Scene 3 - The Ardeyn Run

You're all on/in the carriage. While the six of you can fit in the main cabin, one of you (not Vinny) should take turns riding with the driver to help keep an eye out for trouble, and another (not Vinny) can ride the porter's ledge on the back. Hopefully Vinny is in the middlish part of the cabin, otherwise the rest of you will be crammed together on the otherside to keep it balanced.

Only Huval and the other Royal Peacemaker are riding talbuks.

The journey through the hot day takes you along the Path of the Dead, and soon, beyond the low wall of tombs. The highway, lingering and meandering through a picturesque forest whose high branches protect you from the days heat, is idyll and tranquil.

Towards the end of the day, the road leads you to a small roadside inn, fenced for protection, with several outbuildings surrounding a central wooden inn. You see some commotion at the gates as a traveller argues visibly with a Peacemaker.

Huval leans forward peering ahead, frowning. He makes no move to intercede, as the argument seems heated, but so for, non-violent.

Your carriage driver slows the vehicle, but does not stop it. He nudges Seth who is taking a turn up top with him. "Lookie, there."

From the hand motions, Seth thinks that the traveler is attempting to get the peacemakers to go somewhere north. The peacemakers seem reluctant to leave the inn. They enliven when they see your contingent, and gesture at the royal peacemakers accompanying you.

Huval says to Katyushka, "We should stop here anyway, even just to rest and water the animals." The driver concurs.

As you near the inn, the traveller shots a "Hullo, the carriage!"

Huval and the other Royal Peacemaker ride up and consult with the peacemakers at the gate, while the driver ignores the traveller and pulls the heavy carriage into the inn's defensive walls. He climbs down nimbly and relaxed the traces around his beasts.

The traveller bounds up to the carriage, desperation in his eyes. "Please, will you hear my tale?"

The traveler clutches a hat in his hands. He is dirty and sweaty from a arduous journey. "Not the Queens, no. It's about a star that fell to ground and now everything has gone mad. It's destroying our town! Just north of here! Spirits of wrath boil out of the night, attacking the village, while even more terrifying shapes lurk in the darkness beyond. "

The Peacemakers shift nervously. "We're tasked with guarding this inn and stables. We cannot leave to investigate. Not without someone to take our post."

Huval, having dismounted from his talbuk, runs a hand through his hair, puzzling this out. "Do you have a mount here?"

The Peacemaker nods. "We have the Peacemaker stables, yeah."

"I'll watch your post here. You two ride north check it out and return. We'll be gone by morning if not sooner so don't dally."

The two Peacemakers, who were probably hoping that their royal brethren would do this, nonetheless stiffen their backs and salute. "You are wise, brother. We will be as fast as we can." Turning to the traveler, he says, "Efelar, was it, up in the hills? I know the road there."

With that the two Peacemakers jog back into the compound to the stables.

The inn is... rustic, more like a trapper cabin than a vacation chalet. The bottom floor is a single room with stairs up in the back left corner. The center back has a large stone hearth with easy chairs for sitting and a few small side tables. The back right corner has a longish table for a meal, and the front right corner has a bar / general store merchant counter. The front left corner has shelves loaded with unmarked crates. The walls are dotted with charcoal drawings of animals, plants, and landscapes, drawn with no little skill.

The innkeeper, a plump woman with an air of strength and an outfit made of complicated multi-colour leather panels, straps and buckles, stands near the hearth and turns when you enter.

"Welcome to the Dew Drop Inn!" she exclaims, arms setting wide. "I'm Troia. What can I get you?"

The Peacemakers clap Duke on the shoulder and saddle him a talbuk from their stable of mounts. "You ever ride one of these things?"

Katyu sees plopped in front of her a bubbling, green glowing bowl of what smells like a mint mohito if the main ingredient of those was mezcal and hate. It plots despicable sins in front of her. The innkeeper says quietly, "We call this one the Queen's Milk, but only when her flunkies can't hear."

The carriage driver after examining his beasts, requests a full night of rest for them.