The Grayhaven City Gates

Having little skill in slowing the carriage, Eozindra reaches for the flute she had been playing so happily earlier. She continues running after the carriage and breathes a sharp, high, yet clear tone on the instrument. "Look out! she calls to anyone who may not have realized the charging chaos. She repeats the tone and alternates another note, creating a pulsing alarm in aims of alerting as many individuals as possible. "Out of the way!" The alarm song continues between shouts.

Eozindra's piping galvanizes the people in the plaza into further movement, and the crowd parts in front of the charging horses. Elysia calls to the passenger in the carriage, whose wild eyes stare out at her in alarm. Where once there was a dwarf, Morik is now a horse, cantering next to the horses, trying to exude a sense of calm and purpose to the panicked animals. On the buckboard, Adran and Bramlin together grab the reins and haul on them, leaning almost horizontally backwards. The bridles of the horses pull their heads back and they rear. As their hooves touch the cobblestones again, the momentum of the massive carriage pushes them a few steps further. But as the elegantly-dressed dwarf in the carriage pops open the door and prepares to leap trustingly into Elysia's arms, the vehicle finally comes to a stop less than a pace from the front door of a shop with the picture of a gleaming ball on a shingle hanging over it (in small letters below the picture it reads "Briny's Best Baubles" for those tourists who can read).

Bram and Adran jump down from the buckboard, and after thanking Argus, Adran joins the shape-shifting Morik to examine the horse as the driver arrives. Between the two of them, they pull something out of the horse's flank and then heal the horse's wound. Adran palms the bolt, figuring that it's something he can examine at his leisure later, with some privacy. Elowin accepts Argus' invitation and ushers Findal into the carriage. Bram accepts the thanks of the fancy dwarf, and hops into the carriage also. The interior is lushly apportioned, with artistically carved scrollwork around the windows, cushions built into the seats, a miniature table attached to the floor, and several other decorations or features whose purpose is unclear. It's clearly a carriage meant to be hired by wealthy people. Findal sinks into one of the seats with a sigh. "This is quite an improvement over the wagon!" he beams, then claps a hand over his mouth, realizing that his piping little voice might give away that there is a gnome here.

Still outside, Morik helps the driver (who completely missed the druid's transformation into a horse and back again) finish harnessing the team - something Morik had much practice at during the caravan's journey, the many times he assisted Gavath - as Eozindra bends down and stands up again looking plainer, or at least somehow less striking. Adran has a momentary thought that the two half-elves, Elysia and Eozindra, suddenly look like two sides of the same coin, one dark-haired and mysterious, the other platinum-haired and ebullient. That impression passes after a moment like the sun passing behind a cloud. The driver is leading the horses around in a wheeling circle, repositioning the carriage so that it can proceed down the streets again. The Duke's guards are almost upon the group. It is not clear whether they heard the gnome or are just coming to see that everyone is unharmed after that dangerous near-crash.