Hi Tack as first on the wait list, please make a character using the system on the first page. Gamedragon has disappeared without a trace. I assume this means he either takes all you can eat buffets quite literally, is grounded, spilled mountain dew soda on his computer, has been abducted by wild squirrels, or most likely was so blown away by the fight sequence I wrote that his mind has messily exploded, and not a wet nap to be found. Either way, it's been more than a week without a peep, or any other type of marshmallow related or bird shaped candy. I don't care.
Thusly and thereforely, his character did not make it to morning and you can find no trace of him. It seems to be a reoccurring theme as lots of people are going missing lately....
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The rest of you wake up, and Joseph is nowhere to be found. He is gone, also without a trace. Having no other leads, it appears the rest of you have voted to pursue the Old Monk's suggestion with the help of the younger monk Omri and to to the west and make your way towards the Old Road. The general idea being that whatever the problem with missing persons is, having food will help moreso than not having food shipped in. (Remember this is a logging and lumber town economically. It is not food self sufficient).
While you do not absolutely have to ( and indeed Kalya may have heard of ways to get out without notifying the guards), Omri leads you past the guardhouse on the central plaza. There is no wall. The guards do not stop you, but they do call out to you as you pass, warning you of the danger in a tone that suggests you already know.... Most of the townspeople do at this point anyhow....
As you leave town you can see there are trees in various states of growth, to eventually be cut for lumber along either side of the well worn dirt and stone road. The road itself isn't quite in disrepair, but it's closer than you'd like it to be. Potholes are a fact of life here and there along the road. It is clear no one has maintained this for a while. The road will eventually take you to Vallenspir if you follow it long enough. The road generally is sloping up as you go west, but most of the time the grade is not so great as to truly stop you. Still, you would prefer the walk to be downhill and with fewer clouds with more sun....
Character option: Hunting, forager, lumberjack.
At this point, characters with these skill groupings may chose to attempt to use them at the cost of slowing the group down slightly. Hunting may be used by Hunters such as Alexi Spiros, or woodsmen such as Rivarin Solimva. The exact mechanics are a bog down, but if you want, and the group doesn't seem to care that much, players may chose to have their characters try to use environment appropriate skills. Simply indicate you are trying to use a skill in the environment and perhaps text stating how you will be doing it. Hunting may bring you additional items gained through prey animals, foraging may gain you additional (primarily plant based) items, etc. Additionally, it is generally somewhat harder to be ambushed with an active scout looking through the area immediately around you for prey animals etc.... In the future (I didn't want to start off with this right away, thieves like Kalya may attempt to use their skills in appropriate environments.... Most fighter based classes, such as veteran's child and city guard, are more combat focused than these other classes, generally speaking.
Currently, the group is just west of town going up the old road westward. You are surrounded by trees and various amounts of underbrush wilderness on either side of the road. It may be possible for you to leave the road and go into the wilderness if you desire, but your objective can most quickly be reached by following the road. If you keep following the road for a day, then you expect to reach the Watchtower: Old Road Cadrea. No one has been to this tower in several months and no word has come from it. This is one of the more well known outposts immediately outside the town, and especially along the trade route your food comes from.
What do you do?