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[Caellath]

"Yes, your Highness."

[cronos5010]

: "We are at your disposal your Highness."

[Haspen]

"Good to hear. I wish your village... peace, and prosperity, elder Zozka."

The Prince has left the building!

And almost bumped right into someone's face.

"..."

"...yes?"

"Erm... are you... where are you headed, may I ask?" The Prince thought for a moment.

"Well, my goal is Nelestia, but this little side hunt is taking us north-ish, so far. I'm pretty sure we will be heading to Firstport to catch a ship headed westward." Orf's eyes lit up momentarily.

"Can I go with you, then? I mean, to Firstport, not Nelestia." The Prince thought for a while longer, looked at his companions, then back at Orf.

"...may I know your reasons?" Orf let out a deep sigh.

"I, I'm an orphan, and to be honest I have no one or nothing left here. My dad died last spring. My friends died today. I've been sleeping in Enys' shed for most of the past year out of his generosity, but now his family and ex-girlfriend hate me for... you know. Living here would be even worse than previously. I have an uncle who's a blacksmith in Firstport. I'm not a crafts guy but I could try out a new job there or something. At worst, I will have some sort of family there. Look, I'm not trying to fetch an escort for free. You know I can fight! I can do other useful tasks, too. I can also, like... take people's items without them noticing..."

"...really?"

"And, uh, I can open doors and boxes that are usually, you know, locked..."

"..."

"..." Prince Aland looked at his friends, thought about the proposal for a moment, and then smiled.

"Alright, I'm up for taking you in. As long as Casslan, Ivy and Argos agree to it. They're my friends and trusted companions, so I'm going to hear their counsel first."

//Take in Orf the Troublemaker, yea or nay? All can speak up but the chosen trio's decisions will matter the most!

[Gaterhyme]

Ivy had been strangely quiet this whole time, enough to suspect her of attempting to be tactful in the aftermath of the cemetery situation, as rare as that was.

"Taking in a stray, Aland? I'm not against it."

"He knows what he's getting into if he's choosing to come with us to hunt our self-proclaimed 'Sir' instead of going directly to Firstport by himself," she added lightly.

[Caellath]

"..." Casslan stood by the Prince's side, staring at Orf like he wanted to peek into the troublemaker's mind.

"As long as he is helpful and behaves, he can stay."

[Aurorix]

Argos walks up to the boy, hands on his hips. He leans forward until his meets Orf at eye level and... just... stares... into his eyes... in dead silence... for an abnormally long time... no blinking... no flinching... just eye contact... until his echoing voice pierces the silence.


"Did ya really need to ask? I'm down for it as well!" He ussual exuberant tone is in full affect before Argos takes a hand off his hip and lightly rustles Orf's hair. "I know you'll do just fine!"

[Haspen]

"Like I said, I trust their opinions. Welcome to the team, Orf."

"Hey, thanks! You will see, I won't be in anyone's way..."

//Orf the Troublemaker joins as an Ally!

And so, the search for the elusive and dangerous Sir Purplecloak continued...

|=| Chapter 3: The Lost Child |=|

Morning of two days after, just past the bridge crossing over River Clear...

The bridge disappeared behind the thick treeline that surrounded the group, the wide cobblestone providing a nice, even surface for marching.

Not everyone was happy with the walking, however...

"You, you put on... q-quite a marching pace, Prince Aland."

"Thank you. I hope that at this rate we get to the Afterbridge Inn before noon."

"...that's not what I meant..." A shout came from the front, as if someone called someone, and then a galloping horse could be heard, coming right towards the group.

From around the corner of the forest road, came running a dark brown horse with beige mane. A lady in polished armor, with long blue hair and a shining sword in her hand, rode on it.

Prince Aland put his hand on the handle of his sword, but didn't draw it just yet.

[Caellath]

Casslan took position in front of the Prince, taking his cue and keeping only his shield drawn for the moment.

"Who goes there?"

[Haspen]

The lady stopped her horse inches away from Casslan, and the stallion reared briefly.

"Who dares stop me!? Out of my way, you mongrel!" At this, Prince Aland stepped forward.

"Apologies, my lady, but you almost trampled us. Are you in a hurry? Is something wrong? Maybe we could help?" The lady's horse stepped in one spot for a while as she looked over Prince and his group.

"Hmph. Have you seen... a young boy somewhere, unattended?"

"A young boy?"

"My son, goddess-damn-it! Short, gold-haired, thin, in darkly-dyed clothes! Me and my men woke up this morning at Afterbridge Inn and I found his bed empty! We've been searching for him since dawn! Have you seen him, or not!?

"Please calm down. And no, we've not seen any children walking around alone. How did this happen in the first place, did neither your men nor the innkeeper see your son leave the building?"

"Apparently! We're on our way home from Clearhost, and decided to spend the night at Afterbridge Inn. I've put Andertz to bed with that new glass toy of his, then I went to my own bedroom..." The loud lady squinted and stared at Aland a bit harder.

"You look familiar, have we met? Tell me your name!"

"We've probably met at my father's castle on one occassion or another. Prince Aland of Hestia, and you're...?" A curious mix of expressions flashed through the woman's face - from surprise, to distrust, to fear, ending with embarassment - before she hopped off her horse and hastily knelt in front of the Prince.

"Th-thousand apologies for my uncouth tongue, Prince Aland! I'm Countess Valentia Coldside of the Blue Mountains. It's a honor and a great surprise to see you here! I'm not of my mind today, please forgive me!" Prince Aland nodded and gave Casslan a sign to put down the shield.

"It's alright, please stand up." The Countess stood up, and Prince Aland took his hand off his sword. "You were saying your son went to sleep with a new toy? Where did you get it from?"

"From that shifty-looking merchant we've met on the road! He had dozens of these fake-looking baubles inside that purple cloak of his. I was going to pay him no heed but Andertz took a liking to some sort of shiny glass box the man had, so I gave in and bought it for fifty gold-"

"That must've been Sir Purplecloak!"

"Wha- who, who's that?"

"Countess Coldside, this man has been wrecking havoc with his 'toys and baubbles' for quite a few days now, either by accident or by some malevolent purpose. The wine he sold to some monks made them go crazy, a trinket that was supposed to help with spirits of departed roused dead in a village and caused deaths of many youths there. The glass box you've bought for your son might be equally dangerous!"

"Fuck's sake! I knew that merchant was shifty and everything, but that's just... just..."

"Mayhaps any mages or healers from your entourage can scry for the box? We ought to assume it is magical in nature. They could pool their magics or something and try to-"

"Apologies, my prince... but I have no magicians in my entourage. For... personal reasons."

"I see." There was a brief, awkward silence before Aland turned to Alixia and Ivy. "I know this is a long shot and neither of you are actual scriers and diviners, but... please, do you feel any magic besides yours in the vicinity?"

"I beseech you, try your hardest! If anything ill happens to Andertz..."

[Gaterhyme]

"This seems like a situation where having your own magicians to counter the ones who'd harm you might have been helpful." Her own talents were far more in the realm of obliterating things than finding them.

But since Aland was asking, and because they all wanted to find that man sooner rather than later, Ivy closed her eyes and attempted to sense for magic nearby.

[Haspen]

@Ivy:

There was the noise of the background magickry, inherent for the planet.

Like a beacon, a small, but powerful, source of some ancient magic, could be felt.

To the north, right into the depths of the forest...

[Gaterhyme]

"Not at all ominous or inconvenient," Ivy said under her breath. Though anything with that man was ominous knowing the trouble he'd left behind every time.

"I have a direction. Up for a jaunt north into the woods?"

[Caellath]

"The sooner the better." He didn't seem to mind being called a mongrel. He did mind that this merchant kept sowing trouble and avoiding them, which wasted their time.

[SirAston]

"It's happening once more, isn't it..."

Alixia checked her equipment once more, then grasps her staff firmly. While obviously feeling uncomfortable, she was ready to go into the woods.

[Haspen]

"North!? But my soldiers have been there already! Nevermind, I'm going there anyway!"

"Countess Coldside, we will join you in your search. I'm anxious to leave this matter unresolved myself."

"Alright! Please hurry!"

PLAYER TURN: 1

Few minutes later...

"Andertz! Andertz, where are you!!"

Objectives:
Primary: Find Andertz Coldside.

Allies stats are here!

Spoiler: Objectives&Map Info (click to show/hide)

Objectives:
Primary: Find Andertz Coldside.

Spoiler: HP (click to show/hide)

PCs:
Adrienne Artaud: 27/27 Needs action
Alixia Marmilon: 25/25 Needs action
Argos von Bodin: 25/25 Needs action
Casslan Blackfield: 26/26 Needs action
Ivy ag Rodvaric: 19/19 Needs action

Allies:
Countess Valentia Coldside: 27/27
Orf the Troublemaker: 21/21
Prince Aland of Hestia: 23/23