Turn 43A -- Lyntern and Thurmaster

An hour later finds Gnore, Kersath, Kre, Dain, Garth, Randor, and Lyntern riding out of the gates of Parlfray Keep as the sun is setting. Captain Dalaes and his men are nowhere in sight.

"Maybe the Count reconsidered and didn't send the men after us?" wonders Randor aloud.

"I doubt it," answers Kersath quietly.

Lyntern is all smiles as the party drops below a hill and the Keep disappears from sight. He is dressed in brown tunic and breeches with a leather vest on for further protection. He has a dark brown riding cloak on as well. A finely jeweled ornate longsword hangs from an equally jeweled belt and sheath on his left side. The swordsmen in the group note that the ceremonial blade would pretty much be useless in a real battle. He also has an ordinary shield strapped to the back of his horse. As the party continues on, Lyntern is all chatter as he rides in the lead next to Gnore. His questions are typically answered with short, one-word answers from the quiet dwarf. He also receives several sharp retorts from the moody Kre who is riding behind him.

After riding for an hour, Kersath moves up to the front of the procession to speak to Gnore, "I'm going to fan out and scout around us and make sure we aren't being followed." He gives a meaningful glance to the dwarf.

"I'll go with you!" yells Lyntern excitedly.

"Quiet boy!" answers Kersath sharply. "We are travelling at night in an area recently infested with orcs, do not draw any more attention to yourself as absolutely necessary. Stay here with the group, you would only slow me down. I cannot show you the ways of stealth as we scout." With that the dark elf spurs his horse forward and disappears into the night.

Lyntern appears to sulk for a few moments at not being able to scout with the elf, but he soons begins his array of questions anew. Gnore shakes his head in desperation as Lyntern asks Gnore if he should switch to a bastard sword like the stout dwarf instead of his longsword.

Before long, Kersath returns to the group with what appears to be a slight smile on his face. "Nothing out there but the wind." he says in answer to the inquisitive looks from Gnore. "And a small caravan travelling a few hundred yards behind us." The dark elf then pulls in aside Randor again, "It appears that Captain Dalaes and his men were not as inept as we originally thought. He and his ten men are the 'small caravan' travelling behind us. I almost didn't recognize them myself! There's no way the boy could recognize them. And enough of them are on horseback that they'd be here in a flash if we ran into trouble. Even then, we would probably be able to convince the boy they were just travelling through and stopped to help us! I'll have to applaud that man the next time I see him."

"I still don't like it," says the skeptical priest.

To the pleasure of the entire company, the remainder of the journey is extremely boring. By the time the group reaches Thurmaster, slightly before midnight, everyone is sick of the constant talking and questioning from Lyntern. The group leads Dain to Tauster's tower were the mage enters to help Tauster with the identification of the ring.

"We'll be back in the morning," says Kersath before Dain enters.

"I'll be ready," answers the anxious mage.

"Now we're on to the Hound and Tails for some much needed ale," says Kersath to the remainder of the group.

At the Hound and Tails things are quiet as most of the patrons have turned in for the evening. The party members have a few tankards of ale before heading to the common room themselves. As the party quietly enters the room with the fifteen or so travellers sleeping on the straw mats about the room, Lyntern turns up his nose.

"We will be sleeping here?" he asks. "Along with everyone?"

"Part of the fun of adventuring," answers Gnore sarcastically. "We're lucky to have a roof over our head and a warm fire this night. Most time it's a hard rock for a pillow under the stars and no fire. Enjoy it boy."

With a shrug and a frown Lyntern moves to pick out a relatively clean spot and put his cloak on the floor. To the relief of everyone, the talking boy is asleep almost as soon as he is down.

"Well we made it to town," says Kersath with a sigh to Garth. "If we make it through the night we should be fine."

"Aye," answers the dwarven priest.