IC 004 - Water Never Sleeps

[Rex]

Ciarra

"We could try hobbling them and tying their beaks closed for now and see if we can wrangle them back and sell them as mounts."

[hedonismbot]

Daravek

"That, uh, sounds ok to me. Just be careful, they're just sleeping and they might wake up if you're doing something complicated but keeping them alive.

"My roommate at the academy had a pet parakeet. It and I never got along and I, uh, almost lost a finger once. So I'll wait back here."

[The_Wanderer]

Sleepy

"One problem though..." He points to the river nearby. "We will have to somehow carry sleeping axebeaks across the river. I don't see how that's feasible."

[sulldawga]

Sleepy

"One problem though..." He points to the river nearby. "We will have to somehow carry sleeping axebeaks across the river. I don't see how that's feasible."

It occurs to Sleepy that they could march the axe beaks up or down stream until they find a suitable location to ford the river.

[Rex]

Ciarra

"If we are going to wrangle them we will need to look for a ford to cross."

[Marullus]

"Our buyer paid us well for the axe-beak eggs, figuring he had to train them up from the start. I'm not sure that wild ones can be tamed," proffers Gars. "I'd say we butcher them or just get on our way. Our buyer probably needs more time to pay us for the last batch before he agrees to buy a new one... I think these will just be very aggravating stewpot birds no matter what."

[Rex]

Ciarra

"I will simply disagree, I think they would make us some much needed coin."

[The_Wanderer]

Sleepy "It would benefit us to find a ford anyway. We should be able to lash these together and drive them upstream. Let's a get a move on. If worst comes to worse, we can always butcher them in town."

[sulldawga]

Blackwater Swamp region
Mid-morning

The party, having dealt with the axe beaks, prepares to leave. Gars takes up as much of the party's digging tools as he can carry and proceeds across the river. Daravek, having previously declared his distrust of sleeping axe beaks, follows. Once safely across, the rope is untied from the east side and pulled back over to the west side, where Ciarra and Sleepy use it to secure the axe beaks by the neck.

With that pair and Lavin at the ready, the beasts are roused. They are surprisingly sanguine about their fate and submit to the restrictions peacefully.

Reaction roll is a super-positive 11 so they are peaceful.

The party journeys somewhere between one and two miles north, seeing no good place to ford the river. Finally, they arrive at the watering hole where they fought the giant boar. The water here is deep but not enough to stop the axe beaks from crossing, and though the river is wider here, the slower flow makes it a safe spot to cross. The trio of adventurers on the west bank are able to secure any items they wish to stay dry atop one of the axe beaks and, though they are traversing up to neck-deep water for short periods, they are able to reunite with their colleagues on the other side.

Aside from the fact that the mules clearly dislike the axe beaks and stay well clear of them, the rest of the return journey is uneventful. The party retraces their path back to the giant wasp lair, and then east to Fort Illumination.

Once again, you encounter a mounted patrol from the Fort before you arrive but they recognize you this time and greet you, if not warmly, at least with comforting familiarity.

You have at least half the day remaining. Do you want to stop for a time at the Fort and speak with Fort-Captain Wynne or proceed directly to Ket?

[The_Wanderer]

Sleepy, being new to the group and not having visited with the Captain previously says, "Do you all feel we have a reason to talk to the Captain? Would Captain Wynne care about what we found? and is there any chance Captain Wynne has any tasks out in the wild that we can take care of?"

[sulldawga]

Sleepy, being new to the group and not having visited with the Captain previously says, "Do you all feel we have a reason to talk to the Captain? Would Captain Wynne care about what we found? and is there any chance Captain Wynne has any tasks out in the wild that we can take care of?"

This was the conversation the last time the party spoke with Fort-Captain Wynne.

[Rex]

Ciarra

"I am thinking straight to Ket."

[Marullus]

If we continue, I also stated straight to Ket (b/c we are wrangling a herd of axe beaks!).

I appreciated the link and the opportunity for new PCs to see the last convo, though.