Game thread - It begins...

"Bastards!" Ax spat on the ground. Yet here he was on the same team. "I'll help you Arnd," his distaste for the man temporarily overshadowed by his anger at the soldiers. "Let's get the goods to town."

Rose looks around with a perplexed look. She wanted to separate the two sketchy members of the group from what she saw as the reliable members, but it didn't seem like fate was working in that direction. The group as a whole is starting to look like a dog with a short attention span.

"Making sure farmers are safe on their way to market is our official assignment. I will accompany you." Truth be told, all of the options seem like equally important tasks. Splitting up may not be a bad idea but there are so many unknowns... it could be risky. The bandits are the least sure thing. They could be anywhere. They might not be bandits. Who knows? The same goes for dangerous animals. In her mind, the only certainty is that a farmer who needs an entourage.

Phineas nodded to Arden. "I understand," he replied. Then he gave their hosts his attention. The behavior of those soldiers toward the farmers was terrible; barbaric, even. The cleric sympathized with them, but was sure how best to help, apart from treating them decently.

Arnd was quick to offer to help the couple get their wares to market, as the group had apparently been instructed to do. Aaxi agreed with him, and Rose fell in line, too. He had little doubt but that Arden would as well. Instead of following suit, though, Phineas asked the couple, "How may I best be of assistance to you? The work you are doing is vital to the well-being of the entire community and I would see it continue."

Arden seems distracted as the group talks, searching the countryside around them for something, but when he turns it is clear that he's been listening. "Hold up, the lot of you. You're like a flock of birds wheeling in the air every time the wind changes. We don't have express orders. We're supposed to keep things safe out here. I for one don't like the idea of leaving these robbers be. They've already used the road to hold someone up, and I'd wager they're like to do it again."

Looking at the farmer, and at Arnd, the bearded man continues. "Make ready to go into town. We'll escort you. Just not today or tomorrow. Give us time to track down some men we believe might be troublemakers, and maybe even find these other sorts who treated you badly, straighten them out. When we come back, we'll take you."

When Phineas seemed to be angling for a job on the farm, Arden nipped that in the bud. "We'll need you to identify these men, Phineas. You'll need to be with us."

The soldier pointedly ignores Swaneke when the man talks about worgs, judging it best to not even broach the subject. Because if it's true, they'll need more arms and armor, more numbers to counter the threat.

Arden was definitely the voice of reason in this group and now Ax was torn as to what to do. "Won't the goods spoil if we wait that long, Arden? I don't disagree with you about the robbers and troubemakers but perhaps we should be sure the food won't rot."

"What were you planning on taking to town?" Ax asks the farmer. "Can it wait a few days?"

When Rose sees the man with the cart, an idea comes to mind. "Perhaps we can speed up the process of finding the bandits and get to helping out the farmer a little sooner than expected." She pauses as she tries to find the words to properly detail her plan in a way that makes sense. "The bandits are bound to be holed up somewhere defensible. It will be dangerous going after them. What if we drew them out? Did your parents ever tell you the story of the Jardierian Horse? The one where a noble gifted his rival a large wooden horse statue as a trap? The horse was actually filled with soldiers who leapt out in the middle of the night and opened the gates to the castle, allowing a quickly and bloodless siege. We could try to pull off something similar.

"If these bandits are after food, then the farmer is going to be a target when he goes to market. What if one of us dresses up like a farmer and leads the cart toward town while the rest of us hid beneath cover inside the cart? The bandits are bound to strike if they see just one lone, unarmed man transporting goods. We can catch them by surprise, force them to surrender, and then discuss their options."

She bites her lip nervously. "Its just at thought. I don't know if it would actually work."

"That's not a bad idea," Phineas says. "But we couldn't ask these folks to loan us a cart when they have crops to bring in from the field."

Then, as if the thought had just occurred to him, he turns to the couple and continues. "Of course, the loan of a cart would be a small price to pay for the apprehension of any bandits operating hereabout. Particularly if someone had one to spare...?"

The Jardierian Horse. The lass wanted to build the Jardierian Horse -- or what amounted to one.

Now Arden liked the farm girl. He didn't know her circumstances, but certainly it wasn't her choice to be conscripted into a fool's army, and certainly he couldn't fault her for her inexperience. But he also couldn't bear the thought of hiding in a cart all day, or of walking to town as a farmer, hoping to draw out highwaymen.

"One problem," the man says, pointing. "The city and the market are that way..."

He turns and points in the other direction. "And the men that accosted the priest here, that. We'll need to move with speed to catch them as-is -- which is why I didn't want to stop for the day here, recall, and press on quickly."

Looking at their host, he adds, "The good farmer here has told us we have a few days. Let's use them. If we find nothing, or if we find that the roads are thick with rough brigands and sly swindlers, we'll we can build ourselves a Jardierian Horse."

Arden looks at the girl, not enjoying squashing her enthusiasm. "Fair?"

Ax wonders when a decision they all can agree on will actually be made. Listening to Arden's logic though, he makes sense. The girl's idea was interesting but a little over the top for his liking even though he could fashion such a thing.

"So we are back to pursuing bandits then? Are we all in agreement now?" he asked, in an effort to get something happening.

Rose puts on an extra wide smile and enthusiastically nods her head in agreement. It isn't hard to tell that she is a little embarrassed, but it could have gone worse. At least the group didn't outright laugh at her suggestion. She swallows her pride and prepares to head out when ready.

"Two days ago," Phineas replied. "It was the day before yesterday, just past noon. Someone accustomed to traveling on foot could certainly have covered the distance quicker, but I can't say by how much."

Phineas knew that he should admit, right now, that he had spent nearly as much sitting beside the road rubbing his sore feet as he had spent walking both yesterday and today. Everyone was bound to realize, in short order, just how ill-suited he was to traipsing around in a suit of chain armor, but he was determined not to show any sign of weakness; particularly not to Swaneke. He'd either keep up or die trying.

"Let's not lose more time then," Arden says, turning to go. To the farmer, he nods. "We'll be back. Give us two full days, then we'll aid you in getting your goods to the city."

And with that -- he goes.

"That's what I've been saying Arden!" Ax grabs his belongings, puts his axe over his back and starts heading down the road at a brisk clip. "Well come on then," he shouts to the rest of the group. "Let's get moving."