The weather beyond the crumbling walls and hastily patched roof is frightful, though the mushroom stew was more delightful. Haznut did well in his search for delectable fungi that Samara was able to use for the warm meal. The kindling and deadfall that Elde collected provided fuel for a smokey fire that eventually spread some heat to the weary bones of the adventurers and managed to keep away any insects that the rain and wind failed to.

Watch was mainly uneventful, though those who were awake while Saidou slept were an audience to his tossing and turning while mumbling throughout the night.


Saidou startles everyone awake as he cries out and snaps upright, confusion and panic twists his face before his heavy panting and sweat drenched brow relaxes, if only momentarily.

The storm has moved on, having scoured any form of warmth from the region. Your breath can be seen upon the still air and the weak sun wars with heavy fog and clouds to reach your shelter. A new day, such as it is, has dawned.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:39, Fri 24 Feb 2023.

Chest heaving raggedly, Saidou's expression is full of an odd confusion and grief. Mumbling under his breath, his eyes were darting around trying to fix or search for something. "Where... But I..?" A sharp head shake, and the shadowfolk seems more lucid after shaking away the discord.

"...Must have been something in the mushrooms. I've no children to go missing..." he would mumble, his eyes settling and fixing for a long moment on Haznut's storage chest.

"That you know of," Vostiun volunteers. He looks over at the new dawn fighting its way through the fog and whispers a short prayer to Sarenrae.

Sargon steps out from Vostiun's sleeping bag with a long stretch and finishes with what seems like a very satisfying yawn.

Samara's stretch is almost a mimic of Sargon's as she slinks across the small camp to bump into, then wrap herself around Saidou, smoothing his tousled hair. "Sage," she purrs, "Red pepper, thyme, dried tomato paste... you had a rough night, no? Do you want to tell me what you remember?"

Saidou gives a dry grimace in Vostiun's direction before responding to the two, commenting that "Between my studies, and my appearance, I've not had much opportunity. But last night ... I don't recall much of the details. Mostly just emotions, maybe- Or even probably- connected to the emotional storm that came with the damaged notes. A lot of anger, betrayal. Loss and destruction, ruined knowledge being taken by the waters and the weeds as a horse-headed fiend looked on. It was ... amused, by my torture. Amused at my grief, my anger, my loss... Saidou gives another sharp shake of his head, reaching for his wineskin as to wash the dream from his mind.

Kon fastidiously folds garments from the previous day's travel and stows them toward the bottom of the pack as water for tea boils over the meagre fire, "I'm guessing it was the papers.  You had a pretty poor reaction to them.  My family's pretty used to...  Interesting foods and drinks though, so I won't fully discount it."  Assembling some crushed leaves in a strainer, he looks over pointedly at Saidou, then to the others, "Tea?"

"Love some, thanks," Samara finishes giving Saidou a rub on his shoulders. "Watch out for horse-head creatures, got it. Seriously, if you remember anything else, because it sounds like you imagined that fellow's final moments, or channeled them somehow?"

"Yes, please to the tea."

Vostiun furrows his brow and thinks for a moment. "A horse headed demon that took joyous delight as your work was destroyed?"

Does that sound familiar?
Religion Check
21:26, Today: Vostiun Hephaurio rolled 14 using 1d20+3 ((11)).

Taking the moment to finish securing his wineskin before accepting the tea with a grateful expression, Saidou responds to Samara. "I certainly hope that it wasn't reliving an impression of the professor's final moments. The fiend was laughing as documents were consumed over by moss, drowned in deep waters. It could have been allegory, or connected to his death... But then what of the distinct impressions of wondering where my children were?"

Pondering dreams.

22:39, Today: Samara al-Khafif rolled 16 using 1d20+5.  Samara - Occult - Interpret Saidou's dream.

Still pondering.

"I wouldn't dwell on it too long.  Write out what you remember, maybe, our spinners do that to make sense of the memories they glean in their archive of star orbs, but being distracted by your dreams won't help you in the slightest."  Kon checks the boiling water and removes it from the fire for a minute while preparing his small pot with the strainer, "If we were back home, I'd direct you to one of them.  Though, I guess without a star orb of your own it wouldn't help too much..."

After a short wait, Kon prepares the tea in the pot and begins handing out small travel cups of strained tea, half flavour and half disappointing watery taste.  Hot and warming, a hint of what it could have been, but just barely on the right side of "weak".  "I apologise for the tea in advance.  I've used these leaves a few times.  Travel rationing makes for poor tea.  I'll have to restock when we get back to the university."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 03:11, Tue 28 Feb 2023.