[Game Thread] In the Still of the Night

[RonarsCorruption]

[Saloch]

"Right, come here." He beconed Spindletop climbed back atop the carraige, rather than have to climb down again himself. He flicked his fingers at the wound, a seemingly meaningless gesture save for a few droplets of water that sprayed into the cut. But the pain eased and the cut shallowed. The magic slowly worked it's way into Spindletop's cut and cleansed and healed it.

[Norwain]

"Ok...... very well..... Thank you, Spindletop." Sistiana's hand still held out, since the kender has yet to give up the ring. "So it is a ring of magic missiles."

When Spindletop looks to Saloch for healing, Sistiana holds her finger up asking Saloch to wait. "Those who don't participate in the fight, shouldn't get to partake of the spoils..." she says in a stern voice. "Unless of course..." she pauses, straining to look where the mud had blocked the carriage path.. "the mud was going rear up & attack us......"

[RonarsCorruption]

[Saloch]

"Oh come now. It's not like Spindletop was trying to hurt us or anything." Saloch finishes his spell, looking to Sistania, mildly offended, "And it's also not like I shouldn't be allowed to make my own decisions. The resources of the land go to those who request it first, and so does the magic of the same land. I was a little busy being impaled myself to notice if anybody else was hurt, so I'm sorry if you are offended. Are you hurt?"

[DrTeeth]

Darren lets everyone bicker. While they do this he attaches the bow and arrows to Dextari's saddle. He silently vows to master the weapon at a later time.

Once everyone has finished arguing and sorting the loot Darren climbs back aboard his horse and starts on down the road.

[Fizzgig]

A grin is offered towards Saloch as he mentions payment for the newly acquired and newly soggy boots he had just placed on his feet.

"Well any costs I would ask for are simply for the needed incantations to properly identify the specific magics residing in your footwear. I certainly wouldn't consider charging you for the actual boots now, I don't think that would be proper, not to mention Union rules do prohibit me from selling merchandise that is not mine to sell in the first place."

Jordan starts to prepare in getting ready and sighs quietly at the apparent bickering taking place between Sistiana and Spindletop, but stays out of the matter at first. He feels vindicated in this decision as Spindletop ends up saving him a fair amount of gold and/or time being used the next day as a result of her knowledge.

"Well, that is indeed handy. Although I suppose it is a good thing I have no such interests in such a ring myself, I would so hate to cause even more possible troubles over it."

There is a touch of something in the tone of his voice, perhaps a hint of sarcasm, maybe even annoyance at the presumptions made by others over the ownership of this newfound precious. Perhaps he wanted the precious for himself. But Jordan does not appear to dwell on the precious being claimed by a bunch of filthy womenses. Not in the least.

In the meantime, something else appears to take hold over him. Jordan is just standing around looking at nothing in particular, but his head lolls back and forth, like he is in a daze. He puts his hand up before his face and moves it back and forth slowly, and then quickly, and then slowly once more. "Whoa... that's cool, man...." Jordan sees two or three or four hands shadowing his hand as he moves. Trippy.... they didn't cover this in any of his arcane classes.

However, as Sistiana mentions participations and spoils, a majority of his distracted attentions come back to rest in her direction.

"Hey, keep it down over there, you're marshing on my hellow. Besides, Spindletippytop was just following h'orderves. Mmmm...I am feeling a bit hungry come to think of it. But anyways, Darren did tell her to get the horses out of here, which she was trying to do during this whole mess. She was doing the job she was hired for and following orders to booty. I think she did participate just fine. And if that's still not good enough, then she can have my share. Since I didn't get anything but a headache anyways. Now if you will excuse me..."

Jordan mutters something else under his breath and goes back to looking at his hand, waving it back and forth in front of his face at various speeds. This appears to amuse him greatly judging from the chuckles and the occasional 'Whoa' being spoken from time to time. He makes his way back to the carriage with an uneasy and wobbly gait, but does not seem to care, because whatever this is he was experiencing was groovy on a cosmic level.

[rhaiber]

"Yeah!" Spindletop pipes up animatedly, energized by Jordan coming to her defense, "I was doing exactly what I was told to. Darren said to get the carriage out of here, but with all that icky mud there, I figured the poor things might get stuck, and then we could end up in even worse shape, since it would leave us all as sitting ducks for the dog-boy archers. Since you were actually in the carriage at the time, I figured you'd rather not be a sitting duck. So I remembered that I had this nifty amulet. Once I held it up in a tavern and it started glowing, so I dunked it in a flagon of ale and the ale turned ito pure water. So I figured maybe if I dunked it in the mud the mud might turn back into pure dirt, but instead it got all kinda purpley, which isn't exactly what I had in mind, but is kinda neat, nonetheless. Besides, when we went over my job description, I thought it was pretty much restricted to - and I quote:

Originally Posted by Imitating Sistiana's haughty and superior tone of voice

delivering the delicious baked goods I prepare for various events. There will also be some care and tending to the horses as well.

"Now I don't remember you saying anything about having to fight dog-boys. It certainly wasn't in my contract. And if you did want me to engage in such activities without it being clearly expressed in writing, I'm afraid that might be in violation of the bylaws of Carriage Driver Extraordinaires Local 352. We'd have to get some sort of injunction with Caravan Guardian's Union."

[RonarsCorruption]

[Saloch]

"You know Sistania, she's got a point."

[Silent Tiger]

The group engages on a polite discussion of possessions, contracts and guild rules. Sistiana is defending the businesswoman's position, while Spindletop takes a strictly union position. Saloch chimes in, offering his advice and opinion on the matter, while Jordan also tries to influence the ultimate outcome, but is somewhat distracted by his magically aura'd sight. With all the attention focused on this side and that side, no one really notices that Darren has opted to move on and he and his horse are a good ways down the road already...

[Secret Stuff]

[RonarsCorruption]

[Saloch]

Saloch urges the others to discuss this on the carraige, rather than simlply sitting there.

[Norwain]

Sistiana responds quite politely "Well it also isn't in your contract then, to take treasure from battles you did not partake in either. But mine seems to be a minority opinion." She turns, her long braided hair swishing around, and steps into the carriage. And then pokes her head out, looking first toward Darren, and then toward the kender (and whoever else is still outside the carriage).

Since the kender chose to bring up duties, in the haughty voice Spindletop tried to imitate "I think it's time to get your happy little ring stealing ass up there and drive my carriage." and with a sarcastic tone she adds "or do I need to visit the Local 352??"

[Fizzgig]

Despite his utter fascination with waving his hands in front of him, Jordan manages to climb up into the carriage, eager to get on with the rest of the journey.

Or at the very least get off of his feet.

[Silent Tiger]

The others quickly gather and take their places, though with some this is done rather reluctantly, on the carriage. Sistiana and Jordan take their places inside the carriage and the door slams shut, though who did the slamming is unknown. The other two take their places up in front, in the driver's seats. Spindletop prepares the horses. She seems to have some trouble getting them started, maybe because they are skittish, maybe for other reasons. However, after a somewhat stretched out pause, Spindletop gets the horses moving.

As they pass though the formerly muddy patch, they find that the magic is almost worn out. Only small clods of mud spin from the wooden wheels of the carriage. Spindletop gets the carriage going, trying to catch up to Darren, only it seems like the carriage seems to be almost, only almost, careening around the road.

Finally the carriage catches up to Darren, whether through the fast driving of Spindletop or because Darren had slowed down to allow them to catch up. Spindletop barely manages to slow the spirited horses and manage a more pleasant and normal speed. Darren takes his position out front of the group, leading and scouting, being diligent. His efforts pay off and the rest of the trip is uneventful.

As the group travels on the road, the sky starts turning towards late afternoon. The landscape also changes. The forest starts getting more rugged and rough, a few stone poking up through the greenery. And then the stones turn into rocks and columns, backed by looming mountains. Finally a sign comes into view, announcing that Drybone Hollow sits just up ahead on the road, not too much further along...

[Next update will be entering Drybone Hollow. If there are any topics you would like to finish before getting to Drybone Hollow, just let me know. or any arguments or any lynchings, and the same such.]

[Fizzgig]

As the ride towards Drybone Hollow resumes and the adrenaline of the fight just endured begins to wear off, the silence hanging around them becomes more and more apparent to Jordan. His hazel eyes stray towards Sistiana, keeping his voice low as the words of her earlier conversation with Spindletop echoes though his mind.

"Not that you likely care what I think, but I think you were a bit too hasty in judging Spindletop's motives. She saved us a good deal of trouble in figuring out that ring you've taken a liking to and kept the horses safe and controlled as well."

That seems all Jordan had to say on the matter, a voicing of his opinion. He would certainly would listen to Sistiana's side of the story, but mostly he would be resigned to silent nodding to show he was following along even as his hazel eyes stray back out the window, not having the energy or mood to go into full blown debate.

[Silent Tiger]

From mud and dirt road to one of well worn stone, not paved but smooth due to constant use, Drybone Hollow came into view. On the last stretch of road since the sign announcing the village's proximity, the rocks and boulders had grown almost exponentially until a mountain loomed in the background, above the nearby trees and stone ornaments. The foot of the mountain stepped up to the edge of the road, threatening to dip its toes in the river off to the west, but didn't quite make it there.

While the main River Road continued south, a wide path, through the village, other smaller veins spread out between the buildings of Drybone Hollow. Most of the structures were built out of mainly stone, with some wood included in the architectonics. Behind the buildings, looming above everything, was the fabled cliff walls of Drybone Hollow. The cliff face gently curved around the town to protect it in its gentle embrace. All in all, the hollow which the village resided in was approximately a quarter mile deep and almost a mile in length along the river. It narrowed along the fringes, enough room for the road to pass, plus some more comfort room. Poised between the cliff face and the river, was the main portion of Drybone Hollow village.

What Drybone Hollow lacked in greenery, it more than made up for it in rocks and stones. The village had a gray dust appearance, as if it had absorbed some of the color from the surrounding cliff face. Drybone Hollow was home to only a few buildings, the number of which could be counted upon using two hands. Most buildings looks structurally sound, but none of them seemed to be that lavish, seemingly built more for utilitarian and practical rather than rich or overly ornamented.

Spindletop drove the carriage along the River Road, past the buildings at the edge of town. She stopped the carriage when it reached a little hollowed out square in the middle of the town. On the river side, a couple of docks stuck out limply into the river. Dockalong was the major river port, Drybone Hollow one of the lesser ones. On the village side, a few bigger buildings circled the square. One looked to be a store, clapboard sign hanging out front with the symbol of a swine and an oar crossed with each other, physically not genetically. The other was an inn that seemed to be more of a tavern than an inn really.

The other building looked rather officious, with a sweeping porch out front held up by immaculate pillars. It is from this last building that an equally immaculate man steps out the door and down the steps, noticing the carriage pulling into the square. For a second he looks at the heraldry on the side of the carriage, then recognizing it, he smiles and makes his way towards the group.

He is an older man, gray building in his hair, but not dominating the black locks, though his hair is somewhat receded from his forehead. His features are strong, and his face has a worn, weathered, experienced look. He wears a fashionable wine red velvet vest, buttoned down the front with shiny copper buttons, covering a white silk undershirt. His pants are brown, tailored and obviously match well with his vest. His black boots are shined to an almost reflective sheen. Sistiana thinks that this might be the same Vyktor Vercedes who placed the order of confectionery delights for Drybone Hollow Harvest Festival.

[Time for backposting about the travel for those of you watching the game or busy over the weekend... and yet, an opportunity to respond to your first look at Drybone Hollow and give your character comments.]

[Norwain]

Sistiana rides in silence on the way to Drybone.

Looking out the window of the carriage, with a blank stare, as Jordan speaks; she snipes back.... "No I don't, Jordan. And I don't want to talk about it anymore...."

Sistiana spends the rest of the trip studying her paperwork. She appears to be going over a checklist, probably verifying the desserts aboard the carriage.


Upon arriving in Drybone:
As the carriage grinds to a halt, Sistiana opens the door and begins to step out. With one foot out the the door, Jordan would swear she is a chameleon, as Sistiana offers a beaming smile to the gentleman greeting them. "Greetings!!..... You must be....Vyktor??" her tone pleasant and happy, as she quickly consults her papers before tossiing them on the seat behind her. After he responds, she continues.... "I am Sistiana. And your confectionery masterpieces have arrived!" Continuing out of the carriage, Sistiana approaches the man to shake his hand. "Where would you like them stored until the festival?" She looks up & down the square, taking in the surroundings.