Chapter 2: Out of the Frying Pan

Hearing the commotion from the main room causes Elora to cautiously peek out, noticing the unharmed Yelnar. Silently she follows a few paces behind, interested in what the cellar holds.

What is this...

Yelnar says "Thankyou", then starts thinking deeply.

He thanks Epwrath and Elora for their help, then says "We're going to need to get everyone together and come up with a plan - this just got more complicated. We should be able to use this place as a base of operations for now, and there are some things we'll need to find that might be of use to us. Let's go round up the others and meet in the Main Hall here."

"If we're using this as our base, we need to get that cart of provisions inside the keep," Verrian says. "And we should try not to leave any evidence that anyone is here visible from the outside. It's unlikely that anyone will come by, since they probably believe they've killed or captured everyone who would have reason to be here, but it's better to show caution, I think."

"Right, I doubt it will make it across the bridge, but we can easily setup a ferry system down that small ravine passing things across and up the other side to carry things across quickly enough. With the gear off of it, I can get the sled up the other side. It's really just weapons and armour and a few general supplies. including some trail rations." He pulls out his Father's letter that had some references to caches around the area, and has some ideas on where his mothers spellbooks might be. "I'm going to need some help working out where these caches are - some of the knowledge will likely be magical - someone from Whitestone College is probably best suited to think like my Father."

Yelnar seems energised now that he has some hope that his mother is OK and he has a clear goal in front of him.

Verrian gets to work organizing the manual transport of the items on the cart up through the ravine and up to the keep.

Yelnar looks to see if there is any paper or parchment and writing implements useable in the study.

He starts trying to think back on his Strategic lessons from Granite College. These classes were never his strongpoint, but he got through by breaking it down into smaller parts, one thing at a time.

The first part of it is easy enough - What is the goal? To free my mother from the One-Eyed Crows.

How do we do that? We need more information on the Crows, how strong are they, how close to this Disara person?

If he can't find any gear to write with, he'll go and see Epwrath, who he knows he has seen writing a fair bit.

"Magical caches could be useful. I can help with locating them, I think." Elora pulls out her personal journal and records some of their current tasks.

On the hill

Having collected some dandelions with Viani, Ember has moved on to meat. She'd rather not use the trail rations unless absolutely necessary. She looks around to see what kind of options she has and gazes down the hill.

Hey, Viani, do you think we could take the cart down the hill together? I'm assuming the lack of yelling is a good thing, but maybe we should get closer to the others too, just in case. And I know we don't need much more fresh food yet, but I'm kinda wondering if I can freeze a small mammal to death. Cuz like, we'll run out of good food eventually, and if I can hunt without using physical weapons, then I think that'll help.

"I don't think we should push the cart into the ravine. It'll get stuck there and we won't have the strength to pull it out." When Ember suggests her hunting plan, Viani doesn't look comfortable with it. She goes over to the cart and digs for a crossbow, hoping that her careless throwing of weapons onto the cart earlier has not snapped it's string. Once she finds one, she takes it in her hands and says to Ember: "We should hunt with this. If you use magic to freeze the animal, you'll probably ruin the meat. And besides, you shouldnt be seen using magic by anyone out here. It's dangerous."

"Thanks Elora, hopefully between me knowing this place and your arcane knowledge, we can work at least some of these out" says Yelnar, starting to have a look "I think this one refers to the roots of the old fig tree.."

As Viani is looking over the crossbow to make sure it's still in full working order - it's been a while since she actually handled one but she has had some crossbow training at the college - Verrian comes back from the estate up to the cart where she and Ember are waiting. She explains her plan to move all the equipment from the cart to the other side of the bridge manually and then move the empty cart there. Viani picks up all her bags and pouches she's always carrying and reattaches her ranseur to the holder at her back. Then she picks up a few other weapons in addition to the crossbow she's holding. She turns to Ember and says: "Looks like we'll have to postpone our hunt. Let's do it when we make camp tonight!"

Ember gives a halfhearted smile to Viani, quickly distracted by Verrian.

How bad is it down there?

Verrian begins picking up an armload of items from the cart. "No survivors of the raid," she says, "although Yelnar's mother seems to have left a message that she was captured and taken to the Citadel. The message instructed any family who might come around to locate her caches of spellbooks and bring them to her."

Her voice is dry and thoughtful as she makes this statement. "Yelnar is already working on figuring out where the spellbooks are."

The citadel. Where the One-Eyed Crows are? Does this mean those jerks work for Disos?

She's relieved Yelnar's mother might be alive. Though, knowing how creative her own family could be, death might be better.

"Almost certainly. Some of the dead in the keep are outfitted with rusty and dented armor and weaponry, similar to Ildemu's crew."

After a long, glazed over stare, Ember snaps to. She realizes she's been muttering spells under her breath, and multicolored flame illusions dance on her skin. She smacks the left side of her head and they stop. She sighs wearily.

I'm guessing we're going to the Citadel after all, then?

She glances at Viani, afraid to see her reaction.