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Canter Tarp stands in front of the group, having spelled out the proposed plans for the night. He looks tired, his eyes not fully alert and his shoulders sagging.

"That sounds good, Canter," Emma replies, reaching up to scratch at her horse's ears, "We could all use a good rest...Shall we settle down in separate rooms or double-up in order to save money? I for one can't really afford to spend alot on one night's lodging. I'm afraid the temple didn't part with much in the way of traveling money for me."

Cy looks about the group, taking in the look on each of his fellow travelers' faces. Aside from Storm, the rest look as if they need some good rest. "If ye be needin' some time to twist yer thoughts, we stop. Some may need the rest to calm down," he raises an eyebrow toward Emma. "We still be needin' to get to Lowfield as soon as our feet be movin'."

Crayne looks a little annoyed over having to part with his money but eventually concedes, "I believe a night under the stars wouldn't have been so bad! Nevertheless I will

go with the majority and stay with you at this pub. I am afraid I will have to opt for a single room as I may well be awake for most of the night and will need some silence. I am sorry if I cause trouble for that is not my intention. Tomorrow I suggest we rise early and make our way quickly for Lowfield. Also, I recommend we sleep in the wilderness, for time is of the essence and Merriam will cost us time."

He nods at the group. The others can all see a slight sadness in his tone. "Now if you do not mind I have a lot to do! I will see you all early in the morning!" Crayne makes his way toward the door, handing his horse's reins to Canter, and disappears inside.

Then Storm says with a bit of a yawn "Ay, mates, me be wantin' a good night's rest, ah? Ha ha!! If ye be wantin' to join me I be gettin' a room."

Cy catches Storm's eye and gives the dwarf a nod.

Hannibal arranges to bunk with Edryd, and Emma and Canter decide to split a room. All then enter the tavern and order dinner. Crayne takes his plate up to his room, leaving instructions with the bartender to have a bottle of fine red wine delivered to his room (knocking before entering, of course!). The others sit around a table and eat, mostly in silence. Not that emotions are running high, but everyone is tired from the day's encounter back in Parton and the afternoon of travel. Emma and Edryd finish quickly, leaving the table gracefully and heading up to their rooms to pray. Storm, Cy, Canter, and Hannibal then finish their plates (Storm even chows down on Canter's leftovers), and then they head upstairs and turn in for the night. Before leaving, Storm makes sure to take the bottle of whiskey he ordered with his dinner with him to his room, leaving the others with a smile and a loud belch.

Hannibal, tired but unable to sleep, makes his way to the bar and sits down with an old friend, liquor. By then the tavern has emptied out quite a bit. There are but three or four people at various tables throughout the room, and two or three others at the bar with the thief. After two tall glasses, the bartender returns to the place in front of Hannibal, pouring more into his glass. "You look like you could use this..." he fills the glass to the top. "Been on the road? Traveling?"

"Yeah," Hannibal mumbles, scratching the stubble on his chin.

"You heading through the mountains? They say the hobgoblins are attacking more often lately. Better watch out..."

Hannibal nods, peering at the bartender through the clear bottom of his now-emptied glass. "Hobgoblins..." he repeats, followed by a hiccup.

"Hey buddy, I think you'd better go upstairs with your friends. You've had enough, and I'm closin' up for the night," the bartender says.

Hannibal nods slowly, raising himself from the stool with great effort. He takes a moment to steady himself, and then drags himself upstairs to his room, where he collapses in a heap on his side of the bed.

Crayne, meanwhile, takes his belongings out of his pack and begins to sift through the magic scrolls and the spellbook from Mazen's Mage. If necessary he will he does his best to decipher some of the spells from the scrolls, rereading the headers inscribed by Dire Luthor, which identify each of the spells on the scrolls. The spellbook, however, is more difficult, and Crayne becomes slightly frustrated as the night grows darker and he still cannot read some of the spells on the later pages. But he is trained in the ways of the mind, and calms himself. "In time, I will understand these," he tells himself. Before going to bed, he spends some time memorizing a couple of spells from his own spellbook, so as to be ready for the morning's travels. All the while he pokes at his food and sips at his wine, enjoying the fine food (if you could call it that, after eating at Castle Parton!) while he can, knowing that days of camping lie in the near future.

The morning arrives with the bright sun, and soon the party finds itself downstairs, eating some fresh bread and eggs for breakfast. The bills are settled, and then they head for the stable to retrieve their horses. They set off on the main road, just as yesterday, heading toward the mountains. Unlike the night before, the town is certainly lively this morning, and as they ride away, they can see people heading to and from the baker, and out to the fields.

The day passes under the sun. Around noon the group stops for a bite to eat, enjoying the cool breeze from the sea to the north. The hills are growing taller now, as they approach the mountains, and the road is no longer straight, as it traces as flat a path as it can through and around these hills. The group continues to ride until dusk, when it is decided to stop and make camp for the night.

Emma suggests a schedule of shifts, and it is agreed upon, such that each person gets a good amount of sleep, yet someone is always awake to look and listen for unwanted guests. Rations are broken out for dinner, and a large fire is lit in a clearing a couple hundred yards from the road. A few trees now dot the landscape, though the area is by no means a forest or wood. A nearby stream provides cool, fresh water. As night falls and grows darker, some unroll their bedrolls and prepare for sleep.

"I've been looking at this map Guilliam left with me," Canter announces. "We've got to continue on this road through the mountains, there's no other safe way through. And then the road continues heading south-east, like it does through the mountains, toward Merriam. We can stop there if we want. But then we've got a choice. If we continue on the main roads, we turn south, then east about half a day north of Jilten. Then at some point we turn off that road and travel through the lowlands toward Lowfield. Or, we can abandon the roads after Merriam, heading south-east the whole time. That might save us a day or two of travel, but it means we'll be in the wilderness, probably not near any large towns, for quite a while. What do you guys think is best?"

It is just then that he hears it. "Shh!" Hannibal suddenly whispers to the group. Somewhere, over the crackling of the fire, he heard a noise. Perhaps the cracking of a twig. An animal?

Listening intently, Storm perks up. He lets out a low growl. "Arr...I be hearin' it, too." Hannibal nods, looking around to the others. Each is sitting, his or her weapons nearby on the ground or leaning on a rock. The fire casts an amber glow over the area, but its light is limited. Hannibal slowly raises his hand, pointing in to the east--toward the mountains.

Canter reaches for his closest weapon; his crossbow. Grabbing a quarrel as quietly as he can, he brings it to the crossbow, slowly pulling back the string to cock it and ready it to fire. But as the quarrel fits into place, it lets out a definite "click." A sound which seems to echo through the night as loudly as the beating hearts of the others.

Edryd reaches for his sword, whispering. "Whatever it is, we know it's there; and now it surely knows we're here. Look lively, friends..."

1. What are your character's thoughts on Canter's two choices?

2. Here are the bills for each character from Turn 41.0. These amounts will be deducted from your CISs:

Canter = 14 sp, 1 cp

Storm = 16 sp, 3 cp (3 sp for the bottle of whiskey)

Edryd = 14 sp, 1 cp

Crayne = 21 sp, 8 cp(4 sp for the bottle of fine red wine)

Cy = 14 sp, 1 cp

Hannibal = 15 sp, 3 cp (Hannibal drank 2sp worth of ale)

Emma = 14 sp, 1 cp

(Room: 9 sp each (4.5 if shared), 3 sp for dinner, 5 sp for stabling and hay, 8 cp for ale with dinner, 8 cp for breakfast.)

3. I have removed Guilliam’s player’s email address from my Rinder mailing list, please be sure not to email your posts to him, as we don't want to clutter up his mailbox! If he decides to follow along as a lurker, I'll tell you. But for now, please remove his email address.

4. What about the situation at hand? Actions?!

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