Prologue: The Barony of Harkenwold

Carlos, Zoe, Kat, Ludmilla, Jojo, and Hot Lips

"So cool! I've been to Avandra's shrines before but nothing like this! This is truly the greatest one!" Zoe is so happy she pirouettes in joy. She's very graceful when she wants to be.

"That be best, yes." She leans on Kat and they make their way to the door. Jojo shuffles ahead of them to open it for them. It opens without protest or squeak. The inside is a simple, though roomy affair. There's a single common room of about 25 feet with a table, benches, a few chairs, a fireplace, and a stove. Cupboards line the wall nearby the stove. Ludmilla makes her way to one of the chairs. "Could you be a dear and light a fire, Kat? I find I be colder easier these days."

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Hunter and Noble

As the ranger makes his way around the tree, Noble falls in beside him. The little hyena is excited to be at the shrine and he carefully sniffs each of the wards and will take the time to mark each one as they go with a little urine unless stopped. As they walk Hunter notices that the area around the tree gets darker as he goes. In fact, the sun is rapidly going down with each step forward.

"Wait, that happens when you get older...?" the knight ponders. "I'll have to remember that."

She helps Ludmilla sit down on the most comfortable chair she can find and searches for some kindle and wood to start a fire with.

"Jojo, can you look into the cupboards and see if there's anything we can use?"

Hunter stops and utters a "no" sharply to Noble. [If it's marked like this,] he gestures to the symbols on the trees and stones, [then leave it alone, it's not ours.]

He looks back toward the rest of the party. Are they still there? He moves to the next ward...

Carlos chuckles at Zoe spinning. Again. - "You look like you could fly."

Carlos, Zoe, and Hot Lips

"Oh, yes." Zoe blushes a little even as she smiles at her friend. "You are very smooth when you want to be Carlos. You should do that more often."  

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Kat, Jojo, and Ludmilla

"Sure." Jojo moves to the cupboards and starts poking around. "There's some dry ingredients here, flour and beans. That should be useful later." He moves on to the next set. He soon laughs and pulls out an ancient loaf of bread which he knocks against the side of the cupboard to test its hardness. It dents the cupboard a little. "I have no idea how this is not a pile of moldy dust."

Ludmilla smiles at the find. "Probably be a joke left by Ava. Keep looking, there should be wood somewhere in here."

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Hunter and Noble

Noble's ears go flat and he acquiesces to the wisdom of the Hunter of Tasty Food. Hunter looks back and can just make out Carlos and Zoe as he rounds the tree, placing them out of sight. The sun continues to travel across the sky at a great rate and as the shadows begin to lengthen he realizes that if he continues he'll soon find himself in dusk. Even the stars are starting to twinkle up in the sky.

Huh, they don't look bothered. Is it just him? The appearance of the stars detract from the otherwise ominous event, so he continues to round the tree. Surely it will go right back around to "day" again...

"Well..." - he grins very slightly - "...i will try."

The young woman approaches her friend Joshua to take a look at this hard loaf of bread. "Avandra would do that kind of joke?" she wonders. She gazes at it for a few seconds, nods to herself, and says with a smile, "We should leave it here for the next travelers to find."

She will then set out to find the kindle and some wood.

Carlos, Zoe, and Hot Lips

"Good. Let's go see what the others are up to." They walk over together and she opens the door, waits for him to enter, and then closes it behind them.

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Kat, Jojo, and Ludmilla

Kat finds the wood in the cupboard farthest from the fire. Jojo helps her set up the fireplace for the fire. He also takes the opportunity to look up the chimney. "Where does the smoke go anyway?"

"I have no idea."

This is when Carlos and Zoe join the group.

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Hunter and Noble

The day moves into dusk and then into night as the moon rises in place of the setting sun. At the halfway point the moon reaches its zenith, midnight, before slowly rewinding back to the correct hour as Hunter and Noble round again to the front of the tree. Only Hot Lips remains outside, quietly munching on grass. He's still hooked up to the wagon.

"Calling it now, there won't be any. That or it'll just vanish into nowhere." - Carlos guesses as he walks in

Hunter kindly strokes Noble's fur coat. [The carvings were made for a very powerful and very nice lady. We're under her protection while we're here. Her territory.]

Satisfied, Hunter goes to the wagon and strokes Hot Lips' mane before going inside the tree cabin.

"Maybe the smoke is just spewed somewhere back at the top of the tree," Kat theorizes. She brings the wood to the fireplace and sets up the kindle. "It'll be just a minute."

While Kat and Jo get the fire started, Zoe, Carlos, and Ludmilla continue joking about where the smoke goes. As the fire finally lights, Hunter and Noble rejoin the group. Noble rushes forward to say hello, starting with Zoe.

Zoe turns around and smiles at Hunter before giving Noble his pets. "Hi guys. What did you find out?"

"The wards go all the way around the clearing. We should be safe. I uh, also saw the sun fall into midnight when I went around, and rise again right back to where it was before I started."

He checks up on Ludmilla. "I can make some tea, if that will help."

Kathryn is so focused on lighting the fire, she doesn't understand what Hunter just said.

"Hope you didn't just get a day older." - Carlos muses as his turn comes up to pet Noble.

"Hey, stop," Hunter chuckles a little. "If that's the case, I'll just walk the other way around."

Carlos blinks - "Huh... wonder if that would work."

"What if you become two days younger instead?"

After getting his pets from Carlos, Noble runs over to Ludmilla. She pats him on the head. "Tea would be lovely, thank you."

Kathryn finally manages to light a fire, and she quickly makes sure to feed it enough air and wood. "Got it!" she exclaims.

"Well, that wouldn't be so bad, would it?" He winks at Zoe.

"Okay, ranger tea coming right up." He heads to the kitchen to get a pot and boil some water on the stove.

It is now 1 pm and it's now time for you guys to pass the time both before and after dinner.

Jojo goes out and lets Hot Lips loose before rubbing him down. He'll give him a bag of oats later after dinner.

Ludmilla is content to drink the tea and chat with whoever decides to stay in. After dinner she'll take up Jojo's challenge of a game of dragonchess.

What do you guys do for the rest of the day and night?

Kathryn decides to pass the time by chatting with Ludmilla and asks her for stories about the Vale. She still doesn't quite grasp the details of the Treant War and how it affected the druids in the region. This alone might take a few hours, after which she will spend some time with Zoe by playing a game of her choice.

Hunter throws out spoiled food and gathers some fresh berries and nuts to store in the cabin's larder. He'll pass the time watching the board game and drinking tea, until he decides to challenge Jojo. He'll help Ludmilla explain the treant wars to Kathryn and Jojo, relying on Yorenan's knowledge.

Carlos finds himself miles above ground, tree bark all around him and no tavern. For the whole day.

He warms by the fire for a few hours, sips some tea as befitting a dwarf of his girth, then goes over to his pack and pulls out a bag of rocks that really made no difference to his carry burden. - "If you'll excuse me..." - he explains in a faux posh voice - "I shall be enjoying the finer things in life for a while. Feel free to join me, should you feel so inclined. And have a stick." - Then grabs his massive war hammer and heads outside for some refined entertainment.