"Hey now... he wasn't THAT close to dying... I wasn't gunna let him die.." Oscar would say with a bit of a chuckle. "But those shadow dogs were as real as this here helmet" He would say pointing towards his head. 

He sits down looking troubled "Shadows dogs? That is even more troubling than what I came to speak to them about. I supposed they could be related. I think Master Elril would have some insight. I wish he was In Hickorydale." He shifts to get more comfortable and pulls out a smoked leg of lamb and finishes half of it in a bite "Waiting is hungry work. I have plenty if you'd like a snack too. Perhaps we can have a meal and talk more on these strange things?"

Bree frowns as she looks between her companions.  "I was sure it was a dream..." She sighs.  "From the way you are all looking at me, it wasn't."  She sits down and glances to the giant.  "Do you have something a bit smaller that I could actually hold onto while eating?"  She appears a little glum, so sure it had to be a dream.

"I wish it were a dream.  It was so extreme compared to anything else we've been through, but we have no idea what's normal out here.  Elril did warn me things might be out to get me.  Still, what doesn't kill you...doesn't kill you."

To the giant, Faleon says, "Any food you have would be good.  We can only carry so many rations on us.  Is there water nearby, by any chance?  Do you think Elril is in trouble?"  Faleon doesn't know quite what to make of the possibility that Elril is in danger, given the contents of his most recent communications.  Talk of his mentor brings up various confusing and conflicting thoughts that he'd been trying to suppress whilst on the road.  "I'm his apprentice.  I hope he's ok."

He takes out another smoked lamb leg and tear the meat off into smaller chunks and puts it on a nearby rock. "I have no reason to think Elril is in trouble but he has knowledge of such things. I was hoping he could share it. I've been remiss though, you may call me Tog. I have known all your masters since they first came to teach you. I share with them news of the mountains and they share with me news of the valleys. You see many animals in the mountains are behaving strangely. They are attacking each other and some of the larger ones are even attacking my kind. What's most troubling is they don't run off when injured. They will fight to the death. It is very unusual behavior. I am now wondering if these shadow dogs are related. Many such evil creatures are sent from Shadowfell and if they are related to each other than I fear dire times may be approaching"

"I could go for a chunk of lamb" Oscar would reply as is mouth begins to water. "I have a spell that can make us some water but I'd prefer to wait till the end of the day case we run inta trouble." The would add as he wipes a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth.

Tog says "Oh yes, I forgot about the water. I'm a little preoccupied. There is a mountain spring on the other side of the pass."

Bree doesn't take long to get over her glumness.  Soon she is chatting with the giant as she chews some of the meat.  "You see, we were heading out to do some fishing, it being the end of the day and all... You know how it is, just needing to relax and catch a bit of time with a line in the water and all..."  She informs the giant.  "Well, that was when we smelled it.  It was worse than old man... Well, worse than some things I've smelled recently." She grins up at the giant.  "When we found the foot, there was no doubt where that smell had come from." She glances around.  "Hey, anyone have that foot on em still?" she asks the others.  turning back to the giant she gives a shrug.  "No matter.  It smelled right bad I can tell you.  We smelled more of the same further up river, so headed that way..." She goes on to tell him, round-about, of the ships, the giant rats, and the dead bodies.

Gallo says, "So are we camping here for the night or is there a better place for it nearby, Tog?"

Tog listens quietly while Bree tells the tale "Well, that's quite the story. These rats you mentioned. Do you think they came down on the ships and did they seem aggressive? Where any of you bit by them?"

Responding to the other questions "This is a fine place to camp. Safer than in the pass. There is a mountain spring on the other side of the pass and a small river that flows south to Wayport once you get past the cliffs."

"I spose you might consider the rats a bit upset."  Bree says with a frown.  "We were interrupting their feeding, so might be our fault there though."

Gallo starts setting up the tents, etc. Once that's done he invites Bree to come with to get water, "Lets not move around alone."

Tog replies to Bree "I suppose disturbing their feeding would be reason for them to attack. Maybe whatever is troubling the mountain animals hasn't spread to the valleys. I would ask that if you run into your teachers you would pass along the information I've shared with you. But these shadow creatures are a different story. There could be many natural reason for the animals getting hostile, but creatures of shadow, no, that is not natural at all"

"Yeah we'll tell em!" Oscar would reply with a nod. When offered food the armored halfling would dig in, taking large bites of food as crumbs drip down on to his armor. 

"NO problem."  Bree agrees.  "Hey, we were trying to figure out how to get a bunch of puppies up the cliff when we return from town.  Do you know of any way to do so, or can you help us with that when we get back?"

"Hmm, puppies huh? With whats going on with the animals I don't know if that's wise, but I guess if they are healthy there's no harm in it." He replies. Then thinking for a moment "Maybe, you could set up a pulley system on your way down that you leave there? Then you could haul a cage or sack or something up with the puppies in it." 

As he talks he starts to clear out an area to set up camp "I can stay here with you tonight. IT should be safe. Tomorrow I will have to report back to my people"

"That would be great." Bree says with a smile up at the giant.  She would help set up camp and take one of the watches as they camp for the night.

As Tog (and Bree) go about setting up camp, Faleon chips in where necessary.  Once everything is set up, he settles down and looks over his clothes and equipment, repeatedly casting Mending to repair the rips and tears caused by the Mastiffs the night before.  As he does so, he allows his mind to wander to the events of the last couple of days...

(OOC: The following is Faleon's internal musings, and my attempt to get my head straight with the plot so far!  The TL;DR version is "........." - i.e. feel free to not read!)

The flaming ships coming down from the direction of Brassport, and what Tog said about it possibly being related to trouble in the mines across the river.  Blobbin had sent them to Wayport to get passage by boat to Brassport, to investigate what's going on in Brassport.  But deep down, Faleon has his doubts about what they can possibly find out by themselves.  Their first excursion outside of Hickorydale, and without their mentors too.  Normally he'd be a little over-confident, but the encounter with the Mastiffs had left him temporarily shaken.  Elril had warned him that he might not be safe outside the Dale.  What if these Mastiffs were the Raven Queen's servants, sent to kill him or draw him to Shadowfell?  He wasn't sure which was the worse fate.  For them to have almost been successful less than a day out of the Dale did not bode well.  Faleon can only hope the Mastiffs were just bad luck.  Otherwise, it meant that he was the specific target. 

Then there was Tog's information about all the local animals behaving strangely.  Were the Mastiffs related?  No, Tog had said the animals fought to the death, where the Mastiffs had retreated to ambush again.  They were aggressive, though.  Faleon was confused, almost overwhelmed by the reality of the world outside the Dale. He really hoped Elril would be at Wayport waiting for them.  There were so many questions.  And yet, Faleon still wasn't sure he wanted to see Elril right now, given the contents of the letter.  Perhaps the rest of the journey to Wayport would give him space to get his head around it all.

When camp is set up and all have eaten, Tog watches over you and you and you all get a goods nights rest. You wake in the morning to a light rain which makes packing up camp a dreary task. Tog lifts his arms and stretches "Not the best weather for traveling but I hope you are safe on journey. I will try to keep a look out for you when you return from Brassport. Good luck"