Lytern blushed when Jana said that he needed a chaperone, but after that, he went to the stables with her without question, walking beside her as he led his horse.
"Blacky'll make sure I leave your virtue intact," Jana said playfully.
After they get to the stables, Blacky checks to make sure no one else is within earshot.
Arachne watched Blacky for a moment, then turned to Jana. "I'm just here for my friend," she said, indicating Puddlejumper. "You didn't invite me. So I can make myself scarce as soon as I've seen to my friend's needs, if that's what you'd prefer. "Can't deny that I'm curious, though..."
"Blacky," Jana said, once the coast was clear, "those guards weren't city guards. They, uhm, were mercenaries." Jana sighed and made a face. "Not terribly nice ones. They're a band called the Silver Tongues. You noticed those awful studs they have in their tongues? Cute, huh. They all have 'em. Enough to keep me out of their merry band," she muttered, grimacing in distaste. "Anyway, they usually run around with a bard or two. They aren't at all picky about who they work for, either. Those wagons, that was a Zhent caravan. The Silver Tongues are no doubt the hired guards for the Zhents."
"So the guards at the gate, the ones asking us to peace bond, they're these mercenary guards for the Zhent caravan?" Arachne asked, wanting to be sure she got it right. "I suppose then, that the knots you tied around your weaponry are made to look good but not really get in the way if you need to fight? If not, perhaps we should re-fashion them. "And a bard or two -- perhaps the two providing music for the dancing?"
Jana turned her now humorless gaze to Lytern. "The man who was killed, he was the tax collector for your father? I heard talk earlier that the people around here thought he was... overealous. I don't think it's safe for you to be here. You need to keep a low profile, don't advertise who you are, and stay with me or with Blacky at all times, do you understand?" Jana grimaced, suddenly aware of how she sounded. "Look," she tried again, "finding the Cyric priest is more important, so please humor me here, okay? Go with Blacky to the inn and stay low. Of course," Jana added, turning to Blacky, her face deadpan, "you'll need to bunk with Lytern tonight. And stay in the room."
Jana shrugged. "I don't know, maybe I'm just paranoid. If you think so, do differently. I'm staying here, though. Echo's gone to check on the Zhents, and I told her I'd come after her if she didn't make it here in an hour. Will you please let the others know, discreetly, what I've told you?"
Before they left, Jana said not unsympathetically, "Lytern, I'm sorry for this. You're a Lord's heir, not a hire-sword. Please remember that, and remember your responsibilites to those who look to your father and to you."
"Don't the Zhents usually worship that mad god, 'whatshisname', that the preist we fought got his powers from?" Blacky replied. "Somebody better check those wagons for slaves if that's the case."
As they stabled the three horses and talked quietly among themselves, three men came in with a young village girl. Two of the men wore long swords. The third was dressed in dark clothing and had no visible weapons. One of the men with a sword took the girl into one of the empty stalls while the other two argued quietly among themselves. They either didn't see or didn't care that they were not alone in the stables. The companions could not catch all of their argument, only bits and pieces
They caught, "...don't see why you need another...already took...getting greedy..." from the other armed man.
"...go when I'm done...if she doesn't...pissed me off like you're doing now," came from the other man.
The girl, who likely wasn't as old as Lytern, had started to cry. They could not see her or the other man.
Lytern, who had previously been sulking about Jana deciding to leave his virtue intact, paled again and started fumbling with the tie on his sword.
Arachne, seeing Lytern's action and guessing his intent, whispered, "Agreed. Can we plan this?" She dug into her pack and found her sling while she whispered. "I can make myself look ghostly - found that out in Milborne, some days ago -- and might have a go at going into the stall through a wall and scaring out the lout who's in there. If he doesn't scare easily enough, well, I can have a try with this." Indicating her sling (she removed the ribbon), she found a stone for it in the pack. "Do the rest of you all want to take a frontal approach?" She nodded at the two men who were chatting.
"Just stay the hell out of the way," Jana growled, grabbing Lytern's arm.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Arachne told Jana. Arachne decided that that was as much coordination as she was going to get with the others.
"This is none of your concern," the unarmed man said, with a glance at the whispering gnome and the boy fumbling with his sword. "I would suggest you leave now."
Jana grabbed Lytern's arm and whispered, "Remember our conversation?" She sauntered over to the two men, checking discreetly for studs. "Hi," she said in a friendly voice. "How's business for you here'bouts?" She looked over at the stall at the sound of the girl's sobs. "What's going on?"
The unarmed man glanced at Jana as she walked over. "This is none of your concern," he repeated. "I would suggest you leave now. Take the rest of them with you when you go. You must not be from around here." The third man re-appeared in the horse stall, tossing the girl's dress over the door. "She's still a kid," he remarked, "not what I like. Not," he glanced at the dark-clad man, "that you were planning on sharing. You've already been more than generous with us." All three of the men still seemed unconcerned about the other four people in the stables.
"No," Jana said, still with a friendly smile, "I'm not." She turned to go, the position of her body hopefully shielding her hand moving to the hilt of her sword. She pulled the sword, snapping the peace tie. As the sword came out, she spun back around to face the two men. She attacked the nearest, using a two-handed grip with her bastard sword.
Blacky watches as Jana moves to engage the men in conversation. He turns his back on her and the men and appears to be talking to Lytern. While shielding his actions from the mercenaries, he attempts to discreetly remove the tie from his axe. When Jana makes her move he turns and charges into the fray, hopefully driving his axe into the brain of one of the men.
Arachne left the stables by a side door near where they were standing.
Jana snapped the peace tie on her sword and turned back to the two men she had been talking to. The unarmed man backed away from her, incanting a spell as he did. She fell to the ground, asleep.
Jana started her swing, then suddenly went limp. Her sword slipped from her fingers as she fell heavily to the ground, landing on her side. The sword clattered beside her.
Lytern quickly drew his sword, breaking the peace knot much more easily than he had tied it. He charged the man standing in the stall door, cutting into him with his long sword. The man swung at the boy, but missed.
Blacky rushed at the other man with a sword and engaged him in combat. The man wounded Blacky, but his injury was nothing compared to the blow that Blacky returned. With his brute strength, he nearly cleaved the man in two with his axe. In spite of the force of the blow, the man still stood.
Blacky doesn't even notice the scratch the other man gave him. He attempts to finish him off while kicking Jana whenever he gets the chance to hopefully wake her up.
A small shimmering figure walked through the wall of the stable, moaning in a horrible manner.
The man who had spelled Jana to sleep turned his attention to the figure. He looked frightened as he cast a spell at it. An arc of flame shot out from his hands, burning the creature.
Lytern took another swing at his opponent, missing narrowly. The man used the opportunity to strike the boy, leaving a bloody gash in his leather armor.
Blacky attempted to finish off the man he had just wounded and manuever himself so that he could wake Jana. Unfortunately, he lost his footing as he tried to dodge the man's sword. He took a hit and fell atop the sleeping woman. He did, however, manage to wake her up.
Jana stirred, pushing Blacky off of her. "Get offa me," she muttered. She looked around, confused. Once free, she shook her head and grabbed her sword, staggering woozily to her feet, sword in hand.
"Not quite what I had in mind either." Blacky replied as he got up and tried to aim his axe without tangling his feet this time.
The flame that the wizard shot at the shimmering figure ignited some of the hay in the stables. The horses began to neigh in panic....
"Oh sh*t, this can't be good." Blacky said glancing for a source of water while trying to kill his opponent.
Cackling maniacally, the shimmering figure floated toward the man who'd thrown the flame at her. "I'll get you, my pretty," the image croaked, her hands reaching up toward the man's throat...
The small shimmering figure continued to moan and move toward the mage. The mage turned and ran from the stables.
Yippee! The small shimmering figure took a moment -- a brief moment --to celebrate. The small shimmering figure looked around for one abducted village girl.
Jana struggled to get her bearings and her breath back from Blacky falling on her. Blacky swung his axe at the wounded fighter on him from his prone position, catching the man with the blade and sending him to the stable floor in a crumpled, bloody heap.
Lytern eyed the flames with fear and worry. He parried the blows of the man fighting him as he removed his cloak and threw it into the stall with the girl. "Go! Get out before the place burns down!" he yelled at her.
The small shimmering figure stopped shimmering and tried to get a good look at the girl's face as she went by, but did not obstruct the prudent action.
The flames started to spread rapidly as the girl, wrapped in only Lytern's cloak, ran by the fighting men and out of the stables. Choking smoke began to fill the air. The three horses that had not been shut in the stalls when the trouble broke out stampeded, with Puddlejumper in the lead. They barreled through the group, having no respect for their owners or the fights they were fighting. Jana managed to get out of the way, but Blacky was not so lucky. He caught a hoof in his side as he struggled to move aside. Another of the horses ran down the man Lytern was fighting, leaving him unconscious on the ground.
"Not a good day to be me." Blacky wheezed holding his side. "Lytern, let the rest of those horses free, then get out of here!"
Arachne checked the crumpled bloody heap in the stable, trying to ascertain as quickly as she could whether it was dead or alive.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Jana looked around, but the flames were out of control. "Arachne, quit screwing around and either put out the gods-damned fire or help find the damned horses." She grabbed the unconscious man's arm and headed for the door, dragging him along.
Arachne said nothing; she was busy coughing.
