After leaving the Captain's quarters, Guilliam enters the barracks to wake Storm up and plead with him to come down to the barracks for just a short while, no more than half an hour. At first, Storm simply moans loudly and falls back on his pillow. After being begged and rewoken twice, though, he moans and hobbles out of bed rubbbing his eyes.

Then interrupts Crayne with the same request, refusing to take no for an answer. Crayne, too grumles, "I was concentrating on my studies, Guilliam," he says, peering past the burning wick of a candle, "if you intend to learn any magic you should respect that." Then, stretching his arms above his head and yawning, he reconsiders, "but I suppose, just for a little while, I can take a break."

Bringing Canter, Edryd and Cy along, Guilliam gathers as large a crowd as he can. Jumping up on a table in the mess, he quickly gets the attention of the room.

"Here ye, Here ye, I have an announcement to make. There are many rumours flying around this fort concerning my party. I am here to set the record straight. I have written a ballad in honour of my friends for the heroic valour that they showed over the last week that I have known them. Listen up and sing along and agree that before you stand men of courage and worthy of song."

Quickly, Guilliam teaches the room the chorus of his ballad. Then, he encourages everyone to sing along when the time is right. With a powerful voice filled with excitment and energy, Guilliam begins to sing [for purposes of brevity, I've omitted the lyrics here, by allow me to offer a "bravo!" from one musician to another for quite an effort, congrats...].

With the ballad over, Guilliam leaps from the table and lands on the floor, bowing again and again to one and all. Then, raising his hands in the air to calm the crowd, he addresses the room once again. "Now my good men, my friends have struggled much and are in need of their rest. Let them leave with a quick three cheers. If you would please, I will stay and sing you one more song before I too must rest for the evening. Thank-you, Thank-you" Storm, who began the song still half asleep, is one of the loudest cheering when the story finishes, and he remains to hear the 'bonus' song afterward.

Following Guilliam's show, Storm returns to his room, Crayne to his studies, and the rest attend to their own small tasks before a good night's sleep. Swords are wiped clean and sharpened. Ripped clothing is repaired. Bruises are bandaged, and dried blood is washed from worn skin. As midnight approaches, "Rinder's Six" drift off to a long-deserved sleep.

[During the night each character regained 1 hit point, unless, of course, he is already at his max.]

In the morning, before the party heads out, Storm heads over to the armory and purchases seven more daggers, raising his total to ten. He also asks for a set of dwarf-fitting chain mail. When he sees that the armor costs much more than he has, he takes out his gem and considers selling it, "Arr, I ain't even had it fir to lookit much..." He scratches his head while looking it over, then, angrily, places it back in his pack while taking his new daggers and storms out grumbling something about "stupid money...always need more..." He then finds a clear area in the grass around the fort, and spends some time practicing tumbling, taking dives and rolls.

Canter, too, spends some time honing his skills in the fresh morning air. He walks to to where Storm is practicing and unsheaths his new bastard sword. He flips it over, spinning it in his hands a few times to feel its weight. He then grips it tightly and begins to jab and parry with it, slowing changing from small movements to larger, more graceful (and forceful) arcs through the air.

Crayne appears in front of the barracks with slight bags under his eyes from a long night of study, but with a satisfied look on his face. He spots Cy, who is taking a few minutes to stretch out his limbs before the day's journey. Then he sees Edryd, emerging from the sanctuary with a calm look on his face.

Guilliam is the last to appear. He is still a bit tired, and his voice is slightly hoarse from the previous night's performance, but he is in good spirits.

As the party assembles to consider its departure, Captain Sanford approaches the group. "Good morning, brave soldiers," he says with a smirk, referring to last night's biographical song. "As requested," he continues, looking to Cy and Edryd, "I have some mounts for you. I cannot spare one for each, as we need to keep our patrols on mounts as well, but I can offer you four, which should be considered belonging to the Knights. When you reach Sir Nigel, please inform him that the horses are of his, and that if he has no use for them, to please bring them back to Dillend when next he can."

"That we can do, and thank you, Captain," Edryd says with a smile. "I think four mounts will be fine. As a matter of fact, we are planning to leave as soon as possible, we have a two-day journey northward ahead of us, and though I cannot speak for the rest, I am eager begin."

"Well then, I'll have the stableboy bring them right over. Good luck to you, men. You've been fine company for my men here, an inspiration." With a wink to Guilliam, the Captain then takes his leave, walking off toward the stables.

Within minutes packs are filled and closed and the horses are brought over and mounted. Leaving the gates of the fort, the gatekeeper's voice can be heared calling out, "best luck to Rinder's six!"

The day's journey northward is uneventful, the familiar fields lining the road stretching out to the horizon. By late afternoon, the group arrives in Jilten and quickly locates the inn they stayed at--what seems now so long ago. Evaluating the situation, Canter says, "On mounts we make good time, and not running into any more of Mazen's men certainly helped. We could keep riding through the night, but I'm still aching a little and think it'd be safer just to stay here and leave early in the morning."

"I agree," Edryd says.

"Hmm. Me be needin more rest for them wounds," Storm puts in.

It is then decided; the group stays at the inn, and after a filling meal, all get to sleep without a problem.

[Each character regains 1 hp overnight.]

[Each character spends a total of 8 sp on the meal and lodging.]

In the morning the trip continues, and by the afternoon the group approaches Nesor, the large town growing with each gallop of the horse. With a sense of determination, they go straight for the tavern where this whole adventure started. Tieing up their mounts outside, the group enters the tavern. The room hasn't changed; there are a few patrons sitting around, but dinner time is yet to come. After a quick scan of the room, they see that Nigel is not present.

Moving toward the bar, Edryd calls over the bartender. "Good sir, can you tell me if a Knight has been here as of late?"

The man's eyes widen. "Sir Nigel? Why, he told me to remember....he said that one day soon a group of folks like you would come in here asking for him." Scambling behind the bar, he calls out loudly, "Marten!!" Then turning back to Edryd and the group, "Sir Nigel told me to tell you to wait here, a meal is on the house. I'll send my son to fetch the Knight. I know he'll want to see you."

"Thank you, good man," Edryd says.

"What....uh...may I ask is in that bag?" The bartender says, pointing to the bloodstained sack.

Edryd is liplocked, searching for some kind of answer. Guilliam then steps up. "Provisions," the bard says calmly, "we've been in the wilderness and came upon a heard of deer, this here was going to be tonight's dinner were we not in this fine establishment!"

With a tentative nod, the bartend says, "Okay, then, make yourselves comfortable. I'll have dinner in a bit, and be right over with some ale for ya."

The group sits around a round table, pulling up enough chairs and placing their packs (and Mazen) along the wall and out of the way. A couple of hours pass as they drink some good ale and feast on a good meal. Then, after darkness descends outside and the tavern has filled, the door opens and the familiar face of Sir Nigel enters. He removes his shiny helm and looks over the room. His eyes quickly find the group. With a smile and a nod, he makes his way over to their table.

"Gentlemen, I am most impressed. I must admit, I did not expect your return so soon, and to be honest, I did not expect all of you to return. You have surpassed my expectations. I will, of course, have to examine the body. You do, of course, have the body?"

"Yes, sir, we do," Cy answers, motioning to the sack.

"Very good." The Knight takes a moment to sit and catch his breath. He then reaches into his pack, bringing out six small pouches. "I have here your rewards. Seventy-five gold pieces as planned. I imagine you earned it." He places the pouches on the table, passing them out. Crayne and Storm quickly grab theirs.

"I do, however, have another matter that needs to be discussed with you men," Nigel continues. "I was not going to mention this, but seeing as you were so effective against a known enemy, I think you may be just what we need to deal with an unknown enemy.

"Do understand, of course, that there is no obligation to accept this task with which I present you. You may, if you wish, take your reward and go on your way. But let me appeal to you, Rinder needs your help, now more than ever," the Knight says, patting the letters from Mazen (delivered by Edryd), in his pocket.

"Sir Nigel, I am a servant of Anhur and of my King, what is the task you have for us?" Edryd asks politely.

"If, indeed there is a war ahead of us, we are going to need men to fight. But just men is not enough. Those men must be trained, armed, and armored. The first two are not your concern, but where you come in is the third. Sir Bryant, Duke of Raimead, has informed the King of a small problem he is having. You see, some of his men have found what they believe to be adamanite deposits in the Raimead Mountains. If you don't know, adamanite is the strongest metal in existance. Some believe it is not originally of this plane. But that is not important, what is important is that the armor made from this metal is stronger than the best suit of full plate armor. If we can armor our best warriors with adamanite armor, they would be invincible.

"The Duke constructed a mine to begin to extract this adamanite ore from the mountain, but the first shipment never arrived. He send a second team to investigate, but they were never seen again. The Duke is frustrated, and the King is growing impatient, especially with the prospect of a major invasion in the near future.

"Your task would be to go to the Adamanite Mine with a third team of miners. The miners will camp at the base of the mountain while you go up and determine what happened to the first two teams. You will either find the teams or ensure the safety of the third team, and then install the third team and return with the first shipment of ore.

"You may consider this a small and insignificant task, but imagine the power one soldier could wield wearing adamanite armor. I have seen but one suit in my whole life, that belonging to the King's great grandfather, long since passed. You would be saving the lives of hundreds of Rinder's warriors and, in the process, saving the Kingdom. For those who require some monetary compensation, the King will gladly pay you one hundred gold pieces upon completion of the mission.

"War, my good men, is now inevitable. The best we can do is prepare and press toward victory. We need you to do this. What say you?"

1. For completion of your first mission, PLEASE ADD 500 XP to your character. Also, please add 75 gp for successful completion to each character's coffer.

2. Please add 2 hp to your character for the two good night's of sleep, up to your character's max.

3. Please subtract 8 sp from your character's money for the meal and lodging in Jilten.

STORM: Please add seven daggers to your weapon list, and subtract 8 gp.

4. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY:

At this point, your first adventure in The Kingdom of Rinder has come to an end. Of course, I have left many questions unanswered (the Mitchend murder, Mazen's men who got away, the Orcs in the ambush, etc). If you would like to stop playing this game, now is a good and appropriate time to let me know. If that is the case, I will attempt to recruit additional players to flesh out the party--I think we have a good number here. I do hope, however, that you all decide to continue playing. I have lots more planned for you in the campaign! More mysteries, battles, friends and foes, treasure, political intrigue, etc. If you intend to continue playing (and I hope you do), just respond to this post as if it were any other post.

With that said:

5. Any questions for Sir Nigel of the Knights of Rinder? Do you accept this mission? While in a large town, do you have any errands to run before you set out on the road again?

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