Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1

[atpollard]

Josephine and Ignatius outside the Grogg and Tankard
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 1: Hour 8:01 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

The fire was extinguished and the crowd of watchers had mostly dissipated. The Town Bell toned eight times … ding-ding, ding-ding, ding-ding, ding-ding … cheers and song could be heard erupting from everywhere. The new Cycle had officially started. It was now Cycle 1063, Day 1. You could hear lively music coming from the tavern. The rest of the party seemed to be somewhere else.

Ignatz remembered seeing Jacques heading into the woods after Lady Diana. Jo remembered helping Doc set up in the Tankard.

[What do you do and where do you go?]

[atpollard]

Diana, Jacques & Remy in the woods
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 1: Hour 8:10 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]
Remy led the way into the woods, following the pair distinctive prints in the soft loam by the slightly flickering light of a borrowed lantern. They appeared to have been scrambling up the slope in some haste. Unfortunately, it was not long before the soft loam gave way to a rockier slope and the footprints stopped.

Now came the slow and tedious process of searching in sweeping arcs for some trace of their passage. Remy was briefly embarrassed when he could find none and about to admit defeat, when Jacques called out that he had found something. Jacques had briefly considered returning with his Lordship to see if the Doctor had any news, but the thought of a hunt just fired up his excitement and he chose to follow his old hunting companion Remy. “Big game would be more exciting, but miscreants will have to make due” Jacques thought to himself.

Remy examined the sap oozing from the broken plant and the insect feasting on a drop of blood clinging to a thorn. The prey was not as careless as they had appeared at the start … they had doubled back on their trail to evade pursuit. Whatever else they were, they were suspicious by nature and not just out for a stroll.

Alerted to the nature of the prey, Remy shifted the sort of signs that he was looking for. The party had to hurry to keep up as Remy pursued his prey with an intense drive to not merely follow, but to overtake them.

Jacques and Diana arrived in a clearing littered with stones and boulders to find Remy completely still. The lantern had been extinguished and his eyes were closed.

For Remy:

The trail abruptly ends in the clearing. There are simply no plants to indicate passage or surfaces to leave footprints on. Remy first used his recon skill to survey the perimeter of the clearing for signs of passage and found none. In fact, Remy found signs that no one entered or exited the clearing except via the path you entered from. Accustomed to the extended dark, Remy then turned to his other senses and his hunting skill. The sounds of animals and the forest confirm that nothing passed in any direction except the one in which the party travelled. They entered this clearing and are either hiding among the large rocks or they backtracked along the path you entered and you all somehow missed them.

[Urson]

Jo

Jo turns to Ignatz. I think I'll check on Doc. He may need a hand- even an untrained one. She grinned, brushed at the dirt on her skirts, and headed toward the Tankard- only her sagging shoulders showed she was feeling tired.

[Leitz]

Diana's thumbs flicked the straps off the hammers. "Remy?" She whispered.

[Monsieur Rose]

Jacques

Jacques motions for Diana to be quiet. He gives a thumbs up at her and starts scanning the area, standing still as well. He's seen Remy do this before, trying to use other senses to locate prey.

Jacques fingers his pistol hidden in his vest.

[atpollard]

Josephine and Doc inside the Grogg and Tankard
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 1: Hour 8:20 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]
Jo entered the Tankard, but Doc was nowhere to be seen. Shouting to one of the servers … you think her name might have been Abi … you asked about Doc. It was hard to be heard over the shouts of the drunken patrons and the loud music, but Jo finally understood that Doc was upstairs with the patient. She pointed out the door visible through the second-floor railing.

Jo weaved her way through the people on the stairs and along the balcony … avoiding the amorous advances of several young men that needed to focus more on standing than opening lines. Eventually she arrived at the door.

Jo slipped into the room, quickly closing the door behind her to shut out some of the noise. A boy a few years younger than you was laying on a bed and starting to fall asleep. He startled briefly as you entered, but then quickly fell into a deep sleep. Doc handed an empty cup to Gottard, the giant of a man that owned the Grogg and Tankard.
"Will Urs be alright?" whispered Gottard.

"He needs sleep." replied Doc "When he awakes, he will be in much better shape."

Gottard smiled and departed and Jo slid, exhausted, into an empty chair. Doc checked the pulse of his patient and then sat back in his chair.

[ffilz]

Jo, have you seen the Lady Hayes? I've learned some important information about the fire that I want to share with someone who will not misuse it.

[AsenRG]

"He must be here", Remy whispered to Diana and Jacques. "Two of us crawl around the edges. Crowd him in. One lays in wait to block the road".
Then he slowly moved towards the left edge of the clearing.

[Urson]

Jo At The Tankard

One of those Frenchies said he'd found some tracks going into the woods. She went with them to investigate. She looks a tiny bit annoyed that Doc would not consider her as "someone who won't misuse it".

I came to offer my help.

[Leitz]

Diana nodded, and made sure her guns were ready. "I'll take the right," she whispered. For a moment, she looked at Jacques. "You need a gun?"

If necessary, she'll hand her off-hand revolver to Jacques before moving around and trying to find whomever.

Diana sensing [2d6] = 7 and Quiet [2d6] = 7.

[ffilz]

Jo At The Tankard

One of those Frenchies said he'd found some tracks going into the woods. She went with them to investigate. She looks a tiny bit annoyed that Doc would not consider her as "someone who won't misuse it".

I came to offer my help.

Doc will explain what he learned to Jo and ask her who else we should bring in, or maybe just wait for the Lady to return.

[atpollard]

Doc will explain what he learned to Jo and ask her who else we should bring in, or maybe just wait for the Lady to return.

I'll send an e-mail with the data. The Player has no idea what you are talking about.

[ffilz]

Doc will explain what he learned to Jo and ask her who else we should bring in, or maybe just wait for the Lady to return.

I'll send an e-mail with the data. The Player has no idea what you are talking about.

Oh, yea, I should have sent the info along...

[Urson]

Jo

Yep. Got it.

This is the young man they were trying to frame for the fire?

I'm afraid I spend enough time below decks and in the black gang that I'm not up on the latest political news. I'm doubt that this is more than some local feud, but is there a reason the French would want to cause trouble here?

[Monsieur Rose]

Jacques

Jacques waves off the sidearm, unholstering one on his own. "Merci, but I am not so helpless as I may seem." He winks at Diana and moves where Remy suggests.

[atpollard]

Diana, Jacques & Remy in the woods
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 1: Hour 8:40 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

Remy circled left as Diana circled right and Jacques guarded the trail back. It was a tense search as you wove among the maze of boulders … some knee high, some waist high, some tall as a man and some towering three stories overhead. There were a thousand places to hide and around every corner might wait an ambush. Each footstep betraying your location with the movement of loose stones.

First the perimeter was searched, then the interior was crisscrossed. Several times the sound of your own footsteps brought you dangerously close to attacking each other. After thirty minutes, you were certain that they were not here. Somehow, they had escaped.

[AsenRG]

Remy looks for loose stones, which could be lifted, or ones that would allow a man - or an agile, lightfooted woman - to climb from there to a tree.
"There's only three ways out. Up, under, and to the side", he observes, still in his "hunting mode". Though Remy calls it simply "getting ready".
"Or well, one could combine those. But that's, of course, harder", he adds, thinking about voiding sword stabs, but not bothering to voice his thoughts.

[atpollard]

Josephine and Doc inside the Grogg and Tankard
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 1: Hour 8:30 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

The door opened and in stepped Fist, the bouncer at the Grogg and Tankard (D7Bxx5). Half his head was shaved to show off the jagged scar across his scalp. The spiked leather collar around his neck matched the heavily studded fingerless gauntlets that covered his hands and forearms and his metal toed leather boots. A coarse shirt with ragged sleeves torn at the shoulder was covered by a leather vest that appeared to contain small plates riveted in place just below the leather with padding under that. He just stood blocking the exit and filling the doorway.

"Would you get out of the way you great oaf and let me in!" scolded a higher pitched female voice from behind him. "Get yer fat butt … out .. of … way." Jutta, one of the servers, pushed past Fist as he stepped into the room and away from the doorway. She exhaled in exasperation and glared at Fist.

Regaining her composure, she turned towards Josephine and Doctor Linkletter "Mr. Hass would like to have a private conversation with you … with both of you. If you would follow me, he is waiting in his private quarters. Fist here will ensure that no one bothers our friend, Urs. If you would follow me."

It is obvious that she is using her best manners to attempt to impress you both.

(Do you follow her to Gottard’s private room?)

[ffilz]

Diana, Jacques & Remy in the woods
Cycle 1063 (Winter): Day 1: Shift 1: Hour 8:40 [Hamlet of Gwynedd: 45N,25W]

Remy circled left as Diana circled right and Jacques guarded the trail back. It was a tense search as you wove among the maze of boulders … some knee high, some waist high, some tall as a man and some towering three stories overhead. There were a thousand places to hide and around every corner might wait an ambush. Each footstep betraying your location with the movement of loose stones.

First the perimeter was searched, then the interior was crisscrossed. Several times the sound of your own footsteps brought you dangerously close to attacking each other. After thirty minutes, you were certain that they were not here. Somehow, they had escaped.
"Would you get out of the way you great oaf and let me in!" scolded a higher pitched female voice from behind him. "Get yer fat butt … out .. of … way." Jutta, one of the servers, pushed past Fist as he stepped into the room and away from the doorway. She exhaled in exasperation and glared at Fist.

Regaining her composure, she turned towards Josephine and Doctor Linkletter "Mr. Hass would like to have a private conversation with you … with both of you. If you would follow me, he is waiting in his private quarters. Fist here will ensure that no one bothers our friend, Urs. If you would follow me."

It is obvious that she is using her best manners to attempt to impress you both.

(Do you follow her to Gottard’s private room?)

Oops, the first part of that seems to be the post from the other group... Who is Fist? Do we know who Mr. Hass is? Doc is not about to let someone he doesn't trust watch over Urs.

[Leitz]

Diana said something unlady-like then looked at Remy. "If you think we've lost them, I want to get back and make sure nothing happens to anyone else."

Diana is specifically not saying where she wants to get back too, in case the perp is listening.
"Anything you can tell from the tracks? Admitting, of course, that it's dark and we're in a hurry?"

Barring another plan, head back to the Tankard and see how the unconscious person is.