No Country for Ye Olde Men

[Sucrose]

Tel

After traveling in companionable silence for a while, Telafor finds an empty tent that seems to lack any major holes.

As he sets down his meal rations for later, he spots the smoke of the bonfire out of the corner of his eye. Turning to Cog, he says "Care to see what's going on over there? Might be interesting, or at least entertaining."

[dual_wielder]

Astoral eyes the bonfire with a twinkle in his eye (although it may just have been the fire being reflected). He walks up to the fire happily, rubbing his hands together to warm them.

And who may I thank for this jolly fire? Just what I needed to lighten my mood. I believe I have just been scolded...

[Daryk]

Rane

As the human joined the growing circle around the fire, Rane noted his rather more polite demeanor, but kept silent. His years among the Carnaharim had taught the elf to meet hostility with hostility, but the Moonbow was more subtle. Only time would reveal the source of the human's initial hostility, or indeed anything about him. The lack of bow or sword marked him as something less than a warrior in Rane's estimation, yet here he was, a mercenary just the same. Perhaps he was a priest himself, trying to establish the position of his deity in relation to the Seldarine, who wouldn't care anyway. The spiritual affairs of the humans were theirs alone, and generally of no concern to the elves.

[Zyks]

Karthan

The balck-clad dwarf approaches the fire, and sits down without speaking to anyone.

[lotofsnow]

Night comes quickly to the Grand Marches. Soon, the snores of the other mercenaries can be heard over the crackling of the bonfire. A few small creatures can be heard fluttering past, both drawn and repelled by the smoke and light.

Among the ashes kicked up by the blaze, a lone snowflake makes its way towards the ground. The heat of the fire makes short work of this pesky nemesis.

The temperature quickly drops, making the great heat of the fire a boon. Yet, before long, the fire settles down as well. With no wood left to feed it, soon the great bonfire becomes a smoldering pile of ash. With its demise, the snowflakes begin to fall freely.

[ooc]Sorry for no posts yesterday. I was incredibly busy. Feel free to have any conversation or whatever. People tend to get chatty when sitting around a campfire. Don't stay up too late though, since Bernard was pretty adamant about getting on the move at first light[/ooc]

[JeminiZero]

Jules

Jules spent some time by the fire, quietly listening to the ongoing conversations between his new colleagues. However, he decides to turn in early, as he had to get up before everyone else, to prepare his spells. He crawled into the tent, unfurled his Bedroll, and tried to ignore the chattering crowd just outside the tent.

Not quite used to sleeping rough, but such is the life of adventure I suppose. The crowd is loud, but at least the fire is warm. Although I wonder if it would be easier to sleep away from both. Guess I'll just have to wait for tomorrow night to find out...

[Zyks]

Karthan

The dwarf retreats to his tent. Removing his array of weapons, he settles down for the night.

[Daryk]

Rane

Rane watched the others filter off to their rest one by one. As the fire died down, and the temperature dropped, he tightened his cloak. Gathering himself up, he quietly wandered the camp for a bit, taking note of any other elves doing much the same, the warforged, and the watchmen at their posts. Just before midnight, as the snow was falling heavily, the elf quietly asked Lady Moonbow to keep him warm and dry through the next day, and was rewarded with a comfortable warmth throughout his being. Judging the time to be right despite the clouds, Rane proceeded to offer his thanks to the Lady, and contemplate the path that had brought him here. After an hour, his thoughts turned to the deeper lóre.

Spoiler

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Rane should have had enough "trance" by 0500, which I believe will be before "first light" being this seems to be the time of year for snow. Outwardly, I don't believe there would be any noticeable difference between his "prayers" and "trance". The spells he has prepared for the day are:
0 Level:
Detect Magic
Purify Food and Drink
Resistance
1st Level:
Endure Elements
Protection From Evil
Domain:
Longstrider

[H Savvy]

"I would not leave your rations behind. They were assigned to you by our commander. You must not lose them or let them be stolen."

[Sucrose]

"I would not leave your rations behind. They were assigned to you by our commander. You must not lose them or let them be stolen."

Tel

"Heh, valid point, Cog."

Settling down, Tel breaks off a formerly happy fungal colony growing on the ration, opens up the package, and quickly wolfs down the surprisingly clean-looking hard tack and biscuit.

As he steps outside the tent, Telafor says,
"Now then, what do you say to seeing what all this is about? I dunno if you get curious, but I certainly do."

With that, he walks off to join the gathering around the bonfire.

[JeminiZero]

Jules

Jules gets up one and a half hours before the crack of dawn, and starts preparing for the journey ahead. He cracks open his spellbook, and memorizes whatever spells he think might be useful. Then he straps on his armor, and packs his bags, and is ready when dawn breaks.

[Agthorr]

Miktootaktoo, having spent most of his life on a wooden ship, is always a little cautious about all but the smallest fires and spends most of the evening playing with Mudwiggle in the tent. If he can find Bernard, Mikooktaktoo asks, "Can you tell us anything about what be ahead? I must prepare spells in advance, and I may be more useful if I can know to prepare for a single large battle or a couple smaller battles."

In any case Mik turns in to sleep fairly early and awakes an hour before dawn so that he can prepare his spells for the day.

[Zyks]

Karthan

Like every other dwarf in existance, Karthan sleeps like a log, and snores like a fog horn. He wakes up pretty late, and gets ready quickly, strapping his weaponary back onto himself.

[H Savvy]

Curious about why the humans found the bonfire so enticing, Cog walked over to the fire and sat by the humans, watching and listening to their stories all night, until one by one, they drifted away and the fire faded.

When all but the night watch were abed, Cog began his evening repair and maintenance ritual (one might almost consider it grooming). Thoroughly searching his armored body for scratches, small dents, and particularly dirty spots, he patiently and efficiently buffed, polished, and renewed his mithral plating. Once he was finished, he carefully polished his shield. Completed with his nightly maintenance, Cog returned to the tent he and Tel had selected, sat quietly in front, and meditated until first light.

[lotofsnow]

[ooc]Cog, give me a listen check.[/ooc]

[H Savvy]

(1d20)[12] (no modifier)

[lotofsnow]

Cog sits, lost in his meditations, as the snow makes small piles on his metal plates. The creatures look at the strange metal man and sign frantically at each other in the moonlight. Finally, after an apparently heated debate, one of the creatures steps forward.

An observer would see the creature cover his left eye with an open hand. The right eye squints in determination. After just a moment, the creature drops his hand and from its left eye comes a roaring, icy gale. This blizzard envelops the flatfooted warforged.

Ice Blast Damage: (2d6)[11]

[ooc]OK, the noise of the ice blast brings everyone to alertness. Roll initiative and then I'll complete my surprise round. Cog, you had no idea the attack was coming, so no save this time.[/ooc]

[H Savvy]

Init:(1d20+3)[19]

[Agthorr]

Initiative: (1d20+3)[18]

(OOC: What time is it?)

[lotofsnow]

(OOC: What time is it?)

[ooc]Early still. Say... 4-ish. 2-3 hours before sunrise. Don't worry about fatigue stuff, we'll work it out later. Adrenaline will compensate for any sleeplessness now. Regarding spells, unless you prepared spells the evening before, you still have access to the previous day's selections.[/ooc]

[dual_wielder]

Initiative:(1d20+3)[15]

[Daryk]

Rane

Initiative: (1d20+3)[15]

Spoiler

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OOC: When Rane was wandering around before midnight last night, were there no guards posted? That would have at least provoked a discussion between Rane and Cog on that point.

[TwoCents]

Iv

Initiative: (d20+2)[10]

Are all of our tents near each other, or are we scattered among the others? Can we get a map?

[Zyks]

karthan

Spoiler

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(1d20+2)[22]

[lotofsnow]

Spoiler

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OOC: When Rane was wandering around before midnight last night, were there no guards posted? That would have at least provoked a discussion between Rane and Cog on that point.

[ooc]Two of the mercenaries were posted, one near the tents and one by the wagons. It is safe to assume they worked on rotating shifts with the other 4 mercenaries.[/ooc]

[JeminiZero]

Jules

Jules hurriedly grabs his Shield and weapons, as he hears the commotion outside.

initiative: (1d20+2)[7]

[Sucrose]

Tel

Tel's eyes snap open at the sound of the gale, and, after flailing around for a second, he grabs his sword, and stands to fight.

OOC: Initiative - (1d20+2)[10]

[lotofsnow]

While the first creature blasts away at Cog, a second moves to the remnants of the bonfire and, using its eye blast, quenches the flames, plunging the area into shadowy darkness.

The final creature launches a small javelin at the surprised warforged.

[ooc]Attack to beat FF AC 16: (1d20+6)[22]; Damage if it hits: (1d6+2)[7][/ooc]

The javelin strikes true, finding a gap in the warforged's armor just between the mithril breastplate and shoulder guard.

[lotofsnow]

[ooc]A couple things before we start our first combat... you're in your tent, standing, weapons/spell components in hand, but Flat Footed until your turn. Being trained soldiers as you are, you feel no ill effects from sleeping in your armor. If you would like to RP your armor off, be my guest. I don't do death by massive damage, this is a game after all.

All of the tents in the camp are in a giant circle at the crest of the hill. Your four tents are close to each other on the east side.

----------t---t
--------t-------T
------t----------T
-----t-------------T
------t-----------T
--------t--------t
----------t----t

Capital T's are your tents. Red T is Tel & Cog and the enemies. The bonfire is in the circle next to the Dark Orchid T, which is where Iv & Jules reside. There is an enemy there, putting out Iv's fire. Green is Rane & Astoral. Finally, Mikootaktoo & Karthan are in Blue.

Each enemy is no more than 20 feet away, so you should have no problem approaching them with a move action.

Initiative goes thusly:

Karthan
Cog
Mikootaktoo
Astoral
Rane
Lot, of Snow
Iv
Tel
Jules

Just let me know each action you perform, make the rolls, and I'll put everything together after everyone has told me.

Begin![/ooc]

[Zyks]

Karthan

The dwarf leaps up, draws his Kukri and dashes out of the tent. Before he leaves the flap, he disappears from the view of mik, becoming invisible. Once out of the tent he keeps moving and watches out.

Spoiler

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Moving out of the tent, using ghost step (invisible) and then making a spot check. (1d20+5)[19]