Ye Old Adventure (Freeform) (IC)

[MrEdwardNigma]

Nigma downed the tea, washing down another chunk of sausage.

"You want some tea, Lord?"

Nigma poured another cup, and walked over to the window, taking in the sights.

"Yes, it does look like they're doing rather badly, doesn't it? It makes you wonder who trained those petty amateurs. The odds are staggeringly bad. On the other hand, they are breaching the enemy army, and even if they all die, well, when they all die, they'll have caused serious damage, and a valuable distraction"

He took another bite of the sausage, checking out "the Lord".

"You do look lovely today, my Lord. Anyways, as I was saying, element of surprise and such. Let them be. It's not like they would have been much use anyways"

He prodded her with the cup.

"How about you relax a bit. There's nothing we can do. I'll just gather some gear and then I'll mosey on down there and see what I can do. Perchance there's some escape tunnels the three of us can fit through?"

[Goglas]

OOC: Alright, alright, I get it. Next noble woman will be a Baroness. Sheesh.

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The Horseman pulled Xavius up and onto the horse. Blocking another sword slash, he started his horse into a run and escaped the chaos, riding back into the city through the western breach.
"What are you doing here, my Lord?" He asked, "We all thought you were dead".

The tea was delicious. It went down with the sausage perfectly. But the sweetness of the tea did nothing to stop the fear surging up inside the purple robed man as he saw the lord's face.
"Escape? ESCAPE? I'll show you escape, you insolent...!" The Lord smacked Nigma's hand to the side, forcing him to drop the cup to the floor, and grabbed hold of his collar.
With a strong push he was at the edge of the window, the Lord's hands the only thing keeping him from falling to the ground below.
"Surprise?! Breaching the enemy army?! My Horsemen are going to die for nothing if you don't do something now!
Either do some magic, or suffer the consequences!".
The lord threw Nigma back into the tower, looking at him sharply.
(OOC: You decide whether you fell to the floor or not).

[MrEdwardNigma]

Nigma was tossed into one of the many bookcases stacked against the walls, causing a rain of thick leatherbound volumes to fall down on him. For a moment it seemed as if the entire bookwase was about to topple, but luckily for poor Nigma it didn't.

Nigma was slightly surprised at the Lord's insolence, even though he could have seen it coming, after she'd come in to his house so rudely. His house? Well, it might have been. He was a powerful wizard after all. She really should show him some respect.

"Calm down, will you? You're making a mess of my whole place. Just let me gather some stuff and I'll go down there and lend a hand"

Nigma crawled from beneath the pile of books, stuffing one of the smaller volumes into his breast pocket.

I might need something to read, after all, as I hide in a cupboard somewhere. I may be a powerful wizard, but I'm not stupid. The other wizards made it out of town, and so will I. This war is of no interest to me anyways. Oh, look at that, she made teastains on my beautiful wooden floor! I'll never get those out!

Slightly distracted, the wizard started rummaging in the chest he'd seen something shiny in earlier.

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((I don't have the slightest problem with the Lord being a woman. In fact, Nigma likes to seize it as an opportunity to make fun of her. He doesn't really know what's good for him))

Inventory

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Purple robes
Trademark purple bolarhat with questionmark
Quiver with arrows
Bow
Magical backpack with common items
Nomad sword
Small round nomadstyle shield
Staff with splintered end
Wizarding for Dummies, pocket edition

Physical condition: Wounds at the shoulders, bruises everywhere

[Blockhead]

"Bloody hell!" Cried Blockhead as the entire tower shook. Fearing it may collapse, Blockhead hurriedly descended the stairs on the inside of the tower and grabbed a short sword on the way out. Upon getting to the walls, it was a bloody mess of defenders and attackers and with Blockhead's small height it was difficult to see how much of the wall was in fighting. Sighing, Blockhead charged into the fray.

[Goglas]

OOC: Nigma, think of the "Wizarding for Dummies, pocket edition" as access to 0 level spells (D&D-wise), nothing more.

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Nigma walked to the chest and opened it. Strangely, the chest contents were still covered in darkness. Something was clearly shining from somewhere inside the chest, though. He reached out with his hands and grabbed the thing.
"Forget your stuff, High Wizard" The Lord said, still angry. "Every second that goes by more of my people die!".
She put a hand on one of Nigma's bloodied shoulders and spun him about. The purple wizard, without even looking, quickly put the thing in his robes, as the Lord took him back to the window.
"Now Wizard, use your spells- Throw a Fireball or somethi-" But she stopped. Looking in the distance, beyond the western breach, she could see nothing but bodies of horse and men. Her men.
Infuriated, she looked at Nigma and slapped him hard across the face, which, coupled with his other bruises and the fact she had a gauntlet on, was enough to push him to the floor.
"You...! This is entirely your fault! If you had done as I ordered instead of..." She screamed in frustration and punched the wall. "Guards!", she said, and quickly two men wearing Ring Mails appeared from the stairs. "Bind him. Gag him! And drag him along with us". The two soldiers did as ordered and in a few seconds were already behind their Lord, descending the stairs and coming out of the tower. A platoon of Easterners was there to greet them.

The path the Minotaur made on the wall, briefly stopping the fighting, was already full of men again, fighting for control. Into this Blockhead charged and started slashing and stabbing, determined to make a difference as long as he was already there. Then, he heard the beast roar again. He looked behind him and saw it move straight at him. Apparently, the blow to the head caused by the meeting of his horns and the tower was not enough to render the thing unconscious. It charged, shaking the walls with every step.
Surrounded by bodies of men, both alive and dead, Blockhead found nowhere to run. He couldn't even move. At the last second, he closed his eyes and waited for the end.
But then the walls stopped shaking, and the beast screamed.
"Die, monster!" He could hear coming from behind him. Opening his eyes, Blockhead could see the Minotaur just a step away from him, with three spears lodged inside it.
The monster roared and broke the wooden shafts with its axe. It seemed, somehow, more ferocious than ever. It raised its gigantic hand and struck the three soldiers and the Dwarf in front of it, pushing them to the floor.
Luckily for Blockhead, he did not receive the full might of the blow like the others, and was still alive. He looked at the thing and scrambled back over the bodies of the soldiers who have just rescued him.
The beast raised its axe to strike, when Blockhead felt something familiar in his hands. He grabbed it with both hands, aimed, and shot.
The round bullet penetrated the shoulder, and even though it was not enough to drop the beast, it gave Blockhead time to get up.
Not enough time to run away, though.
The Minotaur grabbed Blockhead by the neck and threw him off the wall into the city.
Luckily for the Dwarf, he fell on a large sheet of cloth, used as a ceiling by a wooden stand of some merchant. Hitting the ground was nevertheless painful.
Blockhead rose to his feet, a Musket in hand, and looked around. The first thing that caught his attention was a tall woman in full plate armor, and what appeared to be her two guards, charging a platoon of Easterners. Behind them, he could see a purple-robed man, bound and gagged, sitting on the dusty ground in front of a large tower's doors, looking at the ensuing battle with what appeared to be and expression of both fear and boredom.

[Blockhead]

"OW!" Cried Blockhead, holding his back as pain suddenly took a liking to him. "Well look at you my beauty!" He said to the musket, examining its design. Blockhead noticed the tall woman, who by his standards was a giant in her own right and the purple-robed man, who was bound and gagged. Approaching the tall woman, Blockhead coughed to get her attention. "'Scuse me miss." He said. "But what's that fella over there doing all bound up?" He asked, pointing at the robed man.

[Raz_Fox]

Someone had told him once that the dagger at his belt was never to be his first weapon - if he pulled that out, he'd already lost. No, your first weapon was your legs. If you were fast enough, you didn't even need a dagger.

The entire city was burning, and the docks were crowded. He couldn't get to the docks fast enough, and had been grabbed and told that everyone was needed on the walls. Then the attack had come. He wanted to use his legs, but he had to use his dagger.

The enemies came charging up, and he couldn't run couldn't run couldn't run. He ducked and weaved, tripped and stabbed, screaming at the sight of someone falling dead with his dagger slicing through his throat. Someone slammed into him, heavy man and heavier armor bearing him down, forcing him to step back into empty air.

It is hard to control yourself while falling, and he just ducked and prepared to roll. Even so, his legs were jolted and something in his arm snapped. He staggered upright, ready to bolt if he needed to. He looked up into the face of a noble lady, and his own face blanched.

"S-sorrry, my lady. I n-n-nearly hit you, and th-that would have been wrong." He couldn't think straight - when you met a noble, you were supposed to run or bow, but he was too confused and scared to do either.

OOC@V: Just Raz's luck to fall right into the middle of a battle. Assume that she glanced away at the kid who just fell off the wall right at her feet.

[Goglas]

OOC: "a tall woman in full plate armor, and what appeared to be her two guards, charging a platoon of Easterners."- You did see that part, right? Tall woman=lord. Giving you a chance to edit your posts, even though you don't have to (Could be funny).

[Blockhead]

((Nope, I'm keeping my post the same ))

[MrEdwardNigma]

((OOC: Heh, a mix of fear and boredom? That does sound like MrE))

The self-proclaimed wizard had been complaining the whole way down. He had reason to as well, as being dragged down those stairs wrecked hell on his buttocks.

As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs they were ambushed by a bunch of easterners.

Oh, great, they've made it to the city. I get out and they draaaaag me back in. Bloody buffoons and their silly war... Well, might as well make use of this. Being tied up really doesn't suit me.

The wizard concentrated as hard as he could, giving him a slightly constipated look, and finally his fingertips gave of a brief burst of sparks. It wasn't very impressive, but it was enough to singe the rope he was tied up with. It snapped, and the wizard ran back into the tower, barricading the door.

[Goglas]

My bad for not updating yesterday. Having trouble with the internet.

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The lord blocked an incoming sword slash, and replied with an iron-clad fist to the attacking Easterner's face. He dropped to the floor to join his comrades, each either unconscious or dead. But several were still on their feet.
The lord has just managed to fight her way around the group of Baras, ready to squeeze the nomads between herself and her guards, when suddenly a Dwarf armed with a Musket stepped in front of her.
She raised her sword to strike Blockhead even before he spoke when she noticed he was not one of the Baras. She stood there, a bit taken a back by the sudden conversation.

And that was all it took. An Easterner quickly seized the opportunity and thrust his spear into the lord's shoulder. She screamed and fell on her back as the nomad closed on her, ready to deliver a killing blow.
Hate burned in the lord's eyes, and with a magic word her sword caught flame. She slashed against the spear, breaking off the tip, and thrust her sword into the Easterner's abdomen.
"You!" She said to Blockhead. "Who are you?!". But before Blockhead could answer, a large shadow fell over him. He looked up, just in time to see what appeared to be a smaller than average human falling on top of him.
""S-sorrry, my lady. I n-n-nearly hit you, and th-that would have been wrong.", The figure said to the lord, still sitting on the Dwarf.

Before the lord could respond, she heard a loud crashing sound coming from behind the tower doors. When she looked, she noticed Nigma was gone.
She looked back in anger on the two strange people who decided the perfect time to talk to her was in the middle of fighting.
"All done, my lord. The enemies here are either dead or unconscious. Do you wish us to kill all of them?" She heard one of her guards ask from a few feet away. But the lord didn't bother to answer.
First the purple crazy man, and now these two! She had enough. "Grab these traitors. Bind and gag them, better than you did that wizard!".
She got up on her feet and noticed a number of her soldiers not too far off. She signaled them to come over.

"Captain Brum, your lordship" One of them said with a salute when he got close enough.
"What's the situation, captain?"
"We're losing, your lordship. The walls are nearly taken, and their cavalry is seconds away from entering the city unopposed. The city will be lost in a few minutes".
The lord started to walk towards the tower, her two guards waiting by the two new gagged and bound prisoners. "We have to get out of here. Go grab that turned table from over there. Bash these doors open".
Nigma, in the mean time, was considering his options. He only had two, really. Either walk out, or walk up the stairs. It was obvious what he should do.
But then he heard something move, something big, from upstairs.
Scarier still was the flaming sword that broke through the thick wood of the doors inches from his head.

EDIT: OOC:My goal was not to stop you from doing anything. The fact you are bound and gagged doesn't mean I want you to simply wait for the next update. It's just what happens when you do silly things. You can still do several things, though, if you wish to (Examples: Try to shout loud enough to attract attention, grab your weapon, try to get up and run (Bound thing only applies to hands...Guess I should've mentioned that) or get up and headbutt the lord).

[Blockhead]

Blockhead sighed through his gag. He had finally aqquired a weapon he was actually proficient in and he'd already lost it, confiscated by the giant lord woman. He could only hope another would take interest in him and perhaps pity him in his predicament.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Oh, blimey, seems like I'm stuck in a crossfire... Well, there's only one thing to do in a situation like this...

Nigma put his hands to his mouth and shouted as hard as he could in the direction of the upstairs abomination, whatever that was.
"Tally-ho!"

He then kicked away one of the supportive beams of his barricade and jumped into a nearby overturned barrel, thus concealing himself from both his attackers. The easy way out. Just let your enemies kill each other.

He flipped open the wizarding book and tried to kill some time by reading the Mage Hand section by what faint light he had.

Inventory

Spoiler

Show

Purple robes
Trademark purple bolarhat with questionmark
Quiver with arrows
Bow
Magical backpack with common items
Nomad sword
Small round nomadstyle shield
Staff with splintered end
Wizarding for Dummies, pocket edition
Some rope
Shiny Mystery item

Physical condition: Wounds at the shoulders, bruises everywhere

[Raz_Fox]

What? Figured - everybody in the streets knew that nobles were half-crazy anyway. Raz was moving by the time the word "traitors" left her lips, but his legs were still too weak and he stumbled and fell on a pile of rubble. Grabbed by a guard, his wrists were bound behind him and a gag was stuffed into his mouth.

The guard pulled him back to where the dwarf was in the same waters. Not good, not good - he'd been captured by a noble, and young thieves rarely got good things from nobles. He lay, seemingly unconsious, subtely testing his bonds and waiting for his chance to run like the abyss was behind him.

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Going to be gone over the weekend - assume that Raz is pretending to be knocked out and trying to get loose. Have fun with him.

...I'm talking about you having fun with Raz, not the lady having some... never mind.

[Lonna]

As the guards pounded at the doors, a slightly battered but determined-looking youth (who appeared perhaps twelve years old, thirteen at most) trotted up from the direction of the inner city, ignoring the chaos. Pausing, he (or she, it was impossible to tell through the grime) surveyed the area, hand on the hilt of a knife, before relaxing slightly and heading in the direction of the tower. Approaching the Lord, the youth made a small noise to draw attention. As soon as the Lord looked over, the youth bowed, planted his (or her) feet firmly with hands behind the back, and rattled off what was clearly a memorized speech.

"Lord, I bear a message. As you are the highest-ranked of the surviving nobility of Artep, I address it to you. The 43rd Regiment of the 2nd Imperial Army, which was originally dispatched to relieve the Siege at Artep, has been diverted to intercept a newly deployed Baras military force thought to be targetting the province capitol. You are requested to continue holding the city, and additional Imperial forces will arrive within two weeks."

The messenger paused. "Beggin' ya pardon, m'Lord, but I'd ignore that last bit if I was you."

{{OOC: For the record, my character is female, but for IC reasons she will, if asked, claim to be male and go by the name Lan. Presumably there will be much drama when everyone eventually figures out the truth, but that's way in the future.}}

[Goglas]

OOC: Again, internet. Annoying.

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"Two weeks? Two weeks??" The lord's face twisted into a shape worse than that of the battered doors. "This city is going to fall in two minutes! Who in the Fire Hell are you anyway?"
But before the small humanoid had time to answer, there was a loud thumping noise coming from inside the tower, as if some big wooden object was pushed aside to land rather harshly on the floor. The lord, quickly asserting something was about to go wrong, raised her hand and tried to stop her soldiers. "Wait!" She said. "Don't open the doors!". But it was too late.
The table which was used as a battering ram by the soldiers, now nothing more than a piece of wood, connected with the doors. They opened so quickly and suddenly that it even took Nigma by surprise, causing a small yelping noise to burst from his mouth.
The lord closed the distance to her soldiers (stepping away before to give them the room to bash the doors open) and stood at their head, her flaming sword in hand.

Nigma stayed inside his small barrel. It was safer here than anywhere else, he thought. And then he heard a roar. And another. And another.
It was like that of a lion, deep and long, able to penetrate into your very soul. But somehow, it was more chilling, more malevolent. He couldn't help but take his nose out of his little book and look outside.
A dark-purple lion stood atop his barrel. It had bat-like wings and its tail was like that of a huge scorpion. Nigma could almost imagine the beast talking to him- Your stink of blood carries in the air, little prey.

The soldiers were all alert, and even Rax couldn't help but raise an eyelid to see what was going on.
The lord peered into the tower, trying to see through the dirt that was still far from settling after being disturbed so abruptly from the doors. For a second, she thought she could see a tail of some kind, and then a sharp row of teeth.
And then the thing jumped her, and three of its friends followed.

Their work was quick.
The soldiers were no match for the Manticores, while the lord and her two guards they were able to jump from the get go.
After a few seconds the battle was already over. The soldiers were laying mangled on the dusty ground in pools of their own blood. Lan and the lord, although beaten badly, were both sparred, and the Manticores threw them next to Blockhead and Rax. Both prisoners were unhurt since they didn't, or rather couldn't, fight the beasts.
The same could not have been said on Nigma, however.
Blockhead could only just make out the purple robes from between one of the Manticore's jaws as it walked out of the tower. When it got closer, the Dwarf could see the purple crazy man to whom he was so concerned for a few minutes ago was still alive.
The beast spat him out like bad meat next to the others. The Dwarf inspected the man and saw to his amazement the wizard was not all that hurt, aside from his shoulders.
Nigma coughed and sat down on the ground.

Three of the Manticores stood guard over their prisoners, while the remaining two (Four jumped out on the soldiers + One with Nigma) started to circle each other a few feet from them.
They growled and increased their speed, using their tails and wings to stir the dirt on the ground and raise it to the air. It formed into a cloud between the two beasts and started circling itself in an amazing speed, getting faster with each passing moment.

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OOC: One of the Baras generals is going to be summoned through this ritual. I didn't summon him (Or her) yet since I wanted to give you a chance to finally get acquainted. If you want to, though, you can describe the ending process of the ritual and the general and start the conversation with her/him (Or write about something else he/she is doing).
Also, Nigma, this wasn't a punishment for what you did. I thought it was awesome. I just wanted you all finally in the exact same place so we can get this show moving (Out of this dusty city).

[Raz_Fox]

Raz's fingers finally worked their magic - the bonds loosened. He could shrug them off right now and pull out his gag, but he supressed the instinct. He was free now, and appearing to still be restrained could work in his favor.

He moaned through his gag, seemingly still only half-awake. A nice gamble - but would it pay off?

[MrEdwardNigma]

Also, Nigma, this wasn't a punishment for what you did. I thought it was awesome. I just wanted you all finally in the exact same place so we can get this show moving (Out of this dusty city).

((Alright, I suppose I can live with that))

"Okay, okay, sheesh, you found me, there was no need to be rude about it!"

Nigma looked round at the gathered band of struck down warriors.
None of them seem to bright do they? Nor very capable... And not even my mighty magics proved a match for these beasts... Well, you know what they say, if you can't beat them, join them.

Nigma coughed.
"Look, you're getting my robes all dusty you manticore thingies and I'd really rather prefer you stood still while I talked to you, you're giving me a headache"

As if crashing into the tower hadn't been bad enough for my poor head...

"Hey, beasties, I'm proposing a deal here. Let me and my chums live and I'll deliver you the lord of this fair city"

[Blockhead]

Blockhead, unfortunetly, was a terrible size to escape from his bonds and cursed the fact that he had been caught in the first place. It was a terrible dishonour to be captured, let alone by the side you thought you were fighting for. He could only groan at the scene before him.

[Lonna]

The messenger had avoided the soldiers' fate by dodging rather than fighting the manticores as much as possible, but was still fairly battered by the time the survivors were tossed into the same heap.

"M'name's Lan, m'Lord, Lan Swiftfoot," came the belated answer to the Lord's original question. The messenger's boyish voice confirmed that he couldn't be more than twelve, but the lad seemed remarkably calm. "With yer permission, I'll cut them two loose - we c'n use all the help we got jest now."

Barely waiting for the Lord's grudging nod, Lan drew his knife, which the manticores hadn't bothered to confiscate, and quickly cut through the ropes binding the dwarf. About to do the same for the seemingly unconscious boy, he saw that they were already loose and merely pulled them off, giving the boy a knowing look as he did so.

"Hey, beasties, I'm proposing a deal here. Let me and my chums live and I'll deliver you the lord of this fair city"

Lan had ignored the talkative wizard up to this point, but now he gave the man a witheringly scornful look. "Are ya daft? They'll not bargain wit' folks what just got took captive. Even if they did, like as not they'd just betray you like you're tryin' ta betray the Lord."

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Are ya daft? They'll not bargain wit' folks what just got took captive. Even if they did, like as not they'd just betray you like you're tryin' ta betray the Lord."

"Tsk, tsk, you're in dire need of some enunciation lessons, son. A bit green behind the ears I assume? Look, not that I expect a peasant like you to understand, but negotiations are a big part of war. The biggest, if I might add. It's not all just brutes hammering eachothers skulls in. It's about adults making decisions"

"Now, since the Lord has never done anything for me and recent events have even given me a strong dislike of his lordship, I see no reason not to bargain with our invaders. All is fair in love and war, and I consider myself a neutral party in these hectic times. I have no allegiance with the Lord nor this city and am not at all biased towards the foreigners. Mind you, if you have ethical issues with this deal, I won't mind taking you out of it. That is, I was bargaining for all of our lives, but one can be excluded quite rapidly"

[Lonna]

Lan gave the wizard a skeptical look, but held his tongue, shaking his head slightly over the other man's folly. New to the Imperial forces he may be, but he sincerely doubted that the Empire's war was run much differently than gang wars, at least when you were out on the front lines, and with those he had plenty of experience. Anyway, it was not worth wasting his breath to try and change the arrogant man's mind, so Lan turned to the former prisoners.

"M'name's Lan, Lan Swiftfoot," he said briefly, ignoring the other boy's pretense of unconsciousness. "Don' suppose either a' yous got a way out'a this mess? One we c'n all use?"

[Raz_Fox]

Raz spat out the gag and stood up slowly, blinking - he was still slightly shaken by what had happened, but he was stronger inside than he looked. He shook his head. "Those manticores would rip us to pieces if we tried to escape, and talking about escaping might simply anger them further. Why not play it safe?"

His fingers twitch as he says it, and those who knew some things about thieves and spies might interpret the movement of his fingers as Stay quiet. Do you know The Code?

[Lonna]

Lan nodded at the boy's words and turned his head toward the dwarf as if waiting for a response. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he watched the thief as his own fingers moved, seemingly at random. I know The Code. I doubt others here do.

[Raz_Fox]

Raz watched the manticores spin around and around with unease. He was getting a bit frightened, but hopefully he and Lan could pull everyone out of this...

Docks are bad - too many people. Running into the enemy is bad. I know one way out of the city that works, but it is far. We'd have to run from these enemies. Too far for dwarf and wizard?

[Lonna]

Lan's fingers sketched a rude suggestion about the wizard. Sorry. He is untrained/idiot but leaving him is risk. Dwarf might move faster than we think - rocks. Wizard will fight us - moneybags might argue.

{{OOC: "untrained/idiot" is one word, used to indicate someone (usually a young thief) who makes stupid mistakes because they think they know everthing}}

[Raz_Fox]

Raz's fingers continued their subtle movement - his "accent" was very clipped and precise.

Trick the moneybags. She's arrogant/proud. Dwarf may move fast. But wizard is a dilemma. Dwarf carry wizard?

[Lonna]

Maybe, if dwarf agrees could work. Lan's fingers flowed from one form to the next, giving his "accent" a slightly slurred feeling not altogether different from his spoken one. Both accents were common among theives from the northern cities. Want me ask dwarf now?

[Raz_Fox]

Raz's reply was simple. Yes.

[Lonna]

Lan shifted, as if trying to get more comfortable, but really he was just getting his head closer to the dwarf's ear. "Two questions: If we start running can you keep up for a fair distance? And can you carry or help carry the wizard while we run?"