Eventually, everyone in the group moved on towards Thurmaster, either out of anger, dejection, or practicality. The tension among the group made the rest of the trip unpleasant, although the night was beautiful, warm, and bright with the light of the full moon. Lytern trailed along at the tail end of the travelers, looking uncomforable with the fights his presence had brought on, although not uncomfortable enough to convince him to return to Lord Parlfray's keep. He managed, through a series of hand gestures, to indicate to Jyothki that she could ride his horse and he would walk if she preferred that.
Jyothki smiled broadly at the offer, and eagerly accepted. She climbed on the horse awkwardly, frowned some at the saddle and bridle, and then patted the horse's neck while she talked softly in elven to the animal. She then rode to Thurmaster, bobbing up and down in the saddle, and letting out little exclamations of surprise when she succeeded in getting the horse to trot. She rode at the front, then the back, then the front, and sometimes had control of the animal.
One of the many times she passed Azrun on the road she beamed a smile at him and said "I have never ridden a horse before." Then she laughed brightly, the earlier tension completely forgotten, and rode back down the road towards the end of the party. She patted Kaileer on the head, nearly falling off her horse in the process, and laughed anew. Jyothki rode next to Jana for a time, and spoke small sentences of elven to her in her excitement. When the party reached the gates of Thurmaster, Jyothki slid from the horse's saddle and quickly handed him over to Lytern...thanking him profusely for the experience.
Jana smiled at Jyothki's antics. She grinned and laughed softly while Jyothiki rode beside, her earlier anger gone.
Lasiar marched on towards Thurmaster, his shoulders sagging from his failure to reconcile his disputing friends. As the moon continued to rise in its full glory, Lasiar's thoughts wandered from the gloom, and he became relaxed after he whispered a prayer.
The fractured group reached the gates of Thurmaster about two hours after full darkness. Two guards sat outside the closed gates, one wearing splint mail and armed with a mace, and the other wearing chain mail, leaning on a two-handed sword. Past the gates, inside the village, they could hear the sounds of music and revelry.
"'Evening," said the man with the sword. "We'll be requiring that you peace-tie your weapons before you come through the gates. There's been some trouble tonight, and we don't want anymore." The other guard remained silent, looking the large group over carefully.
Aloysius had remained silent and lost in his own thoughts during the trip back to Thurmaster. When he arrived at the gates and heard what the guard said, he nonchalantly slid his bandolier off over his head and started walking in the direction of the inn the group had stayed in before.
Kaileer looked at the men at the gate carefuly and made an odd face then shrugged and proceeded to find a way to peace-tie his spears and bow to his backpack. The ranger then tied his sword and knife to their sheaths, made sure everything was secure and went into the town.
Echo removed a dagger in a wrist sheath from her sleeve and put it at her belt. She tied it with a thin piece of leather and stood idly by as her other, more heavily armed companions finished.
"Fine by me. Anyone have some twine?" Blacky asked "What exactly happened?"
"Of course," Jana agreed readily. She tied her weapons as asked. "What sort of trouble?"
Lytern made a fumbling mess out of trying to tie his sword. He got very flustered as he tried to tie the weapon and watch the guards at the same time.
Sitting on Puddlejumper's back, Arachne searched through her backpack until she found her sling and a spare hair ribbon. She studied the weapon, then considered her ribbon. Finally, she shrugged and tied the ribbon around the sling using approximately the same big floppy bow that she sometimes employed to ponytail her straight, lank hair. She considered the result solemnly before returning it to her backpack and was about to encourage Puddlejumper to go in through the gates. "All right," she sighed and turned to the guard with the sword. "I'm curious. What sort of trouble did you have this evening?"
The man with the mace replied, in response to the inquiries to what happened, "Murder. The lord's man here has been killed. One of the barmaids has gone missing, so the common thought is she probably did it."
Lasiar became very concerned at this tidbit of information. "When did this happen?" Lasiar inquired, his voice stuttering from worry and shock. "I will pray for the man's soul. Could you please tell me if there is a shrine to Holy Selune located in the city?"
"What --?" Arachne's first reaction was sharp, but quickly broken off. "The common thought?" she asked more calmly. "I see. So the man was killed the way that barmaids usually murder people?"
The other guard, the one with the sword, replied, "The man was murdered the way men are usually murdered in a crowd of drunks. With a knife in his back." He made a stabbing motion with his empty hand, completing it with a twist and a rip downward. He did not seem especially concerned about what Arachne thought about the 'common thought'.
"There's no shrine in the village," the guard told Lasiar. "And the murder happened a few hours ago."
Azrun looked up to the guard, "You haven't by chance seen a priestess of Lathander. She should have arrived here early this morning. She would have been travelling with another man."
The man shook his head, "Don't think I've seen her."
Anyone paying any attention to Lytern noticed that he had paled considerably at the news that his father's man had been murdered, but he didn't say anything. He was watching the guards nervously.
Oblivious to the guard's words, Lasiar appeared drawn to the man's face, particular his mouth. He cocked an eyebrow at the object of his distraction, and made a mental note to inquire about it later.
To avoid any affront to the guard, Lasiar quickly averted his eyes, darting them at his friends, and noticed them tying their weapons with cords, and ribbons. He looked down at his moon's hand and sling, the weapons clinging to his belt by holsters. Perhaps he should bind his weapons to the holsters, he mused and proceeded to do so.
Jyothki watched the others peace tie their weapons, and finally took her dagger, sheath and all, from her belt. She took a piece of leather from a pouch at her belt and tied the hilt and the sheath together in a completely unskilled way. She then stuck the dagger back into her belt and smiled at the guards.
"Did you perchance come to hear the missing barmaids' name?" Blacky asked the guard with the mace, watching him closely.
"Anth. The blond one," the guard answered.
Once everyone had their weapons secured, the two men allowed them to pass through the gates. The tiny streets of the village were crowded with wagons and people. Two musicians, one man and one woman, were playing outside of the Hound and Tails, and people were dancing outside. A few casks of wine had been broken open and many of the people were drinking. Aside from the people dancing together and those who were already drunk, the village folk were easy to separate from the strangers who had most likely come in with the wagons. Most of them, especially the older men, were watching the dancing couples anxiously.
Unsure whether the tune the musicians were playing was one that she did recognize or only thought she did, Arachne began whistling a countermelody that had sometimes fit pleasantly in the past. After thanking the guards for their time and answers, she asked Puddlejumper please to take her toward the musicians, resuming her whistling while he might do his best to comply.
After someone showed Aloysius the fundamentals of peace-knotting, he moved past the guards and headed towards the Hound and Tails. He eyed the dancers suspiciously for a brief moment, but seemed intent on reaching the Inn.
Echo watched the dancing with considerable interest. She took her cloak off, "Jana, would you take this with you if you're going to the inn? I'm going to see if I can get in on the dancing."
"Sure," Jana replied, somewhat distracted. "I've gotta go stable Da--" She looked over at the dancing with narrowed eyes and spoke quietly to Echo as she took the cloak.
Jyothki, seeing Echo heading for the dancers, moved after her. "Echo," she called. "Are you going to join the dancing?"
Still enthused from her horse ride, Jyothki turned to Azrun. "I think I'd like to see the dancing too." She glanced quickly at Kaileer. "Anyone else care to join us? It's been a long time since I've been among merrimakers. As I recall however, the more the merrier!!" Jyothki laughed at her own bad joke and turned to catch up with Echo.
After speaking with Echo, Jana led her horse over near Lytern's. "Come on," she said pleasantly, grabbing either his arm or the reins, either way. "Let's go stable our horses." She smiled brightly at him and urged him along. "Besides, we need to have a chat..." She glanced back at Blacky. "Blacky, would you mind coming with us?"
After receiving no answer for a moment, Jana repeated her request, maintaining her hold on Lytern. "Blacky? Would you please come with us?" She smiled and added, "After all, Lytern's an attractive young man. He needs a chaperon." She flashed a grin at Lytern, then looked back at Blacky. Her smile vanished. "Besides, we haven't had an opportunity to chat." With or without Blacky, Jana led Lytern and their horses to the inn's stables.
Kaileer followed the others inside but didn't get very far beyond the gate. Almost immediatly his eyes began darting from edge of the crowd to the other, looking for a way around. His left hand moved to his belt to grasp his knife but found it securely tied.
The ranger stumbled slightly and his next step was back towards the gate. Glancing nervously at the guards as he passed, he left the village and followed the road for a short distance and sat by the edge to calm his nerves as he removed the peace knots on his sword and knife.
