Undertake a Journey: 4 +3 [wits] vs 3,2; strong hit, prog -> now 4/10, move at speed, +1 mom -> now 3, -1 Food supply -> now 4Careena, walked well into the night - her excellent night-vision serving her well - before finally she settled down in a thicket to try and sleep a few hours ...
Spending momentum on Sunderer in the fight last time, really ate it up, so I'm taking the supply hit to get some back
Make Camp: 2 +3 [wits] vs 2,1; strong hit, Recuperate (+1 health -> now 5), Focus (+1 mom -> now 4What sleep Careena had was undisturbed and she rose with the sun and continued her journey
Undertake a Journey: 1 +3 [wits] vs 9,9; miss with a twistCareena walked all morning without stopping, but as noon approached she heard the beginnings of noise heading towards her. From the north. Where the Varou came from ...
Roll on major plot twist at Ironsworn Chartopia and get 'A secret alliance is revealed'
My immediate reaction is an alliance between the Varou and a faction of the Elves ... but is that a bit obvious? hmmm ... I'll try the Discord oracles channel and see what they think ...
So, after a chat with Arcane and emQueue (thanks guys!), I now know what's going on, but first, from the miss, Careena must ...
Pay the Price: 'Your current situation worsens'
Indecision struck - Careena simply did not know what to do! Finally she climbed the nearest tree with enough foliage left to give enough cover ...
Face Danger: 6 +1 [shadow] vs 6,2; strong hit, +1 mom -> now 5Against the odds, Careena's poor stratagem seemed to have worked - at least the Varou scouts that came out of the trees to the north showed no sign of being able to see her ...
As Careena watched, not daring to move, the trickle of Varou passing her continued to flow for most of the day. At first it was only warriors, but as time wore on she saw both the old and the young trudging south. At first, it didn't occur to Careena to count them, but then she started to do so, but gave up when she had got over the hundred ...
It didn't matter really how many there were - more than a hunting party, less than an army - it was an entire tribe.
The sun had crossed most of the sky and the Varou had stopped, when she heard raised voices and before long, what must have been the Varou rearguard came through the trees. The first thing she saw was a Varou head belonging to the tallest Varou she had seen all day. It was talking and looking down at someone.
As it cleared the trees, she saw it was a robed figure - far too short to be a Varou, yet too tall to be Dwarf or Elf ... and yet the hood was so deep and the sleeves too long for her to be able to see anything but the robe.
But the 'conversation' was the most disconcerting thing. The Varou lord - for that is what it must be - seemed to be conversing with the robed figure, but it made not a sound ... the lord seemed to hear answers, but Careena could not and neither could the other Varou - or so it seemed to Careena. But soon they too were gone - the same way the rest of the tribe had gone.
Time for a move, I think. Has Careena really been able to ...Although she still did not dare to 'move' as such, Careena did, finally risk shifting slightly to relieve as many of her cramped, aching muscles as she could.
Face Danger: 3 +1 [shadow] vs 3,1; +1 mom -> now 6
Yes she has!
Also, having seen that there is or maybe a power 'behind' the Varou, I feel that Careena has been able to ...
Reach a Milestone: I will deliver Gamana's message, now 3/10
Careena waited a bit longer, but when she realised she was shifting so much that she would probably fall out of the tree, she lowered herself to the ground and prepared to resume her journey.
Undertake a Journey: 5 +3 [wits] vs 8,7; weak hit, prog -> now 6/10, -1 Food supply -> now 3Careena walked the rest of the day without incident, finding another thicket after the sun had gone down - her vision at night had always been excellent
I've created an asset to represent Careena's Dwarven characteristics (call Dwarf-Blood) and this is a bit of fore-shadowing for when she has it - the default ability is Dwarf-Sight, i.e. excellent vision in the dark. Anyway, time to ...Careena was up at dawn again and continuing her journey.
Make Camp: 2 +3 [wits] vs 8,3; weak hit, choose Prepare, +1 on next Undertake a Journey
I would like to have taken 'Relax', but I don't see how Careena could in her current situation ...
Undertake a Journey: 4 +1 [from Make Camp] +3 [wits] vs 7,5; strong hit, prog 6/10 +1 mom -> now 7Before Careena had left Hillbarrow with Rhuddli, she had never travelled further than Lord Metre's dun and that was always with her father and some of his workers. Then all her travelling had been with Rhuddli. Now walking alone, she was starting long before she would have with Rhuddli and stopping much later than they would have ... and yet she was not exhausted ... barely even tired really. Could she travel faster too?
Careena began to run, but she soon slowed down - she knew that she could not keep up running for long, but she soon settled down to a jogging pace that she found comfortable, and kept it up for the rest of the day, stopping long after nightfall.
Make Camp: 6 +3 [wits] vs 5,1; strong hit, choose Relax (+1 spirit -> now 5) & Prepare (+1 to next UaJ)Careena thought long and hard as she settled in her blankets that night. As she had sworn to herself, she was learning more about her Dwarven self and the heritage it gave every day.
Much further from the Varou, Careena is able to relax and the Prepare worked well last time! and as Careena is making splendid progress, it's time to mark progress on her vow ...
Reach a Milestone: I will deliver Gamana's message, now 4/10
And, she realised, that she had learnt far more about herself without Rhuddli than she had learnt in the months of travelling with him ... she would be better off without him. Perhaps he was not worthy of her as Gamana had told her twice now?
Careena's discovery of her endurance and the first flowering of independence lead her to ...In the morning, Careena was up and ready even earlier. In the half-light of the pre-dawn, she began her jog, intending to jog all day - if she could!
Reach a Milestone: I will learn what it means to be a Dwarf, now 4/20
Undertake a Journey: 5 +1 [from Make Camp] +3 [wits] vs 5,5; strong hit, prog now 8/10Much to her joy, Careena found that she could and did jog her way through the woods all day and began to see the tell-tale signs that Gamana had told her about that showed she had entered the Elven tribe's lands. She crawled into another thicket soon after that - she did not want to wander their lands after nightfall in case they took her for a threat.
Will try to Reach Your Destination next, but first one last ...When Careena awoke it was with the feeling of being watched, and sure enough, as she crawled out of the thicket where she had slept there was an elf crouching down looking at her.
Make Camp: 3 +3 [wits] vs 8,4; weak hit, choose Focus (+1 mom -> now 8)
Reach Your Destination: prog 8 vs 6,6; strong hit, with a twist! (missed the double 5 twist above)
Leaving her walking axe upon the ground, Careena slowly rose to her feet, her hands raised and empty to show that she meant no harm ...
Seems like a good place to end this post. More soon!