Telemachus rejoins the group after inspecting the ship.

A little out of breath he says, "Ananke looks fine. No sign that anyone boarded her while we were gone.

Did you find out anything about Eliphas and Dak? Or are we ready to head back to find Panatix?"

"They haven't been here," Westin says. "In a town like this, they would have been easily spotted as strangers, especially if they were mounted. That means they either went to Farnworth some 14 miles north or, who knows, maybe they headed off road towards some secret place."

"I was suggesting we go by ship though Wick reminded me about Panatix. Lenelle suggested we split up going by land and sea, though if we do that Lenelle, he says to her, "the group going by land could pick up Wick. In fact, those going by sea could too though I think it would be easier for those going by land."

"I'm beginning to think that the reason Eliphas left most of his men behind was to delay us which has succeeded," Westin says sadly. "If we are right and Eliphas and Dak are on horseback, I'm not sure how we could catch up with them. If all that is true, though, I'm not sure why he took Dak. Surely Eliphas would know that as long as Dak is with him, we would try to follow him and, if nothing else, attempt some sort of rescue."

"I don't know what we should do."

PM

She shook her head.  "Good points; I sure don't know. It may well be that Dak has moved beyond our ability to rescue.  Assuming he hasn't just chosen this of freewill, for that matter, for whatever reason.  But, we do need to go and retrieve Pan, in any case."

---

"Perhaps the land prty can pick up Panatix and then go along the chase? We are mounted and should be fast.,"Storm replies.

No horses.  As per the OOC post:

Just a quick note on the horses before things get too carried away there.  The group really hasn't seen horses around town.  At the fair, there were a few carts that had come in with a horse or donkey, but not riding horses.

”Best to pick up Panatix with the ship, that way his short stride doesn’t slow down the land group.”

Wick was as interested as anyone to rescue Dax, if Dax does actually need rescuing, but at some point they’d have to write Dax off if they didn’t succeed by then.  A few weeks maybe, depending on how close they could stay on the trail.

Telemachus absorbs all that his companions offer up as he catches his breath.

"I think we all agree that our first order of business is to find Panatix.

I'm not in favour of splitting into two groups; and I agree with Westin, a group on foot won't be able to catch Eliphas if he is on horseback.

I back Wick's plan to sail to the old house and find Panatix, and then why not sail north to Farnworth and see if we can't surprise our Eliphas."

 Vendavel was keen to join the ship group, and in the absence of horse agreed that there would be no point to having a land bound group at all.

 "If we sail to the house, I can guide us to the water cave. We could also claim the smaller boat as bounty, as far as I know it does not belong to anyone."

 Maybe it was her former ways resurfacing, but she was not above stealing a boat without an owner.

"Guiding us into the water cave would be helpful," Westin affirms to Vendavel. He had been a bit worried about navigating into the smuggler cave for the first time. Being guided by someone who knew the way was very reassuring.

"When we get there, I can keep a eye out for the oars that we threw into the water," he adds. "Hopefully we can retrieve those as well."

PM

---

"Then we best depart soon. Each minute we spend talking is a minute wasted, Tele, do we have any supplies we need before we sail? If not, maybe we can just depart," Storm says.

"I believe we can set sail immediately...if everyone is in agreement?"

"Yes, let's go!" Westin says.

”Aye, let’s get moving.  The sooner we get started, the sooner we get this thing done.”

Telemachus turns and heads back to the harbour, a sense of excitement washes over him as knows he will be out on the water again.

"Vendavel, I know you are a sailor, you are going to love Ananke. She's not big, but a fine vessel!"

"I'm a sailor too," Westin chimes in, "though I may need a hand to raise a main sail without a hoist or help for similar such tasks that require a lot of strength. I'm also pretty good at navigation. Years ago, I sailed around the Thousand Islands by myself in my small sailboat though I never got too far from any island. I'm happy to lend a hand if needed."

"How long have you been sailing Vendavel?" he asks the half-elf. "Any especially interesting places you have sailed to or any interesting or even scary tales to share?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:41, Wed 28 Oct 2020.

Lenelle was not a sailor.  She had been aboard a ship several times, during her life - who had not, dwelling in the isles? - but it was yet more new to her than not.  She merely nodded agreement with the general intent, and resolved to help out where she could, ask for instruction, when needed.

Wick gives a wry grin, ”A few more sailors on the team and we’ll have a right, proper crew.  We’re gonna have to start assigning duties.”

Wick is as happy as anyone to get back to the ship and get some water under his feet.

Storm hauls his pack and moves off with the rest.

As the group made their way back to the Ananke, Fintan came out from his office.

"Will you be returning?" he asked.  His air was one of the sort of person who needed to keep orderly accounts of the comings-and-goings of Monteci's harbor.

Wick gives Fintan a wave, looking to see if the blue hand gives the man pause.  ”With luck, yes.  Hopefully, to collect some more coin if our hunt goes well.  If it goes poorly, well hopefully some of us At least will come back.  Either way, a good day to you, master Fintin.”

Telemachus laughs at Wick's comment to the harbourmaster.

"We'll be back, Master Fintan. Just a short journey for now."

Like Wick, he is exuberant about getting onto the ship again.