Benevolence (IC)

[Valairn]

Kel

"That would be me. I might as well say this now, but you all have been entrusted with something of Aernac's which means Aernac has entrusted me with all of you. I served him in life, and I will serve him in death, until there is nothing else that can be done in his name, but for now, you are all under my protection unless you take offense to the idea, in which case I will let you alone."

[pseudovere]

Virhan blinked, and held out the letter, indicating the post script. "Alright then. Anyway, would you happen to know what the "Shrouded Hood" is, because Aernac apparently left it to you, whatever it is."

[Valairn]

Kel

"The cape I'm wearing, is the article in question. If you need to know what it does, I'll sum it up by saying, it allows me to go about my business relatively unnoticed."

[pseudovere]

Huh, that was interesting. Virhan had been so caught up in what he had doing that he had neglected to check the people around him for magic. He would have to do that as soon as possible.

[fendrin]

XVII

"We have found the 'Old Baobab Tree', now we must find 'The thrice forked bough'."

XVII examines the tree to see if any of the branches are forked three times.

[Icewalker]

Upon close inspection of the tree there is a branch split into three smaller branches, as you had guessed. It appears to be pointing about northeast, towards the forest.

[fendrin]

XVII

"Here. We go this way." He points to the northeast. "Look for a broken pillar."

XVII begins walking northeast.

[Voth]

Gilgimesh

Gilgimesh follows silently behind XVII, taking special note of his companions.

[Valairn]

Kel

Kel stoops a bit, and picks up a small amount of dirt from the ground and prays quietly, while letting the dirt fall slowly through his hand to the ground, before moving along with the rest of the group.

[Stabby]

"Well, finding the forked branch was easy enough, but I can't think this whole journey will be as easy."

Daggoo spoke his thoughts aloud to no one in particular. His hope was mostly to gauge reactions and learn a little more about his traveling companions.

"Anyone ever remember there being any ruins locally?"

[pseudovere]

Virhan follows silently at the rear of the group, scribbling notes on what he has observed on the mannerisms of his companions into his book.

[Icewalker]

None of you are aware of any ruins in the area, although the forest has not been explored in much detail, as it is very thick and often contains dangerous creatures.

Having supplied yourself with whatever camping supplies you deem necessary ((add whatever mundane supplies you want to your list...but don't go crazy with it. You understand)) you begin to trek northeast into the forest. As you proceed deeper through the thickly placed trees, you all hear many animals of the wild. Most of you are unused to these kinds of animals, having spent any time outside on the Savannah, or in some cases, the sea. Despite the extreme wildlife in the forest, on your first day of walking you encounter no particularly large animals, although Kel spots a family of baboons crossing between trees of to your side.

As you approach nightfall, you need a place to camp for the night, unless you plan to continue walking. There are no clearings in the immediate vicinity, although the trees have thinned slightly, and you could probably set up tents in the area.

[Voth]

Gilgimesh

Noticing the sparsely placed trees, Gilgimesh addresses the others. "Might I suggest that we call it a day and make camp?"

[pseudovere]

Virhan was thrilled with his surroundings. He had only been in a forest before, and that wasn't very pleasant. And he hadn't read those books on forest flora and fauna, and thus wasn't able to announce the identity of the many plants and animals he saw.

Now, however, he was capable of doing so for a fair number of the plant and animal species, although there was far more that he failed to identify. You know this because he has, without fail, at least once every minute since you walked into the forest, announced his discovery of any form of wildlife that he was familiar with, in addition to speculation about whatever he wasn't, and scribbling it down frantically in his book.

He paused in the middle of one of his expositions as Gilgamesh spoke up. He thought for a moment, and then threw his backpack onto the ground and rasped "That sounds reasonable. I'm getting a bit hoarse."

[Stabby]

Daggoo

"Sounds like a good idea."

After setting his pack down and rummaging around in it, he looks up and asks rather sheepishly. "Now I packed one, but I have no idea how to put up this tent. Can someone please show me how to do it?

Sadly, being prepared doesnt mean knowing how to use what he brought.

[fendrin]

XVII

XVII stops and looks around.
"I will keep watch."

He begins a slow, almost random, winding path through the area.

[Voth]

Gilgimesh


"If your sure XVII, then I bid you all a fair night!" Gilgimesh bows to the group and, after helping Daggoo with his tent, climbs into his bed roll and drifts off into a slumber.

[pseudovere]

Virhan wanders the area immediately around the campsite taking notes on the surroundings for several minutes before untying his bedroll from the bottom of his backpack. He begins to unrolls it in the center of the clearing where he can see the sky, carefully stores his book, pen and ink in his backpack, and goes to sleep.

[Valairn]

Kel

Kel makes no move to rest. He simply stares into the forest, every now and then he checks to make sure everyone is resting alright. If anyone was bothering to listen they could hear a quiet song on his lips. After everyone has fallen asleep he then sets his backpack up next to a tree and goes to sleep himself.

[Stabby]

Daggoo

With a nod to XVII and slightly grumbling about stupid tents, Daggoo falls fast asleep, not before making sure that his pack is securely situated under his head as a pillow.

[Icewalker]

The party sets up their camp around the trees and sleeps. XVII stays awake patrolling the camp, presumably with some minor activity to hold his attention, as with most Warforged. The tents are roughly in a circle with a few trees in the middle and thickening rows of trunks as you look outward. The supplies and other things that are not personal belongings are in a pile of packs in the middle. The sun goes down, although the only way you can tell is from the slight darkening of the slivers of sky visible through the treetops. There is very little moonlight, leaving the area almost completely dark.

XVII, you can no longer really see anything in the darkness. Several hours have passed now, and it seems like it may be wise to light a torch or some such if you want to keep watching for things.

[fendrin]

((I always forget that warforged don't have darkvision...))

XVII

As the sun sets, XVII searches through the pile of supplies looking for a torch and the materials needed to light it.

[Icewalker]

You root through the packs and retrieve a torch and flint and tinder, light it, and stick it into the ground where you can see the whole camp and the circle of trees. Shadows dance among the limbs, leaving cones of darkness spreading out behind the trees. There seems to be little disturbance, although even during the night the forest is alive. Animals wander through or past the campsite. At one point a baboon makes an attempt to get into your supplies, but you wave him off. The night is mostly uneventful.

Dawn breaks. The clearing lightens with slivers of yellow as the sun filters in through the branches. The group awakens in the light, and presumably begins packing up camp to continue again.

[pseudovere]

Virhan gets up practically at dawn from excitement, eats some of his rations, and then realizes that he is still hungry because he forgot to eat anything last night, and then eats some more.

He then throws all of his belongings and traveling supplies into his backpack, and spends the rest of the time until everyone else is packed to take detailed notes on everything and anything within 50 feet of the clearing.

[Stabby]

Daggoo

While pulling on his boots, he looks at his unappetizing trail rations.
"See, now on a ship we have a cook. Who can at least make things better tasting then trail rations."

With a shrug, he starts packing up while eating.

[Voth]

Gilgimesh

Rising from a restful night's sleep, Gilgimesh quickly packs his belongs and waits for the others to rise. While waiting, Gilgimesh looks around and listens to the sounds of the forest in the early morning, while he is snacking on trail rations.

Spoiler

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Spot Check (1d20+2)[6]
Listen Check (1d20+4)[24]

[Valairn]

Kel

Kel rises early, but makes little move to prepare himself, until the rest of the group has woken up. When he sees that they are all awake he says, "Since I loathe being dishonest, I'm going to let those of you who don't already know, in on my condition. I am in fact, quite dead."

With that, he pulls his hood back on his head to reveal, a mist of tiny blood vessels, there are no eyes, no bones, no brain, nothing at all that would indicate how it continues to stand upright.

"The rest of my body is the same, a mass of blood vessels, its why I wear this cloak, and cover my skin, most people find me disconcerting to say the least. Regardless, I was created to serve Aernac, and I will continue to do so."

[Stabby]

Daggoo

Obviously taken aback, but his arcane curiosity aroused, Daggoo leans forward.

"Created? Like... XVII here? Clearly different, but similar?

[fendrin]

XVII

XVII is completely unfazed, obviously either because he already knew or he just doesn't care.
"Though the process is different, the intention is the same. We are kindred of sorts. Both not quite living, yet not inanimate."

[Stabby]

Daggoo

"So your cousins... of a sort. Interesting.

After a rather thoughtful pause, Daggoo asks in a quiet voice. "You said created to serve, how exactly?