OOC: I'll start this now as it looks like the others will be back soon.

Rolf had a hard time getting Maria back to the village.  It wasn't that he was beset by enemies, but the girl clearly had suffered from her incarceration and subsequent days of terror. A couple of times he almost had to drag her.

Pausing at a stream he wet a rag and cleaned her face almost tenderly.  The girl was in her early teens and not unattractive indeed outright pretty for a village the size of Hommlet.  The cold water seemed to revive her spirits as did the route Rolf followed. It clear he was headed for Hommlet.

Finally the village came into view and she cried "Hommlet! Please... let me go to my house they must think me dead!"

Rolf smiled at the girl as he held her back from running, "We'll go together, straightaway."

Keeping his hand on hers he lead her to town. "Which house is yours?" he asked as they near the town, he looking for some townfolk to help with the girl.

[Private to DM: Rolf considers the girls value, he could take her for himself until he tired of her, then sell her to slavers, but his disdain for the party makes him play the rescuer and hero instead. When they return, no matter what they managed to defeat or accomplish, he will be the rescuer, the one who brought treasure beyond hard goods back for the town, and he will be the one who tells the tale first, of how they (the greedy party) sought gold while he saved a girl.]
This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Fri 06 June 2008.

The girl replied, "It's just over there, come let me show you!" She literally drag Rolf along so keen was she to get home.  They reaching the house which looked in reasonable repair, the smell of fresh bake bread in the air. Maria shouted "Mama, Papa, I'm back!"

A muscular looking man wearing an apron and dusted with flour emerged from a side door, he is holding a rolling pin in his hand. His joy at seeing his daughter cut short as he saw that she is with a fierce looking warrior. "Let go my daughter!" he shouted, loud enough to attract attention from a militia guard standing not too far off.  he started to walk in their direction.

"You mean this girl, who I rescued from a score of zombies in yonder moathouse, at great risk to myself, getting wounded in the process while the rest of the party went in search of treasure instead?" Rolf says loudly for all to hear, "And what kind of father are you, to let this precious treasure get taken by the bandits to begin with, then to accost the man who rescued her at great personal cost to himself?"

He turns to the Watch. "Excuse me, I, Rolf the Brave, have rescued this waif from yonder moathouse, I wish to verify that this man is her father before I return her, and to here how he allowed her to be there to begin with!"

The guard nods in confirmation of her parent hood as the baker says again "Let go my daughter. If you are the hero you say you are, you would return her now!" he takes a half step towards Rolf, his rolling pin raised a bit. Maria started to cry.

Rolf lets go of Maria. "Run home now, Maria, but if anyone tries to hurt you remember Rolf the Brave will save you."

He then turns to her father again. "Don't tell me how to be a hero when you're here threatening your daughters rescuer. I didn't see you out there looking for her amid the zombies and ghouls that were trying to feast on her when I found her. It's not your blood that was spilled..." Rolf points toward his wound "in order to save her. Now put that rolling pin away and thank me, or attack me and deprive her of her father."

The baker hugs his daughter as she reassures him she is fine and that Rolf was indeed her rescuer. "My apologies sir... It just when I saw... Thank you! Thank you! Wait here!" Rushing back inside his bakery with his daughter in tow he returns quickly and hands Rolf a pouch which clinks quite convincingly. "I can never thank you enough!"

The guard looks relieved that there will be no bloodshed, especially his own. He says, "Sir, the village I'm sure will want to thank you. If you go to the keep and tell Rufus your tale, I'm sure he would be most grateful.""

"Save it for Maria's dowry," Rolf says loudly, tossing the pouch back to the man, even as a grimace crosses his face doing so, and he quickly rubs his arm as if the pain of a wound caused the grimace. "I don't do good for profit, but I'll take my reward in fresh bread while I am here, a loaf a day if that's alright. I've heard it's the smell of your fresh bread that brings the sun up in the morning. Goodbye Maria, I must be off to the keep now."

Rolf heads toward the keep.

Rolf reaches the keep without difficulty and the guards recognising him let him in one going to inform Rufus.

After a few minutes they return, Rufus looking a bit worried.  "Whats happened? Where are the others?" he demanded.

"Still at the ruin I presume, I found a girl, the bakers daughter, so I returned her here rather than keep treasure seeking with the others." Rolf replies, "I have my worries about their suitability, we fought to trolls, they didn't fight tactically and were lucky to have survived the encounter."

The large warrior looked at Rolf with an expression of surprise, "Tha' ye found tha' girl is good. Her da' needs a talkin ta' mind. Ets a booger ye don' knaw aboot tha' ithers, boot we'll joost 'ave ta wait. Es ther onything wi kin git ye, mean times?" he said.

OOC: sorry for the 'posh' accent in the previous post, and thanks for hanging on in here!

"Some dancing girls and a mountain of gold?" Rolf replies, "Perhaps I should return to the moathouse now that the girl is safe, and rescue the others from whatever they've gotten themselves into."

"Heh! Ae man after me own heart! Telt ye wha' how's aboot ye and me 'ave a few ales ta night. Ef ther' naw back tha marra' we'll gaw en find them eh!". said Rufus with a smile of anticipation on his face.

At Rufus's suggestion, Rolf spent a lively evening in the Welcome Wench. The warrior's company was good although there was a distinct lack of dancing girls.  Indeed the place seemed quieter than before but that did not stop the food and ale flowing.

Late he went to bed and later he slept in.  A  good breakfast cleared his head....

Rolf makes sure everyone at the inn hears his tale of rescuing the bakers daughter that night.

The next morning he goes to the town entrance and asks around, seeing if the others have returned yet.

Rolf asked around for the others but as yet there has been no sign of their return.  He noticed a difference in the attitude of the villagers.  Where as before they were guarded in response to questions, now they seemed eager to please.

Disappointed, Rolf returned to the inn but not for long. He hardly had time to relax before one of the villager looked in and said, "Your friends! They're back!"

"Thats... truly wonderful. All of them? I was so worried!" Rolf says, getting up to go greet his friends.

Rolf leaves the inn and immediately sees his old comrades in the process of dividing. Tindo seems to be heading towards him while Ronalt looks to be heading to the druids grove.

OOC: I'll post in the other thread that you come into view and if you can continue there I will archive this one once they find out a bit more about your escapades.