Following Lady Tor's pace easily, Sir Anthony noticed a well guarded lumber cart. Something began to stir in his stomach, something halfway between worry and honed warrior instinct. Too many oddities had been arising lately for it to sit right with the old knight. Tor dropped back, "why would they guard a lumber shipment?" she hissed under her breath to Sir Anthony. Sparing a quick glance at the cart as they passed, he whispered "I'm not sure, Do Not Under Any Circumstances Let Your Guard Down."

Riding forward at a steady pace, Sir Anthony hailed the guards with a simple wave. "Ho, Guardsman. What are the conditions of the roads? Any goblins harass you on your travels?" reaction pending guards response.
Sir Anthony surreptitiously eyed their loads, looking for anything that might stand out. Normally posting this many guards around a simple lumber cart means it's hauling more then lumber. He would keep an eye open just in case.

Jacob smiled softly. Wonderful, the clouds were natural which meant that not only were they safe, but they would bring rain. Leilos wouldn't be too impressed by that, but rain was one of Jacob's favourite types of weather. It would be a nice day.

He snapped back to reality upon hearing a slight hiss, and noticing there was an exchange between Tor and Anthony. He couldn't hear what they had said, but it seems like he knew what they were talking about, looking at the cart. It seemed peculiar that non woodland folk would find wood as precious as Jacob did, and even then it was a stretch to find it guarded. And yet...

Jacob reached out to Leilos, in an attempt to do some scouting, and then called her down to rest on his shoulder and fill him in. He would also be prepared to jump off the horse at any time. He trusted himself more on foot should anything go awry. But, there was no guarantee it would. He waited for the guards to respond to the conversation started by Anthony before progressing further, and perchance doing something rash.

Sir Anthony hailed the guards with a simple wave. "Ho, Guardsman. What are the conditions of the roads? Any goblins harass you on your travels?"
The man how looked a little better dressed, good leather straps, polished armour, finely groomed beard, rode forward returning the waive.
"Hail, and well met neighbour. The road is in decent condition. There was one point where we had to avoid a few large pots holes, but otherwise no problems. As for goblins, we luckily haven't run into any this trip. Last month we lost two men to the goblins. It is getting bad."

Sir Anthony gave a mental shrug. These guards seemed fine to him...Maybe he was letting his age get to him. Surely there was nothing truly amiss.

'I should slap myself for that.' He thought wryly. Here he was about to fall into the same trap he had warned Tor against. He almost let himself relax around these unknowns. Maybe old age was catching up with him.....

"I thank you for your warning of the potholes. We must be off, may your future travels bring the same luck as this one."

The farewell would seem authentic enough, he had meant most of what he said, but as both groups passed each other, Sir Anthony kept a keen eye on those guards.

As the tree's loomed on the horizon Tor relaxed the scent of rain carried on the wind.

Tor moved to ride beside Callen chatting with him smiling an joking about his growing detesting of the saddle, even she was starting to feel stiff an achy.

Moving to Sir Anthony she asked if he'd discern a spot to stop for the night.

The growing agitation with in the party made Tor worry her lip slightly. Hopefully it was simply hunger an sore muscles. Once they set up camp an ate the comradery would dissipate some of the negative vibe.

Feeling the winds pick up, and his joints start to ache, Anthony knew it was about to start raining. "Tor, everyone, we must discuss something, Thanks to the guarded lumber wagon, we know about an upcoming campsite. The problem then becomes the storm. There is another about another hours ride from the first. Shall we stop here or continue to a more sheltered area? I would like to hear everyone's opinions, we all will be sleeping in the same area."

Elttom watched as the others spoke with the cart drivers. He did wonder why a load of lumber would be guarded, but if there were goblins about anything of value was at risk of theft. He knew he had been quiet for too long when his simple questions of "Well, do we set camp?" caused everyone to look at him as if he was a babe uttering his first words.