"I am unhurt and can help heal any that need it." Ressys says as he moves forward.  Seeing the injuries of Durnham and Qidira he reaches out and touches each of them once as he mumbles a few quiet words in a language the others cannot understand.

"Bydded i'r ddaear eich cryfhau"

He heals Qidira for 5 and Durnham for 5

Qidira smiles up at Ressys as he works to heal her injuries with strange words, most of the damage leaving her body.  "Yes, thank you.  That was welcome."  She says pressing her sides where the pain was and feeling it mostly gone with only some bruising remaining.  "Much better.  It was foolish of me to allow them to get so close."  Then looking at the others she takes a second look at Kotar.  She'd seen him injured but the Goliath showed no signs of it.  

The well-padded gnome gazes at the sky, trying to judge the time in this new land.

Durnham nods to Ressys, “Thank you. I took a bit of that cold from them but not too serious. I’m good now thanks to you.” He looks around to see if there’s anything left of the mephit. “Did they even leave bodies behind?”

Orvo brushes his boot across the snow where a mephit exploded: "No, nothing left.  They're just ice held together with spite, and that death explosion scatters them in tiny pieces"

Seeing that everyone is recovered or unhurt, your guide says "Well then, that was quite the wake up.  Let's get going so we can make as much distance today as possible"

He finishes packing his kit away, ready to set off.

Brandon pulls his sword free of the snow, cleaning it off quickly and sheathing it before turning to see if Qidira and the others are okay.  He is relieved when Winterwalker heals both Durnham and Qidira, but he still asks to make sure the gnome is okay  “Are you alright, are you badly injured?  Thank you for jumping in front of me, but there was no need to put yourself in danger.  You will find that I am tougher than I look, and ..” he pauses slightly   “ ..I am not worth your sacrifices in any case.”   

Orvo’s call catches his attention and he turns away gathering his pack and equipment, ready to resume their journey.  “Orvo, we are still following the same path as the Professor today, correct?  We should be alert to any sign of their passing.”

Qidira grins back and Brandon's concern.  "Only a few bruises left with Durnham's healing.  I'll be ok." Her expression goes from sheepish at the admonishment then a brief flicker of anger seems to cross her face then turns firm.  "I beg to differ though Brandon, my friend, you are worth any sacrifice I'm willing to make for your sake and likely more.   Friends are very hard to come by and I intend to keep you all intact."  The scruffy looking gnome, trying to be stern fails somewhat but Brandon may get the intent of the expression.   "But...I realize that my actions might have been a little hasty.  You are obviously more than capable of taking care of yourself and I will try not to be so protective in future, I'm just not used to having friends."

Qidira checks to be sure she has all of her weapons with her, retrieving any used in battle.  (I don't think she threw any this time, but to be sure)

At the mention of the professor, Qidira pulls out pages of notes she'd made and presses the little dice sides to project images of them onto a flat surface (even snow would work) choosing to look at the originals herself.  "So, are we here?"  She points at the map that she'd made showing Orvo hoping to match up their location and matching any landmarks to aid them in their comparison.  

@DM Basically, hoping the notes will be helpful however they can be in the situation.

Brandon bristles a bit at Qidira’s response, but his face softens at the gnomes response “Qidira, I didn’t mean to offend. I count you as my friend and I guess I just want to see you safe as well.  That has not always held true with others in the past”  He gives a thin smile “We will just go on and keep protecting each other then, good friends are hard to come by and I too would like to keep you all in one piece.”

He quickly moves his attention to the map Qidira displays to get a better sense of their surroundings as much as to take his mind off of other sacrifices in the past.

Durnham leans on his staff a bit as he shuffles through the snow to reach the campsite. As he gathers his belongings up and packs his tent and gear he comments to the group. “If we run into more surprises like that today, I won’t be able to do as much. I spent much of my arcane resources taking those things down quickly... I may have overreacted but that cold breath they did...” he shivers at both the cold and the memory, “I thought it best to take them down quickly, before they could surround us and hit more of us together.”

Qidira crinkles her brow a bit at the apology.  "No need to apologize, I was not offended.  Only upset that you thought yourself not worth the sacrifice.  And yes, a definitely plan."  

Then looking down at the notes.  "Please forgive the sloppy penmanship and awkward sketches, I guess I have my own sort of legend in my head." Explaining a couple odd symbols and notes in the edges.  "By my estimation, we are here on the map but I know little of the area so we could be here for all my efforts."  Pointing to an area they are obviously not in an attempt at humor.  "Is there anything close by you could think of that he might have gone off trail to investigate?"  (I have no real map obviously) "I'm not sure what a lot of this means myself."

Orvo looks up from his work to answer Brandon “Aye, from the looks of it we will be in their tracks for another day before we diverge from their path. Depending how much distance we put down today, we will either leave their trail an hour or two before camp, or an hour or two into tomorrow’s trek”

As Qidira finishes casting around for her weapons and presents her slides, Orvo nods: “Aye, that’s about right.  Closer to here, maybe, but this helps.  Thank you” he indicates a slightly different position to that suggested by the gnome, but not far and not with any malice.  He chuckles at the obviously wrong suggestion Qidira makes to lighten the mood.

“He would have been unlikely to deviate from his course, he would have wanted to reach his destination as soon as possible.  It is admirable that you want to roll up a rescue mission into this mercy run, but my advice would be to stick to one noble cause at a time.  Try too much and you’ll help nobody”

He turns from Qidira to Durnham and says “That was a very timely intervention, thank you.  I can’t promise that we shan’t have any further encounters today, so consider us warned that we cannot rely on an unending supply of artillery. If you do weaken too much then we can always take a short break, that’s your call”

Seeing that everyone has their kit stowed, he says “OK then, let’s be off”

And with that he leads the long trudge through the snow.

(Any further conversation or activity can be resolved on the travel)

After healing his companions Ressys moves to help pack the tents and gather their supplies back together.  "You will find Orvo that we are stronger than we look and we still have resources at hand to deal with further encounters.  But it will be best to rest on occasion during our travel anyways."

He then looks to the horizon in the direction they intend to go.

"I am ready to go." 

"Ready here too!"  She scoops up the papers and the dice and tucks them back into the satchel.  Slips the snowshoes back on and tightens up laces and other openings on her gear pointing herself in the same direction. 

You set off once more across the vast, blank canvass of snow.  You trust in Orvo's navigation skills, only Kotar having any familiarity with the region.

You travel the whole day, taking short breaks to eat and rest up, ending up at a sparse treeline in the middle of an undulating field of snow.  The evergreens provide some cover as you set up camp under their patchy canopy and Orvo starts a fire a short distance away: "I don't want to burn down the only trees for miles, so we'll use them as a wind break.  We've made it to the point where we leave Gulrim's path and go our own way.  Starting tomorrow we're heading into Thin Sheets and about three days from the vault"

You pick shifts on watch and settle in for a second night in the snow.

Durnham has spent a lot of the day thinking about Brandon and the strange magic he has displayed a few times now. As they settle down for the evening he approaches Brandon and talks quietly where they won’t be overheard easily.

”I’ve noticed your magic a few times now Brandon. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before. It’s different than what I’ve studied… where did you learn how to make blasts of energy like that? It doesn’t seem to be an element like I would expect. I can cast blasts of fire or ice but… I don’t know what that is you’re throwing at things. It seems effective and it’s been helpful but…. What is it?”

Qidira tucks in again for the night offering herself up for a first watch.  Noting the fire and not wishing to waste its cooking potential, she draws upon her memory of small creatures and their wintery habits and watches under the trees for a small critter wandering out for a fresh meal keeping her crossbow close by.  survival 6 should a situation present itself. 

Sorting through gadgets, gears and dodads she fidgets on the mechanical Sparrow adding detail and using the miscellaneous costume items to decorate calling on her jeweler skills for design as they settle in for the evening and she watches for game.    

Brandon is slightly away from the fire, standing next to the stand of trees and gazing out into the darkness when Durnham approaches.  Brandon gives a small smile when Durnham asks about his magic.  “No, it is not elemental, it is a negative energy pulled from the realm of shadow.  I did not learn it from a book or study, although I do seek to study to learn more about it.”

“It just came to me.  Sometimes it is like that, it just enters my mind when I first need it or it comes in a dream.  Sometimes he comes to me in those dreams and teaches me” Brandon points to the crow, visible again perched on a tree branch and looking at them both with beady eyes.  “I still have much to learn and more power to gain.  He helps me and keeps an eye on me for Her” Brandon practically spits out the last word and then shrugs “Some would call it a gift, others a curse.  A reward for promised service or punishment for a terrible sin.  Maybe it is both.”

Durnham nods as Brandon talks about the magic he uses. “I’ve noticed a raven from time to time but never connected it to you. Her? Who is she?” He sounds a little alarmed at the mention of some outside power or force involved with them or their journey.

Orvo continues to set up camp in the background as Durnham and Brandon discuss the raven.

Brandon laughs lightly at Durnham’s mention of the raven.  “I didn’t make the connection either at first.  Thought the cursed thing was a nuisance until it started visiting me in my dreams, unlocking secrets with the promise of more.  It is still a nuisance, but ...”  

He pauses when Durnham asks about Her, noting the concern in his voice. “She is my patron, a generous benefactor on one hand, and someone I owe a great debt to on the other.  But do not worry, Her interest is not with you or the others and I am not a puppet dancing at the end of a string.”  Not yet, anyway he thinks to himself. “Come now, let us go back to the fire.  Some things are best not discussed in the growing darkness of the night.”  He pats Durnham on the shoulder and heads back to join the others.  

Brandon volunteers for the second watch, following Qidira.  Perception: 11.

Durnham is concerned but allows himself to be led back to the fire as he furiously thinks about what Brandon has said. What kind of “benefactor” was this? Intruding on his dreams? This sounded potentially dangerous and made him uneasy.