Fae would nod to acknowledge his thanks, "How was your watch? Did you get enough rest? How is your shoulder?" She'd sneak some extra bacon into his helpings.
"Tarja. Elra. Arvel. Have you ate?" She'd look around after some silence, Fae would chuckle "Where's our chatty Artificer?"
Ethan wakes with the others and shakes the hand of Torrin before he leaves.
--------
When Fae calls out for Ethan, he is found tinkering with his various devices and projects, having forgotten that he should eat breakfast.
"Uh? Oh right, breakfast."
Ethan puts away his things and heads over to the group to have some of the bacon.
"Hhhmmm, that smells wonderful!."
Once he has finished breakfast, Ethan settles onto the second cart and pulls out one of the shields collected the day before.
-------
(This part will be completed during the travels of the day, but I wanted to describe what Ethan is doing as he crafts away, while the group travels)
Taking out a small saw, Ethan begins the arduous process of cutting up the metal shield, so it can be integrated into his gauntlet.
First he cuts it in half horizontally, at the point where the shield is strapped to the arm.
Then he cuts down the sides of the two halves, so that the central part of each half is about a foot wide.
He then spends the rest of his time, reconnecting the side pieces with hinges and locking mechanisms, before connecting each half of the shield to one of two pre-prepared slots on the front part of the gauntlet.
He then takes out a metal scribing tool and starts to lay infusion lines and sigils into the design. You see magical energy come out of the tip and being laid down into the shield, before fading way, leaving no visible sign it is there.
When he is done, the shield will fold up and then slide down/up into the gauntlet, disappearing into the internal compressed space storage area.
Ethan will test the shield folding out and back in to the gauntlet a few times to make sure it works.
He will then spend some time, redecorating the shield, to change any identifying marks and better style it to fit with his gauntlets aesthetics.
(Functionally, this will cost Ethan the same amount of time to get the shield out, as if he had just pulled it out of his bag of holding and strapped it on, but is way more thematically satisfying. So its not super fast, just cool looking)
Once she's satisfied that everyone's had their breakfast, Fae would assist with the clean up before taking her place in the cart.
(When we travel)
She'd pull out her journal and pen to catalogue and illustrate what she could make of Ethan's tinkering. "Ethan, how many projects do you have going at one time?" she'd ask with genuine curiosity.
Ethan seems to think for bit, even counting off things on his fingers.
"Well, I have more than 10 projects at various stages right now. Some are in the 'mostly complete, just need more testing', stage, others are in the preliminary concept and design stage."
"Some, I'm ready to start work on, but I need materials before I can start."
Ethan looks a little embarrassed,
"I kind of get board sometimes, so I change to another project and leave the other for another time. The professors at the university were always saying I needed patience, that I needed to finish what I started. But I do finish what I start, I just sometimes take longer to get there is all."
Ethan indicates the shield he is working on.
"This one, I've had mostly done, except for the shield part. I didn't have enough money to purchase a shield for the last part, so that find yesterday was quiet good."
Ethan realises what he just said,
"Uh, well other than the people, that wasn't good. It's sad to see peoples lives ended so early. Think of all the things they could have done and experienced..."
Ethan looks down at his project, not moving, lost in melancholy thought, for a moment.
Zeke has just closed in on the second wagon on his way to confer with Tarja on point, as he hears Ethan's lament for the dead. Without breaking his stride, Zeke calls over to the group 'It's more than likely that we'll all end up just as dead by that dragon or worse, might as well be of service to the living even in death.'
As he nears the front of each wagon he checks in with the halflings on their progress so far, making sure they are going to clear the trail in a single days travel.
Pulling alongside Tarja, Zeke drops his voice so it won't carry back to those in the wagons. 'I have a bad feeling about this. Those goblins ran off too easily last night, and I'm still not sure I trust those soldiers. Keep your eyes peeled - and your nose too for that matter. I'm going to drop back and watch our backtrail for a bit. Shout out if you hear or see anything unusual.'
Perception 4
Stealth (to hide along the trail and make sure no one is following them) 10
For today's travel, Tarja would stay mostly on the road, pacing from the left to the right side of it in front of the wagons. The fight had clearly unsettled her, as she was more used to avoiding the goblin patrols than confronting them. She would take a look at the shield Ethan was working on, and nod appreciatively.
I hope you don't need to use that more, but better keep safe however you can. I remember when I first made this one. (She taps on her wooden shield). It was out of a good, stout spruce. It's served me well, though I've always hoped it wouldn't need to.
Elra nods, "Loremaster Atlavast told me that my strength comes from here," she taps her temple, then her chest, "and it was telling me the only way out of the situation was to fight. We probably didn't have much of a choice."
"Oh, we had choices. We could have left the soldiers, run like seven hells back to town, changed our identities, abandoned our obligations, and started new lives somewhere else. Of course that would have meant leaving those soldiers to an almost certain death and leaving Gundren in the lurch. But at least we'd be alive."
He senses the reaction of the group.
"Hey, I never said is was a good choice. And I never considered it for a moment. Well, not seriously anyway."
He goes back to lounging in the cart. He feigns indolence, but is actually watching the skies for danger.
"Should be fine long as we don't stop for too long to bask in the sun or fix a broken wheel, boss" replies Farnin to Zeke. "And with the permission of the good golbins and dragons of the region, apparently" adds a concerned Finnan. "On the bright side, I have yet to be eaten by a giant spider."
Zeke finds no trouble when staying back to watch the rear.
-----------------------
ftl and Bacon:
To your benefit, I'm assuming Vincent is scouting the majority of the time as he was on previous days. Is he staying 100ft above for the telepathic link, flying higher, further ahead, etc? Can I get a perception check for him please?
Zeke occasionally lets the group get a good deal ahead but I assume is close the rest of the time. On the front end, how far ahead does Tarja get typically? Please also make a perception check for her.
I’m not straying too far forward, maybe 10 ft or so. The fight last night has me wanting to stay close. I’m in dwarf form since I haven’t had a reason to switch yet. Perception: 11
Fae would smile as she sits back in her corner of the cart to get cozy. She felt she succeeded in getting the conversation started and to hear the chatty Ethan again. It was nice to hear everyone chime in. It definitely helped time go by while they traveled. During the discussions, Fae would have eventually stopped sketching in her journal and pulled out her other two books. Book of study on her left, journal to her right, and her most prized possession, her spell book, front and center on her lap. She could definitely relate to Ethan's list of on the go projects, and she could understand that it may seem like poor project management, but in truth, having many things in different stages, having their own speeds of progress, is just the nature of well, learning. She believed any way.
Fae would remain silent along the ride unless asked a question or directly spoken too. She'd flip between her books, reading, noting and sketching along the way. She'd look up every once and a while to scan her surroundings and listen in to the talk around the wagons.
The road is notable rougher as the party heads east up the Triboar Trail into the hills. The more scholarly members of the party have more trouble reading and practicing their various crafts as the wagons bounce up and down and meander back and forth to avoid various rocks and ruts. Soon the grasslands along the coast of Faerun are left behind in favor of rolling hills and forests, the road growing narrower than the well traveled High Road the party had gotten used to.
All is quiet during the long morning hours and the wagons make slow but steady progress until early afternoon, the vigilance of Vincent, Tarja and Zeke making others feel a bit better despite the looming threats now known to the group. About an hour after the sun has reached its zenith something catches Vincent's eye and Elra is warned of two horses lying in the road ahead. As the wagons slowly make their way up a tough hill all the rest of the party can see is a bend in the road shortly ahead.
(put the front wagon on the map for reference, but let's actually say you are still 100ft back to the west and down the hill a bit)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Zeke shifts into his aggressive mode, cloak back, wings out, blade extended and moves up to join Tarja near the front.
'I don't like this at all. Those horses have the road blocked right at a choke point - that's either because they were ambushed there, or because they are there to ambush us.'
'Tarja, perhaps you and I should scout out the northern embankment - see if we can see what happened to them or what might be lying in wait for us?'
'Seems like everyone should castle up - we're likely to be attacked.'
Fae would put her journal and studies away. She'd hop out of the cart to take Zeke's place at the back of the wagons while he scouted up front with Tarja.
Perception: 9
-----
She'd move to take Tarja's spot at the front of the wagons when they scout the northern bank.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Tarja shifts into her familiar Wolf form and carefully follows Zeke's lead into the trees on the northern bank listening for any movement and smelling for any beings she might recognize: goblins, worgs, dwarves, humans...
Stealth: 22
Perception: 25
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Fae would nod to acknowledge his thanks, "How was your watch? Did you get enough rest? How is your shoulder?" She'd sneak some extra bacon into his helpings.
"Tarja. Elra. Arvel. Have you ate?" She'd look around after some silence, Fae would chuckle "Where's our chatty Artificer?"
just an unstable unicorn.
"Hey, just exploring the idea that faster might be safer. But I take your point."
He smiles deprecatingly and goes back to munching his bacon sandwich while lounging in the back of the lead wagon.
DCI: 3319125026
Ethan wakes with the others and shakes the hand of Torrin before he leaves.
--------
When Fae calls out for Ethan, he is found tinkering with his various devices and projects, having forgotten that he should eat breakfast.
"Uh? Oh right, breakfast."
Ethan puts away his things and heads over to the group to have some of the bacon.
"Hhhmmm, that smells wonderful!."
Once he has finished breakfast, Ethan settles onto the second cart and pulls out one of the shields collected the day before.
-------
(This part will be completed during the travels of the day, but I wanted to describe what Ethan is doing as he crafts away, while the group travels)
Taking out a small saw, Ethan begins the arduous process of cutting up the metal shield, so it can be integrated into his gauntlet.
First he cuts it in half horizontally, at the point where the shield is strapped to the arm.
Then he cuts down the sides of the two halves, so that the central part of each half is about a foot wide.
He then spends the rest of his time, reconnecting the side pieces with hinges and locking mechanisms, before connecting each half of the shield to one of two pre-prepared slots on the front part of the gauntlet.
He then takes out a metal scribing tool and starts to lay infusion lines and sigils into the design. You see magical energy come out of the tip and being laid down into the shield, before fading way, leaving no visible sign it is there.
When he is done, the shield will fold up and then slide down/up into the gauntlet, disappearing into the internal compressed space storage area.
Ethan will test the shield folding out and back in to the gauntlet a few times to make sure it works.
He will then spend some time, redecorating the shield, to change any identifying marks and better style it to fit with his gauntlets aesthetics.
(Functionally, this will cost Ethan the same amount of time to get the shield out, as if he had just pulled it out of his bag of holding and strapped it on, but is way more thematically satisfying. So its not super fast, just cool looking)
David Gearlock | Human | Artificer | Revenge Heist
Knox | Warforged | Cleric | Shadowthorn's Out of the Abyss
Once she's satisfied that everyone's had their breakfast, Fae would assist with the clean up before taking her place in the cart.
(When we travel)
She'd pull out her journal and pen to catalogue and illustrate what she could make of Ethan's tinkering. "Ethan, how many projects do you have going at one time?" she'd ask with genuine curiosity.
just an unstable unicorn.
"Hmm? oh, ummmm..."
Ethan seems to think for bit, even counting off things on his fingers.
"Well, I have more than 10 projects at various stages right now. Some are in the 'mostly complete, just need more testing', stage, others are in the preliminary concept and design stage."
"Some, I'm ready to start work on, but I need materials before I can start."
Ethan looks a little embarrassed,
"I kind of get board sometimes, so I change to another project and leave the other for another time. The professors at the university were always saying I needed patience, that I needed to finish what I started. But I do finish what I start, I just sometimes take longer to get there is all."
Ethan indicates the shield he is working on.
"This one, I've had mostly done, except for the shield part. I didn't have enough money to purchase a shield for the last part, so that find yesterday was quiet good."
Ethan realises what he just said,
"Uh, well other than the people, that wasn't good. It's sad to see peoples lives ended so early. Think of all the things they could have done and experienced..."
Ethan looks down at his project, not moving, lost in melancholy thought, for a moment.
David Gearlock | Human | Artificer | Revenge Heist
Knox | Warforged | Cleric | Shadowthorn's Out of the Abyss
"There wasn't anything we could do for them Ethan," Elra replies. "They were already dead when we got there."
Elra Skylash - Human Cleric | Vanzaren Tanidoni - Half Elf Wizard
Mindartis Liadon - Eladrin Barbarian | Naivara Siannodel - Half Elf Ranger
Arrila Evenwood - Half Elf Paladin | Callaphe of Setessa - Human Rogue
Katernin Nemetsk - Aasimar Cleric | Melody - Tiefling Bard
Zeke has just closed in on the second wagon on his way to confer with Tarja on point, as he hears Ethan's lament for the dead. Without breaking his stride, Zeke calls over to the group 'It's more than likely that we'll all end up just as dead by that dragon or worse, might as well be of service to the living even in death.'
As he nears the front of each wagon he checks in with the halflings on their progress so far, making sure they are going to clear the trail in a single days travel.
Pulling alongside Tarja, Zeke drops his voice so it won't carry back to those in the wagons. 'I have a bad feeling about this. Those goblins ran off too easily last night, and I'm still not sure I trust those soldiers. Keep your eyes peeled - and your nose too for that matter. I'm going to drop back and watch our backtrail for a bit. Shout out if you hear or see anything unusual.'
Perception 4
Stealth (to hide along the trail and make sure no one is following them) 10
For today's travel, Tarja would stay mostly on the road, pacing from the left to the right side of it in front of the wagons. The fight had clearly unsettled her, as she was more used to avoiding the goblin patrols than confronting them. She would take a look at the shield Ethan was working on, and nod appreciatively.
I hope you don't need to use that more, but better keep safe however you can. I remember when I first made this one. (She taps on her wooden shield). It was out of a good, stout spruce. It's served me well, though I've always hoped it wouldn't need to.
Elra nods, "Loremaster Atlavast told me that my strength comes from here," she taps her temple, then her chest, "and it was telling me the only way out of the situation was to fight. We probably didn't have much of a choice."
Elra Skylash - Human Cleric | Vanzaren Tanidoni - Half Elf Wizard
Mindartis Liadon - Eladrin Barbarian | Naivara Siannodel - Half Elf Ranger
Arrila Evenwood - Half Elf Paladin | Callaphe of Setessa - Human Rogue
Katernin Nemetsk - Aasimar Cleric | Melody - Tiefling Bard
"Oh, we had choices. We could have left the soldiers, run like seven hells back to town, changed our identities, abandoned our obligations, and started new lives somewhere else. Of course that would have meant leaving those soldiers to an almost certain death and leaving Gundren in the lurch. But at least we'd be alive."
He senses the reaction of the group.
"Hey, I never said is was a good choice. And I never considered it for a moment. Well, not seriously anyway."
He goes back to lounging in the cart. He feigns indolence, but is actually watching the skies for danger.
Perception: 10
DCI: 3319125026
Ethan responds to Arvel,
"Its true there are always many options, but many of them, have not so great consequences."
"Like if I placed this rotation sigil on backwards, it would attempt to break the hing pushing the wrong way."
Ethan indicates a sigil he is inscribing into one of the hinges of the left edge part of the top half of the shield.
"Not that it would do any damage in this case, its not strong enough to do more then rotate this part open for the locking mechanism."
"But it would be a waste of time and energy."
Ethan turns to Elra,
"Yeah, I trust my instincts when I don't know what to do logically. It seems to go mostly ok in unknown situations, mostly..."
Ethan turns to look at Tarja's shield.
"It is a nice shield, you made it yourself? I mostly deal with metals, although, as I mentioned before, I'm coming around on wood."
"It certainly is much lighter then metal, and has interesting properties with regard the flow of magic, which i am definitely going to explorer more."
David Gearlock | Human | Artificer | Revenge Heist
Knox | Warforged | Cleric | Shadowthorn's Out of the Abyss
"Should be fine long as we don't stop for too long to bask in the sun or fix a broken wheel, boss" replies Farnin to Zeke. "And with the permission of the good golbins and dragons of the region, apparently" adds a concerned Finnan. "On the bright side, I have yet to be eaten by a giant spider."
Zeke finds no trouble when staying back to watch the rear.
-----------------------
ftl and Bacon:
To your benefit, I'm assuming Vincent is scouting the majority of the time as he was on previous days. Is he staying 100ft above for the telepathic link, flying higher, further ahead, etc? Can I get a perception check for him please?
Zeke occasionally lets the group get a good deal ahead but I assume is close the rest of the time. On the front end, how far ahead does Tarja get typically? Please also make a perception check for her.
Thanks!
Hexblade
Vincent flies 100 feet overhead to maintain telepathic communication
Perception: 22
Elra Skylash - Human Cleric | Vanzaren Tanidoni - Half Elf Wizard
Mindartis Liadon - Eladrin Barbarian | Naivara Siannodel - Half Elf Ranger
Arrila Evenwood - Half Elf Paladin | Callaphe of Setessa - Human Rogue
Katernin Nemetsk - Aasimar Cleric | Melody - Tiefling Bard
I’m not straying too far forward, maybe 10 ft or so. The fight last night has me wanting to stay close. I’m in dwarf form since I haven’t had a reason to switch yet. Perception: 11
Fae would smile as she sits back in her corner of the cart to get cozy. She felt she succeeded in getting the conversation started and to hear the chatty Ethan again. It was nice to hear everyone chime in. It definitely helped time go by while they traveled. During the discussions, Fae would have eventually stopped sketching in her journal and pulled out her other two books. Book of study on her left, journal to her right, and her most prized possession, her spell book, front and center on her lap. She could definitely relate to Ethan's list of on the go projects, and she could understand that it may seem like poor project management, but in truth, having many things in different stages, having their own speeds of progress, is just the nature of well, learning. She believed any way.
Fae would remain silent along the ride unless asked a question or directly spoken too. She'd flip between her books, reading, noting and sketching along the way. She'd look up every once and a while to scan her surroundings and listen in to the talk around the wagons.
just an unstable unicorn.
The road is notable rougher as the party heads east up the Triboar Trail into the hills. The more scholarly members of the party have more trouble reading and practicing their various crafts as the wagons bounce up and down and meander back and forth to avoid various rocks and ruts. Soon the grasslands along the coast of Faerun are left behind in favor of rolling hills and forests, the road growing narrower than the well traveled High Road the party had gotten used to.
All is quiet during the long morning hours and the wagons make slow but steady progress until early afternoon, the vigilance of Vincent, Tarja and Zeke making others feel a bit better despite the looming threats now known to the group. About an hour after the sun has reached its zenith something catches Vincent's eye and Elra is warned of two horses lying in the road ahead. As the wagons slowly make their way up a tough hill all the rest of the party can see is a bend in the road shortly ahead.
(put the front wagon on the map for reference, but let's actually say you are still 100ft back to the west and down the hill a bit)
Zeke shifts into his aggressive mode, cloak back, wings out, blade extended and moves up to join Tarja near the front.
'I don't like this at all. Those horses have the road blocked right at a choke point - that's either because they were ambushed there, or because they are there to ambush us.'
'Tarja, perhaps you and I should scout out the northern embankment - see if we can see what happened to them or what might be lying in wait for us?'
'Seems like everyone should castle up - we're likely to be attacked.'
Stealth 19
Investigation 17
Perception 17
Fae would put her journal and studies away. She'd hop out of the cart to take Zeke's place at the back of the wagons while he scouted up front with Tarja.
Perception: 9
-----
She'd move to take Tarja's spot at the front of the wagons when they scout the northern bank.
Perception: 15
just an unstable unicorn.
Elra sends Vincent out to inspect the horses and the area around the horses to see if they're anything that might indicate an attack or attackers.
Vincent Perception: 19
Elra Skylash - Human Cleric | Vanzaren Tanidoni - Half Elf Wizard
Mindartis Liadon - Eladrin Barbarian | Naivara Siannodel - Half Elf Ranger
Arrila Evenwood - Half Elf Paladin | Callaphe of Setessa - Human Rogue
Katernin Nemetsk - Aasimar Cleric | Melody - Tiefling Bard
Tarja shifts into her familiar Wolf form and carefully follows Zeke's lead into the trees on the northern bank listening for any movement and smelling for any beings she might recognize: goblins, worgs, dwarves, humans...
Stealth: 22
Perception: 25