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[Ravenloft]

Ezmirylda

Ezmi ended her dance as Leanna asked them to figure out the order of night watch. She drew a deep breath and sighed it out before offering to take first watch herself, her dancing had reenergized her so she doubted she would sleep any time soon. (Listen = 9, Spot = 17)

 

[little_golden]

Cassandra had to smile when Drec seemed to happily agree to help her. Of course he pushed it a bit as he suggested that it was simpler to share a bedroll.

"Why you are very kind.... to help me" Cassandra replied to his offer. She didn't really decline or accept his offer and let it linger. She had no idea of how the camp was being settled for the night and didn't want to cause a division in the group so early. She didn't know if the other women had an interest in Drec and she wasn't sure if there was a better protector of herself in the group.

Of course I'd trade sex for protection... and special status... but to the right protector Cassandra thought to herself as she walked back to back.

As they entered the camp, it seemed that some of the others had already made themselves ready for the night. They seemed to be discussing watches.

"I'm not much of a soldier or guard... But I'd be happy to share a watch... It can be a very long for someone alone " Cassandra offered. Her plan was to hopefully snag one of the men and then have a hot watch with them. She doubted there was any real danger. If there was - they would have attacked by now she reasoned.

 

[Ravenloft]

Ezmirylda

Ezmi perked up a little at Cassandras offer to share first watch, as she had already made the offer to take first watch herself. "That would be nice, Cassandra, I would love to share first watch with you. If no one minds, that is..." She gave Drec a pointed and withering look as though to warn him off.

 

[cats]

Drec

IC: "How many watches, and how long are the watches?" Looks like Cassandra and I could share a bedroll after all, although sharing companionship won' be at the same time.

"I will take the second watch in either case." I wanted to start tomorrow rested, and at the same time watch while rested, so being in the middle was best.

I helped Cass with her bedroll before setting up mine. I as always a bit leery about sleeping outside at night. It meant I had to be with out my armor, but still it had to be done. I slipped off my mail and placed it by my side. I kept my sword and shield there in manner that I could reach them quickly if needed. I then layed down for the night.

OOC: Checks for the watch later on. 16 spot, 6 listen.

 

[little_golden]

"Oh yes.... The first watch .. Yes that would be fine" Cassandra replied in agreement to Ezmi's unexpected offer to join her on the first watch. It wasn't quite how she planned it but Ezmi seemed like a friendly and lively girl and so Cassandra was quite agreeable.

First watch... Probably best anyways... I'll leave the fighting to others... Though that small dagger is still safely hidden away... Just in case.... Let's see what I can learn from Ezmi... There must be more to her than meets the eye... If need be and the others are asleep I could always try a spell on her..... Cassandra thought secretly.

She pulled a blanket from her bedroll and moved closer to the fire.

"If we run low on wood... I saw some more by the stream.. I can get it later" Cassandra suggested ever so politely to Ezmi.

"Drec... dear... would you have any drink to help keep us warm.. I fear there is a chill in the air" Cassandra added as she beamed a big suggestive smile at him.

Men... They are all pigs... But thank the Gods for that.... Cassandra thought secretly.

 

[cats]

Drec

IC: "Sorry, I stick to water while I tavel. It is just simpler that way."

 

[Ravenloft]

Ezmirylda

Sitting in front of the camp fire, Ezmi drew the back of her hand across her sweat dampened forehead, her dance had invigorated her, but had also drawn a light sheen of sweat to her body. She noticed how clean Cassandra looked and was tempted to ask where she had gone off to to bathe. The thought of a hard drink was very appealing, but short of that, Ezmi concidered showing Cassandra some... Herbal remedy for the chill night.

(Would survival allow me to find some wacky weed? If so... Survival = 12 to find some)

 

[little_golden]

Cassandra was disappointed in Drec. It seemed to her that most of the rough and tough protector types normally carried strong drink with them. She started to wonder how strong he was and whether he was the protector they needed. Sure he was good looking enough but would he run from trouble or stay and fight. Could he please a woman? Could he feed a family? She questioned herself and her own needs and wants.

Oh its not his fault... I know... I know... I expect too much... I barely even know him... But for his long looks at me... I would have expected something a little more generous... He was afraid of me... I think... And... He barely helped me with my bedroll.... I've gotten more attention from temple priests Cassandra thought to herself. She had a jaded view of men. They were both lying deceitful pricks, and wonderful, thoughtful lovers. Unfortunately for Cassandra the men in her life were more the former than the latter.

She recalled her life with the old sorcerer. That old man with his long filthy white beard was indeed a pig and a horny old pig at that. But he had taught her much about being a woman and about magic. He had taught her to read and write, but worked her like a dog. Many times he had told her she was useless, unworthy. and a filthy tramp. He could great delight in using and abusing her and she was locked into his service.

In the end, she was certain she had killed the old man, but it wasn't magic that had done him in. She had used her natural charm and assets to force the old man's heart to give out. It had been the ride of his lifetime - but had cost him dearly in the end. She had wanted revenge on him and she indeed had fulfilled a promise made to herself when she was only 11.

She had been with the old sorcerer good portion of her youth, and the old man had used her as his maid, serving girl, entertainer, and whore. If it wasn't for his magic she was certain she would have provided him a half dozen bastard children. But he kept his word, probably more for his own convenience than hers. Many hours he worked alone in his study and it was only when he was out that she had taken to sneaking in his his study and reading his books.

"Maybe you'll be of use in other ways" grinned Cassandra at Drec. Sensing no one was watching she winked at him, though she wasn't sure how well he could see in the darkness. Drec face kind of reminded her of the old sorcerer. It was strange that she should be thinking of him at a time like this.

"Well... Ezmi... It looks like the two of us for this watch... Walking back into camp... I thought we saw you dancing... Are you an entertainer of sorts and have you traveled much?" asked Cassandra as she made small talk with Ezmi.

Once they were alone, Cassandra whispered a secret to Ezmi:

"Ezmi.. Can I confide in you?... I think Drec was watching me when I bathed in the stream... It was a little unusual .... Did someone send him to find me?... What do you really know about him?"

 

[Ravenloft]

Ezmirylda

"I suppose you could call me an entertainer, as you no doubt have gathered by now, I am of Gypsy decent. We moved all along this area continuously, not stay long enough in any one place to wear out our welcome. I was my clans favored daughter, and one of the few willing to go into commoner's towns and dance, my trade of sorts. I often brought back quite a fair earning, be it goods or hard coin from such excursions, and my family loved me for it. In a year, I would probably have been named highest in my clan... But... Well... A great misfortune befell me. I... Its not the right time to speak of it though... Forgive me." Ezmi fell silent as she struggled to keep the memory of her rape at bay.

She was greatful when Cassandra came over and confided in her, it allowed her to focus her thoughts on something else. "Drec? He wandered off to look for you, he seemed genuinely concerned about you, figures he would go for the most buxom of the three of us, huh? Why do you feel it was so unusual, you must know full well by now, with the way you look, how easily men are lured by our sex. No offence, but you aught to be a bit more careful, though you can manipulate a man with promises and favors in his bed, some times... Some times things can go wrong. Trust me, I would not wish one as lovely as you to suffer what happened to me... That being said, I truly think Drec is a good man, call it a hunch. I didn't know him him before this, but there's just something... Familiar about him..."

 

[DerelictionOfSanity]

Ooc

You can use Survival/Wilderness Lore to: Find food/water/fuel in the wilderness/outdoors. Avoid getting lost/natural hazards. resist severe weather. Set up/find impromptu shelters. In conjunction with the track feat to track a creature.

If you want to find 'invigorating' herbs, you'll have to ALSO suceed at either an alchemy or Profession(herbalist) check (both skills are trained only)

Basically, survival training is a set of generalized skills to let you get by in the wilderness, not a substitute for an apothecary's training. However, if your character makes a point to learn about an herb with those characteristics and where it grows, etc. You could make a survival check (only) to try and locate that specific herb.

 

[Ravenloft]

Ooc:

I guess the reasoning I was using as far as a survival check being used to find 'special' herbs is that a part of wilderness lore would be knowing stuff like poison oak and other such things on sight, and just a slight stretch from that would be knowing what catnip, weed, ect. looks like... I figured you could know what it looks like, or is supposed to look like, but still not know entirely how to employ it, like you would if you were truly trained in herbalism... Does that make any sence? In any case, if it was a customary thing for her clan to employ weed in their rituals, along with booze, wouldn't it be possible that she could at least know what some looks like?

 

[cats]

ooc:

Catnip, now that is the heavy stuff. Random note, alchemy is also a craft skill in 3.5 if hat is the version we are using. (If we are in 3.0 I will take improved critical scimitar, and get a keen and vorpal scimitar. I declare it so. Miht even take a few levels in paladin to get bless weapon and be really mean.)

 

[DerelictionOfSanity]

Ooc

She might know what it looks like, but unless she learned to gather it and process it with her tribe (herbalism rank), she doesn't know about where it grows and might mistake it for a similar looking/smelling plant. And even if she found it, she wouldn't know how to prepare it for consumption without an herbalism/alchemy check.

Besides. Do you really want to get the sorceress stoned out of her mind? (Don't answer that, I'm afraid to know)

Paladin? Tee-hee.

As for versiony things, you can pretty much use 3.0 or 3.5, whichever you prefer in any given case, unless it goes against a house rule I've posted.

 

[Ravenloft]

OOC: I can see your point as far as gathering, but if she had been able to go look for some, she would have just thrown it in the fire and told Cass to start breathing deeply. LOL! Why roll a smoke when you can just stand in it? LOL! It'd be like sitting in Tommy Chongs back yard... LOL! You know, cause he does alot of weed? LOL! ...Aaaaand I'm spent. LOL!

Curse me for not having the foresight to have taken herbalism as a skill... Everyone can take a craft as a class skill, right? I'll have to remember to do that at level up.

Man, this is becoming more of an ooc thread than an IC... I think I better get us back into the stream of things. Here goes nothing!

IC: "Anyway, Cassandra, you know, I havn't gotten to learn much about you. What is it you do anyway? Ezmi asked, genuinely interested in learning more about her.

 

[DerelictionOfSanity]

Nighttime

OOC: Given the 24 hour hiatus in posts, I'll move things along. Guard shifts are: 1) Cassandra & Ezmi
2) Drec
3) Leanna & L'Amruil

IC: As the other members of the party bedded down for the night, Cassandra and Ezmi stayed awake with some hushed conversation. At one point they were startled by a loud noise, but Ezmi realized that is was just the bull snorting in its sleep. After 4 hours, the stars were very bright and the moon was high in the sky, a faint thin sliver. It was time to wake Drec for his watch.

 

[cats]

Drec

OOC: Checks for the watch later on. 16 spot, 6 listen.

IC: "I trust nothing happened?" I asked the two girls. I debated puting my armor back on, but truth be told I didn't expect any action tonight, so it seemed an unnecasary hinderence. But then again, I am the only one on the wath right now.

I picked up my sword and sheild and kept them at the ready.

 

[little_golden]

It was a pleasant night to sit around the campfire and chat with Ezmi. Cassandra didn't worry took much about creepies attacking in the night. She knew she wasn't a guard and her first defense would be to scream her head off, then hide, and then if things went sour to run, and then if desperate to fight it out.

Ezmi spoke in a genuine tone and Cassandra felt interested in her:

"Anyway, Cassandra, you know, I haven't gotten to learn much about you. What is it you do anyway?"

"Well... That's a tough one.... Lately I've been drifting about... Earning my keep doing odds and ends ... I like to travel and keep moving... I look for special things and special people.. I like to learn things... My master taught me a lot like writing and reading.. and life... But I hated him... and when he died I was free... A few of his friends are probably still looking for me... But I had a great head start" Cassandra shared.

"But what about you?" Cassandra asked.

As they chatted time passed quickly. If not for the snort of the bull in the nearby field the shift was uneventful. But the time with Ezmi was pleasant for Cassandra.

 

[Elayne]

Leanna simply nodded. The watches were acceptable. Or at least, not worth bickering over.

She fished out her sleeping roll and curled up inside it without further ado. Closing her eyes, she relaxed her breathing, quickly drifting off into sleep.

..."Later when she was awoken for her watch shift, she rose and took watch. (Spot 15, Listen 7)."


(Assume that that last line is my watch post unless something important happens in Drec's shift.)

 

[cats]

Drec

IC: In the end I left my armor off and kept my sword and shield at my side and back respectively. The ladies had settled down for the night, and I moved a bit further from the fire. It was a cool night but far from cold. The breeze was comforting but not particularly strong.

My eyes had adjusted to the lower level of light and I looked about enjoying my time alone in the environment of the farm life. I honestly did enjoy this sort of environment and had farming not included the work of farming perhaps I would be happy as farmer myself. I suppose it wasn't so much as I disliked farming as much as I enjoyed a life of wits and skill, one where the greatest foe wasn't a swarm of locusts.

That I suppose is why I became a guard so long ago. I missed my home, and I missed my parents. I gazed up at the night sky, it didn't take long to find the constellation of a dragon, the constellation of bahamut, I suppose he wasn't responsible for the wyverns, but I cursed his name now all the same. Even if they weren't truly my parents... I loved them just the same.

 

[little_golden]

Cassandra's bedroll was cold as she slipped her naked body into it. She didn't like to sleep in clothing. It didn't seem right to her. After all it wasn't a natural state. She knew it would up a bit once she settled in. Pulling the blanket over her head, she hoped to help the blankets warm up faster.

As she lay in the bed she listened carefully. She was close enough to the fire to eavesdrop to some degree on the next watch. The night seemed quiet. Thinking back to the day of travel, she realized that the group was untested. In the next few days, she would learn a lot about her comrades - good and bad.

What's in that scroll that's so important! was a thought that lingered on her brain as she rested in her blankets. She knew she was a deep sleeper - and avoided falling asleep by thinking and listening.

If I could just get a peek at it... Maybe I could read some of it to figure it out... But be worth something.... But the magic... more important than even the gold... Cassandra thought peacefully.

Twenty minutes later, she was fast asleep in a deep sleep and snoring softly....

 

[Ravenloft]

Ezmirylda

Ezmi settled by the fire, drawing into a ball to keep herself warmed as she had never bought a bed roll or blanket for herself since her exile from her gypsy clan a week ago. For the most part, she had been by herself until this party was formed, so it hadn't been such an obvious thing to need. But now, seeing the others warm and cosy in their individual beds sparked a deep seeded longing to crawl into one of them, if not for warmth, than for closeness. She reguarded that need as weakness and grit her teeth against it as she turned her face into the crook of her arm, staunching any tears her tortured heart might shed and willed herself to sleep.

 

[DerelictionOfSanity]

Drec: You notice that Ezmi has curled up on the ground without a bedroll or blanket, simply resting on the thick grass in the clearing. It's fortunate for her that it isn't very cold. All is silent and you don't see much of anything. The fire is beginning to sputter and go out, casting only the faintest of glows. There isn't any more wood. Your watch passes uneventfully.

OOC: Unless you should happen to do something to make it eventful.

 

[cats]

Drec

IC: Is she comfortable like that, no she couldn't be. She is a little ball trying to be comfortable. I watched the sleeping Ezmi, quietly. She will be exhausted on the trail if she stays like that. Well I'm not using my bed roll, so at least I can put a blanket over her. I laid the roll next to her and then placed the blanket over her. If she woke she didn't say anything.

I returned to the fire. I wanted to keep it dim so it didn't hamper m vision but still it would be dead by next watch at this rate. There was some wood by the creek that looked surprisingly dry. But getting it means leaving the camp unguarded. Oh no one is coming I know that.

I left the camp and gathered some smaller pieces of wood, and a single larger piece that I hoped would glow for hours after being lit. A soft smoldering glow, that was my goal.

I placed the log the log on the pit, along with a few smaller pieces to get it going. I then thought to myself quietly for a few more hours. To think I am a man surrounded by women, most men would love this set up. I am simply happy that there is another man here to keep them from pushing me around. I didn't know why but I often had trouble saying no to women.

"Hmm" I looked up at the stars. "My shift is almost up." I walked over to L'Amruil, and poked him with my foot. "Wake up friend it is your watch now." Once he was awake I nudged Leanna's back with my foot as well. "It is your watch now."

The two were awake and I could sleep. I went to my blanket and placed my sword and shield next to it. I then slid under it, a bit surprised to find it still warm. I made myself comfortable not even noticing how the body of heat seemed to come from my right side. I quickly found myself asleep.

 

[DerelictionOfSanity]

OOC: Donsehan, as you haven’t posted, I’m rolling your spot and listen checks for you and assuming that you take no special action (Of course, if you post, you get to change that). (Spot 21, Listen 15)

As L’amruil rises for his guard shift, he notices that Drec’s pack appears to be wiggling around in a strange way. (I’ll assume that he mentions this casually to Leanna). There seems to be a stripy tail sticking out of it.

Leanna doesn’t see this until L’amruil points it out. What do you do?

 

[cats]

ooc:

Come now it has been 16 hours, some one please save Drec's pack. He keeps his things in there.