Arkady rises in his stirrups and salutes the other group. "My Friends!! I traveled with you shortly but I hope to see you all again in the future. May God Bless your footsteps and your blades. Proschai i Dosvidanya" He pulls his horse over behind Ullar, Asif and Rhune.
Having seeing Arkady's face when they caught their prisoner and feeling decidedly uneasy around the newcomer, Dakath keeps his distance. "I'll go scout up ahead." he says to no one in particular.
With all but Zifnab and Cabot having voiced their opinions, the larger group sets out after Stephan at a steady, moderate pace. Attempting their best to return to their prior battle and from there track the Wolfrider, they set off.
Once they have departed, those remaining, including the two who did not speak, elect to head out toward the mountain spur, which surely will not be all that difficult to find from the directions on the map.
The prisoner awaits what Plebius plans to do with him. Some juggling of horses will be necessary if you wish to keep him with you.
The group makes pretty good time, as most are familiar with their mounts. Those newly joined have less success, but manage not to fall too far behind. You see the group behind you heading more directly north as you head northwest, and watch them fade from view gradually.
Late in the morning, a drizzle begins to come down from the increasingly cloudy sky, making the trip less pleasant, as you must slow in the rocks and mud to make sure the horses do not trip or injure themselves. It also reduces the chances that you will be able to track the Big Chief from the point where you fought him.
In the early afternoon, you come upon the site where you were ambushed by the archers. Interestingly, their corpses are nowhere in sight and if you did not locate the burned trees, you are convinced you would not have located it at all. Very peculiar for someone to come in, clean the site, and then leave. Very peculiar indeed.
Looking around, "This is odd. Now why would anyone come in to clean up the mess?" Rhune utters as she looks around trying to find the burned trees and paying close attention to the surrounding area.
In any case, even in the rain you remember from here how to trace your steps to the confrontation between your two groups, and from there to the one between you and the Big Chief. Interestingly, the two tallish goblinoids killed there still lie there. However, there are no tracks leading away in the mud, or at least none that you can find. So the only option is to head out in the direction the wolfrider left in.
Tolik rides in the very back, seemingly having trouble with his horse, bouncing wildly. He is wearing a wearing a black cloak held on by a carved wooden pin. He is dwarfed by his horse, standing he would be around a meter and a half. His silver hair is pulled back behind his head, which is mostly covered by his hood. His violet eyes finish the picture, as nothing of his wings can be seen, which is intentional. He listens as best he can to the conversations ahead of him, but does not join in, instead riding silently onward.
After being a silent for a while, Pietro suddenly looks up from deep within his cloak. "As we are traveling together now, I think it would be fair towards you to know who and what I am. I am Pietro Paolo, priest of Hermes. I have been living in Florence for a long time, but I am originally from Greece." After a little laugh, he mentions, "that is why my Italian is as fluent as it is. Before I forget it, I do have some 50 feet of silk rope in my possession, might be useful later on. I guess that we will get to know each other pretty soon, since I do not really think that this little trip is going to be a walk in the park. All we can do is try, anyway." Pietro is a normally build elf with no armor on his body, just his normal clothing. The only thing that is really remarkable about the elf are his eyes, they are friendly, but seem to change color quite a lot. Even though the eyes are friendly, they also radiate a kind of inner resolve that is not too hard to miss.
As the sun begins to settle amongst the western mountains, you hear the sound of rushing water ahead of you. The ground begins to rise sharply to the north, but there seems to be a way to get around it traveling more westerly. Doing so, the group sees what must be the river the villagers called Volaga, which is broader and shallower here.
It runs into a canyon of sorts, between the sharply elevated ground to your immediate east, and beyond the other shore, where a cliff rises up both east and west. The water looks fordable here, especially with the horses. However, there is no evidence that the Big Chief went this way, nor any evidence of any tower, or any other structure, for that matter.
"Now what? We aren't even sure the Big Chief came this way or not. And where is this tower? Ullar do you still have that map so we can check it once more?" Rhune asks looking at the country side...while looking over the map she will also check her belongings making sure that all is there.
"I don't know about you, but it seems to me that if someone was able to climb that cliff, or reach the top, he or she would have an excellent view of our surroundings. Perhaps than we can find a lead on which way to travel?" says Ullar, shaking off the drizzle from his brows.
"However, I lack the skill in climbing. Does any of us has such an ability? And, perhaps more important, does anyone still have enough rope?"
"I can climb and I have some rope but not sure how much." Rhune replies, "But in this rain the ground will be soft and more than likely be very muddy. I would need rope and where would we tie it off at...I don't have mountaineering skills." Rhune adds looking up at the cliff side, trying to see if there are any handholds.
Dakath dismounts and stands with his hands on his hips as he appraises the climb up the cliff "See Ullar we've been gone for five minutes and already my skills are called into use. But since it's raining I wouldn't attempt that climb unless I was being chased by the hounds of hell."
Chuckling at Dakath's words, "You read my mind. There is no way to tie off the rope up top." Rhune replies.
"Hmm.. you're probably right. But can you determine how hard it would be climbing this cliff, since you have the experience..." adds Ullar, looking up at the cliff and than trying to figure out what to do next.
Dakath grins and turns to Rhune "We really could do with a flying elf right now ?"
Arkady begins to laugh and laugh. "Aye, we could at that. Ha ha ha ha But Tolik would never do it he's far to stodgy!!" "Perhaps there is a way we could fire an arrow or hook up to the top to secure the rope??"
"Might work with a hook but the ground is a little soft for it to support any work." Rhune replies
Tolik scowls. "You know, I have ears. You're not even doing a very good job talking behind my back!" He sighs, then continues, "However, I can get up there. No problem, though maybe next time you could ask?"
Arkady flushes a brilliant shade of red. He stammers as he speaks to Tolik. "My apologies good elf. You had been so quiet that I had no idea you traveled with us. Please forgive my jest."
"Jest... Hmmmph, "mutters Tolik, continuing to scowl.
Dakath chuckles and bows mockingly "My most humble apologies. You know with wings like that you could put us thieves out of business."
Rhune turns to look at Tolik. "Do you think you could get there? and could you carry someone else with you?" asking softly.
"Well, thanks for asking. You're lots better manned than those others." he nods toward Dakath and Ullar. "I can't carry anyone, I am not strong enough to. However, I see no problem taking a rope for you. I don't know how this is going to help with the horses.
Ullar frowns at Tolik his words and looks at Rhune in a 'what-have-I-done?' look.
"Tolik, here is some silk rope for you to take with you." Pietro offers.
"Tolik we are just going up there to take a look not take the horses. We might find a better trail or even see the tower. All you would really have to do is look around for us..." she falls silent as he takes off with the rope.
Tolik takes the rope from Pietro and sets it on the ground at his feet. Reaching toward his throat, he removes the pin that holds his cloak on. Scowling at the rain, he grabs his cloak in one hand and the rope in the other. Stretching his wings a little, he blushes slightly when he realizes everyone is watching him.
He hands one end of the rope to Rhune, then takes off.
Forte just stares at Tolik in awe. "Amazing, "he whispers to no one in particular.
Dakath watches with Forte "Wow, Do you know the fun I could have if I had wings ?" his eyes never leaving Tolik.
"Or the trouble you could get into?" Ratlin smirks and watches Tolik fly, wondering how it must feel to fly like a bird.
Pietro then looks up as Tolik flies away, the elf on the horse has an amazed grin on his face. "This is way cool, they are all the stories I
heard about them, and so much more." It is obvious that Pietro is really enjoying himself seeing the elf fly.
Arkady watches with fascination as Tolik flies. He scrambles to grab his notebook and a crayon. He quickly sketches the beautiful flight of the elf, especially the structure and layout of the wings. "Amazing. I've never see humanoids fly with out magic. To fly under your own power, awesome!!"
Landing on top of the cliff, Tolik looks for something to tie the end of the rope to. He ties it off and calls back, "OK!"
Once he has it tied off, "Dakath you want to go or do you want me to go?" Rhune asks
Ullar looks at the flying elf with amazement in his eyes. He hears Forte speak about it and can do nothing but nod. "Never knew there were elves with wings. Wow!" he says, softly.
"Well now you do Ullar." Dakath says as he begins to strip off his armor preparing to do some climbing. "If I fall be sure to catch me." he says with a grin. Waiting until Tolik gives the signal Dakath begins to make his toward the cliff before stopping and turning to the others. "Why am I even bothering to risk my neck, Tolik's already up there ?" Dakath shakes his head before turning back to the cliff "Tolik, can you see anything from up there?" he shouts as he begins to get back into his studded leather.
Ullar can do nothing but laugh at the strip-act of Dakath. As soon as Dakath calls out to Tolik, he turns toward the flying elf, awaiting his answer.
Rhune waits also chuckling at Dakath's actions...she looks over at Asif for a moment and smiles warmly at him.
"Hmm??? What am I looking for? I can't see a whole lot through the rain, what am I supposed to be seeing?" Tolik calls back as he slips back into his cloak. He squints and peers into the distance, looking for "stuff."
Dakath shouts back up "Can you see any buildings around here ?" he turns to the others "You know he may have wings but he's a lousy scout." With that he secures his daggers in their sheathes.
Tolik sees on the opposite cliff face a brief movement. The rain does indeed obscure his vision, but something over there is peering over the cliff as well, and just moved. The clouds open for just a moment, and the sun beyond shines on a man-sized figure looking down on the group, and who has clearly spotted Tolik as well. He just sees the movement of another figure, possibly descending down the other side of the cliff, then it is gone. The original figure continues his vigil, as the clouds and rain once again obscure Tolik's vision.
Leaping off the cliff to fly back to the cliff, Tolik almost forgets to remove his cloak. Pulling it off at the last moment, he glides over to the others to relay his findings. Excitedly, he says, "Through the rain, I saw something over there is peering over the cliff, and it moved. When the clouds parted, I saw a man looking down on everyone, and I'm sure he saw me as well. Out of the corner of my eye, another man, I think he was descending down the other side of the cliff. Then the rain kicked back in and I couldn't see any more."
He gestures wildly while talking, forgetting to slip his cloak back on in his excitement. "Well? What's the plan?" he asks, looking at Ullar, Rhune, and Dakath.
Rhune looks up already loosing her bow..."We can cross the river here and be on the same side...but we need to be prepared for a possible ambush now. They know we are here."
Following Rhune's example, Forte gets his longbow out. He nocks an arrow and holds the bow & arrow loosely in his hand.
Fitting an arrow in her bow Rhune also holds her bow at the ready, as she tries to peer through the rain to see if there is another way to go besides going up the obvious place for an ambush.
After Tolik's comments, Pietro looks up, trying to see anything through the sheet of rain, but obviously does not see anything but water and greyness. "I guess that we cannot do too much about being watched. When you saw that person, I think he wanted to be seen, and is just observing our movements for the moment. I think it is best to move forward, although it is probably a good thing to take watch out and expect the unexpected." A big grin is ending up on Pietro's face, as if he is liking the thought of something unexpected to happen. "One thing is sure, Tolik, your wings are going to be very helpful indeed when traveling. I wish I can do that one day myself somehow"
Hearing Pietro's comment, Tolik realizes he did not put his cloak back on. Blushing seven shades of red, he slips the cloak carefully back over his wings and pins it on. "I thought it was a little wet, "he announces sheepishly.
"Eh.. move forward? I'm not walking in a trap on intention." replies Ullar, frowning at Pietro's suggestion. "For all I know there are more around and we get ambushed, again."
Seeing the new-ones their faces, Ullar presses his lips together and shakes his head a little, as if he is disapproving of the memory which comes up. "I'll tell you some other time. Let's first consider our options: Is there any other way we can travel through/around these cliffs? Is it possible to split up in two parties, who each take a side of a cliff, so that IF there are going to be boulders on our heads we're not all crushed?"
Ullar pets Zephyr, his war-horse, on it's neck, checking in the mean time if all of his weapons are in place; two-handed and daggers ready for use.
"You are right Ullar, I am not really experienced in these matters, I will follow your lead." then, laughing, "that does not mean that I will shut up all the time though."
"I don't think splitting up will be a good idea. Safety in numbers and all." Ratlin replies. He looks over at Tolik, "Did you see any large objects up there that could be tossed upon us?"
Tolik shakes his head. The cliff is bare. He did not see a single large rock up there. He also notes that on both cliffs, they rise toward the river and seem to descend away from it, so it would be very difficult going about pushing a boulder up to the cliff opposite, and that would only pose a danger once the group crossed the river, which is shallow enough here to ford if the group wishes.
Arkady pulls his horse forward towards the others, stashing his book and crayon as he does. "Is there any reason to feel they are unfriendly?? Perhaps the ways of Diplomacy will serve us??" Arkady looks at Tolik in amusement "Although that route has failed us before." Grins widely.
"O.K., "says Forte with a grin. "You go talk to them and then report back."
Tolik looks Arkady in the eyes. "Has failed us before? Hell it never worked. First we let you go talk to those villagers, surprised we didn't get chopped up into little pieces by the end of that one. Then we met the elves, and they basically said, 'your coming with us.' Then we sent Celest to meet the present company, "indicating those in the original group, "and now she's so badly injured she hasta stay with the elves. As if that wasn't enough, we ended up getting filled full of holes by the zealot archers." He scowls at the unpleasant memories. "However, maybe our companions have had better luck. In any case, you're NOT doing the talking."
Tolik climbs awkwardly onto the horse and waits for those in the lead to decide which way to go.
Arkady laughs lightly. "Just because those villagers took things the wrong way doesn't mean that I failed totally. How was I supposed to know that they hated the Katoliks so much??"
"Uff, how could you not. Its not like they tried to hide it. So you blurt out that we're hunting the people that helped them. Da, fool. Between you and that elf wanna-be, that was botched to heck. Then certain other people blamed me..." Those that were with Tolik know who his is talking about, but the whole conversation is made very confusing to those who were not there.
Dakath grins and wanders over to Tolik "Perhaps you should leave the talking to us more skilled in the arts of persuasion ?" Dakath looks to the group "Well shall I go scout out ahead, whilst the rest of you wait here?"
Ullar nods, his mind wandering to some other weird places...
Pietro obviously chuckles at Dakath's remark. "The man has got a point, I like you guys, but I do not think neither Arkady or Tolik will make very good diplomats. I'm sure that you guys are having enough other things to excel in. Dakath, take care when scouting, considering the problems with ambushes in the past."
Tolik scowls at Dakath, but remains silent. Realizing this is an argument he can't win, he rides silently on.
Dakath chuckled "You need to lighten up Tolik my friend, you're much too serious."
Ratlin looks at Arkady and Tolik, "Enough! Now is not the time for an argument. Save it for the next tavern we stay in. We need to figure out what we are going to do about our watchers."
Tolik scowls at Ratlin. "Geez, everybody likes to blame ME when I point out other people's mistakes. I mean, he's the one that screwed up, not me, "he mutters under his breath.
"Taverns. Wow. You get to stay in taverns?" Forte asks, incredulous. "I hope you can convince some of the others we should stay in a tavern sometime, "he says earnestly, with a twinkle in his eye and a smile beginning to form on his face.
Ratlin chuckles a bit and nods to Forte.
"I'm NOT staying in an inn. Last time I tried it, they burned the place down trying to get at me. Surprised I got out of that one. I'll pass, thank you very much."
"Well, to get to you they'd have to get through us first, "Forte motions to the entire group. The large warrior sighs slightly to match the glum expression on his face, "Anyway, I'll doubt we'll pass a tavern or inn any time soon."
"How... reassuring, "replies the elf, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Have if your way, fly BOY." With a glance at Rhune, Forte walks away, realizing that elves are just as varied as humans.
"Coming from you, that's a compliment, "Tolik says, his scowl breaking into a mischievous grin.
Ullar watches the discussion from Zephyrs back with interest. Apparently something isn't settled between the new group members, and the warrior, curious as ever, is puzzling what is was. From time to time he looks at Ratlin, wondering if he has any comments at the whole situation.
And much to his dismay, Ratlin is as reticent as ever.