Chapter Two: The Hippocampus on the Cracked Lintel

I was holding off on mentioning the Ix-Say Onged-Pray Own-Cray, but with my Insight check it's probably OK.

Harmon grimaces, and looks up toward the loft where his daughters are still not-so-subtly eavesdropping. "I see. In that case, it seems that we ought to prepare ourselves in case they find their way here."

I'll wait for Vad to weigh in here, but unless you have further questions for the Koals, you can regroup with the others and fill them in on what you've learned.

Rolley looks up. "Dad, I'll take them. We can cross with the Sabans' boat, and I'll show them to Beth Rut for horses."

Harmon shakes his head. "You heard what they said. These people are mixed up in some dangerous business, and we'll be lucky if it doesn't catch up with us here. You're staying here until we know this has blown over."

"Harmon. He'll be nineteen this winter. I think Rolley is more than capable of handling himself," Harmon's wife says, speaking up for the first time. She turns to her son. "Just as far as Beth Rut, and then you'll come back. Promise?"

Rolley nods eagerly. Harmon rolls his eyes. "Well, it's up to them," he says, indicating Vad, Mordred, and Leth.

You discuss some of the logistics with the Koals. Beth Rut is a farming settlement about five miles northwest from the other side of the river. The advantage of having Rolley with you is that you'll get free use of the boat (the Sabans would be unlikely to loan it to a party of strangers, especially with no obvious means or timeframe for getting it back over to them) and Rolley can probably vouch for you at Beth Rut so you can temporarily hire the horses and a servant to bring them back to the farm, rather than buying them outright (which would be prohibitively expensive).

That said, to cover thirty-five miles horse travel isn't going to be significantly faster than travel on foot, since you can't really push the horses at galloping speed for very long, and you could probably get your own ferry across the river without too much difficulty if you let your gold pieces do the talking.

Meanwhile, at the Coiled Rope, the band has played their final song and most of the diners have started settling their bills and going home for the night.

How about an Insight roll for figuring out Zora's possible reasons for taking the Badgerways?

Sounds like the mood is tending towards crossing the river tonight and getting as close to King's Cradle as you can before stopping to rest, any objections to that?