( Nodrus would likely stay up all night, call it a natural precaution with sleeping near the woods again, so he'd be checking they weren't waking up with any immediate danger rather than waking in the morning, correction made )

Perception: 10

Stealth: 9

Nodrus: (okay. just so you know other people were already keeping watch in shifts. You'll gain a point of exhaustion if you want to stay up, after travelling all day then being up for 4+ hours at this point. If that's what you're doing then go ahead and give me a perception check with disadvantage)

Clermar: You creep away from camp, parting the foliage as you go. "Damn giants..... whole clan.... am I gonna do now?" you freeze as you hear words muffled by the leaves. Through the brush you catch a glimpse of a small, colorfully dressed humanoid walking south along the path. 

(The exhaustion point is fine, it's what he would do.)

Perception check: 5

( God i love dice )

Nodrus: You fight sleep, stoic and determined to be a sentry for the camp. You yawn and blink, rubbing your eyes. When they open again, Clermar is gone. You see Rat awake, staring off into the woods, and Dril just waking up.

In a hushed tone, "Clermar, is everything alright? There is something ahead."

Dril looks over at Rat and then down the path, going over incantations and body movements in his head, preparing for the worst. Dril would not awaken any party members unless he hears word from Clermar.

Dril also notices the Dwarf has not yet slept. 

Dril: Getting up from camp and moving closer to Clermar, you peer through the bushes in the direction he is looking. 3 What you find is a colorfully dressed goblin, seeming to be grumbling angrily under his breath as he walks down the dark trail. After a moment of looking at him, he freezes and spins, staring in your direction. He doesn't seem to see you, but he knows something is there. "Hellooo? Anyone there? Not polite to spy on people!" he says, in common.

Clermar will tap Dril and motion back to camp not responding to the goblin. He will say to anyone that is up "Just a goblin traveling ahead, nothing to worry about, I think."

Dril uses "message" on Clermar

"This is not any old shabby goblin. His fancy dress proves otherwise. Perhaps we should make contact, he appears to be alone and you could easily dispatch without need to wake the others."

Dril looks back at the goblin, trying to decide whether to engage him through magic or let Clermar do the talking.

Startled a bit as he leans back against the wagon, ready to go to sleep, Clermar replies, "If he ain't botherin' us, I won't bother him." 

Relieved to hear Clermar's response, Dril sits quietly, hoping the goblin will pass. He is not trying to get into any trouble this early in the adventure.

As the party waits in silence, the sounds of the goblin eventually fade into the night. The rest of the evening goes by in peace. The next few days also go by uneventfully. Rat continues to lead the group through the wilderness. Eventually the growing elevation becomes more apparent, and the narrow trail begins to switch back and forth as you climb. On the morning of the fourth day, Rat turns to Ospos. “Uhm, you uh... may want to leave the cart here. It probably won’t make it up the rest of the trail. It’s uhhh... a few hours up to the entrance.”

(Will format later)

Ospos looked from Rat to the trail and back to rat, "Umm, don't you think you could have said something back in Solacus?  I mean, was I wrong to think that a mine shaft would have access for a cart?  How did the miners get their ore out?  On their backs?"  Ospos climbed down and started to unhitch his donkey, leaving out feed and a large bucket of water.  Ospos made sure to leave lots of lead so the donkey could move around.  As he worked, he muttered, "... we going to carry the hoard back?   A few hours each way.  And all this gear... I can't carry this.  I hope you are all going to help carry this stuff!?"

Frank looks over Ospos' donkey and gear,

"Any chance we could bring the donkey? We could leave it outside the mine, then when we could try harnessing the loot to its back to carry it back down here to the cart."

Ospos looks at the donkey, to his gear on the cart and to Frank, "I... ugh... was just thinking that."

Rat looks immediately flustered, his pale grey cheeks taking on a hint of flushed red. “I- uh.... I-I mean I thought about it.... but... I’m sorry I just... uhm... t-the original entrance to the mine was collapsed when it was abandoned s-so we have to go in through a side passage.” He utters a few unintelligible, frantic words as you discuss further. “Oh y-yeah uh thats a... yeah a good idea. The donkey can make the climb.”

"Let's get to it. would hate to dilly-dally so long that a dragon returns. Hopefully the kobolds are on vacation, watch your step!"

Dril slowly begins to climb the trail.

Nean quietly walks over to pick up the shovel in case the donkey has to be left along the path. Memories of the last night shift flash back into his mind and he eyes up Frank who is appearantly not bothered at all. He won't say anything yet, though. He just follows along.

Ospos looked at Rat and felt bad, "Come Rat, don't mind me.  Several hours of keeping up to you long legs is just not my idea of fun.  Might as well get on with it.  Any tunes you like?  It'll pass the time."

"Frank, will Bram and your other companion guard the cart or follow along?"