Liana glances over at Caelius as he signs, but understands when he uses the book. "I...upset an Inspired," she explains quietly.

Caelius nods and spells out, "That Is A Good... R-E-A-S-On To Go. You Can... R-E-A-D. We Have Not Met Many" Caelius flips the page, "Riedra" He flips the page, "-N-S Who Can... R-E-A-D."

Liana bites her lip. "Oh..." She shrugs. "I was...well, I was high up enough to tick off an Inspired personally." She looks down, a flicker of shame crossing her face.

With Luiri in the lead, the seven of you set off north for the Tundra.

As you start to walk, you all notice that the mountains seem...quieter than they were before. There are fewer sounds of animals moving, birds singing. And it means that the crunch crunch of snow under armored boots is audible from a very far distance indeed...

Mechanic: It will take a week to get to the Tundra, but (hopefully) less than that to get out of the gauntlet of Inspired patrols. So, here's how it's gonna work. Each day, everyone needs to make a Stealth check for sneakiness. You also need to pick someone to make a Survival check at advantage since Luiri's helping for navigation, and someone to make a Perception check to keep track of Inspired patrols. The same person can make both additional checks, or you can pick 2 different people to roll them. If the Perception beats DC 15, you have adv on your Stealth checks. The Stealth check is a check representing your sneakiness over the course of the day, so unfortunately short term things like pass without trace won't be able to help you. If you end up rolling badly enough on Stealth, you'll have drawn the attention of a patrol and need to fight your way out...and they'll have ways of summoning reinforcements if you aren't careful. I will be rolling a joint Perception for patrols each day, and Stealth if they spot you. If you roll badly on Stealth and Perception, they might even surprise you...

This is dangerous. If you roll badly here and the fight doesn't go your way or reinforcements are summoned, you could easily end up in Inspired custody. They have orders to keep you alive, so you won't die, but you should be aware of the risks. I don't plan or want to kill you all, though, and let's all try to keep in mind that going down leads to another story path, not the end of the campaign.

I will roll Liana's Stealth last, and put the results of the day in the same post. She will not roll the extra Survival or Perception checks. Beat the Inspired on enough days, and you'll be out of the gauntlet and able to get to the Tundra peacefully. Be creative, adapt, and try to fail forward!

So with all that being said...select your Survival and Perception rollers, and give me some checks for Day 1!

Taran didn't like the silence reigning over the mountains. While it was useful for them to hear the Riedran troops, it meant a single mistake could cost them dearly.

But, this was what he had been trained for. Exactly this style of mission, disappear into the mountains and avoid the Riedrans. So he stepped into the flow, and focused. He had a job to do.


Stealth: 15   if Advantage 27
Survival: 16
Perception: 28

Vishal does his best to stay silent and keep an eye out. Though secretly he wishes they had succeeded against the dragon, failing has never felt right with him. 

Stealth: 14

Edit: Forgot the Advantage 

Advantage Roll: 6

Akuma sticks close to the middle of the moving group, trying to keep an eye out. However, most of her attention is focused on attempting to stay as hidden as possible throughout their journey. 

Stealth: 25

Kaori tries to stay close to the others, focusing all of her attention of keeping her big, bulky armour quiet. with no luck because avrae ******* hates me for no reason

Stealth: 6 (Straight roll because of Plate, tried using inspiration but avrae just gave me a nat 1 for that so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Caelius is not bothered by the silence as he is unable to hear it. He stays near Liana and occasionally asks her a question or two.

Stealth: 15

Liana Stealth: 17

Inspired Perception: 15

(Damn, that was close. Y'all averaged to 15.8, so just high enough)

The first day, despite some narrow escapes, you manage to keep ahead of the patrols.

Any roleplay you want to do that night or the next morning, feel free to, and once you are ready to move to the next day, give me the Day 2 rolls, please!

Finding a place to rest for the night, Taran begins building a small fire pits, mixing oils and alchemist fire to make a smoke-less flame to keep them warm throughout the night.

Then, knowing that Mister Caelius would wish to cook the evening meal, Taran walked off a ways, staring up at the starry night sky, he didn't know what else to do, so he found himself praying again. Asking the Mother of Storms to find some forgiveness for his failures, for being unable to stop what had happened.

After a few moments of that, he started going through the previous days, analyzing everything he had done, every word he had said. Could he have done better? Was there any obvious mistake he had made? The whispers from the abyss said he had, but... was that the truth? He wasn't sure.

Liana sits at the edge of camp, watching the darkness anxiously while she wraps her arms around her legs.

Luiri settles down next to a boulder, looking content as he gazes around the mountains, nostrils flaring every now and then.

Vishal still cannot shake this feeling about Lania but doesn’t want to scare her away. Looking at Cael he sends to the sorcerer, “I know her. Or know of her. Like she’s related to someone. But I can’t put my finger to where. Does she look familiar to you?” 

Caelius looks up from the stew he's making.

Not particularly. He responds telepathically, Her speech pattern is familiar, but I can't place where I've heard it. In speaking to her, she seems determined not to tell us much. She is not comfortable around us so I don't think we should push her.

Vishal has a look of slight frustration before responding, “Fine. I won’t. I just....this is going to bother me until I figure it out. It’s like a nagging little voice keeps saying I should know this. Let me know if anything hits you.”

While everyone is preparing to rest, Kaori steps off to the side - still within sight, but a bit away. Her loud armour has kept her in a tense mood all day, and if Kenku could frown she definitely would be right now.

Once she's aside, she kneels, draws her sword, and plants it in the snow in front of her, focusing her gaze on the small symbol in the base of the blade and praying for safe travel for herself and the others.

 The next day Taran buries the fire pit, and smooth it over, erasing signs of their progress. Then, he steps back into the flow, trying to avoid the close calls they had the day before. And to take his mind off the worries that gnawed on him throughout the night.

Stealth 17    if advantage 25  
Survival 19
Perception  27

The next day as they wake up Vishal has three strips of cloth smiling he lightly ties a strip to Taran, Caelius, and Kaori. Quietly praying as he does, once done he tells them. “This cloth should make you feel, well a little more hardy. Just in case. I’ll cast it every day.” He then quietly continues the day as normal.

Stealth: 16

Akuma spends the evening sitting across the space, eyes studying Liana seemingly in thought before she eventually retires for bed. Come morning, she's one of the first few awake, keeping an eye out on their surroundings until the whole group is ready to continue, making her way to the middle of the pack for their journey. 

Stealth: 25

Caelius thanks Vishal. Just like the day before, Caelius spends time with Lania, trying to build a report with her.

Stealth: 15