Simon waves his arrow slightly, "Simon. Feyblessed if you know another Simon or want to be formal." He sticks the bit of cheese on the tip in his mouth.

"I am Ruby and it is a pleasure to meet all of you." as she continued eating the plate in front of her.

"Einar Forester." the half orc said, giving a nod to the People around, before dobling the speed with which He shoveled his food into his mouth. They didn't have time to lose, but He wasn't going back out on a long trek on an empty stomach.

Sundos nodded to the others. "I'm Sundos Brightblood. Not too long ago I was usually called 'Corporal'. So it's nice to have my name back." He smiled at his own joke.

Khalid nods his head as each member of the group introduce themselves, "I t-t-take it the payment will be sufficient. We can t-t-t-ake some rest here or go to the camp after the meal", he picks and eats some of food of his plate.

"I am very satisfied!" as she picks some food off her plate. "Do you think they collect treasures?" as she looks around the table looking for nods of approval, "because what monster doesn't like gold? Am I right?"

Ruby looks to Sundos, "were you a cop or military?"

"Gibbers're instinctive. only care about feeding 'n breeding. Prob'ly no treasure." Einar observed inbetween mouthfuls, not wanting Ruby to go in with skewed priorities. Or too high hopes, for that matter.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then added "Maybe some gear or valuables. from victims."

~Only monsters who care about gold are people,~ was something that Sergeant Edward said a lot. Sundos has learned that was was mostly true. Not that worrying about gold made you a monster...He reflected on how light his coin purse has become in the past week or so.

In reply to Ruby's question, "I was in the military, the army. However, in small villages we garrisoned, the line between law enforcement and military was often blurred. The villages often had an old retired soldier as their sheriff. We would help support them when they needed it." He shrugged. "It was a lot less exciting than the old men of my village made it sound like."

While her companions chatted, Moonsong ate her meal and listened. Although the general noise of the tavern occasionally felt overwhelming, the easy banter of their table brought a warmth she hadn’t felt in the last two years. A small smile remained in place as she finished her meal. After her last bite, she replied to Sundos. “Even then, it has been my experience that such old men eventually prefer the familiar seasons of their lives over excitement.”

Simon shrugs and spears something with his arrow, "What it is is that they remember the excitement, because it made an impact. They forget the mind numbing boredom because nothing worth remembering happened. That's why it was so boring."

“Perhaps they forget, or do they instead ultimately find that they prefer predictable over danger, even the seeming of it?” Moonsong came from such villages and hamlets as Simon talked about. “An army or a band of adventurers may seem exciting at first. However, the longer occupation of an army means upending the lives they know. The longer a band of adventurers linger, so do they see the menaces such men and women fight become more commonplace.”

Simon nods as he chews, "Yep. But you're talking about the present, not the memories of the past. Somethings you just don't want to remember, and other things you do. And that's why the good old days are the good old days...even when they really aren't. Now try that with memories that last centuries."

Khalid motions at the maid, when she approaches he pays for the meal and leaves a nice tip.
"S-s-so shall we be going to the camp today or you n-n-need some rest? I understant the need for sleeping and gibberlings d-d-don't seem to be as active during the day".

“As you told us, your wife cannot afford our tarrying.” Moonsong pushed her plate away. “I think we can leave when you’re ready, Khalid. Do the rest of you agree?”

"mhm." Einar grunted with a nod, before gulping down the last of his food and getting to his feet. He let out a satisfied sigh, already feeling much better and ready for action with a full belly.

Ruby pushes her plate away and stands up and says, "I am ready to go."

Sundos stands up and picks up his backpack. "Aye. I'm ready too. Can't wait, work is to be done."

With meals paid for Khalid motions for the group to follow him. The group arrives at the ambush site around 6:00 in the morning, with sky been beautifully blue, slight fog coming across the ground and grass wet with morning dew.

What remains of the camp is however does not look that peaceful. The stench of rot and buzzing of flies assaults your senses long before the ruined campsite comes into view. Corpses
of humanoids and hairy, grotesque creatures litter the ground. Few of the bodies remain in one piece, and most are half eaten. Torn tents and broken gear are scattered amongst the dead and trampled into the earth. “I s-swear the Cloakwood wasn’t nearly so close t-to our
camp before,” Khalid notes, pointing to the dense forest which looms nearby. It’s easy to see how these woods earned their name: so little light can pierce the thick canopy
that the entire forest floor remains enveloped in shadow.

He slowly walks through the remains of the camp, picking up small pieces of gear, backpacks. "T-t-this is where it happened...", Khalid says quietly, involuntary tugging at the wedding band.

OOC: Feel free to do survival, tracking check.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:16, Sat 28 Nov 2020.

"Hmm..." Einar stooped down to check the freshness of the corpses, and to try and make sende of the many footprints. Between humans, gibbers, and whatever animals might've Come to feed on the carrion Between Then and now, it was No easy feat. But a possible one, nonetheless. "Tracks're muddled. But findin' the gibbers should be possible."

OOC:
04:42, Today: Einar Forester rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  Survival, tracking

Ignore the double diceroll in the diceroller. My internet had a hiccup, and the roll got input twice for some reason.

In reply to Einar Forester (msg # 47):

You have no problem finding the tracks. Judging by the tracks is must have been several hundred of them around the camp. The trail leads alongside of the boundary of the forest. You feel confident with been able to continue tracking them to their lair.

Ruby looks to Einar and Moonsong knowing this was there arena in the outdoors. She stays in the campsite, and in a sour tone, "disgusting little beasts." as she begins examining the bodies and scene closely looking for clues of anything else playing or adjusting the scene.

[Private to Dungeon Master: Searching the bodies for valuables 21:47, Today: Ruby Rose rolled 23 using 1d20+5.  Sleight of Hand.]
21:48, Today: Ruby Rose rolled 14 using 1d20+3.  Investigation

"Huh. a lot of Them. hundreds. a horde." Einar observed as much to himself as to the others, looking at the tracks with a furrowed brow. "Too many to fight. Gotta be careful not to wake Them."

He followed the tracks out of the camp, noting their general direction. "Kept to the edge of the forest. laziness, or something in there that scares a gibber horde?" He said, fingerring one of his axed nervously. These weren't the Woods He was accustomed to, and it set his teeth on edge.

In reply to Ruby Rose (msg # 49):

From investigation you learn that it looks like the tent was attacked first, with what looks like two larger humanoid steps leading out of the tend and fighting back to back with overwhelming number of smaller humanoids. One of the larger humanoids was knocked down and then dragged off.

[Private to Ruby Rose: As they don't wear armor and only use weapons when they can, you find what looks like broken scimitar, bent and split in half at a hilt longsword, otherwise nothing of note. Gibberlings do not have pockets either, as such you find nothing else of value. ]

Einar picked up the Gibberling trail with nearly preternatural skill. Moonsong paid attention to the forest itself, listening for any activity in the woods surrounding them. Her own senses weren’t as keen as Einar’a, though. Likely she found the sight and stench of all the corpses too distracting...


OOC:

23:15, Today: Moonsong rolled 7 using 1d20+5.  Perception Check.

In reply to Moonsong (msg # 52):

Except for the sound of morning birds, the forest is unusually quite. The thicker parts of it darker and more mysterious. It is possible that the thickness of the forest itself makes the sounds not travel well or it may be something more.