Without the group's knowledge, the wheels of fate continued to turn even in places they passed. A few days prior to their island predicament, a large quantity of silver coins was stolen from a merchant house in the town of Grhinat. The thieves ran into our adventurous crew, prompting a fight with the city guard and them fleeing off into the woods.

After the incident, the merchant family was informed of the loss. Most of the coins were recovered, but it was still enough of a loss to pursue, not only for the wealth, but to ensure the reliability and honor of the Davis name. Leading a group of the merchants' best mercenaries and guards was their daughter Melinda Davis.

Frowns to herself in thought as she leads a group of the mercenaries her family had hired towards he last place the thieves were to have gone, why had they stolen from her family for? And they must of been dangerous if they even got into a fight with the guards over what they stole, "I hope there's not too many of them..." The blonde haired girl nervously bites at her lips a little as she tries the way to the woods and pathway there to start the search, "I hope this is enough people to capture them and get everything back... What if they have their hideout here and more of them hiding there?" She mulls to herself as she tries to lead everyone towards the woods so they could start the search.

The party sets out to the woods after the thieves, but it is not an easy journey. The tree canopies are thick enough to create an artificial night. Each branch weaving together into a second sky blocking all the sun save for a few stray strands dancing along the winds. It's difficult to navigate the path, or even tell if it's still there. Some hours pass.

Among the hire ons is an old woodsman that forests near the village, he looks slightly unsure himself, but claims to have worked these wood for some time before they went into disuse. "There ought to be an inn where we can rest another mile north. We can rest, restock, and anything else we need." He says, pointing forward. Tracing what appears to be the path with his boot.

Another mercenary; a young sorceress that accompanies merchants frequently, is less sure of the area, so she speaks in broad terms of direction. "We can't be sure we're still going north at this point, I should cast a water finding spell so that we can follow the coast. It's out of the way, and we might have to fish if we run out of stock, but at least it's sure not to have changed from the maps."

The two argue as the sun sets. It's up to Melinda to decide how to move forward.

Looks at the trees and frowns, grumbling a little to herself afterwards as she tries to carefully pick her way through and about the woods, struggling to try keeping her dress from getting dirtied or torn as she leads the party forward. "Hmm? There's an inn out here? I wouldn't think there would be anything out here at all myself... It's hard enough to see, I wouldn't imagine something being built as well..." She hmms and mulls while looking at the pointed out path, giving a little nod of her head that bounces her curls.

Hearing the two starting to argue she blinks and then frowns at them a little, giving out a sigh, "If we go along the coast though that would take us away from the thieves wouldn't it? If we want to catch them before they get away I think we should try to stay here in the woods if we can."

As the road(?) went on in the dark of night, the others lit torches and lanterns. Up in the tops of the trees, it looked almost like there was some sort of movement, skittering, writhing.

They eventually found the inn, just in time to seek shelter from a sudden downpour. However, by that time it seemed there was one less light among the group. Had someone gotten lost along the way?

The inn was large and warm, it seemed to be shockingly bustling for an old road in such obvious disuse. Still it seemed that there was plenty of supplies and rooms. Towards the front the plump and tall owner waves from behind the bar. She looks slightly green of skin, but is probably mostly human. "You want a room? Mead? Only 3 coppers a mug. Discount if you get either for such a large group." She smiles.

Towards the back there is a large and rowdy group wearing cloaks.

Within the cloak-wearing group stood a quiet, solemn looking woman. Her arms were crossed and her face looked increasingly displeased with the amount of noise surrounding her. Sighing, she ran a hand through her long white hair and glanced out at the rest of the room, hoping something more interesting (and quieter...) was going on elsewhere.

Her eyes narrowed and focused on a new group of travelers that had just come in, the ones that the owner of the inn was currently welcoming.

Sierra found herself straightening up and shuffling to the side of the rambunctious group in an attempt to hear what was being said in the exchange between the travelers and the inn keeper.

Fidgets a little more nervously as it gets darker and harder to see as they travel on through, trying to drift a little closer to the others she was with when they start to light the lanterns and torches, noticing something strange in the trees she starts to nibble at her lips a little.

When they finally reach the inn she sighs out in relief that they found out, only to yelp as the rain starts and struggling to cover her head and blonde curls from getting too soaked as she rushes ahead to the inn. "Ugh why did it have to start raining all of a sudden? And didn't we have someone else with a light?" She frowns in thought for a time before looking inside the in, her blue eyes blinking at the sight in surprise before she goes in, "Oh, ummm well I suppose maybe a bit of both... I don't think we could do much with it being so dark now and the rain, she starts to try waving the others to come inside before she starts trying to figure out how much the drinks and rooms would be for the night, "If you have some cider i'd like that for myself..." The blonde haired girl then glances over at the loud and rowdy group momentarily to see what they were doing in the corner.

"Ah, good choice. Nothing like cider with real Appleweald apples." The barmistress smiles and fills a mug generously with a spicy smelling drink from a barrel resting against the wall. She places it on the counter in front of Melinda.

At the other side of the room, by Sierra and the crowd, several cloaked figures sit at a a table, arguing drunkenly among themselves. "Ain't nothing we can do if they're crawling all over the village, there's just no end to 'em." A feminine voice slurred, pointing wavilly.
"So we just pack up and go? What are we gonna do? Half of us are wanted, and the other half hated." A figure with an oversized and hair covered palm slapped the table.
"We oughta run in and sack that church to the north. If we grab that damn Brother we'll have all we need to fix things up." The group seemed to resemble the description of the bandits Melinda was looking for.

Smiles gratefully to the bar mistress before she takes the mug for herself, looking pleased and happy at having something to comfort her after traveling all that time before. "It does smell nice, thank you..." She starts to drink a little of it before her attention is stolen away by the noisy group, her attention drifting to listen and look at them curiously and starting to focus on them more.

For a time she watches curiously wondering what they were all talking about, only to gasp out after hearing more. "Oh my what are they planning to do? A-and a church? That sounds awful..." Her blue eyes blink after a time with some recognition after looking at the group for a time, "O-oh! That's them!" She then glares at them before she hurries off to go find the group she brought with her so she could tell them about what was happening.

Sierra silently watched the blonde girl, judging her expressions. When a group nearby started to loudly discuss their plan of attack, Sierra's ears perked up, her focus on the girl intensifying when she saw the young woman's interest in them. As the girl rushed out of the room, looking a mix between excited and panicked, Sierra couldn't help but be curious. In all honesty, this girl appeared to be someone important; or at least, someone of a higher status. If she was searching for men and women such as these, potential bandits, then perhaps Sierra could use this to her advantage.

So, straightening up, she quietly and inconspicuously planted herself at a table as near to the grumbling plan makers as she could and waited to see how this all would play out.

Ashley was staying in a random inn in the middle of a thick forest. She wondered why it was there but she supposed she was lucky because it started to rain soon after she came in. The only reason why she wasn't in her ship was because when she went out scouting for the nearest village she kinda got lost. At least she still had Tektalon. When she heard someone planning an attack, Ashley was immediately interested. It seemed like she wasn't the only one. She spotted someone heading over. What's gonna happen? Hope it's exciting. Ashley leaned a little closer so she could hear what was going on.

When Sierra placed herself near the group of apparent bandits, one of the noisier (and probably more drunken) members of the group leaned over, the stark white hair and pretty face of the girl catching his eyes. He leaned over to her, grabbing her arm roughly and pulling her close to his face, the smell of alcohol strong on his breath. "'Eeeey, a pretty gurl!" His excited words ended up slurring together into a pleased sound, and he tugged on her arm again. "How much yew askin'? We 'ave some fun before we go, 'ey Martin?" He addressed the last part of his comment to another drunken man sitting next to him.

It was clear he had confused the pretty Sierra for another type of girl that frequented these establishments, and his advances were made bolder by the liquor in his system. His companions did nothing to rectify his mistake, either deriving amusement from his actions or too drunk to realize themselves.

It was all Sierra could do to keep herself from immediately bashing this man's head in. Her nose twitched at the awful smell he gave off, a mixture of body sweat, liquor, and his own filth, all unpleasant odors by themselves, let alone together. Grimacing, she clenched her hands into fists, trying to keep as neutral of a face as she could.

If it were any other time and any other place, she might have broken his fingers or snapped his neck. Unfortunately for her, this was a delicate situation. She didn't want to anger the man or his companions, nor did she want to make a scene. All of this, from the potential bandits to the new group with the strange girl, could be a major breakthrough in her mission. There was no way she could risk ruining any of that.

Sighing slightly at her predicament, Sierra looked at the man and gave a tight smile. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid you have the wrong woman. Now, please, let go of me." Her tone was as polite as she could bare to make it, but it held a note of warning, something a drunken man like him might be unable to detect.

Ashley watched with interest, wondering how the girl was going to react. She hoped the girl would defend herself. Ashley didn't want to go in and fight the guy. It would just cause too much trouble and more repairs for Taktalon. When Sierra told the guy to let go Ashley sighed in both disappointment and relief. She was hoping she'd react a little more but was also glad they didn't start that big a scene. It would be disappointing if they were kicked out of the inn. Ashley would have lost her only source of entertainment.

Azaz was lost. He had wandered into the forest for ingredients. He found some, but only a little. He saw the inn just a few miles off. He decided he would spend the night. He also wanted to know if any one had the rest of the ingredients. He want in and immediately was inspired by a bird on a foxes shoulder. He went over to the fox "How much for the bird?".