Rilt & Rena

On your journey to Vogler, you paid a visit to the Barb on the Night of the Eye. The Barb is a centuries old spire, built by the Mages of High Sorcery before the Cataclysm. Its intended purpose has since been lost to the sands of time, but now it is used as a sort of practice trial before aspiring mages attempt the much more dangerous Test of High Sorcery. On the Night of the Eye, as the triple moons of Krynn align, the ruin comes alive with magic once more. 

You were not the only mages at the Barb that night, but you were the only ones to complete the challenge. You were presented with a sealed ornate scroll by a red-robed mage named Ravina. The scroll is intended for another mage by the name of Wyhan in the city of Kalaman, which is conveniently nearby Vogler. Wyhan is meant to lead you onto the next step of your journey in joining the Mages of High Sorcery. Ravina warned that the scrolls are meant for Wyhan's eyes only, and they should not be opened before being delivered to him.

With the Night of the Eye ended and your trial passed, you are both now one step closer to officially joining one of the organizations three orders.

All

In recent days the five of you have come together on your journey to Vogler. Whether some of you have traveled together since the beginning, or met along the way, by the time you reach the final crossroads on the approach to Vogler, you are gathered as five. 

You are but a few days now from the small fishing village of Vogler, and you now pass through a moderately wooded area, with large sections that have been cleared away for farmland. Save for Rena and Rilt, your journey thusfar has been fairly uneventful. As you've passed other travelers on the road, you've heard rumors of strange armies in the lands to the east, and bandits running amok in the farmlands nearby.

The sun is beginning to set as you travel down the road, casting the land in an orange glow...

((Welcome to the campaign! Go ahead and make a little introductory post for your character, and then we will begin in earnest. :) ))

Jaime glances sidelong at his new travel companions as they move down the road to Vogler. It had been an odd coincidence enough that he and Cali had both met the daring adventurer in their childhoods, sending them along the same life paths. Now three others had joined them in the final stretch of the long journey to pay their respects to Ispin Greenshield. Fate could be strange indeed.

The young knight wears a relatively newly made set of leather armor pieces over a simple white linen shirt, though over travel it has turned into more of a "dusty-brown kind of white." Over the armor he's donned a blue surcoat that bears the silver-threaded symbol of the Order of the Sword. A dagger hangs from his hip where a sword might be, if his luck weren't so cursed. Some foul spirit seemed to haunt Jaime; through a variety of different misfortunes, he's completely lost a blade about half a dozen times. It wasn't but a week ago then when he woke up, his longsword was simply gone from its scabbard, whisked away in the dead of night by some thief or trickster spirit. Thankfully, their journey hadn't really called for the weapon so far.

As the sun begins to set, bathing them in orange light, he stifles a yawn. Speaking aloud to the others, he asks, "do we wish to stop and camp before nightfall? Or are you all alright with strolling underneath the moonlight for a few hours?"

Rilt Starkstone is a mountain dwarf. He's tight-lipped, and has a tendency to treat most people as though they want something from him. Shrewd. 

He's thick, muscular even for a dwarf. He keeps his black hair and beard both short. It seems to match the black robes we wears as a mark of his station within the High Mages of Sorcery. The robes are open, revealing a set of shiny scale mail beneath. His gauntleted hands never seem to stray far from his weapons, either. 

As they've traveled, Rilt offers little assistance and accepts few offers of help, behaving as though it might be used to leverage favors against him. That said, he seems to have a genuine grief for ispin in his death, and a respect for his traveling companions. He takes his turn setting a fire without complaint, and offers compliments about feeling safer traveling with people who knew Ispin. 

"I would choose to make camp. We still have a few days to go. Some here cannot see as well once the sun goes down."

Calitynia Frostwind, Knight of Solamnia is how the young woman first introduced herself. Not quite six feet tall, she seemed rather athletic and certainly dressed the part of a knight. She wears shiny chain mail, with a golden surcoat and matching cloak.  The symbol of the Order of the Crown is embroidered on it in silver thread, much as Jamie's. She carries a glaive, though she also keeps a longsword at her hip.

Also quite noticeable is her long and starkly white hair which seems to match her fair complexion. She usually has a smile for everyone as she meets their gaze with her light blue eyes.

Much of the journey she has kept close to Jamie. Perhaps not so surprising as fellow Solamnic Knights. She seems to have no problem with him calling her Cali, while she usually gives any others using the shortened version of her name a brief stare.  Though she had never admonished anyone over it.

When Jamie asks about stopping, Cali finds herself agreeing with their new dwarf companion.  "Yes, better to stop and set up a proper camp. We do indeed still have a couple of days left to travel."

Glann is a human with long black hair, wearing fine clothes black with red details and a bordeaux red cloak. He normally has his Lyre in hand and sometimes his pan flute playing a tune here and there. But it is clear that the tunes are only uses as a background noises to the stories he tells.

He as well is happy he found these strangers on his path, not being alone on this journey to the funeral of his old hero Ispin. He has heard many a story from him, and has told even more, which is why he immediately turned to Vogler when word came to him of Ispin's passing.

"Setting camp would be wise I think, I can take the first watch."

Rena has been relatively quiet ever since meeting Rilt at the Barb, though she's spoken a little bit more since joining up with the other three on the road. The last time the young woman traveled far from her Caergoth, she nearly perished, so it was perhaps the unease of being far from home that made her so quiet.

She wears her golden hair down, with a simple silver circlet adorning her head. The aspiring mage has forgone robes in favor or clothing more practical for travel: a simple black tunic and trousers to match, with a pair of durable leather boots on her feet. To show her fealty to Order of the White Robes, she wears a silver cloak with the Solinari moon embroidered on the back.

As discussions of their evening plans take place, she offers a shrug. "I could go on for longer, but not on my own. It sounds like we're determined to stop and rest for the night."

"Sounds settled then," Jaime says with a nod, turning to scan the area around them for a suitable place to set up. He was split on what to look for. Something out of sight from the road would be wise, as it would put them out of reach from those seeking trouble...But a part of him wanted for such a confrontation. The stories of bandits they'd heard from others as they traveled through the region had set him in mood. Deferring to Calitynia when he felt this way usually worked out for the better.

And so he does. "See anything that looks favorable Cali? You've usually got a better eye for this sort of thing than me anyway."

Calitynia nods at Jamie's comment. "We should probably find somewhere that the group isn't an obvious target. But most important where we won't be caught off guard."  She looks about their vicinity to try to find such a place.  Or as close as possible.  (Survival: 20)

Glann helps setting up the camp after a good location is found and when the camp is set starts telling yet another story about Ispin.

Calitynia

You're in a fairly wooded area at the moment. The trees around the road have been cleared fairly well, but it isn't very far offroad that their density thickens. The terrain isn't exactly flat either, there's plenty of hills and outcrops around to make the landscape uneven. On a hunch, you jog up a nearby incline to get a better view deeper into the woods. The terrain slopes down from there, and in the distance you can see an area that would make for a decent campsite. It can't be seen from the road, and it looks like a medium sized outcropping may even hide you from view of the hill you're currently on.

As Calitynia finishes surveying the area, you all hear a quivering scream as a young man rounds the bend ahead of you. "Please, help!" He calls out as he races towards your group, casting a fearful glance behind.

Rena jumps slightly as the scream pierces the air, gaze snapping to the bend in the road as the man comes into view. She casts an unsure glance at the others before looking back to the road, keeping an eye on it even as the man approaches their group. "What ails you?"

Calitynia heads back to the road, stepping forward to be between the young man and other members of the group.  "Yes. Tell us what's wrong," she says, echoing Rena.

Rilt draws his hammer, along with with his suspicious demeanor. 

"Stay back! We aren't to be trifled with!" He looks to the flanks and rear, watchful in case this is a ruse for an ambush. 

Do I see anything that might indicate this man might be dishonest or such? Armor instead of ordinary clothing, that sort of thing. 

Perception 20 

After the stories of bandits Glann is immediately at high alert, looking towards the road what is coming, and listening to the man on what he has to say; For now leaving the others to do the talking as Calitynia already stepped forward.

Rilt

Once he comes closer, the man doesn't look the slightest bit of a threat to you. He wears simple clothes you might expect of a farmhand, carrying no armor or weapons. 

The young man slides to a stop before coming too close to your group, wary of the intimidating dwarf. He holds his hands up in surrender. "W-w-were attacked. It happened so fast. We were about to start setting up for the night and they just...came out of nowhere." With a panicked look he checks behind him again before continuing with a stammering voice. "The soldiers...One of them was already dead when I ran." His eyes go to the weapons your group carries, and with a pleading look he begs. "Please, you have to help the others! I d-don't know how much longer they'll last."

With a brief sigh, Calitynia looks at their group. "Whether he's telling the truth or not, this could very well be a set up for ambush. I'd suggest a few of us go with this young man to see. The rest follow at a distance, and with what concealment they can manage. If it is a trap, well at least have a way out."

She then looks over at Jamie, "Perhaps you can lead the others. And Rilt?" she says to the dwarf. "Perhaps you could come with me?"

Jaime moves forward to join Calitynia at the front, nodding along to her plan. "We'll move off the road. Should be able to use the trees and brush as cover. Just don't do anything I would do, eh?" He allows a brief smile, then turns to the other two.

"Rena and Glann...Fancy a little stroll through the woods?"

"We're going to the fight them? These...attackers?" Rena asks, her voice raising slightly in pitch. In the back of her mind she knew this was how things worked, this is what adventurer's like Ispin did. But she'd never intentionally gone after someone with violence before. "I uh. Yes. Lead on, I'll follow as quietly as I can."

Hearing Rena's concerned tone, Cali briefly turns to her.  "You'll be fine. Rilt and I should draw most the attention.  Jamie and I are trained for a fight.  You just help us out however you can. I'm sure you'll be a great help."

She honestly wasn't sure how she might help.  But better to reassure thec woman the Knight thought.

Glann agrees and joins for the 'stroll' through the woods, he has had to defend himself on the road before, but was not one to normally just walk into the fight. This young man, however, seems to need our help so let's do it.