"Well, that ought to be easy enough to get, presuming we catch up to them," Tender muses, carefully tying her pack of food closed. "You said you've got horses?" 

Quote from ArtymisMoon >>

Kallista takes her rations with a nod of thanks, then slips to the back of the group next to Evi. She had noticed the girl's routine of counting guards and scouting escape routes, and approved heavily - she herself had been doing the same thing. Keeping her voice low, she asks, "Is everything alright? You seem worried?"

 "Umm yes I'm fine...I umm..." Evi began before pausing for a moment as she tried to come up with a suitable lie.  Failing miserably and sensing that the woman meant no ill will, she admits "...Actually its about the horses...I don't know how to ride one...and that one has been staring at me since we got here." she whispers back to Kallista as she points to the most jovial looking horse in the stables.

Kallista can't help but smile at Evi's last comment, though it isn't visible under her hood. "Don't worry, I can show you. It isn't that hard once you get the hang of it." She makes a mental note to ensure Evi gets one of the calmer-looking horses.

Fletcher looks thoughtfully at Evi. "Given some time, I could possibly modify the saddle to be easier to ride."

"Oh yes, these horses regularly carry large burdens and such. They can take the load." Orden says.

Orimdal looks over one of the horses, patting it as he does. "Well, now we have a bite ta eat with us, is anyone objectin' ta ridin' out ta catch them merchants now? Better ta get this done sooner, rather than later."

"agreed. we can eat with them when we get there."

"And the longer we wait, the harder it'll be to catch them." Kallista agrees.

Evi resignedly nods her head in agreement.

Fletcher flashes her a sympathetic look.

"Yes, best to get on before they get too far ahead," Tender agrees. 

"I can't thank you all enough for doing this for us." Orden says as he prepares each of the horses. "Oh, and just so you know, these horses can go real fast for decently long periods of time, so don't be afraid to push them to catch up with the caravan. They can take it." He adds with a smile.

He leads them around to the dirt path, and helps each of you into the saddles. He waves at you as you ride away down the path. (Everyone give me an Animal Handling check please.)

Orimdal Animal Handling: 17

Tender animal handling: 8

(edit: look, riding horses is hard when you have a tail, man)

Animal Handling: 19

Kallista Animal Handling: 7

(Edit: Like inkedwolves said, horses are hard when you have a tail)

animal handling 20

(Yeah, I can imagine having a tail would be problematic)

Fletcher, Archer, Evi, and Ormidal have little problem controlling their mounts, however Tender and Kallista run into some problems.

As you ride along, you can easily follow the path of the merchant caravan by the hoofprints of its horses and the wheel marks of the carriage. After about 30 minutes (if you are traveling at a fast pace), you see the merchant caravan up ahead nearly 100 feet.

With the assistance of Kallista, Evi was able to successfully mount one of the tamer horses, taking to it surprisingly well (though anytime the horse did something unexpected - which was often - she wasn't able to hide her startlement) .   This isn't so bad she thought cautiously to herself as she gingerly petted the mane of her temporary mount.  Once the group began to actually ride though, fear gripped her immediately and see held onto the reins as if her life depended on it (and if you were looking her way you'd probably see her eyes were often tightly closed).  When the group sees the caravan appearing in the distance, she silently rejoiced knowing that in just a few moments her ordeal would be over.

ooc: I made an OOC pm thread :)

Fletcher also rejoices as the merchant caravan comes into view. "ho! we come bearing.......fish I think!" he shouts.