"There be seven of us. Four on, three resting, isn't everyone awake." Ronalt replied in a short clipped tone.
He lays down and does his best to get some more sleep. They needed his focus in the morning when the tracking had to be done.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:29, Mon 04 Sept 2006.

Vestan gives a sour look at the dwarf. He was still smarting over the rude awakening"Who dies and made you boss gramps?" he asked. "Still I suppose we need more prisoners to question now, so I'll go and get them."

He leaves his pack and removes a few pouches, taking just his weapons. "If you hear screaming, don't worry it won't last long."

He then disappears into the bush, moving as carefully and as silently as possible.  He stops every so often and freezes, listening for anything nearby.

If the situation wasn't so serious Arek might have felt sorry for whoever Vestan found....maybe.

So the short one did have his uses.  Yesil's eyebrow raised as she watched Vestan off into the woods.  Meanwhile, what were they to do?  "I know their eyes see us in the dark," she said, "but the fire will ruin that.  We should use that to advantage."

"An' what're ye' proposin'?"
The firelight wasn't helping Arek's vision much either. If he could move as quietly as Vestan, or was a century or two younger, he'd have gone out a huntin' too.

Vestan slips off into the undergrowth and is soon lost to sight and sound.

The others discussed defensive strategies to cover the few remaining hours to dawn.

OOC: The last post has been editied to reflect the proactive response now two hours to dawn...

[Private to Vestan Pance: Vestan I've made a post on the "traders' thread, can you respond there please.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:41, Thu 07 Sept 2006.

The minutes pass with no sign of Vestan's return or any sound out of the ordinary.

"Well, Yesil, what're ye thoughts?" Arek prodded again.

While Arek talks to Yesil, Adia-Ny moves over next to the remaining goblin.  "Now who would want to kill you?"  he asks gently.  "And why?  And before you respond, think of this:  whomever you are working for or with has just demonstrated how much loyalty they have towards you.  We are obviously not like that, or you would already be dead.  Help us, and we'll help you."

The terrified looking goblin screams a stream of giberish out in its foul tongue sounding something like this, "beir beira dashe cour, te ol tak, swi biere bitte, dooe beera multo benne, dooe cervaza gracias! raki oozo arrak pastiche!"

OOC: appologies for the poorly spelt drinks orders... saved me having to make up some goblin words. 100 xp for the first person to identify the country of origin of the first one.... As a hint, it is, I believe, the youngest living language in the world (i.e. not Esperanto).

[Private to Arek Blackiron; Felicia Florette: The goblin said "Please don't hurt me it was Bodran's fault! And keep that little B****ard away from me!"]

OCC: Looks like a hodge podge of various languages. Probably European teenspeak.
IC: Ronalt looks over at the goblin gibberish. "I can't make heads or tails of what the goblin is gibbering about."

Is it Bavarian?

"Th' dirt ball thar's blamin' some "Bodran"," Arek interpreted.
"An' he's moanin' abou' keepin' tha' boy away from 'im"
The last shouldn't prove too difficult to deal with, Vestan was out hunting down the attacker....

ooc: I'd lean toward a carribean patois, but I have no idea which.

Yesil shrugged at the dwarf and looked around, still holding the torch.  It wasn't her job to do strategy -- she was just there to kill what she was told to kill.

Instead she went over to see what progress the others could make with the goblin.

Time continues to pass with no sight nor sound of the halfling. The hushed whispers of the childeren and Elmo and the cursing of the goblin the only sounds out of the ordinary background.

Time continues to pass and everyone is getting restless. The is no sign of the halfling.... or the assassin for that matter.

Just as it reaches the point where the group feels they should perhaps go looking for their rogue, the sounds of undergrowth being pushed aside and muttering come from the northern side of the clearing.  What ever is making the sounds is out of the illumination from the fire but there is no doubt it is headed towards the clearing.

With sword ready Ronalt awaits to see who is russleing in the bushes.

The noise continues to grow as the creature approaches. Finally it reaches the light and your favourite hobbit appears muttering to himself.

"Well boy! Speak up!" Arek called impatiently. A night of interrupted sleep just wasn't as much fun as it used to be. Old bones needed a good solid nights rest.

Vestan shoots the dwarf a filthy look as he stomps back to his blanket. He throws himself to the ground and wraps the article around his body tightly.

All the time he keeps muttering not quite under his breath but it's hard to hear what he is saying. Something like "boots" "waste of time" "bloody humans" can be picked up being repeated several times though.

Once he is ensconced in his bedding, he shuts both his mouth and his eyes, looking like he is trying to go to sleep.

With he hobbit cranky, Ronalt can see he had no success.
"Best we resume our guard shifts till dawn and then head out."
"Who is upon allocated guard duty?"

Dawn was not far off as the party settled back into it's routine. The rest of the night passed uneventfully, as the sun rose on what promised to be a clear day.

The dead goblin apart, there was no visible sign of the nights adventures.

"Get up, get up! I want to rest my weary bones in a real bed!"
First awake, or perhaps just last on watch Arek wasted no time once the first signs of light were in the sky.
None of them had managed more than a few fitful hours of sleep on the hard cold earth. A few hours rest wrapped in warm blankets would do all their spirits the world of good - provided they weren't mobbed and torn apart by angry villagers first...

"Be careful, the assassin may still be about. We'd best be getting the children back quickly, the've been through enough already." said Elmo.

The party got their gear sorted out and headed towards Hommlet.  The march was relatively straightforward though slowed by the goblin prisoner and the rescued children. There was no sign of the assasin though occassionally one or other of the group felt they were being watched.

About midday the scenery starts to take on the now familiar farmland aspects of surrounding the village.