Posting for @Osthelerin Hawke
Nodding at the simple request, Hiroshi gathers some wood and encourages Astrid to ignite it, not yet fully aware that it would be a simple thing for him to do, as well. He then examines the area to determine likely places to set some snares. If daylight permits, he will also look for edible plants.
Not so suited to active hunting or attuned to nature to best set snares, Oorvid mills about looking for objects of interests, not realizing that the skill set for both is the same.
GM:
Active Search:
This represents the desire to locate a living creature in its environment or hidden by concealment, including game animals, dangerous animals, and people.
Prospecting:
This represents the desire to locate almost anything useful to the character, that may or may not be hidden from view or even require labor to collect, including anomalies, plants, minerals, ores, etc.
Not realizing it yet, Astrid is more attuned to metal than any other medium. While collecting stones for her sling, not only does she find a fist sized chunk of opaque stone with a deep green color, she also finds a chunk of slivery white metal. Oorvid finds a burgundy stone.
After collecting some wood and setting some snares, Hiroshi comes across a small plant he has never before seen. Oddly, it is in bloom, a strange thing for the Chilling Season. He collects the flowers and puts them in a pouch.
Somewhat disappointing, Wrenn is only able to locate a covey of feeding thrushes. With patience, he is able to shoot two before they completely leave the area. Pleasing though, he returns to the others to see that Hiroshi has managed to catch a forest hare in one of his snares.
About that time, a terrible squeal startles everyone. Investigating the cause, it appears that some kind of peccary had gotten temporarily caught in one of the other snares before it was able to break it and flee. Two thrushes and one hare is just enough meat to sustain everyone through the night, which is uneventful.
Astrid: full wellness
Stones: 20 Hiroshi: full wellness
Javelins: 4 Oorvid: full wellness Wrenn: full wellness
Arrows: 15
41 marks: currency
Silvery White Metal: 1 brick, ??
Knowing that some flowers bloom at night, and shrink from the light, he is up just before sunrise, in the gray gloom of the pre-dawn, while the dew is still misting, looking for flowers which were not to be found the previous day. After dawn comes, he will make use of the available light to forage for things he did not notice the previous evening; particularly, he is looking for roots, berries, and ground vegetation, such as tubers.
Astrid spends much of her night studying the the stone and metal she has. At one point during the night she calls Oorvid over. "What do you make of this metal and stone? Your father was a smith. By chance do you recognize this?"
Posting for @Osthelerin Hawke
Cheerful in his present company and enjoying the peaceful moments of their exploration, Hiroshi greets the other who woke before him, stretches, washes his face in the pool, and goes to check on the productivity of the snares from the night before.
Oorvid shrugs at the question from Astrid. "Unfortunately, I do not have my father's talent with metal; but since it is so light in color, I am going to guess that it is aluminum, which is used to make the alloy mostly used in arrowheads and javelin blades, called Ularin."
During his sleep, Oorvid dreams of molten rock and volcanic activity, something of a natural phenomenon not of portent, which segues into particulars about the stone he is holding. The stone is particularly beneficial to his form of mysticism. He also keeps one of the previously collected rodent tooth necklaces.
Once it is light enough to see, Oorvid takes a cursory look around the Keep to see if anything other than small animals may have investigated the place in the group's absence.
Astrid, even if asleep while while holding either the metal or the stone, can tell that both have mystical potential, but she as yet cannot determine the nature of the proclivity.
Wrenn happens to locate an identical, tiny, flowering shrub as the one Hiroshi discovered. It is not specifically night blooming, for the bulbs do not close with the rising sun. The oddity is that it is blooming during the opposite time of the Cycle (Year) when other plants bloom. Additionally, he finds a particular vine that grows from a buried bulb. The bulb can be boiled to make a tasty drink. It is the wrong season to find much else, as fallen nuts that were not foraged by forest denizens have begun to rot.
Hiroshi discovers that he has snared another hare; but additionally in another snare, he has caught a skunk. The skunk stares defiantly at the approaching person, making no sound, but wiggling its body in agitation.
GM:
It is against the nature of any of the characters to leave the skunk snared, which may cause it to starve to death. A decision must be made to attempt to kill it or free it. As skunks are known to be detrimental pests, no one would be adverse to killing it from a moral stand point.
Oorvid finds no evidence that anything larger than a varmint may have entered the Keep and give the others an all clear indication, suggesting that when the sun it high, they enter and continue their search.
Astrid: full wellness
Stones: 20 Hiroshi: full wellness
Javelins: 4 Oorvid: full wellness Wrenn: full wellness
Arrows: 15
Wrenn will affect the skunk at a distance of 14 strides, using Muddle to put it to sleep, after which he will give it a humane death, and then remove any pieces from which he can sense proclivities.
Astrid is deep in thoughts regarding the ore and stones that she has. However at the urging of Oorvid she gathers her supplies refills her water skins and prepares to venture into the keep again.
Fortunately Hiroshi looks over at Wrenn before he began to approach the skunk. Wrenn holds up a hand in a universal gesture of wait. As he drops his hand, a smile crosses his face, for the skunk has fallen asleep. Hiroshi frees the animal and saves his snare.
Spared the cloud of stench, the four youths make their way into the keep. It is, of course, as dark as everyone remembers, but each is able to produce light, Astrid and Oorvid on carried stones, Hiroshi on a javelin head, and Wrenn on an arrowhead.
The party moves through the kitchen and into the back hallway, noting the footprints in the petina of dust lead both to the stairs up and the stairs down. Having already explored the upper rooms, it is to the left that the party travels, taking the stairs down into a storage room. Without the magically provided light, the storage room would be pitch black.
The room seems structurally sound, but has long since been raided of anything useful. Everything appears quite mundane, except for a closed trapdoor near the center of the far wall and some evidence that a prisoner had been kept here as recently as last cycle. The prisoner had been securely tied with excess rope. The pieces of cut rope remain but there is no blood. It is unclear if the prisoner was freed by friend or foe.
Astrid: full wellness
Stones: 20 Hiroshi: full wellness
Javelins: 4 Oorvid: full wellness Wrenn: full wellness
Arrows: 15
Astrid less interested in the prisoner examines the trap door. "Perhaps I can use my powers to rattle the trapdoor and potentially set off any possible traps?"
Examining the trap door. 89. If needed and group agrees use sonic waylines to rattle the door. 69 (gigity)
