Beyond the Ragnarök

Halp waits until Veldir had debarked.

He leaves his pack in the longboat, taking only that needed for a melee. Then he wades to shore. 

He starts up the hill, shouting to his companions, "With their vantage we have not surprise, surely. If you want not yet your seat in the Feasting Halls, than send your foe there first..." 

And he charges up the hill, 'cutting a trail' he supposes, light hammer in his off hand, sparking the shillelagh cantrip on his main-hand club (with his BA) and casting Bless (with his A) on the three foremost of his companions. 

"Come!"

Quote from PlotArmored >>

“Who would like to cut a trail uphill for us?” He asks, implying that we weren’t to wait for the owl’s return before starting our hike.

Sólmyrkvi also has his backpack, thinking that it's best to be prepared for anything even though they don't plan to go that far from the ship.  At Leif's question, he waves off the role, saying, "I'm no tracker."

Quote from Godster1 >>

Halp....starts up the hill, shouting to his companions, "With their vantage we have not surprise, surely. If you want not yet your seat in the Feasting Halls, than send your foe there first...Come!"

Sólmyrkvi is caught off guard by Halp's sudden "charge" up the hill, but once he gets started, Sólmyrkvi does his best not to fall too far behind the others.  Even though he sees no reason to expect that they're racing immediately into a fight, he doesn't want the old fighter to stumble upon something dangerous while he's on his own ahead of the rest of the group.

When Drekise asks what she sees, she mentions movement, enough to be seen from their boat.  And agrees with his assessment that it would be a good spot to view the land.  When Veldir demands she tell him what she saw, she smirks, "Scared to go check it out yourself?  C'mon.. don't worry I'll protect you."

She leads the group off the boat to meet up with the crew's scout.  But is surprised as well when Halp starts charging up the hill.  This makes her genuinely smile and casting shillelagh upon her staff as well, she makes her way to catch up with the cleric.  She does her best to keep her eyes and ears open as she goes..  her curiosity peaked at this new environment.

Perception: 21

Leif you watch as Hjálpar takes flight and then, with a bust of energy and a call to action you see Halp spring ahead of you all, charging up the hillside. You feel the tingle of his blessing settle upon you as do you Kora and Sólmyrkvi.

Sólmyrkvi you follow in his wake, making short work of the grassy incline. 

Kora (with a 21) you peer ahead as you race up the hill and as you close in on the nearest trees you see flashes of movement between the trunks. Low to the ground and white in colour.

Leif as you near the top your owl comes back into view, gliding silently before you. As it swoops by it makes its report, just as Halp bursts through the thickets ahead into the cops of trees. 

"Many grass eaters ahead." and then an image is projected into your mind of...

Halp make a Dex saving throw DC 13 as a large goat, startled by you approach bursts from the thicket and attempts to knock you off your feet and away from her kids.

Dex = 10, so my daily Heroic Insp reroll = 1. 

So... nope. 😐

(OOC: @Dreamhobbit - Is the "large goat" just a bigger-than-usual goat (still size=Medium)?  Or did you mean that she's horse-sized (i.e., size=Large)?)

OOC: Just a bigger than usual goat. :)

Halp you go flying arse over tit and land in a heap at the feet of Leif. Take 1 bludgeoning damage from the fall.

The nanny goat stands before you all bleating in warning as behind her a small tribe of her kin skip around between the trees, agitated by your sudden arrival. 

"You all right there, Halp?", Sólmyrkvi asks when he makes it to the top of the hill, but he doesn't sound worried.  He doesn't consider a goat -- not even a big nanny goat protecting her kids -- to be a serious threat to their group.  On the other hand, in Midgard he only really interacted with domesticated goats on farms.  He says, "I wonder whether these are wild goats or whether there's a goatherd nearby."  He looks around the hilltop, looking for people or any recent sign of them, like a campfire or some sort of tent or hut.

"Oof. ... What's next...?" 

(https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS18JgtEa2Q/?hl=en)

Sólmyrkvi make a perception check.

Sólmyrkvi - Perception: 15 (in game log)

Kora hides a grin as she watches Halp take a topple from the surprise of the big goat.  She looks around and sees that she has kids she is guarding and then attempts to see all she can from the hilltop now that they are there.

Perception: Crit! 25

Kora (with a 25) you ignore the goats and instead walk though the wooded area getting a view in each direction from the hill top. Looking back to the south across the river you can see that the hard lands close to the beach become green and verdant the further west you travel. There are rolling hills and small areas of green woodland. Then, skirting around the hilltop to the west you see the river snaking away from you and eventually turning south. You walk around then to the north of the hill and see an expanse of grasslands, broken by low hills such as the one on which you stand. In the north east you see the treeline described by Hjálpar, but it is too distant to make out any real detail. Finally moving to the east and looking back the way you came you can see the river widening out into the endless ocean, and to the south the distant smoke of your settlement and people. It takes around half an hour to do the full circuit of the hill and to finally come back to where you started. 

Sólmyrkvi (With a 15) while Kora leaves to scout the surrounding lands, you see no signs of a camp or a herdsman close by. However, you do note that several of the larger goats have red leather cords around their necks, including the angry nanny goat, which is still eyeing Halp with a mothers fury.

Quote from Dreamhobbit >>

Sólmyrkvi (With a 15) while Kora leaves to scout the surrounding lands, you see no signs of a camp or a herdsman close by. However, you do note that several of the larger goats have red leather cords around their necks, including the angry nanny goat, which is still eyeing Halp with a mothers fury.

As soon as he notices the cords around their necks, Sólmyrkvi points them out and warns the others: "It looks like these goats belong to someone.  See the collars?  Let's try to avoid harming or disturbing the goats. I don't see a goatherd, but herdsmen are very protective of their flocks."

Halp has taken so many more serious batterings over the years that this one barely adds to the collection. 

"You are a worthy shield-maiden, mother," he says to the nanny-goat as he gets up, dusting himself down. 

Taking heed of Sólmyrkvi's warning, he says "Well, a goatherd would be someone to meet. Someone who, mayhap come from a village full of folk worth meeting. Shall we wait for the eve and see who comes to tend this flock? And if they move off, perhaps to their evening shelter as habit dictates, we can accompany them to this mysterious herder?" 

Halp takes a breath. That was a long sentence for him. He is well outside his comfort zone, suggesting tactics and ways forward. He's come to believe his strength is in the doing of things. And Kora may have discovered something of note. The village, maybe? 

If his, you could barely call it a 'plan', fails to satisfy his companions, he'll be only to happy to hear their thinking.

What matters, after all, is the best action, not he who thought of it. 

Kora moves to get a better look at the goats, "Huh, you're right.  They do have a sort of collar on them.  As for a village?  I don't see anything for miles... not sure how often whoever owns these goats will come back to see them."  She looks to Halp and nods. "Let's see if I can sort of move this along, give me a few minutes, ok?"

She then looks around for Veldir to see what he is up to before sitting down and going through the ritual to speak with animals.