(Casual D&D III) The Man in Black

[dpdx]

Hiritus responds to Nurthk's question.

"Like the man said, Despia's that way."

He points in the northerly direction Raven just pointed - a way seeming to lack roads, but with a river that follows a north/south direction from Lake Sesphar.

"If we can find the river, and follow it away from the elves and the lake, that ought to land us on a road that travels just a little west to Despia. If Aerda's map is correct..."

"So, shall we travel?"

 

[doghead]

Xiao Yu, human master of mishap.

Xiao slings his bag over his head and across his chest, settles his hat in place and picks up his staff. There doesn't seem to be a great deal of weight to the bag.

"Xiao is ready," he announces with a big grin.

GP: [sblock]Xiao is at 5th level / 14000 xp now. Another 1000 would see him to 6th level. Do you want me to level him or wait off until later?[/sblock]

 

[DrZombie]

"I'll better go ahead and scout, or the lot of you will stumble into something from wich I'll have to save you." Raven says with a quick grin.
"You comin' boy? I'll show you what to look at when you're in the woods. Make a noise and I'll send you back, ya hear?"

And with that, raven and tatlock scout ahead.

OOC : [jedi mind trick]this is not the bump you're looking for[/jedi mind trick]

 

[doghead]

Xiao Yu, male human master of mysteriously

Xiao watches Raven and his companion pushing on ahead. While he wouldn't really like the monika which goes with them, he would like to be in Tatlock's shoes; scouting out the way, seeking new dangers, finding new excitments, that sort of thing.

Xiao hastily patches togther some Zen acceptance, and falls in with with the others.

ooc: this is not the bump you were hoping for. An Update.

 

[Festy_Dog]

Nurthk grumbles, and peers back over his shoulder towards elf territory with an almost paranoid look in his eye. He decides to disatract himself with giving the baby raven some attention.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Following the river, with Raven and Tatlock leading the way, you reach what appears to be the smaller lake on Aerda's map shortly after sunset... There, near the water's edge where the lake meets the river, you find what seems to be another small, abandoned trade encampment -- a few small, hollowed out structures of wood and stone, overgrowth where there once was road, and the sparse wooden remains of an old line of small docks.

"Camp here, or in the woods again?" Shavah asks. "Hope no one minds me saying, but that antlered thing from the other night didn't do much for my opinion of camping in the woods..."

Tatlock begins to nod in agreement, then glances at Raven, and holds his chin to his chest for fear of reproach.

ooc: BTW, Xiao is at 15000 now, so definitely level him up. His count in the OOC thread was off, as I forgot that I reinstated him with a bit of extra XP to account for past play...

 

[DrZombie]

"Camp here, or in the woods again?" Shavah asks. "Hope no one minds me saying, but that antlered thing from the other night didn't do much for my opinion of camping in the woods..."

Tatlock begins to nod in agreement, then glances at Raven, and holds his chin to his chest for fear of reproach.

"We'll camp here. There's water, some shelter. We'll have to keep a tight watch."

He casts a longing glance to the water.

"Right, tatlock, see if you can get a good fire going in the hollow over there. Then put some rocks in 'em. When they're hot, put them in that shelter there and close it of with a blanket. Then get a few skins of fresh water. And, ehm, speak out if you agree with someone. I wont eat ya, if I feel you're wrong I'll just tell you why."

He moves towards the edge of the lake, trying to see if it is clear, and if there are some nasties swimming about. Animal tracks are peered at and muttered about.

OOC : one sweat bath followed by a cold plunge coming up. Please avert your eyes if you're a bit prudish. .

OOC : survival 8+10=18

 

[doghead]

Xiao Yu, male human from far away

Xiao does what he can to help set up camp.

Once it is done, he takes himself a little way away from the rest of the group. After finding a place that seems to suit his need, he dumps his hat, staff, bag, cloak and shirt and proceeds to to work through a rather odd series of dance steps. Well, actually, it doesn't take long to work out that he's not dancing. The flying fists and feet, punctuated by deep grunt of exursion, rather put an end to that illusion. With a flick of the foot, the staff is brought up into hand and into play for a while before being discarded again. All in all, the little display lasts for about an hour, and leaves Xiao slick with sweat and panting softly.

If the sweathouse is an option at this point, Xiao takes it. Followed by a dip in the lakewater. His entry into the water is rather noisy; he chitters and shouts like an excited monkey before disappearing beneath the surface entirely. He reappears, spluttering, a moment later.

Eventually, he returns to the shore, dresses and eats little.

ooc: Updated Xiao.

 

[Festy_Dog]

Nurthk takes some time help the others with their respective animals, where required. He helps with other activities where his help is requested but otherwise goes straight to sleep after eating and finding out when his watch is.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Raven: There are few signs of animal tracks near the water's edge; a quick examination shows why, as the water here appears less than safe to drink. For bathing, though, it should be fine, aside from the temperature -- although as the wind stirs up a fog, it doesn't seem much worse than the air above.

The night passes quietly until Raven's watch, free from attacks by wildlife. As the night grows deep, and Raven tends to the fire, the calm is interrupted by a call from the shore.

"Row ye to Tway for a silver? Silver to Tway!"

It is loud enough to wake the others. Turning, you can see a figure at the lake's edge: A dark human silhouette, vague among the mists. He calls again, this time in Elvish:

[sblock]"Rowboat heading for Tway. Cost of a silver."[/sblock]

Conspicuously, there is no rowboat.