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Post by Jherek Everfull on Oct 28, 2017 12:48:14 GMT -8
Jherek kneels when Finbul pulls his curved blade, trying to get to an equal height to examine the blade with the hobbit. "It will certainly get the job done. It's a workmen' blade for sure friend." He looked to Kat and Theron when Finbul mentions the common man needing a hero. Jherek thinks he knows a few of those. He nods to himself as he stands.
"I agree Brudda, it's time to move. Lets stop playing with the mules and step off." He looks to Theron and...well Jherek didn't know the creatures name, probably better that way, hard to eat things with a name.
"Don't write off a bit of mule belly or sirloin, they go excellent with a bit of friend cabbage or stewed...stewed mule will make your head spin. I make a mule sausage. It's good eats. Sorta like that Calabrian salami. I use mushrooms instead of those spicy black corns things though. The mushroom makes it all kinds of savory, and adds that nipping bite at the end. Ya know, they say the gods eat dragon meat. How's the saying go? Right, In heaven there is dragon meat, on earth there is mule!"
Jherek's stomach rumbles and he turns back to Finbul. "You ever have a pea stuffed kidney...I good really go for one of those right now." He fiddles with his packs and pulls up the Ale filled water skin, taking a long drag.
"We will head out soon Stone Brother, soon as they figure out this packing and riding situation." Stomach grumbling Jherek waits for the word to step off. He has just fortified his nerve with a sip of courage, and anticipates the command to take the first step into their collected destinies!
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Post by HorizonsDream on Oct 28, 2017 18:37:38 GMT -8
Ladonna rubs at her stomach a bit as it growls while Jherek talks about food. "This is going to be a long day."
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Post by Nuke on Oct 30, 2017 5:04:46 GMT -8
"It's not so bad" Katya reassures Theron. "Ingot, do you mind taking a few of Acolyte Glun's things? It'll make sure the bottom doesn't fall out of Jherek's backpack." Then Ryan shows up, leading three mules, and Katya looks distressed. "Ryan" she says, "you must know that mules aren't going to be able to keep up with us unless we drive them so hard they break. We'd have to work them until they are lame, then..." she trails off and her expression shifts, deepening from exasperation to something a little more inscrutable. She closes the distance between herself and Ryan, coming close enough to put a hand on his shoulder. Then she lowers her voice. "Don't be cruel, Ryan" she whispers. Her blue eyes bore into him with startling intensity, leaving him with the unexplainable impression that she has seen his soul. "You don't need to hurt these animals. You don't need to hurt anyone. Leave them in Buho." She whispers to Ryan for less than ten seconds. Ryan finally responds to the young lady. He doesn't whisper back, he speaks normally. "Decisions, decisions. If they were easy, everybody would make 'em. Look here, we need to move fast, and since everybody feel the need to be prepared for an extended excursion, with a fight at the end of it, we need these mules. I understand there is a risk, it is not like I am bringing these beasts with any intent to do them harm. We need speed if we are to achieve the mission objective and avert another goblin war. He looks into eyes as he finally nails down his position. "In the grand scheme of things, these beasts are expendable, though by Gonto's grace they will survive this trip." He turns to the rest of the group, "Let's get mounted up and gear stacked and move out, We have a schedule to keep." (OOC: At MV 12)
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Post by GravityEmblem on Oct 30, 2017 6:13:41 GMT -8
Lillian gazes suspiciously at Katya. First Theron and Garnet, now Ryan. What is this women trying to hide? I use Know Alignment on Katya.
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Post by Ezeze on Oct 30, 2017 6:30:56 GMT -8
Katya presses her lips together, her expression impenetrable. She's mollified by Ryan's claim that he doesn't intend to do the mules any harm. His intentions might not matter to the mules, but they are important to her. Intentions make the difference between pragmatism in the face of a difficult situation and deliberate cruelty. The former was understandable, even laudable. The latter was condemnable. Her misgiving is whether or not she can trust what Ryan has said.
"I worry for you" she confesses, finally taking her hand from Ryan's shoulder. "I hope it's misplaced." That's the end of her input on the subject. She takes a step back from the acolyte and acts as if she hadn't momentarily been overly, uncharacteristically familiar with him.
Then she responds to Theron's question. "Just discussing the mules" she tells him. "Those of us with shorter legs can ride, but don't tie yourself to them or wrap parts of the banding around your limbs. They spook easy and you might need to dismount in a hurry if something scares them or if they take a tumble."
Despite her protests against bringing the mules, though, once it's definitely established that they are coming she loads her backpack onto the most lightly encumbered one. This isn't a hill she is ready to die on (metaphorically or otherwise), and she doesn't want to be the one to slow the entire group. The backpack contains her foodstuff and bedroll. She keeps her armor, her weaponry and her water skin on her person.
Then she takes up the rear. As they walk she speaks casually with Lillian "I'm glad that you came" she tells the elf. "Surprised that you volunteered so quickly, but glad. Ser Walls had barely had time to finish asking before you announced you were going. For such a noble reason, too. I was not aware that you were so attached to Buho."
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Post by GravityEmblem on Oct 30, 2017 6:39:42 GMT -8
Lillian gives a smile. "As I said, this town has been kind to me. The citizens have a sense of community that I have not seen so strong in my years of travel."
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Post by Ezeze on Oct 30, 2017 6:52:10 GMT -8
Katya doesn't hide her surprise at that.
"Is the rest of the world so different?" she asks. "I've spent the entirety of my life either here in Buho or on my mother's ranch. I've always imagined that other villages in Tardiff must be like this one. I hadn't considered that this place might be special."
She catches herself a second after she finishes speaking and adds "special to anyone who wasn't born here, anyway."
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Post by GravityEmblem on Oct 30, 2017 7:07:49 GMT -8
"Well, I've been shunned by most of the people that I've met outside of here. Of course," she adds quickly. "I could just be me." Testing the whisper again.
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Post by Daos on Oct 30, 2017 11:23:41 GMT -8
Katya moves her backpack to the third mule, but she has no other place to hold her waterskin unless she wants to carry it in her hands--her belt pouch is too small to hold it. Following her lead, Ingot places his waterskin, as well as Ladonna's and Garnet's, onto the second mule. Theron climbs up on one mule while Garnet and Finbul ride another one together.
With that decided, the party starts heading alongside the Dark River. They make good time for the first six hours, before they enter the rolling Wildwolfe Hills. Here, they begin to slow down, as they have to climb up and down each hill they come across or try to go around each one. After another six hours, it is starting to get dark. So far, they haven't had any troubles. The mules have not yet died, but the one Finbul and Garnet are riding is near exhaustion. The party decides to make camp for the evening where they are.
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Katya is no longer encumbered (MV 12). Ingot is no longer encumbered (MV 12).
Encounter check To9FUSuN1d8 Encounter check 1d8 Mule 01 saves vs. death 1d20+2 Mule 02 saves vs. death 1d20+2 Mule 03 saves vs. death 1d20+2 Mule 01 saves vs. exhaustion 1d20+2 Mule 02 saves vs. exhaustion 1d20+2 Mule 03 saves vs. exhaustion 1d20+2
Mule 01 can no longer move at MV 12 until it's had one full day of rest. The party has traveled for 12 hours. 1d8·1d8·1d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+2
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Post by Ezeze on Oct 30, 2017 12:29:40 GMT -8
Katya lets Lillian's statement stand, quietly picking over the idea that the rest of Tardiff might be even less tolerant of outsiders than Buho is. Also, on a similar train of thought, wondering how poorly other places must have treated Lillian if the solitary life she has in town constitutes 'being kind.'
The elf's life must have been awfully lonely.
The walk is demanding and Katya is not accustomed to wearing armor for more than brief sparring sessions, but the activity and fresh air do more for her energy than the previous night's scant sleep had. For the majority of the day her mood gradually improves, especially since the little group - Jherek had referred to them as a 'fellowship' and she rather liked the sound of that - encountered no major difficulties.
She doesn't push the women walking near her to talk, but banters with them easily enough of either tries to strike up a conversation.
Near the end of the day she does start flagging. Work on the ranch was demanding but had almost always included breaks between chores. The unceasing walking took its toll on her - and on the mule carrying Garnet and Finbul as well, it seemed.
"The sun is starting to set" she observed, practically shouting so that the boys at the front can hear her. She breaks the silence to do so; enough of the group was tired that chatter had died away hours ago. "It may be safer to make camp than to walk in the dark."
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Post by HorizonsDream on Oct 30, 2017 12:46:15 GMT -8
Ladonna walks over to the mules (that managed to survive the first day), and grabs her winter blanket so that she can lay it down on the ground. Once done, she walks over to Jherek and places her hand upon his shoulder. "Good work today. When you have a moment, I was hoping I could speak to you about something in private."
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Post by notARobot on Oct 30, 2017 14:04:52 GMT -8
"I get to ride one?" he asks, almost incredulous. "Cool! But, um...I've never actually ridden an animal before." He studies the physiology of the animal in front of him for a few moments, running his hands across the mule's back, before adding, "So...how does this work?"
After Katya helps Theron get atop the mule, she gives him a brief rundown of how to sit in the saddle correctly and how to tell the mule to go, and the Fellowship leaves Buho. Theron looks visibly nervous about riding at first, but before long his jitters subside and, basking in the novelty of it, he begins thoroughly enjoying the experience.
As the summer sun inches towards its nadir, nearly kissing the horizon, the weary travelers wordlessly form a consensus that they will go no further this day. They come to a halt without fanfare, everyone eagerly setting their packs on the ground, stretching their tired limbs, and drinking deeply from their waterskins.
Theron clumsily stumbles a short distance away on his benumbed legs to relieve himself in relative privacy, then unceremoniously collapses in an exhausted heap when he returns. "Thanks for bringing these mules along with us, Ryan," the gnome says after a while. "As tired as we all are now, I imagine we'd be even moreso if we'd had to drag all our supplies out here ourselves."
Turning to the mule he's been riding, Theron starts to lazily pat her on the head. "Thanks to you too, Mr. Mule. Or Mrs. Mule? Are you a boy-mule, or a girl-mule?" Without a hint of modesty, he bends down and peeks at the underside of the animal's belly. "A girl, I think. I'm gonna call you Moxie, then."
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Post by Ezeze on Oct 30, 2017 14:43:32 GMT -8
Katya suppressed her surprise when the party came to a halt at her suggestion. She expected some resistance - all of her other ideas had garnered at least a little - from Jherek or Finbul suggesting somewhere else, or from Ryan insisting that they march through the night. She chalked the lack of debate up to exhaustion; everyone must have been eager for the break. She worked at stripping the mules of their burdens while Theron relieved himself. Habit was hard to break; take care of the animals first, don't relax until after. Their luggage and the feed collect in a pile in the dryest, flatest reasonable place she could manage. She groans inwardly when Theron names Moxie. That was going to make things harder later. Hopefully that one, at least, would pull through this little trip. "Well I'm going to water the mules" she announces when their packs are on the ground. "I could use a set of hands on Moxie's reigns. Help me out, Theron?" She leads the other two mules to the river. In the middle it might have been treacherous and swift, but towards the edges where it was shallower the water moved more slowly. It was safe to let the mules drink so long as they were not allowed to wade too far in. The water is still running though, and therefore noisey. As far off as they are the rest of the fellowship cannot overhear when Katya asks Theron "did you know?"
The question is heavy. It takes a breath for Katya to elaborate on the off chance that the answer is 'no.'
"Did you know how deep in trouble Jherek has gotten, with his smuggling? I swear if you knew and did nothing I'll..."
She trails off, none of the possibilities that spring to mind quite severe enough - or else far too severe for Katya to swear to.
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Post by Jherek Everfull on Oct 30, 2017 15:07:07 GMT -8
Jherek hollars for a halt when Katya brings up tired feet and heavy eyes. His stomach rumbles as he drops his pack, looking around he decides he should go find some wood and kindling. He takes in and waves over Ingot. "We should set up a proper camp of some sort, can you gather up Finbul and Garnet, see if you can find some good size stones, find enough and we can set up a nice fire pit." He looks through the three companions before him, his eyes focused on Katya as he speaks. He doesn't even wait for familiar feelings to pulse through his fingers. He turns on his heel.
He grabs an axe to hand and makes to move away from the others, then stops when he sees Ladonna approaching. He lifts his chin when to acknowledge her and waits for her to speak. "Your more than welcome to join me in the search for wood and kindling. Two sets of eyes double our chances of finding something that will burn proper right."
He turns to walk off again. "You and the others did well today, I was hoping you and Ryan had the stones for the long walking. Good to know your made of stern stuff."
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Post by GravityEmblem on Oct 30, 2017 15:23:48 GMT -8
Lillian looks at the mule that had been carrying Theron, Garnet, and her Armor and worries at its downtrodden look. When we start traveling again, she thinks. I'll move my armor to one of the other mules.
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