Kara shifts uneasy. She swore she saw something, and would shift her shield from her back to be ready to bring it up. She then points out the corner to Theli, unsure how much the girl understood Saxon, and says " I feel we are not alone. That corner is cursed. Let us leave this place." After a second thought, she calls down to Magan, " Old man, we may have guest. Would you like to visit them?" The phrase seems innocent enough, but anyone who had seen fighting would know it was a warning. After all Magan told her and the experiance with the hounds of Hel, she didnt trust this wasnt either a trap, or they were being stalked.
Magan chews his lip at Kara's words. Was this the wrong decision? As she calls down the stairs he thinks she is probably right. He catches Felix's eye, gestures at the stairs and holds his finger to his lips. Moving as silently as he can he heads towards the sound of Kara's voice.
Gawen realises he may have come on a little strong. He found it easy to forget how intimidating he likely was to those who didn't know him.
"Apologies, as I said I'm not from around here. I have a potion for enhancing the senses briefly, and a couple of healalls I have no immediate need for."
He doesn't mention the potion of Concealment from Animals he made for Felix a few days earlier, suspecting it wouldn't find much use outside of burglary.
"I'd hear what you can tell me of Lowenna and the Circle?"
Tregereth gestures for Gawen to pass the bottles and inspects the contents cautiously, first sniffing and then tasting a drop of each of the sludgy mixtures in turn. He pulls a face that clearly has "not bad" written across it.
"Ye not from these parts are ye? Lowenna's the Seeker. Always 'avin' er circle stick its nose where we shouldn' be lookin'... 'ow much ye askin' fer these?"
Theli raises her eyebrows at Kara and laughs.
"Oh you haven't understood a word I've said have you, poor thing? Don't you worry yourself, it won't take me a moment to pack my bags..."
The condescension in her voice is palpable. She opens the door to her chambers and abruptly slips on a small puddle of oil that seems to have leaked from a lamp.
Kara tries her best to avoid the puddle
As Theli falls, Kara grasps her quickly by the upper arm and the girl jerks to a halt with a gasp, her torso suspended just inches above the twisted bedpost of her iron-framed bed. Had she not been stopped, she would have impaled herself upon it - right through the heart. A deadly freak accident... perhaps.
After a tense moment Theli starts to breathe again and slumps back against the door frame, quietly sobbing from the shock.
Felix looks around the room searching for traps.
Kara glares at the woman and calls for Magan. This was not just an attempt on her life, someone wanted it to be seen as a poor accident. This meant it was more than told the wrong man no. This was worse. " Magan, I am thinking we should see a good amount of payment upon this. Whoever is trying to kill this woman, deserved or not is going to great pains to make it looks like not them. Did she say who would want her dead? An unknown enemy is harder to fight. Let us find Gawen and begone this place" She said this in Saxon, as she wasnt sure how many people around here knew or understood it.
Felix finds nothing unusual, except some exceptionally shiny lint around the bedposts.
Magan gestures for Kara to relax.
"We are getting fair pay here Kara, you saved her life already so its already gone up considerably, and we dealt with worse on the way here. You are right though, we should get out in the open."
Theli hastily gathers her possessions and settles her account with the innkeeper, who has a pair of stable boys carry a large and clearly heavy chest down from her chambers.
"Where might I store my belongings for transport?" Theli asks Magan, her pride slowly returning to her manner.
Kara watches the two lads with a good bit of distrust, and would ask Felix to check out the trunk before anyone else. She may not be Freyas smartest paladin, but she could see a setup when presented. Though now at 12 silver, that could go a long way for some poor soul needing Freyas guidance
Gawen makes a noncommital gesture with his hand. "What'll you give me for them? And what's a Seeker? We don't have those where I'm from."
Tregereth hums and haws to himself, clearly making a show of it.
"'Undred an' fifty silver a piece? Seeker leads t'circle... Lowenna leads it int'trouble if y'ask me. Which nobody does by t'way."
"Two fifty. Do the druids from the Circle come around here often then?"
"Two 'undred," Tregereth replies quickly, obviously keener to make the deal than he wants to let on. "Often enough. Dunsford's a wander west, b'Lowenna thinks everythin' east o't'moor is 'er business."
"Two-ten if you throw in replacement skins for the ones I'm selling."
"Dun!" Tregereth exclaims through a broad grin full of crooked teeth. He counts Gawen out a weighty pouch of silver and gathers up the potions for his inventory.
"Pleasure doin' business wit'ye!"
Meanwhile, when Felix moves to check Theli's trunk she defensively tries to refuse him. Insisting that these are her private belongings and none of his business.
"You also, and thanks for your help."
Gawen nods his farewell, and heads off to find the others. He suspects, given Tregereth's apparent satisfaction, that he probably undersold the potions, but he wasn't too fussed. He had enough money to continue his journey now, which was his main concern - the money was just a means to an end.
Magan waves away Theli's protests.
"Somebody gained access to your room and sabotaged your bed, do you believe they couldn't have tampered with your other belongings? My man checks everything if it is going on our wagon. Of course if you prefer to carry it yourself you can choose to take on that risk." His tone is forceful and it is clear that it is not a negotiation.
Theli sighs dramatically and throws open the lid of the heavy oaken chest. It is full of silver and gold presumably her accumulated wealth. She glances left and right furtively, looking to see if anybody has seen what they are carrying.
"Satisfied?" she hisses through her teeth.
Felix shifts uncomfortably towards to chest, all this tension in the room makes his skin itch. His own desire to be out of this city also did not help. Magan makes a good point however, one can never be too careful. Felix checks the woman's belongings thoroughly.
Kara stands guard near Theli, and shakes her head. She then asks Magan in Saxon, " And yet she tries to buy us for less than we are worth? I would not say this money is gotten through honorable means. This seems wrong, and should go to the temple." Kara wasnt normally bothered by where her payment came from, but this smelled of dishonesty, and that wasn't something Freya approved off.
Magan smiles. "I wonder why someone might be trying to kill you."
He turns to Kara with a frown. He tries to keep his tone gentle because he knows things are strange for her here. "Why would you assume this is ill-gotten? Perhaps they found it on a campaign emptying Christian churches. Besides, it is none of our business, she is under our protection and that's the end of it."
Magan thinks back to the foreign land where his own chest of money lay scattered on a field in a pool of blood spilt by his friends and companions and tried not to blame Kara for its loss.
Theli scowls back at Magan. Her mood has worsened since the scare in her room. She throws the lid shut with a bang and paces back and forth anxiously as the stable boys, now wide-eyed having seen the chest's contents, heave the heavy load up onto the carriage's roof and strap it down.
While all this is going on, something about a man on the other side of the street jumps out at Felix. He seems to be watching the group of people gathered around the carriage. This isn't unusual in and of itself, but he is clearly trying not to be obvious about it. It's more than that though. Something niggles at the back of Felix's mind. Something that made him notice this man in the first place. He's big - nobody could miss that - both tall and wide with short cut black hair and beard. More than that though, Felix recognises the man. He's definitely seen him before, but where? Then it strikes him. This was one of the five men sat around Arthek's camp fire just a few nights ago.
Kara scowls at Magan, but accepts his words, for they did ring true. She may have felt uncomfortable but she still knew better than to argue with the party leader. Besides, they needed to get moving before another attempt was made on Theli life. She motions for the woman to set up on the wagon and makes sure everyone else is ready. This city didnt sit well with the tall woman.
Felix nudges Magan and says under his breath,
"Act naturiol, y dyn mawr ar draws y stryd ... ydych chi'n ei weld ef? Mae'n un o ddynion Arthek ac mae'n ein gwylio ni. Gallwch chi ddychmygu beth mae hyn yn ei olygu, dde?"
On his way back to the meeting place, Gawen stops at a couple of other stands in the same market to buy another couple of weeks' worth of trail rations, and a few bits of meat and vegetables to make stew for the group for the next few nights. He also keeps an eye (and an ear) open for any merchants who look like they might have come from further abroad, in the hope some of them might have news from Kent.
A variety of Saxon merchants walk the markets, many from the north and the east. Many murmur unquietly of the kentish King's guest from Rome, but none know any more than Gawen already does.
Magan frowns.
"It is as I feared then. I knew we should not have dallied here. He must not be allowed to report back, let's see if we can't have him follow us into an alley somewhere here and leave him for the rats."
Magan will sit atop the wagon, ready to drop off the back in a quiet alleyway to ambush the man following.If he doesn't follow then he will loop back before they get out of sight in order to catch him when he heads back to report.
The man remains stood where he is amongst the crowd, stony and silent as he watches that carriage roll off down the road and out of sight. He does not move to follow.
Kara keeps a close watch on the group as she mutters darkly about murderers and other lowlife thieving people who need Freya's glory brought to them. It seems the paladin was in a mood over how long they had taken, and now she didnt even get to have fun with that man who Magan and Felix swore was at that camp.
When out of sight Magan has Branok stop the carriage.
"Let's go and deal with this one then"
Branok draws the carriage to a halt and nods to Magan.
"We shall return to the Temple. You can find us there."
Meanwhile, Theli is looking about anxiously.
"Why have we stopped? Where are you going? I payed for your protection!"
Sighs and tries in Saxon to get Theli to understand the danger of the other man " There are bad people after the small girl we carry with us. Stop drawing attention like a hare in a snare" She shakes her head at the silly woman who was more concerned with her ownself that others
"Or come with us if you prefer, see what you paid for." Magan adds as he leaps from the carriage.
While this discussion is taking place, Pen wanders up to Theli's chest, sniffs it critically and quietly urinates on a corner of it.
Theli lets out an infuriated grunt.
"Please tell me at least one of you is staying with your carriage??"
Felix leaps from the wagon after Magan, waves a dismissive hand at Theli and says,
"Kara here will be your shield. As long as you do what she says, you should live...perhaps."
Felix pauses to let the 'dread' sink in a little longer for effect before continuing with a cheesy grin on his face.
"I am just f@%+ing with you, we will be back before you know it."
Harrumps before watching Magan and Felix run off to take care of business that she could not do. She understood the point of it, and yet, she could not bring herself to do. She looks at Theli and harrumphs again, thinking the woman was to scared for her own good
Theli blanches at Felix's brusk manner and scowls back at Kara, clearly dissatisfied with the situation.
When Magan and Felix arrive back in sight of the Fat Pig the man is nowhere to be seen.
The two men glance at each other, the same idea occurring to them. If Arthek and his men are quartered in Caerwysg there are only so many places that they are likely to be found. The Black Horse is a local watering hole for mercenaries and criminals, while the Waterfront is home away from home to many sailors, some of which might be better described as pirates. Both are within walking distance of here.
Meanwhile, on the way back to the temple, there is a loud clonk as the wagon hits a hole in the road and comes abruptly to a standstill. Theli lets out a muted gasp and Branok curses uncharacteristically colourfully.
"I swear that wasn't there a moment ago..."
It could have just been the wind, but Kara swears she heard a whispered giggle from the streets outside.
Branok clambers down to inspect the wheel and curses again, bitterly.
"Axle's cracked. She'll drive for now, but this really needs to be repaired properly. Where in Meili's name did that come from?!"
Gawen was on his way back towards the temple when he spots the broken wagon in the middle of the road, with Branok cursing beside it. Gawen raises a hand and calls out to him.
He strides up next to the Branok and bends down to inspect the damage himself. He winces as he sees the damaged axle.
"Do you know anywhere near here that could repair it?"
Branok shrugs resignedly.
"Ah, hello Gawen! Yes, we're having a spot of bother. In a city of this size there will be all manner of workshops, but stopping for repairs could cost us at least a day. That's if we can get the job done immediately. I don't understand where the pothole came from..."
Looking back, the road doesn't seem especially uneven and is cobbled like the other streets the carriage has been driving on. Nevertheless, something cracked its axle, and Kara and Theli had also clearly felt the drop as they hit the hole in the road.
Gawen glances down and something odd about the wheel that supposedly hit a pothole catches his eye. It's outer surface is oddly shiny and glitters in the late morning light.
Magan leads the way in a hurry to try to catch the man before he reaches the inn. As he hustles he turns to Felix
"There's no purpose in entering the tavern now and giving away that we know where they are, but if we can catch him outside we can lessen their number now. If not we can spread some rumours to make their stay uncomfortable. "
"Hmm..."
Gawen bends down and inspects the wheel further.
The residue is fae in origin. The common folk would likely call it fairy dust.
Gawen's eyes widen as he realises the origin of the residue. He glances up at Branok with concern to see if the priest has noticed anything amiss, then carefully surveys the area and crowd around the wagon with his third eye, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
"Where's Magan?" he asks the Branok quietly. "I don't think this was an accident."
Gawen doesn't sense a presence nearby. Whatever did this is gone... for now.
Branok frowns in confusion.
"I'm not sure I understand... what else could it have been? Magan and Felix saw a man they say follows Arthek. He was watching them and they went to follow him."