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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 3598586" data-attributes="member: 11760">The baron's soldiers stomp around the edge of Goblin Pond, stabbing at the dark water of the shallows with spears, watched dubiously by Southerly soldiers who clearly had no intention of getting wet and muddy themselves."You're not going to find anything," snaps a young ducal soldier, his voice breaking in mid-sneer. "They died when they hit the water and like as not, Old Grandfather ate them."The giant catfish is a legend around Goblin Falls and is known as far away as Stonecrown. No one knows of anyone actually eaten by Old Grandfather, but everyone is sure the massive beast has done so at some point.The soldier's complaint was a refrain that had been going on all day, but after this many hours searching the pond for signs of the fugitives and circling the muddy waters looking for tracks that were not created by the soldiers themselves, the baron's men have had enough."Right," says the senior man, which is obvious because he is the least muddy of the bunch. "Unless this bunch turned into wee little birdies on the way down, they're fish food. And good riddance; Chandler cheated at dice. I'm for a pint, lads, come on."Both groups of soldiers stomp off to the Goblin's Head and the pond is quiet for a long time.A muddy patch of reeds well away from the shore begins to move slightly, sending out ripples across the brownish waters. Two heads erupt from the water before a pair of hands lashes out, holding the faces -- but little else -- just above the water line."Careful," Tock says, spitting out a hollow reed, "One of them could still be watching.""Don't be stupid," Renraw says, snatching himself out of Tock's muddy grasp, and standing up in the chest-high water, caked in mud. "They don't want anything to do with this damn mudhole."Katadid spits his reed out and sat straight up, wiping glop from his eyes with his fingers."How did you know to do that, Tock?""Nergle did it in a song," Tock says, his chin still underwater as he looks around. "OK, I know of a barn we can dry off in and wait out the soldiers. We'll nip over to the Goblin's Head and see Petra after that."* * *It was three days later, on the 27th day of Wind, in Maidensbridge Chapel."Scim," Ragglus Chaplin growled, his sword bared. "I knew it."Roebello "Scimitar" Kem bolted for the front doors of the chapel, throwing his full body into them to expedite his retreat. The doors refused to budge and he bounced backwards onto the floor, coins spilling out of his pouch, scattering across the chapel floor. "Barred from the outside," Ragglus snarled. "You ain't goin' nowhere.""Ragglus, my friend," Scimitar began, "Let me explain.""Nothin' to explain, except how I'm gonna run you through.""That's enough, Ragglus," Emmerson said, stepping in through the now-unbarred front door."I weren't gonna kill 'im," Ragglus says through clenched teeth, "Much.""I couldn't see in here, it was dark," Scimitar says, speaking quickly, frantically, "I came to pray, I must have misjudged the location of the altar.""This is no time for lies, Roebello!" Emmerson says, leaping to grab Ragglus before he can lay hands or sword on Scimitar. "He might not kill you, but you may just find yourself wishing you were dead!""Killed?" Scimitar answers, in what's clearly meant to be an innocent tone. "Over a few paltry coins?""Not just coins!" Ragglus roars."Wait, th-that was yours?" Scimitar squeaks, his hair now gripped in Ragglus' left fist. "My d-dear Ragglus, I didn't know! It was so pretty, I-I never would have ...""Where is it? WHERE IS IT?""It's ... Renraw! Yes, Renraw took it!""What?" Emmerson snaps, as he tries to pull the pair apart with Scimitar's scalp intact. "Renraw is many things, but a thief is not one of them.""H-he didn't steal it, I did! But Renraw took it, I swear! That's wh-why I've been taking things, h-he needed traveling money! Items for trade on the road! I've been working for him!""He's been gone more than two days," Ragglus spits, eyes blazing. "You're still stealin', why?""Because ... because he left without giving me my cut! Why, I've half a mind to track him down myself and give him a good thrashing for all the pain he's caused!""Oh, don't worry, when I find him, he'll be getting all he deserves," Ragglus says, shaking with anger."Don't bother: My brother is dead.""Huh?""You're better off trading in that sword for a fishing pole if you want to find Renraw. Haven't you heard? Those fools went over the falls in their haste to escape Midwood. They're in Old Grandfather's belly in Goblin Pond.""If there ain't no body," Ragglus spat, "There ain't no death!""Where is he off to, Roebello?" Emmerson interjects. "Goblin Falls, certainly, but they'll be looking for help. A thief such as you surely knows some of the shadier characters in Goblin Falls, who would they attempt to contact?""Kujau," Scimitar sighs, shoulders slumped, beaten. "Petra Kujau."Ragglus relaxes."Good. That's a start. I'll get it back or take it out of your brother's hide.""What is this all about?" Emmerson asks.Ragglus glares at him in stony silence a long moment before exploding."My blasted ankh-crucifix!" the former paladin roars, face dark red. "It was my uncle's.""The priest," Emmerson says quietly, nodding."Happy now?" Ragglus snarls, shooting a look that tells Scimitar to keep silent if he knows what's best. "It's all I got. And I'm going to get it back."As Ragglus throws his remaining goods into a backpack, Scimitar quietly wonders in which of his stashes in and around the Tulgey Woods he's actually left Ragglus' crucifix and how quickly he'll be able to sell it after the larger man leaves town.* * *Leaning on a mailbox that apparently stands in the middle of nowhere, Bufer watches his cousin Swifty race off through the forest."Petra Kujau," Bufer repeats to himself. "Thank you, Emmerson."The silence behind him in the forest is deafening."You don't approve," he remarks, without turning around."Of course I don't approve," High Priest Barennackle replies calmly, suddenly appearing on the road as if he'd been there all along. He steps up next to Bufer and joins him in watching the settling dust. "When has that ever stopped you before?""You're tellin' me you never exchanged words with them on the wrong side of the law in your day?" Bufer scoffs."Things were different, then," Barennackle says. "Baron Midwood is going to be most incensed if he learns you've been aiding the fugitives, and it will reflect poorly on all of us. Lord Rubik will not be pleased.""Yeah," Bufer snarls. "I've learned I can trust a human and a dwarf a damn sight more than my own kin. When -- if ever -- were you gonna tell me about this damned Tiamat faction?""It was not your place to know, apprentice," the high priest replies calmly. "Lord Rubik and I are not obliged to share everything with you.""I've been like a son to you," Bufer says quietly, his frame stiffening. "You've meant more to me than my own dad. How dare you hide behind this 'master-apprentice' crap over something this important?""Ebu," Barennackle sighs, looking at his apprentice sadly, "Be reasonable. You know how uncomfortable Lord Rubik gets over your radical view of the kobolds. I've always tried to be understanding, but --""UNDERSTANDING?" Bufer shouts. "Really? Then call me by my real name!"Barennackle blinks in surprise."Ebu ...""CALL ME BY MY REAL NAME!"Barennackle recoils as though Bufer has struck him, but he remains silent and stone-faced."Right then," Bufer says as he hoists it over one shoulder. "See ya 'round, Master Barrenackle. I'll be sure to let ye know how things with the abbey turn out."Bufer turns his back on the mailbox, and his mentor, and faces the road."Bejik-Caesin," the high priest calls, before he can take two steps, "You are making a mistake!""Of course, I'm making a mistake," he replies, "But when has that ever stopped me before?"And with that, Bufer sets out on the road to Maidensbridge, leaving Master Barennackle and Wit's End behind him.* * *On the slopes of Green Mountain, a man with white hair sits casually on the edge of a cliff, his feet dangling over the edge. Next to him a dwarf sits cross-legged; he looks out over the trees of Tulgey Wood, but he's not really seeing the view. Behind the dwarf a dog sits folded in on itself with one leg in the air; he is noisily licking his crotch.The man's name is Theran, and he is silently observing Emus Graymullet as the dwarf relays the events of the past few days. Emus is stripped to the waist because he is still hot from the exertion of climbing this far up the mountain. It is the first close-up look that the old druid has seen of the tattoos spread out over Emus' tattoo-covered body."And this religious junction that they're forming at Maidensbridge Chapel that you mentioned," Theran says, scratching his beard."Yep." There is a pause. "Go on.""I think it's a real bad idea.""That's what I thought you had said."* * *At The Cat & The Fiddle, Ella re-reads the note. The courier hadn't known it was from Tock Chandler, but she had, the moment she'd seen it.In Middleborough, Telgen Mythander stands tip-toe on a stepstool inside his alchemy shop, The House of the Transformed Toad. Frowning, he plucks a note tuked between two bottles. He hadn't put that there, perhaps a customer had. Removing it, the gnome opens it, and his impressive eyebrows crawl up his forehead when he realizes it's from the fugitive, Renraw Kem.* * *In Midwood Hall, the vision fades and the mirror returns to normal, revealing Steward Eule Wood watching from a discreet distance over Baron Nicodemus Midwood's shoulder."Well, they're alive," the baron says, closing the steel shutters over the mirror and locking them, then closing a pair of decoratively carved wooden shutters over those. "Bring me blank warrants and stationery. We'll see if they can outrun the heliograph."</blockquote>

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