The genuine scare in Mia's voice was the best proof of the seriousness of the situation. Mihris restrained from asking question on spot but followed the girl back to their camp silently and quickly. The news were truly grim. "So, the worse suspicion proved to be true," she was sad but focused - it was not time for preaching or hesitation. Still, her solutions were more on the peaceful side. "I am glad we can be sure in Priestess innocence but can not begin to imagine how to expose the lies of the false Warduke. And if he is set on the sacrifice, I doubt he will allow to postpone the trial. It seems to me keeping the future victim alive is the best course of action."
"…Yeah, we will definitely keep the victim alive. But the innocence of Mithann? I'm not so sure. There's no evidence that the imposter is only one person. She still looks…dubious for now." Mia says with a sad look. She is looking into the campfire with Mike the mice is sitting on her knee and eating his rewards. "…I have an impression that the egg head is up to something big. Something that would endanger the whole caravan or even more. He said it will happen when the caravan reaches the next pass. We have to know where it is and what is his plan!"
Put your spoiler here.After long rest, Mia will add Goodberry to her prepared spell list.
Psychic energy crackles in dark blue arcs between Vanys's fingers when he hears of the imposter and his eyes squint as the others seem to be discussing a plan. Shaking his head, he asks the others incredulously, "An imposter? We should eliminate him then no? Would that not ensure the safety of the caravan from any of his future plans and delay the trial?" As far as Vanys is concerned, traitors are to be eliminated, and clearly, this 'Warduke' is a traitor of some kind.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
"If you kill him, all you do is become a murderer in the eyes of everyone. Even if they do not find you right away, the dead body will be enough reasons to stop and search and to make another trial. You heard yourself that "they do not want to bring criminals with the caravan". Even that imposter did not dare to kill within caravan but set the trial." Mihris shook her head. "Do not think this would help. As pf the pass... From what we know he is probably planning to make the sacrifice and get the pass sealed with an avalanche or something worse and to cut off that path to the Ten Towns".
Vanys thinks for a second before his blood runs cold. Hearing Mihris's words he comes to a scary realization. "What if he isn't planning to seal the Ten Towns off, but rather the reverse? Could it be that he thinks he can eliminate the priestess during the trial and then cause the pass to seal behind us leaving us stranded in that frozen waste? Regardless, we need to do something. Perhaps we could persuade Ignazio to push the trial back, he is the caravan master and although the Warduke seems to hold substantial sway, our voices might be able to make a difference."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
Mia takes some pebbles from her pouch. She throws them in the air, catches them and throws again. Mike the mouse moves its little head up and down as it's watching the elf girl juggling those small stones. "…We have three tasks at this point. First we must stop the imposter's evil plan about the pass. That's our priority number one. We can't decide what we should do without concrete information about the Spine of the World. And Ignazio is the one who has the best knowledge about mountains and their pass. Let's meet the caravan master early in the morning before the trial. We might get useful information and … postpone the expulsion if we are lucky"
Mia moves her hands even faster. The juggling is a game and ritual through which she organizes her thoughts. "…If we fail to stop the expulsion. Then make our best to keep the victim alive. This is our second task. As long as I know, Auril isn't the type of goddess who forgives her followers to neglect the sacrifice. Soon or later, the fake duke must take action to kill the victim himself. It would give us a chance which leads to our third task, KICKING THE EGG HEAD ASS!"
Mia stops her hands. All the pebbles return to her palms as if they're trained animals. "…Oh and whatever the egg head plans, he probably doesn't want to be caught in it. We can take advantage of it, catch him when the imposter tries to leave the caravan, and grill him to reveal his evil plan!"
Vanys nods at Mia's points. They all seem to make sense and it sounds like a good idea although he isn't sure why the imposter wants to hold the trial and he isn't quite certain that it is because the imposter wants someone dead. He voices these concerns quietly, "If the goal of the expulsion isn't in fact to kill someone, then our saving the exile, while noble, wouldn't flush the imposter out. I agree that a meeting with Ignazio is due first thing in the morning, but if nothing fruitful comes of it, then I recommend we take direct action to stop this imposter from carrying out his plans, even if that means killing him. Besides, if we need any proof that he is an imposter, then we can just have Mia charm him again and have Red record it." He lets out a yawn and concludes, "Anyway, we can discuss further after our meeting with Ignazio. I think we could all use some rest for now. Speaking of, one of us should probably relieve Red of his watch at some point in the night. I can take the second watch if you both don't mind watching over our priestess for a few hours each." If the others agree, Vanys sends a message to Red relaying the information and asking him to wake Vanys after 2 hours so that they could trade watches over the priestess.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
"Auril does not need just any sacrifice, but the person has to be left to die from freezing, which is hard to achieve on the go. I would assume this is the whole point of the trial. To be honest I would prefer to talk to Ignazio honestly. May be not pointing at the Duke but warning about the pass." Mihris rubbed her eyes. "But you are right, we all need some sleep. Let's talk at the morning."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"…Actually recording is a good idea. Ah wait! Will Ignazio trust us more than the fake warduke? What if he thinks the recording is made up by illusion? …I'm too tired to come up with new ideas!" Mia yawns widely. The little elf pats her winter coat and gives the mouse a signal to get in her cloth. "Good night everyone. Come on it's time to go to bed. And this time no pee and no poo in my pocket, okay?"
(Of note; Unless we charm the Warduke again, in Red's presence, he cannot construct a recording of him admiting such. It would just be Red stating what he stated at that point.)
The night passes somewhat calmly, and just before midnight you watch as a colorful brightness manifests in the sky, a shimmering curtain of light—a beautiful aurora that illuminates the night sky and fades away before dawn. Throughout the your sleep time only guards seemed to wander about the area, stopping by Ignazio's circle of wagons to shift turns on watch from time to time, you thought you heard some voices over the wind from the back of the caravan, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Some hours later, still in the darkness of night, you are able to see as the guards organize and from the front to back, guards pass the message that the caravan is about to be on the move, stirring up the sleeping folk around the campfire as they go, "Up! Up! The caravan moves to Bryn Shander. Let's go!" they shout over the wind as they go, even prodding some sleepy folk with the butt of their spears if needed.
Packing up and reaffirming his allies in the morning-skipping food today in lieu of having rations ~in case~ Red consults his allies.
"Do.. We actually have a plan here? We could try teling Mithann ? Fact is, we don't know whether she's on the up and up, or not. Honestly, I feel like she's suspicious-as was the other target, the caravan lead seems responsible in the time we've known... And he has a consider amount of coin to lose if something went sideways. So... Do we try consulting Mithann, or The Caravan Master Ignazio, or do we wing it?"
"I would talk to Ignazio first." Mihris' plan did not change by the morning. "We do not have to name anyone, only to tell that there is a chance the trial is set to make a sacrifice to Auril. I am not going to lie to him just not to reveal to full information. If that does not help, though... Well, I confess, I am not sure what else we can do. Aside from saving the victim."
Vanys nods, "Mihris is right," he says to Red, "We must first meet with the caravan master, our future actions depend on the result of that meeting." With that, he checks to make sure everyone is awake before heading towards Ignazio's camp.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
"Do we feel the need to watch over the priestess? IF she's the target, now-right before the trial would be the time to strike. As I rather doubt the other sides are unaware at this point"
Vanys shrugs, "I don't have any way of monitoring the priestess remotely if we all go to Ignazio. If we feel that one of us can be spared from this meeting, then perhaps they could stay and watch. However, your ability to record our conversation could be crucial and Mia was the one who discovered the imposter in the first place. If you would wish for Mihris or I to stay back and watch the priestess, I could ensure that the groups are at the very least in communication with each other. Ultimately, I feel that we should all be there to meet with the caravan master, after all the importance of the meeting cannot be stressed enough, but I understand your concern for the priestess."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
"Fair enough. Though if I record anything; we'll lose part or more of what we already have." Having finished his preperations, Red is ready to head out
Mia was woken up by the guard's call. Waking up maybe isn't the right word, because elves don't need to sleep. They only need a few hours of meditation and don't dream in the same manner as other races. Mia always wanders what she would feel if she can sleep like humans. According to her frbiends, humans can be anything and do everything in their dreams. That must be amazing!
Yawning and stretching herself, Mia pinches her pocket and gives her mouse a wake up call. "Rise and shine little one! It's time for breakfas…Yikes! Naughty Mike! Very Naughty!"
A few minutes later…Mia joins with her friends. Mike the mouse is sitting on her shoulder and washing his body with snow. " Well … I'm not worried about Mithann. Attacking the priestess now means they have to defeat all caravan guards and an experienced adventurer. If they can fight with all of them then they didn't bother to sneak to her in the night. They could just kill Mithann and take her belongings."
>>Mihris
Mia walks to her best friend and sits beside her. "Miri, I have an idea! When we ask about the next pass. Can you tell Ignazio that you had a very bad dream. A diabolic disaster is awaiting the caravan! And I will say the same thing. If the caravan master respects one wiseman to trial innocent people then he should listen to TWO wise women and take the alternative route! … At least he will tell us the potential risk on the pass and their preparation for disasters like an avalanche."
>>Vanys
Then she points toward the half elf. "Van! You're a very charming guy! We will use our magic to make you even more charming! Ask the caravan master, who told him it's a freaking good idea to kick out someone and let them die in the white wasteland. Tell him that the freezing death only pleases the owl head witch, Auril. Maybe he would postpone the trial and give us time to investigate."
>>Red
Finally, Mia faces Red with a solemn face. "Aaaand, Red!… Can you make some portable mouse house for Mike when you have time? We are perfectly understanding each other but… I mean, he worked very hard yesterday so… I think he deserves some…privacy?"
Everyone,if you feel Mia is too bossy, please tell me.
Blinking a whole 7 times, and then chuckling, "Sure. If we're not all dead by tomorrow and you can dig up some scrap wood and leather I can make a lil MouseHouse. I'll even add a hammock." Having noticed the extraneous issue, "And maybe include a hole in the corner for a satchel for.... cleanup."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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The genuine scare in Mia's voice was the best proof of the seriousness of the situation. Mihris restrained from asking question on spot but followed the girl back to their camp silently and quickly. The news were truly grim. "So, the worse suspicion proved to be true," she was sad but focused - it was not time for preaching or hesitation. Still, her solutions were more on the peaceful side. "I am glad we can be sure in Priestess innocence but can not begin to imagine how to expose the lies of the false Warduke. And if he is set on the sacrifice, I doubt he will allow to postpone the trial. It seems to me keeping the future victim alive is the best course of action."
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
"…Yeah, we will definitely keep the victim alive. But the innocence of Mithann? I'm not so sure. There's no evidence that the imposter is only one person. She still looks…dubious for now." Mia says with a sad look. She is looking into the campfire with Mike the mice is sitting on her knee and eating his rewards. "…I have an impression that the egg head is up to something big. Something that would endanger the whole caravan or even more. He said it will happen when the caravan reaches the next pass. We have to know where it is and what is his plan!"
Put your spoiler here.After long rest, Mia will add Goodberry to her prepared spell list.
Psychic energy crackles in dark blue arcs between Vanys's fingers when he hears of the imposter and his eyes squint as the others seem to be discussing a plan. Shaking his head, he asks the others incredulously, "An imposter? We should eliminate him then no? Would that not ensure the safety of the caravan from any of his future plans and delay the trial?" As far as Vanys is concerned, traitors are to be eliminated, and clearly, this 'Warduke' is a traitor of some kind.
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
"If you kill him, all you do is become a murderer in the eyes of everyone. Even if they do not find you right away, the dead body will be enough reasons to stop and search and to make another trial. You heard yourself that "they do not want to bring criminals with the caravan". Even that imposter did not dare to kill within caravan but set the trial." Mihris shook her head. "Do not think this would help. As pf the pass... From what we know he is probably planning to make the sacrifice and get the pass sealed with an avalanche or something worse and to cut off that path to the Ten Towns".
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Vanys thinks for a second before his blood runs cold. Hearing Mihris's words he comes to a scary realization. "What if he isn't planning to seal the Ten Towns off, but rather the reverse? Could it be that he thinks he can eliminate the priestess during the trial and then cause the pass to seal behind us leaving us stranded in that frozen waste? Regardless, we need to do something. Perhaps we could persuade Ignazio to push the trial back, he is the caravan master and although the Warduke seems to hold substantial sway, our voices might be able to make a difference."
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
Mia takes some pebbles from her pouch. She throws them in the air, catches them and throws again. Mike the mouse moves its little head up and down as it's watching the elf girl juggling those small stones. "…We have three tasks at this point. First we must stop the imposter's evil plan about the pass. That's our priority number one. We can't decide what we should do without concrete information about the Spine of the World. And Ignazio is the one who has the best knowledge about mountains and their pass. Let's meet the caravan master early in the morning before the trial. We might get useful information and … postpone the expulsion if we are lucky"
Mia moves her hands even faster. The juggling is a game and ritual through which she organizes her thoughts. "…If we fail to stop the expulsion. Then make our best to keep the victim alive. This is our second task. As long as I know, Auril isn't the type of goddess who forgives her followers to neglect the sacrifice. Soon or later, the fake duke must take action to kill the victim himself. It would give us a chance which leads to our third task, KICKING THE EGG HEAD ASS!"
Mia stops her hands. All the pebbles return to her palms as if they're trained animals. "…Oh and whatever the egg head plans, he probably doesn't want to be caught in it. We can take advantage of it, catch him when the imposter tries to leave the caravan, and grill him to reveal his evil plan!"
Vanys nods at Mia's points. They all seem to make sense and it sounds like a good idea although he isn't sure why the imposter wants to hold the trial and he isn't quite certain that it is because the imposter wants someone dead. He voices these concerns quietly, "If the goal of the expulsion isn't in fact to kill someone, then our saving the exile, while noble, wouldn't flush the imposter out. I agree that a meeting with Ignazio is due first thing in the morning, but if nothing fruitful comes of it, then I recommend we take direct action to stop this imposter from carrying out his plans, even if that means killing him. Besides, if we need any proof that he is an imposter, then we can just have Mia charm him again and have Red record it." He lets out a yawn and concludes, "Anyway, we can discuss further after our meeting with Ignazio. I think we could all use some rest for now. Speaking of, one of us should probably relieve Red of his watch at some point in the night. I can take the second watch if you both don't mind watching over our priestess for a few hours each." If the others agree, Vanys sends a message to Red relaying the information and asking him to wake Vanys after 2 hours so that they could trade watches over the priestess.
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
"Auril does not need just any sacrifice, but the person has to be left to die from freezing, which is hard to achieve on the go. I would assume this is the whole point of the trial. To be honest I would prefer to talk to Ignazio honestly. May be not pointing at the Duke but warning about the pass." Mihris rubbed her eyes. "But you are right, we all need some sleep. Let's talk at the morning."
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Red hasn't much to add to the plan; but will switch with Vanys after a while.
16 Perception if needed for w atching over on my shift.
"…Actually recording is a good idea. Ah wait! Will Ignazio trust us more than the fake warduke? What if he thinks the recording is made up by illusion? …I'm too tired to come up with new ideas!" Mia yawns widely. The little elf pats her winter coat and gives the mouse a signal to get in her cloth. "Good night everyone. Come on it's time to go to bed. And this time no pee and no poo in my pocket, okay?"
Animal Handling: 10
(Of note; Unless we charm the Warduke again, in Red's presence, he cannot construct a recording of him admiting such. It would just be Red stating what he stated at that point.)
The night passes somewhat calmly, and just before midnight you watch as a colorful brightness manifests in the sky, a shimmering curtain of light—a beautiful aurora that illuminates the night sky and fades away before dawn. Throughout the your sleep time only guards seemed to wander about the area, stopping by Ignazio's circle of wagons to shift turns on watch from time to time, you thought you heard some voices over the wind from the back of the caravan, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Some hours later, still in the darkness of night, you are able to see as the guards organize and from the front to back, guards pass the message that the caravan is about to be on the move, stirring up the sleeping folk around the campfire as they go, "Up! Up! The caravan moves to Bryn Shander. Let's go!" they shout over the wind as they go, even prodding some sleepy folk with the butt of their spears if needed.
Art Portfolio
Packing up and reaffirming his allies in the morning-skipping food today in lieu of having rations ~in case~ Red consults his allies.
"Do.. We actually have a plan here? We could try teling Mithann ? Fact is, we don't know whether she's on the up and up, or not. Honestly, I feel like she's suspicious-as was the other target, the caravan lead seems responsible in the time we've known... And he has a consider amount of coin to lose if something went sideways. So... Do we try consulting Mithann, or The Caravan Master Ignazio, or do we wing it?"
"I would talk to Ignazio first." Mihris' plan did not change by the morning. "We do not have to name anyone, only to tell that there is a chance the trial is set to make a sacrifice to Auril. I am not going to lie to him just not to reveal to full information. If that does not help, though... Well, I confess, I am not sure what else we can do. Aside from saving the victim."
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Vanys nods, "Mihris is right," he says to Red, "We must first meet with the caravan master, our future actions depend on the result of that meeting." With that, he checks to make sure everyone is awake before heading towards Ignazio's camp.
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
"Do we feel the need to watch over the priestess? IF she's the target, now-right before the trial would be the time to strike. As I rather doubt the other sides are unaware at this point"
Vanys shrugs, "I don't have any way of monitoring the priestess remotely if we all go to Ignazio. If we feel that one of us can be spared from this meeting, then perhaps they could stay and watch. However, your ability to record our conversation could be crucial and Mia was the one who discovered the imposter in the first place. If you would wish for Mihris or I to stay back and watch the priestess, I could ensure that the groups are at the very least in communication with each other. Ultimately, I feel that we should all be there to meet with the caravan master, after all the importance of the meeting cannot be stressed enough, but I understand your concern for the priestess."
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
"Fair enough. Though if I record anything; we'll lose part or more of what we already have." Having finished his preperations, Red is ready to head out
Mia was woken up by the guard's call. Waking up maybe isn't the right word, because elves don't need to sleep. They only need a few hours of meditation and don't dream in the same manner as other races. Mia always wanders what she would feel if she can sleep like humans. According to her frbiends, humans can be anything and do everything in their dreams. That must be amazing!
Yawning and stretching herself, Mia pinches her pocket and gives her mouse a wake up call. "Rise and shine little one! It's time for breakfas…Yikes! Naughty Mike! Very Naughty!"
A few minutes later…Mia joins with her friends. Mike the mouse is sitting on her shoulder and washing his body with snow. " Well … I'm not worried about Mithann. Attacking the priestess now means they have to defeat all caravan guards and an experienced adventurer. If they can fight with all of them then they didn't bother to sneak to her in the night. They could just kill Mithann and take her belongings."
>>Mihris
Mia walks to her best friend and sits beside her. "Miri, I have an idea! When we ask about the next pass. Can you tell Ignazio that you had a very bad dream. A diabolic disaster is awaiting the caravan! And I will say the same thing. If the caravan master respects one wiseman to trial innocent people then he should listen to TWO wise women and take the alternative route! … At least he will tell us the potential risk on the pass and their preparation for disasters like an avalanche."
>>Vanys
Then she points toward the half elf. "Van! You're a very charming guy! We will use our magic to make you even more charming! Ask the caravan master, who told him it's a freaking good idea to kick out someone and let them die in the white wasteland. Tell him that the freezing death only pleases the owl head witch, Auril. Maybe he would postpone the trial and give us time to investigate."
>>Red
Finally, Mia faces Red with a solemn face. "Aaaand, Red!… Can you make some portable mouse house for Mike when you have time? We are perfectly understanding each other but… I mean, he worked very hard yesterday so… I think he deserves some…privacy?"
Everyone,if you feel Mia is too bossy, please tell me.
Blinking a whole 7 times, and then chuckling, "Sure. If we're not all dead by tomorrow and you can dig up some scrap wood and leather I can make a lil MouseHouse. I'll even add a hammock." Having noticed the extraneous issue, "And maybe include a hole in the corner for a satchel for.... cleanup."