while she's setting up for bed, Grelk hears Abashai's comment and snaps, We are here, aren't we? Did anyone get hurt? What else would you call it?
Less defensively, she says, Listen, my God is not one of the soft gods who herds their little sheep away from all hints of danger. It's not the God of Thunder's purview to stop us from making decisions... Our decisions brought us onto thin ice... He did not do that, we did.
As she settles into her bed, she says
Skalma, wake me when you need some sleep. I'll take the second watch
As Abishai is laying down, but before falling asleep he sees Iden making tea and tosses his alchemy jug over to the chef. "Here, it still has some honey left in it. Might taste good in that tea o'yours. Use it all ifin you want. I'll likely make us some drinkin water on the morrow."
The bearded warrior had listened to Grelk's response and had to admit, she was right. None of them had been injured... 'A god of thunder huh... interesting.' The warrior doesn't retort and lets the conversation drop. He typically was a very respectful man, but found the cold of the north grating on his nerves and was struggling to control his temper over this posting. He does decide to say, "Grelk... I uhh... well, what I'm tryin to say is... oh nevermind." It was as close to an apology as he could muster before pulling the blanket up over his head and trying to get some rest before his watch starts.
Iden, you begin making some tea. It's not your worst tea, but its far from the best you've ever made. You share some with those who are interested. As conversation comes to an end and each of you begin to settle into your respective tents or sleeping areas, Skalma, you stay up to watch over the group. Your time watching over the group is smooth. The snowfall continues for your entire watch, never lessening, but also never falling heavier. The sounds of the wilderness continue as its still partially early in the night. Everyone once in a while, you see something low to the ground pass by the edge of your vision, stopping for a moment to look at the dancing flames of the fire, before it moves on, disappearing behind the wall of falling snow. After a while, you move to wake Grelk and Iden from their slumber. Iden, you spend the majority of your uneventful watch working on the wand you've been carving. Grelk, you do whatever it is you desire to do during your watch. The sounds of the wilderness have begun slowing down as it gets deeper into the night, but the trade off is the snow has begun falling ever so slightly harder, and the wind has begun to pick up as well. Eventually, the two of you move to wake Abishai and Thrynn for the final watch. Thrynn, you crawl out of your tent and out into the cold, blowing wind. Abishai, you out of your bedroll next to the fire. As your watch continues, your surroundings get a bit brighter as the sun begins to rise somewhere behind the white wall of snow. The bad news is, as your watch goes on, the wind gets stronger. Eventually putting the fire in the middle of the camp completely out, as snow stops falling down to the ground, and is instead blowing to the side, parallel with the ground. The two of you don't even need to go wake the others, as the snow pounding into the tents has caused so much commotion the rest of the group has begun to wake.
Snow is falling at a very heavy rate, visibility is at an all-time low as the wind blows at an extraordinary speed. The sun is rising.
As Abishai rises for his watch, he massages his joints to increase blood flow to them, allowing for a faster recovery from his night spent sleeping in the cold. During the watch with Thrynn, he tells the dwarf, "That was quick thinking back there on that lake..." The bearded fighter gestures to the frozen lake as he continues, "You saved our lives with your web. Speaking of which, amazing talent there... being able to transform into various animals. The Bowen Empire could use talents like yours."
As the snowfall intensifies along with the wind, Abishai uses his blanket as a makeshift shemagh to help keep the cold out and rolls up his bedroll and puts it away. When the rest of the group stirs awake, the bearded fighter ties his rope around himself and suggests the rest of the group do the same, "Let's get going. Tie yourselves into this rope so none of us gets separated from the group."Abishai says it as more of a command than a request, which could easily rub a party member the wrong way if they refused to cooperate.
"We'll never pick their tracks back up in this blizzard. Let's head to Frostfall Hold and pray we find the caravan along the way." Glad no animals attacked them in the night.
Thyrnn beams at the compliment, not accustomed to receiving them.
”Thank you, I have studied a few creatures and have learned to change my shape into theirs using druidic magic. Their forms are varied and should be useful whether to help traverse the snow or fight against a foe.”
He also packs up his nighttime belongings, doing his best to brush off as much snow as possible while packing up.
He agrees to tie the rope around himself, but takes up the rear guard in case he needs to shape change, he won’t disrupt the rope line for the rest of the group.
Viletta helps the group arrange branches against the existing trees to make as much of a shelter as can be managed against the wind and snow. Having no tent herself, she stays up to help with Skelma's watch.
"If my horse had not been afraid of the sudden giant spider," she says to the giantess, "I would not have rushed him off the ice. Sometimes an animal's instincts are stronger than his training, and it is important to recognize when this is occurring." She sits quietly, thinking only a little about how much the sudden giant spider also unnerved her. Powers my mother only dreamed of, she thinks. Dreamed of, and died to never achieve...she shakes her head.
She is glad enough to turn the watch over to Iden and Grelk, and wraps up in her bedroll and blanket in the shelter between the trees and someone's tent. For modesty's sake she had declined sharing a tent with any of the men, and she has traveled this far without one. Her horse stands throughout the night with his rump to the wind and his head down nearly to the ground. Come morning, as the driving wind blows the heavily fallen slow into drifts, Viletta in her bedroll is up against the horse, who is laying recumbent with his legs folded under him. Getting up in these conditions takes a special fortitude, but Viletta does it with quiet habit, rolling up the bedroll and trying to shake the snow out of it in the freezing, driving wind.
She bids her companions a good morning as she assesses how frozen her waterskin, filled with melted snow from the fire last night, has gotten. Kept in her bedroll it's not too bad, and she keeps it tucked in the saddlebag between the horse's body and the blanket.
Viletta easily and promptly takes command from Abishai, another long habit of obedience learned in the Order, from one anxious to please. She is quick to assist with the rope tying, wrapping it around her own waist and helping others to secure their knots. She does not tie it to her horse, but walks next to him keeping hold of his lead.
"Let us hope we can find our landmarks in this storm," she says. "To Frostfall Hold!"
Iden rolls over as the storm wakes him up. Slowly he opens his spellbook and summons Bob to help him clean up. As he exits his tent he greets everyone and wishes them a wonderful day. Even with Bob’s help it is quite obvious that Iden does not do well in the cold. As Iden finishes up he will put on his oversized winter clothes which almost fully cover his head. At that point Nilme flies onto his head.
“I am in full agreement. Let us attempt to find our bearings and continue on this journey.”
Iden gives Thyrnn a reluctant nod and asks to be right in front of Thyrnn so that Iden can be towards the back.
"Thank ye for keeping me company."The goliath murmurs while keeping watch with Viletta. When the knight offers an explanation for her swift decampment on the frozen lake, she nods down at the much smaller woman. "Understandable, aye. It's hard to breakin' an impulse for flight... but panic can kill faster than the ice itself. Just something tae bear in mind."
She doesn't expand further, her attention drawn by the shadow lurking close to the ground, just on the edge of her vision. Her voice grows low and hushed as she angles her bullseye lantern in the direction of the movement. "Do ye see that, Viletta? There's something oot there."
When her watch comes to an end, she informs Grelk of the troubling development. Before she goes to take her rest, disquieted by the uneasy feeling that they are being hunted, Skalma heads out towards the spot and searches for prints.
Sleep takes her more gently than expected. She dreams of the first day Magnus found her all those years ago, in a place not unlike the place she finds herself in. Wandering and alone, upon white drifts and mauled by howling winds, before warm arms enveloped her in safety. There are other images too - confusing and unfamiliar flashes of light and alien runes, but before she can make any sense of them, she is woken by the blizzard.
"Derenna's terrors in all her glory." She murmurs in awe as she is soon blanketed in snow. Though the cold doesn't seem to bother the frost goliath as much as it does Iden, she squints into the blinding winds that make it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead at any given time. "Not a bad idea, Abishai." She says, knotting his rope around her waist. When the company are all bound together, the ranger takes point at the head of the line. Without any fanfare, she squares her shoulders and begins marching in the direction of Frostfall Hold.
of course I call that safe passage!
Grelk says, slightly taken aback.
while she's setting up for bed, Grelk hears Abashai's comment and snaps, We are here, aren't we? Did anyone get hurt? What else would you call it?
Less defensively, she says, Listen, my God is not one of the soft gods who herds their little sheep away from all hints of danger. It's not the God of Thunder's purview to stop us from making decisions... Our decisions brought us onto thin ice... He did not do that, we did.
As she settles into her bed, she says
Skalma, wake me when you need some sleep. I'll take the second watch
Perception 17 guidance +2 (if applicable)
Thyrnn settles to sleep, promising he will take the last watch. Shiver lies in the snow comfortably outside the tent.
During his shift - 120 ft darkvision - 14 perception
As Abishai is laying down, but before falling asleep he sees Iden making tea and tosses his alchemy jug over to the chef. "Here, it still has some honey left in it. Might taste good in that tea o'yours. Use it all ifin you want. I'll likely make us some drinkin water on the morrow."
The bearded warrior had listened to Grelk's response and had to admit, she was right. None of them had been injured... 'A god of thunder huh... interesting.' The warrior doesn't retort and lets the conversation drop. He typically was a very respectful man, but found the cold of the north grating on his nerves and was struggling to control his temper over this posting. He does decide to say, "Grelk... I uhh... well, what I'm tryin to say is... oh nevermind." It was as close to an apology as he could muster before pulling the blanket up over his head and trying to get some rest before his watch starts.
DM for Tyranny of Dragons and Phandelver and Below, two in-person campaigns that meet weekly on Friday and Saturday nights. DM for Dragons of Icespire Peak Pbp
Iden, you begin making some tea. It's not your worst tea, but its far from the best you've ever made. You share some with those who are interested. As conversation comes to an end and each of you begin to settle into your respective tents or sleeping areas, Skalma, you stay up to watch over the group. Your time watching over the group is smooth. The snowfall continues for your entire watch, never lessening, but also never falling heavier. The sounds of the wilderness continue as its still partially early in the night. Everyone once in a while, you see something low to the ground pass by the edge of your vision, stopping for a moment to look at the dancing flames of the fire, before it moves on, disappearing behind the wall of falling snow. After a while, you move to wake Grelk and Iden from their slumber. Iden, you spend the majority of your uneventful watch working on the wand you've been carving. Grelk, you do whatever it is you desire to do during your watch. The sounds of the wilderness have begun slowing down as it gets deeper into the night, but the trade off is the snow has begun falling ever so slightly harder, and the wind has begun to pick up as well. Eventually, the two of you move to wake Abishai and Thrynn for the final watch. Thrynn, you crawl out of your tent and out into the cold, blowing wind. Abishai, you out of your bedroll next to the fire. As your watch continues, your surroundings get a bit brighter as the sun begins to rise somewhere behind the white wall of snow. The bad news is, as your watch goes on, the wind gets stronger. Eventually putting the fire in the middle of the camp completely out, as snow stops falling down to the ground, and is instead blowing to the side, parallel with the ground. The two of you don't even need to go wake the others, as the snow pounding into the tents has caused so much commotion the rest of the group has begun to wake.
Snow is falling at a very heavy rate, visibility is at an all-time low as the wind blows at an extraordinary speed. The sun is rising.
As Abishai rises for his watch, he massages his joints to increase blood flow to them, allowing for a faster recovery from his night spent sleeping in the cold. During the watch with Thrynn, he tells the dwarf, "That was quick thinking back there on that lake..." The bearded fighter gestures to the frozen lake as he continues, "You saved our lives with your web. Speaking of which, amazing talent there... being able to transform into various animals. The Bowen Empire could use talents like yours."
As the snowfall intensifies along with the wind, Abishai uses his blanket as a makeshift shemagh to help keep the cold out and rolls up his bedroll and puts it away. When the rest of the group stirs awake, the bearded fighter ties his rope around himself and suggests the rest of the group do the same, "Let's get going. Tie yourselves into this rope so none of us gets separated from the group." Abishai says it as more of a command than a request, which could easily rub a party member the wrong way if they refused to cooperate.
"We'll never pick their tracks back up in this blizzard. Let's head to Frostfall Hold and pray we find the caravan along the way." Glad no animals attacked them in the night.
DM for Tyranny of Dragons and Phandelver and Below, two in-person campaigns that meet weekly on Friday and Saturday nights. DM for Dragons of Icespire Peak Pbp
Thyrnn beams at the compliment, not accustomed to receiving them.
”Thank you, I have studied a few creatures and have learned to change my shape into theirs using druidic magic. Their forms are varied and should be useful whether to help traverse the snow or fight against a foe.”
He also packs up his nighttime belongings, doing his best to brush off as much snow as possible while packing up.
He agrees to tie the rope around himself, but takes up the rear guard in case he needs to shape change, he won’t disrupt the rope line for the rest of the group.
Viletta helps the group arrange branches against the existing trees to make as much of a shelter as can be managed against the wind and snow. Having no tent herself, she stays up to help with Skelma's watch.
"If my horse had not been afraid of the sudden giant spider," she says to the giantess, "I would not have rushed him off the ice. Sometimes an animal's instincts are stronger than his training, and it is important to recognize when this is occurring." She sits quietly, thinking only a little about how much the sudden giant spider also unnerved her. Powers my mother only dreamed of, she thinks. Dreamed of, and died to never achieve...she shakes her head.
She is glad enough to turn the watch over to Iden and Grelk, and wraps up in her bedroll and blanket in the shelter between the trees and someone's tent. For modesty's sake she had declined sharing a tent with any of the men, and she has traveled this far without one. Her horse stands throughout the night with his rump to the wind and his head down nearly to the ground. Come morning, as the driving wind blows the heavily fallen slow into drifts, Viletta in her bedroll is up against the horse, who is laying recumbent with his legs folded under him. Getting up in these conditions takes a special fortitude, but Viletta does it with quiet habit, rolling up the bedroll and trying to shake the snow out of it in the freezing, driving wind.
She bids her companions a good morning as she assesses how frozen her waterskin, filled with melted snow from the fire last night, has gotten. Kept in her bedroll it's not too bad, and she keeps it tucked in the saddlebag between the horse's body and the blanket.
Viletta easily and promptly takes command from Abishai, another long habit of obedience learned in the Order, from one anxious to please. She is quick to assist with the rope tying, wrapping it around her own waist and helping others to secure their knots. She does not tie it to her horse, but walks next to him keeping hold of his lead.
"Let us hope we can find our landmarks in this storm," she says. "To Frostfall Hold!"
Iden rolls over as the storm wakes him up. Slowly he opens his spellbook and summons Bob to help him clean up. As he exits his tent he greets everyone and wishes them a wonderful day. Even with Bob’s help it is quite obvious that Iden does not do well in the cold. As Iden finishes up he will put on his oversized winter clothes which almost fully cover his head. At that point Nilme flies onto his head.
“I am in full agreement. Let us attempt to find our bearings and continue on this journey.”
Iden gives Thyrnn a reluctant nod and asks to be right in front of Thyrnn so that Iden can be towards the back.
"Thank ye for keeping me company." The goliath murmurs while keeping watch with Viletta. When the knight offers an explanation for her swift decampment on the frozen lake, she nods down at the much smaller woman. "Understandable, aye. It's hard to breakin' an impulse for flight... but panic can kill faster than the ice itself. Just something tae bear in mind."
She doesn't expand further, her attention drawn by the shadow lurking close to the ground, just on the edge of her vision. Her voice grows low and hushed as she angles her bullseye lantern in the direction of the movement. "Do ye see that, Viletta? There's something oot there."
When her watch comes to an end, she informs Grelk of the troubling development. Before she goes to take her rest, disquieted by the uneasy feeling that they are being hunted, Skalma heads out towards the spot and searches for prints.
Sleep takes her more gently than expected. She dreams of the first day Magnus found her all those years ago, in a place not unlike the place she finds herself in. Wandering and alone, upon white drifts and mauled by howling winds, before warm arms enveloped her in safety. There are other images too - confusing and unfamiliar flashes of light and alien runes, but before she can make any sense of them, she is woken by the blizzard.
"Derenna's terrors in all her glory." She murmurs in awe as she is soon blanketed in snow. Though the cold doesn't seem to bother the frost goliath as much as it does Iden, she squints into the blinding winds that make it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead at any given time. "Not a bad idea, Abishai." She says, knotting his rope around her waist. When the company are all bound together, the ranger takes point at the head of the line. Without any fanfare, she squares her shoulders and begins marching in the direction of Frostfall Hold.
Survival: 24