randall793's Three Days to Kill

Game Master randall793

"I'll watch," Rosslyn sullenly replies. "Not sure I could sleep right now, anyway."

I'll take third watch with Bjorn. With that, Rianna leads Bjorn inside and finds a room to lay down and sleep.

"We'll help on the first watch. Not so sure I am ready to close my eyes again so soon after..." Changing the subject, "They leave any food around."

Once arrived back at the mansion Skane bellows a toast the alfur's sundered corpse with some of the liquor recovered earlier;

"Sko, gera ÉG sjá minn faðir"
"Sko, gera ÉG sjá minn móðir"
"Sko, gera ÉG sjá minn systir og minn bróðir"
"ÉG sjá the lína af minn fólk bak til okkar dögun"

"Minn forfaðir kalla mig til taka minn staður í mikill Valenhall"
"Hvar stríðsmaður stríðsmaður mega lifandi að eilífu!"

"Fairwell minn brave blade bróðir... Back to the mud!"

He then seeks Wesh's assistance (and any others willing) to bury the alfur swordsman come the dawn.

The elven body seems to be at piece, knowing that its near future would be consigned to rest undisturbed.

The night passes on uneventfully, and the watches change without incident. However by morning the light sheds new changes in the fallen bodies of dead enemies as early decay starts to set in.

Receive the benefits of a full night's rest. Anyone who can level up could do so with the associated new spells and perks. Haven't heard from Silar in a while. After burying Dieredon, what's next?

So, the guy responsible for this is on the run, eh? Are ya goin' after him?

Wesh says "We were but then we got attacked by the orcs."

Well, I see everyone got a good nights rest. Shall we head back to town? Maybe collect our reward? Rianna looks at Bjorn as if hinting at him to say something, but he just ignores her. Turning to the rest of the group, Bjorn and I were talking. Perhaps its best if we head back towards our homelands and meet with family and make this marriage official in our families and clan's eyes. We'll go back to town with you, but from there we'll head our separate ways.

Skane grins at the thought of the Great Bear returning home with a willowy gypsy by his side, then shrugs his broad shoulders in resignation;

"Alas you go without me brodjir. I am a wanted man in the North... best we part also lest my blight bring weregild upon you both..."

The Vikingr grimly smiles and draws upon his pipa

Betony comes out to enjoy the morning, but is greeted by flies.

"Ewww. We should push on. These guys are starting to stink." She finsihes tightening the straps on her armor and whistles for Thistledown to come get his harness.

Wesh says "I agree we should get going."

"Yeah, we're leaving this place," Rosslyn responds.

"If someone would please take the lead and navigate us back to town, that would be great."
Rianna does one last search through the place and then find Bjorn, grasping his hand and looking up into his face, she smiles at him, "Let's go dear, and start our new life together." She then waits patiently for the group to begin heading back to town.

Flies eagerly settle on the dead as the group gathers together, before starting the journey. A small mound of freshly upturned earth sits near the mansion's morning shadow, marking the final resting place of the elf known as Dieredon.

Silar, his near death experiences apparently subdued into muteness, wordlessly walks over to the mound, burying something in the piled earth before taking his place in the middle of the group.

The day's light reveals much of the surrounding mansion not visible the night before. The horse pen behind the building, a simple wooden gated structure is empty, the gates unbarred.

Using the previous marching order, but this time Silar decides it's safer for him to be in the middle instead. Order as follows, Hack, Countless, Rosslyn, Wesh, Silar, Betony, Rianna and Bjorn?

The going is easy in the day's light and soon the scene of the night's battle passes the group. The barricade provides some obstruction but careful maneuvering overcomes it after a while.

The small jetty marking the beginning of the mansion's path is boatless. Some loose cordage litters the ground with a very dead human sans armor, courtesy of Bjorn's scythe strike the day before.

You remember arriving by horseback yesterday and by the looks of it your lent horses are missing. Taken or borrowed, is anyone's guess.

Wesh says "Dang they took our horses but at least not our lives."

As Hack takes the lead with Countless, he searches for the tracks of the departing enemies after the barricade is passed.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

If he is able to pick them up, can he follow them?

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Alas, no Dieredon, but not bad...

He turns to Countless,

Brother, the tracks are here...are we sure we're wantin' to return to town?

"Just let the horses go, and let's get back to town," Rosslyn protests. "They probably aren't being used for meat. It's just... let's just get back, okay?"

The night doesn't seem to have eased her conscience any.

As Hack finds out, the tracks diverge into two groups. A party headed on foot towards the jetty, while the other heads up upstream, mounted, away from the direction of Deeptown.

At the current point, the group is at a crossroads on what to do next, continuing to pursue or return back, and claim their spoils.

Skane mulls over the group's next move, his scarred brow knitted in concentration;

"If we do return, we cannot do so empty handed nei? Either our belts should swell with coin and treasure, or bear new skull cups for our victory feast! What say the rest of ye?"

Skull caps be a grand idea, brother! We can likely catch those on foot, eh?

Wesh adds "And they are less likely to get a large number of reinforcements or hurt other travelers."

Bettony scratches at the tangle of hair under hey helm, "One group took the boat, the other your horses. I don't see how we can catch either with you all on foot."

Wesh says "Well tehy will only get farther away if we don't go after them now."

Makes no differnce to me, but I do like killin'. I'd be glad to help.

You are going after the riders on foot I presume then. Well, I would need some survival rolls and since you are following tracks you'd be moving at half speed. It is sill morning however and visibility is good but the river bends and if the tracks diverge away from the river you would be in the Northern Wilderness of Nirmathas.

Hack examines the tracks as they head into the wilderness.

Survival Checks:

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22
1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

Rosslyn is there to track the riders as well.

Survival:

1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 2 = 21
1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 6 + 2 = 14
1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 2 = 16
1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 6 + 2 = 25
1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 2 = 9

Wesh will aid another on survivail if able

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Howooooooo! Thistledown lets out a lonely cry.

Thistledown will lend his nose to aid the endeavor of tracking the horsemen.

Survival -> 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Survival -> 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9
Survival -> 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
Survival -> 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
Survival -> 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7

I've definitely slowed down on the updates for you guys. Sorry for holding you up. Taking an unexpected turn has me thinking up ways to branch out the current route but thanks for hanging on.

Eager in the pursuit of their quarry, the small group combines each other's skill, making use of sight and smell to hound in on the tracks left behind. Some murmur of dissent is heard from Silar who grumbles on the current party direction but he heads along the path just the same.

Set 1(27)
The soft ground at the river's banks make following a trivial task. Much from the tracks tell you that the horses were pushed to a gallop. The pursuit goes uneventfully, at least for the couple first miles.

Set 2(29)
At a distance away, the terrain starts on a gradual hilly state as the forest starts to thin a little. The tracks are still plain-fully obvious for those who know where to look and the pace remains the same. The river bank is firmer here and would get firmer still as the river is followed to its source. The going goes on for at least 3 miles.

Set 3(29)
By noon, not much in the situation has changed. An area where the horses have slowed and stopped with sets of humanoid footprints dismounting and remounting where the pace resumes with a gallop is noticed by the more astute barbarian tracker. The scenery of a river through a forest is similar though much details in the scenery is bypassed in the pursuit. The sun is on a downward arc as the party completes another 3 mile trek.

Set 4(29)
The late afternoon sun's rays point out the tracks peeling away from the river as it dips into the forest, following an animal trail made naturally as the forest inhabitants make their way to the river for water. A pair of inhabitants are on it right now, a pair of powerful brown bears, making the routine daily trek for water. The pair seem oblivious to your presence being 60 feet away, wind blowing in your face.

Hack bends low examining the tracks yet again, and he raises his hand in the motion of an "ALL STOP" fist. He themn points at the bears, and whispers low.

Let's just let them pass...remain still...they do not have our scent.

Wesh whispers "I agree charging them would be fighting for no reason."

Rosslyn simply nods and waits patiently.

Oblivious to the party's presence, the pair of bears lumber on to the water's edge and spend a while drinking their fill.

Watching the bears drink up water at their leisure soon gives wondering thoughts of how much water can a bear stomach at a time. But before thought on where does the water end up afterward occurs, the bears, having drunk their fill start to wander back to the forest.

That session of nature watching has taken an hour from your time. From your estimates, darkness would not be far off. Ready to continue the pursuit?

Betony has to hold Thistledown still during the first part of the hour. It seems that after that boar the day before, he is still not trusting the denizens of this forest. But finally Betony's reluctance to engage seeps into his consciousness and he relaxes.

But he is all the more eager to continue the pursuit once the bears clear out.

Aye...let's get back on the trail before dark.

Wesh nods in agreement.

Rosslyn nods. "Let's go."

Set 5 (21)
The bears gone, the group continues on following the tracks made by the horsed bandits, traveling away from the river bank and into the wooded wilderness. The pace has slowed somewhat but mounted, the group would still be ahead in terms of speed. With the trees causing close visibility, the shadows grow longer and night is imminent. Without the river as a landmark, there would be real risk of getting lost in the darkness.

Wesh asks "should we stop here to camp for the night?"

Sounds good...I will look for good campground and some dinner.

Finding campsite and hunting for small game.

Survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

"Yeah, this looks like as good a spot as any."

Rosslyn starts looking for a good tree to climb and watch from.

Survival: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16
Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

Betony dismounts and gets the saddle off of Thistledown. She watches him set off to find his own supper.

Skane will plant himself by the most likely spot for the fire and plug his pipa, readying for a smoka...

"With Redhair abroad and game such as bjorn's kin living near, we would be wise to be sharp while on watch... nei?"

Wesh says "I agree this is an important time to be on watch."

"It's why I plan to spend time up here!" calls down Rosslyn from her perch, bow in hand.

Skane grins up at the rogue, whilst blowing a stream of smoka...

"Wise beyond your years Rosslyn Svartur-hár... Keep a keen eye while I enjoy my pipa har!"

Svartur-hár = black hair

I'll be takin' a watch on the ground here. Skane, got any more tabac for my pipa?

Wesh says "I think I will be taking the second watch."

"We will take last watch"