@ Isham - "I will make sure to be distant or not there at all when you need me to be. Might be better for me to avoid a few scenes... I do feel protective about my Kindsmen. My cousins lost both their parents, it is no wonder that Eustace sometimes clings to his family glory with a tight grip. I share a similar weakness I suppose." He gives a weak smile.
"Quite understandable, but the Lad ought not be coddled - not now, nor in your service. He will not be well served by it. But don't worry, this camp is full of grizzled old campaign veterans. Given appropriate prompting, they'll temper his raw iron into spring steel - resilient and sharp."
"I understand and agree with much of what you say. This land has different rules than a Old Cheliax. And he must respect the ways though be new to us, or he will find himself alone and unprepared. I just hope he is ready for this tempering. Good fortune in your attempts, to you and he. And thank you."
Toopil carefully wraps up the shields in preparation for your trip. And Eustice seems to be settling in to his new tasks quite well by the third day and almost enjoying the break from the repetetive labour and boredom of the stalls. Binar sets you all up with eight days worth of rations and sees you off with a hearty combo of broth and meat skewers. Your horses having had three days rest sitting in stalls are quite happy to be out and set themselves a good pace throughout the day and by nightfall have taken you all a respectable distance. There is a slow moving stream with hints of frost lining the edges nearby and a small rise should block out much of the northern winds making it a decent site for camp. As most of you set up camp, the ret scavenge for nearby firewood but can only manage to find enough to cook dinner with.
Jediah will stand watch with Zethyris.
Zethyris suggests that he and Jediah take the/a middle watch, so others can have uninterrupted sleep.
"How far are we now from where you fought the eaters of the dead? I suppose we should make sure our healer and witch get their rest first. I will take watch whenever it is best for us. Also as we sit about the fire here it occurs to me to ask, how was it that you all became speakers of Savol? "
Thorvald gets out his skull shaped helm and a strop and settles in to polish while he listens to the fireside chats.
"Perhaps Julian and I can take last watch, and leave Thorvald and Rutilux for first watch. We can readily stand three watches and allow our spellcasters full rest."
"That is fine with me. Did you bring tents ladies?
Rutilux nods, "I feel restless as it is. So first watch will suit me well."
While scavenging for firewood, Dagmar also keeps an eye out for any edible herbs or plants growing around. After they get a fire going later, she'll add whatever she's found into the pot she filled with some of their dried meat and water from the stream and makes a stew to eat. Their hard travel bread is much easier to chew after it's been soaked in the stew for a minute.
"A tent?" Ana looks around uneasily. "No, I didn't bring one. I thought there was one in our general travel supplies." She points vaguely in the direction of their horses. "Like the last time we travelled? I have my own bedroll and blanket, though."
Later she walks over to Dagmar to watch her cooking.
"That smells good, Dagmar! What are you cooking?"
Searching around the campsite for edibles garners very little so late in the fall but Dagmar does find several varieties of tubers and other edible roots around the area, they're rather hard but like your trail bread will soften up once boiled and stewed for a while.
Everyone huddles around the small fire as Dagmar cooks, sprinkling a few dried herbs and seasonings she's collected over time while it slowly bubbles away. Some of you chat and make idle conversations while others are deep in thought seemling buried under their own emotional burdens. Once the stew is passed around and finished quickly before the warms cools from the bowls everyone gathers up and heads off to sleep, leaving their safety in Thorvald and Rutilux's hands...
The nights are getting much colder and even the thick canvas of the tent walls cant keep the icy winds away as the six sleepers try in vain to keep themselves warm by hiding under as many blankets as they have and some even huddle together to share what little warmth they can keep in their bodies. Hunkered down outside of the protection of the tents leaves Thorvald and Rutilux shivering and watching their own breath leave them in frosty clouds. The temperature had dropped well below freezing as soon as the sun had fallen. Despite this Zethyris seems quite content, asleep in his tent without even a blanket to keep him warm.
iron pot because being able to boil hot water is a good idea.
some extra winter blankets cause it's cold out.
an extra cold weather outfit in case they have to ford another river
an extra 50 ft of rope
despite a hardy constitution and his Ulfen garb the chill winter wind still cuts to Thorvalds core. He goes to his pack and pulls out four river rocks flat and smoothed by thousands of years of water running over them. He scoops snow into Dagmars pot and drops the rocks in to heat up. "When the water boils we will take the rocks out, wrap them in cloth and put them against our bodies. They will hold the heat for hours. Heh, not he best looking bed warmers in camp, but they are quiet at least in the morning."
"Blast it! It is so cold out here even the coals from our fire have gone out."
Julian felt SO NICE all night. It was cozy and reassuring.
Cold-weather outfit
<teeth chatter> "There is little like this knifing cold in the Inner Sea. I admit to being less than thoroughly prepared for an Ulfen autumn. I vow never to misname a balmy winter night in Rahadoum, 'cold'."
"Blast it! It is so cold out here even the coals from our fire have gone out."
"I have to admit, I don't think I've ever been this cold in my life. If I ever get a keep or manor for my family in these lands, I shall have to make sure it of a design that stays warm."
"Ah, we'll survive southlings! Next time I'll make sure we get a bed of coals going and we can make hot rocks. You can see how the hag used winter to freeze her land into submission it was the weather as much as it was strength of arms. Isham you might as well come over here and wrap yourself in a tarp or go back in the tent and burrow in."
Dagmar nudges Ana and whispers to her. "If you want to cuddle up with one of the fellows for warmth I'll hop into another tent."
Jediah hrumphs to himself, the biting cold affecting even him as he wraps his coat around himself, gazing in envy at Zethyris's magic boots.
"I'll be right back."
Thorvald goes to his horse pack and removes two waxed and oiled canvases. He goes to each of the two tents and covers the huddled together occupants with it. If anyone wakes up he explains, "The canvas helps trap your heat together and keeps is close to you rather than let it rise to the top of the tent. Keep it over your heads. The cold in your fingers is good it means the blood still flows. Put them under your arms or between your legs to warm them."
Returning to the area where those who are still up or on watch Thorvald sits back down and wraps his blanket over his shoulders and head. "I appreciate your willingness to stand with my people. Someday I will make you all bearskin robes if I am so lucky in the hunt! Heh, but no offense on a night like tonight I would make one for myself first."
The night is spent sleepless for many of you, fighting to keep warm and reluctantly taking turns at the watch.
As the sun slowly rises over the horizon your sleep deprived bodies slowly unwrap yourselves from whatever coverings you could find, some staring enviously or maliciously at Zethyris who seems to be the only one who managed a good nights sleep, to find the entire camp, tents and all, covered in a sheet of ice and the nearby stream frozen solid. Looking closer you can see inside the ice the forms of fish frozen in place. The horses are bundled together for warmth but aside from icicles hanging from fur and manes they appear unharmed. As far as you can see a wide swath of land has been turned into frozen tundra but farther away there are signs that appear unaffected.
Thorvald sits and studies his shield in comparison with the second of the three magical shields with its thick metal band wrapping the rim of the shield and the ancient Ulfen runes of protection. The kodiak in all of its glory, hackles up and claws out battling an eight headed serpent beast. The animals are so detailed Thorvald can see the bears fur and shimmering scales of the beast. His eyes cover the masterpiece looking for signs of how they were crafted and the pattern of the runes. Hoping to unlock any of the masters secrets. Craft skill
"These are so amazing it is humbling. If they refuse the help after being presented with these I think I would try to keep this one. I think in a way we should ask them to join us then present them as gifts otherwise they might be seen as a bribe out of weakness."
Returning to the area where those who are still up or on watch Thorvald sits back down and wraps his blanket over his shoulders and head. "I appreciate your willingness to stand with my people. Someday I will make you all bearskin robes if I am so lucky in the hunt! Heh, but no offense on a night like tonight I would make one for myself first."
"I would not blame you, Thorvald. But your people are my people now. There is no honorable lord in all of Cheliax, it is lost to devils and we will not be going back to it.'
.....
In the morning, Rutilux gazes in amazement at what the cold has wrought. HE should not be surprised, it still lingers in his very marrow. Rather than whine or complain about it, he goes to his horse and tends to it, then tends to the others gently.
"Rough night, eh? Good horses."
Jediah remarks to Zethyris. Perhaps you should lend your boots to the others for a few nights.
Dagmar looks about her at the frozen land. "Well, the sooner we get moving, the sooner that we will warm up."
She'll go about dismantling the tents and helping to get the horses packed up.
"Perhaps it's my thin southern blood, but is such a freeze at all usual around here? It feels unnatural." Isham asks as he moves to pack the tents and load the horses, despite the stiffness in his joints.
"Well, it isn't exactly normal weather for this area and this time of year."
"No this is fowl magic! Those fish are frozen solid in place the entire lake is frozen from top to bottom. Even the coals from our fire were extinguished. It is just as the old stories said . . . I fear Ana didn't hear the message correctly and the Queen of Hags starts her move now."
Thorvald looks very hard to try to determine if Ana is somehow the center of the freeze zone. Maybe she is willingly or unwillingly a part to it.
"Some of us are not at our best today. We should pick up wood along the way and keep our eyes open for a better shelter if one can be found."
"Let's hasten to the Oakrun. I feel uneasy. If we were not the focus of such an unnatural event, imagine what the center was like. I do not propose that we return. But if something has happened to the Oakrun, we may be able to help, if we make haste."
Thorvald secures the magical shield and brushes the ice from his hardy Ulfen bred horse's shag coat. Looking both tired and determined he hauls himself atop the saddle, "Yes, lets ride to Oakrunshold. There is no glory in freezing to death out here, it would be a bad death."
"Agreed," He mounts Sunfire, feeling weary from the sheer chill.
"My dear compatriots, we ride! We ride to the unknown! We ride to make known! As they say in my land 最悪の愚かな黒娼婦 - 祝福とは下劣な男に生まれた!" Julian stirred on his steed.
When Zethyris awakes, he is shocked by the sudden winterification of the surrounding area. He spends some time examining the flash-frozen river, then realizes himself as the rest of the group wakes up.
"No this is foul magic! Those fish are frozen solid in place the entire lake is frozen from top to bottom. Even the coals from our fire were extinguished. It is just as the old stories said . . . I fear Ana didn't hear the message correctly and the Queen of Hags starts her move now."
Zethryis nods in agreement. "Look over in the distance - it is only the area around us that has been chilled so."
"Let's hasten to the Oakrun. I feel uneasy. If we were not the focus of such an unnatural event, imagine what the center was like. I do not propose that we return. But if something has happened to the Oakrun, we may be able to help, if we make haste."
"I concur - if our opponents can control the weather to hinder us, they are surely capable of much worse. Time is not on our side."
-----
Zethyris, realizing his companions did not sleep as well as he did, will quietly perform small tasks that his chilled friends show any reluctance to perform - searching for wood, scouting ahead, feeding the horses - and will put a finger to his lips and wink conspiratorially if any of them tries to object.
"If they do this to us now and wait for a year to invade . . . There will be no food, how could we resist?"
Your route takes you through the long swath of ice for several miles before it swings west in a wide wavering arc. You can't see any signs of magic in the path despite it being so unnatural. The ride is uneventful throughout the day as you all struggle to keep yourselves on your horses as they skip and shuffle on the ice. Late into the day several of you hear the sounds of wolves in the distance but you can't see any of sign of them.
You do manage to collect a good supply of firewood though. As you set up camp in the open plains several miles past the ice those frozen the night before finally begin to feel better.
Can I get perception roll for those on watch and just note which watch you are.
Zethyris takes the middle watch again.
Jediah watches with Zethyris.
"Hmm. It seems to be less cold tonight than last night. Whatever that was, it is small and it hasn't followed us. And it isn't centered around the Oakrun either. Of course the wolves aren't much better than the cold."
Ana will take the first watch.