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A couple of hours of hard riding bring you to the packed earth road that runs alongside the river. The deep hoof prints, show signs that heavy draft animals routinely traverse this road, and your guide mentions that they commonly pull barges up-river. Mid-day you pass one such barge. Two large oxen are in harness with a train of six more walking alongside to rotate in. Men on heavily laden barge are steering and polling the barge into the calmer water near the shore, but keeping the barge off the rocks.

Your horses keep you moving fast and you soon leave them far in the distance.

As evening begins to fall you see a large group of wagons circled around a set of campfires. Your guide indicates this is the meeting spot for your caravan.

The sentinels look to the king's messenger and stand aside. When the guide announces who you are they give you even more space.

"Welcome, your lordships, welcome. We heard you'd be joining us at some point, but no one said when. We've been making good time down the river, but a pack of wolves has been pacing us the past few days. That's the reason for the large fires."

Sure. Ok you're across the chasm. Its being a crazy week, I'll get something more up for you tonight.

Its being a crazy week, sorry I've been less than clear on who was up, etc. I'll get things straightened out tonight.

OK knotted rope with the cliff wall, is DC 0 for any able bodied person. I'm going to assume that the four PCs and three mongrelmen make it down ok. Without rolls. The three NPCs all have negative climb skills so they could fail the DC 0 test. I'll allow one assist attempt, per NPC, (not per player, 1 assist from the whole party). If you can get them down safely, I think your plan is strong enough to get them up later. The down is the riskier bit.

I beleive we're at the top of the order, andanan is up, one creature is still alive, grappling Meria.

Please continue your comversation, but I'll just move the scenery along

The descent starts at dawn, while there is still a foggy haze over the Voyllr plains, but it has already burned off on the cliffs. THe top switchbacks of the way down are narrow you need to lead your mounts for the first couple of hours. Halfway down the trails widens and you're able to mount up. The descent has been exceptionally warm, the last gasp of summer. The cliffs offer protection from the afternoon sun, however, and the heat fades before it could get too oppressive.

You reach the base of the cliffs, without incident and find the next supply station, where you swap out your horses once again, leaving the smaller, sturdy mountain horses, for ones that look faster over the plains. The weather has been ideal and you should reach the caravan's meeting point tomorrow night.

No signs of struggle, no sounds of battle, though they are building up their campfires larger than necessary and are mounting a vigilant watch on all sides of the caravan. A group of ten men are watching you.

"Go with you?"
"That could be fun! But we like these woods, they're our home."
"Yeah, we're not sure. Let us think about it, you can always find us here!"

"The other biggenses comes from the south,"
"Yes they resupply from somewhere else, we haven't seen where"

The two tiny creatures relax even more at the show of dexterity and friendliness.

"A wedding! Oh those are fun, of course we'll tell you what we know. Its been a couple of weeks, right Perlivash?"
[b]"Yes, that sounds about right, that's when we first found the biggenses camp and saw the elves there. We could tell they didn;t want to be there."
"We had such fun with those nasty biggenses! Making their fire explode and then cutting the bonds of the elves in their panic."
They describe how to get to the camp you already found
"They elves ran off to the south, last I knew the had found the dryad to the south. She was sheltering them and helping them heal up. She's good, but a little weird, even for us!"
They both look at the four of you, judging you a little.
"You seem nice, and strong, but big and loud and noisy. There's more dangerous things down there. Your lady is safe with the dryad."
"Yes, yes! Train and study and get rid of some of the closer biggenses first and then it should be safer to go to her!"
"We're small and Pervlivash and even disappear! We can take a note!"

They are also excited to tell you about a few other points of interest in the nearby forest.

Marked on the map:
G = A patch of especially tasty radishes that appear to have some special properties
I = Hot springs, a little smelly, but very relaxing
J = They mention a hidden statue/temple with giant angry bear that seems to live there

The evening passes with much food and drink. The king seems to know what this group appreciates. Morning arrives and Oskar arrives to lead you all the royal stables to begin your relay ride.

At the stables Duke Marcus is on hand to see you off. "Keep in mind all you learned here in the past day, but trust your instincts in the field. I'll do what I can to make sure you have your chance."

The stable-master leads you each to a horse, given pointers where needed, but staying out of the way of those who seem to know what you're doing. Oskar hands you each a small sack containing several days rations and a waterskin.

A king's messenger rides with you, guiding you quickly out of the castle and city, along the northern roads. Nearby there are scattered farms, but as you head further north you pass wide forested tracks of scrawny trees, or maybe overgrown brush. Rainfall appears to be scarce here and the river is far to the south. You trade off horses at mid-day, and reach the northern cliff face resupply station at the end of the first evening.

The guide says it will take most of the next day to descent the cliff face then one more day to reach the rendezvous point. From the cliff side you can look out, over the beginning of your new home, the Voyllr plains.

A grassy plains stretch away from the base of the cliff, before the hint of a road running parallel to the shimmer of the river. Across the river, lush forests.

Pausing for intra-party interactions

A couple of hours of hard riding bring you to the packed earth road that runs alongside the river. The deep hoof prints, show signs that heavy draft animals routinely traverse this road, and your guide mentions that they commonly pull barges up-river. Mid-day you pass one such barge. Two large oxen are in harness with a train of six more walking alongside to rotate in. Men on heavily laden barge are steering and polling the barge into the calmer water near the shore, but keeping the barge off the rocks.

Your horses keep you moving fast and you soon leave them far in the distance.

As evening begins to fall you see a large group of wagons circled around a set of campfires. Your guide indicates this is the meeting spot for your caravan.

How do you want to approach them?

I think you'd need to get someone over to the other side first to find a secure tie off point, but once that's accomplished, yes that could work.

So no requests for the final interview? If I don't hear one by tomorrow morning, I'll narrate you into the journey.

Yes, I'll allow you to pull a levitating creature/bundle.

Baradesh's axes sweeps through creature, scoring a deep gash into the head of the creature, but not causing it to release its hold. The one that missed Andanan is suddenly engulfed in another globe of darkness. However the scrabbling of its claws as it tries to get away makes it easy for Abdul-Azaim to pinpoint its location.concealment, higher better: 1d20 ⇒ 4. Abdul's slash passes harmless through the globe of darkness.

The descent starts at dawn, while there is still a foggy haze over the Voyllr plains, but it has already burned off on the cliffs. THe top switchbacks of the way down are narrow you need to lead your mounts for the first couple of hours. Halfway down the trails widens and you're able to mount up. The descent has been exceptionally warm, the last gasp of summer. The cliffs offer protection from the afternoon sun, however, and the heat fades before it could get too oppressive.

You reach the base of the cliffs, without incident and find the next supply station, where you swap out your horses once again, leaving the smaller, sturdy mountain horses, for ones that look faster over the plains. The weather has been ideal and you should reach the caravan's meeting point tomorrow night.

Got it. And RAW say you should already know the caster level of the scales. Its 19. So your plan sounds plausible, but maybe you have another idea with that knowledge.

Meria if you want to change your round two action given this, go ahead. Waiting on Baradesh

I don't quite understand the plan -- levitate targets one creature or object -- and all three NPCs probably need some form of assistance. And none of you are skilled in climb.

The tension leaves their faces; you see a hint of a smile on the dragon's face as the dice Farfadet offered levitate into the air and are rolled. self-rolling dice: 2d6 ⇒ (6, 2) = 8

"Eight, that's a good number right, Perlivash?" asks the little lady.
"Yes, I think it is, Tyg-Titter-Tut. But six would have been better, as there is four of them and two of us."
"Maybe their horses count a little?"
"They seem nice, lets go talk to them"
"Well they are very colorful!"

The two approach cautiously. Tyg settles down to look at the gifts, while Perlivash hovers briefly in front of each of your faces, before settling back besides Tyg.

"Hi! You seem nice! Not like the mean trapper. I'm Tyg-Titter-Tut and this is my friend Perlivash." You see that she carries a very small blade, one that could of triggered the log trap prematurely

"Yes, yes we saw the elves. So pretty and graceful, but more serious than they should be. Are they your friends?"

Anevia readies another arrow should the final creature appear, unwilling to fire into combat.

The third creature drops towards Meria.
Anevia's Attack: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9 missing widely as the creature drops quickly.

Slam: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17, landing on Meria damage: 1d6 ⇒ 4 and attempt to enfold her in its rubbery body. grapple: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25 Grappled

That's definitely a possibility.

The evening passes with much food and drink. The king seems to know what this group appreciates. Morning arrives and Oskar arrives to lead you all the royal stables to begin your relay ride.

At the stables Duke Marcus is on hand to see you off. "Keep in mind all you learned here in the past day, but trust your instincts in the field. I'll do what I can to make sure you have your chance."

The stable-master leads you each to a horse, given pointers where needed, but staying out of the way of those who seem to know what you're doing. Oskar hands you each a small sack containing several days rations and a waterskin.

A king's messenger rides with you, guiding you quickly out of the castle and city, along the northern roads. Nearby there are scattered farms, but as you head further north you pass wide forested tracks of scrawny trees, or maybe overgrown brush. Rainfall appears to be scarce here and the river is far to the south. You trade off horses at mid-day, and reach the northern cliff face resupply station at the end of the first evening.

The guide says it will take most of the next day to descent the cliff face then one more day to reach the rendezvous point. From the cliff side you can look out, over the beginning of your new home, the Voyllr plains.

A grassy plains stretch away from the base of the cliff, before the hint of a road running parallel to the shimmer of the river. Across the river, lush forests.

Going to pause here, to give a chance for intra-party interactions

You see two tiny creatures cautiously emerge from the woods. One has the lower body for a grasshopper and the upper body of an elven woman -- a centuar of insect and elf, if you will. The other looks like a miniature dragon. The pause on the edge of the clearing, looking at you, at the gifts, tensed and ready to bolt.

Thanks, I believe that looks low for where you are in the scenario. I'm going to run through the gameplay again (probably tomorrow) to check what wasn't awarded.

Short backstory is preferred, but don't bother making an alias, or anything like that.

Aravashnial is muttering in elven, trying to dredge up memories and dis-entangle conspiracy theories.

You've been walking for about half an hour, when Lann signals a stop. Ahead of you a wide chasm splits the tunnel floor. The air is still thick with dust, this rift must have opened recently. Lann confers with Crel and Drya, they all look surprised by this development and express concern about the tremors destroying their home.

The chasm is only 30 feet deep, the walls on near and far sides look climbable by skilled individuals, but tricky for the unskilled and extremely dangerous for Anevia and Aravashnial. The floor of the chasm looks easily walkable.

Does anyone have a handle total of the XP you've earned so far, what is it current up to?

You don't need to build the caravan, its abstracted away generally.

The rules for the NPCs 15 point build (they're still better than average), 5th level NPC or 3rd level PC class. 1/2 WBL. Core races only.

You have time for one more interview. Let me know who it wants to be with.

So we have a healer, a spy-master, and what? Using the kings gift on the wand?

I'll probably narrate you to the caravan tomorrow.

Oops you're right.
grapple: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
You're not grappled/grabbed

Stupid message boards... Meria's post wasn't showing up when I wrote mine.

Meria's ray hits the creature that's moving awkwardly along the ground; it collapses in place, ceasing to move.

Round 2
One of the creatures drops from the towards Andanan. Andanan can see a ringed mouth in the center of the creature as it drops over him. He readied punch tears through the creature's winglike membranes near the mouth. Its mouth opens and close, but no sound emerges.
Slam: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22, the wounded creature engulfs you as its teeth begin to tear at you. damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3 The folds of the creature's body encase you. You are grabbed.

Farfadet can't uniquely identify the type of voices he's hearing. These voices sound playful, both are high pitched. Both appear to be capable of flying and moving silently through the trees.

They didn't respond to Asha's call.

Both Baradesh and Asura strike the creature on the ground that had attempted to drop on Asura. It looks grievously wounded. Up close it resembles a leathery drape, with small claws around its perimeter and appears able to draw itself into a variety of shapes and shift its coloring to match the surrounding rock.

Abdul misses.

Waiting on Mia and Meria for round 1

Theodor doesn't count against the three.

I'm back from a busy weekend, I'll try to get caught up this evening.

Use the 750 gp for any last minute supplies you want to buy. The king has also arranged for you to use horses in relays to catch up with the main caravan, but you don't get to keep the horses once you reach Daelsend. So if you want permanent mounts, that would come out of the 750.

You can also create three NPCs to journey with you. Up to 5 level if NPC classes or 3rd if PC. They won't leave Daelsend to adventure with you, but they can help out there and will start off friendly to you. (There will be other NPCs in the caravan and community that might not be)

Sorry I was away without internet most of the weekend
Oskar arrives to lead you back to your planning room. In it you find a feat of foods laid out for you. Oskar places a bag that clinks heavilty on the table as he turns to leave. "A gift from the king."[ooc[ 750 gp [/ooc] "If you need me again, the servant outside the door can summon me. If I don't see you again, Good luck in ther wilderness. I'm sure we'll hear great things about you." Give you a small bow, he takes his leave.

I'm back on-line, need to run a few more errands before I can deeply engage here, but

1) Well its high magic outside of Wodmarch/Lochlannach, just low magic in terms of practitioners here. I'm fine with an Adept as one of your NPCs.

2) Total of three NPCs and I'm forgetting who Josef is, so I don't remember if he counts against that number.

3) Yes the primary caravan, slow, has left from Count Patricks city, closer to the border, you'll ride in relay to meet them.

Its going to be about a weeks journey, using horses in relays that the king's providing. He'll provide rides for the three NPCS. I'll allow rides for up to three other hirelings. (These are not horses you'll get to keep. If you want mounts to keep, that would come out of your funds).

The plan is to have you meet up with the main caravan of settlers about 3 days out from daelsend, at the original border between the countries.

Anevia backs up between two of the statues, crouching down, bow drawn looking for something to shoot at. Horgus's eyes are darting every which way and you think he might bolt.

You hear more clawing at the roof of the cavern, sounding like its coming closer.

A large black shape, like a clawed tent drops out of the cloud of darkness towards Asura. Anevia looses an arrow.
Arrow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22, damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Slam: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12, missing and falling to the floor.

"Always good to know who's working against us, but I wouldn't suggest taking any direct action against them unless they are provable sabotaging your efforts."

"I'm not expecting any organized resistance. Deserters or opportunistic bandits are the most likely. The Lochlannachian 'manhood' raids normally occur in the late fall and late spring. Given the end of the war, though I wouldn't be surprised if the raids this fall are either significantly lighter or heavier than usual.. Hard to predict. But in general they are nuisances more than threats, unless many bands are raiding at the same time and having to prove themselves to each other."

Also just letting everyone know this is going to be an exceptionally busy weekend for me. Driving/traveling a lot. I'm not sure how much I'll be on from Friday afternoon EST until monday morning.

I know I mentioned weekends are likely to be slow, normally they won't be this bad (I do try to give a heads up when it will be bad). And I suspect y'all would be especially sensitive to an absent GM right now, just wanted to reassure you I'll be back.

Horgus's face snaps up, looking angry at the continued rebukes, but he holds his tongue.

He looks a little pained. "I wish I could say none. But I suspect they'll be a few. If you're lucky they'll give themselves away once you get there by being completely useless. But I have to expect at least one of the nobles will actually have found a proper settle to be their spy. You have two well trained in rooting out heretics and spies, I think you'll be able to handle this. I hope between their skills, and you all providing a proper leadership example in the wilds you'd either expose them or get them to defect."

Just a head's up, I'll likely be less responsive this weekend. going to be traveling/driving a lot. I'd like to have the party ready to rock and roll and be on the road by monday, so please talk between y'all about the use of the funds and desired NPCs.

Horgus subsides and looks more thoughtful than you've seen him look in the past. His face still shows his disgust when he looks towards Crel, Lann, and Dyra. Both Anevia and Aravashnial introduce themselves simply, Aravashnial appears lost in thought.

Lann begins to lead the way through the tunnels, allowing quiet talk at times, and signaling for silence at other time, especially when passing side tunnels and deep crevices that disappear into darkness.