*Lagrord cautiouly backs away and returns to the party*
"Master Cramnoch, whatever it is, its not moving. It appears to have tendrils of some kind, but they are merely being blown about by the wind. Something about is starnge though. More than obviously at least. Some kind of black dust is coming off it."
*Lagrord is careful to keep at least one eye on the fallen behemoth*
With his sword drawn and shield in the other hand, Nareth runs to injured Colden. Relying on on his previous combat experience, he continue sensing danger. He turns to Jirt:
" Oi, Jirt! Get yer weapon and follow me!.. M'Lord Colden! Ya alright? " - he looks briefly in Kefto's direction to check if he is there. The captain notices Sus'Ann ready to aid the Lorekeeper and others injured and continues- " Off we go, Jirt, let's follow this lad and do some reconing. " - Nareth points at Lagrord with his sword and goes forward not waiting for Jirt's reply. " And no sign of this woman. Of course! " - he snorts in frustration.
" What a foolish sorcery it is?! Refiner save us! " - he can barely see the crater in front of him, so he carefully approaches it. He stares intently at the fog, trying to make out better the landscape that has been opened. " Heads up, lad! " - he speaks to Lagrord - " Don't ya be hasty! Give us some space here. " - Nareth goes forward and tries to examine the huge landmark in front of the party.
No worries @mashedtaters ! This is totally fine, as you use words to express your ideas and this is more than enough for us to imagine how does it look like.
Friends, I'm leaving on a business trip today. Will be on the move between today and until June 15 in Brazilian time zone. I will probably pop in every now and then, but less than normal. I've already notified @mashedtaters and said he can steer Colden to keep the story going if my replies are too slow. Cheers!
Nareth lowers his sword and complies.
" That is, we are going around it? I would prefer to scout a bit first, but aye, how ya command, M'Lord Colden. I don't want to jeopardize our quest. "
Hastily picking up his stuff thrown on the ground, Nareth turns to the soldiers:
" Men, ye heard M'Lord Colden. We should make haste and don't waste time. Kefto, ya go in the middle and cover Master Colden, Jirt and ya are closing our squad. And stay alert, lads! I'll go first. Can't wait to leave this cursed place behind. " - the captain goes to the head of the squad and holding his sword in one hand, with luggage in the other he strides forth.
Good luck @Skatan ! Also, I am assuming that Nareth knows the direction and don't have to ask Colden everytime, where to go.
ving in a newly formed crater in the path right behind you.
"We are disoriented, hurt and without our guide. The last thing we need is a.. fight? with that tentacled acorn. Keep your eyes open for any signs of Garta.. let's proceed in the direction we where going. And look out for eachother, let's stay close together. Take the lead Nareth."
As you guys step over the tree, you step on something soft and hear a groan beneath the dust.
“Wha—?” Garta cries out in pain and lurches upwards, apparently coming out of consciousness. It appears she was struck by something and buried in dust and debris on the leeward side of the fallen tree.
Kefto moves to help her stand. “What happened?” she asks dully.
“Are you ok?” says Jirt, though he doesn’t actually seem concerned. He’s obviously more concerned that they may have to carry her or be slowed down by her.
“My leg,” she says. “I think it’s broken! What happened? I don’t understand!”
“Curses from Winter Herself!” cries Jirt. “Why did you have to go and break your leg, foolish woman?! We brought a bad luck on us by bringing this woman, and that’s that!”
“Fool!” spits Garta. “How dare you...?!”
Just then her eyes widen as she looks behind you at the great thing.
“A sky spirit!” she gasps. “Quickly, we must away from this place before it hurls its terrible ice daggers at us!”
“Sky spirit?” says Jirt. The man who was just afraid of the black giant thing a few seconds ago now looks condescendingly at the raider woman. “It’s just a big black... pyramid! It’s not a spirit, foolish girl!”
Nareth suffers from thirst. He decided to make several sips from his water skin, it helped a bit. He learned how to spare water in his military campaigns and not to waste a drop. Distracted by the scream, he turns his head. The captain quickly approaches Garta:
" Hells. A disaster it is... " - he gasps and squats nearby watching Sus'Ann curing Garta's leg. - " No time to waste, M'Lady Sus'Ann. The woman is right, we need to get off this place quickly. Boys! Help Garta, give'er a hand, we must move forward. I am afraid, we have to give the woman aid a bit later. Ye folk can overcome pain, don't ya? " - he asks Garta. Without waiting for her reply he continues:
" Shut up, Jirt. Me have no mood to examine what foolish spirit is upon us! " - Nareth shakes his hand in direction of enormous pyramid. - " Off we go! "
The old captain raises up and walks forward with his sword drawn. He tries to step carefully and quit, but the layer of dirt and dust is too thick. It makes the movement difficult.
The light of the Unblighted surrounds Sus’Ann’s arms and shoots into Garta’s leg. Garta cries out in pain. The magic sets the leg, but the dwarf can tell it’s going to need rest before she’s recovered.
Before the soldiers pick her up, Sus’Ann makes a quick makeshift splint to keep the leg from coming apart again.
“It will have to do,” says Garta through gritted teeth. “We must away from the sky spirit before it eats our flesh!”
Jirt, looking suitably chastened by his commanding officer, offers no further complaint as he and Kefto help Garta to follow along. She leans on their shoulders, looking over her own frequently to ensure that you are indeed putting distance between yourselves and the giant black thing.
You walk away without any difficulty. There is no pursuit or no movement from the giant black thing at all, other than the fluttering of its tentacles in the wind.
The storm is getting harsher now as Garta directs you out of the dead forest and to the base of foothills leading to a mountain range. The foothills are bare and painted with black dust, which gets stirred up into wisps and whirls of low hanging clouds. No living thing is visible.
The journey takes you several hours before you pause for a rest. Garta looks at Sus’Ann.
“Thank you for this,” she says, indicating her leg. “I am sorry I did not answer you before. But I was afraid of the sky spirit, and wanted to get away.”
She looks up and points to the grey sky. You can see several black dots, trailing thin lines of black dust behind them, moving in and out of the storm clouds.
“Those are the sky spirits,” she says, indicating black dots. “They are the harsh taskmasters of my people. They demand the blood of our strongest warriors in battle. They decide if we eat for the winter or starve, and they send sickness or health upon us. They are the ones who rain the black sand down upon the land. The sand is them weeping for our wickedness, and serves as a reminder that they are always watching, always ready to snuff out our life if we displease them. None of them are merciful, and many of them are cruel and enjoy inflicting suffering.”
“I do not know which sky spirit we saw in the dead wood,” she continues thoughtfully. “Perhaps it was the Spirit of Pain, or Mischief, or War. We can’t possibly ever know why the spirit was there. It’s ways are mysterious and beyond any of us to comprehend.
“But I know it was one. You can see them more clearly from the mountain tops. They fly past at great speeds. Their many arms spin around them as they fly, and their sand tears trails from them like giant tails, crying out their rage and disappointment on man.
“My father brought me to see them fly past on the mountain once. He told me there is a holy place where the sky spirits sleep on the earth. He wanted to see if the legends were true for himself.
“He said in that holy place there were great stone monuments where the sky spirit’s long dead worshippers performed holy rites on them. Those ancient cults are all but dead, now, lost to the Darkening. I hear tell of some remnants of their descendent who roam the ancient halls of those stone monuments, vying for approval from their father’s old gods.
“But the sky spirits no longer favor men, and no longer accept worshippers. They hate man, and seek to punish him for his transgression. They have turned bitter and spiteful.”
Her speech ends on a somber, dark note that not even Jirt can shake.
Party update:
Kefto: mildly injured
Colden: mildly injured
Garta: injured
Water needs: somewhat thirsty from dust exposure and hiking.
Water supply: 50%. You need to find water soon.
Food supply: good for now.
Nareth puts his luggage onto the ground and puts out supplies. A meager marching lunch does not cause an appetite, but that is all they have at the moment.
" Kefto, give me ye hand here. " - says Nareth and begins to kindle a small fire. He listens to Garta. All these talks about ancient, bloodthirsty cults, dark magic and worship cause irritation. Like everything related to wizardry, witchcraft, sorcery and just things incomprehensible for simple soldier's mind.
“ Well... Another day has passed, thanks to Refiner. ” - the captain is chopping jerky. " M'lady Sus'Ann, can ya help us with the wounded? In the meantime, we will cook dinner. We need to put the sentinels, we are now far away in the wild and it’s not safe here. God knows what hazards and creatures are creeping around.Today I am on duty first. Jirt, ya will change me in 4 hours, aye? Now let's have some rest, I say. "
He looks at Lagrord:
“ How are you doing, mate? Do you look after master Colden? You answer with your head. Our water supplies are running out, so maybe ya Jirt can help us a bit and check for any stream around? " - he looks at Garta and asks - " Woman, we need water. Is there any sources around 'ere? Ya are more familiar with wilderness so we can use some advice here. " - he ignores the Jirt's grin and continues - " We won't make it long enough without. "
“I think there is a mountain stream over there,” she says, pointing where there are living trees at the base of the foothills.
“What direction are we heading after this?” asks Kefto seriously, redressing his head wound and applying a poultice to his hip.
Garta’s eyes look up the mountain top. Then she looks down at her broken leg. “Warne-Harsard Wast is on the other side of this mountain range. There are no passes and no trails here and as you can see the range stretches for many miles in either direction. The nearest pass is 5 days travel south, the opposite direction we must go to meet up with my father.
“We must directly climb straight up. It will require rappelling sheer cliff faces and no small amount of skill.”
She again looks at her broken leg fearfully, but says nothing about it. Nareth has some minor experience rappelling sheer faces, and not enough to take an injured woman. Colden also has some, but it was many, many decades ago. Sus’Ann has a little, but it was from when she was a child. No one else in the party is skilled enough to direct a rappelling expedition.
Though Colden, Nareth, and Sus’Ann are not very skilled, they know enough about rappelling to realize it will be absolutely impossible to bring Garta along with a broken leg.
DM insight to the entire party
Rappelling injured is not recommended by the DM in this scenario. Your best climber is unable to climb. I highly recommend creativity in your brainstorming in finding another way.
Not all is lost, though! I will help facilitate this! But I do hope for some discussion around it.
Nareth nods to Lagrord. Taking advantage of his absence, he quietly turns to lying Colden:
" M'lord Colden ... I beg ye pardon. No, no, please don't get up. Our mission is getting harder and harder, especially after these hazards. We both understand that we cannot climb this cliff, nor rappel. We need to think this one around, indeed, but rather at the end, we have to go around. It make five more days, this woman says. Our reserves of rations and water are not enough, I says. We can replenish them here, but then we have to save supplies. I wanted to beg you to trust my camping experience and let me establish a strict rationing of supplies and water. Reduce consumption water and food doubled, only to make an exception for the seriously wounded. These are harsh measures, I understand, but we have to prepare for the worst. " - the captain makes his best to mask his anxiety, but fails miserably. - " The whole quest might be in danger! I am going to ask out guide but me would rather waste no time and departure tomorrow at dawn. Hells know why this woman needs to meet 'er father, but I would go south."
Not waiting for the reply Nareth turns to Garta and asks her loudly:
" Oi ya, Princess... I don't want to push ya around, but why ya needs to meet ye father? Ya says, the nearest passage is to the South, no? Me boys can carry ya, we can make a stretcher of this brushwood. "
“I meant that my father is with the king,” says Garta. “In order to meet up with the king, we must head north. The nearest pass through these mountains is south, 5 days. The king and my father’s expedition is in this very range in the north, or will be when the army arrives at their destination in five days time.
“My plan is to climb this mountain range here to Warne-Harsard Wast. Then follow the mountain range north and climb back. The mountains are a little less steep in the north, which may be why the orcs chose to attack from there. But this is the shortest and safest route to Warne-Harsard Wast.”
Sus'Ann tends the wounded, but hears the conversation, and when Garta mentions climbing she adds her thoughts.
"You will need at least a week of recovery time for walking again. And at least another for making feats like this kind of climb.
It seems to me that with the south route we run out both from our time and our rations.
What about parting ways? We could attempt to reach this Warne-Harsard Wast without you, on the basis of a detailed verbal guide, while the other part of our company bring you north to the meeting point."
Nareth shakes his head in disapproval:
" M'Lady Sus'Ann... I am strongly against splitting our merry little party as this jeopardize the whole mission. This is way too dangerous. So, let me put it this way: we move forward to the North, around this cliffs. Ration our food and trying to spare water until we reach the point. Me lads, including myself, will carry Garta as, I says, we need a guide int his wild lands. Also, we can send a scout forth to recon the way a bit. Jirt, Kefto or Laagrord, me mate, can do scouting. Me as well. There's, however, a small hope it helps, but I would rather be aware and not to bump on an orcs pack. "
Nareth becomes suspicious again, being in a gloom mood lately he became a bit more irritated. Frankly, there was nothing to be happy about. The captain continues:
" Kefto, how are ya, me mate? I want to assign you with scouting our way tomorrow at dawn. We stay guard tonight with Jirt. " - he looks at Kefto with sincere and compassionate look, then turns to Garta again:
" And Garta... So ya lead us here, to the dead end hoping to rappel this cliffs? Me knows, ye leg problem... was out of consideration, but still. "
@ThacoBell
No, I have specific plans for that. I was just hoping I could get a comment or two from @Skatan , but I know he’s busy and out of town so it’s not a rush. I could just take over for him, and I may do that, but it’s not a rush. It’s been the weekend after all.
So I think we are going to move this part of the story along by splitting the scene. Sus’Ann, Kefto, Garta, Nareth, and Colden will be discussing this at the same time that Lagrord and Jirt go to refill everyone’s water at the nearby stream. If @Skatan returns, he can comment and the rest of you guys can continue the conversation while Lagrord and Jirt are getting water. Lagrord and Jirt and someone else will have their encounter simultaneously. Then I will reunite the party.
As everyone is conversing, Lagrord gathers up the water containers. Jirt follows along behind him, not bothering to help out at all as Lagrord carries the more than half-dozen waterskins.
“Hurry up, orc,” says Jirt as Lagrord trips under the weight. “We can’t be too careful out here.” He looks around cautiously as his hand is on his sword.
They approach the tree line, which is a sorry excuse for healthy trees. They’re more like tall, scraggly bushes reaching fruitlessly for the sun. The water is clear and cold, so cold in fact that Lagrord’s fingers go numb.
“What in the blazes is taking so long?” snaps Jirt, though in fact it hasn’t taken that long at all. “Why in the world would Master Cramnoch want such a lazy slave anyway?” Jirt’s grin is not friendly.
@Rik_Kirtaniya Your character is on the scene in the bushes. You are welcome to jump in at this point when you want to, though you may also wish to wait for @ThacoBell to comment. It’s totally up to you.
As Lagrord fills in the waterskins, with Jirt standing lazily by him, they hear a loud, high-pitched and agitated voice bubbling out of the water body: "Oi you! Yes, you! How dare you steal the golden nuts of King Solomon?"
@ThacoBell
No, I have specific plans for that. I was just hoping I could get a comment or two from @Skatan , but I know he’s busy and out of town so it’s not a rush. I could just take over for him, and I may do that, but it’s not a rush. It’s been the weekend after all.
Sorry guys, long working days and late dinner afterwards. I haven't been back at the hotel before 10 pm any day so far. I have checked in quickly for a minute or two during the day, but not more than that. Feel free to take over @mashedtaters when it's needed. Colden will be thoughtful, think of the mission objective first and the good of the whole group, if any choices will have to be made.
Comments
"Master Cramnoch, whatever it is, its not moving. It appears to have tendrils of some kind, but they are merely being blown about by the wind. Something about is starnge though. More than obviously at least. Some kind of black dust is coming off it."
*Lagrord is careful to keep at least one eye on the fallen behemoth*
" Oi, Jirt! Get yer weapon and follow me!.. M'Lord Colden! Ya alright? " - he looks briefly in Kefto's direction to check if he is there. The captain notices Sus'Ann ready to aid the Lorekeeper and others injured and continues- " Off we go, Jirt, let's follow this lad and do some reconing. " - Nareth points at Lagrord with his sword and goes forward not waiting for Jirt's reply. " And no sign of this woman. Of course! " - he snorts in frustration.
" What a foolish sorcery it is?! Refiner save us! " - he can barely see the crater in front of him, so he carefully approaches it. He stares intently at the fog, trying to make out better the landscape that has been opened. " Heads up, lad! " - he speaks to Lagrord - " Don't ya be hasty! Give us some space here. " - Nareth goes forward and tries to examine the huge landmark in front of the party.
Colden gives Lagrord a friendly clap as he returns, a sign of 'good job'.
" That is, we are going around it? I would prefer to scout a bit first, but aye, how ya command, M'Lord Colden. I don't want to jeopardize our quest. "
Hastily picking up his stuff thrown on the ground, Nareth turns to the soldiers:
" Men, ye heard M'Lord Colden. We should make haste and don't waste time. Kefto, ya go in the middle and cover Master Colden, Jirt and ya are closing our squad. And stay alert, lads! I'll go first. Can't wait to leave this cursed place behind. " - the captain goes to the head of the squad and holding his sword in one hand, with luggage in the other he strides forth.
"We are disoriented, hurt and without our guide. The last thing we need is a.. fight? with that tentacled acorn. Keep your eyes open for any signs of Garta.. let's proceed in the direction we where going. And look out for eachother, let's stay close together. Take the lead Nareth."
“Wha—?” Garta cries out in pain and lurches upwards, apparently coming out of consciousness. It appears she was struck by something and buried in dust and debris on the leeward side of the fallen tree.
“Ouch!” she cries as she tries to stand.
“Are you ok?” says Jirt, though he doesn’t actually seem concerned. He’s obviously more concerned that they may have to carry her or be slowed down by her.
“My leg,” she says. “I think it’s broken! What happened? I don’t understand!”
“Curses from Winter Herself!” cries Jirt. “Why did you have to go and break your leg, foolish woman?! We brought a bad luck on us by bringing this woman, and that’s that!”
“Fool!” spits Garta. “How dare you...?!”
Just then her eyes widen as she looks behind you at the great thing.
“A sky spirit!” she gasps. “Quickly, we must away from this place before it hurls its terrible ice daggers at us!”
“Sky spirit?” says Jirt. The man who was just afraid of the black giant thing a few seconds ago now looks condescendingly at the raider woman. “It’s just a big black... pyramid! It’s not a spirit, foolish girl!”
Garta spits at him. “We must away!”
(Now it's time for a healing spell i think.)
" Hells. A disaster it is... " - he gasps and squats nearby watching Sus'Ann curing Garta's leg. - " No time to waste, M'Lady Sus'Ann. The woman is right, we need to get off this place quickly. Boys! Help Garta, give'er a hand, we must move forward. I am afraid, we have to give the woman aid a bit later. Ye folk can overcome pain, don't ya? " - he asks Garta. Without waiting for her reply he continues:
" Shut up, Jirt. Me have no mood to examine what foolish spirit is upon us! " - Nareth shakes his hand in direction of enormous pyramid. - " Off we go! "
The old captain raises up and walks forward with his sword drawn. He tries to step carefully and quit, but the layer of dirt and dust is too thick. It makes the movement difficult.
Before the soldiers pick her up, Sus’Ann makes a quick makeshift splint to keep the leg from coming apart again.
“It will have to do,” says Garta through gritted teeth. “We must away from the sky spirit before it eats our flesh!”
Jirt, looking suitably chastened by his commanding officer, offers no further complaint as he and Kefto help Garta to follow along. She leans on their shoulders, looking over her own frequently to ensure that you are indeed putting distance between yourselves and the giant black thing.
The storm is getting harsher now as Garta directs you out of the dead forest and to the base of foothills leading to a mountain range. The foothills are bare and painted with black dust, which gets stirred up into wisps and whirls of low hanging clouds. No living thing is visible.
The journey takes you several hours before you pause for a rest. Garta looks at Sus’Ann.
“Thank you for this,” she says, indicating her leg. “I am sorry I did not answer you before. But I was afraid of the sky spirit, and wanted to get away.”
She looks up and points to the grey sky. You can see several black dots, trailing thin lines of black dust behind them, moving in and out of the storm clouds.
“Those are the sky spirits,” she says, indicating black dots. “They are the harsh taskmasters of my people. They demand the blood of our strongest warriors in battle. They decide if we eat for the winter or starve, and they send sickness or health upon us. They are the ones who rain the black sand down upon the land. The sand is them weeping for our wickedness, and serves as a reminder that they are always watching, always ready to snuff out our life if we displease them. None of them are merciful, and many of them are cruel and enjoy inflicting suffering.”
“But I know it was one. You can see them more clearly from the mountain tops. They fly past at great speeds. Their many arms spin around them as they fly, and their sand tears trails from them like giant tails, crying out their rage and disappointment on man.
“My father brought me to see them fly past on the mountain once. He told me there is a holy place where the sky spirits sleep on the earth. He wanted to see if the legends were true for himself.
“He said in that holy place there were great stone monuments where the sky spirit’s long dead worshippers performed holy rites on them. Those ancient cults are all but dead, now, lost to the Darkening. I hear tell of some remnants of their descendent who roam the ancient halls of those stone monuments, vying for approval from their father’s old gods.
“But the sky spirits no longer favor men, and no longer accept worshippers. They hate man, and seek to punish him for his transgression. They have turned bitter and spiteful.”
Her speech ends on a somber, dark note that not even Jirt can shake.
Kefto: mildly injured
Colden: mildly injured
Garta: injured
Water needs: somewhat thirsty from dust exposure and hiking.
Water supply: 50%. You need to find water soon.
Food supply: good for now.
" Kefto, give me ye hand here. " - says Nareth and begins to kindle a small fire. He listens to Garta. All these talks about ancient, bloodthirsty cults, dark magic and worship cause irritation. Like everything related to wizardry, witchcraft, sorcery and just things incomprehensible for simple soldier's mind.
“ Well... Another day has passed, thanks to Refiner. ” - the captain is chopping jerky. " M'lady Sus'Ann, can ya help us with the wounded? In the meantime, we will cook dinner. We need to put the sentinels, we are now far away in the wild and it’s not safe here. God knows what hazards and creatures are creeping around.Today I am on duty first. Jirt, ya will change me in 4 hours, aye? Now let's have some rest, I say. "
He looks at Lagrord:
“ How are you doing, mate? Do you look after master Colden? You answer with your head. Our water supplies are running out, so maybe ya Jirt can help us a bit and check for any stream around? " - he looks at Garta and asks - " Woman, we need water. Is there any sources around 'ere? Ya are more familiar with wilderness so we can use some advice here. " - he ignores the Jirt's grin and continues - " We won't make it long enough without. "
“What direction are we heading after this?” asks Kefto seriously, redressing his head wound and applying a poultice to his hip.
Garta’s eyes look up the mountain top. Then she looks down at her broken leg. “Warne-Harsard Wast is on the other side of this mountain range. There are no passes and no trails here and as you can see the range stretches for many miles in either direction. The nearest pass is 5 days travel south, the opposite direction we must go to meet up with my father.
“We must directly climb straight up. It will require rappelling sheer cliff faces and no small amount of skill.”
She again looks at her broken leg fearfully, but says nothing about it. Nareth has some minor experience rappelling sheer faces, and not enough to take an injured woman. Colden also has some, but it was many, many decades ago. Sus’Ann has a little, but it was from when she was a child. No one else in the party is skilled enough to direct a rappelling expedition.
Though Colden, Nareth, and Sus’Ann are not very skilled, they know enough about rappelling to realize it will be absolutely impossible to bring Garta along with a broken leg.
Rappelling injured is not recommended by the DM in this scenario. Your best climber is unable to climb. I highly recommend creativity in your brainstorming in finding another way.
Not all is lost, though! I will help facilitate this! But I do hope for some discussion around it.
"I shall go and assist master Jirt in fetching water if he has no objections."
" M'lord Colden ... I beg ye pardon. No, no, please don't get up. Our mission is getting harder and harder, especially after these hazards. We both understand that we cannot climb this cliff, nor rappel. We need to think this one around, indeed, but rather at the end, we have to go around. It make five more days, this woman says. Our reserves of rations and water are not enough, I says. We can replenish them here, but then we have to save supplies. I wanted to beg you to trust my camping experience and let me establish a strict rationing of supplies and water. Reduce consumption water and food doubled, only to make an exception for the seriously wounded. These are harsh measures, I understand, but we have to prepare for the worst. " - the captain makes his best to mask his anxiety, but fails miserably. - " The whole quest might be in danger! I am going to ask out guide but me would rather waste no time and departure tomorrow at dawn. Hells know why this woman needs to meet 'er father, but I would go south."
Not waiting for the reply Nareth turns to Garta and asks her loudly:
" Oi ya, Princess... I don't want to push ya around, but why ya needs to meet ye father? Ya says, the nearest passage is to the South, no? Me boys can carry ya, we can make a stretcher of this brushwood. "
“I meant that my father is with the king,” says Garta. “In order to meet up with the king, we must head north. The nearest pass through these mountains is south, 5 days. The king and my father’s expedition is in this very range in the north, or will be when the army arrives at their destination in five days time.
“My plan is to climb this mountain range here to Warne-Harsard Wast. Then follow the mountain range north and climb back. The mountains are a little less steep in the north, which may be why the orcs chose to attack from there. But this is the shortest and safest route to Warne-Harsard Wast.”
"You will need at least a week of recovery time for walking again. And at least another for making feats like this kind of climb.
It seems to me that with the south route we run out both from our time and our rations.
What about parting ways? We could attempt to reach this Warne-Harsard Wast without you, on the basis of a detailed verbal guide, while the other part of our company bring you north to the meeting point."
" M'Lady Sus'Ann... I am strongly against splitting our merry little party as this jeopardize the whole mission. This is way too dangerous. So, let me put it this way: we move forward to the North, around this cliffs. Ration our food and trying to spare water until we reach the point. Me lads, including myself, will carry Garta as, I says, we need a guide int his wild lands. Also, we can send a scout forth to recon the way a bit. Jirt, Kefto or Laagrord, me mate, can do scouting. Me as well. There's, however, a small hope it helps, but I would rather be aware and not to bump on an orcs pack. "
Nareth becomes suspicious again, being in a gloom mood lately he became a bit more irritated. Frankly, there was nothing to be happy about. The captain continues:
" Kefto, how are ya, me mate? I want to assign you with scouting our way tomorrow at dawn. We stay guard tonight with Jirt. " - he looks at Kefto with sincere and compassionate look, then turns to Garta again:
" And Garta... So ya lead us here, to the dead end hoping to rappel this cliffs? Me knows, ye leg problem... was out of consideration, but still. "
No, I have specific plans for that. I was just hoping I could get a comment or two from @Skatan , but I know he’s busy and out of town so it’s not a rush. I could just take over for him, and I may do that, but it’s not a rush. It’s been the weekend after all.
As everyone is conversing, Lagrord gathers up the water containers. Jirt follows along behind him, not bothering to help out at all as Lagrord carries the more than half-dozen waterskins.
“Hurry up, orc,” says Jirt as Lagrord trips under the weight. “We can’t be too careful out here.” He looks around cautiously as his hand is on his sword.
They approach the tree line, which is a sorry excuse for healthy trees. They’re more like tall, scraggly bushes reaching fruitlessly for the sun. The water is clear and cold, so cold in fact that Lagrord’s fingers go numb.
“What in the blazes is taking so long?” snaps Jirt, though in fact it hasn’t taken that long at all. “Why in the world would Master Cramnoch want such a lazy slave anyway?” Jirt’s grin is not friendly.
As Lagrord fills in the waterskins, with Jirt standing lazily by him, they hear a loud, high-pitched and agitated voice bubbling out of the water body: "Oi you! Yes, you! How dare you steal the golden nuts of King Solomon?"
"Nonsense, master Jirt is an esteemed member of the guard, and no common thief!"
Hopefully Jirt responds to kindness enough not to abandon me should we be attacked.
Sorry guys, long working days and late dinner afterwards. I haven't been back at the hotel before 10 pm any day so far. I have checked in quickly for a minute or two during the day, but not more than that. Feel free to take over @mashedtaters when it's needed. Colden will be thoughtful, think of the mission objective first and the good of the whole group, if any choices will have to be made.