"I'm afraid that my woodcraft is a bit lacking, but if needs be I will try to pitch in."
Oddly enough, the many species you know should be in this part of the woods seem to be missing. There are a few around here and there, but the closer you get tot he barren lands, the sparser it seems to get.
As the consensus seems to be to set up camp, you all begin to look for a suitable spot to do so. Eventually, you find a dead tower tree whose large roots has unearthed from the ground and made a decent alcove that would protect from any harsh weather changes.
"Sleep here. Good?" Kick-lick says. He builds a fire, scavenges around for some food, and makes a lovely dirtbug and mushroom soup in his backpack/pot.
"All is tasty. Everyboddy eat!" He goes rooting through everyone's packs, and takes out their bowls (from their mess kits). He then pours out everyone a bowl.
Tes aids in setting up camp but mentions what she notices to the others.
"Many species indigenous to this part of the woods seem to be missing. I spotted a few but it seems the closer we have come to the barren lands, the sparser they are. We should set up a watch to be sure we do not receive any surprises not that we were not going to set one anyway but perhaps two should be awake at a time..."
Tes tastes the Gonlin's soup and wishes she had taken her friend up on her earlier offer though it is better than she would have expected considering the chef.
Vitrius nods in thanks at the goblin. Though he wasn't too impressed with him going through their things, he appreciated the little thing's efforts. The soup was going to do nothing to nourish him and he didn't want to waste the Blood Blossom...
"Thank you Kick-lick," he says as he tastes the soup. He helps setup camp, what little they can, considering he didn't remember anyone getting a tent. As he rolled out his bedroll, he looked at Tes. "I'll take the midnight watch. It won't be a problem if no one chooses to take it with me." Especially if I need to go hunt for actual sustenance.
Phaerlin will try dinner and say "Maester Kick-Lick, you have made a fine meal." then find a spot to lay that is away from the fire and settle down.
Kala has no preference for guard shift, she'll need a torch either way except perhaps for early morning. After eating the goblin's soup she makes a mental note to have an alternative if there's no opportunity to hunt.
"I will take the early morning watch as I will need to pray at that time anyway".
With watch decided, you all settle in for the night. The first up
Your watch passes uneventfully.You appetite is sated for the next couple days thanks to your feeding from before, so no need to hunt other than for sport. You ponder to yourself what kind of force the enemy you're facing is to drive the disparate races of Zendikar together...
Eventually, you pass your watch to Kala.
Vitrius wakes you and reports nothing unusual and goes off to get some rest. You keep your eyes and ears open, and you think you might have heard some rustling nearby. However, on further inspection, it seems nothing is there.
The rest of your watch passes by as you wonder how long it would be before you can submerge yourself in water once more.
You are woken by Kala who yawns as she reports nothing of note. You take your watch dutifully and get your morning prayer's finished as well. Watching the sun rise slowly is peaceful, and you think to yourself maybe this journey won't be as bad as your gut is telling you it is.
Or maybe that was just the soup.
The night has passed with nothing of note, and you all make your preparations to head out once more. Once again, someone other than Kala has to lead next, but the scope is once again usable giving the user advantage on survival checks.
Others can use their pertinent skills to add +2 modifier if successful, or -2 if unsuccessful.
As his eyes adjust to the morning light, Vitrius helps clear camp, making sure to leave little trace of their passing. "In case we aren't the only ones heading to these ruins. Something has the leaders spooked if they're tossing a bunch of us together to root it out. "
He will spend the day's march the same as before, pointing out ways to keep a good pace and not waste energy.
"Did you see something? I heard something but perhaps it was only a curious critter." Kala En sighs and passes on the scope to the next leader.
"I'll keep an eye out for beasts today."
The Merfolk tries to befriend any animals that come to investigate the party, but postures size and strength if they seem ready to attack.
"I saw and heard nothing during my watch but to be certain there is something out here, these woods did not depopulate naturally".
Knowledge Nature
"No, nothing unusually curious. I agree with Tes though, it is unnatural for there to be so few beasts in the area. We should be careful. "
Seeing nobody else leading, Kick-lick eagerly grabs the spyglass.
"We go this way!" He yells, charging in a direction. "It be best!"
As Kick-Lick charges into the wilderness, the rest of the party looks at each other with a bit of worry. He leads you confidently, rarely pausing for you to catch up and not explaining while making sharp turns. Eventually, though he doesn't seem to know it, you're all confident that you're lost.
Fortunately, Vitrius helps everyone conserve energy by showing them a monk's way of traversing long distances. It helps to save you some energy to keep up with Kick-Lick's leadership.
Kala spots a few beasts of the wild nearby. Surely if they could lead them to the nearest river, it would be simple to figure out their current location. Unfortunately, her attempts to sway the animals to her side seem to fail as they take off into the denser woods.
As you continue trying to find your bearings, Tes is able to find more marks of the waning wilderness, and manages to help you navigate to the eventual outer edge of the woods. Even more so, she seems to note that the land seemed to be dying the closer to their destination they got. Alarming indeed.
It is about midday and you have completed another leg of progress. You are currently still in the Tower tree forest and have two "sections" of day left. From what you've planned you would reach the temple in four "sections" of travel. You would get their earliest by tomorrow morning if you only stopped to sleep, or by afternoon if you took your time to examine and interact with your surroundings.
This is, of course, contingent that nothing bad happens along the way.
Tes takes the spyglass from Kick-Lick, "Well done my new friend, this alternate route was no doubt better. Let me see if I can find us a more direct route though..."
Survival
Survival Advantage
"That was an interesting short cut. I shall have to endeavor to keep better notes on all the flora and fauna we found." He smiles at Kick-lick and then catches up to Tes. "Thank you.", he whispers, putting a hand on her shoulder. He will continue to give stories about his training to provide help in traversing the terrain.
Investigation isn't Kala's strong suit, but she will keep an eye out for things out of the ordinary.
But she's not entirely sure what she's looking for.
Phaerlin trudges along after the party, clearly unaccustomed to unknown woods. He says nothing, however, and soldiers on with the rest of the group.
Tes, confident from the previous day's success, leads eagerly. Unfortunately in her eagerness she misreads the trails and what was o lay supposed to be minor diversion around a large canyon, has ended up in a distinctly lost party.
Virtuous attempts to keep everyone full of wnergy and though effective his techniques don't has much effect as yesterday.
Kala investigates to find clues that help the situation but doesn't find anything of note
In the end, you have not made any progress and are lost. While lost you each can attempt a survival check to become not lost. Or, you can dedicate the next section of time for personal acticities, investigations, etc. you can not make any progress until you are not lost. I am keeping track of your dwindling supplies.
Kala En takes a deep breath, then slowly exhales. She's eager to get on with with her destiny, but that requires a successful expedition. In trying to get a better sense of their current location, she opens her ears once more to the wind, hoping it whispers guidance.
Total Survival: 19
Though nature is with her, it seems so tantalizingly close, Kala cannot grasp the way back on track. Zendikar was always a chaotic one, even to her residents.
.
Recognizing a rock among a grove of trees that they had been to before, Vitrius realizes that they are lost. Sighing, he goes back in his mind, looking over his memory of everything they have seen so far and the map he memorized, he attempts to extrapolate where they are versus where they should be.
It doesn't work however and he curses himself for not keeping better track.
Time has passed, and you still find yourselves lost in the Zendikar wilderness. There's enough for one more survival check to establish your directions before nightfall.
"I dunno where we is."
"You and me both my little friend. It appears that Zendikar's very nature has gotten the best of us. It will be nightfall soon and though we are unfamiliar with our surroundings, those who hunt these woods are not." Vitrius smiles a reassuring grin, fangs and all. "Good thing you are familiar with a couple night hunters."
"Yes-yes hunters good joke hahaha please no eat me."
"I don't mean to contradict Lady Il-Stone, but I think we should probably use the path over here. It seems to head in the direction that we wish to go."
Vitrius shakes his head and smiles at the goblin. "You have nothing to fear from me. We're not monsters. We have selective tastes."
A day gone to wandering without direction. however, just when you all begin to look for a spot to make camp, Phaerlin notices an oddly familiar stone. Perhaps it reminds him of home, but using that as a marker, he is able to help him and his companions navigate back on track.
"That was a tiring and confusing day." Kala En slumps down to rest with a tree at her back. "A good find with that stone, Phaerlin. I do think we should rest when the sun sets however, I'd rather not get lost again in the darkness."
She clasps her hands together, and after a soft green flare spreads her palms open to reveal ten wild strawberries, smaller than the ones you may have seen at market, but far more intensely red as well.
"The bounty of nature, such as I can call upon it. Best eaten within a day." Kala pops one strawberry into her mouth, and puts another in her pouch, then proffers the remaining 8 to her 4 companions.
Goodberry: You can eat a berry as an Action, each berry restores 1hp and provides enough nourishment to sustain a creature for one day. Loses potency after 24 hours.
.
Tes grimaces at the predicament she has placed her new allies in, "I am sorry, I thought my Knowledge of Flora and Fauna would guide us closer, I was wrong. My thanks for salvaging the day Phaerlin".
"I do not mind taking the night shift again." Vitrius puts a hand out to Kala's offered fruit. "I'm afraid I must decline. I appreciate your offer, but I am.. satisfied for the time being. "
Not much seems to go on while everyone settles in for the night. You conversation with the goblin seems to stir some kind of feeling inside you. Fear of your kin? Futility of your efforts? Meaningless of the fight? These might be many of the thoughts that flow in and out of your mind as you absentmindedly carry out your watch.
Eventually you go wake up Kala for her shift, and find a comfortable patch to rest.
You stir from your sleep. You look up to see Vitrius, hand on your shoulder, waking you for your shift. You rise, still a bit sleepy, nothing a bit of light exercise won't fix. A few stretches later, you begin to practice your combat forms.
What was that?
....
There is was again...
No doubt in your mind. There's something out there....
Some of you are awake, some of you are still asleep. But when Kala starts yelling, everyone becomes alert.
Some sort of insect like creatures emerge from the forest. They move together and start to attack you all en masse.
Vitrius, Kala, and Tes may act.
Kala En is practicing control over her Thorn Whip, a spined length of seaweed that bursts from her totem to grasp at a target violently. She sends it at invisible foes left and right...but wait. That sound.
Unable to see the intruders, she calls upon the children of the night (Phaerlin and Vitrius), hoping their attuned eyes might spot them...but then it becomes clear even by the campfire that bugs are encroaching on their territory.
Unable to identify the creatures with certainty, she just calls out the most dangerous insect she's heard of.
"SCUTE BUGS! SCUTE BUGS!"
Kala En holds up her shield and brandishes her coral totem, sending the twisting spined seaweed to lash out at the far right bug.
and pulls it 10ft closer.
She then moves to have the fire at her back, hoping it dissuades the pests.
Sensing the danger and hearing Kala yell out, Vitrius scrambled to his feet, grabbing his staff and running to stand next to Tes who was still waking up to give her time to defend herself.
"Not sure what scute bugs are, but they sound really bad!"
Tes takes a step back somewhat disoriented and calls upon her divine energies to aid her allies. A white light emanates from her and all but Phaerlin receive a from Tes.
Tes, despite the swarm of bugs near her, continues to concentrate on the white halos which surround her allies.
With a clean hit, Kala cleaves one of the creatures in two, but the rest soon swarm her, Vitrius, and Tes.
Two of the creatures land on Vitrius and stab into him with their long needle like noses Through their combined might, they nearly drain him completely, dealing 11 points of damage. Tes is able to bash away the one targeting her, but Kala is also stabbed and is dealt 6 points of damage.
The Party is up (I did see your move though Tes)
Kala looks instantly paler for the blood loss, but grits her teeth and lashes again with the seaweed whip at the insect that's trying to make a meal of her.
Total To-Hit: 17
The white magic of her Kor ally helps the merfolk remain calm, and the second strike is as accurate as the first was.
Vitrius feels the vital life force draining from him as he wrestles with the two bugs. He goes down to the ground with them clenching his teeth and a bug in each hand....
Waking to the sounds of shouts of attack and the throws of melee, Phaerlin will stand and then unleash an Eldritch Bolt at the closest insect creature.
"Breakfast!" Kick-lick screams, throwing himself at one of the bugs. He then retreats.