Despite the friendliness of the villagers, they had little time for the adventurers that morning. Following the horror of the manticore and the miller's treachery, there was still much springtime work to be done. Men walked the rounds with their sons, naming the stones that marked their fields and repairing fences. Animals needed to be fed, pastured, protected, and milked. Clothes needed making and mending. Sharp-eyed children watched over the fields with slings to keep the birds away from the precious seeds -- and to add something to that evening's pot.
Watching the village at peaceful work was, in many ways, gratifying.
In the late afternoon, as the sun dipped toward the west, a company of men -- a score on horseback -- rode into the village from the south. They were dressed in checked green and white livery and carried the device of a rooster clutching a serpent in its talons. The company rode to the Church, where one blew a blast upon a horn.
"Make ready! Make ready!" the leader of the men cried. "Lord Merryhahn rides from his southern estates, and shall be here with the dawn! Court shall be held at noon, before the House of the Good Gods, and Justice shall be meted to all who bring forth claim!"