"It might have been a way for it to come back Polk. So you did good. I don't know if it was a way back. No real way to know."

"I have so much to learn. But I do have a long time to learn and I will try and do better. Thanks for keeping me from hurting my friends."

"Polk we are all fairly young Polk. You just are younger than us is all. We all have a lot to learn. Maybe soon we can find someone to tutor us in magic. Might be fun right? I need to work on my magic theory and my knowledge of things arcane."

"Magic is supposed to come to me but I can learn and teach what I do know."

 "I meant refine it Polk. Teach you different things and different ways to think. Might come in handy. Who knows."

Hot chocolate cools on the counter, offered but unaccepted, as tempers warm. Even the twins feel resentment growing between themselves in ways expressed too subtly for other to notice. Lady Kalista is the first to remove herself from the scene as she leaves to meditate outdoors. Ethan, with no one moving to stop him, walks deeper to execute his plan rather than the prisoners. The others remain in the galley, arguing over their next move.

Ethan opens the door to the improvised cell of the prisoner, Glory. To his astonishment, he finds it empty. In the mage's place, a letter lies on the cot. Although beautiful, the language written on it is unfamiliar to the medic. The paper itself looks like a mostly blank page which was torn out of one Samuel's technical manuals stored in the small room.

A quick check of the second prisoner's room reveals much the same. In this case, much the same means no prisoner. The female bandit has vanished. No note was left behind there.

"Well this is unexpected but convenient," Ethan says softly to himself. He looks at the letter and wonders what it says. Would any of his companions know how to read it?

Since there were no prisoners to hurry outside, Ethan returns the pack, canteen and ration bars to where he got them. Then he goes to the kitchen and avails himself of the hot chocolate. He keeps the letter on him, tucked in a pocket. If Samuel or Polkitain are around, he will show it to them and explain how he found it.

"Oh lets get our hot cocoa !" Polk runs back to give the cocoa a try.

Outside, his irritation building, Nyx takes out his frustration on the critters, cacti and rocks of their surroundings. Energy sparks fly from his hand as he shoots at whatever steals his attention as he rides

Calista gave her former squire a pretty a pretty smile. "Sometimes you just a plain old flatterer"

Polkitain sips the cocoa getting a whipcream mustache.

"Hmmm it is not as Hot as I thought it would be." He drinks more.
"It is sweet though."

Doc doesn't even look at his brother, "Show off," he mutters and continues chewing on the end of an unlit cigar.

Does anyone have other actions to declare before returning to the Lady in Green? If no one does, the return trip will be uneventful, and we can skip ahead to the characters' arrival back in the Pecos Empire.

I am fine for skipping ahead, would have just chatted with Samuel about the hot cocoa.

Other than giving Arulas a hard time about "flirting" when he called her young, I am good with moving along.

I'm good for moving along. The only things Ethan would do is drink the hot coco and record the journey in his journal :)

Ditto.

Fine with skipping, though keen to understand when/if anyone tells us the prisoners are missing?

Ethan posted he would tell Polk and Samuel the moment they came in for hot chocolate. He would also show them the note left behind.

Since the prisoners vanished after it was decided they would be released anyways, Ethan doesn't see the point in rushing outside. He plans on enjoying his hot chocolate and will tell people as they come inside.

 I'm good on moving on. Give Arulas all the flak you want.

I just hope that the note does not read, 'I prepared Explosive Ruins this morning.'

Polkatain's wise mother had decided that literacy in the Elven-Dragonese script was an important skill to pass down to her offspring through genetic memory. Glory's note showcases a sloppy and underpracticed penmanship but also a solid grasp of Dragonese vocabulary and grammar.

Champions of Justice, I have chosen to arrange for my removal from the burdens of your hospitality. I do understand and appreciate your concerns regarding the proliferation of imitation rune weaponry and my pact with the supernatural creature that I have come to know as Opoponax. What I already told you was true as far as it goes. What I did not tell you was that the creature's end goal was propagation. It was carried to this grave yard years ago as a seed, and it distributed seeds of its own for its contracted servants to carry to other grave sites. If you should emerge victorious from your encounter with Opoponax, know that I am one of several such contracted mortals who were asked to carry these seeds. For my own part, I destroyed the seed which I carried months ago. It will be years before any other seeds develop into soul trees, but do be aware of this possibility. I intend to travel to the nearest nexus that I can find and do as I already pledged, leaving this world for good and trying my luck elsewhere in the wide megaverse. My fellow prisoner, lacking a home or gang of her own now, will accompany me on this journey into the unknown. I do appreciate the restraint that you have demonstrated to me thus far, but I trust you understand that I will test it no further.

P.S. Coalition soldiers will be watching the crossroads during for the next day or two near the Mammoth. You may expect that the events at the Mammoth were reported, and this is the local garrison's a standard procedure for following up on such a report. You should be able to avoid them by trailblazing through the open plains

P.S. Thank you for the bottles of water that we found in the galley.

Love,
Glory

Polkitain translates the note for the others.

Doc nodded, "Alright then, let's get movin'. She's gone. We got things to deal with, and we best get to it. Specially if the skull heads gonna be lookin' for us."

Samuel touches one of the lighting panels and concentrates for a moment. The Behemoth heads off across the plains towards their destination. The pace is slow enough that their companions can catch up....and nothing is going to hide the trail of footprints it leaves in its wake.