“Well good morning there Vesper, how did you sleep?” Lumen says, stretching. (Hoping Lumen got a full rest?). He turns to the sorcerer with a more thoughtful and peaceful expression than she’s seen before. “We certainly have found ourselves in a group of incredibly well-meaning but very... idiosyncratic people. Haven’t we? Feels good to have some people to watch your back. That’s the kind of group you come from, if I recall correctly? I’ve been on my own for so long, and before that I wasn’t in a group that really watched out for each other. Or smiled or laughed, let alone appreciated the finer things in life. So this is nice, for me. How about you?”

"I slept pretty well, since there weren't any disruptions after that. I'd say that the people I traveled with weren't as strange as the people we're with now, but they were still strange. It's not a bad strange though."

Krackle would wake and spend a little time collecting his things in the small burrow located under the dirt tower.  A moment later, he would scramble out of his hole and give the others a nervous smile. "Sorry about waking everyone up last night." He would say looking at his feet. 

“That’s what happens when we set watches - we would rather be alert than oblivious, and I for one enjoyed seeing two very confused elk. Don’t worry in the least, my friend. I have a pot of porridge going if you are hungry and maybe we can find some berries to add. How was it sleeping in your amazing tower?”

Vesper walks over to Chrys and Kess and pokes the both of them with her foot. "Morning sleepyheads. Sun's out, it's time to wake up and get going."

Chrys groans and rolls over, but Vesper's persistent toe eventually kicks her awake.  "Mgggrmmmph," she groans, rubbing her eyes and slowly getting her things together.

Krackle would quickly bounce over and begin eating the porridge with a smile. "Thanks a lot!" He would say with a snout full of food. Anyone looking into his small burrow would notice the remains of a pie pan.. the one he had bought on the way out of town. It is licked clean. "So do you think we will find the goblins today?" He would ask with a messy faced grin.

Chrys remains sub-dwarven for quite a while, though she does manage to take the porridge with a thankful grunt.  "''M hopin' so," she mumbles.  "Sooner we put 'em outta commission, the less people they can hurt."  After finishing her bowl, she offers to help clean up the campsite, being careful to make sure the fire is completely stamped out and buried.  She grins at the watchtower, giving it a thankful salute.  "I'm ready ta hit the road anytime," she tells the others.

"Me too!" Krackle would exclaim as he wiped his snout with the back of his clawed hand. 

Vesper eats the porridge that Lumen made for everybody. She uses Prestidigitation to clean herself after finishing, as well as cleaning off the dirt that accumulated when she slept. "I'm ready to go."

As the group prepares to set off, Chrys once again takes to scanning the horizon, looking out for any potential threats or anomalies on the road.

Perception: 13

While Chrys scans the area, Vesper thinks about some things that might be good to have the next time they go on one of these adventures. Maybe we could get some horses or tents, like the troupe had.

OOC: Have we been waiting on Kess before we move on?

The sun climbs higher in the sky as you eat breakfast and ready yourselves for the day. Although you’re all quite well-practiced with the ritual and chores of camping, this is your first night out camping as a group, it takes a little bit of time to figure out your efficiency, since each of you has your own habits and skillsets. Kess is oddly quiet this morning, as she has been since your late night visit from the two elk, perhaps something is on her mind, or maybe this is just her way of preparing her own mindset for what’s to come.

Nonetheless, within a reasonable amount of time and some fiddling, you pack up camp and find yourselves ready to hit the road again. You traverse back across the grassy meadow and hit the main trail right at your makeshift burial grounds for the fallen man and horse that you saw yesterday afternoon. It appears that nothing has disturbed the grave site during the night. 

Turning east, you begin another day of walking along The Evermoor Way. You got an early enough start, so based on what you had heard from Ehrland, you figure that you might possibly make it to Melton by the end of today, if you make good time and are not delayed. At the very least, you have good weather, sunshine that is quickly warming up the air, and for the time being, the entire road to yourselves. 

Vesper wonders why Kess has been so quiet this morning and it makes her remember that despite her friendship with the older elf, there's still a lot that she doesn't know about her. She's glad that the grave wasn't disturbed over the night and that the weather is good again today. "I hope that we make it to Melton today. I bet it's nice there."

"I ain't so sure 'bout that," Chrys says as she walks, still keeping her eyes peeled for trouble.  "Outpost towns are usually lil' more than glorified guardposts.  I'm not sayin' it won't be pleasant, it just ain't gonna be no Yartar," she adds quickly, trying not to dampen the mood.  "But ya gotta think... outposts are usually there for a reason.  Somethin' needs defendin', and that's the place where the soldiers go ta do it.  That an' a few traders, and o' course, a bar.  Can't have soldiers without some after-work ale to keep 'em happy," she says.  "If we're lucky, it ain't gonna be too rough, though.  ''s not like we're in the middle o' the boondocks here."

Vesper shrugs. "When I was in the troupe, the outposts were some of the ones that liked our shows the most. Usually because they were bored, but also because it had been a while since they had seen other people. We kinda reminded them of their families." She tells Chrys.

"You told me a lil' 'bout that before," Chrys says thoughtfully.  "What'd your troupe call yerselves?  And what act did you an' yer folks do?"

"What's a Troupe?" Krackle would ask looking up to Vesper as he bounced alongside the group.

"The Troupe that I was in called ourselves The World and we did a lot of things." Vesper explains. "When I was a kid, I did some magic tricks when I first found out that I could. It was like the stuff I did during those magic contests. And as I got older, I got more involved with some of the other acts, like the singers and the plays."

"So a troupe is like a circus?" Krackle would reply as as his eyes go wide. "I helped clean up the animal stalls for a circus that passed through my town once.. got paid a few copper pieces even! It was really nice. I didn't get to see much of it but what I saw was amazing!" He would say excitedly.. looking up to Vesper as if she had just told him that she had created the planet they were walking on.