Old Ways IC

[sbwilson]

Petrillia Ilyanov

Petrillia scowled at Creeper's continuing presence but didn't say anything about it; she was really too happy to be out of the cave that she could overlook the reminder of her imprisonment...for now.

After a few breaths of fresh air and a moment of feeling the sun on her face again, Petrillia scanned the nearby ground, her mind subconciously picking up where it left off day ago...looking for the herbs for her mentor.

[Matthew]

Whilst the others take time to gather their things, Nathros looks for evidence in the vicinity of the cave in that sealed up the tunnel below.

[Roland St. Jude]

Nathros paces it out, in dwarf-sized paces, to where the tunnel should emerge. It was all so much easier, or at least more intuitive, underground. But after walking carefully to the vicinity, the opening wasn't hard to find, a hole in the side of a nearby hill, one of the only places the tall grasses were well-trod upon.

[Matthew]

"Ah hah! This looks promising, and well to my liking." Nathros returns to the party to tell them of his discovery, and urges that they go as a group to investigate how far back the cave extends and whether it is guarded or has otherwise seen any post cave-in use.

[jmbrown]

Jeanne shrugs her shoulders. "Can we set up camp first? We can camp out in front of the tunnel, rest and recover, then explore the caves. I don't mean to sound pushy, but our guest," Jeanne motions to Petrilia "Hasn't had fresh air in a while. What do you say, girl?"

[Matthew]

"Well, if that is what desired, then that is what will be, though my curiosity is sorely aroused."

[jmbrown]

"I'm curious too but would rather go in with refreshed mind and closed wounds."

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor

"Set up camp?" Brandon asked curiously. "I thought we had fulfilled the terms of the mission Lord Bost set us."

"Besides, even if we were to extend our exploration, why set up camp when we can just go back to the ferry and return to town? We aren't that far away from home."

Jeanne votes to bringing this "case" to a close. "The "ghosts" have been dealt with, there are no obvious signs of additional danger in this new cavern, we can probably squeeze a little more cash for dealing with kobolds who might have posed a threat, and we rescued a fair damsel in distress. If need be we can request to further explore this cavern but let's take baby steps, yes?"

[sbwilson]

Petrillia Ilyanov

"Here's my thought: It sounds like you've finished the letter of your contract and I'm really looking forward to getting home and sleeping in a real bed. That being said, however, I'd curious about why these dogmen are so close to town and what they are doing here. Can we call it a day and meet back here tomorrow morning? I mean, I wasn't hired by Bost, but I'd like to help out and satisfy my own curiosity at the same time."

Petrilla pauses for a moment and then asks pointing to Creeper, "But what are you going to do with that?"

[jmbrown]

Jeanne says sheepishly "If Bost doesn't know about the cavern, we can explore it on our own terms." In regards to Creeper "Hmm? I could use a servant... or a training dummy."

[Valameer]

Stefan Reinhardt

"We're close enough to our homes... I say we go back, and see if Lord Bost wants us to follow up on these tunnels tomorrow."

Stefan adjusts his helmet.

"Petrillia helped us out, and I think Lord Bost is a pretty generous guy. I bet he'd offer her the same payment he offered us if we let him know what happened."

Stefan turns to Sid and Creeper and sighs, shaking his head.

"Dont ask me what to do with the little guy, though, I honestly don't know." He sniffs. "Maybe just letting him go would be the best? There's only so much trouble a little guy like him can get into - and he'd probably stay far away from Threshold if we told him to."

"We captured him - but taking him to the authorities would be a death sentence."

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Brandon shook his head to disagree.

"I don't think so. He seems to want to come with us. So long as we don't let Creeper out of our sight much and explain that he's with us, I think he'll be okay in town."

"I'm not sure he really has anywhere else to go. Where will he find other kobolds to live with? If he sticks with us, he has company and he can do stuff for us. I'm pretty sure he can see in the dark as well as Nathros can."

[Valameer]

Stefan Reinhardt

"Well, alright. If you guys think he'll be fine. But he's not staying at the Temple..."

[sbwilson]

Petrillia Ilyanov

"...or at any inn I'm at. Well, not unless one of you stays with it. I'm not going to start looking after it like a lost puppy."

Petrilla looked over creeper again and now that she gets a good look at it in the sunlight, it isn't as creepy as it was in the dark. Still, she thought, just because it was probably the nicest one of the bunch doesn't mean it still didn't want to have me for dinner.

"Hey," she called out to Creeper, "what do you call yourself? Maybe if you behave (and don't get too close to me), there just might be a story with your name in it..."

[Roland St. Jude]

The kobold's eyes grow wide at the mention of a story. "Abdok" he says pronouncing it very quickly.

[Matthew]

Nathros looks on with a mixture of amusement and confusion. "So now we make the kobold a pet? Well, there are worse uses for such things, I suppose, but I would be careful when turning my back!"

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


"I don't mind him coming along," Brandon said. "So long as one of us is always around to keep from the townsfolk getting any misunderstandings and doing something bad to him."

He nibbled absently on a dirty fingernail and added, "It would help if we could get Lord Bost's sanction."

[jmbrown]

"Abdok can remain with me. I live at the edge of town and we elves don't "sleep" per se. I'll always have an eye on him."

[Roland St. Jude]

Between locating the tunnel's other end and deciding on the fate of the eager Abdok, the party uses up much of the remaining daylight. The sun is clearly in decline and setting over Threshold and the western woods beyond.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Brandon looked appalled at how low the sun was in the sky. "We spent more time indoors and underground than I thought."

He turned to his companions. "Let's move. If we can get back to the camp before sunset, the barge will probably still be there waiting for us. If we're lucky."

Unless someone objected, Brandon then started to walk as fast as he could in his plate mail to the camp, where he hoped the boat still waited.

[jmbrown]

Jeanne has no objections and could really use a bath (for her and Abdok).

[sbwilson]

Petrillia Ilyanov

Petrillia, excited about the prospect of a bath, hurries after Brandon. Hopefully, she thought, they didn't think I was dead and I still have a place to sleep tonight.

[Valameer]

Stefan Reinhardt

Stefan follows along, removing his helmet and tucking it under his arm.

[Matthew]

Nathros hoists his spear over his shoulder and follows apace.

[Roland St. Jude]

The heroes of the old mill retrace their steps through open fields and along the riverbank toward the lumber camp. The part moon shining off the water lights the way and it is not yet fully dark when the lumber camp comes into view.

A pair of guards pace the southern edge of the camp, armed with crossbows.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Upon seeing the guards, Brandon raised his gauntleted hand over his head and waved. He called out, "Hey."

"Men of Lord Bost, right? We were sent by the lord to investigate the mill and wish to take a barge downriver to report."

"We have a kobold with us. He's fine, he helped us, so don't shoot him, okay?"

Brandon hesitated a little, though, and did not relax completely, eying the crossbows warily.

[sbwilson]

Petrillia Ilyanov

As the daylight fades, Petrillia finds herself become jumpy again. She wasn't looking towards the river, and didn't see the guards when Brandon calls to them. His "Hey" sounded much louder in her ears than it probably was, and to her embarassment, she jumped at little at his booming voice.

Easy now, she thought to herself. No need to start acting like a scared villager. I know better than that. Then with an apprehensive glance at the guards, Don't I?

[jmbrown]

Jeanne remains in the rear, watching the awkward 'prisoner' and taking in the scenery.

[Valameer]

Stefan Reinhardt

Stefan smiles at the guards, "Boy, it's good to see you guys again."

He stops, looks up to the sky and stretches.

"All in all, I think that went pretty well." Stefan jogs a step or two to catch up to Brandon again. "Now we just have to see if Bost, er, Lord Bost shares my opinion."

[Roland St. Jude]

The guards turn at the sound of Brandon's hail. "Ah," says one of them, lowering his crossbow, "he told us to keep an eye out for you. Welcome back. The mill's clear then I take it?"

He waves you in with a gloved hand and the other guard returns to scanning the surroundings for dangers.