Zoom 2022-12-27 21:00

After doing a bit of a double-take when Caradoc returns to the party with his tale of daring-do, the party decides to move off quickly from its current position and head NorthEast - though Dougal and Caradoc do nip back to butcher Eric's carcass to make it easier for local carrion-eaters. 
 
The party continues trudging on through the drizzle (sufficient for Call Lightning spells) when in hex 132.088 it spots, several miles away, a large campfire on top of a hill. The party veers Westerly to avoid it, while Quercuis goes off to investigate it as an owl. He sees two Drakes 'roosting' (ie asleep with heads under wings), about 20 'thug' Lizardmen (mostly asleep) and at least four 'javelin' Lizardmen keeping watch around the camp outskirts. 
 
By dawn we reach 132.087 and are back in the foothills of the mountains. We look for a place to hole up for the day where we will be safe from aerial reconnaissance. We find a gorge through a valley that, though not particularly comfortable, should hide us from above and so we make camp - and manage to get a full 8 hours uninterrupted sleep. 
 
As we are discussing which spells we should learn for the day, Wun says that Laeromir is very poorly - he is badly dehydrated and may not last much longer. Francis applies wetted sponges to his mouth which help a little, but is unlikely to keep him alive for more than the day. While we discuss whether we should try to lightning-bolt him awake, Wun has an idea - so on the basis that people in a coma can often still hear, he uses a Command spell: "Wake!". 
 
Laeromir opens his eyes and says "Kill me. Take my sword." He then lapses back into a coma. 
 
This causes even more consternation in the party, but as we are still learning spells, Wun is able to learn 'Augury' and ask 'Weal or woe to our party for carrying out (both) Laeromir's instructions'. The answer comes back "both". So we don't know whether to kill Laeromir and leave the sword, or try to keep Laeromir alive and take the sword. If there was some kind of curse/malign effect on the sword, and Laeromir was beyond help, then the former may be the correct course of action. 
 
However, our discussions are cut short by the unwelcome sound of Blink Dogs coming from the South - they are probably about half an hour away, unless they start blinking and travelling rapidly. We decide that this gorge is probably the best place to defend ourselves against them, but move upstream to find the best position - making sure that we have a good 10 minutes to cast preparatory spells (ie Strength, Call Lightning).