Dak made his way into the house, walking down the hallway toward the room with the password-warded stairs.

Doors to the rooms on either side were standing open.  Within one of these rooms, there were several of Dak's former companions about a nearly-destroyed desk:  Lenelle, Panatix, Storm, and Westin.
This message was last updated by the GM at 11:38, Tue 11 May 2021.

"You're still here?" Dak asked the current inhabitants of the old house.

Pan looks up, and almost panics, but instead is touched and moves forward, and if the man doesn't stop him, he hugs the human..."We've been searching for you...."

"Um, yes," Dak said as the much shorter man hugged him around the waist.  "I've been out of town for a while."

"We're glad you're alright," put in Lenelle.  "We were rather worried. Will you tell us what happened with Eliphas?" she asked.  "At one point he had you charmed."   

Stor looks at Dak, surprised.

"WOw! We finally found you! What happened to you? As he asks, Storm looks at his old friend inconspiciously wondering if it was his real friend.

He focuses on Dak to see if he could detect unholy aura.

Pan slaps Dak on the back,  "Of course it's Dak, hey, before we catch up on the past....oh dang....." he looks down as if he dropped something, leans over to retrieve it and stumbles, there is an audible crunch as he steps on the precious pearl he's been carrying around.

For Dak and Panatix, and everyone within ten feet of Panatix, there was the sort of sensation one might experience if a bucket of cold water had been poured over them--although there was no water, but that was the best way that anyone could put into words how it felt when Panatix's "pearl" was crushed.

"DAK!!!! You're ok! We've been looking for you! I can't believe we found you! Are you ok? What happened? Where have you been? Did Eliphas ensorcel you? We so feared for you safety. Please tell us what happened," Westin says. He seems on the brink of giving Dak a hug though he manages to hold himself back, perhaps having trouble believing it's truly Dak.

He shakes, though, when the weird sensation comes over him. "What was that?" he asks confused.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:46, Tue 04 May 2021.

Dak wasn't going to worry about the sensation as it hadn't seemed to be bad.  Though, if anyone answered the elf, it would explain what it was.  He did, however, wonder why the big oaf was staring at him so intently. 

"I've been traveling with some companions," Dak explained.  "We're headed back to Farnsworth to clear out some ruffians holding the town hostage.

"If you had some horses, you could join us to help the town."

Lenelle glanced at Westin, sure that if he didn't know, then no one else would.   Well, unless Pan?   What had he stepped on-?

She did not relent, however:  "You avoided answering the question about Eliphas," she said to Dak. "At the least, I'd like to know when you last saw him.  We've been through a lot of danger because of that man."

"I last saw the man in Farnsworth," Dak replied to the Atuan priestess.  "But he's not the problem there as he's moved on.

"What's been going on here?" he asked, looking around at the wreckage of the room.

"That would be sort of a long story.   And, we've probably dragged this out longer than we should have, and nearly broken our necks a few times while at it. But, the short of it is that we wanted to make certain the criminals were dealt with, and to find the tome Westin was seeking.   The first is done, and I don't think the second's going to happen."   

As to having horses - "We have none.  However, we do have the Ananke; we came here by boat."   

Is it possible to reach Farnsworth by sailing up the coast?

"If that book ever existed," Dak pointed out.  "Someone may have sent us out here just to disrupt whatever Eliphas had going on."

"I'm sure it could be reached by boat, but I'm not sure how long it would take," he said as he tried to picture one group arriving by horse and the other by boat.

"Why don't you finish up here and then meet us by the gate to speak with our leader," he proposed.  "She might have an idea.

"I'll go let them know not so shoot you," he said, thinking of the blood priestess' penchant for shooting first and then shooting second as well.

Lenelle was uncertain about this.  From Dak's attempt to exonerate Eliphas, to this leader who was happy to put some sort of projectiles into people.  She wondered if in fact he was still enspelled.

But they had originally set out to find Dak, and find him they had.  And it seemed a good idea to her to learn something of this group he had become part of, and what they were about.

"Alright," she nodded.  "We'll finish up, and then come down and meet this leader of yours."   
This message was last edited by the player at 01:54, Fri 07 May 2021.

In reply to DM (msg # 8):

OOC: DO i sense evil in Dak?

"Dak," Westin says. "What was Eliphas doing here? Did you have a chance to get to know him? Is he a good man who can be trusted?" he asks, his voice neutral.

"I think he was running a smuggling business out of this house, but he's moved on by now," Dak replied to the elf.  "As to trusting him, I'm not sure what he offered you, but I doubt he'll deliver.  I wouldn't hold my breath for any promises he's made.

"I'm going to let the others know you're coming.  We're at the front gate."

Dak left them to their own devices and headed back to the others.

PM