Amara smiles when you mention her perfume. “I did. You know, it is kind of funny. Working with all of the fragrances that I do leaves my nose partially paralyzed. I know what aroma specific flowers and oils have and know which do and do not work well together, but unfortunately I have not fully smelled one of my perfumes in a really long time.”
It appears as if Amara is about to continue when something behind you catcher her attention. Dugal approaches; “Medav, we need to meet at my wagon. I’ gathering the others.” without waiting for a response he continues on his way without missing a step.
“You best be on your way Mezdav. I’m sure we will have an opportunity to talk again on our journey.” with that Amara smiles while giving a slight nod and walks towards her wagon.
As you make the animal call work, you can see an eagerness within Bren. He is clearly amazed at the call and that you actually made it work; “It’s not broke? It wasn’t workin for me.” he continues to watch you work the call. Silently he works up the courage; “Will you teach me?”
Dugal is listening to everyone talk and share their ideas.
As Adir brings up the rules Dugal nods; “You’re right. We already have everything we need right here. If we need more provisions of water or food we could send a small party to hunt and gather for it. I will be sure to make everyone in the caravan and the walkers know that if you want to go out that they need to go in groups. 2… 3… 4 maybe? We will circle the wagons up to form a perimeter.”
When Ercio brings up scouting ahead Dugal nods until he hears Mezdav mention the spacing; “I do think a scout would be good and I don’t want to discredit your abilities, but are you comfortable being that far ahead? I won’t make that choice for you.”
"I do believe that we should have the trade supplies in the rear, but master Findazzle had made the request to have his wagon last. Maybe coming from you all he might change his mind?"
“I do believe those will help keep us a bit safer along the way. Any more thoughts?”
With your nature check you would easily think what Findal is thinking. Why would a predatory creature attack a large caravan? Especially one that has some kind of intelligence as a worg does. The only answer is that game is thin for some reason, but what could be killing off enough game to cause a worg to take a risk and attack the caravan…
Yalyaane smiles at the boy. "Of course!"
"Ha, that wasn't too good. I need to warm up."
She tries the deer bugle again.
"Better, but I'm not sure the deer are going to appear any time soon," she laughs. "I must be tired. Why don't you try for me--maybe you can do better."
She catches sight of Dugal and Mezdav. "Keep practicing for a bit, Bren; I'll have whet my whistle--is it wet? whet? Lowland talk is funny to me sometimes," she says. "And tell me if you hear a deer call back to you."
She trots to follow the half-orc alchemist and the difficult to understand dwarf, catching the gist of the discussion of scouting and guarding.
"I do ok in the wild, although I'm best near the wagons. But I can shoot from a distance decently enough," she says, noting a fishhook threatening to fall out of her bag and fly ten feet in a random direction, "...if the pesky spirits don't misdirect me."
"See you later Amara", slightly slack jawed, thinking {damn she's pretty, and her nose doesn't work that well... hmmm }.
Later on at the discussion
"Maybe someone should point out to Fizzdale that gnomes are pintsnack-sized and easy to carry off, and he'd be safer in the middle of the column?"
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Ercio thinks a bit before voicing his concerns to the other guards. When they are alone, he says "I was talking to Findal, the gnome, and maybe there is something worth mentioning. There might be something thinning out game, which might have caused the worg to attack us." He seems oblivious to the fact that most people do not really care about changes in the wild.
Ercio nods at the dwarf. On a good opportunity, the druid approaches Findal, the wizard. He says "Findal. I need to ask your help with protecting the caravan. It won't require much of you. All we need is to reorganize the caravan, so that one of the wagons rides behind yours." He looks at the the gnome unsmiling, expecting an agreement.
Ercio says "I can keep Bumi forward. So I'll walk closer to the caravan and Bumi will walk hiding forward. We have a special connection. If he sees something, I'll know. And Bumi runs very fast." The young man stroke Bumi's fur gently, as the cheetah slept tired.
Adir looks at Yalyanne with a degree of curiosity, finally showing a little bit of halfling nature in him. Spirits, Are you haunted?
Yalyaane leaves Bren alone with the call as she makes her way towards Dugal and the rest of the group. As she makes her way she can hear Bren trying to make the call work and it is a rather horrific display of noise. If you were wanting to chase off creatures, this noise would do it.
Giving Erico a side glance, Dugal speaks up; "You don't say? Well that might not be all that bad. If something is thinning out the game, it could drive off the some of the creatures we may come across. They might leave trying to find a new place to hunt." Looking around to the rest of the group; "Well if that is it, I say we should all get some rest. Best thing to do with the nerves on end after the caravan has been attacked. If you need anything, you know where to find me." Dugal points off towards his wagon, gives a nod, and heads off.
At the mention of repositioning the wagons a slight smile comes on Findal's face, but he quickly begins to playing his beard as if there was an itch. "Reorganizing you say? I would be delighted to oblige you and the caravan master in this." letting out a slight laugh through his nose; "Little did I know that when I requested the rear I would be stuck behind such a potent perfumist as Amara. Have you smelt anything so strong before? I am sure putting her wagon at the rear would be the best deterrent for those creatures with a powerful nose."
The next morning starts off overcast and quickly begins to rain. It isn't a heavy rain, but a constant mist like rain that is to the point of almost being unbearable. Once everyone has a chance to have a bite to eat for breakfast the wagons get hitched up and reorganized. The trade good items have been moved to the rear followed by Findal, the perfumist, and the rest of the caravan.
Ercio and Bumi take the lead scouting ahead of the caravan, which might be best as Findal is looking for Ercio due to him still being stuck behind Amara.
The day trudges on slowly. The rain begins to pickup, and at points is just short of a torrential downpour. Everyone who has a wagon stays within trying to steer the horses the best they can. Those who are unfortunate enough to walk use soaked through cloaks to try and keep as much rain off of them as possible. A few have hitched rides on the back of the wagons that offer a lip to sit on, huddled together under cloaks sharing body heat to keep warm. Thankfully it isn't cold out, but being soaked to the core can leave a person with a cold.
Mezdav will take advantage of the revised caravan order to hitch his mule to Amara's cart, and walk alongside, so they can chat...but he does try not to let himself get distracted from keeping an eye out.
While on the march, he will do his usual travel with his sling in hand and loaded with a stone (not a bullet) and will happily loose at any rabbit/small game that within close range, hoping to add to the pot for dinner tonight.
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Ercio, sulking in the rain, tries to talk under the cover of trees, as does Bumi hiding in stealth. Ercio can sense that Bumi is unhappy with the assignment, but he wasn't happy either. Both of them continue looking to the sides hoping not to see anything out of the ordinary. He keeps on thinking about something driving out the critters, but can't focus long enough in the rain.
Pash grows quiet and shrugs. "Elsewhere. Haven't seen them in years. Best that way." A brief somber look crosses his face before it is again replaced with a smile. "What about you?"
As Dugal speaks, Pash just nods vigorously. "Barring any more sneaky worgs, we should be able to keep casualties down at least. Just keep us informed if you know trouble is a brewing, kind employer, so that we can better protect you and yours."
Pash quickly packs his gear and trudges along with the others, silently as has been his norm while they are moving. Not having waterproof anything, the halfling seems resigned to the fact that he will be a wet mess today.
Being cold and wet, however, does seem to impact his ability to see much of anything. Pash grips his crossbow a bit tighter in subconscious response.
Inspired by Pash, Mezdav remembers to make his perception check as well.
Pash nods solemnly at Ercio's comment. "Well, I suppose I can understand that. The not liking one's personality in general bit, not necessarily your in particular, mind you. Folks with brains of any size can be peculiar about things, after all." He smiles as he finishes this, nodding as if that somehow made sense. "So why were you so intent on keeping the worg alive if you don't mind my asking? I may not have much in the way of brains, but it seems to me that it would have caused more trouble later on if we had. Not that we did, given it died while we were talking about it... and given its throat was cut afterwords... but still, I guess I wonder why you were in favor of letting it live if it could have lived."
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Ercio feels warmth at Pash's words. He answers his question truthfully "There was no real reason to kill it. It wouldn't provide us with needed food, nor would it be any trouble to us. Wounded as it was, it would take it days, maybe weeks to be in fighting shape again, and it would avoid any danger, as we'd be days of distance from it. Besides, we don't know if there were pups it was trying to feed. All in all, that was a rare sight, and its death means that the region will be different than what it would be otherwise. And Nature is always better off without the actions of the so-called rational races."
Knowing that this would probably not be an acceptable answer, as it isn't much different from he said earlier, the druid says "If I can help it, I prefer to let things run its course, but suffering commonly brings a protective side of me, especially with regard to animals."
Adir is relatively quiet as usual over the course of the days, keeping his eye out for danger, he spends his nights around the camp with a knife and a particularly sturdy piece of wood carving an ornate wooden sword
As the day progresses Mezdave does not see much in the form of game. Where you might normally see a rabbit or squirrel there are none on this rainy day. “Hey, why don’t you come sit up here out of the rain?” Amara says as the rain begins to pick up.
Takes his time with this piece of wood. Slowly but surely, Adir transforms a piece of wood into an Ornate Wooden Sword. By the time he is done, he has a beautiful practice sword or something that would be used to subdue a foe.
The rest of the day goes by uneventful, minus the rain. Those who actually keep watch during the rain notice that nothing is out in the woods. That could leave some of you at ease, while it might leave others restless. Thinking, if there isn’t something out there now it’s only time before something is.
Dugal calls forward those who might be guarding the front portion of the caravan; “Go tell everyone that we are going to keep pressing on.” holding his hand out beyond the overhang of his wagon catching some water, “If this keeps up it would make for a terrible camp. Might as well get further down the road before sleeping.” Dugal nods as a sign for you to go let everyone know what is happening.
An hour or so passes before Dugal blows his signal whistle, signaling that the caravan in coming to a halt. Dugal begins to walk down the line; “It looks like this rain isn’t going to be stopping anytime soon but we have to make camp and let the horses rest. Make what room you can for everyone to sleep in or under the wagons.”
This evening there is no warm fire for everyone to surround and to talk taking their mind off of the long days walk. People crowd under wagons to keep the rain off of them, others adjust what is within their wagon to invite the walkers out of the rain for the evening.
As you begin to wake up the constant sound of raindrops on the top of the wagons and in the puddles is no longer there. Instead you hear the slow and light drops of water coming off of the trees. Emerging from where you took cover for the evening, you see people wringing out their cloaks from the day before.
The sun is out, and the birds are chirping. Instantly everyone seems to be a lot more chipper than they were the day before. Even the troupe of bards are out playing instruments along with one narrating a tale of springs first light.
Dugal gives everyone a bit of extra time to get things collected and set up before heading out for the day.
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Ercio gladly takes a place to sleep under the wagons. He curls together with Bumi, who is in a lousy temper as well. They have to make do with some dry meat, having spent no time hunting.
The next morning, they are happy to see the rain is gone and waste no time loitering. They go together and try to find themselves some food. If they find more than they need, they bring it back to the caravan.
As the day progresses Mezdave does not see much in the form of game. Where you might normally see a rabbit or squirrel there are none on this rainy day. “Hey, why don’t you come sit up here out of the rain?” Amara says as the rain begins to pick up.
"Well, I'd like to, but Dugal is paying me to do a job - keeping lovely ladies (and some others) safe. That worg yesterday was worrisome.". Still, he will continue to stay close to Amara's wagon and chat during the day.
Mezdav will get out of the rain and the mud by asking Amara for permission to string his hammock axle to axle under her wagon for the evening.
Then he demonstrates just how much you can abuse a mess kit. He gathers wood for the evening (wet though it is), storing it under Amara's wagon. He collects some stones for a small firepit, and sets it up just under the edge of Amara's wagon, (on the downwind side of course, where it's protected from the rain). He uses the tin plate of the mess kit for a dry bottom to the pit. He the liberally coats the undersided of Amara's wagon, where the fire will be heating it (and thus where might spread too), with mud to protect it. Then he uses his alchemist bomb ability to start the fire in the pit (wet wood and all). "I like having a fire... I've gotten good at it!". He stacks the rest of the wood near the pit under the wagon to dry out.
Dry Rations + Left over rabbit from last night + water supplied by the gods combine in the bowl of the mess kit to make a passable (for the conditions) hot stew. After the stew is done and eaten (and shared with Amara among others), he makes hot tea.
Craft Cooking: Take 10 + 2 ⇒ 12
He does put out the fire before he goes to sleep (unless someone else wants to watch it)
***
In the morning, he follows Ercio's example, and looks for small game. He will also take 5 minutes to clean the mud off of Amara's wagon.
Pash shrugs and nods at Ercio's reasons. "I must just not have the brains big enough to understand that. The principle seems sound enough normally... but in the case of something fast enough and willing enough to attack a large group of humanoids... it just seems like you would be inviting something to keep hunting you tomorrow if you left it alive today. Perhaps that is just fluff brained thinking though."
Pash cannot help but think that somewhere, out in the forest, something must be watching them in the wet drizzle. Be it animal or otherwise, Pash just cannot shake the feeling as he walks throughout the day.
That evening, the halfling sets up his tent once more, it doing little more than keeping the rain off of him as he eats his rations and sleeps on the drenched ground. He passes his shift on watch huddled close to the wagons, crossbow in hand.
Pash takes the time to try and shake his tent clear of the water. Satisfied that it is as dry as it can be, he rolls it up and packs it.
Taking up position again with his crossbow at the ready, Pash smiles to his companions and says, "Well, at least it is nicer out today. Still, I expect we will find ourselves muddy after today's journey. No getting around that though. Shall we be on our way?"
Yalyaane is not troubled by the rain too much; it gives her a chance to look for salamanders slithering under leaves, something she greatly enjoys.
She does some looking at the skies to see whether the rain will come back:
And she blows her animal call to attract rabbit, to see if any can be caught and cooked up:
Finally, she checks in with Amara and Findazzle, to see if they have any spare steel bowls. If they do, she places wet twigs in them, passes them out to travelers, and uses Spark to light them.
Yalyaane checks in with Dugal. "Do you think we are watching the supply wagons sufficiently? The perfumist's wagon, the Pharasmins, and so forth, they are occupied, but they others are not," she says thoughtfully.
She also hunts for rabbit, and checks with Ercio regarding the scarcity of game. "What do you think? Was the worg starving because of something else?"
Oi, I'm carving blunted weapons. for future precaution to avoid killing if necessary if anyone needs anything. i'm fairly talents He calls to the group , showing the wooden greatsword
"I can take one--give me a moment and I can ah, 'summon' the skill to use an incapacitative...incapacitating? weapon." Yalyaane stumbles over the long word. "The kind you use when playing rough!" she says with a laugh.
Amara’s curiosity gets the best of her as she hears Mezdav working below her wagon. Stepping down from the rear steps she sees that Mezdav is starting to build a fire she climbs back into her wagon. Moments later she comes back down and find a spot to sit out of the rain in anticipation of the fires warmth. “I hope you won’t mind come company.” From under her cloak she pulls free a cloth pouch that is full; “We won’t need this tonight, but if you take a few pinches out of this and put it into a fire throughout the night it will keep away mosquitoes and also smell nice. It is something my brother taught me, it is bark of the cedar and lemongrass.”
Throughout this rainy day you do see a few salamanders skittering around the base of trees. When you try to get closer they swiftly climb the tree they are at or off through the underbrush to safety.
As you go around asking for steel bowls, you find that most people have some form of a steel bowl or metal mug as part of their mess kit. A few of the people look at you oddly when you tell them you are going to give them a small fire with such damp twigs, but when you light the fires their demeaners quickly seems a step lighter in such a rainy day. Then they quickly realize that the fire heats up their bowl/mug and use part of their cloak to withstand the heat.
Sleep was welcomed as Ercio curled up next to Bumi. It has been a hard, long, wet walk and even the stone or two that found his shoulder blades did not prevent Ercio from falling fast sleep. Once up Ercio and Bumi set off to find something for a meal and to provide a little extra for those at the caravan.
As you venture into the woods looking for food you come across something rare and unexpected, a bush with glimmering silver berries that is protected by long thorns. You think about all the different types of berries that you have seen on your journeys and those you have learned about from the Elders when it hits you. This is a Glimmerberry Bush. You know that if harvested properly, the Glimmerberries have curative properties by themselves, or could be used to enhance curative potions as an ingredient.
Going to sleep the night before with thoughts of what could be going on out in the woods with clenched crossbow in hand causes Pash to wake up a little bit on edge. Possibly a little jumpy and quick to react.
The dreams you have are filled with the possibilities of what all could be in those woods. What is it that is taking out all the game? Shambling Mounds? Centaurs? Werewolves? Dragons? Undead Liches creating a vast undead army waiting to strike down upon the caravan?
Morning thankfully comes as you stir yourself awake before your mind goes down any darker of a path.
Though Adir’s call was more directed towards the group of hired guards, a few of the caravan travelers come to see what the heavily armored halfling has made. At the mention of providing weapons those travelers that were interested begin speaking up asking for something to help defend themselves. You easily put it together that due to the loss of one of the travelers, they feel the need to be armed. You also realize that it might be little help for them against an attacking worg, but the peace of mind it could bring to them would be priceless on the journey.
As you all are looking at the finely crafted wooden sword that Adir has made you begin to hear Dugal shouting; “Time to break camp, let’s get out on the road before we lose too much of this daylight.” Pushing his way through the small gathering of travelers and guards he breaks through to where Adir is; “Fancy stick you have there.” then he sees actually how well-crafted it is; “Ya know, my dad and his brothers were smiths back home. Good work, but we best be on our way.”
Yalyaane checks in with Dugal. "Do you think we are watching the supply wagons sufficiently? The perfumist's wagon, the Pharasmins, and so forth, they are occupied, but they others are not," she says thoughtfully.
Dugal nods, pointing around to the five of you; “You’re right Yalyaane, if each of you take portion of the caravan instead of two up front and two at the rear and a scout, I think we would have better eyes and ears around the perimeter. If each of you took two wagons starting from the rear we would have eight of the wagons covered, that would still allow Ercio and Bumi to scout.”
Dugal nods, pointing around to the five of you; “You’re right Yalyaane, if each of you take portion of the caravan instead of two up front and two at the rear and a scout, I think we would have better eyes and ears around the perimeter. If each of you took two wagons starting from the rear we would have eight of the wagons covered, that would still allow Ercio and Bumi to scout.”
Casually (well, semi-casually), Mezdav is quick to volunteeer " I'll take the second spot from the front, Amara and Findazzle's wagons"
Amara’s curiosity gets the best of her as she hears Mezdav working below her wagon. Stepping down from the rear steps she sees that Mezdav is starting to build a fire she climbs back into her wagon. Moments later she comes back down and find a spot to sit out of the rain in anticipation of the fires warmth. “I hope you won’t mind come company.” From under her cloak she pulls free a cloth pouch that is full; “We won’t need this tonight, but if you take a few pinches out of this and put it into a fire throughout the night it will keep away mosquitoes and also smell nice. It is something my brother taught me, it is bark of the cedar and lemongrass.”
Mezdav is happy to spend the evening chatting with Amara. He's quite interested in the dust, wondering "That's a good trick. What do you do to the mixture to get the effect to last though, rather than burn-off quickly?"
He's sad that does have to call it a night a little early, to get enough sleep to get his shift as active guard in.
As mentioned, he takes a survival check before we set off in the morning.
During travel, as previously, he will travel with a stone in his sling for small game. He will alternate sides of the caravan during the day, dropping back from up by Amara at the front of her wagon, to trot between her and Findazzle, and then up on the other side to chat with Amara some more.
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Ercio sees the Glimmerberry bush and approaches it greedily. Carefully, he attempts to extract some.
In the meantime, Bumi looks around for game.
Ercio looks bored at the gathering. Crafting was not something that particularly impressed him, so he continues looking to the woods, wondering why canaries have yellow feathers.
Ercio waits for the group to come to a conclusion and does not intervene unless spoken to. He enjoyed the solitude of scouting ahead.
"That sounds like a plan, Dugal," says Yalyaane in agreement. "I'll take, um, left middle, or left front, however we care to call it. Opposite Medav. I think Mezdav likes the perfumist. Maybe she can help him with...you know," she says, hiding a smile. "Or if that's a bad idea, I can be back with a half ling," she continues, somewhat indecisively, and still failing to pronounce the word as a single word.
"Aldi, can you do carvings on your weapons? I'd like one with a salamander sigil on it," she says, guilelessly. "Yalyaane, the Salamander of the North! Or North-East, I suppose."
Before Ercio leaves, she calls to him. "Hey! Let us know if game is still scarce! Silly druid!" "Were those salamanders particularly frightened, I wonder?"
She realizes she doesn't know anything about these cute (but totally unfamiliar) lowland amphibians.
She amuses herself by using her oracular orisons on pine needles, floating them in the air, and then letting the reality-warping effects around her fling the needles in random directions when she releases her concentration.
I can try once we have time and provided i can find good material. Any weapon in particular? Adir questions a he packs up his supplies and takes one of the rear guard positions, having his Slingstaff out as a walking stick.
K-Nature Check rolled 10+11 skill = 21
You know how to harvest these berries properly; you are able to harvest 4 Glimmerberries. But, as you are harvesting, you are interrupted. You hear a high pitched, but gentle, female voice; “What are you doing? Hehehe, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Those are mine” When suddenly right before your eyes hovering over the bush is tiny elven looking creature, roughly a foot tall, with what looks to be butterfly wings that contain an explosion of color with a vivid trail of glimmering dust coming off of her as they flutter in the air.
You easily recognize this creature to be a fey, better yet, it is a pixie.
Erico made it known that he was going to go hunt with Bumi. Find something and possibly bring back extra for the caravan.... He is yet to return.
While everyone is getting ready for the day you do take a quick walk around the edge of the tree-line and you spot a rabbit that came out from its shelter from the previous days rain. Crouching low, you free your sling and a bullet. You slowly begin to twirl the sling as you start to raise up. Just as the sling gets to its top spin you let go of it and the bullet flies. Strikes the rabbit dead where it stands. You go and collect your kill and you realize that this must be one of the few "lucky ones" left in the forrest. Just over three pounds, this rabbit has not missed any meals.
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Later in the conversation, once the awkwardness diminishes, he says "So, how's the forest doing? Something seems to be happening, we were attacked by a worg just yesterday. He was probably hungry. Have you heard anything?"
While everyone is getting ready for the day you do take a quick walk around the edge of the tree-line and you spot a rabbit that came out from its shelter from the previous days rain. Crouching low, you free your sling and a bullet. You slowly begin to twirl the sling as you start to raise up. Just as the sling gets to its top spin you let go of it and the bullet flies. Strikes the rabbit dead where it stands. You go and collect your kill and you realize that this must be one of the few "lucky ones" left in the forrest. Just over three pounds, this rabbit has not missed any meals.
Mezdav brings the rabbit back to the caravan and guts it properly . As he does, he thinks out loud, "Don't know why the others are saying the game is scarce. I've nabbed a rabbit every day except when it rained and I could hardly see 40 feet, not to mention even rabbits know to get in outta the rain"
"It seems like the forest is doing ok to me, but I'm not a druid," says Yalyaane in agreement. "That's a nice plump one!"
After that, she does her usual surveying of the wagons and the trees. She takes a moment to hold her crossbow in one hand, still loaded, but not taut (the crossbow will not enjoy being under tension all day), and scans around away from the wagons for magic.
Pash shakes his head. "Game might be still in the forest, but that does not mean that worse things might not be. Can't remember all of my dream, but I saw all kinds of reasons for why the game might be eaten." He turns to Ercio and asks, "Say... this isn't dragon country, is it?"
As they walk Pash seems a bit more jumpy than he has been the past few days, constantly looking around and gripping his crossbow tightly.
That being said, his jumping at every creaking branch or whistling of the wind makes him a bit less attentive to things he should be looking out for.
Pash nods, breathing a sigh. "Good... what about werewolves?"
"Wouldn't we have known if that was a werewolf? Or do werewolves and worgs run together? ...are there wereworgs?"
"Oh...okay. Pash, are you all right? Ercio--are half lings usually that..." Yalyaane mimes shivering, and looks concerned.
The Pixie smiles “I know what they do, and I know what good they could do in your hands.” she flies around the bush examining it muttering to herself, glimmering dust covers the bush as she flies around it. “You have already picked them so they are yours. But you must trade for them. What are you going to give me for the berries?”
Dugal calls for the caravan to move on. The wagons creek into motion with a tug from the draft horses. You all begin to move into your new positions to guard as the caravan moves on.
As the day goes on you hit a part in the road where the trail begins to descend a slight hill. At the bottom of the hill the group catches up to Ercio who is stopped as the trail descends into a gully where a stream has overflowed its banks. The entire path has become marshy and soft. The muck here is going to be difficult to travel through.
“We’ve got to press on through, the water doesn’t seem high enough to wash the wagons away. Take it slow.” Dugal shouts back as he begins to move his wagon forward slowly. The mud sticks to the wagon’s wheels but Dugals wagon makes it through. Followed by the Pharasma marked wagon and the bard’s wagon.
By the time it makes it to Amara’s wagon the ruts in the mud are deep and her wheels get stuck. Dugal groans and wipes his face with his hand. Waving over the group of you; “We are going to need the group of you to help push the wagon as I hitch my horses up to this wagon and we can pull it free.”
"Yalyaane, come with me please"
Mezdav unhitches his mule from Amara's tailboard, and leads her over to Dugal.
"Dugal if you've got spare tack, between me and Yalyaane, both our mules can help pull. But we need to think a bit here. Amara's wagon is not the heaviest here by any stretch. 3 of the last 4 (food, dry goods, luxury goods and Raw materials )are probably all heavier and will bog deeper, so lets get Amara out, and then make a plan. If we cut a bunch of bushes and make a temporary corduroy road that might work? We might also partially unload the wagons before they cross."
He's a little quiet when he starts speaking, but he gets louder as he goes on and gets into the meat of the idea.
****
Once the plan is established, and the extra animals sorted out and hitched up, he wades into the mud and sets his shoulder to the wagon.
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Ercio replies "That sounds fair. I wonder what I can give you in return... I can offer you this!" He pulls a vial from his backpack with a liquid. "It's a magical liquid that can help someone as large as a man fight off poisons in his blood. Would that be a fair traide?"
When seeing the problems with the mud, Ercio thinks of something he once heard worked.
He searches for some large fallen wood branch. After finding it, he brings it back to the caravan and places it between the wooden wheel and the mud. "That should give the wheel sure footing". He suggests this should work for all of the next wagons, even the heavier ones.
In the meantime, Bumi climbs a nearby tree and rests for a while, acting as a lazy scout.
Adir walks over, rubs his hands together and pushes, I'll help push someone lift. We don't need any fancy systems yet Despite his small stature, he's fairly strong when compared to the rest of his race
Yalyaane agrees and hitches up her donkey, patting it on the head. "You'll get carrots if you do a good job," she says to it.
Yalyaane walks with the wagon, right into the mud, watching to see if the wheels and animals can keep their footing.
"I'm not bad at moving on mud, or snow," she says.
Pash just looks at the wagon and shrugs. "Not much for pushing things that much bigger'n me. How about I keep watch around us instead... time like this would be too perfect for less savory types to try and make off with something."
So saying, Pash crosses the small river to the best of his ability and takes up a spotter's position somewhere he can keep an eye on the wagons and their occupants.
The Pixie flies towards you and grabs the bottle, and smiles; “It’s a deal!” She continues to fly, but seems to be struggling while carrying the vial. “Now that that is complete… the forest? There is something wrong, something killing off the creatures of the forest, and those that travel it. I have yet to see what it is, but I stay hidden to stay alive.” The Pixie flies around and disappears into the Glimmerberry Bush. When she appears again the vial is gone. “Worgs are strong, but even they hunt while keeping a watchful eye out from becoming pray.”
As quick as the Pixie appeared, she lets out another tiny high-pitched giggle and disappears.
Working together, with some ingenuity, the party is able to work to get the wagons across the mud. Thankful Dugal approaches; "That was some great work. Adir, even though us dwarves are known for being stout and strong I think you might fit right in with my kin." giving him a look up and down; "Are you sure you don't have some Dwarven blood flowing in those veins?" laughing, Dugal turns his attention to the rest of the group; "That could have been worse. Nothing slows down a caravan like being stuck in the mud... other than breaking a wheel or axle I suppose." turning back towards his wagon and shouts; "Lets get back on it!"
As Pash keeps watch, he thinks he hears something sleeping in the brush just off the road. Keeping an eye out for what it might be, nothing happens... that is until Dugal shouts Lets get back on it! It is at this point Pash hears whatever it is beginning to stir.
what do you do?
Nah, just push ups, sit ups and plenty of juice Adir grabs his things and gets back on road with the others