Chapter 2a - The Exodus to Krossavik

[Samwell Turleton]

Olivia Linderoth

Olivia travels in the company of this group but is feeling kinship with Rikke, identifying with her as an outsider.

Whenever Olivia has an opportunity she travels at the edges of the group and ducks into the woods and natural environment around the travelers foraging for food, medicinal plants, fungi, bark, and smooth river stones for her sling.

Foraging Roll [1d20+1] = 10+1 = 11

When she pops back in with the group she tries not to bring attention to herself.

Olivia sees commotion in the traveling party but doesn’t hear the screams or notice the dragon lazily gliding overhead. She does see the panicked family coming down the road and steps a little away so as to not be directly addressed by them.

Rikke readies her sword making a threat to the invaders. Rikke’s bravery amuses Olivia but she hesitates, not wanting to rush into conflict.

“I think it would be prudent to approach carefully and linger only for as short a time as we can”, Olivia says.

“What supplies do we have between us - can we make it to the next city?”

OOC: -2 rations, -9 cp, -chunk honeycomb

[redwarrior]

Hild asks how many and how are your wounded? While she ran from her home, for some reason, it feels wrong to run now, as if she is somehow now a warrior who can face such opponents and make a difference.


Saral looks to his wife and child and keeps his own counsel. It looks like returning to a quiet domestic life is not going to be his path. Instead, maybe he is meant to delve into the mystery of what caused these attacks. In any case, he his going to stay quiet at this point.

[Samwell Turleton]

Fljúga Thormundson

Fljúga hobbles along with the help of the oak branch. In resting times she peels away the bark of the branch exposing the pale wood beneath it. As she walks she watches the ground and the rhythm of the wood thudding into the dirt of the road.

“Would you allow me to make use of your dagger from time to time?”, Fljúga asks of her fellow travelers. She begins to carve the outlines of a knot work pattern around the circumference of the wood. She does her best to mimic what she remembers of the structural decor of the Red Keep that fell only days ago.

After journeying for two days Fljúga is weary. The screams of the Krossavik family are not welcome sounds.

“What is become of this world?”

“What are we to make of it out of this destruction”

Perhaps a more equitable world lies on the other side, she thinks.

“We join with you in your suffering and will do what we can to help. We are weary, are there any safe places to shelter outside the city?”, Fljúga attempts to ask the woman.

-2 rations

[ybn1197]

Piers follows along with the rest of the refugees from the city, keeping his own council as he has never been very good with other people. When they break for rest, he tends to pull out his grandmother's crystal ball and try to see traces of the coming weather as she used to. She may have had the knack but Piers is not able to read the designs in the ball like she was. He then places the ball back into his pack as carefully as possible and eats some of his rations.

When the group encounters the family, he goes up to hear their story but stays to the back of the group listening in. With rapt attention, he listens to the others discuss their next move. He was no better at making informed decisions than he was with dealing with others so he kept his mouth closed and his ears open to listen to others more able to make sound decisions.

-2 days of rations

[Marullus]

Sorry, the week got away from me.

Characters:

• redwarrior: Hild Gamlidottir
• Samwell Turleton: Olivia Linderoth
• ybn1197: Piers
• AleBelly: Rikke
• Faanku: Kinnard
• Faanku: Myantha Theneiros
• Samwell Turleton: Fljúga Thormundson
• redwarrior: Saral
• (NPCs): Melikii (mother), Neptisiss and Janiiss (Children)

Rikke and Hild ask about the number and disposition of the enemy. "I... I don't know. They seem to be so many. Dozens? Everyone knows that in an attack we must get to the keep, but the keep is surrounded. I... I couldn't get through," answers the beleagered woman. "I... I just did what I could to get away. They were attacking people in the streets, running us from our homes... Without a way to the keep, hope is lost."

Olivia and Fluja question if we have enough supplies to go on, and safe opportunity to rest outside of Krossavik. Other straggling refugees are scurrying like frightened mice from the flaming town, joining your meandering caravan at the road. You know that food was at a premium already, and the vast stretches between cities means your large group will have a hard time moving onward with extra mouths and without extra supplies. Your caravan of refugees is the safest place outside of a keep-and-town and has little to offer. Small groups of able-bodied men are forming up to protect the clusters of refugees stretched along the road, but none are approaching the burning town.

It seems you could go to aid those in the town, join those protecting the caravan at the road, or hurrying on southwards without the host to avoid further entanglements.

(actions?)

[Samwell Turleton]

Olivia Linderoth

Olivia walks to the crowd of able-bodied men. “We have a few here that can help in a fight and join your group escorting the caravan.” She looks over the crowd before looking back at this group, “How many days can you travel with this many?” She thinks a little further about it, “If you know the land and the city maybe we can lead a small group to grab more supplies and see who we can rescue on the way. What do you say?”

[Marullus]

The men of the caravan welcome the help of any additional protectors. "If we push hard and don't have trouble, we can arrive exhausted and hungry... Food won't go far enough to fill bellies, but we will do what we must to make it."

As Olivia thinks further, one of the bloodied women who just arrived looks aghast. "You want to... Join the raiders and steal food from the town for your caravan?"

[Samwell Turleton]

Olivia Linderoth

“Perhaps you have more hope for your city than I do for mine - Kaerhavn is forfeit. I fear Krossavik is too. If we leave our cities to the enemy their supplies will go to the army of the red sigil. We must recruit who we can to our side, supply ourselves for resistance, and leave nothing behind to aid their conquest.”

[ybn1197]

Piers nods with Olivia's statement. "Would you feed the raiders or feed those who have survived to leave. The city is a lost cause. What those in the keep have is all they will ever have. The rest will go to the raiders. What we are doing is simply keeping them from having it."

[AleBelly]

Rikke, bandit

Rikke stands in between the woman and Olivia, sensing tension between them. Once she's convinced Olivia's not in immediate danger, she looks to the keep. "Must be food, weapons, and armor in the keep. Soldiers are in there, after all. These red robes are everywhere. We will need to fight them sometime" she offers.

[Faanku]

Kinnard, the Mercenary

"Not here, though." The swordsman shakes his head at Rikke's suggestion. "You saw what they did to Kaerhavn first hand. Unless that keep has something that can repel adult dragons, making a stand here is foolish."

[redwarrior]

Hild speaks up. He is right. They must be fought, but it's foolish to die without even the hope of success. Let's escort these people, and we can find a time and place of our own choosing to strike back.

[ybn1197]

Piers looks perplexed. "I don't think anyone was suggesting making a stand and fighting the raiders here. I thought we were only looking to take some easy picking to replenish our supplies and help the survivors in our care. Our resources are not unlimited."

[Marullus]

Characters:

• redwarrior: Hild Gamlidottir
• Samwell Turleton: Olivia Linderoth
• ybn1197: Piers
• AleBelly: Rikke
• Faanku: Kinnard
• Faanku: Myantha Theneiros
• Samwell Turleton: Fljúga Thormundson
• redwarrior: Saral
• (NPCs): Melikii (mother), Neptisiss and Janiiss (Children)

The group finds wisdom in trying to protect their caravan and keep it moving forward, with some committing to raiding the burning homes of the town for food and provisions, ensuring they're not used by the raiding Empire forces. There is disquiet among the other refugees of the caravan, but none speak out, as they too recognize that their own position is as desparate as that of the people of Krossavik, if not more so.

The raiding party is gathered and sneaks their way through the chaos of the night and darkness, away from the road and up the hillside towards where Krossvik is illuminated by the fires already burning. You find some cover in the brush along the roadside that leads to Krossavik. Before you is a wide, shallow stream - you can ford it without issue or use the sturdy low bridge. On the other side is the cleared road and yards of the houses, sturdy half-timber structures along either side of the cobbled street leading into the town proper. You hear shouts and commotion further up the street, but nothing at the moment at this end.

Specify if you stayed with those guarding the caravan or are with those raiding for food. Also, state actions/plan.

[redwarrior]

Hild grabs her father's sword, and heads out with the raiding party. Saral considers for a moment, looking to his wife and children. With a mental shrug, he decides that there are more likely to be riddles and mysteries to unravel with the raiding group than with the raiding group. Surely, they will be fine...

[Samwell Turleton]

Olivia Linderoth

Olivia joins the raiding party and places her hand on Hild’s shoulder before they head on.

“Good luck...”, Olivia says. Her hand lingering as she says it.

Olivia crosses the ford in the river and she attempts to stay out of open areas within and with a view of the others.

Olivia is going to investigate a nearby house. If occupied she will attempt to get the attention of the resident(s) and attempt to convince them to offer their support or come with the caravan.

Blessing [1d20+2] = 14+2 = 16

[AleBelly]

Rikke

Rikke waits to see what Olivia will do, then smiles as she joins the raiding party. "I'll come with and protect you" she says solemnly with her claymore at the ready. "But let's all stay together."

As quietly as possible, she fords the river, trying to stay out of sight...and hoping to surprise a small band of the cultists.

Rikke will stay close to Olivia, but if others advance further she'll go too as long as she thinks Olivia's in no immediate danger.

[Marullus]

Once you ford the stream and are in the streets of town, what's your objective?

[Samwell Turleton]

Olivia’s objective is to identify occupied and/or vacant homes while staying as out of view as possible.

[Samwell Turleton]

Fljúga Thormundson

Fljúga remains with the caravan - still weary. She asks again to borrow a small blade to continue the carving she had begun on the road to Krossavik. As she sits with the wood in her hands she imagines the shapes the wood will allow her to carve into it. She reaches a meditative state contemplating the design and removing slivers of material.