"I think it's a bit too late for that. I assume they have spotted our horses already, so fleeing is no option. What do you say Tolik, do you think they have seen our horses?" Ullar asks.
"If there is some backdoor or first floor in this hostel, I suggest that we split up. The archers and anyone else with ranged weapons get to the first floor, the ones who are more agile take the backdoor to approach them from behind and the ones most suited for melee face them at the front-door."
"Or do you have a suggestion how to save your hostel from any damage from a fight?" asks Ullar one of the gnomes.
The nearest gnome blanches, "A fight?" he says in a squeaky voice, "here?"
"They were talking to one of the gnomes." Tolik tells Ullar. "We probably should make ready but stay out of sight. So I'm going to go wait in the trees again, perhaps I can do some good out there. But I'll try to stay out of trouble." The elf grins grimly, then slips back out the door and is almost immediately back in the trees, higher up this time so he can hopefully keep out of sight.
"Thanks Tolik" says Ullar. "That's useful information." On a lower tone he continues, "Hmm.. I'm not sure if we can trust those gnomes then..."
When Tolik opens the door, he sees that the men are just outside. The black-clad man looks directly at him, causing him to dart back inside and abandon his plan of going back to his perch.
"So much for that idea, looks like I'll be staying inside after all" Tolik sighs.
Pietro slowly walks past Ullar, then whispering "We are too late to get the horses anyway, they will hear them soon enough. We've got an advantage here, lets keep it that way. We've also spent a fortune here, I think the gnomes will like us a bit better than the men who will be arriving shortly. I will go upstairs."
Ratlin frowns and realizes that he only has one spell left, a very destructive one at that. "You know, if we are lucky, these riders may not be looking for us. Either way, we need not endanger the gnomes here."
Arkady leaps drunkenly to his feet. "AH HA!!!! BAssshtards!! Lests me at dem.........Mudaki na nemetskii sadi c polem ne ya!!!" While running into several tables and tripping on a chair, Arkady fumbles for his sword and heads for the door.
"ARKADY! Calm down!" calls Ullar out to the slightly intoxicated (slightly?) warrior. "Keep your wits, otherwise we might lose the advantage we have here!"
Dakath moves swiftly through the back of the Inn, outdoors. He sheathes his long sword, then finds a suitable place to scale the back of the Inn to perch quietly on the top of the Inn.
Pietro moves up the stairs, finds himself a window, and readies his sling and bullets. He does not let himself see before the window, but just lets the situation develop itself.
Watching the others, Rhune pauses for just a moment. She then grabs her pack and bow and after glancing up at Asif, quickly kisses him, "Take care, my love." and moves after Pietro.
Rhune follows Pietro upstairs and slips to the first empty room facing the toward the front and steps over to the window, being careful not to be seen by the approaching men. She sets her quivers of arrows next to her and readies her bow, watching and waiting to see what happens, keeping an eye on the leather clad man.
Both rooms facing the front door are locked, and the gnomes look on panic-stricken as Rhune and Pietro rattle at their handles.
Not able to open the door Rhune heads back downstairs to try and find another way get outside and to the roof.
Tolik starts to head after Pietro, but sees he strikes out as well. Tolik leans impatiently against the back of a chair and waits for something to happen.
Forte grabs his newly found battle axe, ready to bust heads once someone gives him the signal. The large warrior moves quickly, if a little noisily, closer to the front door. He positions himself next to the door so that a newcomer might just mistake him for a bouncer, instead of a patron.
After tackling a chair very spectacularly, Arkady has a clear path to the door. Straightening his gauntlets and slurring out a few more curses in his native tongue, he swaggers drunkenly forward, silmar blade brandished.
Once outside, Dakath clambers up the rough wall. He almost slips, realizing it has been some time since he did such things, but he makes it easily enough.
He takes out his short bow and tries to catch any snatches of conversation.
If the newcomers seem intent on harming Dakath and his companions he plans to loose as many arrows as he can from his position, aiming for the black leather-clad man.
The leather-wearing fellow opens the door and looks inside very cautiously. Seeing Ullar prominently inside the room and Arkady rushing toward him, he slams the door and rushes back toward a set of eight horses even while the gnomes are drawing them toward the stable.
Tolik stands strait as the door flies open, then lets out a strange laugh as the door slams shut. "Oops, wrong room!" he giggles. But his words don't match his actions, as he pulls out his dagger and heads toward the back to see if he can find the door Dakath left through.
Having set his eyes on a foe Arkady screams bloodcurdlingly and gives chase. He slams straight into the closed door and falls to the floor. "Ullar! They've felled me. You will have to take over. Go with god.....SNORE!!!!!" Arkady passes noisily into sleep.
Tolik pauses on his way out to glance at the man. "We should give some of what he had to the guys outside!" he exclaims, then continues out.
Forte watches in amazement as the strange man crashes into the door. As Arkady starts to snore, the large warrior sets his battle axe aside, grabs Arkady's feet, and drags him a few feet away from the door. Forte then grabs his battle axe, and stands between Arkady and the door, his brown eyes staring intently at the entrance.
Ratlin frowns and shakes his head.
Dakath is able to target the fellow from the rooftop, but is slightly hesitant as he has not committed any dangerous acts. The seven men with him are all completely silent and docile, even as well-trained dogs.
Ratlin decides to prepare his spell but he will not use it until he is outside. He looks over at Ullar for the next action.
The man yells for them all to mount up, seizing the reigns from the startled gnome, and his men move to comply with his order.
Ullar, overhearing the man's words rushes outside, hoping that Forte is accompanying him.
With a quick glance at Arkady, Forte follows Ullar, battle axe in hand. "Someone wake up Arkady!" he says to the other group members as he heads out the door.
Ratlin nods and says, "I'll do it." he heads over to the bar and grabs a glass of cold whatever and splashes it on Arkady's face.
Sputtering and coughing Arkady pops awake. "Wha...wher.....I"M ALIVE!!!!" He leaps unstably to his feet and kisses Ratlin. Slurringly he speaks "Eternal thanks my brother for recovering me from Death's dark door. Are the foes vanquished, slain by Ullar's hand??" The Russian seems energized, crazed even, he trembles with energy as he grips Ratlin's shirt.
Ratlin takes hold of Arkady's biceps in a surprisingly strong grip and looks him square in the eye, "Arkady, SOBER UP! The enemy is still outdoors."
'Whatever the voices in your head are saying, hopefully they will wake you up and make you coherent.' He thinks to himself.
Rhune barely is aware of Ratlin's actions by the door as she rushes down the steps looking for another way out and behind the people out side.
Arkady stares in shock for a moment and seems to get a modicum of a grip on himself. "Outside?? Why then do you delay me mage?? I'm off." He tears away from Ratlin and scooping up his blade and runs outside. "Damn Damn Damn. What is going on?? Why can't I remember what has happened??"
Ratlin slumps a bit, relief evident on his face and heads out the door after the others.
Rhune makes note of the happenings and heads for a back door.
Tolik finds the door Dakath used and whistles to Rhune, showing her the now open door.
Hearing Tolik's whistle, Rhune heads for the back door.
Seeing that all the doors upstairs are closed, Pietro just rushes downstairs again, this time following Rhune. The elf is still carrying his sling, and is already looking a bit confused, but that is a pretty common thing for the elf in combat. Somehow he does seem more sure of himself though, and he is moving with a lot more confidence than before.
As Dakath hears the door open below him he fires his short bow at the black leather-clad figure.
A feathered missile comes arcing down from the roof, tagging the leader of the men low in the back. The fellow cries out and slumps, falling to the ground.
As Ullar and Forte come rushing out, two of the silent men have dismounted as well, gathering the leather-wearing fellow up and putting them on one of the horses. The others form a mounted circle about their injured leader. They have no weapons drawn and seem eager to flee, not fight.
Ullar and Forte choose to engage, seeing that they can reach a couple of the mounted fellows before they can ride away. Dakath is also still well in range for another volley of arrows. The others almost certainly won't be able to interfere.
Forte attempts to run through the outer circle, turning his right shoulder toward the horses in order the punch his way through the line and grab the leather-clad leader.
Forte's impressive weight does not impress the horses, who stand fast, as the large man rebounds from them and staggers backward.
Ullar frowns, hesitating whether to charge or not. However, with their last fight with these men fresh in his memory, he rushes forward, weapon drawn, trying to reach the fallen leader and get him of his horse.
"I know you can't speak.." he says to the bold-ones, ".. but I'm only after your leader. If you want to live, ride away and enjoy your freedom." Ullar shouts, while getting closer.
And ride away they do, taking Ullar's momentary hesitation and Forte's clumsiness as their escape route. They gather up their fallen leader and gallop hard to the south, vanishing from sight in a few minutes.
Dakath nocks another arrow but doesn't fire, targeting the foes from his position.
Tolik, reaching the outside, watches helplessly as the situation escalates.
Rushing out the door and around the building to see what is taking place, Rhune just catches a glimpse of the feathered shaft, knocking an arrow into her bow targeting any of the mounted horsemen, especially if they try to flee.
She manages to get sight on the fleeing horses, but an awkward twang leaves her with no string on her bow. Somewhat embarrassed, she replaces the string with one of Asif's spares, watching the riders disappear from view.
Hearing the ruckus, Taras and Stephen emerge from where they were concluding negotiations with the gnomes. Being told what happened, Stephen shakes his head, "Well, now they know where we are, and for certain they'll be on our trails, with whatever force they can muster. We'd best be on our way across the river."
"I agree....we need to get out of here as soon as possible." Rhune says as she makes sure she has everything. going to find Asif, "My Love we need to leave as soon as possible. I want to get this trip over with so we can get married soon." she says with a smile. she makes ready to leave as soon as the rest are ready.
Asif smiles at Rhune's words. his mind too focused on this future. "Yes depart we must and soon."
Forte heads for the stable to get his horse.
Arkady bursts out of the inn, waving his blade and screaming. "DIE PIGS!!!!!!" Seeing only Ullar and Forte he looks confused and rubs at his eyes. "Where did they go??"
Tolik looks at the drunken Arkady an tells him, "Hey, didn't anyone ever tell you that stuff shrinks your brain? I'd hate for you to lose it." His voice is touched with sarcasm, but he keeps it minimal to (hopefully) avoid the big man's wrath.
"SHHHH! There are foes about elf!!" Arkady starts searching about for their foemen. He prods bush and jumps around corners with a shout. Finding no enemies he staggers back to the group. "I guess they ran....."
Asif watches Arkady's antics with bemused interest. Over indulgence in drink a habit totally alien to him.
Ratlin just shakes his head and looks at Tolik with an "I tried." look.
Looking back at Arkady, Tolik just shakes his head disapprovingly, then whispers to Ratlin, "Next time we need to see that his drink is mostly water."
Ullar just frowns at Arkady, and nods his head in the way the 'bold' group disappeared. He whispers to Asif: "If you ever see me that way, please remind me to a promise I made to myself not to get drunk!"
Ratlin runs out after Arkady and looks around,, "Well, now what?"
Pietro moves outside, just as all the riders are disappearing from view. "What the .....", is all the elf can say for a moment. "Ok, we have to ride hard now I reckon, everybody ready for the ride?" Pietro does not wait for an answer, but just walks back into the door he came from. He walks to one of the gnomes. "I am truly sorry for the trouble outside, we will leave as soon as possible, so you do not have to suffer the consequences of people wanting our hides." The elf looks sincere, waits for a seconds, but then gets his stuff and moves outside to ready his horse.
The gnome seems stunned by the whole affair, and can only nod at Pietro in response.
Tolik looks at Pietro incredulously. "I had just gotten the hang of staying on when we're going a normal pace and now you want to go HARD???" He shakes his head in disbelief. "Its a good think I've got fast reflexes and wings, or I'd have a sore bum," he adds with a grin.
"What do you expect my friend," Pietro says with a big grin, "I'm a priest of Hermes, also called the Messenger of the Gods. Do you think he'd travel slow? Don't think so, huh. Anyway, speed is always cool."
"This sounds all so familiar.." says Ullar, clearly unhappy with the whole situation. "I hate it to be on the run again."
"Be positive, Ullar," Pietro seriously remarks, "You have lived so far, cherish life and continue to fight for the good. The fact that you are all alive is already a small miracle." Grinning, Pietro continues, "I think you just are too stubborn to die anyway."
"I'm not stubborn.." is Ullar's reply, trying to give Pietro a stern face as possible, vaguely hiding his smile.
"Huhhuh, and I am mother Theresa," is the dry reply of Pietro, he is able to hide his smile, but his eyes shine with a humorous spark.
Forte appears from the stable, mounted on his horse. "Who's mother is Theresa?" he asks with a confused look on his face.
"She was a remarkably human woman, whose only purpose was to help other people. Even at a really old age, she only helped the sick, the helpless, and other people who needed her help." Pietro rubs his chin. "Now that I think of it, I am not sure what religion she followed, but I think it was the catholic one. Anybody now for certain?"
"Pietro, I think Stephen and Taras were arranging us a deal to travel over the river, with our horses, if possible. Are we supposed to cross the river here, or should we head any other place, Stephen?" Ullar asks.
Looking up at Dakath, Tolik calls out, "How now, cat man? Can you climb back down?" He lets out a small laugh, then wanders off to where the horses are, so not to be left behind when everyone else is ready to go.
Dakath looks down from the roof and grins at Tolik "The image of Forte trying to shoulder barge a horse out of the way is going to live with me forever." he wipes his eyes with his sleeve, it is obvious that he has been laughing. He grabs his bow and makes his way down to the ground again. He then dashes back into the inn to retrieve his gear as he returns he takes Stenu's reigns "Perhaps it wasn't the wisest move to shoot their leader? I'd of killed him but Forte put me off."
Dakath glances over at the big warriors and smiles. "Let's get the hell out of here." with that he breaks Stenu into a gallop.
Rhune leading her horse and placing her pack and bow on the back and tying securely, places her head on the saddle for a just a moment and sighs deeply. Then looking up mounts quickly and waits for the others.
Ratlin clambers up onto his horse and follows after the rest.
Dakath's gallop is quite a short one, as the hostelry rests immediately on the shore of the river, and he is only able to ride up to the ferry itself, where Stephen's negotiations have brought the gnomes over to take the horses and men.