Garret stands up, not wearing his armor. "I'm ready to go."
Flint stands and growls at the heat, his body stiff from sleeping on the ground.
"Ah, a day that should be spent under trees or in a river. Should we wait till it cools down a little, or should I ask Nature for a water spell?"
Damandor wakes in the morning, offers thanks for a safe and uneventful night. He has a light breakfast and says, "Flint, you may want to do so. Had I known last night that the day would be so warm, I too could have supplied us with water."
"I hate to delay too long, but if it would be dangerous to travel in the heat of day, we could certainly wait until evening and travel in the cool of the night."
Grunthor wakes, gives himself a good stretch, and mumbles something about any day that you wake up on is a good day. He then does some streching and waking exercises to greet the day.
"The evening might well be a better time to travel." He agrees. "I've never been terribly fond of heat."
Anyssa looks around. "Let me guess," she said wryly, "I'm the only here who can't see in the dark, aren't I?"
"I can't either, if that makes you feel any better."
"So, anyone else here wake up with an odd feeling of divine protection?"
"I can't either, if that makes you feel any better."
"So, anyone else here wake up with an odd feeling of divine protection?"
"Well, at least I won't be the only one stumbling around," she said with a grin.
"And no, I can't say that I did. But I've definitely discovered new appreciation for the art of getting out of the way of sharp things travelling my way."
"Well then, with the morning I shall ask for rain."
Flint goes out to sit in the sun. He looks like he is soaking in the warmth as he ask for Nature's daily blessing.
You struggle to find a cool place to rest as the morning passes into the afternoon, the relentless sun baking the earth around you. Those of you who have never left Bastion have rarely experienced such extreme heat - even at the height of summer, truly hot days are almost nonexistent within the city. You see no signs of any other life throughout the day - the barren landscape spreading out in all directions as far as you can see, broken only by the clifftops overlooking the ocean to the north.
Near the end of the day, as the sun begins to sink low over the horizon, a faint breeze begins to stir - bringing a hint of coolness from the sea as the sky begins to turn orange. Judging it tolerable to travel, you set out in the last few hours of daylight, continuing westward along the coast towards your destination, Sander's Point.
"Are we going to travel all night or just through the evening? I have no problem with swapping to a nocturnal existence while we travel this desolation."
"Yeah, I say we travel all night."
Grunthor has no problem with travelling all night.
Flint stays close to those who can't see in the dark(if there are no torches), to direct them if needed. He seems at ease out in the wild, but his hand is never far from his warhammer...
Pressing on through the night, the cool sea breeze brings some welcome relief from the fierce sun. Your journey is uninterrupted as you continue through the desolate landscape, following the coast as you skirt the barren wasteland. Just as you begin to tire, you crest a rise and see a wide, slow flowing river as it empties into the ocean. The bank on the other side is in marked contrast to the landscape you have been travelling through, grasses, shrubs and trees thriving as the land rises gradually.
In the distance, perhaps an hour or two's travel past the river, you can see the dark outline of some kind of walled settlement, perched on the coast. There seem to be watch lanterns at the gate, but any other details are impossible to make out. Dawn is maybe an hour away as you come down the hill to the river's edge - the barren, dry soil of this bank contrasting with the lush foliage opposite. The river appears deep and wide - crossing here would be a task for a reasonably strong swimmer.
Flint shivers when he realizes they'll have to cross the river. He actually slips back into his dwarven accent.
"I ain't the best o' swimmers. Most of the river I've seen be small and shallow, easy to cross on foot. I avoided the others."
"Well my friends, I have not any divine abilities that would assist us in getting across this river. That leaves us with the mundane, earthly methods. I can think of three:"
"First, we try to swim across. I believe that would not be the first choice of our friend Flint."
"Second, if one of us has knowledge of boat building perhaps we could build a crude craft to get us across. Although, material to make a craft to carry us may be in short supply in this area."
"Third, we could follow the river upstream in hopes of finding a place that would be easier to ford the river."
"And while I was explaining our options as I see them, I thought of another. We could build a signal fire that could possibly attract the attention of a boat on the river or out on the ocean that could possibly assist us. The problem with that is the signal may attract unwanted attention."
"I say we head up river. There's got to be a way to cross the river somewhere."
I agree with Garret, let's move up river and try to find a way across.
"If we follow the river upstream, do we want to continue to travel by night, or revert back to traveling by day? If the days are not too scorching hot, traveling by day may be the better option. We certainly don't have to worry about water now."
"We don't know if ther be a is a bridge close by. I'll... try and swim across."
He straps his shield to his back, but hesitates to unbuckle the straps on his hide shirt.
"Starting to wish I could turn into a fish like some of the more experienced druids..."
"Hey, there's no reason to swim across. Even if you did get to the other side, the rest of us would still need to find a way across. Besides, there's got to be somewhere safer to cross close."
"I say we go back to traveling by day. Better chance of someone on the other side seeing us, in any case."
"Ah, your reason stops the foolish dwarf from entering a fast river Thank you Garret, for keeping me from taking an ill-fated swim. I don't think clearly when it comes to traveling over water. I agree that walking by day may be a good idea now."
Sorry to say, I have to confirm what you are all no doubt suspecting. I will not be able to continue with my various PBP games - personal reasons I'm afraid and not likely to change in the foreseeable future.
Apologies to all of you for limping along over the last few months - thanks for playing, but I'm just unable to fit it in with the rest of my life.
