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-----Sarah, in her peasant girl form, stands motionless in front of the door, but no hint of motion or sound comes from within. A shadowed darkness hides the interior through the windows.
-----The wolf stands beside his master’s horse and every now and then looks at Raven uneasily. It then looks at Sarah near the door and lets out a whine.
-----Sol looks on uneasily, something about the silence seeming to bug him. After it becomes obvious that no one is coming out of their own accord, if there is anyone to come out, he asks his hunter friend, "Raven, 'cause I'm loathe to enter uninvited, can ye check for tracks around here? An outlying home like this may have been visited by unwelcome company."
-----After a couple more seconds of dubious speculation, he adds, "Maybe we could look in the window. Someone might be hiding after some loon comes up t'their front door yellin' about ogres." This last statement is accompanied with a wry grin.
-----Raven gets off his horse and looks towards the house. Raven then nods to Sol and starts to examine the area for tracks.
-----Kazel turns away from the noise at the cabin and slowly looks around. "Someone is here," she suddenly says. "We're being watched."
-----Peasant Girl-Sarah backs away from the door to where she left Marlexana. She says quietly to the group, "I smell blood. I think there's something dead in there." She then remounts Marlexana.
-----Seth turns to Dread. "If Raven is going snoop around looking for tracks, you may as well sneak up and peer in the window. Just don't go flying through this one."
-----Seth smiles at the thought of the Dread Pirate sailing through windows. Ahhh, that should be memories!
-----The Dread Pirate starts to move forward at Seth's suggestion, then halts and looks about, "Arrrr, it could be an ambush settin fer us. If there be the smell o' blood in the house and there be somethin in the woodline watchin us, it must be waitin fer somethin. Perhaps fer some to dismount and check the house while the others stay over here. I think we'd best all stay right here and think up a means fer flushin out our hidden watcher. Somethin unexpected that doesn’t involve goin into that house."
-----Sarah moves closer to Kazel and all but whispers, "Do you know where they are? I can flush them out or trap them if you know where they are."
-----After hearing Sarah's comment, Raven looks up from searching for tracks and turns towards the house. With bow ready, Raven creeps towards the house to check it out.
-----Suddenly, without warning, a swishing sound comes from behind the party as two arrows cut through the air. One impales itself in a tree close to Seth’s head. The musician looks at it in a stunned reaction as the shaft quivers from the impact. The second arrow hits Gimplefwick in the left shoulder, almost knocking him over.
-----In the ensuing scramble of the party’s reactions, a horse’s whinny is heard somewhere among the trees. The trampling of two horses follows this, as if it sounds as though two riders are galloping off to the west.
-----"It could be an illusion but there's no time to check that. Stick close to me, Sol," Sarah says, before nudging her horse after the noise. She takes a piece of spider web out one of her many pouches. "Yell if you see them," She says to anyone who happens to be following her.
-----"I owe you, Dread!" Sol yells, before kicking Thunder into a gallop. He heads the stallion west, after the unknown riders and Sarah.
-----The Dread Pirate, wincing in pain, slides off the opposite side of his pony. From there he runs for the nearest cover and hits the dirt. He then moans, "Arrrggghhh, why do they always try to kill the smart ones? What about the process of natural selection? You degenerate, skulking in the bushes, ambushing, lily-livered landlubbers!" Keeping low to the ground, the Dread Pirate sits and fumes, waiting for somebody to come along and pull the arrow out and patch him up, "I hate being right all the time."
-----The Dread Pirate yells after Sol and Sarah, "Keep an eye out. They may be leading you into another trap."
-----Seth immediately dismounts and tries to make himself as small a target as possible. He moves over to the Dread Pirate to see what aid he can give him with the arrow. "You know, Dread, this be where I be pillaging ya and drinking your rum!" Trying to keep the Pirate’s spirits up as he winks at the Parrot.
-----Rinda quickly makes it over to the Dread Pirate and Seth. After quickly examining the arrow sticking out of the Pirate’s shoulder, she draws forth a short section of a tree’s root and offers it to Gimplefwick.
-----"Bite down on this! I think I can pull the arrow straight out! It may hurt like hell at first, but then I can give you a healing spell!" the huntress tells the Dread Pirate. Looking at Seth, she says, "Get behind him and help him brace while I get the arrow out!"
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