stonegod's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Ch. I [IC]

[Stormwind]

Ashlyn, having watched the quiet discussion between Tessa and Ladreth, slowly rides a few steps towards them before stopping and speaking to Tessa, "Better if you take it, I never did get the hang of using wands or scrolls myself."

Ashlyn then smiles briefly at Ladreth, nodding her head once in respect before turning and once again preparing to head onwards.

 

[stonegod]

[Survival]

Using her skills, Janis can tell by some of the erosion marks that besides the obvious cliffside to the west, the forest floor seems to rise also to the north. She guesses that would be the most likely direction to follow.

That decision being made, the group remounts their horses, attempting to ride between the close knit trees. The rough terrain makes it slow going, and soon the horses are just barely fitting between the massive trees. The fog makes things disorienting, and several times the group finds themselves heading in the wrong direction.

Howling repeatedly breaks the forest silence. The mist obscures the distance and direction, but they appear to be far way and moving west and southward.

Near dusk, a break in the trees gives a glance of a huge rock outcrop to the north and east.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Jarrith looks northward at the outcropping, then glances skyward as the sun begins to set. "I for one do not favor heading further in at this time of night. I do not know enough about the scourge of the lycanthropes to say for certain that they can see in the dark... but most animal's night eyes are stronger than ours, that's for sure." He glances over at Ladreth, then gives a slight chuckle. "Well, most of ours, I should say. Heh heh. Though I don't expect you'd want to keep going forward if the rest of us were virtually blinded, eh, Ladreth?"

The Stalker glances at the group, then looks back the way we came. "Now that we know where the tree break is... how about we head back the way we came off diagonally for about ten minutes? Then set up camp? We're not going to cover our tracks... but if we're lucky no one will try too hard to come searching for us if we've holed ourselves far enough into the trees. What do you think?"

 

[s@squ@tch]

Marot the Keen Eyed

"Ladreth is not the only one who can see well in the dark, my friend," Marot says with a glint in his eyes.

"I could be persuaded to either continue on, or find an appropriate spot for camping for the evening."

OOC: with darkvision 60' and see invisible out to my range of sight, Marot really doesn't mind operating in the dark. Since we are spending the night somewhere in this cursed wood, we are probably not better off in any particular spot, since if there are more werewolves, AND they want to find us, they will.

 

[pathfinderq1]

Tessa cast yet another worried glance around the shadowy forest. She wasn't really sure how safe they would be camped in such surroundings, but they didn't seem to have much choice- and at least she would be off the uncomfortable horse. Even though she had not unleashed her fire at the shifter, her shoulder still felt as warm as if a beam of fresh sunlight had been focused on it all day- with the dank chill of the forest, even that tiny spot of warmth should have been comforting, but it wasn't. Instead it was vaguely disturbing- as if she didn't have enough things to worry about...

 

[James Heard]

Janis shrugs and begins looking around the area for a suitable, and defensible, campsite.

 

[Stormwind]

Ashlyn has been alert during the ride, and is no less alert as dusk approaches. Once Janis has found an appropriate place to camp, she pulls out her bedroll from her mount's saddlebags and lays it out on the ground. She then retrieves an everburning torch from the same saddlebags and places it upright in the earth such that it illuminates the clearing.

Crouching beside the torch she turns her head to look at the others and begins discussing setting a watch for the night, "We need to set a watch tonight. I suggest four watches as that should get us through the night and give everyone a chance to get enough sleep. I don't sleep very much so a couple of hours in the morning is enough for me. Thus I'll stay up through the night and sleep during the dawn watch."

Rising from beside the torch, Ashlyn quietly walks over to Jarrith. As she reaches Jarrith, Ashlyn leans over and asks quietly, "May I check how your wounds are healing?"
With his assent, she then proceeds to examine his wounds again. As she does she talks with him a little about the fighting that they have both faced here in Barovia and then asks "My life has ever been thus, constantly moving, constantly fighting, but unlike those cursed with unlife, I must occasionally rest. Sometimes I wonder if that is to be my lot. Unending conflict ... But what of your life before Barovia, was it much the same?"

[Heal +10 (assess Jarrith's wounds)]

 

[s@squ@tch]

OOC:

"May I check how your wounds are healing?"

That's a Barovian pick-up line, if I ever heard one!

 

[DEFCON 1]

"My life has ever been thus, constantly moving, constantly fighting, but unlike those cursed with unlife, I must occasionally rest. Sometimes I wonder if that is to be my lot. Unending conflict ... But what of your life before Barovia, was it much the same?"

Jarrith stands still as the paladin examines the bite mark, seemingly unconcerned with whatever she might find. However, her question makes him take a few moments to truly think about what he has done these past years.

"Unending conflict... heh... yes, I suppose you could call it that. But it is only unending because there is always someone new who needs to see the light. For the past seven years I have served my Order dutifully... and in many ways with relish... and while I have had chances to step back from the front line to rest and recuperate... I always found my mind racing back to the events my Lumin Brothers and I had already accomplished. So while I might technically have been resting... in truth my duties have been unending. And quite frankly, I always liked it that way."

He looks out through the trees into the impenetrable darkness, and sighs heavily. "However... this time is... different. More bleak. Perhaps it is merely because my Brother is not with me. I have no shame in admitting that his strength is my strength, and his spirit infuses mine. It is a dark duty we have... and it is only by reflecting each others light that we keep ourselves from being overcome by the darkness. While I have found others over the years whose light also reflects upon me..." he nods his head at Marot "...and new friends like yourself whose light is a beacon to follow... without my Lumin Brother here... my light is still dim. And I find the events we have run into are dragging me further into the dark. And it chills me."

He looks to the paladin and shrugs. "But all I can do is keep my faith in the Flame... and not let the dark clouds that circle over some of us extinguish my light in its entirety. Because then all is lost for me."

 

[ethandrew]

At the stalker's mention of animals' sight, Ladreth defensively places his hand near his milky white eye, afraid there might be some underlying slight involved. But witnessing the brevity the man stated it somewhated eased the perceived insult and merely confused the half-orc. After dismounting the horse he and the plain woman shared, Ladreth sets his backpack down and off toward the side, and stands his silent vigil, fully prepared to wait out the night, expecting the howls to get closer and more frequent as the sun falls down the sky.