Smiling Jack mentions, "we probably need to provide watches. If Thomas is partially undead he may be back after sunset.". "Any ideas? I can pull any watch at anytime. What about supper, how does that work"
Reg hadn’t paid Thomas any more attention than he warranted. Was their need to find the girl important, yes. Was haste needed, absolutely. But he also knew rushing to failure was just that. And without Caelan to grant his unnatural guidance in the situation, the man errored on the side of caution. The woods were dangerous in their own right during the day, he trusted them less so at night.
The trapper had found a place to start a small fire, dug a small pit and saved the soil, sand, and dirt to one side. He remembered Caelan was against them, but wanted clean water and boiling it was the best way he currently had to make it. He had just gotten up to fetch some from the river when Barn made his big announcement and went chasing after Thomas. The news was unsettling for the trapper.
He drew the water quickly and hurried back to the place he prepared for the fire. He was silent in thought as he tended the Fire and Water, trying to recall anything old tales might clue in about what afflicted Thomas. In short order, he finished the boiling, took a small cup worth and made a pine tea, letting the rest cool down to replace his water skin.
”Wake me Jack when you can no longer hold the post.”
Smiling Jack says Sure Reg, I can take the 1st watch. I also have 5 rations in my bag. We can all split this for supper. There are 6 of us so it should not be too bad to split them."
Jack watches the man(?) depart and shrugs. He's staying with his friends, and is pleased they didn't have to fight Thomas. Even if Barn said he was undead, he didn't seem too evil.
Jack will stand watch with Jack the Smiler. He divies up a couple of his preserved roots and jerky so everybody has something to eat.
Caelan did not chase Thomas. He watched him go. Still as an oak stump, one hand resting on the worn grip of his blade, eyes narrowed through the fading light until the stranger vanished into the trees. Only then did Caelan turn back to the others. “You did right to question him,” he said quietly to Jack and Barn. He crouched near the riverbank, studying the mud where Thomas had stood. Boots, weight, stance, stride. He pressed two fingers into the prints, measuring depth, direction, the drag of cloth or chain. Then he rose. “If he returns, we’ll know by his tracks long before we see him.” Caelan looked to Barn, voice gentler. “You felt something wrong. Good. That instinct will keep us alive. But don’t chase shadows alone again.” A faint, rough smile. “You’re worth more to us standing beside us.” He turned to Reg’s fire pit, nodding once. “Small flame. Shield it with stone. No smoke if we can help it.” Then to the group at large. “Two on watch at all times. Jack and Jack first. Reg second with me. Wynn and Barn last, we’ll wake you before dawn.” He scanned the treeline, then the river, then the path they had come from. “We break camp at first gray light. No delay. Clotha’s trail is still ahead of us.” Caelan knelt then, checking his bowstring, sharpening an arrowhead on a whetstone, every motion slow and deliberate. “We don’t cross that river in the dark,” he added. “And we don’t follow strangers into haunted islands without knowing why.” He looked once more into the trees where Thomas had gone. “But if he was what Barn sensed…he’ll come back.” Caelan settled into the shadows near the firelight’s edge, cloak pulled tight, eyes never leaving the dark. “We’ll be ready when he does. I can take the second shift."
Smiling Jack finishes his share of the rations that was split. Jack sets up his bed and gear so after he is relieved, he can go right to bed.
When time to pull watch Jack keeps the other Jack in his peripheral vision and keeps his back to the fire so as to keep up his night vision. Jack failed to learn that this kept him lit up as a target.
Jack walks around silently so as not to wake anyone, Jack also stops and listens knowing his ears maybe a better sensor then his 60' darkvision.
The evening went quietly with little more frightening than a foxes scream and fish breaking the surface of the river, but as soon as the last rays of the sun had totally vanished from the sky strange choral moans began to echo across the rivers surface from the island......
As the watches continued throughout the night the wails echoed across the water, Smiling Jack fancies he sees a large owl winging its way across the water high in the sky towards the island and then coasting back to regard the campsite before flying off to the west.
The rest of the night goes quietly except for the moans...
None of the others on watch see anything of note before morning comes and the wailing ceases......
(Before - as Thomas the Wayfarer is hastily departing): Barn comes to a stop and stands, chest heaving as if trying in vain to expel bad air, knuckles white on the haft of his halberd, staring as the man who was part undead abomination vanished into the tree line by the river bank.
The big man hears Caelan and the others, none of whom clearly have any intention of following this... dead creature who had deceived them and was likely involved with the evil dead monks who haunt the island and guard the chalice Elen had spoken of. Or was one himself.
With a reluctant grunt of assent, Barn turns and begins to haul the raft up the bank closer to the campsite so whoever is on watch can keep an eye on it.
Later, during his watch with Ardwynn, the big man is quiet and brooding. At one point, he asks her, voice quiet and introspective, almost plaintive:
"Wynn? Y-you know the wood. More than m-me, anyway. S-so much strangeness. So m-much evil. Do you th-think we'll ever... make any of it better?"
Ardwynn was silent for several moments before looking Barn straight in his eyes. "Better? Maybe. Maybe no worse... "
She sighs and tosses a stick onto the embers of the campfire. "I'll tell you what an old gray wanderer once told me when I was in doubt with my choices. The old man was FULL of odd advice while waving his staff about."
"Look over there, Ardwynn. You see a broken branch; I see a hiding place for a field mouse. You see a tired traveler; I see a soul needing a kind word. There are many who believe it is only Great Power, shattering swords and burning fortresses, that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found.
I have found that it is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love. When the world is filled with suffering, these small acts don't just feel good — they make the evil less. They are tiny, luminous threads, woven into a tapestry that Shadow cannot fully consume. You think a smile won't break a curse? You think sharing your bread won't starve the malice in a tyrant's heart? You are wrong."
"I'll boil the rest of his arm waving down to this." Ardwynn took a moment to get it straight in her head before speaking again.
"Every time we choose mercy over indifference, we make the dark a little less absolute. We chip away at its strength, one act of warmth at a time. It may seem insignificant at the time, but in the grand, unfolding story of this world, these acts are what ultimately save us from the abyss.
So, no, we do not need to be kings or wizards to fight this, only to keep holding our little candles against the night."
She kicked a stone as she finished. "Better or worse, we can't let the Dark extinguish our little flames. Fill a room with enough candles and the Light blazes forth."
Barn meets Wynn's gaze for a long moment, as if turning his friend's words over slowly in his head.
"Aye, could be." The big man leans back against a tree, bows his head and closes his eyes. His voice is soft and his stutter gone.
"Might be I don't understand everything you said, or the gray wanderer said I guess. But... but we did help heal that leper and gave him gold so he could return to town. And saved Elen from those undead horrors so she could die in peace as she wanted. Maybe we'll help that cursed husband of the woman in the cottage. And find the holy chalice the dead monks guard. And rescue Clotha. And break the hold the Duke and his Black Riders have on us all."
Barn looks back up again at Wynn with a faint smile of thanks, sad yet sincere. "One day."
Barn arises and his training impels him into activity, stretching a bit, performing a few drills on the bank with his halberd, then helping to break camp.
"So... w-we are taking the raft, r-right? But d-do we cross the river to the f-far side, to the island? No t-telling where Ned took Clotha. Unless one of y-you can tell? Maybe the island f-first? Look for tracks. And whoever w-was wailing during the night. Dead m-monks. Chalices. Thomas."
The big man figures he'll be the one manning the push-pole during the crossing, so he stows his halberd and hefts the pole, testing it like a polearm.
Smiling Jack mentions, "we probably need to provide watches. If Thomas is partially undead he may be back after sunset.". "Any ideas? I can pull any watch at anytime. What about supper, how does that work"
Reg hadn’t paid Thomas any more attention than he warranted. Was their need to find the girl important, yes. Was haste needed, absolutely. But he also knew rushing to failure was just that. And without Caelan to grant his unnatural guidance in the situation, the man errored on the side of caution. The woods were dangerous in their own right during the day, he trusted them less so at night.
The trapper had found a place to start a small fire, dug a small pit and saved the soil, sand, and dirt to one side. He remembered Caelan was against them, but wanted clean water and boiling it was the best way he currently had to make it. He had just gotten up to fetch some from the river when Barn made his big announcement and went chasing after Thomas. The news was unsettling for the trapper.
He drew the water quickly and hurried back to the place he prepared for the fire. He was silent in thought as he tended the Fire and Water, trying to recall anything old tales might clue in about what afflicted Thomas. In short order, he finished the boiling, took a small cup worth and made a pine tea, letting the rest cool down to replace his water skin.
”Wake me Jack when you can no longer hold the post.”
Smiling Jack says Sure Reg, I can take the 1st watch. I also have 5 rations in my bag. We can all split this for supper. There are 6 of us so it should not be too bad to split them."
Jack watches the man(?) depart and shrugs. He's staying with his friends, and is pleased they didn't have to fight Thomas. Even if Barn said he was undead, he didn't seem too evil.
Jack will stand watch with Jack the Smiler. He divies up a couple of his preserved roots and jerky so everybody has something to eat.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Caelan did not chase Thomas. He watched him go. Still as an oak stump, one hand resting on the worn grip of his blade, eyes narrowed through the fading light until the stranger vanished into the trees. Only then did Caelan turn back to the others. “You did right to question him,” he said quietly to Jack and Barn. He crouched near the riverbank, studying the mud where Thomas had stood. Boots, weight, stance, stride. He pressed two fingers into the prints, measuring depth, direction, the drag of cloth or chain. Then he rose. “If he returns, we’ll know by his tracks long before we see him.” Caelan looked to Barn, voice gentler. “You felt something wrong. Good. That instinct will keep us alive. But don’t chase shadows alone again.” A faint, rough smile. “You’re worth more to us standing beside us.” He turned to Reg’s fire pit, nodding once. “Small flame. Shield it with stone. No smoke if we can help it.” Then to the group at large. “Two on watch at all times. Jack and Jack first. Reg second with me. Wynn and Barn last, we’ll wake you before dawn.” He scanned the treeline, then the river, then the path they had come from. “We break camp at first gray light. No delay. Clotha’s trail is still ahead of us.” Caelan knelt then, checking his bowstring, sharpening an arrowhead on a whetstone, every motion slow and deliberate. “We don’t cross that river in the dark,” he added. “And we don’t follow strangers into haunted islands without knowing why.” He looked once more into the trees where Thomas had gone. “But if he was what Barn sensed…he’ll come back.” Caelan settled into the shadows near the firelight’s edge, cloak pulled tight, eyes never leaving the dark. “We’ll be ready when he does. I can take the second shift."
Smiling Jack finishes his share of the rations that was split. Jack sets up his bed and gear so after he is relieved, he can go right to bed.
When time to pull watch Jack keeps the other Jack in his peripheral vision and keeps his back to the fire so as to keep up his night vision. Jack failed to learn that this kept him lit up as a target.
Jack walks around silently so as not to wake anyone, Jack also stops and listens knowing his ears maybe a better sensor then his 60' darkvision.
Perception 16
The evening went quietly with little more frightening than a foxes scream and fish breaking the surface of the river, but as soon as the last rays of the sun had totally vanished from the sky strange choral moans began to echo across the rivers surface from the island......
As the watches continued throughout the night the wails echoed across the water, Smiling Jack fancies he sees a large owl winging its way across the water high in the sky towards the island and then coasting back to regard the campsite before flying off to the west.
The rest of the night goes quietly except for the moans...
None of the others on watch see anything of note before morning comes and the wailing ceases......
(Before - as Thomas the Wayfarer is hastily departing): Barn comes to a stop and stands, chest heaving as if trying in vain to expel bad air, knuckles white on the haft of his halberd, staring as the man who was part undead abomination vanished into the tree line by the river bank.
The big man hears Caelan and the others, none of whom clearly have any intention of following this... dead creature who had deceived them and was likely involved with the evil dead monks who haunt the island and guard the chalice Elen had spoken of. Or was one himself.
With a reluctant grunt of assent, Barn turns and begins to haul the raft up the bank closer to the campsite so whoever is on watch can keep an eye on it.
Later, during his watch with Ardwynn, the big man is quiet and brooding. At one point, he asks her, voice quiet and introspective, almost plaintive:
"Wynn? Y-you know the wood. More than m-me, anyway. S-so much strangeness. So m-much evil. Do you th-think we'll ever... make any of it better?"
Barn(Paladin1):Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4):VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5):Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic system):ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1):Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian (Fighter3):Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia (Sorcerer2):BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1):Culuril's Strixhaven
Ardwynn was silent for several moments before looking Barn straight in his eyes. "Better? Maybe. Maybe no worse... "
She sighs and tosses a stick onto the embers of the campfire. "I'll tell you what an old gray wanderer once told me when I was in doubt with my choices. The old man was FULL of odd advice while waving his staff about."
Barn meets Wynn's gaze for a long moment, as if turning his friend's words over slowly in his head.
"Aye, could be." The big man leans back against a tree, bows his head and closes his eyes. His voice is soft and his stutter gone.
"Might be I don't understand everything you said, or the gray wanderer said I guess. But... but we did help heal that leper and gave him gold so he could return to town. And saved Elen from those undead horrors so she could die in peace as she wanted. Maybe we'll help that cursed husband of the woman in the cottage. And find the holy chalice the dead monks guard. And rescue Clotha. And break the hold the Duke and his Black Riders have on us all."
Barn looks back up again at Wynn with a faint smile of thanks, sad yet sincere. "One day."
Barn(Paladin1):Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4):VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5):Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic system):ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1):Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian (Fighter3):Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia (Sorcerer2):BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1):Culuril's Strixhaven
( +1 Inspiration to Ardwynn)
The morning mist is still thick over the river but the sun is barely visible at the horizon.....
Jack rises and stretches then looks at the boat and shrugs. He's going to have to wait for the others before moving the thing.
He sits in peace *Snerkkkkkkzzzzz* mostly in peace enjoying the start of a new day.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Smiling Jack wakes with a grin on his face, silently stretches and checks out the boat in day light.
Looks for traps as he remembers Thomas. Looks for oars as he figures he can be the oarsman being so young, but not the strongest.
Perception 10
( No oars but a long push pole )
Barn arises and his training impels him into activity, stretching a bit, performing a few drills on the bank with his halberd, then helping to break camp.
"So... w-we are taking the raft, r-right? But d-do we cross the river to the f-far side, to the island? No t-telling where Ned took Clotha. Unless one of y-you can tell? Maybe the island f-first? Look for tracks. And whoever w-was wailing during the night. Dead m-monks. Chalices. Thomas."
The big man figures he'll be the one manning the push-pole during the crossing, so he stows his halberd and hefts the pole, testing it like a polearm.
Barn(Paladin1):Damian_May's Ereworn Under the Shadow | Lyra(Warlock2/Bard4):VitusW's Silverwood Forest | Nivi(Rogue5):Erik_Soong's Netherdeep
Joren(Fighter6):NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Quyen(Adept1, ba5ic system):ConstancePhokas' Nentir Vale (Discord) | Seri(Druid1):Hunter_Orien's Saltmarsh
Xarian (Fighter3):Luna_Dust's Marks on the Map | Ophelia (Sorcerer2):BillM's Icewind Dale | Shin(Wizard1):Culuril's Strixhaven
Ardwynn nods with what Barn said. "And we are going to have to do a couple trips... that raft can't hold us all at the same time."