Hi ho,it's off to town we go.

Bulldust gives Raven another key to add to her collection, it's from the set of manacles he had used on Shelby Wright, although the manacles were lost with Shelby.

 She takes the key and holds it with joy, because nobody had ever given her a key before! She hopped around with joy then bites at it, tastes it, feels it then digs out her other key and compares them then carefully wraps them up in soft oiled leather and places then into her lock picking kit.

 "Awk! Iz thankz youz SO much Bully! Iz nevr gotz a key from sumone beforz! Youz my frend foreverz! I lvz you too!"

 She hops around happily and ruffles her feathers. "Awk!"

Bulldust laughs to see Raven so happy with the key.  "Youse happier dan Shelby woz when I give him da manacles!"

Team Arda-Nuff and their dozen rescued goblin miners make their way as quietly as they can to the eastern end of the plateau without any sign of being spotted by the orcs in the fort. They continue past the spot where the last of the human horsemen were defeated and near the end of the plateau they find two long ropes trailing down the cliff to the plain below. This must have been where the human foot soldiers had climbed up before dawn to attack the fort. It provides a convenient way down for everyone. Even those without the skills to climb down by themselves can be lowered down on the ropes.

So it is not long before everyone is down and the long walk to town can begin. Sure enough the trail left by twenty horses and as many foot soldiers proves to be easy enough to find, so it is a simple matter to follow that trail back to town.

When the freed goblins learn where you are going they don't seem very happy about the idea. They tell you that the town is alright for orcs to visit as there are a fair number of orcs among the general population in this part of the world, but not so for goblins. Goblins are generally still considered the enemy here. Minmorc and Makkal the dwarf would be able to walk about freely and trade their goods there but goblins and bugbears can't. Raven and Riza should be able to enter without too much trouble though.

The 12 goblins make it quite clear that they would rather not go to town. Their tribe lives in the mountains several days south of here.

Looks like it's time to say farewell to the gobbos.  "See ya fellas.  Good luck.  An youse can take dese, you dug em."  He gives the goblins the uncut gems from the mine and as much elf as they can carry.  "It's 'lembas'.  One small bite can fill..."

To the rest of the party he suggests "I'm always up for a fight, but maybe when we get dere we should wait outside while Raven and Riza go in ter find Min?"

"Well youse is safes wid us now Oopses." Moffdust gives him an ear to nibble on "It's 'elf' foods, makes youse elfy."   She waves goodbye to the freed goblins and trudges off with the others towards the town. "I agrees wid Bully. Wes can waits outsides de towns. An I can gives youse a haircuts Dregzie. Does youse knows where de black wands will takes us next?"

Dregz nods wisely as Raven's joy at receiving the second key from Bully proves beyond doubt that he was moved by the spirit of his god.  "As was written !" he intones.

The warning of his kinsmen is worth the gems that Jurz gifts the goblins as they depart, but the hairy little goblin priest also bestows a blessing upon them for good measure.

"Dat would be best," he agrees wholeheartedly with the decision to steer clear of the orc town, but declines the offer of a haircut, displaying his overlong locks with pride.  "Dis is a sign of my devotion to Bargrivyek !"

And as for the next destination ... Dregz shakes his head.  "Not yet ... Bargrivyek will send me der dreams an' den wese will know," he tells Moffa, confidently.

Jurz looks across at Dregzies unruly hair, and then reaches up to polish his own bald pate.  He, too, is not concerned about Bully giving the gobbo's some of the uncut gems but he does have a question for them before they leave.  "So where does you'se tribe live den?  An watz de name of you'se tribe?"  then as an after thought he adds "An watz de name of dis town?"

When the gobbos have left he he tells the others  "Der Dwarf never said de town was a bad place for gobbos,   he sed we's could go dere and sell stuff.  An I don't trust dat Dwarf!  I'se could be a dog, like Rog, and goes into town." he adds as an afterthought.

The goblins tell you that the town is called Marikest and the next bigger town (Antalotol) is another day's travel further north in the land that humans call Zeif. The goblins have heard stories that there are a fair number of orcs and half-orcs among the human population of Zeif because orcs were used as mercenary troops by the humans in this area hundreds of years ago. Kurjan's orcs were quite proud of that history and bragged about it as though it made them even more superior over the goblins.

The goblins come from the northern end of the Ulsprue Mountains and they are members of the Sand Fang tribe. They happily explain that the Ulsprue Mountains stick up like jagged teeth out of the desert to the west and sandy plains to the north and east. Their tribe often raids out into the plains against Paynim tribesmen and caravans. They were captured by Kurjan Sawtooth's orcs on an ill-omened raid that came much further north than usual.

Dregz hadn't paid much attention to the black rod in the last few hours because of everything involved with the battle then rescuing the goblins from the mine. But now when it is mentioned it is fairly obvious that the black rod wants to point southwards whenever he is not actively pointing it in a different direction.

The walk to the town takes all night and Team Arda-Nuff don't arrive at the town until a couple of hours after sunrise. By now they it is well past their normal bedtime and they are all getting tired.

Minmorc and Makkal must have been able to travel much more quickly on horseback, so they have probably had at least a few hours sleep before going to the markets as soon as they opened.

The town is not walled so it would be easy enough just to walk straight into town if the goblin prisoners had not warned that most of Team Arda-Nuff might not be very welcome there. There are no woods near the town for the Team to use for cover but there are some low hills near the trail just outside of town that would allow the Team to stay out of sight and watch the town. So perhaps it is not surprising that someone seems to be waiting there on the closest hill, watching the trail that Team Arda-Nuff approaches on. When they are about 60 feet away a scruffy-looking half-orc stands up from behind a rock and calls out to the Team.

"Oi, youz lot! Are youz Minmorc's mob?" he calls to them.

 "Awk! Why youz askin? Wez not bothrin nobodyz. Jus mindin wez own buzzinez."

 She was just stopping to take a drink from her water bottle when the voice was heard from the hilltop, so she answered and turned to warn her friends.

 _{"Awk, sumbodyz talkin at uz! Think frendz in troublez?"}

The half-orc stares at Raven for a long moment then looks at everyone else in turn, counting on his fingers as he does so.

"Bunch of gobbos, one bugbear, one birdy, one lizzy, one doggy and a pussy cat. Yeah, youz is dem all right. Youz wait here. Stay outta sight. I go getz Makkal and Minmorcz."

Without waiting for an answer he ducks back down behind the boulder and darts away toward the town.

"Yes we're wiv Minmorc."  Bulldust yells back.  "But not that snitching dwarf." He adds under his breath.  He finds a shady spot and falls asleep before anyone can organise a watch list with him on it.

Roughly half an hour after the half-orc look out has jogged to town a sleek black coach drawn by four horses comes rolling down the road and pulls up to stop next to the parties hiding place. The door opens releasing a faint cloud of smoke and out steps Minmorc who stops to assist two handsome young half orc women down the step. With one on each arm he will swagger over to the party, puffing on a thick cigar.

When he finds the party he will open his haversack and gently nudge the ladies forward. "Right my lovelies, hand out der loot to me mates would ya." As the escorts hand each party member a small sack of gems and coins Minmorc will say "Folks, meet Candi an Bunni. If ders anyfing yer wants from der markets dey'll be able ter tell yer wot its worth an get it for yer, dey gots lotsa skills an der way dey can spend yer money is like magic." As he talks Minmorc will brush a little ash off of his nobles finery and new chain shirt.

OOC: Each party member gets 3288gps loot, mostly in gems with a scattering of platinum and gold coins.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:10, Wed 23 Aug 2017.

OOC: If anyone has a shopping list, now's the time to ask.  :o)

Bulldust takes a bag from Bunni.  "Who's dis ponce Bunni?  An wot have ya done wiv Minmorc?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:10, Thu 24 Aug 2017.

Moffdust kicks Bully's shin "Of course dats our Mins, Bully! Only he's in disguises, he hasn't gots shit all over hims. She gives Minmorc's knee a hug while she considers what she might want to buy.

Minmorc will pat Moffa on the head then he's eyes go wide. "I ain't got shit on me, I got fancy duds an lotsa gold, is I der king?"

 She takes the loot and dances with joy at the shinies. She hops and and squawks softly before getting down to business. She goes through her pack to see if there's anything she needs before she decided how much loot to keep and how much to spend, if any.

 "Awk Awk Awk, wut duz me needz? Duz me needz anythinz? Gotz me seedz, hmmm..."

Moffdust shakes her head sadly as she looks up at Min. "No Minmorcs, youse is not de kings. Youse is just a big orcs widout shits. Kings is kings when udder peoples agrees dey is kings... at least de kings dat lives is. Youse jus sticks wiv us and wes will takes youse somewhere where youse can gets covered in shits again."

 "Wut youz wantz to bez king fer anywayz? Yu iz slave to kingdum den! Youz never goin anywherez anytim you wantz! Youz gotz to tawk to dem lordz and ladyz, dey complanin all da time. Don sond fun at allz!"

 She shook her head and finished looking through her pack.

Jurz and Rog had been laying in a nice warm sunny patch when the coach hove into view.  Thinking nothing really of it, he just lay there watching, until it slowed down.  Then he started to really pay attention.  Who knew what would get out of the coach.  Jurz didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a poncy Min with a couple of tarts.  Trying hard to suppress a chuckle, he got up and made his way down to them.
Once he has his loot in hand, he ponders the thought of these two tarts going to do his shopping for him.  ”Is youse goin’ back wiv dem Min?  Just to make sure de shopping is done right and no one robs dese ...  lovely ladies … on de way back to us.   Maysbe Rog and me should come along too – a ‘Kingy’ orc like youse an two big dogs, likes me and Rog, should be enough to make anyone fink.”

After a bit of thought he adds, ”Cos I wants one of dose backpacks dat is bigger on de inside an is always light to carry, and I wants a hat dat makes me’s look like a gnome, and some gnomeses cloves.”

Minmorc will give Moffa a noogie "dens all yer gotta do is say I'm a king an I'm king, easy. If I woz der king of evryting I'd do it by conkerin stuff, not by talkin wid stuck up nobs Birdie Girl, an when Ise king yer can has a tower wid all der seed yer can eat." Turning to Jurz he nods "magic backpacks is good kit an I fink I heard o dose hats. Dey bright red, wid all yer plant powers yer could be a Garden Gnome! Ders plenty a room in der coach fer you an Rog an o course I'll be stickin wid der girls fer a bit, dis town is great!"

Jurz nods and Min confirms that he is going to get his money's worth from the girls.

Riza stares as Min and the two girls climb out of the carriage then she hides behind a rock so he can't see her struggling to stop from laughing.

When she finally comes out she is holding an old shawl and a gold-coloured plaited girdle.

"Is there anyone in town who can identify magic things? There must be if they are selling magic stuff there. I don't know what these things do, so I need to find out what they are and what they are worth. Though I suppose I should try them on first to see if anything happens."

She looks at the girdle for a moment then says, "This is much too long for me. It will wrap around me 3 or 4 times. You try it, birdy girl!"

She throws the gold-coloured plaited girdle to Raven.

Then she swings the old shawl around her shoulders and draws it up over the back of her head.