1) The woman that is most together is tall, with long dark hair. Her name is Aina. Her husband, Uthman, is a proud hunter. He lives most of his life at a lodge deep in the wilds. She only seems him once per week when the hunters bring their spoils to the village. It will be a two hour trek from the springs where you met them. But none of those hunters venerate the dark gods (she uses the word "gods" to speak of the Far Realm powers). She believes that they will give you shelter and they can perhaps be convinced to help.
This is where we will head. Hopefully we can convince them to aid us.
2a) You can use DoE for Scout Otthor and you can Mark XP Saerie. Tell us precisely what you tell him about the dangers though and where you learned such things.
The things that concern me most are the snow leopards and the loose snowpacks that could turn into deadly avalanche.
The snow leopards can easily stalk us in the darkness from above. They could pick off one of the children and retreat before we could barely react. I explain to Otthor their stalking habits and their ambush tactics so he knows where best to look for them and how to repel their efforts if we are indeed hunted by them.
While he is looking for them though, he is going to have to be traversing the slopes on our flanks. This is where any hungry snow leopard would stalk us. Here the danger is loose snowpacks, the disturbance of which could trigger a deadly avalanche that claims all our lives. I make sure Otthor is aware of precisely what a dense and light snowpack looks like and where the vulnreable points are that he needs to avoid.
I learned much of my alpine mountaineering in this very world amidst these mountains. The only place with topography like this back home in the Feywild is in the domain of the Winter Court. I have never ventured there...though that now appears likely to change in the near future.
[sblock]Marked 1 xp for Otthor's use of Decades of Experience for Scouting.[/sblock]
2b) As a default, you would need to Mark 2 rations for this harsh 1/4 day journey for the entirety of your large group, Saerie. However, you cut that in half (to 1) with the speed and precision of your Trailblazing (10+); turning a 1/4 day journey into a 3 hour one. You should arrive a bit past midnight. This doesn't include the rations for Rest at the end of the day.
2c) The women can handle provisions for the Journey so someone roll QM + 1. Complication will cost you 2 more rations. 10 + will cut the 1 rations spent to 0.
2d) Your Scouting is meticulous and efficient Otthor. You spot trouble (there are a few more Ice Trolls in these parts, plenty of topographical hazards, and some snow leopards) and you relay it to Saerie who deftly avoids it with her Trailblazing.
[sblock]Quartermaster + 1
3, 3 + 1 = 7
Use the expected amount of rations.[/sblock]
By the way, I'll definitely be making sure to obscure our tracks in the few areas where we might make them. If you need me to roll something for that, let me know.
3) Exel and Xanob are now level 5 hirelings with a bump in Sentry and Loyalty:
[sblock]Goblin Brothers (5)
The goblin brothers, Xanob and Exel, are fierce, armored warriors of Kord. Lead them gloriously into battle and they'll stand between you and the blades, fangs, teeth, and spells that would harm you.
Sentry (Skill 3) - When the goblin brothers stand between you and an attack you increase your armor against that attack by the their Sentry skill, then reduce that skill by 1 until they receive healing or have time to mend.
Intervene - When the goblin brothers help you defy danger you may opt to take +1 from their aid. If you do you cannot get a 10+ result, a 10+ instead counts as a 7–9.
Loyalty: 2
Cost: Glory in Battle[/sblock]
4) Exel and Xanob agree with you both that the Winter Fey are going to likely assault your indefensible shelter with reinforcements so moving immediately and getting beyond the Fey Crossing is a good idea. No need for a Hireling roll there.
However...
Neither Exel nor Xanob are remotely in agreement with Otthor regarding what to do with the death cult prisoner who happens to be one of the son's of the founder. Mercy? Are you kidding? They're both incredulous and borderline outraged to be honest. He is responsible for Lucky's death as far as they're concerned and he would be responsible for any or all of your deaths with the enchanted bog. He wants to die...let him die. Leave him tied to the chair for the Winter Fey to torment as they wish or thaw a section of the permafrost covering the sucking bog and throw him in!
But take him with you? Maybe even allow him to try to redeem himself? Absolutely not.
I'll use the 7-9 (8 with the extra 1 for Loyalty) that you rolled earlier so they're somewhat on the fence at this point. Exel and Xanob are speaking vociferously to each other in goblin about this [MENTION=6775039]Binks[/MENTION]. It seems Saerie opposes Otthor on this point. If you want to make a problem of it, you can turn that 7-9 into a 6- if you want to Interfere (success would be - 2 to Otthor's Hireling roll) with a convincing and firm retort to his position. Otherwise they'll bend a little here and allow Otthor his cake...at least for now.
Let me know if you plan to oppose Otthor with Interfere and we'll take it from there with your resolution. If you aren't opposing him, just roll the QM roll and I'll transition to the hunter's lodge at midnight in the deep wilderness.
We cannot bring this man with us. It is far, far too dangerous.
I speak the following in goblin very, very slowly so Exel and Xanob can follow:
"I understand your heart on this Otthor. He is a young man. It is a terrible thing to have such a wasted life and future. Perhaps this death philosophy was inflicted upon him by a ruthless, unforgiving father. Perhaps mercy would be best...among different circumstances. But these unforgiving circumstances, that we must deal with right now, do not afford us the luxury of discretion or mercy. He has condemned himself by his own actions. Exel and Xanob have the right of it. We canot take him with us.
However, we cannot leave him here for them to find as he will surely give away where we have gone. We will take him to the hot springs where I met these women. It is not too terribly far from here, slightly less than an hour if we make good time. We can stow him there while we trek to the interior. If the Winter Fey somehow find our trail and locate him, we will be several hours ahead of them at that point. That should put us beyond their reach."
[sblock]Interfere (Bond)
6, 5 + 2 = 13
- 2 to Otthor's Hireling check. That would put it at a 6-. Mark xp Otthor![/sblock]