Ophyllia opens her eyes to see three faces uncomfortably close to hers. A handsome elven priest, an old mage, and a young girl stare with concern at the bard. Ophyllia was totally confused. Hadn't she just woke? Why did this feel like de ja vu?
"What? What happened? Where's Rasor?"
"Hey, Golden Tonsils," the old man pokes a finger at her, " Still able to cause plenty of trouble, I see. You're not supposed to MINDMELD with a Demon - or don't you remember anything I taught you? < tsk > Nevermind. How do you feel? No weird images or daydreams?"
"But, but I was dead, or I thought I was dead, and Rasor was fighting a Demon and was hurt and then I came back again and we were going to Deepbottom."
With a great deal of groaning, Ophyllia pulls herself upright. Her shoes are lying 20 paces in front of her, her birdcage coif 20 paces behind.
"Hmmm, powerful stuff."
The old mage pats his staff.
"Yeah, she still kicks like a mule.
He winks at the priest. Danidar helps Ophyllia to her feet.
"Rasor will be all right. He'll have one heck of a headache when he wakes up though. Are you O.K.?"
Danidar places the birdcage (properly!) back on Ophyllia's head.
"It's definitely you, of course, I can't imagine anyone else wearing this outfit and getting away with it. You certainly have style. Maybe you should teach those Mod Boyz a thing or two." The elven priest smiles warmly at Ophyllia. "The young Miss and I will help carry Rasor - I've made a makeshift stretcher out of a cloak and some tree limbs."
Danidar and the young girl roll Rasor's snoring body onto the stretcher.
"So Gramp's, we're we going now?"
The girl looks back at her grandfather and wrinkles up her nose at the snoring half-orc. The old man places his hand on Ophyllia's hand and walks on.
"Deepbottom."
The two girl and priest fall in step behind the old man.
"The paladin."
Ophyllia comes to an abrupt halt as she realizes that she's heard all this before. Hasn't she? The old mage pats her on the hand reassuringly and drags her on. A paladin? She makes a distasteful face and rolls her eyes. < blech >
"By the way, did I get the Demon?"
Ophyllia cocks an eyebrow triumphantly at the mage.
"See. I paid attention once in a while."
The two friends, teacher and one-time pupil, stare defiantly at one another for just a moment, then both shake their heads and continue their walk.
"There's always an exception - I taught you THAT too." < harumph >
The mage leads the party along unerringly towards the village of Deepbottom.
Meanwhile, a very unhappy Nipper follows in his master's footsteps, as Pavek and Torner head towards the Town of Bottomburn.
"...as I was saying, I came out here to change the sign around so that the adventuring party from Bottomburn would go to Deepbottom instead of the lake. Once they get to the village, the people and elves will help them out. Hopefully they'll wait there for further orders."
Once Torner realized that Pavek wasn't a spy or some other nasty, he had spent a good deal of time filling in the newcomer to the situation. Stormwind plodded along at a slow pace so that the human could keep up.
"Interesting world that you come from, you'll have to tell me more about it when you get the chance."
Pavek thought to say that maybe 'M' really was big, bad, and powerful, and wasn't just PR work, but kept that to himself. He was new here and still trying to get his bearings on the people and the situation. This fella, Torner, seemed to know a lot about the area. Couldn't hurt to follow him to the town.
"...and I still don't know what's happening down in Bottomburn. Heck, it might all be burned to the ground for all I know. Never seen so much going on."
Pavek nodded to the man's ramblings. Torner had been quiet at first, but then soon warmed to his subject and hadn't stopped talking since. All Pavek had to do to keep him talking was to ask a question now and again.
"How much further?"
Stormwind and Nipper walked side by side as they trudged up the high rise. The foursome halt as they top the hill.
"Hey, there's someone down there."
Pavek points far across the valley floor to a speck of travelers moving in their direction.
"What, I don't see...wait a minute." Torner pulls out his spyglass. "Hmmm, four folks - can't tell if they're humans or not - two of 'em are pulling something on a stretcher."
Torner snapped the spyglass shut.
"What do you say you and me go on down there and have a chat with these people? Find out what they're about."
"Gramps, I think we've got company."
The young archer nods north, just to the top of a large hill. Sweat trickles down her brown skin, even though it is still early morn, and she takes a moment to stretch her stiff back. Danidar flops down, exhausted, besides the girl.
"Come on, Rasor. Wake up, already."
The priest moans and lays back on the dew covered grass. Ophyllia and the mage watch as the party approaches.
Torner, Stormwind, Pavek, Nipper, Danidar, the mage, the archer, and Ophyllia finally meet. Ya!!!!! And there is much rejoicing!!! (Rasor will have to wait his turn.) There is a great deal of talking as the six people exchange information. Ophyllia tells Torner and Pavek that the adventuring party has already left for the lake. Torner tells them that he changed the signs so that the group would hopefully go to the village instead. Danidar suggests that they take a dawnfeast break and try to decide on where to go. Should they go to Bottomburn, to Deepbottom, or to the lake.
"What are we going to find in Deepbottom?"
"No," all three answer in unison.
"It left us alive? That's not possible. Hey Gramps - you told me that whenever a Demon breaks free from the castor that summoned it, it turns on the castor."
"So does anyone know who this 'M' is? Has he shown up in town?"
"Nope. Though I heard the gnorcs and brigand talking 'bout the man. Sounded like a lot of hot air if you ask me. Typical overblown image of a big bad meanie so that the troops stay in line. Have to look pretty mean if you're gonna get gnorcs, orcs, and trolls to work together. Usually the trolls eat both of 'em."
"Well, we oughta be able to just see the town over the next rise."
"Could it be survivors from the attack on the village?"
"Nah. Comin' from the wrong direction. I'd make a guess that they might have been trying to join up with that adventuring party and somehow got themselves in a fix."
"Sounds reasonable."