Death came quickly that night

Darvin:
As you spin around you see that your opponent hasn't given up.
"Wait... everyone is running... what are you doing!" However, before he has time to say anything more her fist hits him square in the face and he knows no more of the night.
"No rules about sucker-punches little elf."
However, as she turns around to leave a large staff hits her in the face and she keels over on top of Darvin.

Beranhond:
As Talathel leaves Beranhond turns back to stare at the man. Perhaps staring at each other will only lead to awkward situations...

"Who are you." He called out deciding to cut the chill in the air.

"Perhaps a friend..." He says starting to walk on over. "There are bad tidings tonight... bad tidings indeed."
Out of the corner of his eye Beranhond notices a blue glow coming from a tent. As he turns the entire thing is thrown aside as a large horrific shape steps out of the wreckage. It was over ten feet tall and was covered in an array of archaic symbols that seemed to be etched into the creatures skin. They glowed with a white fire and left trails on the eyes of all those who witnessed them. Beranhond couldn't make out the face for it seemed to have no features at all aside from two large red eyes.
"Wizards of Thay! Your time has come!" It boomed out.
"Oh shit..." Beranhond says turning to the strange man. "What the hell..."
"It is as I feared..." He grabs his staff, holds steady for a moment, and then launches a fireball at the shape. Beranhond at the same time pulls his shield and sword into position.
The demon throws his hand aside and the fireball spins off and crashes into a tent. Seconds later several orcs run from the tent covered in fire and screaming. Their hair and skin is mostly burned away and their eyes betray the misery they are undergoing.
Beranhond, tries to turn, but the strange man grabs him.
"I have no power against this force... it seems immune to the arcane. Please... you must help me."
Beranhond turned and raised his shield letting blue light of sanctuary fall over the two of them. The creatures approached and pounded against the shield but after a few blows gave up and ran off to the camp.
Before the man could do anything Beranhond turned his shield and hit him the chest knocking him to the ground.
"The Wizards of the Thay have a bad reputation... what are you doing here?" Beranhond demanded shaking the man.

Elsewhere in the camp a group of black dressed wizards were trying to shepard people to safety.
"Flee as fast as you can. This creature will destroy all if it can." They heard a boom and slowly turned around and sent off fireballs at the shape. They bounced off and flew away into the camp. Their flames caused many tents and people to burst into flames.
"Oh no..." They said in near unison and sent spell after spell at the creatures as it approached. Each shot off the shape and damaged parts of the camp.
"Run!" The leader said as they dashed away and split up, each trying to find their way to safety. Their previous charity was gone now as they fled as they often tried to knock passing pedestrians into their path in order to save themselves. The creatures took off after each one, not all that concerned about the damage it was causing to passing orcs, humans, and other assorted creatures. The creature killed each wizard in turn and in a unique, and distressing way.

"Why are you here..."

"We... came seeking help from the orcs. The red wizards of Thay are as concerned about the rising power in the west as much as anyone. But please, just save me and I will tell you all you ask once that creatures is gone."
Beranhond stared at the man for a moment and then hit his head with his fist knocking him out. He then picked him up and took off for the edge of the camp. Hoping to run across the rest of Kilink. He hoped that Nym was alright, she wouldn't have any defenses against that beast. He suspected that the creatures wouldn't be too concerned about Darvin.
Beranhond couldn't help but stop and help those injured and wounded, and several times the creatures passed howling in rage, but eventually after several hours he caught up with the remnants of Kilink at the edge of camp. Exhausted he raised his shield and cast "obscuring mist" before Aelysin caught him in her arms, laid him to the ground, and he instantly fell asleep. The unconscious man falling to the ground forgotten.

General Rules

Howdy Folks!

We will be moving away from the previous model of posting every day to trying to post every other day or so. My hope is that you can post by the evening of Tue/Fri/Sun. That gives you two to three days for each post

If you can't - no worries! The DM will simply post for you if you don't!

Also, in order to facilitate the action you will find yourself split up more often - that way you don't sit around waiting for the other people to respond. Plus, in this next chapter you will all have smaller story arc adventures that directly connect with your character! Should be pretty fun!

Exploring Glowing Tents

Nym approached the glowing tent cautiously, convinced she may be going mad. "I should be with Darvin in case he needs assistance..." Nym muttered to herself as she pulled back the tent flap and looked inside waiting for her eyes to adjust.

Homesteading

As Dan has added nothing here in sometime... I am going to use the homestead act and lay claim to this document. However, I decided to also lay claim to this website and will post here instead of in the document. Feel free to respond... if you don't anytime soon I will go ahead and finish it for you.

Talathel: As you look around you think you see a small group of men nearby wearing dark and expensive clothing. After observing them for a moment you notice that they are not paying much attention to the fight, but that they do seem to be paying attention to the armed guards patroling the arena.

Nym: As far as I can tell... you are approaching a tent that has a lot of odd light billowing out from underneath it. I will take that as a starting point.
As you approach the tent you see an unearthly light coming out from the tent. Though most everyone in the camp is at the arena, a few random people wander about. However, none of them seem interested in the tent.

Beranhond:
As is somewhat common for Beranhond, an interesting side conversation popped up when one of the students asked about the religion of the northlands. Beranhond started to explain the pantheon of Gods. However, he was only halfway through when he was distracted by a darkly dressed man standing in the shadow of a tent and staring his way.

Darvin:
Blows were traded back and forth; however neither of you seem to be able to make contact with the other. Khurshid seemed tireless and continued to taunt Darvin.
“Skinny elf-boy, perhaps you need to go home and spend some more time nursing at your momma’s teats!”

The Beginning of the End

Hello adventurers. I write to you today to inform you of a decision to end this campaign in its current form. Whether because you are now too busy or have now lost interest, most of you have stopped posting on a regular basis, and it is becoming too difficult to keep this thing going.

I will be starting a google doc to finish the plot in a more narrative form, similar to how Beranhond acted out the activities of the "real world" while the rest of you were in the dream realm. I am also willing to finish out the current game day, if any of you have any interest in finishing it.

It has been a pleasure playing this game with all of you. Thank you very much for all of the time you've spent to make this fun for everyone involved. Thanks for sticking it out to the end.

A Fighting We Will Go

Darvin had hardly heard what Thjodolf had said to him. He was preoccupied with thinking about the fight. While, on the one hand, fighting without weapons mostly eliminated the chance he would perish, he was wondering how he was going to take down the large orc woman otherwise.

"Oh, I am sorry Thjodolf. You are very welcome, my friend. I know you would have done the same for me. And yes, I was thinking about the fight. I've never fought an orc in hand to hand combat before. Any advice?"

Darvin listend as Thjodolf explained some of the nuances of orcish combat. It sounded like they mostly tried to overpower the smaller and weaker opponents. Darvin decided then that it would be best to keep moving the entire time. After the lesson Darvin decided he was as ready as he would ever be and it was time to fight.

"Young Paz! Please lead the way to the combat arena."

Part 2

"No, don't say anything right now." She said putting her hand across the mouth. "I know you are really connected with your religion and I know that this mission means a lot to you. But that isn't the point."Beranhond held his mouth open for a moment. "What is the point then?"
"You can't always hide behind your obligations to hide your emotions."
"What? I don't do that."
"Yes you do. You found a place in the Tormish Paladins to try to avoid having to deal with the pains of life. You let some doubts about Torm get in the way of you and Ceilith."
"She wanted to stay with them rather than be with me." He said angrily.
"It sounds like she expressed her love to you on a hillside! Are you really that dense - do you think she just did that because she wanted to have one afternoon with you? I think she was willing to try to work something out."
"But that doesn't mean I fled it."
"No, but you did hide behind it." She turned and looked away from him.
"But I have obligat..."
"Yes, but don't use them to hide behind. I am not trying to pressure you or anything, but I care about you and I worry about you. I fear that rather than embracing life your religious inclination is more about avoiding the actual living of life."

"Perhaps that isn't the best example, but that is because I didn't really want to bring up how you are letting your faith get in the way of life now." She turned back to him. "Don't focus so much on the afterlife that you forget about life Eth. Just think about that."
Before he could respond she stood and walked out of the tent. Beranhond watched her leave, shook his head in confusion, and laid back on his sleeping pad.

Amo, Amavi, Amabo Semper! (part 1)

Beranhond let Paz lead them to their tent. Their passage caused many a snigger when they saw Beranhond stand a head taller than an orc. Naturally, most of the jokes were more on Beranhond than Paz.
"You must be from the Tantras region Beranhond."
"Impressive, how can you tell?"
"Ah, because when you should be using a bilabial plosives you instead use a labio-dental fricative. At least, when it arises in the initial syllable. I believe the only region where this is common is Tantras."
Beranhond was quite taken aback and reevaluated the orc.
"I see someone has taken steps to educate you in linguistics! Very impressive." Beranhond said restraining the urge to slap him on the back in camaraderie. "I was born and raised in the region and eventually spent much of my youth training with the paladins of Torm."
"Ah, a noble venture indeed. We are certainly lucky to have such well traveled visitors amongst us this eve."
They continued to talk and found that their companions had also found their way to the tent and had made themselves at home.
"I must bid you adieu for now, prepare as you are able and Beranhond do find me later as there is much I have to say that might interest you."
. When Paz left Beranhond noticed that Darvin looked ready to make his way over and give him a piece of his mind. Beranhond realized that the conversation with Paz had been interesting enough to distract him from the glares that Darvin had been sending his way and that he might have to make some ammends later. However, before Darvin could corner him Aelysin stepped out of the tent and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Beranhond, could I talk with you for a moment."
Absentmindedly Beranhond nodded glad of the distraction. She led him into the tent where he noticed that she had set up his sleeping roll for him.
"You didn't have to do that."
"It is my pleasure. Please sit." She said directing him towards his pallet. After setting his sword to the side his at on down.
"That wasn't really fair to Darvin." She said sitting cross legged on another pallet.
If Beranhond were more observant he would have noticed that she had very carefully set her own sleeping arrangements near his. In fact, if he had been more observant in the evening he would have noticed that she had been doing this for several weeks.
"No, but I knew he could handle it - he is quite scrappy. Besides, I knew these orcs would respond to direct action rather than subetly." He leaned back onto his elbows and looked at her. She had taken a corner of her red hair into her mouth and was absent mindedly chewing on the end.
"Yes, but at least you could have warned him."
"True. I will make up for it latter and I will assist him how I can during the fight. Besides, it will be a great opportunity for him to show off for Nym and it isn't as if he minds doing that."
"No, people can do funny things for people those they care for."
"Yes." Beranhond said unable to resist thinking back to the field where he and Ceilith had lunch such long ages ago. It was such an idylic moment in his life, but at the same time it was an action that ran completely counter to the very vows they had taken as initiaties.
"Feelings are such an odd thing. Did I ever tell you about Ceilith?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I think you mentioned her once or twice."
"She and I ignored our training and our vows for one another. Of course, it didn't work out because we had different feelings about Torm. The last time I saw her there was nothing there other than an old friendship... yet what could have been."
"What would you have wanted with her?"
"I used to imagine us just living."
"Living? That is what you do naturally!"
"No, I mean, being able to enjoy the true simplicity of life rather than being caught up in the world wind of conflict, of the duties demanded by Gods and Kings. To enjoy the pleasure of just being."
"You wouldn't be content with that Eth..." She said trailing off. "You have too much of a hero in you."
"Perhaps, and clearly that never would have worked with Ceilith either."
"Don't forget that you are still living - even when you are galavanting off across the world seeking aid to destroy a dark God. Don't forget that you can enjoy these moments and that there are those who would share it with you."
Beranhond looked up at this and saw the nervousness in her eyes. He bit his lip as he finally caught on to what she had been hinting at for weeks.
"Aelysin... I think..." He started to say.

In Search of Orcish Aid

As Kilink journeyed through the grasslands in search of the orcs, they were surprised at the unusual size and variety of the plantlife. In the areas they had all traveled through and lived in farther north, the vegetation had consisted of grasses, brush, sedges, and trees, but all of smaller size. Here, there were few trees, but the grasses, brush and sedges often grew to tremendously large proportions. On top of their horses, there were still many times that Kilink was hard pressed to see over the top of the tall thick blades of grass.

The journey was relatively uneventful, and after 8 days of riding and searching, they found a camp that Thjodolf said might be who they were looking for. Thjodolf urged the group to be cautious in their approach of the camp, and initial scouting of the area revealed a camp of a little over 400, with mostly orcs but some human and several gnolls as well.

Is there anything else you want to know before approaching the camp? If not, the stage is yours.

The Evening's Ceremony

Kilink spent the day mingling with the humans and Loxos at the rendezvous. They were able to acquire horses for the members of the group that did not have them, and as promised, when the sun began to light up the western sky like a giant bonfire, the people cleared out the center of the camp, and started their own bonfire. Slowly, people gathered and began talking amongst themselves, eager to be a witness to this ceremony. Darvin, Talathel, and Nym all sat about 2 rows back from the front, in a gap between two groups of loxos. Beranhond had been asked to take a place of honor in the front row so he could step forward at the right time and play a small part of the ceremony to answer some of the questions he had asked. Conversation within the many groups stayed at a rather loud level, with individuals not keeping to their own group, and engaging others around them freely. There was a joyous, expectant mood in the air.

As the sun continued its descent, the yellow sky became a muted blue with an orange center and then a purple tinged navy with a small red orb. As the red began to fall beyond the horizon, a trumpet blared, announcing the ceremony's beginning. At this point, three loxos painted with purple and blue geometric symbols charged into the center of the gathering and stopped, landing with a thud in a circle centered around the fire. Beranhond saw one throw a handful of powder into the fire, and it flared up, blinding everyone as three humans raced in and joined them. When everyone's eyes had become readjusted, everyone saw the three humans as if they had just appeared there by magic. The trick was repeated for another group of Loxos, but this time it was a smoking, rumbling powder instead of a flash. Taking the sloppy theatrics as a sign of the way the rest of the ceremony was going to go, Beranhond groaned inwardly, suspecting that this ceremony was put on by a bunch of magicians rather than priests, who made a living off of this "show." No gods were involved in these petty magics, and as the evening went on, his suspicions were only confirmed more and more. 

Likewise, Nym noticed that there was nothing magical about the ceremony. The flames were simple tricks, and she could do more magical things when she was four years old than the priests were attempting to show this evening. Darvin was enjoying just being able to sit and watch without having to do anything for a change, and Talathel took a quick second to take a pull from his flask, which made the evening much more enjoyable.

The ceremony was rather quick, and the portion where Beranhond's and others' questions were answered seemed to all of Kilink very vague and superficial. Beranhond was told, "An unknown evil approaches! Beware, or it could spell your doom, and that of all your loved ones." To have the whole day's waiting come to such a hokey ceremony was very disappointing, but out of respect for these people's beliefs, Beranhond accepted the answer and sat down. The rest of the ceremony was uneventful, and ended with a burst of sparks in which all of the priests "disappeared" out of the center and "reappeared" scattered among the crowd as if they had been there the whole time. The gathering broke up slowly, and people began to head back to their beds and individual camps for the end of the evening. Beranhond joined the rest of the group as they headed out of the circle back to their tents.

To the Rendezvous!

The trip to the rendezvous is uneventful, except that Talathel decides it would be funny to tease Lailsan about going to see the elephant graveyard, and a young Loxo overhears and is very upset to be thought of as an elephant. Apparently it's a touchy subject.

When you arrive, you find a large camp, with a large central area that appears to be a gathering area. The central area is currently being used as a market of sorts, and it is filled with Loxos and a couple small booths of humans as well. You see horse traders and mages, and several odd merchants with wares that you don't recognize.

What would you like to do? Split up? If you come up with tasks for each person, I can give them some simple skill checks and we can keep on going, or if you'd like to roleplay through. I would lean toward simple skill checks, myself.

A Bias for Action

This post and all responses to it will be out of character, so you don’t have to italicize everything.

Hello Kilink. It seems that more and more often, lately, there are days where nobody posts or only one person posts. I feel like either schedules have gotten worse to the point where many people are unable to post on a regular basis or else interest is waning. Is this an accurate assessment? Do you want to continue playing? If so, why have you been so poor at posting lately? If we decide not to continue playing, do you want to try to quickly out of game wrap up the storyline, as Beranhond and I did for the stuff that happened while you were all in the dream realm? Please let me know what you’d like to do, so we can all go forward with this.

Just some filler

Beranhond didn't feel comfortable down in Shaar, nor was he completely comfortable wandering around the grasslands. Fortunately Thjodolf seemed fairly content and comfortable with the situation.
One evening, while resting after a long day of travel, Beranhond saw that Darvin was sitting on a mound of dirt overlooking the fields. Wandering on over Beranhond grabbed a seat. They didn't say anything, but looked at the stars for a while.
"Majestic things aren't they?" Beranhond asked. Darvin simply nodded. "I wonder what is out there - I know a lot about the different planes, about the realms of the Gods, but I never really thought much about what is out there in the stars."
After a little while longer Beranhond made his way back into camp and took a seat near the fire.
I wonder where Narath is tonight. He thought as he gazed into the flames. Before he could think any more on the subject Aelysin came on over and sat down next to him.
"Well, my life has certainly gotten more interesting as of late."
"That happens around us - I hope you aren't regretting staying on the ship after Baldur's Gate."
"Not at all... I enjoy the company." She said, her eyes boring at him.
"It is a good set of people here."
They continued to chat into the evening before he excused himself and made his way toward his bedroll.

The Path Suggested by Thjodolf

Thjodolf knows the orcs he is familiar with will be somewhere in the northeast Shaar, but he is not sure exactly where, so he proposes searching in a circular pattern and looking for signs of them. They have somewhat permanent settlements, but they are constructed to be movable, enabling them to quickly move and set up their dwellings elsewhere should the grasslands choose not to provide for them any more in their current location.

The Elephants Go Marching

Umm, so I was going to make you a map today, but the program I wanted to make it with (Visio) isn't working right now... I will have the map for you tomorrow. In the meantime, let's work on those horses.

The rest of the day after the Lady Narath lands at the Shaar is spent repairing the hull. The next morning, after giving instructions to the crew remaining behind to sail back to and support themselves by doing work on the dock and making due, the small band of Darvin, Nym, Beranhond, Talathel, Aelysin, Scriptus, Codex, Greg, and Lailsan leaves and heads out onto the plains. They make sure to leave a hearing stone with Kailina (who is captain in Darvin's stead) to safeguard, leaving them a way to call the Lady Narath back when they needed to return.

As Kilink sets out in search of mounts, Thjodolf tells them about the many nomadic groups on the grasslands that will most likely be willing to trade you for the horses, with either gold or some slightly exotic trade good. On Nym's assertion that nothing in the hold was that worthwhile or exotic except for a few random magical items that are not too interesting, you bring a bit of the gold from the hold, and travel east and slightly north in search of someone to trade with.

About 3 in the afternoon, you see a dust cloud in the distance, moving slowly northwest, across your path. The dust could be a caravan, Thjodolf tells you, and as they come within sight, you see what can only be a Loxo band. The group appears to number about 20 Loxo, with ages ranging from young to very old, and most of the members of the group that is not obviously an infant carries some sort of bundle or pack on their back. The several who are not carrying bundles carry weapons. Three are armed with morningstars, one has a club, and another has a large hammer. All three have javelins strapped to their backs as well. They stand about 8-10 feet tall and look like elephants walking on their hind legs with handlike appendages at the end of their trunks and wearing loose clothing made of orange and yellow patterned fabric, with beads of different metals as decoration. The pattern appears to be a herringbone-type pattern with good attention to detail.

They are still far enough away that you can leave without them seeing if you would like. Would you like to try to engage them and trade?

Arrival at the Shaar

How do you want to go about exploring this new place? How many of the crew do you plan to bring along, how do you plan on traveling, finding out information about this new area, etc?

Thjodolf tells you the orcs will most likely be in the northeastern part of the Shaar, but he is unsure how easy it will be to find them and warns that there will likely be many difficulties along the way.

Please begin your journey in the comments of this post.

The Shaar

Here are two maps of the Shaar. People commonly refer to the area east of the Landrise as the Eastern Shaar. The Lady Narath landed on the far western edge of the Shaar, based on the advice of Thjodolf, who warned against landing at Ormpur. 

The Shaar

The Eastern Shaar

Days 16-18 of the Trip South

On day 16 of the trip, the lookout spots an odd object floating in the water, and gives it to Nym to evaluate. Perception check, please.


Day 17 is uneventful.

On day 18, the ship arrives at the Shaar. Talathel is at the lookout, Darvin takes the helm, and Beranhond uses his knowledge of the religions of the region and a chat with Talathel to prep the crew for what they should expect. Talathel, please give me a perception check to look for a place to land. Darvin, please give me a Profession: Sailor check. Beranhond, please give me a Knowledge: Religion check and a Diplomacy check. 

Days 13-15 of the Trip South

On day 13, the crew is beginning to enter waters that are unfamiliar to anyone on board, including Thjodolf, and he recommends stopping at Calimport for maps and charts. Darvin and Nym go along to attempt to get what they'll need. Nym and Darvin, please give me an Appraise check.


On day 14, as they travel on the Shining Sea, Wildaron becomes very ill, and Beranhond attempts to heal him.  He feels nauseated, and complains of pain in his chest and belly. Beranhond, please give me a perception check, and a heal check.


On day 15, they land on the beach on Tharsault to give everyone a short bit of shore leave, and as Talathel and Lailsan are walking together, a man walks up to them and asks them a question. "I am going to give you a sentence that is missing three words. Use 3 homonyms that sound alike, such as too and two to complete this sentence, and you will have solved my riddle: 
A bloodthirsty pirate will wander the ____ and essentially _____ everything he ____."
Talathel, either come up with the answer or give me a wisdom check to work it out with Lailsan's help.

Nym's Hat

Nym requested to see what her hat looked like, so here is a picture. Enjoy!

Days 7-12 of the Trip South

Sorry I forgot to post on Friday. :( I'll post double the days at once to make up for it. Also, I was still waiting on Darvin to post. Come on, Nick. Get it together, man!

As you continue the journey south, the days begin to blur together a bit. Days 7 and 8 pass uneventfully, but on day 9, you come across a man clinging to a small raft, who tells you of a pirate treasure buried on an island nearby. The man insists that he just helped bury it, and only just escaped with his life. If you help him get it, he will share the treasure with you, and it should only take an extra day or two on your journey. Darvin and Nym, how do you want to handle this one? You may open it up for the group to discuss, but either the ship's captain or owner should decide how to proceed. You have foodstores for another 5 days at the moment.

On day 10, the wind dies down a bit, and the crew try foraging on the shore for food and water. Everyone, please give me a Survival check.

On day 11, Beranhond discovers that his shield, the holy icon he uses for calling upon Narath's help,  is missing from his room. Distressed, he asks the other members of Kilink, but they have not seen it either. How would you like to begin your search beyond that, Beranhond?

On day 12, Just before sunrise, Helga rushes above deck to report a leak has sprung. Talathel, being the only member of Kilink on deck, is the only one there to receive the report. Most of the crew is still asleep, though there is a bell on board to wake them. Helga tells you the leak is not too serious yet, but she worries that the leak sprung from a warped board in the hull and is concerned that if it warped enough to spring a leak, it could mean more problems down the road if not fixed properly. How do you want to handle the situation, Talathel?

Above the fray

Sorry if I'm stepping on some toes, but I felt like writing something. This takes place on night six during the party.

Talathel was unsure as to why the drink at the party was so weak, but it wasn't doing much for him. He had found himself slightly bored with the party. Lailsan had taken to the task of preparing food for the event, and was busy in the galley. Talathel, not known for his skills in the kitchen, found himself more a hinderance with his assistance, so he went to join the crew.

He enjoyed some small talk but found himself staring out at the open ocean more than he did conversing as the night drug on. Finally with the moon high above the waters, he climbed up to the crow's nest and settled in.

He listened to the din of the party below. Talathel was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the music. He enjoyed the atmosphere of the festivities without being a part of them.

He looked up at the moon, which shone bright on the cloudless night. He studied its features, fixated on the distant body. He was not sure what drew him to the moon this evening, but he found himself enamored by it.

"Got room for one more?" A voice said, breaking the silence. Talathel looked up to see Lailsan peering over the crow's nest.

"Uh...yea...yes!" Talathel said, surprised. "You came up here?"

"Its the only way I'd get to see you," she said. Talathel nodded. "How is it up here?"

"Its nice. I...I have been looking at the moon." Talathel realized that it was awkward as soon as he said it. Lailsan gave a slight laugh.

"The moon, eh? What about it?"

"I don't know. Its just bright and beautiful this evening." Talathel looked over at Lailsan. The moon gave just enough light that he could see her. In the plae moonlight, she was more beautiful than we he first saw her.

"I suppose that's a good reason." Lailsan slid underneath Talathel's arm. The two elves looked skyward together letting the laughter and music from below serenade their evening.

Days 4-6 of the Trip South

On the fourth day of the journey, you see another ship, and Beranhond advises, since Darvin seems to want to head south with all haste, that you attempt to trade for supplies rather than stopping in a port. Darvin and Beranhond, please roll Diplomacy and Appraise for me. 


The fifth day is uneventful.


On the sixth day, in order to keep cheerier thoughts in the minds of the crew, Nym decides a dance is in order. Several sailors bring out instruments and the crew dances the night away. Nym, please give me a Perform (Instrument) check. Talathel, you are, as usual, drinking heavily. Please give me both a Fortitude check and a Dexterity Check. Darvin and Beranhond, how would you behave at the dance?

Days 1-3 of the Trip South

Please feel free to discuss whatever you want about the evil presence or whatever. Every day I will post another 3 days of the journey southward, until you reach the Shaar (It's an 18 day trip, so this will take 6 days in the real world. Read below if you want to know how I came up with that number). Please continue to post once a day. I would recommend using these daily posts as a way to refresh your weapons and armor, which are now very far behind your class levels. One of your new passengers is able to upgrade your items or transform existing items into new items, if you wish. 

On the first day of the journey, you are able to find a good sized school of tuna and attempt to catch some to replenish food stores. Darvin, please give me a Profession: Fisherman check to see how much you can catch. Other than the tuna, the day is relatively uneventful, and you see only 1 wreck of a ship on the shore, but no ships still sailing. Nym used the relaxing day to take stock of what the crew had done with the time they were absent and appraised the ship's condition and the contents of the holds. Nym, please give me an Appraise and a Spellcraft check to tell find out how you're all doing.


On the second day, you see a school of porpoises in the morning and a few dolphins in the afternoon. Several of the sailors take this as a good omen, and ask Beranhond to perform a service for them to bless the voyage. Beranhond, please give me a Religion check to see how the ceremony goes. Also, Talathel is asked to taste the brew being made in the still onboard. Talathel, please give me a Fortitude check followed by an Appraise check to see whether you like it and if you have any suggestions for taste or whether it's any good.

On the third day, a storm moved in, and caused a bit of disruption, rocking the ship, and pushing them toward the shore. Everyone, please roll Profession (Sailor) to see how you handle the storm.

Also, if you want to know how I calculated 18 days, it is 2500 miles to the Shaar, or 2172 nautical miles, and I am estimating a speed of 5 knots (The caravel can travel at 7 knots, but I am assuming you won't always find prevailing winds to be favorable), so you can travel 120 nautical miles per day. If you are traveling nonstop for 18 days, that will get you there in just over 18 days.

The Idle Hours

Satisfied with Nym's health Beranhond excised himself and made his way to his cabin expecting to have more time to devote to examining the aura of evil. However, as soon as he came in the inventory requests fell off his desk and before too long Beranhond was drawing up items they needed to procure at their next port of call. They had enough food to make it as far south as Baldur's Gate, but no farther than that without a negative impact to their health.
"That looks like exciting work." A familiar voice sad from behind him.
"Beyond thrilling." Beranhond said to the voice. "Sadly, it must get done if we are to survive." He turned and smiled broadly at Narath. She was in a tunic and pants and had made herself comfortable in his hammock. "I was wondering when you would reappear."
"I have been busy - the corruption in Lathander confirmed many of my fears and has set a number of the Gods on edge. It seems that this dark element is not confined to just this part of Faerun or even to this world. A greater darkness is manifesting itself here in the heart of this world, and I suspect in the heart of the world your companions traveled to as well."
Beranhond sat back in his chair. "That would make sense - whoever this Ishamel person is seemed far too powerful and well connected to simply be an isolated agent." Beranhond stood and walked over to Narath. He smiled again and took her hand.
"Yes. Also, I would keep an eye out on your ship as well." Beranhond smiled as Narath had always preferred to avoid the name of this ship. "It was attacked once before, and it would be foolish to think that it won't be attacked again. I certainly don't want any harm coming to them, and certainly not to you."
"Well, you wouldn't want to lose your prophet." He said leaning in towards her face.
"Beranhond, don't tease me like that..." she said before trailing off.