Pizazz's Ravenloft and Beyond

Meepo will summon a phantom steed to ride upon as they travel. Otherwise no real standard thing he is doing.

Lionel breathed in the sea air. Even if not specifically in that cave (though, in his opinion, the wizard was a fool, or completely succumbed to paranoia to leave such a place) - then in those hills they just had to make a keep or something. If the wizard wrestled one out of the hands of the giants, it had potential.

The paladin was so deep in his thought, he almost forgot to get a rock from the place, that would allow returning instantly. But only almost - the thing was too important to ignore. Ketch's previous collection (re-labeled too for better understanding) he kept with himself as well. 

"You know, you are beginning to sound like that wizard. Something in the air, maybe?" Noted Lionel to Ketch's rambling about safety. He joked, of course, but this plane (at least when you do not have to battle an adult dragon) just felt too good to worry about anything.

For the travel, Lionel summoned back his steed (even spirit animals might enjoy a free run in the fields). Not so much to ride, as to help with loading. Laiton was not a beast of burden by any means, but all the equipment the party had was not a real burden either. So, the travel could be done in relative comfort.

Night camps were not something new to the party - should there be trees, the fire could be set, if not - maybe magical fire? Whatever to get a warm meal. And the order of the night watches did not matter much, everyone could see in the darkness.

At night Meepo would set up a tiny hut for safe camping for the group.

The group reaches the road by mid-afternoon. Meepo rides upon a horse looking thing, summoned through magic. Though the creature is mostly normal looking, it has dull black eyes and seems somewhat more bony than a typical horse. Also it's quite a bit smaller, suitable for the Kobold to easily ride on. Meanwhile, a beautiful white horse carries Lionel, striding powerfully and easily through the grasslands. 

Ulthan pads along to one side of the group..seemingly at ease with the world. The fluffy tail of his wild cat can occasionally be seen at it pounces on little sprites or bugs. At one point he does come back and drop a dead rat on the ground in front of Ulthan, and then runs off again to continue hunting.

The road runs north south and is little more than 2 wheel ruts worn through the grass.  It looks relatively well used. The best route seems to be to follow this road north until it meets a trail of some type that runs east into the mountains...just after a river. You turn onto the road. You're perhaps two hours down the road. The sun seemingly sets in the west here, and is low over the horizon. As you reach a rise, you see something on the road ahead, maybe a mile out. It appears to be a large troops of soldiers moving south down the road in your direction. There are horses, wagons, and troops on foot.  They've likely spotted you at the same time as you spotted them.

Ulthan and Utazo scope out the area and are likely something like a couple hundred feet out depending on terrain and how far we can see each other. With Ulthan's guidance the group is moving rather well despite difficult terrain. He manages to bring back food regularly, small creatures and birds. Both the cat and the goliath seem to moving extremely naturally and totally comfortable, being rather ecstatic at the surroundings despite some drop offs to make someone go I don't think I have enough hit points.

"While traveling for an hour or more in your chosen terrain, difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel, your group can’t become lost except by magical means, you remain alert to danger even when you are engaged in another activity, you can move stealthily at a normal pace (while alone), you find twice as much food while foraging, and while tracking creatures, you learn the exact number, sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area."

Glyph says conditions so I'm thinking you can use old version rules that you can point to x people and say not them in essence, so no exploding cat. "You can also set conditions for creatures that don’t trigger the glyph, such as those who say a certain password."

It's not like they could hide in the grass, soldiers or not but it was the only road, and the group needed to move in that direction. It was sad, though, that this otherwise perfect place had an ongoing war and so close to the group's future mansion too. "I assume no one is eager to run away and wait somewhere for that little army to pass?" Lionel asked more to fill the silence, not expecting anyone to agree to the idea.

"Meepo run if others wish." Meepo says with a glance to Lionel. "Lionel wish run?" Meepo stands up as high as he can on his ride's back, looking towards the approaching group. "Want Meepo send Rat to have closer look?" He asks the others.

"Uh? No, not really. Do not see any harm in passing by that regiment. They might be just bored enough or concerned to tell who is fighting and whom." And Lionle steered his stead towards the army.

((Glyph didn't see you can list specific individuals so I went with a conditions we can all easily meet, the password. I figured cat wouldn't be exiting without you or us anyway... But if I can make certain people exempt, of course I would do that route instead... and include cat.))

     "My first guess would be that perhaps they are after a dragon..." Ketch says, unconcerned.  Then he considers and adds: "A dragon we know nothing about!"  Dragons can be tricky, there's no way to know if it could have been on good terms with the locals or not.

     "But certainly no need to run...  If things turn hostile and against us, Lionel always has his helmet..."

As the group gets closer they see what looks like your average regiment. A couple dozen knights on horseback escort a wagon train of six wagons along with perhaps three hundred soldiers on foot. They fly unfamiliar flags and the armor style is different than any you’ve seen, with a  fondness for sharp blades edges. But the warrior out front is quite different. He rides a mount that looks like an extra large horse with six legs. And his head stick  out of his armor that looks almost humourosly oversized. It’s a wonder he would have the strength to walk in it. And yet appears to sit comfortably enough, and moves about with ease. The man has jet black hair and brown eyes that scans the group as you get closer. His armor is very strange, not a seam in sight and strange workings where it needs to bend.  It seems to give off a dim glow along thin lines. He halts as the group comes near. “Zalyian coursa mi tremebo gorthiya.”  He says. It sounds like maybe a question but possibly a statement. 

     Ketch looks about to his companions with a quizzical look to see if any of the others could perhaps understand what the warrior said, for he could not. "Sorry my friend, we're new here," Ketch says in his rough Dwarvish.  He then switches to Elvish and adds "But perhaps there is a common tongue we do share?"

It was definitely not the language Lionel could understand. He did not hope much for a common language either - judging by the look, that plane was quite isolated. On the other hand, it was a man, or humanoid enough, as well as others. They even had normal horses too. So, he followed the suit and greeted the man first in Common, then in Celestial, and afterwords with some hesitation in Draconic.

Meepo holds up a taloned hand. He then starts to cast a ritual spell.... Comprehend Languages

Ulthan meanwhile checks out the surrounding area that's best for people on foot to move in and people on horse the worst... juuuust in case...

The troops stands there while Meepo begins his ritual casting. They seem to understand what's going on because they call a halt to the troops who sit down, and the knight in the oversized weird armor hops off his horse. You see one of the soldiers, looking much like any other, move forward. He places his helmet to the side, and his spear, and then pulls out some materials and also begins ritually casting a spell. As he does so, you see the metal bend and flex unnaturally where seems should be. He lands with a hugely heavy thud on the ground, dust puffing out, and realize the armor must also be very heavy, and yet the man moves within it with ease. The six legged horse must be a special breed just to carry a man in such a heavy suit. He calls for a wine skin and takes a cup. His brown eyes look easy over everything with supreme confidence as he is handed a gilded silver cup and begins sipping a purple liquid from within. 

Ten minutes later the spell is done and Meepo steps forward. The man looks up on the group, cup in hand and says, "In the name of King Gorthiya, you are welcomed to the Silton pass road. What kingdom or trading house do you declare for? Also, due to the conversational limits from these spells, I shall front load my questions for ease. What have you seen south of Kintington? Is there any beetle activity?" 

He takes a sip of wine, waiting for his translator to provide answers.

     Ketch has relaxed and gotten as comfortable as his new plate mail allows.  But he’s looking enviously and curiously at the armor these others are wearing - it seems far more capable and comfortable than his own.  He just got it but the gleam of his new armor has already faded and the half Orc wonders if he’ll get a chance to kill someone in this stuff and claim it as his…  though he tries not to dwell on that too much.

     As the speaking begins again Ketch looks over to Meepo and awaits a translation.

Lionel was impressed by the patience and accommodation of the officers. Not willing to look any less polite, he dismounted as well and was waiting for the end of the ritual as patiently as the troops did. He listened to the translation with curiosity and answered with a hint of regret (the idea of taking the party aside and preliminary discuss what they were going to answer kind of slipped his mind): "We appreciate the welcome. Our group does not belong to a particular house. We came by the southern road and can say, that for at least two hours of walking the road is clear and we did not notice any special beetle's activity. Can we ask if the road to the mountain is safe as well?"

Meepo simply works to translate what is being said by the officer, letting the others respond as they wished.

“No house?! From another nation then? What nation creates your beautiful armor? But…. 2 hours of walking? Did you simply walk across the sea and arrive here? This makes no sense!”

     "We are strangers from a strange land.  Perhaps even a strange plane," Ketch offers.  "We walked through a door in one world and next found ourselves in this one.  I suspects it's some high and powerful magics...  I do not truly understand how such happens."

     Looking around at the others to try and gauge their interest in being more truthful and forthcoming, Ketch shrugs and adds "Truth be told, I understand little beyond the time when I stepped into a foggy alley and stepped out into a land called Barovia."