The Tribes of Tell Amakh (Part 1 IC)

[Stormwind]

The smallest whelp responds, speaking towards the willowy girl, yet her voice clear enough for the other to make out also. "It was a three day march from the site of the ambush to the gathering. Since we are on horse, we are making good time, yet I would guess that we still have a full day of travel before we get to the site of the ambush."

She pauses a moment and then continues, "Although I don't expect to cross the path of the Icemen until after we reach the site and start tracking them from there, we should nethertheless excercise caution."

@Simba: I presume we have only been travelling for about half a day, is that about right? Also since it is getting dark, is it still plausible for us to travel during the night, or is it too dark?

[Simba]

@Simba: I presume we have only been travelling for about half a day, is that about right? Also since it is getting dark, is it still plausible for us to travel during the night, or is it too dark?

You are right in your calculations, it is about one more day. Your horses are rested and you are more or less in top condition so you could travel on into the night. It is not too dark as you know the territory somewhat and the moon is out. A few more hours should be ok and you would reach the ambush site earlier, with a few hours of daylight left.

[MikelaC1]

ESHALYN

Eshalyn hisses quietly and turns her horse in the direction of the ambush site, giving it a little nudge with her heels to get it going towards the spot. She will not challenge if someone gets ahead of her, but will take the front spot if no one else does.

[Tyrael]

The whelp with the knives seems to be slightly less enthusiastic as the march continues on. He's still bright and chipper and looking around alertly, but at least he shut up with his damn stories every few minutes as the group continues on.

[Stormwind]

As darkness comes, the smallest whelp nods to the others to continue and she speaks briefly, "We'll continue for a few hours into the night before we make camp. Everyone keep a sharp lookout as we move."

The small whelp continues forward, letting the sinuous whelp take point, yet her own eyes and ear are alert for anything.

[Perception: (1d20+10)[16]]

[Archdeacon GX]

The whelp bearing the axe seems to prefer staying closer to her own clan-mates, riding next to the small whelp most of the way. Glancing around the area warily, she eyes the ground as they backtrack along the same route that Tell Farh had taken to get to the Meet. Going back the opposite direction, it still looks familiar to her, albeit a bit harder to follow, and as darkness falls, she turns her gaze ahead, thinking back to her tutelage under the elder shaman. Perhaps she might remember something of his geography lessons, and be able to suggest a quicker route? As the thinks to herself, she watches the area carefully. Whether or not the Icemen were around, their presence far enough south to ambush the clan was unlikely enough. That alone warranted suspicion.

Spoiler

Show

Knowledge (Geography) (1d20+2)[18]
Perception (1d20+6)[21]

[Gaiyamato]

Tasunke rode in second place, his horse using the unusual ability for a horse, to aid him in tracking. No sign of their quarry showed themselves which was not a huge surprise to Tasunke. The Icemen were seen off, so they would have left from the ambush site going in the opposite direction. Meaing the ground covered before reaching the ambush site would obviously show no signs.
Regardless he still made regular checks for signs.

When night began to fall and the small whelp in the lead urges the group forward Tasunke is in agreement and follows carefully. He has no problem with enduring a night ride and pushing himself to reach the ambush site sooner.

[Simba]

You ride into the night and after a few hours - about 2 hours before midnight - you come upon a likely site to spend the night. Those of you who came the same way a few days ago remember it and the small steam that joins the Icewater further down.

[Stormwind]

As the group ride along the small stream, the smallest whelp recalls the site and as they approach she guides her horse in a small circle as she speaks, "This is likely the best place to stop for tonight. Lets set up camp and plan to get an early start tomorrow."

She pauses a moment and then adds, "Lets set a watch too, I'd rather not be surprised during the night .. if everyone pairs up, we'll each have two hour watches."

[Archdeacon GX]

The whelp with the axe speaks up in response as she climbs down from her horse and ties it to a tree with some of the rope. "I will take first watch, once our camp is set up. Who will keep watch with me?"

[lostsole31]

The archer steps forward and nods at the axeman.

[Archdeacon GX]

The axe-whelp nods in return to the archer. "Then it is settled. The rest of you, work out your pairings amongst yourselves. In the meantime, I will gather wood for a fire, if the small one thinks we need it."

[Partysan]

The cloaked one ties up his horse and begins setting up camp with the others. "I'd rather say we avoid campfires. At night we'll be seen from miles away. It's just the reason I suggested packing enough cold rations for the way towards the icemen's camp. Moreover if we sit next to a fire while keeping watch we'll see nothing but darkness."
When theyy finish unpacking he gets together a small pile of earth and heath, then spreads out a blanket over it. He sits down on it and wraps his cloak around himself. "Though if the leader thinks I'm wrong and we can have a cozy little fireplace then I'll be glad to be corrected."

[Holocron Coder]

The white-haired whelp nods and speaks, "I agree. And I'll stand second watch, if nobody objects."

With that, he begins setting up his sleeping roll, using the parts of his tent to further smooth the ground. Less hassle to use the tent that way, rather than to set it up and have to take it down come morning.

[MikelaC1]

ESHALYN

Eshalyn sets up her part of the camp the way she does most things, quietly but efficiently. When she is done, she turns to the rest of the group.

I have no preference to who I watch with. And I dont need an uninterruped sssleep either, like what our ssshamansss sssay they need. You can put me in any ssslot you wisssh.

[Stormwind]

The smallest responds to the others, "I believe a fire is a luxury we will have to do without for now."

She looks around at how the others have organised themselves for their shifts and then speaks again, "I'll take the dawn watch."

She then proceeds to lay out her bedroll and then she gathers together all the empty water vessels before murmuring a few words and with a few gestures they are filled with clear clean water.

[Create water -> 36 gallons ought to be enough to fill up everyone's waterskins ;) ]

[Tyrael]

The whelp with the knives volunteers to take whatever watch position is left unfilled, then settles down to sleep.

[Partysan]

"Thought so," the whelp in the cloak sighs, then takes a swig from his waterskin. "Now, is there anyone who'd like to keep watch with me?" He looks around and rests his eyes on the remaining whelps, the small one with the knives and stories, the leader, the mysterious other girl. His eyes dwell a bit longer on the last one, then he quickly looks to the side again.

[MikelaC1]

ESHALYN

Answering the whelp with the cloak

I will keep watch with you.

With that simple response, she prepares to go to sleep, trusting the watch before her to wake her when it is her shift.

[Stormwind]

To summarise the watch, we now have:
{TABLE]|Watch list
1st watch|Whelp with Axe (Archdeacon GX) and Archer whelp (lostsole31)
2nd watch|White haired Whelp (Holocron Coder) and ...
3rd watch|Cloaked whelp (partysan) and Eshalyn (MikelaC1)
4th watch|Smallest whelp (Stormwind) and ...
[/TABLE]

Currently Tasunke (Gaiyamato) hasn't spoken up for a watch, and the Fox whelp (Tyrael) will take whatever place remains.

[lostsole31]

The archer recommends Gaiyamato help the 2nd watch, and Fox take the last ..... and let's get to it.

[Simba]

The night goes by mostly uneventful until the smallest whelp and the whelp from the fox clan take over.

It starts out inconspicious enough, a slight, cold breeze coming in from the north, nothing unusual. Gradually, it becomes colder still until you two stand shivering in your warmest clothing. The wind has not become stronger, but it carries the bite of ice.

Around you, the land has become even more quiet, as if holding its steamy breath. The moon is still high, but some clouds have gathered, limiting visibility to a minimum.

[Stormwind]

The smallest whelp is particularly alert with the cold bite to the wind acting as a stimulant. Whilst remaining mostly quiet, she uses her knowledge of survival to keep herself and the others warm in spite of the cold snap.

[Perception: (1d20+10)[28]]
[Stealth: (1d20+7)[9]]
[Survival: (1d20+10)[18] (Fort bonus vs extreme weather) -> self + 3 others(Tyrael's, partysan's and MikelaC1's Whelps)]

[Simba]

The smallest whelp, leader of the pack, goes around and does what she can to keep the others warm. On her round she notices that there is something moving out in the dark, something big that is slowly creeping closer.

[Tyrael]

The Fox-clan whelp stirs out of the watchful pose he had assumed leaning against a tree. "Cold in the early morning like this..." he comments under his breath.

Noticing the smallest whelp's actions, he tilts his head curiously. "See something out there?"

[Stormwind]

As she moves past him, the smallest whelp speaks just loud enough for the fox whelp to hear, "Wake the others quickly, and keep it quiet ... there's something out there"

She then moves over towards the horses and does her best to keep them calm whilst keeping a careful eye on whatever is out there.

[Handle animal: (1d20+6)[23] (to calm the horses)]

If she can see the creature(s) well enough then she'll rack her memory for any clue to what they are:
[Knowledge(local): (1d20+3)[13] (for anything relating to the Ice and the Icemen)]
[Knowledge(nature): (1d20+5)[23] (for any natural creature with an aura of cold or cold effect)]
[Knowledge(arcana): (1d20+3)[5] (for any unnatural creature with an aura of cold or cold effect)]

[Tyrael]

The whelp with the knives moves over to the rest of the slumbering group, quickly shaking the rest of the party awake. "Hey, get up, y'all," he murmurs quietly. "Think we got visitors..."

[Archdeacon GX]

It takes a couple of shakes to rouse the axe-whelp, who had been in a restful and rather pleasant sleep, and as she wakes, she mumbles groggily, "Zznnffmmh? Tell 'em to come back later..."

After a brief moment, however, she comes to her senses and gets up quickly, grabbing her case of javelins that lies next to her bedroll in her sack. Strapping the case vertically on her back just behind her right shoulder for easy access, she draws a single javelin and approaches the small whelp. "What is it?" she asks quietly, looking around warily as she can after having just awakened -- although the bite of the chill wind helps to perk her up considerably. "Icemen? Have they found us?"

Going to follow Stormwind's format here for rolling as I find it more appealing than spoilering it all.
Perception: (1d20+6)[17]
Stealth: (1d20+1)[14]

[Holocron Coder]

The white-haired whelp rouses quickly, but is obviously running on auto-pilot for a few seconds. Thankfully, those few seconds are spent grabbing his weapons and donning what armor he can.

Then, he peers into the trees for the threat everyone was whispering about. Given enough time, he holds a javelin in hand, expecting to throw that at a threat before closing to attack it.

First real combat, if this turns out like everyone expects... he notes as he wakes, adrenaline starting to kick in at the thought.


Perception - (1d20+6)[23]
Draw Javelin.
If able, ready action to throw at first visible threat, biased towards Iceman.

[lostsole31]

[simba: I'm not rolling 'passive' rolls, or rolls where I don't know success. In this case, I leave Perception and Stealth rolls to you.]

The archer reaches over and grabs his bow quietly, getting up slowly as he gets his bearings. He knocks an arrow, but moves around in a wide arc from those waking others to remove himself from focus - or to steal it to himself, either way being useful for the party.