Selune's half-orb continued her westward journey as the group stood outside the cave. Some tempers flared. Some were quieted, and some were not. The realization of Pug's death sank in more slowly for some than others. None of this changed the fact that the beautiful summer evening was passing by while they stood outside a cave, uncertain of what to do next. Gala called for the group to make a decision on what to do about Pug.....
"I will do what the majority decides," Torro spoke quietly then wondered off and sat leaning against a tree thinking.
"I wish we had some idea what Pug would've wanted us to do about his corpse," Arachne sighed. "Though my vote, if voting this is, is for burial over an unlikely quest to Scornubel. But it's almost certain that Pug knew how to write..." She began to search Pug's body, looking for pockets and pouches. Anywhere paper or parchment might have been hidden.
As she worked, Arachne continued her abstractions: "I'm also agreeable to our withdrawing to the hills to make camp for the night and I suspect that watching the cavemouth here is unnecessary. You might do it motivated by curiosity, perhaps, but I don't think it necessary to prevent decamping." She paused, gazing thoughtfully at some of Pug's sewing gear she'd found, then resumed searching and safer discourse. "Listen: If something like this should happen to me, I won't say I have any philosophical or religious scruple against an attempt at resurrecting me, but not at the expense of whatever cause got me killed in the first place. What I would ask for is burial if you can manage it, protection from necromancers and other grave robbers (of course) if you can manage _that_, and that you try to send word of what happened to me back to my family in Furthinghome in Aglarond. Convola Ratcatchers, that's the family business. My parents are Pomritz and Agatha Convola and my brother is Simmons. That's enough about that, I think."
After some further discussion with Kaileer in a singsong language, Aloysius watched as the ranger and the black haired warrioress squared off, only to be separated by Gala.
"Damn Shaundral's taunting beam," he said, looking skyward. "Galaret is right, now be not the ideal time for charting a course. Need of we to rest and clear our heads."
The magic-user looked sadly down at Pug's body. "Much would it please me to talk with Pug anew about matters arcane, as we did afore. Yet, Scornobel be far, and we have pressing matters here that need tended. The prospects of seeing Pug raised with our meager resources seem . . .meager. Methinks it would be best if we interred him properly at Milborne and proceed from there. For now, let us not cross one another, but instead find a suitable place to camp."
After "milling about" for a bit, Aloysius and Gala moved about 50 yards away from the group and appeared to be discussing something in earnest.
Gala, upon her return to the group after walking a short while with Aloysius, thought for a second, "Didn't somebody mention camping somewhere away from the cave? What say all, move someways away, assume standard watch schedule, and then decide what to do tomorrow? I think the majority so far indicates a burial for Pug, so unless any object, tomorrow we can start back to Milborne and bury him, then get on with our task here." Without further talk, Gala picked up her pack and waited for the others to come with her to a slightly less dangerous campsite.
After thinking it over CAREFULLY (he has a mind of his own), Aloysius concurs and indicates he will follow Gala off to wherever it is she thinks this "less dangerous campsite" is.
After tending to Jana, Lasiar sought some nearby dry ground where he sat in meditation, praying to his Goddess to protect the gnome's spirit on his journey in the afterlife. Gala's loud announcement drew his attention, interrupting him in mid-prayer. Lasiar looked up at her when she spoke his name, but he remained quiet until the others spoke their opinions. Still seated, Lasiar said to everyone, "I cannot guarantee that Pug will be raised with little or no cost, but I can try to convince the priests of my faith to perform a service of such magnitude for a promise of payment, be it monetary or other. But since the concensus is that Pug be buried, there is no more need for me to speak on that matter of raising. I agree with Gala, we should camp and decide on our next actions after a night's rest. Some of you do not trust the goblins so I suggest we set watches to monitor the cave entrance." Lasiar stood up and walked to stand beside Gala.
Gala replied, "Let us go to a safer place than this and set watches around our camp. We do not have so many people that we can afford to watch two places at once. I'm sorry if I was confusing, Lasiar. I never meant that we should camp in front of a cave of goblins, or that anyone should stay here for the night."
Azrun shouldered his pack and grabbed up his staff. He offers to help carry Pug, but figures the others will have an easier time of it.
Once they find a suitable campsite, Azrun helps with the setup and then takes some quiet time to himself.
Clearly accepting Gala's words as an order, Jana moved without hesitation to her horse and prepared to move out. "We can," she said to no one in particular, "put some of the packs from PJ onto my horse and carry Pug on PJ."
"Your apology is not necessary. Indeed it would be wiser to seek out a safer area, far from this place of death. I am not familiar with this land, so I must rely on you and your friends to lead me away." Lasiar smiles warmly at Gala.
At Gala's "Let's get going" urging, Arachne had suspended her inspection of Pug's possessions. She packed Pug's gear up again in his backpack and helped (in a supervisory capacity) load that and Pug on Puddlejumper. Then she walked with Puddlejumper toward camp on higher ground (some hills are supposed not to be too far away). Her attention was divided between the slogging and the stuff she was carrying in her hand.
The Patchwork Hills--Evening 7-Morning 8 Eleasias 1374 DR
The group finally reached a decision to move away from the cave to camp in the relative dryness of the hills. They walked about a quarter of a mile to the northeast before they found a suitable spot. After the tragic events of the early evening, the night passed mercifully without event. Gala arose to greet the dawn as she did every morning. The day promised to be another hot one, making the decision of what to do with Pug all the more important....
Kaileer removed his green cape and used it as a makeshift shroud to wrap Pug untill they returned to Milborne. He then shouldered his bow and carried the wrapped body to the campsite.
Without a word he rested with his bow in hand, ready to use it if any foul beast tried to defile Pug's remains, fortunately it was unecessaty. When it was time for his watch, he continued his silent vigil, refusing more rest though still tired.
When the camp began to stir, Gala was already awake with her greeting of the dawn. Maisar was ending his watch. Aloysius, on the other hand, was no where to be seen. Given his fondness for taking trips to the 'privy', this was not all that surprising, but he usually announced his attentions loudly and after a few minutes, he still had not returned.
"He must have gone back to the barn for his stuff," sighed Gala. "He wanted me to go with him. I better head that way." She immediately started heading for the barn
"Huh? Who? What?" Arachne asked. Up to that point, she hadn't noticed Aloysius's absence.
"So where are you going?" Arachne asked sharply. "Sorry!" she immediately added. "It's just that you _are_ compounding his error -- if indeed, that's what happened to him. If he did decide to set off in the middle of the night back around the edge of the mire to the barn to retrieve his gear -- I can't believe he'd _do_ something like that!" she burst out. "That is so witless! _And_ self-centered. He could hardly see where he was going -- how was he to be sure that he'd stay _out_ of the mire? And what did he expect the rest of us to do while he spent the day and more trotting round to the barn and back again? Chat about the weather? "Azrun, you complain often enough about our acute individualism. Well, I won't claim to be guiltless on that score, but this one is the worst example yet. Gala, he may have had hours of headstart on you. Do you really expect to be able to overtake him? Damn the man!" she shouted, stamping her foot. Fortunately, camp had been made on relatively firm ground. Arachne glared down at her stamped foot. "Again," she sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm also angry. We don't seem to have learned a thing from yesterday. And that _would_ dishonor Pug's memory."
"Don't go by yourself, Gala." Jana looked back in the direction of the barn and sighed. "Perhaps he's just off looking at a bug or something. We should search the area before assuming he's gone any great distance," Jana said, looking around. "If," she continued, looking at the usually cheerful priest, "it turns out he's not around, then we'll figure out how to find him without putting anyone in unnecessary danger."
The gnome's fingers experimentally tied knots in the rope while she gazed at nothing in particular. When the ceremony was ended and the group was going through the activities of breaking fast and packing camp that had become fairly automatic after some tendays together, Arachne said, "I guess, then, that we're agreed that burying Pug in hallowed ground at Milbourne is the right thing to do. It seems best to me. I haven't been able to find anything of Pug's that directs me otherwise. "There's some of his possessions I'd like to keep, if the rest of you don't mind. Well, one thing. This rope. It's nothing special, but he was always tying and untying things...
"Some of the other things I think perhaps ought to be buried with him. He had a lot of daggers." She fetched out a half dozen daggers. "I guess he expected to lose some throwing them around. There's these other things." She produced a collection of picks. "I'm not sure what they're for. I don't recall him doing much woodworking. Does anyone play liripipe? Azrun? If not, I guess we could bury that and those other things with him. "Oh, he was holding our treasure -- such as it is. It's not nearly enough to persuade any priests to raise someone from the dead, but it needs a new custodian. Um, I'll try, if the rest of you wish... "You know, if we're going to ask the people of Milbourne to let us bury Pug in their cemetary, it might be a good idea for someone to go ahead and negotiate the thing. Get permission from What's His Name, the priest who's there. Hire gravediggers. I mean, I don't want to rush burying Pug, but it isn't as if we don't have a problem back here to investigate. And missing people we don't know are dead or alive. There is some urgency, so we should try to do what we must for Pug fairly efficiently.
"Jana could take Dammit and go. The only problem there is that Jana's never been to Milbourne before. It'd be a bit easier if one of us who'd met the people of Milbourne before went. If someone else took Puddlejumper and went, that's also a possibility. I don't know whether Puddlejumper remembers how to gallop -- or ever knew. He's a little phlegmatic, but that's a possibility. "Or I could fly ahead. Azrun, I promise: I'd be as cautious as a turtle. I'd fly straight to Milbourne, talk to the priest about a plot and then work from that inn -- the respectable one -- to arrange for gravediggers so that, when you all got there, we'd be ready to proceed. And it's probably safer to fly alone than to ride overland alone. And, it's not as if my going ahead reduces noticeably the fighting power of the rest of you. With the addition of Laziar, you scarcely need me to help patch up the wounded. So perhaps that would be the most efficient? "Azrun, I would like to do something useful."
Azrun kneeled down next to the small gnome and looked her in the eyes, "Arachne, if you want to make the flight to Milborne to make arrangements for Pug, it's fine with me. I hope he knew how good a companion he had in you. We shall make our trip to Milborne as quickly as possible. You should tell the constable there about what we have found here so far." He gave the small gnome a hug,"For luck, may Tymora shine upon you, little one."
Azrun shouldered his pack and grabbed his staff, "Well, let's go. He's probably staring at a bunch of birds somewhere."
"The barn isn't on our way back to town, you know," Arachne pointed out. "It's over there." She pointed west. "And Milbourne is more like over there." She pointed approximately north. Going there will lengthen a one day trip into two. It'll give me more time to make arrangements in Milbourne, I suppose, but I wasn't intending to act at a leisurely pace." Visibly letting practicality calm her down, she asked, "So who is winding up going where?"
"Maybe Purple man not WANT go," Kaileer pointed out, "Gala, you take Puddlejumper, go with Jana. Arachne go fly Milborne, I take Pug and others. I need talk Garyld..."
Gala said, "don't you want to use Puddlejumper, to, um, carry Pug? I can walk as long as Jana doesn't go too fast."
"We can alternate riding," Jana replied. "More efficient. We'll both stay fresh, in case of trouble."
Gala blushed, "Well, I don't really know how to ride, Jana. And that horse looks awfully tall to me. I think I'll walk if you don't mind."
Gala sighed heavily. "I don't know why he does these things. I told him I would go with him in the morning. I guess he just couldn't wait. Jana, I don't think your horse would enjoy or be safe in the Mire. And I'm not quite brave enough to risk it on my own. So I guess we will go around with all due speed." She looked at the others and blushed, "I'm sorry. I truly believe we should all stick together, but Aloysius is so sensitive. I feel partly responsible for him, so I have to go check on him. Please forgive me."
Lasiar listened disinterestedly to his present company's debate on their travelling plans. As the discussion became more heated, he decided to voice his opinion before a brawl breaks loose. "Arachne, please calm down. I understand your frustration, but you must compose yourself. All of you must remain calm." He eyed each in turn. "Now, Aloysius has decided to go off on his own, and if he did return to the _barn_ as Gala pointed out, someone must go fetch him. I propose that we split into two groups. One will go on to Milbourne to prepare Pug's burial, and the other travel to the barn. Then we shall all meet back here once our tasks are completed."
Torro rose from his sleeping place to the commotion. Quickly Torro caught on to the fact that the strange purple man had decided to take leave of the party. With a sigh, Torro gathered up his sleeping gear, wiped the sleep from his eyes, and waited for the others to come to a decision. After all, Torro was only half awake still...
Arachne bit back a -- whatever she was going to say. She didn't say it, but she didn't _look_ as though the advice had gone appreciated. She listened to Lasiar's remarks. She listened to everyone's remarks. She waited while they worked out what they planned to do. Her plan for herself was unchanged: To fly ahead to Milbourne and make preparations for Pug's final disposition. But it would be nice, if things went wrong and no-one else showed up after a reasonable amount of time, to have some idea what they'd planned to do on their way to Milbourne... In view of the general uncertainty, Arachne was holding onto her backpack (rather than parking it on Puddlejumper, as was her frequent practice), while plans were finalized.
Azrun looked around at the group and sighed, "Well, if we're going to split the group up, we better split it up right. I suggest Gala, Jana, and I go after Smiley and we'll meet up with you guys in Milborne. The rest of the group can go on to Milborne to take care of Pug." He knelt down next to Arachne, "You go on ahead and make preparations for Pug. But be careful. I'd rather you not take any unnecessary risks, ok?". He stood up and looked around, "Any objections?"
"No unnecessary risks, agreed," Arachne smiled. "And I appreciate the effort to make me feel less like a child and more like a peer..." she added softly.
