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-----As the thieves leave the shop of Gregory, the sun has almost set and with the cloudy sky, it is already dark.
-----Kazel wraps her cloak about herself and looks up at the chilly sky. "Shall we get back to serious business? I'm starving for a free meal, if it's not poisoned." She walks closer to the tavern across the street and glances inside the windows. "Better check on the lad and the gold too. I don't trust that farmer too much."
-----With a great caw, the crow lands on Seth’s shoulder as he carries his purchases. The thieves now walk back on the road heading south toward Jogler’s farm. To the sides of the road near and in the distance are the surrounding farmhouses with lit candles shining from the windows. The gentle breeze that blows almost has an icy feel to it.
-----As they finally make it to Jogler’s house, the "fence" farmer meets them outside as he heads toward the barn. "Ahh, de dinner o’ da mighty orc slayers be in da barn!" he says with his infamous grin.
-----As the trio enters the barn, they see the orc has already been fed, half its meal smeared beneath its chin. Jim sits atop the wagon wiping the last bit of gravy from his plate with a roll. The boy smiles in their direction with a satisfied look.
-----Jogler serves them up with an unbelievably good dinner. On their plates, he puts roasted chicken, potatoes, and a roll heaped with honey. He also offers each of them a warm mug of apple cider. After they eat and Jogler collects their plates, he begs Seth to play on his harp.
-----The barn takes on a cozy environment and soon Jim looks as if he is ready to drop off to sleep. An hour before midnight, they hear the sound of precipitation hitting the roof of the barn. As Jogler looks outside, a blast of freezing air whirls in the barn momentarily causing everyone to shiver.
-----"Ist looks ta be a colnik rain out dere!" he announces and when he says the word ‘rain’ the r seems to roll off his tongue for a few seconds longer than it should have. As the others look, they can see that the precipitation is sleet. "Ja, ya may have ta stay wif Jogler a bit fer a day o’ two," the farmer mutters and then he turns to face his visitors, "you like, ja?!"
-----During the evening meal, Seth puts aside slivers of his meal. When it starts to rain, he goes to the door and lets in the crow. He sits back down and feeds it.
-----Finally Jogler bids them good night and the thieves and Jim climb up into the hayloft. Before they had checked their orcish prisoner and found him securely tied and appearing to be ready to rest. Each thief takes a turn at the night watch, but finds nothing disturbing other than the steady sound of raining outside.
-----The thieves awake the next morning to Jogler entering the barn below. He carries in their breakfast of eggs and biscuits served with syrup. As they climb out of the loft, they can tell the weather is still doing something unfavorable outside.
-----As they glance outside, the sky is still very cloudy and although it is no longer sleeting, a light rainstorm is taking place.
-----Gimplefwick rolls over and scratches himself upon waking, "Aha! My first breakfast of the day has arrived." Gimplefwick scurries out of the loft and commences putting away an amazing amount of food for such a small halfling. In between courses, he tosses bits of food at the orc, letting the orc eat whatever it catches in its mouth. Eventually, tiring of his orc baiting, Gimplefwick peers outside at the miserable weather, "Shiver me timbers, I have no wish to be goin out in this. Not when Jogler is being so kind and generous."
-----As Seth feeds himself and the crow, he says, "Well Dread Pirate, if we are going to stay here, shall we explore the village or just stay in this cozy room with you teaching me pirate songs and Kazel teaching me the local songs of Hearthorn?"
-----Kazel idly practices throwing knives at the barn wall, varying her distances and angles, and even trying a few times with her eyes closed and once throwing backwards.
-----"What's out there worth exploring? If nothing else, we might as well head back if we're going out there." She asks as much of Seth as of Jogler while retrieving the blades. "Hey, Jim, want to learn using one of these?" she smiles encouragingly and waves at the boy with one of her knives held at the tip.
-----Gimplefwick nods his head at Kazel, "Aye, we might as well hang tight in here, maties. No need to be attractin more attention to ourselves than need be. I'm sure we'll have some folk come lookin fer us soon enough. Speakin of which, when we go to sleep from now on, I'll be scattering some caltrops around the top of the ladder in the hayloft, so as to discourage any nightly visitors who might be havin some ill intent."
-----"I don’t know," Jim says with a worried look while biting his lip, "I hate for the ground to get too soggy if we wait much longer. It may be so muddy in the next few days, we’ll get a wheel stuck." He looks at the thieves to see what they think.
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