Not wanting to butt in on the conversation, Kolette does perk her ears at it. Learning more about her companions is a useful thing. For herself she has nothing to hide. This job was useful in getting her to Drakkenheim in which somewhere is family spoon or paddle said to be magical. The location was lost because the meteor landed on the family bakery. So maybe it's there and maybe it's not. 

OOC: Do we get a long rest during travel? Kolette is busted up and needs some tlc.

"A spoon you say, how....cute. You are a peach Whys... *ahem*  .. I mean Kolette. Truly the heart of our little group" 

"Personally I have seen what delerium can do to a place and its people given time. I am on a hero's journey of sorts. You see my sister and I both believed that Drakkenheim held the secrets to stopping the blight that has befallen both this land and mine own. She came her some time ago seeking answers and never returned. Now I have taken up the mantle so to speak and will have to fight my way through the city to uncover its secrets....with all your help of course"

Quote from JStone813 >>

(occ: keep doing the william crab thing, just posting for flavor and to stay active.)

Shaye spends most of the ride in quiet solitude, it is obvious that she is anxious to get to the city proper and is somewhat vocally impatient. She does take the time to get to know her fellows however. She is naturally drawn to each of them in there own way. she senses a kinship with the lost girl now known as "sparkles" and strikes up a conversation. 

"I am a long way from home myself, you know." She speaks slowly in a thick accent (old Irish/Gaelic)

"I feel as if everything here is new, our peculiar band aside I'm finding it strange that this place feels so unreal. I mean obviously nothing is real anyhow... just a game of chance like my dice, we are just puppets of our masters... As she speaks shayara absentmindedly shuffles her deck. Drawing the Sundial she smirks with a knowing smile before continuing.

"Well existentialism aside it will be good to get on with our quest, what is it you seek in Drakkenheim? "

 Sparkles absentmindedly stares at Shayara. She's full of crazy talk. She ignores some of the more insane comments for lack of a better word and instead simply replies, 'I'm going to Drakkenheim to work out who I was. I feel like I've got a connection to it, but I've not yet figured it out.' She looks around and sees the swampy water that William's exploring in the distance. She shudders and says 'The first thing I truly remember was choppy memories of being in a river and crawling out onto the banks. Not fun.'

Syed listens quietly, his attention seemingly absorbed in the pages of his journal as his companions share their motivations for venturing to Drakkenheim. The soft scratching of his quill fills the air, a steady backdrop to the conversation. When Shayara speaks of her sister, and Sparkles recounts her fragmented memories, Syed pauses, lifting his head slightly to glance around the camp. The pale firelight flickers against his face as he carefully closes his journal.

He waits for a lull in the conversation, then finally speaks, his voice calm but thoughtful. "Drakkenheim," he begins, "is a place full of secrets. Stories of it reached Yggdrasil, carried by travelers darting between realms. They spoke of forgotten magic, arcane mysteries buried within the Inscrutable Tower." His gaze shifts to the horizon, though it is hidden by the dense woods. "I’ve spent years trying to perfect my craft, but there’s only so much knowledge you can gather from libraries and scrolls. Drakkenheim... it’s different. It holds answers, maybe to questions I haven’t even thought to ask yet. That’s what brought me here."

He leans back against the wagon, stroking Mellow’s head absently as he continues, "I don’t care about treasure or riches. What I want is freedom to experiment and learn. To advance what I know and see how far I can push the boundaries of magic. Drakkenheim might just hold the key to that." He shrugs lightly, then returns to his journal, leaving the firelight to flicker around him. "We’ll see if it’s worth the risk," he adds softly, more to himself than anyone else.

"Hey! Sounds like Syed and I have a lot in common... i'mlooking to learn some new magic that can help me to become more powerful so that i can help more people..." William says as he returns to the group. he had managed to hear only a little of what was being said as he made his way back to camp. In one hand he is holding a crab trap and in the other a bottle of faintly glowing liquid. "I have a crab here if any of you are brave enough to eat it. I already ate my fill so I'm good for now." He says as he places the caged creature in front of the group. "It looks like it has been corrupted though.. check out the water from the pond over there..." He says holding out the bottle of liquid. "Looks like the corruption is spreading... I can only imagine what any nearby towns look like."

Zeren walks back to the group. He had borrowed an axe and chopped down the tree he'd gotten caught on. Then he'd chopped the fallen tree into logs. Then he'd chopped the logs into woodchips. Which he'd then proceeded to add to the camp's supply of fire starter so they'd be burned.

His thirst for vengeance still hadn't been satisfied but it was a start.

Hearing the others talking about their plans once they got to Drakkenheim Zeren chimes in.

"Money. Power. Fame. All three are up for grabs in Drakkenheim and I plan to be rich as a king by the time I'm done."

He leaves out the final reason because it's far too soon to reveal that.

Zeren grimaces at William's discovery.

"Ugh, definitely don't eat that."

[Wealth. Fame. Power. Gol. D. Roger Zeren, the King of the Pirates Adventurers, had obtained this, and everything else the world had to offer...]

Sparkles is pretty disgusted by the finger crab that Will had found, and sides with Zeren on his warning not to eat or drink anything he's scavenged around here. She warns 'You'll end up sprouting scales and a tail if you're not careful, that water could definitely turn you into a freak.'

"yeah let the poor thing go, nobody wants to eat that."

Shayara shakes her head in disgust at the mutated crab. "eww I still haven't understood why everyone in this land has such a desire to eat dead flesh, but that thing is truly disgusting and im sure quite dangerous." By now many of you may have noticed that Shayara doesnt eat much. She barely ever eats actually and when she does her meals seem to prepare themselves. 

Eren agrees with the rest of you on not eating the crab. "Yeah, no, don't be eating that. That sure looks corrupted. Even our well's been boarded up. I don't suggest you go on and eat that."

Eren thanks Zeren and for how his fire-logs help brighten up the scenery. If the land weren't so filled with dead trees and finger crabs, this would have sure been cozy.

Everyone takes a long rest!

The night sky soon makes way into day, and you are off again. 

The air here is more thick and slightly hazy than it has been the rest of the road, like you've been climbing on top of a mountain expect you only went a few more miles east. Even the horses too see to notice. Their breathes become more labored. You soon stop more for rests. "It's that city air. You'll get used to it." The river too that you've been following seems to take on more darker taint. 

Two days into the journey, a drop of rain ripples the water. Then another. The sky grows darker in an instant. "The winds not even blowing!" Eren exclaims, surprised by the sudden turn of the weather, "Hee-yah!" They start scrambling to pull the reins on the horses to take them to shelter. There is an outcropping of trees nearby that Eren drives the caravan into. Nearby is what looks to be an old farmhouse, not too much unlike the one you've seen earlier. In fact throughout your journey you've seen the fields littered with these houses, all abandoned. What's left is withered, dried crops that all been long dead. 

An ice crystal pierces the rooftop of the caravan, hitting exactly the right strand to rip apart part of the patchwork, undoing all of Syed's hard labor. "Gah! No!" They cry out too late. Another scattered strike of hail seems even more rain pouring through the roof. "Get the stuff!" they command, gesturing towards the merchandise in the backseats. Eren slings their own bow across their shoulders and starts heading towards the empty building. 

The door is locked.

Sparkles is at first enamoured by the hailstones. It's like the stars are falling down right in front of her. Then one hits her in the head and they suddenly aren't as fun. She gathers up as many things as she can from the caravan in her arms and calls Starry to follow her, rushing to the barn and planting her foot in the door to see if she can get it to budge, but struggles to be as forceful as she would have liked due to being preoccupied with all the gear bundled up in her arms. Unarmed Strike against the door: 9 to hit.

Starry startles at the sudden rain, nearby bashing against the caravan and setting a few things loose; some packages either go rolling or flop to the floor. Starry follows you towards the door. At the same time you hit the door there is a lightning strike. Starry jumps, braying, and instead dashes towards the side of the house. Sadly, the door doesn't budge either. 

Sparkles gives an irritated growl and says 'I'll go scout out a way in, like a window or something, and then open the door from the inside! Zeren, hold this!' She then dumps the gear she was carrying into the knight's arms and runs off into the rain, around the barn in the direction Starry went. Syed would probably be better suited for this job, especially if they teamed up with Herbert, if he can fly in this weather that is, but really Sparkles just wants to check on her elk friend. She looks for any windows she can smash, or even loose boards or crawlspaces, and where Starry went, but struggles with the low visibility in the heavy rain. Perception: 7

Syed - on his mastiff Mellow - hurries to the house and notes that no one appears to enter as quickly as he would have thought. “What’s the matter?” When he learns that it is locked, he scurries back into his backpack and returns with a set of fine tools and begins to work the lock (Thieves’ Tools 22, 18 if with disadvantage).

William attempts to mending the damages caused by the hail but he quickly realizes that he is unable to keep up. with a grumble Herbert appears in a buff of smoke. After a few moments of hesitation, The undertaker rushes out to help Syed to pick the lock on the door by standing over him to help shelter him from the hail as he worked.

Kolette grabs an armload of supplies and brings them to the cabin. 

After everyone is inside she will call upon the light of Pelor to create a warm hearth to comfort the party. Then she will cast Goodberry with Prestidigitation to make them taste like crunchy balls of bacon or raw meat in William's case. 

@Sparkles 

You run off towards the side of the house to find anything that might be a path in. The windows are gated with metal bars and appear to be smashed in already but due to the bars you can't crawl your way in. You do nearly stumble into a door to the cellar that juts out from the ground up that is boarded up but not with a heavy lock like the door at the front had.

Out in the distance you hear what may be Starry's brays but they are drowned out by the incoming sounds of thunder just after the lightning. The horses of Eren aren't doing so well either because they too get loose after another lightning strike comes your way. The woods soon become a choir of horses and elk as the animals run amok in this storm. Thunder again follows.

@Syed

Mellow barks at your command and carries you up towards the brown door. Inspecting it, you see that it is not in fact wooden, but actual metal painted to look like wood, which explains why the monk couldn't break it. Hurrying back to the caravan you take out your thieves' tools and, click, unlock it ((22 > DC 15)). The door opens forth with a light push from Mellow who (lightly) rams his side into it. His tail wags as he trots into the house.

Eren, soaking wet and carrying some of their supplies along with them, cries out for their horses, running back to the caravan after the second lightning strike spooked them loose (alongside some hail which broke off their buckles). "Aw may the Flame have mercy on us just for a second.," they mumble, "They ah can't be that far. This had 'appened before, it'll now has 'appened again." 

The house inside is pretty neat. It is a two bedroom little farmhouse with a fireplace in the center of the living room. Pots and pans line the walls near it along with two washbins. There appears to be what once was a trophy-place for a big sword but said sword is now taken. An empty more darker wooden stain shows you the part where it would have been. There is a taxadermied deer head in the corner too. From the antlers you know it was a buck. Its glassy black eyes watch over the place.

Other than that the place itself is a bit dusty but comfy enough for now. Kolette calls on the magic of her god and lights a fire onto the ashes of what was once wood. You feel Pelor's warmth light up the room. Eren stands by the windows looking out into the storm for their horses, "I sure don't hope they don't go too far."

William quickly steps inside as Syed manages to get the door unlocked. Herbert bobs his way into the building right behind William with water dripping from his feathers. Water drips down from William's hat on to his shoulder and the floor as he steps into the room. When the fire is lit inside the building, The undertaker winces a bit and she lowers the brim of his hat to help shield his eyes from the bright light. "Well... I wonder how long we will be stuck in here." he says as he turns to look outside at the storm. Herbert on the other hand moves close to the fire and extends his wings as wide as they will go in an attempt to dry himself infront of the flames. 

Sparkles notes the cellar entrance but doesn't do anything with it yet; the party can always get in through the door and the cellar can be checked later. As for now she's more worried about the horses and Starry. She calls out to them and tries to make them come over, but struggles in the howling wind [Animal Handling: 6]. Seeing as they likely can't be tamed, she goes back round to the front of the barn to find the door unlocked, so heads indoors, still worried sick for the animals, and explains the situation to the party and describes what she's found. She asks Eren 'How long is this storm meant to last? I'd hate to leave them out there for too long but I don't know how we can wrangle them in without going out ourselves.' She then takes a closer look around the room for any belongings that are stored, or an indoor entrance to the cellar she spotted [Perception: 15]

"Hopefully not that long," mumbles Eren, "We ain't too far off course but this setback might have us coming a days bit later. And my shipments..."

The caravan driver sighs and turns to face William. "Weather's always been like this since the meteor. One minute snow then dimension portals the next!" They purse their lips, "At least in the city that is. Heard all sorts of things strange there, I dunno, maybe not. It's never hit this far before. The clouds roll in. I wonder how Marie is doing, oh." They fiddle around with their locket around their neck before taking a seat. Hail pounds the roofs while lightning strikes the mud around it. 

Looking over at Sparkles, they then put their head in palm of their hands, "Yeah, like they always say wait 'till the rains done pass. I'd reckon maybe an hour or so for these sorts but nowadays... it sure is March." 

@Sparkles

You look around the room for anything really of importance. It looks like everything that can be taken has been. There is not indoor entrance to the cellar, at least not one that you can find out front. It looks like it only opens from the outside. There is some graffiti on the walls of this farmhouse. They don't have much in meaning to you other than names and stuff that says people was here. Perhaps this is why this place was locked up? The only thing that looks like this place had once been a home, however, would be the two sets of tick marks on the walls that gradually go up towards the ceiling starting from near one foot off the ground. It had two names: Haley and Ardin.

Checking out the bedrooms you find two hay beds in each room. These walls are cramped and hardly any more than 10 feet from side to side. Hidden under one of the beds however you find an old journal. It paperbound, very academic-like and even lined. It is all dusty and nearly makes you sneeze upon finding it. The entry pages are mismatched however with no clear story-line. It seems as though the author just turned a page and wrote what they saw fit. Thoughts just ebb and flow here. Sentences start but don't finish. Most pages are either incoherent or empty but the ones you find most interesting are:

The last one took up nearly the whole page and that was it (except for a drawing off to the side of what look like a snake with legs, hundreds of them).