(tVAotVW) Here Be Wolves IC.

[Narazil]

{table=head]Player|Character|Description
PPR|Kanan|Half-Elf Trickster
Gathro|Gath|Half-Orc Warrior
Shyftir|Koric Trueheart|Human Crusader
Istari|Edward Greenwood|Human Rogue
[/table]

You drink, you eat, you finish off for the night, then head to sleep.
A rooster can be heard in the distance - dawn has come upon the Fortress. The morning light slowly fills your room. It is a simple room; a bed, a dresser, a night-pot and a night stand. The smell of breakfast reach your senses, something is cooking downstairs.

You dress and head down the stairs. For once, it is not Grunt, but instead his daughter Miriana. She usually works nights, but apparently she is up late - or early, however you perceive it.
She is standing in a simple green dress and a brown apron. Her green is green tilted, and two small tusks springs from her lower lip. She smiles as you enter the room.
She is cooking up breakfast, today consisting of bacon, sausages, bread, butter and apples.


OOC:
Before you depart, I'd like you to list a few things:
How many rations you bring, or what ways you have of obtaining them.
Do you bring any animals? Horses for riding, donkeys for carrying?
Means of travelling in general. Emphasize on magical aid. Average speed would be swell, if you can figure it out.
Your all-day Listen and Spot bonus, for you and companions.
Anything else relevant I might want to know about.
Either spoilered here or PM, thanks.

[peterpaulrubens]

DM:

How many rations you bring, or what ways you have of obtaining them.
8 days of food and water, and +7 on Survival checks to feed myself or my companions.
Do you bring any animals? Horses for riding, donkeys for carrying?
None.
Means of travelling in general. Emphasize on magical aid. Average speed would be swell, if you can figure it out.
40' base movement speed. 32 miles per day of overland movement.
Your all-day Listen and Spot bonus, for you and companions.
Both are +11 all the time.

[gathro]

DM
6 days of water, 10 days of food, and +4 survival.
I have no animals.
40' movement, 32 miles a day.
Listen and spot are both -1


Gath walks down the stairs, excited about the adventure that will take place soon. At first, he is suprised by the female face, but he walks up to the counter.

Orcish
I would like something to eat and drink.

[Shyftir]

Yawn...

Koric wakes up and looks out at the rising sun. He kneels quickly and spends some time focusing on his convictions and praying that Kord would grant him strength. Afterward he goes about his business, eating breakfast quickly then gathering supplies and the like, before meeting the others at the designated place.

Koric walks up, a mule in tow laden with his extra supplies.
"Hello everyone, are we ready to go?"
He is clearly a morning person his voice is chipper and somewhat eager. The mule shows no emotions at all.

DM

Koric has no bonus to spot or listen.
He'll gather 1 weeks worth of trail rations and 4 waterskins. Along with a rope ladder and a lantern on a pole rig. Just PM what this will cost me and I'll edit my sheet with the gold amount. The mule is not for riding just carrying stuff.

[Istari]

DM
1. 10 and a +6 to Survival
2. Just my wolf animal companion
3. Walking 30 ft, plus the Longstrider (which will be my prepared spell) spell, +10 feet movement, lasts 1 hour/level
4. Me +6 to both, my wolf +3 to both
5. The Track and Endurance feats

[peterpaulrubens]

Kanan greets his companions with a smile, trying desperately to hide his wee bit of disappointment at Koric's pet coming along.

"Let's get to it!"

[Istari]

"So, it seems everyone is ready with their preparations.""

[gathro]

I'm ready.

Gath finishes eating, double checks his pack, and then rises from his chair, ready to leave.

[Narazil]

The gates are opened and the sentries see you off.
The sun is slowly rising higher in the blue sky. It's a warm and windy day, it would have been a nice day, if you were not setting out for the Wilderness.
You travel on the old worn-down well-travelled road leading to the swamps of No'tashi - the abandoned Fortress to the west. It is the fastest rout - follow the road to the west, then turn south after the bridge across the river.
No one uses the road any more, after the No'tashi fortress was lost.
Great rolling plains of grass stretch for miles on both sides of the road. Green trees, rivers and small forests dot the countryside yet, and the Wilderness does not seem all to dangerous yet.
The soldiers of the Last Fortress has done their work in clearing out the surrounding area, where wildlife is scarce and to some extend calm.
The area around the Last Fortress could easily be mistaken for another patch of land in a calmer nation, were it not for the lack of villages and small towns.
Hardly anyone lives outside the safety of the walls, and those who do seek protection among the inhabitants of the wild, or learn to protect themselves.
Kanan has point. The Half-Elf nimbly crosses the landscape, though his mithril shirt looks like its slowing him down a bit. He keeps a keen eye out for any kind of trouble. He makes little noise as he moves through the grass.
First on the road is Gath. The Half-Orc looks bored, and passes the time playing with a pierce of flint from his backpack.
Behind the large Half-Orc walks Koric with a mule in tow. Koric has unloaded his backpack, and bought a ladder and pole rig for the mule to carry.
Koric seems to be deep in thought, but keeps his blue eyes alert to the wilderness.
And last walks Edward, with his wolf friend at his side. They both seem experienced enough not to be distracted from the importance of keeping alert. They both make sure to look back every now and then, to make sure you are not ambushed from behind.

If you think you forgot to purchase something, now would be the time - I could imagine paper, pencils and a scroll case would not be a bad idea, if you plan on mapping the area, for example.

[Istari]

OOC: Oh, yeah forgot to bring that sort of thing, I''ll have it up in a bit Done
Added some ink, a pen, some paper, and edited a couple things that I forgot to save earlier.

[peterpaulrubens]

During a brief stop for water, Kanan looks at Edward, a bit nervously, and says,

"So.. uh.. you brought a wolf to go wolf-hunting... I ... uhm... hadn't realized you were going to do that. Is that... going to work out ... uh... you know... WELL.. for us?"

[Istari]

"Well as long as you leave Rex here alone we'll be fine, after all rival wolf packs don't get along very well."

[gathro]

No worry Kanan. Wolf good. Help track, we kill more bad wolves.

[peterpaulrubens]

"Well... no matter how much rival wolf packs may dislike each other, they've always seemed to dislike me MORE... but if you say he'll behave, I'll take your word for it... for now."

[Istari]

Whenever we stop to rest Edward is going to try and do a basic map of the environment on one of his sheets

[gathro]

After the group continues forward for a while, Gath looks back at them.
If attacked, how you fight? I use Fireaxe.
As he finishes he pats his axe.

[peterpaulrubens]

Kanan smiles coyly and says, "People generally don't see me fight."

[Shyftir]

Koric smiled at the half-orc and reached behind his head to the hilt that stuck out over his right shoulder.

Koric's falchion made an audible ringing sound as it cleared the scabbard.

This is Veritas. She's a truer lover than any woman and nearly as deadly. I've picked up bits and pieces of the sublime art in my travels and I find that 'Rita here fits me better than anything else I've ever used.

Koric's expression showed two elements at war, one true pleasure in the weight of the steel in his hands the other cold hard determination.

[Narazil]

[roll0]

You pass the time with small banter, discussing hunting tactics, battle plans, culture and what not. Nothing of interest happens over the course of the day. The sun is beginning to set in the distance, probably a good time to set up camp.




Istari

You notice the tracks on the ground, a group has passed here recently - a bit interesting, as this road is not used much. There are seven sets of tracks - 5 bipedal of roughly human size, two horses, and a wolf.

[Istari]

Edward
Edward calls the group over. "Hey guys come look at these tracks over here."He points out a group of tracks nearby."Looks like a group of seven passed here, five human or humanish creatures a pair of horses and a wolf. Normally this would be strange enough, but this area is not well traveled in the first place. My best guess would probably be a group of orcs, but I don't have much of a clue of who they are or what they are doing."

DM
Can I use my survival skill or knowledge to tell anything else about the the tracks?

[gathro]

Orcs? Maybe they help us. Or maybe attack.

[Narazil]

Istari


Go ahed and roll it. They came from the north-north-west, and headed south east, by the way.

[Istari]

DM
Which direction is the fortress from where we are?
Nature [roll0]
Survival [roll1]
Specifically looking for how long ago they were here, more information about them physically, and if they did anything other then walk. In order of importance

Edit: More crappy knowledge rolls :smallsigh:

[Narazil]

Istari

You're travelling west. Fortress is east of you. If you check the map, you're on the red line leading west, before the river.
Your rolls tell you they, erh, walked. :smallamused:

[peterpaulrubens]

DM
I cast Detect Magic on the tracks

[Istari]

DM
I can't directly communicated with my wolf, but can I get any information about the tracks through his scent ability through body language and the like?

[Narazil]

PPR

You don't know much about tracking, but they are probably old-ish. And certainly didn't have a strong aura lingering for days..
Erh, hope that makes some sense. No aura, but you know, that only strong magical auras linger for more than minutes.


Istari

Though you share a tight connection with your wolf, you don't communicate in terms as much as have a general understanding of each other.
Do a Handle Animal check.

[Shyftir]

"One way or another we must stay on our toes. The line between fellow travelers and enemies can be very thin indeed."

Koric scanned the countryside a strange look on his face. He loosened Veritas in her scabbard and stretched his arms a bit. It wouldn't do to get caught by surprise after all.

[Istari]

"Well, the creatures came from up north and went south, so we could either find out where they came from or follow them and find out what they are up to."
DM
Handle Animal [roll0]

Yay

[peterpaulrubens]

"Let's make camp for the night. I'm happy to take whichever watch ... I .. uh.. see rather well in the dark."

[Shyftir]

"I'll take first watch." Koric knew he wasn't the best watchman and it was common knowledge that the first watch was easiest to stay awake during.

[peterpaulrubens]

Kanan X

"Okay. I'll take the midnight watch, unless someone else has an interest."

[Istari]

"I'll take the last watch then, hopefully we need not worry about an attack, but better to err on the side of caution."

[gathro]

I can do instead, if anyone wants.

[peterpaulrubens]

DM

On his watch, every 9ish or so minutes Kanan casts Darkness on his left-hand blade. He sits off to the side of the group so the Darkness doesn't cover them.

3 Spot checks (one per hour I guess):
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

3 Listen checks:
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

[Narazil]

Not for your eyes.

Tsk tsk tsk. No looking in the DM's spoilers.
[roll0]

[roll1]
[roll2]

[roll3]
[roll4]




Shyftir

Nothing interesting happens during your watch. You snooze off for what you feel is a few minutes, then wake back up. At midnight, you wake up Kanan.



PPR:

(Roughly two hours into your watch)
You hear something in the distance. At first you are not exactly sure whether or not it was just the watch jibbies, but then you hear another sound. After a few seconds, you make out something talking. They sound far away - you do, after all, have very good ears.
Maybe 150 ft away, maybe less. They talk softly, but you are not sure whether they have noticed you or not.

[peterpaulrubens]

DM
Cover my blade with my cloak to conceal the Darkness, and then Move Silently ([roll0]) over to Gath and nudge him awake, putting my finger over my lips to show him to stay quiet.

If I have less than a minute of Darkness left, I recast it on the tip of my sword.

Move Silently ([roll1]) about 25 feet away from the group, between them and the intruders, after pulling out my other blade as well.

Listen ([roll2]) to see if I can make out what language they're speaking, and how many speakers there are.

[Narazil]

I'm back.

Gath

You wake up. Someone is nudging you - you open your eyes to see Kanan with a finger to his lips. He points in a direction, and silently creeps that way.


PPR

You wake up Gath, and creep away from the group. You can make out at least three voices. They're gruff and deep, and they are speaking Orcish.
They are about 50 feet away now.

[peterpaulrubens]

DM
I stay put for now, crouched low with my swords ready,trying to make out what they're saying. I'm also listening for sounds that Gath is waking the rest of the party. I'll want to do something before they get within 25' though.

Two Listen rolls:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Narazil]

Shyftir

You wake up, and open your eyes. Gath is standing over you, it is dark, and he looks excited. He points towards the darkness, then moves towards Istari and gives him a swift kick to his arm.



Istari

You wake up. It is dark, and your left arm hurts. You open your eyes to see Gath standing next to you, his boot an inch away from where your arm hurts. He has a finger to his lips, and slowly points towards something with his other hand. His axe is unsheathed and in his hand.

[Narazil]

(Gath hasn't checked in, taking over until he does)

[Istari]

DM
I'll get up quietly and grab my swords and look to see where Gath is pointing

[Shyftir]

DM

I also roll over and grab my sword. I do not stand but I crouch up on hands and knees so that I can quickly rise up if need be.

[peterpaulrubens]

Just FYI I'll be on vacation for a week. I should hopefully have some time to post if/when Narazil comes back in that time but I don't really know.