Chapter 2.1b: Search Party (Hochoch)

Soon after, the three heroes meet the numerous members of the Jarl family and confirm that they're ready to start the journey home. The younger children chatter and point out various buildings and landmarks in the town, as if they themselves were intimately familiar with the community, rather than on their first visit to the town themselves.

The Realstream River is broad and placid here, with a long stone bridge that runs across it from Hochoch on the west bank to the various farm plots on the east. Cecily's Road quickly turns northeast, toward the thick woods that are the Dim Forest. The day is bright and warm, the sky is clear, and the Jarl family members are all reunited and returning home at last. The air is festive, but the going is slow as the young children are quick to tire of walking.

At first, little Wenderly is fascinated by Arya's singing and is content to toddle along by her side. But soon enough, his little chubby legs get weary, and his father Jarl picks him up and sets him on his shoulders. At a glance from Elista, Abel moves to walk on the other side of his wife. "Illustrious Lady," Elista remarks with a smile, "If it is permitted to ask you: how is it that someone so beautiful has dedicated her life to Pelor, rather than finding a husband of your own and starting a family?" She looks at Emiless and Devek, who are both staring shyly at the hero. "I beg forgiveness if I have offended, Magnificent One. But you seem to have a way with children. Have you thought about having any of your own?"

Meanwhile, as the Dim Forest grows ever closer, Torren has approached Manthis. "Mighty One, you sure are strong!" Manthis recalls that the little boy had been especially enthusiastic in his applause when the fighter had demonstrated his sword skills at the Inn of Eternal Rest in Hochoch.

Amused at the spectacle of the farmwife interrogating the acolyte, it takes Rosemary a moment to notice that the Jarls' eldest child, Abella, is walking meekly by her side. "Yes, child? What is it?" Rosemary is hoping that the preteen girl wants to ask her about baking, or possibly wants to cadge an extra pastry, rather than coming to her to ask for some sort of advice on puberty (which her attitude suggests might be the case). "Glorious Hero, I've been wondering..." ::Here it comes...:: Rosemary winces internally, but Abella surprises her.
"E-exalted Empress, when did you know that you wanted to be an adventurer?"

The party follows Cecily's Road and enters the Dim Forest well before midday. The dirt of the road is hard-packed from decades of travel, but you can see that the forest is slowly trying to reclaim the road: weeds and grasses have sprouted at the edges and in deeper ruts, allowed to grow because the traffic on the road has dwindled almost to zero. The trees' canopy is thick overhead, casting the road in shade; the air is cool and moist, refreshing after the heat of the hike to get this far. It feels calm, peaceful, and old. It is strange to think that the woman who hired you, Cecily Raptor, walked these same woods hundreds of years ago, blazing the trail that became this road that bears her name.

The journey continues uneventfully, though Wenderly ends up getting carried more than he walks, with Abel and Elista trading their youngest back and forth. Abella sings for a time; she has a pleasant enough voice, and the rest of the family sings accompaniment at times. Not long after entering the forest, the family stops for a meal, and afterward you all continue on further east. By the end of the day, the singing has stopped. The family is exhausted and the children are irritable, squabbling with each other or sulking.

Finally, a little while after sunset ("Not far now," Abel keeps assuring his exhausted children), everyone brightens when they see the little trail leading off of the Road: the path to the Jarl homestead! The older children's pace picks up, and Elista smiles in relief, handing Wenderly (who is completely asleep and limp like a rag doll) back to her husband. "Thank you for your company, Exalted Ones. Our home is far, far too humble, but would your Majesties allow us to provide you a meal and a place to sleep tonight?"

Elista is pleased at this response and looks fondly at her husband Abel, who is carrying Wenderly on his shoulders while trying to lift his arms with Devek and Torren clinging on to his wrists.

Torren tires of the game and returns to admire the towering warrior Manthis (from the boy's perspective, Manthis is a giant). Sure enough, when the fighter offers his sword, Torren tries and fails to lift it with his spindly arms, but it is certainly an experience he won't forget. "He's a protector!" Torren informs his siblings. "I'm gonna be a protector, too!"

The children perk up at seeing the familiar sight of the path leading to their home, and Elista hurries ahead with them. By the time the party arrives at the forest cottage, there is a warm glow of light in the windows. Devek is bringing firewood in from the shed, Abella is hauling in a bucket of water from the well, and Emiless has lit several lanterns while their mother is kindling a fire in the kitchen fireplace. Abel bids Torren prepare places for the heroes, and he pulls out chairs for them at the one table. Meanwhile, Abel carries Wenderly up the very narrow staircase and returns a minute later. Soon enough there is stew bubbling on the fire and the group enjoys some mead and cheese while they wait for the hot meal to cook.During the meal, the younger children Torren, Emiless, and even Devek yawn and begin to doze until Abel sends them away from the table to get to bed. Elista notices how preteen Abella is looking at Manthis with big eyes and gives her the task of clearing the table and scrubbing out the wooden bowls. Then Abella, Elista, and Abel all help move the chairs and table to one side before bringing out straw mattresses for the heroes. "Awesome Worthies, we do not have a separate room for your rest, but do make yourself comfortable here." Indeed the room remains quite warm from the fire that has burned down to coals; a fine testament to how well Abel built and maintained the cottage over the years.

The next day dawns. What do you do?

As they prepare supper, Elista is clearly impressed that Arya gets her hands dirty with something as mundane as food preparation, but the class difference between them is so great that the Jarls never stop addressing the heroes with hyperbolic honorifics like "Dazzling Magnificences" and "Astounding Zeniths." It's a familiar custom that is peculiar to rustic Keoland. The heroes had heard about the practice, but might not have heard it or even believed it before arriving in Hochoch.

After the meal, Manthis delights everyone with his flute music, and Abella sings improvised songs to his melodies. They are familiar, classic songs in Gorna and Niole Dra, but none of the Jarls have ever heard them until now, and the heroes find Abella's invented lyrics both awkward and charming. She beams with pride, and gets rousing applause from her parents.

After this entertainment as the other children retire to sleep, Rosemary continues her conversation with the eldest Jarl child, Abella. Rosemary is relieved to find that it isn't just a crush that is driving Abella's curiosity about adventuring - though it is true that she does ask a lot of questions about Manthis' romantic prospects and sighs when talking about Quest Damoran (another Dungeon Buster who visited the family previously). Mainly, she clearly has a romantic view of a life different from the one she has known: going wherever her whim takes her, exploring far-off places, commanding respect, and earning a fortune for herself and her family through valiant labor. This last one seems to be a particular motivation: the girl peppers Rosemary with a lot of questions about what it's like to be so rich; the idea of paying someone else to prepare a meal to eat in a restaurant is what she sees is the very apex of luxury, much less buying clothes made to order by a seamstress! The girl is agog with the direction her life has taken recently, since her brother nearly died and these benevolent demigods appeared and gave them a taste of what it's like to be Important. What she's not realizing is the uncertainty of adventure: the constant danger that could end your life any day, the lean times when you have to steal or go hungry, the suspicion and prejudice that meets armed mercenaries in many towns, the horror of killing to stay alive. Abella eats up any stories of adventure that Rosemary shares but clearly the tales of hardships endured make little impression on her.

Rising before dawn as is customary, Rosemary begins to work on the daily bread. She's just finished mixing the batter when Abel and Elista arrive, tip-toeing down the stairs. Abel leaves quietly out the door. Elista is clearly astonished that another one of the "Fantastic Paragons" is getting her hands dirty in their humble kitchen, but she quickly begins to work alongside the halfling hero in preparing more food. One by one, the older children Abella, Devek, and Emiless appear (Abella looking very drowsy) and begin their routine morning labors: fetching water, gathering eggs, replenishing the firewood, and so on. They continue in this way for a while, moving as quietly as they can around the sleeping "Glorious Masters."

Then, despite sleeping soundly through all of this activity, Arya's eyes suddenly snap open, wide awake and knowing as she always does when the sun will rise. She makes her way outside and looks critically at the arrangement of buildings and trees in the Jarl homestead. It's just as she thought when she looked at it last night: they're all too close together for Pelor's first rays to reach the ground anywhere here. So she lets herself into the barn and emerges a few moments later, grunting as she heaves a crude ladder out with her...

So it is a few minutes later that Abel, Devek, and Emiless stop and stare in wonder at the sight of Lady Arya, somewhat disheveled and with straw from the thatch roof in her hair, standing atop the barn with her arms outstretched as the first rays of the sunrise slip between a tiny gap in the thick tree canopy to precisely bathe her in a golden glow. The three of them are down on the ground in the darkness, while she shines above them like a beacon. None of them have ever seen anything like it. Less than a minute passes, during which the sky lightens and Arya finishes her morning prayer. Then she climbs down again like nothing has happened and takes the bucket of water that Devek filled from the well and performs her ablutions.

Inside, the food is ready. Manthis has awakened, and he and Rosemary have rolled up the mattresses and moved the table back to the center of the room. Manthis and Arya begin donning their gambesons (the padded armor layers that go under chain mail), assisting in tying each other's laces. Abel returns from the fields and rouses Torren and Wenderly as Elista and Abella begin to heap food in bowls for each of the ten people in the house. Everyone eats, and the Jarls (particularly the children) ask excited questions about what adventures await the heroes next. After the meal, Rosemary covers any impatience she may be feeling with helping clean up while Manthis and Arya resume putting on their armor, strapping on and tying the chain coats, sleeves, and shoulders of their mail.

Eventually, everything is ready, and the three heroes take their fond farewells from their country hosts, who escort them back down the path to Cecily's Road once more. The family continues to wave as you walk east on the road until distance and slight undulations in the path block them from view.