(Oh yeah, absolutely)

Caravans of this size have driver's seats built for more than one. This one also has a staircase leading from the bunk beds to the driver's seat. So Jaden is able to climb up and plop a seat next to Guffa.

"Well, young man, de last thing ye want to worry about is da beasties. I promise, de sight alone a' Mimi scare away anything. Oh, plenty a' rivers, plenty a' dem. Be trackin' through one at some point. Ya want to fish, I an' gonna stop ye. Just make sure ye do it away from Mimi, she get hungry even when she ain't." He laughs, slapping Jaden's leg. Then he looks about the increasing number of trees, then looks back to the horizon of the sea vanishing. His head tilts up to the sky. Orange. 9...10 o'clock, maybe. He looks back to the road ahead and addresses Jaden. "If ye ain't got ye wits about ya, young man, ye should go to sleep."

(If Jaden wishes, he can make an insight check)

Jaden's Insight check: 17

"No," replies Jaden. "I'm good. I didn't go carousing last night and there is so much new for me to see, it would be a shame to sleep through it... Speaking of sleep. Will we reach Sunswall today? Or will we need to camp overnight. Downstairs is going to be a bit cramped with six or seven people in it."

"There's enough space, young man..."

Jaden can see that Guffa is looking...a little uneasy. His eyes keep darting around the increasing dense foliage.

"Trips gonna be a week, maybe less if the weather is nice."

Nephis looks to the group as they start to travel. He's cleaned the paint and dirt off himself from the party, but it's clear that he's physically tired from the previous night, and roughed up from his encounter with Mimi. He yawns. "As much as I'd love to converse more with you all, I'm going to have to tap out for a few hours. I'll play my viol and have a few dragonchess matches to make up for it when I wake back up."

He moves to one of the bunks, lays his head down gingerly for a few hours. When he wakes back up around 9, he looks much more refreshed, almost blissful, and seems much more alert as well.

Nephis opens his viol case and starts to tune it, then plays a soft song, creating a warm and quiet atmosphere for the nighttime caravan ride.

Excusing himself for just a moment, Jaden goes and gets his shield from the cabin and then sits up with Guffa to ride shotgun with him.

"Two sets of eyes are better than one," he says, if questioned as to the reason for his action. "And I'm going to find out more about this country of yours talking with you than with the others downstairs. They're fresh off the boat like me." 

Guffa takes a deep sigh. Taking one hand away from the reigns, he fiddles with a lantern hanging right next to him before it burns to life, The caravan is now traveling through thick trees. Looking up, it is almost impossible to see what remaining sunlight through the treeline. What with Nephis playing a soft song on his instrument, matched with the natural sounds of nearby rushing rivers, the dozens of creatures and the creaking of the caravan, everyone in the caravan, Jaden as well, feel a strong sense of peace. And then Jaden looks back over to Guffa, and that peace fades. Guffa's uneasiness is not going away, and the increasing darkness seems to be making it worse.

"Fine," he says, "In a few hours, we gon set up camp for the night. If ye see something, and you'll know what it is, don' do anything brash." And then he goes silent.

Symon Twist, finished with his explorations, climbs up the stairs to the head of their animated conveyance and joins Jaden and Guffa.  Looking at the thickening foliage around them he asks, to no one in particular, "I say, chaps, but it looks like it could be a bit stuffy out there," waving a hand at the jungle.  "From the looks of the place there could be any sort of things out there, ye know?  Like, hungry things maybe, watching us as we might watch our lunch being sent into a kitchen to be prepared.  Say Guffa, what sort of defenses do you have ready in case something decides we look tasty?  Got a catapult up top?"  He gestures toward the top of the caravan.

Addressing Jaden, he continued, "Ah, Jaden?  I believe you were curious about what sort of dweomers I was knowledgeable of, well; I am interested in all kinds and I know various incantations, some that affect things at a distance, for example I can catapult a small stone, with a great deal of force by the way, some spans away; I know some self-defensive spells," He pauses, pulls a small scrape of leather from a pouch, and waving his hand over in in a complex manner, chants in a whispery growl, "Lorwr tan, Lixor! Lixor! Belnos (click) truxtun (click) (tlich) balenor frzitixsum!" In very oddly accented atonal fashion interspersed with clicking sounds made with tongue and cheek. The scrape shimmers, turns into a drifting haze that smoothly flows over Symon, covering him briefly in a faintly scintillating film, before vanishing.

"There, see!  I have just toughen my self a bit against many different types of harm, edge weapons, blunt, piercing, fire...well, it does help, and for eight hours, too!"  He smiles brightly.  "What kinds of dweomers did you mention having knowledge of?  Mayhaps we could share our knowledge?"

He again looks at the increasing opacity of the surrounding vegetation with a hint of nervousness.

As the caravan darkens in the nighttime, Nephis places a coin on the table in front of him and touches it. The entire wagon is bathed in a warm light.

Jaden listens politely to Simon talking but Guffa's unease keeps him looking alertly into the trees.

During a moment when Simon is drawing breath, Jaden asks Guffa whether the light that he lit is possibly going to attract unwanted attention, and if so, he asks if he should get one of the others with better night vision than he to come up to keep watch.

"It's not gonna be a worry."

(I would like Jaden and Simon to make perception checks)

Symon  Perception   10

OCC Man, talk about nervous turnips

Jaden's Perception check: 7

[OOC: LOL. What do turnips have to do with anything?]

Sorry for missing all this.

Kricam would have taken a long rest, with his joints still aching, and as he does small illusory frogs seem to jump around his bunk. He wakes to the sound of the viol and just listens. He is used to the drone of crickets or croaks of toads and has only recently come across music in his travels to Veingo. " That is really something" he remarks to Nephis as he still lies in the top bunk.

Quote from phillberrie >>

Jaden's Perception check: 7

[OOC: LOL. What do turnips have to do with anything?]

 OCC In the old days when a naive country boy came to a city for the first time the city folks would joke about his naivety with expressions such as, ‘my, look what just fell off the turnip wagon (or truck in later times).  Hayseed and country bumpkin were some other derogatory terms frequently used.

The caravan is now traversing through what's basically a jungle. Symon and Jaded have to occasionally dip their heads down to avoid vines and branches, or swat them away with their hands. It is almost impossible to see anything beyond a couple of feet past the caravan, even with the help of additional light. A few more hours pass and Mimi starts to slow down. Guffa manages to get her to move off the path and into some brush, before plopping down with a low thud. Guffa sighs, "Right then, girl's out for de night." He looks to Symon and Jaden, "Any ye' young people wan' stay watch, I'd appreciate it." After which, he jumps off the driver's seat and opens a cubard right below it. Taking out a few slabs of meat, he walks over to Mimi. "Alright, girl, feedin' time." Mimi hisses, lifts her head up, and plops it back down. "Ey, ya lazy..." He puts the meat on the ground, lifts up Mimi's mouth with both hands, holds it open with his shoulder and starts to toss meat in her mouth.

(Guffa will take the first watch. If anyone else wishes to take one, roll perception, the order will be whoever post first goes next and so on)

Nephis perception: 16

He also has 60 ft darkvision.

Since Kricam has taken a long rest already, he will fly on to the roof of the caravan to get a better vantage point.

Perception: 23 

Both Jaden and Symon don't notice anything too out of place. Aside from roaming animals and a horse-drawn cart passing in the night, it is uneventful. For the first few minutes, Nephis doesn't notice anything too out of place, then there was a bit of rustling. He stands from the stairs leading to inside the caravan and starts to walk. A small perimeter check, not leaving the light of the still-burning flame of the lantern. Another rustle. Nephis grabs the hilt of his longsword. His steps get slower as he makes his way around Mimi. If what he overheard Guffa said earlier had any hint truth, these weren't animals. Before he reaches the stairs to sit down again, his eyes found a silhouette in the distance. About his size...possible male. Human or not he couldn't tell, but he could see the subtle movements of breathing. Slowly, Nephis unsheathed his longsword, trying to reflect the light from the lantern into the distance. Another scurry of movement, and the figure was gone.

He relays this information to Kricam, and the ranger also finds these silhouettes. Two. Maybe three. All of them a good ways away from the caravan. None of them approaching.

Morning soon comes, the lantern has burned out, and Mimi is getting restless for breakfast.

Kricam will happily go and try to hunt down some food for Mimi, feeling some kinship between him and this animal that reminds him of his territory.

Survival check: 5

[OOC: Travelling today so won't be active until tonight. Presume Jaden took his turn sleeping and possibly overslept. DM knows my preferred fighting tactics, if necessary.]