"If there is not an appetite to set up a temporary camp and build a stockpile, which I still think would be best, we should go slow and gather food. Seems silly really since if we spend a day here we will gather more then trying to gather while walking but I understand the desire to move."
He moves to sit with the elemental while the others decide, no send an old man tiring himself debating if they are to walk.
"I agree with Claustipher," he says. "What if something goes wrong, and we get stuck? Or what if there isn't the help we're looking for at the ranger station?" he asks.
"Even a day or two's delay could be good, and we could still check out the station ourselves in the meantime, to see if it'll be safe."
Elyas takes time to hear each of his companions speak.
"OK, we need to come to a decision before we sleep for the night. We are 2 days away from the outpost, and have limited food. It does not sound like it will be possible to bring the entire group across the road and to the outpost. I agree with Father Shamus' plan to have the 8 of us go to the outpost alone.
I believe that as we currently stand, Daniil, Claus, Ian and myself are in favor of spending at least one or two days getting temporary shelter built and foraging or hunting for as much food as possible before moving on.
Olivia and Falcon sound to be in favor of pushing forward to reach the outpost quickly, and tighten up our rations in the meantime.
Solace and Sander, do either of you have more to add?"
"I agree with pushing ahead quickly to the outpost, though that should be with just our small group. I think that the rest of the townsfolk should take the time to forage around here. We don't know yet if the outpost is safe or if it has been overun. If it has already been taken, we might need to flee quickly and that would be hard to do with a full group."
:: The First Day Winds Down ::
"It seems we have reached a decision, if not a consensus." Aubrin states "We shall stay here for a day and gather food. The uprooted trees and dead fall here will be better shelter than we could hope for on such short notice."
"It will give us time to plan a proper tomorrow as well, instead of these hurried meetings morning and evening." Lorne states.
"We will need fewer people to watch as well if were stationary. They can forage to." Kining mentions.
"Then let us go about our work for this evening." Aubrin says.
With the firm, if polite, dismissal the others disperse to help with the work for the night and inform others of the plan for tomorrow.
.
:: The Second Day Dawns ::
The next day dawns somewhat chill, though not enough to cause alarm. Those who are able organize themselves into groups and either begin foraging or keep watch.
You see everyone eating small amounts of food, grumbling about the circumstances. Understandably, morale is low, and hope is not high amongst the people it seems.
Falcon uses part of the day to forage for herbs and medicinal plants.
Also throughout the day, Falcon takes out his recorder and offers a light-hearted tune to cheer the troops.
The low morale infects Falcon and impedes his skill. Memory of childhood tunes also brings back the fresh wounds of his family, but he manages to get himself out of ear shot before collapsing into soft sobs.
Solace gets up at first light and begins foraging around the area, looking for anything edible to eat. She hopes to get a full day of foraging in, to get as much as she can so that they may continue on to the Ranger station the next day.
Daniil tried to forage while they traveled but his thoughts kept returning to the horror that happened a few days ago and the loved ones he lost.
"Yes, I think that is the best idea. Gather some food before we move."
Having recovered his component pouch and spellbook there is really little can do to gather supplies other then walk about the woods bit looking for useful mushrooms and what not.
He sits for a while, away form the others hoping to see a rabbit or other game he can take down with a force missile. Shortly after mid-day he will make his way back.
Once back he will do his best to bolster the spirits of those in the group of unhappy travelers. Either telling them stories of personal adventures when he was younger or, more likely, just making things up to lighten the mood.
At the end of the meeting, Olivia says:
"While staying in one place for long would not be my first choice, I'll do my best to make it work.
In the next morning, she also does what she can to find food.
After what she considers a decent forage, Olivia will go looking for Falcon.
Elyas will move around the camp looking for ways to boost morale.
He will sit a offer blessings to those who want it, then will use create water to refill some water skins.
He will look for any villagers that need medical attention
:: Second Day at Noon ::
After getting ready in the morning, everyone heads out to gather food, medicinal herbs, or attend to people who gain minor injuries. The work is hard, but no worse than most of you have done before.
Only one person approaches Elyas for a blessing. Jenifer Hartman approaches Elyas before she leads her team out to forage, "You're the only priest here who worships my blesses Iomedae. If I might ask for her blessing before this days tasks begin." Upon completion of the blessing she thanks Elyas and leave to do her work seeming more content.
Just before noon, people being to trickle into the camp again for a midday meal. While not a great hunter, the words and stories Claustipher provides everyone may well be more beneficial in the long run. It seems to help that everyone is taking a liking to the elemental as something of a mascot.
For about thirty minutes, everyone is gathered together, talking, planning, with a forced laugh occasionally. Those who notice Falcon's disposition offer sympathetic looks, but little in the way of words, for everyone feels as he does to some extent and they don't know what to say.
Five minutes after Falcon finds refuge in the quiet of the woods , Taerus Daernik lets out a cry of "Who's there!" from the south west edge of the clearing while bringing his sword and shield up.
As you look in Taerus' direction you can see several humanoid shapes moving through the under brush towards the camp, but you can't tell exactly how many. They are forty to sixty feet away.
Unable to really do anything for the myriad people, Ian instead spends his time going throughout the camp and simply talking to people. Asking about where their families might be, and assuring them that they would be saved. Asking about what possessions they had, and sharing his own. Perhaps he plays a simple dice game with a grieving person to cheer them up.
When the cry comes out from the edge of the camp, Ian draws his new dagger and runs out towards Taerus and Falcon.
Olivia is able to find Falcon, off by himself, by following the sorrowful sound of a recorder. He cuts off his playing when she appears and scrubs at his face in a vain attempt to hide evidence of his tears. After a few moments, not saying anything, he returns to his wistful tune, only to be interrupted by Taerus' cry of alarm.
He quickly stows the recorder, grabs his sansetsukon, and quietly makes his way towards the camp, keeping to the bushes. He motions for Olivia to be quiet. If there is an attack, it might be beneficial to have someone in hiding.
Solace draws her bow and positions herself at the front of the group, intending to protect those behind her.
She speaks to her group behind her. "Keep watch on the woods around us in case there are more of them trying to sneak up on us."
The figures in the distance she shouts out. "Please identify yourselves and know that we will respond in kind if you show us any aggression."
Olivia has a sympathetic look and is about to say something when she hears the alarm. She nods at Falcon and expression hardens as she follows him doing her best to stay stealthy.
Claustipher quickly picks up his staff and moves to gather his backpack in case they need to relocate quickly. He talks quietly as he moves.
"Those of you who don't want to fight please stay back a bit. This may be nothing but just in case.."
He then motions to the elemnental.
"Hlala ube yindodana yami, uma uthanda"
"Stay be me son, if you would."
Daniil readys his bow as he whispers a warning to those close by.
Elyas draws his longsword and gets ready, but does not attempt to be stealthy. He joins Solace as she calls out to the figures.
He casts Light on a stone and throws it towards the sounds of movement, hoping to be able to make out what is coming.
:: Second Day at Noon ::
As Claustipher moves about, the townsfolk being moving further to the east of the clearing away from the warning cry. The elemental stays near Claustipher, "Ngizo... ngizokuvikela."
Those around Daniil also start moving east, both to get away from the possible confrontation and out of his arrows path.
Olivia manages to hide herself behind a tree so that the approaching figures can not see her, but Falcon is not so sure he is unseen as he moves towards the disturbance.
Ian, Elyas, and Solace get to Taerus at about the same time. Kalleb and Nathaniel also show up, though they each hold a flank about fifteen feet away. The other members of the watch begin flanking the retreating townsfolk and moving with them
a man shouts as he steps out of the trees, now about thirty feet from you. The man stands a bit under six feet tall, has dark hair, broad shouldered and wears an average set of merchants clothing with a blue tunic. "They aren't hobgoblins! They can help us!" The man calls behind him.
Two more men come out of the trees, dressed they are dressed as merchants as we but these two each have a hefty backpack on them. The first man to step out is blonde, the second is bald. They are both dressed much the same as the first man in average merchants clothes, except the bald one's tunic is red and the blonde's green.
"I am Farrow, and this here is Clidan. That one is Edran" The bald man says, while gesturing to the blonde man first and then the dark haired fellow. "We escaped from Phaendar a couple nights ago, much as we suspect you have. We could surely use your help."
Barrelling out of the bushes, Falcon asks, ”How many of you are there? Is there anybody else with you who escaped? Do you know of any others that got out?”
Before the men step out from the clearing to the elemental.
"Kwaqokwa umfutho wami kodwa kungcono ukuvikela abanye. Umlingo wami futhi ungisize ngaphezu kwalokho bangakwazi ukuzisiza."
As the others step out he sags a little and puts his weight back on his staff feeling his age.
"Ahh, it is just more refugees. That is good."
He sits down and waits for the hubbub to die down.
Solace lowers her bow when she sees that the figures are human and not hobgoblin.
"Yes, we are definitely not hobgoblins and yes, all of us escaped from Phaendar. You are all welcome to join our group if you wish too."
I wonder how many other people may have escaped the hobgoblins at Phaendar? We should be sure to keep an eye out for any signs of other survivors...
Elyas lowers his weapons as the newcomers don't appear to be a threat.
"Come join us, we could use a few more hands. If you're willing to work you may join us and we will all be better off.
Elyas looks around behind the three men looking to see if any more people are coming
Is it just the three of you? We didn't see you when we evacuated the town, how did you escape?
Daniil stands by, distrustful, and watches the new comers content to let others do the talking.
Ian is mightily relieved to see that it's more humans, although he's worried about the bulk of their group... Still, he speaks up with some of the others. "Have you seen the town more recently? Do you have any news?"
:: Second Day at Noon ::
The three men walk towards the group more so that they can talk normally instead of loudly. As they approach, the shock of running into other people wears off and you realize while come of you recognize Farrow and Clidan from some where, probably the Market Green selling their wares, these three men are not from Phaendar.
"There are four more of us. We have a camp about two miles away." Farrow says."Clidan and I were in a room upstairs in the Tap Root Inn. We heard a commotion downstairs, nasty sounding business. We barricaded ourselves in our room and waited. Once it got quiet we snuck downstairs and took a look around. That's when we saw the hobgoblin bodies. We left the Inn and waited until we saw some others trying to get across the bridge, and we joined them." Farrow's face darkens as he remembers the run across the bridge. "Nasty business that."
Noticing that Farrow was shaken, Clidan steps in, "The two of us kept on with a group headed to Shoren for a while. When we got about a mile from Shoren seven of us wanted to stop and watch the town to make sure it was safe. The rest of our group, maybe twenty or so people, went forward anyway..." Clidan gulps as he continues "The hobgoblins came out of the trees on either side of the road and captured them. When we saw that we left the road and started headed into the forest. How could the have gotten to Shoren before us?" This last question drips heavy with despair and fear against such an unknown opponent.
"Maybe they were a different group of hobgoblins that had been tasked to go elsewhere? We have no way of knowing how many hobgoblins were involved. There could be multiple groups working in a coordinated effort to eradicate all of us. Maybe I should just stop there, this is just making me more depressed."
Solace shakes her head and looks over at the three new, unknown men. "I don't think I remember you all from town. My name's Solace, what's yours?"
Elyas' shoulders slump at the news of Shoren being overrun.
Well, I suppose that answers that question. I wonder how many other towns are being overrun as we hide here in the woods?
Aloud to the rest of the group Elyas says "With 2 towns taken, we have to assume that the hobgoblins are moving to take ground much faster than anticipated.
Let's get the 8 of us to the Ranger station tomorrow and see what we can find, then we need to get all of these people out of harm's way. We need to find something off the maps, maybe some caves or something else defensible."
Daniil silently cursed at the news and offered, "Sounds like a major offensive and not just a raid."
:: The Second Day at Noon ::
"Sorry I wasn't loud enough before miss" Farrow says to Solace, "I'm Farrow, my partner here is Clidan. That one is Edran, met him on our way outta Phaendar."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to go get the other four members of our group, and bring them here." Clidan says. "I'll leave my pack here if you want. It's mainly full of food, so you know I'll come back for it."
Edran speaks up for the first time, "Who's in charge here? If were joining up with you, I'd like to know what you have planned. Are we going to the rangers? Do you know where they are? Are we being helped by someone from Tamran?" The questions come quick with no gaps in between.
Suspiciously, Daniil asked, "Hold a second friend, we will answer your questions in due time. First, Tell us where your friends are and one of us will go and retrieve them."
Elyas narrows his eyes as he looks at the newcomers. He doesn't recognize any of these three from town, and hadn't had a chance to talk to any of them in their time selling their wares in town.
He quickly jumps in to answer Edran before anyone else replies.
"I'm sorry friend, we are not obligated to give you answers to that kind of question. Please understand, we don't know you and we have to be careful.
We are happy to let you share our shelter, provided you are willing to help with the tasks that need to be done, but until we get to know you a little bit, you can't expect to be privy to leadership discussions.
Elyas feels like these guys are just a little bit off, and will try to determine how they respond to his statement
"What are the names of the others in your group? Are they from Phaendar?"
Ian notices as well when the strange merchants start trying to mollify them. Honestly, he was ready to accept the trust of anyone vaguely pink-skinned and normal-looking... right up until they started trying to prove to you that they were trustworthy. There's not much he can do as-is, though, other than to try and mollify them back. "No need to be so cautious," he says in an offhanded manner. "You don't have anything to prove to us, let's all go meet your friends. Safety in numbers, right? We're armed and we've taken out hobgoblins... what if you run into a patrol?"
Olivia stays in her hiding place, sneaking a bit closer to the group if possible.
"I volunteer to go with Clidan to get the rest of their group. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you if you were alone."
:: Second Day at Noon ::
Farrow and Clidan seem slightly taken aback at the sudden change from open and friendly to cautious. Edran does not seem concerned.
"I believe the others are from Phaendar. Not being from there myself I can't be sure though. Their names are Alezandu, Marian, Sirenna, and Ibrahim." Farrow says.
You all recognize the names, if not the people they belong to. They are all either from Phaendar, frequently in it or from the surrounding area.
Clidan speaks up, "I'll take you to the others, easier than trying to tell you where they are. Farrow, stay here with them, no need for us both to go mucking about in the woods." Clidan puts his pack down by Taerus. "Like I said, the packs full of food. Go ahead and add it to your supplies, I'd just like the bag back."
"I may as well stay here too. Like you said, no use going out again if we don't have to." Edran says.
"Well then, lets it going. You lot are better company to travel through the forest than those two any way, got a lot more weapons." Clidan grins a bit at his joke.
.
:: An Afternoon Walk ::
After about two hours of following Clidan, he raises his hand. "They're up there about a hundred feet. I'm just going to call out to them so they don't do anything rash."
"Brim! Alezandu! I'm coming in with a bunch of armed folks. No need to worry, they're friends."
With that you all set out to the camp.
Upon traversing the last 100 feet, you can see four people standing around a small fire. You recognize all of them as being from Phaendar now that you can see you faces.
"Now, I don't know if you know these four. This here is Alezandu, that's Marian, she' Sirenna, and he's Ibrahim" Clidan says.
Marian speaks up, "Who else made it out? Did any of my family make it?" Looking at the faces in the group, Marian latches onto one she is most familiar with, "Elyas, please tell me they're with you!"
Falcon went with them, hoping against hope that his mother or brother were somehow with them.
Ian goes with as well, pleased to see four more Phaendarans. "We've got about eighty folk that we left behind awhile back," he says. "Um, sorry, none of your family, Marian."
"Have you seen Ingrid? Newberry?"
When Alezandu hears Clidan’s shout he lowers his bow and steps forward to meet the newcomers. He looks at Ian intently as the boy talks before replying guardedly, ”Good to hear so many others escaped, though I’m afraid I haven’t seen Ingrid. Do you know if any of my family got out with your group?”
Elyas all but runs over to Marian when they enter the clearing
"Thank Iomedae you made it! I thought you were gone!
She doesn't give him the look she normally does when he invokes the name of his deity. "Who else made it? she asks with tears in her eyes.
"We saved some, but we lost a lot of good people... including Corin..."
Still distrustful Daniil stays silent and keeps an eye on Edran trying to figure out what about the man bothers him.
:: At the New Comers' Camp ::
A chorus of no's answers Ian's question about Ingrid.
"She definitely wasn't in the group that went into Shoren though. So there's hope yet." Sirenna says. "I guess you don't... did you tell them about Shoren Clidan?" Clidan nods an affirmative.
Marian steps forward and hugs Elyas when he mentions Corin's fate."May the Master of Masters guide his soul home.." she mumbles to herself.
.
:: Afternoon at the Camp ::
At the camp, as the group went off to retrieve the other survivors, everyone else finished lunch and went back to their tasks. Give their new status, Farrow and Edran set about helping forage food. Before setting out Farrow gave his pack to Taerus as well.
Daniil forages near where Edran is working in order to keep a close eye on him. Over the course of the afternoon all he notices is that Edran is quick to strike up a conversation and then turn it toward questions about what the group is planning on doing next. The conversation always seems to turn toward where the Chernasardo Ranger's are located, if they are sending air, and if any help is coming from Tamran.
Farrow stays near Edran most of the time as well, probably because its the only familiar face he knows. Many people seem to take to him and his affable manner.
Claustipher chose to stay in the camp, a few less miles on his knees today make for a better tomorrow.
He busies himself trying to keep the moral of those with them up as he is neither a hunter nor a gather by nature.