The group met outside the Hound and Tails around dawn as had been planned the previous night. It promised to be another lovely rainy Haranshire day. Other than a few of the rivermen taking to their boats and barges, the village continued to sleep as the sun began to spread its dim light from behind the clouds.
Aloysius took one look at the sky and pulled his burned purple hat out from his pack and put it on. "Horrid this thing must look," he said, "but mayhap it will keep Stargazer's head dry."
After everyone had arrived, he suggested a plan. "Shall we make haste for Kuiper's? It is my recollection that the Gleaming Glade be in the woods to the north of his farm. Surely he will be able to provide us with more information about its location and history." He turned towards the south and sighed.
Jana checked to see if she could purchase a 'skin. If so, she went to the tavern and had it filled with her favorite beverage. Just for emergencies, of course.
"I think we need go Kuiper, but maybe boat go faster than walk. Horse not can drag two chest all day, we need rest more if we walk."
Aloysius considered Kaileer's idea and then nodded. "Aye, brave one. Methinks thy suggestion hath merit." He glanced towards the river. "Wonder do I where we would find such a boat and crew and at what cost. Shall we walk down to the river to find out?"
"Yeah," Jana agreed, "I'm worried about my horse. I don't want him hauling those damned chests any more than absolutely necessary."
"Let us proceed to the river, then," continued Aloysius, "to see if we can book passage westward."
The mage headed off towards to river to see if he could find someone willing to rent out and pilot a boat large enough to carry them all.
Etienne had been his usual quiet self this morning. He looked up at the heavy skies and smiled, waiting for the rain.
After ageeing on the boat, "I assume you all can swim. If you can't stay near the horse. Those chests aren't going to float either. If they go under we're going to have a wonderful time trying to find them. We should tie a length of rope and an empty wineskin to it. The wineskin will act as a float to show where the chest went under."
Etienne then shouldered his pack and bow and headed to the river with Aloysius.
Jana made a face. "I vote we find a boat that doesn't have holes in it. I can't swim and I'll sink like a stone. Maybe you oughta tie a float to me, too," she added, with the hint of a grin.
The group headed down a little closer to the river where they found a man with a small barge. His load didn't look very heavy, and there would probably be room for all of them, including Horse and the chests, on the boat but barely.
Aloysius hailed the man, waving his arms overhead. "I say," he called, "would thy craft be available for rent today? We have five persons, a horse, and some. . . . .er . . . . baggage . . that need transported to the west a ways."
He put his hands on his hips and waited for the man's reply.
"Don't haggle us out of a ride," Jana whispered quietly. "I don't want to have to kill him for it," she added in what was either utter sincerity or an admirable deadpan.
"Er," muttered Aloysius nervously, "hopes have I that such action will be unnecessary." He turned back towards the man with the boat.
"Naturally, we would be pleased to compensate you in a reasonable manner for your services. I assume that you prefer hard currency?"
"Where you trying to go?" the man inquired, not seeming to paying much attention to them. "I pro'ly got the room, but my boss don't like me takin' on passengers. If I lose my boat, my wife an' kids'll starve. It'd have to be worth my while." He looked at Aloysius seriously for a moment, then resumed fiddling with the ropes on the boat.
"Well, we need to go near to where the Hog Brook meets the river. Are you familiar with that area? As I said, we are willing to pay a reasonable fee." The mage glanced up at the sky to try and discern the weather's intent.
"Uh," he continued uncertainly, "what would you consider a 'reasonable fee' to be?"
Jyothki suddenly looked a little nervous. "I do not have any coins," she said. "Perhaps I should simply follow on the river bank and meet you when you debark."
"I doubt you'd be able to keep up. Don't trouble yourself, Aloysius should still be holding some of my coins, I'm sure there should be enough to pay your way. Besides, our presence will save the man the cost of hiring guards." The ranger said with a smile.
"Aloysius, perhaps you could point that out? If he needs a guard all the way to Milborne, I'll be glad to go, it will be nice to ask Garyld's opinion on the matters at hand."
Jyothki turned to face Kaileer. "Well I would greatly appreciate that, my friend," she said. "I suppose I really should keep get some coins of my own, I wonder how I would do that," she mused to herself.
"I don't normally take passengers," the man replied. "You name a price, and I'll tell ya if it's worth me riskin' losin' my job over."
Aloysius removed one of his pouches, opened it, and peered inside for a moment. Finally, he looked back at the man with the boat. "How about 25 pieces of gold?" he offered. "Keep in mind that our presence will prevent you from having to hire guards as well. That seems more than reasonable to me."
Jana choked at Aloysius' bid. She turned red and made a few strangled noises, clenching her fists. After what was obviously a tremendous mental effort, she calmed herself into a not-uncustomary brooding glare.
Aloysius glanced at Jana uneasily and began to fidget. He looked down at the ground and began kicking the dirt with hiw foot. He mumbled something under his breath that no one could hear, and then flashed a PSF at the man in the boat.
