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The Ancient Paths - Path I


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~ Hildor ~

With a sound reasoning, Hildor ignores the summons from Dowkan and goes to sleep. If Braggi wants him freed, he'd certainly come himself or send someone with more authority.
Dowkan doesn't seem too concerned anyway; he just keeps moving down the hall with Nae'talis following.

~ Nae'talis & Hrolf ~

As Hrolf comes to the garrison, he spots Nae'talis and Dowkan strolling out, unhindered.
Even after Hrolf hails the wizard and dwarf, Dowkan continues in a rigid path down the street, showing no signs of recognition for the cleric.

[sblock]We'll skip over the "purchasing" Hrolf made for the sake of continuity...[/sblock]
 

Nae'talis pauses to regard Hrolf and gazes at the dwarf strangely for completely ignoring the cleric. He waits behind next to Hrolf until Dowkan realizes he is no longer following.
 

~ Hrolf & Nae'talis ~

Dowkan doesn't turn or slow to wait for Nae'talis to follow. The dwarven warrior is stubbornly intent on the straight path ahead of him; where it leads, Nae'talis can only guess.
"You coming or what," the dwarf states rather than asks the space in front of him. Nae'talis and Hrolf can only just make out what he says as the dwarf puts more distance between them. Neither notice the slight change in the dwarf's accent.
 

"That's rather peculiar, don't you think?" Nae'talis asks the cleric standing next to him.

Mentally he calls Shadar to him and asks the bird to report anything of importance.
 

~ Nae'talis ~

Shadar empaths to his master that he remembers seeing the wingless hunters in front of Nae'talis only a few moments ago on the other side of the great gathering.
Nae'talis can almost remember feeling Hrolf leaving Silverdown not far from here with an anything-but-sneaky Dowkan watching after him from the shadows.
 

Dowkan's brow furrows heavily as he sees Hrolf on a mission to leave the town. 'Tis ain't like him,' he thinks to himself. But then realises that he doesn't really know the cleric that well to begin with. Thanking his professionally instilled routine of wearing his armor and carrying his gear everywhere, the dwarven warrior follows him at a discrete distance. He momentarily considers going to raise the alarm, but knows that Nae'talis and Hildor are in jail, and getting Father Braggi's attention may be difficult and time consuming. Sighing to himself, he decides to continue trailing the cleric as that is the best way he could protect him should he get into trouble. As he follows, Dowkan loosens his axes in their scabbards so that they are ready for action.
 

~ Dowkan ~

After about twenty minutes of tailing Hrolf, it isn't hard for Dowkan to piece together where the cleric was heading. The caves.
Braggi had mentioned earlier that he had not received word from the men stationed at the caves in a few days. Hrolf wanting to come out here and check on his comrades made sense enough, but doing it alone? Then again, Braggi didn't want Hrolf doing it at all. And maybe the cleric knew he wasn't alone. A few minutes back, Dowkan stepped on a branch with a loud crack and was sure Hrolf had to have heard...
It could take all night to reach the caves. Dowkan could turn back now, knowing what he did of where the cleric was heading, or follow the cleric to the caves. Dowkan's gut rumbles inclemently at that prospect. 100 gold is a small price.
 

Dowkan curses his predicament, knowing that he was hired to guard Hrolf, but unsure which is the best way to achieve that. Licking his lips he decides to try something. "Hrolf! Wait up there!" he calls to the priest as he closes the distance between them.
 
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~ Dowkan ~

Hrolf doesn't respond to Dowkan's plea for him to slow down.
Hrolf isn't running, so Dowkan should be able to catch up to him in a few strides, but amazingly enough, only manages to put more distance between them. The cleric just appears to be further ahead at every leaping step Dowkan takes.
 

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