Oleanne scowled at Aloysius' increasingly odd antics, finally getting up and going to Jana's horse. She dug through the saddle bags by the beast's feet and pulled out a pot quickly enough to demonstrate that she had already been through them and knew where things were. She tossed the pot at the mage, not taking any care to make it catchable.
Aloysius eagerly snatched the pot and poured the contents of Renn's bowl into it. He then heated it over the fire for a while, and then picked the flower pits from the mixture before consuming the contents. He then curled up a ways from the fire and went to sleep.
After a while, Jana and Etienne still hadn't returned. Since Jana's horse was still in the camp, there was little question that if she wasn't dead, she'd eventually be back for him. Oleanne left the camp with both the wolves for a few minutes and came back with only one of them. She sat under a tree and went to sleep.
Falgout remained apart from the rest of the camp as well. He looked around at the others uncertainly on several occasions. When Rumer went to sleep and started having her obvious nightmares again, he moved over beside her. He would doze off until she started whimpering, then shake her awake.
The Thornwood--Pre-Dawn, 25 Eleasias 1374 DR
Jana and Etienne straggled back to camp about the time the others were waking up. Oleanne's second wolf followed close behind them. The waning moon began to dim in the western skies as the rising sun colored the eastern horizon pink behind the thick trees.
Aloysius awakened early and began studying his spell book. Glancing around at the group, he noticed Jyothki. In fluent elven, he said, "Jyothki? When did you arrive? I'd like very much to discuss something with you."
Jyothki suppressed a giggle, sort of, and bounded over to the Purple One. "I would like to discuss something with you as well," she said eagerly. "Were you trying to make poison last night? That's what it looked like to me."
"It couldn't have been terribly potent if he survived..." Kaileer interrupted with a grin, "I jest, my friend," he then added for good measure. "I am also interested as to the importance of these flowers that you would go off alone to find them..."
"Poison?" asked the mage quizically. "No, it was only goldwort tea," he whispered in a more quiet tone. "That is what I want to speak with you about, but not before I make a bit more."
The mage sat down with his remaining yellow flowers and repeated the process he had followed the evening before. After preparing the tea in Jana's pot, he poured some into each of the glass vials he had taken from the dead goblin and placed the vials in his pack.
He looked around warily at the party. "We can discuss it later," he said guardedly. "I trust you have been well while you were away?"
Jyothki smiled and looked up at the mage. "We can discuss it whenever you like. I am more than a little interested in why one such as you has need of goldwort tea," she said. Taking Aloyisous' arm in hers she continued. "I have been doing very well," she said. "I have been playing with the squirrels. They are such wonderful creatures. I wish I could climb as they do."
The mage visibly jumped as Jyothki took his arm, but didn't pull away once he got over his surprise at her gesture. "Ah, well . . . I have need of goldwort tea for much the same reasons that others do, I suppose." His voice dropped to a whisper. "But I'd rather not discuss it just now, if you don't mind," he added as his face turned slightly red.
He cleared his throat and glanced around. "Squirrels? Yes, indeed. They are marvelous. There seem to be quite a few of the brushtail and brownback varieties closer to Milborn, but fewer seem to dwell close to that awful keep. It is quite a horrid place. You certainly didn't miss out on seeing the inside."
"Yes," said Jyothki. "I got the feeling it wasn't a happy place." She looked over the party quickly. "It appears it was a very difficult struggle to free the stone thing from its bonds. And now to try to free the woods from the blight around here." She shivered slightly, and her smile faded.
"Stone thing?" Aloysius inquired. "Oh, you mean the keep, I suppose. Yes, it was quite an ordeal, although one that remains unfinished, I fear. Echo has fallen into the darkest of hands and we must do all we can to retrieve her."
He bent down slightly to better examine her hair. "Tell me, how exactly did you manage this shade of green? I use monarch root for mine."
Jyohtki paled (if an elf can truly be said to pale) briefly. "I... that is..." Jyothki flustered for the right words. She finally huffed, and said "I'll tell you when you really need to know." She leaned even closer to the mage. "Perhaps it will even cheer you up better than goldwort ever will." She flashed a broad, knowing smile.
"Indeed?" asked Aloysius, cocking an eyebrow at the elf. "Well, I shall look forward to that...I suppose."
Rumer watched the apparent banter with growing exasperation. "Can we please just do something? Other than talk? We're pretty much healed right? So can we go after Ranchefus now?"
The mage nodded his head in agreement. "Aye," he said in common. "Let us make our plan and commence with its execution. Shall the lot of us go in one direction, or shall we attempt to complete multiple tasks? Methinks it would be best if we divided our numbers, but some of thee have yet to voice thy opinion."
Jyothki hummed a little tune until Aloysius began proposing a two pronged strategy. While the party talked, she obviously tried to pay attention, but a bee landed on her and she the battle was lost. She hummed to the bee, it landed on her shoulder and then her head and she laughed and moved closer to some clover.
The mage nodded his head slowly. "Important? Yes, I'd say so. I do not intend to be secretive, brave one, and in due time I may well explain myself. We have other more pressing matters to attend for now." He hesitantly placed his hand on the ranger's shoulder before tending to his tea.
"Perhaps Jyothki can tell you what goldwort tea is for."
Etienne's hair was wet as he came back into camp. He looked around the group to see that everyone was there and then looked to the rising sun. "Red sky in the morning, sailors beware.... We may see rain today."
Jana stopped long enough to retrieve her horse, then walked him back into the main camp area. The horse flicked his ears at her, looking oddly as if he were sulking. Jana scratched his ears and murmured softly to him. Her hair was wet and hanging loose, past her shoulderblades and she was wearing different clothes. She unrolled her damp blanket and laid it over some bushes to dry a bit, along with the clothes she'd been wearing yesterday. "There's a stream not far away," she commented to no one in particular. Jana seemed agitated and her eyes had a haunted look about them. "Are we ready to look for the Gleaming Glade?" she asked. She pulled out the map she'd gotten from Lytern, checking to see if it held any clues to the Glade's location.
Arachne had acted upon Jana's suggestion that there was a stream fairly close to the camp. She came back damp, refreshed and [still] very quiet. She sat quietly through the conversations and discussion that ensued.
After finishing the preparation of his tea, Aloysius walked over and sat next to Blacky. It was apparent to all who had seen him the evening before that the mage was acting much more . . . stable.
"Eric, what shall we do from here? 'Twould seem that we have two possible paths. One, we could explore the tunnel Ranchefus did employ for escape, or we could make plans on finding the Gleaming Glade and preparing for the night of the dark moon. Fortunately, we still have quite a bit of time afore that night arrives."
He surveyed the members of the party as they milled about the campsite. "Mayhap efficiency would best be served if we attempted to achieve both goals at once. Stargazer has need of a conference with Tauster afore the night of the dark moon as I suspect that I can acquire more beneficial spells from him for that dread occasion. The elves and Arachne would seem to be best suited for locating and scouting the area of the Glade. Stargazer, Arachne, Kaileer, Rennirolas, and Jyothki could venture northward towards Thurmaster, and then on to Kuiper's farm. Oleaane and her canine companions could accompany us as far as she deems fit. Arachne and the chests would seemingly need to remain with Janathell's steed, so we would have to take her with us. The rest of thee could explore the tunnel to the extent possible, and we could meet once again at Kuiper's in the next couple of days. Perhaps by that time, we shall be able to ascertain the best way to approach the Glade and what underhanded tricks the dark priest has in store."
When Aloysius sat down next to him Blacky produced a scroll tube they had found in the search of the keep. "Maybe you can make use of this." He said as he handed it to the mage.
Aloysius accepted the scroll tube and stuck it in his pack without looking at it.
Jana began readying her horse for travel. She looked sideways at Falgout several times, her expression disturbed. Any time he seemed to notice her looking at him, she looked away.
"Janathell?" said Aloysius. "'Twould seem that the only way we can transport yon chests to the Glade would be by the employment of thy steed. I meant not to speak for thee afore."
Jana nodded. "I know what it looks like," she said softly. "The Gleaming Glade. They have her somewhere dark, dark and cold." Jana's expression was anguished as she continued on in the same soft voice. She's been, been...She's been hurt." Jana closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, her eyes were cold and her face a mask. "Falgout," she said calmly as her hand dropped to the hilt of her sword, "where is she?"
Rumer moved quietly to a point behind Jana.
Falgout gave Jana a slightly insulted look, "If I knew where she was, I would have told you by now. She was in the cell with me and Rumer, or at least I guess it was her, at one point, but before you returned to the keep, they came and got her. I haven't seen her since."
Aloysius eyed Jana curiously. "Janathell? Tell us, how dost thou know of these things?"
"A dream," Jana started to say, then fell silent as Etienne began to speak.
Etienne had been mostly quiet after his conversation with Oleanne. At this point he spoke up, "Hold up people. Let's get a few things cleared up before thing go sour any more. Jana had a dream last night. After she described it to me, I think it is more than that. In her dream, Echo was bound to a tree in the Glade. When one of us tried to get to her, an invisible force tore us apart, literally. There was a huge warrior there with one hand. When we were all dead, he said "You have been warned"."
Etienne paused to let everyone take this in, "I think this was a thank you from Tyr for cleaning up his shrine. He was letting us know what to expect. Echo may be there but we have to be care of this thing that will try to kill us. It may be invisble to the naked eye but readily seen by magic." He looked to ALoysius, "You can detect magical presence can you not? Priests can also. Together we can find out what this is and get around it."
Jana nodded miserably as Etienne spoke of her dream. "The one-handed man was everywhere, just watching." She glanced at Falgout. "He was a little bigger than you," she admitted.
Etienne looked up at the group once more, "I know we all have different goals now. Rumer wants Ranchefus as do we all. Jana is going to the glade for Echo. Nobody here can tell her otherwise. I have already promised her that I would go with her too. Kaileer is not fond of the tunnels in the keep. Renn and Lasiar are both gifted with the ability to see in darkness, so they would be well suited to journey into the tunnel. With Jana going to the Glade, Renn and Lasiar will need Blacky's axes. That leaves Falgout, whom I will assume will want to travel with Rumer, and Arachne whose scouting ability can come in useful at the Glade." He looked at the green haired woman, "I do not know you, but I assume you'd rather go with us to the Glade instead of the tunnels."
He paused once more to let the others take everything in, "Oleanne said that Swiftwater, um Kuiper may know about the Glade or perhaps Garyld. Kuiper guards the forest to the north of his farm and Garyld used to be protector of this entire area. Oleanne will only go as far Kuiper's farm. This is her home and is under her protection so she cannot leave." With that he fell silent again.
Jana spun to look at Oleanne. "Really? Why didn't you say so last night?" She shook her head. "Nevermind. At least we know where to start now."
Oleanne gave Jana an extremely blank look.
"OK, that means Rumer, Renn, Lasiar, Falgout and I going to check the tunnels and Etienne, Jana, Arachne, Kaileer,Jyothkoi and Aloysius going to Kuiper's accompanied by Oleanne. That should work, even though I don't like splitting up. Jana, did you see Ranchy at the glade in your dream?" Blacky asked.
Falgout turned bright red at Etienne's description of the details of Jana's dream. Veins in his forehead and neck stood out as he forced himself not to speak.
Once it looked as if Jana would not indeed run Falgout through, Rumer spoke up, moving into Jana's and Falgout's line of vision. "So a god is warning you to not go there?"
"You won't listen to a god's warning?" Rumer repeated, her eyes wide. "I'm not going there. Falgout, could this be your god?"
Falgout nodded at her slowly, still looking incredibly angry.
The mage stood silently for a moment after Etienne described Jana's dream. "Moons and stars," he exclaimed quietly. "An unseen force in the Glade? All the more reason why I should confer with Tauster, then."
He looked over at Etienne. "Thy suggestions have much merit. Howe'er, I think it best if we act with the intent of all of us attending the Glade on the night of the dark moon. If we are to divide our forces, let us rejoin at Kuiper's afore we depart for the Glade once and for all." Perhaps realizing that his last phrase hadn't come out just as he'd planned, the mage sighed deeply and nervously stroked his chin.
"So," he added, "who goes where? It seems apparent that Stargazer, Janathell, Etienne, Oleanne, and likely Arachne are intent on heading north. What do the rest of you propose?"
"Really, I haven't much to propose," Arachne sighed softly. "I _might_ be more useful in the tunnel than above ground, since I can see in darkness and also squeeze into places where the rest of you might have more difficulty going. I don't really care to visit Tauster _again_. He might be able to tell Aloysius something useful, but no-one else, I suspect. I _could_ fly ahead to Kuiper's -- unless Oleanne will send him word that we're coming --" She paused. "No, he doesn't like me much. I wouldn't fly there. Milburn, perhaps. Ask there about the Glade. As for traveling _with_ the group, I don't think that'll work unless the slog is made slow anyway because Jana's horse would get saddled with a couple of heavy chests...
"As for what I _want_ to do, I really don't have a strong opinion one way or another. I don't know where Echo or Ranchefus is to be found -- and I don't even have much hunch where to look. Actually, I think I'd rather explore the tunnel -- simply out of curiosity. You never know where something interesting might turn up -- and I might catch up with those who went ahead fairly quickly." She shrugged.
"Dreams are slippery stuff," she suggested. "I appreciate the warning, but we might want to be flexible about interpreting what the dream is warning us against: Just because the dream showed us being torn apart literally doesn't mean that we shouldn't consider invisible assaults that would tear us apart figuratively. Mislead us or encourage mutual antagonisms among us. Or it could just be a bunch of bloodthirsty blades. Really powerful priests can summon up something like that, can't they?"
Rumer shook her head.
"Thou dost take exception, gypsy?" asked the mage.
"Yes, insane one. If a god warns you from something, it seems to me that it's pretty damned bold to do it anyway. What do I know though? I'm a mere mortal." replied Rumer.
"Mayhap, if in fact this god is involved in Janathell's dream, 'twas intended to be informational in nature and not simply as an omen." He wrung his hands and smiled oddly. "And Stargazer be not insane, at least not technically."
Rumer muttered, "Stargazer may not be, but your other personalities are certifiable."
The mage giggled weakly. "Mayhap I WAS insane to assist in retrieving thee from Ranchefus' keeping, but my lunacy was thy boon, it would appear."
"Yeah, if you had rescued me. Which you didn't. As I was free before you got there." Rumer replied tartly.
"Hmmmm... maybe next time we let you get out your mess alone." the ranger said as he headed for the stream to get cleaned up.
Rumer bristled. "Yeah, my mess. I guess I should have run when I saw you about to be ambushed in the courtyard. My mess. And then I guess I should not have come back out when you were fighting instead of running the other way. My mess again. Yeah, right, whatever," Rumer muttered. "Don't help me at all. I'm going to go down and look for Ranchefus. You guys can stay up here and smell flowers with Al here. Ciao."
"Regardless," concluded the mage, "thou art free. 'Tis of no import as to how that came about." He turned to the others. "Let us finalize our plans."
Aloysius swallowed hard and then walked off after Kaileer.
"What, man?!?" demanded Aloysius of Falgout. "Now be not the time for secrecy. Know would we what chord Janathell's dream hath struck in thy mind."
"Gods be damned," Falgout yelled in Aloysius' direction. The next thing anyone knew, the man was waving a sword in Aloysius' face, his remaining eye darting about madly. "I've had enough," he growled, "e-fucking-nough, of this place, of all this and especially of Tyr and his damn shirne and his damn dreams and his damn justice! I'm done with it all! DONE!" He slammed the sword point down in the ground at the mage's feet and pushed his way through the people standing or sitting around, heading out of the camp at full speed.
"Rumer, you think you can calm him down?" Blacky asked
Rumer was already racing after Falgout.
The mage watched thoughtfully as Rumer ran off after Falgout. "Hmmmm . . . ," he said musefully, "mayhap Falgout has had dreams of his own."
Jana leaned against her horse. "Etienne thinks the one-handed warrior is Tyr," Jana said quietly. I don't understand why he's in my dream. I don't know if he's warning me or if that's someone else. I only saw Echo and him. Not Ranchefus. I saw Echo..." Jana paused, swallowing. "I saw Echo clearly, but the man, I just saw his silhouette. But I could... feel evil. Lots of little... pockets of evil around the Glade, and then a big... evil right next to Echo." Jana had closed her eyes tightly for a moment, pain showing clearly on her face. "I don't think Echo's at the Glade now. I think she's in some sort of... of dark, cold place. Maybe underground? I don't know... But she's tied up and gagged and, and crying. I think maybe that's happening right now." A single, strangled sob escaped. "If that's really Tyr watching," she whispered, "why doesn't he help her?"
After Rumer took off in pursuit of Falgout, Aloysius turned to Jana and Etienne. "I know that both of thee art eager to speak with Kuiper about the nature and location of the Glade. Howe'er, I am quite certain that Tauster shall have incantations that may be of assistance to us. Stargazer would like to make a brief stop in Thurmaster afore turning westward towards Kuiper. Is that acceptable?"
Jana watched Falgout stomp away and Aloysius and Kaileer and Rumer argue. "Stop it," she said softly. "Stop it." Her voice began to get louder. "Just stop it!" An hysterical edge crept into her voice as she screamed, "Stop it, stop it, stop it!"
Jana put her face in her hands, then ran her fingers back through her hair. "This isn't helping anyone," she said, her voice at normal volume, but sounding none too stable. "It's not helping you," she went on, pointing at Rumer, "it's not helping him," pointing at the departing Falgout, "and it's for damned sure not helping Echo! So let's stop arguing and running around like idiots and think!"
Jana took a deep breath, but didn't appear to be very steadied by it. She began speaking to any who cared to listen. "We need to make sure we all know everything that's going on. No secrets. Then we can figure out how to deal with each problem. Will someone go get Falgout? We have to approach this like a military campaign." Jana calmed down noticeably as she began to deal with familiar terms. "We need to review our intelligence."
"Okay, someone's taking mages. The first group of men who kidnapped Echo were fishy-smelling and had zombies with them. We came across that fishy smell again, for no apparent reason. I have no idea why. Echo was taken again, then given to orcs. We don't know if it's because she's a mage, but since Rumer wasn't given to them, then it's a good possibility the orcs were the ones wanting the mages all along." Jana began pacing. "I don't know why I had that dream. I mean, I'm not exactly big on the gods, and I don't worship Tyr. Why would I get a dream where I'm warned? Was the warning from Tyr, or did someone else send the dream? I didn't think the man was Tyr at first," she said, looking at the ground, "I thought maybe the one-handed man was part of the evil, and so it made me worry about Falgout." Jana looked up, her expression regretful. She sighed and went on. "Anyway, the dream started with Echo in some dark, cold place. Maybe if we can find her there, we won't have to go to the Glade. As for Ranchefus, well, I want him dead too, but I think there's something going on that I don't really understand." She looked over at Rumer. "Is it revenge or something else?" Jana wondered. She shook her head. "It's like we're trying to put together a giant puzzle, but we don't really know what pieces everyone's holding."
"The men and orcs who tried to take Tersa in the Mire smelled of fish as well," Aloysius offered. "Or perhaps it was just the men, that part was unclear. The orcs that attacked us in the Thornwood smelled not of fish, and tried to kidnap me they did. No orcs did we encounter in the keep. Methinks it is safe to say that the orcs and Ranchefus be separate groups, but working together."
"'Cold and dark' would seem to imply the tunnel. Howe'er, my concern is that, if we all venture into the tunnel and become delayed...or worse, we may miss any opportunity to free Echo in the Glade on the night of the dark moon. Agree with Janathell do I that we all need to share what we know with each other. The decisions we make now shall weigh heavily in the determination of all our fates."
