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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7109862" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 32</p><p></p><p>The day dawned unseasonably cool with gray clouds lingering low over the village. But they didn’t deepen into the angry shade that threatened rain, and they began to thin out as the four adventurers left Northpine and headed southeast into the Kilmar Hills.</p><p></p><p>Their meeting with the council had gone long and had been followed with a largely unproductive interview with the missing boy’s distraught mother. By then it had been late enough in the day that they’d decided to stay the night in the village and get an early start the next morning.</p><p></p><p>The delay had allowed Erron Laddrick to prepare a map of the hills that extended south and east of the village for several leagues. The map wasn’t as comprehensive or as detailed as the one that Starfinder had loaned them back in Crosspath, but it included a number of landmarks including the place where the dead hunter had been found and some of the many trails that wound through the hills. The sheriff had marked several sites where he thought they might find signs of bandits, if in fact they did exist and had a lair within the region. The map even included a suggested route and various places that might serve as a campsite, for even a partial circuit of the region would take them at least a few days.</p><p></p><p>“This sheriff seems to know his business,” Bredan said as they paused to check the map. That was one of the factors that had led them to try his recommended course for finding the missing child first. A search of the area around the Garson farm had turned up no tracks or other clues, so all they had to go on were the various suggestions from the local residents. They’d confirmed that none of the locals had seen the boy or had any clues from before his disappearance that hinted at where he might have gone.</p><p></p><p>“He served in the local baron’s guards for twenty years,” Glori said. “He retired as a senior officer and was given the position of sheriff basically as a retirement pension.”</p><p></p><p>Bredan blinked at her. “How do you know that?”</p><p></p><p>“I asked around,” Glori said. “All you really have to do to get to know a place is talk to people.”</p><p></p><p>“You know, we never did learn the name of the local baron,” Quellan said.</p><p></p><p>“It doesn’t matter,” Kosk said. “Half the locals probably don’t even know. It’s common out here in the west to find places like this, baronies cobbled together out of half a dozen widely scattered villages.”</p><p></p><p>“I wonder how many men—people,” Bredan amended, after glancing over at Glori, “will be heading north to Adelar. Answering the King’s call.”</p><p></p><p>“We’ll find out when we get there,” Kosk said. “Which will be later than we thought, thanks to your bloody soft-heartedness.”</p><p></p><p>“We couldn’t just leave these people in their hour of need,” Quellan said. “The boy…”</p><p></p><p>“Is most likely dead,” Kosk said, but there wasn’t any anger in the statement, just resignation.</p><p></p><p>With that grim note dogging their steps the companions made their ways into the hills. The Kilmars were rather more pleasant than the Dry Hills. The prevailing winds brought more moisture through these lands, and while they were hardly lush there were plenty of springs and streams and even some edible wild plants that could stretch their stores and bulk up their evening stews. Their route wouldn’t take them that far from the village, following a path through the hills in a broad crescent that would return them to the road half a dozen miles beyond Northpine.</p><p></p><p>The trail they followed was little more than an old hunter’s track and was almost invisible at places, but Laddrick’s map was clear enough that they didn’t get lost. They didn’t see anything larger than a rabbit—one that fled too quickly for Glori to get a shot off—until late afternoon, when they heard someone approaching on the trail ahead. They were navigating a gully thick with brush, limiting their vision to only about fifty paces ahead of them, but they quickly readied their weapons for a confrontation. By the sudden quiet it sounded like whoever it was had detected them as well.</p><p></p><p>“Ahoy the trail!” came a voice from up ahead. “We’re just travelers, not seeking trouble!”</p><p></p><p>“We’re not here to give you any!” Kosk replied before Glori or Quellan could offer a more conciliatory answer. “Show yourselves!”</p><p></p><p>The two parties approached warily. The ‘travelers’ were another quartet, four human men who were clearly equipped to deal with the dangers of the Kilmar Hills. All wore suits of studded leather armor that had clearly seen long use, and two carried short bows in addition to the swords and daggers they all carried. Their leader was a gruff-looking man who had a bushy beard and a hard look that he fixed on the four adventurers as he came forward to greet them.</p><p></p><p>“Gorus Tholrin,” he said. “You’re the first travelers we’ve seen out here. We getting close to the road, by any chance?”</p><p></p><p>“Quellan Emberlane,” the cleric replied. “Keep going this way and you’ll hit it by sundown.”</p><p></p><p>“Much obliged,” Tholrin said. “You heading east?”</p><p></p><p>“Not for much longer,” Quellan said. “We’re looking for a child that’s gone missing from one of the local villages. Been gone a couple days now.”</p><p></p><p>“Hmm. That’s rough. We haven’t seen anyone, but we’ll keep our eyes open.”</p><p></p><p>“What brings you west?” Kosk asked.</p><p></p><p>Tholrin gave the dwarf a look that suggested challenge, but then he shrugged and said, “We’re looking to take the King’s coin. You’ve heard the news?”</p><p></p><p>“Aye,” Quellan said. “We were headed north ourselves, before we stopped at the village.”</p><p></p><p>“Well. Hope you find the kid. Safe travels.”</p><p></p><p>“Safe travels,” Quellan said.</p><p></p><p>The two groups moved past each other, each side eying the other before moving on their way. Glori in particular attracted attention, and Bredan moved to stand next to her until Tholrin and his companions were well past and moving out of their view.</p><p></p><p>“You think they were telling the truth?” Bredan asked.</p><p></p><p>“About why they’re here?” Kosk said. “Could be. They had the look of mercenaries, but the line between ‘mercenary’ and ‘bandit’ can be a fluid one at times.”</p><p></p><p>“You sound like you know that from personal experience,” Glori said.</p><p></p><p>Kosk’s expression sharpened, but then he turned toward the trail ahead. “Come on, I’d just as soon get well clear of our friends before nightfall, just in case.”</p><p></p><p>Soon after their encounter they turned to the north, following another path that ran parallel to an undulating ridge of exposed granite that rose as high as fifty feet above them. They followed that ridge for the better part of a mile before it turned east and they continued north into a rough landscape of steep hills and exposed outcrops that forced them to follow a meandering course.</p><p></p><p>“You could hide a hundred bloody bandit gangs in this landscape,” Kosk said.</p><p></p><p>“They need food and water just like anybody else,” Bredan said. “This place is too rocky to support a hideout.”</p><p></p><p>The dwarf didn’t respond, but he picked up his pace just enough to force them to hurry to keep up. Glori shot Quellan a covert grin, and the cleric smiled back and shook his head.</p><p></p><p>Night descended swiftly upon the hills, but Laddrick’s map remained reliable and they had no difficulty finding one of the campsites he’d indicated. Bredan guessed that they were only maybe five or six miles east of Northpine as the crow flew, but they’d covered two or three times that distance in their meandering hike through the hills. Tomorrow they’d finish their sweep north and then curve left to find the road again, hopefully before sunset.</p><p></p><p>There weren’t any large trees in the rocky part of the hills they were traveling through, but they found enough scrub growth and dried bushes to fuel a small fire. Glori was watching Bredan snap sticks and Quellan unpack some of the edible roots they’d found earlier in the day when she said, “I was thinking more about that Tholrin and his men.”</p><p></p><p>“In my experience, it never ends well when a woman begins a sentence with ‘I was thinking,’” Bredan said. That got a snort from Kosk and a stern look from Glori, but Quellan stepped in and asked, “What’s on your mind?”</p><p></p><p>“Just this… where were they coming from? I mean, I haven’t heard anything about settlements in these hills, and it sure doesn’t look like anyone lives out here.”</p><p></p><p>“Maybe there’s some settlements on the other side of the range,” Bredan suggested.</p><p></p><p>“Maybe,” Glori said. “But if that’s the case, why wouldn’t they have just gone east into the Liir Valley? The route there is much easier, basically a straight shot to Adelar.”</p><p></p><p>“What are you saying, that they might be bandits?” Bredan asked. “That we should go back to Northpine?”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t know,” Glori said. “Maybe they were just what they seemed to be. After all, Kosk didn’t punch any of them, so maybe they’re fine.”</p><p></p><p>The dwarf didn’t respond to the jibe. “We should finish our sweep,” he said. “If they were bandits, they clearly didn’t have the boy with them, and maybe they’ve got a hiding place somewhere around here. We can check if they came through Northpine when we get back, and if not we can worry about…”</p><p></p><p>He didn’t get a chance to finish, as a high-pitched voice called out from the darkness beyond the ring of firelight, “Hello the camp!”</p><p></p><p>The companions grabbed their weapons and scrambled to their feet. “Who’s there?” Quellan called out.</p><p></p><p>“Just a humble traveler,” came the return.</p><p></p><p>The four companions shared a look. “Did they follow us?”</p><p></p><p>“That doesn’t sound like Tholrin,” Glori said. “Though we didn’t hear any of his companions speak.”</p><p></p><p>“That fire looks nice and warm,” the stranger said. With the firelight surrounding them even those with darkvision couldn’t see anything more than a vague shadow well back from the camp.</p><p></p><p>“Come forward into the light,” Quellan said.</p><p></p><p>The figure approached, and was revealed to be a reedy figure of a human, draped in a dark cloak that looked to be a size or two too large for him. One look was enough to confirm that he was not one of the mercenaries they’d encountered earlier that day; this person looked about as dangerous as the rabbit they’d spooked earlier in the day. He didn’t carry any obvious weapons, though the cloak was big enough to conceal almost anything under its generous folds. He came to a halt right on the edge of the firelight and regarded them with a placating grin.</p><p></p><p>“Who are you, now?” Kosk asked.</p><p></p><p>“My name is Orin Lesar.”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t reckon you’ve come to take the King’s coin as well,” the dwarf said.</p><p></p><p>“King? What king?” Orin asked.</p><p></p><p>The four companions shared a look. “Um… King Dangren,” Glori said. “The King of Arresh? The kingdom you’re in right now?”</p><p></p><p>“Oh, that king!” Orin said with a wild giggle that had the others sharing glanced again. “Oh, is that stew you’re making? I’m famished!” He shuffled forward quickly enough that Quellan stepped aside before he had a chance to think better of it.</p><p></p><p>The others circled back around the fire as Orin seated himself on a rock beside the fire. The light from the flames flickered in his eyes. As he smiled up at them they could see that he was missing several teeth, and the ones that remained were blackened with decay.</p><p></p><p>“Um… where did this guy come from?” Bredan whispered to Glori. The smith still had his big sword in his hand, though he left it in its scabbard.</p><p></p><p>“I have no idea,” the bard whispered back. She likewise held onto her bow tightly, an arrow clutched in her other hand.</p><p></p><p>Kosk was on the other side of the fire and hadn’t heard their exchange, but he clearly had the same thoughts on his mind. “So where are you from?” he asked.</p><p></p><p>“Oh, here and there,” Orin said. He didn’t seem to be alarmed at their manner or the weapons they still held openly, but as the companions spread out Glori’s cloak fell open and the firelight caught on her lyre. The strange traveler’s eyes fixed on it at once. “Silver,” he said. “I thought I smelled silver.”</p><p></p><p>“Excuse me?” Glori said, flicking her cloak protectively over her instrument.</p><p></p><p>“I hate silver,” Orin said, his lips twisting back into a snarl.</p><p></p><p>“Look, friend,” Kosk said. “Maybe you’d be better off finding your own camp.”</p><p></p><p>Orin tore his gaze away from Glori and smiled up at the dwarf. “I like it here.”</p><p></p><p>Kosk’s expression didn’t change, but the others knew him well enough to sense the subtle shift in his mood. “My companions don’t like it when I punch strangers in the face, but I’m not sharing my camp with a crazy person. Move along, or there will be trouble.”</p><p></p><p>“Trouble,” Orin said. “Trouble.” He laughed, a deep cackle that bounced off the surrounding rocks and filled their camp.</p><p></p><p>“That can’t be good,” Glori said.</p><p></p><p>“Actually, I don’t think I mind if you punch this guy,” Bredan said.</p><p></p><p>Orin’s laughter continued until he was convulsed by it. He wrapped his arms around his side and bent forward until his face was almost touching the ground. The cowl of his cloak fell forward, shrouding him from view, but the cackles continued to issue from within.</p><p></p><p>“This guy’s going to get his skull cracked in a minute,” Kosk said. He lifted his staff, but Quellan quickly stepped forward. “He may have a mental illness,” the cleric said. “Orin, I think you should…”</p><p></p><p>The cleric was interrupted as Orin’s head shot up.</p><p></p><p>“Oh, gods,” Bredan said.</p><p></p><p>Their visitor’s visage had transformed; the face that regarded them now was pinched and furry, with beady eyes and sharp yellow teeth that protruded from an elongated snout with whiskers that twitched as his chuckles trailed off. He’d produced a weapon, a long dagger that he’d kept concealed behind his back.</p><p></p><p>“Wererat!” Kosk exclaimed.</p><p></p><p>“Trouble!” Orin hissed, as he leapt up and attacked.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 7109862, member: 143"] Chapter 32 The day dawned unseasonably cool with gray clouds lingering low over the village. But they didn’t deepen into the angry shade that threatened rain, and they began to thin out as the four adventurers left Northpine and headed southeast into the Kilmar Hills. Their meeting with the council had gone long and had been followed with a largely unproductive interview with the missing boy’s distraught mother. By then it had been late enough in the day that they’d decided to stay the night in the village and get an early start the next morning. The delay had allowed Erron Laddrick to prepare a map of the hills that extended south and east of the village for several leagues. The map wasn’t as comprehensive or as detailed as the one that Starfinder had loaned them back in Crosspath, but it included a number of landmarks including the place where the dead hunter had been found and some of the many trails that wound through the hills. The sheriff had marked several sites where he thought they might find signs of bandits, if in fact they did exist and had a lair within the region. The map even included a suggested route and various places that might serve as a campsite, for even a partial circuit of the region would take them at least a few days. “This sheriff seems to know his business,” Bredan said as they paused to check the map. That was one of the factors that had led them to try his recommended course for finding the missing child first. A search of the area around the Garson farm had turned up no tracks or other clues, so all they had to go on were the various suggestions from the local residents. They’d confirmed that none of the locals had seen the boy or had any clues from before his disappearance that hinted at where he might have gone. “He served in the local baron’s guards for twenty years,” Glori said. “He retired as a senior officer and was given the position of sheriff basically as a retirement pension.” Bredan blinked at her. “How do you know that?” “I asked around,” Glori said. “All you really have to do to get to know a place is talk to people.” “You know, we never did learn the name of the local baron,” Quellan said. “It doesn’t matter,” Kosk said. “Half the locals probably don’t even know. It’s common out here in the west to find places like this, baronies cobbled together out of half a dozen widely scattered villages.” “I wonder how many men—people,” Bredan amended, after glancing over at Glori, “will be heading north to Adelar. Answering the King’s call.” “We’ll find out when we get there,” Kosk said. “Which will be later than we thought, thanks to your bloody soft-heartedness.” “We couldn’t just leave these people in their hour of need,” Quellan said. “The boy…” “Is most likely dead,” Kosk said, but there wasn’t any anger in the statement, just resignation. With that grim note dogging their steps the companions made their ways into the hills. The Kilmars were rather more pleasant than the Dry Hills. The prevailing winds brought more moisture through these lands, and while they were hardly lush there were plenty of springs and streams and even some edible wild plants that could stretch their stores and bulk up their evening stews. Their route wouldn’t take them that far from the village, following a path through the hills in a broad crescent that would return them to the road half a dozen miles beyond Northpine. The trail they followed was little more than an old hunter’s track and was almost invisible at places, but Laddrick’s map was clear enough that they didn’t get lost. They didn’t see anything larger than a rabbit—one that fled too quickly for Glori to get a shot off—until late afternoon, when they heard someone approaching on the trail ahead. They were navigating a gully thick with brush, limiting their vision to only about fifty paces ahead of them, but they quickly readied their weapons for a confrontation. By the sudden quiet it sounded like whoever it was had detected them as well. “Ahoy the trail!” came a voice from up ahead. “We’re just travelers, not seeking trouble!” “We’re not here to give you any!” Kosk replied before Glori or Quellan could offer a more conciliatory answer. “Show yourselves!” The two parties approached warily. The ‘travelers’ were another quartet, four human men who were clearly equipped to deal with the dangers of the Kilmar Hills. All wore suits of studded leather armor that had clearly seen long use, and two carried short bows in addition to the swords and daggers they all carried. Their leader was a gruff-looking man who had a bushy beard and a hard look that he fixed on the four adventurers as he came forward to greet them. “Gorus Tholrin,” he said. “You’re the first travelers we’ve seen out here. We getting close to the road, by any chance?” “Quellan Emberlane,” the cleric replied. “Keep going this way and you’ll hit it by sundown.” “Much obliged,” Tholrin said. “You heading east?” “Not for much longer,” Quellan said. “We’re looking for a child that’s gone missing from one of the local villages. Been gone a couple days now.” “Hmm. That’s rough. We haven’t seen anyone, but we’ll keep our eyes open.” “What brings you west?” Kosk asked. Tholrin gave the dwarf a look that suggested challenge, but then he shrugged and said, “We’re looking to take the King’s coin. You’ve heard the news?” “Aye,” Quellan said. “We were headed north ourselves, before we stopped at the village.” “Well. Hope you find the kid. Safe travels.” “Safe travels,” Quellan said. The two groups moved past each other, each side eying the other before moving on their way. Glori in particular attracted attention, and Bredan moved to stand next to her until Tholrin and his companions were well past and moving out of their view. “You think they were telling the truth?” Bredan asked. “About why they’re here?” Kosk said. “Could be. They had the look of mercenaries, but the line between ‘mercenary’ and ‘bandit’ can be a fluid one at times.” “You sound like you know that from personal experience,” Glori said. Kosk’s expression sharpened, but then he turned toward the trail ahead. “Come on, I’d just as soon get well clear of our friends before nightfall, just in case.” Soon after their encounter they turned to the north, following another path that ran parallel to an undulating ridge of exposed granite that rose as high as fifty feet above them. They followed that ridge for the better part of a mile before it turned east and they continued north into a rough landscape of steep hills and exposed outcrops that forced them to follow a meandering course. “You could hide a hundred bloody bandit gangs in this landscape,” Kosk said. “They need food and water just like anybody else,” Bredan said. “This place is too rocky to support a hideout.” The dwarf didn’t respond, but he picked up his pace just enough to force them to hurry to keep up. Glori shot Quellan a covert grin, and the cleric smiled back and shook his head. Night descended swiftly upon the hills, but Laddrick’s map remained reliable and they had no difficulty finding one of the campsites he’d indicated. Bredan guessed that they were only maybe five or six miles east of Northpine as the crow flew, but they’d covered two or three times that distance in their meandering hike through the hills. Tomorrow they’d finish their sweep north and then curve left to find the road again, hopefully before sunset. There weren’t any large trees in the rocky part of the hills they were traveling through, but they found enough scrub growth and dried bushes to fuel a small fire. Glori was watching Bredan snap sticks and Quellan unpack some of the edible roots they’d found earlier in the day when she said, “I was thinking more about that Tholrin and his men.” “In my experience, it never ends well when a woman begins a sentence with ‘I was thinking,’” Bredan said. That got a snort from Kosk and a stern look from Glori, but Quellan stepped in and asked, “What’s on your mind?” “Just this… where were they coming from? I mean, I haven’t heard anything about settlements in these hills, and it sure doesn’t look like anyone lives out here.” “Maybe there’s some settlements on the other side of the range,” Bredan suggested. “Maybe,” Glori said. “But if that’s the case, why wouldn’t they have just gone east into the Liir Valley? The route there is much easier, basically a straight shot to Adelar.” “What are you saying, that they might be bandits?” Bredan asked. “That we should go back to Northpine?” “I don’t know,” Glori said. “Maybe they were just what they seemed to be. After all, Kosk didn’t punch any of them, so maybe they’re fine.” The dwarf didn’t respond to the jibe. “We should finish our sweep,” he said. “If they were bandits, they clearly didn’t have the boy with them, and maybe they’ve got a hiding place somewhere around here. We can check if they came through Northpine when we get back, and if not we can worry about…” He didn’t get a chance to finish, as a high-pitched voice called out from the darkness beyond the ring of firelight, “Hello the camp!” The companions grabbed their weapons and scrambled to their feet. “Who’s there?” Quellan called out. “Just a humble traveler,” came the return. The four companions shared a look. “Did they follow us?” “That doesn’t sound like Tholrin,” Glori said. “Though we didn’t hear any of his companions speak.” “That fire looks nice and warm,” the stranger said. With the firelight surrounding them even those with darkvision couldn’t see anything more than a vague shadow well back from the camp. “Come forward into the light,” Quellan said. The figure approached, and was revealed to be a reedy figure of a human, draped in a dark cloak that looked to be a size or two too large for him. One look was enough to confirm that he was not one of the mercenaries they’d encountered earlier that day; this person looked about as dangerous as the rabbit they’d spooked earlier in the day. He didn’t carry any obvious weapons, though the cloak was big enough to conceal almost anything under its generous folds. He came to a halt right on the edge of the firelight and regarded them with a placating grin. “Who are you, now?” Kosk asked. “My name is Orin Lesar.” “I don’t reckon you’ve come to take the King’s coin as well,” the dwarf said. “King? What king?” Orin asked. The four companions shared a look. “Um… King Dangren,” Glori said. “The King of Arresh? The kingdom you’re in right now?” “Oh, that king!” Orin said with a wild giggle that had the others sharing glanced again. “Oh, is that stew you’re making? I’m famished!” He shuffled forward quickly enough that Quellan stepped aside before he had a chance to think better of it. The others circled back around the fire as Orin seated himself on a rock beside the fire. The light from the flames flickered in his eyes. As he smiled up at them they could see that he was missing several teeth, and the ones that remained were blackened with decay. “Um… where did this guy come from?” Bredan whispered to Glori. The smith still had his big sword in his hand, though he left it in its scabbard. “I have no idea,” the bard whispered back. She likewise held onto her bow tightly, an arrow clutched in her other hand. Kosk was on the other side of the fire and hadn’t heard their exchange, but he clearly had the same thoughts on his mind. “So where are you from?” he asked. “Oh, here and there,” Orin said. He didn’t seem to be alarmed at their manner or the weapons they still held openly, but as the companions spread out Glori’s cloak fell open and the firelight caught on her lyre. The strange traveler’s eyes fixed on it at once. “Silver,” he said. “I thought I smelled silver.” “Excuse me?” Glori said, flicking her cloak protectively over her instrument. “I hate silver,” Orin said, his lips twisting back into a snarl. “Look, friend,” Kosk said. “Maybe you’d be better off finding your own camp.” Orin tore his gaze away from Glori and smiled up at the dwarf. “I like it here.” Kosk’s expression didn’t change, but the others knew him well enough to sense the subtle shift in his mood. “My companions don’t like it when I punch strangers in the face, but I’m not sharing my camp with a crazy person. Move along, or there will be trouble.” “Trouble,” Orin said. “Trouble.” He laughed, a deep cackle that bounced off the surrounding rocks and filled their camp. “That can’t be good,” Glori said. “Actually, I don’t think I mind if you punch this guy,” Bredan said. Orin’s laughter continued until he was convulsed by it. He wrapped his arms around his side and bent forward until his face was almost touching the ground. The cowl of his cloak fell forward, shrouding him from view, but the cackles continued to issue from within. “This guy’s going to get his skull cracked in a minute,” Kosk said. He lifted his staff, but Quellan quickly stepped forward. “He may have a mental illness,” the cleric said. “Orin, I think you should…” The cleric was interrupted as Orin’s head shot up. “Oh, gods,” Bredan said. Their visitor’s visage had transformed; the face that regarded them now was pinched and furry, with beady eyes and sharp yellow teeth that protruded from an elongated snout with whiskers that twitched as his chuckles trailed off. He’d produced a weapon, a long dagger that he’d kept concealed behind his back. “Wererat!” Kosk exclaimed. “Trouble!” Orin hissed, as he leapt up and attacked. [/QUOTE]
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