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With that settled, the party continues on down the forest trail.

Eventually the storm stops, night falls, and the party makes camp again. Everyone eats dry rations, except Thunder who consumes the remaining carrots and grain and Takit, who eats nothing (as the party has no meat). The uneventful day allows Val to heal up a bit more, as well. Ouragana uses 3 cantrips on Jocelyn and herself to keep the insects away. They keep the same watch as before, but this time nothing bothers them.

The next morning (the 5th of Ruebon), it's a little cooler than before, but without the rain, it's hard to tell the difference. The temperature is in the early 90s F (or early 30s C) for most of the day, but at least the canopy helps keep the sun away a bit. Jocelyn replenishes everyone's waterskins and then they set out. They don't run into any trouble. Eventually, night falls and they make camp again. Everyone eats and drinks, except the animals. What's more, Val consumes what is left of her rations, so now she is out of food, as well. She eats enough for today, though, and after sleeping, feels back to her old self again.

The morning after that (the 6th of Ruebon), is very hot again (mid-90s F or mid-30s C). This time there is no breeze, and no rain. Only the shade of the canopy helps with the relentless heat. Jocelyn is no longer bothered by mosquitoes during the night, thanks to Ouragana's cantrips. However, her back has grown stiffer, to her chagrin. It has also been a week now since Areilon's last bath; she's beginning to smell a bit ripe; not as bad as Val, though, at least.

Before breakfast, the party needs to decide what to do about the food situation. Andar speculates that it may take them another five or six days to reach Tu'Valie at their current speed. Those with extra rations can donate some to Val. However, Takit can only eat meat and Thunder needs either grain or veggies. It may become necessary to hunt and forage for them.

Or the party can just soldier on, and not take the risks of leaving the trail path.

"What does everyone think?" asks Andar after explaining the situation to everyone.

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Areilon is no longer in light encumbrance. The party's movement rate increases to 12.

Ruebon 04, 313; Soulday
The party travels 6 miles in 10 hours. Their destination is now 44 miles away.
Val regains 1 HP back. She is now at 96% HP.

Ruebon 05, 313; Frostday
The party travels 6 miles in 10 hours. Their destination is now 38 miles away.
Val regains 1 HP back. She is now at full health.
Jocelyn suffers a -1 to DEX until further notice.
Areilon and Val suffer -1 to CHA until further notice.

It is now Ruebon 06, 313; Flameday at 9:00 AM.

(OOC: Okay, so it's like this. Takit, Val and Thunder are now all out of food. If only Jocelyn were a level higher, then this wouldn't be an issue. She could cast Create Food and Water.

Anyway, the game is fairly forgiving for those who go without food, so long as they have water--which we have plenty, thanks to Jocelyn. Val can actually go 7 days without food, as long as she has water, before suffering any fatigue penalties. Same with Takit. Thunder can actually go 8 days. The downside, though, is that natural healing won't work if they aren't eating. They'll have to rely on magical healing only.

On the other hand, Takit can hunt and Baeros can hunt and forage. Takit has a hunting score of [12] and Baeros has one of [13]. If they hunt together, they have a total score of [15].

Baeros can also forage, but his skill level is quite low, only [5]. But this is still better than anyone else in the party. Foraging can help in finding edible, non-poisonous plants.

However, the severe downside is that to hunt or forage (or both), the party will have to leave the trail. Thus, they risk running into dangerous things.

So the question before the party is, should they just push on? Or should they risk hunting and/or foraging. And if the latter, when should they do it (in the morning, when the casters are praying/studying, or at night, after camp is made, a fire is going, and the watch hasn't started yet). If they go hunting, should Baeros go alone? Or should go Takit go alone? Or should they both go together? (Anyone else going hunting would just get in the way, scare off the game, etc.) If they go foraging, should it just be Baeros, or should others accompany him?

How the party decides will determine what happens next.)

"I don't think I'll be of any use while hunting," Jocelyn admits. "That seems something that Bearos and his dog know how to do."

"We know Baeros can hunt well, he's already done it." Ouagana observes. "Is it good to hunt in the morning?" she asks the man. "Jocelyn and I need to study and pray, is that enough time for you?"

(OOC: I see I have to catch up with the posting...)

Baeros just watch and learn from the Toads bodies. He is admiring the length of the tongues they have.

When Areilon suggests she and Andar will take the lead he just says, "Call me if you have any troubles or loose the trail." and goes back to the rearguard position.
As they camp at night and seat by the fire, Baeros asks "So Areilon, do you want to use the time we have to discuss how to improve our battle cooperation? And you Ouragana, why won't you draw on the ground where you want us when doing whatever you wanna do? Under attack it's harder to make such plans..."

When he sees Val has no food, he immediately shares his ration with her, without even asking is she wants it, and when he feels Takit won't have any remains, and it's two days since he had a decent meal, he considers telling the others they should hunt.
As they subject is brought up, his good character shines and he says, "So long with the 'how horrific is to harm such innocent cute creatures', huh?" looking specifically at Areilon.

Then he looks at the others. "I don't think pressing on for five days is smart, maybe if it was one or two days it was practical. If we will get into trouble in that condition we might not get out of it. Me and Takit have gone many days on the woods. We can hunt tomorrow, and I think we should."

"It may take several hours." he says in answer to Ouragana question, "Maybe you could use the time to plan combat tactics for the group while we be off. You could also rest, take showers and freshen up." He gives a sympathetic look at aching Jocelyn.

"By the way Ouragana, you said you can make this force repelling insects... Can you make a force padding the ground we sleep on? This can help some of us..."

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(OOC: I thought the horses can find weed to eat by themselves. Should I throw 1d20 for hunting and foraging?

Now, as I told you before, I'm traveling tomorrow to Thailand for about a month. I'm not sure how frequently I'll be able to post, so, JadedDM, if you feel it's too long, feel free to play Baeros instead of me.)

"I don't think it's a good idea to discuss combat tactics when one of the best fighters is not there" Ouragana tells Bearos. "And about modifyong the ground to make it nicer to sleep on, that's something I've never thought of, but I'll have time to do that during the day. I'm doupbtful though, it would need quite a lot of magical energy to last through the day."

Baeros agrees at once to share his own rations with Val, only to discover he only has enough to last a couple of more days at most.

Baeros wrote:"You could also rest, take showers and freshen up."

Andar looks up at the sky, confused. "Shower? There's not a cloud in the sky."

===========

(OOC: According to the DMG, ponies and donkeys are sturdy enough to survive just on grazing, but horses require either grain or vegetables.

About hunting, I should point out that the best times to hunt is early in the morning or early in the evening, after they've made camp. Hunting at any other time greatly reduces the odds of finding something. Hunting at night is pretty much impossible without infravision.

Baeros seems to be suggesting the party take the whole day off tomorrow just for hunting. That is an option, but not really necessary. Hunting can be part of the group's regular routine, just like Jocelyn creating water each day or Ouragana using her cantrips to keep bugs away each night. It's not necessary to roleplay it out (unless something dangerous is encountered). I'd make the rolls and post the results each day.

What I need to know is, will the party make hunting part of their routine? If so, what time and how often (every day, once every two days, etc.) will they go hunting, who will they send (just Baeros, just Takit, or both together), and what is the maximum amount of time to spend hunting (for instance, after 'x' amount of time, the hunting party returns to camp, even if still empty handed).

Same deal with foraging. Maybe you can hunt and forage every day (once at morning, once at evening), or alternate (hunting one day, foraging the next). Who goes foraging, what time, how often, and all that jazz? Unlike hunting, foraging does have a hard time limit. If you haven't found anything after 40 minutes, there's no point in continuing until the party's traveled at least another mile.

If you guys are really concerned about Jocelyn's stiffness, one solution is to allow her an extra hour of sleep. Of course, this means either taking an hour of sleep from someone else--thus giving them penalties instead. Or not breaking camp until an hour after you normally you do. Or stopping to camp an hour earlier than normal.)

"Right, this is not vanity.." she sighs, "I need a bath, or a wash, I feel the bugs on me.." she glances at Andar sniffing herself a little. "Plus I need to change."

"Plus, we hunt on the road, if Bearos is a great hunter he can catch some rabbits? won't slow us down too much."

"I'm not sure too many animals are going to come close to this trail unless they have to, especially if they know that people travel it," Jocelyn points out to Areilon.

"Takit and I will try to hunt tomorrow morning and if necessary also at the evening." Baeros says. "This won't hold us up too long. We will get off the trail of course. Hopefully if we catch something big enough it will last for few days. Maybe when we take break at noon I'll look for some food for Thunder too, but generally he can manage without food much longer than us."

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(OOC: I think pressing on is more important than not eating meat for one day. We should hunt/forage when our supplies are sufficient for the next day.)

"I've been without before, helps keep the body strong too, press on, but keep your eyes peeled for game." Val shoulders her gear and carries her bow as they move out.

With that decided, the party eats breakfast (except the animals; Baeros gives one of his meals to Val), and Jocelyn replenishes their water.

The party travels for about three hours without incident. It's a hot, moist day and soon the party's clothes are sticking to their bodies from all of the sweat they are producing.

The sun above is at its apex, noontime, when they spot something a little ways down the trail. A woman is lying down, just off the trail, under a tree. She has a swarthy complexion and black hair, but beyond that, no additional details can really be made.

Removing her cloak Arei lets the hat fall to one side and raises her hand, "What do you think?" She asks Andar, "Perhaps we should take a look, Bearos can scout the perimeter."

Jocelyn spots the woman and frowns slightly. Part of her is telling her to approach the woman to ask if she is okay, but the other part of telling her that it could be some kind of trap. "Let's get a little bit closer first to see if we can see an glint of weapons," Jocelyn says softly.

"Yes, Bearos, can you check if anyone came to that spot from elsewhere than from the trail?" Ouragana secunds Arei. "I'm sorry I don't have any useful spell to help. But I'll be standing by to trap anything that comes out of the forest in my web." She approaches the woman just far enough to be true to her promise, scanning the area.

The party approaches a little closer, carefully and slowly. There is no sign of any glints of weapons or movement in the nearby trees or shrubberies. However, there is a slight odor of decay and the sound of buzzing insects emanating from the woman.