One-Shot Adventures IC

[Rizban]

A small caravan of merchants and travelers has been on the road for the past week moving goods from one large city to another in the next country. With another five days travel ahead, the caravan plans to stop at a small town nearby to rest and purchase additional supplies for the trip. Your group travels with this caravan, though in what capacity is up to you. Are you a merchant? Guard? Traveler taking advantage of safety in numbers?

As the caravan approaches the town, they encounter a road block about a half mile away. A crude gate has been built and two men wearing the uniform of the local militia call out to the lead wagon.

"Halt! Keminster is under quarantine. I suggest you turn back or go around."

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Thorn


Thorn stepped forward a bit from the caravan. He eyed the militia suspiciously.

"Quarantine ? for what may I ask ?" Thorn asked. He looked to the left and right for any ambush or sign of trouble. He had been hired to help protect the caravan and so far things had gone smoothly, perhaps too smoothly.

[Rizban]

The militiaman looks over to his companion who just shrugs, as he leans on his spear, obviously bored.

"Don't know, really. Sickness, I guess. I heard rumors, but that's all I've heard. Haven't been to town to find out, or I'd be part of the quarantine rather than standing here."

[TheFallenOne]

Solstafir

Solstafir scowls in annoyance, the two parts of his cleaved eyebrow pulling together as his face contracts. Disease. Not a problem, as far as he is concerned. At least the sickness itself, it would cost him some hours to prepare and one of his melds, but afterwards he could bathe in zombie guts and the only thing to worry about would be the stench. "I don't mind, really. Give me a bit to prepare and even mummy rot couldn't touch me," he finally says, giving air to his thoughts. "I'm more worried about getting out again if we go in."

[Rizban]

"If the quarantine is lifted, I'm sure you'd be allowed to leave. I mean, there would be no reason to stay... Right?"

[Meth In a Mine]

Earl

Earl scowls as the caravan is halted due to "quarantine". He shucks his shield onto his back and leans on his Greataxe. He thought to himself "I suppose the it's a perk of being a guard that I don't need to worry with this kinda thing. Guess I'll just let the others work out the problem" And with that he started looking about, just in case any bandits were stupid enough to attack a caravan not only guarded by mercenaries but also in clear view of a local militia unit. Any such highwaymen would not last long.

[Jormengand]

Zilani

The mage-priest had been eating dinner, and a very nice one too. He continued to munch away as he considered from his platform strapped to the Dwarf's back, as he was startled to attention by the shield being added to it. "Any sickness worth quarantining is one worth avoiding", he opined once he had an empty mouth and a full mind. "And I am afraid that even such a healer as I cannot cure your sickness, only your wounds." The latter was surprisingly necessary for travellers, which earned Zilani more than a few rides and more than a little money in his time. "Then again, I don't know what we can do for supplies if we don't go in."

[Rizban]

After considerable debate and arguments, the caravan splits into two parties of roughly equal size.

One group, including the merchant who has until now led the caravan, has decided to risk the quarantine. The next leg of the journey through the mountains isn't going to be easy without fresh supplies and rest. He figures that a slight delay will only increase demand on his particular goods and doesn't expect the quarantine to be that severe or last that long. If it was something truly serious, surely there would be more guards or at least better informed ones.

The other group decides to press on despite all arguments to the contrary. They plan to rest and water a bit further down the road overnight before pressing on into the mountains.

You may, of course, travel with either group.

[Meth In a Mine]

Earl

As the decision to split up is announced, Earl scowls again. Now he had an unenviable choice to make: risk suffering the danger of the quarantine, or have to face the rest of the journey low on supplies. He spat on the ground and spoke to the frog mage he was carrying "Well green thing, what do you think? I think we should go on ahead, a quarantine is something I don't want to deal with."

Spoiler: Question

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OOC: How well do the characters know each other? I assume in at least some capacity since Earl us carrying Zilani already.

[Rizban]

Spoiler

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The characters know each other precisely as much as you want. It's entirely up to you whether you knew each other prior to joining the caravan and if you've interacted at all during your time with it. It's large enough that you could conceivably have not actually met before now.

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Thorn

"I'm inclined to go around" Thorn says quietly. He wasn't sure he trusted these militia but he had no reason to suspect them.

[Jormengand]

Zilani

"Just as the knight goes the way of the horse, so is our path a decision of yours," smiled Zilani. "And I'm averse to going through any place full of such presumable sickness - or whatever the real reason for our being unwelcome, if it isn't genuine - in any case."

[Rizban]

The caravan leader makes the final arrangements as the caravan splits. If you're going to travel with one or the other, now is the time to decide which.

[Meth In a Mine]

Earl

Earl chuckles at the Mage-Priest's remark about knights and horses and turns to the Gnome outdoors-man. "I agree. I don't much like the idea of getting diseased or whatever's going on in there. Let's keep on the beaten path." He straps down his greataxe, pulls his shield off his back, and draws his waraxe, before clapping the two together and rumbling "Ready when you are."

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Thorn

Thorn helps lead the group out. He keeps an eye out for traps or ambushes as he carefully picks his way. He stops every so often looking for tracks. "Follow" he says quietly.

Spoiler

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Any crazy tracks on the road or on the path we are heading down ?

Apparently there isn't a survival DC for finding obvious tracks. *shrug*

[Rizban]

There's a faint trail of beaten down grass and the occasional deep rut when the ground was too soft. It's obvious that travelers before you have ventured off the road and around Keminster this way. If the quarantine isn't lifted soon, this will become a fairly well worn path, as it seems that this road has pretty steady traffic.

---

It's slow going along the new path, because there's no proper road, hardly even a trail, although there are good markers showing the way you are meant to go to get back to the road. The caravan travels about an hour, making it about halfway around the detour, before the new leader calls for a halt. He's found a good field to circle the wagons and make camp for the night. Exploring the area, you find the remnants of a stone foundation and a brick oven and chimney, still standing long after the wooden structure has collapsed and rotted away.

Spoiler: Brick Oven

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The oven looks to be in good condition and shows signs of recent repair, and the area in general shows signs of others having camped here recently. Looking around a bit more, you find an old well with clear water in it. A bucket and rope have been left behind by someone, making it easy to draw water for the caravan.

[TheFallenOne]

Solstafir

After examining the stone structure for a bit Solstafir gives an appreciative nod, the craftsmanship seems decent enough to have stood the test of time. Who might have been the other party that made camp here not long ago, other travelers diverted by the quarantine, trappers, bandits? He reaches inside the oven; if the embers are still warm it would mean it was used quite recently. "Best not split up too much. I'll go get firewood, anyone coming with?"

[Rizban]

The embers are indeed still warm. The fire is no older than the night before.

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Thorn

"I'll go" Thorn says simply. He figured it was probably best to not leave anyone alone in the uncharted wilderness.

Thorn shrugged and plodded along, keeping his eyes and ears perked.

[Meth In a Mine]

Earl

Earl shrugs and leans on his greataxe once more, and replies with a degree of indifference "Then I suppose I'll hold down the fort here with the green one. My survival skills are most suited to... craggier climates anyways."

[Rizban]

Solstafir and Thorn take a short walk over towards a stand of trees on the edge of the field. They start to gather a few sticks before spotting a large tree stump with a axe wedged in the top. Walking towards the axe, the two of you round a thicket of brush and spot a small, covered shed with what appears to be a full cord of chopped, dry firewood inside.

Spoiler

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[TheFallenOne]

Solstafir

"This is concerning," the dwarf says with his gaze wandering from the lodged axe to the shed and back. "The oven could just be occasionally used ruins. But this here points to permanent habitation. Someone lives and and they'll be back sooner rather than later. And their reasons for remaining isolated out here might be far from innocent."

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Thorn

Thorn wasn't sure what to make of it all but his paranoia was running rampant with all sorts of sinister plots. "I'm sure its all perfectly innocent." he says wholly unconvincing.

"Leave the piled firewood, gather our own just in case. Tell the others to be watchful." he suggests quietly.

[Rizban]

If you don't take the firewood, you'll need a survival check to gather enough dry wood for your group. The other members of the caravan, totaling 4 wagons, 14 other people, and 20 or so assorted animals, primarily draft horses, will also need firewood...

[TheFallenOne]

Solstafir

"Don't be a wuss, you think anyone's gonna be up in arms about a bit of chopped wood unless it's a bloody dryad?" Solstafir says rather dismissively. Far as he is concerned if that is enough to set them off conflict will be unavoidable anyway. Without bothering to wait for further objection he grabs an armful from the pile. "If you're that concerned throw them a couple coppers on the ground."

[Rizban]

You gather an armload of wood and begin walking back to where the others are setting up camp. As you pass by the stump, the axe slowly rises into the air as if under its own power... Taking a few practice swings through the air, it starts to fly straight at you!

It swerves at the last moment, avoiding you and slamming into a piece of a nearby log. The log segment is dragged back to the stump by the axe where it begins to methodically chop wood to replace what you have taken. Once it finishes chopping, it makes several trips to the wood pile, bringing one or two pieces with each trip until you can no longer see the gap left by the wood you took.

[Meth In a Mine]

Earl

Spoiler: Inquiry

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OOC: Do either Earl or Zilani notice the shenanigans occurring with the ax? If they don't Earl isn't going to be doing anything of interest.

[Rizban]

Spoiler

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Earl

Spoiler: Inquiry

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OOC: Do either Earl or Zilani notice the shenanigans occurring with the ax? If they don't Earl isn't going to be doing anything of interest.

If he hasn't busied himself doing something else, the Axe should be in sight, though the woodpile itself is not.

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Thorn


"That is ... handy" Thorn says simply motioning towards the axe. "Almost too handy." Thorn helps to gather the needed firewood for the rest of the caravan and informs the others of what he has seen.

He takes an extra two to three minutes to look around the immediate area for any dwellings they might have missed.

Spoiler

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If nothing eventful happens after gathering the firewood, Thorn will take a few minutes and look for any structures or campsites they might have missed in the immediate area, say 50 feet around the wood pile and the oven.

[Jormengand]

Zilani

"Just for your information, Earl, there is an axe moving of its own accord some distance thataway," gestures the mage-priest, adding "I thought you might consider keeping an eye on it," and then returning to his general state of complacency.

When Thorn returns and explains the situation, Zilani smiles. "Ah. That is interesting, and potentially useful."