Chapter Two: The Hippocampus on the Cracked Lintel

"It's a vague enough description, but given the circumstances, it must be her. Please, where did you hear this?"

Refresh my memory, PBO: Do I have a destination where I expect to meet Zora, or am I just looking for any trace of her?

Zangua pauses, staring at Mordred in thought. "What'd she do, to have all this attention from would-be suitors?" he finally asks, putting together the various scenarios in his mind. Zangua's expression indicates that while he said 'suitors' he really does not mean it in the romantic sense.

"To be honest, I don't fully understand. As I say, her father was accused of a crime he did not commit and was wrongly executed. She fled the city to avoid the ire of the of the Tetrarchs. Based on what my new friends have told me about this Society of The Six Pointed Crown, they must have some involvement in the crime, and perhaps they seek to eliminate my friend because of something she knows."

Zangua looks to the others in Mordred's group, who have been silent or coy in their conversation thus far. "So your friends are helping you find this woman?" he asks, while not deviating his gaze. "Well, I don't know where the woman herself is, but from what I was told, I can take you to the place where these Society folk would contact anyone who had information."

A pause. "Maybe," continues Zangua, "you go there pretending to have information, and when they contact you, you capture them and find out more. Or maybe I go, since you said they are hunting you and your faces might be known to them." With that last bit, he looks at Shamush to see if he might be interested in this new direction.

Shamush shrugs and scratches at his chin, saying, "Sounds interesting enough to me. Seems like it's pretty tangled, but I like a puzzle."

Leth puts down what he was eating and stands up, his agitation finally getting the better of him.
"No." He says firmly. "Sorry, but this is very sensitive information you've just been given, and to be quite honest, we don't know you, nor do we have any idea how trustworthy you may be... surely you understand. We can't let you to take that information anywhere near those men. I appreciate your hospitality, but it's become nearly impossible to know who we can and cannot trust. Even if you are trustworthy, there has already been too much innocent blood spilled on account of these events and I would personally rather not further endanger any more lives unnecessarily... If you have no information that can help us find Z-" He caught himself. "...the woman we're looking for, our best course of action is simply to rest here for the night, then be on our separate ways in the morning."

Zangua gives Leth a hard stare. "Innocent," he scoffs. "You think you're saving me? Sparing me from some pain? Listen, boy, I don't know what fancy high-borne wall you grew up behind, but nobody's innocent. Sure, you're all acting noble here like you're only interested in laying your own life on the line, but that only works in bedtime stories you tell little kids to give them delusions of grandeur.

"Trust? That's something you earn, not something you give away. Damn straight you don't trust me now. But in this day and age, on these dark fields, you rely on actions to tell you whether or not you sleep with one eye open. Now so far we haven't tried to gut you, and we've been willing to share what little food we've got even though I'm hungry enough to see if that big dog over there tastes as gamy as a small one. But understand that I'm basically willing to go with you and bash some heads in on your behalf so you can rescue your girlfriend. And it'd be a risk of my neck on my own terms and my own initiative, just like you and your friends decided it'd be fun to do."

"He's right, Leth. And to be frank, we could use the muscle. Besides, what more do we have to trust them with? They already know about as much as we do.

Zangua, Shamush, we would be grateful for your assistance, as long as you understand that others have died for even brushing up against our quest."

Mordred lays out everything he knows about Zora's escape from Sthombo for the party, and explains that his best guess was to follow the Ophid to try and find her campsite.

"Let's find these men that Zangua speaks of, and see if we can learn what they know."

Leth's hands tighten up into fists as he is about to give his retort, but Mordred is quicker. Leth clenches his jaw and glares briefly at Zangua, then looks back to Mordred. He doesn't give voice to his thoughts - what if Zangua and Shamush sell them out to the witch-men when they met up? They were promised a reward for any info, and had no reason to be loyal to this group of strangers they had just met. Leth just had to hope that they were of good moral fiber. And it was true, they had welcomed them in after being attacked for seemingly no reason... although that could just as easily be a front.

He exhales and throws his hands up. "Okay. Sure. Whatever. If anyone is going to go meet up with the witch-men, I suppose it should be them. Vad, Felor, and myself might be recognized. Mordred, you should go with them... just in case it goes bad and you guys have to fight your way out." Or if they sell us out... He thinks, but doesn't say that out loud.

"Although I feel compelled to say that I still don't think it's a good idea over all. The longer it takes for us to get to Zora, the harder she'll be to find, and she could be just as likely to give us the information we seek as the witch-men... I'm not sure how easy it will be to get info from them. They are the ones looking for info... and if you tell them you have some, they'll try to get it out of you. They probably won't be willing to give you much in return. He shrugs. "I dunno... I think our priority should be finding Zora." He finishes, looking expectantly at the rest of the group to see what they think.

Felor watches the exchange between Leth, Mordred, and Zangua, before piping up.
"There's a saying back in the mountains - The slumbering wolf does not get the ham. We can be as cautious as we like, but too much caution is a folly rather than an advantage. I agree, they should go to meet the witch-men, but we should observe, hidden, in case they need our assistance."

"Leth, you are right. We should be looking for Zora, but unless you know something I don't, I think this is the best way to find her. I know - or rather I think - she is camping along the Ophid, but even if I'm right that means dozens of miles with hundreds of hiding places. We might as well follow this lead first."

"Then it's settled. We leave at first light." Mordred climbs into the hayloft to sharpen his rapier and get a few hours sleep.

Before he settles in for the night, Felor goes to check if the dog-man has regained conciousness.