As the party sets off, they travel in the direction of Mitchend along with the Knight (Sir Logan) from Dillend, his seargent (Brent), and a mage (Dire). The night before had been pleasant, after eating well and being healed by the priestess, everyone had a good sleep. While some are not completely healed, they are feeling better, and providing there are no battles soon, should improve steadily. Here are the hp totals as of Turn 10.0, according to my records (with the magic healing and the overnight rest):

Storm: 14; Guilliam: 6; Edryd: 10; Cyveiliog: 24; and Crayne: 6.

As the party sets out on foot, it begins to travel the same trial they took the day before. Guilliam, now wearing his leather armor (after learning from his experience the first time around in this "neck of the woods"), begins to quietly talk to Storm, Cy, and Edryd. He asks them why they are not going intead to find Canter. They have a pretty good place idea of how to start looking for him, the bard argues. He reaches into his back and removes a piece of parchment.

"I got this from the Knight," Guilliam explains. "It's a map, with a little more of Caerloon than we knew before. You see the river, how it splits beyond the border. It heads in three directions: east, south, and west. The western branch heads by two towns, one of which is hasn't a name. The other town is near the split, in these, here woods," he points to the map. "Remember how one rumor said Mazen was camped by a town, perhaps the mill is outside one of these three.

"The southern branch heads through the hills, and I recall another rumor held that Mazen was camped in the hills. We could get Canter and complete the mission. We've only got 25 days left! What do you guys think?"

Cy, Storm, and Edryd all agree that their duty is to rescue Canter and then complete the mission; that escorting the knight is of a low priority...

...Meanwhile, Crayne is taking advantage of the opportunity to chat with the mage, Dire. Dire Luthor (his full name) is a tall, middle aged man with a gray beard. He speaks in deep tones. The two began talking soon after leaving Dillend:

"I say, my son, to keep at the magic. You obviously have a talent for it, the way your friend there described your magic missiles in combat. You could be of real value to these friends of yours, and looking at their persons I'd say they'd do a good job of watching your back. Here's a bit of advice," Dire says with a little smile, as if reminiscing about his younger days when he used to roam the countryside more often, "squint the eyes when casting a spell on the enemy. I always found that to be really intimidating. Most enemies don't know much of magic, you see, especially those nasty Orcs. Be as mean as you can, but don't rush the delivery, you'll mess up the spell and lose all the drama!" The man chuckles in deep bellows of laughter.

"Perhaps at some point you can return to Dillend, I'd be happy to share some spells with you. Until then," he trails off, reaching into his bag and bringing out a thick black, bound notebook. He flips through a couple of pages, clearing his throat a couple of times. The tall man finally comes to a page, close to the beginning, with which he seems satisfied. He reads it over, then nods with a confident smile. He neatly tears it out and hands it over to Crayne. "You're a good lad, you show promise, I can see that. This may be able to help you on your path, to keep you in one piece until we can talk again."

Crayne's eyes light up as he accepts the piece of paper, thanking Dire profusely. Dire simply nods and smiles, patting Crayne on the back as if he were his own son.

Then Storm comes over to the "father and son" pair, speaking to Crayne. "We be wantin' to find Canter," the Dwarf says, attempting to whisper. Crayne thinks for a moment and then nods in agreement. "I think you're right," he says.

Storm looks to Edryd and Cy, who nod back in his direction. Edryd then approaches the Knight. "Sir Logan, we are going to take our leave of you here. We have lost a comrade in our last encounter with Mazen's troops, and feel it is our...moral duty... (Edryd gives a quick glance and a nod to Cy) to hasten to his rescue. In that endeavor, we will most likely find Mazen and will be able to complete our mission and report back to Nigel. I hope this is allright with you..."

Sir Logan looks Edryd, then Cy, straight in the eyes. He draws his blade and plants it firmly in the moist soil. "Then good luck to you, fine men. And when you find Mazen, do tell him that his torture and death will be a long and painful one." The knight presents his hand to Edryd, then Cy, then Guilliam, Storm, and Crayne, shaking each of their hands. "Thank you men for braving the woods to bring me the message of the tragedy at Mitchend, I will take care of that from here."

Guilliam then interjects: "Will you see to it that our horses are kept in fine condition at Mitchend, Sir?"

With a chuckle the Knight responds, "That I will. Good luck to you." Then, to his men, "Let's move out, we have a long day ahead of us..." And the Knight and his men continue on their way, leaving Edryd, Cy, Guilliam, Storm, and Crayne standing in the woods under a crystal blue sky, surrounded by the quiet chirping of the native birds....

1. Please update your records with the correct number of HPs, as given above.

2. Graham, the spell Crayne received from Dire Luthor was "Burning Hands," Level 1. The map Guilliam got from the Knight is the attached file, "Caer2.jpg". I know this image is a little large (343 KB), but I can't figure out how to compress it any more. If for some reason your email server won't let you have it, I'll put it on the web page shortly: https://members.tripod.com/~DMRinder so you can find it there.

3. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO FROM HERE? You could take either of Guilliam's suggestions: (a) following the western branch of the Sinele River through those two towns or (b) the southern branch into the hills. Or, you may suggest another course. The party's current location on the map is approximately half way between the second and third Rinder fort (little orange dots on the Rinder side of the border) counted from left to right, near the north-south road.

4. I would like to post Turn 11.0 on Monday, Tuesday at the latest. I will unable to check or respond to my email from Tuesday afternoon (22nd) through Friday (25th), so by sending 11.0 Monday or Tuesday you should have something to think about while I'm gone. Hopefully when I return there will be enough responses for me to immediately post the next turn. Once again: I cannot check my email from next Tuesday through Friday (22-25).

5. As of the 21st (Monday), Dave's email will change temporarily from "dwexler@tufts.edu" to "DemiShadow@aol.com". Please update your addressbooks with the temporary change. Any other changes over the holidays? Let me know so we can keep in touch. I'd like to keep the game going, if possible. As far as I'm concerned, it's too late to stop now! :)