"Nivlak is my brother."  Liseth nodded to Mr Foxglove, "He is a Paladin of Sarenrae you know; and a really strong knight."  She lowered her voice conspiratorially, "Daddy actually tells me that I am a better tracker than him though; he taught us both what we know about hunting and tracking."  Her voice returned to a normal conversational volume, "But it's okay.  Nivlak is a really skilled fighter, and boars aren't usually difficult to find.  Lots of times they find you!"  Liseth smiled, "Besides, Nivlak says that most of the things that he really hunts don't try to hide.  Evil monsters, undead; they usually don't try to stay hidden."

Liseth was once again torn with indecision when Mr Foxglove offered to have his man lead everyone's horses away.  She stroked Heily's mane again while frowning in thought.  Liseth really didn't want to leave her, and she was afraid that being on foot would make her vulnerable; especially if the boar saw her.  But she also didn't think that Heily was ready to see a fight, and Liseth didn't think that she would be able to control her if Heily panicked.

"What do you want to do Heily?"  Liseth finally leaned down and asked her horse what her opinion on the matter was.

Heily held her head up high and snorted, looking in the direction that the boar was supposed to be waiting for them.  Then she seemed to shy away and walked towards the other horses.  Heily snorted, making a 'Brrrr' sound, then nuzzled Hakon.

Liseth laughed, "Mr Storval look, Heily and Hakon are already friends!  Heily says that she's scared of the boar and wants to stay with him."  The girl patted her horse, "Okay Heily, you stay with Hakon."  Liseth dismounted, sliding down Heily's side the land gracelessly on the ground.  "Oof."  She straightened her skirt.

"Here you go Mr Tarvis," Liseth handed Heily's reins to Mr Foxglove's aide.  "Thank you for looking after Heily.  And you," She turned from Tarvis and looked up into Hakon's eyes, "You make sure that you keep Heily safe Hakon."  Liseth wagged her finger at Hakon as though scolding the stallion, "If anybody hurts her while we're gone, you're going to be in trouble."

With that the young oracle walked back to the hunting group.  Liseth was still wary about being on foot, but Heily had made it clear that she didn't want to leave the other horses to see a scary boar.  She saw that Mr Foxglove and Kellan were already advancing to where the boar was supposed to be, and Pisca was creeping through the underbrush on the flank.  So once again the girl made her way to Cato's side, though she remained slightly behind him.

"You don't think that the boar is too big, do you Cato?"  Uncertainty crept into her voice and Liseth didn't even seem to notice that she had called the wizard by his first name this time.  "I've heard of boars as big as horses.  I certainly wouldn't want to see one that big.  Even a small boar is very fierce."

---

---

“A paladin of Sarenrae?”  Aldern sounded impressed at Liseth’s description of Nivlak.  “Your family really does have a tradition of service!  Which is strange coming from the nobility; most such families have done things to attain and maintain their lofty stature that would be the total antithesis of service to Sarenrae.”  He grinned at Cato.  “Am I right?”

“Okay, let’s hunt this boar, shall we?”  He smiled at Liseth as she expressed her concerns.  “Hopefully it won’t be horse-sized.  Just big enough for supper is the ideal.”  He looked over at Kellan.  “Okay, Guardsman Storval, as we move forward stay near me.  I have a pretty effective hog call, if I do say so myself.  Once I call it, the boar should charge, whereupon we attack it with our longspears.”  He raised his own weapon as an exemplar.  “Setting it against the boar’s charge might be a good idea, if you don’t fancy getting knocked off your feet.”

Aldern looked at Cato, Liseth, and Pisca.  “The rest of you can support us at range.  Ready?”  After looking around for any final questions or last-minute objections, the noble turned and led the party deeper into the brush.

The group had not traveled more than fifty feet before encountering a mid-sized clearing.   Rooting around at the opposite end of this clearing was a boar of truly impressive size.  The beast’s size was even more impressive once everyone realized that all that stood between them and the the boar's wicked-looking tusks were a couple of spears wielded by an nobleman of indeterminate skill and a teenage guardsman.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PIG SOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!”  The hog call that emitted from Aldern Foxglove was so loud and utterly unexpected that the entire rest of the group jumped in the air.  The piercing call certainly got the boar’s attention.  It immediately turned and, with an enraged snort, charged the group.  You could feel the thundering of the approaching beast’s hooves as Kellan and Aldern set their spears to receive its charge . . .

OOC:  Everyone gets one attack on the boar before its charge breaches the spearwall.  Good luck!

---

---

Kellan gave Liseth a smile normally reserved for his little sister as the young Acolyte warned his Destrier, replete with wagging finger. And just like his little sister he was willing to forgive her feminine ways taking some of the edge off his testosterone fueled spear hunt.

Getting his head back in the right frame of mind as they stalked, he could not help but give a open grin at Foxglove's spirited hog call, not hesitating to followed up with a resounding "YAH PIG! YAH!" As he cocked one boot sideways then grounded the but of the spear into the newly formed hollow. Leveling the wicked spike towards the gigantic hog he bared his teeth and leaned into the weapon, confident that the hundreds of pounds of muscle, gristle, fur and tusks would come on with a fury.

00:44, Today: Kellan Storval rolled 18 using 2d8+8. Brace Damage.
00:42, Today: Kellan Storval rolled 17 using 1d20+5. Boar Spear, Braced, To Hit + Bless.

OOC: Not sure if I doubled the damage correctly

You can talk to them too?

Pisca almost broke the first rule of how not to be seen.  She almost stood up and called out to Liseth and Heily.  But she remembered two things in quick succession.  First was that she was, in fact, attempting not to be seen.  And, second, was that she had somehow somewhere along the line, lost the knack of speaking with animals.  So, asking whether Lysa could talk to animals *too*, wouldn't necessarily be the most meaningful of questions because Pisca could not in good faith include herself.  It wasn't really anything that she'd felt too keenly.  Until now.  Even more so when the humans began their pathetic pig calls.  What self respecting pig would answer to those?  That the boar had broken from cover spoke more to its indignance than to any desire to converse, she had no doubt.

But the gnome said nothing until the giant boar had thundered by in a flurry of pounding hooves.  Pisca stood, pulled, and released all in a single smooth movement.  With a whistle of air, the arrow caught up to the charging boar and buried itself in the pig's left buttock.

"You're doing it all wrong!" the gnome called out then.  She then gave a series of grunts and a high pitched squeal.  "That's how to say, 'I'm tired of vegetables.  Please come to me.'"

---

00:04, Today: Pisca Neep Freemish rolled 25 using 1d20+6. Hit  (+3 +1Bless +1AL +1PB).
00:05, Today: Pisca Neep Freemish rolled 3 using 1d4+2. Damage (+1AL +1PB).

This message was last edited by the player at 17:30, Sat 12 Oct 2013.

Cato had barely recovered from Aldern's explosive boar call when the beast came charging at their two-man spear wall.  Cato watched as Pisca's arrow sailed forth to strike true.  The wizard tried his best to steady his arm, but the only thoughts in his head were of the massive boar stampeding over his companions and goring its tusks into the mage's thin frame.

Cato exhaled, extended his arm, and tried to hold everything steady against the thundering charge of the boar.  He squeezed the trigger, and, against all his instincts, momentarily closed his eyes.


OOC:
13:49, Today: Cato Crispin rolled 1 using 1d8.
(Keep choosing wrong damage, but that probably misses.)
13:48, Today: Cato Crispin rolled 11 using 1d20+3. Ranged Attack + Bless.

Liseth might have talked more about her family and Sarenrae, and her brother, but she realized that this was pretty far from the proper time for such a conversation.  The teenaged girl merely nodded when directed to provide support from range.  Looking up at Cato next to her she watched as he prepared his crossbow, then down at her own empty hands.  What kind of support was she expected to provide?  All that she could do was heal people's injuries; and every time she did that she wished that it was the last time that she would ever need to.

Filled with contending emotions, anticipation and apprehension, excitement and dread, Liseth did her best to stay close to Cato as the group crept forward.  And then the boar was spotted, "Oh..."  Liseth's eyes widened and she whispered, "Erastil...you didn't have to bless the boar that much..."

Realization suddenly hit her as she jumped in alarm at Mr Foxglove's taunting of the boar in order to get it to charge at them.  Why her father and brother never let her go along with them on any of their hunts.  Because all of the reading, all of the learning, all of the stories that she had ever been told, never prepared Liseth for an actual boar, a large but thankfully not horse-sized boar, charging madly in her direction.  Even with a pair of spearmen between her and the animal.  Now she was glad that Heily had had the sense to stay behind.

With a light gasp Liseth stepped more fully behind Cato as he fired his crossbow and peeked past him at the carnage that was about to ensue.  With one hand on her divine symbol and her eyes fixed on the boar, she prepared herself to protect the wizard should the boar decide that it wanted to ignore Kellan and Mr Foxglove and come towards him and her instead.

Readied Action: Cast Sanctuary on Cato if the boar charges towards us.

OOC:  Since it probably has to go through him before it can get to me.  Hopefully.  I was going to refresh my blessing, but I guess everyone is still blessed.  That's fine by me!

---

---

The boar crashed through the bushes directly towards Kellan.  Why it went after Kellan instead of Aldern was a mystery; perhaps it was attracted to the glint of his armor, or maybe he found the guardsman's smell offensive.  Either way, the boar's furious charge allowed Kellan to make an attack worthy of the finest, most-experienced hunters; he buried his braced spear deep in the beast's chest with an expert strike that should really have killed it.

Unfortunately, the boar's ferocity seemed to keep it from understanding the seriousness of its wound.  It simply kept charging, ripping Kellan's spear out the side of its shoulder and avoiding the crossbar as it lowered its tusks to punish its tormentor.

The boar's incredible toughness seemed to shock and surprise everyone, especially Aldern, who had apparently expected the boar to crash into HIS spear, rather than Kellan's.  He quickly unbraced and hefted his spear to stab at the boar, but it was too late; the boar had already moved inside his reach as it pursued its single-minded attack on Kellan.

As the boar ripped Kellan's spear out of its shoulder, leaving a gaping wound, Pisca appeared on its flank, as if out of nowhere, and let fly a smooth bowshot that buried an arrow into the boar's other shoulder.  But Pisca's pinprick did little to slow or even distract the boar, who finally closed with Kellan even as Cato's acid dart went flying harmlessly over its head.

Fortunately for Kellan, the guardsman was able to dodge out of the way as the beast's 200-pound body slashed its wickedly-sharp tusks through the thin air where he had so recently stood.  The animal clearly had fight left in it, and as it turned its bloodshot eyes on Kellan, everyone knew this was a struggle that could only end in death.

OOC - 22:17, Today: The Raconteur, for the NPC Really Angry Boar, rolled 6 using 1d20. Initiative.
22:11, Today: The Raconteur, for the NPC Really Angry Boar, rolled 16 using 1d20+6. Gore Attack on Kellan.

Roll Initiative - If you beat a 6 you may make an attack on the boar.

---

---

This message was last edited by the GM at 05:26, Sun 13 Oct 2013.

Pisca moved in and fired into the boar's flank again.  This time, the arrow buried itself deeper.  The gnome pursed her lips and dimpled her cheeks.  Something just didn't seem right about this.  The boar had done nothing wrong.  And they weren't exactly going hungry.  Why not eat turnips?

---

00:05, Today: Pisca Neep Freemish rolled 18 using 1d20+4. Imitative.
00:05, Today: Pisca Neep Freemish rolled 18 using 1d20+6. Hit  (+3 +1Bless +1AL +1PB).  -4 Penalty firing into melee.
00:05, Today: Pisca Neep Freemish rolled 4 using 1d4+2. Damage (+1AL +1PB).

Kellan just barely managed to take the impact of the beast onto the spear without stumbling or loosing his grip.  The others could see his muscles quivering as the boar thrashed and writhed it's way closer with every movement. Teeth still bared he twisted the spear into the wound with a grunt as Pisca's signature fletching bloomed from the boars flank. Something in Kellan seemed to sense the primal significance of the struggle, the almost divine cycle of predator and prey playing out before him.

00:19, Today: Kellan Storval rolled 5 using 1d8+4. Boar Spear Damage.
00:18, Today: Kellan Storval rolled 7 using 1d20+5. Critical Confirm.
00:18, Today: Kellan Storval rolled 25 using 1d20+5. Reach attack - Boar Spear + Bless.
00:16, Today: Kellan Storval rolled 18 using 1d20+2. Initiative.

This message was last edited by the player at 08:56, Sun 13 Oct 2013.

Liseth found that her eyes had closed themselves moments before the boar reached Kellan.  She couldn't fathom how he would be able to withstand the charge of such a large, enraged animal.  Even with her eyes shut together tightly Liseth still winced at the sound of the impact, when boar met spear.

Cautiously, she opened her eyes.  The squeals of rage made it apparent that the boar was still active; and she gasped at the blood gushing from the massive wound in the creature's chest.  But through some miracle Kellan remained unharmed.  She only hoped that this trend would continue.

But what, if anything, could she do to help?

03:50, Today: Liseth Thoradin rolled 3 using 1d20+1. Initiative.

Cato winced as the boar's tusks bored into Kellan's shoulder.  He quickly leveled his crossbow and fired another bolt at the boar.  Without waiting to see if he hit, he pulled out another bolt and quickly reloaded the weapon.  He wasn't sure how much it would take to put down this boar, but it looked like Kellan was going to need all the help he could find.

OOC:
14:06, Today: Cato Crispin rolled 18 using 1d20+6. Initiative.
14:07, Today: Cato Crispin rolled 2 using 1d8. Crossbow Damage.
14:07, Today: Cato Crispin rolled 14 using 1d20+2. Crossbow Attack.

---

---

Aldern managed to recover quickly as the boar pressed its attack on Kellan.  He stepped back and thrust his spear into the boar’s unprotected flank, scoring a solid hit as he plunged it between the beast’s ribs.  A second later, Pisca’s arrow, Kellan’s spear thrust, and Cato’s crossbow bolt hit home simultaneously, piercing the boar’s tough hide.  The boar’s eyes widened and Kellan, who had perhaps a more up-close-and-personal view of the boar’s angry visage than he would have preferred, could hear its labored breathing and see flecks of blood in the red-stained froth about its mouth.

The boar’s wild eyes showed that it still had the will to attack despite the incredible punishment it had already endured.  But its injuries finally caught up to it; it stumbled as it attempted to gore Kellan, then fell heavily on the ground, dead.

“That was amazing!”  Foxglove was flushed with the excitement of the hunt as he slapped Kellan solidly on the back.  “Are you sure you’ve never been boar hunting before?  I’ve seen men with years of experience who wouldn’t have held up as well as you did to that charge.  Perfection.  Just perfection!”  The noble turned to the other hunters.  “You ALL did very well!  I think we can be justly proud of our accomplishments.  I propose that we take this impressive animal back to the Rusty Dragon, where we,” he grinned, “can regale all and sundry with inflated tales of our bravery and prowess.”

OOC:  Pisca, Kellan, and Cato ALL rolled an 18 for initiative.  What are the chances, lol?

---

---

This message was last edited by the GM at 02:07, Mon 14 Oct 2013.

Kellan watched as the boar's life ebbed away, feeling the slap of Foxglove's hand on his back brought him around and he grinned. They were succesful.

"Thanks Mr. Foxglove, that's pretty high praise" he looked to the others with a nod before he stooped and drew his dagger from his sheath. He knelt next to the boar's body and gave an almost affectionate pat before he stroked it's course furry hide. He leaned in close and said sonething too soft to hear before he drove the blade with no small effort into the side of the creatures neck. Using the spine as a fulcrum he worked the blade around to open it's throat before he sat back and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"There must be over a hundred pounds of usable meat on this thing...it's a wonder they grow so large out here."

He took in the moment smiled to the others "Good work guys, and ladies...of course" he litterally nudged Pisca with an elbow as he stood.

"I'll walk back and get some knives and the hook so we can quarter it..."he explained as he turned to do so

Pisca trotted up behind the big, dark animal.  With a small pink hand she patted its flank as though it were still alive.

"Yes, that's right.  *Ladies*."  The gnome repeated the word with emphasis while at the same time nudging back at Stomper with a grin.  "Isn't that right, Lys?  Gentlemen, ladies and gnomes.  Except ... "  She came around the front of the beast.  The head tipped at an unnatural angle on its massive neck, and its giant snout lay in the grass.  "Except ... that ... it should be ... the other way around."

With a frown on her face the gnome approached the hog's head.  "Desna take you to the porcine stars," she said.  That each of the boar's eyes was as big as the gnome's hand was apparent when she closed each one in turn.  Then, squatting next to the boar's head, Pisca hooked her fingers in the corner of the boar's mouth and hauled upward.  She strained with hands and arms and legs and back to shape the boar's final face into a smile.

When the gnome stepped back, however, she found her efforts all for naught.  The jowly jowls of the massive boar sunk back to the ground, obeying the unwritten law of the gods that all things must fall back to the earth unless imbued with powerful magic.

"He didn't look like a very happy person anyway," Pisca commented with arms akimbo.  She then proceeded to watch with great interest as the men went about the strenuous -and quite bloody messy- work of skinning and carving their fallen foe.

A hand went to her chest when the boar finally collapsed from its extensive injuries.  Liseth watched as Kellan knelt next to the fallen boar and gave it the final coup de grâce before she approached the scene of the brief but violent battle.  She still couldn't believe that nobody was injured.

"Thank you Erastil."  Liseth spoke softly as she watched Pisca attempt to compose the dead boar's features, "We honor the spirit of this animal and hope that it finds final peace in your domain."  She bowed her head, "We give you our thanks that you saw fit to grant us a successful hunt and that none were wounded during the battle with the boar."

"That was more frightening than I imagined it would be."  Her prayer of thanks finished, Liseth turned away from the boar.  The sheer amount of blood leaking out onto the forest floor gave her a slightly queasy feeling.  She looked at Kellan and Mr Foxglove with their spears and her hand went back to her chest, "I don't think that I want to go on another boar hunt.  One is enough for me...I'll stick to trapping rabbits."

Kellan came trudging back with his pack slung over his shoulder, animated and full of energy after the excitement of the hunt. Dropping the pack he took a long draw from his water skin and offered it around before capping it and setting it to the side. Smiling at Liseth he nodded to her sentiments. "I said much the same thing once, believe it or not, when I was very young..." He began

Taking out the meat hook he strung the bit of rope through the eyelet and tossed the coil over a stout tree branch to hang it. "We were slaughtering hogs for the winter, getting ready to salt them and selling the choice bits, it was just maybe the second or third time my mother allowed me to be out there while the men worked." He tied the knot good and firm. "My brother and sister and I were lined up along the pens watching as they drug the hogs into the barn kicking and squealing...and as we were not helping per say, we got a little bored and started tossing pebbles at the pigs to see them run around...it get's a little slow, working a farm you see" he grinned a in nostalgia.

"Well..." He let the hook dangle then stooped for an oily cloth wrapped around a bunch of simple, sharp iron knives, short curved things with twisted wrought handles and notched blades "We were tossing these rocks when I turn around to see the back of my Grandfathers hand, and he knocks me to the ground so hard my teeth rattled. He snatches up the three of us by the collar and real quite like...he tells us a story"

"Was a time" he said "A Taldan King was in the habit of feasting every day, he would wake up to the finest banquets and fill his belly before he slept, and never once did he consider where those meals were coming from. Well the wars got bad and the servants got scarce and one day he finds himself alone in his Castle and hungry as a bear in autumn, so with an empty larder, he goes hunting."

Kellan stripped down his shirt and shoes as he spoke, hanging them on branches in his bare feet with the little motes of forest dust clinging to his sweaty form "So he walks out into the woods and he finds a doe nibbling on some grass, and he commands the doe "You there, animal, come here so that I may eat you!" Kellan used his best pompous king voice "and the deer, being a deer, bounds off into the woods"

The next day he goes out and he finds a stag surveying his domain and he yells at the stag, being very hungry now "Stag! Come down here so that I may eat you!" And the stag of course runs away..."

Kellan stooped, and with the help of the others he lifts the boars limp form up onto the hook where it continues to trail dark crimson blood, getting himself covered in the stuff as he worked, he continues to tell the story as he begins to skin the creature, running the sharp blade just under the hide

"Well by this time the King was very weak from hunger, and stumbling home confused he sees a campfire tended by and old peasant man, and collapsing near the fire he voices his dilemma to his new host "Why will these simple creatures not obey their superiors? He lamented, "We are smarter, wiser and superior to them, why will they not submit to their natural role and lie down to die" the old man chuckled, but said nothing,

"The third day the King goes out, weak now from starvation, unshaven and his royal robes in tatters and he is wandering through the wood when suddenly he hears this great whooshing over head, and this great scaled Wrym crashes down amidst the forest, the trees shattering and bending beneath his weight and he eyes the King, who proceeds to run as fast as he can in the other direction"

Kellan spilled the gut pile beneath the hook, helping out the coils of intestine and ofal with his bloodied hands "And the dragon calls out to the King "Why do you run little lordling? You should submit to me, I am smarter, wiser and superior ito you in every way, it is the natural order of things"

"Well the King gets eaten" Kellan laughed and wiped the blade on a rag "and my Grandfather explains to me that just because we eat them, does not mean that we do not treat them with respect. He made me help with every hog that day...and I could not eat meat again for what felt like some time, but I do think I learned something...about our place in this world."

He smiled to Liseth as he finished up, quartering the hog into manageable chunks and plopping the huge tusked head into a burlap sack.

"That's horrible!"  It might be that Liseth saw Kellan's story from a different perspective, "That poor King.  Everybody left him all alone and he didn't even know how to take care of himself?  And he goes hungry for all of those days...only to be gobbled up by a mean dragon when he is just about to learn his lesson?  How awful..."

"I'm sorry Mr Storval.  I didn't mean that your grandfather's story was awful."  Liseth seemed unable to pull her eyes away from the butchering of the boar; despite wanting to do just that.  She was transfixed with morbid fascination as the animal was transformed into more familiar and cookable sections of meat.  "I know that people have to kill animals in order to eat meat, and I would never be disrespectful to anything held in such high esteem by Erastil; or any of the gods."

She paused, remembering the image of the boar charging wildly, "I just don't think that I'm cut out to hunt big animals like that.  That boar could have run over me without knowing that I was in its way, even if I had a spear.  I've trapped rabbits before, even a small wild pig once.  And I don't mind catching fish either.  But I think that I should keep a good distance from animals that can trample me."

Cato stood by and mostly watched as Kellan skinned and prepared the boar, stepping in to lend a shoulder or an arm when Kellan required, but mostly the local guardsman seemed to know his way around, and with help from Aldern's porters, the boar was butchered and prepared with relatively little work from him.

"It's not just having respect for the other animals, though.  It's more than a little sobering when you see how much a boar looks like a goblin on the inside...or a human for that matter."

Cato went silent again as he remembered the blood he had seen spilled, and how much like the boars it had all looked, running into the thirsty ground.

---

---

“Sometimes facing our fears lets us find as-yet-untapped reserves of strength within ourselves,” Aldern observed to Liseth as he and Kellan skinned and quartered the boar.  “Then again,” he grinned, “sometimes such exploits end in injury or death.  So maybe prudence is the better course of action after all.”  He looked down at the prepared boar as he stripped off his skinning gloves.  “I must admit that trapping rabbits has its own rewards, with fewer risks.”  He smiled at her.  “And I, for one, prefer you untrampled.”

He looked around at the group.  “I had no idea that you were all such deep philosophers!”  He laughed.  “Especially you, Mr. Storval!  I should take you to Magnimar so that you can convince the poncy fops who hold power there of the great merit in respecting those who serve you.  Be it the animal that graces your plate or the human who prepares it.”  He shook his head.  “For my part, I enjoy the hunt because I swore to myself never to become like those men.  I would always remember the effort, skill, and courage required to survive in the natural world.”  He looked lost in thought.  “There are some who have long forgotten.  They tend to use people as if they were tools, as means to an end rather than as ends in themselves.  Using people in such a way can be dangerous.”  His eyes flashed.  “It can easily make enemies of those who should be your most loyal retainers.”

“But enough of such dark musings!”  The noble’s boisterousness suddenly returned.  “Let us mount up and return to Sandpoint like the conquering heroes of old!   Tonight the Rusty Dragon will resound with the tales of our bravery and prowess!”

Aldern’s menservants loaded up the skinned and quartered pig onto one of the horses; you then began the uneventful return to Sandpoint.


OOC:  If you all wish to have further conversation between yourselves or with Aldern, you can certainly do that; just let me know when you're done.  Otherwise we’re going to move to split threads for the afternoon before you all gather again in the evening.  I’m going to create a thread for Cato and his talk with Aeren Barett.  Not sure if we need one for Kellan’s call upon Shayliss, but Kellan PM me and we can talk about it.  If Pisca and Liseth wish to do anything special just let me know, otherwise you can just PM me with what you’re doing and can jump straight to the evening meal.

---

---

Pisca Neep Freemish returned to her gentle pony.  "Yom yom yom yom," the gnome chattered on in what was, without a doubt an entirely one sided conversation with the animal.

"Oh, by the by," she said, turning the conversation to the humans, "I'm still not very much satisfied with the way the town guard is investigating the goblin attack.  I think I'm going to ask around a bit.  Any interest in coming, Lys?"  Pisca lifted her face to the human girl riding on her horse.  "Bet we make a good team."

---

Diplomacy check for Gather Information on any known clerics or religious types (specifically those bound to Lamashtu) who might have a grudge against Desna or Father Tobayn.

Cato remounted Frolic and joined his companions for the ride back to town.  After the moments of stark terror from the boar hunt, his exuberance was returning, helped by Aldern's sunny disposition.  And they did have a great deal of boar they had brought down, as well as each other's company.

"Thank you again, for all of this Aldern.  It's quite refreshing to see that not all nobles are alike."

When the group approached Sandpoint again, Cato waved goodbye to the group.  "I'm going to go see the Barrets, and see if I can help Aeren at all.  Not all of the damage from the goblin attack is physical, after all.  I look forward to enjoying the boar tonight!"

OOC:
Fine with moving on.

Liseth was grateful to be back astride Heily and she whispered to the white horse while stroking her mane.  "You were right Heily, I should have stayed with you.  That must have been one of the biggest and meanest boars in all of Tickwood.  It was a miracle that nobody got hurt."

Looking up from Heily when Pisca spoke to her, Liseth tilted her head as she listened.  "Well, actually, I wanted to go and check up on Ms Katrine Vinder.  You know, the lady that was almost killed when those goblins tried to burn the Cathedral."  She frowned, "It's been a couple of days and I'm sure that her wounds are all better by now; but lots of people don't handle things like that very well.  I want to make sure that she is still okay."

"If nothing seems wrong it shouldn't take too long.  Then I can go along with you and help investigate."  Liseth paused and got a thoughtful expression, "But if something is the matter I might have to talk with her for a while.  She runs a shop with her father, right?  I haven't met him yet, maybe I should ask him if he's noticed anything different with his daughter since the attack."

Liseth rode quietly for the next several minutes.  She looked up at where the sun was in the sky, then down at her saddlebag, before speaking tentatively.  "So, it's about lunchtime, I think...was anybody hungry?  I, um...I thought that it would take a lot longer to find a boar in the Tickwood.  So I brought food for everyone.  To have a picnic."  The girl blushed at her oversight, she probably should have mentioned this to everyone before they had set out.  But she had wanted to surprise everybody with a picnic when they stopped to take a break!  Liseth never realized that they wouldn't...she had a blanket ready and sandwiches to make and apples to be eaten.

But maybe everyone was more interested in getting back to town...

Kellan was cleaning off his knives with a rag as he listened to Liseth's offer, nodding a few times as she spoke,

"Well it would be a shame to waste good food, and I'm calling on the Vinder's shortly after we get back, I can walk you over if you would like, then I might take Shayliss on a ride out to my parent's farm to deliver some of this meat" he gestured with his head back towards the bulging sacks now tied off on Hakon's saddle.

"After that's done, I figure it will probably be about time to get back to business" nodding a little to Pisca as if to assure her that he had not forgotten their task.

He at last looked back to their host "With your blessings of course sir, you did arrange this whole event. What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"Samiches?"  Pisca's petite gnomish nose began to twitch.  With a gentle adjustment of the reigns, she directed Nettie into a position next to Heily, a perfect place for the gnome to reach up and rummage in Liseth's saddle bags.  "Any roast locust sammies, Lysa?" she asked while, at the same time, pursuing a bit of self-discovery.

"Mmgbl," was the gnome's considered opinion after she nibbled off one corner of the first samich out of the saddlebag.  She handed it up to Liseth, nodding her approval.  "Iph fpiggle bruupph," she said with her mouth full, a stark contrast from the young lady of the night before.

Pisca too charge of handing out the sandwiches as they made their leisurely way back to Sandpoint.  Out of each, she took a bite, to ensure standards of quality.

---

---

"You are most welcome, Cato," Aldern Foxglove said to the young wizard with what seemed to be the utmost sincerity.  "To tell you the truth, it is I who should be thanking you.  It has been long since I felt as . . . alive as I have over the past couple of days."  He smiled.  "As you get older, you will discover the unfortunate truth that life is a series of compromises you make with your more-virtuous self."  He sighed.  "In the end, you can only try not to compromise that self too badly."  He gave the scholar a strangely-hollow look.  "I truly hope you're never in a position where you have to make that choice."

The noble turned to Liseth and gave her a radiant smile.  "Milady!  You are too thoughtful.  But there is no need to stop in order to enjoy your provisions."  He gave Pisca a sidelong glance.  "It looks like Miss Pisca is skilled in both meal service and food tasting."  He laughed.  "Although for my part I think the chances that these particular items were poisoned are very remote."

Aldern nodded at the guardsman as he inquired about the noble's planned activities.  "I think I'm going to head back to the Rusty Dragon for the afternoon, Kellan.  I have a secret boar-preparation recipe that I have taken a solemn oath not to reveal, but I want you all to enjoy it nonetheless."  He grinned.  "I also have some business to which I need to attend before I head back to Magnimar.  And it sounds as if you have some important business of your own, am I correct?"  He winked.  "So I shall leave you to your devices until we reassemble for dinner.  Shall we say at the seventh hour after noon again?"

As they returned to Sandpoint, Aldern bid the party farewell and left with his menservants for the Rusty Dragon in order to oversee the boar preparation for that evening's repast.  Cato took his leave to go visit young Aeren Barett, and Liseth and Kellan rode for the Sandpoint General Store, leaving Pisca free to decide exactly what she wanted to do with her afternoon, which stretched before her like a golden land of opportunity.

OOC:  HEAD OVER TO THE SPLIT AFTERNOON THREADS; WE'll ALL MEET BACK HERE FOR THE BIG DINNER.

---

---

This message was last edited by the GM at 06:46, Wed 16 Oct 2013.