-----The rogues and the bodyguards rise out of their chairs and silently begin to move toward the door. The other patrons in the place quietly stare as they leave. The half-elven barkeep slowly wipes down the top of the bar and does not look up as if the rogues' party is not there.
-----Outside, a small sense of relief is felt as the strange people in the establishment are left behind, but it is quickly replaced by a new sensation. The grayness of the sky seems dimmer with the sinking sun behind the trees and the warm air is cooled by the gentle breeze rustling the leaves in the surrounding trees.
-----Marast tenses up and everyone can see the elf staring at the other buildings and trees beyond the village. Brandel seems not to notice as he frowns inwardly, lost in thought. Krord appears especially alert seeming to look for the strange man that had faced the visitors in the tavern. As Runik is boosted into the saddle of one of the horses, he looks at Kazel and smiles. "How 'bout I buy yer next drink?" he asks with a humorous tone, "Me thinks I finally got a sip o' that ale in thar ye been tryin' to buy me."
-----The Dread Pirate mounts up on coal black Joren and turns toward the trail that continues out beyond the forest to the southlands. As if on cue from the barkeep's words, a sense of being watched comes over everyone as they ride out of the village. Some villagers are spotted outside of their homes doing chores but they seem not to even acknowledge the passing riders. The overbearing sensation feels as though it comes from the woods.
-----Within a few minutes, the riders clear the trees of the forest and see stretched before them a vast plain dotted here and there in the distance by hills, small clumps of woods and pools of water. Here they still follow the trail road as it leads off in a southwestern direction. With the exiting of the forest, the feeling of watchfulness begins to fade.
-----After riding across the plains for a couple of hours, darkness begins to fall. Looking back toward the east, the massive line of trees in the forest appears dark and foreboding. With what little light there is now, the party looks for a place to camp or at least rest before continuing. They find a large open spot with hills and trees no closer than two miles in the distance.
-----As Marast looks skyward at the thick clouds, he says out loud although he seems to speak to himself, "This night be dark . . . no stars, no moon."
-----The Dread Pirate nods his head, "This be a good open spot fer our camp. We can see fer miles. Speakin o' which, we'd best double up on watch. And no campfire to attract unwanted eyes. And every watch has someone who can see in the dark, either Marast, Kaz, Seth, or myself. And I'll spread me caltrops out a ways from camp, so that we might get even more warning if anything especially sneaky is comin up on us."
-----"Don' be spreadin' them caltrops jest yet, Cap'n," Runik says, pulling at his belt. "Nature calls," he whispers although everyone else can hear him.
-----"Lass," he calls to Kazel as he starts to walk off, "Ye might'n be lookin' somewheres else other'n in me direction."
-----He stops and turns, adding, "Me hopes them Navalotians don' come lookin' fer us, though I could tell Marast was takin' wit' the one wit' the big teeth."
-----In the blink of an eye, the raggedy elf draws an arrow in his bow. Spinning he fires the missile at the offending dwarf. Runik curses, lifting one boot. The arrow quivers in the ground where a second before Runik's foot was positioned.
-----Turning and walking off to continue his search for a bit of privacy, Runik calmly says, "Be back short-like. I be havin' somethin' to throw back at ye then, Marast."
-----"Right then," Brandel says seeming to come out of his inner thoughts, "How do you wish to set up the watches?" He looks at Seth and the Dread Pirate.
-----Just then Krord dismounts off of Sol's large horse. The steed then nervously begins to whinny.
-----The Dread Pirate tells Runik before he leaves for his call of nature, "I hate to have to tell ye this, but take somebody with ye. Take Marast to keep a lookout. You two seem to get along fairly well together. And don't take too long."
-----The Dread Pirate sets up the watch for the night in the following order, Kazel and Runik, then Dread and Krord, then Marast and Brandel, then Seth and Albert for the morning shift. Shifts will be two hours apiece, so everyone gets six hours of sleep.
-----Seth finds a book and sits down and begins studying. After a while he looks at Dread and says, "Do you feel tired after running in your new shoes? How far do you think you could run in a day?"
-----The Dread Pirate shrugs his shoulders, "I dunno really. The boots seem to do the majority of the work, so I don't feel tired. But I don't know how far or long I can run in them."