CH. 9: Road to Tu'Valie

[Jenara]

"Can you watch my pack Andar?" Arei asks with a grin, moving after the woodsman she moves quietly crossbow at the ready.

Move silently: 1d100=52 Pass.

[Nuke]

Val sits and waits, feeling a little creeped out about the situation given her current feeling of uneasiness. Ordinarily she would welcome fresh meat, but today she is worried about offending someone or something.

[JadedDM]

Baeros sends Takit around and waits patiently until he believes the dog is in place. He then draws an arrow and fires. The arrow strikes the deer in the flank, knocking it down from the impact. The creature, clearly caught off guard, manages to stumble back to its feet.

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Deer's surprise roll (1d10): 2, deer is surprised

Baeros fires a sheaf arrow from his heavy long bow at the deer (1d20): 19, hit for (1d8+1): 2 damage.

(OOC: Baeros is well within short range with his long bow--50 yards; so it's not necessary for him to get any closer. Same deal with Areilon; her crossbow has a short range of 60 yards, so there's no reason to sneak unless you want to get really close for some reason.

I'm also going to ignore the animal empathy roll because A) you have to get right up close to the animal to use it, like within a foot or two, which makes your bow useless B) you attempted to sneak up on it (move silently), and the animal must be aware of your presence for it to work and C) using animal empathy for the sole reason of killing an animal would likely be a violation of the ranger's code. The purpose of animal empathy is to befriend animals.

The creature is surprised and so the party can all take free shots before it has a chance to bolt. Initiative is not necessary, but I'll need attack and damage rolls from anyone who wants to take a shot.)

[HorizonsDream]

"I thought men that lived in the forest had a thing against killing animals," Jocelyn says softly as she watches the process. "Though, maybe I'm wrong about that."

[BishGada]

Shrugging off Jocelyn comment, Baeros, disappointed with the little effect of his first well aimed arrow, shoots another hoping for better result.

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(OOC: I thought the animal empathy also means that the Ranger knows how to 'radiate' calmness so the buck won't run away. Sorry for that. Maybe I was a little bit eager to throw dices at last .
Baeros shoots the second arrow of the two he has per round.
Rolls: Attack roll (1d20+1 = 14 Hit AC 3), Damage (1d8+1 = 6).)

[Breila]

"I think it makes a difference when the animal is used as food" Ouragna says to Jocelyn. "It would not be right to shoot something just for practice or fun."

[Jenara]

Arei aims her crossbow at the deer, and lets a bolt fly.

1d20+1, 1d6=[19, 1], [1]
Hit AC -1 for 1 damage.

[HorizonsDream]

"What is the difference? Especially when those animals being killed for fun or practice are most likely going to be used as food as well?" Jocelyn asks.

[JadedDM]

Between Baeros' second arrow and Areilon's bolt, the deer drops to the ground. Still alive, its eyes wide and its tongue lolling, but unable to move as it slowly starts to bleed out.

[Jenara]

Returning the crossbow to her back, Arei turns away assuming the woodsman would do the honours. "I..." She starts to say, then moves back to Andar. "Killing an innocent creature.. feels wrong."

[BishGada]

Baeros moves towards the deer, "We should kill it swiftly, to finish it's suffer." As he reaches the deer he pulls out long knife from the side of his right boot and with one smooth flowing movement ends the deer's life. Then he collects his arrows, checking if they can be reused. With some effort he loads the deer on his shoulders and bring it to the area where they camped.
Dropping the body on the ground he looks around smiling, "Why are you looking so gloomy? We have a long road before us and fresh meat is much healthier for sustenance. It seems like you have never been on a journey before." Then he loughs loudly, "Women... so sensitive..."
Seeing no one shares the humor, his mood suddenly darkens, "Fine! Be that way... You all ex-pirates... Like you haven't fish on your ships..." he says shaking his head disapprovingly.
He drags the deer to the edge of the camp without looking at the others, "The meat requires some preparations. Without preservation it will be wastes very shortly. I know some herbs that wrapping them around the meat preserve it a little bit longer than only drying and salting." He says to no one in particular.
Gazing up at the other he says, "We must roast the meat no longer than half a day from the kill, so either we do it now or in the evening, but if it's the evening we need to carry it with us and it might delay our progress."

[Breila]

"We should do it now, then" Ouragana says. "Should we go looking for firewood while you prepare the meat?"
She then turns to Areilon and Jocelyn. "You eat pork, beef and goat, too, don't you? Are the animals kept by humans less innocent than those that live wild?"

[Jenara]

"My family have fished the oceans for generations, its all they know. The idea left me feeling uncomfortable." She shrugs, giving Oura a weak smile, "I have never killed something that wasnt trying to kill me first, this deer wasn't hurting anyone." She blushes deeply, "I guess I have a heart after all."

"Andar, could you aid Bearos?" She asks, "I know its not quite your area, but..." She gives him a sweet smile, still blushing deeply.

[JadedDM]

"Hold a moment," Andar says. "Are we really going to make a camp, just to cook some meat, then carry that cooked meat for another five hours, before making camp a second time? Wouldn't it be faster to just cut out what meat you want now, and cook it when we stop for the night?"

[Nuke]

Val pipes up. "Yeah, quarter is out and wrap it up tight in the hide. Oh, and don't forget the backstraps!" Van draws her dagger and moves to help, but only with the butchering.