Asif listens with interest as Pietro speaks:
"Much thanks holy man for this wisdom. Pity is that the answer to this riddle cannot be found. Maybe a search for one such man may shed some great light on the battle we wage with the Bishop and his minions. Have this holy man, Identify the type of power the Bishop has over the mindless slaves who do his bloody work, and then have this power torn from him. This is the key I feel to our path of fate!"
Ullar laughs enthusiastically after these words. "You are right! I think we just found ourselves a new quest for the future! I am just a simple warrior, unfamiliar with the ways of magick. I know a little about religion, but I've never encountered such an outrageous violation of the soul of a man."
"So, do we have an understanding here? Ok, what do you want to do Dakath, take a prisoner and go now or interrogate him now? Let's just get going as fast as possible, might be useful to have a bit of extra time ahead of any followers." Pietro remarks, glad the argument is over.
Dakath nods "I will interrogate one now to see who sent them." With that he sheathes his long sword but keeps his dagger drawn.
"Ok, we will get everybody ready to get up and running. Everybody, gather all you need and get ready to go." Pietro turns his back to Dakath and the prisoner, not willing to see what is happening with the interrogation.
Rhune remains near Asif during the whole discussion, not really wanting to know about the interrogation methods or any killing afterward.
"Good luck with the interrogation," Forte tells Dakath, but makes no move to follow the rogue and assist in the questioning.
Arkady staggers dejectedly over to the horses while this argument continues. He mounts up and sits brooding while the fate of the "drones" is decided. The voices rage with insults and froth with fury at his mood but he ignores them. Spiritually crawling into a deep cave in his mind Arkady waits.
Dakath goes through the motions with the fellow, but it is clear that he is no more willing to give information than the fellow that Pietro adopted a few days ago. He insists that nothing Dakath could conceive of could be worse than what Golthar would put him through. Beyond that, the fellow does not seem terribly clever, and doesn't appear to have much in the way of information in any regard. Many detailed questions are met with quizzical looks, and he does not seem intelligent enough to fake such confusion. The shaven-headed archer looks dully at Dakath, and his tongue has been removed, so you'll get nothing from him.
Ratlin frowns and says impatiently, "Look, lets take their horses, toss their weapons in the river and just leave them. The more we tarry here the greater possibility of their commanders sending reinforcements when they don't report in."
He gets on his horse impatient to leave.
The group concedes to this, knowing these two won't prove much use, and they leave the two tied to the tree.
Arkady continues to stalk slowly away, despair and depression fully in charge of his soul now. He rubs fitfully at his bandages and tries to help with the horses.
Asif working on his horse, hears footsteps behind and glances over his shoulder. Seeing Arkady, he smiles with greeting.
Absorbed in his depression Arkady fails to see Asif's friendly smile.
"Let not angry words trouble you efendi. Our path of fate has not been an easy one. In facing hardship many words are spoken in anger, as a mask to hide that which we fear. See solace in your gods as I shall to give one the strength to ride towards our destiny!"
Whispering Arkady continues past. "But what if the words of hate and anger are in your own head, Asif??" Arkady continues his wandering and his dark mood.
Just for convenience, Ullar picks up one of the shortbows and a quiver with arrows and puts them in his large sack, strapped on Zephyr. "I'm planning on learning how to use a bow, so it doesn't hurt to carry one with me, does it?"
After finishing with Arkady, Pietro looks up at Tolik. "Tolik, I do not mean this question as an offense, but how did they capture you?" There is no malice in the elf's words, just a hint of curiosity.
Tolik sighs heavily, but neither looks up nor answers.
When Ratlin arrives and after he asks his question to Arkady his eyes get wider and he exclaims, "Did anyone kill the ones I felled with my spell?!"
Tolik looks up at him. "I tried, really. But the other two had me at sword point before I hit the ground." He sighs deeply, and looks around for something else he can help do. He crosses the river and grabs his cloak, then helps ferry across the horses.
Ratlin looks after Tolik and thinks that this elf needs a lesson in self esteem. He shakes his head and looks around the battle field and helps gather the horses.
Reaching the other side, Rhune checks everyone to make sure they are alright, seeing that most are okay or are not lying at death's door she smiles, "I am glad that you are alright, Tolik" she says to the winged elf.
"Stephen, Taras, are you sure that this is the only way towards the Rifflians? Are there places where we can expect an ambush? I've never traveled this area.." says Ullar with a sigh.
Stephen nods, "Unless we go through Arezzo, and that's bound to be swarming with Golthar's informants, or the Bishop's, or both. This is the straightest way, and should be safe. Since Misha died, things have gone to hell around here." He shakes his head sadly.
Ullar ferries himself back to the other side of the river to get Zephyr and the other horses safely across. He urges the others to get ready for departure, after checking if Arkady is in traveling condition.
At a certain point he glances at Tolik, which he didn't pay attention to until then, but his expression doesn't change.
When Ullar returns to the other side of the river, "You okay, my friend?" Rhune inquires as she helps him get the horses ready.
Ullar nods. "Just a scratch, nothing to worry about!"
Once done with the captives and anything else, the group herds the horses back together and begins moving again down the northern trail. This is the same trail followed before that led to the slaver's camp, but before it gets to that point, it runs westward. You see the barely visible trail through the grass that leads there, to the pile of bodies and Leslie's grave.
Putting thoughts of the valiant warrior behind you, you progress down the trail. It is a warm, beautiful day, with barely a hint of clouds on the horizon. Sometime after noon, Asif notes something far out on the plains. Looking closely, it appears to be four huge horses, one among them a black stallion, a gigantic one. Remembering from before, the group waits for him to approach, but he does not get any closer. Shrugging, the group continues, noting that every once in a while, just on the edge of vision, the stallion appears again. It appears to be marking your movements.
Ullar notes that the horses are the same ones who came to you when you were here before, the ones that brought Rhees to you and told you about the slavers.
Continuing north and west now, Stephan points out the approaching Shuturga River. It appears to be the continuation of the Arno, whose tributary you have passed several times, called by the Sukiskayners Volaga. Nearing this wider and faster river, you see some buildings upon the eastern bank, right upon the trail.
Approaching, you see that this is something of a hostel. As you come closer, a tiny fellow with a beard wearing leathers rushes out to greet you. With a small bend of the waist, he greets you, "Welcome, welcome! Please come in and have a drink and rest yourselves. You have traveled far and deserve a break, my friends. No better food and drink will you find than here!"
Ratlin looks at the hostel with amusement and watches the gnomes.
Two other gnomes come up behind him as he continues, "We shall stable your horses and you can rest here before continuing on to your destination. You will find our prices most reasonable."
Stephen informs you that you all can probably make Rifflian by nightfall if you hurry, but he is not adverse if you wish to stop for a drink, or even if you wish to stay the night, though stabling all these animals might prove expensive.
"I would like to stop for just a bit to rest and get a drink and something other than travel rations to eat, but if we could make the Rifflian by nightfall then let's do it." Rhune replies as she begins to dismount, leading her horse to the watering trough. "Perhaps some feed for Starfire here would be nice as well." she says to the gnome.
Arkady's voice rasps out for the first time since his 'request'. "I could use a drink and a rest if you please Stephan."
"I have no idea where we are but I suddenly feel the need for a drink." Dakath says to the others
Forte turns to Stephen and Taras. "Have you heard of this 'settlement' before?" he asks, gesturing to the small hostel. "A drink would be nice, but the sooner we get to Rifflian the better."
Stephen and Taras both nod as Stephen speaks, "Yes, the gnomes here are a bit expensive," At that he eyes the spokesman, "but they have been here many years and have never bothered my people."
Rhune looks around at the hostel with curiosity. Though she has seen hostels before she has never seen one run by gnomes before. Having dismounted already she waits for Asif, smiling up at him.
Asif too scans the place with great interest. His mind still intrigued, despite the months in Italy by the notion of a race of such small people. Once again this land of the merchants provides another surprise to his senses. He enjoys the food offered by the gnomes and passes the time with conversation with his friends. His body visibly starting to relax after the tense nature of recent days.
"Well, well. What do we have here. A gnomish hostel? I bet you have some great inventions to get things running smoothly around this place, don't you?" Ullar asks.
The gnomes look at Ullar strangely, then shake their heads and return to the business at hand.
"We are on our way to escort this very powerful gnomish wizard to some place up north but I think a stop for a drink won't hurt." says Ullar, smiling at Amibar when he is finished speaking.
Ratlin smirks at the comment.
Amibar stares at Ullar in disbelief at the outrages lie, his mouth working silently. He turns to look at the gnomes in trepidation of their response.
The gnomes look toward Amibar, their eyes raised. Clearly they do not think much of the cowled fellow.
"Not a big surprise there," Amibar tells Ullar as they walk in, his face miserable. " Please don't do that Ullar, I can spare the humiliation," he adds weakly.
"Humiliation? You deserve all the credit you get, my friend. You saved our lives more than once with your magickal powers and that makes you powerful in my eyes. I meant everything I said about you Amibar, it's great having you around!" Ullar replies.
Ratlin nods and adds, "Any amount of magic makes one powerful."
"However, we will have to travel further today, so stabling of our horses is not necessary. Just provide them with some water and food, will you?" Ullar turns his attention back to the gnomes.
The two late-coming gnomes rush to do as Ullar says, taking the horses around to where the river has been diverted into a water trough for horses and begin to feed and groom the animals, which should help their market price.
"Say..", he addresses to the gnome who welcomed them when walking inside, ".. do you have anything other for sale than food and drinks? Our party needs some supplies for traveling."
Ratlin doesn't ask for much, mainly just parchment and ink. He is unsure if they would have any spell components here that would be of use.
Seeming to enjoy talking with Ullar about prices and equipment lists, the gnome haggles for some time. He has plenty of food and water, and will gladly sack some up as standard rations, though he has no travel fare. He has plenty of rations for horses, tack, bags, saddles, anything in that vein. There is even some hardware, shovels, iron spikes and hammers and rope for climbing.
Ullar asks Dakath to negotiate a deal for purchasing some saddlebags, some spikes and hammers and plenty of rope. A couple of standard rations are suggested by the warrior as well, as it seems that the party can never have enough of this.
Dakath nods "I'll see what I can do." he says before finding the patrons to do a bit of haggling.
The gnome seems cheered by Dakath's negotiations, obviously appraising the great wealth of the group (not by appearance, but strictly by the huge number of coins in their saddlebags. He seems to adjust his prices accordingly, and Dakath cannot manage to get him down into a reasonable priced area, though he keeps him from ridiculous gouging.
Who transports the climbing equipment has not been decided amongst the group, as it's rather bulky. Seems someone's horse will have to bear the weight.
Interestingly, he has some of the more pricey things that Dakath and Arkady want as well, colognes, waxes, bath oils, and what not, though in this rough country they don't get much use. He tells you all that he has kept such in store for the occasional merchant traveler. A merchant caravan comes through all the way from Turkey and supplies him with very fine things.
Asif overhears the mention of Turkey and his ears pick up. A broad smile crosses his face and he excuses himself and walks over to the merchant.
"Oh praise be to Aten efendi.. My ears echo with happiness with your mention of a land near my home. If you deal with merchants from Turkey my heart burns with hope that you carry goods which these infidels Italians know not how to truly appreciate. My senses cry for the sweet aroma of coffee. I Pray my friend that you carry such fine foodstuffs?"
The gnome happily shakes his head, "Indeed we do, though it is costly." Bringing forth some heavy Turkish ground coffee, he sells it to Asif for most of his remaining money. Smelling it and tasting it, it is rather crude and not very high quality, but coffee it is.
The cost for these fine aspects of gentlemanly attire is high, but nothing that you all would have trouble affording in the slightest. The gnome has nothing in the fashion of clothing for humans other than bathrobes. No weapons of any sort either.
Cheered by the beverages and food, Arkady purchases enough wax to fill his small box for his moustaches. He samples the colognes and selects one of musty spicy scent. Looking over the gnomes wares he finishes his purchases with some scented hair oil and a new black leather hair wrap.
It takes exactly half of Arkady's 200 gold to purchase all these fine things. Expensive indeed, but well worth it.
When Rhune hears of some of the things that the gnome her ears perk up. Getting with one of the gnomes she inquires about some rope and some of the bath oils. the latter she is looking for something that reminds her of her home, a light fragrance that bubbles when poured into water.
The gnome produces some, rather pleasant, and also gathers a coil of rope for her, at quite high prices.
Tolik, seeing that they are going to be stopping for a while, indicates that he will wait outside. When those going inside return, he is sitting on a branch of a tree near the building looking over his spellbook with one eye on the horses.
The group goes in to have a drink and relax while the horses are being taken care of. You see Stephen negotiating for hours with the gnomish spokesman, then handing over almost his entire saddle bag full of gold. Dakath is able to hear that they are speaking over the cost of ferrying everyone across the river, the cost of drinks and some hot food, the feeding and grooming of the horses. All in all, some five hundred gold pieces in cost, though Stephen never mentions it. You know that this is just about all that he brought for the trip.
Dakath purchases all the items he can from the gnomes and stores them away safely, he grins to himself as he does so.
It costs most of Dakath's spending money to purchase the fine gentlemanly wares, but again, it is worth it.
Once done he sits facing the door and eats as much as he can. He drinks little, the encounter by the river still fresh in his mind.
Arkady drinks heavily and seems happy although a look at his eyes reveals deep pain and anger. By the time Stephan has finished negotiating, Arkady is a bit tipsy. He mutters to himself in Russian and sings fragments of songs, some nonsense some in Russian some lewd Italian. Every time he pauses he takes another drink.
The food is good, and the ale better, and even though it's a brief respite, the group enjoys it immensely.
Ratlin sits back and relaxes, eating a small meal and drinking a mug of mead.
Rhune sits with Asif and orders tankard of ale and a small plate of food. For the hours that Stephen is negotiating she spends relaxing a little and talking with Asif and the others.
Enjoying this brief moment of relaxation utterly, Ullar enjoys all of it as if it was the last meal he will have in a century. Sitting comfortably in his chair, the warrior dozes off, trusting that someone will wake him when they are going to leave this great hostel.
Pietro is having a good meal, though he does not drink ale or any heavy meat or anything like that. Immediately after the meal, the elf stands up. "I am going for a walk and a jog, I will be seeing you in a while."
Outside, perching quietly in the trees, Tolik sees a group of eight men come riding up from the south. Riding in the front is a fellow in black leathers, rather undistinguished, but what disturbs him more is the other seven. All have shaven heads and are completely silent. The leader for the moment stops and speaks with the gnome spokesman. They are not close enough to see Tolik perched outside the hostel.
Tolik is rather disturbed by the similarity of these fellows to the others they just encountered. Doing his best to stay quiet and out of sight, he hops from branch to branch. He continues till he reaches the gnomish building, then he drops to the ground and runs in to tell the others.
As of now Rhune totally unaware of the approaching danger finishes off her food and ale. Turning to Stephen, "We should be going if we are to make our destination before nightfall." she says to him as she prepares to leave.
As she gets ready to leave, Rhune glances over at Ullar and chuckles softly to herself. Not truly wanting to disturb the big man but knowing he would hate it if he woke up and everyone had left already, she reaches out and gently shakes his shoulder, "Ullar, wake up. We are getting ready to leave."
Still sleepy, the warrior gets up. "So soon? Well, I guess you are right. Let's get our gear and horses.." says Ullar, yawning a little.
Just then, as Ullar is awakened and Pietro has already headed for the door, the door opens quickly and Tolik comes rushing in. He tells you about the group of men that he has seen.
Hearing this, Rhune sighs, "I think we should try and avoid them if possible. Perhaps we can slip out another way." she fingers her longsword though in any event, waiting to see what the others will do, stepping just a little closer to Asif in the process.
Dakath leaps to his feet drawing his longsword "Let's get to the stables and get the horses." He moves towards the back of the Inn "just as I was about to relax!" he says quietly to himself.
"I hear you Dakath. But I agree let's go." Rhune replies with a sigh.