As the intrepid adventurers decide what to do about a town under the sway of all manner of ne'er-do-wells.
This message was last updated by the GM at 16:45, Thu 25 Mar 2021.

Pathwyn nodded.

"The guy in the bandedmail worked for Damon and doesn't have any loyalty to Cannibal.  It's safe to let him go.  He'll just leave town.  I think we should give him some rations and an asil to start him on his way.  The other guy..." Pathwyn paused to consider her choice of words.  "Well I wouldn't call him a fanantic, but he is overly impressed with and loyal to Cannibal.  Once he gets free he'll join right back up with Cannibal's thugs.  I broke his hand to sideline him so we won't have to turn right back around him and kill him if we do what's right and clean up Farnworth.  We should leave him tied up for Cannibal's men or the townspeople to find him."

---

Did the description the first guy gave me of the dogs ("Cannibal's dogs more like wolves.  Pretty yella color, and ain't that big but plenty mean.") sound like the dogs I saw at Eliphas' house?  (one looked almost wolfish, with a studded collar with red stones that glinted in the firelight, while the other looked like a mastiff.)  It's hard for me to tell from just one sentence if that's a match or not.

On the dogs:  the wolfish one at Eliphas' was gray, mastiff's color is closer to the description from the man who had worked for Eliphas, but mastiff wouldn't look wolfish.  So, not a match.

"Are we going to take him out the tunnel with us and let him go there?" Dak asked Pathwyn.

He was just hoping they wouldn't have any problems getting their horses and gone.

"We could either take him out the tunnel with us or just cut him free up in the church and let him walk out the front door.  Either works for me."

"The other thing I learned was those dogs at Eliphas' house aren't Cannibal's dogs.  That was originally a pretty suspicious coincidence.  It made me think the guy who answered the door was working for Cannibal, but now, who knows?  At least we don't have any reason to suspect him."

"I think we should take him with us until we get our horses," Dak suggests.  "Then if he decides to run back and tell everyone about us, we'll already have a head start.

"I'll go up and bring him down."

He'd leave his hands and mouth bound, but untie his legs so he could walk with them.

Alvasdor takes a last look around the room to see if there's anything they shoudl take. Uncharacteristically, he takes the lead in the tunnel unless somebody objects. When he reaches the door, he opens it slightly and lets Chee so he can go flutter the tree and commune what he sees.

Pathwyn did a quick sweep of the church to salvage arrows.  She also swept the burnt blanket into the fireplace with her foot and gathered up any remaining food from the basement before following Alvador as he led the group down the secret tunnel.

Dak had picked up the chest to carry.  If the man tried to run away, the blood priestess would shoot him anyway.  No need for him to be on guard.

Pathwyn found that her arrows were all intact and those that had struck the wall just needed to be handled carefully to extract them from the wall without damage.  The wine had been decanted, the device a lovely piece of crystal-work but without any means of closing up the ends, and so looked not particularly transportable, but the cheeses were easy enough to gather up and wrap in the cloth napkin.

Leaving through the tunnel, Damon's former guard followed along, seeming to accept that he had little choice to do so.

At the door, Alvador had allowed Chree to lead the way as the rest of the group followed Alvador.

Alvador tells the others what Chree observed.

"Chree saw no one on the streets, but looking far afield could see people in the out-fields working.  Behind the house where Eliphas had been, some two hundred feet or so from the house was another stand of trees and three horses grazing."

I think we should move right along to the stable, but eying the hoses might be a good idea. They might be ours.

Chree waits until Alvador is close before nestling in a pocket, shaded from all this light.

Pathwyn blinked as they emerged into the light.  For some reason she couldn't put her finger on she'd expected it to be foggy, but instead it was clear with the sun sinking towards the horizon.

"That's some good scouting, little guy," she said in Chree's direction, following Alvador to the stables.

"Just a little while longer," Dak said to their prisoner as they walked.  He didn't want the man to get any ideas about making a ruckus.  "Step out of line and she'll put an arrow in your back without a second thought."

They'd probably need to dump the chest into someone else's saddlebags once they got to the stables.  Trying to tie it to a horse didn't sound like it was going to work very well.

The town was small enough that travel to the stables took only a short amount of time.  The man was now their prisoner moved along, unresisting, as it seemed he had judged his chances for surviving were better through co-operativeness.

As they approached the stables, they could see Myrick about the stables, appearing to be busy tidying things up outside the stable in the aftermath of the small battle that had taken place there earlier.

Dak prodded their captive directly toward the stables still bound and gagged.  His sword was sheathed as he needed both hands to carry the chest.

He was glad to see Myrick at work.  If the rightful stableman had been missing, it might have been a sign of imminent trouble.

"All quiet?" he asked the stableman hopefully as they came near.

"Aye, good and quiet," replied the man, leaning on the rake he had been using to set things to rights.  "All yer horses been watered, resting quiet in their stalls."  He gave a frankly curious look to the man who had been Damon's guard.

"Thank you Myrick, we're going to take the horses for a little ride, and let this fellow," she said nodding to their captive.  "Leave town peacefully.  How much do we owe you?"

After settling up with Myrick she asked "Dak, do we have some rations to spare?"

Myrick's face showed a little internal conflict at Pathwyn's question, and nervously he finally said, "Well, for the four of them, and as long as it's been, an asil for all four?"

"We have enough food to get us back to town," Dak replied to the elf as he fished an asil out of his pouch for Myrick.

The plan had been to eat and restock here, but that didn't seem likely.  It was probably a good thing Pathwyn had scooped up that food at the church.  It had seemed a little greedy at the time, but maybe she'd been thinking of how little food they actually had left.

Alvador digs out an asil and hands it over. Let's go. With fresh horses, we should be able to get where there's food soon enough.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:48, Tue 30 Mar 2021.

"OK, give him my share of the rations.  He'll need something to eat on his trip out of here."

Pathwyn pulled out a couple of asil and put them into Damon's former guard's hand, still tied behind his back.

"It's not much, but it should come in handy," she told their soon-to-be-released prisoner.

"Myrick, is there a farm nearby that can sell us some food?" she asked as she started fitting Bourbon's saddle.

Dak pulled out a packet of a days rations and tucked it under the man's arm as he was still tied and gagged.  He then turned his attention to emptying the chest into whomever's saddlebags looked the most deflated.

"Most folk around here just keep sheep, or go fishing, and have a little family garden," said Myrick.  "There was a family live about halfway down to Monteci used to come up and trade, but they ain't been up here in awhile.  Man's name is Urard."

When everyone was ready to ride Pathwyn untied the gag and made a cut in the ropes binding their captive's hands.  She uncoiled and removed the rope.

"You're free to go.  Good luck," she told him, hoping he'd make good on this second chance.

Then she climbed on to her horse and directed Bourbon down the road to Monteci.

---

How much sunlight do we have left?  How long is the ride to Urard's farm?

Alvador adds this advice Maybe you'd find other parts healthier...and, remember, we are merciful...once.

He follows Pathwyn.

"I'll remember," said the now-ungagged man.

With that, the four who had come to Farnworth made their way back along the coastal road, leaving Farnworth behind, whether for a short time or for good yet to be determined, and the man who had been their prisoner soon disappeared in the distance behind them.

---

On horseback, you would need about an hour to get to the farm; there's probably about two hours before sunset.  It would be entirely normal to request to stay the night in exchange for relating news or a small amount of coin (like a griel each).

I'll leave a little room for on-the-road conversation before bringing you to the farm, and will bring you to the farm tomorrow (real time).

"So are we going to go back to Farnworth?" Dak asked as they rode along.  He wasn't sure if they'd upended the balance in the town for good or bad.  They were at loose ends at the moment now that their employer was dead.

As expected, Pathwyn chimed in with her opinion.

"We have to ask ourselves two questions.  Can we defeat Penrhyn, Cannibal, and his thugs?  And are we heroes or just mercenaries?"

She let the questions percolate in her comrades' minds for a short while before going on.

"I can't answer the first question yet.  We don't really know what all we're up against.  But we already beat Bror, Vardis, Kieran, and Damon.  I'm willing to take the leap of faith that we're up to the rest of the challenge.  As for the second question, I wouldn't sleep well knowing I left the townspeople of Farnworth to the bullying and cruelty of Cannibal's gang.  Those people shouldn't live in fear every time they go to the market, or the tavern, or to church.  You've seen them.  They're terrified!"

Bourbon shook and bucked a little, reminding Pathwyn that she was preaching from the back of a live animal, not a soapbox.  She patted the horse's neck comfortingly before wrapping up.

"And even though I never knew Eliphas, I don't like the idea of his murderer running around free either, especially now that we know who did it."

Alvador contributes his thoughts. What we, as a group, I don't know yet. But we seem comfortable together. The village knows no law, well, no decent law; so our being vigilantes isn't a problem. And I do feel more confidence in myself...and, well, what better things do we have to do?

One thing, though, what will happen after? We should, if we undertake this, prepare the ground for them to govern and defend themselves. That suggest getting allies willing to fight or help out somehow so their freedom is earned and not a gift. Maybe contact nearby farmers initially.

"I would like to avenge Eliphas' death," Dak admitted.  The man had been a good friend to him and trusted him.  He shifted the metal javelin held across his lap as he rode.

"I wonder if a net would work on those dogs," he mused, thinking of fishing for dogs.

Fresh meat might Alvdor suggests.

"Could you put the dogs to sleep?" Dak asked of the half elf.  That magic always seemed to turn the tables and if they could get the dogs out of the picture, it would give them a good leg up.

Alvador considers tehk question seriously. Tomorrow or later, yes...at least some of them at a time. If possible, I'd rather the dogs were distracted.

It felt very appropriate to use nets in a fishing village.

"Nets won't be hard to come by in Farnworth.  We could either weight the corners and throw them over victims, or we could rig up a trap on the ground in front of us for when the enemy charges our ranged weapons users.  Maybe even build a defensive net wall in front of us.  Speaking of which, where's your sling, Alvador?  I haven't seen you even pull it out once."

While talking tactics, Pathwyn kept an eye out for a stream or river at which to re-fill her waterskin.

Alavdor is taken by surprise. My sling? ... It's here. Should I have tried ot use it sometime?

She had suggested its use in the church battle with the big bodyguard, but the young mage really seemed distracted back there for some reason.  Maybe that happened to all wizards when they ran out of spells.  No, that couldn't be it.  He still had a flaming hands spell.  Never-the-less, he was a lot sharper since they left the church.  It was good to have the old Alvador back.

"Certainly.  Firing away with the sling is a good way for you to be effective in combat without using magic, and it keeps you a safe distance away from danger.  With arrows, bolts, and bullets we might be able to take out opponents before they get a chance to close.  Soften them up, at least."

Maybe they could take some target practice tomorrow morning to build his skill and confidence.  She was curious to see how good he was with the sling.  Pathwyn smiled at Alvador.

"Have you had any luck figuring out what's magical about that staff?"

As the companions made their way along the road, they saw a house which looked like it had had rooms added in a near random manner, set back on a short path from the road.  In front of the house, there was a low wooden fence which seemed to be a marker that the chickens had been given, a low wooden coop to the side of the house.  Beyond, fields with young barley, flax, and a third empty field could be seen, along with a fenced meadow where a horse and cow could be seen, as well as another small building that looked large enough to be a barn for the animals and a wagon, but not much more than that.

No, I haven't tried. I don't know how to Identify, and I doubt I'd have much luck anyway. If we had the money to pay a higher-level mage....

Earlier, I just didn't think of it, later, I might have hit one of you.

Alvador stops to look the place over. That place might b e as good a place to stop as any. Looks roomy, but there's no sign or something to indicate that it's like an inn.

"Want me to go up and ask about a meal and a night in their barn?" Dak asked as he pulled his horse up near the fence to stop.  His rear end was still sore from their ride in that morning.

Now that he thought about it, they'd missed lunch as well.

Pathwyn smiled and nodded to Dak.  "Yes.  Mention that we have coin to pay for the food too."


Then she looked over at Hewney.  He'd been awfully quiet so far.  She wanted to make sure his condition hadn't deteriorated.

"Are you OK, Boss?"


Lastly, she continued the staff conversation with Alvador.

"Oh gods, that spell costs a fortune.  The mage casting it will not only charge you a sack of gold for the privilege, but also demand a valuable gem that turns to powder in the process.  Even then the spell doesn't work sometimes.  Do you get a refund?  I doubt it.  That's why most mages will use a lucky charm.  A little luck never hurts, does it?"

Pathwyn is downright fascinated by magic and could go on about it all day.

"At least it's a common spell.  Not surprising since it's a fool-proof get-rich-quick scheme assuming you've got a decent supply of wealthy customers overly burdened with mysterious magical items.  Thieves guilds make good customers too.  They never know what exactly they've stolen or taken off a conveniently dead guy, and they have the means to pay for the knowledge."

"With Gwysol being an enchanter," she goes on.  "The basic magical identification spell is near certain to be in one of those books.  But we don't always *have* to resort to spells to figure things out.  You can use your smarts and intuition.  For example, did you feel anything unusual when you struck Penrhyn?  It looked like a light tap to me.  He was royally kicking our asses, but he ran off like you'd half killed him.  Also, give the staff a good close looking over for subtle carvings or partially worn off runes.  Writing of a sort is often vital to enchantment.  There was bound to be something there at sometime, even if that sometime was years ago."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:09, Sat 03 Apr 2021.

Alvador looks blank before replying Yes, yes I should do al that. Seems my seductions has lacunae.

(First time I've ever used the term)

'my seductions has lacunae' verbally stops Pathwyn in her tracks, leaving her momentarily speechless.  Her Calandian isn't flawless, but she can usually figure out meaning from context.

It does sound like Alvador has a plan for the staff.

"I'll be fine after a good long rest, I'm sure," said Hewney.  "But the jobs're done, so you don't need call me boss, I doubt I'm that any more."

"Veja tells me that you'll be fine after a meal, a good night's sleep, and a stiff dose of divine healing."

It worried Pathwyn that Hewney felt 'the jobs're done.'  They still had Gwysol's books to deliver after this and Pathwyn doubted she could hold the group together long without him.  She had no authority, and the others were growing tired of her 'plans'. But maybe Hewney was right.  He would be the perfect choice to take over Eliphas' operation and give Farnworth stability and security after they rid the town of Cannibal's gang.  She just wasn't going to be the one to suggest it.

Dak slid from the saddle and threw the reins over over the fence rail.  He made sure the ground stopped moving before he released his hold of the fence.

"Stay," he instructed the horse.  He was feeling more like a horseman all the time.

He started off gingerly in the direction of the farm house in order to knock and propose a trade of food and lodging in exchange for coins.

Alvador said A moment, please, Dak. He looks at Hewney to judge that he meant what he said. Then he looks at Pathwyn. A group should have a leader, one who is decisive with an agile mind and good memory...and who listens. "Boss" may not be the most descriptive word; but, Pathwyn, I nominate you for boss.

The burden of leadership seemed to have been lifted from his shoulders. He hadn't hated it, but it felt good to be free of it as well.

"I second that suggestion Alvador, Pathwyn would make a fine leader, seems to me."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:14, Sun 04 Apr 2021.

"The leader doesn't get a bigger share, do they?" Dak asked shrewdly before making a decision on leadership.  He was thinking there would be a lot more killing under the blood priestess' reign.

I would think not. Rather, I think what coins and goods are accumulated should be used as best helps the party's capabilities, and then each receiving an allowance for individual expenses.

Smiling at Dak's concern, Hewney saw that in some ways they were very much alike. A larger share would almost make the more difficult task of leadership tempting.

Pathwyn blinked.  This sure happened suddenly out of nowhere.

"Now I can count 'Lady of the Forhorns' on my list of accomplishments next time I sign on as a ship's navigator," she chuckled.  "That ought to impress them."

"We'll all get the same share, don't worry.  Now let's find out if these farmer like silver and strangers."

Letting his horse fall in behind the mount of the Lady of the Foghorns, Hewney crossed his fingers and said a small prayer to Emele in hopes that nothing else tried to kill him this day. As things stood, they would no doubt succeed.

Before following Dak or any others, Alvador scans the surroundings.

Once the matter of leadership had been resolved, they saw two men--one clearly older than the other, both dressed in common russet tunic and trousers, a stout club at the waist of each--leaving the building which appeared to be a barn.

"How fare you?" said the older man, whose hair was well grizzled, though hints of the rich brown of the younger man were still present.

As Alvador looked about, he did not see much else of note.  It appeared that the chickens had been brought in to roost already, and the farm looked typical of any other farm in the early days of Amaya.

In reply to DM (msg # 54):

Hewney eyes the two men cautiously. Do they seem well fed? Over fed? Do they appear to have gone hungry of late?

He limits himself to observing at this point however, leaving first contact to their newly elected Captain.

Unless there's an overlong awkward pause, Pathwyn intends to let Dak talk to the farmers.  He took the initiative to do so, after all, and he's plenty capable.

"All is well," Dak replied to the older man.  "We were hoping to find a place to stay for the night and a few meals in return for some asil.

"Would your farm be able to help us with that?"

He was actually glad to see they carried clubs as it meant they weren't ones to be pushed around.  Less likely to be scurrying to town with information on their new guests.

"Aye, we can come to terms on that, I'll be sure," said the older man.  "Name's Urard," and with a gesture to the younger man, "and Shay.   Where've you been, and where you be bound?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:55, Mon 05 Apr 2021.

Alvador brings his horse up by Pathwyn and rests easy.

"My name is Dak and it's nice to meet the both of you," Dak replied with a smile to the two men.  "We're on our way to Farnham in the morning to conclude some business we took on in Shipton.

"We ran afoul of a little trouble on the way here and wanted to be fresh upon our arrival tomorrow."

Although he wanted to, he was reluctant to ask of news from Farnham.  They may already be suspicious of his tale if they'd already seen them heading into town that morning or returning just now from that direction.

Slipping from his horse, the half-elf pulls an apple out of his pouch and feeds it to his mount as the others talk. He often found being on foot seemed less threatening, and besides, his arse was sore.

He would wait until things were more settles to unsaddle the creature, and begin brushing it down. He intended to check the hooves tonight for wear, or any stone, it had been awhile.

"Farnworth is not a good place," said Urard, "but we can make room for you for the night.  Barn's small, but should find a way, even if they're just tethered in the meadow."

"That will be fine," Dak assured the old man his offer was acceptable.  Dak wasn't quite sure what the offer was because of the man's irregular speech pattern, but it sounded good enough for the night.

"What do you mean about Farnworth not being a good place," he asked, following up on the lead.  "Is there a plague or something we should be aware of?"

"Dangerous place," said Urard.  "Folk will rob you, and that be if you're lucky that they only try to take your goods and your coin."

"Isn't there a sheriff or something to keep the peace?" Dak asked, trying to figure out what it was supposed to be like.  He was really looking for a way to resolve the town's issues without resorting to Pathwyn's preferred method.

Keeping an ear open to the conversation, Hewney unsaddles his horse, and looks about for a place to water it.

Seeing that matters were proceeding well Alvador dismounts; and, when there's a break in the conversation, asks about food and fodder for his mount.

The younger man stepped over to the rest of the group, and said, "Let's go get your horses settled, then.  You want to tether them in the meadow, or we could move the wagon out and put them in there."

Urard shook his head at Dak's question.  "DeMontec's the closest to the law around here, and his lands don't run as far as Farnworth."

So much for curbing the elf's enthusiasm.  It looked like they were the new sheriff in town and one of them worshiped a god of death.  He could guess where this was going.

"I think they'd like the meadow," Dak replied to the young man as he looked over to consider his horse's preference.  "Maybe put them in the barn when evening falls.

"Of course we'll compensate you for your kindness."

Alvador offers a smile and offers his hand for the young man to shake. I'm Alvador.

Pathwyn dismounted and follow Alvador.  When Alvador and the younger man were done shaking hands she curtsied.

"Hello, I'm Pathwyn, Priestess of Veja and newly appointed Lady of the Forhorns.  Thank you for your hospitality.  Do you like tales of adventure?"

Who didn't?

Lady of the Forhorns?  He hadn't heard that one before.  There were four of them, but he hadn't been issued any horn.  Maybe it was part of a larger plan yet to be implemented.  It better not be another one of those golden shovel purchases!

Smiling at the conversation, Hewney introduced himself quietly, the stepped back to let the others arrange things as best they could.

"And I'm Shay," he replied, shaking Alvador's hand.  "Tales of adventure?  Sure, and that'd be  right fine with dinner."  He looked a little awkward at Pathwyn's introduction, as though he had no idea how to respond to a curtsey.

With that, he led the way to getting the horses settled.  In looking over the horses, it was clear that Myrick had given the horses good care while they were in Farnworth.

Once the horses were settled, the two men led the way into the house.  Here, they could see a room around a cooking hearth, and a table with benches.  Also inside were two women who, from their apparent ages might be guessed to be the wife of Urard and Shay, along with three children, the oldest of whom appeared to be around six.

Two doors led away from the first room, which might be guessed at the rooms which, from the outside, appeared to have been tacked on the original house.

The home reminded Dak of his parents and he was struck with how long it had been since seeing them last.  He hoped his letter had gotten through.  After this Farnham strife was settled, he'd have to send another.

"Make sure to keep your saddlebags with you," she said to Dak subtly as they led the horses to the pasture.  "We want to avoid any sort of incident while we're here."  Then she watched to make sure he brought them.


She introduced herself (as simply Pathwyn this time) to the others inside the farmhouse.  Upon seeing the young age of the children, she began mentally sanitizing her version of the Farnworth saga.  There would be no sense in giving the little ones nightmares over the gory details.

"I'm an elf," she told the oldest of the children.  "Have you ever met an elf before?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:22, Mon 12 Apr 2021.

Scoping out the room, habit made Hewney look for likely places for the family to have stashed items of value, but he has no real plans to use the information. Simply good practice.

"Hi all, my name's Hewney, but you can call me Hew."

He calls over to the ladies as well, offering to help in the kitchen should they need any.

"I can peel a potato with the best of them!"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 03:08, Wed 14 Apr 2021.

"I'm better with fish," Dak said, countering the half elf's potato brag.  He set his heavy saddlebags and the metal javelin just inside the door.

"But anything would be welcome and we'd be glad to help," he added.  "Too long in the saddle makes me itch to stay on my feet for a while."

Itch might not have been the right description.

In the house Alvador introduces himself. He offers "I can cook a bit, but I"m guessing my help with washing and drying might be more welcome."

He looks at the three children.

"Oh there's no need for that," said the older woman, waving off the offers of assistance.  "I can still manage things just fine, and we'll be eating soon enough."

The younger woman pulled a loaf of bread from the hearth oven, letting it cool so that it might be sliced.

The oldest child, a tow-headed boy, nodded gravely at Pathwyn's question.  "We went to Monte-ci and saw elves and gnomes."

The middle child, probably close to three, was a little girl with two braids, and she seemed fascinated by the sight of the pommels of the daggers that Hewney wore. The youngest child, unlikely to be as much as two, was another boy, though young enough that it was not immediately apparent from the long hair and smock that he wore.

Soon enough, the dinner was put on the table, slices of bread and a stew which appeared to be made of lamb, leeks, and ale.

"You say you got tales of adventure?" said Shay.

"You are quite the world traveller," she said with a smile.  "I like gnome clothes, but none of them fit me."

Pathwyn thanked their hostess for the food.  She closed her eyes and made a silent prayer to Veja in thanks and asking for good fortune to shine on this family.  She waited until the farmers had started eating before he ate some herself.

Pathwyn nodded.

"I do.  You'll have to forgive that the tale is only half finished so far.  With any luck it'll have a happy ending.  You'll also have to forgive me for simplifying things and leaving out a few unpleasant details not for little ears.  Please stop me if I begin on a topic you think is better skipped over," she said, mainly looking to the children's parents.

With that she took a deep breath and began.

"This story begins with a man named Eliphas who decided to move to Farnworth.  He bought a big house in town so he'd have room for him and some of his workers to live.  You see, Eliphas' business was shipping, and it takes a lot of different kinds of people to run a business like that.  You need people to keep track of boats and people to load crates and people to buy and sell stuff to and from merchants.  Most folks in Farnworth were happy to see Eliphas move in because there would be more boats at the docks and more things to do and more silver coins in town for everyone."

Pathwyn paused momentarily to quickly eat a stew-dipped piece of bread.

"But some people were not happy to see Eliphas.  A bad man named Cannibal ran a gang of meanies and ruffians who took over the church and the inn and the stables and who-knows-where-else.  They liked pushing the good people around and taking their stuff and their money.  They were very mean.  They didn't like Eliphas because they couldn't push him and his workers around.  Cannibal started making a plan.  A very bad plan."

"Do you know why the four of us came to Farnworth?" she asked the young girl who had been eying Hewney's daggers.

"It was because of magical knives.  They were so magical that when the wizard made them for Eliphas the roof popped right off his tower and the wizard flew out too.  BOOM!"

Pathwyn made an upwards exploding gesture with both hands and followed it up with another gesture of a wizard flying away from the explosion in a graceful arc with his legs kicking. He landed on the table and bounced twice.

"We had to go bring the magical knives to Eliphas ourselves because the wizard couldn't do it."

"The church of Atu loaned us some beautiful horses so we could get to Farnworth faster.  Wasn't that kind of them?  Well, the first thing we did when we got to Farnworth was find a nice stable for the horses.  The stables were nice enough, but the man at the stables was big, rude, and drunk.  He had chainmail and a sword and didn't look like he worked at a stable at all."

"He said 'It will cost you a bag of gold to use these stables.'" Pathwyn said in a deep, slightly slurred bad guy voice.

"That wasn't a fair price at all, so Hewney said 'We will give you four silver and not a Kipper more.'"  This time she used her best Hewney voice.

"But this made the big chainmail guy mad.  He said he would take any of our stuff he wanted and then he attacked us, partly because he was mean and partly because he was drunk.  Even though he was bigger than any of us, there were four of us and just one of him.  It wasn't nice or smart to fight us."

"Dak used his sword to fight the big drunk man," Pathwyn made a swashbuckling slash in the air with an invisible sword.

"Alvador fought him with magic blasts. *pew* *pew* *pew*"  She illustrated this with a remarkably realistic magical hand gesture.

"Heweny used the magic knives."  She wove both arms around in the air, each deftly controlling an invisible dagger.

"And I shot arrows at the big mean drunk." She mimed the firing of a bow much smaller than her own due to the confining space of the dinner table.

"While we were fighting, another man came from the inn across the street.  He had a mace.  He was even bigger than the drunk guy, and he smelled like a goat's BUTT."

She paused to let the kids laugh.  Nothing is funnier to kids than the word butt.

Now it was time to try her best Dak impression.  "Dak said 'This man attacked us, go get the sheriff.'"

"'Ain't no sheriff here,' said the man who smelled like goat butt, and he attacked us too!" She gave the stinky thug a low, stupid sounding voice, making sure not to sound the least bit rural.

"Now it was two against four and we won the fight.  Fighting is dangerous.  You can get hurt," she said looking to the kids.  "Hewney and Dak were very brave, fighting close up with the bad men.  They both got cut in the fight, but I healed them each with a magic curing spell."

"When the fighting was over the real stablemaster, Myrick, ran up and thanked us for beating up the two mean men who had been bullying him.  They had kicked him out of his own stables!  Now that he was back, Myrick took care of our horses.  It was time to go give the magic knives to Eliphas."

Pathwyn ate some lamb and drank a little ale before continuing the story.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:37, Wed 14 Apr 2021.

Dak tried not to shake his head as Pathwyn related how they'd already been to Farnham and knew everything that was going on there.  So much for Dak's groundwork of being new to the area.  He'd been expecting her to tell the story of the tower, but she was in charge, so he'd just follow along.

Alvador stretches his limbs and turns, relaxing, before seating himself.

The older two children looked completely entranced by Pathwyn's tale, while the youngest was much more fascinated by the food.

Urard gave Dak a look, brows knitted, and said, "So ye've been to Farnworth the once already?  Don't know this Eliphas, but good to know Myrick's doin' all right."

Enjoying the tale as well as the meal, Hewney remains mostly silent throughout.

"We weren't sure if you'd chosen sides in town," Dak explained with a shrug of apology to Urard.  "It's best if they think we're done with our business there."

Dak tried to recall how visible the horses would be from the road.  If anyone might note additional horses not normally seen in their meadow.  They really didn't need anyone pointing out where they might be.

Alvador asks the children With your parents' permission, would you like a story before bedtime? If so, what would you like the story to be about?

As Dak reflected, the meadow was not particularly hidden from the road, but there were some gentle slopes that would at least partially obscure anything in the meadow--and of course, once darkness fell, there would not be enough light to illuminate the meadow.

Urard's brows unknit slightly, and he said, "Ye been to Farworth, can see what ye'd be wary."

The younger woman gathered up the toddler and the little girl, and said, "A very short story, and then Cas will need to be coming to bed, too."  With that, she took the younger two off through one of the doors to another room in the house.

Alvador agreed Bed, safe and warm, best for boys...girls too. And sleep, the gift of gods. A short story...though mayhap, Cas, you will make it longer after we make our leave.
Once there was a boy, about your age by the gate of his farm. An old man, a stranger with backpack and staff, strode along the road...so he was hall and hearty despite his years. He stopped and sat on a rock by the gate. He had a kindly face with searching eyes. He held out his waterskin and asked, "Young man, my skin is empty. will you please fill it from yonder well?" There is just the boy and the man. If you were that boy, do you take the waterskin; and, if he just hands it to you, do you go to fill it? Or do you back off and say, "I'll fetch my pa?"

When Alvador left to tell the youngest two a bedtime story, Pathwyn continued her Farnworth tale for the others.


"Now, you remember that Cannibal made a sneaky plan, right?  His plan was to plant a spy right in Eliphas' own house.  Cannibal told one of his men, a guy named Penrhyn in a green cloak, to go pretend to join Eliphas' team.  Penrhyn came to Eliphas' house.  He knocked on the door and told Eliphas he wanted a job shipping.  Eliphas welcomed Penrhyn to the team and let him live in the house with him and some of his workers.  They all trusted Penrhyn, but one night Penrhyn snuck up on Eliphas, knocked him out with a poisoned rag, and put him on a ship that sailed him far away, never to return."

Pathwyn gave the adults a look and a head shake to subtly indicated that Penrhyn had been more murderous than that.

"Penrhyn did this mean thing the night before we got to Farnworth and no one knew Eliphas was gone yet.  When we went to Eliphas' house and knocked on the door ourselves his doggies barked and one of Eliphas' men answered the door.  We told him we brought the magic knives for Eliphas and the man sent us upstairs to Eliphas' room.  The door was locked, which was strange.  We knocked on Eliphas' bedroom."

She switch back to the voice she hoped sounded at least a little like Dak.  "'Hello?'  Dak called through the door.  'It's Dak and Hewney.  We brought the magic knives.'"

"But there was no answer.  We got worried.  Hewney found a spare key and let us into Eliphas' room.  When we went in we discovered he was gone!  We searched around for clues.  We found the poison rag and a few green threads.  Out the window of the house we saw a man in a green cloak going into the church up on the hill.  That had to be the troublemaker, and we had to stop him.  We rushed off to the church."

"We've all been in churches before, right?  There are usually some beautiful decorations around, sconces, and murals, and holy symbols to make it a special place and show your admiration of Atu, or whoever's church it is.  In this church all the decorations had been taken.  Very strange.  We didn't see Penrhyn either, only armed guards.  One of the townspeople of Farnworth was very scared of the guards.  When he ran out, I followed him to ask him why he was scared."

"It's Father Damon.  A real priest don't need no armed guards.  I don't want no trouble.  I'm just a farmer praying for Atu to bless my crops," she said in a simple, honest male voice.

"Back inside the church Alvador had a plan for the bad guards in the church.  With just a whisper, he used a magic spell to put them both asleep."

Pathwyn wiggled her hands in air magically again, but this time her fingers fell like a gentle sprinkle of rain.

"It worked like a charm.  We tied up the sleeping guards with rope in case they woke up later.  Just then another guard burst out of the back room of the church!"

Pathwyn tried a big tough guy voice for this guard.  "'We got trouble here!' shouted the guard."

"Looked like we were in for another fight."

"Even though this guard was the toughest fighter we'd battled yet, we quickly got the advantage on him.  Dak flanked the fake priest's guard to out-duel the axeman, and I had room to shoot arrows inside the church.  Another victory for us, but we still hadn't found Damon or Penrhyn."

"There were stairs leading down in the room the guard had just run out of.  He had warned someone of trouble, and we could hear voices coming from beyond the stairs.  Dak came up with a trick to make them think we were going to smoke them out.  It worked.  The cowardly fake priest ran up the stairs, and he went down without a fight.  This left only Penrhyn.  We walked carefully down the stairs with our weapons ready."

Pathwyn made slow, descending walking motions with her fingers.

"The basement of the church was like a secret clubhouse with a plush couch, deep carpet, tapestries, paintings, and incense.  How dare they strip the decorations and holy adornments of the church, leaving the townspeople only a basic room in which to worship while they hid away under the church in posh luxury!  There was little time to be angry about it.  The man in the green cloak stood confidently with blades drawn."

"'You shouldn't have meddled,' said Penrhyn."  Pathwyn was starting to run out of villain voices.  She might've recycled one from earlier in the story for Penrhyn.

"Before he had even finished his taunt I shot an arrow into his shoulder.  Penrhyn snarled and threw a packet of magical dust to the ground.  Suddenly there were FIVE identical version of the green cloaked man!  Don't worry.  There weren't really five of them.  It was just an illusion, but it was still very confusing.  Which was the real Penrhyn?  We didn't know."  Pathwyn shruged.

"Hewney and Dak moved in.  They fought bravely, but they didn't know which enemy to hit and which swords and knives to defend against.  Hewney told me to shoot the illusions to make them disappear, but then he got cut by Penrhyn's sword.  He was right.  When I shot a fake Penrhyn it disappeared.  Dak got one too.  It was getting easier to figure out who was real and who was an illusion.  Sadly, Hewney got hit again and he was in very bad shape.  Alvador stepped in and used his magic staff to jab the real man in green."

"Penrhyn knew we'd beaten his illusion, but he still had a trick up his sleeve.  He used more magic power to turn himself invisible and ran up the stairs.  Dak chased him, but it is super hard to catch an invisible man.  Penrhyn got away."

"Hewney was badly injured.  I bandaged him, but really he needed another healing spell.  I already used up all my healing for the day.  There had been a lot of fights for one day.  We decided to leave Farnworth to rest and recover.  We were running low on food and had no place safe to go.  Cannibal's men were in the inn, and maybe the tavern, and the store too.  Myrick told us that Urard might have extra food to sell us, so we came right here."

"Thank you so much for helping us," she told the farmers sincerely.  "We're not sure how we're going to do it yet, but once we get Hewney healed we plan to go finish the job of freeing Farnworth from Cannibal's bad men."

It was as if Hewney was hearing it for the first time, Pathwyn's ability to tell a tale was so riveting.

Eyes closed and chin on his chest, Dak had fallen asleep at the table.  It had been a long day.

"Atu would want me to fill it," replied Cas, "but I'd have to get Ma, because I'm not big enough yet."

As Alvador and Cas had their side conversation, and Dak slumbered at the table, Shay and Urard looked at each other as Pathwyn's tale reached its conclusion.

"Well, you can rest here in this room for the night," said Urard, "and we can put some food together for you in the morn after breakfast.  Perhaps Farnworth will pull through after all."

Battered and bruised from a long day, Hewney stretches, wincing as he does so. gad what I wouldn't do for a hot

"I, for one, am replete, a delicious meal. I think I would like a bit of a short after-dinner stroll, then right to bed. Thank you again for your hospitality."

The last is directed to the ladies, with a smile.

Rising to his feet, he heads for the door.

"Atu would want me to fill it," replied Cas, "but I'd have to get Ma, because I'm not big enough yet."

Alvador nods and continues The boy explains that he'll ask his mother to help, and he runs to her. She's in the kitchen just finishing taking loaves of bread form the oven. She hears what the boy has to say and looks ot to see the old man by the gate. Then she takes a loaf of bread and some cheese and hands them to her son. The son hands her to waterskin. They walk outside and she fills the skin. She places the waterskin by the boy's side and uses the skin's strap over the boy's head an on the opposite shoulder so the boy can take the items to the old man.

When the boy comes close, the old man calls out, "Bless you, this some, your family, and this farm for your kindness!" He receives the items and says, "Thank you. In exchange, I"ll try to answer three questions you ask."

Now, Cas, why do you think three questions, and what questions would you ask if you were that boy? 

"Three is Atu's sacred number," said Cas.  He gave Alvador a look which might almost be described as suspicious and said, "Is this a lesson-story?"

Alvador laughs. All good stories are lesson-stories in that the wise will learn form them. Besides three being Atu's sacred number, the old mean received three items from the boy. Now, as to the three questions....

"I guess I'd ask where he's going and why and where he come from," said Cas.

Profound questions, but the answer is the same for all of us: I'm going to my grave because all mortal lives end, and I came from my mother's womb.

Although he is outside, admiring the stars, Hewney finds himself pondering these same questions himself. He wanders for a few minutes, then heads back inside to sleep.

Pathwyn went out to the horses to fetch her bedroll.  There were a couple of things she wanted to discuss with the others before they slept.  She found an out-of-the-way location in the room to lay out her bedroll and pack.  No sense in taking off her armor just yet.  Instead she sat on her bedroll with her back against the wall and waited for everyone to return.

Cas had looked rather unimpressed by the conclusion of the story, and shortly after that his mother returned to the room, collecting the last child.  Shay followed on into the same room.

Urard said, "You can take your rest here, in this room, and after breakfast we'll see what we can put together that travels well."

With that, Urard and his wife headed into the other room leading away from the central chamber, leaving just the four companions in the central chamber.  A slight re-arrangement of furniture toward the wall was all that was needed to make sufficient space for all four bedrolls to be laid out.

Alvador explains I was wondering about Cas, whether he had the makings of a cleric or mage. Hard to tell, but he is hard-headed. Might find out in the morning, thogh I'll not take any initiative with him. Good night.

....comes the dawn?

Dreams of sugarplums dance in my head. Do I heal any from sleep?

Before everyone konks out for the night...

"Listen, I wanted to at least bring up the possibility that we keep watch tonight in shifts," she says in a hushed tone so as not to worry the farmers.  "There's a slim chance that Cannibal, noticing our horses are gone, beat the truth of where we headed out of Myrick.  Even with that knowledge, I don't think he'd send much manpower away from town with his numbers reduced as they are.  That said, he might send Penrhyn with a man or two."

Pathwyn looks quite serious, but not overly worried.

"If they catch us sleeping we're done for, and maybe the farmers too."

"Nearly out of spells, and with Hewney grievously wounded we'd have to fight largely by missile fire while retreating.  On horseback we could at least lead them away from the farm."

"I understand if you guys feel safe enough to forgo a watch.  The odds are very good that nothing will happen.  What do you say?"

Dak snored lightly from his seat at the table.

Hewney is torn, certainly a watch is a good idea, but he fears if he doesn't get a good night sleep, he would be the worse for wear tomorrow.

Alvador answers drowsily Chree awake.

"So Chree can wake you if there's trouble?  As he's nocturnal he'd be a more alert lookout than any of us."

Pathwyn nodded.

With that settled, Pathwyn pulled off her quiver, belt, pouch, and knife.  The pauldrons, vambraces, boots, and gloves were easy enough to take off on her own, but she asked Alvador for help with the chestplate straps, and stripped down to her linens.  There was no way she could quickly throw it all back on if there was trouble in the middle of the night, but you can't sleep in your armor.  She looked at Dak slumbering slumped in his chair.  Well, some people could.
She dumped the weapons and armor in a pile next to her pack, but folded her dress neatly atop her backpack, and climbed into her bedroll.

"Goodnight friends," she said quietly, but the others may have already fallen asleep.

Once all had settled into sleeping places, the night passed easily enough.

Just at the very first light of dawn, Urard's wife came out into the central room to begin getting the fire ready for the day's work, and Shay's wife came out and headed directly outside, returning shortly thereafter with water.  Urard and Shay themselves headed outside.

Having somehow ended up on the floor beneath the table, Dak stirred as the boards creaked around him.  As the floor was not the most comfortable of surfaces, he crawled out and stood up to stretch.  Sleeping on a wooden floor in chain probably wasn't the best night's sleep, but he'd always admired how comfortable this suit was.

He looked around and spotted his backpack near the door where he'd put it with his javelin.  He really needed to keep better track of that pack.

"Which way to the water?" he asked, seeing a woman with a container of water.

Hewney, always a light sleeper, opened one eye. Seeing that the noises were normal domestic life, he rolled over on to his side and went back to sleep for just a little bit longer.

Alvador rose, tok care of what he slept in/on, did the necessaries, went outside, and helped Chree get settled. (Cree had eaten well, thank you.)

He found a seat in the morning sun, took out his book, and studied.

Shay's wife said, "Well's out behind the house."

The privy, of course, was visible some distance even further from the house in that same direction.

Dak thanked the woman and went out to use the privy.  Before getting cleaned up from the well, he went to see what the horses were up to.  He was surprised no one had proposed setting up a watch through the night.  It seemed to have turned out all right.

After ten more minutes, Hewney gave up, and got out of his bedroll.

He rolled it up, and placed it out of the way, then he went outside. Finding the trough, he splashed a few arms-full of water across his bare chest, then took care of his morning ablutions. He stretched a bit, and had to admit he did feel a bit better for the food and rest, though still short of one hundred percent.

He noticed Dak checking the horses, and if the man looked his way, he waved good morning. Glancing up at the sky the half-elf attempted to gauge what the weather had in store for them.

Fully awake, he headed back inside and if the others were up and about he would start putting the room back together, moving the tables and chairs. Stepping in to the kitchen he asked if he could get a mug of hot water. He had a small pouch with a mid-range tea, Elvish-Breakfast, that he was quite fond of, especially with a squirt of fresh milk and a spoonful of sugar. He was torn between offering to milk the cow, and not wanted to disrupt the family routine, but if there seemed a chance to help out, he would.

Pathwyn's time as a priestess of Veja set her internal clock to wake her just before dawn.  She had her dress on and was pulling on her boots when the farmers began their activity.  She bid them a good morning and went outside with her bow and holy symbol to kneel in the dawn light for her morning prayers.

[Language unknown: Arwepothiv Eiekalha Ek, Os hinint mipe meol cate toneai fo e cach noomticewh.  Ro ll forratcon, ndwaai, ndut castnd earndeill ic oveantove ain thanpl, oseket i pa ilos wer oreearainrea iewhunsi n manet ive, ti tinoerons once nchima st nehead ive ousintntiverica u ckna pa li daytheone adthfi.  I thst in thanwepa rut ulrat aipe'masa foes lessomonseau.

Atieareve tr alwe pr ulcom illeos li omie u, ur ie om antahe ie manintout be atsta iteena et ssiv.  Tha ineoerwhi la o sesom waome ugh acssfi ee Eenionshewhi urill ie oreureera ing.  P eau diugh of o stllal vor e wit redionrut ntear onslatsti le si a siman onpais.]

When she was done she went inside to find Hewney.

"I've got some good news for you and a surprising minor miracle to report.  Veja has blessed me with more healing than ever before," she told him cheerfully.  "I have to admit that I've struggled for years to align my thoughts, actions, and intentions with hers.  There are many things I don't understand about the goddess.  It frustrates me.  But hey, I must be doing something right to curry this favor, right?"

"Now hold still and we'll get you right as rain."

Pathwyn placed her hands near Hewney's wounds and whispered "yewl ni-faen".  The result was barely noticeable.  "yewl ni-faen" she repeated.  Again little happened.  "yewl ni-faen"  "yewl ni-faen".  Hewney *was* healed, but not nearly as dramatically as Pathwyn had hoped.  She shook her head.  The effects were both miraculous and expected.  So common was divine healing in these lands that it barely had the power to amaze.  Pathwyn was thrilled, none-the-less.  She was nearly as excited about the magic as she had been the very first time she's cast.  Hewney was still injured, so Pathwyn cast another blessing from Veja upon him.  "yewl ni-faen"

"There you go," she said, beaming.  "Good as new."

"Perhaps I was not as attuned to the goddess' will as I thought," she sighs.  "See?  frustrating."

---

Hewney heals 6 points.

04:37, Today: Pathwyn na'Sylviis rolled 1 using 1d8.  cure light wounds (Hewney).
04:38, Today: Pathwyn na'Sylviis rolled 1 using 1d8.  cure light wounds (Hewney).
04:38, Today: Pathwyn na'Sylviis rolled 2 using 1d8.  cure light wounds (Hewney).
04:38, Today: Pathwyn na'Sylviis rolled 2 using 1d8.  cure light wounds (Hewney).

Wow! The odds of a result that bad or worse are about 1 in 200!  (21/4096)
Actual odds are even worse.  Closer to 1 in 275 (15/4096)

News Flash:  A higher power overrules the combined might of Veja and the dice roller!

15:55, Today: Pathwyn na'Sylviis rolled 5 using 1d8.  DM requested re-roll.
15:55, Today: Pathwyn na'Sylviis rolled 8 using 1d8.  DM requested re-roll.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:04, Tue 27 Apr 2021.

The surge of divine energy rushed thru Hewney's flesh, mending every cut and bruise, seeking out every ache and easing it. It was truly miraculous, he had felt a bit better just from sleep, but he now felt better than he thinks he had in years. It also gave him a bit of an appetite!

"Praise be to Veja for blessing a wretch like me with her mercies. Many thanks, to her and to you Pathwyn."

When Alvador learns of the healing, he says Praise and thanks to Veja indeed. Still, Pathwyn, well, maybe we should wait a day before acting, a day for planning or even finding allies perhaps. By the way, I memorized Sleep four times.

Overhearing Alvador's suggestion, Hewney pipes in. "We already took advantage of these good people for one night, if we want to stay a second we should offer something in return, even if it is just our labor."

Outside, Dak was busying himself with brushing down the horses.  He figured the blood priestess would be raring to sacrifice a few more to her god.  At least it sounded like they deserved it this time.

Pathwyn nods in agreement with both Alvador's and Hewney's sentiments.

"We shouldn't burden these kind people any longer than we have to.  Us just being here might bring danger to them.  We can thank them, buy some food, throw in a few extra coins, and be on our way.  Make our plans in some trackless wilds 'tween here and Farnworth, far from the road.  I agree that we needn't be in any hurry to strike.  I doubt any of us will suffer much from roughing it for a day or two."

Thinking back over their journey, Hewney wonders if there was some good location from which they might spy upon the town, while remaining hidden. A decent hill perhaps.

In reflecting on the approach to Farnworth, it seemed that the terrain had not provided much cover for observation without being observed.  It might also be recalled that the horses upon which they were riding had been rented under the aegis of St Vallon's for two days, one of which had already passed.

"Well crap."

Pathwyn got up from the table and went to find Urard.  She intended to thank him for his hospitality, buy a few days of food for 4 if possible, and throw in some extra coins.  She'll also offer to return with news from Farnworth if all went well.


After that's concluded the party could depart.  Pathwyn was much less concerned with overdue horses than she was with freeing Farnworth from Cannibal's grasp.

Alvador begs to differ; ideas tumble out of his mouth. I think we should go back and report and keep to the rental agreement. I fear we're otherwise going off half cocked. Besides, they should know about the church. On top of that, there's no hurry bout Farnworth, and having more force with us, if possible, makes sense...if we're the ones to do something about the village.

Dak was not surprised the blood priestess wanted to get back to town as quickly as she could.  It suited him not to dally around all day.  He was less inclined to agree with Alvador and further delay.  They'd already learned that no one took responsibility for Farnworth and aid was unlikely.

He was, however, still concerned about the lack of a village chief, or town chief, that could maintain order in their wake.  First things first, though.

"Horses are ready whichever way we go," he announced upon his second return.  His first had been to eat breakfast.  This second return was after readying the horses once their path had been set during breakfast.

He expected they'd make their plans on the ride back.  His riding seemed to be improving, though still sore in the saddle.

Pathwyn stops to address Alvador's concerns before talking to Urard.

"So you suggest we go back to Shipton, return the horses, resupply, and walk back to Farnworth?"

Pathwyn knew her preference, but tried to sound impartial.

"That will delay our trip to Bragi University even longer.  We also run the risk that the priests of St Vallon will insist we leave for Bragi immediately in which case Farnworth is screwed, and Eliphas' murder goes unavenged."

"But there might be an advantage or two to it also.  We can get proper gear such as  tents and all the food we need without burdening Urard further.  We might also talk a journeyman priest of Atu into coming along to take over Farnworth's church, although I think that would be easier to do *after* we rid the town of threats."

"Hewney and Dak, what are your thoughts?  Stay near Farnworth with the horses, or bring them back to Shipton and return to Farnworth on foot?"

"I think we should take care of Farnsworth while we're here," Dak said, agreeing with the plan not to walk.  He hadn't thought about being diverted to the other job if they went back on time.

Besides, how long was it going to take to clean up the town, anyway?

"We were just there, and wrecking havoc. They are going to be on their toes for us to return. A short delay, even of a few days, might make then relax their guard, make it easier to for us to get the job done."

Hawley added his points to the argument without heat or rancor, it was just information. He would do as Pathwyn suggested without conflict, either way.

"Well...  I'm with Dak.  I think we should stay, but that splits us right down the middle and everyone has good reasons."

Pathwyn shrugs.

"There's something else we need to take into consideration, Eliphas' men.  They've probably discovered Eliphas' body by now.  We're the best suspects.  I don't know if we can convince them that Penrhyn killed him, but if we give him a couple of days I'm sure Penrhyn will convince them we're the murderers.  It won't be hard.  We'd have to get to them first or have some real good evidence to have a chance."

"But this Eliphas angle might cut both ways.  Do either of you know people in his organization back in Shipton?" she asks Dak and Hewney.  "If we go to them with our story they can back us up both in convincing the Farnworth men Penrhyn is the murderer and in the fight against Cannibal.  They'd have a solid motivation too.  One of them could take over Eliphas' business."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:09, Wed 14 July 2021.

"It's nice to get all the information, but you are the leader Pathwyn. You need to decide, the worst thing we can do is dilly-dally."

Avador supports Hewney. I've had my say, and you are the leader, Pathwyn.

There is, of course, the undivided coin from the chest under the church and the money taken from Eliphas' room as payment.

"I know a few men back in Monteci, but that's a ways further than Shipton," Dak replied to the elf's querry on Eliphas' known manpower.  "I'm not sure if they'd even be back there as they were closing up shop to move on.

"I didn't recognize either of the men he had in Farnsworth, but you're right that those two in Farnsworth will think we were the last to see Eliphas alive.  I don't think there's any convincing them otherwise without a confession from green cloak."

"That disturbs me. I was loyal to Elphias, he was doing right by me. Not happy that anyone would I was stupid enough to kill the man who had his best to help me get by in this world."

Pathwyn started out giggling, but it turned into a full blown laugh.

"I haven't even been the leader for a day yet and already you're turning the screws on me."



"Actually, Monteci's a lot closer than Shipton.  We're half way there already.  That settles it for me.  Let's go to Monteci and see if we can find any of Eliphas' men.  That doesn't get the horses back on time, but at least it solves some of our other problems."

Pathwyn got up from the table again.  She was still planning to thank Urard.  If he had some food ready for them she happily buy it from him and throw in some extra coins.  If he didn't have food prepared, she wouldn't mention it, but still pay them for the room, board, and hospitality.

Hewney smiles at Pathwyn's jest, but nods in agreement with her decision.

"I'm going to saddle my horse."

He takes his bedroll and pack outside, gets his ride, and prepares for the day's ride.

Dak hadn't been paying attention on the ride from Shipton since the horse was doing most of the driving.  If they'd passed Monteci on the way, he hadn't noticed.

"Not sure if they have horses, but we'll see if they can help," Dak said as he went back out to get his own horse ready for the trip.  He was lucky that he had one of the smarter horses that knew his way around.

Without another word except thanks to the family and engaging in any conversation they wished, Alvador prepares for the trip. He does look around at the peaceful scene and takes a deep breath before leaving.

Chree is sleeping.

Urard returned to the house, carrying some salted, dried mutton and a small wheel of cheese.  His wife was pulling out some freshly baked flatbread.  Altogether, these items would be enough food for four for a day.

"For traveling food," Urard said, "I can give this for six asil, all told."

"Thank you so much for welcoming us into your house and to your table.  It was a delight to meet you and your family.  Will 12 Asil be sufficient to show we're grateful for the food and the place to sleep?" Pathwyn asked.

Pathwyn had never gotten the hang of this coinage, so the worth and cost of some things escaped her.  She was willing to give him more if he looked the least disappointed.  Otherwise she took the 12 silver coins from the pouch from Eliphas' room and gave them to the farmer.

Pathwyn climbed onto Bourbon and led the way to Monteci.  She'd seen a turn off for Monteci along the road they'd taken from Shipton to Farnworth.  It might not be the quickest route, but it was the surest.

Mounting up, Hewney gave a wave goodbye to the family, and hoped that their hospitality to the band of travelers wouldn't come back to haunt them.

As the horses started down the road, the half-elf fell into line, and gauged the sky, trying to get a sense of the weather, and checking for birds, which he considered good luck. He hoped they would find a decent place to sleep by the end of the day.

"If they're still in Monteci," Dak explained, "they'll be at the old house outside of town."

He was getting used to the riding and disappointed they'd be returning the horses.  He wondered how much a horse cost.

Leaving Urard's farm behind, the companions could see the trees along the way were starting to leaf out.  Birds were singing, although most of the birds that were seen were on the ground pecking at the dirt in search of worms and other food.

As the sun rose, though, it was evident that the day was going to be a cloudy one, with signs of approaching rain on the horizon.

In fairly short order, they reached the fork in the road, with a well-traveled track leading toward a town perhaps two miles away--Monteci; where fishing boats dotted the waters in the area.  Ahead, to the right of the road, stood the derelict house from which Dak had retrieved his things yesterday.  Further ahead, though nowhere near in sight was the large town of Shipton.

"That's the place," Dak announced, pointing at the old house.  "Want me to go in and see if they're still there while you wait with the horses?"

He'd go in the front way and use the password this time unless it sounded as though someone were about.

"Yes please," Pathwyn said to Dak.

She wasn't sure what to make of this old house and its possible occupants, but Dak knew what he was doing here.  Best to let him handle things his way.  She hadn't realized there was anyone around when they'd been here the day before.

The thought crossed Pathwyn's mind that Eliphas' men should be happy to upgrade to the much nicer house in Farnworth.  She also wondered if they had a ship docked in Monteci.  Why wonder when she could ask Hewney?

"Do you know what Eliphas' people here do?" she asked him after Dak left.  "It feels to me like they're hiding.  Are they hunted?  Do they have a ship?  Why isn't their base closer to the water?"

Having left his horse with orders to stay put, he entered by the main entrance and proceeded to the room with the protected entrance to the basement.  He wasn't sure how the previous days' encounter may have left it or the men below, but he was about to find out.

He'd left his pack with the horse, but carried the javelin with him.

Alvador dismounts and lets his horse graze. If there's water nearby, he'll lead it in case it wants to drink.

"Elphias was the type that kept his cards close to his vest. I only worked for him for a short time, and mostly delivering things for him, to and fro. But his business had little to nothing to do with the water, except as to using it to move things about, without paying tithe or tax whenever possible. I suspect that might have been why he was always on the move."

He eyed the sky again, smelling the impending rain. He wondered if the local fisherman might sell him a waterproofed poncho or some such.

He raised himself inn his saddle to stretch out his muscles, and give his behind a break.

"As to if he owned a ship, again, something that he never felt the need to share with me, but I wouldn't be surprised."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:25, Fri 07 May 2021.

As the horses grazed and the trio conversed several minutes passed when they saw Dak re-emerge on the porch.

From this position, water was not visible, except for the bay beyond the edge of the cliff.

Turning to face his returning comrade, Hewney tried to gauge the look on his face.

Dak closed the distance between them at a fast walk and raised his arm in a leisurely wave.

"Good news and bad," Dak explained once he'd closed the distance.  "Good news is that I've got us some help.  The bad news is that they hated Eliphas' guts.

"I used to be with them, but they were always looking for a fight and any reason to start one.  Luckily, Eliphas convinced me he was just a businessman and put me to work before the others dragged me down with them.  You'll see what I mean after a while.

"They're game to take on Farnsworth and I doubt they'll stab us in the back, but it would be best to avoid saying we worked with Eliphas, or that he's dead.

"And they want to sail their boat over to Farnsworth rather than get horses or walk."

He tried to think of anything he'd missed and added, "The big guy isn't very smart, so don't take anything he says at face value."

Absorbing the unexpected words, Hewney begins to realize the world he had entered was more complicated than he had imagined. He wondered how he could turn that to his advantage...

"Only one question, Dak. Would bringing these guys into Farnworth make things better or worse for the locals? I don't think our plan is to replace one band of brutal thugs for another"

He says this in a low voice, sharing his concerns with only his comrades.

"Good question," Dak replied with a look over his shoulder.  "But they're not looking to beat up on the locals.  Just looking to beat up on anyone they can and still pat themselves on the back for doing the right thing."

In reply to Dak (msg # 158):

"Well then, works for me. What about getting the horses back? Do we trust anyone to take them back for us?"

Dak's news caught Pathwyn by surprise.  She hadn't foreseen Eliphas being a vastly unpopular leader.  Surprises seemed to be the norm these past couple of days.  Best to accept them and adapt.

"Good job.  We'll keep mum about Eliphas for now.  How many of them are there?  Are we going in to meet them now?  In Eliphas' absence, which of them is taking charge, Dak?"

"We can stable the horses in Monteci," she said to Hewney.  "If there's a temple of Atu in town they might be willing to take the horses back to the temple of St Vallon in Shipton.  I'd trust them.  Otherwise we can return and take them back ourselves."

"Speaking of horses, lets take them around back where they aren't visible from the road and hitch them someplace the can graze a little."

Dismounting, Hewney starts to head around the back.

"Are we trusting this crew to deal with Cannibal, or are we going to ride their boat back to Farnworth with them, to lend a hand?"

"I said we'd meet here at the front gate," Dak said before they could get too far.  "I was expecting to use them as extra manpower when we returned to Farnsworth.

"I suppose they do have a leader, but they never worked for Eliphas.  I didn't get a chance to see if the guys I knew were still around before I ran into this other group.

"If we do ride on the boat, we'll probably lose any element of surprise unless we try to dock at night."

"Perhaps, but if we go by horse, it will be very difficult to co-ordinate with these guys."

Hewney paused to see if they were still putting their horses out for feed.

"If these guys are a totally new crew, how do we know they aren't working for Cannibal, and leading us in to a trap?"

"They're definitely not working for Canibal or Green Cloak," Dak assured them.  "They escaped with me off of a slaver ship a short ways back and it seems they've been stuck in this house the whole time."

He couldn't believe they'd spent the whole time he'd been riding around the island just sitting in that house.

A raised eye-brow shows Hewney's skepticism, but he waits to see what Pathwyn makes of the whole thing.

Moving around the house, through the very over-grown grounds, they were able to see that there was a well--though the structure around the well had collapsed, though the peaked roof was still mostly intact.  There was also signs of much trampled grass, speaking of at least one fight, along with a pile of bones of small animals--most likely rabbits and squirrels, though one would have to actually study the remains with some knowledge to be certain--at the edge of the well.

Beyond, the grounds fell away as this house was atop a cliff, and the bay could be seen--in the distance, a number of fishing boats from Monteci dotting the waters.

If you think we can trust them, here's a possible plan: They take the boat, and we ride to Farnworth.  If we went back to the church and up into the bell tower, we'd definitely be able to see the boat dock.  And if we stabled the horses with Myrick and skirted to the south of town, we can get over to the church without going down the main street with some light cover...individual trees, fields, houses, outbuildings of various sorts, and so on.

Then when our allies start to make a move, we come at the baddies from a different direction.

Pathwyn nodded.

"That's a solid idea.  We'd see just about the whole village from the bell tower, and we know we can get from the stables to the church's secret passage unnoticed with a little luck."

This message was deleted by the player at 05:51, Sun 09 May 2021.

So it's agreed if your friends agree, Dak?

Dak was fine with the detour in case of an ambush or someone watching the road.

"Do you think they might be watching the stables, too?" Dak asked.  "They might have taken it out on the man for the bodies we left behind.

"Maybe leave them somewhere else safe?" he suggested.

Pathwyn nodded.

"Yeah, an ambush at the stables is possible.  We should stay alert.  However, the last two guys that jumped us at the stables are pushing up daisies, and we're told those were the two biggest, toughest guys.  The other thugs at the inn didn't seem too keen on rushing there to take their place.  If someone did come out to rough Myrick up, I think he'd have the good sense to run away."

She paused to contemplated where the horses would be safest.

"I'm sure the horses are any safer out in a field unattended where anyone could swipe them or they could be attacked by wild animals.  Maybe we could find some farmers to leave them with.  Personally, I'm willing to take my chances with Myrick's stable.  Agreed?"

Pathwyn wished she'd been more assertive about stabling the horses in Monteci, but she didn't want to be too overbearing as a leader either.  Alvador's plan was fine.  She didn't have to second guess it.

Arvador contributed his thoughts. We can head toward the stables and see the lay of the land. Doing a pincers movement is tricky; we need to get to an observation post early but not too early...maybe as long as the sun going across a quarter of the sky.

Leaving the road to widely skirt through the woods did add a little time to the trip, as the horses needed to slow to a walk in some of the areas where the ground was more uneven.  The woods were light, and this early in spring still not in their full leaf.

Still, it was without incident that they made their way up behind Myrick's house.  On their approach before they had drawn too close, they could see that he was behind his house, and it looked like he was tending a small garden.

---

I have added a map to group 2 for Farnworth.  It's annotated with the locations about the village that you know for certain.

"I still don't think you needed me to scout that swamp on my own for a path through," Dak grumbled, trying to clean the cloying muck from his boots.  "It was obvious the horses couldn't go through there."

He was beginning to think their elven heritage encouraged them to play games with the childish human.

Dismounting, Hewney waits to see what Pathwyn's plan is.

OOC I note two unlabeled buildings. Does this mean we don't know what they are?

It was good to see that Myrick was alright.

"Speaking of a scout," she said in response to Dak's complaint.  "Hewney, will you please go up quietly and ask Myrick if it's safe for us to re-stable our horses?  You can wave us in if it is, and return if it isn't."

Alvador had been riding third in line when the group is going single file. Otherwise, he's just relaxing, trusting the others.

Dak was glad to let Hewney do the scouting this time.  Let's see what he stepped in around the stables.

In reply to Dak (msg # 180):

Handing his reins over to Alvador, Hewney creeps forward, careful as he possibly can.

Hewney made his way closer to Myrick, who turned--hoe in hand as though he meant for it to be a weapon--and then recognizing Hewney, he let the blade down to the ground.

"You sure surprised me," said Myrick.  "You're looking better'n you did when you left."

"I got my hair done..." Hewney looks about to make sure no one else is around.

"Look, we're back, and hoping to do some good. Can we put our horses in the stable?"

"Well, certainly," said Myrick.  "Got a door to the stable this side, too, so you don't needs go up to the front way."

In reply to DM (msg # 184):

"Thank you Myrick. If you could open the door, I will get the others."

Swiftly, but carefully, Hewney returns to the others.

"Pathwyn, Myrick says we may use the stable, but suggests we use the side door. We should move."

Quickly remounting his horse, Hewney waits to fall in behind Pathwyn.

Myrick leaned the hoe against the side of his house, and went over to the rear door of the stable, opening it to admit the party and their horses.

"Good to see you again," he said.

"Any trouble since yesterday?" Dak asked he stableman s he lead his horse in.  The man looked like he hadn't been roughed up in their absence.

"Cannibal's plenty mad," said Myrick.  "Last I knew, he was over at the inn, and they're making some kind o' plans, but they don't know what anything happened here at the stable.  Since you come back, we found something when we was getting ready to row them bodies out."

"We done that early morning when they's too drunk to note what was going in the boat, but Dallan said he was going to start fishing again," added Myrick, pulling out a metal flask, clearly intending to hand it to Pathwyn.  What looked like a single word had been engraved on the side.

She brought Bourbon into the stable as instructed.  It brightened her day to hear they'd enraged Cannibal.  When Myrick handed Pathwyn the found flask she handed him the cheese she'd wrapped up yesterday.

"Thanks for pointing us to Urard, Myrick.  We've got a little extra food now, and a lot of extra help.  I hope you'll accept this."

She thought Myrick could use it more than they could.

Pathwyn looked at the flask and the word written on it.

Before riding his horse to the stable, Alvador takes a look around. If all seems quiet, he enters the stable and begins making sure his horse has water and feed.

Following Alvador's example, Hewney tends to his horse, though he leaves the saddle on, in case of a need for a speedy exit from the town. He glances at Pathwyn and Myrick, but is only mildly curious about the significance of the flask.

"Well, thank you kindly," said Myrick, accepting the trade of cheese for the metal flask.

"You needn't mind doing that," Myrick said, seeing Alvador and Hewney starting to tend the horses.  "I'll get right to it."  There was almost a hint of wounded pride, as tending the horses was his job at the stables, not merely showing visitors to Farnworth to empty stalls.

Thank you Alvador responds to Myrick. I'll leave her in your capable hands. I wanted  to give her to associate me with taken care of. He steps aside and is ready to start the skulk.

Pathwyn squinted at the word on the flask.  While the letters were easy enough to see, the meaning was a bit murkier.  She handed the flask to Alvador.

"It has something to do with magic, I'd say," she said as much to Myrick and the others as to Alvador.  "The kind of magic Gwysol was up to.  I'd guess it is for holding some magical ingredients, but why go to the trouble of engraving such a thing?"

---

Dak went through to the front of the stable to keep an eye on the town while staying out of sight.  He had one of the smarter horses and had just removed it's bridle and let it go in the stable.  It could find whatever it needed on its own.  He felt he'd gotten quite good at reading it since they'd met.

He was anxious to get to the tower.  They'd added some extra time tramping through the woods and he didn't want to miss the other group's landing if something happened.  It wasn't good that Cannibal was making plans.

Alvador takes the flask, looks, and says The script is Old Karakulian. The word is  "enchant" What or who is to be enchanted, perhaps by drinkiing.... He shrugs. What do you want done with this?

"See anything interesting" Hewney asked Dak in low tones. He glanced up into the rafters, and around the stable, looking for good ambush points in here, or hiding places, just out of habit.

The street, from the closed front of the stables, looked fairly quiet.  A few voices could be heard coming from the inn's open door, some talk of Burl having gone missing and another voice indicating interest in a sword.

---

If the flask is opened, you can see the contents look a bit like it has the viscosity of an oil.  Spellcraft check for more information.

"All quiet for now," Dak relayed to the half-elf.  "We should be getting on to the tower."

He turned away from his vigil and returned to his horse to remove the heavy saddle bags.  Looking around, he found a corner to stow them in out of the way.

Javelin in hand, he was ready to go and looked expectantly to the others.

Dak was right, of course, they needed to move. A shiver ran up hHewney's spine, last time had been too close. He didn't relish the coming combat. He was glad they had found some allies. Now he just wanted to get this over with.

Alvador unstops the flask (or unscrews the top) and takes a look inside. Looks like oil of some kind, so it probably would be rubbed on a body or an object. Just mundane thinking would guess that. More than that...a more learned mage than I probably could figure out more. He restoppers the flask.

He purses his lips and decides to speak further. If you want a wild guess, I'd say it could be rubbed on a weapon.

21:08, Today: Alvador rolled 7 using 1d20.  Spellcraft Check.

Pathwyn saw Dak stash his saddlebags.

"If you want to bring those along, we'll probably have time at the church to count out what we found yesterday and the pay and split it 4 ways," she said quietly to Dak.  She knew he was keen to get his official share.

She listened to Alvaldor's assessment of the flask's contents.  She'd love to know more, but he was the expert.  Enchanted weapon oil would be great if they had to fight something ethereal or extra-magical.  Then again 'wild guess' sounded far from certain.

"The flask is rightfully yours, Myrick.  Do you want it back?" she asked.

"You're right.  No sense hanging around here waiting for Cannibal to cause us trouble.  Let's slip back behind the inn to the entrance of the church's secret passage."

Pathwyn got her bow out and led the way.

"No," Myrick replied, "something like that seems like it'd do more good with you."

---

Prepared to take the lead, Hewney left his blade in it's scabbard in an effort to appear less concerning, and started scouting the way.

"The split is actually in everyone else's saddlebags," Dak pointed out just as quietly.  "It wouldn't fit in mine, but we can deal with it later.  Let's just get going."

He moved to the back of the stable and made his way back toward the secret entrance.

Alvador starts to hand the flask back to Pathwyn when his arm stills. His eyes close and he strokes his forehead with his free hand. After a few moments, he unstoppers the flask and takes a sniff. Finally he goes out in the sun and tilts the flask so he can see the oil's color. He stoppers the flask and goes inside. He wears a big smile.  I remember now. I've heard of an oil of enchantment which will, for a 24 hour period make mundane weapons or arms magical. The oil smells steely, and has a sheen. I judge the flask would contain four "doses" if full, and there seems to be three measures present.  From what I remember, one dose will treat one shield, two melee weapons, or six arrowheads, two doses for armor.

My thanks to Kailanimana and Mahuika for aiding my recall.

He hands the flask to Pathwynn.* Here you are, Lady Leader.

*Who may or may not take it

Pathwyn was quite impressed with Alvador's new depth of detail relating to the oil. His acknowledgement of the elvish gods made her smile.  She tucked the flask away in her belt pouch while pondering how best to use it in the future.  It seemed a waste on shields or armor, but using it to fight otherwise invulnerable magical creatures would be very useful.  Hewney's daggers were already enchanted.  Dak's sword would be the most beneficial to temporarily enchant.  Maybe some arrows, maybe not, depending on the situation.  They wouldn't need it today anyhow.  Cannibal's gang was totally mundane.

Pathwyn saw Hewney taking the initiative to lead them through town to the secret passage entrance and followed him.

Moving very cautiously, and giving Cannibal's house quite the wide berth, moving with houses and trees and such in between them and the rest of the village proper, the small group of the Forhorns made their way to the secret exit from the church.  Had they not exited through this opening, it might have been quite hard to find indeed.  But as it was, they managed to make their way into the church basement without incident.

Pleased with the success of things so far, Hewney heads quietly to the door that leads upstairs, and takes a listen.

Although their elven blood may have allowed them to see a bit in the tunnel leading to the church, his blood couldn't see anything.  He kept a hand on the wall and one in front so that he didn't walk into anyone.  If he hadn't been down the tunnel once before, he'd have turned back for the lantern back at the stable.  Even a candle would have worked.

---

OOC: What's the lighting like in the basement?

Alvador speaks at Dak's side. He asks Would you like to place your tunnel hand on my shoulder?

The basement lighting is dim, with light filtering down the stairs.  One of the candles previously lit is still sputtering along, but it looks nearly spent.

"I'm alright," Dak whispered.  "Just don't go running and I'll be fine."

The last thing he wanted was for someone to practically hold his hand in the dark.

"Lets make our way up to the bell tower and post a lookout to watch for the Ananke and another to watch Farnworth, the inn in particular.  We can discuss our plans and ideas," Pathwyn said quietly.

She wanted to secure the first floor too, so they wouldn't get trapped up in the tower.  They could worry about that after Cannibal's inn meeting.

Did I hear anything when I listened to the door? I assume this is a roll you make.

All was quiet.  As they might recall, the entry to the basement was in a small room where the stairs also continued up into the bell tower.  Nothing had been disturbed since their prior visit, including the presence of the bodies left behind.  Evidently, none of Cannibal's gang even pretended to have religion and none of the honest people in town had been in the rooms behind the main area for worship.

Is the guy we left tied up still there too?

"Doesn't look like anyone's been here since yesterday," Dak whispered.  It wasn't surprising considering how fearful the villagers were of the church and the men in town.  Couldn't everybody just get along?

He waited for someone with better vision than his to take the lead.

"Do we head on up, or should we check the first floor first?" Hewney glanced at Pathwyn for guidance. "Should we bury these bodies?"

Pathwyn wrinkled her nose.  It was beginning to stink of death in this church.

"Let's get up into the tower.  That's why we're here."

"Myrick mentioned they dumped the other thugs' bodies in the ocean.  Digging a proper grave is a lot of work.  Plus, I'm guessing they don't want Cannibal and his men knowing about the deaths.  These two," Pathwyn gestures in the vague direction of the corpses in the church.  "I'm sure our formerly tied-up guard ran to Cannibal and told him all about them already, so we won't be keeping their death a secret no matter what we do.  I'm not against burying them after we take care of Cannibal and Penrhyn.  We'll see how things shake out."

Looking up the stairs to the bell tower, it did not look large enough to comfortably hold more than one person.

In reply to DM (msg # 222):

"I'll take point," Hewney says, He gives the stairs a once over for safety and traps. If it seems sound, he will ascend, though he will crouch when he reaches the top to minimize his profile. His first point of order will be to see if anyone is out and about, followed by checking for where he thinks the boat might be coming from.

---

As always, Alvador paces himself in the middle.

Dak stops at the main level and moved out into the church proper to look around.  It looked cramped in the tower and they didn't need to be holding hands all of the time.

The bell tower was a lot smaller than Pathwyn had expected.  Hewney had the lookout position under control.

"Dak, lets drag these bodies into the basement.  It's cooler down there and they wont rot quite so quickly," she said.

Honestly, she didn't want to look at them (or smell them) while they made their plans.  She grabbed the smaller of the two bodies by the shoulders and pulled it down the stairs.

When that was complete she started discussing her plan with Alvador and Dak.

"I know that neither of you are fond of killing, but I've thought about this a lot, and I think we have to kill Cannibal and Penrhyn to break up the gang and free Farnworth.  It will be the minimum of necessary violence.  Leaderless, we should be able to disperse the others and avoid further bloodshed.  There's no point in capturing Cannibal or Penrhyn, since we can't take them to any sort of authority.  There's no legal authority here in Farnworth, where every townsperson knows their crimes.  Outside of the village, we don't have any real evidence to have them imprisoned.  Worse yet, they could be actual agents of the Baron, in which case *we* would risk getting tossed in a dungeon."

"So first things first.  How to kill Cannibal?  I think the best time and place will be to attack him in his house in the deep of night.  We'll be reasonably sure he'll be there, and we'll be very likely to catch him off guard and unarmored."

"He might have a guard or two outside the house, which we should take down as quickly and quietly as possible.  A sleep spell, arrow shots, a surprise stealth attack, or some combination of all three would do the trick.  We'll also need to deal with his dogs either inside or outside the house.  We'll have the nets for that, with spells and swords if the nets don't work."

"When I was first working on the plan I wanted to go into the house in complete darkness to further put Cannibal at a disadvantage.  At the time we had three people who can see in the dark, but now we'll have another elf, half-elf, and gnome.  Hewney can likely get us in through a locked door.  Otherwise we'll just have to smash open a window or break down a door.  Once inside, six fighting one man blinded by darkness should be a swift victory."

Pathwyn intentionally neglects to mention the possibility of catching (and killing) Cannibal in his sleep.

"The human half of our group can be ready outside with covered lanterns at the ready, surrounding the house in case either Cannibal escapes or reinforcements come from the inn.  If things go wrong inside they can rush in to save the day."

Pathwyn stopped there.  She had more to discuss, but she wanted to hear their thoughts on the plan so far.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:57, Thu 20 May 2021.

"What about Green Cloak?" Dak asked noncommittally.  "He seemed to have some magic.  We need to keep track of him as well."

"I'm hoping we catch sight of him from the bell tower.  Barring that, it's a small place, Farnworth.  We can search the whole village for Penrhyn after Cannibal is out of the picture."

Assuming I can't hear the discussion downstairs, Hewney gets comfortable sitting on the floor so the bell tower, and pops his head up a tiny bit every five minutes or so.

Alvador helps with the housekeeping.

Pathwyn, Alvador, and Dak managed to get the corpses down to the cellar without too much incident.

In reply to DM (msg # 232):

Hewney moves part way down the stairs and hisses to the others.

"I think they have arrived. Not sure, but it looks like them. I'll head back up and see what happens."

He then scurries back up the stairs and peeks out again.

"I'm guessing he means the group from the boat," Dak said, looking for a window that looked back in the direction of the town in case it wasn't.

Alvador asks Chree to leave him and keep out of harm's way. He looks at Pathwyn, awaiting instructions.

That happened sooner than she expected.

"If all goes well they'll make their way here without incident and we can share our plans with them, but we need to be ready to go out there and help them if they get in a pinch," Pathwyn said to Dak and Alvador before hustling up to the tower after Hewney.

Pathwyn squeezed her way up into the tower with Hewney.  Good thing she was small.

"Can you point them out to me?" she asked Hewney.

Pathwyn took a peek for herself.

She also sized up the bell tower.  Could she fire arrows from here?  Was it possible to climb out onto the roof?  Would someplace on the roof make a better platform for archery?

Orienting her in basically the right direction, Hewney stays down while Pathwyn in up, to reduce the chance of being spotted.

Chree flew up toward the top of the bell tower.



Arrows could be fired from the bell tower, although it looked difficult to climb any higher, and recalling the lines of the structure, it seemed within the bell tower might be the best for firing arrows.

Alvador reminds the group. I think the idea is that we make our move when we see the baddies react.

"Hewney, if our new friends get attacked out there we're going to need you and those enchanted daggers of yours with Dak and Alvador attacking Cannibal's gang from behind," she said quietly.

She quickly wound her 12 feet of rope into a ball and tucked the end in.

"I'll take over as lookout.  If you three need to rush out to aid the crew of the Ananke, I'll signal you by rolling this ball of rope down the stairs.  I can help cover you from up here.  OK?"

He hesitated, he had hoped to be the one who avoided close combat, but he didn't have any ranged weapons. Or aremor, for that matter. Damn.

"Sure, whatever you say."

He headed downstairs.

__________________________________________

Hewney came down the stairs alone.

"Pathwyn has taken over the watch. She is going to roll a ball of rope down the stairs if we need to rush out and help the others."

Pathwyn peeked out at the docks to see how their new friends were doing.  She ducked back down, scooted to the other side of the tower, and took a quick, careful look over Farnworth, particularly the inn.

She'd been the lookout on ships before, but you never had to cower stealthily in a crow's nest.  That part of it wasn't very fun.  One time a Naut captain put her up in the crow's nest on a moonless night because he had been told elves could see in the dark.  She tried to explain to him that her infravision had a short range and all she could see in the dark was the very ship she was on.  It wasn't a very pleasant place to be all night.  The nest was windy and chilly even wrapped in a blanket, and it swayed around like you wouldn't believe, which was twice as disorienting in the dark.  At least she had the stars to look at.

Dak found a window, from which he could watch downhill toward the inn, seeing no one about on the main street of town.  Alvador and Hewney had the time to make certain that their preparations were complete, as well as checking through the things that had been left behind in the back rooms of the church--most of that had gone without investigation as they had first been fighting and then moving quickly out of town after Hewney had been wounded.

Diligently searching, Hewney hopes to find something, anything of use in the upcoming fight. Or to fill his pockets, of course...
This message was last edited by the player at 01:14, Sun 23 May 2021.

Dak thought dropping a ball down the stairs was a bit elaborate for a signal to attack, but it would probably work.  He kept an eye on the inn and town.  Things were going to get crazy pretty soon now.

He slid his sword out a few inches and let it drop back down.  Why couldn't everybody just get along?

The smaller room with the stairs to the bell tower and to the basement crypt had contained a bed and a footlocker.  The bed itself was unremarkable, as was the bedding upon it.  The footlocker contained some clothing and a ring and some coins.

The other room, which held two cots and footlockers in the back, as well as the stuffed chairs and table.  On their prior visit, there had been an ornate box and pipe sitting on the table, but that was not present now.  One footlocker here was empty.  The second contained some clothing and a few coins.

Pocketing his findings, Hewney tells anyone else in the room that he will toss it into the pot when they get chance, and drop it all in his pouch.

---

Despite nothing much of interest happening, Pathwyn stayed diligent in sneaking peeks at the boats and the town.

As Pathwyn kept watch in the bell tower, while Dak watched from a window, it seemed the closest to an opportune time to count and divide the coins that they had gathered over the course of their travels.

The large, heavy bag from Gwysol's tower proved to hold a total of 215 asil and 400 griel.  The pouch that had been taken from Eliphas' place now held 888 asil.  Finally, the coins taken from the hidden chest of the church basement proved to hold 2960 asil.

Dak continued his watch from the window, looking out over the town toward the inn.  No one seemed to be moving from the inn to the church--or toward the stables.

Pathwyn wondered what she was seeing.  Was it magic?  Certainly nothing she'd ever seen before.

---

02:49, Today: Pathwyn na'Sylviis rolled 18 using 1d20.  Spellcraft (10 or under).

---

"All clear in town," Dak said over his shoulder to whomever was nearby.  "I don't see anyone coming this way on my side."

He was thinking about the people from the boat.  He used to travel with them and they seemed to have been concerned for him, but he knew what they'd tried to do to Eliphas and his men.  That just wasn't right.  You don't go into someone's house and take what's theirs.

And although he didn't always agree with the elven blood priestess' mode of worship, she at least wasn't always on the lookout for evil to smite without cause.  Storm was always looking for a reason to kill something.  How he rationalized that as a priestly action, Dak didn't know.  Perhaps it was just some religious zeal shared by all priests and priestesses, be they human or elf.

At least the elf wasn't all self righteous about it.

Having long ago learned to take maximum advantage of the time at hand, Hewney falls into a gentle, light doze, napping on the edge of consciousness, but ready to wake up at a moments notice.

Dak slid his sword out a few inches with his thumb and let it slide back in again.  Was he a grave robber?  He'd been thinking it for some time, now.  Even though it would have all been destroyed, it had been meant for someone to have in their afterlife.

Although, since it was still there with no family to care about what happened to it, he supposed the dead had already gotten all the use they wanted out of it.  He'd have to ask the Blood Priestess about it.  Whether the dead really needed it anymore.

Alvador scans the area, waiting for those in the boat or docking, or debarking....

From their positions, finally the group waiting in the church for the others could see the group that they had met at the old house arriving.  However, as the group started to ascend the hill the church sat upon, a group of five men came out of the inn.

One of the men the group would recognize as Cannibal.  The four men behind him seemed to be wearing leather tunics over their clothing, two of them armed with long swords, one with what appeared to be an old, battered scimitar, and another with a battle axe.

Dak looked over to see if anything had been thrown down the stairs of the bell tower.  In the meantime, he began to warm up with some knee bends and swinging his arms back and forth.

"Looks like we're going to get into it now," he said quietly as he looked over to see Hewney sleeping.

---

It looked like the crew of the Ananke wasn't going to make it to the church in secret as she had hoped, but that wasn't all bad.  Now they got to put Alvador's plan into action and Veja gave her a fine chance to fill bad guys full of arrows.

Pathwyn gave the ball of rope a good kick to send it down the stairs to signal the attack.  If Cannibal was within 210 yards of her she'd fire two surprise shots at him.  (It's good to be an elf.)  If he was within 100 yards she'd use sheaf arrows, otherwise she'd use flight arrows.

---

23:07, Today: Pathwyn na'Sylviis rolled 5 using 1d20+4.  Surprise arrow 1 to hit.
23:08, Today: Pathwyn na'Sylviis rolled 20 using 1d20+4.  Surprise arrow 2 to hit (maybe).

OOC: A natural 1 and an unnatural 20.  Lots of room for DM judgement!  If anything hits please roll Pathwyn's d6 or d8 damage for her.

From the window, the rest of the party can see that the group met at the house was ascending the hill to the church when a group of five, including Cannibal, came out of the inn.  What was being said could not be heard, but it looked like a challenge of some sort had been issued, and a tall armored man had stepped away from the group to make a salute to Cannibal.  From inside the church, what was being said could not be heard.

"This should get interesting," Dak said as he watched the presumptive holy man approach Cannibal for parley.  Though his cue just thumped down the stairs, he was tempted to see how it turned out.

He nudged the dozing half elf with his boot and nodded to Alvador.  "Let's see if we can get out of here without being spotted," he proposed as he moved to the front door to see how far they were from the meeting of the minds.

Rising, fully alert, Hewney checked his surroundings, and stretched.

"What's happening?"

Alvador follows Dak's lead.