With a warm meal in their bellies, the party gathers their gear and departs.  Stepping back out into the street, the air bites hard, seemingly somehow even colder than when they stopped in for lunch.  

The bid farewell to Phandalin and set out north, keeping to the road for now.  Just outside town, the pass a small train of two wagons pulled by mules.  The halflings driving them greet the party kindly.  They came this way hoping to offer a taxi service for miners heading into Neverwinter.  Shocked to hear of the dragon and other dangers, they thank you for the warning and double their speed as they head towards the village.  

The rest of the afternoon passes without incident.  Keeping to T'laren's proposed strategy the follow the Triboar Trail until they near the ruins of Conyberry.  Instead they turn north toward the forest, planning to then cut back west overland, toward the ranch.  They reach the outskirts of Neverwinter Wood as dusk falls.  

[Do you wish to make camp here, or press on through the night?  You expect you could reach the area of the ranch just before dawn if you keep walking all night.  If you make camp, I need to know if you set a watch and what order you set, please.]

Barkas votes to camp as it is getting on towards night and he offers to take first watch if the others are in agreement.  “I wouldn’t walk through these woods all through the night and get there exhausted.  Let’s camp here, if that makes sense… “. He looks for a spot with an opening up to the sky, a clearing such that he can look at the stars for guidance..

Aranea agrees with Barkas. "It's dangerous to travel by night, let alone through a forest," she says. "I'll take second watch."

Then she proceeds to set up her sleeping area, unrolling her bedroll and getting everything situated. Her nightly ritual consists of combing her long, dark hair, cleaning her teeth with a jar of special cleaning powder that when mixed with water forms a paste, and washing her face with a little water from her waterskin. It's clear Aranea takes care in her appearance, even while camping on a trail in the middle of nowhere. She does not take off her armor to sleep, which can be uncomfortable, but the base of her armor is leather so it is flexible enough that she has gotten used to doing it while traveling. Much better to be a bit uncomfortable while sleeping than to be caught unawares without armor.

T'laren pulls a bit of a face at Areana's primping, but looks away at he sets up his bedroll. "I'll rest now and take the final couple of shifts."

((Trancing for 4 hours then taking watch while working a bit on arrows.))

The party finds a meadow just inside the outer edge of the wood and sets up camp.

The night passes without assault or danger.  

The only peculiar thing... while Barkas was charting his stars during first watch, he was frequently interrupted by flashes of light from further north, toward the deep wood.  It looked for all the world like lightning, with the way it illuminated the sky, but there were no thunderheads to be seen - it was a cloudless night.  Most infuriating.

As morning dawns, there is a fine layer of frost on the meadow, and the grass crunches ever so slightly under your feet as you break camp.

[I'm pretty sure you all long-rested at some point after the last time there was a battle, but make sure to hit that button again.]

T'laren gives a nod to the others as they wake from where he sits back to a tree, bundled in his bedroll, having set aside his arrow work in the cool of the early morning.

(Sorry for the delay folks)

Being comfortable to be in wild, it's easy for Droknin to get ready for the night. Since it's a evening, he doesn't even bother setting up his bedroll. He tries to get comfortable on his spot, and he notices that Aranea is busy getting ready for the night. It seems to the Leonin that the female Human is practicing some sort of ritual. Somehow, it takes him back to his clan, where the female Leonins would take care of the younger members. He tries to pay no more attention to Aranea's busy work, and tries to get some rest.

At the next morning he asks Barkas. "Where now Star Reader?"

11

The party begins their journey west, using the edge of the forest for cover as they follow the course of the Triboar Trail.  

Along the way they encounter sign of wild game, as the brisk temperatures have the animals of the wood up and moving, scouting and scavenging for food before winter truly settles in.  

They do find evidence of Orc activity as well... they cut across the trail of an Orc band, perhaps 20 strong based on the amount of tracks.  The band was moving north into Neverwinter Wood.  The track is not fresh, probably several days old. 

Eventually they reach the SE edge of the Neverwinter Wood and begin cutting through open fields and prairies toward their destination.  Around late afternoon, they crest a hill covered in purple wildflowers and look down upon the Butterskull Ranch.

A ramshackle wooden fence, weathered by time and neglect, surrounds the sprawling grounds.  As they draw closer, the party notices the ranch occupies a large plot of land on the north side of the Triboar Trail, nestled between two hills... the one they stand on and another to the south.  Within the fence stand corn fields, an apple orchard, gardens, and pasture land.

A well-defined path breaks away from the main Triboar Trail, leading to a two-story farmhouse situated next to a serene pond. The farmhouse, painted in reds and whites, appears to be in good repair.  You are looking at the rear of the house, where a covered porch overlooks a small well, providing what looks like a welcoming spot to enjoy the pastoral scenery.

The scene is markedly different to the west of the farmhouse.  There lies the tragic remains of a barn and smithy, their charred frames haunting the landscape like smoking ribcages.  Blackened timbers are all that remain after a recent fire that consumed the structures, leaving behind nothing but ash and the pungent scent of lingering smoke.  There is still a haze rising above the ruins of the barn, where embers still smolder.

Amidst the overgrown gardens and pastures, signs of recent struggle become more apparent.  Trampled vegetation and scattered tools suggest a hasty retreat or a fierce conflict.  You can see, between the farmhouse and the burned smithy, at least six bodies on the ground, while another floats face down in the pond.  The corpses look to be a mix of Orcs and human farmfolk.

Between the farm and the pond, a huge spit rests over a spent bonfire, the leftover, charred remains of what looks like a cow still hanging where it was cooked.

Pigs, broken loose from their pen, wander the ground, seemingly oblivious to the carnage around them.  

[The party is at the top of the map, near the +40ft. marker on the north hill.  There are no signs of enemies or survivors outside in any of the fields.]

Aranea surveys the destruction with a solemn expression. "I fear we are too late for survivors, but we should check the farmhouse just in case."

Unless the others have any objections, she will start to slowly make her way to the farmhouse, eyes peeled for any signs of Orcs or survivors anywhere in the vicinity.

Perception - 16

Aranea, before you get too close to the farmhouse, you can hear voices from inside. Though the doors are closed, all of the window shutters are thrown wide open, despite the cold.  From inside, you can hear Orcish voices, raised in conversation, and sometimes singing battle songs.  They sound drunk.

Aranea stops and turns back to the others. She will whisper to them, "Orcs in the farmhouse. Drunk by the sound of it. We can take them by surprise."

"Able to tell how many? ", T'laren asks as he checks his arrows are free in his quiver, and that his strung bow is ready for action. 

[With that Perception roll, Aranea can deduce there are quite a few Orcs in there… 10 at least.  Maybe more.]

“Bah!! Only ten Orks, and they are drunk? We should have no problem!!” Droknin readies his sword with both hands.

"About ten or so, quite a few," Aranea confirms. "Let's welcome them to the neighborhood." She says this last part with a rather devilish smile. Then she will position herself to one side of the door, waiting for one of her more well-armored companions to burst through and give the orcs a little surprise.

T'laren will call forth Neral't, and move into a position where he'd ideally have unseen view for a bowshot on the doorway.

((He'd probably have had his shadow with them before now, but since I hadn't described it for Aranea, T'laren is able to summon a shadowy double of himself that is able to move independently of him as an Echo Knight.))

Barkas stays where he is, about 60 feet away from the door.  He nods to the others when ready, patting his pocket full of the magical stones, and gives a thumbs up.  He readies an action when he sees an orc emerge from the door.  

((Is someone actually trying to draw them out? May want to pause on readying a spell since you'll have to cast it or lose it within a turn if we are all out here just posturing and not actually fighting anyone yet? Depending on how close we are, and what kind of sightlines, T'laren can use Neral't to take a first shot if he's got view on them. Since it sounds like we're heading for initiative: 14))