Travis, after a hearty breakfast prepares his mare named Autumn. His second horse, a reluctant gift from some Orcs. After preparing his saddlebag, containing a bag of oats 3.5 lb, 50' Hemp rope, 10 x pitons. Water skin holding 0.5 gallons of drinking water. He has an extra sack to contain his scrolls. 

Inventory # Ray of enfeeblement stone x 1 (Imposes penalty to STR of 1D6+2 for 5 minutes.)  +1 cloak of invisibility, 2 x potion of invisibility, 1 x potion nerve stimulant.

Scroll's # 5 x lesser vigor scrolls (restore 14 points each), 1 x endure elements scroll (able to survive in both hot and cold environment), 2 x en-tropic shield (create magical field to deflect arrows).

Standard daily spell list # 4 x 0 level Create water, Read magic, Detect magic, Detect poison, 4 x 1st level level Obscuring mist, CLW, Summon monster 1, Sanctuary, 3 x 2nd level Summon monster 2, Cure moderate wounds, Sound burst.

Travis settles back into the saddle and rides out with the others, heading out into the wilderness. 

  I enjoy being in the wilderness once again.  The smells, sights and sounds are a delight to me.   I ride at the rear with Caesar   He strides along purposefully and keeps a steady pace.   " Its always nice to be back out here.  The only negatives are hundreds of hobgoblins and a dragon or two. " I laugh after saying this.  

"Man, don't even joke about that. I'll take groups of hobs all day long versus taking on a dragon right now. I mean, we've got some nice pieces of equipment but on average we're definitely not geared for that."

"No kidding, but chances are that was the last dragon we'll encounter for quite some time. They're very territorial. Unless it left some kids behind come to think of it... but we should be able to fend off wyrmlings in any case."

"In any case, same story as before, lets get to where those hobs are messing around and take the patrols out one by one. If we can figure out what they're looking for, so much the better."

I send Ping up to recon the area, never leaving the 1 mile telepathic range we have.

Ping's Listen/Spot 15 / 15

Following Jason's lead, I send Ariel up as well with instructions to merely report back anything he sees and remain within range. *Keep out of bowshot, as well, little one! I don't need to know how many earrings they might have, just that the foes are in a specific place!*

To the group he says "A dragon is a magnificently frightening creature. Maybe one day we'll encounter one that likes to talk and not eat the people it meets. That would be such an honour!"

Ariel's Listen/Spot: 2 / 3

"Oh, just thought of something. Gonna grab some big stock bones from the kitchen. Rachel, can you have Speak with Animals prepared this time? Big meat bones would make a good offering of friendship if we run into the Dires again.."

   We will find a friendly dragon one day.  I look forward to that day.  Love me some dragons, at least non human eating kind.  " 

  I grimace in regret.  " Yes , Jonathan, I will be a good druid this time and actually have that one ready now.  " 

Pointing at the shield, "Well, I KNOW they're out there."

I blink at Jonathan's comment, "Now there's an idea. But instead of raiding the pantry, how about we hunt one of those big six legged deer? I forget what they were called. They remind me a bit of a megaloceros actually, but that's not important. In any case, big soup bones to offer are one thing, but I think a fresh kill would go over better."

"Who knows what we may encounter this time; as everything seems so damn hostile out here," Travis says, keeping his eyes peeled and his Lt. crossbow ready for action.

Twisting from side to side I test out the mobility upgrade. "This is soooo much better. I feel like one of those conquistadors that switched from their breastplate to the Aztec armor. It was basically matted cotton that was pressed together with rezin. Same coverage but much lighter."

You all head out deeper into the wilderness and the forest as you soon make it past the mountains and into the area that you have fought many of Hobgoblins.  Ping has nothing to report as you keep moving deeper into the North.  Soon you find yourself deeper into the forest than you have before when Ping alerts you to movement ahead.

Adding Ariel's eyes to Ping's, I send him out as well to see what he may see (from more than bow shot range) and report back. Quietly, I say to the group "Do we dismount now and skulk through the woods, or remain on horseback and wait to see if they approach?"

OOC - Were we heading to that outpost, still?

I hesitate, then say, "Let's stay here, see if we can't get a better idea of what it is before approaching."

I instruct Ping to, carefully, get a closer look.

Travis, brings his horse to a halt with the others his eyes peeled.

Listen/spot #10

  I survey the area behind us to watch for others trying to sneak up on us.  " Caesar,  get ready.  It might be time to fight.  " I hit my fists together. He grunts and sniffs the air.  

Ariel heads out to join with ping out scouting ahead of the group to see what is making the noise ahead.  Soon ping and Ariel report back that they can see a small herd of the six legged deer moving towards the west.  There seems to be a small game trail that heads in a general east west direction.  They do not see any other movement ahead. 

I look to the others, "Well, certainly not the action we were expecting. Rachel, did you want to try and take a few deer for any potential encounters with that dire wolf pack? If not, we should move on.

"Remember we're not just looking for hobgoblins and dires and dragons out here, we're also trying to figure out what these guys are looking for out here. So keep your eyes open for places of interest, holes in the terrain, etc."

  i nod at Jason   " If it doesnt take too long it would probably be a good idea to take a deer or two.  Anything to help us negotiate with dire wolves is a good thing.  "