Once Arachne returned unharmed from her brief scouting mission, the party decided that into the mire was the way to go and began their preparations. None of the hay in the barn was fit for consumption by horse, so Puddlejumper and Horse were stuck with whatever provisions the group could provide for them.
Gala turned to Jana, "Excuse me Jana, but we, forgot about finding decent fodder for Puddlejumper. Did you perhaps, bring enough that we might purchase some of the food you have for your horse, er, Dammit?" Gala grinned at Jana.
Jana looked up. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, none of this hay's safe. Yeah, I have enough to get them both by for awhile." She dismissed the idea of taking money from Gala. "It won't last long, so we'd best acquire more soon." She returned Gala's grin and set both horses up with food and water, but not where they could reach the moldy hay. She made sure her horse was as comfortable as possible. She gave him a final affectionate pat and whispered, "Be good, Dammit. I'll see if I can't round up an apple or two for you while I'm gone."
The group trudged off towards Cutter Brook to follow it south, the direction Arachne had indicated she had seen the boy, be he orc or brigand or simply a child. Their movement south grew progressively slower as the ground grew swampier and the vines grew thicker. For once, the walking gnomes didn't slow their progress; it seemed their shorter legs were compensated by their lighter weight when moving over mud. Four hours after they left the farm, they came across two children playing in a shallow part of the brook, a boy of about ten and a girl of about five. As they moved closer, they could see that the children were so intent on whatever task they were going about that they were oblivious to the party's approach. Each child was gathering mud from the bottom of the creek and going through the sludge methodically.
Azrun looked at children and then back at the group, "What is it you think they're looking for there?" He whispered quietly, "Perhaps, I should go and see." He looked at the kids and then to Arachne, "Maybe you should come with me. Someone their size will be less terrifying and they might be intrigued to see a gnome. The rest of you can cover our tails in case they're actually the bad guys." He smiled and winked.
"Maybe gold or precious gems?" Gala replied, looking at the children with sympathetic eyes. "If you need or want my help, Azrun, you have only to ask. I am seldom terrifying, although sometimes I would like to be." she said, smiling at him warmly.
Kaileer nodded his agreement and pulled back on his bowstring to test the weapon's elasticity. Then, apparently satisfied, he drew an arrow from his quiver and kept an eye to their rear and right flank.
Jana's eyes turned briefly to the sky, as if asking, 'why me?' She chose a spot from which to watch an area not already covered by Kaileer. She did not, however, find it necessary to draw a weapon just yet.
Gala looked at Kaileer drawing his weapon on the children and at Azrun. "Look," she whispered, "I know you do not give me much credit as being a woman and unable to deal effectively with strangers, but if theses children have never seen a gnome, no offence Arachne, don't you think a man and a creature they've never seen before would be more frightening than a woman, or a woman and a man? I mean, I'm trying to go by your rules here, because you seem to think them logical, but this just seems illogical. I can't abide by it. Or by drawing on children." Almost angrily, Gala left the cover and approached the children, calling out as she did so, softly, "Excuse me?" she asked, not stopping to see if Azrun, Arachne, or anyone else was following, "My name is Gala. We are travelers here and not used to the area. May I ask your names?" When she got closer she attempted to get more of an idea of what they were doing.
Azrun looked very surprise at Gala's statement, "I have never implied that you couldn't deal with strangers. I also have no problem with you being a woman. I was hoping because of Arachne's size, she may be less terrifying than a group of adults. If you want to go that's fine," Azrun told Gala's back as she walked toward the children.
Azrun looked up as she walked off, "I'll take that as an ok, I'll go....." Azrun jumped and walked in behind her. Azrun looked around the area trying to get a feel for whether or not others were lurking in the murk.
Startled, the little girl ran toward her brother. She dropped the mud she was playing in and tripped as she tried to hurry towards the boy. She got up quickly, soaked to the bone, and finally got to her destination, behind her older brother. The boy, who looked almost as frightened as the girl, put on a brave face as he looked at Gala. He stood up straight and puffed out his chest. "I'm Devon and this is my sister Barb." He stood in front of the crying girl protectively.
When Azrun came out of the vines as well, the boy's face almost crumpled as well but he looked at Gala and asked as strongly as he could manage, "Who is that? Is he with you? If not, get behind me, lady. I'll protect you too." Devon fumbled with a sling at his side, trying to pull it off his belt while he watched the strangers.
Gala already regretting her burst of temper was glad to have Azrun at her back. She looked back at him and offered a tentative and apologetic smile, then turned back to the children.
Gala and Azrun could see that the children had gathered a very small pile of green and blue stones on the creek bank.
Gala smiled tentatively at Devon. "He is my friend." she replied, speaking softly still. "We would not harm you or your sister, Devon, and I offer my thanks for your offer of protection. We are looking for a missing girl and a friend of ours that also disappeared." Gala ignored the stones.
"I am a priest of the Morninglord. You have nothing to fear from me. Have you seen any strangers around here, other than me and my friend, Azrun?" she asked.
The boy shook his head as he replied, "No one 'cept the blue monsters over by the hills. I slung a rock at 'em and scared 'em away," he told her proudly. "No monsters are gonna get my sheep, no matter how big and fierce they are. And they was giants, and a lot of 'em, 'bout three dozen. And they breathed fire and wore iron shoes! Pointy ears and big mouths full of sharp teeth! They had two handed war axes and, and..." he was very excited as he recounted this tale but he stopped for a minute and glanced at Gala and Azrun for a moment.
Azrun whispered under his breath, "Blue monsters, again....more than a story then...."
Azrun waited for the children to answer for asking more questions. He looked at the small stones that they had been gathering." Where are your parents, son?"
He then spoke up, "Son, which way did the blue monsters go when you ran them off. That was awful brave of you."
"Momma's at the cabin and Pop went to town," he replied. "When Pop is gone, I'm in charge. I take care of Momma and Barb and the baby."
"Momma's at the cabin and Pop went to town," he replied. "When Pop is gone, I'm in charge. I take care of Momma and Barb and the baby."
He looked at the little girl trying to get her to talk some, "These are very pretty stone, little one. Do you like stones?"
The little girl continued to cry as she tried to wipe the mud off her clothes, making even more of a mess as she tried. She shook her head at Azrun's question, not saying a word. Devon answered for her, "Don't matter if we like stones or not. If we find enough of 'em before Pop gets back, then we won't have to move. We'll sell 'em and gets lots of money so we can stay."
Azrun's heart stuck in his throat for a moment, then he looked down at the pile of stones. He picked up a couple of the stones and then looked at the little girl, "Well, they're awful pretty stones. How much do you want for these stones in my hand?"
The girl still didn't answer. The boy piped up again, "How much will you give us for them?" He looked at Azrun a bit sheepishly, "I was going to get Pop to sell them. He's a better dealmaker than me."
Azrun eyed the rocks once more, "Well, I've seen rocks of these quality go for a couple silvers a piece in Shadow Dale. I'll tell you what I'll give you 2 gold pieces for 5 of them stones. That's a little more than what I paid for some in Shadow Dale, but these look to be better quality. What do you say, do we have a deal?" Azrun's smile was quite genuine.
Gala held her arms out to Barb, picking her up if she was willing and tried to help her get the mud off her clothes. "Come here, Barb. My name is Gala. Would you let me try and help you get the mud off your clothes?" She smiled warmly at the child, letting Azrun worry about the stones.
Barb continued to cower behind Devon until he pushed her towards the priestess. In a stage whisper, he told the girl, "Let her clean you up or Momma's gonna be mad." Barb very reluctantly went to Gala.
She called over her shoulder to Devon, "When your momma comes back, do you think she would let us hire you to take us to where you last saw the blue monsters?"
Devon shook his head, "Pro'ly not. She don't like us going off with people we don't know. But I could tell you where I saw 'em. You could hire me for that." The boy began fumbling with his sling again as the rest of the crew save Aloysius and Jana came out of hiding. "Do you know these too, ma'am?" he asked Gala hopefully. He looked at Kaileer, "Them monsters had pointy ears like him, they did."
"Yes," smiled Gala, "I am blessed to have many friends here." She then took Barb very gently down to the stream and washed both of them off. She sang children's songs in a soft voice to her and did her best to console and reassure the small child.
Gala, blushing a bit, "Um, Azrun, those are worth over twice that." Gala murmured, "a bit more than 4 gold pieces actually. I figured you just don't know the current prices is all." Gala said, as she walked off with Barb. "Devon, they have copper in them. That's what makes them valuable, I think."
Azrun looked surprised, "Hmmmm...I guess you're right. Sorry about that. 5 gold it is then." Azrun stood up and reached into his change pouch and produced 5 gold coins. "Here you go son."
Pug stayed close to Arachne while Gala and Azrun talked to the children. He kept his eyes and ears open for any sign of trouble in the area.
Seeing that the children were in fact children, Kaileer returned the arrow to his quiver, shouldered his bow, and went to join Arzun and Gala to get information on the blue monsters. "Blue monster make field swamp?" he asked Arzun as he approached in a non-threatening manner.
Arachne was agreeable when Azrun invited her to join him in going out to speak with the children. She was forestalled, though, when Gala declared that a small gnome might be frightening to anyone. Everyone knows (and ignores) gnomes, Arachne knew. Anywhere you go in the Realms, you can always find at least a small population of gnomes going unnoticed by the bigger people. Arachne was still trying to cope with the outrageous idea that she could possibly frighten anybody when Kaileer's notching an arrow and scanning in other directions was described by Gala as "drawing on children."
"What? Huh?" Arachne asked in puzzlement. "Sketching them? Why -- ?" But then, Gala had stormed out of hiding and engaged the children...in conversation, so she couldn't have been too angry. Since Arachne had been invited along on the diplomatic mission originally, she was inclined to go out and join Gala -- just to assure herself that the world was still the one she knew and that she was still the most unthreatening person she knew. She was even more inclined that way when Azrun went out after Gala.
But Pug was right beside her, ready to move if she did. And there was something about the way that looking at Pug hurt one's eyes (sort of) that made Arachne feel that _he_ might actually succeed at being a frightening gnome. And since he would likely move if she did, she stayed put. That lasted until the muddy elf (they were all muddy, admittedly) unhooked his arrow and also went out into the open. "It'll scarcely matter now, if a couple of gnomes are added to the mix," she shrugged softly, and also went out of hiding. "Herding sheep _is_ something you could continue to do even when the land is becoming marshier," she observed to Pug, who presumably was staying by her. "But you'd have to keep _very_ close watch on them, lest they get themselves mired. I wonder who's minding the sheep now, if Mother's at home, Father is visiting the town and the children are collecting stones?" But she didn't pester the children with that question right away. They already were fully occupied with negotiating a sale of goods (stones) and services (guidance to the great battlefield) as well as cleanup. "If the blue monsters really wore iron shoes," Arachne mused, "they might have been prudently avoiding coming down from the hills into the mire, not exactly running away."
Other than to grumble, "children, hmmph!", Aloysius took no particular interest in the young creek miners. As the party discussed what to do next, Aloysius squatted by the creek and looked in, waiting for something interesting to swim by.
Azrun looked back as the rest of the group clammered from the swamp, "That's Kaileer and he's no monster. He looks a little different but he means you no harm." He looked back at the boy, "Devon, how tall were the blue monsters. Were they as tall as us or taller?"
Aloysius was so intent on what might be found in the creek that he scarcely noticed Gala slogging off towards the children. Picking up a long narrow stick from the ground, he seemed to be poking around at something near the water's edge.
As the others parlayed with the children for information, as well as the going price for colored stones, Aloysius continued to prod around in the creek. Still squatting by the edge of the water, he seemed fascinated by something in the water. He would slowly put the end of his stick into the water, and then excitedly hop up and down a few times, giggling emphatically. Then, he would put the end of the stick in again, and repeat the whole process. After doing this a few times, he jumped straight up in the air, spread his arms out, and began running around in a small circle shouting "I found her! I found her!"
"He's with me!" Arachne shouted, closing in on Kaileer and hoping to head off any confrontation involving slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Anything like that would be just too poetical. "And I'm with her," Arachne added sensibly, nodding at Gala. "Does anyone have any speculation to offer regarding these oversized, iron-shod, blue, pointy-eared monsters?" she went on. "I'm awful at bestiaries, but since we'd seen them in the area already, I'd've been prepared to call them orcs wearing ghastly warpaint until we got to the part about the pointy ears. But a well-shaped ear is not an orcish trait. A well-shaped _anything_ is not an orcish trait," she added gratuitously, letting her own prejudice show.
Kaileer didn't appear impressed when his ears were compared to a monster's,
and even less when Arachne suggested that they were orcs. Jana stayed back, keeping a watchful eye on the area. She smiled at
the kids occasionally, trying to look reassuring. "I wish they'd hurry
up with the rugrats," she said quietly to those in her immediate area.
Aloysius, being the only one in Jana's immediate area (I think), looked
up from whatever had his attention in the creek. "Rats? Thou hast seen
a rat? 'Twould be a species new to Stargazer! Dost thou knowest why they
be called 'rugrats'? Mayhap they eat rugs, or nest in them?"
"Mostly," Jana said dryly, "they just spill things and track dirt on
them."
"Asserting a negative generalization," she grumbled to herself. "How
do these people think? Anyway," she went on more loudly, "we're agreed
now that they probably aren't orcs. And, like it or not, Kaileer, their
ears match yours -- ours. Now, I don't know any blue gnomes and, besides,
Devon says these blue folks were larger than a gnome has any business being.
So what about you? Have you got any blue-blooded cousins you don't like
to think about? Big ones, preferably."
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