Ulf watches for a time, gauging numbers and speed and, if possible, trying to identify who or what they might be. When he has learned what he can he completes his perimeter checsk , then returns to the hut letting everyone know what he discovered. "We may need to be more vigilant on the road. If we encountered such a group while travelling it might present problems. We must at least agree on our reason for travel."
@DM: Is this still on the main road, or on our detour? And...does Ulf have any idea what is the range of things they might be?
"Alright. Can't be rude to our companies." Ramiro claps his hands together. He narrows his azure blue eyes in thought, fringed thickly with soft blonde lashes. Then he opens them like they had sparkled to life, and he says smilingly, "How about a traveling band?"
About a quarter mile from your position, and it's on the secondary road you've now taken(though this entourage would be heading back towards the main road). You would know there are paths through the hills and trees that branch off this road every 20-30 miles or so, leading to the different villages/towns that occupy this area - they could have come from any of them.
"It would be smart to have a story ready...My skills with instruments are non-existent however."Eleriel says, already sitting on a rolled out bedroll within the dome. "We don't exactly have to play for anyone though. Ramiro should be enough on that front. We'd just need to look the part. Which would mean ditching the menacing armor and weapons. It's a risk though."
Ulf grimaces as Eleriel suggests removing armour and weapons. "Such a performer as Ramirez..." he shrugs to Ramiro, "...the Magnificent must surely need an entourage, and guards. But if necessary, for short periods, I can change my appearance."
He turns to face Ramiro fully, "Do you think you could carry this off, Ramiro? Or were you merely trying to torture us? We do need some kind of story."
"I don't mind disarming while we're on the road. So many guards for one person might draw suspicion after all." Aiden says, not particularly excited about the idea, but accepting in lieu of a better one.
"I am worried about running into someone else on the road at our pace though. If we catch sight of anyone, we should definitely slow down. Normal horses don't move that fast."
Ulf grimaces as Eleriel suggests removing armour and weapons. "Such a performer as Ramirez..." he shrugs to Ramiro, "...the Magnificent must surely need an entourage, and guards. But if necessary, for short periods, I can change my appearance."
He turns to face Ramiro fully, "Do you think you could carry this off, Ramiro? Or were you merely trying to torture us? We do need some kind of story."
Ramiro gives a soft laugh. "No, not at all." He says in his magnetic voice, in an delightful and endearing way, "You know I'd hardly go such length just to torture you, amore. Speaking of, have you not this type of experience, confidential escort missions, when you were working as the legendary Hunter of the Heretics?"
"I am worried about running into someone else on the road at our pace though. If we catch sight of anyone, we should definitely slow down. Normal horses don't move that fast."
"True." Ramiro says airily, "But also, no one will be able to catch up to us. A flash - and we will be gone."
Ramiro gives a soft laugh. "...have you not this type of experience, confidential escort missions, when you were working as the legendary Hunter of the Heretics?"
Ulf frowns, "I usually work alone.". He looks at the wagon and the group speculatively, "Not to say I have not been called upon to escort some high muckety-mucks from time to time. It could work..."
"...asked to escort some noble and his entourage quietly to some gods-forsaken village north of here, no questions asked." He snorts. "If I get the wording right it will be true as well."
"So...let's look at that map again, and pick a town...and remember, I know nothing of your mission."
"For what it's worth, if our ruse is found out and we need a quick escape...I can get us out. We'll be quite far from our objective, but that's better than imprisoned or dead." Thalia chimes in, having experience in neither music nor acting as a guard.
"I think I could play an aloof noble fairly well. This plan sounds like it'll work."
Ulf nods, "Then I can just start out as the hired help..." he says to Thalia.
He seems relieved for a moment, but then looks at the cart and sighs in resignation, "No more driving for you then. I hope those beasts are easy to control..."
"Do we have any other volunteers for the role of lackey? Obviously Ramiro must ride in the wagon, so that just leaves Eleriel."
"They are very good horses." Ramiro reassures Ulf, with a tiny triumphant smile on his lips.
"Thalia and I are sitting in the wagon, then what?" He says, supinating his palm, "We still need a story. Are we from the same family? Ulf is pretending to be a confidential escort agent of the Inquisitions pretending to be a hired help, what about Eleriel and Aiden? Are they with Ulf?"
"And we definitely need fake names. Can't just go around using our real ones. Disguises too."
Ulf stares at the bard a moment, "Ulfric von Something-or-other will be fine. Noone needs to remember it." He pauses, then expands on his ingenious plan. "Ulf for short." He turns to the others, "Pick your roles and we can get some rest."
He pauses, thinking for a moment, "We need also to decide where we started and where we are going."
With where you are on the road you're on, it would make sense to have come from Radel at this point, and your final destination can be anywhere westward. Radel is a port city, and large enough to house many minor nobles. Hammershawl and Reydes are city sized and town sized respectively, and reasonable end points. Or if you prefer, a smaller settlement to "go into hiding" such as Frey Point.
40
The first night passes without incident - seeing little more than small animals or insects during your respective turns taking watch. Come morning, after a cold(or warm if you made a fire) breakfast, you move the wagon from its hiding place and back towards the road where your journey might resume.
With your cover decided, you load up into the wagon under the guise of your roles. Watching the road while Ramiro summons the horses, no one crosses. As the final ritual casting completes, you start on your way, taking off at the explosive pace of the ethereal steeds.
Your morning goes by unimpeded, as the terrain gradually becomes less rough and uneven when you begin to pass around the northern most point of the mountain range. It is a little after the sun has reached its zenith that you slow your pace, as in the distance you can see something on the road ahead. Two wagons have pulled off to the side, just off the roadway. You can see perhaps a dozen or so figures milling about, but further detail is difficult to make out from this distance.
Ramiro climbs out of his seat in the wagon, and bends down next to Ulf. He whispers next to his ear, mysteriously, "What do you think? Stick to the plan?"
"Well, now the fun begins."He says cheerfully from the back of the wagon."Could just been some poor souls with a broken wheel. I don't think we have time to stop for help though." With company up ahead, Aiden slinks out of the rear of the wagon, having decided on playing the part of a rear guard.
Silthras continues to watch through his spyglass to gain more information while answering Ramiro, "You need to finish conjuring that horse and perhaps summon the next one before we move on."
He watches a few moments longer before looking up at the sun and nodding, "Let's pull off the road an take a break for lunch, feed and water the horses, then continue, eh my lord?"
If everyone is in agreement, he guides the wagon off the road, then unhitches the horses moving them behind the wagon and out of sight of the other wagoneers, as if to feed them.
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Ulf watches for a time, gauging numbers and speed and, if possible, trying to identify who or what they might be. When he has learned what he can he completes his perimeter checsk , then returns to the hut letting everyone know what he discovered. "We may need to be more vigilant on the road. If we encountered such a group while travelling it might present problems. We must at least agree on our reason for travel."
@DM: Is this still on the main road, or on our detour? And...does Ulf have any idea what is the range of things they might be?
"Alright. Can't be rude to our companies." Ramiro claps his hands together. He narrows his azure blue eyes in thought, fringed thickly with soft blonde lashes. Then he opens them like they had sparkled to life, and he says smilingly, "How about a traveling band?"
Ulf stares at Ramiro for a moment before emitting a rare chuckle. "Sometimes the best way to avoid attention is to attract it."
He looks around at his companions, "Does anyone here have any skills at music?"
About a quarter mile from your position, and it's on the secondary road you've now taken(though this entourage would be heading back towards the main road). You would know there are paths through the hills and trees that branch off this road every 20-30 miles or so, leading to the different villages/towns that occupy this area - they could have come from any of them.
"It would be smart to have a story ready...My skills with instruments are non-existent however." Eleriel says, already sitting on a rolled out bedroll within the dome. "We don't exactly have to play for anyone though. Ramiro should be enough on that front. We'd just need to look the part. Which would mean ditching the menacing armor and weapons. It's a risk though."
#edbd00 - Gold
Ulf grimaces as Eleriel suggests removing armour and weapons. "Such a performer as Ramirez..." he shrugs to Ramiro, "...the Magnificent must surely need an entourage, and guards. But if necessary, for short periods, I can change my appearance."
He turns to face Ramiro fully, "Do you think you could carry this off, Ramiro? Or were you merely trying to torture us? We do need some kind of story."
"I don't mind disarming while we're on the road. So many guards for one person might draw suspicion after all." Aiden says, not particularly excited about the idea, but accepting in lieu of a better one.
"I am worried about running into someone else on the road at our pace though. If we catch sight of anyone, we should definitely slow down. Normal horses don't move that fast."
Ramiro gives a soft laugh. "No, not at all." He says in his magnetic voice, in an delightful and endearing way, "You know I'd hardly go such length just to torture you, amore. Speaking of, have you not this type of experience, confidential escort missions, when you were working as the legendary Hunter of the Heretics?"
"True." Ramiro says airily, "But also, no one will be able to catch up to us. A flash - and we will be gone."
Ulf frowns, "I usually work alone.". He looks at the wagon and the group speculatively, "Not to say I have not been called upon to escort some high muckety-mucks from time to time. It could work..."
"...asked to escort some noble and his entourage quietly to some gods-forsaken village north of here, no questions asked." He snorts. "If I get the wording right it will be true as well."
"So...let's look at that map again, and pick a town...and remember, I know nothing of your mission."
"For what it's worth, if our ruse is found out and we need a quick escape...I can get us out. We'll be quite far from our objective, but that's better than imprisoned or dead." Thalia chimes in, having experience in neither music nor acting as a guard.
"I think I could play an aloof noble fairly well. This plan sounds like it'll work."
Ulf nods, "Then I can just start out as the hired help..." he says to Thalia.
He seems relieved for a moment, but then looks at the cart and sighs in resignation, "No more driving for you then. I hope those beasts are easy to control..."
"Do we have any other volunteers for the role of lackey? Obviously Ramiro must ride in the wagon, so that just leaves Eleriel."
"They are very good horses." Ramiro reassures Ulf, with a tiny triumphant smile on his lips.
"Thalia and I are sitting in the wagon, then what?" He says, supinating his palm, "We still need a story. Are we from the same family? Ulf is pretending to be a confidential escort agent of the Inquisitions pretending to be a hired help, what about Eleriel and Aiden? Are they with Ulf?"
"And we definitely need fake names. Can't just go around using our real ones. Disguises too."
Ulf stares at the bard a moment, "Ulfric von Something-or-other will be fine. Noone needs to remember it." He pauses, then expands on his ingenious plan. "Ulf for short." He turns to the others, "Pick your roles and we can get some rest."
He pauses, thinking for a moment, "We need also to decide where we started and where we are going."
With where you are on the road you're on, it would make sense to have come from Radel at this point, and your final destination can be anywhere westward. Radel is a port city, and large enough to house many minor nobles. Hammershawl and Reydes are city sized and town sized respectively, and reasonable end points. Or if you prefer, a smaller settlement to "go into hiding" such as Frey Point.
40
The first night passes without incident - seeing little more than small animals or insects during your respective turns taking watch. Come morning, after a cold(or warm if you made a fire) breakfast, you move the wagon from its hiding place and back towards the road where your journey might resume.
With your cover decided, you load up into the wagon under the guise of your roles. Watching the road while Ramiro summons the horses, no one crosses. As the final ritual casting completes, you start on your way, taking off at the explosive pace of the ethereal steeds.
Your morning goes by unimpeded, as the terrain gradually becomes less rough and uneven when you begin to pass around the northern most point of the mountain range. It is a little after the sun has reached its zenith that you slow your pace, as in the distance you can see something on the road ahead. Two wagons have pulled off to the side, just off the roadway. You can see perhaps a dozen or so figures milling about, but further detail is difficult to make out from this distance.
Ulf pulls the horses to a stop, "Wagons ahead."
He hands the reins to someone else, then pulls out his spyglass to take a closer look.
(( Depending upon OOC, he may cast some spells first ))
Tales from Beyond: 10 6 3 8 2
Ramiro climbs out of his seat in the wagon, and bends down next to Ulf. He whispers next to his ear, mysteriously, "What do you think? Stick to the plan?"
"Well, now the fun begins." He says cheerfully from the back of the wagon. "Could just been some poor souls with a broken wheel. I don't think we have time to stop for help though." With company up ahead, Aiden slinks out of the rear of the wagon, having decided on playing the part of a rear guard.
(( @DM: How long since we changed horses? ))
The horses have been used for 49 minutes.
Silthras continues to watch through his spyglass to gain more information while answering Ramiro, "You need to finish conjuring that horse and perhaps summon the next one before we move on."
He watches a few moments longer before looking up at the sun and nodding, "Let's pull off the road an take a break for lunch, feed and water the horses, then continue, eh my lord?"
If everyone is in agreement, he guides the wagon off the road, then unhitches the horses moving them behind the wagon and out of sight of the other wagoneers, as if to feed them.