"We should at least quickly look through the other tents. There might be some useful information, or something else worth bringing back with us." He quickly ducks into the nearest tent and starts to quickly search it.

Digorye nods in agreement and heads for another nearby tent, to take a quick look through it and see if he can see anything important or useful.

Julian has had enough of looting.  He picked a good spot to keep an eye out for trouble and started thinking up dirty poems about inter-species love.

Returning to the group, Digorye shakes his head. "Nothing else interesting in any of those tents, I think we should take what we've found and clear out of here now, before anybody else wanders across us."

Marcus walks out of the tent and says, "I found a few coins and a couple of gems. I suppose we should just clear this area. Grov and I were unable to find the man who fled the camp, so he could be bringing help here any minute." He shoulders his pack and prepares to leave with the others. He checks them all quickly to ensure they are all capable of walking back to town. They will have some explaining to do, trying to tell the mission commanders why they have gotten into a serious fight and nearly gotten themselves all killed. He know sthat the group will be unable to get back to town today, so they will have to keep an eye out for a suitable camping spot that can be concealed from the group they had just attacked, in case others come after them.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:11, Thu 25 Oct 2007.

"Do we all have what we need to spend a night in the snow," Gina asked.

"I have a winter blanket which will see me through the night. But even if we are not properly prepared, we have little choice. We are in no condition to stay here and fight any reinforcements. We can not get back to town before nightfall. All I can suggest is that we scrounge whatever blankets we can find in this camp, then we leave."

"Good idea," Grov said. "I left mine in town. I don't know what I was thinking." Grov then went into one of the tents and returned with two bedrolls. "Hopefully this will be enough."

And then he packed it away in his backpack.

"The bearskin I found is large enough for both of us," Gina said and winked flirtatiously at Gabriel.

Julian frowned at the mention of leaving, but he didn't fancy getting stabbed in his sleep either.  A bad choice is still better than a worse choice, it seemed, and there was no avoiding it either.

He went to go rummage up a winter blanket, if one could be found.  The more he searched the more he thought of it as getting ready for a camping trip, and what joy those were!

Except he could still be stabbed in his sleep.  It was going to be a lousy camping trip after all.

Digorye pulled his winter blanket out of his pack, then looked around at the group. "How likely is it we'll need to leave in a hurry, do you think? I've got a tent we could pitch, to keep at least a couple of us out of the elements. But obviously it'll slow us down, or get left behind, if we have to take off in a hurry."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:09, Mon 29 Oct 2007.

"That depends. If we can find a good hidden campsite, and if we can cover our tracks properly, then we will be able to set up the tent. If not then we will have to be prepared to be up and moving fast at a momtn's notice."

"But at least we have some fresh food to bring with us."

Gabriel smiles at Ginas comment but otherwise shows no emotion, instead he turns his mind to the business ahead. "Whatever we do we must leave this camp now. Lets be quick about it." Gabriel walks out of camp towards the village but not in the exact direction from which they came.

Julian comes out of the tents hauling some extra bedrolls.  He stuffs one into the straps of his pack to aid in carrying it and drops the rest at his feet.

"In a pinch we can just layer these up for some extra coverage.  Either that or we snuggle up together overnight... in which case I'm with my cousin - the rest of you have grabby hands."

He looks directly at Marcus before laughing at his own joke.

"Let's just get a move on.  Use the tents, they're cheap and we can always roll a drunk for the extra money to get some more.  Besides, if it snows I'm not going to be keen on setting up the tent in the middle of the night."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:02, Thu 01 Nov 2007.

"So you'd rather sleep in the snow, than set up a tent?" Gina asked Julian.

Marcus glares at Julian's suggestion of rolling a drunk. At the debate on the tents he says, "We will bring the tents. If we are able to set them up then we will. If we can't then we will dump them." He quickly starts to pull down a tent and fold it for easy carrying.

Julian meets Marcus' glare with a laugh.  "Ease up fancy shorts, its just a joke.  And yeah, I mean to use a bed roll AND a tent.  Fancy that.  You're welcome to sleep on the ground if you want but I don't recommend it.  That's how you get a bad case of the Snowbound Crotch Creepers.  They look for warmth, you know."

He nods knowingly, as if Crotch Creepers were a thing he has struggled with lo these many years.

Having picked up everything they wanted from the camp, the half dozen left. They knew they had to sleep in the snow covered forest on their way back, as all of them were too tired to get back to Pashin for a good nights sleep in a warm bed. And having spent the last week on the road without beds or any other luxuries of a civilized life, it had been something to look forward to. But now it had been denied for yet another day.

As they left, Marcus went first, to protect them, and Gina went last to make sure no one could follow them and used her magic to cover their tracks.

[Unless anyone else wants to be last. Please post in the OCC thread what you brought with you. And we can continue the story here when they make camp.]

You make yourselves as comfortable as possible in the snow and Gabriel takes the first watch.

Gina, just as she had done every evening on the trip to Pashin, left the group far enough to get out of sight and returned invigorated about an hour later.

In the morning you ate what remained of the food you took from the camp and those in need of spells meditate or pray for renewal.

Packing everything together, you walk back to Pashin, arriving a few hours after sunrise.

[What do you do?]

Waking refreshed and doubly so after a noisome trip to a ditch, Julian comes back whistling a happy tune and wiping his hands on his pants.  The whole trip to Pashin  was marked by a continuous stream of joke-trading between Grov and Julian, punctuated by occasional divergences into off-color stories involving ogres and their kin amongst the Land of the Gnomes.

The sight of the city erases all memory of their last time here and Julian greets it like it was a long-lost friend that owed him money.

"So, we got us a mystical key.  Now what?"

Arriving at Pashin on the south side of town, planning on entering the same gate you left, you run into Lord Brightblade who obviously is in an irate mood.

“Where have you been,” Lord Brightblade asked Marcus in a high angry voice, but didn’t wait for an answer. “Do you think you can ignore your duties just because you’re a new squire? Do you think you deserve special consideration because you’re the son of two prophets? Because you’re the son Godsbringers? Forget that! You’re under my command now. And you will do as I say. You will do your duty. It is my responsibility to make sure you grow up and that you learn what His Majesty expects you to learn on this trip. It is my responsibility! And I will not fail in this duty because you want to dally with your friends. We have things to sell. Get moving!” With the last, Lord Brightblade pointed towards The Bazaar. No one within the sound of his voice and within line of sight of his mustache doubted what knighthood he was a member of.

“Your Highness,” Lord Brightblade then said, having turned to Gina, in a calm and suitably subservient tone. “I am responsible for your safety. Your Highness cannot disappear like this. If something happened to Your Highness, His Majesty would hold me responsible.”

“I was with friends,” Gina said. “They protected me. And besides, Marcus is a servant of Paladine. So even if something did happen, he could heal us.”

“Of course Your Highness. But now I will have to insist that you come with me.”

“Lead the way Sir Knight.”

“I know the rest of you have been invited by His Majesty,” Lord Brightblade told the rest of you. “So you are under my protection too. But as long as you are ready to go when we leave and don’t interfere with my duties, I don’t care what you do.”

“If this is what we should expect,” Grov said. “I can find other things to do.” And Grov walked away. [Grov exits the game.]

Digorye moves to talk quietly with the rest of the group.
"Well, now that we've got this key-thing, I guess we just need to figure out what it is, and how to make it work. Any ideas?"

Lord Brightblade seemed like an unhappy man, so Julian resolved to not spend too much time with him.  People like that don't like jokes or flippancy, and that's about all Julian had on offer.

Digorye's offer made him consider the Key for a moment before opining: "Wind it up and dance with it?"

Julian didn't think it was going to work, but it was something.  He offered up a small jig as if to show what he meant.

Marcus bows his head at Lord Brightblade's anger. Although he was guarding Lady Gina, and he was following through on a holy prophecy from Paladine, he knew that it would be futile and undignified to protest to his commander. He bows in acknowledgement of his orders. He offers Lady Gina a bow, and the rest of the group a slight nod, then without a word he heads towards the markets to conduct the sales he came here for.