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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 1123286" data-attributes="member: 2323">"Sure come on! The more the merrier!" Vade chirped, grinning up at the pale elf. "Do you like a good story? 'Cause I got a whopper!" The halfling inhaled, preparing to launch into a third re-telling of their exploits in Spiderwood, but Ledare put a hand on his small shoulder and urged him to be quiet."Yours is a rather unusual offer," the Janissary said, eying the newcomer appraisingly. He seemed unperturbed by her assessment and turned to face her as he spoke. His eyes, however, seemed to be regarding the ground at Ledare's feet."It is to you that the others here seem to look for leadership, so it is to you that I shall make my offer," He began quietly. He fidgeted nervously with a small coin while he spoke, rarely making eye contact with Ledare. "As I said earlier, I am called Morier. I know well, the way to Hillville Junction, and I may know of others in the demesne who could be able to lead you to the girl you seek upon our arrival. I ask only to be allowed to accompany your band of..." He turned to quickly survey the room, taking inventory of the companions. "...your followers on your adventure. Adventure courses through my very blood and toward that end I find myself currently without fulfillment. I require neither significant monetary reward nor great spoils of battle, for I seek little else but the experiences one finds only in adventure."Windstryder's companion nodded once to the albino and grunted, "We need not squabble or talk on it for days; your sword is needed and you are welcome to travel with us." He grinned sardonically and added, "Not to mention: a treacherous albino elf should not be too hard to track down."Ledare gave the elf a look before turning back to the newcomer. "I am certain that your sword would be beneficial to this cause, but to pledge yourself to something you have simply overheard for the sake of adventure only?" she said, incredulous. "You cannot blame us for being skeptical. How can we know you do not have foul purposes in mind?"As Ledare spoke, Morier's eyes widened. He raised his eyes to study her features and a look of recognition played across his face. "If you understood the ways of the Eldritch Warrior, Ledare Eelsof'faw, niece of Lady Clebrylla, you would not misunderstand my intent. It is their very nature to seek adventure, often as both the means and the end to their purpose." He paused briefly and crafted his next statement carefully, emphasizing each word ever so slightly. "The Eldritch Warrior has even been known to volunteer for rescue missions of persons they have never met, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because adventure refines their soul. They do so not for praise, thanks, or reward. They do so for the same reason that a master craftsman creates a perfect piece and then refuses to sell it or display it.""Hey I must be one of those guys," Vade said brightly. "I volunteered to help save Kirnoth and I never knew him. I just thought it would be fun." Then his face fell and he added, "It wasn't though." He blew his nose loudly into a handkerchief."Do I know you, sir?" Ledare asked the pale elf, her voice barely louder than a whisper as she studied him again as if for the first time. When he continued, Morier didn't answer her question, however."I'll not force my services upon you, but I would be grateful for the opportunity," he told her.Windstryder stepped forward and offered her hand to the albino. "Morier, I have heard of your kind," she said. "The king will accept any sword he can; therefore, I will accept yours as well. As I see it this is my mission. You follow me and stay out of Feln's and my way. We move swiftly and lightly. Follow our lead." They clasped wrists and the ranger turned to look at Ledare. "The Lord Janissary of course has rank over me overall, as she is the King's direct emissary. But I have been granted this mission and I mean not to fail. The girl is rumored to be a miracle. Our mission is to go to Hillville Junction, find her, verify her abilities, and return her to Barnacus. I am sure the foul taint of chaos opposes us, as well as other ranger teams on our side.Morier nodded and told her, "I hail from a forest near Hillville Junction but I do not claim to know of the girl you seek. I do know many in the town though, who may know who she is.""Who are these others from Hillville Junction who can lead us to this girl?" Ledare asked and Morier turned his attention back to her."There are several men whose counsel we might seek upon our arrival in Hillville Junction," he explained. "A ranger who goes by the name Arwold Wyverneye would know if anything strange has happened on the frontier. A druid friend named Malcom comes and goes from reclusiveness, but if he has been about the town he'll know if anything is awry. The Greenbriar Inn is the place to look; Goodman Silverbush will be able to tell us what Malcom has been up to."Ledare nodded as Morier went through his list of contacts. "I know of the druid, Malcolm, and Goodman Silverbush," she admitted. "They are both good men, although the druid and I view the world quite differently. The ranger of whom you speak is not known to me.""Perhaps, Arwold Wyverneye is one of the rangers leading the other teams questing for a cure," Windstryder postulated, but Morier shook his head."I've known Arwold for a number of years," the albino told her. "His presence in the area is due to it being his home, not because of a quest.""So it's agreed?" Vade asked. "The new guy comes with us?" There were nods all around and Feln cleared his throat."If we are to travel together I think we need to be clear as to our intentions," he said, choosing his words carefully as if he were little used to speaking. "I have made a promise to Windstryder to help her find this girl and aid her in cleansing Barnacus.  You have your own quest, but I agree with Ledare that the solutions to our problems will likely be woven together.  It must be agreed that traveling with trust in our hearts will make us a better party and so I pledge my service to all of you, so long as we travel towards the cure for Barnacus""I agree with Feln. We must pledge our allegiance to each other," Ixin said. "The journey ahead is likely to be treacherous, and we will require trust in each other and all of our best ideas. Not to mention supplies.""I will buy more of the alchemy stuff from Rherram," Vade announced. "Whatever he has, I will buy... Healing, alchemist's fire, and I really like those smoke sticks. Plus any long lasting torchie type things." He began counting items off on his fingers but as his list mounted he ran out of digits and had to start again. "Can our basic stuff be hocked in town to buy more supplies?" Vade asked no one in particular. "We need gear.""Gear?" Windstryder asked. It was plain from her tone that she didn't share the halfling's enthusiasm for shopping. "I agree that we need as much healing as we can get. But other than that, what supplies do we need? We have weapons and food right?""I just need a few more sling bullets," Vade said. "And a rope could come in handy.""We could probably get those things in town," Ledare guessed and Windstryder rounded on her immediately."Lord Janissary, I must insist that we have not the time to travel into town," she said in elvish. "This healer of yours can outfit us each with basic healing supplies.  I do have a healers kit that can aid in healing, but a cleric, I am not.""I am not a 'Lord Janissary'," the half-elf told Windstryder in the common tongue. "You may call me: Ledare.""Clearly, getting rid of this plague would be a service to Rherram, right?" Ixin offered. "There must be something he can give us in the way of healing, defense or food supplies."The ranger nodded. "To the portal, we must, as I understand the journey to be greatly shortened by its use.  We are lightly equipped so we should be able to move quickly.""We're too lightly equipped, if you ask me," Vade muttered, looking imploringly at Ledare. The Janissary shook her head, however."You may voice your opinion, Vade," she said. "But since this is really Windstryder's mission, she should make the final decision."All eyes turned to Windstryder and she seemed to shrink away from their scrutiny. "We leave in the morning," she said before turning and trotting off into the darkness. Feln rose and followed lightly behind."I guess I will resort to hurling rocks," Vade told the others glumly. Then he brightened as a story occurred to him. "I would have been the shire rock throwing champion, but Duece is just too good. He could knock a bird out of the sky at 200 feet!  No exaggeration... Boy, we could sure use his help now.""Yes, little one," Ledare said and got to her feet with some difficulty. "I am going to retire and heal as much as I may. Why don't you see to buying what you can from Rherram."Sunday, the 11th of Wealsun, 1269 AEIn the morning, over a light breakfast, Vade showed off the supplies he had purchased from Rherram and the group distributed them is what seemed the most useful fashion. The night before Morier had been able to identify a random potion that Vade had found in his pack as being an elixir of Delay Poison simply by smelling it and testing a single drop's its consistency between his finger and thumb. The candle remained a mystery.Windstryder walked in through the back door with a grim-faced barbarian in tow. The human was thickly muscled and naked but for a loincloth and a pair of buskin boots. A utilitarian longsword was strapped across his back."It's time to go," Windstryder said without preamble."Who's this?" Rherram asked, pointing at the muscled specimen behind the ranger and looking a trifle shocked that the pair had burst into his kitchen without knocking."There are enough elves in the party," the barbarian said and it was Feln's husky voice that came out of him. It suited a human barbarian a good deal more than it did an elf. "And besides, a barbarian will give people second thoughts about messing with us."They had to agree. "You're full of surprises," Ledare said. "Do you have any other tricks we should be aware of?"The barbarian grinned. "One or two," he said.The trip to the caves was uneventful, although Vade persisted in singing despite the dirty looks from both Windstryder and Feln."On the road again... I just can't wait to get on the road again... All I want from life is to slay monsters with my friends, and I just can't wait to get on the road again!" He quieted down once they reached the caves themselves (for which everyone was silently grateful) and they descended back into the Devourer's lair. The traps had reset, and were sprung again, harmlessly now that the bars had been bent to allow passage. They saw nothing of the Devourer although they heard it clearly enough. It burbled and smacked its lips in the darkness beyond the limits of their vision, but didn't attack.The horrible stench of raw waste and decaying offal that filled the creature's lair was blunted somewhat by the acrid smell of smoke. Both Vade and Ixin felt their hearts fall as they realized what it was they were smelling. And as they neared the portal, the odor grew stronger and stronger until they came upon the charred remnants that had been their friends, Draelond and Ruze. Lit as they were in the soft green glow of the portal, the group almost expected the blackened remains to rise up and attack, but they didn't.Not looking directly at the remains, Ixin approached the portal and everyone got into position. "Everybody remembers the plan?" she asked and received nods from the group. "Okay then. Get ready."She reached out and placed her hand on the rune that corresponded to Spiderwood.</blockquote>

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