Journey to Lands Far Far Away (OOC)

For me it is ok to have an uneventful night, giving Lille a chance to resolve the mystery.

Btw if Lille ends up near the cultivated fields or orchards, she will try not to be seen by any early morning workers. Old habits die hard :)

Well, we’ve reached the point where I’m out of ideas. Perhaps I’m missing something? Lille could stick around and try to learn the habits of these things; figure out their likes and dislikes to repel them or draw them into a trap, then figure out how to destroy them. But even just some of that trial and error would take quite a long time. As much as she wants to solve this problem, she definitely doesn’t want the group to leave without her.

One option is to warn some of the locals who tend the fields and orchards, and hope for the best. Another is to go ask the help of the adventurers. The first one is near to giving up on the problem - would they really have any better chance of solving it? The second is quite the opposite of what Lille wanted; she was going to prove herself useful to the group to help in their tasks, not ask them to help her solve a new and separate problem with no clear personal gain. It is not in her character to step away without saying anything, so those are the two options I can see.

This has definitely been more involved than I expected. One of the aspects I enjoy most about this kind of gaming is the cooperative element. While each character still needs to take their own actions, make their own decisions, and sometimes work independently, the group strengths can help make up for all our various deficiencies, both as characters and players. If I’d known that delaying in joining would mean this kind of solo problem solving, I might have chosen differently.

So is everyone ok with Lille joining now? Or is there some other way for her to reap the benefit of that very high roll? She’ll suffer the no-hunting penalty for the low roll either way. Also open to other ideas if anyone has them :)

I'd prefer Lille joining as soon as possible. For now we're kinda stuck waiting around. (Technically we could continue without Lille, but it would be nicer to interact with her as well.)

One easy way to join the parties together right now would be if Lille chooses to destroy the infected trees to protect the other ones. She could use fire (using a 'controlled burn' (now mostly called a 'prescribed burn')) and the rest of the party could see this and come to investigate?

This would sorta set the stage for the nature of the meeting, but there is still plenty of room for everyone to shape how that meeting happens and how Lille comes across to the others.

This is just the first idea that comes to my mind. We can workshop it as needed.

I'm sure nothing bad has ever happened with this tactic. *6- roll incoming* :P

Why not just run to the adventurers for help?

Well, yeah, that is why we don't call it a 'controlled burn' anymore, the media has a field-day when it gets away. :) 'Prescribed burn' is a safer term since it just means 'we planned to burn something today' and does not imply any level of 'control' over the fire. :)

If we want to engineer a meeting we can skip rolling and just say it works. With a little prep it is not that hard for an experienced woodsman to prevent a fire from spreading from where they want it. The weather is still and quiet, ideal for such an activity.

Hehe. Alright. If we can do it that way I have no objections :)

Lille and I are also hesitant about fire. That was one thought I had for destroying that would take too long, because she would never set a fire without proper clearing first, which would take time. But much less time if she has help :)

If it’s ok, I will post about her approaching the camp, then make a Stealth roll. On a good result she can materialize somewhat magically. On a bad one, get caught by the morning’s last watch. I’m between… we’ll figure it out. Should be interesting either way.

Go for it, QuietPanther. You are welcome to roll or to choose any of those options.

Do you have a preference as to who is standing watch at that moment? We know it is probably not Roald (first watch), but the rest of the watch order can be anything you like. You can also set this when they are about to rise (last watch), making ready to depart (after last watch), or even on a middle watch, since you arose earlier than they might have. I am sure the rest of the players will happily slot into your fiction.

I think Ezme had second watch, so that leaves Albert, Theo, and Daryl. I can just say "the man on watch". During last watch is when I imagined this happening, but it can be any time during that 1-2 hr period.

If you want Ezme to be on watch then we can easily make that so.

Maybe the men-folk were hesitant to wake her before? Maybe they forgot the order, or something changed it, we are not beholden to earlier suggestions we did not see happen in play.

It’s not important that she be the one awake. Maybe better if someone like Albert is up so someone else gets to interact with her. Or everyone, if things get loud fast :) Lille wants things to be convenient, but I want things to be interesting, which often means inconveniencing my own characters. I’ll leave it neutral.

Albert is a fine choice. Make it so.

I agree with all of the above.

Hmm, a middling result. Probably wouldn’t wake the whole camp immediately, but perhaps there’s some small cost? Maybe she can slip around to where Ezme is sleeping but get spotted before Lille wakes her up. I’m open to other ideas on how to interpret that.

I can give a good description of Lille when we decide and I reply.

Yeah, without proper stakes in the scene it is hard to say what a 7-9 means. Getting 'caught' in the middle of the camp seems worse than getting spotted as you approach, no?

Why don't we internet at Partial Success as your being able to sneak up close, but then realising that you can't get all the way in without risking being noticed and making a bad impression, so you choose to reveal yourself before the 'ideal tada' moment. Still making your woodsmanship clear but not so much that you make the others look bad by comparison. They will see that you are good out here, but may not be immediately convinced that they need you.

That works for me. Here comes the fun!

Hope I'm not being too difficult for you QuietPanther 😅. Albert will surely help if the situation is explained to him. I promise! :)

Also, being a grumpy old man is kinda fun :P