Quobbles puts his crossbow on his back, his spear back in its loop, pockets the onyx bauble and then steals forward into the undergrowth ahead of the party with his dagger in hand.  He creeps warily forward, blazing trunks as he goes.

OOC:
Your pilfering of the corpses of your fallen foes reveals a total of 20gp and a small good and ruby ring found on the largest of the Hobgoblins, it is worth 50gp. This is to be divided however seems best. Each party member gains 70xp for the treasure found, and 40xp for opponents killed.

IC:
(Recruiting roll 10) William declines the offer to press forward with the group. "I don't want to go from the frying pan into the fire. I'll take one of those spears and make my way back to town and warn the others, maybe I can prevent more from getting snatched."

Otherwise the group presses forward with Quobbles in the lead. The forest is thick and the going slow, however other than the odd sound of wildlife nothing seems amiss. You advance until the days light begins to fail bringing you to the end of your second day toward the mountain.

Quote from: Arkansan;679364William declines the offer to press forward with the group. "I don't want to go from the frying pan into the fire. I'll take one of those spears and make my way back to town and warn the others, maybe I can prevent more from getting snatched."

Donovan nods his head in agreement and says solemly, "may the light and blessings of Ouros guide your path back home, William."

Ari nods goodbye to William and as the party begins it's march again, offers the crossbow and bolts to Donovan.

"Father, will you accept these then? We may need the extra fire power. Indeed, without our archery efforts in this most recent battle it might have gone much worse for us. I would feel better if you had them."

Donovan shakes his head negatively as he says to Ari, "no, I cannot use that weapon.  My vows to the Church of Ouros forbid it."

A smile crosses his face as he continues to say in a positive tone, "although, I wager that weapon would be better served in the hands of Aiden.  He seems to have a natural talent for hand-eye coordination and projectiles."

Aiden smiles eagerly "I wouldn't mind giving it a go. I am afraid my sling may be a bit underpowered for our plans".

Ari smiles, "Take it and use it well!"

"I'd be happy to give you a pointer or two," says Brogar as they walk.

Assuming nothing else occurs, Quobbles offers to take first watch.

"I wish that young William had stuck with us", he grumbles.  

"Hopefully we'll reach the halls tomorrow...I'd forgotten how much I liked putting the wind up goblin-kin."

Aiden gladly accepts Brogar's offer for a few tips with his new weapon, "I have never shot one of the things, but the principle can't be that much different than a sling I wouldn't think."

Night has fallen, giving the party it's last reprieve before they reach the mountain tomorrow and begin the short trek part way up the mountain to the entrance of the Halls.

The night passes without note. Dawns light creeps in and though it promises more sun than the previous two days the wind blows in sharp and cold. The forest here is still and almost lifeless, as if anticipating some horror in the distance.

Quobbles heads off first thing in the morning as before.  

"As soon as I sight the base of the mountain, I'll wait for everyone to catch up.  I'll look for somewhere with a nice bit of cover-once we've convened, it's time to talk about our way in."

"I cannot be sure, but from what we've learned and shared, the cultists might be softer than the gobs.  That and the gobs might have kept tight on the fight yesterday," he pauses for a moment, recollecting, "However, they would be missing their guy and his captive, and they might have some kind of mystic support."

Ari nods at Quobbles' words as the Halfling trots off.

Turning to Brogar, he smiles, "Well, we best hope that we arrive before they start wondering about their man's whereabouts. Blast! We should have grabbed his robes! That could've set up an easy ruse to get us right in their door none the wiser."

He sighs and walks over to Donovan.

As Donovan rises he pats his shoulder, "Not too much further now Father and we can give those creaky bones of yours a rest! Hmm...mine too for that matter! Oh well, -  bacon, biscuits and coffee are on the fire."

Once everyone is up and fed he takes pains to conceal their campsite before falling into the marching order and moving out.

As you march you slowly realize that the mountain has began to rear up in your line of sight. Within a few hours of setting off for the morning the ground has begun to rise rather sharply and the going slows as the way becomes not only heavily forested but rocky as well. Mid day brings you to what could be considered the base, though it is hard to tell as the elevation has been increasing slowly for hours.

Aiden pauses, breathes on his clasped hands for warmth and then shields his eyes from the sun as he casts his gaze upward. "Well if we are going for the halls themselves then we will be snaking westward as we climb. Considering one of them got away from our encounter then we had best be wary. Between the vegetation and the rocks there are plenty of good spots for an ambush" he mutters through nervously clinched teeth.

Ari nods to Aiden, "This is good advice."

Turning to the others, "It is very hard to know our next step until we can see the entrance to the Halls and can form a real plan. I would suggest that we proceed as we have, with Quobbles at point to warn us of ambush. We can then have a more productive talk when our eyes are on the Halls themselves."

He glances about and shivers, "It feels like a snowfall is due soon."