Expedition: Halfpint/Into The Woods - 05 Sep 2021

[Jernau35]

Yes, Congratulations!!!

Take your time, enjoy the moment

[Starbeard]

Well shucks, I'm totalling failing the Save vs Newborn. I promised an update to get things rolling last weekend, but apparently that means this weekend. Sorry, folks! It's my first flight with this baby thing, and I'm still getting used to my programming.

[Zhym]

More games have been lost to children than all other sources combined, I suspect. Although it's not usually the newborn stage that does it—it's when they start being able to move around under their own power. I wouldn't lay strong odds on your being able to do any DMing in a couple of years.

[Marullus]

Truth. There is a golden period of time here where they are contained and portable. It lasts from when they start sleeping through the night until they walk.

Sleepless newborn nights are no joke, though... Nobody here will rush you.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Another vote of condolences. And a strong recommendation for you to take care of yourself, too. The frequency and intensity of my migraines correlated directly with the sleep deprivation experienced after each child was born. I recommend you shoot for, at least, a four-hour, u broken stretch of sleep each day. That was what an acupuncturist recommended and though I remained incredibly tired, it was a huge improvement in my quality of life.
Good luck!

[onlyme]

And as been said by every parent ever... stop and appreciate these times, because they fly by.
I went on my first official college tour this weekend. Seems like only yesterday that we were wondering when he'd sleep through the night.

[Alethan]

I don't get to spend nearly as much time with my 8 year old as I want to. I love spending time with him. I get jealous when I think that his teachers at school see him more during daytime hours in any given week than I do.

So yeah. Enjoy the time you get with your little one.

[Starbeard]

Thanks, everyone. These are definitely special times, even though the days have already started to blur together. Sometimes reality blurs together too; I keep having to ask my wife if something actually happened or if I only dreamed it while half awake.

Alright, let's kick this thing off!

Halfpint nods, and says to her fellow partymembers, "Sounds like we just head west, and they'll find us. "
She then asks him,
"Any other creatures or dangers you folks have found out there we should be aware of?

"That might do it. I guess whether they hunt you down depends on what peeves them, us loggers or all intruders in general. I don't know how fairies work. The direction is sound, though: I've heard they have a fairy tree somewhere out in the deeps of the wood, which by money puts it out west from here.

"Aside from the usual wild creatures that roam the wilderness, the only other group we've had trouble with are the centaurs. Come to think of it, Lug's idea to ask them about the pixies might work. I know as much about centaurs as I do about pixies, but I'd be surprised if they didn't know something about each other. If you head north, past the Chary Stone—that's this big rock overhanging the river, with heaps of wet moss hanging down like tears—the centaurs will come after you sure enough. We've figured out that outcrop marks the marches of centaur country, mostly because they don't attack us as long as we stick to our side. I'd keep my head low though, they're good shots and they don't always talk first. Definitely territorial people."


————————————
(If everyone is happy to move on—feel free to pause things if there is more you'd like to do):

To Piers' relief and Lug's disappointment, there is no more trouble tonight. Achaedany keeps her word and has a human guard posted by the mule all night (though Piers does catch him sleeping by the stall once), and the troublesome lumberjacks have been forcibly carted home to nurse their concussions. The rooms above the coach house are spartan but cozy, lit by a pleasantly smokey fire with excellent ventilation. You sleep on supple hide cots piled with soft furs for warmth, and pass the night restfully.


11 September 2021, 6:35am
Village of Amistad: "The Ogre's Two Heads" Coach House

At sunrise the sky is dry, but half of it is covered by heavy, dark clouds rapidly sliding up from the south. Your window view includes the quiet majesty of the river, and the watermill where Piers intends to collect his sawdust. The smell of cooked oats, river eel, and curd fills the coach house from the kitchen.


Date: 11 September 2021, 6:35am
Distance travelled: –
Temperature & Precipitation: 46º
Winds: moderate breeze
Daylight: Sunrise 6:35am (waxing gibbous moon)
Effects: None
Injuries: None

[onlyme]

"That might do it. I guess whether they hunt you down depends on what peeves them, us loggers or all intruders in general. I don't know how fairies work. The direction is sound, though: I've heard they have a fairy tree somewhere out in the deeps of the wood, which by money puts it out west from here.

"... If you head north, past the Chary Stone—that's this big rock overhanging the river, with heaps of wet moss hanging down like tears—the centaurs will come after you sure enough. We've figured out that outcrop marks the marches of centaur country, mostly because they don't attack us as long as we stick to our side. I'd keep my head low though, they're good shots and they don't always talk first. Definitely territorial people."

Halfpint attempts to detail her instructions a bit.
Thank you for the information
How far west do you think that tree might be? hours, days? is it on a pathway, or do we need to make our own? And you are saying we should stay south of that Chary Stone. How far West does that boundary run? Has anyone explored that section, yet?

[Zhym]

"Maybe we oughtta go to that stone and shout, 'Yoo hoo! Centaurs! We wanna talk to you!'," suggests Lug.

[Jernau35]

Piers wanders into the room again, having just returned from filling all his sacks with sawdust. "Yes, we could do that," he muses in response to Lug's suggestion. "At the least we'd find out how good our new dragon-armor is against arrows".

"Still, it is a plan. At least we know where the centaurs are likely to be. Looking for the pixies probably means just wandering around until they attack us".

"And the centaurs might be able to help us contact the pixies without any trouble"

[Alethan]

Earc raises an eyebrow at the suggestion.

"Oh... I'm not so sure a kin-tar, as my old professor Hickman used to call them, would help us with any sort of positive interactions with the Fey, Piers. They tend to be... at odds, to put it kindly."

"I say we pick one or the other and give it a go. And since we know the centaur territory boundary, and they are easily avoided, we might consider looking for the Faeries and try establishing some sort of amicable relationship with them."

[Zhym]

"I'd go for the centaurs," says Lug. "At least we know where to go and what to do to get their attention. Besides, does anyone speak pixie? Maybe we need a centaur to translate for us."

[onlyme]

"I'd go for the centaurs," says Lug. "At least we know where to go and what to do to get their attention. Besides, does anyone speak pixie? Maybe we need a centaur to translate for us."

Halfpint answers, first in Pixie, and then in common.

Of course. I grew up beside them and have counted on them as friends.

and continues in common.

Now, I haven't a clue how these northern individuals will treat me, but I hope to keep them on friendly terms. It seems safer for now to find them rather than to walk into a centaur ambush north.

[Karaunios]

Anforthas comes from the common room he just slept in and, seeing the conversation going on, he decides to join. He crosses his arms after listening to what's being said and gives his take on it: "I'd say we go talk to the centaurs first, even if they're in bad terms with the pixies they might be able to give us some information. At least there's less chances that 'something' will skin us alive like that poor lumberjack in pixie territory." He turns to Halfpint: "I mean no disrespect to your knowledge of the pixie lore. I just think it's a better approach given the mood they seem to be in, assuming they are the ones who did that to the loggers, of course. Having some knowledge of their habits or whereabouts beforehand might be of great help." He then remains silent.

[Starbeard]

Halfpint attempts to detail her instructions a bit.
Thank you for the information
How far west do you think that tree might be? hours, days? is it on a pathway, or do we need to make our own? And you are saying we should stay south of that Chary Stone. How far West does that boundary run? Has anyone explored that section, yet?

"You won't find any pathways west of the logging zone, not made by us anyway. We haven't explored much that way, but you'll almost certainly have to travel more than a day into the forest to reach their tree lair. Our scouts have never really gone more than a day's walk, and haven't found anything.

"As far as how far west centaur country runs, I can't say. We've marked our northern boundary and our western boundary, but haven't yet been bothered trying to determine where the two meet."

Earc raises an eyebrow at the suggestion.

"Oh... I'm not so sure a kin-tar, as my old professor Hickman used to call them, would help us with any sort of positive interactions with the Fey, Piers. They tend to be... at odds, to put it kindly."

"I've heard the same. Past the Chary Stone you aren't likely to find anything but trees and centaurs, and whatever the centaurs keep around to hunt. They're territorial, but they abide—our woodsmen come across herds every so often, but as long as we both stay on our own sides of the Stone they don't seem bothered at all—but I doubt the pixies respect things like boundaries or privacy."


The party deliberates through the early morning, split between two options: to head west and search for the faeries, or to head north and contact the centaurs. Which will it be?

[Karaunios]

If you guys want to vote, I'd say centaurs.

[onlyme]

Halfpint is fine going north to the stone and turning west. She would rather not get into a fight just to have one.

[Jernau35]

Piers prefers centaurs over pixies. If there is a fight, he'd rather fight things he can see.

[Alethan]

Earc would rather try and find the pixies and figure out what is happening with them. He expects to be able to help them, rather than have to fight them.

The centaur situation is simple. Stay out of their territory and there is no need to fight them.