Please note players should have a back up character concept in mind...just in case.

Somehow, Nadarresh has a bad feeling about this...

I voted to go north of Thornywood in order to get to Nerisella's place.  I think we'd be nuts to go through the woods (goblins!) or investigate the mountain (dark elves!) before Nadarresh has his healing surges back.  As far as I can tell, north and south of Thornywood are equally safe, but south would take us somewhat close to Shattered Bridge, which is something Luke tries to avoid unless there's a very good reason.

Dayereth thinks south makes more sense, more towns, more supplies, better ability to deal with unforseen situations and injury. 

So I guess we'll be going south of Thornywood.

Luke goes shopping and buys a wide scarf to wrap around his face.  The fact that it's currently the dead of winter is a convenient excuse to keep his face hidden, on the off-chance of meeting the wrong people in the towns so close to Shattered Bridge.

Luke also buys some extra blankets (to keep Nadarresh from freezing) and enough food for however many days' travel we are anticipating, plus ten.

Dayereth also wants to prepare.  He'd like to suggest to everybody, at the expense of sounding repetitive, that perhaps we should purchase mounts, and a wagon for Nadarresh, and to hold supplies and cold weather camping gear.  Basically we form our own little caravan for safety and to save time on the trip.
((Game terms, good idea because during travel you must make endurance checks, I imagine even moreso during winter. Failed endurance checks cause loss of healing surges and penalties to rolls, as Dayereth discovered last time.  Nadarresh doesn't have any and will take damage or die.  Mounts will prevent this.))

The mounts and the wagons make sense.  Aerandis is willing to contribute to their purchase.  He also acquires sufficient rations, though he will likely supplement them with hunting.  In general, he is pleased to be able to make his way back to the Feyfeilds, though the circumstances are unfortunate.  Mostly he is tired of cramped tunnels.

((If I recall correctly, travel only starts involving the loss of healing surges once you start going more than a certain number of hours per day (~8?).  If you just travel a reasonable, not-overly-strenuous amount, you don't risk losing healing surges.

Also, can we get some DM clarification on whether Nadarresh would be at risk of losing healing surges if we traveled more than the normal number of hours per day?  If we had him lying down in a wagon, he wouldn't really be exerting himself significantly...

Mounts:  I'm not strongly opposed to our getting them, but they're expensive and have a slight tendency to get killed when you run into monsters, especially if they're not warhorses, which they won't be.  So I tend to try to avoid buying them in the first place.  I'm not strongly opposed, though, if people want to do it that way.))

Wagon should be fine, although I agree it is too expensive, even if we pool our money.  I can manage just fine as long as we only travel so far per day...if we fail checks, it just slows us down.  If we have enough food, which should not be a problem, then we can make it within the alotted timeframe.  As for fighting with or without pack animals, a wagon or warhorses, I can manage and would be able to exit a fight if truly necessary.

I believe exposure rules are covered in the DMG?

A letter to my fellow gamers.

I apologise for missing today's game.  I am completely mortified to report that I was exhausted after work last night and I forgot that today was gaming day.  I slept right through the session.  I appreciate your attempts to rouse me and I hope that my abscense didn't too adversely effect the adventure.  Keep me posted on what I missed and I will endeavor to make up for my mistakes.

Dave

Hmm. I suppose we could blame you for Naddaresh's untimely demise. But he's only a fictional character anyway. Write yourself down to Fey-fields.

Group is in the grove of Druids at Fey-fields. Though he has perished not all is lost.  Perhaps Nadaresh can be awakened if his spirit is willing (and the components for the ritual are gathered) The first necessary component is spiritual essence  an ointment which as luck would have it, is in the possession of a friend of the druids a gnome named Wholian who lives a league south in a small farming community of Gable's Fork. The druids wish to hear news from the expected birth of twins from the town and given the good omen of a falling star in the night sky two weeks ago they expect the children have been born and are well.