At the day's end, Pieter found himself a log and watched the refuges as they deported themselves. His eyes were wary, empathetic perhaps, but expression was hard as memories of his own past imposed itself. He tucked one boot beneath where he sat, massaging some feeling back into his toes and sole and scraping the worst of the day's wear from both, before repeating the same ritual with the other and then replacing both boots. It was an unconscious motion, and he was clearly used to privation, though he chanced a smile when Lukas sat himself by and muttered a few words. He nodded in response, an acknowledgement and perhaps a promise to consider what had been spoken, but he said nothing. His eyes had taken in the halfling approaching and he chanced a second smile as the Stoutfoot deftly prepared something in his pan.

His mouth watered, following the sample that Lukas tasted, saying nothing.

His smile was far more genuine at the gesture from the burner, and then by the maker of their meal, and he bobbed his head in thanks, tasting and then lingering over the well-prepared treat, "You have my thanks, Master Stoutfoot; I have heard tell of the pans of the smallfolk, but this exceeds those tales"

" no the pleasure is all mine, I am on the road most of the time so it is a real pleasure to be able to cook for others now and then especially those that appreciate simple things. If we ever find peace you are both invited to my small holding, if it is still there, and I will cook you both a seven course meal that will be so rich that you will not be able to move for at least four days" he said with a grin.

As a messenger he had been taught to give good and bad news and this put him in good stead to be able to distract people who were in difficult situations. A simple meal was a good distraction from the horrors encountered and those they might meet along the way.

Pieter laughed, “Any more than roast game and a few vegetables and it would be too rich for me; I’ve not had proper fresh bread for …”

He paused, frowned, “Years, now”

Fyodor had walked with the two foreign ladies and listened to them converse in a strange language. As they setup camp he nodded to the captain and took it upon himself to walk the perimeter to ensure they werent camping close to anything unpleasant.

"Aye," replied Lukas almost solemnly at Pieter's words.  He'd never been one for 'fine fayre' and he salivated, yet felt daunted at the Halfling's offering and generosity.

"That's a kind offer friend, although I doubt I would move for a month with seven courses Edgar!  Tell me, where is home when you are not being fleet of foot for the Empire?"

He'd heard of a land of Halfling's but he had never been there, much like he had never really been anywhere beyond the outskirts of the Drakwald.

The column of refugees sets up camp a couple of hours later in a large clearing by the side of the road, backed up by a sea of Middenland oaks standing like sentinels. The plip-plip of rain has turned the evening damp but overhead both moons and a few stars are visible, providing some light.

Captain Schiller issues orders for watches to be set and various preparations for the night to be set up. Tonight's dinner - for those without Edgar's skills with the skillet and long experience on the roads - includes hard bread, a little cheese and a few rabbits caught on route. All of it makes for thin pickings for the group but with more than half the distance to Middenheim covered there seems to be a little optimism in the air and people are willing to talk to take their mind off their empty stomachs and aching feet.

Luciana is happy to chatter away to her new friend, though the two quickly find they need to speak slowly to fully communicate.  As the two woman stroll through camp (attracting several admiring stares) they arrive at the ox-drawn wagon that houses Granny Moescher and her wards... only to find it empty.

Part of the mystery is quickly solved. Several of Granny's orphans are soon found wandering through camp. They are crying and wailing. "Granny, Granny, where are you, Granny?" A quick scan of the camp does not turn her up.

Captain Schiller frowns. "Taal's Teeth! What now? Someone's going to have to find her." He mutters something under his breath about not being a babysitter, although you're pretty sure that his lack of desire to watch the children is a mask for his concern for Granny Moescher.

Edgar looked off into the distance for a moment contemplating Lukas question " I have a little cabin in the Moot up north. It sits in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the river Aver.My little sister, her husband and three children live there and tend the fields."

He took the lid off the pan and stirred the contents " I intend to build a little place on the edge of our land for myself once I get too old to deliver messages and have a chair by a large roaring fire with my larder shelves stacked to the ceiling and my cellar full of wine and ale" he gave a smile and put the lid back on the pan.

" but that is for another day, if I never make it back I want  to know that I did all I could in my small way to protect my family from what these poor people have faced and will face in the coming days."

Lukas felt comforted just listening to Edgar.  There was something about the halfling that promised warmth, safety and a full belly.  He didn't know too much about their ways but he knew that 'home' was very important to them.  Lukas felt he could identify with that somewhat, even though he had no family and no home to speak off anymore there was something in Edgar's words that were worth clinging onto.

"It sounds like a fine future my friend, how good it would be to grow old and be content rather than just survive and hope that we get through the next day..." he said quietly.  Now they had to run, and move and just try and be safe of course.  Even growing old seemed to be an ambition out of reach at the moment.

"There's part of me that always would have been content with my little place in the woods and my burner, but there's no going back there now..."

Of course, he was only being slightly truthful.  There was a part of him now that had been awakened and needed the thrill of adventure and excitement now that he had a taste of it.  He didn't like to admit it but in some ways it was just as appealing as a warm fire and full larder that Edgar spoke off.

As he ruminated about the past, present and future his ears, and then his eyes were drawn to some commotion further away within the camp.  His eyes caught the colourful robes of the wizard and then he was sure he saw Luciana with her talking to Captain Schiller.  Part of him thought, 'just leave it' and to focus on his potatoes instead but something wasn't right.

Lukas gesticulated to the disturbance in the camp and tried to indicate Jocelin, "what do you think she's up to then?" he asked those assembled nearby.

“Nothing but trouble”, muttered Pieter to the burner’s question, moving quickly to join the search; if the old woman wasn’t found , it meant the beast herd was upon them. Or worse. They needed to understand exactly the peril they were in, to measure it. Years of hiding in the Drachenvald had taught him that

Edgar stood up at the commotion and listened for a moment "I think I heard someone shout Granny Moescher is missing. I suggest we make a sweep of the camp quickly she can't have gone far and I can't believe the good captain hasn't posted guards a little way out. If she's not passed them she must be somewhere between the camp and their locations"

He quickly, more out of instinct than thought took the pan off the fire and laid it down on a nearby rock.

Taking up his club he nodded to lukas then moved out. He didn't take a torch his night vision made moving about in the dark no issues for him

"Captain Schiller, don't be troubled! I'm sure Granny simply slipped off for an herb or two for someone in need. I'm sure she'll be close by." Jocelin turned to Luciana. "[Language unknown: Etfi er ilouss ekugh tonti o?]"

She tried to gather all of Granny's orphans together and sang a song to comfort them. "We're going to play a game, isn't this fun! Now, close your eyes... think of what she looks like, from her silver hair, to her shawl, to the funny things she can do with her spots. Ok, have it? Now... imagine where she was when you last remember seeing her DONT SAY IT! ... just think." Jocelin put her hand under the chin of the oldest girl. "Ok, sweetie. Open your eyes. Do you remember? Can you point the direction of where that was?"

For a few minutes, Jocelin talked with the children to find out where Granny had walked off to before eventually heading in that direction and talking with the refugees she met if they had seen her.

---

OOC:

21:10, Today: Jocelin Herzog rolled 5 using 1d100.  Gossip - target 34.

What time of day is it? Dark, twilight, late afternoon?

Fyodor came back from his patrol and noticed straight away the commotion and crying children. He joined the wind witch and the new exotic lady and asked in his accented Reikspiel.

"Something happened?"

Lukas and Pieter had moved off to look for Granny Moescher almost immediately as soon as they had heard whilst Lukas was still trying to understand what was going on.  People were moving a little too fast for his liking and he had a horrible vision of everyone just blundering into the Drakwald and getting lost.  Who needed beastmen when a man could meet his own end....

"Wait up a moment fellas, Granny probably isn't lost."  He wasn't sure why there was such a kerfuffle at the moment, even though it now appeared that Jocelin was appearing to console distraught children, a task which there was likely no spell for.  "Granny likes to be on her own, she's probably just gone to find some herbs," 'or maybe just get a bit of peace and quiet' he thought.  Granny Moescher was a little like him, known in Untergard but not really part of it.

Deciding that the best thing to do would be to head over to Jocelin and Luciana and try and listen to what the children were saying he walked a little closer, but stood back.  He wasn't really used to children (at all) and although he had taken a dip in the river recently he knew that years of soot had ingrained in his face and with his big beard he 'possibly' may not have had a kindly face children would find endearing.  Getting closer, it was evident that the wizard had managed to soothe the little ones somewhat so he decided to listen to see what the children would say.

Edgar let the others congregate he was best moving on his own with out lots of torches to mess with his vision. He took a path just outside the camp and started to walk round it in a clockwise direction.

When he got back to the starting point he took a step 10 yards further out and repeated the process increasing his range and distance from the camp

Grumbling something about people getting lost in the darkness, Harkrin joined Edgar at the edge of the camp and looked around.

"Any luck?" he asked the Halfling. "If they start walking around the forest with all those torches, they'll probably attract some unwanted attention." he muttered part to himself.

" no nothing at the moment" replied the halfling " lets keep ahead of the torches so we don't loose the use of our dark sight" he suggested happy to have the dwarf at his side especially as they were still just ahead of a horde of beastmen

"We woke in the cart and Granny was gone!" the copper haired girl sobbed to Jocelin, her big hazel eyes flush with tears, even if Jocelin's soothing words seem to be calming her. The wizardess didn't really know the orphans well but the oldest was maybe twelve at best. There were still younger children in the convoy but they still had family looking after them.

Captain Schiller, who had walked over to see what the fuss was about looks at Lukas with obvious surprise, though he quickly recovers. "Still alive Kohl? Good man, I'm sure there is tale there worth hearing when we aren't immediately beset with problems."

He glances thoughtfully at Pieter, Gunther and Luciana, and raises one grey white caterpillar of an eyebrow. "More strays?"


Luciana offers to take temporary care of the orphans and Captain Schiller orders Father Dietrich to go among the other refugees and calm their nerves before the disappearance provokes an active panic. "We'll organise a search. Mistress Herzog, any chance she has spirited away by magic?"

Meanwhile Edgar and Harkin have found what looks like a foot print in the mud at the tree line.

It is now dusk and with the moons and stars peeping through the clouds there is still enough light to see without torches.

---

OOC: Can I get either a Follow Trail or Outdoor Survival roll from anyone looking to do some searching.

Jocelin you can make a Magical Sense roll (and one of the above rolls too if you are also searching.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:33, Thu 20 May 2021.

17:09, Today: Edgar Stoutfoot rolled 89 using 1d100.  Outdoor survival target 35.

18:53, Today: Harkrin 'Klinka' rolled 86 using 1d100.  Outdoor survival vs 15.

Lukas gulped when he saw Captain Schiller.  He had meant to say 'hello' earlier in the day but for one reason or another he had not got round to it yet.  It was quite rude of him not to have made the effort to let him know he was back from the dead and he did at least respect the Captain.

"You could say that Captain," he said, "and there will be a tale when there's some ale, I can tell you that."  He noticed the look towards the trio from the Drakwald and could instantly see Schiller thinking 'three more mouths' but also more likely sizing them up for anything useful that could help them get to Middenheim safely.

"They're with me Captain.  Good people too, I'll vouch for them."  And Lukas meant it too, though just how much he could vouch for someone he'd known for a couple of nights was another question.

You know what Granny's like Captain, she likes her own space but we'll look for her anyway, though if she's in a grump when we find her we'll tell her you sent us," he added with a smirk.  Turning to Gunther and Pieter he said, "If you want to get in the Captain's good graces you should join the search."

And with that, he tried to find Edgar and the dwarf.  Alas it was getting dark for him and he was somewhat preoccupied so he felt his contribution wasn't really helping.

(OOC: 19:52, Today: Lukas Kohl rolled 93 -- 4 degrees of failure using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 44.  Outdoor Survival (Int 44).)

"See in night. Me. Da" Fyodor say while pointing to his eyes and then at the dark forest. "Help search."

The Wizard turned from the children and brightened at Luciana. "Oh, please call me Jocelin! And that is so good of you to offer, they do need looking after and the men are just so helpless when it comes to it."

She to saw the others walking around the camp, and glanced about shaking her head. "Other's eyes are keener in this dim light, but..." she closed her eyes but opened herself up to the Winds, that she might see the unseen; when she opened them her irises had variegated, and scintillating light danced on the surface.

---

OOC:

09:03, Today: Jocelin Herzog rolled 82 using 1d100.  Tracking/Survival (Untrained).
09:04, Today: Jocelin Herzog rolled 85 using 1d100.  Magical Sense - Target 43.
09:06, Today: Jocelin Herzog rolled 42 using 1d100.  Magical Sense - Target 43 FORTUNE POINT.

3 Fortune Points Remain

Offering a painted smile and a bowed head to the Captain, Pieter joined the search parties eagerly enough, though his watch was as much on those behind as the quarry they sought

14:13, Today: Pieter Marik rolled 89 -- 7 degrees of failure using the Warhammer Test system with a target number of 18.  Outdoor Survival

It is in fact Lukas who discovers a trail of footprints in what is probably Granny's size leading off into the undergrowth. The charcoal burner literally stumbles across the tracks by tripping over a trailing tree root and landing with his nose inches from one of the prints.

Fyodor, Edgar and Harkin all of whom are able to see in the dark are able to see Lukas's discovery more clearly and could probably lead a group to follow.

---

OOC: You all have ridiculously bad skill with dice! ;-)
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:14, Wed 26 May 2021.

Fyodor chuckles as Lukas goes headfirst into the muck. He grabs the man by his collar and pulls him up on his feet and brushes the muck off Lukas's clothes.
With a pat on his back he says "Back you. No charge this time." which makes the Kislivite break out in laughter.

With that he grabs his arquebus follows the trail as the lead scout.