Chapter 3 - Into the Wild

The small caravan has been on the road for one day now. It left Seyda Neen yesterday morning bound for Balmora, trading hub and home of the House Hlaalu, one of Morrowind's five Great Houses. The caravan's cargo includes textiles for Balmora's clothiers and an assortment of alcohol for various Balmora pubs.

The caravan itself is composed of a train of five guars, bipedal, reptilian creatures native to Vvardenfell that are often used as mounts or beasts of burden. Leading the caravan is a stocky Imperial named Miles Catraso, who seems to be perpetually sweating and wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. Accompanying Miles is his Dunmer wife, Favani, and the couple's two children. Six-year-old Emelia is bouncy and bubbly, in appearance nearly as dark grey as her mother but with pale blue eyes like her father. Ten-year-old Jerian is more serious. Tall and lanky for his age, with the red eyes of his mother but the sandy brown hair of his father, Jerian spends his time sketching his surroundings with the eye of a budding artist. While Miles, Favani, and Jerian walk, Emelia rides, perched on a guar she has named Pokey.

Hired on for the caravan as guards are Angharad, a young Bosmer woman; and Mokir'ra, an enormous Khajiit. Outlaws often waylay unsuspecting merchants as they travel along trade routes, and Angharad and Mokir'ra have been hired on to make sure the caravan reaches Balmora.

At noon, the caravan stops for lunch along the road. The path here winds among the gently sloping hills of the Ascadian Isles, a verdant, fertile region of agriculture. Trees provide shelter from the hot sun. Favani sees to the guars as Miles takes out a ledger and sweats over his accounts, pausing to jot down some notes. At length he looks up from his work. "Emelia!" he calls. "Emelia, where are you?" Not seeing his daughter, he shuts the ledger and clambers to his feet. "Favani. Have you seen Emelia? She was just here a second ago."

Favani looks over, concern in her eyes. "What do you mean, have I seen her? Jerian was supposed to be watching her. Jerian, where is your sister?"

"I dunno, Mom. She was just here." The lad is sitting, cross-legged, sketching Pokey.

His mother sighs. "Where did she run off to? That girl. Turn your head one minute, and she's climbing a tree or swimming in a pond." In a business-like manner, Favani says, "All right, Jerian. Come with me. We'll find your sister." She looks over at the two hired guards. "Angharad? Mokir'ra? Could you help us look for Emelia?"



OOC: Example of a guar caravan. Full image here.

This thread is for Angharad and Mokir'ra. The two of you have been hired by Miles Catraso to serve as caravan guards.

Roll vs. HT or Hiking. On a failure, you are down FP equal to how much you missed the roll by.

There is room on the guars to carry your equipment if you so desire. In your post, indicate what gear you currently have with you.

"Of course this one would help." Mokir'ra replied, trying to keep his voice more quiet than he might have with his fellow soldiers of Elsweyr, but that is "long" ago and far away now. He didn't want to scare people with his stature or volume. Soldiers liked big people at their sides. They make for larger targets than everybody else, and they can carry your gear for you. Mokir'ra stood over seven feet tall, and even more if you count the tall black tufts on his eartips, but his build betrayed a lack of sheer muscle power. He was stronger than the average Imperial, but not by much. He was dressed in padded linen armor, double thick and quilted, it covered his full form except his face. Atop it all he wore a standard issue light pot helm, with perforations over the ears.

Mokir'ra would wait to hear the answer of the other person requested to help, before he would leave and go searching for the lost girl, Emilia. There was safety in numbers. "Let us seek her back the way we came. They lost her somewhere back there, back there is where she will be."

---

OOC:
I only now remembered that Khajit in Morrowind couldn't wear boots. If that's the case, I'll remove them and with the Host's permission, refund the cost.

13:51, Today: Mokir'ra rolled 9 using 3d6 ((3,4,2)).vs HT 10
This message was last edited by the player at 17:40, Thu 01 Dec 2022.

Angharad has had a busy day. She's finally out of the town and able to see all of the land around. The caravan moves slowly, so Angharad has been jumping out of the carts to run and see whatever new thing strikes her fancy. The little birds ran off. She was able to look at some animal tracks after the little furry things darted back in their holes in the ground.

Fairly exhausted, she was riding in the cart looking over a couple of leaves she had found. Six lobes are not common in Valenwood. When the hue-and-cry goes up, she jerks her attention to the caravan.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll help." Angharad hops off the wagon, leaving her find tucked out of the way. She grabs her bow from beside her and looks around the area where the caravan had stopped getting her bearings and trying to memorize landmarks so she can find the caravan again. The Khajit also offered to help. She turns to him and asks, "Can you track?"



14:31, Today: Angharad rolled 15 using 3d6 with rolls of 6,6,3.  Hiking vs 9.

"In the army, we had scouts for such things, but when the scouts were not available, we had to make do. Today we are making do. This one will use his mind and not his eyes." He pointed back the way they had come, "Let us look for where Emilia might be hiding, or might have fallen out of sight of the trail. Favani, Jerian, where did you last see her?"

Mokir'ra strode away from the Caravan, back along the trail, where he expected the others to follow. The Khajit momentarily turned his attention backward toward the Caravan, so he could see the way he would be returning.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:47, Sun 20 Nov 2022.

"Ah, well. I can track so we are in luck.", smiled Angharad. "I'll take a look around."

While Mokira asks around, Angharad moves to a wide circle around where the caravan stopped for lunch. She looks down at the ground, occasionally squatting down to look at something on the ground closer.


OOC 22:30, Today: Angharad rolled 7 using 3d6 with rolls of 5,1,1.  Tracking vs 13.

"She was here when we stopped for lunch," Miles offers. "She couldn't have gone far." The Imperial merchant looks more worried than usual, and he wipes his brow with a large red kerchief.

"I'm surprised she didn't stay here with Pokey," Jerian says. The lad packs up his sketchbook, slings his pack over his shoulder, and clambers to his feet. "She loves that guar to pieces. She really takes after Mom."

"If you think she might have gone back the way we came, I'll take Jerian and head that way," Favani says. The Dunmer woman's face is concerned as well, and her mouth is set in a thin line. taking up a stout walking stick, she strides off back along the path to the southeast, Jerian hurrying along after her.

Meanwhile, Angharad walks around the perimeter of the campsite, looking for anything that might provide a clue. Just off the road is a stand of giant mushrooms and trees, with a small path running through the grove. The air is cooler here and provides some shade from the heat of the day. Something catches the Bosmer's eye, and she bends down to look more carefully. In a patch of mud are several guar footprints, leading away from camp. Could Emelia have spotted a wild guar and tried to follow it?



OOC: The road curves from the southeast to the north. Southeast is the direction you came from back in Seyda Neen. The road to the north leads in the direction of Balmora, your destination. The guar tracks are to the west along a small path that runs up into the hills.

Angharad heads back to the cart and puts some bread and dried fruit into her satchel. She catches Mokira's eye and walks past him, muttering as she goes by. "Let's look up there. I don't see any of her tracks, but there's a....guar, is that right? Anyway, it went that way. I don't see anything else heading outward. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"If she likes the Guar, she may have followed one. This is a better lead than this one's guess." Mokir'ra veered from his originally chosen path to follow the path to the West. His thick padded armor slowed the large Khajit down quite enough that he left his supplies behind, carrying only his weapons and his wits. He shaded his eyes from the sun as he went. While he was all business according to most outward appearances, those familiar with his people would notice his heightened nerves by how puffed out his exposed pelt was.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:47, Tue 22 Nov 2022.

Angharad nods as she heads to the west with Mokir'ra. She keeps looking up and around regularly even as she keeps following the guar tracks. No need to get snuck up on. This area is so different. I'm not sure what a threat would be.

Mokir'ra took off his pot helm and slid off his padded coif in order to scratch at the bugs that had found him. Angharad might be able to hear him mumble;

"This one is not food. This one curses these oblivion damned biting… Things… and this moist, sticky air."

One could see his discipline return in the manner that he snapped the coif back into place, and solidly set the spectacled helm atop his head. He had seen Angharad paying better attention than he, thus the retired soldier lept into swift action, tying his chin strap under his wide boxed jaw. He scanned the ground, seeking signs of passage of little Human feet, or big Guar Feet.

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OOC: Perception 12. Tracking defaults to Perception.

Move: 3

12:38, Today: Mokir'ra rolled 6 using 3d6 ((2,3,1)).
This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Thu 01 Dec 2022.

The giant Suthay-Raht and the smaller Bosmer continue their search for the missing Dunmer girl. Heading off in the direction of the wild guar tracks Angharad found, the pair walks for about ten minutes, continuing to look for further spoor. Here and there they see more guar tracks, along with other kinds of animal tracks crisscrossing the trail. At length, Mokir'ra's sharp eyes spot the indentation of a small child-sized foot.

As they follow the trail further, gradually hills rise on either side as the path leads down into a small ravine. The trail wends its way onward, ending at a small structure built into the hillside. The small edifice has a curved roof that juts out from the hillside with a smaller arch sheltering a door, and what seems to be a small stoop. The door itself is slightly ajar, and above the door hangs a small banner with a word in an unfamiliar language.

Angharad follows the trail marveling at the land around her. It's much more empty than the Valenwood. In spite of the aridness, there is life, scuttling lizards and small prickly plants. It's all a wonder.

She slows as she crests the hill wary of her field of view. She takes in the scene below and stops completely to look carefully. Her steps resume, but slower.

Looking to her larger companion, she asks, "Should we call out friendly-like?"

Mokir'ra studied the structure, then the ground around him, and then the structure once more. "Our quarry, Little Emelia, seems to have come this way. This one would be foolish not to look inside." He steeled himself with a deep breath, held for a long moment, "Any kind of people could be inside, We should announce ourselves and learn."

He projected his deep, rumbling voice as only an officer of an army could: "Hail inside! We mean no harm! We seek a lost girl that came this way!"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:00, Sun 04 Dec 2022.

Mokir'ra calls out to whoever might be beyond the door, but no answer comes to the Khajiit's hails. The small ravine is quiet, without even the sound of insects or birds. A small breeze stirs, bringing with it the faint smell of death and decay.

Angharad wrinkles her nose at the smell. She whispers some nonsense syllables and gestures up from the ground causing the sand to shift slightly three feet under her hand. Her face yellows slightly for a second or two before fading back to it usual color.

She briefly raises her index finger to her lips before reaching for the nock of the arrow she has on the string. She quietly creeps down the hill toward the entrance.

OOC 21:42, Today: Angharad rolled 6 using 3d6 with rolls of 3,1,2.  Stealth vs 13.  21:41, Today: Angharad rolled 15 using 3d6 with rolls of 3,6,6.  Cast Armor vs 13.
Looks like I didn't get the armor. I'm down 4 points of Energy Reserve. I am quiet going down the hill though.
Recasting Armor for 2 DR.   07:31, Today: Angharad rolled 11 using 3d6 with rolls of 4,1,6.  Cast Armor for 2 DR vs 13.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:34, Tue 06 Dec 2022.

Mokir'ra followed Angharad slowly and silently on rawhide soled boots. The smell had him on edge. It smelled like a tomb and the tracks lead this very way. On the way he slowly slid his sword from its wooden scabbard, making no sound. Watching the large feline frame gliding over the ground without any noise could be intimidating to one not of his acquaintance.

---

15:45, Today: Mokir'ra rolled 8 using 3d6.  Stealth: DX-5 +1 Catburglary: DX 12 - 4 = Target 8.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:46, Sat 10 Dec 2022.

The Khajiit and the Bosmer cautiously make their way down the ravine until they stand at the door of the small structure. The door is cracked open slightly, and Mokir'ra and Angharad can see a hallway sloping down slightly into the hillside, ending at another door. Torches flicker periodically down the hall, illuminating the stone wall and floors. The smell of decay is stronger here, not enough to make the two gag, but lingering in the air.



OOC: Image for effect only. The passageway slopes downward, and you cannot see another door.

Roll vs. Hearing, please.

The girl's tracks seem to lead to this place. You can enter in search of her, return to the caravan to get help, or anything else you can think of. The hallway is wide enough for the two of you to advance side by side. If you do intend to enter, let me know if one of you is going first or if you're entering shoulder to shoulder.

Angharad slowly steps down the hall not sure what is causing the unsettling smell. The shadows jump as the flame dances causing her more tension. Still there's a little girl down here. Just a few paces down to the door. The whole place is quiet like a.....tomb.

OOC : 11:44, Today: Angharad rolled 14 using 3d6 with rolls of 5,5,4.  Hearing - Perception vs 12.
Angaharad is not hanging back. I would expect us to walk in shoulder to shoulder.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:49, Thu 19 Jan 2023.

Mokir'ra crept cautiously down the sloped hallway, following the footprints in the dust on the path. Emelia had gone this way, and may still be going! Possibly toward danger so the tall Khajit lead the way in. "It will be darker inside. I carry a sword and shield, you will need to carry the torch." The fact that Angharad had just used magic and could probably summon a light did not register to the Khajit. He had readied himself for action due to the scent of death in the air, and was too focused to think past his own experience.

Holding a bow in her hands, Angharad looks at Mokir'ra quizzically. After a long moment, she shrugs and puts her arrow and bow away. She then draws one of her javelins. Then she frees one of the torches from it's hanging ring.

Holding the torch up, she starts moving down the hallway wary.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:28, Tue 24 Jan 2023.

A bow, Mokir'ra shrugged, and tried on a grin that showed less teeth than a human might. "Drop it when we need to fight." kept pace with Angharad, shielding her and himself with the buckler in his right hand. In a careful pace, he felt safer with a bared broadsword in his good hand.

Bosmer and Khajiit advance slowly down the downward sloping tunnel. Torches flicker as they pass. The floor is relatively free of dust, as if this area were recently cleaned, though the faint odor of death still lingers.

After about twenty yards down the hallway, the two eventually see what looks like a large pit taking up the width of the corridor and stretching perhaps six yards further down the corridor. To the left is a door, and to the right, another passageway extends, sloping further downward about ten yards.

OOC: And we're back! Sorry for the extended absence. I'll do my best to be more consistent in my posting.

You have several options here. You can try the door to the left, attempt to leap over the pit, or try the righthand hallway.

If you want to try jumping over the pit, give me a DX or Jumping roll. Standing jump distance is (2 x Basic Move) - 3 feet (note, this is in feet, not yards), and if you take a running start, twice your standing jump distance.

Angharad very carefully peers down into the pit, then backs away. She whispers to Mokir'ra pointing to the right, "The hallway would be the quieter and safer. I'd rather be cautious until we know what's down here. Besides, that little girl probably couldn't have opened it."