Balassar will stop as the guards and look at them, trying to find the highest rank one. He simply pulls out his former unit patch and gathers his thoughts trying to describe him like Wash would "I don't have time. As a favor to an old soldier, I'm looking for a thief, human riding a black stallion. Just past his teen years with short blonde hair, may have come off as a hunter. May have introduced himself as Art if he stopped to talk to you. Stole a family heirloom from my companion and the horse form the other one."

That so? the Crownsguard responds.  A horse thief, you say?  Well, we saw him, that's for sure, riding hard towards Felderwin.  I'd say you won't catch him easy, but that's your business.  Alas, we can't follow.  Good luck.

Balassar nods "Thank you. If my companions pass you can you just point in my direction to let them know where I went." with that he just snaps the reigns as he picks up back up to his original pace.

[Wash tries to convince Alton that the incorrect way he was trying to ride the horse (spasms and all) was on purpose and would have worked, but happily allows Alton to both figuratively and literally take the reins.]

After a day of hard riding, Balassar is presumably some number of miles ahead of Wash and Alton.  The sun is starting to get low on the horizon.  Balassar, you have not caught any sign of Art so far.  You can continue to ride through the night, though the horse will become exhausted and may not be able to continue the following day.   You may also take a point of exhaustion.  You could also camp and resume the chase tomorrow, or turn back to find Wash and Alton.

Alton and Wash, are you camping for the night, pressing on, or something else?

Balassar sighs as he pats the horse to a stop "Good ride today Nyx. We won't catch him even riding through the night." he dismounts the horse and moves a couple feet off the road side into the nearest cover he can find. He hadn't realized how far back the others had dropped and now felt stupid for splitting up from them. He just sighs as he ties Nyx to a sturdy nearby tree "I'll be back in a moment with some food. First is fire." he says as he begins to gather sticks for the fire, working to keep it at a low burn to not draw to much attention. After he will try to find some nearby branches that he can use to create a makeshift shelter. When all is said and done he pull out some rations to feed Nyx and give her some water from his water skin.

Balassar, make a Survival check to make camp by yourself.  Are you planning to sleep, or keep watch overnight?  You are not near any villages with taverns, but there are farmhouses here and there.

Balassar just rolls out his bedroll and sits up on it. His hand reaching in to pull out a deck of cards as he begins to play solitaire, taking moments to just look up and stare are the stars. His mind wondering to memories of his past. For now he would stay up to ensure that nothing threatening lurked in the woods after dark in this area.

OOC:

survival check: 6

Quick question are we doing con saves for exhaustion if I choose to stay up? or if he chooses to sleep in his heavy armor is it just going to be a quarter of his hp dice? just wondering before making final decision.

Alton gets the horse under control and slows down to a normal pace, "This is harder than it looks. Perhaps we should have gone with a small wagon." He lets out a light chuckle and asks Wash, "Do you want to try and catch up with Balassar or just go at a steady pace?"

(Sorry, busy weekend and first two days of the work week.)

Wash indicates "I am keen to catch up to Balassar if we are able, though do you think we will make it to him by nightfall? If not, do you know if there are dangers along this road at night from your last trip?"

"Not that I remember. My trip to Hupperdook was quite peaceful and with this being a main road, I don't think anyone would really try anything." Alton takes the reigns and tries tries to see if they can catch up to Balassar before nightfall.

Animal Handling: 15 to ride faster.

(I don't think I would use the Xanathar's Guide optional rules, so there's no penalty for sleeping in heavy armour for a few nights.  I might come up with something that applies for many nights in a row or in particularly arduous circumstances.)

Alton, you are able to keep the horse on the road and headed in the right direction; it's not exactly a fast pace, but it's making good ground as far as you can see.  However, as sunset approaches, you don't catch up with Balassar.  Would you stop to ask people if they'd seen a dragonborn on horseback riding through?

So, is Balassar sleeping?  And are Alton and Wash pushing on past nightfall.  

OOC:
Sounds good. If that is the case then Balassar will find a good position to put his back against and fall asleep in armor, his shield on his forearm and sword by his side.

Wash suggests that they push on a few hours into nightfall to see if that is enough to catch up to Balassar.

Balassar, you fall asleep in the small pocket of safety you've found near the side of the road.

Alton and Wash, you are travelling along the road in the dark hours after sundown.  You do not have darkvision.  The moon is not particularly bright.  

If you can think of anything you could do to help you find Balassar in the darkness of night, then you can both make straight Perception rolls to try to find him.  Otherwise, make your rolls with disadvantage.

Wash (being a 'safety first' driver) will have cast light on a ballbearing (bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet) and ask Trogdor if he can help hold it and fly around to try and find Balassar (Perception +3 advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight, hearing, or smell, Blindsight 10 ft., Darkvision 60 ft). The ballbearing is to help us look, not Trogdor.

If Trogdor agrees to help find Balassar:

Wash will recast light every hour and will tell Trogdor to drop the ballbearing at the first sign of trouble.

Wash will also light up his bullseye lantern when it actually gets dark (bright light in a 60-foot cone and dim light for an additional 60 feet), though will keep his spare sack ready to cover it if he senses/suspects danger. 

Wash's perception: 13

Alton focuses on trying to keep the horse on the road once it gets dark and just looks around for signs of a small camp near the road. "Do you think maybe ride for another hour and then make camp?"

Animal Handling: 6 just incase
Perception: 9

Trogdor sends you an image of himself as a flying torch dancing through the skies, though you sense he is amused rather than offended.  You ride on, seeking on all sides, illuminated by Wash's spell.  How many hours beyond sunset will you go?  

Wash asks Alton "Are you happy to ride a bit longer into the dark? If there is any chance we can catch up to Balassar, I'd like to try, though I understand that your poor horse will probably need some rest soon."

[I was thinking we would ride until 10:30pm-ish, then bed down for the night if we hadn't found Balassar before then.]

You don't find Balassar, so you settle down to sleep.  Luckily, your rest tonight is not interrupted.

Balassar, you wake having completed a long rest.

Alton and Wash, you also do so.  

What are your plans for the day?