Upon arrival in Milborne, the party split into several smaller groups. Azrun quickly retired to a room in the Baron of Mutton in spite of the early hour. Kaileer, Gala, and Arachne went to visit the constable. Pug and Aloysius took Puddlejumper to be stabled and stopped by Rastifer's store on the way back to the Baron. Maisar looked into the common room situation while the others ran their errands. The large room was empty since the town had quieted down after Midsummer; those who wished to stay there for the night would have it for themselves. Garyld limped over to the Baron when his visitors returned there. He sat at the bar and ordered a beer, listening the the talk of the few folk sitting around. He engaged himself in a conversation with one of them and the subject of orcs soon came up.
"Only place around here that there's orcs is the Great Rock Dale, everyone knows that," the man sitting next to the crippled ranger told him.
"'Til now," came Garyld's reply. "The orcs probably don't care that we expect them to stay there."
Kaileer went with the old ranger, fighting the urge to help him walk, something that would only help make him feel like a cripple. He talked about his home and asked about Haranshire, the other rangers and about his birds. One thing Kaileer didn't ask about was Garyld's leg, after all, he had known Fein for more than 40 summers and nerver had the old elf been willing to speak of his missing eye. He payed special attention to Garyld's words since he was probably considered somewhat of an elder, even though he was hardly the oldest man in the village.
Arachne, torn between satisfying her hunger at a dinner table with her companions and her hunger for more information, useful or no, told her stomach to be patient. She sat with Garyld, listening respectfully to her juniors and sipping a fairly small, very weak beer. (She also inquired about having another of those wonderful and relaxing baths before retiring for the night.)
Aloysius sat at a nearby table, sipping on an ale and eating some bread and cheese. He was actually doing a better job of breaking the food into pieces than he was eating it. It didn't appear that he had much of an appetite. "Hell . . . .hell . . . .hell . . . ", he began to mutter. Speaking up, he looked over at Dirkaster. "Uh, sir, I assure you that no magic strong enough exists to send 'this place' to hell." He stopped and thought for a moment. "However, I suppose it WOULD be possible for hell to come here, or at least parts of hell." Aloysius thought for a moment. "Hmmm . . . .mayhap that would be an interesting topic of study someday." At that point, Aloysius leaned over to Pug and whispered in his ear. "Pug, ask this Garyld fellow if he found anything at the boathouse. I'd ask, but Stargazer be not his favorite person."
"I don't believe I would be the one to get answers from him either. Perhaps Azrun or Kaileer." Pug whispered. "Well Stargazer we need our rest in order to prepare for the 'morrow and I believe there is that matter about illumination from Nivana that we have yet to hash about." Pug said as he got up to secure a double room for Aloysius and himself.
Old Dirkaster interjected, "This place is going to hell. Orcs in the Thornwood, bandits in the Lyrchwood, someone's done taken my grandson's gal. I should go ahead and die before the lizardmen try to take Thurmaster again. They'll succeed with the way things are going now! And then they'll move over to Harleton, and take it. It won't be fit for nothing but the scaly swamp suckers in a few months anyway, good farmland gone to ruin! Next thing you know that ghost'll come out of the Gleaming Glade, bearing all that lost magic and then the gods help us all, no one else'll be able to. The twin behind the bar slipped the ancient man another mug of ale and he quickly lapsed into silence.
Preferring that he not remain that way, Arachne said, "The Gleaming Glade? Where's --? Pardon me. I am Arachne Convola. From Furthinghome -- across the Starry Sea. Anyway, I'm with the group that is trying to find out what happened to Jelenneth, among other things. But I'm just incurably curious, so... Where is this Gleaming Glade and lost magic ... and ghost?"
Kaileer turned to Aloysius. "What be hell?"
Aloysius looked surprised by Kaileer's question. "Why, crafty one, hast thou interest in such a question?" The magic-user frowned abruptly. "Oh dear, thy common be inadequate to understand such a topic. So . . . . . . . ." At that point, Aloysius began speaking in a language full of vigor and beauty. He gestured frequently, pointing at both the ceiling and the floor, and made repeated facial expressions, apparently to accentuate a point he was making. After a few moments, he finished, and continued drinking his ale.
It took very little to encourage Dirkaster to start rambling again, "Oh, the ghost of the Gleaming Glade. You don't know that story? Long before even I was born, pro'ly two centuries past, before the villages were here and there was just frontier farmers in these parts, a priest of Myrkul and all his assasins took up in the Hardelow Wood, that's where the Gleaming Glade is, or so they say. No one living's ever seen the place. A holy warrior took a band o' men to route them out o' their hidey hole. He was Lothar Parlfray and that tells you how long the Parlfray's been around here. Them and the Carmans, they rule things 'round here, take the taxes and all. But the priest uttered...."
Aloysius interuppted before the man could finish....
Arachne, who was already sitting by Garyld and Dirkaster, carefully cradled her head in her hands.
The other twin approached the table where those who wished to eat a bite of supper before retiring had seated themselves. By his eager excitement at seeing them again, they quickly deduced that this was Andren. "Did Tauster have any word of Jelenneth?" he asked quickly. He had dark circles under his eyes as he looked at them anxiously.
"Tauster not have word," Kaileer said sadly, "we not stop look, we find and bring back," he finished with a weak smile, trying to reassure the boy but not so sure of anything himself.
Aloysius looked up at Andren's hopeful face. "Nay, sir, naught of Jelleneth we did find. Search the River of Swine did we, and have but orcish arrows and our own blood shed to show. Tauster had no word of her either."
Without awaiting a response, Aloysius continued generally to anyone that would listen. "To the west were we accosted by bandits when we did first come here, perhaps a half-day's travel. Is there anywhere in that area that a group of such marauders could hide out? Mayhap a cave or something akin? Methinks that bandits be behind our travails. Zond was taken to prevent their captured comrades from being questioned, and Jelleneth, well, she IS young and comely." With that, Aloysius sat down on a bar stool and proceeded to flick pieces of his dinner from his teeth with a fingernail.
Arachne glanced up at the stargazer. "I think it might behoove you," she hissed at him angrily, "to hire another to translate _all_ your remarks and questions into gracious speech."
Dirkaster seemed quite unoffended by Aloysius, "Ay, lizardmen. They still roundabouts Thurmaster. They'll come back, mark my words. Something worse in the Shrieken Mire than lizardmen, but good folk don't speak 'bout that. If they ever do come back though, and maybe with their queen, they'll take Thurmaster and the rest of us too." He nodded at Arachne, apparently having completely forgotten that he was talking about something.
Garyld, engrossed in conversation with Kaileer about crows and things that Kuiper used to do when he was first learning the way of the woods, looked over at Dirkaster long enough to roll his eyes with a smile, "Barthlew, get that man another ale to shut him up 'fore he scares someone." He tossed the barkeep a coin for the old man's ale.
Aloysius looked befuddled by Arachne's comment. "Translate? But small one, these men speak quite well, especially for barkeeps." He looked back at Dirkaster. "The Shrieken Mire? What evil haunts that place? Is it around here? Need of we to consider every nest of evil in finding the missing."
Dirkaster was now absorbed in his new mug of ale. He drank amazingly fast, and a lot of it too, for someone his age. Garyld answered for him, "The Shrieken Mire is the swamp to the south of Thurmaster. It's where the lizardmen that attacked Thurmaster years ago came from." Garyld returned to his conversation with Kaileer.
When Andren was informed that no one had seen hide nor hair of Jelenneth, his face fell. He nodded at the assurances that the group would continue to look for her and he managed a quiet broken, "Thank you." With that, he waved for Barthlew's attention and then went out of the inn into the night.
Aloysius squinted his eyes and wrinkled his nose at the young man as he left. "Poor lad," he began, "heard have I of the might of love, but ne'er have I seen it." He looked around at the group. "Let us leave this place and prepare to venture forth on the 'morrow. Evil arises, so says Shaundral. Have need we do of our rest, and time to decide our course."
Aloysius once again leaned down and whispered to Pug. "Good Pug, it
sounds as if our group has reserved the common room for us all. Dost thou
still intend to peruse yon boathouse this night?"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it."Pug whispers back
Aloysius grinned down at the gnome. "Well, have a care, Pug. If something foul becomes of thee, Arachne will end up blaming me." The magic-user looked pleased for a moment. "By the Starry Cresent, a rhyme did I make . . . . . ." His grin slowly curled upwards, as his face assumed the expression of the PAINFUL SMILE FACE.
The pleasant feeling Aloysius was experiencing from his rhyme was quickly washed away by his realization that everyone had just heard what he said. He maintained the PSF, but started to turn red. For a moment, amazingly, the magic-user said nothing.
Arachne sighed at Aloysius's commandeering of the Dirkasterquestioning. She watched Pug betake himself off to... bed? Evidently, he didn'tplan to share common quartering, wherever that proved to be. "Given the location of events and non-events," she said obscurely,"I still think the best place to go looking for Zond, Jelenneth andtrouble is downstream -- and then up whatever tributary comes from the area of theNew Mire. I suggest that, as soon after Gala's sunrise ceremony as we canmuster ourselves, that we set off in that direction.
After the color drained from his face, the magic-user considered Arachne's plan. "Bandits. On bandits our focus should be. We have encountered human bandits and orcs, and only humans would be able to stealthfully enter the town and apprehend Jelleneth. Also, the bandits we captured did conveniently disappear with Zond. To avoid their interrogation, they were no doubt rescued by their comrades. To the west, where we met these brigands, is where I say we go. Perhaps they lair there and we could either find the missing or information as to their fates." The color returned to his cheeks. "Uh . . . .now I need to find Pug so we can . . . . uh. . . . .go to our room to . . . . .uh . . . .talk about things arcane. 'Night all." With that, Aloysius left out the same door the gnomes had used previously.
