The Quest of the Missing Quill

[Chris1234]

Hihim shrugged, "One part of the world is as new as another for some of us."

[Haahque]

Ishan
Seeing no reason to stick around, Ishan passes off a potion to Gaheris and slips away. Some orcs might eye him warily as he retreats, but it's clear that he's not heading towards them, so they soon stop paying attention to him. Now it's just hours of walking to get to the forest so he can scout it out ahead of the rest of the group.

Or that's the plan anyways, everyone else catches up to him much faster then he had expected. Possibly even more surprising is that Zurgo doesn't look any more bruised then before. What had happened? Did he use some secret technique that ended the battle immediately? Or maybe he ran away with his metaphorical tail between his legs? Both seem rather unlikely, and Ishan isn't entirely sure how much he cares.

(See Everyone section below)

Zurgo
Backing down from the fight might hurt more then one of Dubok's lightning fast and hard as iron punches, but Zurgo realizes that the fight is going nowhere except for possibly him getting knocked out, so he makes the painful choice of backing off. Zurgo's parting words seem to agrivate Dubok somewhat, but instead of retaliate in rage, he gets a hold of his emotions and goes back to his being superior act.

"Sure Zurgo, I'll let you live, after all, you're not worth killing." He bends down and scoops up a handful of moist soil. As Zurgo turns to leave, he's hit square in the back of the head by the soggy projectile with force almost enough to unbalance him. "Go back to your dirt farming human friends half breed. Is that a drow I see you associating with? I thought even you weren't that low." There's a little half-hearted laughing behind him as he walks away.

Dubok throws dirt at Zurgo: Natural 20, critical hit, no damage. (Gee... got to be glad that wasn't anyone attacking anyone)

(See everyone section below)

Gaheris, Jasmine, Benjamin, Hihim
Ishan takes his leave, circling off in, it's unclear what direction, but he's probably going to continue towards the forest right? Ishan's always seemed to like going off on his own, so this isn't really that surprising to those who have been traveling with him thus far.

What perhaps is surprising is that Zurgo, who seems to be on the losing end of a fistfight with an orc, backs off from the confrontation with some harsh words towards the other orc. Or at least they sound harsh, it's hard to tell what's being said when you don't understand the language. What is easy to understand is a handful of dirt flung at Zurgo. Something that signifies a fair bit of disrespect, but not something that will do a significant amount of damage. It appears that the orcs will let them leave in relative peace. Two of the orcs even start their own fistfight, although it appears significantly less dangerous then the brief bought then Zurgo had with the main orc.

With the meeting concluded, the group joins Zurgo in continuing on the way to the forest. Ishan hasn't managed to get too far away yet, he's still in sight, so you're able to catch up to him with a little jogging.

Everyone
Marching is not the most exciting of tasks, hour after hour of putting one foot in front of the other. You pass through many fields until you get far enough away from the empire for there to be no more fields. There doesn't seem to be many travelers going this way and you manage to not run into any orcish or empire patrols. Actually, considering the possibilities of what else you're likely to encounter in these parts, it's probably a very healthy thing that you don't run into any kobolds or goblins either.

As the day rolls on, you pass a few small bluffs of trees before arriving at the edge of the forest. By now it's a little early for an evening meal. You could probably press on for a couple more hours today, or you could camp outside the forest and get an early start on tomorrow.

The forest itself looks rather... typical. Smaller trees on the outside, thicker trees farther in, and it's large enough to stretch off into the horizon in each direction. There's no obvious dangers in the immediate vacinity, but stories about the lands outside the empire (for those who lived in the empire their entire life) suggests that there's probably plenty of creatures just waiting to tear you limb from limb hidden within, unless you're canny enough to spot them and stay alive.

Random encounter roll: 3, no random encounter in the plains

[JadedDM]

"We should make camp here, then head into the forest in the morning," Gaheris says, placing his hands on his hips and looking into the ominous forest. "We should also set a watch. Two people, three watches. Any volunteers on who goes first and last?" he asks.

He hands Zurgo the potion Ishan left him, assuming it to be one of healing. (If Hihim heals Zurgo instead, he'll give the potion back to Ishan.) "So all you got was a name then? I take it you had some history with those folks."

[Chris1234]

Hihim says to Zurgo, "How do you feel after that? Next time, can I go, too?" and then adds, "You don't need that," indicating the potion, and does a spontaneous casting from 'comprehend languages'.

"I will do first, Gaheris. Or last," volunteers Hihim.

[Vrindlevine]

Ishan snatches the potion back from Gaheris, "Good these are valuable and clearly the blessings of the gods are better wasted on orcish foolishness."

He runs up to Zurgo and grabs him, "It is imperative that you stay alive my friend these ones are helpless in a fight without your scarily competent combat capabilities why its almost as I your the perfect warrior, as n straight out of a textbook, or perhaps you learned this assortment of skills through a manual from the aether or just plain prodigalness! Dealers choice of course but try not to do anything stupid like that again."

Turning at last to the rest of the group Ishan proclaims he will take as many watches as possible and then wake up the next watcher so his companions can get more sleep though he forgets when Hihim must observe his rituals.

[HorizonsDream]

Jasmine watches Ishan for a moment before she leans in towards Gaheris and whispers. "I'm starting to think that he might be a little crazy."

[JadedDM]

"I hear the army does that," Gaheris says to Jasmine.

"Okay, Jasmine and Benji for first watch, Zurgo and Ishan for second watch, and I'll take last watch with Hihim. Sound good? Let's make camp."

(OOC: I was waiting for Just_Ice and Keymeister to respond, but it looks like they haven't logged in in about two weeks, so...)

[keymeister16]

(OOC: vacation, proposal, RLTs, mb)

Ishan honestly reminded Zurgo of his old drill sargent, with about the same urge to punch as well. he had held off against Dubok, this was much easier. he instead took his time to explain the situation to Gaheris, Jasmine, Benjamin and newly helpful Hihim.

"when we complete our mission, my wish to the wizard will be for the power to slay the enemy you saw today, Dubok betrayed me during a critical test in my life, and as such, I am the desperate outcast you see before you, exiled by my kind,"

Zurgo listlessly takes his watch post, and simply concentrates on recovering for his wounds and exhaustion.

[Chris1234]

"Sure, that's fine, Gaheris," says Hihim enthusiastically.

The dwarf spots a grimace, looks Zurgo up and down again, adding, "Here, hold still, please," and spontaneously casts Magic Weapon as a Cure Light Wounds on the damaged colleague.

[Haahque]

It’s a little early to rest, but you all find things to do to set up camp and get to bed early tonight, so that you can get a fresh start on tomorrow earlier than usual. The night passes mostly uneventfully, watches go well and you’re not disturbed. Just before dawn you begin waking up, ready for a new day.

OoC: So here’s the thing, player vs player damage is half normal, so Zurgo was able to survive the blow by Dubok, but healing this damage is also twice as hard via non-sleeping means, so Hihim has to heal an effective 21 HP worth of damage to heal Zurgo to full.
However, since I’m not entirely sure if this was clear beforehand, I’ll let him cast all the times he can before resting to regain the spell slots.
Hihim casts cure light wounds on Zurgo (from comprehend languages): 4 HP, halved to 2 HP.
Hihim casts cure light wounds on Zurgo (from magic weapon): 3 HP, halved to 1 HP.
Hihim casts cure light wounds twice more: 2 HP, halved to 1 HP, 4 HP halved to 2 HP.
Hihim rests and regains all his spell slots.
Zurgo rests and regains his spell slots etc, and also heals for 1 HP (this is not halved).

Random encounter roll (since it’s nighttime, why don’t I roll twice?): 5, 3 -> no encounters at night. (I tend to show random encounter rolls when nothing happens, if something happens I won’t show the roll. If something happens and the players are not aware of it… I’ll deal with that in my own way (usually these encounters won’t be “random”. Remember that not all encounters mean combat, some can be ignored, and some are even good.)

So at this point I invite you all to describe your evening. What do you eat? How do you set up camp? Your night, how did sleeping outside treat you? Are you used to it as a battle-scarred veteran or a tough outcast? Or maybe sleeping under the stars isn’t your thing and you’re more accustomed to soft pillows and solid walls when you’re sleeping.

You can describe what you did during your watch, and PM’s are allowed here if you’d rather the other players don’t find out what you were up to (although I’m sure you’re all upstanding citizens and aren’t hiding anything from anyone else, right?) However, in such PM’s, you should probably include the person who’s on watch at the same time as you (as well as me), should any happen.

And, of course you can describe your morning. What are your plans for today?

[Chris1234]

{OOC: It was unclear to me. Thx for explaining.}
Evening is eat whatever food is available, drink water, wash, look around at everything - it's all a learning experience.
Join in any conversation unawaringly awkwardly.
Hihim will follow Gaheris in camp layout and hep as best he can.

Looking at the stars or listening to night sounds will keep the dwarf occupied until he falls asleep.
He's actually tough as old boots and can sleep anywhere.
On watch Hihim will follow Gaheris's lead, to talk unceasingly or to remain silent as the grave. (or whereever in between).

In the morning up, ablute, pray (incl for splls), eat, drink, and follow Gaheris's lead thereafter.

[keymeister16]

"Danke" Zurgo thanks Hihim. The kind dwarfs skills ensured Zurgo enjoyed dinner in much better spirits. He merely listened in quite contemplation when the others speak. His watch was filled with dreams of what possible powers could help him overcome his challanges, if such power existed within his grasp.

[JadedDM]

Gaheris eats a meal of his rations and sleeps on his bedroll. Although he prefers the nicer things in life, he is no stranger to sleeping in the streets or in this case, the wilderness.

His watch is spent keeping an eye out, reminding Hihim that he can't hear anything approaching if he doesn't stop his incessant yammering, and trying to decide which party member he likes the least so he can pair Hihim up with him next time instead.

When morning comes, he rolls up his bedroll, has more rations for breakfast, and packs up his things. "Alright, ready to move out? Zurgo, am I right in assuming you know how to find this village? If so, you lead. If not, I suppose Ishan should."

[Just_Ice]

Benjamin was drained before, but after the extended watch he isn't much recovered. He rubs his eyes and tries to perk himself up with another square of his chocolate, mumbling to himself as he wipes the melted part from his hands and just happy to follow along. "Good Zurgo," he growls, "I shan't tell you not to be thyself, but if you have other such enemies in these lands perhaps we should find more diplomatic measures."

[Vrindlevine]

Ishan sleeps easily he doesn't really dream his enjoys his sleep and is quite aware that dreaming could open one up to.... dangerous influences.

He eats whatever he has left while planning a route for tomorrows movements.

(Survival + area knowledge to reduce chance of encounters)