Seldom Spring

“Are there more out there?” Jambiya asks, nervously. She goes and bolsters the fire with some more wood and a little magic. Then she closes her eyes to see if she can sense where Snap went. She’s a little worried about him. 

Maldorn still walks around waving his torch. He is not convinced there are no more enemies in the shadows. After a minute or so of no further attacks, he calms down and checks Sagitta for any blood around his mouth.

Erric will follow Maldorn’s lead and look around, and then searching the goblin, bugbear, and hobgoblin’s bodies for anything noteworthy. He wonders aloud if this seems odd for the area. He also thanks Anafrey for being herself again.

“See if there’s anything that ties them to a larger group. Or maybe we were just unlucky,” Jambiya says. “And this was just a random chance. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to go back to sleep now.”

"HA! Did you see that shot? Well.. I mean did you hear it?" She would ask with a grin before looking to the others. "Are you guys ok?"

Jambiya breathes lift back into the dead fire, shedding light on the area. Nearby are one dead bugbear and two dead hobgoblins and further away are the two dead goblins. The pseudodragon is nowhere to be seen.

Maldorn, you check Sagitta, but he looks to be unharmed. And if he drew blood, he has cleaned himself up.

Erric, you search the bodies of the goblinoids. You don't find anything of note, per se. The bugbear is wearing hide armor and carrying a shield and morningstar. Both hobgoblins are wearing chainmail and carrying shields and longswords. Both goblins are wearing leather armor. The closer is carrying a scimitar and has a quiver with 10 arrows in it. The further is armed with both a shortbow and scimitar and has a quiver with 10 arrows in it. You also notice a snake bite on its neck. There is a broken shortbow north of the second dead goblin. When you wonder aloud about the attack and whether it's odd, Ebokk says he doesn't think it's too odd; attacks happen on the road, and that's why no one should travel without protection.

Ebokk seems like he's a little bit in shock: wide-eyed, contemplative, and a little jumpy.

Seeing the goblin girl do her trick with the campfire's flames, Maldorn puts out his torch in order to save it for another time. 

Assuming Erric shares his discoveries, Maldorn proposes that Anafrey restock her arrows with one of the goblin quivers. He then makes a move for the other, favoring the one with less arrows in it for himself (+9 arrows to Maldorn). Just to be sure, he asks: "Do these arrows interest anyone else other then the two hunters in the party?"

Finally, he proposes the group goes back to sleep: "I'll reset my magical alarm around the camp. We should rest while we can. Whose watch is next?"

"It was Anafrey's watch. Erric was to go next, and I was to wake in the morning. I'm not sure I can sleep now," Jambiya says. But within minutes she is out and snoring softly. Half-goblins, amiright?

OOC > Did I get the order right? Now I am doubting myself.

Anafrey would collect the morningstars and chainmail armor before settling down near the fire. "I am not sure if my watch is over or not yet... I can stay up a bit longer if you all want." She would add as she looks over the gathered equipment. 

(Are there any insignias on the armor? Does it seem to be well made?)

Erric gathers all of the weapons by the campsite, and, seeing Ebokk rattled, tries to calm him down with some small talk. "You did well, friend. I suppose we're all real adventurers now, like in the stories. I'll take the next watch and then will be ready for some sleep. Thank you for your alarm, Maldorn."

During his watch, Erric will circuit the campsite slowly in wide loops, listening for anything, and looking for signs of other things that go bump in the night. Then at the end, he will crash hard for his full rest!

(I added the swords and shields to Erric's inventory.)

The weapons, shields and armor are all well-used, but still usable. The hide wouldn't fit anyone in the party. The leather armor would only fit Jambiya or Erric. The chainmail would fit the other three. Anafrey, you don't notice any kind of insignia or identifying marks on any of it.

Erric, Ebokk seems receptive to your words, but still quiet and thoughtful.

Jambiya, during your watch in the earliest hours of dawn, Snap creeps into camp with a dead rat in its jaws. It lies down and begins stripping the carcass.

The rest of the night goes by without incident. Hit your long rest buttons.

Jambiya will pet Snap and coo at him. "Would be nice to have you round the Inn, it would," she says softly.

Maldorn wakes up early to perform the last watch and then wakes his companions up a bit after sunrise. He does so gently, using the smell of cooking meat to do the job. He'll try to find some juicy but small game to serve for breakfast, but will use some reheated jerky if all else fails. Sagitta and Snap are welcome to their portions as well.

-> Survival with Natural Explorer feature: 15

"Rise and shine fellow adventurers. I hope you like the smell of breakfast meat in the morning." He smiles. "We better get moving soon after our meal, lest we want to fight off wolves for goblinoid meat..."

Anafrey would wake up with her stomach growling. She would eagerly take her portion of the freshly cooked meat with a smile. "Smells great Maldorn!" She would exclaim as she hungerly began to devour the small cooked creature. Once done, she would finish piling the armor into her pack before slinging it on to her shoulder. "I am ready to go when you are"

Jambiya wakes easily (handwaving the last watch bit, which I thought was hers), and helps Maldorn with breakfast. She cleans up the fight scene a little, gathering the goblin bodies. She spends a moment looking them over, just looking. Then she gives one of the dead bodies a good kick before turning on her heel and returning to the party.

"I'm ready, too."

Erric wakes up with a little less bedhead than normal and basically floats to the cookfire along the smell line caused by Maldorn's cooking. "Thank you, friend," he says between mouthfuls. He looks around in the daylight, trying to match the chaos and darkness of the night with the light of day, recreating what happened now that he can see more. "So that was just a bunch of jerks who encountered us in the night, randomly, and we had to kill them. I'm not sure it'll make its way into the ballad, but Anafrey, I'm glad to see you more like yourself. How are you doing? Have you learned any more about that Big Stick of yours?"

He's also ready to move along, assumedly up the road? Do we know when and where we're supposed to branch off, or where in the foresty mountains we're supposed to find the cave? Do we know if anyone non-hostile lives here so we can ask them about the cave?

OOC: Oh, sorry about that bit on Maldorn taking the last watch. I’m happy to just say Maldorn woke up a bit early, before Jambiya’s watch was over.

"no.. not really" Anafrey would reply to Erric with a bit of a frown. "Ever since the..... well.. Ebokks house" She pause for a moment before shaking her head as if trying to clear her mind. "I havn't really felt its presence... but I still know it is there.... " She would add as she grabs her white braided hair and holds it in her hand. "I notice myself feeling like I am sometimes performing tasks out of habit as though I have done them all my life.... but yet... it is new to me. Did you know I had never braided my hair before? I must admit it is convenient and looks pretty nice... but... " Anafrey would pause and rub her face a bit before continuing. "Sometimes I wish the flail weren't so... subdued... at least before I knew what was me and what wasn't me... if that makes sense."

Jambiya looks over at Anafrey from where she is tightening the straps on her pack. "I know a little of what you mean. Since finding out I'm only half goblin... I mean, I knew, right," she looks down at herself, "But since really finding out, I don't really know who I am anymore." She gives a furtive glance over to where the goblin bodies are stacked.

"But it's not like I have another voice always talking to me, unless you count Erric." She gives him a warm smile to take the sting out.

Erric is furiously taking notes in his songbook, eyes darting between the two speakers. If anyone looks, they'll see words like "dramatic arc, internal-vs-external conflict, dualing personal narratives" etc. When Jambiya mentions his name, he drops his 'pen' and snaps the book shut, eyes widely innocent. "...um what yes I love counting do it all the time!"