post
Hope this works!
Shaeyl wanders over towards Sly Too many chefs... nodding to Sendorus and the rest of the gang, we can't have a hundred people of our ilk wandering into the first village we find, so lets move off on our own. It's not like there's anyone here to give orders.
Watching as several other groups of people, many that he recognized as having trained together in the past, Shaeyl suggested we should follow Tolheimia and the others. The lake will be a good place for us to get some food gathered, and then we can head downstream. Though I think maybe many others will do that too. We could head upstream as well. If there are any dwarves in the area, the headwaters of the stream may lead us into the mountains. Our third option is to explore this valley. This would ensure we knew what was here, any other ways into it, if there are any signs of habitation, current or old, as well as providing assurance for those that are staying here.
"It's time we head to the lake. I think upstream would be best, as I think few groups of us will be heading that way. As for dwarves, I do hope we find some, as we could use their wisdom."
"Shall we go, then? I have no possessions to speak of, I have prepared my spells for today, there is nothing keeping me here."
Nathan dusts off his shirt and says "Upstream would be the best course of action I think as well. Let us head to the lake and upstream then. If need be we can gather food on the way. Water is taken care of as is fire."
"Well, I'll grab us some berries, and use my magic to enhance them. That'll give us a little bit of food, at least."
"I was afraid this would happen. I don't have enough berries to sustain all five of us. We'll have to hunt or gather food."
The group makes its way carefully and cautiously towards the lake, skirting in a direction they hope will take them upstream depending on what they find and perhaps higher or deeper into the mountains as most of the water that feeds into the lake comes from snowmelt; the streams feeding the lake will be quick and small, but cold and fresh.
The berries help feed a few of you, and perhaps there is the chance to hunt or forage along the way. You have not been awake long so no one is starving yet, but hiking through the dense pine forest will stir up an appetite for those who didn't get a goodberry. The soft pine needles seem to muffle noises, and the dense tree branches obscure the ability to see far ahead. The branches are annoyingly low and your hands get covered in sap before long. Eventually the rest of you have small sticky blotches where you brush against the trees.
"This forest is very frustrating." Hseir grumbles, slashing out at yet another pine branch.
"I hope we can make it to the lake soon. A bath would do us all well."
Shaeyl keeps an eye out, looking for anything along the way that is edible.
Shaeyl rubs along Ptery's chin, stay close, see what you can find to feed yourself. I won't be upset if you want to share anything good either.
|
Sly grins as he flicks at some of the sap, being sure to refresh the spell that keeps his scales pristine. "It isn't so bad. We are out in the world again and on a hunt. Goodwin prepared us for such." Sly also keeps an eye out for forage or game while Ghost remains perched on his shoulder.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
As the group travels, moving slowly as Sly hunts and forages for food. He gathers some pine needles useful for making a tea if there was a way to collect and heat the water. Pinecones, edible fungus, insects and grubs are fairly easy to discover. A few birds' nests, a squirrel, some rabbits and quite a few birds fall victim to his ray of frost or to his owl who is a bit miffed at having to hunt during the day.
You gather a significant amount of food, enough to feed the group easily for the day. You do recall Grubgullet's appetite however, and then begin to wonder if you will have enough to last....You swear he is a bottomless pit. Did he just eat that entire pinecone whole? Periodic munching echoes softly as your group makes it way towards its goal.
Inspirational Photos of the area you are in:
As you push your way through the forest, moving slowly due to the trackless rough terrain, and letting Sly hunt, you make ok time, but will need to determine how to efficiently reach the lake or river.
Sly does a great job hunting but to prevent yourself from getting lost, I will need either some survival rolls or a strategy to prevent it.
"Ouch! This is getting tiresome! At least you smaller guys can walk under some of the branches. I keep getting whacked by them. Just look what it's doing to my clothes. I have to keep cleaning my clothes." Nathan says a few arcane words and his close clean up and after a few different words the tears mend.
Taking some of the food found gratefully Nathan remembers, "Eating these things reminds me of my time before Goodwin. Those were not good times."
Grubgullet doesn't seem bothered in the slightest in terms of eating pine cones... or leaves... or entire tree branches... frankly, someone should probably stop him. There's not any nutritional value in those, Grubgullet.
As the group travels, you have no problem not getting lost. With True North guiding you and Hseir-Shae's guidance you are on a solid path to the lake, with the goal of heading north into the mountains. It does occur to you that unless you find another means through the mountains, that going over them will be extremely difficult equipped as you are. Most of the groups had planned to follow the river from the lake through the gap and to the highlands below, and eventually out if possible. The group had a goal of looking for caves or dwarves I believe. Shaeyl, slipping through the forest like a shadow, hunting and foraging as his small dinosaur also hunts, feels the cool air. In the forest you are sheltered from the wind, but he knows that as night comes it will get quite cold. It will probably be clear tonight, with no cloud cover. The group is also in essentially whatever you wear to bed, underwear or pajamas and no footwear. For the lizard folk and Grubgullet this is not an issues due to natural armor and thick hide, but Shaeyl has small tender feet, and hours of stepping on pinecones and sticks, debris, pine needles, rocks and roots, is taking its toll.
Tonight will be very cold as well. Through the trackless difficult forest you make about 3/4 of a mile per hour, hunting and foraging as you go, this will put you at the lake area just before night fall. It will be dark which doesn't really affect you, but as the sun drops the temperature will as well. It will likely drop below 40 degrees though which will result in those unprotected having to make Fort saves hourly.
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.
You don't have to make rolls yet, but without a fire at night you will need to. Grubgullet will probably get a small bonus just due to large body mass, and Sly's Cold Flesh ability keeps him good until -50 below.
|
|
"Careful, Big Fella," Sly says as he puts his hand on Grubgullet's arm to stop him from eating an especially vicious-looking branch. The gesture is firm, but not demanding. It would not do to have an angry ogre on their foreclaws. He shakes his head at the ogre. "It's not good for you."
As the temperature drops, Sly revels in it. It has been a long time since his days as a fresh hatchling in the mountains. But he collects himself, knowing that not everyone relishes the cold. He sets his resolve, knowing the others will need fire. As they get near the lake, he makes a suggestion. "We should make shelter before the treeline ends, using the trees to protect from the wind. We can improvise a shelter and build a... firepit," he spits the last word out.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Shaeyl nods with Sly, instead of eating the branches, can you just pull a few of them down, especially those with a lot of green needles? We can build a lean-to between two of these trees.
Shaeyl starts clearing the pine needles from a six foot area in front of where the lean-to will be for a fire pit. He stacks the needles next to one of the trees and after reaching dirt, uses a handy stick or rock to start digging out a shallow depression for a firepit. Some rocks would be nice to reflect the heat into the lean-to.
Once that basic is taken care of he looks for Hseir, My feet are in need of some attention, can you give me some water so I can wash them off?
Shaeyl uses his wakizashi to slice the pant legs of his pajamas into strips. A little prestidigitation to clean these and I can bind my feet.
I think that some of our brethren that are in such a hurry to rush to civilization in their night clothes are going to face a hostile welcome. Farmers with pitch forks comes to mind.
Hseir gives himself endure elements, allowing him to survive comfortably from -50 to 140.
"Sorry, friends. I only prepared one today, but I will prepare more tomorrow, if needed."
"And of course I'll get some water for you, Shaeyl. Just tell me when."
"Okay... tree meat is scratchy anyway."
The ogre lets the branch in his hand fall to the floor, pouting a bit as he does. Then, shortly after, he picks out a tree, pulls back his stony fist, and begins pummeling it until it breaks into pieces.
Grubgullet had always been an odd one. He hauls back his massive fist and strikes out at a smallish tree. The tree was only an inch in diameter, none the less his single blow snaps the tree in half, pine needles and a few pinecones go flying. The tree which was maybe twelve feet tall or so crumples toppling over. No one is quite sure why he did it, perhaps not even the ogre himself.
"Need more? Plenty more trees to break!"
"Need more? Plenty more trees to break!"
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. The cold will set in soon.
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 to get on with your your next plan. You have about an hour before dark. There is also wood and stone aplenty here. Let me know what else you plan in the hour or so before dark. 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. Earlier you had decided to pitch camp closer to the treeline, rather than on the lakeshore itself. This is doable, and you take some time to quickly find an appropriate spot, without wasting too much time.
While you decide/work, have some more inspirational pictures:
Snowmelt streams
River
Lake
Lake Close
Lake Side
Lake Side
More Lake!
aerial view
"Ooh... pretty."
|
|
"Grub, can you make a circle with rocks this big?" Sly indicates a three-foot circle for the firepit.
He also climbs several of the nearby trees for branches that have the most needles or leaves on them for the impromptu shelter and gathers wood for the detested fire, though he leaves lighting it to someone else.
Once the hard work is done, 'prestidigitation' for cleanliness for everyone that is willing, removing resin, twigs, etc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The group starts their camp preparation. Sly gathers quite a few pine branches, to make a shelter of some sort for the group. He gathers wood and piles it near the camp, hoping the others will get a fire going. Darkness is not far away, already the temperature is dropping. Sly notices it but is unaffected.
From the woods a happy hummed tune slowly approaches along with the sound of light footsteps. A small kobold wearing a simple robe emerges from the brush.
"Oh good! I found all of you. Luckily there was an easy to follow trail." She says, pointing back at the cut branches and stomped brush her larger companions had left.
She looks around the clearing with inquisitive orange eyes before exclaiming, "Are you making camp? I can help!" Aury walks over to the pile of wood and sticks and casts spark a few times, starting a small fire for everyone.
"Well, hello, Aury'tss." Hseir says, looking down at the fellow, but smaller, reptilian.
"I'm glad that you joined us; scalebrethen are always welcome, although you are quite smaller than us. I'm sure that won't be a problem."
With his Endure Elements spell, Hseir can work well into the cold weather, without problems.
If it gets too cold for the others, he will continue to set up the camp if need be.
Grubgullet nods, and heads off into the woods to look for three foot wide rocks. Damn it, Grubgullet.
Having finished clearing and digging a shallow firepit, Shaeyl had started on stacking the evergreen branches against a long pole suspended in the fork of two trees. Simple, but effective for a temporary lean-to.
Pull up a rock, we've got a little extra food from scrounging. Hopefully tomorrow we can look at getting some fishing done.
We can sharpen some poles and harden the tips in the fire.
Day 1:
Time: After Dark. 9-10 PM ish.
As Sly provides the building material for the shelter, Shaeyl moves dextrously and efficiently, building it with Hseir-Shae's assistance, trying to get something in place as night sets in. The newcomer Aury'Tss gets the fire going nicely and keeps it stocked, gathering pieces of driftwood from nearby. The hulking Grubgullet wanders off in search of stones. He returns half rolling, dragging, staggering to move a three foot diameter boulder. You hear him coming from some distance, "Hrrrrngh...."..Ka-thump...."Hrrrrngh...."..Ka-thump.... and then he comes into view in the darkness with his prize.
You stare wide eyed welcoming the ogre back to the camp, as night sets in. You sit around the fire, eating some leftovers of food for the day, and discussing the day's progress. It gets colder and the stars are visible over head, Sly inhales deeply and the crisp cool air feels nice. The wind picks up a little, and the water down by the shore is audible lapping against the rocks. Somewhere deep in the forest an owl hoots. Your group has successfully survived a day in the wilds all on your own. You ponder what tomorrow will bring as you stare into the firepit.
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.
Aury tries to hold back a laugh as Grubgullet rolls his giant boulder in. "Well at least we have a nice dry rock to sit on while we take turns watching over camp."
"I suppose tomorrow we'll look around for somewhere interesting in the morning? Maybe we can find a path!"
"I'm sure we'll find some sort of way to get us to the lake, one way or another."
Hseir looks over to the kobold, attempting to comfort him.
"At the very least, we will continue to blaze a path towards said lake."
"Sky is shiny."
Shaeyl settles himself near the fire, facing out into the darkness as he prepares to take first watch.
Shaeyl croaks a laugh at Sly, 10,000 years since any of us saw it. And we're seeing it in our skivvy's. Next time someone wants to put me under for a few millenia, I'm bringing a spoon.
Shaeyl spent his time listening to the sounds of the lake and forest. And at least one other party that had camped along the shore. Someone was snoring to wake the dead. With a long pole wedged into the ground, he used the base of the blade on his wakizashi to shave the end into a rough point.
Every half hour he tossed another piece of wood on the fire, letting the flames stay low, letting the coals provide most of the heat. With the coals glowing a warm red, he was able to harden the end of his make shift spear.
Once his shift is over, Shaeyl gently shakes Aury, your turn, and don't let the fire go out.