Essar looks around in the dining car and then spots a tray with wine bottles on top of it. How much for the Karnathi red?
a bottle if the price is right.
Danir looks around for a seat...
"Later, in some relative privacy, I don't think it would hurt to look at the package. But definitely not to open it. That never goes well, people always know," he replies, seeming to speak from experience.
Xov points to a jug of water. He needed to remain fully alert.
Don't worry I have several companions to help me drink it.
Kyndril remains quiet, purchasing a very basic meal of normal quality. He would rather have cooked it himself, but, hey, there are things one does not do on the lightning train.
Othan flips Essar a coin to pay for his portion of the wine and takes a seat
Ebran will eat the basic fare that his ticket provides. 50gp wasn't exactly much to start a life on if your possessions include weapons and armor, so he will have to hold off on his dreams of fancy feasts, for now.
Once seated, Danir too has the basic fare- after years of rations and PoW camp food even the most basic fare seems a rich feast to him.
Xov, too, indicates a preference for simple food,
simple food is fine as long as there is meat.
Red meat fresh of the bone and buttered bread spread with garlic.
|
"Very well, sir," she said. And with that she takes your orders and heads into the kitchen. 10 minutes later, good food arrives. Mostly the basic fair. Othan gets 5 juicy steaks. And Essar, one of them. The waitress passes them out, her busom distracting to anyone who gets a perception check above 10 (below that, you're distracted by something else.)
The regular faire of the day happened to be roast duck in garlic, and vegetable soup with leaks and beef stock.
"Wonderful fare served by a fine maiden, eaten with... insightful company," Danir declares as he finishes his meal as asks about what hot beverages they serve...
perception check
As the waitress hurries off Essar had to wonder whether or not house Orien had started a breeding program that used already attractive humans and succubi as its breeding stock. It would not be surprising, considering the house's penchant for profit above all else.
"If this is regular fare, I don't believe I have seen fancy fare in my life!"
"And that sounds great. I can't wait."
"Thank you, how much for a glass of the spiced wine?" Danir inquires of the server.
"That will be fine, thank you."
(Later, after everyone has retreated to private quarters.)
"Ebran, perhaps now would be an appropriate time to take a look at the package...?"
Kyndril looks up at this, tilting his head.
"I, too, admit my curiosity as to the contents of the package. Flame forgive me, but I do not entirely trust the Brelish... Even less than I trust the Karrns." He nods to Essar, distasteful though the motion is to him. He turns to Ebran, then, green eyes curious. "Since we are a group now, perhaps it would be wisest to see what all of our opinions are on it. I know that you are not comfortable opening it, or at least, don't see any reason to," Kyndril's words and his tone slightly clash. He does know it, but he's going to continue anyways. "but if it can do no harm, then why not?"
"I wish to be no part of this- open it if you want but no good can come of it... I seek only to be done of this trip and be on my way to a new future."
Open it only if you can close it back up and make it look like it was never opened in the first place.
"We cannot know that no harm can come of it. The package is not ours to open. Now, if it is not sealed, then so be it, but if it is sealed, then we should definitely not open it. We can easily see the contents upon delivery. There are any number of other mysteries to tie oneself up in, why choose this one? And someone should be paying attention to the doors of our cart as well."
"Othan, Essar, what say you?"
Pausing for a moment, he continued,
"Danir, opening it shall not delay the train's arrival, or the end of our trip. Besides, if it were truly secret, they would not have given it to a group of foreigners just-released from prison. No harm could come from opening it, nor could they know if we did."
Quietly, he looked down at his feet, while slowing saying:
"And...and I agree with Kynril. I don't trust the Brelish. They...they were the ones who imprisoned us, after all."
"We cannot know that no harm can come of it. The package is not ours to open. Now, if it is not sealed, then so be it, but if it is sealed, then we should definitely not open it. We can easily see the contents upon delivery. There are any number of other mysteries to tie oneself up in, why choose this one? And someone should be paying attention to the doors of our cart as well."
If it is not sealed then lets open it, they wouldn't give us an open package if they did not want us to look at it. On the other hand it could be a test of our integrity, but I doubt that.
Let it be opened but beware, I opened up something of this nature a long time ago from it I learned things of great importance to the true Blood...beware of secrets
Kyndril nods. "It seems that there is a fairly even balance. I would say then, that I do not care whether it is opened or not." He grins, pleased at the seeming contradiction of his earlier statement. "I merely spoke from curiosity. If there are people sincerely against it, I do not care enough to read someone else's mail." The Khorvar returns to casually browsing his spellbook.
I recomend when we go that only 4 of us go up to meet him, if things go sideways a few people they don't think are associated with us could give our group the edge. Staying say 100ft away where they can see us, preferably they have ranged weapons or magic.
To Browman, Ebran agrees "Yes, it might seem best to do that, however if this is all related to clearing the issue up, and those of us whose papers were not squared away properly, don't you think they might be expecting that number of people?"
If things go wrong I will unleash my fury upon them, for my Blood courses with strength and resolve I need no gods to give me power.
Kyndril nods. "It seems that there is a fairly even balance. I would say then, that I do not care whether it is opened or not." He grins, pleased at the seeming contradiction of his earlier statement. "I merely spoke from curiosity. If there are people sincerely against it, I do not care enough to read someone else's mail." The Khorvar returns to casually browsing his spellbook.
"Indeed, curiosity runs strong within me. Perhaps...perhaps Ebran should keep it closed."
If things go wrong I will unleash my fury upon them, for my Blood courses with strength and resolve I need no gods to give me power.
"I will likely stay near the back, for my body is frail ."
"Ah, yeah, let's just keep it closed. Probably a love letter! hahah" Ebran laughs. "Anyway, I saw we just secure the doors to this cart and sleep. Soon enough we will be at Crossroads."
With that, Ebran will go to sleep in a rack/bunk/hammock/whatever they get, keeping the package with him.
Ebran will attempt to sleep so that if the package is touched it will wake him. If someone tries to mess with it, I will leave that up to you how to handle it in terms of what I need to roll.
"Then let us keep it closed- I did not believe that opening the package would change the duration of our journey but I do know that plenty of divination magic would be able to tell them if the package had been sealed, that is if the package is not directly enchanted itself... and I assume that the Brelish military would frown on us opening their mail- thus leaving it closed saves us from spending more time in a prison, this time for a good reason."
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The lightning rail continues on through the night. As all of the sleeping coaches are sound proof, even for those that travel "freight." So the electrical discharges didn't disturb anyone's sleep.
Three days after the Lightning Rail left Hatheril, the train pulled into the Crossroads (note: the town isn't on the map), a small town grew up around where the three conductor stone lines met and the three branches of the King's Highway met. The town depended on the river Satheril which drained into Lake Brey. The town was a human made town, and was built around a trading post that was owned by House Orien.
Crossroads is now a commercial hub, where trains are loaded and unloaded of cargo headed to different parts of Western Khorvaire. The river runs through town, with three bridges that join the town. The town's architecture is built around the Orien concourse. Here, you can get rest, shop for new clothes, find new jobs, and deliver the package.
Kyndril gazes out over the town, taking in the sights, the smells, the sounds. He sighs, relaxing a little. The further away from the prison he was, the better. The young magus checks his coin pouch, a faint frown on his face.
"Did anyone get the address of the man we are supposed to be delivering this to?'
He glances to Ebran, arching a brow expectantly.
"Also, I suspect that Breland is not being quite as simple as one might expect. They probably could have given us our papers back in Hatheril, but they didn't. It could be a usual mix-up, but, call me paranoid, I don't think that it's quite that simple."
"Also, I suspect that Breland is not being quite as simple as one might expect. They probably could have given us our papers back in Hatheril, but they didn't. It could be a usual mix-up, but, call me paranoid, I don't think that it's quite that simple."
"Agreed, one should never trust the Brelish..."
or the Thranes, or the Karns, thought Xov.
"Well we're here now, so we might as well get the package delivered and then see what fate has in store for us. It seems like this is all a lot of effort to go through if the Brelish wanted to kill or imprison us- we could have just been 'lost in transit' with far less effort."
Danir looks around town for places where he might be able to acquire basic gear or a forge where he might find employment for when they were done.
"Indeed, let us complete this errand so that we may continue on our way...
...
"
He turned to Ebran and Othan, then said
"Dare I ask where the two of you plan to go after this is over?"
Xov remains alert: