Chapter Three: On the Road

With a nod, Frume assures you that he will have his men on the lookout for this Talis.

The next morning, you are given your assignment and show up at your assignment. You are to be traveling with a caravan of thirteen wagons, three of which belong to the cultists. You are set up to guard the rearmost wagon, so that you can keep an eye on the cultists.

You immediately notice that there are only six men with the cult wagons, three drivers and three guards/assistants. No one seems to even notice anything odd about their wagons, and you don't either. The leader of your wagons is a man named Achreny Ulyeltin, a man who is very short on manners, but appears to be friendly enough. His wagons are hauling furs and uncured hides for sale in the cold north.

The guards and drivers of the cult's wagons seem to be totally average; remarkably so, in fact. They get along with everyone in the caravan, but not well enough that people specifically seek to spend time at their wagons. They spend their time at night moving around the camp, making small talk. They never leave the wagons unguarded, though, with at least one person remaining with each wagon.

The trip to Baldur's Gate will take twelve days on foot. During the time, you make the acquaintance of several others in the caravan.

Beyd Sechepol is a male half-elf who is hauling a massive amount of ale and beer. He spends much of his time trying to sell it to the others in the caravan, with quite a bit of success. He is friendly, but doesn't care well for his wagon or his horses, drawing the ire of some of the other travelers.

Lasfelro the Silent is a male human who, from time to time, inexplicably breaks into merry songs and short stretches of joke-telling. His voice is a fine tenor and his jokes are hilarious. But these gregarious moods are always short. The rest of the time, he is silent as the grave, staring sullenly at the road ahead, barely moving on the seat of his wagon, seeming hardly to breathe. No one knows what he transports in his wagon, but it is guarded by a brooding gargoyle that is tethered to the wagon by a slim, silver chain.

Leda Widris is a female human guard for a wagon hauling fine silks. Widris is as honest and courageous as mercenaries come. She has spent many years in the south and now wants to see the snows and frozen seas of the far north and experience what a truly cold wind feels like.

Bughu does know that there is a temple to Torm in Baldur's Gate.

The driver smiles at Mryio, "Seems like you take your job serious. Good on ya! My vote's for the ale, too, for sure."

"Nothing like that. Job's fine and so's the cargo. Just can't argue with good ale, you know?"

The trip to Baldur's Gate is relatively uneventful and you arrive on time, rolling through the gates just after noon on the twelfth day out.

"Be back early in two days or I'm leavin' without ye!" Ulyeltin informs you, "If ye need me, I'll be at the Drunken Huntsman, probably drunk out of my mind." he finishes with a laugh and walks off to get his wagon secured for the next two days while things are organized for the next leg of the journey.

Bughu
It doesn't take long for Bughu to find the temple of Torm and get a message sent on its way to Frume. You find that the wagons are stored in a secured location and that the cultists stay with their wagons, at least one of them for each wagon. Three of them at a time leave to spend time in town.

Erich
You follow Ulyeltin to The Drunken Huntsman and find it to be exactly what you are looking for. You spend most of your time secluded and drinking silently.

The cultists are civil to Bughu, even inviting him over to play dice with them shortly after dusk. The two days in town pass uneventfully and, on the morning of day two, you get together and head toward the wagons after your morning rituals. The caravan heads out early in the morning and you resume the dull work of caravan guards.

Six days out from Baldur's Gate, there is a disturbance at the front of the caravan. Mryio and Bughu can see that there is what looks like a stag up ahead, but its coat is a pure and shiny gold color. Some people are trying to grab bows and crossbows, while others are merely scrambling to get a look at it.