Ch. 45 Plume

It was quite some time since they encountered any more problems with bandits. Everyone had begun to calm down and even chat normally again. Everyone except for Kaz. Preparing himself for anything that could happen was draining. Constantly on edge as adrenaline pumped through his veins. It was noticeable to his friends.

"You really should sleep more. It's unhealthy to only nap occasionally." Sarah offered her advice to Kaz who only grunted. He was too tired to really respond but he had become so tired that he was in a state of insomnia. 

"I get that you are worried about us but someone who does not take care of themself cannot hope to take care of others." Perish spoke with a neutral tone and seemed a little irritated with him. Kaz could feel her irritation but did not care. He knew something was coming and he needed to protect his friends.

Kaz checked his character sheet to keep track of the time left and to decide what he would need his points for. What will they encounter? Does he need more strength or to be faster or smarter? The mission did not give any hints as to what he needs to protect them from. 

NAME- Kaz Stromberg – Protector of the Greyfang Tribe

STRENGTH- 6/7

DEXTERITY- 8/9

CONSTITUTION- 2

BODY- 4

INTELLIGENCE- 7

EGO- 7

PRESENCE- 6

BEAUTY- 0

RECOVERY- 5

SIZE- 4

POINTS- 10

SKILLS-

Stealth Lv 2

-Language- Draconic

-Lv 1 Trap making

- Lv 1- Bluff

- Language- Common

- Lv 1- Listen

- Lv 1- Tracking

- Lv 1- Climb

- Lv 1Trap Making

- Lv 1- Medicine

FEATS-

Humanoid Intelligence- Surprisingly smart for a kobold+3 Intelligence

- Kobold Heritage- Ugly, weak, small, stupid, and evil but fast. -3 Strength, +1 Dexterity, -3 Constitution, Dark vision

- Dark Vision- As a member of the Underdark you have the ability to see in the dark-4 Body, -3 Intelligence, +1 Presence, -5 Beauty, -3 Size.

- Weapon Familiarity simple weapons- Can use basic weapons with some measure of skill

- Ambitious- dreams of greater things. +1 Ego

- Determination- Feeling the weight of responsibility hang on your shoulders you keep pushing forward. Ego + 1, Strength + 1, Recovery + 1

- Magical insight- Bright enough to learn the beginnings of magic. Unlocked the magic skill tree.

- Mage Vision- Able to focus and see the potential of a mage.

SPELLS

- Light- creates a ball of light to illuminate the surroundings.

- Flash- Sudden burst of light that is meant to incapacitate sight for those who see it.

- Untangle- uses telekinetic forces to unbind ropes.

- Fire Bolt Lv 1- A streak of flames that hurt those who are hit by it.

- Entangle- Vines wrap around your target immobilizing them.

- Graceful Enhancement- While focusing on your target grant them increased speed and grace.

-Factions

- Greyfang Tribe- 100 fame

Missions currently active

- Revive your tribe

Reward- 10 Character points, +1 to all stats, Feat- Leadership

Failure- -3 to all stats, - Curse- Tainted Followers.

Time Limit- 65 Days 13 hours

- Protect your friends.

Success- +5 Character Points

Failure- Lost- Sarah, Lost- Peter, Lost- Windson, Lost- Perish - 3 skill points, - 1 all stats.

Two things bothered Kaz, The potential encounter coming soon and the other mission he has. It has been weeks since they started traveling with the Caravan. Kaz kept up to date with his map to see how close they were and noticed they were making good time. That worried him. Things to no go so smooth for him. There is always something waiting to slow him down. Usually a human of some sort.

The Caravan stopped suddenly without much warning. Kaz jumped out with his sword prepared and stumbled a little as he did. He looked around and saw everyone getting out of their wagons relatively calmly. It took him a few minutes of looking around to realize that there was no threat. He took a deep breath and returned his sword to his sheath. Sarah and the rest exited the cart and walked towards the front to see what was going on. When they arrived there they saw the wagons beginning to circle around as if setting up an encampment. That surprised the group since it was still early in the day.

"Why are we setting up so early?" Sarah asked the leader who just smiled and continued setting up camp. She was a little upset for being waved off so easily but just let it go. Kaz felt uneasy about the whole situation and watched for any signs of an ambush. An hour passed and nothing out of the ordinary seemed to stand out to him nothing except for the fire pit. Camp had been set up and mercenaries were chatting away about random events of the day. A fire pit was being made in the center of the encirclement and the only thing that seemed off about it was the size of it.

Quite larger than any fire pit they had ever seen. Nobody seemed unnerved by it or even seemed to notice its size. When Kaz asked about it all they said was they were preparing it. Preparing it for what exactly? They never needed a pit this big to feed the entire group so why now? Kaz was too tired to come up with any serious ideas but his gut was telling him now of all times is when he needs to be awake. Unfortunately for him, his body had given out under the stress of staying away for so long, and out he went. The last thing he saw was the pit being lit as a plume of smoke rose into the air. Sarah and Peter catching him before he fell and helping him to the wagon to sleep.

Kaz tried to call out as he slowly bobbed to the wagon each friend on both sides of him. He knew exactly what that was but he had no clue what it was for. Weakly he whispered to the group to no avail before feeling the soft embrace of sleep. The red mission had begun.

"Signal..."