Eberron Adventures

[Velvet Elvis]

Lord ir'Tajar, a mere seven feet, or so, away watches and waits patiently. Or had been, so far. When Butch leans over to whisper to Cecil, he sparks to life.

"Come now, you can all read, can't you? What's the hold up? We have several deadlines to consider and no time to waste over minor details. If any of you have questions, speak up--to me, if you don't mind--and we'll have them dealt with in no time. I assure you, there's nothing in that contract to be concerned with. It is a standard military adjunct contract augmented with a few details relevant to the task. Sign or don't, but let's get a move on; there's more information to be given or a replacement crew to be found." He seems mildly exasperated, or just intently impatient at this point. Or perhaps waiting on others, civilians at that, isn't something he's interested in doing.

"Which is it going to be?" he asks pointedly as the fingers of one hand begin to drum upon the edge of the map. The tap-tap-tap across the thick paper seems to emulate the kind of pace ir'Tajar expects.

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Looking at Cecil, Threshkor is confused about what to do as he is rather new to this kind of thing.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch sits back up, removing his hand from the inkwell. Turning the contract to face Lord ir'Tajar, he slides it to the lord. "Sir, we work for Mr. Cecil, and by extension the House Orien. Although I am a loyal Brelander, I am not in his majesty's service. To that end, this mission does not seem to imperil my beloved Breland, and it would seem to concern the House Lyrandar moreso than Orien. Thus, we could not count on financial backing for this expedition. Likewise, I found no mention of compensation in that contract. That contract would oathbind us to the recovery of your documents with only our own assets and no indication of reward for our efforts."

[Velvet Elvis]

ir'Tajar looks blankly at Butch for a moment before something akin to an amused sneer cracks his lips apart.

The commander asks, apparently rhetorically, "Do you see conspiracy in everything, young man?" He draws one of the heavy chairs from its place along the wall, and takes a seat opposite you. "If we deemed this a situation purely in House Lyrandar's sphere of interest, we would not be speaking about it," he snipes, shaking his head in what may or may not be mock disappointment.

Dismissing any potential retort with a wave of his hand, he moves on. "I would have hoped the fact that Breland requested your aid would be enough, but I see you may hold her less dear than you claim. So be it. I remain confident that you," and now he looks to Cecil, "are capable of the task. We prefer a team that is not so obviously attached to the armed services in the off chance an issue arises with Droaamite troops, elsewise, I would have immediately assigned this key duty to some of our own men."

He pulls the contract to his side of the table, and reaches to grab the tray as well. "Alright, I'll address your concerns about compensation. I should have guessed that would be an issue." He takes up the quill, inks it, and begins writing at the bottom, to the left of the signing area. As he does, he recites the words, "Successful recovery of said documents will earn the undersigned compensation of," he pauses a moment, his head lolling a bit from side to side as he considers a figure. "4,500 golden galifars (or letter of credit). 1,000 added for recovery of the pilot, alive." He pauses again, this time looking up, not bothering to suppress a smirk. "Or do you require more to aid your beloved Breland? Oh, and necessary equipment will be dealt with by our quartermaster--at no cost to you. However, you would be kind to return that which you do not utilize or lose."

He remains looking across to the lot of you, clearly waiting on agreement to the terms of compensation, before continuing.

Cecil seems a tad uncomfortable under ir'Tajar's glare, and says, "That...well, that would seem fair. What do the rest of you think?"

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch restrains a smug smirk at ir'Tajar's mention of the Droaamite troops. When Cecil asks, Butch nods his agreement.

[Velvet Elvis]

Nodding, he looks to Cecil. "Cecil d'Orien, do you then speak for your men to agree with the stipulations of this contract?"

Cecil forces a wan smile, and adds a nod to his words, "Yes, I believe we are all in agreement on this." The reply was curt, as if he still felt uncomfortable, but was a bit less than willing to challenge ir'Tajar's patience. That he didn't force the issue at least implies he felt it was a minor detail, not worth further concern.

"Excellent. Let me ink in this addenda and it will be ready for your signatures," he says as the quill begins to nod and turn in a mirror image of the letters being written. The sound of the pen's skritch as it loses its last drab of ink almost seems to illuminate the vague impatience of the man holding it. He dips the nib again and finalizes the contract, tossing the pen into the tray, causing a small blob of blank ink to arc onto the map's surface. He pays it no attention as he grabs the blotter, rocks it twice from side to side, and returns it to the tray.

When he looks up, he appears a slight bit haggard as if the ordeal of managing such clerical details was uncomfortably beneath him. A pair of quick gestures later has the contract and the tray of writing implements on your side of the broad table.

"Cecil, I would have you sign first as the recognized authority of your band of men. The others may sign in whatever order they see fit, however, it is traditional that the names of your subordinates be placed slightly to the right and in smaller script than yours, so the relationship is even more clear." The words seemed unpracticed, but were not offered aggressively. It seemed it was, indeed, only tradition, and ir'Tajar is, as a long-standing military man, quite likely a man that honors tradition.

Cecil nods graciously and takes up the pen. Angling the contract appropriately, he re-inks and lays down his signature in bold, large script as requested by ir'Tajar. He then hands the pen off to Butch and rises from his seat, waving Wrench and Threshkor to come closer to play their part in the ritual.

Lord ir'Tajar watches placidly, now having reclined a bit in his seat. His visage was mostly inscrutable, but he seemed pleased that the drudgery of paperwork was nearly complete.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch confirms the numbers and then signs under Cecil's signature. Turning the quill and document over to the others, he asks Cecil, "Sir, might I refer to the map. I'd like to make some notes with Lord ir'Tajar's assistance."

Butch then refers to Lord ir'Tajar, "Sir, if you might assist with that wondrous map of yours... I should like to make some notes on estimated travel times to various locations. First of all, are there any trails or roads between Orcbone and the Orien trade road at the tip of the Graywalls. Next, I'd like to estimate the distances that we could travel both by horse or on foot. If we're following your scouting trails, I'd like to confirm some locations to make safe camps."

Butch starts planning out the mission on the table. "Alright, as I see it there are three phases to this expedition. First, we need to get to the trade road just north of the Graywalls. Once there, we can reprovision and possibly get some more first hand knowledge. I reckon it will take two days if we use those magebred horses. We'll need a couple of your scouts, sir. I think there's a redhead rookie that wants to prove himself, but I'd like to see a scout with us to keep us on path. Once we reach the trade road, your scouts can form up with a resupply caravan to return to Orcbone."

Trying to judge ir'Tajar's expression, Butch proposes a different tact. "A second option would be traveling light with mules to take up the extra weight. I estimate about five days to reach the trade road with that method. It would give the Droaamites a larger head start and would present a larger risk being out in the wild. This is why I'd like to know the safe scouting camps."

Butch pauses at this point before continuing with phase two.

[Velvet Elvis]

Azmirith accepts the quill and quickly jots his name below Butch's, handing the pen to Wrench and stepping back out of the way.

ir'Tajar presses his open palm toward Butch in a gesture to belay the questions. "As I've stated, this is an important recovery, and we have various resources set aside for unusual cases. You'll not have to worry about reaching the general location soon enough. I'll speak more on that when everyone signs and we can dispense entirely with the paperwork."

Wrench and Threshkor, in turn, follow suit and sign below the ones before them. ir'Tajar applies the blotter once more, removes the tray to the drawer, and reviews the contract. As his eyes scan to the bottom, he nods. From elsewhere in the drawer, he produces a round stamp, which he applies to the contract's empty wax seal. Tossing it back into the drawer, he rolls the parchment into a tube, seals it and drops it into the drawer before closing it.

"Alright, now that preliminaries are dealt with, I'm going to give you the rest of the information," he says, rising to his feet and using a fingertip to daub away the partly evaporated blob of ink upon the map. "Reserve your questions and comments until I am finished."

"First off, I'm sure Cecil told you that we'd gained this intelligence through some relaying of information out of Graywall. That's not precisely true. We employ agents that monitor traffic along the trade route as it nears the northern foothills of the Graywall mountains. The information we gather there is not exclusive, but we have an agreement that certain sorts of information are not re-sold for a period of five days. Thus, we have about two and a half days leeway before the reports are dispersed to other parties in the area--and that means the Droaamite out of Graywall, at the very least." He pauses and sweeps his hand along the technical borderline splitting the Graywalls.

"Once you're here," a finger indicates a point along the Orien trade road, nearly due west of Castle Arakhain as it jogs from south to southeast, "you'll cross overland into the foothills and then into the low slopes where you should begin to get enough information on the terrain to deduce the most likely route through the passes. If we're lucky, the ship went down closer to the eastern mouth than otherwise, but that's a best case and we aren't gambling on it."

At this point he stands and folds his arms, beginning to pace slowly from side to side along the edge of the table. "Now, what we know of the terrain in that section of the mountains is limited. However, the reconnaissance reports I've been able to dig up indicate the area is reasonably stable, though it is marked by crevasses, sand pits and other mostly mundane features. We suspect there are also extensive cave systems in the vicinity of the pass, but are unsure of their content. Presumably indiginous creatures and such. You should have no trouble with them. However, we cannot forget the agency that brought down that ship. It is possible they have acquired the documents, and possibly the pilot, as well, and have already fled the area. We have to hope they will have remained for some reason, or that they were unable to reach the ship." He exhales loudly and scratches his chin.

"In any event, you have your dispensations to apply force as needed. If the documents remain there, you are to retrieve them in whatever sane manner is necessary." Turning to Cecil, he specifies a bit further. "As defined leader of this team, you will be responsible for determining what is necessary to carry out the mission. Though it is of great importance that the documents be retrieved, you are not to take unnecessary risks. I'll leave it to you to determine the meaning of that, when you are in the field."

Cecil nods with a somber look upon his face, likely realizing the import of the words. A failed mission may fall on his shoulders alone if he is deemed to have been too meek. The responsibility of balancing the mission's goal against the safety of his team, had already begun to weigh on him.

Lord ir'Tajar unfolds his arms and leans forward to place both hands upon the edge of the table, gauging the expressions upon each of your faces. There's a barely visible quarter-smile when he passes across the warforged. His eyes return momentarily to Butch, and he adds, "Young man, you may stow your concerns about traveling times and stopping points until you are exiting the Graywalls."

Now to the lot of you he clarifies. "Due to the consideration of time on this matter, and the general importance of the mission, we have called in a few favors to expedite things. You will be teleported from the fort to a point just east of the Orien trade road, as indicated earlier. This will grant you nearly the entire two and a half day edge on any others that might arrive in hopes of capitalizing on the downed ship's cargo and materials. Use it wisely, as others will likely be pushing hard to be the first to find the wreck." He straightens to full height and finalizes his briefing. "You will not be taking mounts beyond the lower slopes, however, the quartermaster will provide you with an alternative to carrying your gear on your own backs. When you arrive at the rest stop you may borrow light horses from the stable located there. Provide the stablemaster the word, 'Kytrogul,' and he will see to it. The horses you will be given can be discarded at the low slopes and they will return on their own once you send them on their way. They are not suited to the terrain there, so don't take them any further than the stablemaster indicates."

A quick swipe of an open palm displaces the faint beads of sweat from his forehead across his head, as if it were needed to recall the remaining details. "Once you have the documents and, hopefully, the pilot, you are to make your way back to the trade road where we will have moved another man into position with extra light horses. He will recognize you, and you will recognize him by virtue of the fact that all the extra horses are roans, and his is a sable black. Once this contact is made, he will send word to us instantly informing us of the results of your search. He will then lead you towards and along one of our more direct north-south patrol trails leading back here. We will also be sending an escort to meet you approximately halfway."

Having apparently finished, he retrieves a pitcher and a tray of glasses from a heretofore uninvolved sideboard, and places it on the table, to the right of the map's edge. He pours himself a glass of what appears to be water, and indicates that you may all do the same, if you wish.

Retaking his seat, he finally opens himself to your questions. "Now you may inquire on the details, but make them brief; this has already taken too long."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

The Gray looks ready to leave right now, but he stands patiently in case his men have questions.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch sits in stunned silence as his entire concept of speed and resource management collapses to the might of magic.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"I understand the mission, Sir. I have only one question. The return-escort we meet at the halfway point... How will we recognize them from a potential ambush? I assume another code word?"

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Threshkor hangs out at the back of the room waiting for the rest of the group as he is prepared to follow them. It appears as though he is meditating right now.

[Bigmac]

"As I said before, you will know our man by the fact his horse is black while the others are roans. If you wish you may feel free to ask to see his personal identification papers marking him as a Breelish soldier. He will have a full description of your party and should be able to identify you on sight but don't be offended if he asks to see your papers as well. Any other questions?" The lord waits a few more moments for anyone else to speak up and ask questions. When no one speaks up or moves he rises from his chair and places the glass of water down on the table. "Alright, since all of your questions have been answered and the papers signed, I will send the teleporter to meet you outside the quartermaster's office. Make your preparations quickly as i want you to be gone within the hour. You are dismissed."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

That snapped Butch out of his shock. He pops up to his feet quickly and then snaps up a hearty salute. "Yes, Sir!"

By the time he reaches the door, you can tell he's back to his calculations, muttering something under his breath and wiggling his finger as if counting things off on a piece of slate.

... Back at the barracks, Butch lays out all the gear on a couple of bunks, organizing it and prepping the saddles. The collection is quite large:
Butch's backpack
pouch with 10 lbs of trail rations
bedroll
flint/steel
50' coil of rope
2 sunrods
4 waterskins presumably filled with water
1 winter blanket
2 tents
a small bundle of firewood
2 buckets, one of them has roughly six pounds of trail rations inside
1 pack saddle
Butch's prized military saddle
Butch's bow
3 quivers of arrows
Butch's chainmail armour
Butch's scythe
Butch's flail
Butch's sickle
a shovel
a honing stone

Butch reads over his traveling papers one more time before tucking them into his vest pocket. "OK, we're definitely short on rations and assuming you guys have your own canteens, we'll be able to carry about eighteen gallons... which is about four and a half days worth. Is anyone skilled at finding water?"

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil looks at Butch with amusement in his eyes. "Not to dash your hopes and planning dreams away, my quartermastering friend," he says, "But I believe our good spiritual counselor is more than capable of supplying us with all the water we'll need."

He looks at Threshkor. "That's right, isn't it, Threshkor?" He looks almost unsure. "I haven't run into a true cleric since the war," he adds, then mutters "leastaways not one serving the Host."

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

"Mr. Cecil is correct. I can provide some water for our journey, but I will probably need to ask for the power to create some for the trip"

{OOC- Do I have enough time to change around some spell slots?}

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch hangs his head low and sighs as his grasp on reality trembles before the might of magic.

He looks up again, "OK what about food? Can anyone magick up some food? I got enough for four days but a hardy breakfast can take us through the first day. I reckon the first day we can push hard until the sun hits the peaks, then we make camp. It will get dark fast behind the mountain shadow. Then we can press on at first light and go as far as the horses can take us the following day. Probably reach the lower slopes by midmorning and turn back the horses. Then lets call it a week of searching and the return trip... I'd say three days to walk back, maybe four. So that's like ten or eleven days for four men. Can you make that much?"

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"Yes, Mr. Butch, I do believe you have food well in hand." He smirks. "I mean, I'm sure there IS some sort of magic that could conjure us a feast, but it's probably something that requires permits. You know how it goes."

He grins.

"Plus, it would take all the fun out of cooking, I imagine."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Cooking!?" Butch exclaims, "But we don't have nearly enough wood for that. That's maybe a day's worth... well maybe if we only keep a fire for cooking."

Scratching his head and fretting he goes on. "Make sure everyone has a winter blanket. I heard it can be cold in the mountains."

[Bigmac]

The quartermaster smiles at Butch as he makes the pile. He nods at Cecil and chimes in. "Not a bad start, and I'm sure you'll find that most things are edible enough when burned to a crisp. Might I suggest a few other items that I already got prepared when I heard you're headed to the Greywalls. You're gonna need these."

With that he flips out two leather backpacks with brass buckles that appear to have been well used but well cared for. He flings them down onto a nearby table as if they were empty, but they manage to land with a loud thud. Seeing Butch's reaction he smiles. "I know what your thinking boy, but these babies can hold all that stuff you got there and more. Watch." He opens a pocket on the side of the backpack that looks like it should be able to hold a small waterskin. He reaches inside and pulls out a heavy box with both hands. Then another. And then another. Finally he pulls out a smaller box with only one hand. He give Butch a smug smile after he's finished. "Pretty neat huh? I've loaded up both side pockets to capacity, but the main backpack can still hold twice as much as these combined. These babies here are priceless if you need 'em." He opens the large box by lifting the lid off of it. Inside is a wide array of spikes and leather. He lifts each piece out as he describes them.

"This here is your main harness. It goes around both legs like so. Make sure you place the straps right so they don't ride up and pinch your legs. These go over the tip of your boots and you can use the spikes to dig into the wall or mountain for a better grip. The spikes on the gloves are smaller so that they don't hurt your gripping ability. These are called pitons. Use the hammer to pound them into the wall and then loop the rope through like so. This should help you climb up any surface you can find. Just be sure you take your time and drive the pitons in all the way. You don't want to have them come loose." After demonstrating how to use the kit, he places each piece back in the box and places all three boxes back into the sided pocket. As he places the smaller box into the pouch he adds "This kit has your standard trauma tools needed to stabilize any wounds you might receive. I understand some of you have served in the war, so you should be familiar with this kit already. The other pouch has a 150ft silk rope with a grappling hook already attached at one end. Both packs have been loaded the same way. You can stow your rations and whatever else you need in the main pack."

He then throws three more backpacks onto the table. These are made of thick cloth instead of leather and seem to be fairly new. "Nothing special about these packs, but you can load up some heavy gear in 'em and let the forged carry it for ya. If ya need anything else, now's the time to ask. Looks like your rail's about to leave the station."

As he speaks, a large, overweight man lumbers into the room. The man wipes the sweat from his forehead with the silken sleeve of his shirt. You can't help but smell the man as he reeks of sweat covered by layers of oils and perfumes. He gives the quartermaster a nod as he pauses to catch his breath. Reaching inside the pocket of his free flowing trousers he grabs a large handkerchief and dabs his forehead once again. The light reflects of a large signet ring on his finger, clearly identifying him as a member of House Orien. "Is everything ready to go?"

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench looks longingly at the handy haversack for a moment. He wishes he had time to study it, but it appears there is none.

Looking to Cecil, he gives a nod, showing he is ready for the journey ahead.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch nearly swoons at the demonstration of the wonder packs. He touches one lightly, as if expecting it to vanish. When the large Orien scion enters, Butch snaps out of his stupor. "Umm... one moment, let me get these loaded."

Addressing the quartermaster, "I'm going to trust you with my saddle... and our pack saddle, since I don't think we'll need it now." He sets his saddle next to the pack saddle.

"OK, one tent in each pack, then we'll ration out the firewood like so." Butch ties some bundles of wood, presumably in night long bundles, and then loads six bundles into each pack, marveling at the capacity all the while. "Now, top it off with rations to capacity." Loading rations into the wonderpacks, he gives out more advice, "When we hit the trail, everyone carries a day's worth of rations and water, just in case we get separated. Blankets, bedrolls and other gear will go into the extra packs. As we use up our supplies, we'll shift the weight into the wonderpacks. "


1 day of firewood weighs 20 lbs, I figure we only need the fire for the night (8 hours) so 3 'nights' worth weigh 20 lbs. 6 'nights' of firewood in each haversack.
Tent weighs 20 lbs each.
top off with 20 lbs of rations
I'm assuming the side pockets are full
1 day's rations is 1 lb
1 day's water is two waterskins, 8 lbs total.


As an afterthought he adds, "Do we have enough sunrods? I'd like to see a collective dozen or so. I have two."

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Looking rather upset, he says....
"I am sorry lads, but as a humble cleric, I tend to only carry what I deem essential to my survival and I have very little to offer in the way of traveling gear."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"No worries, Threshkor. Butch here tends to take care of all the provisions we need for survival. You just need to make sure you have any specialized supplies taken care of."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch pats Threshkor on the shoulder.

"The Host will provide." He says with a smile. "We all have roles in this group, my friend. One of mine is to make sure Mr. Cecil stays alive. That includes staving off starvation and the perils of nature, not just bandits. If you do nothing else but provide us with water, you would have done your duty."

Butch starts going through a mental checklist. "Ok, food check... water check... housing check... bedding... Everyone got a bedroll and winter blanket? If not get one now. I suspect it will be cold in the mountains. Firewood check... light... Let's get three more sunrods, that will be at least one emergency light source for each of us. Climbing gear check... healing check..."

He nods assertively and then continues...

"OK basic travel supplies are good. Mission specifics... Do we have a means of tracking down our objective? Smoke signals? Bright lights? Whistles? Once we have the package we need to move fast back to safety, that means dumping excess weight. Our point of no return is three days of supplies at the base of the mountain. Anything beyond that is dead weight."

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

He smiles as Butch convinces him that just him being there is a help to the group.
"Thank you, Butch. I was just worried that I would come off a bit, well worthless, but I am glad that I can be of help."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch verifies that everyone has a winter blanket and bedroll, then loads them into one of the canvas packs. He loads one of the buckets into the bottom of a canvas pack then adds what is left of his coil of hemp rope. His quivers are loaded in next, strapping his shovel to the side. He loads the five sunrods, his honing stone and tinderbox into his pouch.

Satisfied, he dons his chainmail, and attaches his pouch, sickle and flail to his belt. Hooking one canvas pack on each end of his scythe, he hoists it onto his shoulder. Then he grabs up his bow in his free hand. The reason for the pack saddle becomes much more obvious.

"OK. Mr. Threshkor, you and Wrench will handle the wonderpacks. Let's move." He looks a bit rediculous with all the gear draped from his body, but seems to handle the weight easily.

[Bigmac]

Seeing that everyone is indeed ready to depart, the large man speaks up. "Alright, everyone gather round." He extends his massive arms, sweaty palms up. "Form a circle, and make sure that everyone holds hands. Everyone who is travelling must be in contact with me." When the circle is formed the man looks each member in the eye in turn. He then closes his eyes.

Everything Goes Black.

The world disappearing is sudden and complete. One moment you are standing in the middle of the supply depot in Orcbone and the next....nothing. Not only can you not see anything, but you can't feel anything either. It is a complete lack of any sensation. The emptiness of it makes it feel like time is standing still.

The world bursts back into existence in a jarring manner, overwhelming your senses all at once. You see the Orien trade road stretching in both directions. You feel the rain pouring down on your head and seeping into your clothes. You hear the crack of thunder in the distance. You smell the fresh smell of a spring rain.

Your transporter shakes the water off his head before motioning for Cecil to come closer. He leans in and whispers something in Cecil's ear before taking a step back. "The way station is just up the road. I'll be taking my leave before I catch a cold." The man closes his eyes again and disappears from view, leaving the group by itself in the road.

The way station is just up the road, and it has a covered shelter that you gather under when you arrive. There are two other individuals at the way station when you arrive. One is a young man with sandy blond hair and a pale complexion who is obviously the care taker of this stop. The other person is the one who attracts your attention.

He is a man of average height and average build, of perhaps twenty or so summers. His face is clean shaven save for a small goatee, which is waxed and well-trimmed to a smart point. By contrast, his head is covered with a thick mass of barely shoulder-length black hair which yields the impression he's just awakened after a restless night in a barn. It's difficult to miss his casual demeanor, standing with one grey-booted foot forward, crossed over the other, and all his weight on the straight leg as he leans against a stall. One hand rests idly upon the silvered endcap of a dagger stationed at his belt, the thin tips of a few wands peeking out the other side from beneath his heavy, mottled brown and dull green cloak. Beneath his cloak also lurks the glint of mail armor over a deep blue tunic, and the telltale t-shape of a light crossbow far back on his hip. Below the lightly-cinched metal hem of his chain shirt he wears loose, black trousers that tuck neatly into his boot-tops. Even further down, upon the ground, lies a worn leather pack that almost appears to have been discarded there, but must belong to him.

Of finer detail, you note his hands are ungloved, and clearly not those of a laborer, with nails somewhat long for a typical male, trimmed to points and those on the index fingers painted black. While bare, his right hand is heavily tattooed in a swirling geometric pattern that fades from grey and black just above the wrist (though it is likely the design extends farther up the arm, out of sight), with the grey gaining to dull red as the pattern reaches his knuckles. All four fingers of that hand bear plain silver rings, and a silver earring in the shape of a bat with red crystalline eyes hangs from one ear. From his neck depends what appears to be a small dragonshard, translucent red with crimson swirls within, attached by a silver cap to a silver chain.

He regards you idly with wide, slightly almond-shaped reddish-brown eyes that speak of mischief and a free soul. They bear a faint air of determination which is soundly denied by his decidedly jaunty, devil-may-care stance.

As you study him, the stable owner approaches you and asks, "Can I help you good folks?"

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch staggered from the unexpected change of location, nearly losing his breakfast. Grumbling something almost inaudible in a guttural language from the back of the group, he seems quite miserable. Once under shelter, he slides the packs off his scythe and sets them on the ground. Wiping his scythe clean, he then turns his attention to his arrows, making sure the quivers are drained.

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"Cecil d'Orien and company, looking for a short-" he looks at Butch pointedly, though not without a glimmer of amusement in his eyes "stop before we head into the mountains." He raises his sleeve, where his own tiny dragonmark twists around his forearm. "And we'd be greatful for the hospitality of this stop. Additionally, master Butch, our quartermaster, is most interested in the current pass conditions."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch looks up with a scowl and then nods curtly to Cecil. "Indeed. We killed a great bear the other day and I expect there's better hunting in the mountains. But, what with this rain, I'm thinking the tracks will be gone. Any chance one of you knows where we could get some horses and some hunting dogs?"

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"Yes," Cecil pipes in. "I'm told this area has the best horses this side of Kytrogul, if you know how to ask." He looks directly at the blond man.

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

At the mention of hunting, Threshkor starts to grimace and wonders if he can muster himself to kill an innocent being for his food.
"Would it be ok, if I just stayed here and looked after our goods?" He says looking a little sick.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Sir. Brother Threshkor is right. We should find some lodgings for the night and wait out the storm. We can head out at first light."

[Bigmac]

At the mention of the work Kytrogul, the blond haired man perks up. "Why yes, I have some horses that you can use, although I don't have any hunting dogs. At least of the four legged variety. As far as the mountain's creatures are concerned, most of them are quiet at the moment; probably weathering out the storm. You all are welcome to stay here as long as you need. The stables may smell and not be the most quiet place, but it is dry. Is there anything else I might be able to assist you with? If not I have some animals to tend to."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

At Cecil's remark, the relaxed man pushes himself away from the wood of the stall's wall. He'd been eyeing Cecil surreptitiously since the quartet arrived, but only now bothered to speak, "Ahh, you know of Kytrogul, do you? Fine wines to be had there. The women...well, they're not as sweet. But that's not worthy of chatting about. Might I suggest that rather than standing out there getting drenched you come inside, as your fellow suggests, and have something to eat? Perhaps we can talk of more of Kytrogul, and perhaps certain other things?" His voice was fairly deep, and his manner of speech was decidedly easy-mannered.

Then he turns to the stablemaster and says, "Come now, Danyel, don't make them hide in the stables. You may be used to the stench in there, but they might pass out and miss an important opportunity. Or something." He turns to the four of you and jerks a thumb over his shoulder, adding, "You can dry out in the common room. It's small and unbecoming, but better than the stable. A bit."

With practiced unconcern, the man snatches up his pack, rubs it lightly against the wooden boards of the stall, dislogding a few clods of dirt that had adhered to it, and begins heading off to the door indicated earlier by his thumb. He'd been standing under an overhang that runs from the edge of the stable to the common room door, so unlike yourselves, he's remained entirely dry.

As he walks, he calls out without turning his head, "Weather's going to get worse before it gets better, so I've been informed. Your horses will be ready when you are, right, Danyel?" The question felt rhetorical.

The stablemaster smirks slightly, quickly disappearing into the deeper parts of the stable.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch eyes the man suspiciously as he turn away. Hooking the two canvas packs on the shaft of his scythe, he hoists them on to his shoulder and follows closely behind the man. "So, Kytrogul, eh? Have you seen Miss Tajar?"

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil ushers the party inside, though he nods at Threshkor's request to remain outside. "I'll say this," he says quietly, "I'm not against getting out of this weather while we make plans, but unless it gets worse, and soon, we'd best be heading on our way as soon as possible." He looks outside. "As it stands, it's good Brelish weather, and no mistake!"

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Not having much to add at this particular point, Wrench just trudges along behind the group. The rain doesn't bother him so much, although he does prefer to avoid it when possible.

He'll follow Cecil inside and wait for someone to determine whether they are leaving again immediately, or waiting for the storm to blow over.

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

The black-haired man chuckles at Butch's question, but doesn't actually respond. A step later, he reaches out to open the door to the common room, allowing himself to enter first.

Stepping inside, he picks a table and drops his pack atop one adjacent to it, and within arm's reach. The place is small and slightly cramped, but at least respite from the rain. It seems devoid of life, at the moment.

He drops himself unceremoniously into a chair, and invites the first of you over with a lazy wave.

"Cassa! Where are you? You have customers, and I'll bet they're almost as hungry as I am," he calls out into the dead air. When there is no immediate response he shrugs, and says, "She'll be around in a bit. Good cook, I'm glad to say, but not always on the spot when visitors show up."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch leans his scythe and bow against the wall next to the door as everyone enters and then takes a good look at Cecil. "Sir, you're going to catch your death if you don't dry off soon." He starts to fuss over Cecil, brushing off stray water and leaning over his shoulder. "Sir, I'm not yet ready to trust this man. Don't give away any of our plans unless he confirms his identity." he whispers quickly. "You'd be soaked to the bone if you spent much more time out there, sir."

Satisfied with Cecil's condition, he gathers up his gear and brings it to another table. Leaning against a table, Butch tends to his scythe, drying it thoroughly and honing the edge, all the while eyeing Caskin warily.

"So, are you from around these parts, mister?" he asks idly, running his stone along the edge of his scythe.

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

He was checking a fingernail for...something...when Butch's question was asked. Casually lifting a foot to the seat of an empty chair, he says, "You could say that, I suppose. I've been on a rather long jaunt in this region, so I've become fairly familiar with it." He left it at that but his eyes continued to watch for a few moments as if waiting for an immediate return comment.

Instead, he adds, "As long as we're all here and Cassa's off doing who knows what instead of tending to us, we might as well dispense with the prodding and suspicious glances, and get down to business. Frankly, though, I'm more interested in getting this sort of thing out of the way quickly, so I can relax." He motioned in your general direction. "Have a seat."

It does seem fairly obvious the man isn't a particularly formal sort.

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil waves Butch off, clearly embarrassed, though a quick meeting of eyes lets Butch know the old soldier has heard and understood him.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch raises an eyebrow quizically. "Very well, mister. We are a band of adventurers..." Butch almost gags on that word as he makes a face like he swallowed a bug. Coughing lightly, he continues, "Our duties largely consist of aiding Mr. Cecil in his tasks for the House Orien. We are planning to head into the Graywalls for some exploration."

He whirls his scythe about pointing the tip in Caskin's direction, "What about you, Sir? Who are you? And what is this business you speak of?"

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Caskin was far enough away from the door and those who remained standing near it not to become alarmed at the fighter's intended intimidation, and so he remained relaxed at first, a faint smile forming on his lips. Silence chilled the room for a moment, then he spoke, looking away from Butch to focus upon Cecil.

Without bothering to stand, he clears his throat, and says, "On behalf of House Tharashk, I am very pleased to make your acquaintance. House Tharashk is always interested in fostering a close association with the noble House Orien." There was no mistaking that the words were scripted, and that the man giving voice to them felt obligated to recite them--albeit expected done in a far more sincere manner. However, what might be taken for sarcasm seemed more like a strong reluctance at the formality.

He reaches toward the next table and flips open his pack, as he does he says, "Now don't go getting all bent out of shape, I'm just getting some more of your answer." From out of the bag, he draws a small sheaf of papers that had apparently been rolled, folded, and refolded many times in the past. With a smooth stroke, he peels off the top sheet and tosses it onto the table he'd invited the others to sit at. The page half-floats, half-slides across the surface toward Cecil and Butch, to hang partway off the edge. Even from several feet away, and despite its distressed condition, it was easy enough to recognize it as little more than a standard identification document. The text is too small to read from where you stand, but the formal seal of House Tharashk is visible as a muted watermark covering the entire page, and the mark of House Sivis boldly consumes the bottom quarter.

Tossing the remainder of the sheaf back into his bag, he looks up to Cecil and says, "Go ahead; have a look. Then maybe you'll at least have a seat so we can discuss the rest. This doesn't need to be so tense." A brief glance to Butch's scythe elicits a minor addenda, "Careful with that. Someone could get hurt."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch scans the identification for a name, and although he's clearly uncomfortable having not thoroughly read the entire document, he looks up and starts speaking in that same guttural language, "GuRAK no gau Tharashk Caskin... KaRUMMFna og mach do galifar barOT ong TOR. Crach mach Tajar kachmaLA koTAG?"

Check spoiler if you can speak orcish

So you're Caskin of Tharashk... I assume then that the galifars bought the silence of your tongue. How much longer does Miss Tajar have your lips sealed?

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench takes a seat, and draws out an inkpen, which he tends to fiddle with in his hands while this talk goes on.

Casting an Infusion (Spell Storing Item)on the inkpen, to turn it into a wand of Speak with Animals, with a single charge.
Uses 1 XP.
[roll0] DC 23
Edit: Success! Finally!

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Caskin replied likewise, "<orcish gibberish for the less linguistically inclined>?"

for those who speak orcish
"Aye to the first part, just as it says. To the rest I ask, whatever are you talking about?"
To the Grey, he asks, "So, are you going to confirm my identity or have you delegated such responsibility to your bodyguard?"

He stifles a weak yawn before folding both hands across his belly. He now has both legs outstretched across the adjacent seat and almost appears to be working his way into a position adequate for a nap. To be fair, he does appear somewhat haggard.

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil gives the papers a glance. Assuming they are in order, he looks up and nods. "What's your plan, then, Caskin?" he asks warmly. "You'd be better off at finding things than we are, or so this says."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

His papers are, indeed, in order, if a bit crumpled here and there.

"If you consider the specialty of my House, you'll understand that, yes, I'm likely to be more adept at finding things than most. However, to be honest, I've pretty much been conscripted into this due to my location at the time someone was needed for this task." He draws a pointed black fingernail across his chin, and glances beyond the counter, apparently wondering why Cassa still hasn't arrived.

"Let's put it this way: the interests of House Tharashk in this are mostly political. A better association with Lyrandar is considered a good thing. I imagine that might not sit well with you, but past water under the bridge is certainly not my doing. Anyway, my personal interest in this is simpler. I'm curious to see what's up there in the Graywalls; never been there, though I've wandered all through this area. Never liked the effort of climbing, truth be told, but I've since learned to get around that." He pauses and seems to be trying to recall something more.

"Nope, there's really not a lot else to say on that. However, I did forget one thing I'm sure you'll be interested in. My physical orders are scheduled to arrive sometime shortly after dawn via special messenger. Assuming they're drawn up properly, you'll find I'm to be attached to your team for this recovery mission and that I am to work with you, not for you." He waves his hand as if swatting a very slow fly from his face. "A joint mission, and all that sort of thing. No worries, though. I figure someone with plenty of decorations has sponsored you, so I'll save myself the concern and assume you and your troupe are all well chosen."

He reaches a hand out, palm up. Seems he'd like his identification papers back.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"We do need a tracker, sir. So long as our orders don't conflict, this should work out well. However, he knows nothing of the original agreement about spreading word of the downed ship. That unfortunately means that the word is out and we won't be alone."

Turning from Cecil to Caskin.


"You say your orders are coming in the morning? How soon? We need to make best use of daylight tomorrow lest we get caught in the showers or benighted by the mountains themselves."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

"As I said, just after dawn by special messenger. Unfortunately, that's well before the time I prefer to drag myself out of bed, but I don't have much choice," he confesses.

"Well then, I suppose unless you'd care to get a head start on discussing the actual task before my orders arrive to assuage any lingering suspicions, I might as well see if I can track down something that should be far simpler to find."

Caskin rises, accepts his papers from Cecil, stuffs them back into his pack and hops fairly deftly over the counter to the other side.

"Cassa! Have you gotten yourself stuck in the dredge flue again?" he calls out shaking his head in wonder.

Turning back to you, he shrugs and says, "I should have her here in a few minutes or so. Think of something to eat while I'm gone, eh? If you care to eat something other than rations, that is."

With that, he disappears around a corner leaving you to ponder the situation free of his presence.

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"I have no objection to House T. having better relations with Lyrander... so long as I have an opportunity to build good relations with both houses myself," Cecil says to his ground as Caskin leaves. "And besides, what's best for Breland is best for the Houses in any event."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Aye, its for the better anyways. We couldn't make enough progress tonight to justify the time it would take to break camp. I hope the weather breaks by morning. It should, but we'll probably catch some afternoon showers, the Graywalls are catching the lake effect clouds. If we're lucky we'll catch some southerly winds to keep the rains north of the lake. But we can't count on it. Anyway, we'll need to move quickly, taking advantage of the daylight. I think we can get within sight of the mountains by tomorrow evening, given good weather. I'd like to set up camp either on a ridge or the mountain face of the foothills so we can get a broad view of the range. Then we can take advantage of the darkness by keeping a fire going or using a sunrod as a beacon. If there are survivors, and they are capable, they can signal back with their own fire. We can then cover and reveal the fire in a pattern to make sure they are responding to us."

Butch then looks over to Wrench. "How about you, Wrench? Have any suggestions for finding survivors or maybe even the downed ship? Maybe a magic elemental compass that points towards strong magic? That would be awesome!"

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"I'll consider that Plan B. But my first choice would be to ask the locals who probably saw it go down to lead us to the location. And I've got just the tool for that."

He holds up his inkpen.

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"Wrench, I don't even know what it is, but I like the plan already. Do you need help?"

[Asmodeus]

Cecil

"Wrench, I don't even know what it is, but I like the plan already. Do you need help?"

Wrench

"Yes. I may need help finding a local. And some bread or nuts would be useful.

My first thought is to find a bird, who is most likely to have seen the crash and noted where it went down. Then, I'll use this device to talk to the bird, and ask them to lead us to the crash site.

Bread and nuts will help to put us in favor with the animal. If we can't a find a bird, then some other forest creature who lives in the trees would work to at least point us in the right direction. A grounded animal likely won't be much help.

That is my plan."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch tentatively raises his hand, almost as if knowing that it will only result in a blow to his already weakened sense of reality. "Umm... problem... Birds can't write? How's this bird supposed to write down the location of the crash when it doesn't have hands?"

[Asmodeus]

Butch

Butch tentatively raises his hand, almost as if knowing that it will only result in a blow to his already weakened sense of reality. "Umm... problem... Birds can't write? How's this bird supposed to write down the location of the crash when it doesn't have hands?"

Wrench

"The bird isn't going to write the directions. It will tell me, verbally."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch looks confused. "Oh. I didn't know you understood birdcalls. But, what is the pen for? Are you going to stab the bird with it so it doesn't fly off?"

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Looking a little amazed at the warforged, Threshkor turns to Butch.

"I believe that he has a way of being able to translate, what the bird is saying when it chirps. I myself have seen this happen with my superiors."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Caskin reappears after several minutes, laden with a few plates of bread, cheese, and cured meat, which he rather haphazardly places on the counter.

With a look of amused irritation on his face, he states, "This is how silly women can be. She didn't want to come out and deal with us because last night she somehow managed to splash an entire well of ink on her face and arms and it's left her with rather unsightly stains. I mean, is that really enough to spurn your guests?" He shakes his head to answer his own question. "Shameful. Anyway, I found something to eat that didn't require cooking," and here he raises his voice and turns his head to speak over his shoulder, "ALL FREE OF CHARGE!" There was an odd sound from somewhere around the back corner that just might have been a stifled string of curses. "And we can take along whatever we don't eat now. Should travel well."

Caskin shrugs, and sifts around behind the counter, eventually producing a stack of plates, a large jug of warm ale, and enough mugs to go around. "I guess that's it, then." He tears off a healthy chunk of bread and cheese and stacks them on a plate before filling a mug and retaking his earlier seat and beginning to eat.

Around a mouthful of food, he says, "Go ahead. Take what you want. The bill's covered, and Cassa wouldn't like it if you left hungry, even if she is," again, he raises his voice in the direction of the back area, "hideously and permanently disfigured!" Another sound, this time identifiably a faint distressed yelp is followed by a bout of laughter from Caskin. Shaking his head, he continues to eat, his chuckling at the absurdity of the situation slowly fading with each chew.

[Bigmac]

Morning comes quicker than any expect. The rider Caskin mentioned must have made good time or didn't realize that he was supposed to arrive after dawn because it was still dark when the papers were delivered to a waking Cecil. The set of papers is nearly identical to the contract the others signed at greywall, with a few minor changes and a different signator. Having delivered the message the man departs with little fanfare and leaves the group to begin it's preparations for the journey to the Greywalls.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench spends the night completing the crafts he had started back in Orcbone, and adds them to his inventory. As the group begins waking, he is already moving about, sorting packs and equipment, and making sure everything is ready to move.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch was up early, carefully arranging the packs by weight and inspecting the saddles. When the rider arrived, he woke the horses and began feeding and watering them. He walked each one around the stables to assess its capacity and demeanor. Humming a tune from back on the farm he diligently saddles and bridles the horses loading the spare equipment into saddlebags. Ready for travel, Butch leads the horses out to the water trough outside, reigning them to the hitching posts.

As he enters, he sees Cecil reviewing the papers and nods in acceptance. He nods to Wrench on the way to Threshkor. "Wake up, brother Threshkor. You're missing the glory of the Host." He whispers, shaking Threshkor lightly.

Remembering what Caskin said last night about being a late sleeper, Butch approached him slowly. Kneeling down he whispered sweetly into Caskin's ear, "Wake up, wake up, my husband's at the door!"

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Waking up after Butch shaking him slightly he straightens himself out and starts to stretch.

"Morning Butch. Have you got anything for our breakfest prepared?"

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"There's still some cheese and bread left over from last night. I was going to take some and enjoy the sunrise."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil finishes reviewing the papers. "I'm ready to go as soon as we're all on our feet, Mr. Butch," he says. "How has the rest of our little party fared this night?" he asks, chuckling over Caskin's waking.

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Being a waystation rather than an inn, it wasn't the most comfortable sleeping accomodations to be had in the region. Draped across two chairs, Caskin snored lightly, his head resting on the back of one hand. He was dreaming about something abstract, but Butch's whispered words called up a memory.

He woke with a start, eyes still closed, and rolled off the chairs onto the floor with his feet and legs lamely jerking in a mockery of running. His eyes popped open a moment later and he instinctively tried to jump to his feet, whacking his head against the underside of the table, instead.

Managing to work himself out from beneath the table, with a hand rubbing at the sore spot on his head, he blinks a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes.

"Fek! What a horrible dream. I don't know why I can't seem to remember not to eat cheese just before going to sleep."

He finally seems to notice the rest of you, and the pre-dawn dimness through the window. "What are you all doing up so early? And what am I doing up so early?" He yawns cavernously.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"We are leaving. You should get ready."

Note to self: It seems that this 'sleeping' business causes temporary brain damage. Probably caused by lack of oxygen from that 'snoring' thing they do. However, it seems to fade after the flow of oxygen has been restored. Quite unusual.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"All troops accounted for, sir. The horses are prepared and well watered. Might I suggest joining Brother Threshkor and myself to greet the morning sun. We have some cheese and bread left over from last night."

Outside, as the sun peaks over the horizon, Butch ruminates about the trip.

"I reckon Mr. Caskin should lead the way. He's from a tracking house and we don't want to ruin any tracks we might come across. He should have some survival training too, that will help keeping us from getting lost. Mr. Cecil can be well protected in the middle of our squad with Wrench nearby. Brother Threshkor can follow up while I patrol the line assisting anyone having trouble with their horse."

"Well, the sun is up, we should take advantage of the good weather and light and push hard with the fresh horses. I suspect we'll have rain again this afternoon and we should make camp as soon as the clouds start to gather."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Caskin's face contorts into an unflattering grimace when he realizes the time and that it means moving out. One of the several reasons he never fit the mold of a man of service; too many inconveniences. He performs a half-shrug, half-stretch in an attempt to un-knot certain muscles.

Still half-dazed, a coherent thought gradually forms in his head. "I guess my papers came early, eh? How wonderful." His smirk makes it all too clear that he considers an early delivery only as an evil plot to deny him more sleep.

With a dopey, half-asleep sour face, he shakes out some of the cobwebs while checking his bag for contents and straightening himself out as much as possible. Which wasn't much--he remained a fright of wrinkles and his outer clothing was definitely in need of laundering.

He aborts a motion toward one of the wands snugly fitted into his belt, shrugging instead and saying, "Meh. I guess it doesn't matter. Going to get worse anyway."

The mess known as Caskin Iaro grumpily heads outside into the early sun, squinting tightly and grumbling.

When Butch recommends him to take the lead and qualifies the decision, Caskin partly stifles a chuckle.

Through a one-eyed squint, he confesses, "Nope, nope. I'm afraid I'm not that well associated with such things. I might be able to track myself through the woods, but that's about it. I'm afraid my purpose at this particular moment is fairly narrowly confined to expediting the acquisition of the documents and the pilot. That I can manage better than you, but otherwise, I'd gauge we're about on par."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch sighs heavily, rubbing his temples. "Wonderful! We're heading out into the wilderness and nobody has any survival skills?"

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"It can't be that difficult, can it? We aren't going to be staying long anyways. You worry too much, Butch."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"I think we'll manage just fine, Butch. We have so far."

[Bigmac]

The morning sun begins to burn away any leftover pools of water from the previous night's rain as the group travels away from the waystation. The Greywalls loom ever larger in the distance, low hanging clouds shielding the peaks from view. The horses from the stable are fresh and willing to travel, but after riding a magebread horse it is hard to go back and not miss what those animals had to offer. Azmirith takes the lead, keeping watch for any ambushes with his keen eyes and ears. Butch rides up and down the line, helping riders to better understand their mounts as needed.

The group pauses briefly for lunch, mindful of the pressing nature of their mission. Even so, members are tasked to keep a vigilant lookout as the others eat in shifts in case there were any assailants ready to attack. No such attack occurs, perhaps because of those efforts, perhaps not. After hastily eating their rations the group takes off once again heading for the mountains, now close enough to see distinct lines forming along the range and highlighting the peaks and valleys. The clouds still linger about the mountain tops, but they are still white with little threat of rain.

As the sun begins to reach lower in the western sky you reach the rising foothills of the Greaywall Mountains. You gather you belongings from the backs of the horses and send them on their way back to the waystation. Looking at the height and breadth of the mountains you begin to realize the monumental nature of this task. You have a small idea of where you suspect the airship to be, but from your vantage point there is no obvious wreckage sight anywhere to be seen.

[Citizen Joe]

EDIT: ERK! Ninja'd
Butch

Butch mutters something quietly, "Famous last words..."

He ponders a moment before speaking. "Very well, The Host shall guide us. I'll lead. I want Brother Threshkor nearby for a little divine guidance. Then a ten pace gap followed by Mr. Cecil and Wrench. Mr. Caskin, you'll be following up at the rear. Keep five paces back so that the horses don't get too crowded."

He nods in satisfaction. "I've selected all your horses and checked their saddles. I've carefully balanced the weights so I don't want to hear any complaints about Wrench and myself carrying a lighter load. We're both significantly heavier than the rest of you so your horses are carrying the extra weight. No sense having one horse move faster than the rest. We've got good weather and I intend to make the most of it. We'll press hard from the start and ease off as the horses get fatigued. I'll be looking for trails and hazards on the ground. If any of you have trouble with your horse, speak up and I'll fall back to assist. I need the rest of you to watch out for other dangers and keep an eye on the sky. If the clouds are moving north, we should be fine. If they start coming south or southwest, basically towards the mountains, we'll be in for a nasty evening as they build up on the Graywalls. Hopefully we can find some shelter before rain starts, but we need the camp struck before the rain starts. It will be too dangerous to travel the hills in the rain and we would likely get lost."

Butch holds his hand out to the rising sun, fingers parallel to the horizon. "OK we got one finger above the horizon. I want everyone saddled up and moving by four fingers."
When the sun is one hand (4 fingers) above the horizon, that's about one hour from sunset/sunrise. Giving Threshkor enough time to prepare his spells. I'm assuming he's been quiet because he's been praying all this time.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench approaches Cecil at the foothills. "Sir, are we going to continue farther today, or make camp shortly?

If we are going to continue, I'll start looking for a target for my spell. Otherwise, it would be best to wait until morning."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"OK. Let's hoof it to the far side of one of these ridges. We'll want a clear view of the mountains. Set camp, get a fire going and hope the survivors see the smoke. We can use a sunrod tonight as well, for signaling. If we're lucky, the survivors can signal back."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"I agree, Butch. We need to make it as far as we can before we set up camp - and we need to set up camp a fair distance from where we use those sunrods unless we want more visitors in the night, I think," he says.

"Wrench, go ahead an look for your small animal once we get a little closer."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Silently trudging along with the slower members of the group, Caskin wends his way between the more prickly scrub and sharper-edged rocks. Though he mumbles occasionally to himself, his expression betrying his dislike for hiking, and no doubt marching, his footing upon the uneven surface appears to be unusually sure.

Somewhere along the route, he's produced a small leather packet emblazoned with what appears to be a wilted blue flower with long, droopy black pistils bracketed with some worn script above and below. Now and then, Caskin draws out a few small grey objects and pops them idly into his mouth. After working them for a few moments, he spits out the husks.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Reapportioning the weight, Butch leads the group up to the ridge line in the foothills. He scans the sky for clouds, then holds his hand to the mountain ridgeline to estimate the time before the sun dips behind the mountains. Then he scans the hill for a good spot to camp.

"Alright, its time to make camp. The Graywalls are already in their own shadow, so we don't have too much time. We need a smoke column before dark so the survivors can see it. They won't see our signal lights tonight if they don't know to look. Wrench and I will stand sentinel, while the rest of you break into two man teams to scout the area for a good camp site. Natural protection like a cave or cluster of rocks would be good. But we also want a land mark we can see from the mountains. If we can't find anything better, we'll just use that clearing over down there."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"Butch, I'm a little worried about these smoke columns and signal fires you talk about. You assume that some accident brought the ship down, instead of some hostile force.

If something attacked the ship, it would be just as likely to attack the ship's rescuers."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"We're at least a hard day's walk from the mountains themselves. Although I've only seen a few skyships, they've always been well out of range of any weapons I could think of. That means that they would have to have been close to the mountain when they went down. Possibly attempting to dock on a cliffside or something. Thus, we're well out of range of anything that might have shot them down."

Butch sweeps his arm across the immense backdrop of the Graywalls.

"Besides, we need to narrow down our search area. We could be up there for YEARS without finding anything. I'd be more worried about attracting local animals. So long as we don't cook any meat, the scent won't draw meat eaters. The grazers will be scared off by the fire. That leaves locals, from which we might get information."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"Butch, while I agree mostly with the plan for rest (though we need to keep that fire tiny, and partially behind a rock if possible), Wrench is right." He holds out his hands placatingly. "I know that any conventional weapon would have trouble hitting a skyship if it were in the open air, but..." he looks vaguely in the direction of Droaam. "We're hardly in a conventional place."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Of course, sir. We still need some means of locating them, though. Brother Threshkor, before you turn in for the night, please fill our bucket with water. In an emergency we can douse the fire, or refresh our water skins in the morning."

Turning to Wrench, he continues, "Do you think you could use the climbing gear to set up some perimeter trip wires to warn us?"

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

"Certainly, but I need to be sure you can get all of it." He says. He thens bends his knees and starts to pray and then LO! Water!

{OOC- My create water should create four gallons.}

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench immediately sets to work trying to rig up some sort of perimeter with ropes and climbing gear to rattle if its tripped. He'll spend 3 hours on the task, getting whatever he can out of his skills.

[roll0]

Edit:

(boo-ya!)

After rigging up a fairly well-made alarm system, Wrench returns to his crafting of the items from the town.

{OOC: I'm guessing that my rolls from before will carry over and that this will be enough time to finish from my interruptions in town.}

[Bigmac]

Caskin manages to lead the group to a suitable campsight near a concave portion of the mountain range. The group quickly sets up tents and a cover for their small fire before beginning the regemented sleep schedule laid out by Butch. While they are doing this Wrench sets about making the tripwire from what materials he could find from the climbing kit. His famailiarity with mechanical devices is evident as he makes a useful warning system in very short order. After finishing up his work he sets about creating more stuff, this time of an magical nature. The hours pass and watchs are traded as night settles into the mountain range.

During Cecil and Caskin's watch, they hear a rattling noise off in the distance. Something has set off Wrench's alarm system.

http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/3882/campcaveqi8.png (http://img74.imageshack.us/my.php?image=campcaveqi8.png)

(OOC: All awake party members get a free surprise round action. Also, all members who are awake please roll initiative. The sound came from the northern part of the tripwire ~C18 or so.)

[Asmodeus]

Wrench
HP: 13/13
AC: 19(vt:11 ff:18)

Wrench, unhappy at being interrupted, gets to his feet, and draws out the pen, which he has charged with a spell. He is expecting some errant deer has kicked his rope, rather than someone with foul intent.

[roll0]

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

At the sound of the alarm, Cecil's absentminded polishing of his falchion goes still. Before he even gets up, a murmur sends four tiny lights off in the direction of the intruder. "Show yourself," he mutters.

OOC: Dancing Lights, which dance immediately to C17, C18, D17 and D18. Also, Initiative (1d20+1=15) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1210097)

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin - Init: 13

Perhaps it was just rocks from the slope's face settling to the base--hardly something unexpected, but being in a half-enclosed pocket left no room for risktaking.

Caskin measures his voice to a volume he guesses ought to be loud enough to wake the others, without it being reflected and echoed all across the mountainside, "Look alive! Visitors!"

It hardly mattered if whatever made the noise heard him, or not, as Cecil had already doused the area with light. They were effectively trapped in this position, and thoughts of stealth and subtlety were soundly washed away by the firelight that pointed out each of them like towns on a map.

However, Caskin was in a better position than the rest to potentially recover some of that lost advantage. With certain steps, he scurries just outside the last edges of the revealing light and into the more comfortable shadows where he hunkered down beside an obstacle to attempt to blend into the night.

OOC[roll0]

I'm moving to S8 unless the terrain is too rough to make it, otherwise to R8.

[Bigmac]

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/2243/campcave2yt1.png (http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=campcave2yt1.png)

Cecil reacts to the noise and sends for tiny globes of shimmering light streaking out to where the noise emanated from. As the globes travel to the tripwire they illuminate two large vermin-like creatures that seem to have been altered in some manner. Their hide glimmers in the flickering light and one of them gives a low hiss as the light hovers above. The other creature advances forward across the tripwire causing the climbing equipment to clang together once again. Liquid drips from the creatures fangs as it approaches.

Seeing visitors Caskin makes his way into the darkness as he warns the camp of their presence. Wrench calmly sets his tools down and retrieves his enchanted pen.


Initiative Order:
Cecil 15
Wranch 15
Caskin 13
Animals 8

(all others in camp can make a listen roll DC0 with -10 penalty to hear the alarm or caskin and wake up. If you wake up feel free to roll initiative and add youself in the correct order)

[Asmodeus]

Wranch (From hand tool to salad dressing?)
HP: 13/13
AC: 19(vt:11 ff:18)

Wrench drops his pen gently to the ground near the campfire (not near enough to endanger it burning) so he can retrieve it later, and then begins moving forward to engage the enemy.

Free Action: Drop Item
Double-Move: Move to I-8

What time in the night is it? If I use infusions for this battle, will I still have time to rest and recover them?

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

HP: 18(18)
AC: 12 (no armor)
Position: K3->L3 (cover? Shadowy illumination?)

Butch stirs from his sleep, groaning as he peeks out from his tent. Seeing the floating lights, he crawls out, grabbing his bow.


Wrench: Cecil and Caskin are on duty before 2100, which means you should have at least 8 hours to recover (assuming no more interuptions).

[roll0]
Move Action: crawl K3->L3
Standard Action: stand & equip bow

[MandibleBones]

Cecil (http://www.thetangledweb.net/profiler/view.php?id=16573), HP 20, AC 15 (T11, FF14)

Cecil stands as if there's not a care in the world, and advances along the wall until he's nearly in line with the creature (F8). There, he hides in the darkness.

Hide check (1d20-1=18) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1212587)

And I had such cool stuff to do, but I'm not in range :)

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

[roll0]

[roll1]

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin - Init: 13

Bugs...how...appropriate.

Caskin slinks up across the uneven terrain to fall in some distance behind the intrepid warforged, drawing and loading his crossbow as he does. Cecil's lights make the oversized bedbugs easy to target...

OOCmove to O8 (full move, assuming rough terrain), taking cover beside/behind a rock if possible; one lt crossbow shot at E16 vermin (rolls on dice thread = atk:15, dmg:3)

[Slash_712]

{OOC- I am confused as to which colored circles are who or what}

[Citizen Joe]

1 square = 5'
Unknown if area is difficult terrain although most is either dark or in shadowy illumination.

Azmirith is red currently at M2, presumably in a two man tent with Threshkor.
Butch is dark slate gray starting in a tent at K3 but is moving to L3
Caskin is dark red position R8 on map but I think he moved
Cecil is blue position H6 on map but I think he moved as well
Threshkor is Sienna starting at N2, presumably in a tent with Azmirith
Wrench is lime green starting at O3 and I think he's moving.

The purple circles at E16 and C17 are some sort of bugs
The small yellow dots are Cecil's dancing lights with the yellow line representing 'bright light'
The gray line represents the threshold into darkness from shadowy illumination
The orange and red circle is the campfire

[Bigmac]

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/8522/campcave3pn9.png (http://img166.imageshack.us/my.php?image=campcave3pn9.png)

Butch hears the noise and springs, or crawls rather, into action. He makes his way to the cover of the makeshift wall next to the campfire and readies his bow. Threshkor wakes up in time to see Azmirith grab his morning star and run out of the tent with it clutched in both hands.

Cecil advances towards the creatures and finds a convienent niche along the wall in which to hide. Wrench, on the other hand, moves straight towards the oncoming creatures and is met halfway by the four legged fiends.

Both animals advance on Wrench. As they approach it looks like they have some sort of fur growing out of their thickly plated sides. One beast jumps for Wrench's throat but misses and the other tries to latch on to his leg but his teeth slink off of Wrench's armor plating.

Caskin fires a shot at the creatures as they are moving to meet Wrench, but his arrow flies just over one of the thing's back.

OOC:
ROUND 2 INIT ORDER
Butch
Threshkor
Azmirith
Cecil
Wrench
Caskin
Creatures

As far as terrain, it is considered rouch if it is in total darkness, normal otherwise.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Aw SHAVARATH!" Butch curses out loud. "Where's our WATCH!? Someone get some lights on those targets! No, Don't... GAHH!!" His barking trails off into some sort of guttural curses as he readies an arrow training on one the creatures attacking Wrench.

Butch cannot see either Cecil or Caskin as they are both out of his field of vision. Particularly with the backdrop of the dancing lights.

Start: L3
End: L3
Action:
Delay until lights cover the creatures (presumably at Cecil's action) and then:
Attack either of the creatures (+4 attack -4 firing into melee)
[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
[roll3]

[MandibleBones]

Cecil (http://www.thetangledweb.net/profiler/view.php?id=16573) HP 20, AC 15

"Fast little buggers, aren't you?" he murmurs. The lights zip back to center on the creatures, two on each. Out of hiding, Cecil moves around to flank the beasties and swings mightily with his falchion, a cry of "For the Host!" on his lips. The Host is not with him this night; he misses horribly. Knowing a counterattack is coming, he steels himself for the inevitable.

Move dancing lights to focus on the creatures. Move Cecil to G10 (F8-F9-F10-G10). Falchion slash! (Flanking) (1d20+7=8) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1216455)

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Oh. There you are, Sir!. Heads up! Incoming!"

Butch lets loose an arrow but misses horribly as the bugs dance about with Cecil and Wrench.

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Finally waking up, Threshkor decides to head for the fray.
{OOC- I think I can get to L7}

[KCiemir]

Azmirith
HP: 16/16
AC: 14 (14touch, 12 FF

Azmirith quickly glances about, looking where the others are, and then steps forward, to J-9, swinging the morningstar with abandon. Though he seems to exert himself, not a sound issues from him, the intence training he went through once again overcoming him.


[roll0]
[roll1]

[Asmodeus]

Wrench
HP: 13/13
AC: 19(vt:11 ff:18)

Wrench swivels his stance and swings his fists down at the vermin between himself and Cecil. He says "Sir, you should back away. If these creatures have venom, I'm immune; You are not. Attack from a distance."

[roll0]
Modifiers: +1BAB, +1STR, +2Flanking
[roll1]

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin - Init: 13

Slinking forward yet again, so as to draw both insects into preferred positions, Caskin raises his tattooed hand, palm forward at one of the vermin. A wash of red and black roiling energy seems to emanate from the markings along his hand and forearm, coalescing briefly at his open palm before streaking toward the body of the wounded creature.

OOC<move> to M9 (10'x2), <std> Eldritch blast upon bug at I9 if it's still alive, else the other one.

Atk (1d20+5)[5](10) (ranged touch attack) -- oh how pathetic; well, here's to hoping it has an 11 or lower Dex!
Dmg (1d6+1)[2](3) -- oh how similarly pathetic

[Bigmac]

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/1820/campcave4yw6.png (http://img114.imageshack.us/my.php?image=campcave4yw6.png)

Butch knows that something is happening, but can't tell exactly what as the creatures have moved out of the light created by the four glowing bulbs. He holds an arrow ready for the first positive target he can find.

Threshkor runs out of the tent in his nightclothes, seeing the horriable looking ratlike creatures with bony plates for the first time. Azmirith charges into the fray, hitting one of the creatures in the side with his morningstar. It slams into a solid plate of bone with a resounding thud that sends vibrations down the weapon.

Cecil moves to surround one of the monsters and brings his lights with him. As the lights reveal the long tailed and fanged animals Butch releases an arrow that nearly hits Cecil. The arrow causes Cecil's concentratin to waver and his downward cut from his falchionn slams into the hard earth instead of monsterious flesh.

His attack was not in vain, however, because it distracted the animal enough for Wrench to slam his metal fist into the side of the creature's head with a muted impact of flesh and steel. Spittle flies from the creature's mouth and sizzles as it hits the ground.

Caskin moves into the light of the flying gloves and sends a burst of energy forth from his tattooed hand. Trying to avoid Azmirith, who happend to block the most obvious path of attack, Caskin is unable to hit the four legged devil.

The creature that Wrench struck comes to it's senses and leaps at the construct's neck. As the creature's fangs sink into the wood acid pours forth along the teeth to deepen the severity of the wound. The creature stays attached to the warforged, trying in vain to suck any fluid out of Wrench's mechanical body.

The other creature turns it's attention to Azmirith and grabs ahold of his leg. Again the acidic teeth connect with their target, but this time the creature begins to drinnk deeply of the crimsion blood flowing around the wound.

ROUND 3 INIT ORDER
Threshkor
Azmirith
Butch
Cecil
Wrench
Caskin
Creatures

Both Wrench and Azmirith take 11 points of damage.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch
HP: 18/18
AC: 12 (no armor)

Butch sighs as he swaps his bow for his scythe and moves in to join the battle.


Free Action: drop bow
Move Action: get scythe
Move Action: move from L3->H7 (6 squares) couldn't quite get close enough.

[KCiemir]

Azmirith
5/16 HP


As the beast bites his leg, Azmirith quickly gasps from the pain. refocusing on the enemy, he reaches down and tries to pry the thing off his leg, but he can't seem to get a hold of it to get rid of it.


[roll0]

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin - Init: 13

Taking more care this time, Caskin causes another mostly black bolt to spring forth toward the nearest rat-thing.

OOCPosting early action as I won't be home until very late tonighit.

<std> Eldritch blast upon rat-thing #2 if it's still alive, else the other one.

Atk - (1d20+5)[5](10) (ranged touch attack)
Dmg - (1d6+1)[3](4)

I am not impressed. :( However, if the critter is considered flatfooted/lost its DexMod to AC while latched onto a target, its touch AC might be 10...could happen.

ButchThis is supposed to be rough terrain (assuming it's rough pretty much everywhere), so you're only going to make it to J-5 or thereabouts.

[MandibleBones]

Cecil (AC 15)

Cecil plants his feet and takes another mighty swing at the rat-thing, biting deeply into its chitanous flesh. "RAAH!" he yells, hoping the pain will cause it to let go of Wrench.

Invisible Castle doesn't work at work anymore and I forgot how to use the dice roller in the forum - I have a +8 modifier to hit with flanking. EDIT: Dice rolled by Bigmac - Critical hit, total 19 damage

[Asmodeus]

Wrench
HP: 4/13
AC: 19(vt:11 ff:18)

If there is still a vermin attached to Wrench
Wrench tries desperately to get a grip on the vermin attached to him and to get it off of him before it can do more damage.

I'm not sure of the details for how this works, so I'm putting up a grapple check, and I'll let you handle the rest, Mr. DM.
[roll0]

If there is no vermin attached
Wrench attacks the nearest vermin available.

[roll1]
[roll2]

{OOC: And this is -why- I wait for my turn. i don't know what the situation is, so I have no idea what my action actually should be.}

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Threshkor will try and position himself adjacent to Butch and get ready to heal him. {OOC- Any AoOs? If so, yeah no armor.}

[Bigmac]

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/7534/campcave5yh4.png (http://img262.imageshack.us/my.php?image=campcave5yh4.png)

Threshkor rushes to Azmirith's aid and begins to cast a healing spell. His hands glow as he finishes his prayers to the host and Azmirith feels some strength flowing back into his body. The strength is not enough to shake the creature off of him, however, and he can feel his life blood slipping away into the creatures acidic maw.

Butch leaves his bow and advances towards the melee while preparing to strike with his massive curved scythe. He idraws near to Wrench just as Cecil swings a curved blade of his own into the side of the vermin attached to Wrench. The blade since deep into the creature's flesh, but it is unable to cut all the way through due to the chitinous plates in the creature's hide.

Wrench reaches for the creature to try and pry it off, but the teeth are sunk in too deep to force the thing to let go. Caskin again fires another blast of energy from his body towards the intruders, but it is hard to place his shot when the combatants are in such close proximity.

The animal attached to Azmirith continues to drink the blood pouring from the wound and is now activly sucking more blood out ravenously. The bloody mess of an animal attached to Wrench lets go in frustration and tries to attack a different portion of Wrench's anatomy, hoping to find better success elsewhere. It fails, however, to find any spot soft enough to sink it's teeth into.

OOC: Azmirith is heald 6HP, but loses 2 points of Con due to blood drain. I assumed that Threskor ment to heal Azmirith instead of Butch, and since he could move and cast this round I had him do so. Hope you don't mind.

ROUND 4 INIT ORDER
Threshkor
Azmirith
Butch
Cecil
Wrench
Caskin
Creatures

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch stops and pivots as his line gets blocked, instead rolling over Wrench's back dropping in between the two beasts and bringing his scythe to bear.


Fluff described by this move action...
Move Action: H7->J7->I9 (maybe provoke AoO from #2)
Attack:
Damage: [roll1]



If that hit and dropped #2 (after Azmirith goes)
1d20+7
[roll=damage]2d4+6

Note that I forgot about +2 attack for flanking (Threshkor) in the initial attack. So the total attack roll should have been 18.

[Citizen Joe]

I guess that's why I put all my rolls in at once:smallconfused:
If that hit and dropped #2 (after Azmirith goes)
[roll0]
[roll1]
OK, off to work. See you guys in a few hours.

[KCiemir]

Azmirith
9/14 (-2 con)

Feeling drained by the acidic maw of the beast, Azmirith is grateful for the healing the cleric decided to give him. Reinvigorated, he takes up his morningstar, and swings as hard as he can.

I am basing this off ooc, that I can attack the beasties. if I cant, and need to try to grapple, that is included

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Threshkor will stand by Azmirith and try and rip it off of him if he doesn't himself.
[roll0]

[MandibleBones]

Cecil (http://www.thetangledweb.net/profiler/view.php?id=16573) (AC15, 20 HP)

Cecil pulls his falchion out of the wound he just made and slams it back into the hole, cutting deeper into the creature.

Falchion smash! (1d20+8=26) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1228980) Critical Confirm (1d20+8=17) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1228983) + Action die (1d6=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1229267) = 22. Falchion damage (2d4+3=8, 2d4+3=7) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1228987) For a total of 8 damage if I don't crit, 15 if I do.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench
HP: 4/13
AC: 19(vt:11 ff:18)

Wrench holds his position, and seeing that Cecil is doing well against the first creature, he turns his attention to the one that is attached to Azmirth. He raises both fists and brings them down towards the middle of the creatures spine.

[roll0]
Modifiers: +1BAB, +1STR
[roll1]

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin - Init: 13

If anyone had the time and interest to glance at Caskin, they'd see a face of utter frustration. The clot of comrades and enemies, plus the terrain with those damnable rocks hooking his nice new boots, was causing the young adventurer to bleed from his eyeballs--figuratively, of course.

Caskin takes aim, almost as if using the vee between his fingers as a gauge to hit the beast square in the head. Another roiling black and red burst shoots forth from the palm of his hand, looking far more accurate than the previous two.

OOC<move> M9->K11
<eldritch blast> vs most mangled critter (other than a PC!)
- Atk - (1d20+5)[13](18)
- Dmg - (1d6+1)[3](4)

[Bigmac]

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/9999/campcave6ju7.png (http://img266.imageshack.us/my.php?image=campcave6ju7.png)

As the animal continues to drinnk Azmirith's blood, both he and the cleric try to wrestle the creature off of him. The duo fails in their attemps as the taste of blood as steeled the creature's determination.

Seeing that the pair are having such a hard time, Butch moves swiftly over and digs the blade of his scythe in between two hard chitinous plates on the beast. As it cuts the flesh blood begins to flow out of the creature for the first time.

Cecil, having created a weakness in the armor, swings his falchion once again, and this time the blade manages to make its way through the creature to the other side, splitting the horrible attacker in two. With the threat to Wrench removed, he tries to attack the creature on Azmirith, but is unable to get a good shot at it with all the other bodies in the way.

Caskin, having had to deal with the mess of bodies, now refines his aim and sends a bolt of energy that flies true and strikes the creature on its side. It cries out in pain, but does not release its hold Azmirith as it is focused only on trying to suck all of his blood out.

OOC: Az, you take another point of Con damage.

ROUND 5 INIT ORDER
Threshkor
Azmirith
Butch
Cecil
Wrench
Caskin
Creatures

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Alright ya little mosquito... that's ENOUGH!"


move action: As necessary to get next to creature (currently not needed)
Attack: Power attack(2) +2 flanking [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[KCiemir]

Azmirith
9/14 HP Assuming no HP damage.

Utterly enraged at the beast's deep-biting fangs, and its ferocious tenacity, Azmirith Sreams out, nothing intelegable, but it is clearly a mix of pain and anger. As he bellows, he reaches down, and heaves the bugger off.
IF the thing is still on me after threshkor:

grapple, 17 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1231777)

Total of 20
I will spend an action point to raise that

i dont know if you have this problom, but Invisible castle is messing up for me. I decided to use it b/c it seemed to produce better rolls, but i guess i will use the thread roller
[roll0]


IF IT IS NOT:
Azmirith will take a breath, and proceed to inspect the bodies.

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Once again Threshkor tries to pull off the bug from Azmirith only this time he mutters a little prayer under his breath and then pulls the bug with a shout.

[roll0]

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Stabbity death ensues as Cecil moves toward the beastie and slashes if the creature hasn't already kicked the proverbial bucket.

Attack! No flanking. (1d20+6=21) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1232115) Damage! Stabbity death! (2d4+3=10) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1232116)

[Asmodeus]

Wrench
HP: 4/13
AC: 19(vt:11 ff:18)

Wrench tries again to crush the beastie.

[roll0]
Mods: +1BAB, +1 STR
[roll1]

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"OK we've got this handled. Mr. Caskin bring the water bucket so we can clean up. Nobody drag this scent back into the tents."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil nods. "Good thinking, Butch."

[Bigmac]

Be careful about advancing too quickly. You almost didn't have it.

Theshkor and Azmirith are succesfull in prying the creature off of the ninja. That, however, gives it back it's dex bonus to it's AC and thus Butch's attack misses. Cecil's, however, barly hits and manages to do enough damage to kill the beast. I'll edit this later with a more descriptive post, but for now the fight is over. Congrats.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench
HP: 4/13

"Well, that was a little scary. Threshkor, you take care of Azmirith. I'll tend to myself."

Wrench sets about healing his wounds, and casts an infusion on himself.

[roll0]
Mods: +2 Level, +1 Infuse Self bonus

[Asmodeus]

Wrench
HP: 10/13

He very nearly heals himself completely. Only a minor bit of damage is left.

"Good enough for now. I'll do the rest by hand."

Wrench returns to the camp fire and sets about repairing himself through more mundane methods. That will take him the rest of the night.

[roll0] HP Healed = Total - 15 = 13 healed. Full health in the morning.
Mods: +2INT, +5 Ranks, +2 Mwk. Tools

[KCiemir]

Azmirith
9/14 HP

Glad that beast is finally dead, Azmirith pulls himself back together. Turning to Threshkor, he says "Threshkor, I am in need of your unique services. I did, however, seem to lose a lot of blood. I fear that without your magiks, it may take me days to fully recover. We do not have that time, so I hope you can accelerate the process. He looks, from what you can see, hopefully at threshkor, for a few seconds. Then, turning back to the group, he says grimly "we seem to not communicate well in battle. While Threshkor and wrench tend to our wounded, and Caskin gathers water, perhaps we should discuss our plans for any future battles.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Indeed, Azzy, we need to plan a bit more."

Butch takes some time to clean off his weapon and himself with the water bucket, then helps clean up Azmirith.

"That's the third time I lost access to my bow because others have rushed in. So far we have always been caught on defense. So we should really let our foes expend their energy to get to us. That will give us more time to soften them up assess the situation. I don't think we should engage until they are close enough for us to close and attack at the same time."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

"Coming up!" replies Caskin as he maneuvers over and between the stones and grassy plants leading to the sheltered clearing. He returns to the rest, setting the bucket down in easy reach while staring at the dead creatures.

"Anyone know what these things are? I thought they were some kind of insect, at first, but now I see they're mammals of some kind. Bloodsuckers; very interesting. And acid, too. We're fortunate there weren't more."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"I think we should wait till tomorrow to discuss tactics. In my experience, humans tend to be less effective than usual when they don't do that sleeping thing, and all of you have had your sleep interrupted."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch gives the creatures a sidelong glance, "They're not bugs? Wait. Acid?"

Butch scratches his head in confusion. "Hmm... well, I reckon that ain't no bug juice oozin' out. I just figured it was some sort of bug demon. I thought I heard something about acid and demons. Well, anyway, we should leave them where they lie. Moving them will only spread the scent. If they draw scavengers, they'll just go off with the corpses and not bug us. If we're lucky, vultures will circle on our way back so we'll even have a landmark."

Butch helps Azmirith to his feet and then back to the tents. "Mr. Cecil, Azmirith shouldn't go to sleep right away. We won't know if it's the blood loss or if he's just tired. It's almost his shift anyway. Why don't you go ahead and turn in while he stays up. You two can swap out the morning shift too. I'll wake you up when it's time to spell me."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Caskin yawns and heads off toward the tents....

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"Sounds like a plan to me," he says, rubbing his tired arms and gesturing to his falchion, again strapped to his back. "It's been a while since I've had to swing this thing around more than once." He heads to bed after cleaning up.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch stops Caskin in his tracks. "Hold on. You've still got a couple hours before your shift is up. I'll spell you after a quick nap."

Butch takes some time to reposition his bow and quivers and then passes some time honing his scythe until he comes down from the battle rush. With a big yawn, he sets aside his weapon and crawls into the tent with Cecil.

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

"Indeed, you do look rather bloody" He says to Azmirith. He then folds his hands as he says a little prayer and then extends his hands over Azmirith's wounds.

{OOC- Burning Magic Weapon for another Cure light wounds.}

[roll0]
I have a +1 from Healing Domain ability

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Narrowing, then rolling his eyes, Caskin grudgingly replies in the affirmative. "Two hours. Don't get into a good dream I'll have to wake you out of. You know how annoying that is." By now, it'd probably been forgotten, but Caskin still seemed to harbor a bit of ire over Butch's waking him from such a nice dream back at the rest stop.

Finding a reasonably comfortable spot, he leans back against a sizable rock--the sort that eventually grows into a boulder if it eats all its vegetables--and keeps himself busy by staring at the clearing's mouth. He'd much rather be in Wroat, at the Silver Cowl, having a nice glass of wine, resting his head against the bosom of one of the fine lasses that called the place home.

He rubbed his temples lightly in pale imitation of the soft fingers of one particular girl.... The rock he threw ricocheted against others a few times before coming to a silent rest somewhere out there in the darkness.

"Feh."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch stirs a couple hours later. He crawls slowly out of the tent so as not to wake Cecil.

"Help me suit up?" he asks quietly of Caskin. As he dons his chainmail, he quietly asks about Azmirith. "How is Azzy? did he seem alert? I'm worried that the blood loss may put him down for good."

After suited up, Butch relieves Caskin. A quick patrol of the perimeter and he returns to the fire.

"Hey Wrench. I don't want to distract you from your work, but I'd like to put a little thought into the back of your head. I've got these three quiver for different arrows. The brown fletchings are regular, black are cold iron tipped, and the white ones are silver tipped. With the bow, that all gets a little bit unwieldy, especially with my scythe. Do you think you could make a harness for all that? Maybe even encase the bow and have a flap to keep water out of my fletchings."

With a sigh, he pulls an arrow from its quiver. "I was thinking too that other heads might be attached for other uses. Like a sunrod for light or a thunderstone. Actually, if that sunrod arrow could slow its descent, it would make for a wonderful signal. Still need a way of activating it without it actually striking something though. Hmm... Anyway if you could come up with a way of attaching things to arrows without ruining their accuracy, that would be a lot of help."

He gives his scythe a little whirl. "You may have noticed that I keep my scythe in harvesting configuration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythe). Soldiers typically use reconfigured scythes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe) where the blade is extended straight out. Personally, I'm used to the harvest style, but I was wondering if you could make one where the blade could be repositioned so that it could be folded back for easy carrying, out for harvesting, and then fully extended for better reach."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Caskin hops to his feet, when Butch signals to him. He plays squire and helps Butch into his armor.

"I was rather preoccupied staring at nothing for the last two hours. He didn't make any strange noises, so I suspect he's alright, unless...I'm sure he'll be alright with a bit of help from Threshkor."

He rubs one eye with a knuckle and says, "Alright, I'm going to kiss my bedroll for a while. I'm not used to all this hiking and such." He turns and heads to Cecil's tent, waving over his head for Butch's benefit.

[KCiemir]

Azmirith

After the battle, and especially after threshkor's healing, Azmirith seems ready to do his guard duty. Once he sits, however, he realizes how tired the loss of blood made him. he moves his back against a small mound of dirt, and found himself in a half-sleeping state. Holding his hands against the wound, he loses track of time. By the time Butch comes out of the tent for his watch, Azmirith is sound asleep.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch spends the next couple hours practicing with his scythe out beyond the fire, fighting with the shadows. As the fire starts to dim, Butch returns to fire and drinks deeply from his waterskin.

"OK, Wrench, looks like the fire's dying down. I'm going to fire up a sunrod and check over the escarpment to see if the survivors have a fire themselves. Hey, Azzy. Heads up, I'm going up top for a moment... Azzy..."

Butch frowns and hurries to Azmirith's side. Shaking him lightly, "Azzy, wake up. Wrench, wake Brother Threshkor, I think Azzy has gone into shock. How long has he been like this?"

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

A sleeping Caskin rolls over and mutters, "You...you can't do that! It was...just...just once...mamrmmaph...." and a foot kicks weakly under his cover. A hand then runs across his face, distorting his features, and he's quiet again, eyes moving rapidly beneath the lids.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

After overhearing Butch's query about Azmirith, Wrench tries to enlighten the poor boy, who must know nothing at all about the properties of magical healing. "Mr. Butch, you have no need to worry about Azmirith. Even with the most minor of healing magics, the body is mended of its most serious injuries, and will recover fully, given enough time. And Threshkor didn't even use the most minor of spells.

Azmirith may still be in pain, but he will live and recover fully, as long as he suffers no further damage."

When he is asked about the equipment, Wrench spends a few moments contemplating the request. Finally, he answers "I know of a certain type of quiver, very similar to the haversack we were loaned. I don't have the ability to create one myself, yet, but I believe with some practice I can eventually master it. {OOC: See Efficient Quiver (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#efficientQuiver)}

As for specially tipped arrows, I have the ability to create such an item now. I would take a standard arrow, and use an infusion to wreath it in flames, and then another to enchant it with a Feather Fall effect. It would only take me a few minutes to prepare such an item. Although I still have misgivings about taking such an action. I would really prefer that we attempt to find the crash site without giving away our presence first. If I know ahead of time that you want an arrow for a special purpose, I can infuse it for almost any general purpose, the same way I infused my pen with the ability to act as a wand for animal speech.

And that idea for a collapsable scythe sounds interesting. I'll see what I can come up with, although I must admit, my skill with armor is much better than my skill with weapon crafting."

Wrench takes out a few scraps of paper and begins drawing out crude designs for the scythe.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

During the discussion about his gear, Butch replies, "Oh no... I didn't mean right away. I was just thinking like later on. We've been hard up for down time since we left Shavalant. Maybe after we finish this mission we could work out the details. I've been thinking about training some dogs to help with guarding and tracking."

After Wrench's consolation about Azmirith, Butch looks to Azmirith with some concern. "Are you sure? He looks a bit pale. Well its time for Brother Threshkor to relieve him anyway." Cupping some water in his hands, he splashes Azmirith's face. "Azzy! Wake up! Wake up! It's time to go to bed."

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: Are you trying to out-stupid Wrench? Because waking someone up to tell them to go to bed is a stroke of genius if so. I commend you, and I will certainly get you back for it.}

Wrench

Wrench watches the changing of the guard with detatched interest. "I'll have to remember that humans prefer to be awoken with water in the face next time we sleep." he says to himself.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

After the shift change, Butch strikes up a sunrod and circles up and around to the cliff at the west end of the camp. Covering the sunrod with his helmet so as to limit the spread of the light, he makes his way to the ridge and scans the horizon for some light. He carefully sights any interesting features and etches the bearings into the ground. Satisfied with his scan, he makes his way back into the camp to discuss his findings with Wrench and Threshkor.


Spot Check: take 20

[KCiemir]

Azmirith

As the water spashes him in the face, he starts. Oi! what are you doing? can't you let a man sleep? Ugh. Well, I guess my shif is over. I suppose that i will retire. He gets up, walks to one of the tents with an empty space, and crawls in, letting himself drift back to sleep.

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Being awoken by Butch he slowly gets out of bed and stretches his arms out and says a little prayer for the day. Seeing Azmirith wake up he turns toward him
"Good Morning Azmirith, Did you manage to sleep well?"

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch holds the water bucket out to Threshkor as the wet faced Azmirith goes to bed. "We're gonna need more water, Brother Threshkor," he says innocently. Setting down the bucket, he continues. "No hurry of course. But we should refill the skins in the morning and if we can refill the bucket again at the end of the day tomorrow, that would be handy. We might find survivors tomorrow and they'll be in desperate need of food and water, so that's another good reason."

[Bigmac]

As Butch returns to camp, the morning sunlight beams over the horizon and begins to warm the rocks along the mountains. The ramains of the two beasts you killed have attraced a few bugs and such, but no major predator has found them, yet. Wrench appears to have repaired the damage caused by the acidic fangs of the creatures, and while Azmirith's wounds seems to have been fully healed by Threshkor's magic, he feels a bit woozy this morning and has a splitting headache.

For Butch:
Butch was able to not a few landmarks for use in navigating the mountains, but little else of value in spotting the airship.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Alright, Mr. Cecil. I spotted some landmarks up on the ridge. We can use those to reference off the map and get our bearings. I think we want to head for that peak over there. It should be an easy landmark until we reach the base of the mountain. I think the airship went down in that area."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil bounces out of bed as if he'd never been asleep. He scans the area Butch just pointed out, then nods. "I agree," he says, than looks to the others. "Any dissenting opinions this morning? Speak now - I'll listen to any other ideas, but we should head out quickly. We're burning daylight."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"As long as we can get a look at the valley, I have no objections."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Caskin looks fairly well rested, and his hair has come through nicely, pointing in many directions at once, just the way he seems to like it.

He looks in the direction Butch indicates, and says, "Yes, I was going to suggest that very thing. Or close enough"

He goes and gathers up his few items, stowing them in his pack and appears ready to hike. Not happy, but ready.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch collects the tripline, coiling it back up and storing it back in its kit. Gathering the waterskins, he prepares them for Threshkor's water spell. While he waits, Butch inventories the supplies and then carefully packs the tents and supplies back into the wonderpacks.

Butch ponders a moment and then suggests a marching order. "Alright, as I figure it, we've still got a day's march before we're close enough to even search. So, I'll take the lead with Wrench. Mr. Cecil and Brother Threshkor can follow behind us, keeping an eye on our landmarks. I want Azzy and Mr. Caskin in the back for ranged support. We won't be going too fast, since Wrench and I are slowed down by our gear, so the rest of you shouldn't have any problems keeping up. Mr. Caskin, make sure you keep an eye on Azmirith, we don't want him falling behind. Azzy, don't be shy about drinking water, I know haven't recovered fully from last night, but we need you to keep up. Unless someone has a better suggestion."

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

As Butch holds out the buckets, Threshkor folds his hands and closes his eyes and whispers a small prayer to the Host. Moments later the buckets fill with water. "Will this be enough, Butch?"

[KCiemir]

Azmirith

Still looking tired from the night before, Azmirith rises from bed quickly, though he clearly was asleep. He gazes out at the land they arrived in. In a few seconds, he has his personal gear ready to go. "Butch, Don't worry about me. I can handle some walking. I only hope we see some sign of the airship soon. If some enemy group can shoot the thing out of the sky, I would hate to see what they could do to us...

As the group gets ready to head out, Azmirith will take his crossbow out of his pack, and prepare it for easy use.

[Bigmac]

ooc: everone go ahead and make spot roles and tell me what they are going to be doing while traveling in the direction Butch mentioned to find the airship. Marching order would also be appreceated. Feel free to RP as well as just provide the rolls.

[Asmodeus]

ooc: everone go ahead and make spot roles...

My spot role would be a street-smart, spunky dog, who struggles internally with his longing for a real home, and his desire to maintain his freedom. I've got an opening for two supporting cast members... a snarky cat, who always plays it cool, but underneath that frosty exterior, feels a strong bond with her two companions... and an older world-weary fatherly dog, who looks out for the younger pup and kit as they travel to find their lost family of human owners.

What? Not that kind of role? Well crap... moving on.
Wrench

Wrench spends his time thinking about that weapon Butch was talking about, and what process would be needed to make it work. The simplest design he can come up with is a a hinged blade with a few peg-holes and a lynch-pin to hold it in place. The problem is that it wouldn't be as sturdy as a normal Scythe. Wrench considers how he could reinforce the blade's attachments.

At the same time, he tries to keep an eye out for any wildlife who might be approachable enough to use to ask about the airship. Any birds who are close enough to target with the spell would be ideal.

[roll0]

[KCiemir]

Azmirith

Following up towards the rear, Azmirith spends his time looking out over the landscape, trying to learn as much as he can about each new area as it arrives, in case a fight breaks out. As he walks, he carries his crossbow in his hand, with ten bolts in a quiver at his side.

[spot]1d20+5[/roll] Gosh i feel stupid:smallfrown:

can I make listen checks for anything sneaking up on us?

[KCiemir]

spot roll
[roll0]

[Citizen Joe]

Butch


[roll0]

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

The old soldier walks alongside Wrench, looking casually all around and quietly humming an old Brelish marching song. The words may originally have been patriotic, but the few words Cecil murmurs in conjunction with the tune seem downright obscure - as if the song had been rewritten several times before this rendition.

SPOT CHECK OF DOOM! (1d20+3=16) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1244328)

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

"Sure thing. Not a problem," he says in reply to Butch's suggestion to monitor Azmirith.

~*~

Caskin marches along, frequently mumbling unintelligible expletives as he treads upon a stone angular enough to press into the sole of his boots, or when a briar tears at his breeches. He keeps one eye on Azmirith, though the man seems to be moving along well enough, if not better, than himself. The other eye alternates between his feet and the lay of the land.

OOCSpot - [roll0]

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Walking in the middle of the group Threshkor holds his club close and waits for the enemy to appear.

[roll0]

[Bigmac]

The trek to the mountians proper is shorter than expected. Moving along the terrain is diffuclt, but the group manages to keep moving forward with their eyes alert for any danger. The morning air is cool for now, but it continues to warm as the sun rises higher overhead. Along the way, Wrench spots a few birds and small game flittering about that could be possible targets of his spell.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench takes out his inkpen and points at his throat, and then attempts to activate it. Unfortunately, the pen starts to smoke and sizzle, and Wrench quickly pulls it away before he hurts himself. "Drats! I must've left it too close to the fire when we got attacked last night.

Sir, it appears that my idea to ask the locals will have to wait until tomorrow mornng."

[roll0] DC 20

{OOC: UNBELIEVABLE! another natural 1. I can't try again for 24 hours now.}

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Seeing the smoking pen, Butch raises a skeptical eyebrow and then carefully moves his scythe to his opposite side, away from Wrench.

"Well, I think we are in the right area anyway. We'll need to start limiting our search area soon. Climbing the mountain won't help if we don't have any daylight to see by. Finding a stream won't help if there aren't any survivors. Finding an animal won't help if we don't know what to ask. And discussing all this won't hasten our trek. So, lets keep moving while we work out the details."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"Since my magic has failed me, I think we should go to the top of the mountain first, and see what there is to see. Then, if we still can't see the site, we can discuss alternatives.

Oh! Wait a minute. I'll just use another infusion, so I don't need to use the pen."

He stops when he finds a few birds and spends a minute casting another infusion on himself, targetting his vocalizer, and will attempt to activate it immediately, if successful.

Wrench successfully infuses his own body with the magic to allow him to speak with animals, but it lies dormant for a few moments.

Being unfamiliar with the spell, it takes Wrench almost another minute before he finally activates the magic. When he next speaks, his voice is no longer the steady metallic voice he usually speaks in, but instead, it comes out in bursts of chirps and whistles, as he starts speaking to the birds that flutter about in the nearby trees.

"<In Birdish>Excuse me? Did you happen to see a giant thing fall out of the sky recently? Can you take us to it? We will give you food, if you can." He'll try this or a similar line of questions with every bird he meets, until he finds one who can help, or his magic runs out.

[roll0] DC 23
Used Action point to add 4, and get 23 exactly
[roll1] DC 20
Made it on 4th attempt

{OOC: Spent another 1 XP and 1 Action Point, across almost 2 minutes to finally get this thing done.}

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch speaks with the rest of the group but gives Wrench and the birds enough room. "I hate to be morbid, but if there weren't any survivors, then vultures would have been circling recently. They might be better witnesses than those little guys. It may also help if we knew which way the winds were blowing at the time. It's hard to tell down here, but a bird would know which way the wind is blowing for sure."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"That's a good point, Butch - but let's see if we can't make use of Wrench's Birdtalk now." He looks at Wrench. "Ask the birds about the vultures!"

[Bigmac]

A small bird of prey flies down to investigate the metal machine whistling at it. It cockes it's head and almost flies off when the others start talking, but remains regardless. It gives a few squawks while looking at Wrench. It flies to a nearby rock where it lands and remins pearched, waiting for a response from the Warforged.

For Wrench:
<birdish>You give food?

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"<common>Get me some food for the bird."

(For DM)
"<birdish>Yes, lots of food, if you can help me. Did you see the giant thing fall from the sky?"

[Bigmac]

The bird hops once and ruffles its wings as it shrieks at Wrench.

<birdish>Food, Yes! I'm Hungry. Food Good.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench gives the bird a little bit of food from someone's pack, and waits to see if the bird says something more.

[Bigmac]

The bird tears into the food, shredding it with it's sharp beak. After it eats for a bit it looks back to Wrench with its head cocked to one side, a piece of food still dangeling from its maw.

<birdish> What did you want?

[Asmodeus]

"I want to find the ship that fell from the sky. It is very large. Might have had fire around it. It fell only a couple days ago. Did you see it? Can you take us to it?"

[Bigmac]

The bird pauses for a few moments and twists its head to watch the other members of the party. After its done, it refocus back on Wrench.

Ship? Something big? Giant flying trees? yes?

[Asmodeus]

"Yes. Can you take us to it?"

[Bigmac]

The bird gets flusted and starts squawking excitedly. It looks as if it is about to take flight.

No no NO! It in bad Valley. Uglies there. No go there. I no go there

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

In a calm voice, he murmurs "Need more food, Wrench? I don't know animals that well, but this one looks a little flighty."

He pauses, reaching in his pack for some granola or something.

"Pun totally unintended, of course."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"<Common> The bird saw it go down and knows where it is, but won't lead us there. Its in a valley. Other creatures are in the valley, and the bird is afraid of them.

I'm trying to get it to guide us to the valley at least, or point us in the right direction."

"<Birdish>Can you get us close, and point us in the right direction at least? You don't have to go in the Valley. Just take us as close as you are willing.

Can you tell me about the Uglies? Are they the same size as me? Bigger? Smaller?"

[Bigmac]

The bird is obvioulsy nervous, its claws digging into the rock where it is pearched. It starts chirpping away as Wrench talks.

It's THAT* way. No miss it. NO! Why you interested in Uglies? You with them!

*The bird clearly indicates a direction, no too far off the path you were taking, but a new path all the same.

As it screaches reach a pitch it takes off into the air and starts to fly away.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"<Birdish>No, no. We aren't with them." As the bird flies off Wrench calls out 'Thank you' to it.

Wrench takes a bit more of the food and leaves it where the bird was perched, as a 'thank you'.

"<Common>Its this way. You can't miss it. No need for any signal fires or other such nonsense." Wrench points out the direction, as indicated by the bird.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Alrighty then..." Butch seemed skeptical but scanned the indicated direction for some sort of land mark. Finding a reference point, he proceeds in the designated direction.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench heads out behind Butch, and for a few minutes, he chirps and sings like a songbird. Unfortunately, the spell ends abruptly and the last few notes are rather harsh and sour. Wrench quickly stops when the notes stop coming naturally.

"Maybe someday, I'll create a Hommonculus that can sing."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Silly Wrench. Hobgoblins can't sing." Butch clears his throat and starts to sing...

Ohhhhhh....
There's a a hole... a hole... a hole in the bottom of the sea!

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"Actually, Hobgoblins can and do sing. They just do it rarely.

But I was talking about a Homunculus. They are small constructs, built to serve a specific utility function. I suppose you could compare them with a Wizard's Familiar in some ways."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch continues to sing as he makes his way towards his bearings mark.

There's a log in the hole in the bottom of the sea.
There's a log in the hole in the bottom of the sea.
There's a log, there's a log...
There's a log in the hole in the bottom of the sea.

He turns to Threshkor and give him the nod.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"You may not want to be quite so vocal, as we get closer. If the bird was right, then this valley is the home to hostile creatures. We should consider employing stealth."

Wrench's thoughts turn, as they usually do, towards his gear. He makes sure that nothing is rattling loosely, and causing any more noise than it needs to. Once that is done, he begins pondering the gear used by the rest of the group. He already has plans for Butch, but the rest of the group hasn't been very forthcoming with requests.

Butch was a fighter, that was plain to see. Armor and weapons would serve him best.

Azmirth seemed to be a different sort of fighter. Ranged weapons were fine, but he likely didn't need much armor. Items to enhance his natural Dexterity might be better.

Threshkor would likely need better armor and weapons at some point, but he seemed to be doing fine for the moment. Perhaps something more to aid him with his divine spells would be better. A band of Owl's Wisdom perhaps? Maybe Prayer Beads?

The newest member, Caskin, was the hardest to read. Wrench would wait until he knew him better to evaluate his needs.

Cecil was a bit more of an enigma, as he tended to blend magic and strength of arms at times. "Sir, may I ask you something? When you use your magic, do you spontaneously weave a spell, or must you prepare your spells ahead of time?"

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil thinks a bit as walks beside Wrench. "It might be a little bit of both," he muses. "Some of the things I do just come instinctively - like the lights last night. Little tricks a wizard taught me once, way out" he points in a generally Thranish direction "that way, and they just stuck."

He grins. "A few of the others, while possibly still just 'little wizard tricks,' are things I had to practice - but they still come spontaneously. They tire me out a bit, though," he adds. "I can only manage a few of them each day, even though my body might still have plenty of strength in it."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch sighs as his one moment of levity is cut short. And then he remembered the water in the face gag last night and starts to smirk. And then the waking of Caskin that morning brings a broad grin to his face. He sighs again in contentment as he remembers lunch back at Orcbone.

"Wait a minute... You made those lights? I thought Wrench did that. Wow, that's neat Mr. Cecil."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Caskin watched with interest as Wrench chirped with the bird. It was a surreal moment in his experience, and one he'd already committed to memory. He was certain there was some ale to be acquired in exchange for it. Perhaps a few extra details would be needed, but it was as definitely good as gold.

When the information was shared and the crash site was on the map, so to speak, Caskin perked up some.

"Ahh, excellent. No more wandering the hills. I wonder what sort of creatures are down there," he asks rhetorically, then asks Wrench directly, "I don't suppose your bird friend indicated if the creatures were like us...well, shaped like us, I suppose, or otherwise?"

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Not quite sure of Butch's signal, he gives Butch an awkward look.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench replies to Caskin "I'm afraid not. The little fellow only called them 'Uglies'. When I tried to get more information, he flew off."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"It's a camp song, Brother Threshkor. You add a little bit with each round and then pass it on to the next person. When somebody forgets a detail they lose." Butch sighs again. "I'll grant you that it's not as good as some of your religious hymns, but it helps to pass the time while out in the fields."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Arms akimbo, Caskin nods to Wrench, a bit disappointed. He breathes deeply and exhales in a rush, saying, "Well, it'd be better to know what's down there now rather than later, but since that's not going to happen, I'll plan on a bit of reconnaisance when we get close enough to pick out some activity. At that point, I can get to higher ground without much trouble, and get a better view of the situation." It goes against his prior demeanor, but he almost appears to be growing serious.

He adjusts the weight of his pack, clearly not thrilled with lugging it through the mountains. "Uglies, eh? Probably some strain of Droaamite, I'd guess. Even a bird would probably mention if we looked like the uglies. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Squinting as he looks around at the ridges that form the pass, he refocuses and continues trudging along. His crossbow appears in his left hand at some point along the path.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"He did ask if I was one of them. Perhaps they are warforged? Although I would hardly call my race ugly."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

He remarks while keeping his eyes forward, "Then unless we assume the bird is too stupid to recognize the difference between bipeds and others, I suppose we at least do have a clue about what to expect. That's better than nothing."

Caskin then looks at Wrench for a moment, and says, "No, your kind are not ugly. Artistic, I think. Like sculptures." He pauses a few moments longer as if contemplating something regarding his own words, then just resumes marching without further comment.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench does not smile from the compliment. But then, he doesn't really have the ability to smile. Its a more humanoid gesture. But those who are familiar with warforged body language can tell that Wrench is pleased by Caskin's words.

"Hmm... Well, I have a hard time telling humans apart sometimes. And trying to figure out the difference between elves, humans, and Kalashtar is a real challenge. And I still don't know how you can tell a halfling from a gnome. For a bird, its probably even harder."

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Caskin chuckles, and says, "Perhaps your unique perspective is something the rest of us could learn from."

Just then, another briar scratches Caskin's boots eliciting a muffled expletive. Orcish, most likely. "I wish these bushes would leave me alone. Y'know, I once met a man from the Eldeen area that could wave his arms and make all the plants ahead, behind and to the sides of him shy away. None of this business of covering your legs with those fuzzy sticking things, or clumps of pollen; not to mention ticks and unsavory things of that sort. Beyond the damage to my clothing, I also rather dislike being the medium for sex between plants."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Oh, I know that magic trick, Mr. Caskin. Hold on... Abracadabra." Butch chants, swinging his scythe to clear away the underbrush.

[Slash_712]

Threshkor

Threshkor gets a laugh at Butch's wonderful attempt at "magic".

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch chuckles and then squints at the edge of his scythe. Grumbling at a small nick he says, "Looks like its one time per day outside the fields. Wrench, add a self sharpening and plant bane features to that weapon request of mine."

He ponders a moment and then addresses Cecil. "Sir, we could hack our way there, and then have an easy path back, but it would certainly point right at us if the 'uglies' have patrols. I think we still need to get an overhead view of the terrain. Either a tall tree or higher up the mountain back there. We haven't gotten too far so we haven't lost much time. But we'll need to do it soon before we lose the daylight."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"I got the impression that the uglies are located inside the valley. not outside. But I could be mistaken there, since my information does come from a bird.

Perhaps when we crest this ridge, we should do recon. We will probably be able to see the crash site from there, and then, we can see the lay of the entire valley. If we are really lucky, we will be able to pick out the location of the 'ugly' camps, and avoid them entirely."

Wrench takes the blade from Butch and begins to sharpen in. He scrapes the length of the blade along his own thumb in lew of a whetstone. Within a few moments, he's got the blade worked back to its original sharpness. He then hands it back to Butch.

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"I agree, Wrench. Let's do that."

[KCiemir]

Azmirith

Up to this point, Azmirith seemed very detached, focusing mainly on the surroundings when the bird was speaking, and continuing to do so. Here, however, he speaks up. "Cecil, Recon is one of my specialties. I will go quickly ahead and find out what is going on, and what these 'uglies' are. I will return shortly.

With that he begins to start forward, but realizing the concern that his companions must consider, once he reaches the front, he looks back and says" Dont worry Butch, I will be fine. I can handle myself."


with better movement then the rest, I should be able to scout ahead easily. I believe that, becasue of wrench, threshkor and Butch, the group is moving at 20ft, I can move sixty, and will move as quickly as possible.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Azzy! Wait. We don't know if we're miles away or just over that ridge. First, we need an overview. From there we can plan our close recon." Butch calls to Azmirith.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"Let him go, Butch. He's most qualified for the job. He can tell us whether we are miles away or not. And one person scouting is a lot harder to catch than a group.

Although, I suppose I could make him quieter, or easier to hide. But that shouldn't be necessary. Do you think it would help, Azmirith?

Azmirith?" Wrench looks around, but it seems the ninja has already dissapeared?

[Citizen Joe]

Butch hangs his head low. "It's not that I'm worried about him, or doubt his competence. It's just that we didn't arrange for a regrouping or the direction we're traveling or anything. Now we'll have to wait here until he returns."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"We are traveling in a straight line. He can easily find us again."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Wrench... Have you ever tried to shoot an arrow out of the sky? They travel straighter than our path and nearly impossible to hit. We have two fixed points and a vast unknown area between them. We all know we will eventually end up at the wreck. But we all know we are currently here. Everything in between is a shot in the dark... literally. I know for a fact that he doesn't have more than half a day's rations and water. I packed them myself this morning. He doesn't have enough light or supplies to make it to the wreck. That means he'll have to meet us here or risk getting lost."

Butch looks to Cecil with a frustrated expression. "Sir, as I see it, we have three options. One, press on blind. I've got a good bearing on those peaks over there, but we don't know the range. We can make the most progress this way. Two, we find high ground to get a range to the valley. We'll lose some time to the searching, but we'll have some information. Three, we make camp and wait for Azzy to return. We could probably send out a scout to get a range once camp is made as well. We'll lose the rest of the progress today, but we'll be able to regroup with Azzy... hopefully."

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

The man shakes his head. "I'm afraid a compromise is in order - let's continue forward toward the ridge. We'll stop when we get there and wait for Azimirath. No doubt he'll be able to find us there."

He exhales. "We cannot afford to lose any more progress - the crew's lives may depend on it if they still live."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"Butch, I don't understand your concern. He isn't trying to make it to the wreck ahead of us. He is going to scout ahead, and report back.

Azmirith will progress faster than us, along the same path we are currently on. We will continue on the same path following him. When he finds something worth reporting, or he gets to the ridge, he will wait for us to catch up, or double back and meet us to report his findings. We lose no forward progress, but we gain advance information.

That is how a forward scout usually works. At least in my experience."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch presses forward towards the ridge. "That's just it, Wrench. We're not ON a path. I've just been headed for that spot on the mountains over yonder. See that second peak over yonder? Follow it down the ridge line where that shadow crosses that brownish area... I think it's a landslide. Our mark is two thumbs left of that. Or at least that's the direction the bird was heading. This ridge is off our mark, but it is a recognizable feature and we need to see what is beyond it."

Butch swings his scythe to clear some brush as he continues to make his way to the ridge. "I'm sorry, Wrench. I know I must sound like I worry too much, but I just like to know what's going on. Make a plan and stick to it, because other people are counting on you. I'm just glad Mr. Cecil is here to make those hard decisions."

[Asmodeus]

{OOC: WTF? Do you have access to some secret map that I don't?}

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

At Butch's scything display, Caskin comments with a grin, "Iiii'm not quite sure that's how he did it, but I suppose there are alternative methods."

~*~

"When we get nearer to the ridge, I'll hit the tallest tree and get some perspective. By the way," he turns to Wrench, "You make all sorts of stuff, eh? Can you make something like a wand that holds a simple spell like light or detect magic? If so, what sort of coin would you normally get for such a thing? I mean, theoretically. I don't have much on me at the moment," he asks with a somewhat sheepish expression.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"Are you looking for a permanent light source? Would you prefer an Everbright Lantern, or a Everburning Torch, or a different coldfire item?

The Lantern is 212 Galifars to purchase, and the most expensive, I believe. I'm sure I can craft it for much less, but I need a place to work on it for a day or two.

For a Torch, or a different item with coldfire, I would need the item, and some Ruby Dust... about 50 Galifars worth... And then I could just emulate the spell.

Then there are sunrods. Much cheaper, but not permanent.

I can create temporary light sources on the fly out of any object, but the effect only last for a few minutes.

As for Detect Magic, as long as I can study an item for a minute, I can usually detect if its magical or not, just by reading its energy signature." At this point, Wrench starts rambling off on the details of how magical signatures work. Most likely, Cecil understands what Wrench is talking about but others are just lost. Its unlikely that anyone, even Cecil, is interested.

[Bigmac]

The group is making progress across the mountainous terrain, moving quickly in the cool shadows of the peaks. The mountains are now rising higher with the group having to carefully maneuver along small paths around rocks and shrubs. There are two main ranges to either side of you, creating a small valley. Before too long you come across a deep gash in the earth. The chasm spreads out like a snake before you, cutting in front before continuing on towards the mountains on your left. As the group follows the crevice, it is difficult to make out the bottom since the walls are so steep and narrow and the plants growing into the side of walls further hinder vision to the bottom.

The chasm cuts towards the left mountain and then splits into two directions, one going into the mountain range on the left, and the other continuing on down the valley. Amirith approaches the group and motions for them to follow him along the chasm to the left. As you round the mountain you see the chasm open up a bit wider with a network of rocks and tunnels finally ending in a deep opening. The chasm splits the side of the mountain, making it difficult to get around the edge untill it reaches the opening on the other side of the pass. Caskin is able to scale the mountainous walls to get a better look into the gash. What he can make out through the growth is definite signs of the wreckage in the opening. Amirith mentions that he was unable to spot any definitive signs of the Uglies, but he has heard some animalistic sounds from down in the valley, as well as some noises that could be associated with fighting. He has also managed to find a small switchback that must have been used by miners to get down into the chasm.

To help explain the terrain:
The bottom gives an idea of how you approached the chasm and the valley you are traveling in. The top left shows the split in the chasm going around the mountain, the the top right gives an idea of the wider chasm from a top view. Disclaimer: This pic is for ease of explination ONLY. Don't be pulling it out later saying it doesn't match up with what I describe.

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/7982/pic1yv3.png (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pic1yv3.png)

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"We should be able to make good use of that climbing gear now. Shall we start exploring the wreck, or should we investigate the fighting first? If the fighting involves the crew, we may be able to assist them. If its not, then it just wastes our time."

He looks to Cecil for the decision.

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil doesn't waste a second. "The fighting," he says, already unstrapping his sword. "But let's not rush into it yelling and screaming; I want to know what we're up against."

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"Let's plan this out. Looks like we could take the switchback down or use ropes. Eventually we'll need to leave, and I suspect there will be uglies on our heels. This switchback looks like a good choke point. If we could lure the uglies onto the path, we could drop rocks on them. Possibly blocking the pass. Remember that we need at least eight hours head start. We'll have at least a four day run ahead of us to get back to safety. Any suggestions?"

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench says to Cecil, "Sir, I've got 3 infusions left. I plan to use one on myself for offensive power, unless you have a better purpose. I can use the other two to enhance weapon or armor. The armor will last for 2 hours. The weapon only for a couple of minutes. Or I can give armor a special ability that lasts 20 minutes, as I was offering to give to Azmirith earlier. Glamour, Shadow, Move Silent, or Light Fortification."

As an afterthought he adds "Perhaps we would know which choice is better with more ifnormation. Azmirith, can you scout out the fighting sounds and find out what exactly is going on?"

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

"Wrench, why don't you hit me and yourself with the armor boosters, since we both tend to find ourselves in melee more often than planned. Save the weapon for just before we hit combat - boost yourself if you need to, or Butch if he plans to use that scythe of his."

He looks around. "Caskin, can I assume you want to get a few rounds off at range before we close for melee?" He looks to the cleric. "And what's your plan, Master T?"

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch scans the mountains around the opening and then peers back through the pass they came through. "Hey Wrench. You got any magics that might bring down some rubble to block the pass?" He turns about quickly, "Woah. Not right now, I mean as a way to block pursuers."

"We could send a team to recon the perimeter while another works on a plan to cover our escape."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"I could possible create something to cover our escape, but by the time it was finished, the battle would be long over. Would you like me to enhance your Scythe when we near the field of battle? My armor plating is sufficient for my needs."

Wrench will Approach Cecil and spends a few seconds weaving magic into his existing armor. When he finishes, Cecil can feel a protect force enhancing his gear. Wrench then begins working on the infusion to enhance his own offensive might. He prepares a Bane infusion, but holds the charge for now, so he can complete it and begin its effective duration once they get closer to the battle.

{OOC: Cecil, your armor is now effectively +1 armor. Lasts for 2 hours.}

[KCiemir]

Azmirith

After leading the rest of the group to this point, Azmirith looks at wrench, and replies Wrench, Of course i shall scout. Will you be remaining here, or making camp elsewhere? I do not know how far off it is, so i want to be prepared.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

"The decision is not mine, but I would suggest we follow your trail as close as we can without risking detection, and then let you move in for closer examination, while we wait behind."

He looks to Cecil for approval.

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil nods. "Do it," he says, pausing to rub down the sides of the blade of his falchion with dust to hide the glint of sunlight. He looks apologetically at the sword as he does so.

[KCiemir]

Azmirith

Looking at Cecil and wrench, he says "Im off" And with that, he swiftly but silently decends the trail.

[ooc:let me know if I need to make move silently and hide rolls, or if you will]

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Caskin listens to Wrench detail some of the various items he is able to produce, and is suitably impressed. When he begins to wax on the topic of magical signatures and related concepts, he politely listened attentively and quietly. He was unlikely to learn anything new on this topic, but there was always a chance. But not this time. His perspective was more mundane than his own, more academic, but that wasn't a surprise. Warforged minds are generally geared that way; some say, literally.

When he finally finishes, Caskin says, "Excellent. Actually, I'm looking to ensure I have a replacement for one of my favorite toys." He produces from his belt, a small carved wooden stick, and says, "Prestidigitation. A very simple spell, but I find it comforting to have it available. Very utilitarian. This one has plenty of energy left, but I'll need a replacement eventually." As quickly as he brandished it, the wand was slipped back into one of the row of narrow cylindrical sheaths built into his belt.

"Let's talk more later, when things settle down a bit," he says amiably.

~*~

Cecil says, "Caskin, can I assume you want to get a few rounds off at range before we close for melee?"

Caskin considers for a moment, before replying. "Depending on where they are when we catch sight of them, I might have a special treat in store. I'll know when Azmirith reports back."

[Asmodeus]

Caskin

Caskin listens to Wrench detail some of the various items he is able to produce, and is suitably impressed. When he begins to wax on the topic of magical signatures and related concepts, he politely listened attentively and quietly. He was unlikely to learn anything new on this topic, but there was always a chance. But not this time. His perspective was more mundane than his own, more academic, but that wasn't a surprise. Warforged minds are generally geared that way; some say, literally.

When he finally finishes, Caskin says, "Excellent. Actually, I'm looking to ensure I have a replacement for one of my favorite toys." He produces from his belt, a small carved wooden stick, and says, "Prestidigitation. A very simple spell, but I find it comforting to have it available. Very utilitarian. This one has plenty of energy left, but I'll need a replacement eventually." As quickly as he brandished it, the wand was slipped back into one of the row of narrow cylindrical sheaths built into his belt.

"Let's talk more later, when things settle down a bit," he says amiably.

Wrench

While Azmirith goes about his business, and Wrench waits for Cecil to give the order for the rest of them to move out, he chats idly with Caskin. "I bet that is quite handy. I must ask though, how do you activate it? Are you particularly skilled with activating magical items, or do you have a natural ability to cast that spell, which allows you to use any wand?"

{OOC: Do you active via UMD or do you have the spell on your spell list?"}

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch holds out his bow and scythe. "Mr. Cecil, do you want me on point or fire support?"

[MandibleBones]

Cecil

Cecil points at the scythe. "Point's worked for you so far, Butch, let's 'stick' with that," he grins. He resumes counting. "One thirty seven, one thirty eight..."

When he gets to 200, he gets up. "Time to go," he says.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch puts away his bow and starts heading down the switchback with his scythe at the ready.

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

Wrench: "I bet that is quite handy. I must ask though, how do you activate it? Are you particularly skilled with activating magical items, or do you have a natural ability to cast that spell, which allows you to use any wand?"

"Let's just say I have more of a knack with these sorts of objects, than I have with the spells themselves. That particular one's a snap, but I've had a few...surprises with certain others. None of which I still own--too stubborn, for me to figure out. I'm left only with less than fond memories." The last words are slightly wistful, and accompanied by an idle hand rubbing the side of his head.

At Cecil's acquisition of the number two-hundred, Caskin perks up, saying, "Ahh, time to render the foe into quivering, incoherent huddled masses begging for mercy, or something else suitably dramatic."

Caskin immediately falls into line, no longer the insouciant and slightly apathetic man he was during the trek leading to this point. He seems eager and alert, and even his hair has calmed down in respect of the situation.

His handy crossbow is brought forth and quickly prepared for use.

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench nods to Caskin as he explains and when the time is right, he heads down the trail.

When they reach the midpoint, Wrench will moves closer to Butch. "Better let me see your weapon now so you are ready when we reach the bottom." Assuming Butch is agreeable, Wrench will take a moment to infuse the Scythe with magical energy. He holds the weapon delicately in his hands, focusing on the strands of magical energy that he needs to tie together to bring more power and accuracy to the weapon. When he finally returns the weapon, it has a soft green glow along the blade. The color exactly matches the green light that shines from Wrench's eyes.

"There you are. Use it wisely."

{OOC: @Caskin - I'm guessing that means you use UMD?
@Butch - Your scythe now has a temporary +1 bonus to attack and damage.}

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

On the way down, Caskin says in a quiet voice just loud enough for the trio to hear, "If it comes to a combat situation, I think I'm going to make use of a little trick I picked up while traveling through the Demon Wastes last summer. So, if you suddenly see a swarm of little critters pop up, they'll be mine. Takes some tact to make 'em do what I want, but I think I've got it down pretty well."

After a few moments of quiet descent, he sidles up to Cecil and adds, "Oh, and if we get the jump on anything you deem worthy of beating on, let me send my pets in first, especially if we can get around a corner and out of direct sight. With proper finesse, it's possible to make our enemy have a bad day without even having to see the reds of their eyes." He gains a somewhat devilish look, and winks to underscore the shrewdness of his plan.

OOCAsmodeus - Yes, UMD.

[Bigmac]

The switchback looks like it hasn't been used in ages, plants have overgrown the path and what parts are not covered by vegetation have loose rocks and a pile of thin sand over them. Whoever used this was defiantly smaller than the bulky warforged who has to walk down slowly in order to keep his balance in places where the switchback has been worn down to little more than a thin ledge. Butch, who is leading the party down into the chasm, waits patiently for Wrench so as to not split the party up. His infusions have proved to be useful already, as Cecil notes that his new armor feels easier to move in.

Once the party reaches the bottom of the chasm, the tightness of the space begins to set in. While the landing is about 100ft wide, the walls quickly narrow down to a small opening no more than 10 feet across. The walls are rough and jagged in spots with head sized stones fallen from them embedded into the ground at various intervals. The vegetation overhead provides a cool shade from the sun above, but makes it difficult to see to far at the floor of the chasm. There seems to be an almost eerie quiet down here, broken every now and then by a howling gust of wind as it winds through the canyon.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

Butch sighs like a condemned man heading off to the gallows. "Anyone got some chalk so we can mark our path?"

[Velvet Elvis]

Caskin

"Any particular color? Chalk is very handy; multiple colors make them even handier. I've got...let's see...red, white, black, green and blue." Caskin looks back to Butch for his decision.

[Citizen Joe]

Butch

"I don't care. White? Whatever is most visible. Just mark the walls so we don't get lost."

[Asmodeus]

Wrench

Wrench turns to Caskin. "Aren't you of the House of Finding? How do you normally avoid getting lost? Surely you have more advanced methods than simple chalk?"