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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cyronax" data-source="post: 166737" data-attributes="member: 822">Session I (Part 6)Gareth and Gorbag had gone to the blacksmith of Cherry Knoll. Though they had some difficulty with Gorbag’s girth, the blacksmith had told them that it’d take him a day if they wanted the job functional, and maybe as much as three if they “wanted it done pretty.” Gareth said that one day was all they had, and the blacksmith, who had had barely any work for the past month, consented.  Then after buying Gorbag a new scabbard, the pair went to see about tending to Gorbag’s wounds and buying some rations at the town’s trading post.Meanwhile back at Cutter’s Inn and Tavern, Li Hai and Merin were still discussing the recent events of Cherry Knoll. It was at this moment that Kelec and his wolf came into the common room. It was quite an entry, Kelec swinging his club against the door instead of a simple push, sent splinters flying as the door banged against the adjacent wall. Dressed in his dingy frock, his matted black beard still caked in blood, and dripping from his recent bath, Kelec looked like some horrible forest spirit brought to flesh. The few peasants in the room stood up as they saw him, many with disgusted looks. Merin looked at Li Hai, who was as unreadable as always, and then at Kelec, and simply asked, “Uh, you’re here to see my father right?”“Aye, if yer father be Cutter, than that’s that. Fetch him, and get me some beer!!” Merin just nodded and went into the back, while Kelec, meeting the surprised gaze of the peasants, loudly muttered a curse about villages and the filthy rabble that lived in them. And with that, the dwarf led the wolf over to the cold hearth of the fireplace, and pulled out an old long stemmed pipe, which he began to stuff with some sort of forest weed. The wolf sat on its haunches, next to the wild dwarf, quietly eyeing the peasants.One of the bigger peasants made ready to deal with the dwarf’s insult, but his companions forced him to sit down, saying that anyone traveling with a wolf and covered in blood probably isn’t going to be made to apologize so easily. The man gave in, and an incident was diffused. Li Hai just sipped his water, and observed the situation.After two or three minutes, Merin reentered the room carrying a flagon of beer, a clean rag, and a bowl with water in it. She brought them over to the dwarf, and said, “Well….my father is out right now, but I’m sure he’ll be back shortly. I take it you’re part of the Circle, master…….?”“Kelec,” the dwarf growled, and then grabbed the beer from her, and began slurping it down. After a few moments, Kelec noticed Merin still standing there, and loudly asked, “What! Why are you still here? Go find your father or somethin.”She answered in a surprisingly confident tone, “I was just going to give you this…uh….water and towel….to clean up with.”“Ah, I don’t need that. I just took a bath. I’m clean where it counts, but while you’re here, you might as well me some food. I’ve been on my feet for many days.”“What would you like sir? We have potatoes, chicken, and..”“Whatever meat you have is good enough. Bring enough for my friend here as well,” Kelec said, appearing to grow tired from talking, he added, “Leave that water there for the wolf. Got it?”“Uh…yes Master Kelec,” Merin answered. She then promptly placed the bowl on the floor however, and the wolf lapped at it thirstily. As Merin was heading for the kitchen to fill the order, Li Hai whispered, “Merin, who is that ….. um..man?”“Oh, I’m not sure Li Hai, he said his name was Kelec.”“Well then, how did you immediately know he wanted to see your father?” The Halthyte asked.Merin leaned across the bar, and answered in a quiet tone, “My father knows a lot of people on the frontier. I do to I suppose, and the way that that man is dressed and the fact that he travels with a wolf makes me think he’s one of those druids.”“Your father deals with druids? Do they often pass through the village or protect these woods? I had thought Illitol’s kind was a thing of the past.”“Well I think that they are, but father has talked about a one druid who …”Merin’s sentence was interrupted by an impatient Kelec who exclaimed, “Quit yer flirting girl!! That pretty boy soldier type will wait for whatever you’re offering. Go get our food!!”Merin, blushing, hastily apologized to the irate druid. She then scrambled into the back to get the food. Li Hai went over to the dwarf, and asked, “Hello friend, might I have a word with you?”“What for? You protectin’ that little girl? Hah!” Kelec blew a gob of smoke at Li Hai, but the Halthyte didn’t seem to care. He merely smiled, and grabbing a chair from a nearby table, sat down a few feet from where Kelec was perched on the hearth.Maintaining his smile, Li Hai quipped, “Hah hah, you think a peasant girl like that would entrap me? No I’m actually in the area for another purpose. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with the girl ….friend….Kelec. I heard her mention the Circle. I take it that you’re a druid then.” Kelec remained quiet, merely looking Li Hai in the eye with a thoughtful expression on his face.  After only a few seconds, the dwarf snapped, “F**k off! I’ve got no business with you, whoever you are!”Li Hai only laughed and said, “I see that you’re quick to judge others, but actua…”An angry Kelec exclaimed, “Git out of my face! I got no time for this.” He then slid off the hearth, motioned for the wolf to remain where it was, and brushed past Li Hai as he made his way to the kitchen. Kelec pushed through the curtain separating the kitchen from the bar, and found Merin busily cutting meat off a dead, plucked chicken. Kelec stopped in the doorway and proclaimed, “I’m already sick of this pit you call a village! Damn it girl! Where’s your father?”Merin, patiently replied, “I’m sorry Master Kelec, but he’s still not back, he went to our neighbor’s house near the outskirts of the village. You seem desperate to talk to him, but maybe I could help you instead.”“Arghh!! Alright you might be able to, but first back up!” Kelec left the doorway and practically pushed Merin towards the only other door in the room. He led her to the door, opened it, and found that he was on the back-porch of the inn. He saw that the backyard was fenced in and had a chicken coop and a hovel that passed for a stable. A few chickens clucked around the yeard, and the dwarf could make out a donkey and a beautiful gray riding horse in the stable. The dwarf walked out into the yard and said, “Alright I guess I can trust you if yer Cutter’s daughter. I’ve heard he aien’t like most humans, a friend of mine said that he would be a help on my mission.”The girl, nervously answered, “My father is a wise man. I know that he has a friend among the druids….a man named Porblin Gandalaxe if I remember right.”“Right! That’s his name, but I aien’t here to start chumming around, I need to find out what’s going on in this part of the forest. I’ve come here to investigate some sort of evil that is growing within these woods. I don’t rightly know the nature of it, only that my friends think it’s powerful. Do you know what I’m talking about?”Merin replied, “I’ve heard of some odd things, but I don’t really know that much about it. What I do know is that there are some strange men have been seen in the woods over the past few months.”Kelec, dourly said, “Tell me more, girl.”And with that Merin began to tell Kelec about the missing Clover Trade caravan as well as her father’s suspicions that the strange men in the forest might actually be the missing traders. As she began to tell Kelec about the Abbot’s seclusion and the strange behavior of the Abbot’s men, Kelec cocked his head slightly, listening to sounds coming from the kitchen, and after a moment he said, “Hold on a sec!”Merin did as he commanded, and watched as the dwarf ran up the stairs of the backstoop. As he came into the kitchen he saw Li Hai scrambling from the shadows of the backdoor towards the curtained doorway leading to the bar. He had obviously been listening to their conversation.Kelec, a wrathful look on his face, cried, “Eavesdropping aye!! Just what the hell is yer interest in me? I’ll git my wolf on you, you bastard!” Kelec shook his club menacingly at the Halthyte, and again said, “Well, what do you want?”As Li Hai was regaining his composure, Merin ran inside and exclaimed, “I don’t know why he’s spying but I trust this man Master Kelec! Li Hai’s come here to help!” “I may not be around people much, but I can just look at this guy and see that he’s hella trouble.”Li Hai soothingly said, “Now now, I’m sure I can explain myself. You see, I’ve come to this village to look for that missing Clover Trade caravan. I come from Archaven, and I can assure you that I mean you no harm Kelec.”“He speaks the truth Master Kelec! He’s here with the son of the Lord of Westpoint,” said Merin as she crossed the kitchen to stand next to Li Hai.“Really, human titles means little to me, but if that’s case, then so be it, he paused, again sizing the Halthyte up, and then said, “I guess you heard everything I said back there, so I don’t have to explain what I mean when I tell you to tell me what you know about this evil in the woods?”---------------Gareth and Gorbag were done with their business in Cherry Knoll, and the two men were now returning to Cutter’s Inn and Tavern. Gorbag was happily muttering to himself in a sing-songy fashion that made the orc’s bestial face seem almost childlike. Gareth seemed quite pleased with the amiable orc, and the two seemed to strangely compliment one another. Though he had a quiet smile, Gareth was tired from all he had done today, but Gorbag seemed invigorated. The orc’s wounds had been tended by the old woman who ran the village trading post. She knew the ways of an apothecary, and had done a masterful job in cleaning and binding a few of the orc’s nastier wounds. Gareth had managed to convince Gorbag to wash out his clothes and hair in the trough outside the store, and then he had the old woman trim Gorbag’s unkempt hair to a manageable length.As the two companions entered the common room, Gareth saw Kelec’s mangy wolf friend lying next to the fireplace. As Gareth stared, the wolf let out a low growl, but only seemed to be warning the noble to keep his distance. Gareth, could only oblige the animal, and he continued into the common room with Gorbag at his flank. The Mytherian saw that most of the peasants who had been in the common room earlier had left, and only a trio of men, all in their twenties, were nervously sitting at one of the tables. Gareth questioned the peasants, and was told that some crazy, dirty old hermit from the woods had come in with that wolf and caused all sorts of trouble. They told the noble how they had had heard some shouting and sharp words coming from the kitchen after Kelec had followed Merin inside, and they also said how “that strange Halthyte man” had told them to leave the protection of Merin to him, and since then, Merin, the dirty hermit, and the Halthyte have been sequestered in the kitchen.Gareth told the men that they should indeed stay out of whatever’s going on in there, and he bade Gorbag follow him into the kitchen. As he rounded the bar, he noticed that Li Hai’s light crossbow was carelessly left on the bar stool where he had put it earlier. As Gareth and Gorbag approached the curtained off room, he could hear several voices coming from inside.As he pushed back the curtain, he saw Li Hai leaning coolly against the door frame of the backdoor with Merin standing next to him. They were both in deep conversation with a short, dirty looking man with a large bulbous nose, a wild black beard, and dressed in a filthy grey frock. A thick wooden club was held at his side.The stumpy hermit quickly raised his club, and pointed it towards Gareth and Gorbag and asked, “Who the hell are you?”Li Hai nonchalantly announced, “This is Sir Gareth Steele, fourth son of Roderick I, Lord of Westpoint.”The Halthyte gave Gareth a quick wink, and crossed the kitchen so that he could stand next to the nobleman. “Li Hai who is this?” asked a confused Gareth.Li Hai introduced Kelec to Gareth and Gorbag, and filled them in on what had happened. He stressed how both he and Gareth had set out from Archaven in order to investigate the missing caravan, making no mention of his other reasons for coming to Cherry Knoll. Li Hai had Kelec relate what little information the druid knew about the evil in the woods, though he did not mention Thornfur or the other wolves. Kelec said that he had come east at the behest of his master Nexatatus, who’s name no one seemed to recognize. After a few minutes of conversation, Merin wondered if they wouldn’t be more comfortable in the common room, to which the men all agreed. They all went into the common room, and sat down at the table closest to the bar, and discussed the strange events that had brought them to Cherry Knoll. Kelec’s wolf friend came over to their table and sat at the dwarf’s feet. The wolf probably absorbed as much of what was said as Gorbag did. Merin began cooking dinner, knowing that many of the locals would soon begin trickling in.  A half an hour had passed and Cutter finally returned to the inn, and at Gareth’s invitation, the ostler sat down at the table to help them sort out all that had been going on. Night settled upon Cherry Knoll, as the men talked, and after nearly an hour’s long discussion, Gareth, Li Hai, Kelec, and Gorbag agreed to investigate the strange men of the swamp together. They decided that it would be best to leave first thing in the morning, and soon after this they each bought inn rooms, and retired to rest for tomorrow’s quest.</blockquote>

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