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"I say we stay near the forest for a dar or two. With Gunther's help, I'd like to try and snag some game. I found some deer tracks when I was in the forest earlier looking for food."
Once the groups are divided up, Goivan nods and turns to address his group. "I think we should scout for nearby civilization, send some of our faster people out. The rest of us can start looking for food and shelter."
"I could not disagree more, but you're the fastest so if you wish to go scout, feel free.
Gunther runs a hand through his beard as they consider their options. "Even if we find a town or somesuch, there ain't no guarantee they ain't gonna try and skewer th' lot o' us on sight," he states, not particularly pleased with what he's saying. The dark dwarf looks around, scanning the trees and surrounding area. "Pro'ly can't count on civilization t' be civil t' th' likes o' us. But findin' ourselves some shelter an' food will at least let us focus on more important things."
"Do not worry Champawat, I'm not giving orders, only suggestions. If the rest of you feel we should establish ourselves here first, I am with you."
The sun shines above, and the win rushes through the alpine highlands. The pine forest nearby rustles and swishes. A swarm of gnats floats by their swirling orgy coming annoyingly close before floating away on the wind. As the group discusses their plans and goals, most of the other groups seem to shuffle off in one direction or another, most towards the lake.
As they walk, Gunther keeps an eye out for game animals, edible plants or fruits, and notable landmarks.
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Qahnaarin is thankful that he managed to find a serious, organized group to accompany. "Following the lake and estuary through the mountains as Jovar suggested seems the best route. Eventually we will find some sign of civilization."
"It would seem I'm in the minority since most of us want to head towards the lake." Champawat sighs. "Very well, lead on. I will bring up the rear."
Champawat approaches Goivan and says "My apologies. It seems I'm the one in the wrong. I do not respond well to...authority. It's something master was helping me improve upon. I fear without his presence, I will continue to struggle with...taking orders or following instructions. I meant no disrespect."
Prar nods. Whispering in his trademark gurgle, like leaves rustling and his alien tongue forming words in common not evolutionarily suited to him. "To the lake then, hopefully, there will be trees for shade, otherwise I may enter the lake often to ward off the sun's harshness."
As he walks he pulls out his spellbook and studies it.
Goivan smiles and puts a hand on Champawat's shoulder. "There is no need to apologize my friend. None should follow orders blindly, for that is how tyrants come to power. To follow a leader's orders without question requires trust in him, trust that must be earned. I mean only to establish order so that we work together, and your skills will be invaluable in that."
As the group travels, you hunt and scavenge for food. Gunther brings down some game, flushing out birds as well as rabbits. Grubs, beetles and edible fungus from within the forest supplement. Champwat also gathers and provides resources to the group. ()
The group moves slowly as you explore and take time to forage. You make your way to the lake, and the day is quite pleasant. The shade of the pines provides small but some comfort to Prar, who struggles to focus on his spellbook in the bright light. The group maintains an orderly path as Gunther and Champawat break off and rejoin occasionally to gather food. The forest is not easy terrain and there are few trails. Game trails are hard to find, and the thick bed of pine needles obscures useful signs, and muffles noise which can help and hinder. The low branches of the pines require constant brushing aside, and before long most of you are covered in sap. Mostly your hands, but other part of your arms or head/hair where you brush against the trees. You make reasonable progress however.
Goivan takes point, allowing his thick skin to take the brunt of the whipping trees and sap, knowing he's better protected than most. He keeps up a cheery, positive demeanor, trying to keep spirits high. He continues to push towards the lake.
Prar follows, muttering under his breath in Undercommon about the state of affairs and the nuisance of sap.
He casts prestidigitation on himself with regularity.
Champawat catches up to Prar and says in Undercoomon "I did not know there were many who spoke Undercommon living with Master. If you would like to speak in this language, I would be happy to keep in practice."
Gunther grins at Champawat and Prar, easily recognizing the strange tongue they speak. "Unter uns selbst ist in Ordnung, aber ich bezweifle, werden andere Menschen auch, es zu nehmen," the dark dwarf states in the same language. "Assumin' they know where it got its origins an' such, at least." He continues to keep a careful watch as he chats and walks with the others.
Inspirational Photos of the area you are in:
As the group heads to the lake you hunt and forage. The terrain is difficult and the trackless woods slow you down. On top of hunting and foraging you make only about 3/4 of a mile per hour, and you recall the goblin Grobly saying the lake was about 5 miles away. You will need close to 7 hours of travel, nearly a full day's of overland movement to get there. You started at approximately mid-day with little wasted time, so you should arrive before nightfall, but in these mountains the sun will duck behind the mountains quickly. Also you have been travelling in bare feet and basically your underwear. Goiven has thick gargoyle skin and is not really affected, and Champawat has cat feet, also no issues, Qahnaarin is also thick skinned and tough as nails, but Prar and Gunther (with no natural armor) as tough as they are, are probably not accustomed to walking through mountainous terrain, stepping on roots, rocks, pine needles, and small sticks and debris.
Gunther does his best to not show how the trek hurts his feet, too proud and confident to share the moment of weakness even with his brothers.
Gunther, you tough it out but its slow going, and you manage to keep the group from getting in the thick pine forest. The air is cool in the forest as you are shaded from the sun, the wind is cut down, but you can imagine when night falls it will get very chilly. You suspect the temperature will drop to dangerous levels for the group. Champawat's fur will protect her, but the others will be subject to the cold.
An unprotected character in cold weather (below 40° F) must make a Fortitude save each hour (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A character who has the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the skill description).
DC 15 : Gain a +2 bonus on all Fortitude saves against severe weather while moving up to half your overland speed, or gain a +4 bonus if you remain stationary. You may grant the same bonus to one other character for every 1 point by which your Survival check result exceeds 15.
Making the survival checks would indicate things like sheltering out of the wind, or nestling into a bed of pine needles or against another warm/fur body to help with the Fort saves.
Clearly having a fire will be your best bet and eliminate the need for rolls.
Again based on your current speed you should reach the lake before nightfall, but not much before the goes down. You may have an hour or so to make a camp, shelter and build a fire before the cold air sets in.
Goivan ignores the cold and tries to help the survivalists keep everybody else warm.
"I cannot summon fire with magic, but given the right ingredients, I could craft alchemist fire."
Prar stumbles and mumbles his way through a hard day of travel. His curses, whispered in a range of languages from Undercommon to Draconic, grow more numerous the more weary he grows.
He gurgles. "When we reach the end of this day's accursed trek, I shall start a giant fire and destroy some of these trees." he seems to spit trees with disgust.
"I cannot summon fire with magic, but given the right ingredients, I could craft alchemist fire."
The group grows weary after a long day of trekking through the wilds. Although you have had ample food and water, you are ready to find a spot and take stock of things, and rest. You know soon you will be at the lake.
Day 1, Time approximately 7:00 PM.
The group arrives at the lake, tired and exhausted, elated to have finally made it. The sun is setting quickly behind the mountains to the west, casting long shadows over the lake. Prar is relieved to see the sun soon to dip below the horizon, although it means it will get cold quickly.
As evening draws closer you see the birds start to nest up for the night but some early insects buzz around briefly. You wonder where they go when it gets so cold. The waves gently lapping against the shore brings a peace over you. While the lake itself is not very big, this is the lowest point of the plateau, the depression serving as the 'bowl' for the lake, all the snowmelt flowing in this direction. During the off season the lake levels may be lower, but now, it flows briskly. Waters from multiple streams flow in the north, east and west sides. The south end of the lake empties its contents into a river, its waters crashing down through a gap in the mountains. These rapids signal the path from the mountains for those who cannot fly or traverse the treacherous peaks.
The water is cold, very cold, but fresh. As with in the forest, wood here is plentiful and more available in smaller amounts. Driftwood and other pieces of wood has washed up and lie scattered about the shore, deposits from the fast flowing streams that made their way back to shore. The breeze here is still strong, and the cool wind picks up as the warmth of the sun disappears. In the dusk you occasionally you see or hear a fish jump into the air or surface to grab a meal from an insect that came too close to the water.
You take a moment and then need to decide what to do next. You have about an hour before dark. There is also wood and stone aplenty here. Again as long as you have a fire you should be ok, and could do other tasks after dark (sleeping at some point), as long as you stay close to the fire and warm up occasionally. The stones are still somewhat warm from the sun of the day, but will cool off after dark. Prar is ready with burning hands, if no one else will create fire the old fashioned way (somewhat time consuming).
While you decide/work, have some more inspirational pictures:
Snowmelt streams
River
Lake
Lake Close
Lake Side
Lake Side
More Lake!
aerial view
You have no problem climbing the tree. With the dusk setting in and the long shadows you aren't able to see any of the others, but you can hear the other groups as they come from the treeline and start to drag driftwood and rocks for campsites and work amongst themselves to set up quick shelters before darkness sets in. It will be cold, but you are not troubled, your fur protecting you. You hear Tolheimia and her large group as they arrive and begin setting up a very large camp with multiple fires, which you see easily. You do spot what must be Grobly on his bat wheeling about scouting over the lake a dark blob against the purple dusky sky.
A low fog rolls in quickly.
Goivan smiles at the peaceful lake. "Come, let's start getting camp set up." He walks off into the nearby woods and uses his axe to gather firewood, then brings it back to the survivalists.
The fire is easily created, the dry driftwood lays scattered all over the beach and the dry pine duff is quickly smolders in the belly of a small piece of wood with a spinning stick point imbedded in it. Goivan you scarcely need your axe to gather any wood from the forest, but it is very helpful to break up some of the larger pieces, and helps in creating more tailored pieces for tasks around the camp and for constructing a shelter.
"We got food an' fire covered, should we try t' put together a lean-to or somethin'?" Gunther asks of the others, his mind more interested in getting some animal hide for a pair of makeshift moccasins.
Qahnaarin makes his way to the lake and wades into the water, stopping when it reaches his mid-thigh. He takes a guard stance with his branched spear, ready to strike any fish he sees.
A little lean to shelter would definitely help with protection from the wind. You are close enough to the tree line that the forest provides a little wind break, but having a soft bed of pine needles insulating against the ground would help a lot. Also the lake is cold, and acts as a heat sink.
Gunther you did kill a few rabbits and squirrels, if you make a crude craft roll or survival check you can tan the hides, although it appears to be a multi-day process.
Qahnaarin, you wade out into the ice cold water. It is cold! within a minute you can't feel your feet. You considering standing on some rocks or a log instead. . You can definitely make a survival check to spear fish, you don't have to 'fight' regular fish :)
Gunther begins to cure some of the hides he'd collected from the various small game the duergar had brought down. The thought of a comfortable pair of makeshift shoes drives him to carefully tan the hides as best as he is able.
Day 1:
Time: After Dark. 9-10 PM ish.
The group settles in for the night. The fire is crackling nicely with wood gathered and Prar gets things started with gusto, using his burning hands to make an instant blaze from pine duff, needles and dry tinder. The group eats food and sits around the fire discussing the plan what to do next. Qahnaarin fishes from the water's edge even into the night. Gunther works at tanning the rabbits, difficult, but uses a rock to scrape the hides and works at making a crude tannin. Goivan keeps the fire well stocked with deadfalls and driftwood.
Dirty and exhausted the night comes with a chill. You chat into the evening. You catch glimpses of the other camps' fires along the shore, and can hear singing from the largest group, Tolheimia's with their big camp and multiple fires.
I am going to get things to the overnight stage, and prep for the next day of adventuring, as well as focus on character crunches.
Goivan smiles at their progress today. "He would be proud of how capable we are." He gives a reassuring smile to the others. "What do you all think our next move should be? I think building some shelter would be wise." As the talking gets late into the night, Goivan volunteers for middle watch.
"Master would be proud that we did not kill each other today, but there is always tomorrow" she says with a sly grin. "I suppose here is as good as any place to make shelter, but what is our plan? We cannot just wander aimlessly expecting to find master. It would appear to be the warm season, which means the cold season will come. Given the cold tonight, we will need to be better prepared than we are now. I am afraid I have a lot of questions, but few answers. I fear the family splintered before we all had a cohesive course of action. There is water, wood, and wild life, so we could sustain ourselves, but to what end?"
Prar gurgles. "A logical course of action would be to survey the surrounding area for signs of life and civilization. If after a week of nomadic roaming we find naught road nor ruin, then establishing a permanent settlement from whence we could launch further excursions while simultaneously surveying and charting the land."
Qahnaarin tries his best to catch some fish, hoping that his efforts will not be in vain. He leaves the water before he loses feeling in his toes.
He joins the others at the fire afterward. "Agreed. The worst thing we could possibly encounter is a surprise."
Gunther nods, but he's still clearly worried about being attacked upon discovering civilization. "That's gonna be th' plan, then. We should start in th' mornin', yeah?"
Prar gurgles. "A logical course of action would be to survey the surrounding area for signs of life and civilization. If after a week of nomadic roaming we find naught road nor ruin, then establishing a permanent settlement from whence we could launch further excursions while simultaneously surveying and charting the land."
"I would agree. Scouting becomes more efficient from a high vantage point. Do you think we should head into the mountains? I fear the cold would be worse at higher altitudes.
Also, we should think about what to communicate to the others. I imagine Jovar will arrive sooner or later with a message from the others. I wonder what will our response be?
I think in the morning we should hunt for larger game. A deer would be nice, and with Gunther's bow, we should be able to bring it down from range. This would give us a decent amount of hide to work with. What we really need our tools..." She trails off obviously lost in thought.
A moment later she utters "I will take first watch. You should try and get some sleep. I will wake Goivan in a few hours."
"How about in the morning we send a team of two to look for civilization while the rest focus on survival?" He nods at being woken up for the middle shift.
Gunther nods at Goivan's suggestion. "I ain't particularly good at dealin' with folk. I'll stay behind, but whoever goes needs t' promise they'll be careful. I don't trust nobody but you folk and th' rest o' our kin right now, an' I expect ya t' come back in one piece," the duergar states, resolve clear in his eyes.