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Assuming the rest of you guard the merchant, and rolling up quick survival for the rest of you that are looking.

Taraka the Beautiful and Simon discover some tracks that look to belong to a stag. If anyone has track you can follow them. In either case clearing underbrush until there's room to take the carts off the road, let alone to clear odd patches in which to erect tents. With another two to three hours you could clear enough of the thick bushes to clear a circle around the site, or just take -3 to spot potential threats. Feel free to set up any details like night watch. Lets split it into three shifts. Pick a shift and roll a spot and listen.

Meanwhile Fillangus Doddlehop takes a bedroll from his cart, and spreads a winter blanket over the top in case it were to rain on his goods. He rolls the bedroll out under the cart, and starts a small fire with some of the brush you already hacked down, in order to start heating some gruel that smells dishearteningly flat. As it cooks he pulls out a small journal, in which he begins to write pausing to think twice as long as he writes. When the gruel is done he offers it around, and if nothing else at least it's hot. He also offers a water-skin as there aren't any creeks nearby.

At dark he'll climb into his bedroll and sleep.