Tarek spends about an hour, but eventually grows tired of looking for toads and joins Ulben in possibly cooking up something for an afternoon meal.

Fluin would take a seat in camp and wait till someone has something for him to do.  "Just as well relax until they show up."he says with a shrug.

(Would that we were one level higher and I could turn into a bird!)

Absent other options, Torrent would start foraging for food.  "We may be here for a while.  Might as well make ourselves comfortable.  I'm gonna go lookin' for sommat to eat."

(DM question - would Anakis know whether the toads are likely to come out more at night or during the night? Based on living on the streets and seeing certain animals come out more at night?)

Patrolling around the area of the camp for giant toads takes until about an hour after dawn, as Ulben purifies the water with Tarek and Fluin in camp nearby. The day isn't getting appreciably warmer with the heavy cloud cover blocking the sunlight and a cold winter wind blowing lightly through the bog.

Aluzira, the murmurs of the west wind are faint and unintelligible. Whatever message they might be carrying seems to be coming from far away to the west.

Torrent, how many hours of the day will you spend out foraging for food, knowing that your efforts in this familiar area won't go unrewarded? 

Anakis, your experience seeing the animals of the bog on the streets of Steepgulch at various times of day and night might not apply to the habits of giant toads, but you have heard stories from some of the other street kids about people who have ventured west into this part of the bog being attacked by giant toads at all different times of day and night.

Aluzira opens her eyes with a disappointed sigh, she was so close.  She looks towards the west wondering what's out there, before standing up to walk around.  "Anything yet?" she asks sitting down next to Fluin.

I'll spend the day foraging, hunting, and keeping an eye out for any signs of wildlife that may become hostile or the giant toads.  So, eight hours if there's no sign?  

Anakis heads back to the camp after wandering around and trying to coax responses in the various pools of water with her Thaumaturgy  to no avail. When she gets back, she heads over to Rowan (the only person she's really gotten to know, but she may be next to one of the other characters - just because Rowan is leaving), "Do you want to go with me to scout around once the sun goes down? I can see really far in the dark and we might catch them."

"Seems like we are getting a nice camping trip out of this." Fluin says with a sigh as he waits for some sort of action.

The ice around the edges of the ponds melts slowly as the day remains very chilly until afternoon, when the temperature slowly begins to fall.

Torrent, while traveling around this region of the bog, several signs of the giant toads catch your attention. Distributed throughout the area are what appear from a distance to be 3-foot logs but are revealed upon closer examination to be foul smelling amalgamations of the bones, hair, horns, and hooves of a variety of creatures, some of which appear to have been humanoid. Additionally, the vegetation in many places is broken and flattened, smeared with mud and filth, in strips as wide as 10 feet, but as with the area around the camp, any tracks that the creatures might have left have been washed away by the heavy rain.

While foraging about, you also come across a small spring of fresh water, suitable for drinking, about two hours into your journey from the party's campsite, at which you can fill your waterskin.

As the day draws to an end, you return to the camp with 6 pounds of winter berries and vegetables, and some small game you have caught.

It looks like a cold night is ahead, and while the chilly weather you've experienced so far might have something to do with the scarcity of the giant toads, you're aware that it's only a matter of time before they return to their usual hunting grounds.

Ulben cooks what ever food is brought to him.  Unless the party decides to move Ulben will generally just stay at camp.

"Maybe we should stay here it's getting pretty cold," Aluzira says to Anakis.  "We could take first watch tonight though," she adds with a smile. 

(Sorry, yesterday was busy)

Torrent returns to the camp after his long day of foraging, bearing a couple of rabbits, bags of berries, and a few herbs he found along the way. 

"Alright, folks.  I 'preciate yer patience.  I know we thought this would be a bit faster than it has been.  That said, I dun' think we'll be out here too much longer.  I expect we may see our hoppy friends sometime tonight or tomorrow.  I seen a buncha signs of 'em roundabouts here, though the tracks were washed away.  Their leftover bits of food are strewn all over.  Meantime, try ta keep warm and sleep well.  I think tomorrow may be busy."

Tarek thanks Torrent for the food. After eating, he spends a few minutes keeping warm by the fire, before heading off to sleep, planning to take the last watch.

"That's good, that we will find them soon I mean,"  Aluzira says in reply to Torrent.  "I don't mind it taking a while, it has been nice camping. I've missed being on the road," she adds with a smile before asking "Does anyone know what's west of here?"  After eating she will take first watch.

"How long are we each going to keep watch tonight? I can see a long way in the dark so I can go somewhere in the middle if you want?" Anakis gobbles down her food, and every now and then sneaks some crumbs to Custard.

Dusk turns to night, and first Aluzira, then Anakis, and then Tarek each take their watches in turn. No creature stirs in the cold night as the bog freezes over and a thin layer of ice covers the two nearby ponds completely. Anakis, the cold is biting as you turn in after your watch aware that, without the additional warmth of the poncho you found, your sleep would have been restless indeed.

As the approaching dawn graces the east with its dim light, the whispering west wind breaks up the clouds, which begin to drop a cold drizzle over the bog. As you're awakened by the fine, cold rain floating down out of the west, Aluzira, you're reminded of a small community known as Fallshade that you've heard lies somewhere in the bog west of here, a thorp of some thirty inhabitants who have dedicated themselves to a life of study.

Anakis nibbles at some food as the sun dawns while absent-mindedly playing with the sequins on her poncho. As the others start to wake and gather around she asks "Does anyone else know much about Carlos the Crook? I've heard some stories, but I don't know much about Bella." She holds up the front of the poncho with the sequins, "She can't be that bad with all the sparkles, right?"

Once Aluzira is fully awake, she uses the Shape Water umbrella trick she saw Torrent using to keep herself dry.  She pulls out her paper and writes down what she remembered about Fallshade in any spaces left on her paper.  After doing that, she goes over to the campfire and extends the umbrella the full five feet around the center of the fire to keep it from going out.  "I don't know much about them, sorry.  I only moved here recently, maybe the others do?" she replies to Anakis as she eats her own breakfast looking lost in thought.

"I also know very little about the crooks, exceptin' ta stay away from 'em.  I ain't got nothing they want anyway, asides my hunting trap, which is less use for them than for me.  Maybe one'a the militia types knows sommat about 'em?"  He plays with the falling water, making shapes out of it, and allowing himself to get wet.  

Torrent prepares to do another patrol, looking for new signs of the giant toads as they slowly approach.