Quest #19 "Mapping Out The Jungle"

[OGRE MAGE]

Loggers Trail
Godsday, 9th of Goodmonth
Morning, Warm, Humid

Bonnie has asked Mr. Nehru to accompany her and Liam out into the jungle to start out a proper map of the island. She is also bringing a huge human named Hrothgar from town along with them. So far, there hasn't been any discussion about a return date.

We can use this tread as soon as everyone is ready to depart.

[Bluehorse]

MAPPING OUT THE JUNGLE
WE LIKE FUN AND GAMES!
BEST WATCH OUT FOR ANIMALS
AND DWARVES WITH SWORDS AND CHAINS!

BONNIE'S AN ELVEN GIRL
LIAM'S GOT BONEY KNEES.
BETTER NOT MESS WITH HROTHGAR
YOU BETTER TAKE IT FROM ME!

MAPPING OUT THE JUNGLE
MAPPING OUT THE JUNGLE!!!
SHANANANANANANAN FLEAS, FLEAS, FLEAS...
HUAH! THEY GONNA MAKE YOU SCREAM!!!

[Bluehorse]

Liam

Is walking through the village with Fiona the big wolfhound the next morning. He stops to speak with anyone who wants to and he is open about the project he and Bonnie are embarking on. He makes sure to direct any questions about operations to Marge, Caleb, Joe, or Reythan. He after a quick stop at the Treehouse, he is at the trailhead at the appointed time.

Once the scene with Bonnie is wrapped up, I would like to pop in for some webbly wobbly timey wimey interaction with Randall that should have no consequence on this venture if that is all the same to you.

[OGRE MAGE]

You can do things like that anytime you are in town. If you would like to do it now, in Liam's thread, before you leave, go for it.

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

Bonnie sees Liam at the trailhead and moves to greet him. "Excellent! I wasn't sure you were up for the journey." She leans over to greet the large wolfdog. "And who is this? You're a big one, aren't you?"

She allows the dog to greet her, within reason, and continues. "Hrothgar and Nehru should be around. I'm hoping to leave soon, so we can get to the shack by lunch." She looks over Liam's gear. "Looks ok. Could you show me the mapping kit? How does it work?"

[OGRE MAGE]

I wasn't sure if you guys were waiting on me or roleplaying this out first, so I will try to kick this one off.

Loggers Trail
Godsday, 9th of Goodmonth
Morning, Warm, Humid

Mr. Nehru shows up at the foot of the trail at sunup, looking rather nervous and out of his element.

A massive human, likely the biggest you've ever seen, slowly makes his way to the trail last. He looks hungover and disheveled, even though he is armed and armored to the teeth. He grumbles something that might qualify as a "good morning", but it is obvious he doesn't mean it. Fiona the wolfhound keeps her distance from the burly man.

Liam and Bonnie look around at their group, slapping at the flies and mosquitos already buzzing around their heads.

Actions?

[Bluehorse]

Actually I seem to be constantly getting distracted from this thread so sorry.

Liam

He smiles and gives Fiona a tussle behind the ears. This is Fiona, my loyal hunting dog. she is an Eastern Wolfhound. Have you seen one before? Quite friendly actually. Smart too. My favorite bitch for sure! he smiles hoping the joke is not in poor taste as he feels out Bonnie's humor.

He then takes out the cartographers kit and opens the lid. We have various tools for surveying and taking measurements on distance and elevation... a compass of course. Supplies for recording the information... it is all here.

As their companions come to the trailhead and the flies begin harassing them, Liam takes off his backpack and takes out of it some insect repellent. Here we go!

[OGRE MAGE]

Hrothgar looks down at Bonnie.

“You didn’t tell me we were going out there to make a frickin map! Where is the fun in that?”

He spits on the ground at Nehru’s feet, who just looks back at him, clearly unimpressed by the giant mans lack of manners.

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

"Eastern Wolfhound, huh? Nope, never seen one before. Pretty girl." She leans down to greet Fiona. "Hey Girl. So your buddy here has lots of bitches, huh? From one to another, what did you do to be the favorite? Since I burned my hair, I could use some tips."

She stands and looks over the supplies. "Ok then. What do you suggest? Let's take some markings here at the trail head, and then along the way? You keep the compass and I'll mark the distance?"

She smiles at the large man's chest. "Glad you could make it Hrothgar. It may not get as much booty as raiding a brothel, but this will be interesting. Going out in this Jungle always is. Just keep alert and don't let them get killed."

Bonnie gets between Nehru and Hrothgar. "Nehru. Glad to have you. Hrothgar has his charms, but I didn't hire him for his conversational skills."

[Bluehorse]

Liam

Fiona chuffs happily looking up at Bonnie and bounces up to put her paws on her shoulders, standing near 7 feet tall as she licks her in the face in greeting. She then hopes back down barking and sitting in place until the other two men come walking up and she places herself between Bonnie and Liam and the approaching men until Liam indicates everything is fine.

I suggest we find a prominent and permanent landmark from here, take measurements of it and the distance to another mark we can either find or make ourselves, setting a rock in place maybe that we can etch a marking on? And do so periodically up the trail. This way we have points of measurement along the way.

[OGRE MAGE]

Loggers Trail
Godsday, 9th of Goodmonth
Morning, Warm, Humid

Hrothgar and Nehru try to stay quiet as the mappers get to work mapping and measuring the most well used trail in the area. The huge fighter shakes his head and sighs heavily a lot, but he stays alert, keeping his eye on the edges of the trail like a professional.

After a mile or so of measuring, Nehru finally asks Bonnie a question.

“Are we still planning on making this meeting we spoke about? Shouldn’t we pick up the pace a bit here?”

Actions?

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

Mapping is tedious work. Bonnie finds herself agreeing with the sighs of Hrothgar. She stops and stretches, responding to Nehru. "You're right, of course. We need to pick up the pace."

She turns to Liam. "I think my inexperience with mapping is causing us to take longer than expected. Could we maybe do a rough map for a trial run? We could get experience but not drag along. How about we increase the distance between readings? Say, every mile or so?"

"How about marks on the trees for trail markers? We could carve out shapes to differentiate each trail."

[Bluehorse]

Liam

He nods. of course. We should honor previous Mark's and increasing the distance to say... line of sight?

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

"Line of sight may still be too often. The jungle is so dense along the path, that a slight jog obscures the trail. But let's try it and see."

[OGRE MAGE]

Loggers Trail
Godsday, 9th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Warm, Humid, Buggy

Picking up the pace a bit as they travel, the group soon finds themselves a little over half way up the known trail. Mr. Nehru doesn't seem to be offering much in the way of help, but he does continue to sigh heavily every time the group stops to record any information.

"I really must insist that we move along a little faster. This trail is the most traveled path I know of. I don't think we need to measure every last inch of the darn thing!"

Hrothgar keeps his eyes peeled on the trees and the sky, doing a very good job of warning the others when he hears or sees something he doesn't like. He continues to swat away the insects as he quietly goes about his job of keeping the group secure.

Eventually the party begins to approach the area where Bonnie found the 4 large standing stones marking an obvious side path that leads west into the jungle. The ground here looks like a herd of elephants has passed by recently. The trail moving off to the west is heavily trampled, far worse than the last time the elf was here.

map:
viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p366477

Actions?

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

Bonnie signals for everyone to stop. "Nehru. This is the path to the Dwarves. These stones have some enchantment on them to act as a warning. If you walk closer to them, you will see what I mean."

To Liam: "This is a definite marker that should be recorded. Let's think about scouting down this path a little further on the way back."

She turns to Hrothgar. "Keep your eyes peeled. There may be scouts nearby."

[Bluehorse]

Liam nods and takes some measurements and then makes a point of putting the kit away and back in his backpack. They were working at frying too many chickens in one pan of grease. He eyed the trail around them as well as the stones themselves. He will make some notes of what disruptions have been made to the bed of the trail too to see what kind of traffic i had both here and going forward.

[OGRE MAGE]

Loggers Trail
Godsday, 9th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Warm, Humid, Buggy

The 4 large stones standing along the edge of the main trail are obviously markers for the side trail. Two of them straddle each side of the well trodden path that leads off west into the jungle. You don't notice anything else around the large rocks, standing nearly as tall as a man.

Not much of an outdoorsman and never being an adventurer himself, Nehru does as suggested and walks up closer to the stones. A large mouth suddenly appear on the closest rock face. The mouth opens and begins to speak in a gruff dwarven brogue.

"This trail, and all it leads to, has been claimed by Clan Stonegut. Any who interfere will be slain! This will be your only warning!!!

The thin waif of a human jumps backwards, startled and amazed. "Oh my! What is this all about now?"

Liam stows his fancy gear away again after recording this interesting find. He notices that the trail from the beach to this spot is heavily traveled, so is the trail leading off west into the jungle. The logging trail that continues north does not seem to be trampled down much at all.

Hrothgar draws his massive sword for the third time this hike.

map:
viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p366477

Actions?

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

With a grim smile, Bonnie addresses Nehru. "And this was here before the recent additions. I don't think they will be more friendly now that they have superior numbers." She shakes her head. "Who brought them all here? Quark? Who thought it a good idea to allow them to get a foothold?"

She turns to the others. "What do you make of this? How should the town proceed?" Bonnie pulls her bow and looks around.

"Do you have any experience with stones, Liam? Do you know what these are?"

[Bluehorse]

OM... does he? Do I need to roll for some knowledge on this?