During the rest Deuteria would like to approach Falcio. "Um.. Falcio..sir. We are headed into a little more hostile territory, if you like I can take a look at your weapon and see if there is anything I can do to give you a bit more oomph."

Gadoc finds a rock and does his best to sharpen his axes (which are already very sharp), then tries to rope some of the soldiers into a game of dice.

Qrow quickly gets to work once the Caravan stops. Scouting out the perimeter of the camp, he sets up his Alarm multiple times, so that the guards have assistance in the watch. He specifically sets it so members of the caravan don't set it off, save for those of the Prince's circle. When he's finally done, he returns to the fire and rolls his neck in mild exhaustion. The setting of the same spell multiple times was more tedious than it was difficult, but it needed to be done. Glancing around, he pondered who to speak with from the party, before opting to approach Gadoc. He personally hadn't met too many Goliath's in his time and was curious, "Hello there. Don't suppose you mind me joining you for supper?"

Falcio will put his hand on the hilt of his rapier, then pause and look at Deuteria a little uncertainly. Something in her gaze must assure him, as he draws the weapon, then turns it, offering the hilt to the gnome.

"Please... take care with it. A redco-... a soldier, isn't worth much without his sword."

"I will treat it like its worth a thousand platinum." Deuteria will sit down with his sword and take out her tinkers tools and will carefully remove the pommel. Using her smith's tool she will work the pommel and handle adding some counter weights and regripping it. After reassembling she will give it a few test swings and then hand it back to Falcio. (Deuteria used one of her infusions, Enhanced Weapon, giving your sword a +1 to attack and damage rolls. It should stay that way unless I use it on another weapon or exceed my total amount of infusions. Not sure how the DM wants to handle that.) "This should help a lot, give it a few swings. I think you'll find it a lot better balanced and easier to handle." Deuteria seems to be absolutely beaming with glee at having the chance to work on something. 

Falcio will take on a fighting stance, his right foot forward, and make a few practiced swings and thrusts with his improved weapon. He would seem somewhat amazed at how well it now handles.

"That is quite a skill you have, Deuteria. I'm not sure how to thank you for this. Other than to ask that you stay near to me when trouble comes, so I can ensure you come to no harm."

Aerden takes note of the rumors circulating the camp, mentally preparing himself for the day ahead. Before falling asleep for the night, he cleans and sharpens his blades. He sleeps propped against a rock with his rapiers across his lap, ready to react if something happens overnight.

Quote from RasecAlugard >>

Qrow quickly gets to work once the Caravan stops. Scouting out the perimeter of the camp, he sets up his Alarm multiple times, so that the guards have assistance in the watch. He specifically sets it so members of the caravan don't set it off, save for those of the Prince's circle. When he's finally done, he returns to the fire and rolls his neck in mild exhaustion. The setting of the same spell multiple times was more tedious than it was difficult, but it needed to be done. Glancing around, he pondered who to speak with from the party, before opting to approach Gadoc. He personally hadn't met too many Goliath's in his time and was curious, "Hello there. Don't suppose you mind me joining you for supper?"

 Gadoc hears footsteps approaching behind him and instinctively spins around and assumes a defensive stance, his newly sharpened battlexe raised.
When he realizes who it is, he relaxes and sets down his weapon.  "A good soldier never turns down supper with a companion, sorry if I've seemed a little aloof going off by myself... I'm little nervous this being my first big assignment and all, and I guess I just like to be..." he points at his weapons "prepared.  Anyways, come sit and tell me what it's like being in a battle with such little armour, it must take a truly brave person to risk that."

The night passes uneventfully.  The caravan is making great time. When passing through a small town, the last before entering a stretch of badlands, the locals had to be forced to trade with threats of violence, and the populace of the town came out to jeer you as you passed through.

Qrow, while passing would speak to those around him to see why it was they had forced the town to trade with them, speaking in low tones so as to not further agitate the already jeering populace, "Why is it that we forced them to trade with us? Seems unproductive."

"Wow, they really don't like us...." Deuteria's hand instinctively slip into the gauntlets hanging at her side. Those close by can hear the quick whirring of gears for a moment and a faint hum begin to emanate as they quickly click into place securing themselves to her hands. Seeing them on the small gnome is almost comical as they are quite large compared to the rest of her. 

Gadoc would feel uncomfortable with the jeering, he's spent his entire life in let's just say... Pro-Empire... environments, and the Empire is what gave his Father a chance to thrive in the Army (and then Gadoc).  BUT he was taught by his father about the value of each person as an individual and the importance of not taking advantage of people so he feels a little queasy at this conflict of values, he's just not sure what  (if anything)to do about this.  He notices Qrow making subtle inquiries amongst other soldiers and approaches him

"shouldn't the villagers be grateful that we've done all we can to keep them secure in these dangerous times?" Gadoc asks curiously

Aerden is patrolling up the length of the caravan as it makes its way through the town. He closes his eyes, shaking his head witnessing the violence against the population, sighing quietly to himself, "For every one dissenter we quiet this way, two more will rise to take retribution." 

Hearing Deuteria's comment, he responds, "There are many grievances, some more legitimate than others. Much of the population has a very narrow view on affairs outside of this town and I would expect there is no shortage of misinformation spread by both those who disagree with the empire, and those who might profit from continued hostilities."

He continues his way up the length of the caravan, scanning the crowd for anyone particularly suspicious.

To Gadoc, and anyone listening:

War is ugly, my friend. These people will have lost husbands, fathers and sons to it. And they likely know little for the reason behind it. To them, most likely, they were just defending their land against invaders. And they have suffered for it.

How many men has each of us killed in the past two years? Can you even count them? I wonder how many of them hailed from this region.

Alas, such is the way of war. It is sad, but sometimes necessary. In this case, it was just. But that doesn't make the outcome any easier for these people to bear. History will speak the truth of things, in time. And the world will be better for it, despite these struggles.

Deuteria walks along with eyes downturned glancing up every few seconds to try and keep alert for any danger, but very much distracted by the jeers

Perception(at disadvantage due to the constantly looking down): 5

Seeing the others tense up, Pardot keeps riding along, keeping his eyes on the locals as well, ready to be away from them as much as the locals are ready for them to be gone.

One of the quartermaster's answers Qrow's question. "Army this size can't carry enough food to feed itself.  Trading where and when we can helps with that. We are under orders to treat these people as well as we can, we offered a fair price, even offered it in gold instead of Alliance scrip. But they refused.  We paid half in gold and half in scrip, and only took what we needed.  They can trade the scrip in for goods and gold. It stinks we had to do it but the alternative is seizing it."

Two days into the badlands, outriders came back with reports of raiders approaching the caravan. They were dealt with, but as the caravan is supposed to cross the Godscar canyon tomorrow, an ambush would be bad news indeed.

Then the reports came in.  The rope bridge across the Godscar was cut on this side.  A large meeting is being called in the commander's tent.  You all are invited to attend, as you are relatively higher ranking and represent an assortment of skill sets.

Deuteria will be standing a little off to the side, not wanting to be right in the middle of all these people, although she is listening very intently to the reports. 

While Gadot is always happy to point out any tactical flaws as they arise (he has after all, spent much of his life so far studying military tactics), his expertise lies in being able to protect the prince as a last resort and will let others lead discussions over scouting etc. He does however sidle  beside Redemption "I believe I would be best suited working with you directly, my skillset lies in protecting valuable assets like the Prince and I have no problem working under your direction"

Qrow furrowed his brow at the quartermaster's words. While he silently praised the military for limiting their use of force, it baffled him that they didn't establish a strong logistical chain for supply chains prior to the march. Still, such thoughts were better left unsaid when there was nothing that could be changed about it....it still didn't sit right with him, however.

When word came about the bridge's sabotage, Qrow attempted to make himself know, offering a variety of solutions while pointing to the roughly sketched map of the Godscar and where the bridge once was. First, he motioned to the bridge itself, "Our first option would be to set up camp, with the Godscar to our back until we manage to repair the bridge. We have a skilled engineer with us, as well as an assortment of scouts and climbers. While it may not function as a long-term fix, it should be enough to cross the Scar. However, this carries the danger that whoever sabotaged the bridge in the first place attempts to stop us, or ruins the bridge again as we attempt to cross."

Letting his first proposal carry around the table, he then dragged his fingers around the two sides of the map, "The second most plausible option, would be to give up crossing at this point, and have scouts venture in both directions along the Scar, to find an alternative way across or around. This would drain our supplies a bit, but is the supple approach, with the best guarantee of succeeding....however it also carries the risk of ambush and our supplies being used up before we can get across, or shortly after doing so."

Laying out what he saw as the best two options for the convoy, Qrow pulled his hands back from the map, looking about to see critique or alternatives. He wasn't in charge, so he couldn't make the decision alone, but he wished for his words to hold influence over what would happen. He needed to take every chance he could to improve his worth.