Hastos nodded in agreement with Sera assessment. “While it’s not supposed to be a treacherous road, I don’t think we should over-extend ourselves to save time only to find we’ve put ourselves in danger.“

When Hastos finds Sera staring at him, he meets her smirk with a smile, then turns back to the group. “Once we get camp set up, we would probably figure out a watch schedule. Two by Two.”

A fire was built, the tent was erected and the group began to settle in for the night. Hastos stole a glance or two when Sera wasn’t looking. He liked the way her skin reflected the moonlight. But he knew this was no time for distraction. If the last two days taught him anything, it was that even though there were no battles raging, there was no shortage of danger.  But while everyone was up, and talking it was easier to relax a little. Hastos reaches over and produces a small lute and begins to play softly so as not to distract from the conversation. 

 It seemed the muses were on his side tonight. Random plucking and chords turned into more technical finger work which blended into a delicate piece of music. None of it was particularly advanced music. Most of it fairly simple, but his expression and timing brought the music to life and provided a lovely backdrop to the camaraderie and the sky being full of stars as the daylight dissolved across the horizon.

"Kasi m-m-make fire. T-t-t-too c-c-c-old" She says through chattering teeth. Her cold-blooded nature responding to the stark contrast of the cold winds. She begins wandering about in the dark, picking up sticks. Her movements are sluggish, even more than usual. But she trudges on with her grunt work. She's gone for nearly an hour (wood is hard to find in a desert) before finally making it back, but there's a proud grin on her face, and a jackal corpse on her back with an arrow stuck in it. 

"Kasi make good hunt! Fight jackal for wood and win! Fur make Kasi warm, yes." Hoisting her weight, she flops the jackal off her shoulder and onto the dirt in front of her, then gathers some rocks to build a ring and starts stacking the sticks to make a fire.

Select your night watch order and roll your Perception checks, please.

Sharn helped the old kobold with starting a fire as he could. No doubt Kasi was annoyed at best at his interference. Sharn thought that is how it must've felt to have a grandmother, but he had never met his own. Anything beyond one generation of his own family, some would say "clan", had been wiped out during the cataclysm. Kasi did bring back memories of old women back when he roamed the lands. Remarkably competent and always with something to correct.

Sharn chuckled, sure that he would share a watch with Merkas. He enjoyed the kender's company. Merkas seemed like he had a good heart, and his fingers didn't seem as sticky as those of other kenders. The darkness felt somehow stark to him that night. Perhaps there weren't enough stars in the sky.

Sharn wanted to strike a conversation with his new companion, but it didn't seem like the moment. The night was quiet and any disturbance to that silence could distract them from incoming threats. Then again, Sharn's own thoughts were distracting on their own. (Rolled a 13 for perception)

Sharn and Merkas took the first watch, their quiet voices blending with the crackling of the campfire. Sera unrolled her sleeping blanket in a particularly soft patch of sand, still warm from the day's sun. She sighed in relief as she finally shed her armor, stretching like a lazy cat, reveling in the feeling of freedom.

She knew Hastos would be sharing the next watch with her. No harm in making things a little interesting.

With a slow, casual movement, she let her blanket drape loosely around her, leaving just enough of her back exposed to the cool night air—and to any watchful eyes. A forgotten detail? Or an invitation? That was for Hastos to assume.

She smiled to herself, nestling into the warmth of the sand, her breathing steadying. Outside, the kobold muttered something happily about the fire. The night was calm, peaceful… for now. ( persception 18 )

As the fire dies down, the chat begins to subside, Hastos puts his lute away and the sounds of the night take over.

Hastos watches Sera bed down for the night. The contours of her back making undulating shapes of reflected moonlight. 

Hastos laughs to himself, shakes his head, and considers the situation carefully. “It’s a poor idea to group too closely….” He says to himself.

”Well, I think I’m off. Let us know if you hear anything.” Hastos says to Merkas and Sharn.

Sera feels the ‘poof’ of another blanket being laid down behind her. Then, carefully, she feels her blanket being pulled up over her shoulders and Hastos’ arm wrapping around her on the outside. His forehead rests against the back of her head and she can feel his soft breaths as he settles in to sleep.

 With Sharn assisting with the fire, Hastos playing his lute, and Sera settling down for the night, Merkas spends some time helping to skin the Jackal, and prep the meat for cooking and drying on the fire. Would be really nice to have some for the rest of the trip but jackals are a lean critter, a few strips for breakfast is about what he could hope for. (Survival - 13)

After Hastos and Kasi head off to rest, Merkas sits down across from Sharn and picks up an errant stick, charring the end in the flames, and starts doodling on the rocks around the fire. (Performance - 12)

After and hour or so he sighs and starts talking, being as Sharn hasn't brought up anything "Sooooo...Sharn, why you always talking about the stars and dirt? It's not like they are connected or nothing, like if you look at the stars there's all that black in between, so wouldn't the stars and darkness be more connected? Or the Dirt, it could be dirt and worms, or roots, or ants, or water, or grass - well there aint much grass around here but you get the point. Like tell me whats the connection for you?" (Perception - 4)

The view at night is nearly perfect. The cool winds are the only distraction. In the dark, animals peer with curiosity at the glowing embers and cooked meat, their eyes reflecting blinking orbs back at the camp.

A salamander scurries into camp, keeping an eye on Merkas and Sharn, then shows a little curiosity about the tent.

Kasi appreciates the help skinning the jackal, and tans the hide as quickly as she can to make a proper cloak. Once cooked, she tears into her portion, barely waiting to chew it. She looks at the party occasionally, smiling like a crocodile as she swallows, then buries her face back into her food. The sound is very... wet... yet crunchy. She doesn't bother to separate bone and sinew from meat, and chews it all up with reckless ferocity. Once done, she curls up next to the fire, food mess still all over her mouth and chin, then blinks a few times and within moments a soft, rhythmic snoring issues from her snarled snout.

Rolled for encounter: no dangerous encounters. But Merkas and Sharn are aware of hungry eyes on the camp. The horses get nervous a few times, but nothing that a feed bag and some "shh shh shhhhh, it's ok" doesn't fix. You can continue RP'ing your shift. I'll roll encounters again after the shift change.

Sharn smiled, glad that Merkas broke the ice. He didn't expect a question on his beliefs immediately, but he welcomed it merrily.

"Dear Merkas, they are very much connected. I have heard of the gods living in the sky, being the stars themselves. They created life and life sprew from the ground afterwards. When we pass, the first place our body comes to rest is atop the ground. We become stars. As soon as you begin digging you find life, like you said in insects and water, but there's also all that is decomposing. Not all rot belongs to evil. What are the things just below but good, if they assist in the growth of life?"

Sharn stood to try to calm the horses, but it's obvious that the night was full of dangers beyond sight. He looked at Merkas with eyes filled with sadness and compassion.

"I myself almost became a part of it, and that's when I saw it for the first time. The darkness just below our feet, filled with gleaming ore, and gems, and water, and life. Thus, the dirt and the sky guide me." He shook his head. "But enough of that. What guides you, good Merkas? Is it curiosity or perhaps something else?"

 ...Sera nestled into the warmth of Hastos as he wrapped around her, his body a comforting shield against the cool desert air. His steady breath brushed against her neck, and she sighed, relaxing into his embrace. The quiet murmur of Sharn and Merkas talking in the distance faded into the background as she let the steady rhythm of his heartbeat lull her into sleep. Safe, warm, and content, she drifted off with a faint smile on her lips

"We become stars by falling on the ground? Like we're the stars for whats under the ground?"
The confusion in the kenders voice is extremely apparent. As Sharn gets up to calm the horses, Merkas goes to the Jackal skull and pulls the teeth. After that task is complete, he and Sharn sit back around the fire. At the question of what guides him Merkas goes quiet for a bit before deciding on how he wants to respond to the question.

"Well, My sis and I were treasure hunters, Kinda like Buckeran, though I wish I was as good as him, there are soOOoo many stories about him getting some strange item that everyone thought was impossible, or things that legends said were kept by the gods in their sanctuaries, or even one time he was able to extract the enchanted armour of a fallen knight from the excrement of a dragon BEFORE it was excreted, though I assume that's a bit of an exaggeration, anyway; We got sent to this place where a huge magical battle had taken place, the wizards around there had unleashed some really crazy spells, like it left massive holes in the ground where everything around the hole had been blasted to pieces and then gathered all together into the center of the hole, like a pile sand after it was poured out of a jug. Well looking into these holes we spotted some magical items, y'know cause they tend to be very hard to break, one of enchanted items best features, Like you can use a sword as a hammer and it doesn't even dull the blade! So here we were climbing down into this area and when we got close all sorts of crazy things started happening, like there was a random fiery explosion that blew Yvana back from where I was standing, then I swear I was a plant for a second, and next thing I knew Yvana had shoved me really hard. I turned around to ask her what she did that for but she was suspended in the air exactly where she was when she pushed me. I waited around for awhile to see if she would be released, I tried poking it, throwing things at it and even pushing on it, but the sphere around her was solid. As the day went on I started to notice her hair was getting grayer, and there were wrinkles on her face.
At this point he gets pretty quiet and draws on the stones some more, spelling his sisters name, and other words he's said during his monologue. He pulls out one of the daggers from an aged sheath "Turned out the sphere lasted a whole day, but by the time it went away all that was left of my sister was bones, ash, and her dagger. Did you know that clothing lasts longer than a person during the decay process, her belt and sheath survived with the dagger, I was able to oil up the sheath back to a usable state but the belt was too shrunk and brittle to use."
A tear falls from his eye as he recounts his story before sheathing the dagger again. Shortly he returns to his cheery self and says "I just wanna be sure no one else has that happen to them, or things like it. Santekh's water and food problem is like that, This issue with Kasi and the other kobolds is too, and even Haz being treated bad because of the armour he wears, it's all similar to what my sister went through, and I promised her I would try to make sure it didn't happen anymore until I rejoined her."

Smiling at the dwarf he stops as if something just dawned on him "Oh, Jeez, I am so sorry you said you almost became part of the ground too?! What happened? I am glad you are here with us, those strange miss/hit moves you were doing seemed really neat! And here I am talking on and on about all I went through" He leans forward, elbows on knees, hands under chin, and eyes wider than it seems his face should allow as he focuses in on Sharn to hear his tale

Sharn walked up to the kender and gave him a fatherly hug.

"I'm sorry for your loss. I'm not going to give you words or platitudes about my beliefs. I appreciate you sharing Merkas."

When he separated from the hug, he lowered the cover around his neck revealing a deep scar that went from side to side. It was as if the blade that did had been dragged by a butcher.

"I too lost a sister, but not the same way. She betrayed our people for the sake of her ambition, and fell to evil in the process. I don't know how I survived after she slit my throat and left me for dead." He covered the old scar. "Now, however, I know that the stars I stared at for the entirety of my life and soil beneath my feet are guiding me to preserve it. To walk along the path of those that will face evil."

A little stiff, as most people don't get this close to a kender especially a blue one, Merkas returns the gesture without speaking and allows Sharn to share. As the dwarf reveals his scar the kenders eyes impossibly get bigger in surprise and then shift to something akin to outrage as he speaks. "Your own sister did that to you? Family should never treat family like that, is she still living, shall we go find her and make her apologize? I'll pack up right now and we can go....well we already agreed to getting the foodstuffs back to the camp, but right after that I will go will you to talk to your sister. She need a good old fashioned spank and grounding to her room after treating you like that!"

As the time passes Merkas eventually says "You gotta get some sleep Sharn, I'll wake Kasi for the next watch, I still gotta stay up for another set"

Wordlessly, Sharn nodded, smiled, and retired to let Kasi take the next shift. He was endeared to the kender. He had interacted with many and heard many obnoxious things about many others, but much like with everything else, truth existed in a strata.

Waking Kasi as Sharn heads off “G’night Sharn. Thanks for the chat, Hey Kasi, gonna need your special eyes, I don’t see so good in the dark” Merkas scoops some sand as he heads back to his seat, using it in has hands like a rock tumbler to clean off and polish the jackal teeth he pulled from the skull. Humming softly as he does. “Hmm, two canines, two front teeth, and a molar, too bad the rest cracked or shattered” Humming as he goes he starts arranging them in different orders attempting to find a pleasing pattern. 

Sera's dream was a whirlwind of absurdity. The sun shone bright, and laughter filled the air as she stood in a flowing elven bridal gown, adorned with flowers and tiny cakes instead of pearls. Sharn, the officiant, stood proudly before her, his mustache so long and grand that it trailed along the ground like a regal train. With a solemn, booming voice, he declared:

"By the sacred mud of destiny and the twinkling stars of fate, we gather here to bind these two souls in eternal, slightly sticky, matrimony! May their love be as steadfast as a dwarf’s thirst for ale and as radiant as the sparkle of a freshly polished helmet!"

Sera smiled—until she realized something was missing. "Where is the groom?" she asked.

"I have him!" came Merkas’s triumphant yell. The kender came bounding forward, dragging a very disgruntled and thoroughly tied-up Hastos. He was bound in a thousand impossibly complex knots, a masterpiece of Merkas’s tireless practice. "He tried to run!" Merkas announced proudly.

Hastos squirmed in his bindings, glaring at the crowd. Then, with an impressive burst of strength (or sheer desperation), he somehow managed to break free and sprint away.

"No, wait! That’s not how I wanted it!" Sera called, but it was too late.

With a determined gleam in his eyes, Sharn flapped his enormous mustache like a pair of wings and took off after Hastos. Merkas whipped out a lasso, twirling it overhead, and soon the entire wedding party—guests, musicians, even the cake table—charged after the fleeing groom in a ridiculous chase.

Sera jolted awake with a gasp, her heart pounding. She blinked, the lingering absurdity of the dream making her groan and rub her temples. It was change of watch but not her turn yet. She looked at Hastos still form. He had not run. She dozed off to sleep agsin.

Hastos doesn’t budge at Sera’s startled movement. Somewhere in his mind he’s aware of the goings on in the camp in a vague way. His consciousness surfaces from its trance slightly like a large whale coming up from the deep for a breath of air. It senses that everything’s fine and submerges once again into the depths.

Down it goes. Reality becomes shapeless as the trance pulls him back down into the void. Dark and dreamless.

Kasi is incredibly difficult to waken, and Merkas has to shake her several times to get her to stir. The chill wind caused her to fall into a state of brumation with the fire gone. Her eyes opened a slight crack, and she wordlessly crawled, clutching her fur blanket like a toddler clinging to their banky towards Sharn to share the watch. Her bones creaked with stiffness with each move. Lying flat on her belly on a stone near Sharn, she slowly and clumsily reached for her bow and dragged it beside her dutifully. She opens her mouth to speak, and in an exhausted sigh, she softly breathes the word, "coooooolllld".

Merkas moves and props her up, setting his back to hers to share the warmth, wrapping his blanket around the two of them while he fiddles with the jackals teeth. “T’sokay Kasi, we can keep each other warm like this, you watch that way and I watch this.” He looks at the five teeth finally deciding on keeping the molar for another task and setting the others in a Canine, incisor, incisor, Canine pattern. “That looks best, hey Kasi you think you could make a ring for me when we get back? Thinking of using this jackal tooth as some sorta trophy but think it be best in a ring” He pulls out his thieves tools and his own dagger to start shaping the teeth for attachment. 

Kasi is grateful for the body heat and snuggles up close to you, her sackcloth dress scratching against your cloth overshirt. She settles in, very still at first, until your body heat radiates through her and gets her blood pumping again. She cranes her neck to peer at the teeth you're working on. "Kasi could make ring of this. For a price. Bring to Kasi shop in Santekh and Kasi make pretty ring of tooth and silver, yes."

With the changing of the guard, new eyes peer at you from the darkness, chasing away smaller predators. Barely a sound can be heard, and the quiet forebodes danger. Kasi nudges Merkas in the back. "Fire newt. Southeast. In darkness it hides. Beware. Giant strider maybe be near..."

“Thanks Kasi, we’ll talk more as we travel ok.” Going quiet as she report the next statement “Giant isn’t so strange, most things are giant to us, think we need to wake the others?” The kender gently starts setting things aside and pulling his other dagger. Scanning around the area for any sign of movement in the dark. “Wish my eyes worked as good as yours”

(Percertion: 6, Initiative: 9)