Payngor grinned at the lion, holding his axe at the ready, waiting for it to pounce him. He snarled, choking up on the handle-though he wasn't raging just yet.
Payngor grinned at the lion, holding his axe at the ready, waiting for it to pounce him. He snarled, choking up on the handle-though he wasn't raging just yet.
"I tink I see a puddytat. BAD Cat. Somebody should kill the BAD cat"
Decos calls as he carefully flies into the air out of reach :-)
Fenal casts speak with animals and then tries talking to the lion. In Lion :-)
"My friend, we do not want you to get hurt. You should leave here very quickly before things get bad for you. There is DANGER coming"
Fenal casts a spell, then steps forward to “speak” with the mountain lion. To everyone else, it sounds like various tones of of growls, scratches, and grumbles.
After a minute of doing his best to get the point across, the mountain lion starts to bound up the cliff behind it, leaving big your group alone.
You wait another minute or two to make sure there are no other surprises, and you than proceed cautiously. Upon reaching the ledge, you see another small cave. Investigating, you find two broken longspear, which would function well enough as a shortsoesr if needed. You also find signs of a burnt out fire.
Payngor grunted-he was looking forward to the taste of lion, but was relived to not have been gored open twice over the last day or two. [b]Camping sounds good. I'll take He gave their campsite a once over, looking for anything that may have been left behind, before slinging his axe onto his shoulder, looking around for the nearest source of firewood.
Fenal will do his share of the chores for setting up a camp.
"We need to set up watches. There are enough of us now that I think that we should have 2 on watch all night. With 7 of us that should be manageable"
Cartimandua sets up to make camp for the night, helping the others to make the most of the time and place.
Cartimandua grabs some dry grasses from near the cliff of the ledge to hopefully make a fire from. After some trial and error she manages to get a fire going. It flares up and dies down over the night, but never goes out. The size of the cave though, absorbs some of the heat of the fire, and prevents the group from staying warm throughout the night.
Fail.
Not sure if Decos needs one as well (he'd almost certainly be very snuggled against me. If he does
Make sit
Payngor did his best to find firewood, though based on the fire not burning throughout the night, he clearly didn't grab enough.
Waking up from the cold, Cartimandua feels awful that she wasn't able to keep the group warm.
Seeing Fenal, as young or younger than her, shaking from cold, she moves next to him and embraces him, trying to share some warm with the boy.
The burly half-orc stretched as he woke, looking around to see the rest of the campers as well as their camp. The cold hadn't bothered him much, but the others seemed out of it. Waiting for the rest to get up, je kept an eye out for anythig that may be coming for them
Fenal looks over at Cartimandua
"Thank you for that. "
Turning to the rest of the group
"Obviously we can't make this our home. Too cold. Lets go back down the mountain and look for somewhere better"
Cartimandua smiles to Fenal.
"We can also see if we can cross the mountain, and what's on the other side."
"It was VERY cold here. With shelter and wood for a camp fire. I'm not at all sure that we'd survive a night in the cold even higher up. Especially poor Lissa. I think that we have to go down to the first ledge and find a path there"
Payngor grunted. Then huddle together for warmth. We came up here, we might as well either keep going up or go around. No need to give up so easily seems the half-orc is rather stubborn, not wanting to give up just because things got tough
To make the discussion short Cartimandua grabs her stuff and starts waking up the mountain, looking for a way over it.
You gather your stuff...rather begrudgingly and head further up the mountain. After about half a day, you seem to have found a path that go through and heads down the mountain. You begin to head down the other side, but nightfall approaches, and you have no shelter to hide in this time around.
"Let's press our march, and get as far as we are able..."
Cartimandua is not able to help herself or the others about the weather, but she presses on unimpeded by the cold.
"I agree, we have to press on at this point"
Fenal spends a little bit of time talking out land, chanting in a strange language. Although nobody else can see anything, it as if they are seeing one side of a conversation. As he talks, sometimes the snow whirls and a shape is momentarily ALMOST visible before disappearing,
Fenal manages to talk to the spirits and a couple of them are willing to help the group. With their aid, he manages to lead the group down somewhat secret paths that keep the group out of the worst of the weather
Payngor, despite his tough exterior from the night before, this night was particularly colder, which chilled him down to the bone as they persisted. Though of course, he wouldn't be complaining to anyone about it.
Payngor tried to huddle next to the fire, but the jutting wind rips through him. His joints are stiff from shivering most of the night.
You continue upon dawn, and make your way down the mountain. Going down is easier then going up, and you reach the base around midday. You see tall grasses ahead, and more of the land is green compared to the dry-ish plain lbs you had come from. The air is fresh, and it feels good on your face. You continue also my the path leading away from the base of the mountain path.
After a few hundred feet, the path fades away into the tall grasses before you. Birds chirp, tiny mice scurry about trying to flee you as the gargantuan threats you are.
A few hundred feet ahead you see what appears to be at least one person. Upon closer inspection, and closing the gap, you see it is a group of three men...breaking down recent game they had taken down.
Decos calls out
"Greetings. Its nice to see you"
On the night, and with some hesitation, Cartimandua moves to lie next to Payngor trying to help him be warm (without success). Before the others wake up she moves away, without a word...
---
Cartimandua stands in front, her javelin at the ready.
Luckily for Cartimandua, he was unaware of what she'd tried to do for him. Though in the hear and now, Payngor grunted, pulling his axe at the sight of the others, then glared at Decos. "Should get control over that thing before it gets us killed" He readied to swing his axe if one of those men were foolish enough to get that close, primed and ready to strike.
The men look up as Decos speaks. They ready their spears, and look towards each other briefly, trying to figure out if Decos would make a small meal.
Upon a closer look, Payngor can see another man, lying on the ground motionless. Their kill, a young lion, was being slowly taken apart by them before Decos calls out.
Our kill...LEAVE!
Cartimandua, without turning her back to them, starts to move away...
"Hold on a moment. It might be possible to make these people into friends. Or, at least, make them a little friendlier" he says to his friends.
He then calls out
"Is your friend injured? If you'll let me I can possibly help him"
Payngor snarled, still holding the axe at the ready in case they cane at them, though he gave Fenal a curious look-he'd not thought to offer kindness to diffuse a tense situation-aggression usually worked better for him.
One of the men stands up, and looks at Fenal.
Wound is too deep, he is with ancestors now. No hope to bring him back. Lion, young but powerful
They continue to dress the lion, taking special care with the pelt to ensure it stays intact. It would make good trade material or even warm clothes for a baby when worked right.
Why you here? You cross mountains?
To others, in low voice that will NOT carry to the strangers
"I suggest that we tell them the truth, that we are looking for a place to stay/settle down. Any objections?"
Cartimandua nods.
"Yes, we crossed the mountain. If you need help making something of the skin, maybe I can help."
Payngor grunted in disagreement, though knew when he was outnumbered, lessening his grip on the axe, slinging it back over his shoulder while keeping an eye on the other group.
The one trying to skin seems to have some difficulty getter by it right, as he shakes his head to the leader.
Fine, try yourself
Cartimandua you carefully kneel down next to the dead lions body. You begin to skin the creature, when the pressure begins to weigh down upon you. Your muscles start to tense up as the three warriors look at every slice you make with your dagger. You slip, not just once but twice. The lions pelt is mangled beyond repair and the pelt is useless. The flesh itself is fine so you didn’t waste their meal, just the potential for clothes.
The leader stops you before you wreck anything else.
Hmph, your skills are terrible. We stay on our own.
The three head out with their kill, leaving the scraps for you and your group. It’s enough for a single meal in the evening, but no more than that.
After collecting your thoughts, you begin your journey once more. You continue forward, away from the mountain. Towards nightfall, you come across a man and woman setting up camp. Once they see you, they each grab their spears.
Who are you?
Cartimandua seems embarrassed by her failure... She keeps quiet, eyes downcast.
"We are travelers from beyond the mountain. And you?"