25 Pharast, 4710 AR

The heroes set out to the south and west once more. There is still a great, trackless swath of the Greenbelt forest assigned to your charter, where anything could be hiding. Although you know the Stag Lord and his followers are out there, the organized bandits are still perilous enough that you want to be sure nothing is going to sneak up behind you when you deal with them.

Let me know what route you plan to take. You know what hex the Temple of the Elk is supposed to be in, but not exactly where, and considering that Kressle's bandits didn't know much about it, it's probably well hidden. There's even more stuff farther south and west. You are under absolutely no time pressure at this point; the Stag Lord will eventually start moving farther north again, but on the scale of months, not days. So if you want to go on detours, now is the time.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:24, Sun 10 Sept 2023.

Telric greets the party with hot tea, all contained in what looks like earthen mugs. Which he certainly did not have before, nor did he make a fire to heat said tea. He literally seemed to produce them from...somewhere. He did not make a show of how he did so.

"Well, if we are gonna be on the road for a while, I would recommend a few...well, let's call em quality of life changes. I have been wandering about for a few years now, and if you cant have a warm bed and pleasant company, ya need to make yer own comforts, aye?"

He hands out the last of the tea, and runs his hands together. "What's easiest for me is making a hot bath and clean clothes. So if ya need any of that let me know. I have had a lot of practice with laundry duty. As me Ma used to say, there are no small jobs, just small people unwilling to do needed work."

Wilkezag studies the map, then argues that the best path for exploring would be to start out due west, then turn southwest to explore the northern corner of the forest, then, after a few days journey, turn southeast to where we believe the Temple of the Elk to be.

i.e. B17, C17, then D17 where the temple is.

Are any of the other companions coming with us?  If their evening activities are as good as Octavia's then we definitely want to bring them along to learn from them.

GM edit: You can ask your companions to come along if you want. They all like you well enough that they're happy to go for it, although Octavia and Regongar won't want to be separated. You'll also meet at least two more sometime in the next week. And yes, they all have camping skills of varying usefulness.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:40, Sun 10 Sept 2023.

Dubh takes a mug of tea and is suitably impressed with the new member of the team. "I can see this being a very nice trick in the dark, cold, snowy months to come. I hope it doesn't take too much effort for you, cause Wilk, well, you know how bards can be."
He sips the warm tea as he goes over the map with Wilk. "Why go so far West? We can avoid what looks to be the headwaters of the Skunk River if we go down through here." He runs a finger in a direct line from B18 to D17. "If this is the headwaters of the Thorn then there must be some high ground between them which could make for an easier path." He says tapping the marks of the river in D18.

"It's just that this area," Will indicates the northmost part of the forest, "we haven't explored yet.  If our charter is to civilize all the area, we at least need to explore all of it."

In reply to Dubh Oiche (msg # 4):

"Oh it makes travel SOOOOO much better, boyo. I have a little trick where I make a small indent in the ground, fill it with water, heat up the bath and have it swirl around all by itself! Like a...a...whatcha' call them?" He pauses, lost in thought. "WHIRLYPOOL! Yeah, that's it!" He snaps and points at the druid, as if thanking him for the thought.