Muireach will continue to drop some hug bombs on Vivi.

Muireach is certain if Vivi could purr it would be happening. Despite her dull expression, her eyes are lit up as she is epically hugged.

Sir Garamon takes a seat inside the wagon. "I wish I could ride my mount! What a mighty steed she was. Her name was Pumpkin, and she served as my faithful horse for many decades... of course, I'm not allowed to ride her anymore. Such a shame. She loves kids!"

Dyoken rides just ahead of the group, and late in the day the wagon gets stuck in a deep rut.

Near enough to the city the paths are well maintained, but the further out you travel the less attention is given, fortunately further still the roads see less travel. About a days travel out the roads seem to be at the worst.

Dyoken attempts to help the Oxen free the cart. He allows the mild frustration to push him into a moment of Rage as he pulls (Athletics: 9)

Merrick jumps forward to eagerly pump Bigs and Wedge's hands. 

"Hi! Merrick Meadowgrain, nice to meetcha! This is going to be exciting. Do you know where we can find pegasi and a skysovereign?"

He then leads in conspiratorially.

"Just go along with Muireach here. He gets really excited. And whatever you do, do *not* go dancing with him when he's horny, even if he insists. I learned that that hard way. Oof!"

“That is horribly out of context!” Muireach picks up Merrick, “We wouldn’t want that tarnishing my good name, now would we? If that happened, I’d have to CRACK THA SKULLS O’ WHOEVER WAS SPREADIN’ TALK LIKE THAT!” Muireach pats Merrick’s head with a smile.

"Haha!" laughs Merrick nervously. He wriggles out of the elf's grasp like a slippery fish. To Bigs and Wedge, he mouths silently [See what I mean??]

Luthok will uses most of the second day examining Vivi in the back of the cart while they're moving. . 

"Ya swallowed a rock, lass. I get that you're afraid of bellyaches." Luthok places three fingers upon her stomach and moves them around, looking for any trace of the rock. "Feelin' any nausea at all?" Luthok tied Toadstool to the back of the cart earlier that morning and the rather obedient mule has been trodding behind the cart since then. He places his entire palm on her, concentrating on any inconsistencies or unnatural bumps on her midriff."Stone was magic though. So might not be an issue for the digestion."  The old dwarf helps Vivi put her dress back on properly and hands her a Goodberry. 

"Anyway... It's better to be on the safe side. Have a snack, and tell me if your belly starts acting up." 

Medicine: 16

Bigs seems to be stroking her chin at the thought of what Merrick means, "Dancing horny...?"

Wedge now suspiciously eyes Muireach for the rest of the day. He gives Merrick an approving nod. Indeed, the Forged seems to think Muireach is a neer-do-well.

Dyoken's absolutely right. Though you are still in farmland territory, the tax dollar is definitely being stretched thin out in these parts. With his great strength, he successfully pushes the oxen out of the pothole. [All of the NPCs] clap. Particularly Garamon, who was still inside the wagon.

"WOW! You are so strong!" Of course, it would probably have been more helpful if Garamon had jumped off the wagon and helped! 

Anytime Muireach (in whatever form he's in) gets too close to Bigs, Wedge... wedges himself between them.

Vivi nods as Luthok inspects her. She seems very appreciative of his care and concern.

"Thank you, Mr. Luthok." Vivi takes the goodberry and chews on it for a long time. "I'll tell you if I feel bad. Uuu... do you have any more berries...?"

It would seem everything is going smoothly so far!

On the second day of travel, the group passes a farmstead with a large gaggle of human children playing tag. Merrick, bored out of his mind on the wagon, leaps off and joins the children without a second thought. The children are a mix of ages, and Merrick, being a kithkin, fits right in. The kithkin laughs happily as he weaves and bobs, jumping nimbly over rocks to avoid older childrens' tags, but gently letting himself be caught by a three year old who was easily evaded by everyone else.

To make the game more fair, Merrick then starts to play as hard as he can, but on one leg. He is relegated to hopping, rolling, and bouncing to tag and avoid tags. This makes him a favorite target of the children, who start running after him with peals of laughter.

The human parents start coming out of their farmhouses to hear what the commotion is about, and look on approvingly.

As the days tick forward, Muireach, oddly enough, has remained in his summer form for the entire trip so far. The elf has been speaking with the two newcomers, “No, no! You see it’s a complete misunderstanding! The ‘horns’ in reference are to a faun! She had turned me down because of my lack of horns! The dancing, meanwhile, is referring to how I learned to perform to gain her affections! It went remarkably poorly, haha!” Muireach smiles broadly and confidently.

Persuasion: 12

Oh no. My reputation, my legacy!

A river cuts through the land visible from a good distance over the flat level land.

Dyoken rides off ahead of the party and catches up again in the evening laden (possibly) with the bounty he catches there in.

(Survival: 4)

"Hey, what day of the week is it?" asks Merrick to nobody in particular one fine afternoon.

"Sunday" DK replies as he returns with the fish. "The 12th of Drite" 

(Unless your afternoon and my evening are not the same.)

"Well, it's a beautiful day for a Sun-"

Merrick's mouth stays open but no sound comes out. Anyone observing him closely would notice he appears to have turned a light shade of green.

"PIPSQUEAK!"  Luthok rides over to Merrick and slaps him across the face. "What is the matter with you? You're weirder than usual today." He gives him another couple of slaps before riding on a few feet ahead.

For once, Merrick doesn't try to do anything to evade Luthok's slaps. He just takes them, slack jawed.

"I'm going to miss sunday dinner", he says in a very small voice. Merrick stares at the empty sky, not blinking.

"Don't worry kid, we'll feed you." Dyoken starts cleaning the fish for Sunday Dinner.

Quote from BDaddLy >>

"Don't worry kid, we'll feed you." Dyoken starts cleaning the fish for Sunday Dinner.

 “I believe that he’s more worried about his grandmother! She is a most cheery terror! She could easily fit in with any of the fey I’ve met!”

The children enjoy Merrick's performance for them. They hop and skip with him. A few of them are kithkin themselves, and they seem to liken him to the stories they heard of Fiona Brown, one of Shepherd's companions. This is a pretty high honor as Fiona was one of the most adventurous kithkin in the land!

A kithkin girl, who couldn't be older than 7, hands Merrick a bunny doll. If he takes it, she asks him if he could ensure the bunny sees adventure and to bring it back to her once Mr. Bunny has seen some action!

Bigs nods along to Muireach's explanation. "So not a horny dance, but a hornless dance - I get it!" Wedge seems silent.

Later that day, on Saturday the 11th of Drite, Muireach finds a note in his saddle or pack. Should he read it, it says:

"Oh yes, that charming woman seems like she could scare the hair off a goat, and I should know," Sir Garamon adds to Muireach's observations, "I've seen it done! Dragons are quite terrifying."

"Uuu..." Vivi pats Merrick on the back. "If you die, I'll talk to your ghost every day." She seems to hope Merrick finds that thought comforting.

Later that night, as Merrick feels a chill creep up his spine imagining his nana with a feast with no one but Artin to share it with, you all set up camp off the road a bit. You are firmly past the farmlands and now out in the great wilderness. The roads here are paved but are uneven as the impression of wheels shows you the traveled path of large, heavier caravans. The sky is clear, so every star in the sky is visible along with the luna. 

Wedge is attempting to start a campfire. Bigs is knocking a pole into the ground (and struggling as she has been the past few days) so that she can tie the oxen to it. Sir Garamon seems to be coaching Wedge ("I don't think you are striking the flint correctly. Are you striking it? Would you like me to do it?") Vivi is seated at the back of the wagon and seems to be playing a melancholy tune on her scythe-guitar.

What are you all doing?

(Intermission from Skill Challenge ATM.)

So it is Sunday, Drite 12th still! FYI