"Erm..." Bregor twirls his moustache, unsure exactly what Sia is getting at, but eventually he shrugs and nods, a promise is a promise after all.
"Well, are we setting out again tomorrow? I confess I grow restless quickly, a man like me requires something to occupy himself with, and lacking any dastardly foes to fight I am at a loss for something to do just now."
He chuckles to himself, afterall, a rake does not just fight but also drink and make love, but drinking would not be a good idea at the moment, and he can hardly talk about bed play in front of ladies afterall.
Bidding the ladies to excuse him he then leaves the tent and seeks out Gorax.
"Good news and good news friend Gorax, the good news is that I think the ladies, while still smarting a bit, are willing to continue on. As I said, we should let the subject lie for now and let tempers cool further. The other good news is that I have put my neck on the chopping block; I have as a show of my faith in you told the ladies that if such a misunderstanding occurs again they may execute me. That should show you that I have complete confidence in you friend Gorax."
Kyrie manages to grin at Sia's casual threats, although she's not entirely sure how much - or whether - her friend is joking, then nods at Bregor. "I'd certainly like us to set out early tomorrow; we have a lot of ground to cover," she replies. "You'd better get some rest; I intend to."
Sia manages to maintain her facade until Bregor is out of the tent before she giggles. "All right. I think I'm gonna call it an early night, if you don't mind." With that, she flops down on the nearest cot and closes her eyes.
Whichever soldier is the usual occupant of said cot is just going to have to make do with one in the guest house tonight, apparently.
Kyrie sighs in exasperation and covers Sia with a blanket, then heads out to find Oleg and the soldier who owned that cot and inform them of the altered sleeping arrangements before heading off to her own room.
The evening passes without much event, and before the adventurers know it, the sun is peeking over the horizon once again, promising a fine day for setting out on another round of exploration.
As Bregor greets the morning sun, stripped down to his pants and washing with the cold water from a rain barrel he feels more alive than ever before, and anxious to get going, out there, in the wilderness lies great challenges for wit and for sword.
"So another morning I greet,
Sweeping in on dainty feet.
Like a maidens crimson blush,
it covers the sky with its flush."
After that impromptu poem that still need a lot of work Bregor begins his morning exercises.
"Come one and come all, celebrate the inevitable downfall of the Stag Lord and all of his bandit ilk, do you not fear the boogie man? Bully for you!"
Sia steps out of the tent she borrowed the previous night. "Just don't count your chickens before they hatch." she comments, pullout out her book and beginning to study spells for the day. "We should be ready to ride within the hour, so make sure you've got your things together."
Bregor chuckles and bows deeply to Sia.
"But of course my lady Siarani, between my blade and your magic no foe could possibly survive long enough to pose a challenge, I only fear that we two shall steal all the fun from our friends. Perchance we should send a letter of warning to the stag lord that he may find sufficient reinforcement to provide the rest of our party with some amusement?"
After practice, Bregor makes a quick mental inventory to make sure everything is in readiness, and then he smiles and sits down for breakfast.
"I believe I am fully prepared, although as stated before, I will walk, not ride."
"I'm fairly sure Oleg will be able to arrange for a mount for you, Bregor," Kyrie suggests as she emerges from the guest house, already dressed and armored up for the trek. "Even if you have to buy it on credit, I recommend you do so - the trip will take much longer if we all have to keep pace with one man on foot."
"Fair point and well made my lady Kyrie; I would hate to be the proverbial pebble in your boot, especially not a boot containing so beautifully a foot." Bregor bows to Kyrie and Sia in turn and then heads of to speak to Oleg about procuring a mount.
"Pardon me master Oleg, I would like to inquire about a mount, I fear my purse is currently a little light, so I would be forced to either borrow if or to give you my gentleman's wow to pay you once the necessary funds have become mine."
Salanthas is up with the sun, going through his regular morning routine to get ready to go. He has the horses out, setting up the supplies as everyone else studies or practices, then joins them for a small breakfast.
Oleg is more than willing to provide a horse for Bregor. In fact, he's pretty sure that the others still have one of the horses left over from the bandits they defeated at the camp weeks ago. Even if they don't, he's willing to sell one on credit, confident that Bregor will repay him.
Sia rolls her eyes, although it's not intended too harshly, and says "Yes, we do have a spare horse. I think that we traded out the riding saddle for a pack saddle, but the original one it came with is probably still around here. I know we didn't get money for it from Oleg."
Bregor smiles widely and bows to Oleg, he then tends to his new mount for a few moments, and making sure it is saddled and ready before heading back towards the others.
"Well, I believe that makes me ready to leave on this little jaunt whenever you are as well ladies and gentlemen. It shall be good to stretch one's legs a bit, and to accomplish yet another part of our task."
Bregor does pause for a moment and look thoughtful, the time he has spent in this area so far have been rather uneventful, so whatever is lurking in the periphery must be something big indeed.
Kyrie smiles briefly at the interplay while she conducts her own final check of her gear and provisions before breakfast. "We've got a lot of ground to cover, so I'd like to depart as early as possible."
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Gorax, in late up but first prays for guidance to Iomadae, to make his blade strong and accurate to strike with the might and glory to Iomadae. He packs his bags and eating on his own, is quickly ready to get going. He says his farewells to Oleg and Svetlana, picking up his potions and paying, "many thanks Oleg, I'll look forward to returning to you in the next few weeks. If what Bregor tells me is true, we'll be covereing a lot of ground, yet it may prove to be very boring as we have to map the country. They say it will make your post safer though. Hopefully it won't be too boring." He kisses Svetlana gently on the cheek, "My thoughts of your hospitality and wholesome meals will once more speed my return to you, Oleg and your home."
Gorax takes his horse out of the compound and waits outside the outpost for the rest of the group to appear, ready to follow them, not knowing where they intend to go first.
After breakfast, Bregor mounts his new steed, with some difficulty it has to be said. Clearly the noble art of horsemanship is not something Bregor has any training in, and he manages to give voice to a few very choice curses that would make an inebriated orc barbarian quite proud.
Eventually he does manage to successfully climb into the saddle, and it seems that as long as nothing harder than a simple ride is called for Bregor will be alright.
"Merry companions, let us be off to part the fog of ignorance with the shining light of exploration."
With that said he rides out to meet Gorax.
"Morning friend Gorax, a fine day for some exploring yes?"
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"Morning friend Gorax, a fine day for some exploring yes?"
Gorax turns as he hears Bregor's voice, "Indeed it is, a day to make our stories count and our names to be known. The civilisation of this land, will give us all rewards and names to be spoken with respect. You ready for the days and weeks ahead."
Kyrie can't quite help a slight smile at the humans' enthusiasm. Ah, to be thirty again...
She checks her horse's saddle pack one last time before mounting, then waits for Sia to finish getting ready.
Bregor, trying his best to inspire a sense of enthusiasm and good cheer in his companions, the beautiful but deadly spitfire elven lass, the stoic and quiet hunter with the keen insight, the burly fighter with the large fists and the graceful spell casting lady with the fair smile decides to slip into the role of the entertainer.
"Did I ever tell you how the current King Sutrova's thirds cousin came to be knighted? Well you see, it all started at the current ruler’s coronation ceremony..."
"...and that is what happened to the lady Imaaria, the Paladin of Iomedae. Truth be known, her first question was how they managed to get the thirty chickens, the barrel of rum and the vestments of an Asmodeus cleric to her room in the first place."
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Gorax listens to Bregor's story, which he's not sure if he should really be listening to, or even understands halk of the bits about nobles and royalty. He smiles at some bits, but mostly he's just confused by the etiquette. As his mind drifts to and fro, he watches their new friend, the elf, as he travels with them. He is intent on learning some of his tricks, if he can make them out. He was after all a survivor in wilderness out here, able to live and look after himself. A useful trait on these long expeditions.
Salanthas listens to the story intently, determined to learn more about these strange people and their ways. As the story ends and they find themselves further from Oleg's, he takes his leave, riding out to take the point and scout ahead.
The first leg of the trip goes well. It seems there is very little bandit activity among these rolling grasslands. The only trouble encountered are various fauna. Four days later finds you having turned back to the east once again.
It is nearing mid-day and a good place to stop for lunch is looking like a good idea when you spot an overgrown section of blackberry bushes. Though there are no berries on them, the spot is a good one for a rest as the bushes serve to block the wind.
As the meal ends, Sia finds herself wandering out near one of the bushes and happens to spot a mound of stones, obviously placed with purpose, that a section of the bushes seems to have grown over. Their roots have cracked the stones, breaking open the covering, though what lies beneath would take some closer examination.
Sia looks over her shoulder, wondering if she should alert the others to her discovery. But, sensing a bit of adventure she would rather not share right away, she pulls out her journal and makes a few careful notes about the set up before approaching.
Bregor eats his lunch in a good mood, unable to resist breaking into song.
"And neither will I marry thee,
Until the day that I die.
For the pillows roar,
And the farthest shore
Still call to me."
"Ah, adventure, camaraderie, what more can one ask for? All that is missing is the occasional tussle with blackhearts and evildoers."
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Gorax, eats his rations quickly, not really enjoying them that much. He wanders off an lays down quietly on his own in the grass. Watching the sky and the clouds scud quickly across the blue expanse, his thoughts drift to childhood days of playing with his friends at school, before the darkness appeared in his father. Days when the boys and girls would be great explorers defeating evil dragons of legend, heroes wandered the land, though he never saw any.
Then drifting back, his thoughts were, he would have to spend another boring afternoon mapping this land.
After moving a bit closer and looking more carefully, it seems that what Sia had at first taken for another stone is actually a bone. A leg bone possibly as she can now see what remains of a foot crumbled in the rock below it. It appears as though the rocks were piled upon the body.
Bregor is not used to sitting around, nor is he the type to be able to focus easily on tasks requiring a lot of patience, so as the others start relaxing or doing whatever it is they do, Bregor finds a spot a few steps away from the others, well within sight and begins to practice with his sword again.
"Practice, practice, practice, the day you believe there is nothing left to learn is the day an rival surpasses you, that is what Sir Eaton said..."
From time to time he sneaks a glance at the others to make sure nothing interesting passes him by, on occasion he also looks at his new steed, wondering if perhaps some training in fighting from horseback might be a good idea.
Sia's first reaction is to fall back on her rear in surprise. She takes a deep breath, almost screaming, but she manages to stop herself at the last minute. Taking a minute, she looks over the setup very carefully, making a few more notes as she tries to remember where she's seen something like this before....
After she finishes taking her notes, she finally calls out. "Hey, over here. I've found something.
When Bregor hears Sia's call he turns around, when no immediate danger presents itself he takes the time to sheathe his sword before walking over at a leisurely pace.
"Good news my lady Siarani, I was just in the process of becoming intolerably bored, this will prove an entertaining diversion I am sure."
As Bregor spots the mound of stones he twirls his moustache. "A grave perchance, the bone seems to indicate it."
Kyrie starts getting up the moment she hears Sia stumble, and gets to the site just behind Bregor. She crouches next to Sia, careful not to disturb the mound or the bones underneath it while she racks her memory in an attempt to recall whether anyone at the outpost mentioned something that might be pertinent.
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Gorax is the last to arrive and the least impressed by the find, except to ask, "Do ya think it's the trapper that went missing?......nah, can't be how d'he bury himself...funny?" he finishes, bemused by the whole thing. "Seems funny someone took the trouble to make such a burial without any sign or headstone an stuff." He looks down at the grave, but not wanting to touch it. His face is puzzled, but there is no light dawning or insight that flits by his brain.
Bregor glances at Gorax and nods. "Your question is a good one friend Gorax, perhaps the reason why there is no headstone is because this person comes from a culture with little to no literary heritage, a primitive so called "barbarian" culture. And the fact that his or her bones are bleached clean suggests the person was buried some years ago."
Bregor gives Gorax a slap on the back.
"Well done, I believe we shall make a gentleman scholar out of you yet."
"Well, I suggest you keep asking the same line of questions you are already, you seem to be able to pinpoint the important details. So perhaps you can do by intuition what others fail to do by hard thought."
Bregor turns to the others. "Any thoughts ladies? Master Hunter?"
Bregor bends down to get a better look at the cairn (Until someone tells him differently that is what he will think of it as) and its unfortunate occupant.
Kyrie tilts her head, then looks at Bregor. "According to Oleg, a decade or so ago a barbarian tribe lived somewhere in the area until patrols from Rostland convinced them to look for safer lands. Perhaps this belongs to one of them..."
"Right." Sia declares, as if she'd already reasoned this much out.
She looks it over carefully for a few moments, and takes a few notes. "All right. I'd like to spend some time today exhuming this. Be careful, try not to break anything, and we'll lay it all out. After that, we'll re-bury it a little more deeply, so that he won't be unburied again." With that, she begins to get to work, taking very careful notes while she tries to recollect everything she might know about this particular person's grave as things are revealed.
Bregor considers for a moment, unsure if this would constitute desecrating a grave, but eventually he settles on the fact that the grave is already open and they will rebury the person afterwards.
"Hmm, unusual thing to do, but I would like to believe that if anyone came across my grave having been upturned by natural events that they might also rebury me to rest soundly in the earth’s dark and quiet embrace once more. What is it you hope to learn here my lady Siarani?"
Bregor rolls up his sleeves and begins to help with the exhumation.
"May I humbly suggest that my someone keeps a close watch, while we do this we will be distracted, perfect for someone to sneak up on us."
"Who it was." Sia says, simply. "Why they were buried here. It's important to have a record of who and what came before."
She smiles a bit. "This sort of thing is also good practice, since once I've finished this job I intend to go back to Absalom and petition to join the Pathfinder Society. They do this kind of thing all the time. It's not just daring escapes and thrilling battles against barbarian natives in the Miwangi, after all."
Kyrie nods at Bregor, then looks at Sia. "That actually sounds kind of interesting," she muses as she rises to stand watch while Bregor and Gorax dig. "I'll have to look into that."
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Under his breath Gorax speaks to himself, "Shouldn't play with the dead, hope them ladies know what they're doin? Huh, I don't like it." He digs feverishly, as though the quicker the corpse is returned to the earth the safer they will be. "Never liked them scary stories they told us of the dead coming alive and ripping the hearts out of men and women, and eating their souls. Not nice....don't like...." He accelerates his digging, he goes deeper and eeper, like a maniac.
Under his breath Gorax speaks to himself, "Shouldn't play with the dead, hope them ladies know what they're doin? Huh, I don't like it." He digs feverishly, as though the quicker the corpse is returned to the earth the safer they will be. "Never liked them scary stories they told us of the dead coming alive and ripping the hearts out of men and women, and eating their souls. Not nice....don't like...." He accelerates his digging, he goes deeper and deeper, digging like a maniac.
"No need to fret friend Gorax, we are after all doing the dead a service here, making sure that whoever this unfortunate person was can sleep undisturbed for another thousand years here. Besides, his or her soul is already being judged in the bone yard as we speak. We are merely making sure that the body is not disturbed by people with less pure intentions than our own."
It takes about thirty minutes to uncover the entire body. What is revealed is what looks to be an old corpse, still wearing the tattered and rotted remnants of hide armor and the skull still displaying the crushed-in side that spelled this barbarian’s doom. Of all the barbarian’s
gear, only a strange ring made of green wood on one finger seems of interest. The ring depicts an eel and a frog locked in a tangle.
Sia carefully examines everything, right down to the hide armor, looking over the gear and taking notes. The ring gets her eyebrows raised, though. "Very interesting enchantment. Fairly sophisticated for a 'barbarian' culture." She takes down a fairly detailed sketch of the ring, along with a quick rubbing of the main portion of the engraving. "Perhaps we can identify it later." She shrugs. "It helps prevent drowning by granting great skill in the water. Interesting, but not the most valuable thing."
Having managed to do everything, she very carefully sets the body back into the grave exactly as it was found, before helping to re-bury and set it up as closely as she can figure to the original arrangement. "All right. Let's keep moving."
Kyrie nods, then packs up her bow and remounts her horse. "Should we mark this place on the map?" she asks. "On the one hand, once people start settling the area I wouldn't want them to stumble across the grave by accident... But on the other, if I were buried here I'd hate to see my grave looted by a treasure hunter."
"Well, let us mark it on the map for now, for OUR benefit, we can decide to admit or omit it at our leisure as we continue our journey."
Once the body has been buried and the cairn re-erected Bregor thinks for a few moments about the proper words to say, in the end he decides on a quick prayer to Gorum, something the erstwhile barbarian would surely have appreciated.
"I am ready to press on."