"We should ask the guards to accompany us to the site of the attack. With their help we can more easily identify it. If the bandits are in this town, we may also need them to identify the bandits."
Quarion sighs. "I suppose. I prefer to sleep in the grass among the green, but in the interest of maintaining unity, I will spend the night at the inn. If you can convince the guards to accompany us, by all means do so. But I doubt they will be willing, not for nothing in payment."
"I do not know whether we would want Scodi's guards or not. They could recognize the bandits, but then the bandits could recognize them as well. They did describe the site of the attack, it's possible we could locate it without them. Half an hour out of Rosehurst, a large boulder to hide behind, and thick enough shrubs to hide one or two more."
__________________
SOUL: Secret Organization for Underground Levity
You can't stop the laughter!
THE HIVE: One Mind, No Purpose. Public Member of the Secret Fraternal Order of the Hive.
OoC: Sorry. I've been away from my computer a day or two. Yes. Eanos is along for the ride. He's pretty quiet in general, so always feel free to assume he's just tagging along with the rest of the group if need be.
The five adventurers made their way back down, down, down into the pit of Fallon. The magical waterlifts still worked at night, lifting huge cargo ships up to the level of the lake. But marvelous as the sight was, their attention was almost wholly devoted elsewhere.
Fallon at night was like an incredible festival of fireflies, with every surface of the floor and walls of the pit covered in lights. Since some of the larger buildings rose many stories from the floor, it appeared as a sparkling model of a city inside a glittering display case. Only this model was lifesize, and huge.
Going down was easy, although their legs began to burn near the bottom. They made their way across the city proper, their exertions forgotten as they wove their way past the glittering spires above them.
They hadn't gotten far up the staircase on the opposite side when their tired bodies reminded them of the previous morning's exertions. After several stops to rest, the group finally saw the lip of the pit give way to a familiar sight -- the Jolly Fisherman, beckoning to travellers as the last stop before the great city.
All slept very soundly, especially Joru, Quarion, and Eanos, who had walked for miles on the surface as well as down, across, up, down, across, and up the walls of the pit.
The new day dawned to sore muscles but a refreshed party, save for Dae. "I'm not feeling too well", he complained. "Why don't you go on ahead today, and I'll catch up when I can?"
Iamthetest:
Still looking for a post from you. If and when you return, I can easily get you back into the adventure...just let me know.
Alden wordlessly nods in response to Dae's request. Dae hadn't been very talkative yesterday, probably just a cold. After a quick breakfast, he heads out of the inn, squinting into the early morning light, he gazes out over the city and tries to figure out the path back up to the gate for their journey.
__________________
SOUL: Secret Organization for Underground Levity
You can't stop the laughter!
THE HIVE: One Mind, No Purpose. Public Member of the Secret Fraternal Order of the Hive.
Eanos awakes to muscle soreness, but even as he stretches and works out the stiffness, he praises Ayratha for the test of endurance yesterday gave him.
When he's loosened the knots in his muscles, the monk joins the others to break his fast, asking, "So we're looking for a large boulder, yes? Have we come to any kind of consensus as to whether or not we want to bring the guards along?."
He frowns a moment before adding. "Perhaps it's a matter of my most recent encounters, where nearly everyone seemed to be backstabbing everyone else, but are we sure the guards weren't involved in this theft?"
"They seemed honest enough. Perhaps it is just MY suspicious nature, but I expect that had they been involved, they would have made some effort to appear more . . . skilled, rather than allowing it to be known that they were defeated without a fight."
__________________
SOUL: Secret Organization for Underground Levity
You can't stop the laughter!
THE HIVE: One Mind, No Purpose. Public Member of the Secret Fraternal Order of the Hive.
OoC: Just wanted to say I'll have sporadic internet access between now and 1/2/07. Post away as you please, and if I can log in, I'll do my part. Otherwise, see you next year!
Quarion's trance was pleasantly long, as usual when he travels with humans. The extra hours he spent stretching while the others slept did him well, and now he feels refreshed and ready for another long journey.
The discussion about today's destination and traveling company begins. Quarion comments, "It has been my experience that men lie often and for no reason. The forest creatures, however, always speak the truth. I know Joru here can speak with animals of the earth. If we can locate the boulder of which the guards speak, then we can always ask the animals nearby for eye witness accounts. Birds of prey have magnificent eyesight. In my opinion, we should ask the guards for specific, concrete details about the site of the robbery. Those things are much more difficult to lie about. But we should still take everything they testify to with... a grain of salt, as humans would say. I do not think they will take kindly to traveling all the way to another town without a day's wages, but if one of us believes it is worth the effort, it would do little harm to ask, I think."
Prepared Spells: (4/3) Level 0:create water, light, purify food and drink, detect magic Level 1:cure light wounds, charm animal, speak with animals Level 2:spider climb, fog cloud
"We have spent enough time already on the mission. I believe we have enough information to gain an idea of where to go. We can try questioning the beasts, if they have enough wit to know of what we speak. But nothing will be gained by spending time to try and gather more information, or to coerce the guardsmen into accompanying us. Come, it is time."
__________________
SOUL: Secret Organization for Underground Levity
You can't stop the laughter!
THE HIVE: One Mind, No Purpose. Public Member of the Secret Fraternal Order of the Hive.
The elf nods. "I too believe the human guardsmen have done all they will for us. Asking would not hurt, but it would be a waste of time. Even if they agree to join us, what new information could they give us? No, let us go to the site, inquire of the animals more details, and then continue on to the town."
If everyone else agrees, Quarion nods again and leads the journey out of the city to the road.
OoC: It's probably a good idea here to have a roll call respose to Quarion's plan, since this is the first real action since the holidays, and it's been a while since everyone's posted in this thread.
The elf nods. "I too believe the human guardsmen have done all they will for us. Asking would not hurt, but it would be a waste of time. Even if they agree to join us, what new information could they give us? No, let us go to the site, inquire of the animals more details, and then continue on to the town."
If everyone else agrees, Quarion nods again and leads the journey out of the city to the road.
The stoic monk shrugs and nods. "If we suspect the guards of collaboration, it only causes us extra trouble to bring them along, since they'll be extra enemies. Trying to find the site on our own now that we have a proper description seems a sound enough plan."
That's three out of four. That seems like the best we're going to do in the short run. If LiquidBlue sees this pop up again he can still be tagging along.
So. . . *bump*
__________________
SOUL: Secret Organization for Underground Levity
You can't stop the laughter!
THE HIVE: One Mind, No Purpose. Public Member of the Secret Fraternal Order of the Hive.