Tristan shakes his head.  "No.  I wish I could, though." He sighs.  "Okay, let's find a village with a fox problem."

In reply to Tristan (msg # 10):

Conrad and Rulf exchange a look, but say nothing.  Conrad slaps you lightly on the back, and the boat sails on.

You spend the night shivering on the deck.  It gets colder than you would think out on the ocean at night.

It takes until late afternoon before the crew calls out that land is sighted.  The boat swings wide and starts to crawl southward along a cliff ridden coast line.

They finally dock in a small village.

"We gotta hike up into them hills there, Young Master."  He points to the northeast.  "It'll be a few hours, but we'll see the village of Sionnach Dorcha."

He glances up at the sky.  "Might be best to try to find somewhere here to bed down in though.  It's later in the day then I'd like.  But if you wanna press on and get there, we can try to hoof it."

Press on or bed down for the night in this fishing village?

"Let's push on.  My instincts tell me that's the right choice.  What does the name of that village mean?  Do you know?"

In reply to Tristan (msg # 12):

The two grogs get a move on without any further discussion.  Rulf grabs your gear while Conrad slips a pack over his shoulder.  He purses his lips.

"Hmmm...in English..."Dark Fox" I guess."

The path up the hills is windy, more a game trail than an actual path.  The trees grow thicker and seem to bend overhead, as if about to pounce on you.

The path dips at one point, running down hill, and you come to a problem.  It must have rained quite heavily recently, because the area up ahead looks washed out. A few trees have toppled over, blocking the way.  The ground tilts downwards at a steep angle as well.  Trying to go around it to the south will be difficult as the earth looks quite sodden.

You could try to go north a bit, and go around the downed trees.  But the forest is thick in that direction, so you can't tell what lays that way.

You can of course just try to clamber over the trees.  It wouldn't be that difficult surely.

Three choices:  go south, which means you'd be scrambling around a sharply descending slope that looks quite muddy, go north where you can't see what might be there, or try to just climb over the trees

We'll try to head down the slope over the fallen trees, all the while keeping an eye out for tracks and other sings of fox infestation.  Tristan figures that if the worst thing that happens to him on this adventure is that he gets muddy, he's doing well.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 14):

The trees jut out over the lip of the decline.  You duck under them, getting your footing.

The slope is a little more sheer than you thought.  You'll have to almost climb across it sideways and then up to get under and around the trees.

Athletics/Str test please.  This is a stress test.

Thanks

04:20, Today: Tristan rolled -1 using 1d10-3.  Ath/str.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 16):

You slip under some branches and scramble down the side of the slope, realizing now that it's more like a cliff.  As you feel your right foot start to slip, you realize it's a cliff of mud.

Your foot starts to fall and the rest of you comes after.  Behind you, you think you can hear Conrad call your name.  But then you're sliding down the slope, the mud pulling you further and further down.

When you come to a stop, you hear a creaking above you.  Looking up, you can see your fall destablized the slope even further.  One of the trees is tipping over and starting to fall down the slope after you...

You may want to scramble out of the way.  An Athletics/Qik check please.  This is also a stress test.

Thanks

21:40, Today: Tristan rolled 0 using 1d10-2.  ath/qik.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 18):

Please kick me if I don't respond within two days.  For some reason, I keep missing responses.  Sorry about that.

The ground gives under one of the trees and it starts to slide down the slope towards you.

Conrad shouts your name in alarm, but you're too busy scrambling aside to pay him any mind.

You feel something sharp and hard poke you on the back and then you're airborne.  The ground comes at you and knocks all the air out of your lungs.  You black out.

When you come to, you're laying in front of a fire.  Rulf is sharpening an axe blade with a grindstone and you can smell fish cooking on spits stuck against the fire's perimeter.

No sign of Conrad.

Rulf notices you moving and leans forward.  "You got hurt.  Conrad's gone to find some help.  How do you feel?"

You took one level of wounds.  So you are at -1 for all activity.  For the moment at least.

Tristan slow starts to move, beginning with his fingers and toes, then graduating to rotating his arms and feet.  “Not great.  But my stomach is working just fine, and I can smell that fish.  I could eat my own weight in it.  Thank you for helping me,” he adds.

I don’t think I’d ever leave the house if I learned how to physically people over the internet.  What a fun and useful skill that would be.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:30, Sat 23 Dec 2023.

We can all dream, can't we?

Rulf grunts, but sets his axe down and fiddles with the fish.  He passes one over to you.  It's still a bit pink, but Rulf or Conrad rubbed it with walt and some wild garlic.  And the skin is quite crispy.

Rulf watches you inhale the first fish and calmly, quietly, hands you a second.

"Are you really one a' the magi?  They'd usually a' magicked them trees outta the way.  Conrad says you're learning.  You learned much?"

He hands you a third fish as he listens to your answer.  "You got yourself a man yet?  A grog?  Conrad's one a Master Coscrach's men.  You got your own men yet?"

“I’ve learned a lot, but I still don’t know what a grog is.” He wipes fish grease from his still cold lips.  “I still don’t know how to do anything about the trees, unfortunately.  I guess that’s in next summer’s books.” He looks up expectantly as though he hadn’t already eaten three fish.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:01, Fri 29 Dec 2023.

Rulf barks out a laugh.  It's the first facial expression you've seen from him.

He hands you another fish.  "Grog is what me an' Conrad are.  You grugrachs wave your hands and do your magicks.  Guys like me an' Conrad stand in front of you with shield and axe and keep the enemy off ya."

He leans a little closer, narrowing his eyes.  "Every magi keeps one man close.  His own guard if that makes sense.  I'm askin' if you have such a man yet?  I want better things outta life.  An' bein' a grugrach's sword hand seems a good way to go about it."

"I'll consider it, after our mission is complete and I've had a chance to evaluate your performance."  His voice carries a tone of royal finality, and after saying these words, he turns in.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 24):

You awake to a gentle shaking.

Conrad is kneeling over you.  "Young Master?  Young Master.  I brought someone who can take a look at that leg."

You sleepily look around.

It's night.  The stars are up, but the moon must have already set.  Rulf and Conrad are peering at you and then at a fourth figure around your little camp fire.

She's an older woman.  Not a grandmother.  But apparently on her way towards it.  Her skirt is faded and dirty.  Her blouse is so old, you can't tell what color it originally was.

The most remarkable thing about her is the head scarf.  It's bright red.  So red it even stands out in the gloom of the evening.  It's coiled around her head, holding her thick, iron gray hair in a tight knot.

She studies you with eyes that seem to be disapproving of something, and then says, "Young Lord.  Can I look over your leg?"

“Ummm… yes, I suppose so.  What is your name?  Mine is Tristan.”

Tristan decides to trust the judgment of his non-magical companions, but he does so with some reluctance.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 26):

She chuckles at your reluctance.  "Petronilla.  Fortunate to meet you."

Her touch is not gentle.  She squeezes your leg and turns it around, causing you quite a bit of pain in the manhandling.

But she sits back, nodding.  "It's not too bad.  Really a sprain.  I'll apply some herbs.  You hurt anywhere else?  What are you doing here anyway?"

”That’s our business,” Tristan says more harshly than intended.  Then he adds, more gently, ”Will you be wanting payment for your services?”

He ignores her question about pain, for now.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Fri 19 Jan.

She chortles as she makes a paste out of some leaves.  "My.  Aren't you the growling wolf?  Fine, fine.  Keep your business to yourself.  And yes.  I will be wantin' payment-"

"Which I already gave ya," mutters Conrad.

"Which I've already received," she cackles.

She starts to wrap a bandage made of old clothes around your ankle.  "You'll need to stay off it the rest of the night.  Don't do too much on it tomorrow.  Now then."

She points at your campfire.  "Let me share your fire tonight.  It's too late to go tromping through the woods on my own."

Tristan looks to the others to see if they have any objections.  If not, he doesn’t have a problem with it.

He tries to get some sleep, and tries not to worry about how he can fulfill the quest without ‘doing too much’ on his injured ankle.

Conrad and Rulf stare back at you, as if wondering why you are looking at them.  They will go with what you say.  You are the boss here.  Kinda.

Petronilla chortles some more, but doesn't say anything else. She curls up by the fire.

Make me two Awareness/Per checks please

23:06, Today: Tristan rolled 3 using 1d10-2. – 3

23:05, Today: Tristan rolled 5 using 1d10-2.  Awareness/per. – 5

In reply to Tristan (msg # 32):

Someone is shaking you.  The vague dream you stumble out of...something about hedgehogs trying to teach you how to thread needles...falls away and you awake to Conrad kneeling over you.

He quickly puts a finger to his lips and nods out into the darkness.  Rulf is standing, his spear clutched in both hands.  Conrad silently stands, hoisting his axe.

Petronilla is sitting up on the other side of the fire, clutching her shawl around her boney shoulders.

You soon understand why they are all on alert.  From out in the woods, you hear a grunting.  Then a growling.  Then something that sounds like something wet being torn apart.

More growling.

Conrad motions at the fire and makes some gestures.  You understand fairly quick.  He wants you to stoke up the fire that was near to dying.  There's a pile of fire wood nearby.

As you start to feed logs in, you hear Petronilla mutter, "...take them instead...take them instead..."

As Tristan feeds the fire, he tries to figure out if the witchy woman is referring to them as a possible sacrifice, or to something else.  What does her tone of voice tell him?