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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 9261320" data-attributes="member: 20323">[USER=15132]@Steve Gorak[/USER] [USER=24380]@Neurotic[/USER] [USER=7041633]@domminniti[/USER] [USER=6669245]@Necropolitan[/USER] [USER=7041631]@happylace[/USER] [USER=6803188]@VLAD the Destroyer[/USER] [USER=6746292]@Aethmud[/USER]I know you're looking forward to  free roleplaying time. I'm assuming you want to wait til you're safe in town to do that, but feel free to say "no, let's do it at base camp now."In the <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/ic-quickleafs-rime-of-the-frostmaiden.697783/page-53#post-9261135" target="_blank">IC post</a> I'm steering you toward a choice about your next course of action, and though this will come up in roleplaying, I wanted to spell out what I'm thinking & give a recap.Tl;dr here's a graphic table to understand the choice facing you...[ATTACH=full]345675[/ATTACH]You arrived in Targos pursuing leads on the "Cold-Hearted Killer" who Zeth believes is Sephek Kaltro. However, that quest was postponed as you hoped to rescue the missing Garret Velryn who guided an ill-fated party up Kelvin's Cairn. You left Targos on two dog sleds (four-person sleds) following roads through Bryn Shander, Caer-Dineval, and Caer-Konig before reaching Kelvin's Cairn. You rescued Garret and his dogs, and the sole surviving adventurer, the halfling acolyte Perilou. Previously, you heard that Torrga's trade caravan – who you suspect harbors the "Cold-Hearted Killer" plaguing Ten Towns – was last headed to Termalaine. That was about 2 days ago now. Torrga travels around Ten Towns upselling goods, spending roughly three days at each town before moving on.Now it's 1:30am, a blizzard is many hours out coming from the north (in Icewind Dale blizzards last 2-8 hours typically), and you're faced with a choice : Traveling to Caer-Konig, Hunkering down at base camp, or Traveling to Termalaine. Or maybe you have other ideas!Travel to Caer-Konig: This would be backtracking the way you came – 5 hours back to Caer-Konig, then another 12 hours back to Targos, so Torrga's caravan would definitely have time to move on from Termalaine. But on the upside you'd be likely reach the safety of Caer-Konig before the blizzard strikes & the travel across the tundra is short enough you wouldn't risk wandering encounters. This is the "safest" option.Hunkering down at Base Camp: While Kelvin's Cairn itself would provide a measure of protection from the winds, tent-camping in a blizzard has risks (i.e. there'd be a mini-skill challenge involved risking sleeplessness/exhaustion, but Kelvin's Cairn and Keegan would help you). Assuming you take 2-hour watch shifts with two-people, you'd need 10 hours to long rest, which would take you til about 11:30 / 12:00. For sure the blizzard would strike within that time. On the downside, Torrga's caravan will likely have moved on from Termalaine. This is the "low risk" option.Travel to Termalaine: This would involve 11 hours travel across tundra where you're likely to have wandering encounters, and for sure the blizzard would strike during travel. On the upside, you very likely would catch up with Torrga's caravan in Termalaine. This is the "moderate risk" option.ALTERNATELY, you could travel fast and try to reach Termalaine before the blizzard catches up to you, definitely catching up with Torrga's caravan. However, this would be a forced march (I have slightly more forgiving rules than RAW & use the new -1 to -10 exhaustion rules). And there would be risk of getting surprised by wandering encounters. Additionally, you'd have to either sacrifice some weight (since the two sleds are 4-person, and you have 7 PCs, Keegan, Garret, Perilou, plus the duergar treasure chest) OR hitch up the six tired sled dogs (Boy, Kodiak, Mercy, Nomad, Sesi, and Siku) risking their exhaustion/injury. This is the "high risk" option.</blockquote>

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