Kuiper and Lasiar walked away from the farmhouse together. Soon enough, they reached a small plot of ground with a few regularly placed stones and a small area of freshly disturbed dirt. Kuiper picked a rock off to the side of the area and sat down after pointing Lasiar toward the copse of trees where Arachne, Gala, and Oleanne could be found.
Aloysius and Kaileer returned to the farmhouse where the others were standing without Spot. After a few minutes, the group grew bored of standing around outside a farmhouse whose owner was keeping vigil elsewhere for the night. A short walk to them to the place where Kuiper sat keeping watch.
The group noticed that the mage's eyes were red and it appeared that he had been crying. He pretty much kept to himself.
The ranger didn't question the disappearance of Spot. He spoke to the group, "If you are willing to stay here tonight where you can make sure that Oleanne is safe until morning, I will leave for the Great Rock Dale. I'm going to try to find out why we're seeing increased movement from the Sharpfang gnolls. If they are planning an attack, Garyld will need to be warned so we can gather the militia."
Kaileer stopped the ranger. "You want I go with you, Kuiper? It be more safe if two ranger go."
Kuiper shook his head, "I make this trip alone all the time. I'm just going to see what they are up to. Your companions will need you to help track down the priests of Lathander that you are looking for now. And Jelenneth, if it's the same group. We'll be more effective if we take on different tasks."
Kuiper left the group at the burial ground to watch over the nearby stand of trees where the injured druid was resting. He headed back to the farm to leave word with his workers before setting out to the north.
The night passed without event.
Kuiper's Farm-Morning, 12 Eleasias 1374 DR
The next morning, anyone who stayed in the trees with Oleanne and her wolves knew that she arose early and performed her morning ritualistic prayers. Soon afterwards, she emerged from the woods, unhurt, with Belshar and Arlin the wolves. The young druid was an unkempt woman, covered in dirt, with leaves and twigs in her long blonde hair. Somewhere underneath all the dirt was a pretty woman, but she was hard to see underneath all the grime.
"Need body," Oleanne informed Arachne, "if want ask...peace."
"Body?" Arachne echoed stupidly. "Oh. _That_ body. Right." She started toward Pug's grave. "Stupid me. I might've known you'd need the body," she muttered as she went. "I mean, I supposed you might, but I was hoping you wouldn't so I didn't _offer_ to dig it up and besides, it seemed to me that that would be just the thing to make me even _more_ unpopular with Kuiper and where is he this morning, anyway?" She stopped at a simple, fresh, understatedly marked grave (with several similar, older, understatedly marked graves nearby) and looked around. "Anyone got a shovel?" she asked no-one in particular. She finally noticed someone she didn't recognize. "Who are -- ? Pardon. I'm not feeling terribly organized today. I'm Arachne Convola of Furthinghome. I don't believe we've met. By any chance, do _you_ have a shovel?"
"Eric Blackthorn from .... East of here, you may call me Blacky. No shovel, but I have a pick. What's this about a body?" Blacky replied
Arachne's expression clouded over at the vague origin, but she had other, more important things on her mind. She nodded neutrally and turned away --
"No shovel, but I have a pick. What's this about a body?" Blacky replied
"Dead friend," Arachne said hurriedly. "Pug. A gnome --" She glanced back at the huge man. "Like me," she added, perhaps unnecessarily. "He was killed while with us. I'm just making sure that he's well with that." Then she turned her attention back to Oleanne.
Aloysius had arisen early, still in a somber mood. Not surprisingly (to those who had been with him the entire adventure), his mood didn't sem to brighten any at the sight of Arachne approaching the house. As if something forgotten popped back into his head, he sprang up and followed Arachne over to the grave.
"'Tis good to see thee . . . .intact, small one," he said. "Perchance did Oleanne agree to try to use the scroll? If not, I'd like it back."
"Oh, uh, well met Stargazer," she responded absently. "I'm fine. No-one's tried to kill me lately--" She glanced from the new person to him, then stared. "Are you well?" she asked, sounding concerned. "You don't look -- well, I suppose the real physics know best."
"The scroll?" Arachne looked blank a moment. "The scroll! Yes, I still have it." She shucked her backpack and began digging in it. "Somewhere. It's mage magic, remember? Nothing for druids or the rest of us unwashed. No, I haven't asked Oleanne to try using it. I was going to ask that of Mage Tauster -- if I ever got that far with this quest." She pulled out the scroll. "Mayhap, as long as you're here, you could ascertain for certain what it would do?" She offered it to Aloysius.
Then, the mage glanced over at the grave and became even more somber than before. "Is this where . . . ." his voice shook slightly, "good Pug be interred?"
Aloysius seemed surprised by Arachne's statement of concern for his well-being. "Uh . . . . ." he began most inarticulately, "I didst suffer a wound at the hands of Spot, my . . .pet . . . .gnoll." His voice trailed off as he realized Arachne would have no idea what he was talking about. "Galaret did tend it somewhat, but it remains most painful." He pulled back his robe and tunic to reveal a semi-healed slash down the side of his neck that ran along the top of his shoulder.
He was right. She had some idea, but not enough. "Your pet what?" she asked, checking around the vicinity to see if there was something (someone?) she'd missed.
After he perused the scroll for a moment, he re-rolled it.
He then looked back at Arachne. "Why art thou exhuming Pug's remains?"
"I want to know whether Pug is content to be dead. Oleanne can help me try to speak to him, but we need his body in order to make the attempt. If Pug is content, then I intend to let him be. If that scroll's effect is something besides bringing Pug back, then I intend to let him be. But if Pug is restless in death and that scroll may raise him, then I feel I need to continue my quest." She sighed. "And the next step would be messy: Buying Puddlejumper back from Kuiper, loading Pug on Puddlejumper, and slogging my way to Thurmaster to beg Mage Tauster's aid with reading the scroll... Unless you could direct its power...?" She gazed inquisitively at Aloysius.
"Oleanne can speak with the deceased?" Aloysius asked, becoming slightly more animated. "Stargazer would like to see that." The mage raised his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "This scroll could possibly restore Pug, but he may not be as he once was. Mage magic of this type be unpredictable, crossing the bounds of death be not our common place. If you wish it so, Stargazer shall try the spell, but Pug might not return, or he may return as, well, . . . . .an elf, a gnome, a squirrel . . . .take thy choice."
"Well, if I can choose, I choose gnome," Arachne said. "But I gather it's not mine to choose. I --" The gnome looked at the grave, the druid, the rest. She sighed. "Is it worth all the digging simply to try to say goodbye?" she asked. "Aloysius, you know the magic better than anyone else here and I don't think I knew Pug any better than you, really. Do you think, even if Pug desired to return, we should attempt this scroll?"
Aloysius grimmaced as he pulled his tunic and robe back over his wound. "As for my wound, methinks it will take more than a binding with an herbal poultice to resolve my pain. If thee hath magics to aid, I would be in thy debt. If not, I shall await Galaret's return." The mage smiled for the first time that morning. "She always seems willing to assist Stargzaer when he is need of it."
"Poultice? Me?" Arachne asked. "When have you ever seen me mix or apply one of those? No, I was thinking more of -- well, the sort of therapy that's my usual practice. Now, you sit -- so I can reach you -- and tell me about this scroll's magics while I apply mine to your shoulder."
Aloysius sat down cross-legged on the ground and pulled his robe and tunic away from his wound. It was apparent that is had healed somewhat, but at one point it had certainly been a horrible injury.
"There be two main problems with invoking the magic of this scroll, small one. First, its use requires a very high level of skill, and unsure am I if such a casting be within my abilities. Moonspawn could surely do it, but . . . . . .well, he's not here." Slightly blushing from having stated the obvious, the mage continued. "I know not how skilled mage Tauster is, although he appears to be quite a bit older than I. It would be a reasonable inference that he would be better able to work the incantation. Howe'er, that brings us to our second problem. This magic is most unpredictable. 'Tis possible that Pug would be restored as a gnome, but not likely. 'Tis just as likely that he would come back as any variety of demi-human, or perhaps a forest creature of some sort."
Aloysius glanced back at Arachne. "Wish that I had known good Pug better than I did. Ne'er during our discussions did he voice a preference on how we should act in a situation such as this. Mayhap Galaret be correct in saying that he now be in a better place. Defer shall I to thy wishes, Arachne, since Pug and thee seemed close." The purple-haired man sighed. "If I be up to the task. Mine companions and . . . .fr-fr . . . all seem to vanish into thin air or succumb to the darkness of Necros." His eyes watered and it appeared that he might cry.
"I doubted that you'd actually make the decision for me," Arachne sighed. "Still, it was worth a try. So, dig we must, I suppose." Continuing to concentrate on Aloysius's injury, she added, "If no-one here has a shovel -- and I can't think of any reason why any of us would've been toting one around all over Haranshire -- could someone go up to Kuiper's barn and borrow one? I don't think he'd mind lending one (or renting it) for the purpose. He knew yesterday that this was what I proposed to do -- digging up Pug -- and allowed that I could do it without distressing him. I can't go to the barn myself; I'm unwelcome on his property -- not for desecrating this grave, just for being slippery, deceitful and untrustworthy. But this graveyard isn't on Kuiper's property, so I'm all right here."
Aloysius raised an eyebrow. "What, praytell, did thee do to get barred from Kuiper's property?"
Arachne shrugged. "Refused to answer a question," she said. "Moreover, I warned him that I reserved the right to be misleading or perhaps even tell lies. I try not to tell lies -- though I will admit that on occasions I do also attempt to mislead. My scruples are pretty flexible. I don't think he approves of that. Now, please hold still."
Arachne fell silent, her fingers placed lightly on Aloysius's wound. She closed her eyes and said nothing, breathing deeply. After a bit, her small hands began gliding slowly over the whole wounded surface of the injury. In the course of some minutes of this process, the angry red under Aloysius's skin faded. Likewise, the whole of the break in Aloysius's skin closed and became healthy-looking and normal again. At no time did any supernatural glow appear around Aloysius's healing skin. Rather, it was as if a normal healing (without scarring) had occurred at a greatly accelerated pace. Finally, Arachne lifted her hands away from Aloysius. She leaned momentarily against his good shoulder. "Tiring," she murmured. "What did your pet use?"
"Huh?" Aloysius asked. Apparently he was focused in on the sensation of the healing process. "Oh. A long sword, I think. I get all of those big weapons confused. It was quite sharp." He slowly moved his shoulder around and poked at the spot where his wound had been.
"By the gods, small one! 'Tis like new! And the sensation . . . . .! You must explain it to me sometime." With a sudden burst of impulse, Aloysius threw his arms around the small gnome and gave her a hug.
Surprised and overborne by the lanky wizard, Arachne simply whuffed in his grip and then staggered when he released her. "Uhh..."
Suddenly invigorated, he jumped up on his feet. "Now! A shovel! Don't start digging without me." With that, the mage headed off in the direction of Kuiper's barn.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Arachne gasped softly.
Azrun had been staring at a pair of grave stones for a while. He then found a spot to sit and watch. With his charcoal and journal in hand, he began to write and sketch. He looked up at Oleanne and her wolves several time while sketching. His mood seemed to be light considering what the others were doing.
Oleanne waited without even trying to hide her impatience as no one produced a shovel. She looked at Azrun and Torro for a moment then bent down to Belshar and made some strange noises at the wolf. Whatever she said amused her since the look of impatience seemed to fade.
Azrun smiled as he caught her gaze, "Thank you for helping us back at the river and for what you are doing now."
"What ask?" she inquired of Arachne while she waited for them to unbury the buried gnome.
"What ask? Uh --" Turning from the Matter of Aloysius to the druid who was trying to help her, Arachne focused on the question. "What ask -- Oh! What ask Pug. I. Ask. Pug. Um." She frowned. "Pug happy Pug dead?" Arachne scratched her head. "Not, _happy_. Pug _resting_ Pug dead? Pug peace? Is good, Pug stay dead?" Arachne nodded. "Is good, Pug stay dead? Ask that." She sighed and sank to the ground. "For the want of a shovel," she muttered.
Kaileer, who also appeared impatient, yet in no hurry to see Pug's corpse, pondered the situation.
"Why we buy Puddlejumper from Kuiper? Kuiper kill gnoll, gnoll steal Puddlejumper, Puddlejumper belong Zond," he said, apparently satisfied that none of them had any real claim to the horse.
"Arachne, er, sold him to Kuiper. I think we can buy him back though, if we wish to," replied Gala.
Kaileer raised an eyebrow and turned to the gnome. "Why you do that?"
"Because I was here by myself and I can't care for Puddlejumper by myself. Because the last I knew of you guys, you were going off in the opposite direction in the reasonable expectation of tracking down a bunch of kidnappers and so on. Because I had no knowing you were ever going to show up in this area again. Because it seemed to me that living out the rest of his life on Kuiper's farm would likely be a very satisfactory fate for Puddlejumper. And because, at the time I did it, I believed that if I was wrong to do that, it could be undone by returning the money."
Kaileer still faced Arachne with an unmistakable look of skepticism on his face, with a little suspicion creeping in as he turned to the druid and translated the question in his own language.
"If not have tool, why not ask friend dig?," he suggested to the druid while scratching her nearest wolf behind an ear.
A short while after he left, Aloysius returned with some kind of tool in his hand. "No shovel found I, but I think this device shall suffice." The mage stopped and smiled for a moment. "Device . . . .suffice . . . .once again didst I make a rhyme! Mayhap I should start writing these down."
The mage set the tool down and peeled off his robe, laying it a ways off from Pug's grave. He then took his tunic off and set it aside as well. He reached down to the button on his pants, looked around, apparently thought better of it, and picked the tool up once again.
"Arachne, now I shall put my renewed shoulder to the test by freeing Pug's corpse from its earthy prison. Please, everyone stand back. I feel as if I can move dirt like a giant badger."
Arachne frowned, started to say something, thought better of _that_ and merely said, "I only _healed_ your shoulder. I didn't make make you any more capable than you were before." More softly, she added, "I _had_ considered becoming a badger, but I wouldn't have made a very big one -- and I can't now." Staying by Oleanne, then, Arachne waited while the wizard worked.
With a loud grunt, the scarecrow-like magician began removing dirt from the grave. Sweat quickly began pouring off his brow, and he frequntly stopped to rest. "Any idea how deep they buried him?"
"Sorry, no. I don't suppose anyone else wants to spell Aloysius? I mean," she added, considering that the verb might be taken amiss, "take over the digging a bit while Aloysius rests?"
"N-n-nay," gasped Aloysius. "Stargazer be . . .in need . . .or more physical . . .act- . . .act- . . .activities." The mage stood up and arched his back. He took a moment to catch his breath. "Moonspawn did always aver that a wizard should never completely forsake his physical form." Aloysius lofted the digging tool over his head, holding it perpendicular to his body with both hand. He seemed quite pleased by this feat of strength.
He then looked back and forth at his stick-like, ghostly white arms and grinned. "Did thou think that Stargazer was BORN with this body?" As usual, it was hard to tell if he was serious or not.
After lowering his tool, he started to dig once again. "Zounds! Pug must be under here somewhere . . . . . ."
Blacky stood by and watched with interest the goings on. Several times it looked as if he was going to help with the digging, but each time the purple mage began protesting that he was fine and needed the exercise. Having no desire to look into an occupied grave, Blacky stayed well back from the strange druid and her proceedings.
Oleanne, realizing that this was going to take the rest of her natural life if the mage was going to dig, went over to the grave with another look of being very put out by this group of favor-askers. She got down on all fours and begin slinging loose dirt out of the hole. The wolves followed suit. While they dug, the sky began to cloud over and a cool westerly breeze picked up. Eventually, the four of them got down to the small wooden box that held Pug's body. A mud-covered Oleanne, still in the hole, somehow managed to get the box open. The sight of the unfortunate gnome was horrific, the smell coming from the grave even more so. Oleanne gagged slightly but still managed to get out some incense. The druid began chanting to Silvanus, muttering everything quietly enough that no one else could understand her. After a minute, she closed the box and climbed out of the open grave.
When Oleanne went and joined in the digging, Arachne...didn't. She tried to look guilty about making other people do the work of her quest and asked if the work was making anyone thirsty -- though the cool weather probably kept that to a minimum. The stench released by opening Pug's coffin made her gag. Since she wasn't sure whether she was going to be expected to speak with the rotting thing in the ground, though, she stayed close to the edge of the hole -- without actually climbing down into it unless Oleanne summoned her, which the druid never did.
"Gnome happy," Oleanne told them upon crawling out of the grave. "Shiny place." She paused for a moment then shook her head. She made no effort to remove any of the dirt from her person. She gave Arachne a long, odd look before remarking, "Be careful you."
The remark caught Arachne by surprise, since she'd just started forward to thank Oleanne for all she'd done. Confused by the words, Arachne stopped. "Be careful of what? Oh, maybe..." More cautiously, she came forward anyway. Taking the druid's filthy hand, Arachne kissed it. "Thank you, Dame Oleanne," she murmured, then backed away before the wolves might get too annoyed. The gnome glanced in the hole, then looked up at the brightest part of the overcast sky. "Shiny place," she whispered. "Thank you, Pug. And goodbye." After peering in the hole and satisfying herself that the lid looked replaced, Arachne began pushing the mud and dirt back in.
Gala drawn to the gruesome sight despite herself, was barely able to keep from throwing up until she reached the far side of the barn. Luckily, she had not broken her fast, so twas not much to lose.
Kaileer was also unable to stop himself from looking but quickly turned away and stumbled to the closest tree where he leaned against it, staring blankly as he slid down to a sitting position and put his face in his hands.
"I go see place bad men try get me," she gave them as a farewell. She, Belshar, and Arlin headed down to the river, then east.
Aloysius seemed relieved that he finally got some assistance. He almost stopped digging completely and watched with great interest when the wolves joined Oleanne in the excavation process. He slowly reached his hand out as if to pet one of the wolves, but then drew it back recalling the less than friendly greeting the wolves had given him in the Thornwood.
He stepped back and grimmaced upon encountering the foul odor of Pug's decomposing form. "Moons and Stars!" he muttered under his breath. "If Stargazer e'er gives forth such an odor, leave him to Necros." Although he had earlier seemed interested in Oleanne speaking with one beyond the grave, the smell must have changed his mind. He stepped away, put the digging tool down on the ground, and waited to see what would happen next.
Aloysius watched as the dirt was piled back onto Pug's grave. "He spoke of a shiny place?" he asked no one in particular. His expression saddened. "Wonder do I if Spot hath found such a place. Or . . . .Zond?"
The mage then began putting his clothes back on. As he did this, he addressed the others as to their next step. "So, what shall we do now? 'Twould seem that two options present themselves. One, we could continue to follow the river eastward. We have fairly well covered it to the west, and have found few answers. Besides, I'd like to speak with mage Tauster again. Doubt do I that the gnolls have any connection to the brigands and the orcs. If Spot did seek merely to abduct me, he did a fine job of concealing his intent. If we are to find the missing, we need to find the brigands and the orcs."
Arachne didn't stop her work. Still pushing the dirt in, she asked, "Who's Spot?"
"Who's Spot?" Arachne repeated. "And why, if he was trying to abduct you -- or concealing an attempt to abduct you -- Is this Spot dead and you miss him? What did _I_ miss? "And why are you looking for the abductors of the Lathander novices on this side of Milbourne? If that's still what you're looking for? You _are_ still trying to rescue them, aren't you? Do you believe that their abductors took them captive to the west of Milbourne and now have them east of Kuiper's farm? I confess, I don't see the wisdom of going in that direction."
The wizard completed the dressing process by pulling on his robe. "Two, we could go back and deal with the goblins. There are answers in that dank hole, I'm certain. We . . . .uh, I feel like I owe Pug that much." He awaited a response.
"Spot is . . . uh . . . .was my . . .er, pet. He is . . was . . .a gnoll. He almost killed me, then we became, uh . . . .closer." The mage smiled uncomfortably.
Arachne continued, "Well, there might be answers there, but it doesn't seem to me that there are captives there. You traced the abductors from the road to the river, right? That's more or less in the opposite direction, I think. So I wouldn't expect to find any missing people in the goblins' hole. "I have a third suggestion. Admittedly, none of my previous suggestions have proved much use, but I figure, if I make enough suggestions, perhaps some one of them might hit the mark. Anyway, the first part is this: Has anyone thought about why it was that those novices were taken? Do you believe that anyone has the time to sit around watching the Scornubel Road hoping that something abductable will come rambling along? I'd think it more likely that they knew those novices of Lathander were on the way. In other words, just to spell it out, I believe there was probably a spy for the bad guys in the Mutton.
"I pick on the Mutton because the Lathander novices and their escort showed up at that inn pretty late in the evening and then left very early the next morning. They did announce their intention in the common room the night before. (No, I don't remember exactly who else was present.) But if someone were going to make kidnapping plans for the next day, it would be a lot easier to have been at the Mutton that night before.
"I forget. Did I suggest this before?"
"Now, the other suggestion, besides looking closely at the denizens of the Mutton is this: When you searched the river for signs of kidnappers, which side of the river did you look on? The same side of the river as the road had been on (the south side) or the opposite side? If I were to look for signs of kidnappers continuing their journey away from the scene of the crime, I'd look on the opposite side of the river from where they'd approached. So _did_ you look on the opposite side?
"Finally, I'd vote for a look at Dirkaster's glade -- the place that seems to be his favorite locale for deeds of evil and mayhem. Also curses. I know he's a senile old wreck and nearly as old as I am. But there's often some mustard seed of truth at the center of a story like that. I hear you went investigating a ghost sighting in Milbourne --" She stopped. "No, I guess that doesn't have much relevance. Anyway, I'm inclined to go have a look at Dirkaster's glade. I think it's northwest of Milbourne -- north of the river. It just seems to me that other folks at the Mutton didn't really care for Dirkaster's storytelling and an inoffensive old gentleman like him -- it just makes me curious..."
