he had to engage from a distance.

In reply to Kossoth Zan (msg # 27):

Kestrel found the dirt path to Pindangoogly a welcome change from the city, it wasn't the Silverwood, but it was much closer than any human city would ever be.

The elf expected to take the lead, but seeing the odd man, Kossoth, moving far ahead and Ulle looking for tracks ahead of the main group, Kestrel decided to take up the rear.

He stayed 15 or 20 paces behind, and travelled at the edge of the trail or even just off the trail. If something, or someone dared to attack their sizable group, he would likely have an opportunity to circle around the attacker.

~Staying behind everyone will let me listen to the sound of nature, which I have missed. And, if anything comes from behind, I might hear it!~ he thought to himself as they paced toward the gnomish village.

Dain ambles along, silently, apparently lost in thought.

You have a wonderful day of travel, the weather cooperated greatly! Gorgeous day! Kossoth comes along on a cold campsite, just off the road, apparently where the quarz caravan camped on the way to Cryllor, about an hour before sunset.

Moving back to the others he stopped by Ulle, "I found the former camp of the caravan that goes through here.  Good a place as any for softer folk.  Easy sightlines for our small band."

Looking back towards the cold campsite he added, "I will scout the area around to make sure there are no surprises waiting for night to fall."

With a grunt and a nod, Ulle signals his understanding. Turning he lets the others now that a good campsite had been found.

"Kossoth found campsite, we set up there. Good?"

Assuming there is no dire urge to push on, the ranger will examine the campsite, looking for firewood and setting up a slit trench for 'party business'.

Uncertain which was worse, the sore rump from a day on horseback or the sore feet of a days walk, Piestar sighs relief at the thought of a camp.

She would have spent the bulk of the day either chatting with Caedfel, whose company she enjoyed at Birahu's festivities, or Astrid, whose tales of travels and her times among the elves.

At the camp, she would remove her shoes, and massage her feet, moaning about the desire for a hot bath, or at least a hot pot of water to soak her poor tootsies.

Kestrel builds a fire in the well-used stone ring. Out of habit, he confirmed that the old ashes were cold.

Once the fire is burning, he will place his baldric, bow, and pack on the ground before settling on one of the logs already placed around the fire pit. He pulls some rations from his pack and starts his evening meal.

"There's probably no point in hunting, seeing as we should be in Pindangoogly tomorrow, and will be eating at an inn.

But we should keep watch through the night." He looks around the camp and does some calculating in his head.

"There's enough of us for four watches...three groups of two and one on their own. And there's enough of us with darkvision to be on all four watches.

I suggest, Piestar and Caedfel; Astrid and Ulle; Kossoth and Dain; and I will watch on my own."

---

Please feel free to amend, I figured it was worth it to work this out and then we can assume the same groups/orders moving forward.

A bit shocked at the thought that she shou8ld do guard duty, Sister Piestar chokes a bit on her food, but can't really think of a reason to say no. Well, she had plenty of reasons, just none of them good ones.

Taking a sip of wine to dislodge the chunk of food, she nods.

"That... that sounds good. Yes. We should to that."

Cal raises his hand as if to clap Piestar on her back to dislodge the obstructing food.  She manages to clear her throat on her own before he can, so he withdraws his hand.

Eventually Kossoth comes into the light of the fire that has been set.  After glancing at everyone present he found himself a seat, unsurprisingly as far from Astrid as he could while still being around the fire with everyone else, before he spoke up, "No one sitting in ambush or were to previously watch or attack the caravan when it rested here."

Astrid had been enjoying the environs as well.   Amongst other things, paying a certain amount of attention to the local fauna and flora.

The latter was professional interest; Master Birahu had told her to be on the lookout for any herbs and plants of use or interest to them.

And the former was a means of staying informed;  she being learned enough in animal lore to read from their behaviors various things which might be relevant.

And now she listened to the others.   She had a long stick in one hand, that she had found.  With it, she was tracing stately, eldritch looking figures in the dirt.


She glanced up when Kestrel spoke of watch shifts.

"Surely.  I'll be happy to take my turn.  Though, it is needful that Piestar, Cal, and I get sufficient rest, however we break it up."

In reply to Astrid Silverveil (msg # 39):

Who has which watch!

While he wasn't necessarily suggesting the order, maybe just use the order Kestral listed them, just to remove prolonged debate?

Piestar and Caedfel; Astrid and Ulle; Kossoth and Dain; Kestral last.

In reply to Dain Strongaxe (msg # 41):

okay.

In reply to Nerull (msg # 42):

Ulle and Astrid roll for surprise to see what you see, a sneaky devil!
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:27, Sun 05 Dec 2021.

Astrid Silverveil rolled 4 using 1d6.  surprise.

With Elf keen senses, Astrid took in the sum of what there was to be seen, heard, smelled, or felt.   Alert for any telltale sign that might suggest they were going to have company...

While he did not have the night vision of an Elf or a Dwarf, the Flan ranger had spent much of his like in a world where night was dark, and Ulle relied more on his other senses to protect him.

20:48, Today: Ulle rolled 2 using 1d6 ((2)). Surprise

In reply to Ulle (msg # 45):

An hour after you come on watch you hear the noises as a large black bear starts rooting through packs and bags looking for food! He appears to be quite hungry! You also notice in the light of the fire that he wears a collar!

Kossoth slept quietly on the ground and unaware of the animal named Ted Bedderhead rooting around the campsite.  Maybe he was looking for his glasses and guitar while just looking like he was hunting for food.  With a small yawn he rolled over just as quietly.

The sight of the collar bothered Ulle more than anything else, who had dared to enslave this noble creature, and even worse, after doing so, not feed it properly.

"Bear!" he cried out, to warn everyone.