Chapter 9: A Chance to Regroup
-----Raven says to Thalog, "'Mad god'? Well, his title fits him, he sure is pissing me off." Raven turns to the man who saw the witches, "Could you draw me a map to their lair and the layout of it?" Raven pauses, Make sure it is dead on, or I'll be very upset..." Raven gives the man a stern look. Raven then turns to Thalog, "Got anything he could draw on?"
-----"er...I gave a couple of pieces of found parchment to Rand, I didn't really bother to check if they had actually been written on." Sol says. He then holds out a bottle of ink to Raven.
-----Overhearing, Rand says, "Nay, this parchment has not been written upon."
-----"Won’t do ya any good," the man responds to Raven, "Didn’ go in their lair, ‘sides it’s jest a cave. From here, it jest lies ta the east ‘bout five and a half-hours walk. Takes ya pretty close ta the edge of the woods."
-----Raven in a low voice speaks to the group, "What should we do with this group? I think if we strip 'em and set them free they won't give us any more trouble. I doubt they'll even make it to a town, but it’s more of a chance then they gave their victims." Raven sighs, "Arliss would have known what to do with 'em."
-----Raven pauses, "Actually he would have just killed 'em all." Raven looks over to the men and then back to the group, "What do you guys say?"
-----"I say just leave ‘em tied up good", says Zentil. "We don't want ‘em runnin’ off and telling anybody."
-----Zentil tucks the six special arrows that Rand handed him into his backpack. Zentil then kneels down and begins to divy the money he found into five piles.
-----When he is done, he hands everyone four gold, seven silver and twenty three copper, and pockets the rest in his small belt pouch.
-----"Leaving them tied up is pointless, no offense Zentil. They are as good as dead if we leave 'em tied up. Either we...repay what they have done to others...or we let them go." Sol thinks hard for a second, frowning slightly, "I think, I would prefer the latter option. I don't like the idea of personally killing those who are no more than captives."
-----Sol also hands everyone some money. Everybody receives two gold, five silver and seventeen copper pieces. Sol similarly deposits his shares of money into belt pouches.
-----Thalog thinks silently, his eyes closed, breathing slowly. He opens his eyes and adds, "Arliss stands for justice. At the time, the situation was different. We were dealing with orcs. Even Arliss showed mercy to the orc who told the truth. As far as we can tell, these men have spoken the truth. I agree with Zentil. We can’t just let them run loose."
-----A fire burns in his eyes. He continues, "Perhaps we can take them back to Broactor’s Temple." He looks at Raven questioningly. "Perhaps from there, someone can escort them to Hearthorn."
-----Raven says, "I really want to go after those witches, but I see your point. Okay let's take 'em to the temple. Besides it was too much work setting them free..."
-----"Ok, sounds good", says Zentil. "Anything is better than just turning them loose in my opinion. Honest or not, they are not on our side, and I'd rather the enemy not knowing we're coming."
-----"Yeah, this sounds like a good plan. This way we can also meet up with Arliss," Sol adds.
-----For the next half-hour, the party places the bodies of the dead men in the cave covering them with blankets. Sol offers rations and waterskins he found in the cave to whoever wants them. He packs some of the found equipment into his own backpack.
-----When they are ready, Raven leads the party with Sol and Rand walking along beside the six prisoners, who are still tied together. Thalog and Zentil follow along behind. They move carefully down the incline of the hill. The sound of birds return to the trees overhead and the going seems fairly easy in the pleasant weather.
-----Within an hour’s time, they cross another hill and arrive back in the forest valley. Ahead of them, they once again see the beautiful rock cairn. Their horses mingle about the grove contentedly nuzzling the new growing grass. Checking the position of the sun tells them it is two and a half-hours after high noon.
-----As they approach the middle of the grove, the overgrown bushes to their left part and Trist suddenly steps out. Cocking his head in the party’s direction, he narrows one eye at them. The gentle breeze catches his disheveled hair and beard, as well as his garments. He softly stamps his great oaken staff on the ground and utters the now infamous question, "Hey, ya got any seeds?"
-----Raven waves and says, "Hi Trist. Thanks to your help, we were able to crush this band of cutthroats. We were planning on taking these six men over to Broctor's keep so they can be brought to justice."
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