"No, I probably coulnd't eat it. Beside I got some dried meats in my bag." He took out his pipe and crushed some tabbacco and began his traditional mourning smoke. He took a seat crossing his legs and began puffing away at it. "Next time I have to do whatch duty remind me to blink before I take it up." He gave a heartfull tone while he blinked his eyes none stop for they were dry. Soon as Fara spoke Velandris nodded. "Could put a small trench behind the boulder outside that i used for whatch. It's a good place to hold up."

OOC: sorry I've been gone for a while. Got a bad virus on my computer and I'm currently posting from someone else's.

IC: Fanier awoke to the sun poking its light through the cave's opening, only a few rays penetrating to their spot. Most of the light came from the fire, around which Zared, Fara, and Velandris were gathered. He turned and sat on his bedroll, reached into his pack, and pulled out a chunk of stale bread. Breakfast, he thought.

Fanier got to his feet, bread in hand, and walked over to the group, just in time to hear Fara say something about building latrines. "I'd be willing to help with that," he spoke. "Just a little dirt." He took bite of his modest breakfast. It wasn't particularly good, but it would have to do. This was not the place to be picky.

He heard Velandris talk about building a trench. "That's a good idea. Actually, if we're going to be here for a while, I think we should build a whole system of trenches. Not all at once of course, probably just a few trenches per day, but in a week or two we should have a decent defense system put up."

Zared looked at them after eating his snake. "I think those ideas are both good and bad. The trenches and water trench would be a dead give away to us. Latrines are an ok idea provided they are not conspicuous. " Zared's smooth tail moved over to his armour and curled slightly hooking into its pauldron and pulled it over to him its light shimmer pulsing from its enchantment. "First we need to discuss tactics, abilities and observations before we start on what we are going to build."

"We don't need too much water - I was thinking on diverting a little water from a stream to keep a bassin into the cave. That will be as discrete as regularly moving about to fill waterskins and leaving track. With hte boulders and small rocks scattered nearby, what little digging can be done and a bit of rock-piling - the place is orcky - should let us manage two position that won't stand out.

On the tactics side, I'm quite a good shot and and scout. I'm also able to move around and climb to take good positions. I'm decent at close combat, but that's definitively not my forte. From the last scuffle, Velandris is also good with bows. The others seems more trained for melee."

The group didn't know it , but Prescott had been awake for some time now . As he listened to their plans and tactic's he couldn't help but feel useless and not needed at all , which sadly was true anyway he sliced it . He had , however , awoekn with a newfound strength , a good sign that the wound was almost fully healed . He ran his hand over it , wincing at the initial sting before managing to heave himself to his feet .

The blood on his undershirt had dried and hardened , making the shirt stiff and unpleasant to wear . He was also coated in a thick layer of grime , dried mud , and sweat . His moustache was matted and grimy and to top it all off , he had the dreaded "morning breath" . He needed a bath and a change , but this was war .

He casually entered the conversation , slugging his way towards the group clutching his healing wound .

"Zared , Fara . Your doing an excellent job." he started . "I cant add anything of use , but that doesn't mind because you seem to have it all sussed out ."

He let out a sharp gasp as a painful sting rang out from his wounded shoulder , causing the hardened man to bend over in pain . He breathed deeply for a few moments before straightening his back and standing tall . He let go off his shoulder , somehting that obviously caused him much pain , but managed to raise his hand in salute to his squad .

"Ill be praying for you , and if there's anyway I can help , just let me know"

Zared smiled lightly and gave a salute to the captain and offered him the smaller crispy snake that was on the fire. "Try this it will help your body heal and numb the pain. The sugar helps." he offered. "and sir we were merely putting ideas up to give to you, see if any of them you would approve of us doing."

Velandris was busy making circles with the smoke. He had given the trench thing a second thought, it woul be a bit silly exposing their position like that with. Who would think that maybe an enemy scouting party would stumble in a ditch they had dug and then realizing they were in the cave. "Maybe we could just make this place a small HQ? I mean we don't really need to put too much effort in making a small defence, maybe some traps or something." He looked at Fara. "And since we have atleast two scouts we could go around maybe to check for enemy camps that could pose a threat to our position here." He dumped out the ashed tobacco into the fire and put the pipe away. "Just an idea. could work a bit better then making ditches to hide in or motes to give us away."

"I'm glad you'r geting better captain - and don't feel bad about having nothing to add. You job as an officer is to tell 'what's the result to get', ours as sergeant an lieutenants is to figure out how to get it. And sometimes to keep the officers from ruining it. I know, you're supposed to be the do-it-all-best-than-everyone model of an officer, but you'll do better by keeping a reachable aim. I had one captain who was so engrossed in believeing why he was a great leader that he got himself killed rather quick. Without much mourning, truth to be told, the guy was an abnoxious pain with an ego you could hide Jone and Jode behind.

But more seriously, I don't plan on building a fort. Just pick the best position out there and do some improvement that won't stand out - digging a bit behing a rock to get a deeper position, add a ranks of piled stones to improve cover, nothing fancy. I will feel better poking my nose into the lizard's business if we have a position that can fend off one or two of their squads to fall back on.

On thing I would like too would be to get some water - hauling waterskins is a [censored] and we'll end up leaving nice trail to the cave. Not good. I'll check around the cave's mouth for both positions to improve ou defense and some source of water."

Prescott nodded at Zared's offer , picking up a small snake and biting into it . The taste hit him with a suprising zing , but it was by no means unpleasant . The snake was delicious , and it reminded Prescott how hungry he was . He quickly finished it off , tearing into it with glee .

"Delicious Lieutentant , you should be a cook" He beamed . He turned to Fara .

"I think a system for water would be a very good idea , and a good first priority . These men are messy and blow-out . A fresh bath and a good drink will do them well . Fara , I would appreciate if you took a couple more troop's and went out to find a good way to get some water running nearby . Finding a river around here shouldn't be difficult , just remember to boil it first if you fancy a drink whilst your there"

He turned back to Zared and quickly stroked his moustache in thought .

"The rest of us should stay here and build up a suitable HQ . Zared and anyone else who is able should focus on building blockades and maybe a few small trenches . Building walls shouldnt be a problem with the recent rain , there will be mud aplenty so be prepared for some messy work . I also want some traps around the cave , dig a few holes and cover 'em with leaves , shouldnt be too difficult"

He looked around at the cave , with an expression of distaste . It looked somehwta unorganised due to the groups rather recent arrival .

"I cant do much but I think I can manage to do some housekeeping" He said with a smile . "I will take inventory , make sure the wounded are comfortable and healthy , and set us up nice and proper . Of course , if you think we should opt for a better plan feel free to tell me , Im just putting some suggestions down on the table"

OOC : I want an honest answer . The RP has been moving somehwat slowly as of late and we're missing a few members . Do you think I should make a second thread or should we end this comfortably in the next two pages?

ooc: should expect that with christmas coming up so close. Allot of people wont have much time or be able to access a PC especially if they are travelling to see family. Let it flow along as is and it should pick up.

ic: Zared blinked alittle and shook his head "We dont want anything obvious like walls. We should work with different tactics instead. Guriella tactics o counter the Argonian and Republic soldiers. Also, water wise I 'think' we should look deeper into this cave. There could be a possible source of water here. This cave is near the lake so there could be under ground water source." he grinned seeing as the captain had complimented his cooking.

Velandris blinked at what Zared had said. "Wait, If we had a possible water source in here from the lake, Argonians can breath underwater." He paused thinking. "If the cave does have water, then we would more or less need to make defenses at the rear aswell. Just to be safe!" His brain was begining to function logically.

[OOC : I agre christmas and all are taking their toll - there's probably some attrition too, but we're at least four who keep posting, that should be enough.]


"Don't break a sweat about the rear - the cave is small enough that I've been able to get all the way inside. There's no water down there, and no cracks or hole large enough to let anything bigger than a not too fat rat in. For water, I'd rather find some small stream up on the moutain, something too small to swim in. The argonians are using their lakes and rivers as we would use road and plains.

As fr as building stuff go, a wall a bit inside the cave would be the most effective and unobtrusive solution. For the outworks, we don't have anything like the numbers to hold a perimeter in case of attack, I'd say to stick with a few positions improving discretly on what's naturally there.

OOC: Yeah, its Christmas's fault.

IC: "I personally don't think simple traps and a few trenches will be enough." Fanier said. "Sure, it'll work pretty well until the enemy learns of our position, and then we'll have to fall back to the cave, and there's no suitable defense from that position."

"I suggest we radio HQ and ask for a supply drop." Fanier went on. "More specifically, a supply drop with explosives. We can create two or three lines of explosives along the path to the cave to cover our backs if we need to fall back.

"We cannot rely on Supply drops constantly from the HQ. Such a thing would pretty much give us away instantly. Even if we had it dropped not to far from here. Improvisation is needed. The explosive traps are an idea but abit extreme. We can try pendulums, boulders and such. First however I think we should have two or three people go out and scout around. BlackRose is nearby a large settlement which could hold many supplies and such. We can pose as mercenaries build a small reputation there while doing our work. Building up a disguise like that can work to out advantage." he said reclining back abit. Stroking his tail gently.

"What I have in mind about fixed defenses is to be able to hold and surprise enough to to scraqe off any patrol who checks the cave, so we can leave before the real trouble wonder where his guys went and shows up. Not rebuilding Sancre Tor, or anything that require supply runs just to keep going. We're out there for reconaissance, not to make a big standard and fly it in every local's face. If we have to deal with a company's worth of ennemies, we're toast,no matte what kind of defense we build.

That reminds me of the old joke about landing spots and outposts :

- what's the point of that oupost in the middle of nowhere ?
- to watch over the landing spot
- but what's the point of a landing spot in the middle of nowhere ?
- to keep the outpost supllied.

Unless our orders are to build an outpost, there's no point in making more than what's required.

As far as traps go, I'd go for the classing foottrap - dig a pit large enough for a foot to fall up to the knee, lined with downward-facing barbs - strong reeeds and bamboos make the best. Cover it with a light reed mat and ide with the local vegetation. Damn effective at slowing down a charge- if you don't take the time to remove the barbs befor taking the foot out, you end up hobbling on one leg at snail's pace. The locals are very fond of it, they're quick and easy to make and damn effective even if we can't rely on poisoning them for even more fun."

As nobody seemd to have something to add, Fara made her conclusion ??But no matter what, before deciding what kind of defenses can be done, I'll have to check what the situation looks like around the cave.??

Wit these words she left, heading out for a survey of the mountain ? by Black Marsh standards at least, in Skyrim it would barely be called a hill ? near the cave's mouth. While moving in widening circles she noted every favorable or defavorable feature.

To her satisfaction they were several boulders in a delicate enough balance that they could be discretly sapped and prepared to send downward, big enough to truly ruin the day of anyone standing in their path. Very good, no need for explosives with that sort of terrain features.

Equally important, Fara found some water nearby ? a small spring, probably draining rainwater from higher up. Following the spring, Fara noted it soon sank back into the rocky and fractured ground. Which means we can divert it to the cave without getting noticed. This high up it's probably flowing only when there's been raining relatively recently, but as we're not planning to stay there for months, it should hold until we leave. Perfect.

She also picked a few positions covered by rock outcrops which could be improved into decent defensive positions without too much work, and without obvious changes in the landscape.

With these observations in mind, Fara came back into the cave about two hours later, her mood noticeably lighter, as it looked like they could make a fairly strong position and keep it hidden from unwanted observers.

"So fara find anything interesting out there?" he asked with a light chuckle having finished up with his meal and put his body armour on.

[OOc headcount time as we will soon need a new thread - who's still there - right now or after reovering from christmas/new year]

"Yes I've found some nice things - you were damn right to suggest this cave. There's few positions to make a decent defense without building anything obvious, as well as some water we effectively can divert to the cave without it being missed downhill - it runs into a rock crack.

The best new is that even if we don't have explosives, I've seen something about as good : a handfull of nice, big and heavy boulders that will take only some light work to drop on unwanted guests. With all the rock pieces strewn around, it will make things highly interesting from the recieving end.

All told, we can get a decent position with one day's work, and it won't show up unless you get close enough to be dealt with."

OOC: I'm still here, but my computer's still got a pretty bad virus, so I won't be that active. I'm good for the next thread, though.

IC: Fara returned from the outside, and told the squad of her ideas for rock traps. Now we're talking, thought Fanier.

"The only problem with that," he spoke. "Is that we'll need a way to trigger the traps from a distance, in case we can't get to them. A well placed telekinesis spell should do the trick." He looked around. "That is, if any of us can cast one."

What happened? I liked this RP. Did this die because Atomic has been gone for a month and a half? I really don't think he's coming back, he left without notice or anything. I'd really like this to be revived.