In reply to Shawn Nyseth (msg # 527):

by the time you get them uncovered, they are unconscious, but the created air helped keep them alive.

In reply to tri-wolf (msg # 528):

Anita will help uncovering the faces, then tying up the legs.

In reply to Anita Drake (msg # 529):

you need to get more earth off to find the other legs

In reply to Narrator (msg # 530):

Anita will assist in doing so...

Shawn helps with the digging, also.

"I'll need to rest for a bit if I can.  Is that," he nods toward the burning wicker effigy, "the destination, or just another Autumn rite?"

In reply to Shawn Nyseth (msg # 532):

"Just a stop on the way... There are such sights to see!"

In reply to someone in the procession (msg # 533):

"Why, thank you!" Anita says to the person who volunteered the information.

She goes back to subduing the critter under a couple of ton of earth.

"So we have a few moments then..."

"So it would seem.  I hope the rest of you won't mind if I rest while you dig and tie.  I've cast quite more than I should, though that pile of earth didn't tire me as much as I'd expected.

"Of course, the question still arises of what we're to do with him once we're reasonably sure he won't harm anyone.  I presume he'll revert to his more or less human form once the moon sets."

In reply to Shawn Nyseth (msg # 535):

"Yeah. Maybe we should just kill them to send them back to the afterlife. It might undo the coin curse, no?"

"I...don't know if there is an afterlife for one killed here.  Or whether it matters if they already died somewhere else.  It might be different for me, born near here, than for that purist we met who was already in his afterlife.  Or it might be the same."

In reply to Shawn Nyseth (msg # 537):

"Oh. We don't just keep getting more afterlives?"

"I told you, I don't know.  I'm no priest or theurgist, nor even a theologian.  It's possible the answer varies by which god or gods you serve, or what plane you were born in or die in, or any number of other variables.  From what I've heard, your folk in Northport alone have a dozen or more significant religions -- and I don't know any of their answers on this.

"It certainly seems as if many folks have some kind of afterlife, judging by the number of Procession members who seem recently dead -- but whether anyone gets more than one, or even if everyone gets the one, I can't say with any certainty."

In reply to Shawn Nyseth (msg # 539):

The large bassist looks at the coins in his palm.
"I think these were supposed to be the ones you pay the ferryman with, so whatever dies here cannot cross."

Shawn looks at the coins Gordab is holding.  "Were those defaced like the ones we destroyed earlier?"

In reply to Shawn Nyseth (msg # 541):

"Still are - I haven't tried to scratch them out yet."

In reply to Gordab Bardson (msg # 542):

"Can defaced ones be used to pay the ferryman? What about the ones that have the runes removed?"

In reply to Anita Drake (msg # 543):

"I must confess the other coins are rather bent."

He digs into his pocket to display the bent and dinged coins in question.

In reply to Gordab Bardson (msg # 544):

"Still work though?"

"Depends on the ferryman's attitude, I'd guess.  Most of the sellers in the Autumn Market will take bent or defaced coins, as long as they're recognizable and full weight.  There was one, though, who'd reject a coin that would rock on either side or was even badly worn, never mind defaced.  His goods were odd, too; little sweets, just a couple bites each."

In reply to Shawn Nyseth (msg # 546):

"Yeah, OK."

Is wolfy out and tied up yet.

In reply to Anita Drake (msg # 547):

The wolf thing is hogtied and still unconscious.  Meanwhile the procession has started to move again, as the wicker man is burning away to ash.

In reply to tri-wolf (msg # 548):

"Do we kill him or leave him here?"

"If we leave him here, he'll likely be unable to catch up with the Procession, but he might die out here in the woods before anyone finds him, if the ropes don't loosen enough to release him when the Moon sets.  I don't think we can bring him with us, though, so that's the best option I see."

Don't seem right to leave him tied up, not knowing what might happen to him.

In reply to Nagga Karoby (msg # 551):

"He wanted to attack us. I could just kill him, if you are worried about knowing what happened to him?"