Part 8: New Company

Mal shrugs and returns to the taproom.

Gilly finds her way downstairs and through the night’s patrons of the inn. She clambers up on to the chair beside Mal, and looks up at her. It’s the first time in hours that she’s looked up at any of her companions.

"He…" meaning Bors "…muttered something about the wizard’s magic in his sleep. I don’t think he’s too impressed." a smile crosses her face.

Mal snorts halfway through a swing of ale and foam blows out her nose.

"So at least his wisecracker's not broken! Haha!"

Mal can tell the last trip to the Moathouse took a heavy toll on the Halfling and she puts a rough hand on Gilly's shoulder. She tries to think of something inspirational to say and realizes just what a heavy toll it's taken on herself as well.

"I trust only you Gilly. And maybe this lunk here,"

Mal jerks a thumb towards Thurig who grunts in return,

"We are trying to do something good down there, something heroic. I understand if you have to go, but selfishly I need your support down there. We gotta stick together."

Thurig tamps his mug on the table in agreement, keeping his eyes on his ale.

"But we could take a break... What if we gather a possy and run down those gnolls who robbed us? That sound like a good in-between?"

Gilly smiles awkwardly as the plea to stay is made, with a hand on her shoulder.

"It’s not me you need to ask about staying together. It’s… you know who. I stayed down there in the dark with you and Bors. You didn’t hear the sounds…"

Then she shrugs. Shrugs away the thoughts, and in response to the question of what to do next.

"If we delay too long, then there’ll be more waiting for us when we go back…"

But she had to admit that she liked the sound of being outdoors for a while. Grass under her feet instead of old stone.

"That's a good point, perhaps we should keep the pressure on while we have some headway."

"Not that I wouldn’t love to stay away from that place. And we haven’t found much to pay for all the blood…"

She looks to where the wizard went upstairs.

"Reckon he’d like to chase them down and all. Not my decision, really." she says with a shrug.

Ora Rusk pulls her cloak tight around herself to keep out the chill that comes with later in the day. She passes under the gate of the village just before they bar the way for the night. She keeps her hood up as she winds the streets of the village and takes in the sights and smells of the place.

Hommlet… she had finally arrived. Tracking down the gnolls hadn’t been easy. It hadn’t been entirely clever either. She had no great notion as to her ability to handle a pack of them by herself. No… But this would be the place to find recent news of them, and perhaps a friendly face or two.

If the rumors were true, and the gnolls had been causing trouble around Hommlet, she suspected she would wander right up to a ready-made band of folk already keen on dealing with the menace.

The Medium is taken aback by the offer and discussion. The opportunity to cooperate with another spellcaster was often far and few between, and many spells had to be discovered after the unfortunate demise of another. That Spugnoir was willing to swap spells was incredible! He allows the younger man to continue his speech, and only after he has finished does Eltrezar respond. Hrmph! "You have made quite the irresistable offer, and I must speak with my companions before giving you an answer. There is a chance we will be undertaking a mission to put down some foul creatures outside of the moathouse before we continue back in, which is not part of your own mission. But allow me the evening to deliberate and to gather an answer for you."

He heads back downstairs to find Gilly and Mal sitting at a table. He joins the two, and begins explaining. Ahem! "As you have seen, I was approached by that young man who wished to have words with me. As it turns out, he is on a mission of his own to investigate the presence of a Warlock- a particularly nasty sort of spellcaster, if you do not know- lurking in the depths of the moathouse. He has asked we take him on for assistance, and he asks only for any arcane scrolls we come across as payment. I have reason to trust his motives are pure, and so I am keen to tell him yes. But I wished to speak with you before I did so."

He stops to breathe for a moment before continuing. "Ah, where was I... Right! I believe it would be in our best interest and that of the town to go after these Gnolls we allowed to escape. The leader stated they would be around for only a few days, and I suspect they might depart sooner rather than later. It would be a nice change of pace to quest out in the open for once, and to enjoy the clean air instead of that of the dank tunnels. If this is the case, we would need to hire more swords to help us rid the area of the Gnoll menace. And we would tell the other arcanist to wait for our return to the depths." He finishes speaking, but the group knows to wait some time before responding. After all, he was rarely finished speaking. This time, however, he had said his piece.

Luban widens his eyes in mock surprise as he pulls out his purse, withdrawing another few coins. He slaps them on the table, giving Ostler a wink oh so full of sass. Whether he was staying his course out of pride or a genuine inability to handle his money, who knew?

As the old wizard makes his way back downstairs, Mal greets him with a nod and waves him over to their shared table.

"Everything on the up and up?" she asks grimly.

"I know you were hoping to chase down those gnolls but Gilly makes a good point. We have pushed far into the ruins and made much havoc in that place, if we deviate now we might find that the evil we seek to destroy has fled or worse, bolstered it's defenses."

Eltrezar strokes his long beard at Maloria's statement. Hrmmm... "It might be prudent of us to return to the moathouse if only to take the remaining weapons and armors from the basement. If they are to restock their forces, we should try to prevent them from adequately arming themselves. What we saw in those rooms was of fine quality, and they would be unlikely to find the same quality in any nearby timeframe. We do not need to continue further, as far as I'm concerned, at least until we have found trustworthy swordarms. Speaking of which, how is Bors fairing? I hope he will make it through the night without complication!"

"Bors will live, he just needs rest and time. And probably a fair bit of ale if I'm to be honest. Your plan is sound but I must tell you that I intend to rip the evil out of that place root and stem. I understand if you cannot or will not follow until the bitter end, I would be glad of your assistance for as long as you are willing."

Eltrezar puts his hands up defensively, though it is clear Mal was not attacking him. Hrmph! "I did not mean to imply we would not return. Just that there are other matters just as pressing. As soon as we deal with these Gnolls, we should be right back in that ruin. If there is truly a warlock down there, or even just a man with some power, then it would behoove us to put an end to his reign. And there will likely be spoils in it for us. I would see this through, as well!"

"Maybe you need to settle it with an arm wrestling match, eh? The gnolls or the fort?" Gilly has already said her piece on the matter. Clerics, in her briefest of experiences, tended to be quite inflexible when they had set their mind.

And yet the wizard was a stubborn old mule too, but perhaps less so. She didn’t care much anyway… She’d let them thrash out the details!

Ora stops at the entrance to the inn, and places a hand on the door. She feels the last cool breeze of evening on her face, not expecting to leave again for the night. Then she pushes in to the stuffy, sweaty air of the inn. Each one she visited had the same smell… and yet different. Familiar, but with a unique twist on it.

She stands in the door way, throws back her blue cloak, and lets her hair down for the first time since morning. She doesn’t look around the room. She knew that invited looks in return… and trouble.

She crosses straight for the bar.

"Busy night in here. Ale, please!" she says, bubbly enough and a big smile crosses her face. She never smiled with her teeth. Rather she forced her lips upwards. It was more in the cheeks really, and the eyes. She felt tiredness tug at her, but it always good to get on the Batman’s good side!

Eltrezar gives Gilly a double take. Ahem! "At least the little one is joking again. I know this has been hardest on you, as your heart is much larger than your small stature would suggest... or permit."

He turns back to Mal. "Allow me to make this proposition. We take the morning and prepare. I will speak with the Druid and inform him of what we have found, and ask for any more assistance. You should find steeled warriors to join our cause. By noon, we head back to the moathouse to determine how the forces have been bolstered, and to retrieve the arms and armours that they would use against us. In and out. The following day, we head to stop the Gnolls. If they are the ones that have been harassing caravans, perhaps we can request more assistance from the town as a whole upon putting them down. Once that task is complete, we return to the dungeons and clear it of cult and warlock."

Mal takes a pull of her ale and nods,

"It seems an agreeable plan, without their armory the cult in the keep will have difficulty bolstering their defenses. Might buy us a couple days."

Luban holds his hand out for the key to his suite, a stupid grin plastered on his face, when suddenly he freezes in place. The woman that just walked in. All that hair. That entirely genuine smile. This was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. And he finds himself unable to take his eyes off of her.