Everyone occupied themselves with various forms of training and studying in the afternoon. They gathered in the dining hall for the evening meal, and about the time everyone was finishing, Lise, the younger of the serving women came rushing back in.
"The guards say that some more of your companions have arrived," she blustered out. That statement was quickly proven to be true as Kaileer and Lasiar walked in. With them was a young, dark-haired lass.
Rumer looked at the strangers curiously, her bangles chiming as she moved restlessly. Her gaze glanced over the women cursorily, looked at Aloysius, then came to rest on Blacky. "Nice friends." she whispered, to Lasiar and Kaileer.
Aloysius jumped up from his seat and sprinted over to Kaileer and Lasiar. Once he got to them, he seemed unsure as to how to proceed. With a wide grin on his face, he jumped up and down repeatedly and circled them several times until he fell over from loss of balance.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!", he cried. "Stargazer is so glad that the two of thee art well!" He looked up at the two men and the strange lass as he lay flat on his back, spread-eagle on the floor. Gasping slightly for breath, he sat up. "Uh, what happened to you?" he finally asked, a look of concern on his face.
"Shouldn't you do something?" Rumer asked Lasiar, "I think he is having some sort of fit!" She looked up at Blacky and risked a small smile.
"Don't worry, he always acts like that when he gets excited." Blacky said with a smile. "You may call me Blacky, welcome to our dinner."
"Where have you two been? We could have used your help the other night."
"Aloysius, get up," hissed Echo. "Don't start acting like that again." She smiled at Kaileer, Lasiar, and the woman with them. "I'm Echo," she told the stranger. "You two are okay, right?" she looked Kaileer and Lasiar over carefully.
"Rumer." replied Rumer with an impish grin.
"Hello Rumer," Arachne greeted the bangled woman during a lull in the rejoicing. As usual, she didn't stand up (on the floor) to introduce herself: she was at least as tall sitting on one of the high human chairs. "I'm Arachne. Pleased to meet you." She smiled vaguely at the pretty woman, but seemed tired and distracted.
When Lasiar and Kaileer walked in, Jana's eyes grew wide and she said with a happy smile, "You got away! What happened? We found where they had you in that basement, but last we heard, they'd taken you on some caravan to the south. Wow, I'm glad you're okay. You are okay, aren't you?"
Jana smiled at the new arrival. "Hi. I'm Jana."
Rumer nodded and smiled in return.
Kaileer smiled at the wizard's antics and helped him up. "We get... delay..." he says with a sigh, though his bruised face and arms and ragged clothing told the tale of at least a few hardships.
"It take more than we go through to kill us," the ranger said with a smile and stood proudly then frowned. "Where be Gala and Jyothki and Azrun?"
"By the Orb of Selune, I cannot believe my eyes," were the first words out of Lasiar's mouth as soon as he entered the room. He laughed heartily at Aloysius' eccentric display, and replied "My friend, it is good to see you too. Very good to see all of you." He directed his last statement to everyone with a glance at each member and a wide grin.
He looked back at Kaileer quickly, then turned back to face the group. "After completing my ceremony, we..ahem.. met this very beautiful half-elven female. We engaged in polite conversation, and subsequently offered to escort her to the safety of the city. We were fools. She led us into a trap, and consequently, we were accosted and imprisoned. When we woke from unconsciousness, we discovered that Anth was also imprisoned." Lasiar suddenly halted his speech and glanced at Kaileer. After a moment, he resumed his story. "Kaileer and I made an attempt to escape, but we failed. The next day, the three of us were taken to a barge, and as we sailed to whatever destination they had set, we were besetted by raiders, consisting of men and orcs. We took the opportunity to jump ship, as the saying goes, and luckily we survived from drowning. Though we were initially separated, we managed to find one another, and together, we followed Anth as she led us to a cottage in the deep woods, the home of her friend, Madame Zolta. She was a generous host, and we are much in her debt. Incidentally, Rumer is her grand-daughter." Lasiar nodded at Rumer.
"While we rested there, we learned that there were strange things occuring in the forest. We suspect that Ranchefus may be involved. We then returned to Thurmaster the next day, and learned that you folks came here. We also heard some disturbing news." He glanced around the room, as if seeking something or someone. "Azrun. Why was he imprisoned? And where are Gala and Jyothki?"
"Anth is the serving girl accused in Thurmaster of murder?" Arachne wondered. At the conclusion of Lasiar's account, Arachne also wondered, "Men allied with orcs is curious. And I don't suppose you saw any heraldry associated with them?"
Ignoring Echo's hiss, Aloysius attempted to do a back summersault so as to put his feet back on the ground and stand up. However, he didn't quite have the muscle to push himself over, and after a couple of grunts, he simply rolled to his side and stood up.
He nudged Kaileer and Lasiar towards the table where they had been seated. "Come, come," he implored, "sit, sit. Methinks that you will find the sandwiches here quite tasty. I know I did." He looked over at the young woman who had called herself 'Rumer'. "Uhhhhhh........you too, I suppose," he said in a quieter voice.
"Galaret left with Kuiper for some reason. Azrun, apparently, is a wanted felon from Cormyr and volunteered to return there to address the charges. Jyothki decided that she wanted to spend more time in the wood, from what I could gather." He thought for a moment. "Quite a shame, too. Never did I gain the opportunity to discern how she managed such a hue for her hair."
Aloysius then went back to his seat at the table.
"We were going to rest tonight in order to regain our strength, then go after you two after appealing for Azrun's release. He is complying with this extridition for some reason." Blacky added with a frown.
"Did you two find out anything about why they are taking people and where IS Anth, is she alright?"
"She is very hurt." said Rumer sadly, "My grandmother is looking after her. She will be a long time healing."
"She Alive," Kaileer said with a sad shake of his head, "her body heal but..." he stopped, thinking it unwise to try to explain with his limited ability in the common tongue.
Aloysius was still grinning happily as he sat back down at the table and re-attacked his food. "So, we have reassembled our group, and accounted for the missing barmaid. What are we going to do now?" He looked hungrily down at his plate. "Er, other than eat, I mean."
Without awaiting an answer, he hopped up, skipped over to the barmaid, asked her a brief question, and then returned to his seat.
"I need make sure they not break my bow..." the ranger said thoughtfuly. "What happen while we gone?" Kaileer asked as he sat next to the mage and helped himself to some bread and cheese.
After having eaten a bit, Kaileer looked at his companions one by one and then at his plate sadly.
*"I have seen perhaps the greatest evil one can inflict upon a person, my friend,"* he said quietly to Aloysius, *"It disgusted me to see humans act like orcs... Then, ironicaly enough I was saved by my mortal enemy when the boat was attacked by men with real orcs... truly I am confused by these recent events... I am not still sure we should make our decision to assault Ranchefus' lair a hasty one and I am loath to take this girl, this Rumer, along on such a dangerous endeavour..."*
The ranger shook his head sadly again.
*"Have you new wisdom and knowledge to shed some light on my clouded path, my friend? It seems all ways lead to evil ends..."*
Aloysius' mirth was quickly quelled by Kaileer's downcast demeanor. He hesitantly reached out to touch the ranger's arm, but changed his mind at the last minute and withdrew his hand. *"Moonspawn did teach me much of good and evil, Kaileer. He often said that there is more good than evil in the world, but that evil comes in bigger pieces. Fortunately, it appears that at least two distinct camps of evil oppose one another as well as ourselves. Perhaps we can use that to our benefit.."*
The mage put his sandwich back down on his plate, his appetite either appeased or ruined. *"No matter how weighty our burden may seem, brave one, it is ours nonetheless. Evil thrives when good people do nothing. It comforts me to have such courageous companions in this endeavor."*
"I don't think so," Arachne responded (in Common). "At least, I wouldn't call them both camps nor especially opposed. The caravan simply seems to be passing through, and seems much less discriminating about what sorts of people it abducts. Less than opposition, I'd call it a collision of oppressions. And a mere collision offers us less opportunity for mischief." She sighed. "I think our interest should be in those first abductions and Jelenneth -- and Renchefus."
"Indeed," Aloysius replied. "Agree do I with thee that Ranchefus be our primary aim. Mayhap this caravan hath passed through not to return, but doubts have I of that."
