I bet your grandson is awesome Rob!

" Dak what are you doin? get off my shoulders! "

@Esther - he's a handful, that's for sure! 

@Octavia - "Giddy-up, Big Mac! Tally Bo(fear)!"

Our friendly neighborhood wizard has suggested a third alternative.

Here are the choices:

1) The straight shot.  Move directly west-southwest into Sendria.  Hang a left, move due west, pass the ruins of Viastel, find the Lanalthir manor house.

Pros: shortest route.  Least travel time.  Easiest navigation (great reference points, no worries about missing anything or wandering the countryside).

Cons: certain to be a well-guarded border.   Possibility of observation by other sylvari as the party crosses into enemy territory

2) The mountain route.  Move west until reaching Hyanda Nost.  Gather intel, continue west into the Khordal mountains, then hook south to cross the border and find the manor house.

Pros: the khord-Sendria border is likely to be far less guarded.  Hyanda Nost will likely have excellent intel as to the patrols and such; it may be possible to slip out of the Empire here without detection.  This route includes far less travel time in Sendria proper.

Cons: the route is longer, and the mountains - even the foothills - will be harder travel.  Navigating to the manor is likely a good bit more challenging to do accurately, the chance of taking a straight shot to it are a good bit lower due to a lack of definitive landmarks.

3) The Ertain route.  Move southwest into Ertain.  Cross Lake Haven, find passage through the Felarin wood, enter Felarin.  Allow Seleliniel the chance to consult with her Order, and perhaps, with other Orders to gain relevant intel on the items that may be found within the crypts, as well as possible intel on what might have protected the crypts.  Move northwest, cross the Thrace River, move across the border into Sendria.  Then hook a left past Viastel and travel west to the manor.  

Pros: potential to gather the most intel this way.  Seleliniel may be able to obtain assistance above and beyond intel.  Avoids the difficult travel of the mountains in autumn.  Landmarks should be easier on this path, so navigation within Sendria may not be too bad.

Cons: the longest route in terms of mileage.  Requires two different water crossings.  Requires the party to navigate the notorious Felarin Wood (those who hate magic cannot enter it, those who are not welcome have been known to wander in circles until they die).  Potentially raises the chances of others knowing about the mission; seeking help means that others may notice the quite distinctive group.  Subjects the party to the worst possible border crossing - Ertain and Sendria are in a cold war situation, so the border will be well-guarded.  The odds of having to fight your way in are highest here, and the odds of sneaking in are much lower.


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In the interest of time, we don't have to RP this out.  People can give thoughts/votes here in the Q&A or via email, DM, etc.  But we need to come to a decision.

Being the sneaky sort (and having trusted Rain's guidance in the past), I think Dak is most inclined toward the mountain route... path of least resistance and all that, you know?

That said, he's also intrigued by the route through Ertain (if for no other reason than to pilfer... I mean explore the library, there) but that border... yikes!

Unless he's somehow convinced that the risk is worth the reward, I think his vote is for the mountains.

Rosariel will go with whatever the team decides. Probably leaning more toward mountains since most people already agreed to it, but if that changes she has no strong feelings either way.

Bree doesn't want to give S an inch 

*Gladd slips Gemma a bean of a different sort*

Dak, there's more wine in Felarin than those s***ty cold mountains 

im eagerly awaiting our illustrious ranger's views 

...if there's gonna be wine...

Hey hey HEY leave my ol' woman out of this! Lol I promise my meta thoughts aren't tarnishing Rosariel's decisions, and FRANKLY, I'm hurt you would say such a thing! Haha jk jk jk

Truly though, Rosariel will have no qualms going the Ertain route if that's what the group decides  Plus she's never seen anything out of her forest area until now, so any new adventure she's up for. AND they've never even spoken, so I'm pretty sure Rosariel just thinks S is a tough lil cookie.

For. Now. Alan.

Before I make my post in character, I'm going to go ahead and agree and disagree with some things here.

I think the Mountain route is the best without a doubt. I believe following our wizard friend's route may compromise the mission as it'll give knowledge to more people, even if they don't know exactly what we're up to, some bad apples may take interest. A straight shot into Sendra is also.. a straight shot into Sendra, so let's avoid that. Some extra travel time and difficulty never hurt, so I'm liking the cons of option 2 the best.

As for the marching order, Mae'rel is a pacifist cleric, so I'm gonna always agree to have her in the middle. In combat situations, she should be where she can reach the main fighters easily, or the tank, to provide support. She'll be casting lots of Sanctuary and the sort, so staying near the front to heal will be something so does often, or staying near whatever direction. Since our evoker is an absolute glass cannon, I also think she should stay in the middle, so I believe the middle, in my opinion, should stay as these two BASICALLY no matter what.

I think we should definitely keep a warrior on either end, and I do prefer the idea of the bladesinger in the very front, even in single file situations. I think keeping our fighter with the charge benefit in the back in double column is nice, but I also see the appeal of keeping our ranged folk (Lookin at you, resident Ranger and Tree Hugger) in the back. Mae'rel isn't going to voice a preference here, and neither will I, just because it's up to what you guys wanna do, and she's not gonna have experience enough to say which is better strategically.

Anything else I should include in my post or I wanna address here?

Thanks, vibe.  I think that covers the items we need right now.

I have it right now at four votes for the mountain path, one for Ertain.  The only ones I haven't counted are the cow man (who I believe is also for the mountain path) and the bladesinger - who I again think is pretty set on the mountain path.

If it's a six to one vote, will our wizard make a stink or go along?

She's ALSO an animal hugger.

Also also vibechecker - not sure if you saw, but Rosariel tried to strike up a convo with Mae'rel as well, if you wanna add a response to that. You can also completely ignore her if you want  she was a lil awkward about it anyway.

"If it's a six to one vote, will our wizard make a stink or go along?"

The party: *finds themselves in combat*

S: *turns invisible and scampers off behind a tree* "I wanted to go via Felarin... cast your own damn fireball, peasants!" 

lol fireball

She will make a stink AND go along. But she will remember... 

and she will likely procure Felarin's help in other ways....