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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 631" data-attributes="member: 63"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Chapter Two: </strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Those who are horribly mis-informed</strong></span></p><p></p><p>The early spring breeze warms Harley, James, and Nikal as they travel north-east from Lyceum, following a well-worn road into the sparsely-populated Haranshire. Healed of their injuries from the brief battle the night before, they travel easily. Each has his or her own horse, courtesy of their employer Harlan Smith, and a fourth horse carries the chest full of potion ingredients that are due for delivery to Tauster, a mage who lives in the Haranshire.</p><p></p><p>Most importantly for James, his pockets are fuller. To his and Harley’s surprise, Smith proved generous and offered to pay them a bonus of 100 Lyceian silver coins for having the initiative to stop a burgularly of his home. Though James doesn’t say much during the trip, he often pats the small bag of coins with a mild smirk on his face.</p><p></p><p>Now that they’re on the open road, away from large groups of humans, Harley lets her hair loose, revealing her pointed Elvish ears. Much to her chagrin, Nikal takes that as an opportunity to try to chat with her more. Not eager to be flirted with by her supervisor, Harley shrugs at Nikal’s advances, and eventually the older Elf shrugs himself and leaves her alone.</p><p></p><p>They travel from just after sunrise until nearly dusk, mutely riding for nearly the entire trip. They pass through far too much farmland for their tastes, and decide not to stop to eat anywhere, instead just nibbling on trail rations in the afternoon. That evening they buy a night’s rest in a road-side temple to Meliska, goddess of healing. The next morning they set out just as early, and travel just as quietly, until late afternoon.</p><p></p><p>Nikal announces that they are in the Haranshire, and that they should reach the main town of Milbourne before sunset. The wide road heads into a small forest, and Harley pulls out her map to see what it’s called. She and James argue briefly over a letter, which would make it either the “Lyrchwood,” or the “Lynchwood.” They end their brief argument when a group of farmers round the bend of the road ahead. The three farmers travel on foot, carrying bales of hay on their shoulders. The lead one waves to them with a smile, and Harley waves back. </p><p></p><p>Suddenly, arrows fly from the trees on both sides, landing amid the farmers and the party. One arrow grazes Nikal in the shoulder, but all the others miss. The farmers rush toward the party shouting for help, and Harley and James quickly dismount and move to defend the farmers.</p><p></p><p>It’s not until too late that they see the farmers pull clubs and swords from the hay bales. The ‘farmers’ had tricked them.</p><p></p><p>A quick fight ensues, in which Nikal rushes under arrowfire into the woods to take out one pair of archers, Harley throws Ricochet at the archers on the other side of the road (Ricochet misses), and James tries to deal with the farmers-turned-brigands. Nikal easily renders both his archers into unconsciousness, while Harley herself is knocked to near death (0 hit points) by a club blow. James defends Harley, using his body as a shield as Harley crawls for cover amid the horses. Nikal rushes to the other side of the road (ignoring the farmers that James is fighting) and takes out the other two archers.</p><p></p><p>Finally, James kills one farmer and Nikal knocks the other unconscious. The third leaps onto one of their horses and tries to ride off, but James pegs him with a bow. The farmer nearly dies in the fall from the horse.</p><p></p><p>As James drags the farmers and archers together into the middle of the road, Nikal rips off a shirt sleeve to bandage an arrow wound Harley had received. Harley thanks him despite the obvious expression on his face that he hopes he’s impressing her. James comments that Nikal is “too sexy for his shirt.” (Later this insult is reduced merely to “too sexy! too sexy!” said in a fake snooty French accent.)</p><p></p><p>Only one of the attackers is dead, and a few are still wavering on consciousness. A quick interrogation reveals that someone warned them that ‘dark magic’ would be coming into the Haranshire. Apparently a dark-cloaked figure warned them not to interfere, so of course they did. When Harley asks why they specifically were told not to interfere, the man replies that several years ago, during a local crisis, he and his friends here formed a lynch mob to stop any strangers coming into the area. They’ve been wary since, and have noticed strange things going on lately.</p><p></p><p>James admits defeat. It must really be the “Lynchwood.”</p><p></p><p>James also admits a bit of guilt over killing the farmer who only thought he was defending his home, but Nikal tells him not to worry about it, since the farmers were stupid for attacking anyway. Nikal orders the brigands who are still conscious to make quick sleds to drag the bodies of their companies, which the horses will drag. Weak from the fight, Harley, Nikal, and James escort their attackers to Milbourne to be turned over to the authorities. Harley, who’s been lynched once or twice herself, tells the brigands angrily that next time, if they’re more careful and less zealous about their homelands, maybe they won’t end up getting a friend killed.</p><p></p><p>Despite the difficulties, they manage to reach Milbourne before sunset. The small town of 200 people sits on the north bank of the Churnett River, so the group fords across a marked area. A bridge spans half the river, but stops mid-way, and judging by its moldiness and state of repair, it looks more like it was abandoned, rather than that its still being built.</p><p></p><p>The party causes a stir as it comes into town. Townsfolk come out of their houses, or away from their conversations to see the Elf, half-Elf, and woman trying to hide that she’s an Elf drag a half-dozen humans into town as prisoners. A few farmers in the fields they’d passed on the way to Milbourne had apparently run ahead and alerted the town officials, because as soon as they reach the northern shore of the river, they’re greeted by a pair of respectable-looking men.</p><p></p><p>The first introduces himself as Joseph Carmen, son of the mayor and local constabulary. He stands a modest 6 feet, with the same dull brown hair as everyone else in the entire Haranshire. And since everyone in the Haranshire has brown hair, the second man stands out because of his well-groomed, shoulder-length blonde hair. He introduces himself as Allarliao Half-Elven, local ranger and land-owner. The half-Elf wears loose traveling clothes, with an elaborately designed black scimitar hanging from his swordbelt. Harley’s Elven senses tingle, suggesting that at least something Allar is carrying is strongly magical. It’s obvious that the locals afford Allar a great deal of respect, even though the man looks only to be in his mid-thirties.</p><p></p><p>Harley explains why they’re in the Haranshire, then asks if Tauster is in town so they can deliver his package. She also asks if there’s lodging and stabling available for them to stay the night. She gives a quick recount of the events of the battle, including that they sadly killed one man. Carmen grimaces, whereas Allar sighs almost cynically.</p><p></p><p>The half-Elf ranger tells them that Tauster lives in one of the other two towns of the Haranshire, Thurmaster. It’s another half-day’s travel, but yes, room and board is available at the Baron of Mutton, the local inn. Allar offers to show them there, while Carmen and some of his deputies drag off the prisoners (for a very stern talking to before being released).</p><p></p><p>At the Baron of Mutton, they stable their horses and carry their gear (and the chest) up into three separate rooms. Once done getting settled, they accept Allar’s offer to buy them a nice meal for their troubles. He thanks them for defending themselves with more restraint than some might have, and says that he owes it to them to make their time in the Haranshire as comfortable as possible. </p><p></p><p>A quick getting-to-know-you session occurs. Allarliao Ursdail is half-Elvish, a former professional adventurer who actually knows Harlan Smith in passing. About ten years ago he helped defend this area from some magical dangers, and has since made the place his home. His wife Lacy is a priestess of Meliska, and he and his other former adventuring companions own and operate a small keep to the east. Allar is one of three rangers in the Haranshire, all of whom work together to make sure the area remains safe. Without their protection, most of the people would probably move away, since farming is not terribly profitable, mining has always been a failure, and trouble crops up far more often than it should. At least the Dragon in the Mire doesn’t cause problems anymore.</p><p></p><p>Before Harley or James can ask more about the Dragon (Harlan didn’t say anything about a Dragon!), a person walks up and leans over, his elbows on the table. They look up to see a youthful, skinny Elf with red-hair, dressed as (of all things) a Christian priest. </p><p></p><p>“Hello there. . . ?” Allar asks, looking for a name of the stranger.</p><p></p><p>The Elf gives a cocky smile. “Bhurisrava. But don’t worry about who I am. I’m more concerned about who you are. I couldn’t help overhear that your wife is a priestess of Meliska. Now I know that can’t be good for her, but what I want to ask you is, ‘Are you with God?’”</p><p></p><p>The group stares at Bhurisrava in confusion, and Nikal decides then that he wants some sleep. Bhurisrava takes the Elf’s chair without asking and sits with them at the table. He continues like a salesman, “Because if you’re not with God, we definitely need to talk about your spiritual place in the world.”</p><p></p><p>A bit thrown off, Allar explains that he worships in his own way, and that he’d prefer it if Bhurisrava wouldn’t pry. James, unable to pronounce Bhurisrava’s name, calls him “B-Man.” Harley adopts usage of the nickname too. </p><p></p><p>Bhurisrava explains that he was just pleased to see such a large quantity of Elves in one place, though he suspected that none of them were true followers of God. He talks briefly about his travels, then asks them about what they’re all up to. It’s obvious he’s being imposing, but somehow he manages to be silly enough to be entertaining, and thus neither Harley nor James tell B-Man to bug off.</p><p></p><p>After ordering and paying for a meal for Bhurisrava too, Allar leaves to his own room, since it has gotten rather late. He tells them that he’ll be willing to go with them to Thurmaster tomorrow so they can see Tauster.</p><p></p><p>For perhaps an hour more, Bhurisrava, Harley, and James talk, discussing primarily their travels and the relationships among Elves, humans, and religion. (Out of game terms, I was trying to explain to the new players where they were in the world, and what the rest of the world was like.)</p><p></p><p>Harley is a Vaneljesti Elf from far to the south. Her people are typical xenophobes when it comes to interacting with humans, and Harley left because she got along with humans better than with Elves. Vaneljesti tend to be very good spellcasters, and Harley’s family is famous for their talents, but Harley herself can’t cast any spells.</p><p></p><p>Bhurisrava is an Innenlesti Elf, from the huge Elvish forest only a few days north of the Haranshire. Like most Elves, his people follow the traditional Elvish pantheon, but Bhurisrava claims that he received a calling to follow the Lord, and he’s been traveling for about a year now. Thankfully, for Harley and James’ sake, he doesn’t dwell upon religion too much.</p><p></p><p>James is half-Elvish, but what type of Elf it is he won’t say. The white hair and violet eyes don’t particularly match with any major race of Elves, so Harley and Bhur guess that those traits must come from his human side. Since James won’t even say where he’s from (“Don’t worry about it. It’s too boring. I’d fall asleep trying to tell it.”), it’s hard to guess anything about him.</p><p></p><p>Allarliao was half-Tundanesti Elf. The Tundanesti are arctic Elves from far to the north, and are renowned for their swordsmanship. Scimitars are Tundanesti weapons as well, and they decide that Allar probably wasn’t lying about his past. They decide that it would be a bad idea to get on Allar’s sore side.</p><p></p><p>The conversation peters off, with Bhurisrava asking if he can travel with them for a while. As a show of good faith, he heals the injuries Harley had taken in the battle, and Harley immediately tells James to let B-Man come along. James shrugs.</p><p></p><p>They all head to their rooms, but when Harley goes to check on Nikal, she finds his room empty, as though he had left. All his gear is gone too, along with the chest. Frantically, she tells James, then asks around the inn to find out if anyone had seen him slip out. Bhurisrava lends his help by following fresh horse tracks out of the stable, heading east. Toward, among other things, Thurmaster, where Tauster is. They decide to go after him, but discover that Nikal took all four of the horses.</p><p></p><p>Amid many mutterings of “Damned Commie,” James listens to Bhurisrava’s plan to break into the local stable and steal three horses. Harley grins in delight that a Christian priest is advocating theft, but Bhurisrava doesn’t seem fazed by it. They go through with the plan, sneaking through late-night Milbourne to the local non-inn stable, where they try to explain their dilemma to the stable-keeper, an old man who was up late. When the old man won’t give them horses, James gags him and ties him up, and they ride off after Nikal.</p><p></p><p>For the rest of the night they ride, fighting sleepiness until the sun rises. They keep having to stop regularly to make sure they’re still following Nikal’s horses’ tracks, so they make slow pace, and soon after sunrise they see a lone figure on horseback galloping toward them from the direction they came. They recognize it as Allar, his scimitar unsheathed as he speeds toward them.</p><p></p><p>I believe the reaction of Harley’s player was, “Ahhh! High-level Fighter! Run!”</p><p></p><p>Though they follow that advice, Allar seems to be able to push his steed better than they can, and he closes quickly. He shouts for them to stop and explain themselves unless they want to be injured. Weighing the options, the trio decide to stop. </p><p></p><p>They explain that Nikal has stolen the horses and the chest, and try to make their decision to steal more horses sound reasonable. Allar’s reaction (“Why didn’t you just tell me?”) makes them chagrined, but the ranger agrees to help them find their runaway companion, assuming they return the horses. They get back on their steeds, then gallop on, Allar somehow managing to follow Nikal’s tracks even at high speed. To their surprise, the tracks lead straight to Thurmaster. They’d assumed Nikal had run off and stolen the chest, but it seems he was simply trying to get there faster.</p><p></p><p>They catch Nikal just outside Thurmaster, amid the abandoned houses of families that lived there when the area was more prosperous. Nikal apologizes for running off, but says he had the best intentions. He didn’t want his ‘friends’ to have to take this trip themselves. </p><p></p><p>Harley starts to yell at Nikal, but Allar calms them down, warning them not to make reactions while they’re still uninformed. That’s the kind of reasoning that leads farmers to attack couriers because they’re supposedly carrying ‘dark magic.’</p><p></p><p>Harley: “Yeah, I can’t believe they’d attack us on some stupid rumor like that.”</p><p></p><p>Allar: “Like I said, don’t judge while you’re still uninformed.”</p><p></p><p>They walk through early-morning Thurmaster, a nasty place with muddy ground and offensive smells. A truly crappy town, home to all of 30 people. Allar claims he and his friends are working to try to renew the area by bringing in loggers, and he hopes that will aleviate some of the local problems of money. </p><p></p><p>Tauster lives in the nicest structure in the town, a crumbling tower (since he thinks that all wizards have to live in a tower) with an adjoining house. They knock on his door, then listen to someone inside knock things over and mutter loudly before the door opens, revealing a wrinkled, grinning old man dressed in dull green robes. </p><p></p><p>James asks business-like, “Are you Toaster?”</p><p></p><p>Tauster nods, then squints at Harley. His voice is high-pitched, cracking like a typical old coot. “Are you Jenny?”</p><p></p><p>Bhurisrava nudges Harley in the side and winks to her, nodding slowly. Harley shakes her head and replies apologetically, “Sorry, no. I’m Harley. We’re here to deliver your package from Harlan Smith.”</p><p></p><p>Tauster smiles at that, then nods appreciatively to Allar before letting them in. He walks around with the aid of a cane, and according to Allar is over 80 years old. Harley feels immediately sorry for the old man, and tries to help him however possible, in this case by making tea while the others bring the chest in and take a look at it.</p><p></p><p>Tauster magically unlocks the chest, then riffles through some bags of powder and small boxes of weird animal parts. Allar helps the man clear out the chest, then raps on the bottom of it, smiling contendedly. The chest has a secret compartment at its bottom, which Allar was suspecting. With the aid of the others he manages to figure out how to open the hidden compartment, from which he pulls a heavy, black hide-bound book. On its cover are silver Dwarvish runes, and Harley again senses powerful magic, now coming from the book.</p><p></p><p>Allar asks for Tauster to translate, to make sure the book is authentic. The old wizard reads the Dwarvish words, saying slowly, “The Seventh Spellbook of Darlakanand.”</p><p></p><p>Harley sighs, realizing what Allar had been insinuating before. They actually had been bringing dark magic into the Haranshire without even knowing it. Nervously, Harley looks for exits, just in case Allar turns out to be the same person who had warned the villagers not to interfere. </p><p></p><p>Bhurisrava, however, looks at the book in surprise and awe, and he asks what it is. Allar explains that Darlakanand was a Dwarvish enchanter who was responsible for the troubles in the Haranshire that he and his friends overcame a few years ago. Since then they’ve been trying to make sure no one else caused similar problems by getting their hands on the wizard’s spellbooks. He tells them that they’ve probably save a lot of lives by bringing the book safely to him, though he is disturbed that there’s only one book, instead of all of them.</p><p></p><p>Harley and James remember hearing about what the Dwarves at the magical fair stole, and they get comfortable to tell Allar (and Bhur, Nikal, and Tauster) the story.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 631, member: 63"] [size=3][b]Chapter Two: Those who are horribly mis-informed[/b][/size] The early spring breeze warms Harley, James, and Nikal as they travel north-east from Lyceum, following a well-worn road into the sparsely-populated Haranshire. Healed of their injuries from the brief battle the night before, they travel easily. Each has his or her own horse, courtesy of their employer Harlan Smith, and a fourth horse carries the chest full of potion ingredients that are due for delivery to Tauster, a mage who lives in the Haranshire. Most importantly for James, his pockets are fuller. To his and Harley’s surprise, Smith proved generous and offered to pay them a bonus of 100 Lyceian silver coins for having the initiative to stop a burgularly of his home. Though James doesn’t say much during the trip, he often pats the small bag of coins with a mild smirk on his face. Now that they’re on the open road, away from large groups of humans, Harley lets her hair loose, revealing her pointed Elvish ears. Much to her chagrin, Nikal takes that as an opportunity to try to chat with her more. Not eager to be flirted with by her supervisor, Harley shrugs at Nikal’s advances, and eventually the older Elf shrugs himself and leaves her alone. They travel from just after sunrise until nearly dusk, mutely riding for nearly the entire trip. They pass through far too much farmland for their tastes, and decide not to stop to eat anywhere, instead just nibbling on trail rations in the afternoon. That evening they buy a night’s rest in a road-side temple to Meliska, goddess of healing. The next morning they set out just as early, and travel just as quietly, until late afternoon. Nikal announces that they are in the Haranshire, and that they should reach the main town of Milbourne before sunset. The wide road heads into a small forest, and Harley pulls out her map to see what it’s called. She and James argue briefly over a letter, which would make it either the “Lyrchwood,” or the “Lynchwood.” They end their brief argument when a group of farmers round the bend of the road ahead. The three farmers travel on foot, carrying bales of hay on their shoulders. The lead one waves to them with a smile, and Harley waves back. Suddenly, arrows fly from the trees on both sides, landing amid the farmers and the party. One arrow grazes Nikal in the shoulder, but all the others miss. The farmers rush toward the party shouting for help, and Harley and James quickly dismount and move to defend the farmers. It’s not until too late that they see the farmers pull clubs and swords from the hay bales. The ‘farmers’ had tricked them. A quick fight ensues, in which Nikal rushes under arrowfire into the woods to take out one pair of archers, Harley throws Ricochet at the archers on the other side of the road (Ricochet misses), and James tries to deal with the farmers-turned-brigands. Nikal easily renders both his archers into unconsciousness, while Harley herself is knocked to near death (0 hit points) by a club blow. James defends Harley, using his body as a shield as Harley crawls for cover amid the horses. Nikal rushes to the other side of the road (ignoring the farmers that James is fighting) and takes out the other two archers. Finally, James kills one farmer and Nikal knocks the other unconscious. The third leaps onto one of their horses and tries to ride off, but James pegs him with a bow. The farmer nearly dies in the fall from the horse. As James drags the farmers and archers together into the middle of the road, Nikal rips off a shirt sleeve to bandage an arrow wound Harley had received. Harley thanks him despite the obvious expression on his face that he hopes he’s impressing her. James comments that Nikal is “too sexy for his shirt.” (Later this insult is reduced merely to “too sexy! too sexy!” said in a fake snooty French accent.) Only one of the attackers is dead, and a few are still wavering on consciousness. A quick interrogation reveals that someone warned them that ‘dark magic’ would be coming into the Haranshire. Apparently a dark-cloaked figure warned them not to interfere, so of course they did. When Harley asks why they specifically were told not to interfere, the man replies that several years ago, during a local crisis, he and his friends here formed a lynch mob to stop any strangers coming into the area. They’ve been wary since, and have noticed strange things going on lately. James admits defeat. It must really be the “Lynchwood.” James also admits a bit of guilt over killing the farmer who only thought he was defending his home, but Nikal tells him not to worry about it, since the farmers were stupid for attacking anyway. Nikal orders the brigands who are still conscious to make quick sleds to drag the bodies of their companies, which the horses will drag. Weak from the fight, Harley, Nikal, and James escort their attackers to Milbourne to be turned over to the authorities. Harley, who’s been lynched once or twice herself, tells the brigands angrily that next time, if they’re more careful and less zealous about their homelands, maybe they won’t end up getting a friend killed. Despite the difficulties, they manage to reach Milbourne before sunset. The small town of 200 people sits on the north bank of the Churnett River, so the group fords across a marked area. A bridge spans half the river, but stops mid-way, and judging by its moldiness and state of repair, it looks more like it was abandoned, rather than that its still being built. The party causes a stir as it comes into town. Townsfolk come out of their houses, or away from their conversations to see the Elf, half-Elf, and woman trying to hide that she’s an Elf drag a half-dozen humans into town as prisoners. A few farmers in the fields they’d passed on the way to Milbourne had apparently run ahead and alerted the town officials, because as soon as they reach the northern shore of the river, they’re greeted by a pair of respectable-looking men. The first introduces himself as Joseph Carmen, son of the mayor and local constabulary. He stands a modest 6 feet, with the same dull brown hair as everyone else in the entire Haranshire. And since everyone in the Haranshire has brown hair, the second man stands out because of his well-groomed, shoulder-length blonde hair. He introduces himself as Allarliao Half-Elven, local ranger and land-owner. The half-Elf wears loose traveling clothes, with an elaborately designed black scimitar hanging from his swordbelt. Harley’s Elven senses tingle, suggesting that at least something Allar is carrying is strongly magical. It’s obvious that the locals afford Allar a great deal of respect, even though the man looks only to be in his mid-thirties. Harley explains why they’re in the Haranshire, then asks if Tauster is in town so they can deliver his package. She also asks if there’s lodging and stabling available for them to stay the night. She gives a quick recount of the events of the battle, including that they sadly killed one man. Carmen grimaces, whereas Allar sighs almost cynically. The half-Elf ranger tells them that Tauster lives in one of the other two towns of the Haranshire, Thurmaster. It’s another half-day’s travel, but yes, room and board is available at the Baron of Mutton, the local inn. Allar offers to show them there, while Carmen and some of his deputies drag off the prisoners (for a very stern talking to before being released). At the Baron of Mutton, they stable their horses and carry their gear (and the chest) up into three separate rooms. Once done getting settled, they accept Allar’s offer to buy them a nice meal for their troubles. He thanks them for defending themselves with more restraint than some might have, and says that he owes it to them to make their time in the Haranshire as comfortable as possible. A quick getting-to-know-you session occurs. Allarliao Ursdail is half-Elvish, a former professional adventurer who actually knows Harlan Smith in passing. About ten years ago he helped defend this area from some magical dangers, and has since made the place his home. His wife Lacy is a priestess of Meliska, and he and his other former adventuring companions own and operate a small keep to the east. Allar is one of three rangers in the Haranshire, all of whom work together to make sure the area remains safe. Without their protection, most of the people would probably move away, since farming is not terribly profitable, mining has always been a failure, and trouble crops up far more often than it should. At least the Dragon in the Mire doesn’t cause problems anymore. Before Harley or James can ask more about the Dragon (Harlan didn’t say anything about a Dragon!), a person walks up and leans over, his elbows on the table. They look up to see a youthful, skinny Elf with red-hair, dressed as (of all things) a Christian priest. “Hello there. . . ?” Allar asks, looking for a name of the stranger. The Elf gives a cocky smile. “Bhurisrava. But don’t worry about who I am. I’m more concerned about who you are. I couldn’t help overhear that your wife is a priestess of Meliska. Now I know that can’t be good for her, but what I want to ask you is, ‘Are you with God?’” The group stares at Bhurisrava in confusion, and Nikal decides then that he wants some sleep. Bhurisrava takes the Elf’s chair without asking and sits with them at the table. He continues like a salesman, “Because if you’re not with God, we definitely need to talk about your spiritual place in the world.” A bit thrown off, Allar explains that he worships in his own way, and that he’d prefer it if Bhurisrava wouldn’t pry. James, unable to pronounce Bhurisrava’s name, calls him “B-Man.” Harley adopts usage of the nickname too. Bhurisrava explains that he was just pleased to see such a large quantity of Elves in one place, though he suspected that none of them were true followers of God. He talks briefly about his travels, then asks them about what they’re all up to. It’s obvious he’s being imposing, but somehow he manages to be silly enough to be entertaining, and thus neither Harley nor James tell B-Man to bug off. After ordering and paying for a meal for Bhurisrava too, Allar leaves to his own room, since it has gotten rather late. He tells them that he’ll be willing to go with them to Thurmaster tomorrow so they can see Tauster. For perhaps an hour more, Bhurisrava, Harley, and James talk, discussing primarily their travels and the relationships among Elves, humans, and religion. (Out of game terms, I was trying to explain to the new players where they were in the world, and what the rest of the world was like.) Harley is a Vaneljesti Elf from far to the south. Her people are typical xenophobes when it comes to interacting with humans, and Harley left because she got along with humans better than with Elves. Vaneljesti tend to be very good spellcasters, and Harley’s family is famous for their talents, but Harley herself can’t cast any spells. Bhurisrava is an Innenlesti Elf, from the huge Elvish forest only a few days north of the Haranshire. Like most Elves, his people follow the traditional Elvish pantheon, but Bhurisrava claims that he received a calling to follow the Lord, and he’s been traveling for about a year now. Thankfully, for Harley and James’ sake, he doesn’t dwell upon religion too much. James is half-Elvish, but what type of Elf it is he won’t say. The white hair and violet eyes don’t particularly match with any major race of Elves, so Harley and Bhur guess that those traits must come from his human side. Since James won’t even say where he’s from (“Don’t worry about it. It’s too boring. I’d fall asleep trying to tell it.”), it’s hard to guess anything about him. Allarliao was half-Tundanesti Elf. The Tundanesti are arctic Elves from far to the north, and are renowned for their swordsmanship. Scimitars are Tundanesti weapons as well, and they decide that Allar probably wasn’t lying about his past. They decide that it would be a bad idea to get on Allar’s sore side. The conversation peters off, with Bhurisrava asking if he can travel with them for a while. As a show of good faith, he heals the injuries Harley had taken in the battle, and Harley immediately tells James to let B-Man come along. James shrugs. They all head to their rooms, but when Harley goes to check on Nikal, she finds his room empty, as though he had left. All his gear is gone too, along with the chest. Frantically, she tells James, then asks around the inn to find out if anyone had seen him slip out. Bhurisrava lends his help by following fresh horse tracks out of the stable, heading east. Toward, among other things, Thurmaster, where Tauster is. They decide to go after him, but discover that Nikal took all four of the horses. Amid many mutterings of “Damned Commie,” James listens to Bhurisrava’s plan to break into the local stable and steal three horses. Harley grins in delight that a Christian priest is advocating theft, but Bhurisrava doesn’t seem fazed by it. They go through with the plan, sneaking through late-night Milbourne to the local non-inn stable, where they try to explain their dilemma to the stable-keeper, an old man who was up late. When the old man won’t give them horses, James gags him and ties him up, and they ride off after Nikal. For the rest of the night they ride, fighting sleepiness until the sun rises. They keep having to stop regularly to make sure they’re still following Nikal’s horses’ tracks, so they make slow pace, and soon after sunrise they see a lone figure on horseback galloping toward them from the direction they came. They recognize it as Allar, his scimitar unsheathed as he speeds toward them. I believe the reaction of Harley’s player was, “Ahhh! High-level Fighter! Run!” Though they follow that advice, Allar seems to be able to push his steed better than they can, and he closes quickly. He shouts for them to stop and explain themselves unless they want to be injured. Weighing the options, the trio decide to stop. They explain that Nikal has stolen the horses and the chest, and try to make their decision to steal more horses sound reasonable. Allar’s reaction (“Why didn’t you just tell me?”) makes them chagrined, but the ranger agrees to help them find their runaway companion, assuming they return the horses. They get back on their steeds, then gallop on, Allar somehow managing to follow Nikal’s tracks even at high speed. To their surprise, the tracks lead straight to Thurmaster. They’d assumed Nikal had run off and stolen the chest, but it seems he was simply trying to get there faster. They catch Nikal just outside Thurmaster, amid the abandoned houses of families that lived there when the area was more prosperous. Nikal apologizes for running off, but says he had the best intentions. He didn’t want his ‘friends’ to have to take this trip themselves. Harley starts to yell at Nikal, but Allar calms them down, warning them not to make reactions while they’re still uninformed. That’s the kind of reasoning that leads farmers to attack couriers because they’re supposedly carrying ‘dark magic.’ Harley: “Yeah, I can’t believe they’d attack us on some stupid rumor like that.” Allar: “Like I said, don’t judge while you’re still uninformed.” They walk through early-morning Thurmaster, a nasty place with muddy ground and offensive smells. A truly crappy town, home to all of 30 people. Allar claims he and his friends are working to try to renew the area by bringing in loggers, and he hopes that will aleviate some of the local problems of money. Tauster lives in the nicest structure in the town, a crumbling tower (since he thinks that all wizards have to live in a tower) with an adjoining house. They knock on his door, then listen to someone inside knock things over and mutter loudly before the door opens, revealing a wrinkled, grinning old man dressed in dull green robes. James asks business-like, “Are you Toaster?” Tauster nods, then squints at Harley. His voice is high-pitched, cracking like a typical old coot. “Are you Jenny?” Bhurisrava nudges Harley in the side and winks to her, nodding slowly. Harley shakes her head and replies apologetically, “Sorry, no. I’m Harley. We’re here to deliver your package from Harlan Smith.” Tauster smiles at that, then nods appreciatively to Allar before letting them in. He walks around with the aid of a cane, and according to Allar is over 80 years old. Harley feels immediately sorry for the old man, and tries to help him however possible, in this case by making tea while the others bring the chest in and take a look at it. Tauster magically unlocks the chest, then riffles through some bags of powder and small boxes of weird animal parts. Allar helps the man clear out the chest, then raps on the bottom of it, smiling contendedly. The chest has a secret compartment at its bottom, which Allar was suspecting. With the aid of the others he manages to figure out how to open the hidden compartment, from which he pulls a heavy, black hide-bound book. On its cover are silver Dwarvish runes, and Harley again senses powerful magic, now coming from the book. Allar asks for Tauster to translate, to make sure the book is authentic. The old wizard reads the Dwarvish words, saying slowly, “The Seventh Spellbook of Darlakanand.” Harley sighs, realizing what Allar had been insinuating before. They actually had been bringing dark magic into the Haranshire without even knowing it. Nervously, Harley looks for exits, just in case Allar turns out to be the same person who had warned the villagers not to interfere. Bhurisrava, however, looks at the book in surprise and awe, and he asks what it is. Allar explains that Darlakanand was a Dwarvish enchanter who was responsible for the troubles in the Haranshire that he and his friends overcame a few years ago. Since then they’ve been trying to make sure no one else caused similar problems by getting their hands on the wizard’s spellbooks. He tells them that they’ve probably save a lot of lives by bringing the book safely to him, though he is disturbed that there’s only one book, instead of all of them. Harley and James remember hearing about what the Dwarves at the magical fair stole, and they get comfortable to tell Allar (and Bhur, Nikal, and Tauster) the story. [/QUOTE]
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