Back to Blue Mountain - Turn 3.7 - Caravan Discussion

Name	Lethal Damage	Non-Lethal Damage	Total Damage	Full HP	PROT	DEF	ROF	Wounds
Arek				45	3	32	6%
Darius				49	4	26	0
Delana				52	3	27	2%
Derrick				57	5	37	4%
Harlan				54	0	40	6%
Isell				50	3	29	0
Navar				40	3	23	0
Nurel				70	3	32	8%	Left Arm Crippled until CSW/time
Nyk				42	3	24	4%
Philyra				43	3	19	0
Rue				46	4	34	0
Mystia				70	4	32	4%

Isell Spells
1st Level	4	Call Upon Faith, Detect Magic, CLW (x2)
2nd Level	3	Chant, Charm, Hold Person

Nyk Spells
1st Level	4	Bless, CLW (x2), Faerie Fire
2nd Level	3	Barkskin, Warp Wood, Accelerate Healing

Derrick Abilities
Lay on Hands (12 points)	used 0 of 12
Cure Disease (once/week)	Available

Darius Spells
Spell Points	Used 0 of 14
College GK	Armor, Enchanted Sleep, Invisibility, Location, Mending, Speak With Enchanted Creature, Telekinesis, Walking Unseen
College SK	Bolt of Energy

Delana Spells
Spell Points	Used 0 of 9
College GK	CS Black, CS Dark, CS Fire, CS Mind, CS Cleric, Minor Globe
College SK	CS Black, Drain Mage
General SKR	Ritual of Purification

Rory Spells
Spell Points	Used 0 of 7
College GK	Blending, Darkness, Invisibility, Light, Shadowform, Walking Unseen, Wall of Darkness
College SK	Create Shadowsword, Fear

---

On the evening of the 23rd, Bandy joins the group for dinner in the common room at Sandelli's.

BANDY: "It is now official, we will have 9 merchant wagons for this caravan to Blue Mountain. We will have a wine merchant with 2 wagons, a traveling troupe with 3 wagons, a cloth merchant with 2 wagons and a tobacco merchant with 2 wagons. The tobacco merchant will have 4 guards that report only to him and are hired solely to protect the 2 tobacco wagons. That doesn't absolve us of potecting those wagons as he is paying a significant portion of the caravan cost. Your team will make a total of 902 silver for the guard duty that you can split however you choose. If you split it evenly, that will come to 82 silver per person but I know there was some discussion to pay Philyra extra if she volunteers to do all of the cooking. Food for the trip will be provided and does not come out of your share. The 902 silver is yours to do with as you will. Half of that will be paid on the day we depart and the other half when we arrive, assuming we arrive mostly intact. I will be driving a wagon with all of our food. You are welcome to store whatever tents and supplies, within reason, in the wagon as well."

BANDY: "What I want to decide before heading out is the wagon order. I plan to be the lead wagon but I want your input on where you want the other wagons. I also want to get a general feel for each of your roles. When we parted company, only Delana had a horse. Has that changed? It would be nice to have a few riders but horses are not cheap so if we don't have them, we can make do."

DERRICK: "We have a few horses, but not enough to mount a true riding patrol. We will have to settle for roving outlyers, preferably in pairs. I do have a horse so I will be mounted. My role is as it always was, at the forefront of combat, protecting those who need it, directing the battle as best I can. I assume you will wish to be spokesman in any meeting that does not result in instant conflict, so I will defer that type of thing to you.

NYK: "Bandy, what kind of terrain will we be traveling over? Should we expect extremely hot or cold days/nights? I just want to make sure I have the correct gear before we head out." Nyk asks the merchant hoping he knows the route well enough.

BANDY: We'll be in low hills and plains as we travel through the kingdom but then we will get into the Maegenthryth Mountains as soon as we hit the northern border of the kingdom. We will be traveling by road for the entire journey. On the far side of the mountains, we will be back in the plains after we cross the bridge at Coenfor Keep. We will be traveling along the northern border of the Blithwic Forest for the last few days of the journey. We'll be going through in the summer so even at the highest pass through the mountains we shouldn't have to worry about snow."

ISELL: The dwarf didn't have an opinion on the wagons order or layout. He did have a question though, "Bandy do any of these wagons have a hard roof. Something someone could ride on top of and have a good view of the surrounding lands? If such a scout were to have a proper ranged weapon they might not even need to come down during a fight. Also how long do you expect this trip to be?"

BANDY: "Yes, the three wagons of the traveling troupe are gypsy-style wagons with hard roofs that the cast members live in. Most of the remaining wagons have cavas or leather covers though the two wagons of the wine merchant are uncovered but loaded with casks that you could conceivably ride on. The tobacco merchant is a somewhat surly individual so I would avoid trying to ride on his wagons if you can help it."

PHILYRA: "I hope you aren't planning to put me on a roof!" exclaimed Philyra in dismay.

DARIUS:  "I would be happy to sit high on one of the wagons to use my spells at range.  That probably would be my best placement."

BANDY: "As far as how long it takes, that obviously depends on a lot of things but I hope to be in Blue Mountain by the end of summer. If we make good time, with little in the way of breakdowns, weather delays, road obstacles, etc, then we might be able to make it in two months. Otherwise it could be three."

DERRICK: "My thinking is to have the traveling performers in the center of the line, with the tobacco wagons just behind and the wine wagons just ahead. Are any of the wagons particularly pungent and need to be at the end of the line?

BANDY: "No nothing pungent. Where do you plan to put the cloth merchant's wagons?"

NUREL:  "Would you not want the most expensive or valuable wagons in  the middle?"

DERRICK: Derrick nods along, "Yes, that's what I did.  The traveling performers is a band of innocent civilians, and many more of them, their lives are far more valuable than the mere material goods of any of the merchant wagons.  Still, the tobacco and wine wagons are next in value, so I kept them near the center where we can still do our job and protect them.  In the end we will be protecting them all of course, I'm just making it as hard as possible for raiders to inflict casualties on the civilians. As for the cloth wagons it seems they will either take the front or the rear, though Nurel's point about the size of the wagon wheels, and even the size of the draft horses involved, is well made, and may make our choice for us.

HARLAN: Rolls his eyes at Derrick. "That's not what he meant. And besides, if these minstrels are like any others I've met, you'd need leg irons to keep them all in one place. Their best bet for safety would be to be free to roam the wagon train - with strict orders to get under the wagons if we're attacked."

DERRICK: "I know what he meant, I was simply reminding him and all of us that material goods can always be replaced, lives cannot. I don't know what kind of performers these are, I was under the impression they're more than just a band of minstrels. You're right that I can't force them to stay in their wagons, but I can do the best job I can to protect them, and that includes keeping their wagons in a central location. The fact that their wagons have roofs and will be good perches for ranged defenders like Darius is an added benefit as well. We've already been warned that the tobacco merchant is unlikely to be as cooperative on that score, so it only makes sense.

NAVAR: "I've been part of caravans before and I remember that the size if the wagon wheels is important for your lead wagons. Usually has to do with the amount of earth and soil they churn up, but the point is you may want to take a look at the wagons before placing them in a order."

DARIUS: "I don't know which merchants have more valuable cargo, perhaps Bandy can give us some guidance there. Otherwise, I do think having wagons in the middle that we can use to watch over the entire caravan would be prudent. Thus I wouldn't put a wagon in the middle that we couldn't use for that purpose."

HARLAN: "Even I know that one - the tobacco wagons have the most valuable cargo. Just look at how much more we're being paid since they joined the caravan."

NUREL: "Quiet frankly Derrick, I think that you have not reminded me of anything; we are just looking at this from two different perspectives. The way that I see it is that the tobacco merchant has paid for the privilege of running his wagons in the central spot if he so chooses. After all he and his two wagons are paying the lions share of the fees for the caravan. As you can see from the jump is pay of almost 60 silver with the addition of his 2 wagons out of the 9 we will have to be guarding. I do not want to see any one get hurt or killed either." Nurel cocks his head to one side and looks at him. "As for the ranged weapons would it not be better to have two of them spaced out at thirds on the wagons train? That way each of them will have better coverage of at least two thirds of the whole caravan and anything attacking the direct center will be well within range of both of them."

NUREL: "Spell caster, bowman or cross bowman would do well in those two positions. Now that Isell has a crossbow and who knows maybe one of the 4 guards for the tobacco merchant is an archer? We will not know till we meet them. As for getting a Centaur up on to of the wagons ... I would of never thought a centaur could fly but you proved me wrong on that point." Nurel winks at Philyra and lets out a chuckle. "But no, seriously Philyra I do not expect you to climb on top of a wagon. You would be much more Valuable on the ground as a mobile archer."

GM: From the discussion thus far, it sounds like the wagons with be in this order:

Bandy - 1 wagon
Wine Merchant - 2 wagons
Traveling Troupe - 3 wagons
Tobacco Merchant - 2 wagons
Cloth Merchant - 2 wagons

GM: If I have some time this evening, I will draw up somthing in Map Tool so you can arrange everything. Can't promise that I will have the time as I'm pretty sure that my wife will want to do some Christmas shopping but if I can squeeze it in, I will. This will allow you to decide not only on the location of the wagons, but also the locations for all of the PC's.