"Wait up!" Shortly after leaving the keep, the party hears and sees Lyntern hurrying to catch up with them. He wears chain mail armor and carries a sword and shield. When he reaches them, he says, "I hear you're going to the Shrieken Mire. Take me with you. I can show you around the area."

"Well, papa isn't going to like that," Karon murmurs as the young man gets closer. "But he's a grown man, responsible for himself. If he wants to come, I won't oppose it." He falls silent as Lyntern gets close enough to hear him.

Lucien appears just about to answer Lathan's question when the Count's young son comes up to the group and a brief look of frustration passes behind his eyes before he gives Lathan a look that clearly says: later. Eyeing the boy up and down, Lucien makes a stern face. "I'm not opposed to your coming along for awhile, but you could raise the dead with all that clanging around. Don't be surprised if we have to ask you to leave before all this is done. We can't have you rousing the dragon if there really is one."

Lyntern blushes. "Sorry, I was just worried you were going to leave without me. I'll do better."

Lathan frowns but says nothing as they begin the trek back to Thurmaster.

Karon walks besides the young man for a while. "Don't worry about making a noise. Hard not to with all this metal we carry. In our line of work, people either trust their reflexes to keep them safe, or put their trust in solid metal. I always liked the solid metal bit. It gives a bit more room for error. In a straight-up fight against equally skilled opponents, the one in the better armor will win nine times out of ten. Don't worry about it. But if something happens, stay close to me. Don't get in front of me, and don't stay close enough to my weapon arm to get in the way and we'll make a good team. Can you actually fight, or is that sword just for show?"

Lyntern is silent for a moment after Karon's question, then admits, "I've been trained in how to use a sword, but I've never been in a real fight. My father wouldn't allow it."

Seirye smiled upon hearing Lyntern's statement, "Neither had I, or at least not in anything more dangerous than a squabble over the use of a cubicle in the library with another student, something that was typically resolved with logic and a dose of good manners, or maybe the will to stand up for what you wanted. As students of the sorcerous arts we are taught spells that can sear your flesh from your bones with a gesture, deflect the blow of the mightiest warrior, cow your opponent with a glance or even bend them to your will entirely. The power of the arcane, of the mystical, almost intangible until it has defeated you."

She continued to speak to Lyntern but glanced over at Karon as she continued, "The art of magic is not better than solid metal, nor is it worse. It's different and you need to respect it and be aware of it just as much as a sword wielded by a warrior. Sometimes the most dangerous foe you might face is not the knight in full armour who stands directly in front of you but the man in the simple robes standing behind him."

"She isn't wrong, you know," Karon admits grudgingly. "A mage can melt the flesh off your bones, or turn friend into foe with a few words. Which is why it's a wise policy to try to hit anyone you suspect of being a hostile spellcaster with something sharp and heavy until they stop moving," he finishes with a grin.

"Don't worry if you haven't been in a fight. We can spar tonight when we break for the day, see what you're made of," the bulky half-orc says. "But in a fight, it's kill or be killed. The first is always going to be tough. You'll find out things about yourself when you fight for your life. Some people find they can't kill others that easily. They tend to die unless someone likes them enough to pull them out of the fire. Some think people who hesitate are weak, but I tend to think that perhaps they are better than those of us who can kill someone and not even sleep bad the night after."

Lucien, who is out in the lead as usual, reserves his thoughts on the relative benefits of armor and magic to himself. He may share a significant glance with Lathan if they catch each other's eye. His silence deepens at the mention of those who kill without remorse, but from the front of the line it might be hard to notice.

Lyntern listens to Karon and Seirye intently, obviously taking in everything they say.

"Yes, I'd very much like to spar with you, Karon," he says. "And thank you for your words of wisdom."

The rest of the trip back to Thurmaster passes without event. It is nearing evening when the party arrives.

At the edge of town, Lucien turns back to the others. "Let's take one more night at the inn and set out first thing in the morning. How does that sound?"

"It sounds eminently sensible Lucien," replies Seirye, nodding her a little, "and it will provide an excellent opportunity for me to update my journal, get a good night's rest and provide some quality time to prepare my mind for the day ahead. One wouldn't want to face dragons and giants and who knows what other flights of fancy dreamt up by the locals on an empty stomach or an ill-disciplined mind."

Seirye considered that for a moment "...which is to say that the locals dreamt it up but I have no knowledge about whether they had empty stomachs although they most certainly would have had ill-disciplined minds... rather I was referring to my desire for myself... to have some breakfast and to meditate and prepare my own mind... although no doubt others would avail themselves of the same opportunity... if they thought that they needed to still their minds as well... or they could also have breakfast... or just have breakfast if that is what they wanted...." Her voice trailed off and she started looking for the aforementioned inn.

Karon watches the pretty but rather odd elf ramble on about the mental state of the locals, the need for meditation and more, but decides not to get involved. The woman seems confused enough without him asking what in the seven hells she's talking about.

"An inn sounds nice indeed," he says to Lucien, before turning to Lyntern. "I think we should see about a little sparring before getting something to eat. It's not good to train with a full stomach." He points to a small clearing close to the road, a few hundred yards from Thurmaster. "This looks like a good spot," he says, getting his shield off his back and sliding his left hand through the straps, gripping the inner strap tightly. He yanks the nasty-looking pick from his belt, but turns it so that the beak, designed to pierce through armor, is facing the wrong way. "Show me what you can do, Lyntern."

"Agreed," Lathan says with a nod. "We'll rest here then set out for the Shrieken Mire first thing in the morning. Perhaps we can find out more about what exactly happened from the locals tonight."

He leaves Karon and Lyntern to spar outside, hoping to talk to Lucien. "You look like you've had something on your mind all afternoon, Lucien," he says as he approaches his fellow elf. "What are you thinking?"

Lucien leads Lathan away from the others a pace and turns to watch Karon sparring with the Count's boy from beyond earshot. In a low voice, he answers Lathan's question. "A great many things. Two bandit attacks on shipments we were guarding in as many weeks. Orcs in great numbers in the woods. Some bedeviled strangeness with goblin magic. And now, rumors of a dragon and a giant? That's a large number of strange occurrences for such an out of the way part of the world." His face shows the hints of a frown. "It means that either the local lord is woefully incompetent, or that something else is at work. I has me on edge." He shrugs. "That and I can't get that kidnapped girl out of my head. If it were up to me, we'd leave off this dragon nonsense and go after her. Palfrey have me a bad feeling. I thought I'd given up on a life of doing the dirty work of human lords a long time ago."

Lyntern and Karon spar outside the inn, drawing a small crowd, while the others go inside to secure a place to stay for the night.

Lathan listens to Lucien, nodding as the other elf speaks. "Aye, and the kid seems to know something about what's going on in the Thornwood, which is where I suspect we might find the girl and the source of all the problems." He glances over at Lyntern, then back at Lucien. "We already have the Count's son with us... I know his daddy won't be pleased, but I say we convince him to lead us to the place in the Thornwood he alluded to earlier. He seemed eager to do so anyway." He watches Lyntern and Karon for a while longer before adding, "I don't want to see the boy killed, though, so if we could find a way to get him to tell us where the place is but keep him somewhere safe, that would be ideal."

After sparring with Lyntern for half an hour or so, Karon decides it's time to end the session and go find food and lodgings with the others. "You did well, you are obviously well trained," he says to the young noble. "The first fight where you have to kill or be killed will be different though. Just stay close to me and I'll help you if I can. But now it's time to eat. Fighting always gets my appetite up."

He then enters the tavern with Lyntern in tow, looking for the others. Once there, he assures them that Lyntern is quite capable in combat, although he's never had to fight for his life yet.

"So, what's our plan now?" he asks, looking at Lucien and the others. "Are we going into Thornwood looking for giants and dragons?"

Lucien's dark expression persists as he watches the sparing match. "I'm not as optimistic, but only time will tell. We'll do our best to bring the boy back alive. Anita would scold me forever if we didn't manage to bring him back." With that attempt at wry humor he heads into the inn to see about a room.

With business settled, Lucien takes a spot at a table against the wall as usual. "Yes I think that's the best plan. All roads seem to lead to the Thornwood for the time being." He relaxes, clearly intending to spend some time in the common room before meditating for the evening.

Seirye headed for the inn when they arrived and, once inside, took on the role of booking their lodgings and ordering some food and drinks. The slightly gloomy common room of the tavern itself was relatively empty, a couple of grizzled old men in one corner supping on their ales; a man, his dress a little tidier - a merchant maybe - was at a small table by the fire with what almost certainly his guard. The innkeeper had a dour expression, unhappy with the day, the week, his life. Seirye didn't care enough to notice and would have paid little heed to it if she had. The discussion with him about the nature of the rooms and the frequency with which they were cleaned dragged on for a few minutes. He was looking increasingly grumpy until Seirye, satisfied with the answers, produced the necessary coin to pay for the beds, some wine and some roast meats and what she was assured would be fresh bread for their table.

The money in his hand the innkeeper brightened a little and barked out instructions to the kitchen and set to retrieving a couple of bottles and some goblets.

Having got that out of the way Seirye headed for a large table in the middle of the room with a couple of long benches on either side and started to update her journal. The tallow candles on the table burned with a weak flame, the smell obvious, and the light was weak and sputtering. Still it was enough for her and her eyesight. There wasn't a lot to write about with regard to her recent arcane experiences but she began to outline some of her thoughts on metaphysical constructs and their role in manipulating base arcane patterns. She remained lost in that as time ticked by, the drinks arrived at the table, and then plates and food were delivered - four loaves and a stack of roast mutton freshly sliced off the kitchen spit.

"The giants and dragon were spotted in the Shrieken Mire, not the Thornwood" Lathan corrects Karon. "But I think we've decided not to worry too much about them for the time being and instead focus on what is going on in the Thornwood, with all the banditry and kidnapping going on.

"We'll need to get Lyntern to guide us to the ruins he mentioned earlier."

"Ah, my mistake. I'm not familiar with the lands around here," Karon replies to Lathan. "I'll rely on the rest of you to get us where we need to go. But I have to admit that trying to stop banditry and kidnapping sounds more to my liking than seeking out giants and dragons."

"Then we're in agreement: We head to the Thornwood tomorrow."

Lathan spends the rest of the evening resting and mentally preparing himself for what might lie ahead of them.

In the morning, as the party is getting ready for the day, there is no sign of Lyntern. When they ask if he's seen them, the innkeeper says that several of Count Parlfray's men came in the middle of the night to find him and he returned with them.