The Journey To Mistmarsh (IC)

[GodGoblin]

The couple of days spent on the forest road so far have been relativley uneventful. The road from Haven to Oldpine is a frequently used trade route with little to no bandit activity but you know the second part of your journey to Mistmarsh will not be so simple.

Mistmarsh has fallen on hard times over the last few years, its previously bountiful marshlands used to be source of many sought after delicacies but the marsh have slowly been turning to swamp and bog putting Mistmarsh into an economic crisis.

Now trade to Mistmarsh has almost ground to a halt and the lack of footfall on the road has enabled some of the more cowardly local beasts to approach the town in relative safety.

You should all be passing Oldpine within the hour and with night not far away it would be a good place to rest up before the difficult part of your journey begins. The open topped cart provided to you by the patrician is large enough to seat all of you and is pulled along by two mules affectionatly named Isaac and Winny by the stablehand at Haven.

At the request of Jonan the Pratrician also provided Bjorn, the large, flat nosed rding dog who you now realise was probably given to you as a joke. The large dog sat itself on the cart before you left Haven and has refused to move since. This has caused the journey to be signicantly less comfortable than it would have been otherwise.

A small, locked walnut box was given to you by the Patrician. It is 10" long, 5" wide and only a few inches high. It easily slips into a pack and no sound comes from the inside when shaken by the curious.

As you turn a bend in the road the high wooden buildings of Oldpine, a renowned logging village, can be seen in a large clearing.

[Fornax421]

Sit!The small sorcerer attempts to command the rather monstrous dog, to which Bjorn's ears just twitch a little as he just lays there. I finally get a dog and what does it do? nuffn! N-U-F-F-N, nuffn. Jonan has always loved animals, including the little mouse he carries around with him. Here Sammy, he says to the mouse Why dont you try and talk some sense into this mutt? He takes the small mouse off of his sholder and places it near the dog on the wagon. He turns and studies his companions. Shying away from the elf and what he was told was called a "Gith" he sits down next to the human female. So, how are you enjoying the trip?

[Dudu]

Well, *nom* I'm fine, really *nomnom*

You can barely hear his words between chewing what looks like some herb he found while travelling. When he finally gulps the herb, he finds the need to remark

This is good for the digestion, but taste like sadness. I feel like if I don't eat a deer in wolf form, I'll enter in depression. You know, Bjorn, you should hang out with me on the hunting, do some running, you look out of shape, that's not healthy at all. You dogs got too confy among humanoids

The druid made little progress in blending with the civlization so he's always a weirdo no matter what. The years he lived wandering, gathering info about the Cammoria tablets, which he was obsessed about, he spent most of the time in dire wolf form, sometimes as a bear, others as a tiger. Although those beasts were borderline commonsight in the Evergloom Woods, such can't be said about basically everywhere else. His pursuit for answers is what kept his human mind fighting the bestial influences, but other aspects of being a human, like social interaction, were negleted for too long.
He finally finishes his herb.

So, do you guys have tasty food where you live? Humans like to eat bread, which always tasted weird to me. And they like to grill their meat, which makes it tasty to eat in human form, although I still prefer to eat raw meat while being in a carnivore shape. They say halflings are remarkable cookers.

[Princess]

"It's boring and I'm hungry," replies Veira flatly to the sorcerer, before asking with more than a hint of sarcasm in her tone, "If your dog is useless, perhaps we can fry it up. Looks like it has some good meat on it."

The slender city-slicker's gaze wanders off to the surrounding countryside. At least the weather was nice enough that she felt comfortable in her small shirt, skirt, and breeches. Much of the woman's fair skin was bare to the gentle breeze as she lazily lounges in the large cart, periodically making a casual examination of each of her current co-travelers.

She looks over to the Druid she still found quite odd and remarks, "Silly me, I'd always thought elves knew how to cook. Perhaps we should ask our halfling friend here to cook us something, then?"

[Dudu]

Haha, yes, you're actually pretty silly, human girl. I don't cook because I don't need to. I'm a druid, remember?

When Kurtis smiles, you can see that his canine teeth are pretty long for a humanoid, one of the consequences of staying in carnivore form for too long. Those fanglike teeth sounds almost alien in his amiable face. He doesn't seem to notice that those teeth usually scares most commonfolk.

Hey, Jonan. Veira's right, maybe you should cook us something. I can hunt. Bjorn can go with me. And please, don't fry him, that was mean, Bjorn has potential, I can see it on him.

[Fornax421]

He scoots slightly away from this very cold woman and her ideas of eating dogs. Haflings can cook? Jonan says in a very surprised tone. Well you would think that someone would have mentioned that to me! i have lived most of my life eating scraps and what people felt sorry enough to feed me.

he turns his attention back to the beast of a dog

Well Sammy, did you have a good talk with our friend? he leans in as the small mouse climbs into his hand Ok, good. Now Bjorn lets try again. Sit!


Here we go!
[roll0]

[Molemanking]

Grelira sits at the front of the cart, holding the mules' reins absentmindedly as a book floated a few inches from her face. Luckily Isaac and Whinney seemed to know these roads rather well and needed little direction or prodding as they pulled the cart. Anyone looking over the armor-clad woman's shoulder to try and see what she was reading would be surprised at its apparent strangeness. Firstly, the book was written in a language that they'd probably never seen before. Secondly, instead of written in straight lines, the text was written in a circle that formed a series of rings that possibly told a story.

For hours, it seemed that the orange-haired Githyanki was completely engrossed in her reading. Only every so often reaching back to fiddle with one of the many weapons slung over her back. So it possibly came as some surprise when she suddenly spoke up.

I believe we are close to someplace we may rest. Perhaps they will have food for us at this Oldpine. If not, I am willing to accompany you in acquiring provisions.

Basically using Mage Hand to hold up the book.

[GodGoblin]

At Jonan's command Bjorn looks up, yawns silently and pushes himself up into a sitting position. Just as the feeling of accomplishment starts to hit Jonan the dog hops off of the cart and relieves himself right there on the road. You're not sure how intelligent the dog is but you're pretty sure this was an intentional attempt to belittle you.

Bjorn trots alongside the cart as you begin to approach the village of Oldpine. The pleasant smell of cooked food and wood fire hits you as the path turns into the village proper.

Oldpine is a small village with approximately 200 inhabitants. All the buildings you can see are made from halved logs rather than planks giving the buildings a strong, sturdy look. The town lives up to its name and is evidently not short on timber.

Isaac and Winny bring you through past the outer houses and into the village centre where you see a large communal hall and several other buildings surround an open village square. From a quick glance you see many different varieties of woodwork shops, a few general merchants, a stables, a single blacksmith and a large, 2 story tavern. The tavern is the only building in Oldpine with 2 floors but the town hall is just as high and much more intricately designed.

Above the great double doors of the town hall is a large carving of a tree flanked either side by a sheaf of corn and an axe. You can safely assume this is the village crest.

The village is rather quiet, you see a couple of adults going about there business and a small pack of children gather behind your cart as you enter the village centre. They stare at you unblinking and curious.

[Fornax421]

"Stupid dog..." Jonan sits down and mopes the rest of the way into the town. as the children gather around the cart he jumps up and says in his best presentation voice

"Hello children! you are now about to witness Jonan! Sorcerer Extraordinaire!"

He Lets a ray of frost go straight up in the air

And my magical assistant, the wondrous and amazing Sammy!

At this point he uses slight of hand (roll below) and Sammy appears seemingly out of thin air

Now he may look like a regular mouse.........(anyone of you that wants can shut me up at this point, he is just kinda being goofy)


[roll0] for slight of hand

[Dudu]

"... but he is actually a miniature giant space hamster.*"

Completes Kurt, in equally goofy fashion.

Hmmm, I wonder if the trip tomorrow will be as uneventual as today, probably not

He casts his druidcraft (druid cantrip) to predict the weather.

a nod to anyone who gets the reference.

[Molemanking]

Leaving the halfling to perform for children/watch the cart, Grelira went to the tavern to secure lodging and dinner for her compatriots.

[Princess]

Veira leaves entertaining the children to the child-sized sorcerer - she'd save her card tricks for when there were adults to entertain (who had money they should be separated from).

[Fornax421]

Comically upset that his 'show' was disrupted, our Halfling jumps off of the wagon and heads toward the inn with the others