#viniir

(Sorry for the long delay, but I'm back!

Silvyn looks down at his feet somewhat bashfully. "... you're right, of course, M'lord. You must forgive me, I'm just a civilian and am not used to such military strictness. I will limit my rations appropriately. In fact, to make up for my pettiness, I'll even volunteer to help Viniir forage for more." Silvyn may be a spoiled dandy, but he's no fool, and knows when he's bested.

(Essentially Saying Yes to the request about Silvyn and, because I must be in a generous mood, his actions are throwing you a helping die for your next test with the party.

Intent: To impress the party with your good judgement and leadership.

Task: Conspicuous. I'll allow Command as a FoRK.

Ob: 1 

Viniir looks hard at the tracks, but eventually shakes his head. "No, sir, at least not precisely. Our movements since waking have masked theirs. But taking into account the quantity of food stuffs missing, I would wager that there's a small party. More than 2, but less than 6."

None of the party look very guilty. They all willingly meet your eyes. In fact they all are taking the situation rather seriously and are graciously standing off the trail in order to make Viniir's tracking easier.

(Ok I think I know how to play this, since Viniir has the Tracking skill and you don't.

Intent: To divine whether or not a member of the party is responsible for the loss of foodstuffs.

Task: Perception.

Ob: 3 

When you're all done with your speech, you eye Viniir who is wearing a very Peregrine Took-like expression of foolish satisfaction. He winks at you as if to say "Good speech." And it doesn't appear to have been a bad one - the men aren't cursing under their breath at you - but neither is it quite having the impact you were hoping for. The party looks at each other, shrugs, then looks at you and gives vague nods of approval; "Sure. What the hell." Not what you wanted, but perhaps not a bad start.

(Okay. I'm going to FoRK in Paean of Deeds B2 (Conspicuous) and Command B3, giving me a 7 dice for this test while keeping it a Difficult check. I'm also going to spend a Persona point for +1D. That's 8 dice total, assuming you agree my roleplay justifies the FoRKs. I'll wait before rolling until you judge that. I am declining Viniir's help.)

The second day out I climb atop my steed Glory instead of leading him by the reins. I walk him out a touch ahead and farther up the hillock where we made camp the night before. I draw my sword.

"Comrades, we will not reach Glacier's Edge overnight. I am glad of it! We need this time - time to learn each others' ways, time to learn wilderness survival... time to become accustomed to command, and to obedience.

"We live and die by our unity. We must act as one. Each of us must contribute what we know to aid our survival. At each juncture, your knowledge and experience could be the difference between our success and failure, and I will ask for help. I will need you to show initiative and propose courses of action. But once I reach a decision, no matter how much you disagree, you will abide by it!

"Something you learn as a soldier is that a group acting together obeying a poor order has a better chance than one that disregards it and acts separately. Not all of you have had this experience, and there is not time to learn it through slow accumulation of wisdom. You must accept this lesson as truth, here and now.

"We all have places we'd rather be than here. But our road back to Rimenacht and to freedom lies ahead of us. And we will walk this road - together!"

I point my sword forward. It glints and shimmers as the dawn's light catches its steel. I wheel about, still pointing my sword ahead of us but now standing next to the path Viniir has been leading us along.

"Forward, to liberty and glory!"

I set Glory to a walk, sheathe my sword, and don't look back to see if they follow me. Confidence, nonchalance, and bravura are the name of the game.

But I am listening for their steps - very, very hard.

(So, this test is really about you keeping this men together as you push on through the wilderness. The crux is on your leadership, also you mentioned way back when that you wanted to give a speech to the troops, so here's your chance. 

Intent: To ensure smooth travels by giving a rousing speech to convince this rag-tag group of scoundrels that your orders are worth following.

Task: Oratory. You can probably work in some FoRKs to your speech, but remember you only get two. Viniir is available for a helping die.

Ob: Average Will of your audience, Ob 5. [What can I say, Elves are strong-willed folk.]

Consequence: The men don't listen to you, but it's not obvious at first. It only becomes obvious as they clearly are not working together. Further rolls will be necessary ensure survival of everyone in the troop.