Drummond looked at Lann dubiously, " And whats some sparkly water supposed to do? Eh, I'll take em. I might get thirsty."

" Lets get a hustle on.", he urged as he departed the hall after the other two.

"Lets go! The potions make you quicker in battle my friend. Now before we leave, care to tell me what your specialties are? We will need to rely on each other to survive and best we know what each other is good at," Lann says wryly.

As they passed into the courtyard, Drummond looked back at Lanns.

" She out thinks stuff, he outwits stuff and I kill the hell out of stuff."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:17, Mon 11 Nov 2019.

Caith pauses in eating long enough to give the departing group a brief speculative look, then a quietly spoken "Good luck to ye." as they leave.

She seems content to eat and listen awhile...



Caith looks back, uncomfortably aware of the glance in her direction, but offers only "It does seem wiser to feed the starving than worry about what Gods, ah, or God they follow, aye.” by way of cautious agreement.



Caith looks less wary at this assurance herself, but her only response is a gentle smile and she leaves the two knights to their conversation in peace.

A little later she asks Usopi "Are ye planning on driving the cart back to town today, or paying a little extra for the lateness of return later? I'll chip in for that if need be."

In reply to Drummond Gilrow (msg # 196):

Lann replies that it is good to have such powerful warrior like Drummond to protect them. He iterates his trust in the lady.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:17, Mon 11 Nov 2019.

OOC:

Barlow, Drummond, Lann and Mammon head across to The Dukes Vault thread.

Usopi scratched his chin as he thought, "I believe we have it another four days, and if it's a two day trip back to the city then we can hold it here another two. If we're not finished here by then I'll take it down to him. If we wait longer then that he might worry something had happened to us."

Leofwyn is in the courtyard, harvesting some of the crops that have ripened overnight. While she is there, she sees the group leave the castle on their mission, and bids them farewell.

She then dusts herself off and makes her way up to the dining hall, dropping off the fresh produce to the kitchens on the way.

"Goodmorning, all!" She says happily, placing a bowl of assorted fruit in the middle of their table.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:28, Mon 11 Nov 2019.

"Fair enough, I nay remembered the number of days right, so that's another worry off my mind..." Caith replies, looking less glum as she explains "...As it's taking longer than I thought to write down even just the simpler lore I know."



Caith says in cheerful response "And the same to ye, Lady Leofwyn of the Green Lady's thumb." as she plucks a ripe strawberry from the bowl.

She is polite enough to remember to finish the berry before asking her "Have ye any talent in letters and the like, Leofywn? I've used the right words in Visic as far as I can tell in describing various plants, but ye may well have a better grasp of the proper botanical terms than I do."

Caith scratches her head, and ponders aloud "Would attaching bits of the herbs to the pages of a herbal treatise help more than just trying draw a picture of it if words aren't clear enough?"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:10, Mon 11 Nov 2019.

As the strawberry goes, a peach vanishes straight after. 'Good morning indeed,' Sir Turren grins tight lipped as he chews, then seems to wrestle composure back to the surface. Clears his throat.

"Thank you, Lann." Brannon accepts the Orb, with some reluctance, and stows it in his pack. "I will return it to those who know about such things... the Temple of Flame may be too risky, but perhaps the Hearthfather will know what to do about it. In the meantime: good luck with your quest."

With that, he joins the others for Breakfast.

"My mother made sure I was schooled with the highest tutors, so I do have an understanding of language and writing... but I am more self-taught when it comes to herbs and plants. I could easily point out to you all the differences between the plants, but could no sooner tell you their names, I'm afraid. But I'm happy to read over your work to see if I can fill in any of the gaps."

She helped herself to some bread before adding, "My mother did teach me how to press flowers in the pages of her large tomes... I assume it would be a similar task to do the same with herbs and such. Shall we head to the library after breakfast?"



Leofwyn grins as sees Sir Turren take the Peach. "Sir Turren, if you're free in the next couple of days, you must come past the gardens at some point. The Peachtree seems to be flourishing and I could do with some help harvesting all of its fruits... In fact, there are so many peaches, one could lose count and not notice if a basket of peaches went missing."

She then laughed out loud at the idea of Sir Turren hoarding peaches in his room.

'Wll-mmn-mhm,' Turren swallows. Swallows again, hand up. Nodding. Finally, 'M'lady honour demands this tree be dealt with. We shall prevail.' 

"I am most glad then that your mother had the foresight to see that ye did, and I would appreciate any help with this hopeless muddle of notes..." Caith says gratefully, then explains "...I nay think in tidy sentences, so even though I tried to keep it in some kind of consistent order, there's footnotes all over the place. Flower pressing? In books? Hmm, that would work better, aye. Thank ye, and that seems a most excellent plan."

Caith smiles, and plucks a gooseberry from the bowl to chew while Sir Turren speaks of combat with a peach tree's bounty in comic challenge.

As Lann and his 'team' walk past the Workshop, Aphail takes a brief pause in his work to wave them off.  In truth he was glad to see that back of Mammon, for she seemed like a wild and dangerous woman, even more so than Lann!  Perhaps they were well suited to one another.  So many new faces, it was sometimes difficult for a simple forester to fathom.  Farewell Drummond the killer, Barlow the Thief, Mammon the Witch and Lann the Fool. He wondered who he would see again...

OOC:

You guys have a few days to get things in order, requisition things from stores. All armour will be back on the third day.

Research, relate, chat....

Aphail will continue to assist Sammell as best his can.  Ahpail will focus on basic labouring, simple metal and leather working.  He will follow Sammell's instructions closely.

In reply to Aphail MacRoach (msg # 210):

OOC: Deise would like five days to finish producing pellets and poison. Is that workable for others?

OOC: With Cenes assistance he can push it down to four days.

In reply to GM (msg # 212):

Much obliged

Over the four days ofnworking in Cenes study, Deise will some themes with the King's advisor.

"Strawberry, what did you make of Glissom and it's Steward when you were there? What does the King expect of this fact finding mission. Are we operating in the open or in the background?"

"If as our Gliss born companions suggest, that evil stalks that Kingdom, will we act in King Corbins name or use initiative where required. I ask this Cene, because in my long experience the difference between successful and failed missions is unerstanding expectations and boundaries.

"For how long Strawberry has this castle been the seat of power in Ereworn? Strange location for a Kings residence. A leader cannot lead without followers and if I may be brazen Cene, this is a poor place from which to build a new future for this land. You might think on that. A King like Corbin should be seen by the people. Move the centre of power and both trade and fellowship will follow. You'll build no legacy hiding up here in the mountains days away from your people. I'll not say that to the King, but trust that you will think kn this, eh.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:16, Tue 12 Nov 2019.

Caith spends a great deal of time in the library the garden and in and around the castle, foraging and trying to pin down what is needful in herb lore to a page in a sensible fashion. She explains what she can (Without breaking her oath as a herbwife!) to Leofwyn, and sometimes also Usopi in the process. The hedgewitch picks the Hearthwarden's mind for herb lore as well, and asks many questions of Healer Beathan to the same end.

The wolfskin sits tucked in her belt, bound with a strand of pale woolen thread, and occupies a dark corner of her thoughts, expressed only in more question to Dairmund, and some furtive reading on the subject of wolves that walk on two feet as well as four while writing the entry for Wolves Bane...

She also asks for more paper and ink from Cene, and obtains a few supplies in the way of cloth, leather and thread.

An entire afternoon is spent in trading fresh gathered herbs and mushrooms, and coinage as well in the task of cajoling numerous samples of exotic spices and sundry small amounts of dried and preserved foodstuffs out of the castle cook's pantry.

It is not until the third day that she dares enter the smithy, unwilling to disturb either him or Alphail at work, and picking a rare moment of rest, asks Sammell an odd question, but one she has asked other smiths before, namely "Would ye be willing to let me clean the smithy for dust, after the work is done for the day? There are good reason why I ask this of ye, sir, and I would nay bother ye over a trifling matter, nor would I call your forge slovenly..."

Caith confides to Sammell quietly "...But smithing work also makes a fair amount of dust, aye? I have uses for that dust other than it flying about your smithy with every strike."

"The Steward seemed a capable politician and seemed to have the place in hand, Glissoms King had unexpectedly found a deep religious calling in the last few years and locked himself away in contemplation leaving the steward to pick up the pieces. I'm not sure King Corbin has any real aims with your mission other than to get a true feeling of what is happening in our nearest neighbour and most important trading partner."

" Use your initiative as you see fit......try not to get caught up in a coup or the like without very good cause...."

" Castle Ereworn has been the seat of power since...I believe a few centuries ago. It was originally an ancient fortress and then a redoubt for the Selentines when they invaded. Obviously in more recent times a strong defensive position has been the main concern for those ruling over Ereworn."

"King Corbin has wanted to move to Ereworn Town for some time but that would entail extensive building works even if we reclaimed stones from the ruins there."

" Another option would be to reclaim and repair the ruins of Corbins families manor in the south and use that as the Seat of Power....but it is well out of the way.

" It is a long term plan, and though it wouldn't bother Corbin we re receiving more and more official visitors from the south and it won't do to have the King hold court in a ruined warehouse or the like."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:06, Wed 13 Nov 2019.

" No skin off my nose, Mistress.", Sammell said behind a sheen of sweat and soot.

" Be my guest."

Usopi passes the time in a myriad of ways.

When Caith is able to instill knowledge of herbs he listens intently, curious about the myriad effects of the plants that grew around them all the time.

He also spends a sizeable amount of time writing himself, though his writings take the form of a letter rather than a text book. It takes him some time, as he is new to writing Elleslandic, but once the letter is finished he asks Cene what the best way to get the letter delivered to Lakstead would be.


Usopi also spends time speaking with Cene and reading in the library, though he focuses his studies and questions more on the beings and creatures that served Duke Darian as opposed to the god beings that Darian was indebted to. He is curious about the Wodewose, the plague carrying winged creatures, and especially any other specific servants that Corbin and crew did not capture or kill. It seems that the surviving hostiles fled to Glissom, and if there are any more like the Black Rider Captain that they faced it would be good to know of them in advance.

Usopi will also, after the first day or two of rest, drill himself to keep his muscles loose and his body ready for combat. If the soldiers of the keep are also drilling regularly he will join them for a short time each day, though he does not dare to instruct them unless asked specific questions.

In between all of this, Usopi spends most of his down time either in the tower or the garden. There he prays, considers, and contemplates things.

Cene indicates that a letter can be sent along with royal correspondence quite easily, a messenger will be leaving for Albion in the next few days.

Usopi learns from both books and Cene that very few of Darians followers escaped other than those away from the Castle when it was attacked or those that were near the border when the cleansing happened.

Cene postulates there are very few of the Riders left, and that the loathsome demonic servants of Rimfax are recorded as being Hellrots...though it is likely not their proper name.

His drilling with the young men and women is greatly appreciated by all.