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-----Raven says, "Thanks." and hands Thalog the sword. Raven then motions for Thalog to hand back the bracers.
-----Thalog holds the sword out in both hands, looks the blade over and says, "There is no doubt about this weapon. It conveys a magical aura." He then offers the sword back to Raven.
-----Raven fits the bracers onto his arms. They fit well, but Raven doesn’t observe or feel anything unusual.
-----Sol bobs his head at Rand's directions, and after surveying the scattered equipment, moves over to one of the backpacks. He begins to sift through packs and pouches for items of interest.
-----Rand looks up. He says, "If yon bundle of arrows are magical, perhaps Zentil and I could split them between us. I do wonder why these bandits had them collected in a bundle and did not use them on us."
-----Raven says to Rand, "Sounds good, split 'em up." Raven to the group, "Well, now what?" Raven looks over to the six men and says to them, "What should we do with you? I think the locals would love to get their hands on you."
-----Raven walks up to the one that surrendered, "Ok spill it! What the hell are you guys doing up here? Who are you working for?" Raven pauses, "Killin' your leader has got me all worked up. I'm itchin' to break in this new sword..."
-----Raven gives the man a slight smile.
-----The one who surrendered, a thin young man with blue eyes and hay-stacked hair, looks fearfully at Raven. He answers, "Jom, he was our leader. He’d tell us when ta raid and where ta raid. Other than them crazy witches over ta the east, that’s all I knowed. I’ve had enuff o’ them witches and spells." He casts an uneasy eye toward Rand and Thalog.
-----"Witches? Care to give us a few more details about them?" Sol asks wryly, having finished rummaging through some sacks and the backpacks.
-----He walks over to Thalog and hands him one of the pouches, "Here is a bag full of yer gems. By the way..." He pulls out a jar of black liquid and a vial of pink milky liquid, "...do you know anything about this sort o' peculiar stuff?" Without waiting for a reply, he hands the two items over to the mage anyway. Rand also is handed two sheets of parchment.
-----"Bunch of money in these bags", says Zentil gesturing at the 9 empty pouches at his feet. "20 gold, about 40 silver and well over 100 copper. I'm all for splitting those arrows too."
-----Raven crouches in front of the man, "Hey, see that wasn't too bad now was it? I like you now, so I won't kill you." Raven puts the blade away, "Please answer my friend's question about the witches." Raven turns to the other five men, "Any of you want to get on my good side? Tell us what you know about these witches..." Raven gives the men a smile and places his right hand on the hilt of one of his sword.
-----The young man answers, "The witches’ cave was where Jom would send the stuff we stole. Some of the men," here he glances at the five other men, "’id tell me they’d make spells. Spells . . . that’d make the animals go wilder. We’d hear ‘em too in the middle of the night. Howlin’ and screamin’! I jest wanna git outta here!" He looks at Raven with pleading eyes.
-----Thalog goes over to Sol and hands him back the jar of black liquid. "I believe this to be writing ink," he says stone-faced, "The parchment Rand read to us was obviously written with it. This other vial," here he holds up the vial of pinkish liquid, "I believe to be a potion of some sort. I’ll hold onto it until I get a chance to identify it."
-----Rand smiles and picks up the arrows. He separates them from the bundle and hands six of the arrows to Zentil.
-----A couple of the captured men are still too groggy to answer, but one speaks up. "He’s tellin’ ya right." He nods toward the young hay stacked haired man, "Jom would load up a couple of the animals with loot and he and some of the others would take ‘em east through the wood."
-----Another man speaks up, "Yeah, I went there once. Four of ‘em I saw. Wearing masks and colors of black ‘n orange. Actin’ all crazy. I didn’t wanna go back agin!"
-----"Agents of Sycros," Thalog mutters, " . . . the mad god!"
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