"I did see a trail that looks like either goblins or worgs walk," Elra admits, "but we became so focused on the dragon I didn't think it a good point to go down it. You might start there. And yes," she turns to the man who mentioned Phandalin. "We're delivering goods there."

Vincent returns and decides to perch himself on the grass next to Elra, and she once again goes to absentmindedly petting him until she remembers, "Oh! I forgot to ask, what was that caravan carrying with them?"

Tarja would join Zeke on patrol in wolf form, as he requested. (OOC: can't do eagle! At this level, my forms can't have swimming/flying speeds yet. No flying for quite some time.)

Following his lead, she would move quietly (Stealth: 17 ) and listen for anyone who may be following either party. As the previous night, she would check the area surrounding the campsite for any predators or their lairs. (Perception, hearing+smell: 19)

Then she would settle in back at the campsite and watch the sun set and listen to the wind in the trees.

"Right, well, no harm in telling you now.  Young Lord Sebastian had quite the supply of wealth with him, among other things.  Apologies, your friend had asked about the wagon.  Several chests of gold and other riches in the armored one, I was told."

After a pause he asks "is it as bad as they say?  It's a shame what happened to our friends, but I fear for these men here.  Tomorrow will be hard even without...interruption."

The wolf finds little along the road and only squirrels and a bird's nest anywhere near camp, but as she heads east just a bit towards the large Neverwinter Wood as the sun vanishes she smells a familiar stench on the the gentle breeze blowing across the grasslands.

"..." Elra doesn't quite know how to put it into words. "There are not many physical wounds on a lot of them. A horse and what looked like a couple of guards were physically attacked. The rest were clearly poisoned by the dragon. Their eyes had bulged out and bleeding. They were also foaming at the mouth."

Tarja returns, shifts back to dwarf form, and informs the group of the scouting report.

Nothing around here but squirrels and birds. There's goblins about somewhere on the wind, perhaps to the east, but could be pretty far away, their smell is everywhere these days. Whoever's on watch should keep their eyes and ears open.

She lowers her head when she hears about the riches in the wagon.

That could explain the attack - dragons do try to accumulate hoards of riches and gold. If its any consolation to the men here, it may mean that it will leave you and us alone, since none of us are carrying enough gold to catch its eye.

She gives a second look at their wagons.

At least, I think we're not, I hope our employer didn't hide secret gold reserves amidst the supplies!

Ethan, helps setup camp and then starts the process of setting up the perimeter alarm.

Ethan charges up his gauntlet and then pulls out the tent-peg like, silvery spikes, placing them around the camp.

Ethan creates 20ft squares slightly overlapping them in a circular pattern around the camp and its wagons. (However many that would take, at 10+ minutes per casting)

He remembers to exclude all of the people and animals from the two groups and all wild animals smaller then a house cat, from the alarm trigger.

Once done, Ethan informs the other group of the specifics,

"Hi, um, I have setup a perimeter alarm. It will magically warn us, if anyone not a part of out two groups, tries to cross withing 20 feet of our camp perimeter."

"I have also excluded any animals smaller then a house cat from the alarm. So if you awake to the sound of a hand bell ringing, it is probably the perimeter alarm."

Once done, Ethan will sit down and have a simple meal (whatever offered, and/or his trail rations), and then begins tinkering on his equipment.

(Ethan keeps the shields and spears hidden in his compressed space, working on his other replacement tools instead. No roll required for these ones)

Zeke reports back to the group on his findings - or lack thereof and grabs a quick bite to eat before stepping outside the camp to settle into the shadows and take first watch.  As he stands in the quiet of the darkening evening, Zeke reflects on how fast this little band has fallen into a rhythm.   Tarja's wolf form has been invaluable, and Arvel's charm helps keep everyone's spirits upbeat - even with the threat of a dragon overhead.  Elra's innocence demands his best - she needs someone to watch oever her as she learns the ways of the world. 

But Fae is unlike anyone Zeke has ever met, quiet and serious and intent - he finds himself drawn to her like a kindred spirit.  They'll all die horribly under the claws of a dragon, but at least they will all die together.

Fae would return snacking on some rations after finishing her rounds. Light seemed minuscule to her considering everyone else’s significant contributions, but it’s what she could think to offer. It didn't put a damper her spirits though. In fact she’s had a hint of a smile this whole time, enjoying a second night with her party members. She’d check in with everyone one at a time in case they needed anything else before she’d settle for the night.

Fae would shimmy by her companion(s) as she made her way to the area Zeke cleared for her at the back of the cart. She’d curl up in her spot using her bag as a pillow and her cloak for her blanket. Her cloak would be pulled all the way up over her nose, just leaving her eyes exposed. She’d just be a bundle of black with two violet eyes peeking out. Fae would just watch and observe from her perch. Unless addressed, she’d watch the others and their nightly routines.  Fae would fall asleep watching and listening to the methodical and rhythmic tinkering Ethan’s doing. 

The men watch Ethan painstakingly use his gauntlet and magic to set up his elaborate alarm system.  Some look intrigued, some even a bit relieved that such magical measures of...some kind... are being taken, but mostly they just look confused about what he is doing.

A bit more than an hour after camp has been setup Arvel begins to wonder if the man sitting closest to him simply hasn't bathed in a while, or if he's imagining it.  Elra and Tarja also smell something on the breeze from the northeast that is not pleasant, and Tarja finds the smell to be quite familiar.

Elra takes out her rations and takes a bite. She pauses for a moment, then shrugs, not sure why the rest of her party disliked them so much. Sure, they were tasteless, but most of the food she ate at her temple was tasteless. After finishing, she pulls out her own notebook and flips to a new page. She begins to write a list of all the things she needs to get if she can while they're in Phandalin. After a while Vincent hops over to her and tries to get her attention, screeching very loudly till she looks up. She smiles, "Alright Vincent, just give me a second."

She stands up and pulls out another strip of jerky out, before holding it out over his head. "Up!" she says, and Vincent hops up onto her arm. "Good boy, now," she holds up the jerky again. "Fetch!" she lobs the jerky off into the woods. Vincent takes off after it, flying into the woods and soon flying before landing on the ground and eating the strip all at once. "Happy?" she asks, and VIncent screeches again before flying to the cart and perching on the side before closing his eyes and going to sleep.

Elra laughs and sits back down, using her blanket as a pillow and and wrapping her cloak around herself as she watched Ethan. "What are you building?"

Quote from DirePilgrim >>

Zeke reports back to the group on his findings - or lack thereof and grabs a quick bite to eat before stepping outside the camp to settle into the shadows and take first watch.  As he stands in the quiet of the darkening evening, Zeke reflects on how fast this little band has fallen into a rhythm.   Tarja's wolf form has been invaluable, and Arvel's charm helps keep everyone's spirits upbeat - even with the threat of a dragon overhead.  Elra's innocence demands his best - she needs someone to watch oever her as she learns the ways of the world. 

But Fae is unlike anyone Zeke has ever met, quiet and serious and intent - he finds himself drawn to her like a kindred spirit.  They'll all die horribly at under the claws of a dragon, but at least they will all die together.

Ethan's alarm perimeter makes Zeke feel better as he hands over his watch and settles in near his comrades later that night.  He makes a rough bundle of his cloak and pack and drifts off immediately into a deep sleep, content for the first time in ages.

 

 

 OOC: I'm guessing form our Dear DM's last post that Zeke never made it off his watch post :) 

Zeke settles into his post for the first watch.  Tucked into the shadows, he listens for any signs of anyone creeping up on the camp, remembering Tarja's warning about wargs and goblins.  

Tarja raises her head and smells the air, turning up her nose, and escalates her warning to everyone.

 Tarja is the first to spot at least eight or so moon lit silhouettes out beyond the tree line, roughly 70 yards out into the long grass.  Several have pointy ears spread wide on either sides of their heads, while others are just large dark masses with no distinct features other than being slightly taller than their counterparts.

Ethan looks up from his work as Elra asks him her question,

"Hah, well its a bit embarrassing really. I'm crafting replacements for some of my lost tools."

"When I arrived in Waterdeep, I quickly decided, I didn't like having to carry all my stuff on my back."

"So I decided to try making a prototype compressed space storage, like professor Rumslig taught us at the university."

"Only I failed to add the stabilising sigils the first time. So after I had placed many of my tools into the gauntlet, the compressed space field destabilised and took my tools and half the gauntlet, and disappeared them out of our world."

"Thankfully I still had a few of my more important tools,"

Ethan pats his Tinker's Tools,

"So I have been rebuilding the lost tools, and working on a set of Woodcarver's Tools as well, now that I see the advantage of wood, for certain designs."

"I've finished my Leatherworker's Tools and my all important Jeweler's Tools, I just have the Smith's Tools and the aforementioned Woodcarver's Tools to go."

"I may also look into Carpenter's Tools as well, just to round out my toolkit. I did do a little basic carpentry during my time at the university, and it may come in hand in the future, perhaps."

------

At Tarja's warning of incoming danger, Ethan starts putting away his things.

As he goes to stand, to have a look around, Tarja touches him on the shoulder, and Ethen feels the flow of magic enter him.

"Oh thank you."

Ethan scans the surroundings, both looking and listening for anything. (human no have darkvision)

Perception check to scan for danger: 19 (using the guidance effect)

Fae would have been half dozing off, just barely awake listening to Ethan explain to Elra what he was doing. But at the sound of Tarja's voice, Fae's ears and senses would come back into focus. She'd snap up into her seat, peering over the corgo at the warning of danger. Whispering under her breath to herself "1,2... 3..." Fae was taking head count, not of the suspected goblins, but of her comrades. She was also making mental notes of everyone's positions as she found them. Fae had Elra, Ethan and Tarja in her immediate sight, but... is Arvel close by? He's been rather quiet... How's Zeke doing?! He's alone on watch... Her eyes frantically scan for her comrades first.

Fae would grab her gear and hop out of the cart, but crouch down low by the cart, scanning for the threat. If she can't find the threat, she'd look to Tarja for direction.

Maxie speaks to the assembled campers.

"Mes amies, dangair approaches. Please ready yourselves to fight or flee as is your choice. I, pour un, will be choosing to fight along wiz my companions. Who is wiz us?"

Elra looks up from her own writing at Tarja's warning, "Oh, that's what that was. Hm..." she puts her book away and goes to the cart. She gently nudges Vincent, "Hey buddy, are you up to see what those goblins are doing out there?" Vincent's eyes open and he gives a low shriek! Before spreading his wings and flying off in the direction of the figures. Elra grabs hold of the cart and lets Vincent's eyes and ears take over her own to see whats going on.