Back to page 9
-----After critically examining a bandit's blade, Kazel dumps it and strides over to the tangled webbed mess. She takes out her sword and readies for the prisoners' release, and starts humming to Seth's tunes.
-----With a mysterious motion from Sarah, the magic that holds together the web spell begins to unravel. The strong sticky strands vanish into nothingness leaving the freed bandits slightly bewildered. They pause for just a few moments but seeing the intense stares from the adventurers, they throw their weapons down. They watch Sol and Raven closely as if they expect them to attack at any moment.
-----Sol herds them away (standing within sword strike range) from their weapons, and then calls out to his companions, "Ok, which one of ye has rope?"
-----Sarah’s seemingly perpetual smile is back, but now it’s a lot nicer. She makes her way over to Seth and looks like she’s about to say something but then stops and decides to watch the bandits instead. "Man, I gotta talk to you later." She says absentmindedly while watching Sol and Raven deal with the bandits.
-----Kazel taps her foot for a brief moment, then shrugs and pulls out a coil of rope from her backpack. With a practiced motion, she cuts off a suitable length for each bandit and ties them up in formidable looking knots and hitches. Stepping back, she dusts off her hands and asks, "Ready to go?"
-----Sol grins in return, "Yes indeed. Thank ye for yer contribution." Sizing up the bandits again, he motions up towards where the horses are, "You lot, start moving and don't dawdle."
-----Seth smiles at the brigands and moves over and checks Kazel’s knots, not that they really need checking.
-----The party mounts up and leading their three prisoners head on through the woods to the southeast. For the rest of the day, the gentle breeze blows among the trees and the sun shines from among the clouds. Their going is quiet and the riders watch the trees and the trail constantly ahead but they encounter no one.
-----At the end of the day as evening begins to settle into the sky, they come in sight of a small settlement. The small woodland homes number less than fifty and only a few buildings are large enough to be shops. Oddly as the adventurers ride into the village, they pass three separate homes with barns that house blacksmiths. One small shop has a sign out front identifying it as the residence of a cobbler. Finally, as they near the center of the village, they see a good-sized dark wooden building, that is obviously an inn. The small village is very quiet with no one outside their homes, though many of the places are lit from within.
-----Seth eyes the Inn, "Sol, how are our expenses going? Can we afford to stay at an Inn tonight or shall we look for a farmer’s barn to rest up in?"
-----He fingers the strap on his harp bag. "I guess I could pay for my lodging by playing..."
-----Sol smiles gently at Seth and replies, "If ye wan't to stay at the inn, yer more than welcome. As long as I have the last of my pay, we won't have ta sleep outdoors." Sol flips the musician a gold piece, as his expression becomes more serious, "I don't think our three new guests should benefit from a night in a bed, and I don't want to trouble a village of this size with criminals. I'm tempted to camp out tonight and keep watch on them...make sure they behave.
-----Sol stops briefly to pass the reins from his right hand to his left, "Do us a favour Seth, will ye, and anyone else who's staying here? See if you can find out anything more about the troubles further south; not so much the conflict with the elves, but any other peculiar occurrences. I'm makin' a guess, but with this many smiths for a place of this size, I'd say they’re producing arms and armour. No other need for that many smiths in the forest."
-----Seth deftly catches the coin and spins it in the air. "Of course, I think The Lady Kazel and the Dread Pirate Gimplefwick would love to join me in the Inn." He raises an eyebrow at Sarah. "This could be an opportunity to study our books together, shall we?"
-----Kazel scrutinizes the inn for a moment, then says, "Can't we put them on the floor in a room, or in a barn?" She playfully pats one of the prisoners on the head and ruffles his hair like a child. "Anyway, if you camp out, you'd probably need another of us to keep a watch."
-----"Yeah, we probably could keep 'em inside. I'd just prefer not to. As fer watching over them, yeah, I wouldn't mind a helping hand." Sol replies whilst scrutinizing the three bandits.
-----Sarah turns to Seth and nods happily. As the sun begins to go down, she takes her hood down as well, not squinting anymore, her eyes looking very accustomed to the dark.
-----"Yeah, you and me and Chessie need to talk about a lot of stuff." Turning to Sol she says. "C'mon Sol, come to the inn with us, you don't really want to camp out here do you? We'll just tell the innkeeper that they're prisoners, maybe he won't charge or something?"
-----After saying that Sarah looks at Chessie and starts smiling, her lips slightly moving as she sends her thoughts to her little owl buddy.
Go to Page 11