Ameiko takes the tube and her eyes widen as she finds that it does indeed bear her family's name. Inside the tube, there is a letter written in Minkaian, that Ameiko helpfully translates aloud after turning the scroll tube into a light to read it by.
"My son, my heir. You know now that I have kept secrets from you. You were always a perceptive son, and while you may not understand my reasons for secrecy. I hope that you realize it was necessary. Know that I was not angry with you for opening the warding box – I was angry with myself for withholding the truth from you and forcing you to seek out what I should have given to you. The words I spoke to you were from anger with myself, and it shames me to think of them now. I write this note as an apology, and to beg you to leave these secrets to history.
"The next few days will be the most important I have faced in many years. If our family’s enemies have, as I hope, forgotten us, I shall reunite with you and your wife, and your mother and I shall reveal the truth to you. But if they still seek the contents of the warding box, I fear that I may not speak to you again. The box holds our family’s greatest treasure, so I have returned it to Kortun’s care, and it shall remain hidden in the secret third vault under Brinewall Castle – obscured from our enemies. I hope and pray. I will not grant our foes the satisfaction of killing me themselves – if it comes to it, let my death, by my own hand, be my final act to protect you, so that our enemies believe our line ended.
"I have instructed Tsutamu to keep this letter from you, delivering it to you only should I fail to return as I hope to. If I can, I will reveal all to you myself. If I cannot, this final missive from a father to a son must suffice as an apology in place of an explanation, and you must destroy this letter, flee to the south, and never return to Brinewall. If our enemies find what I have hidden, there will be nothing here for you. If they do not, they will lie in wait forever for your return.
"I hope to see you again soon, my son. But my heart tells me I will not. I am sorry to have failed you. But I am proud of you, and I know you will survive this old man’s shame. You are strong, and you must remain so. For if you are reading this and I am gone, know that our enemies will never stop searching for us, and that is why I cannot reveal the truth to you until I know there is no chance of them finding us again.
"Signed, Rokuro Kaijitsu, Sunday, 29 Desnus, 4687"
As she reads, Ameiko looks more and more stunned until she finishes with her mouth agape and her eyes as wide as saucers.
"W-where did you find this?!" her voice is filled with surprise and wonder as she asks the question several minutes later.
Emi grasps Ameiko's hand and leans shoulder to shoulder with her in an effort to be comforting and supportive. "Wasn't Rokuro your grandfather's name? Is this..." she mutters in shock.
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Reiko is hesitant to answer, because the facts are unbelievable. "It was hidden in the hilt of a katana, borne by a samurai who failed in his duty to deliver it to your family. I believe his shame was so great, it turned him into an undead creature, which we destroyed. We found the samurai in a cave..." She pulls out Megan's map and points to the location. "here. The sword itself told me of its secret." She takes the katana from Soli, replaces the pommel and offers it to Ameiko. "Hold it and the blade may whisper to you... unless its duty is done."
Ameiko, looking more than a little stunned, shakes her head and tries to gather her wits.
"I don't think I'm ready to listen to a sword. I'm not sure if I'm too sober or too drunk," she says with a rueful chuckle. "Do you think we could all meet for breakfast and go over what you've found then?"
Before Reiko, Soli, and Emi can leave, Ameiko gives all of them a hug.
"Thank you. I may not know how I feel about my family or my heritage, but you've done me a big favor in finding what you have."
[ooc]And with that, let's move on to the next morning.
One particular curse Vigny has always suffered from is waking early. Probably the years of taking care of all the chores involved in keeping a tavern open and running were responsible. In the morning there is wood to haul and fires to stoke, crockery to finish washing and putting away, barrels of food and drink to bring in, among a myriad of other things.
This morning is no different, except for the lack of chores. Vigny wakes, and even though there is no reason to do anything else right away, there will be no more sleeping. She gets up and starts with her usual cold water over the head. There's no place to be, so she lets Raul sleep on.
After getting dressed she slips out of the room and downstairs to put together a couple of plates of food. She goes for the easily portable stuff, bread, cheese, fruit, as much as they seem to be willing to let her carry away, and runs them back upstairs for a little later.
After putting the plates on a table, she opens the window wide to let in the morning air and sunshine. Settling in a chair she gets down to business. Normally that would mean the sword first, but the whetstone makes a little noise. She decides to save that part for second since she can use the noise to "accidentally" wake up Raul if he sleeps past her tolerance for waiting.
She props her feet up on the table and kicks the chair back onto it's rear legs, reclining to catch more of the sunlight on herself. She takes her mail shirt, and begins to work oil into the links thoroughly. A marsh is murder on mail, corrosion will set in right away if it's not taken care of this way.
She whistles a little under her breath and works the oily rag all around the armor. Occasionally she pauses to look out the window at the blue sky with its few clouds and think for a moment about how good life is, and how sitting right here in this place, at this time, and doing this thing, is just about perfect.
Emi invites herself into her old friend's room when they all return to the Rusty Dragon. She has every intention of listening attentively to anything Ameiko wants to talk through, but she promptly falls asleep on the edge of the bed while her friend changes.
She sleeps soundly there until Ameiko wakes her for the meeting.
Jerukh rises with the dawn, rested and ready to spend the day crafting and concocting....
However as he chews on a frugal breakfast of black bread and mushrooms, the alchemist feels somewhat obliged to check on his companions.
Most likely they will still be abed... I should leave them alone... Ach, curse you Mamă. I should not care... but I do.
Against his better judgement he makes for the Rusty Dragon to see if any of the women have surfaced and indulge their bawdy tales... at least for a short enough time that was polite...
As he enters the Inn, the lanky alchemist is met with the fleeting sight of Vigny heading back upstairs with two platefuls of breakfast fare.
The half orc does not announce his arrival or disturb her, but instead halt, looking more than a little uncomfortable, as if potentially intruding on an atmosphere where he cannot breath.
They will all rise soon. My companions and their beaus. Ach. Why did i come here!
Caught in an inertia Jerukh awkwardly loiters, awaiting a friendly face...
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At Haru's grave, Reiko finishes her morning kata as the sky turns decidely blue. She wipes her brow and loosens her robe for the walk back to the Rusty Dragon, letting the brisk morning air cool her down. She arrives at the tavern just after Jerukh and nearly bumps into him as he hesitates in the doorway. She bounces a fist off his shoulder and offers him a smile as she closes her robe as modesty demanded and made sure her hair was not entirely unruly. "I don't think the food and tables will come to you." She says good-naturedly. Then she grabs his elbow and guides him toward Vigny, informing them both, "We're meeting with Ameiko for breakfast. You might find it interesting."
You arrive back at the room you shared with Raul to find him awake and stretching in the middle of the room with only his pants on. Hearing the door open, he turns and smiles as he sees you and the food.
"Mornin'," he says pleasantly, his voice deeper and rougher from the night's sleep. "Mmm, somethin' smells good," he adds as he leans in to snuffle your hair.
Shortly before dawn, you're woken up by Amieko banging her shin into something in the dark and uttering a mild curse. You've been moved to a more comfortable position on Ameiko's bed and it appears that Ameiko had slept beside you from the way the covers now lie. In the dim, predawn light, you can just make out Ameiko leaning against the wall rubbing her shin.
Shortly after Jerukh and Reiko enter the Rusty Dragon, Ameiko has all five of you gathered into the common area of the tavern. The only others in the tavern are a drunk bard who seems to have slept the night on one of the benches and Shalelu who's enjoying a hot cup of tea with honey.
"Well, it seems that you five have found something truly amazing. Thanks to you, I know what became of my grandfather, and thanks to Bethana, I know how the Whispering Shrike, which is the sword's name, by the way, came to be in Brinestump. My father was on one of three ships that were lost to a terrible storm that hit Varisia a short time before my father married. One was lost at sea, but the other two, I believe, are in the swamp since Megus marked two shipwreck sites. I want to know a little more about what happened, so would you like to go on a short adventure with Shalelu and I," Ameiko asks.
Reiko hides her disappointment beneath a stoic mask. "If the blade has a name that you know, it must be a relic of your family. It belongs to you." She offers the katana to Ameiko in the traditional horizontal manner.
"An adfenture together!" Emi answers grinning widely over her large mug of coffee.
Having already eaten, Jerukh sits stoically drinking a tea and listening intently.
Vigny kisses him, then nods her head in the direction of the plates.
"Brought us some breakfast. But I've been told there's something I need to hear about downstairs. Go ahead and eat. If you don't have anywhere you need to be too soon, I'll see you in a little while."
Vigny listens to Ameiko without really understanding much at all about what the new information means. Her takeaway is roughly that there was a mystery about her grandfather that the note solves, and the stuff in the swamp came from ships her family owned.
She gathers that Ameiko, and her family, have more to them than innkeeping, some sort of local nobility, but she doesn't bring up any questions and would just bore everyone else. It looks to her like she's the only one who's really out of the loop about Ameiko, and there will be time to catch up on that later.
What really matters this they will be going back to the swamp to check out the remaining locations marked on the map. She had wanted to do that all along, but wasn't sure whether the others would be interested in going back. The marsh is pretty crappy after all. Problem solved.
"Oh I'm in for sure!"
Jerukh brow furrows as it dawns on him he'll be accompanying even more skilled and deadly women back into the swamps;
Ah Mamă... I can hear you now. Most men would give their sword-arms to adventure with such company!
The alchemist takes a gulp of his tea, and nods;
"I will go. There are herbs in the Brinestump I have long wanted to harvest... and my healing will be a boon."
The lanky half-orc returns his gaze to his cup.
Ameiko just chuckles as she shakes her head.
"No, I was trying not to wake you while I went to fix breakfast and ask Bethana about something," she answers, "and I'd be a scared stable girl, thank you very much."
After a very indignant sniff, she grins and picks up some clothes that wouldn't be ruined by working in a kitchen to throw at you.
"As for the help, I think I can manage, but I would like the company. I'll meet you in the kitchen in a few minutes."
"Lucky us, I have nowhere I need to be," he says with a grin before stealing a kiss and adding, "I'll wait however long you want me too."
Ameiko grins as she hears you agree to head into the swamp.
"Excellent, but as for the sword and the other treasures you found, those are yours by right of salvage as far as I'm concerned. You were the ones that brought the back, so you should be the ones to profit from them. Besides, it's not like I'm exactly a pauper."
Picking up her glass, Sandpoint's youngest and most unlikely noble gives a toast.
"My friends, to adventure and the road less traveled!"
The next four days are spent trekking through the swamp. First is a visit to Walthus who is doing well and, despite his reputation as a loner, very happy to see you again. After that, you find the two shipwrecks, the Kaijitsu Star and the Kaijitsu Blossom. One is nothing more than a recently burned out hulk while the other is simply moss covered beams and spars that are well on their way to rotting into nothing. Along the way, a few goblins are foolish enough to attack the seven of you, but are quickly dispatched. A clearly insane goblin with scribble-like scars covering his face tries to attack when you make camp on the second night, but all seems to have calmed down until late in the third night of your trek when you are set upon by the Soggy River Monster. While caught off guard, the seven of you manage to slay the beast handedly and finish your explorations the next day with little trouble.
After discovering the wrecks though, Ameiko seems disappointed. Her normally jovial demeanor is in abeyance as you finish up and verify the accuracy of the map you had found in Megus' old shack. She waves off any questions with a chuckle and an observation about not being used to slogging through the muck and the mire. Even those of you that weren't close to Ameiko could see that something bothered her, and it's not until the journey home late in the afternoon on the fourth day that Shalelu says something.
"Why so gloomy, Ameiko? You're supposed to be the one that's the chatterbox and I've said more than you have the past couple of days," Shalelu observes bluntly. "What's wrong?"
Ameiko blinks at the elf and quickly turns her head away.
"Nothing's wrong. I've just been, uh, concentrating," Ameiko says either not comfortable lying to her friends, or having suddenly lost her fabled rapier wit.
Reiko again slogs through the mud in her peasant clothes, happy to scout either alone or with Shalelu. But she remains quiet during large swathes of the journey, mulling her own thoughts for the most part.
Once back on the road Jerukh reverts back to his usual introverted self.
He heals when called upon, and fights well enough with bomb and blade, but the small degree of camaraderie built up has dissipated with the arrival of Ameiko and Shalelu.
When possible, the lanky alchemist breaks from the group and searches nearby for flora and fauna worth harvesting;
:
:
:
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Before the trip back to the swamp, Vigny checks in with Sandru to make sure he will not be leaving before she returns. It would be just too depressing if the caravan pulled out of town while she was still in the Brinestump.
Vigny also goes shopping for a breastplate, a masterwork one if possible. She checks Savah's first since she has the most amiable reputation. She wants to be sure measurements for any needed alterations are taken so that it will be ready for her by the time she returns or soon after.
++++++++
Vigny has a rollicking time on the return trip into the marsh. There are new things to discover by following the map. Occasionally there are goblins or other nasties in need of a mincing. Almost the perfect short expedition except for the mucky, sloshy environment.
Without much time previously to become familiar with either Ameiko or Shalelu, she is only beginning to form more than a cursory impression of them. She doesn't notice anything unusual about Ameiko's demeanor. Plenty of people who work a lot with the public put on a facade of gregariousness when working that drops in private. She assumes nothing more about Ameiko's change than that, along with the discovery of some lost family history, has made her more pensive than typical.
Shalelu is a bigger puzzle for Vigny. There are some elves who live in, and pass through, Riddleport, but she has had few real dealings with any in the past. With little to compare her to, Shalelu also offers little for Vigny to build an understanding of her upon. She talks very little, but not for the more familiar reasons like Jerukh. She is certainly skilled at what she does, but offers little beyond the absolutely necessary in discussing plans or offering opinions. Obviously those who know her hold her in very high regard, but she is self-contained.
By the end of their venture, Vigny feels that she has started to build something of a relationship with Ameiko, but that she and Shalelu are little past where they were when they first met.
this isn't at all how I thought it would be, Emi reflects as Ameiko grows increasingly sullen. She spends most of her time throughout the trip following her uncharacteristically quiet friend around like a lost puppy, occasionally making jokes and other futile attempts to cheer her up.
She frowns when Shalelu asks Ameiko directly about what's wrong and her friend tries to brush it off. Concerned she finally pulls her friend aside and asks, "Really, Iko, vhat's going on? You hafen't been yourself out here at all..."
As the questions come in from Emiliana and Soliana, Ameiko just sighs and slumps.
"I– I was expecting something more. With the katana and the note, I thought there might be something that pointed us at something, I dunno, exciting. All we found was two ruined shipwrecks and nothing else of note. Sure I guess I could go all the way to Brinewall, but anything there's been looted years ago," the frustrated innkeeper admits.
Shalelu, though, looks thoughtful.
"I don't think Brinewall has been touched, actually," the elf says slowly. Ameiko turns to face her friend, bringing the group to a stop. The intense flare of hope tempered with scrutiny cause Shalelu to take a step back.
"Are you sure?! You're not just trying to cheer me up are you," Ameiko asks, looking suspiciously at Shalelu.
"What? No! I mean, yes! I mean–" Shalelu blurts out before pausing a moment to regain her composure. "I heard stories about what became of Brinewall before I left Crying Leaf. Strange monsters with raven's heads and legs and arms that ended in wicked talons. Anyone who got too close was killed, horribly from the way some of them described the screams. If those same tales got told in Riddleport and Roderic's Cove, then the place is still probably holding whatever treasures it had," she tells the rest of the party.
"You mean that the rumors–" Ameiko begins, her eyes widening.
"–about the place being haunted by monsters and worse are true. Yes, that's exactly what I was saying," Shalelu finishes.
"Well then, anyone want to see if we can solve the mystery of Brinewall? Who knows, we might even find something that leads to something even bigger," Ameiko asks you.
"Ameiko, you know that's not likely," Shalelu tells the more chipper Ameiko with a chuckle.
"Hush you, and let me have my delusions," the Tien woman replies with a smile curling the edges of her mouth before she turns to all of you. "Well, what do you say?"
"Vould ve be adfenturing vith Ameiko or vith her mopey doppelgänger?" Emi teases.
"Nyeh!" Ameiko merely sticks out her tongue at Emi to answer the teasing question.
"Perhaps we should ask what age Ameiko is going to be first," Shalelu laughs.
"Wicked talons? Horrible screams? Sounds interesting... and I have no important engagements."
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm out after this" Vigny answers with regret. "I'll be leaving with Sandru's caravan when it goes."
Jerukh stands stoically listening to the interplay. At the mention of the strange creatures and horrible deaths they inflict his tattooed brow furrows.
"With such horrible death awaiting you'll need healing..."
The alchemist grimaces in thought, then continues;
"... or someone to bury your bodies."
Ameiko's grin grows wider with each response, though it seems to become just a tad forced at Jerukh's words, and disappears into a pout at Vigny's answer. She pulls Shalelu aside for a moment and the two whisper for a minute, slowly becoming more animated until Shalelu's shoulders slump slightly in resignation. The two of them turn and approach Vigny with solemn expressions. Shalelu eyes Ameiko for a moment, a slight smile of bemusement threatening to ruin her stony face impression. The tien woman nods, and the both of them fall to their knees, hands clasped just below their chins and their eyes wide and doe-like.
"Pwease Vigny. Pwease come wif us," they beg in two-part harmony, struggling to keep their sorrowful expressions.
===
After your return to Sandpoint and a short stop by the garrison to report on what you found and to collect your bounties, you return to the Rusty Dragon and find Sandru and Koya discussing where to go next. Sliding right into the conversation, all of you soon talk Koya and Sandru into heading for Brinewall. Fall will soon be upon you, and the caravan will need more provisions, not to mention some talented adventurers.
Adventurers like, say, the five of you.
A week had passed since the two of them had left Sandpoint, cursing the town, the young adventurers that had come to their aid, and the damned half-orc Gkirkhan most of all. Nearly broke, they had taken up in one of the worst inns either of them had been in. No one bothered either of them, the ghosts of the first two who'd tried were still on everyone's mind.
As they sat brooding in sullen silence, a half-elf with features that were vaguely familiar slide up to the table with his drink. A hideous scar covered the left side of his face and the ears of a bugbear hung from a necklace around his neck. He took a long pull of the watery ale before setting the mug down and looking at the two men, one human, the other an elf, now glaring at him. The half-elf, unfazed by the glowering he was receiving, smiled as amusement danced in his black eyes.
"Greetings, word on the street is that you two are in from Sandpoint," the half-elf said, his smile growing wider at the hatred that flashed in those two sets of eyes.
"What of it," the human growled.
"Well, the rumors also say that you are looking for revenge, something that I happen to want as well," the half-elf said, his smile thinning and his eyes narrowing. His hands folded themselves under his chin as his attention came fully on the human.
"And why should that concern us," the human asked, his voice just on the correct side of civil. His hands tightened around the mug he had been nursing, and his eyes were mere slits as the corner of his mouth began to twitch.
"I can help the two of you get out of this place and back there. I can also help you get in unseen. Money, gear, weapons, and armor I can fetch for you. All I ask is that you help me in return."
"I'm listening," the human replied, the tic at the corner of his mouth gone and his eyes now narrow in speculation instead of rage.
"There's someone I want to repay for this," the half-elf replied, indicating the scar with his left hand, "help me get her out of Sandpoint and that will be payment enough."
The human looked to his elven companion, who shrugged in answer to the unasked question. The human returned the gesture and took a long pull of his drink.
"Alright, you have a deal. I am Caesar Vinter and this is Tristan Green. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mister," Caesar introduces himself and Tristan, raising an eyebrow and eyeing the half-elf curiously as he implicitly asks for the stranger's name.
"Call me Tsuto, please," the half-elf answers.
===
Far to the north, the cold winds of winter were already to beginning to blow. In a castle overlooking a long dead village, a mad cackle rings out amidst cries of "Doom!"
Preparing for the Road Ahead
As you sit around a table at the Rusty Dragon planning for the journey ahead and figuring out what's left to gather, a late summer rainstorm soaks the ground outside. Koya, who had prepared the tea that now fills several of the cups on the table, sits nearby teaching her new apprentice the meanings behind the cards of the Harrow. Young Tatiana, though smart as a whip and eager to learn, seems to have hit her limit and looks as if she'd been hit between the eyes. The tavern is, surprisingly, sparsely populated. The last group of merchants and sailors had left and the rush before the Swallowtail Festival has not begun just yet. Things are relatively calm and quiet.
Which makes the Raul's arrival by rushing through the doors all the more surprising.
"Sorry, I wasn't expecting Gozreh to empty the gulf on us," he jokes before hanging his wet cloak on one of the hooks and walking over to Vigny, "sorry if I'm interrupting, but do you have a moment, Vigny?"
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Vigny had to laugh at Ameiko and Shalelu's little show, but seeing Shalelu acting that way did creep her out just a little. The little used Varisian word Kawaii came to her mind, there was no Skaldish counterpart for the word she knew of. The elf wore it very strangely.
Still, Vigny avoided giving a solid answer, telling them she would check in with Sandru about his departure.
As tempting as it was to see Brinewall, she simply can't miss the caravan when it rolls out.
When it turns out that Sandru, Koya, and the caravan would actually be their means of travel to Brinewall Vigny was elated. Things had all fallen int place so perfectly. She could have her cake and eat it too. Double excitement and adventure. Further evidence that the Lucky Drunk was willing to jostle events with a sharp elbow, put his thumb on the scale for her.
++++++++++
"Oh, uh, sure Raul." Vigny stands up. She has the feeling this is going to be something Raul wants to take private. "What is it?" she asks, starting to feel a little dread creeping in.
"I heard that you were going to be leaving Sandpoint soon, and nobody knew when you'd be back," Raul begins as he fishes something out of his pocket, "so I thought I'd come over to give you a gift and ask you a favor."
The young man looks smiles as he hides whatever he had in his pockets behind his back.
"Now, close your eyes," he tells you. Once your eyes are closed, you feel his hands pull something over your head and settle it around your neck. "Now open them!" The smile on his face is clear to hear in his voice. He rocks on the balls of his feet, waiting for your reaction to the wooden pendant carved in the shape of a wolf's head.
"I couldn't find a griffon or a dragon this time, but he needed a little help getting out of a tree. He insisted that he be yours," Raul informs you before leaning in and whispering conspiratorially, "so, is that enough to bribe you into helping me get hired by Sandru?"
"...I never knew there was so much involved in running a caravan!"
"Most people don't," Sandru says as Ameiko and Shalelu both groan in relief at the prospect of a break, "It takes a lot of foresight and planning to make sure that a score of people traveling together don't wind up starving in the wilderness, or that they can protect themselves if bandits or raiders attack. Besides, I'd like to try turning a profit on this venture, or even establishing some contacts in Galudria or Wolf's Ear."
Reiko nods sagely at Sandru's words, then cocks her head. "One person might starve... but not twelve."
Vigny lifts the pendant off her chest with both hands to give it a better look.
"It's beautiful Raul. Thank you."
She slips it over her head so she can turn it around and look at it right-side up.
"Very beautiful, you have a lot of talent."
Vigny takes a deep breath and prepares herself for the unpleasant part.
"Raul, I don't doubt Sandru would hire you if you asked him. And I can't tell you that you can't come. But I'm going to ask you, please don't."
"I like you Raul, for a lot of reasons. But when I left Riddleport I made some promises to myself. Vows I suppose you could say. Things I would see and I would do. Those things didn't include being part of a couple, or anything similar. I need time to do things on my own for a while."
"I'm sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear. You know how caravans work. They always come back to the places they visit. Could we put this down right now and take it up again, see where we stand, when I come back?"
She extends the pendant to Raul. "You're probably going to want his back."
Raul looks at you in surprise. As he realizes what you are saying he looks hurt, but when you try to give the pendant back he just closes your hand around it.
"Keep it," he says, "it's a gift, after all. Friends don't ask for gifts back just because, right?"
Jerukh listens intently and provides short, clear input if and when required.
While he clearly is not tired of the discussions or meeting, it is evident he has little passion for it.
Between plans he tries to avoid his mother's eye, continually priming everyone's tea cup whenever the opportunity arises.
As Sandru details the considerations required when running a caravan, Jerukh's boredom defences begin to falter;
Ah my brother Sandru. Talk the hind legs off a hippogryff...
and like Tatiana allows his expression to glaze as he mentally mulls formulae and fauna...
Vigny puts the pendant back around her neck, and smiles at Raul with the brightest smile she can muster.
"Thank you. I'll wear it and think about you."
She leans in to give Raul a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Take care. I'll see you again before too long."
With that, Vigny walks back to rejoin the others.
Raul returns the kiss with a hug and a brief wish for good luck on your travels.
Meanwhile, Sandru explains the plan for exploring Brinewall.
"Not all of us are heading into the ruins. Most of the caravan will remain at the camp while you five, Ameiko, Shalelu, and Koya explore," he says, "Things will be quite safe so long as we don't go off on our own or do anything foolish."
"Spoken like someone who's had quite a lot of experience with being a fool," Koya teases from over the rim of her teacup, which does little to hide the smirk glittering in her eyes.
"Um, well," Sandru stammers for a moment before sighing in defeat and chuckling, "might it help if I beg for mercy?"
"It can't hurt, though some more tea would be nice," the Harrower answers with a smile as she replaces the now empty cup on the saucer.
The conversation turns back to how many spares to carry when Gkirkhan and Iona come down from their room upstairs.
"Guten morgen! Vould hyu haff a couple ov seats to spare? Ve vould like to ask you sumting," the brawny half-orc asks as he help a still occasionally wobbly Iona down the stairs.
"Yes, and any breakfast that's left, please," the priestess asks as she clears the last of the stairs.
Emi stirs from her daydreaming at talk of a break from the planning. Though she hasn't really participated in any of the work she seems relieved by the respite nonetheless. "You know," she offers, "vhen ve vould trafel like this there vas fery little planning... ve vould just trade and perform in each town ve passes through, and vunce in a vhile do some others things, and ve vould alvays hafe the supplies ve needed..."
At Gkirkhan and Iona's arrival she smiles and offers them the plate with what's left of the pastries on it.