Usopi's wide grin spread even further at the knowledge of the child's name, "A fine name for a fine child>" he said, "Brannon can answer about our duration here, though I suspect it will be short. There is some holiday in Gliss apparently that we are attempting to return for. As for your question of hunger, I could certainly eat. Our return journey from Ereworn City has been mostly uneventful, but my belly calls for sustenance with no less insistence."

'Though not entirely uneventful,' Sir Turren speaks up now. 'Sir Turren of Uvedale at your service - You and yours should have a care on the roads. There are armoured bandits out in force, last seen not a couple of marches from here. Travellers should be warned if heading from whence we came, just to be safe.'

" Not a problem, uh...if ye wouldn't mind clearing the linens and such off the table I'll go see what we've got in kitchen.", Garth said with a smile.

Clothilda gave a crooked grin, " Uh, yes...place the folded ones over on the barrels and I suppose we can throw the unfolded over the high chairs....its not like we use them anyway..", she said waving her hand towards the end of the hall where two ornate stools sat against the wall.

A few minutes later Garth returned with a platter of half demolished ham sections and half dozen loaves of dark bread with containers of mustard and verjuice, " Theres a basket of cockles in there too which cooks got on the boil now."

" Armoured bandits? We'll get them sorted don't you worry.  We've enough lads here of age to get a force onto the roads now."

" Two days out, you say? Hmmm, far enough from Hallowhall and Ereworn Town to feel bold....but not too far for us to reach them.", Garth said putting down his burden on the table.

Clothilda looked at him concerned, and Garth nodded to her with a serious look.

" How many men and what was their composition? Men alone, yes? I'm nay too worried, we faced far worse in the past."

In reply to GM (msg # 115):

'Aye, yes armoured bandits,' Turren paws through his pack and pulls out Caith's gift - the finely worked wax tablet and stylus. He seems to do a quick inspection...

'Four mail-clad knaves and eight bowmen. Claiming to be searching for a green...' Eyes flick to tablet and up again. 'A green spear. Horse thieves at best, one and all. I suspect worse deeds to come, if they have not yet.'
This message was last edited by the player at 10:45, Sun 15 Dec 2019.

" Don't you worry, we'll get them....I'll send Marn and the lads out tomorrow."

In reply to GM (msg # 117):

Sir Turren bows again.'On behalf of the lives and livelihoods that might yet be saved, I thank you.'

In reply to GM (msg # 114):
Deise greets Sir Garth and Lady Clothilda respectively, but without formality as he senses they are plain people nownin positions of responsibility.

"Happy to meet you Garth, Lady Clothilda. News of your deeds have traveled far and I thank you for the welcome to your home. Sirs Uthen, Turren, Lady Leofwyn and I all serve King Corbin. The bandits we met along the way are in need of chastisement. I feel that some of those men are disparate and possibly starving. These bowmen might be shown the Kings justice is mercifull in return for repetence and fealty. The knights commanding the  bandits need a sterner response Infeel.

Brannon nods, soberly. "Our stay will be short, for we make haste for Glissom City. It is the Spring Festival there soon, and as a Heathwarden of the Temple I obligations to fulfil. What is the fastest route there from Hallowhall?"

"Ye be welcome, Lady Clothilda." Caith replies politely, but with genuine warmth to her words "...And if there be any other herb I have to hand that might help ye or the wee lass recover from the novel experience of birth? Then it is yours for the asking."

She adds with a friendly glance towards Leofwyn "If ye have any pressing need of fresh fruit, then Lady Leofwyn has a certain knack with orchards and groves too."

When Sir Garth speaks of food, and Lady Clothilda smilingly agrees, Caith simply helps move the linens onto the ornate stools, oddly comforted by the act of being useful, even if only in a small way.

She does ask Clothila quietly "Are these stools uncomfortable to sit on, or ye worried ye'll damage them in use? If it's the first that's bothering ye, there's always cushions, comfortable nay matter how fine and fancy they be."

The hedgewitch falls silent, content to listen as she adds her somewhat reduced contribution of oatcakes to the meal as Sir Turren speaks of bandits in heavy barding, but is gladdened to see a gift put to good use.

She quietly nods in agreement with Deise's assessment of the men in question.

Caith looks to Brannon as he confirms what she understands to be the underlying reason for his haste to reach the city in Glissom, and offers "It would look poorly on the Hearthwarden if he was nay there on time to pay his respects to Lady Brigantia at her own festival."

She offers a crooked grin of her own as she adds "Can nay have him getting into trouble with her for being late, nay when us lot are keeping an eye out for him on the road..."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:30, Mon 16 Dec 2019.

Clothilda looked across to Caith, " I think I'm right for now, Lady Caith."

" Perhaps I will.", she said with an eye on Leofwyn.

" Well.......can you really imagine us holding court all proper like? This one would probably turn up in his night dress half the time.", Clothilda grinned.

" Nay, better if folks feel free to come and go and ask what they will when they will....we might be in trouble if the King ever comes visit or one of them fancy lords from south."

Garth chuckled at Clothildas words, " Too true, my love."

He turned to Brannon, " Theres a wool shipment going upcoast on the early tide t'morrow. That'll get you there pretty sharpish."

"Indeed. I have enough of ritual and pomp at the Temple. It is why I am there so rarely."Brannon grins. "You are wise to focus on the obligations of power, than on its trappings. Your people are fotunate indeed to have such a Lord and Lady."

Hearing about the wool shipment, Brannon seems pleased. "That would be excellent. Then we will leave tomorrow, if the captain will have us. Who should I speak to make arrangements?"

Usopi warms noticeably at the Lord and Lady's organization of the meal. They were Usopi's ideal rulers. Thrones might as well be used to hang the linen. If there were bandits on the roads then of course they would set about taking care of it. No barrier aught to stand between the Lord and the people. Usopi did not know what he would find in Gliss, but he felt content that, should his adventures in Gliss end unfortunately, he would always be happy to return here to Hallowhall.

"In regards to the bandit knights, We've also notified King Corbin of their presence. Hopefully he also sends men after them, and the thieves might be cowed by the sheer pressure of their pursuit." He said happily as he shifted linen to barrel and stool.

He let Brannon figure out travel plans. It mattered little to Usopi how they got there so long as they did.

Leofwyn munches on the food along with everyone else. She nods, smiling, when Clothilda mentions her, and makes a note to stop past the gardens at some point before they leave to see how she can help.

" The captain is Kimbrick, he's staying with his men in the sailors quarters down at the dock. Nice fella, he'll take you gratis as a favour to me, or you can drop a few silver his way."

Caith smiles, content in the knowing of that fact.



Caith grins in agreement and suggests wryly "If the night dress be fine enough, who would know that it's nay a robe of office?"

As the conversation turns to travel by ship, Caith falls silent again, her expression somewhat glum as she realizes that taking large beasts via water is a complicated matter when swiftness is required.

She looks to Brannon, and says in a tone of regret "If that is the plan, then we'll have to leave the ox cart behind, and all the livestock too. Nay a lot of room on deck for them..."

Caith looks to Clothilda and Garth and asks "...Would ye mind a few guests in your stable for a while longer? Though I should warn ye one of them is known to be stolen, found abandoned and perilously close to death by the road."

"That is very good of you, Lord Garth. I shall give him some silver in any case - it is well to be generous. And you are right to remind me, Caith, that we will need to leave our animals here, if the locals are happy to stable them? Again, I am happy to pay something towards their upkeep..."

He draws five gold crowns from his purse.

OOC: Not sure what a reasonable offer would be here - I offering five crowns (since we're asking for an indeterminate period of time, and I'd like good things said about us to Corbin), on the basis that it's a generous offer. If it seems stingy rather than generous I'd like to retcon it to something higher! Brannon is aware that he's spending Colm's war chest here, but he sees greasing palms as an important part of his mission, and having met Corbin, he sees keeping the new king on side as particularly important!

" We're happy to house them, if you don't object we can make use of the ox for ploughing and the fallen knights horse will make communications between here and other places a tad quicker."

Garth grinned at the proffered coins, " A generous offer, my friend. But I'll take it."

Brannon places the coins in Garth's hand. "Thank you. And you are welcome to have the animals assist you as they can."

As Aphail travelled on the road towards Hallowhall, he is on the lookout for one of a number of weathered standing stones on the bluffs.  These ancient stones mark the sites of holy places dedicated to the ancient Gods.  Aphail will take a few hours out to pray to Artia as one of these sites en route to the coast.

Artia will sit in the middle of a circle and pray.  "Goddess Artia, I am travelling the home of your sister, to be at Her Patronal Festival of Brigantia at Glissom.  We face a terrible evil, a subversive evil that hides in the shadows.    How can I identify these enemies of nature.  How can I destroy them?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:41, Thu 19 Dec 2019.

Caith sits quietly, slightly to the left of Alphail in his vigil, and keeps watch.

The hedgewitch draws on her own power and a helpful worker bee as she silently asks three questions of Artia, Lady Of The Moon, Mistress Of Magic and Watcher Over The Wild Places:

If I become the wolf by wearing the wolfpelt I hold in my hands, will that help the cause of Clan Cernach?

If I become the wolf by wearing the wolfpelt I hold in my hands, do I become an enemy in your eyes, Lady Artia?

If that is so, then should I destroy the wolfpelt I hold in my hands?


OOC:Caith casts Oracle, and awaits whatever the goddess chooses to send in reply.

In reply to GM (msg # 134):

Everybody to the new thread.

Caith nods in understanding, pleased by the generosity shown by all parties, then looks stricken for a moment as a task left undone occurs to her. When things are quieter later that day, and she has a chance to speak to Lady Clothilda a moment alone...

Caith quietly rips a few stitches in her war coat sleeve's lining, pulls a small folded piece of paper from inside it's fleece filled layer of padding, and hands it casually to Lady Clothida with a soft spoken "Message for ye from Ereworn Town. I am ashamed to say that I put it away so securely that I near forgot all about it."

OOC: Sorry for the last post, it finally occurred to me what Caith had forgotten to do at Hallowhall. Derp... :(
This message was last edited by the player at 01:17, Fri 20 Dec 2019.