Interlude
The Order of Initiative adventuring group sat around in the bar in Suzail. A day had gone by already and there was no contact from Lord Hawklin.
They were eager to be on their way again but maybe the news of the hundreds of orcs had meant that the Lord was involved with planning contingency measures with his staff. It was frustrating, the Cormyr was a large place and to defend it adequately from marauding bands of orcs was an almost impossible task. A better plan was to hit the orcs and hit them hard, keeping them off-balance and not able to even think of offensive action.
But perhaps the party had misjudged him, there were undoubtedly other calls on his time and it was just possible that there had been developments at the Crater. Although there had been no sign of any change when they had passed it at the start of the morning, here in the Forgotten Realms the situation could change very quickly. But the most likely explanation was that he was busy with the necessary, but boring, affairs of state.
The group had already sold the captured goods from their recent expedition and itched to see action again. If they were to be stuck here for some time then they could find things to occupy their time. They could research in the library and see if there were places in the locality that matched the terrain they'd seen from the second portal. So far all they had been able to do was to clear out the denizens of the gates they had explored, well to be honest they had found no evidence of life in the arid conditions at gate #2 and gate #3 had been an unmitigated disaster. They had only been able to recover two, no three, of their number by the good offices of Lord Hawlin and a strong party of knights and war-wizards.
Still, there were goods to be crafted, Rizzit wanted a Wand of Magic Missiles and Beltain, the crafter, also wanted a Wand of Shield of Faith for himself. Limara newly trained in smithing was planning to add magical enhancements to her partners armour, and for the others there were training facilities in the city that could prove useful in future encounters.
Sparhawk, used to periods of inactivity from his days with the army, waited patiently, checking and rechecking his equipment and ensuring that his mount Faren was well cared for in the nearby stables. Feng was not so relaxed. He was uncomfortable in the city with its untroubled citizens, he had been used to a life of battle and privation and resting and relaxing in comfort was not to his liking. The paladin, Elinor, was as home here as she had been on the recent expedition There were always people to be helped, rituals to be observed and assisting in the recruitment and training in youngsters for the Cormyr forces.
For Beltain and Limara there were the attendance at devotions and the work of their temples. These tasks had to be abbreviated will on the road but back in the city they could devote more time and energy to the work of their faiths and to improving their religious standing by prayer and, on occasion, the fasting and feast days that was prescribed in the calendars of their Gods.
However busy they seemed the party waited eagerly for some news from Lord Hawlin that would allow them to venture out once more.
The Order of Initiative adventuring group sat around in the bar in Suzail. A day had gone by already and there was no contact from Lord Hawklin.
They were eager to be on their way again but maybe the news of the hundreds of orcs had meant that the Lord was involved with planning contingency measures with his staff. It was frustrating, the Cormyr was a large place and to defend it adequately from marauding bands of orcs was an almost impossible task. A better plan was to hit the orcs and hit them hard, keeping them off-balance and not able to even think of offensive action.
But perhaps the party had misjudged him, there were undoubtedly other calls on his time and it was just possible that there had been developments at the Crater. Although there had been no sign of any change when they had passed it at the start of the morning, here in the Forgotten Realms the situation could change very quickly. But the most likely explanation was that he was busy with the necessary, but boring, affairs of state.
The group had already sold the captured goods from their recent expedition and itched to see action again. If they were to be stuck here for some time then they could find things to occupy their time. They could research in the library and see if there were places in the locality that matched the terrain they'd seen from the second portal. So far all they had been able to do was to clear out the denizens of the gates they had explored, well to be honest they had found no evidence of life in the arid conditions at gate #2 and gate #3 had been an unmitigated disaster. They had only been able to recover two, no three, of their number by the good offices of Lord Hawlin and a strong party of knights and war-wizards.
Still, there were goods to be crafted, Rizzit wanted a Wand of Magic Missiles and Beltain, the crafter, also wanted a Wand of Shield of Faith for himself. Limara newly trained in smithing was planning to add magical enhancements to her partners armour, and for the others there were training facilities in the city that could prove useful in future encounters.
Sparhawk, used to periods of inactivity from his days with the army, waited patiently, checking and rechecking his equipment and ensuring that his mount Faren was well cared for in the nearby stables. Feng was not so relaxed. He was uncomfortable in the city with its untroubled citizens, he had been used to a life of battle and privation and resting and relaxing in comfort was not to his liking. The paladin, Elinor, was as home here as she had been on the recent expedition There were always people to be helped, rituals to be observed and assisting in the recruitment and training in youngsters for the Cormyr forces.
For Beltain and Limara there were the attendance at devotions and the work of their temples. These tasks had to be abbreviated will on the road but back in the city they could devote more time and energy to the work of their faiths and to improving their religious standing by prayer and, on occasion, the fasting and feast days that was prescribed in the calendars of their Gods.
However busy they seemed the party waited eagerly for some news from Lord Hawlin that would allow them to venture out once more.