Trifecta: The Stones' Teeth

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Your journey ends in Medro, capital and jewel of the Empire. After a few days of rest, your minds turn towards your next adventure. Somewhat conveniently, as these things sometimes go, the innkeeper informs you of a letter left in his care for you. Sealed with the imperial seal itself, the letter looks quite impressive. The innkeeper leaves you in private to peruse its contents which are as follows:

"Please meet this evening at Duke Morland's estate. The party bearing this missive should present it at the gates, and you shall be escorted in. The good duke wishes to discuss with you a matter of importance, and one you should find most lucrative. Dinner is at seven, and you are expected to dress as befits a ducal dinner."

[McSherrie]

"I do so love it when things work out like this." Evi's green eyes flash as she gets her chance to read the note. "A ducal invitation is certainly a lovely starting point for our next story. But I think we may need to change our current mode of dress..." She eyes her own travelling leathers for a moment, sniffs thoughtfully, then smiles at the rest of the party. "I believe that a visit to the tailor may be in order, ladies and gentlemen."

[Serpent Stare]

"Urgh," grunts Ovurka, distastefully, looking over the letter with her lips moving slightly. "Tailers? We gotta be all in fancy colors now?" She looks sullen about the concept, and looks gloomily at the ragged clothes she is so proud to wear. After a moment, she asks, "Evi? What is 'luckertive'?"

[dauphinous]

Although she'd been the one to negotiate the deal that brought them to Medro, Betsy didn't want to go there. As soon as the city came into view, her mouth shut, the small smile she usually wore evaporated, and her responses to questions turned into little more than half-hearted gestures. Which, of course, was fully expected. Cities had that effect on her for some reason that she was entirely unwilling to discuss.

She'd pulled her hood up over her head as they passed through the gates and kept her gaze fixed firmly downwards. As soon as rooms were secured at an inn, she'd disappeared into hers, and hadn't even come out for meals. Which was unusual. Normally, she'd at least sit and enjoy the company. Not here, though. Not in Medro.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan eyes the invitation suspiciously for a bit. It was curious, but came with the territory he expected. A little more public in appearance than he liked on other people's terms. Betsy's withdraw into quiet made him uneasy as well, but hell, how often did they get into a major city.

"Sounds very lucrative indeed," he says to the others with a slight shrug. "I suppose worst case we turn him down then make a run for the gates to escape Medro," he says with a grin. "We should look presentable as well," he agrees. "I should have the proper attire," he adds with mischievous addition to his grin.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The burly bald dwarf looked up and around at his companions. At the talk of "proper attire" for the ducal affair, he haphazardly combed his fingers through his thick beard, checking for remnants of lunch. He glanced down at his plate armour.

Presentable. Right! I'll get some polish for the armour. I may have to go with the traditional axe for dining, but I'm sure the duke will find a hammer acceptable, don't you think? It's been a while since...er, a long time since...I've never had dinner with a duke. Any pointers?

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly. "You may wish to not bring any large, overly intimidating weapons," he says, chuckling softly. "I doubt the duke would welcome anyone fully and visibly armed," he says with a smile. "Probably should go for regular clothes too."

[McSherrie]

"Lucrative means that we will be paid well, Ovurka. And I think that we could all use a little extra jingle in our purses. Even if we have to sacrifice our fashion individuality briefly." She looks at the orc speculatively for a moment. "I think that a rich brown might work best for you, with your lovely eyes. And for you, Orwell, definitely a deep blue."

[faithfreebible]

Polishing up his breastplate and smiling at how Evi and Ovurka are getting along, considering some of the... troubles they had when they first met, Gilad chimes in.
"While I tend to agree that the duke may not appreciate us walking in looking like an invading force, it occurs to me that going into this situation unarmed may be more dangerous than incurring his displeasure by arriving prepared. He must know we are adventurers and that we travel armed, the worst he can do is force us to leave our weaponry in his care while we share his table.
Besides, I'd sooner go without my right hand than without my blade."

Looking around at his assembled companions, he adds,
"Anyone who wants to avoid offending the duke, need not follow my example." smirking, he finishes "You can tell him it's an elf thing"

[faithfreebible]

"We should also ask around about this Duke Morland, perhaps when the innkeeper returns"


maybe someone with higher charisma should deal with the innkeeper on the gather information check. do we have a "leader"?

[Toliudar]

Orwell

Regular...clothes? But these are my regular clothes. Hey, Evi! I could mend up my old robes if you can make em blue.
He tries to be coy, but it just comes off as avuncular. Then Gilad's comment sinks in.

You think maybe it'll be dangerous? But we haven't even had time to offend anyone. Here anyway. Lately. I haven't been around for years. And that was an accident that time, easily explained. Seriously, though, you think this could be dangerous?

[Santanya]

Duantan
Duantan chuckles softly. "It won't be dangerous," he says. "If it were going to be, we would have been picked up by guards, not invited to dinner," he says shaking his head.

"I'll make a few inquiries around town and see if I can get a feeling for what we can expect from him though," he says. "I'll need something to keep myself occupied while you all are making yourself pretty," he says with a grin towards the dwarf. "I'll see if Betsy needs anything while we're here as well," he adds, glancing to the others.

[faithfreebible]

"Yes, Betsy...
You've been with her the longest, do you have any insight on why her behavior has suddenly taken such a turn for the melancholy? She's usually so cheerful"

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin snorts a little at Duantan's comment about Orwell making himself pretty. "I don't think we'll have time for that. And if Betsy wants to sit up in her room and stew, she's welcome to it. There's a whole city out here to enjoy, even a nice ducal dinner tonight. She's a grown woman and if its what she wants I see no reason to bother her until we're ready to go. I can probably find a nice shop to buy some good clothes if anybody's interested. It's been a while since I've been here, but this is where I was trained. Used to know my way around pretty well too."

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka looks a little sheepish when Evi compliments her eyes. "Er... Yeah. Maybe. Brown, I can put up with, I think." After all, brown was what she normally wore... it just wasn't brown in a fancy way. It was the good, honest brown of undyed clothing that didn't think too highly of itself to get dirty now and then.
"Well, I will go with you, Evi. You know more about pretty clothes than me. You can probably say what looks good better. To a duke, you know." Ovurka pauses, and addresses the group at large. "Should we wait and see if Betsy is gonna come with us? She looks pretty in the clothes she already has, but she might still want to come. It must be boring just sitting in her room alla time."

[McSherrie]

"Good idea, Ovuka. Duantan, could you ask Betsy if she'd like to join us please?" Evi's mind is already spinning with ideas for redressing those members of the party who might be willing to let her, and her hands begin twitching as if she is already writing it all down. "Corwin, any ideas on where we should go?"

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan nods slightly. "I'll be back down in a bit, with or with out the Priestess." He stands and gives a slight grin and strides up to the rooms. He pauses as he gets to one, looking at it curiously for a moment before knocking twice and waiting by the door.

Once she answer the door..

"It would seem that we have been invited to dinner with the Duke," he says, raising his eyebrow slightly. "The others are going to get more suitable attire and wondered if you would like to accompany them for assistance. I'm going to do a little asking about about him, so we both could do that if you would prefer," he says, smiling to her as he explains everything.

[dauphinous]

Betsy only opens the door the most minimal amount required to see out. Once she sees who it is, though, she opens it a little bit more. "The Duke? Us?" She frowns and looks at the floor. "I don't know if I should go out. If anyone recognizes me- I mean," a light blush forms on her cheeks, "not that I'm important or anything, but it might be kind of...um...awkward," she finishes lamely.

"I'm supposed to be dead." With a light sigh, she looks over at the wall beside her, still frowning. "And I'd rather stay that way."

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin lets the front legs of his chair drop to the ground with a thud. (He had been leaning it back against the wall behind him. "Sure, let's see for the ladies..." he begins naming places and giving a some general directions to each one. As he does so, he counts them off on his fingers.

This is assuming that his knowledge: local roll is good enough to get some names. Even if it's not, I suppose he could name places have closed up shop in the time since he's been in town. Here's a roll in case you want it.[roll0]

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan smiles slightly. "Well, if you're supposed to bed dead, no one will be expecting to see you," he says. He steps closer to the door, but not close enough to encroach on her too much and speaks softer. "If you do not wish to get anything for yourself, that is fine, you have always looked lovely," he says quietly. "I could use your assistance in getting to know our possible benefactor a bit though." He smiles to her. "Just about the inn a bit and maybe a few close places," he adds.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The forge-priest looks a bit shy as he asks Ovurka.

Mind if I tag along? It's been a long time since I've been in Medro, and it would be delightful to be able to reacquaint myself. Last time I was here, I mostly saw thes three plague-ridden flophouses down the east side. Amazing what a little gangrene can...never mind.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

"Oh, um." Betsy blushes a little more. "That...makes sense...I guess. Just a minute." She disappears, but leaves the door hanging open, then reappears with her cloak on her arm and steps out, closing and locking the door behind herself. "People like the Duke. Or, they used to, anyway." She looks just about anywhere but actually at Duantan, favoring the floor. "There's been a rumor that he had a hand in the Emperor's assassination, trying to take the throne for himself, but, you know, there's always rumors, right? The higher you are, the more people want to pull you down, I guess."

Betsy drapes her cloak over herself, pulling the hood up over her head, hoping that will be good enough, and that this isn't a huge mistake.

[Serpent Stare]

"Well I don't mind," says Ovurka, shrugging as she looks down at the dwarf. "It's Evi to talk to. New clothes..." she starts to grumble, but her words drift off as she sees Betsy walking down the stairs. She smiles at Betsy reassuringly, but says nothing more.

[faithfreebible]

"well, if everyone else is going to go shopping, i think i'll stay here for my reverie, i haven't had a complete one in several days."

[McSherrie]

"The more the merrier, I say. We'll leave you to your rest though. Is there anything that we can pick up for you while we're out?" Evi begins the surprisingly quick process of getting ready to go: grabbing her cloak, checking to make sure that Duantan hasn't reappropriated her coin pouch again, and smoothing her hair. "Shall we then?"

[Toliudar]

Orwell

Turning to bow to Evi, Orwell inadvertantly allows his hammer to swing into Ovurka.

All set...oh, sorry. Again.

He follows the ladies out.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka pushes Orwell's hammer gently away, with a slightly awkward and amused smile at the clumsy dwarf. "Look out where you are swinging that thing, Orwell. You could hurt somebody with it."
She follows Evi and ((when we get there)) allows herself to be redressed in finer clothes - but objects to any sort of plume or even slightly extravagant decoration with a pleading look, and flatly refuses to remove the strips of tattered rad fabric that encircle her ankles.

[Toliudar]

"Look out where you are swinging that thing, Orwell. You could hurt somebody with it."

Following, Orwell murmurs: Yeah. I get that a lot.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin stands up and says, "I guess I'll go along then too. A new outfit is not a bad idea." He looks back at Gilad, "See you later then," and follows Evi, Ovurka, and Orwell out. Feh. New suit for the duke. Why can't people like him just accept everyone as they are? They always seem to take such a high and mighty attitude. Oh well, I could use them anyway. Some of my older clothes are beginning to show their wear.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

The smile Ovurka gives Betsy is returned with the most minute shadow of the same that flickers for only a moment across Betsy's face. "Women warriors are not required to wear dresses. I'm sure they know we aren't, ah," she blushes light pink, "courtiers. I would try brown with red highlights first, Ovurka."

She grips Duantan's arm tightly, letting him lead as always. She keeps her head down and adjusts the hood several more times than is really necessary, just to be on the safe side.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Several hours of shopping eventually pay off, and, thanks to Betsy and Evi's advice, the group as a whole is presentable for a ducal dinner, although Orwell, perhaps, only just barely. Betsy's fears appear unfounded as noone appeared to recognize her.

Once you arrive at the duke's estates, you're asked to surrender your weapons at the door, receiving assurances they will be kept in good care. (I'll assume everyone hands over their weapons without a fuss. Let me know if someone wouldn't.) The manor house is lavishly decorated-- apparently being part of a branch of the Imperial family has more than its share of luxuries. The dining hall is a wide, airy room, with one wall entirely glass-- looking out into the estate's gardens. The duke and his wife are already seated when you are brought in. Each place setting has a placard with your name on it. The duke is a brown-haired man with a hawk-like nose and a well-kept goatee. His wife appears about five years younger than he, and just barely in her twenties. The pair of them are dressed in silks, in the blue and green of his house, practically crusted with gems.

After you're seated, as the food trays are being brought out, Duke Morland says, speaking in a reedy baritone voice, "Thank you for coming. I expect you wonder how I have heard of your group. I have more than a passing acquaintance with Jerl Korwyn. I understand you agreed to do some dangerous work for him a few months previous, and he spoke well of you. He informed me you'd be in Medro to deliver his cargo, so I kept a watch out-- so to speak. If you're interested in more work in a slightly different vein, I'd be pleased to offer it to you."

[faithfreebible]

Not quite glaring, but definitely focusing a penetrating gaze upon the duke, Gilad waits for further explanation.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

The walk had a mildly positive effect on Betsy. She at least seemed a little less nervous when she and Duantan returned. She offers to assist first Evi and Ovurka with getting themselves ready for the dinner, but then asks Orwell rather timidly if she can help him 'straighten out a little'.

Arriving dressed as usual, but with and handful of the hair that normally hangs at either side of her face braided back, Betsy grips Duantan's arm very tightly. She sits at her place, face stuck in a neutral mask. Hearing the words 'interested in work', she looks up from her plate and at the Duke's mouth. "My Lord, we are honored by your notice. The least we can provide in return is our utmost attention to your offer."

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin has dressed up a little for the meal, but not much. He didn't really see the point in getting all fancied up for a noble. Nonetheless he did look a little better than normal. His new clothing was neat and clean, their red and black coloration matched his hair and eyes well. His normally wild hair showed some sign of being pressed down for the occasion.

When the guards requested he hand over his weapon, he handed over his spear without any difficulty. In fact, he had a bit of a smirk on his face as he did so. "Just so long as they don't take away real weapons that reside in my mind."

He listened to the duke while quietly beginning to eat the food that was placed before him. When it is obvious the duke was waiting for more people to respond, Corwin says "Yeah, what..." He pauses to swallow the bit of roll that had been in his mouth. "What do you need?"

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan arrives specifically dressed in nobles clothing. A dark jacket cuts off exactly at his waist over a clean white shirt with pleated front. Black pants with a small bit of embroidery matching a bit on the jacket adorn his legs. His hair is slicked back and tied, but his normal blue tinted spectacles are still sitting on the ridge of his nose.

As they enter, he smiles a bit, producing a pair of daggers, obviously not the silver pair he normally wields, and continues on into the dinner with Betsy at his arm. He makes a point of pulling her chair out and waiting for her to sit before sitting himself, presenting a very different air about himself.

He smiles to the Duke as he listens, tilting his head curiously. "It is an honor to be spoke of so highly. What might we do for you?" he says, casting a glance towards Corwin.

[McSherrie]

Evi sits quietly in her pale green gown - the exact color of her eyes - and takes in all the details of her surroundings. Those who take the time to look notice her right hand twitching, as if she were writing something down. As each person talks, she switches her focus to them.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Morland nods approvingly at the general mood of agreeable but waiting to hear more. "An Imperial patrol spotted the ruins of a castle in the mountains, a couple days journey south of Aldar. We're uncertain if it was old Dominion, Empire, or Tirene-- the patrol didn't have time to do much in the way of exploring, and there were signs of wild animals in the area. I'd like your group to explore the ruins and report back to the Imperial Commander in Aldar, Rik Selkirk. If they are in good enough shape to warrant repair, we may turn it into an Imperial outpost."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Betsy takes a little food - just enough so that it looks like she's actually interested in eating it, but not enough to be even half of a hearty meal. "An abandoned keep sounds like it has the potential to be dangerous, which naturally explains our presence. Is this something that requires discretion, or perhaps just a degree of finesse that the military could not provide?"

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka sits uncomfortably at the table, feeling overwhelmed by the whole situation and very carefully trying to avoid giving any indication of how much the room and all of its contents alienated and disgusted her. She was dressed in respectable garments of neat, rich brown and autumn red, the ragged red strip she usually used to tie back her hair replaced by a dark wine-colored ribbon. She takes a good, solid helping of food and looks up at the duke quietly, occasionally glancing to her comrades when they speak, and nodding every so often to show that she's still paying attention. In these clothes, in this house, she feels horribly out of place, and very vulnerable. Especially without her axe. She wishes she had her axe with her. Then everything would be a little less frightening.

After listening silently for some time, she finally speaks, to ask a question. "Ah, excuse me... But what kind of animals? Um... Sir." she says, hesitantly. "Is there something parpendicully nasty there, that the soldj... that the patrol wanted to leave quickly because of?" She feels embarrassed and dull-witted, unpleasantly aware that that hadn't come out quite right. Nervousness and the presence of posh people always left her feeling clumsy and tongue-tied.

[faithfreebible]

Intimidating, if not entirely fashionable, in his freshly polished breastplate over a black tunic, Gilad smiles over to Ovurka. Knowing how nervous she is about being forced into formal situations as well as her aversion to being looked down upon merely because of her racial stereotypes his smile reflects some of the pride he has in her for showing the initiative to ask her question.

After reaching out to pat her hand reassuringly, he returns his penetrating gaze to the Duke, arching one eyebrow in an expression almost daring him to mock Ovurka's timidity or mispronunciation.

"Yes, why COULDN'T the squad have done the investigation? I can't imagine they would stumble across previously unknown ruins and just turn around and head home without showing any interest in them."


sense motive check on his answer to that question
[roll0]
even if he's not bluffing (and thus no check required) i'd like to know if i can read anything off of him

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin sits quietly munching a roll, waiting for the Duke to answer the questions that have been posed to him. I wish I could get a spell or two off without anyone noticing. A Truth Read or even a Mindspeak could be so useful right about now, but the Duke might just decide to kick me out if I tried it.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

A servant standing by the door looks appalled at Ovurka's use of the wrong title but both duke and duchess seem unconcerned. "There wasn't a tracker in the group, so they weren't able to identify the animal tracks-- but I'm told they were quite large. Perhaps two feet long or longer. The patrol had a specific mission which they had to fulfill in a short span of time-- they didn't have time for side trips, regardless. As to why I'm looking to recruit you instead of relying on the armies well, the truth is, what with the losses from the war and the subsequent insurrections and petty nobles scheming for territory, the armies are stretched about as far as they can go. I don't have the military resources to spare for what may be an extended mission. Financial resources are another matter entirely. You'll be well-paid for your efforts."

Gilad: As far as Gilad can tell, the duke is being open, honest, and courteous. He obviously wasn't pleased with Betsy's question and the subsequent admission about the limits of the military, but he dealt with it graciously enough. And he's quite clearly unconcerned about any breaches of etiquette that may occur on the part of the group.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Extended mission, out in the middle of nowhere...sounds perfect. I wonder if I can convince anyone to bring pillows. Betsy takes a small bite of something on her plate, not remotely interested in the food itself, just in the appearance of politeness. "I'm afraid, Your Grace, that I must insist upon engaging in the unpleasantness of specifics regarding the financial issue. Let us dispense with that matter so we can enjoy the evening with it behind us."

The irony of the last statement is certainly not lost on Betsy. As if she could possibly actually enjoy something like this. She may look and act like she belongs here, and in a sense, she does, but it's not where she wants to be by any stretch of the imagination. Ovurka is certainly not enjoying it, either, and Betsy wishes for just a moment that she felt like she could show the other woman that she understands.

[McSherrie]

Evi realizes that she has fallen behind everyone else in her zeal to remember all of the details of the evening. She begins to eat the food offered, taking small bites and rolling each around her mouth to enjoy all the nuances of the food. When Betsy brings up money, however, she starts to choke on the bite in her mouth. Way to go, Betsy! Show that noble where he stands! Hope I can tell her that later.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

He was a naked dwarf at a dinner party. Or might as well be, without his hammer OR his plate armour. Ah well. No one seemed to be making any complaints about this long blue shirt/dress/robe thing that Evi had picked out for him.

At least the food had been excellent, and the servants had been most accommodating in continuing to, er, serve. And the potatoes had been particularly good.

Ah! But the conversation had seemed to swung away from any topic he could contribute to. He had nodded his interest in the project, and would put his best towards it. Betsy would be so much better at extor arranging for a reasonable deal for them all.

Orwell reached for a fourth roll.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka chances a little, embarrassed, and utterly grateful smile at Gilad for his support, and cuts off another bite of meat to chew, waiting for the duke's answer. All the while, she wonders vaguely whether or not it would be a really bad idea to bring up the questions of what kind of animal has feet two feet long while in the presence of the duke. She decides against it. Perhaps she'll bring it up later, when they're all well away from all this.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"Twenty-five thousand imperials," he says, using one of the colloquialisms for Empire-minted gold coins. "Each." He arches an eyebrow at Betsy with a genteel smile. "I trust you will find that an agreeable amount? And if, for some reason, you meet with ill fate, it will be paid posthumously to a designee of your choice."

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan sits quietly, eating from his own plate slowly, listening to the conversation and paying attention to each speaker in turn. His eyebrow goes up slightly at the amount. It was definitely no pittance. Betsy was handling the negotiations quite well enough without interjection it seemed.

He raises his eyebrow, looking to the Duke again. "What of salvage we might find inside?" he asks curiously. "Your plans are mostly concerned with the building itself, correct?"

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka chokes on her food as she hears the duke's reply. Twenty five thousand... She coughs a few times and finally manages to get the chunk of meat dislodged from her throat. Chewing carefully and re-swallowing, she looks around urgently at her companions with the amazed expression never leaving her face.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Betsy effects a very tiny frown that passes quickly. That he is offering so much is disturbing. She doesn’t bother with the math to figure out how much the total amount is, as that's irrelevant. What isn't irrelevant is the implication of such a sum. She churns the possibilities briefly, and doesn’t much care for everything she can think of. Negotiating for higher pay is probably a waste of time and effort, as he's undoubtedly got more experience at holding onto his money than she does in getting people to part with it. Still…it's tough to just take the first offer. You never just take the first offer. It's always a calculated lowball. He probably thinks we'll be too dazzled by the idea of that much to ask for more. It won't come until some unspecified time in the future, though. Who knows what he will consider 'success'. Extended mission, after all.

With one tiny nod in Duantan's direction, she looks back to the Duke, all business. "Your Grace, we are, naturally, willing and proud to do our part in your name and in the name of the Empire. How could we, as loyal subjects, possibly refuse to rise to this challenge? We cannot. Your offer is generous and speaks to the truth of the words spoken by citizens here, that you are a wise and benevolent leader. While I am certain you have the best interests of all the Empire in mind, it is of, course, my place to have the best interests of our team in mind." She pauses for just a moment, taking a moment to glance at the Duchess.

"Thirty thousand each, full salvage rights, and food and water supplies for the trip to the place and one additional week, for ourselves and our animals." She says this implacably, as if it is not open for further negotiation. Despite the fact that she fully expects him to counter with a compromise number.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin, who happened to be drinking from his wine when the duke's offer was made, made a small choking noise as his gulp went down harder than expected. His eyes also momentarily grew at the offer of twenty-five thousand. That could fund my needs for quite awhile. I don't care about all that extra money, but who knows what interesting trinkets we might find in an old castle that nobody has been to in memory. Probably not much, but I'd hate to have to hand over any interesting little items to the duke where I'd never get a chance to look at them or study them again.

[faithfreebible]

Despite being impressed by the duke's offer, Gilad's outward appearance does not show it.

Nodding slightly when Betsy ups the amount, he wonders what could possibly make the duke so desperate to have these ruins investigated. Clearly he has at least some suspicion as to the importance of these ruins, even if he is unwilling to share his knowledge with the group.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

Orwell is distracted from the conversation by Ogurka's choking, and is halfway out of his chair to help her when she takes care of herself. Only then do the words penetrate.

Twenty-five thousand Imperials. Now, are those the copper ones or the...no, wait! Yeersh! That's gold. That's enough for a new hospital, with a decent set of...wait...Betsy's asking for MORE. O holy Maker, please forgive our temerity, and know that we will craft of this a thing of beauty.

Nervously, Orwell munches on his roll.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"Twenty-five thousand," the duke counters. "Although I will agree to providing supplies for yourselves and your mounts for the journey. As to salvage-- any items of historical significance will need to remain in Imperial control. Any simple wealth or weapons-- those are yours, if any such exist. Have we an accord?"

[faithfreebible]

"One third payment up front then,"

Gilad jumps in.

"To allow us to purchase extra equipment which would not normally be considered standard supplies. Spell scrolls, fresh armor and weaponry and the like. Things of greater expense than mere packhorses and trail rations."

Knowing that he may be overstepping his bounds by jumping in to the bargaining, Gilad still shows no worry on his grim visage.

His lordship is being more than generous with the fee, but if he is this desparate, it may be dangerous, and better to go prepared for the worst he thinks to himself

"And we will need a description of this mysterious footprint. Something more than 'two feet long', if you please."

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan nods slightly as the Duke lays out his counter offer. As Gilad speaks up, Duantan's foot swings upward, catching his knee with the tip of his boot. "Fifty eight thousand is a bit pricey don't you think?" he hisses quietly under his breath. "Full supplies, save those of historical significance, and what you have laid out would be very generous," he says, nodding to the duke.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Some concession is better than no concession, and although Betsy had expected a middle number to be offered, she is willing to accept that she was wrong. The salvage would possibly turn out to be worth more than the extra she'd requested, anyway. Possibly. She opens her mouth to accept the offer, but Gilad jumps in, and she just looks down at her plate and blushes light pink.

How do I fix this? The question sits in her mind for a few beats, and she nods with Duantan. By moving on, that's how. "My apologies, Your Grace. On behalf of the team, I accept your terms with thanks for your largess. We are quite prepared to handle the task you've set forth, and to begin on this mission in the morning, without any need for re-equipping."

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin's face falls when he hears about the duke's unwillingness to part with items of historical significance. But those are almost certain to be the most interesting. What do I care about some rusted old weapons?

Realizing that Betsy seems unwilling to push the Duke further on the issue of salvage, Corwin decides he must speak up. "I hope we'll at least have open permission to study such historical artifacts then. Why go on such dangerous missions if there isn't at least the opportunity to satiate one's curiousity? The money is certainly alluring, but there is more to life than money."

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The dwarf nods emphatically at Betsy's acceptance.

Yes, thanks! Sounds like it could be of historical interest too!

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka gives Gilad a surprised, uncomfortable look, impressed and a little worried about his daring. She hopes that he's not overstepping too far, and that things are recoverable if he is. She feels a little uncomfortable about starting right away when Betsy suggests it. What about time to talk and be certain about things? What about time to figure out a plan?

[McSherrie]

Evi's eyes light up, not at the talk of money but rather at the talk of salvage. The duke's constraint about items of "historical importance" seems to her easy enough to get around, but does leave open to question the most important type of salvage from her perspective. "Pardon me, your grace, you have been most generous in your offer. However, as a simple slave to text, I feel I must inquire as to the disposition of any books or non-magical scrolls that might be found. After all, their historical importance is often in the eyes of the reader, rather than those of the public." Evi is as polite and soft-spoken as possible, following in Betsy's thus-far successful footsteps, but it is clear that this is an issue near and dear to her bookish heart.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin leans back in his chair with a small satisfied grin at Evi. "Exactly," he says turning back to the Duke. "Even if such items must eventually be turned over to the state, we must retain the right to at least study those items before that time, perhaps making copies for our own interests." His tone is considerably more insistant than the demure one the ladies had adopted.

And that's why I like Evi. He must agree to at least our requests. If he didn't, how would he know if we read them anyway?

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"Of course, you're welcome to read or study anything you find. But leave those items in the castle, do not claim them for your own. It appears we have a bargain then, do we not?" He appears inclined to ignore the minor disagreements among the group in favor of reaching an accord.

[McSherrie]

Evi returns Corwin's grin with one of her own when she hears what the Duke has to say, then turns and nods at Betsy happily.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

With a light nod, Betsy says evenly, "Yes, we do. Would you please enlighten us as to the specific conditions we must meet to have this task considered complete?" With this, she lowers her gaze back to the plate and starts carefully and meticulously arranging the remaining food so it looks like she has eaten more than she actually has.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Morland nods. "The task is simple. Explore the keep thoroughly, and make note of its condition. Leave items of historical value where they are for the time being. Once you've finished, report to Commander Selkirk as to the condition of the keep. If it's habitable, what repairs are needed, that sort of thing. If you encounter anything hostile along the way, you're allowed to deal with it in whatever manner you see fit."

[faithfreebible]

Nodding, yet clearly disappointed that the team will be putting forth all the effort before any sign of payment, Gilad puts down his fork and reaches for his goblet of wine.

Looking around at his companions, it is apparent that he thinks everything is settled as far as the negotiations and terms.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

If there is anything else to discuss at this point, it probably doesn't require Betsy to say anything. She's asked all the questions she's likely to think of, and is already starting to think that maybe she was a little too forward with the Duke. She has to do her job, and he doesn't seem put off by any of it, but there is still that niggling doubt, just starting to eat away at her. At least some part of her is enjoying a meal.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The duchess speaks up for the first time. "Since you seem to have worked out the details, perhaps you could regale us with tales of your past adventures?" she inquires, seemingly eager to hear some story or other.

[faithfreebible]

Turning to the duchess, proud to relive one of his most heroic moments, gilad begins his tale...

"This tale does not include the entire party, merely myself and Ovurka here, "
nodding towards his valued orcish companion
"But one night, not more than a year past, we were travelling together as mercenaries in the troop known as the Silver Shadows. Our small patrol was ambushed by a large troop of goblins, we later found out they were a full forty-three creatures strong. Our patrol of 6 managed to find defensible ground and we set up a makeshift defense behind a heavily wooded thicket. We lost many good men that night, I cannot lie, however at the end of the night, only the two of us,"
this time grabbing Ovurka's hand and a tear falling from his eye, clearly mourning those who had fallen,
"still stood. Our blades running red with their blood, we had killed them all, every last one of them coming at us. To this day I'm not sure what drove the last goblin to continue his assualt on his own. Perhaps it was anger, perhaps a chance at vengeance for his fallen clan. But our four comrades lay dead at our backs, Bows broken or tossed aside, wounds bound as best we could, but slain in the tremendous assault nonetheless. We stayed with the Shadows another 4 months, but at the end off our contracts we struck out on our own, together. It truly was miraculous, the gods smiled upon us that day."

At this point he trails off, allowing for his companions to share similar tales if they so choose, but clearly done with his own reminiscence.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The dwarf doesn't think to rise from his seat, and it wouldn't add much to his height if he did, but he does speak up.

Witch Head.

Seeing that that doesn't really tell the story, he takes a sip of water and continues.

I travelled alone for a while before I was lucky enough to meet these fine folks. Came to the village of Paltry. I think it's probably under your protection, Duke, but I don't expect you to have visited. It's basically a handful of huts, a shrine and a big silo, really, serving the farmers there-abouts. Well, when I got there, four of the kids had taken ill with Witch Head. Seems like a cold at first, and then your face kind of breaks out in these nasty sores, pus everywhere. Nasty thing. One of the kids had died from it already.

I got lucky, had read about Witch Head, and was able to find some Cooper's Weed to help settle the sores. Didn't explain where it'd come from, though, till we noticed a tang in the stream-water. Turns out there'd been some kind of battle upstream, musta been some dead bodies in the water, polluting everything.

I stayed there four weeks, after trekking upstream to bury the bodies. Helped them build a cartesian well, away from the stream, so's they weren't so dependent on the stream water. Cute kids, there. Hung around, once they got better. Some even helped with the well, in their fashion. That was...nice.

His voice has gotten quieter. He looks up, embarrassed.

Sorry, your Ladyship. I don't think that was quite the adventure tales you were asking for. But...well, it felt good. Important, you know?

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The duchess listens raptly to all the stories, although she blanches a little at some of Orwell's more colorful descriptions. The dinner eventually winds to a close and your group is dismissed with instructions to pick up your provisions the next morning.

When you arrive at the army post, a guard greets you and takes you to a small pack train. Included are provisions for a month and a half, a week's supply of feed for the horses, tents, cooking utensils, spices, seven climber's kits, four crowbars, three shovels, three picks, four hammers, five hundred feet of silk rope, five grappling hooks, fourteen waterskins, twenty sunrods, a hundred tindertwigs, twenty flasks each of alchemist's fire, acid and holy water, twenty tanglefoot bags, a dozen vials of antitoxin, fifty cure light wounds potions, a wand of cure moderate wounds, and a wand of light. There are also scrolls for you to give to the commander in Aldar with instructions to restock your foodstuffs, and provide you further detail on the castle.

(I don't recall off the top of my head, and I'm a bit busy to look up, who already had horses, but if you don't have one, there's one for you to ride (a mule in Orwell's case), and three heavy packhorses. I'm pausing here for any roleplay/reaction you wish to make, but I'll speed you on your way to Aldar tomorrow.)

[Serpent Stare]

It's as well for Ovurka that the dinner is over, because when Gilad told their story, her mind started to wander - back to the times with the Silver Shadows, back to other mercenary groups before that, back to training with Loghren and the thrill of picking up the weapon of her ancestors, even back to the one night that set her on the hectic path of an adventurer to begin with. She is certainly quite quiet for the rest of the day, except for softly asking Gilad, that evening, "It still makes you sad to remember that fight, huh?"

[dauphinous]

Betsy

The dinner cannot end soon enough from Betsy's point of view. It's not obvious from watching her, as she gives polite attention to everyone, but she lets out a very small, light sigh of relief once the place is out of sight. "I was too pushy. I'm sorry." She blushes very lightly, just a mere hint of pink in her cheeks. "It's my fault he didn't agree to more. I can be such a clumsy oaf about this kind of thing." Though she's on Duantan's arm, she says it generally, to everyone.

[McSherrie]

Evi smiles at her friend. "Betsy, I thought that you were amazing! And look at everything that you were able to gain for us. And those stories, Gilad and Orwell! I'll have to corner you both some day so that I can write down everything!" She sighs happily and enjoys the walk through the cool night air with her companions, belly full of good food and mind in the stars.

[faithfreebible]

Old scars may be more tender, but if you pick at them too much, they still hurt.

Having retrieved his greatsword on the way out, he immediately returned it to its customary place over his shoulder.

The next day as they arrive at the army post, Gilad turns to the others.

Having been in a situation where i've been thrust into battle unexpectedly, I would like to suggest that we distribute some of the supplies even for the journey.

Not the pickaxes or shovels of course, but if anyone can use a healing wand, I think they should at least take one in case of an emergency.

Looking around to the others for agreement or argument, he prepares to follow through on his suggestion.

Gilad will tuck a wand of CLW into his belt unless someone proposes a strong objection

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The dwarf is eager to agree with Evi.

I thought you were magnificent, Betsy. I'd have just taken the first thing he offered. You were amazing!

And, we can spread out the supplies if you like, but my cart's pretty sturdy. It won't go very fast, but it doesn't break down too often. And ever since that situation with the kobold and the caltrop, I don't like riding horse and saddle too much. Feh. The place has been there this long. We'll get there soon enough.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin waits until they are well away from the duke's residence before speaking again. "You did fine, Betsy. The man didn't seem like the type who would be moved far from his initial offer anyway. At least he agreed to the salvage rights, except for those items of historical significance. And, that, it appears, is up to us to determine as well, so it is not a major loss as far as I'm concerned," he says with a smirk.

The next morning, Corwin looks over the piles of supplies. "I feel like we've already had our payday. There must be in the neighborhood of twenty-five hundred gold worth of alchemical items here alone. Not to mention the potions, wands and other various items. Hopefully this isn't an indication of how troublesome this journey will be. Of course, you know I can use most magic items without difficulty, but I'm afraid that these particular spells are not ones that we hermetics usually learn. While I can use them, I'm probably not as skilled with them as others would be. Besides, I used part of the wealth gained from our last mission to purchase a healing wand of my own anyway."

I would have no problem with you grabbing a CLW wand if there was one. What I saw were...
Potions of CLW
Wand of CMW
Wand of Light (I'm assuming the cantrip) Unless DLotS meant CLW

Also, since we've been adventuring together for awhile, Gilad would probably have some idea that Corwin had Use Magic Device at +7, but seems to be much better with scrolls (+11). He likes to try to trade his hermetic scrolls for scrolls of other magic types to expand his repetoire (sp?).

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

(FFB: There're two wands. One is Cure moderate wounds, the other is light-- yes, the cantrip to help you see in the dark, not cure light wounds. There are a lot of Cure light wounds potions though.)

[faithfreebible]

Wands? I meant potions of course. They are very useful in case of an emergency, but would barely help us if they were left on the pack horse

After correcting himself, Gilad grabs two potions and puts them in his belt pouch with the others of the same sort that he always carries.


thanks for catching that, i read it incorrectly, but i WAS wondering why there would be 50 wands of CLW :-p
also, i just rechecked my sheet and realized UMD isnt a duskblade skill and i actually have -1 in it

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly and nods to Betsy after her apology. "You did do fine," he says, patting her arm. "We got more than enough, even if there isn't anything there," he says. "I have a feeling it'll be an adventure without a doubt." He smiles towards her as they walk along.

***

The next morning he surveys the supplies with everyone else, letting out a long, slow whistle. "Impressive," he remarks as he looks over things. He moves and gathers a few things from the supplies, placing them within his backpack without apparent difference in its weight or shape. He makes a few suggestions to Betsy as they gather the supplies.

"We don't exactly have to weigh any of us down," he says, motioning towards the three heavy pack horses. "We have additional cargo space."


Duantan's procurring:
{table]1|climber's kit
50'|silk rope
2|waterskins
3|sunrods
15|tindertwigs
2|flasks of alchemist's fire
2|flasks of acid
2|flasks of holy water
2|tanglefoot bags
2|vials of antitoxin
5|cure light wounds potions[/table]

[dauphinous]

Betsy

"Oh. Um. Oh." Upon being assaulted by reassurances from all sides, Betsy blushes a darker pink that is much more noticeable and watches the ground go by. Even after all this time, it's still disconcerting that these people, her friends, have nothing bad to say. She still just naturally expects someone to suggest that her posture was poor, or her speech to brash, or her manner not proper, or...something.

***

In the morning, she has her new pair of wands, tied together with two blue ribbons, hanging from her belt on her right side. Her scrollcase hangs on her left. Otherwise, as always, she looks the same: hair a tumble of golden curls and dressed for a dinner party.

She looks over the assembled supplies upon arriving, stunned and pale. Torn between feeling accomplished and feeling embarrassed about having convinced the Duke to part with more than he probably intended, Betsy chooses predictably. She blushes a brilliant scarlet. "I...I didn't mean all of- Oh my." After an audible swallow, she says quietly, "I don't think I would be good at riding on my own."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

(Anything further you wish to do in Medro before we move on?)

[faithfreebible]

Gilad chooses a mount from the ones offered. A stable looking beast with no true military training, but a beautiful Brown color that matches his own complexion.
Once mounted he awaits the others before offering to take a position towards the front of the column, his usual position in case of attack.

nope

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka, not entirely sure what to make of the rich collection of supplies, just leaves it alone, figuring that the others will probably know better what to do with everything, and she'll be fine as long as she has her axe with her. She is still quite impressed with the array. "Well got, Betsy," she grins at Betsy, with warm pride and congratulation. "Equipment for getting there, huh? Good thinking. Lots."

She chooses a strong black horse, patting it reassuringly and mounting to trot up beside Gilad, taking her usual place as his partner. Back in her own ragged, autumn-colored clothes, she looks and feels much more confident and cheerful. "This will be great," she says, to everyone in general, smiling with the anticipation of another exciting adventure.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

A massive chestnut gelding pulls Orwell and his cart away from Medro. The back already has a niche for a sturdy box of tools that, the others know, hold tinkerer's tools and some basic forge equipment. The cart itself shows signs of wear, but its wooden structure has also been reinforced with a metal axle and some other bits of iron, the better to withstand the rigors of travel. Shovels, mauls, pickaxes and tarps are bundled together in the cart, and the grinning dwarf sits proudly on the wooden seat.

Ovurka, you're looking fine and feted and ready for bear. Ready for another leap into the unknown?

[Serpent Stare]

"For bear?" says Ovurka, giving Orwell an amused/confused look, "If it was just a bear, I think they could have handled it themselves. And bears aren't feeted quite that big... and neither am I." She looks down at her own feet, looking befuddled.
"Ready to go, though?" She grins again. "You bet. Leaping into the unknown is always interesting."

[McSherrie]

Evi looks a bit uncomfortable on her borrowed steed, but presses on cheerfully.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly, watching Betsy for a moment. "If you would like you can ride with me still of course," he says. "You do not have to take your own." He watches her as he finishes packing his warhorse, tightening the saddlebags closed.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

If there is one thing that can always be counted on, it's for Betsy to be able to blush a little bit more, no matter how red she already is. Ovurka's encouragement deepens the scarlet she already has, but she gives a small smile in response along with it.

Betsy looks over the horses that have been offered to them. If I would like. They are awfully pretty. Of course, one more horse being ridden means one more horse to feed and take care of. "I guess I shouldn't take one if I don't know how to take care of it. That would be rude." She puts a hand up to her cheek, as if trying to siphon some of the blush away with it. "To someone, I'm sure." She doesn't say anything else to justify opting to continue riding with Duantan. After all, being rude is, well, just plain rude.

Just as she does every time she takes his hand to climb up onto the horse behind him, she hesitates ever so slightly. And takes what seems like an excessively long time to stop fidgeting and finally put her arms around him. It isn't until they are free of the city that she actually relaxes and leans into him, resting her cheek on his back.

Betsy isn't taking anything for herself. She doesn't have a pack and I don't want her encumbered.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Unlike Betsy, Corwin has no compulsions about being rude. After scooping a share of the items into his pack, he chooses a cream colored horse with a black mane. He swings his leg up over it's back rather inexpertly. It is obvious that he has not had a lot of experience riding, but once in the saddle, he seems reasonably capable of staying there.

Do you want us to inventory the items that each of us are taking, or can it be assumed we each have some of each and just keep a running total of the items expended?

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The journey south is pleasant and uneventful. Your party is large, and well-armed, enough to deter most bandits, and a little bit of luck-- or perhaps divine favor-- sees you through without incident. A week after you set out, you arrive in Aldar. This city, still rebuilding from the war, is a far cry from the capital and jewel of the Empire. The military presence is pronounced. Soldiers of the red army patrol the streets, instead of the usual watch. The patrols are occasionally supplemented by guards bearing the livery of Duke Ryloth, governor of the city. A pair of guards stop you outside the imperial army compound. "Your business in the Aldar military compound?" the older of the two inquires. He's a grizzled half-orc soldier, with a pock-marked face. The other soldier looks to be a new recruit, perhaps sixteen or seventeen years old, with faint traces of a brown mustache-- or perhaps dirt-- under his nose.

(OOC: I can't recall if I've mentioned it, but the Imperial military is composed of five 'armies', designated by color. It's a little more complicated than this but essentially: red=infantry, blue=navy, grey=cavalry, black=special forces, green=scout/spies.)

[Serpent Stare]

Surprised to see that the guard is a half-orc, and eager to finally reach her destination after a week of travel, Ovurka answers, "We're here on business for Duke Morland." She gives the guard a curious, honest smile and gives Gilad a quick glance, seeking reassurance.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

Expecting no trouble, Orwell nods at Ovurka's statement, smiling broadly.

Huh. War must have bitten deep if they're recruiting the beardless kids. Mind you, I can never quite remember whether the piliatory process equates with ours, or is closer to those of the elves.

I had assumed that the two clerics would split the healing wands. If Evi's going to do more of the battlefield healing, perhaps she should take the CMW wand, leaving Orwell the CLW?

[McSherrie]

((OOC: Evi is just a librarian so can't actually use either of the wands. I think you may mean Betsy. :smallwink: ))

Being unaccustomed to riding, Evi seems to have discovered some new muscle groups due to soreness. Her relief at reaching Aldar is undisguised, even though she is disturbed by the youth of the soldier. She is happy to let Ovurka speak to the half-orc, having spent the majority of the trip randomly identifying - and telling the historical significance, if any - of every plant, stone, ruin, and farm house along the road to anyone who will listen. Even if sometimes the only one listening was her horse.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Away from the city, Betsy brightens again, like a flower given water. Whenever Duantan has the horse near Evi's she listens to Evi expound with polite interest and even asks a question when one occurs to her. Although that isn't often, it does show that she's paying attention.

She sits up most of every night embroidering in whatever light is available. It is a neverending project, as she tends to find a reason to rip her stitches out every so often and redo parts. The short time that she does sleep, she makes sure that it falls during a watch other than Duantan's.

The city causes her to react as expected. The small, earnest smile is soon gone, she sits up straight in the saddle, and she keeps her mouth shut.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The guard grunts at Ovurka in surprise at her claim. "Do you have papers to prove your claim?"

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka falters for a moment, and blushes. "Umm... I think so. Gilad? Guys? Do we have papers?" she turns to the others to deal with the complicated question of paperwork, not having been paying all that much attention to the details of paperwork or whether anyone had been handed any.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly. "No, we frequently are sent by order of the duke without proof," he says as he urges his warhorse around the others and to the guard. He reaches into his saddlebag, leaning against Betsy slightly as he does and produces the scrolls that accompanied their supplies. He turns with a smile to the soldier and holds out the scroll. "We were sent here to resupply before heading to investigate."

[faithfreebible]

Gilad

Grinning to himself, not so much in amusement at Duantan's jest as at the clearly inexperienced guard's lack of competence, Gilad shakes his head.

That it should come to this. Perhaps if the nobles didn't have such an irrational fear of hiring mercenaries, the ruins would have already been explored properly.

Turning to Ovurka, he voices his opinion, "Truly, had the Silver Shadows been hired as the expeditionary force, we would not have simply run in fear of some creatures footprint, eh?
Not truly caring if the guardsman will take offense at the comment, he doesn't even lower his voice for the jibe.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

Nodding cheerfully, blissfully unaware of the potential offense in Gilad's word, Orwell adds:

Well, unless it was a really, really big footprint. Or, you know, smouldering with sulphur or something. That might be pretty frightening.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Blushing a very light pink, Betsy turns to look just about anywhere but actually at the soldiers. Nothing about them is remotely embarrassing, of course, and she's quite used to this particular form of proximity Duantan. Although she would never admit it, this is the primary reason why she continues to ride with him, even though she doesn't have to. It's just the 'accidentally-on-purpose' nature of the contact that brings the warmth to her face. He wants to be there, which is something of a compliment. And that's worth a blush anytime.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka frowns, a slight worry reclaiming her. "I forgot about that," she admits. "I wanted to ask if anyone knew what that might have been." She looks around at the others again, even the guards, the question in her expression quite clear. She ends up looking at Evi in particular for a moment, not saying anything about her blushing, if indeed she even notices, but hoping for some sort of answer from the one who seems to know something about everything, and has for the past week been displaying tidbits of random knowledge. Perhaps Evi can tell us something bout this, too... she thinks, cocking her head in a hopeful expression.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin frowns at the guards while reaching down to massage his own thighs. "Listen, can we hurry this up a bit. We've been riding for quite awhile now, and I can't wait to get off this beast. I just want to get dismount and take a little rest. It'll probably already take me weeks to walk off the sore legs."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The orc grunts a nonverbal reply to all the comments as he looks over the papers. "You'll be wanting Lieutenant Charen. Her office is in the headquarters building. Big one about two hundred yards that way," he says, pointing. "Imperial Flag outside the doors. Can't miss it."

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan nods and smiles. "Thank you very much," he says and holds his hand out expectantly, waiting for the papers to be returned before continuing on. He glances towards Ovurka with a raised brow. "That probably will get a better answer once we talk to someone that saw it," he says. Once the papers are returned, he knickers at his horse and guides it towards the suggested building.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka nods. Of course. They were going to talk to the soldiers, who would probably have a better idea what it might have been because they were the ones who saw the footprints. That made sense. She nods, says a quiet "Thank you," in passing, to the guard, and guides her horse to follow Duantan's. She hasn't minded the ride that much, but it will be nice to start moving around the normal way again.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

As Orwell gratefully got down from the cart and clanked off after the others, he gazed carefully around the compound. The city was in rough shape. If there were repairs that they couldn't make out in the field, this was likely where they'd be going, and he wanted to know what kind of resources might be here.

Specifically, Orwell is looking either for signs of a field hospital of any sort, or of the forge-fires of a smithy. Because, after all, it's ALL about him! :smallamused:

[McSherrie]

Evi slides ungracefully off of her horse when they get to the headquarters, looking around in wonder at the city. "I feel quite as if one adventure is over and another is begining!" she says cheerfully, waiting for one of the more experienced members to approach the building.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan guides his warhorse up to the building mentioned before, then looks over his shoulder to Betsy as he holds his hand out to help her dismount. He quickly follows her down and off. As he ties the horse, he looks to the others. "We need to ask about Rik Selkirk," he says. "That was the commander of the scouting party apparently, not the person we were pointed towards." He stretches for a moment as the others dismount. "Probably get more answers as to what signs of animals they saw. I wouldn't suggest they were driven off by them though. That's not what we were told," he adds with a grin and heads into the building.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka ties her own horse, patting it gently on the flank, and hefts her axe, glad of it's comforting weight. She gives a reassuring, companionable smile to Evi, and gestures for the librarian to walk beside her, hoping to stave off some of her fear, then turns to follow Duantan.

[McSherrie]

Evi does her best to imitate Ovurka's tying off on her own horse, and returns the smile. She looks up at the headquarters - quickly identifying the architectural style and type of stone used without really thinking about it - then begins to follow Duantan and Betsy inside, happily pacing Ovurka.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin dismounts eagerly. He moves around his horse to where the others are beginning to prepare. It is obvious that he isn't used to riding for these long stretches. Today, like most of the last few, he is walking stiffly with his legs bowed outward. "Hold on, before we go in, I'm going to set up a mindspeak," Corwin says. He makes a few gestures to center his mind and looks around the group from one person to the next. As he does so, the color drains from his cheeks and a few drops of sweat form on his forehead. As soon as the spell is completed, he reaches up and wipes the sweat from his brow, a few seconds later the color has returned and he says, "Alright, I'm ready. Make the usual signal if you need to speak to me."

Everybody
Mindspeak is a spell that you all would be familiar with, Corwin would have likely used this with the group several times in the past. Here is a brief description. Oh, by the way, the usual signal, just to pick something, has been touching your head in some way. (Scratching your nose, brushing hair out of your eyes, etc.)

Mindspeak is a long-range area affect, lasts for 10 min/caster level and allows for unlimited telepathic communication between any target of your choosing, within the area of the spell. You have to either be able to see the target, or have some familiarity with them. You can switch targets while the spell is in effect, but you cannot speak to multiple targets at the same time.


DLotS
Since this is a first level Mind effect, I don't need to worry about resisting drain, correct?

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Taking the help Duantan offers to dismount with some amount of reluctance, Betsy lands heavily and pats the horse gently. She gives a light, quiet sigh and casts her gaze downward, waiting patiently for everyone to be ready to go in. She nods to Corwin, a gesture to indicate that she heard and understands, then trails along with the rest of the group as they head inside.

[faithfreebible]

"I'll stay with the horses just in case. Good idea on the mindspeak, you can let me know if there's any trouble." Gilad says, dismounting but not moving to follow.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The guard at the duty station directs you to Lt. Charen's office. The lieutenant is a harried looking half-elf woman in her thirties. She looks up from a stack of paperwork as you enter, seeming grateful for the distraction. "Yes, yes. What do you need?"

[Toliudar]

Orwell

Happy to let the more silver-tongued and attentive among the group handle dealings with the overworked lieutenant, Orwell contents himself with looking around the office, trying to work out by looking at any maps and posted documents the nature of her troubles.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan steps forward, nodding to the lieutenant as he holds the papers out towards her. "We were sent by the Duke to investigate some ruins that were found by a patrol," he states, getting to the point rather directly. "We were told to stop here to resupply, and were hoping we would be able to speak with the patrol that originally found them." He smiles to the woman, nodding slightly once more. "We were also told to report to Commander Rik Selkirk upon this assignment," he says.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"Commander Selkirk isn't here. Hasn't been for some time now." She scans the documents before speaking further. "Since you're on assignment from the Duke, perhaps you could assist us with a small problem as well?"

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan raises an eyebrow, looking over the top of his blue tinted spectacles a moment at the woman. "He has not been?" he asks curiously. "Might I ask what happened to him?" he adds.

He smiles slightly as he looks at her. "It would depend on the nature of the 'little problem'," he says. "We're not exactly just a unit assigned to this task. We are being compensated for the job."

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka feels anxious at the lieutenant's words. What sort of problems are there now? Did some sort of beast catch the commander? She looks to her companions, and to the lieutenant, uncertainly.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"On patrol. The patrol's been missing for over a week. We've been investigating a number of reports of abandoned villages, and the Commander led the last patrol in force, following up on the reports of our scouting parties. We're undermanned, and that's not a good thing. If you could find out what happened to him and his patrol and send word back, I'm sure we can arrange some sort of compensation. That's the little problem."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

"Oh my," Betsy breathes. This pronouncement is immediately followed by a short, pitched, and completely internal battle. On the one hand, half of her job is getting the best compensation possible for any given undertaking. On the other, they're already being paid handsomely for doing something that probably already technically includes this.

Of course, she isn't really a mercenary at heart. She nods, and then blushes very light pink. Biting her lower lip, she offers quietly and hesitantly, "We might already be doing that, right? I mean, it's 'investigating the ruins', which kind of includes the area around them."

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin's familiar voice rings in Betsy's head through the power of his spell. "Ah yes, but the two tasks may be completely unrelated. If nothing else, this will probably add another complication to our current mission. Why shouldn't we be further compensated for our extra efforts? I'm sure many of the others will agree with me."

He concentrates on Betsy's mind, listening for a response while Corwin stands near the back of the group, keeping his mouth shut and looking as unobtrusive as possible.

[McSherrie]

Evi's curiousity is obviously up, since she brings her focus from the poor interior decoration in the room to the lieutenant. "Were the scouting parties able to tell you anything other than that the inhabitants of these villages were missing? Mentions of, say, large footprints in the middle of town might be quite telling..."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

The blush tints Betsy's cheeks a little darker, making it more obvious. She clasps her hands together in front of herself to avoid fidgeting with them. I- I just- I'm sorry. As with any apology she makes, the one she thinks at Corwin seems completely sincere. She sends nothing else, and looks quietly at the floor.

[Serpent Stare]

Oh... thinks Ovurka, Oh. Oh dear.
"Yes, how much did your scouting parts say? The villages... are competently abaddededd..." She closes her eyes for a moment, aware that her tongue is getting tangled around what she's trying to say again, due to her nervousness. "Com-pleet-lee ah-band-donned?" she corrects herself, slowly and carefully. She scratches her forehead distractedly, looking concerned and feeling frightened.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

A slight pang of guilt hits Corwin deep in the stomach, and he almost sends an apology back himself, but he quickly suppresses that. "Damn girl, always playing the victim. I just told her that we should get paid more, and she acts like she killed a puppy or something," he thinks to no one but himself.

He is so distracted that he almost misses the signal from Ovurka. As soon as he realizes what she's done, he pops into her mind. "Yes?" he thinks to her expectantly.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan nods slightly as he listens to the lieutenant and the others. "It is something we can look into," he says, nodding towards Betsy once. His eyebrow goes up slightly at her sudden change of stature. He moves a half step towards her, laying his hand on her shoulder for a moment. "We can look into it under that case," he says, nodding to the woman. "We of course would like as much information as you have that they went in with, in addition to the reports from the patrol that found the ruins we were sent to investigation mainly."

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka almost jumps as Corwin's mental voice suddenly sounds in her head. What? Oh. Damn. Right. I forgot. Sorry. She thinks back, looking fixedly at the wall for a moment to hide her embarrassment. But... I was just thinking, there's a lot we don't know here. What are we getting into. Where did the villages go. And why the soldiers are undermined. I hope you guys have a plan...

[Toliudar]

Orwell

Orwell brought his attention back to the matter at hand, focusing in on the harried lieutenant's insights.

[dariathalon]

Corwin has knee-jerk reaction to tell Ovurka to shut up and let the big people talk, but remembering it's not good to piss off people you have to rely on he stops himself short. Instead he responds in Ovurka's head, I don't have one yet, but everyone is asking questions so we can form one later. I'm going to check in with Gilad and let him know what's going on."

Corwin concentrates for a split-second, changing his focus to Gilad's mind outside. "Gilad, we've had a troublesome turn of events in here. The commander we were told to report to has been missing for the last week. He was out on patrol, investigating some abandoned towns when he disappeared. We've been asked to look into it."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The lieutenant shakes her head. "None of the scouting parties have reported back, except one. They said it looks like people just got up and walked out-- no signs of fighting, meals half-eaten left lying on the tables, that sort of thing. No evidence of what did it either. They also stumbled on some ruined castle-- the one I guess you've been asked to search-- probably some giant lizards living inside, based on the footprints they found. Course, that patrol's now gone missing too. At least they gave us something before they vanished. Whatever's doing it, it isn't a rampaging beast or brigands."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

The blush turns to a deep rose as Duan notices Betsy's apparent distress. Now thoroughly flustered, she opens her mouth. "That, um, sounds kind of like what would happened if a charm effect of some sort was used to...uh...make them all do...something," she finishes lamely. Seeing the obvious way to deflect attention from herself, Betsy continues, "Evi probably knows about something that could do that."

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka bites her lip and grips the haft of her axe tightly at the mention of giant lizards, but carefully avoids touching her face again. However, her actual feeling is as much one of exhilaration, that her challenge, the party's challenge, is now named, as it is of fear. Something about the visualization of the foe seems to make it that much closer, to be fought and defeated, or, if necessary, avoided and worked around. Giant lizards, and people suddenly leaving their homes. These folk have been having a lot of trouble recently, she thinks, for a moment feeling sorry for the soldiers and the villages.

[McSherrie]

Evi thinks for a moment, obviously picturing the pages of various books. Once she lights upon something she thinks may be useful, her face lights up. "Well, it took me a moment but I do seem to remember one story about a man who was able to use a bagpipe to draw all the hedgehogs out of a particularly nice meadow. Or there was the woman whose bell could command magpies. And numerous others I'd be happy to discuss..."

She looks around, grinning broadly, and sees the others waiting for her to get on with it, and continues in a slightly more subdued manner. "The thing that all of the stories had in common was a charm, much like Betsy mentioned. Some involved spells, others appeared to be natural talents of certain monsters. Without more information, though, there's no real way to tell."

She looks around again, having provided the useful information at her disposal and smiles hopefully. "There is one particularly amusing anecdote about a tea kettle with the ability to make kobolds put on court clothing and dance jigs when it whistled if we have a moment and anyone would like to hear it..."

[Santanya]

Duantan

"That's alright, perhaps in a bit," Duantan quickly says, cutting Evi off, but doing his best to smile to her. "It gives us an idea what we may be up against. If the two are connected, all the better we're aware of it," he says. He looks back to the Leutenant, still smiling. "Do you have a map of the area?" he asks curiously. "It might be nice to see if there's a correlation between the ruins' location and the abandoned villages."

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The lieutenant fishes out a rolled map from a drawer in her desk, spreading it over the tops of the papers. There are several red x's marked on the map-- the location of the villages known to be abandoned. "The ruin is somewhere around here," she says, indicating a river running through the mountain range, and clearly within the range of the abandoned villages.

[faithfreebible]

Still standing watch by the horses, but listening in to the mental conversation his companions are having, Gilad's face is an unreadable mask. Not that they would know, but he had actually become attached to the little group, and only his years of training allowed him to keep from smiling at Ovurka's little verbal stumbles. They had become quite endearing.

Upon 'hearing' Corwin's message, Gilad sighs aloud and sends back a reply.
Hmmmm, well I can tell you are gathering all the information you can. Return to the horses when you finish, and we'll get on our way.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

I don't think we'll be long.

Orwell gazes down at the map, trying hard to memorize the salient details. He then glances around at the others and grunts.

Ready.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

"We will, just thought I'd check if you had any questions to relay," Corwin thinks back to Gilad.

About the spell...I think there is some misconception about the spell's abilities. It is only a 1st level spell. It does create a mental link, but only between Corwinand 1 other person at a time. Corwin concentrates on someone, creating a link to that person. He is then free to mentally converse with that person until the spell expires or he chooses someone different. It, unfortunately, does not link anyone else.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan nods slightly as he looks the map, nodding slightly. "Well, they're within striking distance of the ruins," he says. "It very well could be related," he adds with a slight smirk, looking to the others. "Once we're supplied, we could make our way through one or two of the places to look for clues," he says with a shrug.



Questions about the map:
How are the villages arranged? Is there a good path that would take the group through one or two on the way to the ruins?

Did we get maps from the Duke when we set out?

[dauphinous]

Betsy

To her ears, what Duantan said sounds a lot like 'ok, we're about ready to go'. She perks up a little bit, biting her lip gently as she addresses the lieutenant. "May we please use this map for a few minutes to update ours?" Having no skill with such things, she makes sure she is out of the way (something she excels at) so someone else can take care of the small chore.

"It's kind of early to be considering stopping here for the night, right? We could still get a fair amount of travel in today if we wanted to." She sounds hopeful about the prospect.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The terse dwarf finally speaks up.

Absolutely! Beatrice has got lots of energy in her yet! Shall we go?

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly. "It probably would be wise to get underway as soon as we are able," he says, looking towards the lieutenant. "I'm sure you would rather we not hang around in your hair at least," he says with a slight grin. He glances towards Corwin. "Can you have Gilad bring the maps from my saddle bag, the left one, near the front," he says, then returns to looking at the map.

"Anything else in the area that we should know about?" he asks the woman behind the desk as he waits. As soon as the map is brought he spends as much time as it takes to mark the locations of the town as accurately as the original map does, then rolls it up, a smile on his face. "We'll report back as soon as we are able," he says to her.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin nods. His concentration floats back to Gilad's mind. "Duantan wants the map from his left front saddle bag. I'll meet you at the door to get it." He turns on his heel and walks back to meet Gilad, returning a few minutes later with the maps. (presumably...)

[faithfreebible]

Gilad

Recieving Corwin's message, Gilad rummages briefly through his saddlebags and finds the maps.
Turning and making his way through the assorted guards, soldiers and civilians in the area around the Lieutenant's office, he meets Corwin at the door, passing off the maps and preparing to return to his post with the horses and supplies.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan takes the maps and does his best to mark the precise location of each of the villages, or at least which ones were abandoned depending on the quality of their map. Once he's done he nods to the leutenant and smiles. "We'll get underway as quickly as we can get resupplied," he says as he rolls up the map.

Pending any last questions, he starts towards the door, holding it for the others then following out.

"Well then," he says with a slight grin. "Back on the trail for us?"

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Although Betsy waits patiently for others to file out, there is enough lightness in her steps as she goes through the door for it to be clear that she's well glad to be leaving. She watches her feet as she walks. "Do you think we should head to the closest village first?" She isn't specifically addressing the question to anyone, and is really just looking for someone else to make a decision and voice it. Because she won't. But she does like to know what's going on.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka is quiet and curious as she files out with the others, wondering what they would find at the villages. Suddenly she remembers something else, and falls into step with Evi, asking her casually, "Was there relly a teapot that could make kupbolds dance?"

[Toliudar]

Orwell

A bit absent-mindedly, Orwell responds.

Well, I once met a kobold who could make teapots dance. By the Second Law of Magic Corollery, there should be such a teapot.

[McSherrie]

Evi perks up. "As a matter of fact, Ovurka, there was a teapot that could make kobolds dance. It's documented in more than a dozen texts, each giving similar if not identical details. Apparently, it was a cast iron pot with a bewitched porcelin whistle. The whistle had pictures of little birds and flowers painted on it.

"Orwell is correct about the kobold who could make teapots dance as well, although that only appears in two places and there are far fewer details. However, if you would like to share more, Orwell, I could update the information in the library when I get home." Her smile is absolutely beaming as she thinks about gathering and desiminating new information to the world.

After a moment of distracted mumbling to herself about the various related legends, Evi turns to Betsy. "Yes, I think the nearest village is a good place to start. Although I doubt we'll find the teapot there."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Betsy looks up and nods to Evi. As long as someone has made the decision, that's good enough for her.

"All the talk about teapots...does anyone have any tea? I'd kind of like some tonight, I think. Just a cup. With a little bit of cream would be really nice." A light blush creeps back up over Betsy's cheeks, and she looks down again. "Not that I'm expecting anyone to carry cream just so I can have it in my tea, I was just saying that it would be, um, I mean...that's how I like my tea, I guess...is all I meant." She finishes what she's saying lamely, just sort of trailing off like she has no idea why she spoke up in the first place, let alone why she actually said what she said.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly. "It would be best to stop in them along they way," he says. "Probably end up with giving us some clues of what we're dealing with." He walks along thinking quietly to himself, turning his head and listening to Betsy talk. "Might be hard to find any here," he says, glancing around. "Not exactly a high society type of place."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

The blush deepens. "Oh, no, I didn't mean- I mean, I don't want anyone to go looking. I just thought- I don't mean to be any trouble. I'm sorry I said anything." She pauses, pursing her lips for a moment. "That's an interesting story about the teapot. Are there other sorts of kitchen things that can do things like that?"

[Serpent Stare]

"Huh?" says Ovurka, raising an eyebrow at Betsy, "Like a bowl that turns water into cream, maybe? Why not?" she smiles amiably. "Nothing wrong with liking cream. Nothing wrong with saying so, neither. Don' be so hard on yourself."
As she walks back toward the horses, Ovurka waves to Gilad, and calls out to him as she approaches, "Gilad, do you know where we can find some tea with cream?"

[dauphinous]

Betsy

After gaping like a fish for a few seconds, Betsy's blush flares into a brilliant crimson. She covers her face with both hands and through them, says, "No, no, it's okay, I was just- It's nothing, no one needs to- I-" Unable to get her protest coherently through with how incredibly flustered she now is, she shuts her mouth.

Eyes firmly fixed on her feet, Betsy pulls her hands down to be stiff at her sides and chews on her lower lip as she walks. Her pace quickens, and she reaches the horse she and Duantan ride, putting it between herself and everyone else. Or, at least, as many of everyone else as possible. She closes her eyes and forces her breathing a little calmer in an effort to draw the blush back down.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly as he follows along, looking around. As they reach the horses, he reaches up and gently squeezes Betsy's shoulder. "Relax," he whispers quietly, a smile across his face. "We should try to get out of here soon, but we can take a few minutes as we're getting resupplied," he says to everyone. "Stretch your legs some," he says. "I know I'm not eager to be back in the saddle." He glances around the military outpost again, "Not that its all bad."

[faithfreebible]

"Well now that we know where we are going, maybe we should end this conversation of teapots, and journy to complete our mission? The one we are being paid to complete... If you must continue this discussion, we could even do that as we ride."
Gilad states, clearly no longer amused by the discussion.

As soon as the group has gone over their supplies and seen that all is still as it should be, he mounts up and prepares to ride out.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Betsy uses one hand to rub her other hand, a gesture that clearly telegraphs how uncomfortable she really is. As if the blushing wasn't enough. "Oh, you know, I just don't want to be any trouble." Once she looks down and notices the movements of her hands, she stops and drops them to her sides again. She nods at Duantan's suggestion of a short walk, but doesn't say anything else.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka stretches for a couple of minutes, trying to loosen up the muscles that are still bunched from the ride here. She gives Betsy a sympathetic look, feeling sorry for making her feel so awkward.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly and shrugs. "Relax, Gilad. We're moving, besides, if we keep uptight before we go in, all that will do is make us that much more so when we get there." He grabs the saddle and hauls himself up onto his horse, then offers his hand to help pull Betsy up behind him. "Besides, its already early afternoon, chances are it'll be close to dark when we get there, especially if we stop at the villages along the way. There's too many things that see in the dark better than we can."

He grins slightly as he looks to the others. "I prefer not to be seen at all of course."

Besides, DarkLady is away right now, so we probably won't get much advancement of the main story til she gets back. May as well get in character interactions as we can til then.

[Serpent Stare]

Sighing slightly, Ovurka mounts her horse and waits for everyone to be ready to head out, thinking to herself wistfully that a cup of tea really wouldn't have been a bad idea. She gives Duantan a look that suggests she doesn't quite understand what he's trying to say. "How would you get out of here without anybody seeing you? There's so many pebble in this place... and guards, too..."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Ovurka's look only makes Betsy feel a little more guilty, but she wipes it away and gives a shot at returning the sentiment. She never means to bother anyone, it just seems to keep happening. A little distracted, she just takes Duantan's hand and climbs up behind him, settling there quickly. She turns to Ovurka and says softly, "He just means that he likes to have the advantage of surprise. I think."

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin climbs back onto his mount looking more than a little peeved. Actually more annoyed at the prospect of getting back on horseback, he still takes it out on his companions in his mind. (First making sure that he is not currently sharing his thoughts through the connection that still exists.) "Sometimes I'm not sure why I bother travelling with these people," he thinks. "So many pebbles in this place. Feh, small rocks, kinda like her brain. At least she has a brain though. Better than Betsy who seems to completely lack a spine."

"Fine, let's be off to this first village then. No matter what time of day or night we get there, I'm sure we'll be spotted if there's anything there to spot us. A group our size is hardly subtle," he says.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckle and nods to Betsy. "I'm not worried about this place, Ovurka, not much at least. I mean when we get where we're going." He glances towards Corwin. "And yes, I would agree, as a group we are. But that's why there's this thing called 'scouting'." He knickers at his horse setting the beast into motion. "Cranky people today," he comments under his breath.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

"It's probably just all the unknowns," Betsy says quietly to Duan's back. "We've always kind of had an idea what we were going to be facing before. All we know about this is some big footprints and missing people and missing soldiers. Besides that, if it's taking out trained soldiers...well, that's cause enough for anyone to feel a little worried about the mission. Isn't it? I mean, they're soldiers."

[Serpent Stare]

"Oh. Scouting." repeats Ovurka, nodding, a little confusedly. "Well, just let me know when you need me, that's all. I think I can do a bit better than a soldier." She grins a little at the others, hoping to help keep their spirits up, despite the growing tension.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The dwarf settles comfortably back into the seat of his wagon.

Well, you have to remember that soldiers tend to think like, well, soldiers. If what you have is a sword, everything looks like it's wearing a target. There are lots of things that will respond much better to a more creative approach.

He chuckles.

Besides, my people have been dealing with things much bigger than them for a VERY long time. I do agree, though, that knowing something about the creature - or creatures - before we come into claw range would certainly be reassuring. Getting some information at the villages that might have spotted something would help us know whether we're preparing for a hydra or a giant tiger.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

After three days of further travel, hampered by the difficulties of getting Orwell's cart through some of the steep and narrow mountain passes, you arrive at a small village on the fringe of the area indicated by the lieutenant (who had a soldier see to restocking your foodstuffs before you left). The village appears to house about fifty, and is a quiet sort of town, apparently untouched by the devastation of the recent war.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

As they leave the city behind, Betsy gradually relaxes again. It isn't until it is out of sight that she slips her arms around Duantan's waist and leans into him, her cheek on his back. There are, of course, things to worry about, but this is her favorite part of any journey. She closes her eyes and just holds on, a smile of contentment on her face.

As usual, she helps with camp chores where she can, generally sticking to cleanup sorts of activities. The minor magical effects she can call up make her well suited to it, and she is always pleased to actually help out whenever she can.

She perks up as they approach the village, peering around Duantan to take a look at it. "There's not much to it, is there? What do people do in villages this small?" Obviously, she's seen places smaller than cities before, but it never fails to astound her that people can get by just fine on a long term basis without the amenities that cities offer.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan seems to relax as they group journeys. He smiles until they near the first village. seeming to enjoy the travel. Once at the village, he frowns, reigning up his horse as they come within sight of the it. "Mostly just live their lives I'd think," he says as he look across what they can see. "Let's move in, we can check things over from inside, if its as empty as we were told," he adds as he clucks softly at his warhorse, urging it into the village. "Keep an eye out though," he says, still frowning. One hand drops to the hilt of a dagger at his waist.

As they reach the edge of the village, he carefully dismounts, keeping the reigns as he leads the horse in, watching all around.


Spot: 1D20+3 = [12]+3 = 15 (http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=4645)
Listen: 1D20+3 = [13]+3 = 16 (http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=4645)

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Duantan spots nothing out of the ordinary, although a fair number of the villagers stop and stare at the party-- clearly they aren't used to such a sight.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

"But what do they do?" Betsy stays on the horse, confident it won't bolt, and pulls herself forward to sit in the saddle. "There's no theater, no market square, no nothing. The parties couldn't possibly be all that great with so few people," she blushes very lightly, "not that I like those kinds of parties, but you know."

Spot check: 18 (http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=4647)

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan glances up to Betsy. "You might be surprised. The smaller the party, the more fun it can be," he says and he relaxes. He smiles and nods to people, stopping the closest to ask where the town leaders might be found. As they walk he continues. "They're more intimate."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Betsy's smile grows a little and she blushes a just a bit more, to a rosy pink. She also nods, almost imperceptibly. "I suppose so. I...wouldn't know." She fidgets a little bit - gently pulling the sleeves of her dress straight, tucking a few curls behind her ears, brushing a few other curls out of her face.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The villager Duantan stops indicates a small temple at the end of the street-- it's unclear what deity it serves at this distance. "Parthos is in there."

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin rides near the middle of the group, keeping the others between himself and the villagers as much as possible. Once they've moved a distance beyond the one that Duantan talked to he says quietly, "When we get up there, I'm going to cast a spell that will hopefully make this Parthos chap a little more friendly. I'll hang back at the back to cast the spell."

(Those in the group familiar with magic will suspect Corwin is talking about Charm Person, one of the spells he knows.)

[Serpent Stare]

"Will that really be necessary?" Ovurka asks Corwin, also quietly, as they progress. "We're here to help. Why would the leader of the town not be friendly?"

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin looks at Ovurka rather harshly. "In my experience people are more often unfriendly than friendly. We don't know the situation here, and I want to give him as little reason as possible to distrust us."

OOC:
I just wanted everyone to know, since they've been around Corwin for quite some time now, that he has a rather shaded view of the world. I understand the irony in what he's saying, even if he doesn't. If pushed gently on the matter by someone he respects, he'll probably back down. Not saying I want that to happen, given the backstory your characters probably understand the way he ticks.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka opens her mouth, and stops, and closes it again, turning away from Corwin and looking blankly forward. But... couldn't he trust us more if we were being honest? She thinks to herself, but does not press the matter, knowing that Corwin is more clever than she is, and probably knows what he's doing. Umm, probably. She just keeps her mouth shut and keeps riding, feeling slightly hurt and embarassed.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Betsy ceases her fidgeting at Corwin's announcement of his intentions. The smile drops into a frown. He doesn't really mean to do that, does he? Just do that to someone for no real reason? I could- He doesn't care what I think, though. Rightly so. Looking back at Duantan, she bites her lip a little bit and shakes her head very slightly, but says nothing.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The dwarf sighs a bit at Corwin's habitual pessimism.

Well, in my experience, people are usually pretty nice, at least until you get to know them. But I suppose if you think it's important, I'll trust you.

Stopping the cart a respectful distance from the little temple, Orwell looks for a place to tie Beatrice up - not that she's likely to go too far too fast. If no one has volunteered to do so, he'll offer a perfunctory sign of respect at the entrance, and then step into the temple to look for Parthos.

Knowledge Religion [roll0] as Orwell tries to discern who this is a temple TO, and how important/well maintained it is.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles slightly. "There shouldn't be need to immediately," he says. "Lets talk to him and see how his reactions are before you cast anything on him." He glances towards Corwin. "If it fails, there's little doubt that he WILL be unfriendly, which is a much worse outcome, no?" he raises an eyebrow, looking over his blue tinted spectacles. "If you cannot play nice with your toys, I will be forced to take them away," he says, grinning slightly and lets out a soft chuckle, obviously joking, as they arrive at the chapel.

He helps Betsy dismount, then lowers himself. After tying the horse, he moves towards the temple's entrance. He pauses, glancing it over once before entering, attempting to be respectful.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

"Fine, whatever," Corwin says in a bit of a snit. "If he answers our questions, I won't cast. Though it'll be hard to tell if he's being honest without a spell. Maybe I could do a Truthre... Nah. You all seem too ready to trust this guy for that." He sighs and continues toward the chapel.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The symbol of the cornucopia on the door is a dead give-away to Orwell (and anyone else) that the temple is dedicated to Gershal-- a not-uncommon happenstance in small villages, although perhaps a little out of place in these mountain valleys.

The interior is warm and it's clear that the temple building serves the role of hospital and inn as well as a place of worship. A heavy-set human, with almost the same build as Orwell, only significantly taller, is bent over a large pot set in the fireplace, stirring it with a large wooden spoon. He looks up as the party enters, although he doesn't stop his motion. "Yes? Are you in some need?" The man's voice is deep and rumbling; the symbol of the cornucopia can be seen dangling from his neck as he turns to greet the party.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The dwarf gestures behind him.

Hello, sir! Well, we were sent by the...prince, was it? Lieutenant. All these titles always confuse me. Anyway, my companions and I are here to check in about some kind of monster here-abouts. Help out however we can. Oh, and we're looking for a guy named Parthos. Porthos? No, it was Parthos.

And to have stew. I don't suppose that that's stew there?

Barely waiting for a response, Orwell trots back to the doorway and calls out.

It's okay. It's a temple to Gershal. No one trying to kill me or anything.

He steps back in, smiling cheerfully.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

As soon as she recognizes the temple, Betsy climbs down off the horse. There's no reason to be worried about meeting a priest of Gershal, and she follows Orwell in, staying a few paces behind him. "Unless there's someone who needs the stew more, of course. We wouldn't want to take food from those who truly need it. But we would appreciate some of your time, regardless."

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles as he helps Betsy dismount, then moves into the Temple. He nods his head respectfully to the man, who seemed to him to be at least the cleric of the temple.

"Sent by the Duke, mainly, but were asked to look into... a disturbance more or less in the area, by a lieutenant of the nearby outpost," he explains to the man. He smiles and pauses to see if the man offers any information or knowledge of the recent happenings.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The man, who in all likelihood is Parthos, laughs at Orwell and Betsy's questions of stew. "This my friends, is laundry, although food can be provided if needed. The bounty of Gershal is available to all." He loses some of his joviality as he catches Duantan's words. "Which Duke do you mean?" he asks in a more cautious tone.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan raises an eyebrow slightly. "Morland," he says, then shakes his head and waves a hand slightly. "We are not here to inflict anything upon your village," he says quickly. "He only sent us to investigate some ruins nearby. We were asked by Lieutenant Charen of Aldar to look into this though. Nearby villages seem to have emptied more or less. Has anything strange been happening?"

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Blushing bright red, Betsy shuts her mouth and steps aside. One hand goes up to touch her forehead and, hopefully, shield at least some of the embarrassment. Her other hand fidgets a little bit with a fold of the fabric of her skirt.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

Trusting Duantan to deal with this laundry-man in a reasonable manner, Orwell examines the pot of laundry on the fire.

Hmm. If only there was a way to create a paddle that stirred the laundry for you, so that your pants would neither burn nor end up with lye scorches in the seat. That's so embarrassing.

Perhaps something which used compressed steam created by the fire itself. Yes, and a spigot to drain the water out the bottom once the pot was swung out from the fireplace, so that the water doesn't have to be laboriously seived or scooped out, but can instead be immediately reincorporated into a nice stock for dwarf stew. Mmm. Coal dust, carrots and mushroom. Just like mama used to make.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

The man at the pot relaxes at the mention of the name of Morland. "I see. Well, welcome to Gerhsal's sanctuary. I am Parthos, and the bounty of our goddess is available to all. I'm afraid I have no concrete information to provide to you on the matter. All we've heard are rumors-- traders and soldiers who have passed through and told of abandoned villages. Where the people may have gone," he shrugs helplessly. "The goddess of bounty has not seen fit to inform me of these things."

[Toliudar]

Orwell

A spigot and...oh, I should be listening.

After Parthos finishes speaking, Orwell nods.

So, those abandoned villages, the nearest would be which direction, according to the stories you've heard?

His eye begins to drift back to the pot.

[Serpent Stare]

"Erm, Hallo, Parthos," says Ovurka, walking in a bit late behind the rest of the party, naturally curious to see how the conversation goes, and whether there is, in fact, stew, as seems to have been suggested. She smiles at the honest-looking man and stands by the others, a little proudly, the weight of her axe resting comfortably at her back.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan nods slightly. "From the sounds of it, if you did have concrete evidence, you would not be here to speak with us," he says with a smile to the man. "Which I am grateful you are." He nods slightly to Orwell's question. The military's information would only be so current, but gossip always seemed to travel faster than possible.

"Also," he adds, raising an eyebrow sligthly. "Have you heard any rumors of animals or wildlife, anything from the normal?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"The rumors all indicate the troubles lie to the south, servant of the Maker." As Ovurka enters, he gives the half-orc a sympathetic smile, and a warm greeting. "No, I haven't heard of anything out of the ordinary as far as the local fauna would be concerned. Why do you ask?"

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan smiles and shakes his head. "Just trying to place together bits of information," he says. "It should be on no major concern, I do not think."

He looks to the others. "Perhaps we should set out for the closest of the villages," he says, raising an eyebrow. "There is still good daylight to be burnt."

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin, who had been standing quietly near the back of the group, steps forward to speak up. "So nothing out of the ordinary at all here then? Think hard. Anything could be a hint. You don't want what happened to the other villages to happen here," one of his eyebrows raises in an expression of suspicion. His voice is firm and biting.

[Serpent Stare]

"Do we really have to leave so fast?" asks Ovurka, quietly, showing a bit of disappointment. "I thought somebody said there was stew." She scratched a little nervously at her forehead, and looked cautiously at Corwin, trying not to draw his attention. Why does he always have to be so nasty to everyone? It's no wonder he's used to having people not trust him, being around him is like being held at the blade of a knife.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The dwarf winces a bit.

I'm afraid that that was my error, Ovurka. Sorry. Blame a dwarven nose too used to cooking fires that are built close to the forge-fires.

Orwell turns to Parthos and bows clankily.

I will leave you to your laundry, Friend. May your bounty never cease. Perhaps we will return with better news, and there shall be a celebratory stew after all.

Unless there's something to keep him here, Orwell will head back out to check on Beatrice.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka sniffs the air, wrinkling her nose a little at the smell. "Uh." She makes a face, at least as amused as it is disgusted, and gives Orwell a joking look. "Not to be rude," says the battle-toughened orc, chuckling a little, as politely as possible, "But I think maybell I would not like dwarf cooking."

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The dwarf beams, holding up a hand dismissing her politeness.

Hey, there's a reason I don't live underground much anymore. And it's not because I like being suntanned.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Between Orwell and Ovurka, Betsy starts to giggle a little bit. It's quiet, and half-smothered behind a hand over her mouth, but the exchange is funny, and she's not afraid to admit that in front of a priest of Gershal. Well, not completely, anyway. The hand lowers to rest lightly just below her neck and she offers a slight bow to Parthos. "Good health to you, sir." With this, she follows Orwell out, still smiling with a bit of mirth.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

"Gershal's blessings be upon you," he says formally as the group turns to leave.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan bows his head respectfully to the priest, commenting "You as well," before turning and giving Corwin a raised eyebrow as he walks back outside, pausing if the mage does not follow.


Once outside he moves to his horse, speaking loud enough for the group to hear him, but not much past. "Not much information, but some," he says as he hoists himself up onto the horse and offering a hand to Betsy. "Whatever it is isn't openly hostile to just anyone. Traders have been moving freely from the sounds of it, and it doesn't sound like there's much hostile in the villages that have been emptied."

[Toliudar]

Orwell

The dwarf scrambles back up into his cart and starts to pull slowly away.

Or it could be random - a creature that attacks what crosses its path as it moves around the area. Either way, I'd suggest that looking for some of those tracks might be our next destination.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Taking the help up, Betsy settles herself behind Duantan and takes one last look around the village. It's a funny thing, how places with small amounts of people don't bother her, but add more people, and suddenly, it's a city, full of...city things and city stuff. People like her mother live in cities.

She leans into Duantan and wraps her arms around him tightly. No, she really doesn't like cities at all. This is much better, by far.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin follows the rest of the group out with a silent nod to the priest. Once everyone has reassembled, he says, "Still not enough information than to do more than make wild guesses. We can try going on to the next town, or perhaps there is someone else in this town to speak to. Maybe someone who spends more time out on the roads than that Parthos, or whatever his name was. Just an idea, we can do either since there will hopefully be information following either endeavor."

[Serpent Stare]

"Pity 'bout the stew," mumbles Ovurka to herself as she mounts her horse again and pats it reassuringly. "Sorry 'bout the wait," she whispers to it, and turns her orange eyes back to her companions to hear the decision.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

As they pull out of town, the cart picks up a more regular pace.

Well, could we head towards one of the towns that was, er, emptied? At the very least, we've got a good chance of finding some vestige of the creature - or creatures' - marks.

[Santanya]

Duantan

"Heading towards the closest of the emptied towns will most likely be the most fruitful," he says as they ride. "The temple there appeared to be the towns inn as well, so any travelers would be stopping by there, eager to spill any gossip they have. Other's probably spend more time working than traveling." He smiles slightly as they ride, happy to be making what felt like progress. "Someone with direct information would more likely be like the scouts that have gone missing."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

"It was kind of weird that they didn't even have a tavern. Wasn't it? I thought all small towns had some trollop who ran a bar and served herself on the side. The ones I've been to before always seemed to." Thank goodness for that.

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka gives Betsy a surprised look, and says, a little awkwardly, "Really? Bar... troll-ops... are that much everywhere? Er..." she pauses, uncomfortable, and finally says, "How come this is sometin you know about so well, Betsy?"

[dauphinous]

Betsy

"Oh. Well, I've...um..." Mildly flustered by the question, Betsy takes a few moments to compose an actual answer, though she doesn't blush. "Several of the men in a mercenary group I once worked for had...I suppose you might say they were talented at detecting...er...women of negotiable virtue." She frowns a little bit, pushing away a specific memory that rises to the surface, like half-digested food on the way back out the way it came in. "We passed through a lot of small towns."

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin figures that Ovurka won't understand Betsy's attempt to put things politely, so he decides to translate. "She means she used to hang around with a group of guys who could pick out an easy woman." He smirks a little as the thought crosses his mind, Wonder what that means about Betsy back in the day. He goes on, "They found a whore in nearly every town they passed through. The innkeepers sell a bed for the night and then sell their bodies as part of the package," he says bluntly.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

Never having understood the attraction of that kind of short-term contact, Orwell looks on, listening as to a natural history lecture.

So, some of your men, they pay extra for a bed because someone else is already in it? Fascinating. I suppose it would be warmer.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly. "Well, it probably was after they enjoyed it together," he says with a shrug, giving Orwell a glance. "To each his or her own I suppose," he adds, shaking his head. "There's more enjoyable prizes in the world."

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Orwell's comment just makes Betsy confused, and it shows, clearly and plainly. She shrugs, though, not particularly curious about the habits of dwarves. Or maybe it was a particular sect thing on his part, in which case she is mildly curious, but not enough to be so impolite as to ask.

The brief thought process she spares on the improbability of a male not knowing anything about whoring is only enough to make her miss the first couple of words from Duantan. Nodding in agreement with him, she sits up a little more. "It's not really all that different from arranged marriage. Money for sex is not so different than money for a wife. Fewer entanglements with more risk. Actual cost is similar over the long term."

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka stays quiet and reddens just a little, listening interestedly to all this and nodding vaguely. It isn't that she's unaware of humans' cultural tendencies when it comes to sex, per se, but it isn't her world, and she wasn't aware of the predominance of whoring in inns - she'd simply never bothered to think about it before. She shakes her head, a little, and says, "Seems like it'd be a lot of work, to me. Woman'd have her hands full enough with just running the place, wouldn' she?" She shrugs. How human women ran their businesses wasn't hers. "So. Er. Are we gonna go then?"

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin pipes up again, sounding more than a little hostile as he speaks. (What else is new.) "Mommy dearest seemed to make it work just fine. Though she didn't run the place. She was just one of those barmaids that Betsy's so familiar with. She took a road-weary traveller or two into her bed in her day. Not usually for pay as far as I'm aware, but I wouldn't put it past her."

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka stares, shocked, at Corwin. ...Oh. Oh, she thinks, and feels guilty about bringing it up. She drops her eyes to the ground to avoid Corwin's angry gaze and bites her lip. Hard. As a bit of blood starts to ooze around her teeth she glances around at the others and waits desperately for someone to change the subject, or at least distract Crowin's fury from her words.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan rolls his eyes in response to Corwin's rantings as they ride. "You really should have been a bard, Corwin. You get enough passion over every little thing for it," he says, chuckling softly as he peers around the group. They were traveling through unknown lands, so it was worth taking a moment or two every bit for it.

"People make money the best way they can, no harm in that. Doesn't make them better or worse, just makes them people," he says, glancing to the others.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Dropping her eyes down at first, Betsy lifts them and looks over at Ovurka, trying to make eye contact. Ovurka is always nice to her, and to everyone else, for that matter. She mouthes the words 'it's okay' and gives as encouraging a smile as she's capable of at the moment, which is rather small...but still there.

[Toliudar]

Orwell

Riffing on something Duantan had just said, Orwell makes another of his patented conversational left turns without signalling.

Perhaps I have a great deal to learn from you, Corwin. My investigations have suggested that, often, powerfully roused emotions can not only give a body brief bursts of great stamina, but can in a more controlled fashion lead to improved blood flow and overall health. In short, better living through managed anger. You may be on to something. We could write a book.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Just to make things clear, Corwin didn't sound particularly upset with any of the other PCs. His hostility was directed at his mother, though I suppose it could be misunderstood by some. Corwin does like most of the others in the party, he is just moody and a little overly dramatic about it.

Corwin ignores what Orwell has said for a moment and responds to Duantan first. "You're absolutely right. I don't judge her for how she chose to earn her money or even for who she took to bed. There are plenty of other reasons for me to despise her."

He then turns to Orwell to respond to him, actually eager to change the subject himself. "If that's true I think I'll live to be a very healthy, if not particularly happy, old man." He cracks a smile at this and lets out a small snort of what could almost be called laughter. "What do you think, my fair librarian? Do we have a book idea on our hands?"

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka is precisely the type to suspect she's angered someone when they show hostility, and Corwin's general impatience with her has likely caused her to feel that she is good at making him angry without meaning to in the past. All in all, even though I don't think Corwin's trying to take everything out on her, she probably does.

It takes a moment for her to notice Betsy's look, but once she does, Overka offers her a strained expression back. Not until Corwin answers Orwell's suggestion to write a book does she loosen up, opening her mouth to take a deep, long, breath of air... and winces a bit as her teeth are withdrawn from her lip. She sighs faintly of relief, not wanting to draw attention to herself, and smiles an awkward smile back to Betsy, one that has significantly more of an element of I-can't-believe-I-just-survived-that than she's ever shown with regards to any of the several heated and deadly combats she's taken part in.

Feeling that she's spoken too much already, Ovurka stays quiet and just waits for one of the more assertive characters in the party to get around to determining the actual plan of what to do next.

[McSherrie]

Evi's fingers twitch as if she's writing in an invisible book again as she listens to everyone around her, her eyes jumping between the speakers. "You know, traditionally the women of disrepute were the ones who were the best educated. Therefore, they were far more likely, historically speaking, to have written about themselves and their lives. In fact, much of what I have learned about life in the world beyond acadamia comes from the writings of these women of questionable morality..." She thinks about it for a moment, and blushes furiously when she realizes what this means about her. "Um, well, yes, so... We should, um, continue on then?" Still blushing, Evi refuses to meet anyone's eyes for a bit as she composes herself.

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan chuckles softly as they ride along. "And this is why I never get bored around you people," he comments.

[Serpent Stare]

After a long and inexplicable silence among her comrades, Ovurka begins to get tired and nods off to the soothing rhythm of her horse's hoofbeats. Until the horse moved suddenly to get around a rather big and protruding stone in the road, and jostles her. "Awgweth trrrengle..." grunts Ovurka, still mostly asleep, "Geroff mer. Getter offa my... Owch..." The grumbling orc does not seem to realize that the source of her discomfort is that she has got her ankle stuck in the stirrup.

[McSherrie]

Evi attempts to manuever her horse closer to Ovurka's, intending initially to untangle the stirrup and ankle. She thinks better of this, however, knowing that waking a sleeping orc with physical contact is not always the best idea - especially an orc trained to kill. Instead, she moves her horse a step or two away and says, "Ovurka, wake up. I think you're twisted up somehow. You know, I seem to remember reading about a hero in the dark days of history who cut off his stirrups after just such an incident. His first inclination was to have his horse butchered for such an insult, but his generals pointed out that well trained war horses were far harder to come by than new saddles..."

[Serpent Stare]

"Muh?" Ovurka grunts partly awake, grumbling something in orcish and opening one orange eye. "Sr'y? ...What? Kill the horse? I wouldn do that..." She looks down, groggily, and sees her ankle caught in the stirrup, then carefully leans over to untangle her foot, which takes a moment, and requires her to stop moving. Once she's got her foot back, she urges on the horse to catch up to the others again. "Mm. Thanks Evi. I was starting dremming a great big lizard snake thing had got me. Did I miss enthing?"

[Santanya]

Duantan

Duantan shakes his head as they ride. "Not too much, there was a squirrel a ways back, but it ran off without imparting its wisdom. Probably would have just demanded a toll of nut anyways," he says, keeping his voice perfectly serious as he looks towards Ovurka.

[dauphinous]

Betsy

Giving just a bare, light giggle, Betsy looks over at Ovurka. "That's really brave. I would have called something like that a nightmare, and probably done something embarrassing like scream in my sleep. I was actually kind of dozing off myself, sort of dreaming about-" Betsy blushes bright pink all the way to her ears as she cuts herself off abruptly. "Um, nothing, really. It was just, uh, silly...nothing."

After another few moments, she blushes even more, a deeper red.

[dariathalon]

Corwin

Corwin adjusts himself in the saddle. "Riding may be tiring, but I don't know how anyone can get comfortable enough on one of these things to fall asleep. Anybody know when we'll reach our destination?"

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka continues along, shaking the remnants of sleep from her head. "Nuts to the squirler, hm?" she mutters, summoning up a bit of a tired smile. "An' we're no nuts to give him either. Too bad for him." She gives Corwin a tired look, and says, "I can't say I like falling sleepy on a horse... but I think I haven't been getting quite enough rest for the last cobble days." She yawns. "It's talkin' talls." She pauses for a moment, grumbling slightly, shakes her head again, and corrects herself. "Taking tolds, I mean."

[McSherrie]

Evi shifts uncomfortably in her saddle. "You know, there was an ancient civilization that I read about once who designed their saddles specifically so that they could be slept in. While this was brilliant for their ability to conduct trade with far off nations, it did tend to hamper them somewhat in terms of warfare. In fact, in the Brilliant Battle of Buskersville, the soldiers were all taken by surprise during their afternoon nap and advance, resulting in perhaps the greatest overkill of all time."

[Serpent Stare]

Ovurka, having nearly begun to nod off again, shakes herself awake once more to listen. "They all gotted killed? Mmm. Cruel enemies. But with stories like tha'... You right, I'd better stay awake then, hmm?" She straightens her back and rubs her eyes, grumbling minor complaints (in Orc) about feeling tired and not being able to sleep properly. After a while, she adds, "When we get to where we go, though, I am going to find summin and sleep fer a bit. Tha's first thin, fer me." She steels herself to awakeness, sitting up... well, mostly straight, and riding on, looking around alertly as though expecting trouble to come from around any corner.