Toben stares at Kark. "Up till now, we've been doing things the easy way. I'm no fool, and that letter is clearly bothering you. I suggest you share what it is before we have to start doing things the hard way. I assure you, no one in this room is to be trifled with."

Kark just stares back at Toben, trembling. Even one of his legs begins to jitter a bit. Before he can speak, Toben interjects with a sigh. "I suppose it was too much to hope for that a pawn would know anything about this. I'm sorry. It's late and I think we all need some rest."

"Klale, are you up for taking a look at that table tomorrow?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:44, Tue 06 Dec 2016.

Kark looks back and forth between Toben and Klale, not quite sure what's in store for him.

"Don't worry Kark, you have nothing to fear from me. I'm not going to kill a defenseless goblin. Not today anyway." He says with a smirk.

Ano shakes the Duke's hand and gives him a small bow as he leaves with Coll. As they make there way through the castle he speaks with Coll "I need to see Saris first.  I want to know what her plans are and I'm sure Ourn would like an update on his friends."  As they walk he asks "Coll how well did you know Plame? "

As you leave the main keep, Coll listens to your question attentively.  Which means he totally misses the horse manure.  A sloppy squishing sound is followed by a wave of poo smell.

Coll looks at you apologetically as he leans on your shoulder in order to remove the covered shoe.  He stepped in it so deep, it covers his pants leg as well.  Coll only manages to get the manure on his hand as he puts the shoe back on.

"I did not know Plame at all.  He was hired by Narn."

Yes Klale replies. He makes sure Kark is not uncomfortable but is secured. (He hands the paper back to Toben.)

And in his dreams, if any....

Ano lends Coll a hand for support as he clean off.  "Perhaps we should speak with Narn as well, but Saris first."  when they are on there way again he asks "Did you grow up in this Dutchy.?"

"I have never been anywhere else in all of Arda.  I love it here!  Duke Therion is, in my humble opinion, a better ruler than even Gondor's High King, Hithanann Telcontar.  His mind, those inventions you saw were all his idea.  And he doesn't use them to lord it over his people.  His heart is just as big as his mind, the way he serves his people rather than lords it over them."  His gushing ramble is genuine.  The young man seems wholly beholden to his liege.

"Your trust in the man is well founded I think.  Let us check on Saris before we continue on".

Ano makes his what to where Saris is and inquiries as to the health of Xar and those who arrived with Ourn.

Saris and Xar both seem to be in good spirits, though there is still a ghost of concern in Saris' demeanor, the way she hovers.  She explains that there is nothing she can do for Tisha, but has hopes that she may fight her way through whatever it is...despite being that way probably for days.

"Are ya gonna meet w' th' others outside o' town, now?  I think they may be plannin' their next adventure.  Don't wanna miss tha', lad."

"Yes I will be heading there shortly.  I hope all goes well with the patients"

Ano turns to Coll " Alright, can you show me where the others went to.  We should not keep them waiting too long. "

Coll takes Ano to the tower.  By the time the two arrive, most everyone but Toben is asleep.  Unfortunately, Coll doesn't have a firm grasp of the door when he opens it to the house, and a strong night wind rips it out of his hand, slamming it against the wall.

Kark wakes up with a yelp.

"Sorry, sorry."  Coll tries to hold out a hand and shush the goblin.  The goblin draws back and tries to go back to sleep.  "Well, you're here.  I need to get to bed myself and be ready to serve the Duke tomorrow.  Thank you all for the adventure.  I think I shall forego another for some time."

He wrestles the door closed, making more racket.  Then the door latches and the young page is gone.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:00, Thu 08 Dec 2016.

From somewhere deep in the manner, muffled snoring can be heard, followed by mumbling.

Ano makes his way through the house until he finds thr still awake Toben. "All is well with the Duke.  He seems more than ready to band the dutchies together.  Things seem to be falling into place for our fight."

Toben smiles wearily. "That is excellent news. Dagnir will make a great champion for that cause."

He sighs thoughtfully. "We may have driven off the current threat, but they'll be back eventually. I'm curious to know what his next steps will be." He rubs his eyes. "I'm afraid it's getting too late for me to be more use. Do you have plans for tomorrow?"

None as of yet, but I'm sure we gave much to do.  Get some sleep, I'll keep watch for a while."  Ano finds a window he can watch the front door from and sits quietly thinking on past events.

"I think I'll take you up on that. I've got to get an early start on disenchanting those chests. They may hold some information as to what their plans here were. I've also asked Klale to inspect that foul table out at the enemy camp site in hopes to dismantle it."

He closes his books and puts them away. "Perhaps a couple of you might be able to drum up some information about Plame. Maybe inspect his quarters for any sort of correspondence with the enemy." He pats his breast pocket. "We found a note written in the black speech on his body. There is no doubt he was one of the spies, but without the ability to translate it, we are still somewhat blind to the scope of his deception."

"I'll work on that tomorrow.  Coll already gave me an idea of where to start in learning more about Plame" Ano offers up a warm smile. "sleep well"

The night passes uneventful, a respite from the hard journey and the hard battles.

Toben is the last to sleep and the first to wake. His eyes flutter open and the day's tasks begin racing through his mind.

While the others continue to rest, he attempts to remove the protective wards on the chests they recovered. The wards protecting the chests recovered from the second and fourth tents crumble and fade away. However, the first and third chest push back and remain strong. Using a piece of chalk, he marks the two dispelled chests with a checkmark.

He continues to identify the other items until others start to wake up, starting with the ring.

When Klale wakes, he at some time goes to get tools he thinks will be needed to dismantle/destroy the table. Perhaps Xarini goes with him; perhaps Kark does.

Ourn comes grumbling into the main room without his armor or cloak and mask on. His hair is disheveled and sticking up to one side and he has weeks of scruffy growth on his face. He yawns heavily and doesn't say much to those in the room beyond "morning" as he shuffles his bare feet across the hard wood floors. He walks into the kitchen pantry and comes out with a look of dissapointment on his face. He goes back to whatever hiding hole he slept in and comes back holding a large hunk of hardtack and begins gnawing on it, leaving a trail of crumbs in his wake. "Ptho, wherth thith cheth oo wmted opwn" he says with a mouth full of food.

Toben stares at Ourn with a slight look of confusion on his face, then opens his journal and scribbles a few notes. He mouths the words "Note to self: Research spell to comprehend unknown languages" as he writes.

Ourn finishes his food. "Sorry. The chests you wanted open?".

"Yes, of course." He points out chest number two and four. "The ones marked there. The others have proven a bit more difficult so far, so I would avoid those for now."

Toben sets the ring aside and scribbles a few notes in his journal.