Sometime later, Stephan sees that Sam has been following he and Krige and turns on him, "Your skills will come in handy as well, little fellow. Come along." Sam, ever curious, joins the two of them. Stephan escorts the two to another inn at the north edge of town. He then tells them, "I have extended you the same credit that I obtained for your fellows, up to the sum of 100 gold coins. Go to the shops and equip yourselves. We travel light, so don't weigh yourselves down. Once you are done, wait here for me. In the meantime, make yourselves comfortable." He then departs, and you can see him headed for the north gate.

The day passes, and Stephan does not return. The innkeeper instructs you that Stephan has prepared rooms for you in case of such an event, and assures you he will be back by morning, certainly. You both shrug and hit the hay for the night after enjoying a glorious dinner.

The next morning comes, and while you are eating breakfast, you begin to worry about your erstwhile employer. However, as you have no word on where he went or where to look for him, there is no choice other than to wait. The full day passes, and even the innkeeper looks worried. You decide to set out in the morning to the north to see what happened. When the sun rises, you begin to equip yourselves and eat quickly, thinking your meal ticket is surely in trouble. Just then, you hear a ruckus outside and Stephan comes barging in loudly. He is dusty and looks much the worse for wear. He sees you both equipped and smiles briefly, thin-lipped, "Good to see you are ready to go. Things have changed. You two must rejoin your group. I had a vision cast for me and they are in great danger. I can say no more than that, but you two might make the difference between life and death. I assume that you know how to ride, woodsman?" Krige, somewhat embarrassed, shakes his head.

Stephan looks at the floor, shaking his own head in response, "Well then, it's time for you to learn!" He then takes the two of you out to the stable and leads you to two horses. One is fine and tall and strong, brown and white, and responds gleefully to Stephan, who seems rather good with the animal. He knickers to it and it responds with almost human joy. The other animal is not so cheerful. It is large and not terribly handsome, a greyish color with a foul temperament. Stephan elicits some response from it, but when Krige and Sam come close, it backs away, baring it's teeth. "This is going to be harder than I thought, he says."

After much coaxing, Stephan is able to persuade the bruiser to allow you on board, but you are both quickly off again, as neither of you has any idea how to properly keep yourself astride. Once again Stephan negotiates with the creature to allow you aboard, and once again it is a brief stay. This process continues for some hours until Stephan dismounts, "You two will have to take my horse while I ride this beast. He's barely tame, and I think you will take many injuries if you ride him." He seems more irritated at the pair of you than he is at the horse, though.

After an hour or so of preparation and grooming, which Stephan takes quite a bit of detail in, you are seated upon Stephan's horse unsteadily and he is upon the ugly fellow. He holds a tether attached to his own horse's bridle, "Don't attempt to guide him or instruct him. He'll follow me, and that's all you need him to do. If you try to control him, he'll make you wish you hadn't. Just try to stay aboard. At the pace we're likely to make, I doubt we'll even catch up with them at Misha's ferry."

You leave the city at a slow pace. Every time Stephan takes the horses to a trot, one or the both of you either begins to slip or actually takes a tumble off the proud mount. Stephan sighs in disgust and keeps the pace slow, little more than a fast walk. You keep to the north bank of the river for some miles. Then you come upon something strange. Several men lie dead upon a small shore clearing. All have arrows sticking out of them, and it appears that they were killed by someone either on the river or to the south of it, though you do not see anyone either place now. The bodies are just about a day old. You see that all have peculiar brands upon their wrists shaped like a cross, along with manacle burns and torture marks aplenty. Each looks very similar to the other, and none carries anything of value. Krige picks up that there are tracks around the bodies of perhaps a dozen other men, who apparently all but one went straight into the river, presumable crossing it, though from here he cannot see any tracks that far away. He also finds the tracks of one man running up and down the beach a few times, then back into the woods. The path is clear enough, but Stephan will not allow him to follow it. "No time for that. These men have little to do with us, unless these are the arrows of your friends. And if that is the case, I would wager that they need your help more than ever." He grimly sets his face and pulls at the reigns of his steed, increasing the pace. Sam takes the time to copy the symbol on the dead bodies (the cross) and memorizes it.

As the sun begins to set, you come upon a bit of a clearing and a small wharf, with a cabin hard by it. Krige picks up on signs of some disturbance here also. There are tracks of some great beast, which apparently attacked the cabin and broke down a tree immediately next to one of the windows. Krige is also able to pick up the tracks of perhaps half a dozen people of varying sizes that crisscross this area. He tracks them to an area of recently upturned earth and a simple grave, unmarked. Stephan blanches visibly, "One of your companions, most likely. I am very sorry for the loss. I hoped we would arrive before such a thing happened." He peeks in the door of the cabin. "Well, it looks like the rest of them are okay, as a group stayed here last night, none too comfortably it looks like."

Seeing a small craft sitting upon the southern shore, he thinks for a moment, "They must have crossed with the ferryboat, as Kalanos was to instruct them to do. They appear to be half a day ahead, so they may be close to Sukiskayn by now. You two must make good speed after them and tell them that it is urgent they be wary. Strange things are afoot. I will tell you more when next we meet. I must catch up with Kalanos and find out if he is well. Then I will use his ship to cross the river and ride to meet you in Sukiskayn. I'd let you ride after them, but I fear you'd not be able to handle Lessa, and I know you can't handle this brute. If you run, you should be able to catch up with them tomorrow morning. There is a clear path across the river from here. Follow it without fail and then turn left at the fork. That will take you straight to the settlement. If you have anything weighing you down that I can take and bring to you there, give it to me now." He gestures at Krige's pack, "You'll not be able to catch them with all that gear, I'd wager."

Stephan then digs into his pouch. "By the way, I had this made for you. Meant to give it to your partners, but I got distracted. Make sure you share it with them, okay?"

Whatver Krige's decision, "I'll meet the both of you and the rest of your group tomorrow or the day after in Sukiskayn. Good luck, and be on your guard." He then rides off along the north shore, with his horse following close by..

Briefly, you panic, thinking that you cannot cross the river without the ferry, but see that it is tied to a rope anchored to the jetty that you can pull it back over with. You set to doing that, and cross the river with speed. It is beginning to get dark, and though neither of you will have trouble following a path in the dim moonlight, you do not relish travelling in the unknown woods in such darkness.