Inn (Wyeth, Marduk, Kintampo):
The Hearth and Harvest is bustling; you imagine that it's due to the extra attention from pre-harvest preparations as well as attention from the upcoming execution. A gnome and a halfling seem to run the place and are busy servicing the multitude of customers.
The gnome notices you three and opens with a greeting. "Hail travelers, welcome to the Hearth and Harvest! Here for the celebrations?"
General Store (Mivvy, Raevin):
The large building bears three storefronts; the central room is the primary shop that sells general mundane equipment and goods. The east room contains large bulk goods as well as the office of its owner, Orug, while the west room is the barbershop and bathhouse.
Orug and his wife are among the most exotic of Dawnton's residents; he's a half-orc and as burly as they come while his spouse, Tessa is a half-elf.
"Hail, there.", greets Orug as he is rearranging some large crates of recently delivered goods. "What can I do yer for?"
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"Well met! Traveling makes me hungry for a hearty meal and good ale; give us a table so I can eat and give you some of my money!"
Seemingly as an afterthought Wyeth adds, "Exciting places make me thirsty too. Not this celebration of yours; that's safe excitement. I mean big cities where there's some risk or mystery. Thugs skulking in dark alleyways. Cutthroats and cutpurses. That kind of thing. But I don't suppose you have that sort of action in a sleepy little hamlet like this, do you!" He laughs. "Pity, you could make plenty of coin off me!"
@Marduk: "Ahh, there's a few things to enjoy. We have an abundance of game and booze to sample! You should check out the beer garden for that. They also have several tests of strength and other games that some of the farmer boys like to try and best each other. Looks like you'd be good at them!"
@Raevin: "Ahhh, tis be a silver for that. The lady can guide you to the women's bath." Looking over the 'exotic women', the half-orc does tilt his head. "So where you gals from? Don't seem to be from the pastures."
@Wyeth: The halfling chirps up. "Take a seat at the bar then; sorry all the tables are full, lad! It'll be a silver silver for stew and a frothy mug of wheat beer, although we do have a couple of rooms left. A gold crown for a night's stay, all meals included."
As the oracle hobbles to the bar in the crowded establishment, the halfling continues following Wyeth's inquiry. "Funny ya mention that. There was a murder here just a few days ago. Caught three visitors... Pathfinders I think it was."
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Raevin smiled indulgently, used to the reaction, and speaks softly to the proprietor as he slips him 2 silvers, rather than just one. "Ah while the women's baths might be entertaining for me, I'm sure the ladies might protest. I'll need access to the men's baths. A natural mistake I'm sure. Think nothing of it."
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Benson joined the party at the tavern at the start of the module. He would have arrived a bit early and would have been enjoying a pint with the locals, chatting up the ladies, swapping stories with the men. When he saw the VC enter, he would have disengaged from his conversations and introduced himself to the group.
"Benson Steele of the Pathfinder Society, at your service." Benson is a tall man (6'0", not as tall as Wyeth or Marduk) who walks with the graceful manner of an athlete or dancer. He carries a backpack over one shoulder with an ale mug in his other hand. His chain shirt is mostly covered by a clean white longsleeved shirt. He is clean shaven, with dark hair and eyes, a long face with eyes that betray some Tien ancestry. He flashes an easy smile at everyone, does a doubletake after glancing at Mivvey, winks, and makes eye contact with everyone as he speaks and learns the names of the others. On his belt is an impressive looking dueling sword, a dagger, and a light mace. A composite longbow is attached to the pack along with a quiver of arrows.
His hands have callouses that suggest a working man and his skin is tanned in a manner of someone who spends much time in the open.
When he learns of the mission, he comments, "False imprisonment is a serious violation of one's freedom and dignity. Let us make haste to get to the bottom of this. If they be guilty, then we can only observe if the punishment fits the crime. But if they be innocent, we have to expose the real culprits and free our fellow Pathfinders!"
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Things learned about Benson on the trip to Dawnton:
Benson is gregarious and an able conversationalist. He is happy to listen to the stories of the others, whether about their homelands, childhoods, or recent adventures. He is equally happy to share about his life. Benson impresses you as a "what you see is what you get" type of person. He is an Andoran and displays not a hint of prejudice toward any in the group. He denounces slavery and oppression whenever an example of it comes up in conversation or is encountered in the community. Yet for all his passion, he does not lose his temper or take rash action without considering consequences for himself and the group.
When asked about his background, he shares the following:
"I was born on the good ship Liberty's Fortune 18 years ago. I've been on a ship most of my life. I'm probably one of the few people who get land-sick. It's disconcerting to me when the surface I'm standing on is not shifting back and forth. My father, Anders, was a soldier sailer aboard the Fortune and he fell in love with Aleese Gangtee, an interpreter born in Varisia of Tien immigrants. I was the first and only product of their love, and so I was doted on and raised mostly on ship.
"As a shiprat, I learned my way around the decks at an early age, helped out where I could, learned from anyone who had anything to teach me. When I was 8, an Aldori Duelist named Hannible began to teach me to fence. When I was big enough, he gave me a dueling sword and taught me in it's use. One of the first things I bought once I had some income from Pathfinder adventures was a masterwork dueling sword," tapping his blade, "'Sweetness' here. Whenever I get back to Andoran, I continue my lessons with Hannible. There is so much to learn."
Benson enjoys telling stories of his Pathfinder exploits. He is recently returned from an extended adventure in Tien and Minkai, including a trip up into the Wall of Heaven to a ruined Irori monastery, a river trip through Tien and across a sea to Minkai. Benson speaks Tien. He explains he takes the surname of his mother, Gangtee, but generally translates it to it's common (Taldan) equivalent of Steele.
He has a masterwork set of thieve's tools, but he is quick to point out that his main motive in learning to work with locks and traps is to be able to set free the captives he expects he'll encounter and to protect the group from traps they might encounter. He does not appear to be one who would steal; in fact, he is very generous with his modest possessions. He has a wand of Cure Light Wounds with 4 charges left. He cannot use it himself, so he offers to let anyone who can use it to cast healing to keep it and use it as needed.
He spends some time every day keeping in shape, jogging, tumbling, climbing trees or rocks, swimming, and practicing his sword exercises. He will gladly spar with others who want to practice.
He flirts with Mivvy but mostly as a form of compliment. He enjoys her use of comedy and plays along as straight man when necessary. He does similar things with the others in the group, praising them for their accomplishments or strong qualities.
Although affable enough, Benson is not a skilled diplomat. He's just not about trying to manipulate people into anything and so does not always know how to modify his manner to avoid insult or to curry favor. He's also no intellectual. Although he speaks Tien and knows a fair amount of local lore and has a world traveler's appreciation for geography and history, he's not well schooled in anything other than human culture. He listens intently if others are discussing religion or arcana, but doesn't have much to contribute.
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Phase 1: Wealsday Morning
The sun is shining and the fair weather includes a light breeze that should keep things comfortable.
Please post where you are going and also follow up doing so on the map linked in my profile.
Once everyone has posted, I'll provide the details for each location that is visited.
Benson says that a common room is okay with him if that's what the group wants. He leaves a few gps to cover his part of the fee and after leaving his horse at the stable and tipping the stable-boy/girl a copper, he strolls over to the tent city. His wayfinder is on his belt and plainly visible. If fruits or vegetables are available for purchase, he samples and buys small amounts, gabbing with the sellers as he does so. He praises the quality of the goods, complements people as he talks, and tries to be a good representative of the Pathfinders, without being too obvious.
He avoids flirting with the ladies, even if they try to flirt with him, not wanting to get any locals worried about their wives or daughters. He interacts with children if they are with their parents. He does not ask any leading questions right off, just listens to what people are talking about. If others are talking about local events, he will ask what they are looking foward to the most.
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Wyeth nudges Darmut when he has a covert opportunity, and subtly dips his head in Benson's direction. "Another foolish one in our ranks," he says quietly. "Surely he's been warned about displaying a wayfinder so blatantly! A pity, too; he seems a nice enough fellow to die as young as he likely will."
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Your predecessors' reputation has tarnished the Pathfinders' name in Dawnton, so I recommend you not to travel and investigate openly as Pathfinder Field Agents.
Generally, Benson does wear his wayfinder where he can quickly reach and use it. He acknowledges that there are those who would make trouble for known Pathfinders, but such roughians can be dealt with and their attitudes perhaps adjusted. "Hiding who you are to avoid the barbs of those who would judge you harshly is a cowardly way to live."
Your predecessors' reputation has tarnished the Pathfinders' name in Dawnton, so I recommend you not to travel and investigate openly as Pathfinder Field Agents.
Generally, Benson does wear his wayfinder where he can quickly reach and use it. He acknowledges that there are those who would make trouble for known Pathfinders, but such roughians can be dealt with and their attitudes perhaps adjusted. "Hiding who you are to avoid the barbs of those who would judge you harshly is a cowardly way to live."
Jorsal directly answers Benson's reply. "I do agree that it is not in my typical behavior to display such subterfuge or request that of others. However, if it means you can act more openly and naturally amongst the populace and uncover the truth to save three of our own, I would not hesitate to do so and would think the same from you, too."
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Background question: Where did this adventure start? I ask, because looking at the geography of Mendev, I don't see any way we could be a mere three day's journey from Dawton that would start anywhere except Nurmia or Ustalev, if not Mendev itself. Probably doesn't matter, but I'd like to have some sense of where we started from so I can imagine how Benson may have ended up there when the need for Pathfinders arose.
Edit: I may have answered my own question when I noticed the venture captain's title. Is the information in the following link common knowlege?
Jorsal of Lauterbury
If so, that would put us starting in the capital of Mendev, Nerosyan.
@Kintampo: "A lil' of column A, and a lil' of column B.", the gnome replies. "Generally, there's something setup for families that need to bring their children to help take care of those too young to work the fields during the harvest, but they were picked up a bit earlier with the recent events."
The halfling chimes in with her reply. "Yup, nothing brings communities together like a wedding or a funeral!", the two seemingly nonchalant about the upcoming execution other than perhaps the extra business it is drumming up.
An old man, sitting near the bar during the discussion, also decides to chime in. "Oy, I can't wait to see dem Pathfindas hang; 'erd dat a coupla kids walked in on dem damn murda hobos mutilatin' the second guy. Those runts barely made it out alive when they gave chase.", the old man spitting on the ground after he finishes his statement.
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A couple of retroactive questions for the venture captain, if I may:
"Pathfinders, thank you for arriving. Some weeks ago, we received this letter from an anonymous source, advising us of the discovery of a Sarkorian site in rural Mendev, near the village of Dawnton. We sent three Pathfinders to perform the initial investigation."
At an appropriate point for questions, Benson would ask, "What can you tell us about the Sarkorian site the Pathfinders were investigating? It might help us unravel the chain of events if we knew what they were investigating."
Also Benson would ask, "Is there anything we need to know about current events involving the struggle against the Worldwound? So close to that source of evil, I would think we might find some fiend at the bottom of this web of intrigue."
@Benson: As you try to mingle your way through the tent city, it does indeed look more like a festival. A number of street vendors offer various games, food stalls provide for a number of families trying to compete against each other to outsell their family recipes, and several musicians and jugglers entertaining the populace.
While your unfamiliar face does give some caution to the locals, everyone is currently in a jovial mood and you otherwise have few problems ingratiating yourself through the tent city. One bit of gossip is few teenaged girls commenting about someone. "I don't like that Ekira lady; she always glares at me when she makes her rounds!" "Me, too, I think she's a demon, looking for a new soul to corrupt." "Yeah, I bet she's not a real inquisitor even!" "Yeah! She's probably killed like a dozen people, you know, those other murders, to pick off those who could defeat her!" "Totally, no one in the line of Iomedae can look THAT good." "Uh huh, totally."
At an appropriate point for questions, Benson would ask, "What can you tell us about the Sarkorian site the Pathfinders were investigating? It might help us unravel the chain of events if we knew what they were investigating."Also Benson would ask, "Is there anything we need to know about current events involving the struggle against the Worldwound? So close to that source of evil, I would think we might find some fiend at the bottom of this web of intrigue."
"The anonymous letter received gave us little details on the site, unfortunately. We weren't quite sure of its authenticity ourselves, hence the small team of Pathfinders sent to Dawnton to verify the letter's accuracy."
In response to the latter question, he replies, [b]"That would be a plausible scenario if the Pathfinders are indeed the murderers. Torum Grunsch is a dwarf Gorumite and wouldn't simply murder for its sake, while Corwin Burke is as good as he is short for a halfling and Dakota Spire, a new initiate from the Five Kings Mountains, is as honest as I've seen a Pathfinder. The area itself, though, has been stabilized after the fall of the city of Kenabres to the north.
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Marduk's feeling a little annoyed.
"Greetings, i'd like to buy some extra grain bread for me and my fellow monk at the temple."
The merchant looks funny at Marduk. After buying the bread Marduk could hear whispers.
He can't be a monk to irori, half-orcs are too ill tempered to follow such self perfection and disciplined training. Really i tell you...
He stands still behind the girls, kind of towering above them.
"So i take it Iomedea is the local faith. Aren't inquisitors supposed to be alert?"
Still showing his calm demeanor of course.
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While circulating with the locals at the Tent City, Benson watches for any signs of fellow worshipers of Cayden Cailean. Benson has a tankard on his belt into which he occasionally has some purchased drink poured. He'll keep an eye out for anyone else who has a tankard on his/her belt and watch him/her for signs of a fellow worshiper. He's wary of being identified with the Chaotic Good religion in such a stronghold of Lawful Good types, but he'd be interested in finding any potential allies. He won't act on any leads other than to strike up a conversation with possible candidates to get an initial impression.
After hearing the remarks of the girls about "that Ekira lady", he'll keep an eye out for who this might be, with special notice for any exceptionally good looking ladies and/or identifiers of an inquisitor. He's not got any ranks in knowledge (religion) so he may not know what to look for.
@Wyeth: The gnome innkeeper nods in agreement. "Yeah, that half-orc feller looks much stronger than the one we got here. Course, he runs a respectable business, even if his mouth is bigger than his muscles!"
@Raevin: "Oh, my apologies, sir!", Orug trying backpedal from his faux pas. *sniff* Sorry, I have a cold." as he takes the coins and hands you a cotton towel and points you in the direction of the bath.
"So you aren't from here.", the half-elf quips before you head to the baths. "Ain't nobody dressed like that 'round here, even for a celebration. Where ya from?"
@Benson: No one bearing an Iomedaean holy symbol catches your eye. Majority of what you do see for holy symbols (which are few in open presence) are necklaces of a stag's head, in reverence to Erastil. If anyone is a Caydenite, they aren't showing.
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@Orug: Raevin speaks softly with a little laugh in his voice. "No problem, no apology necessary. This is quite the fashion in Korvosa these days... I am from a small town in Varisia, but most recently from Korvosa." Taking the proffered towel, he leaves his companion, MIvvy, to speak with the proprietors while he bathes.
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Note for when we get together after the morning events: come up with a plausible explanation for why we are here. We probably would have done that on the ride up. No point in giving conflicting accounts of our reasons for being in such a remote place; we need to have some time to blend in and gather information without arousing suspicion. I have some ideas but I'll wait to share them when we have regrouped, unless the GM approves some discussion as having already taken place on the way up.
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An old man, sitting near the bar during the discussion, also decides to chime in. "Oy, I can't wait to see dem Pathfindas hang; 'erd dat a coupla kids walked in on dem damn murda hobos mutilatin' the second guy. Those runts barely made it out alive when they gave chase.", the old man spitting on the ground after he finishes his statement.
"Good master, how awful! Can you tell me more about what these children saw, I love a good story when I hear one! Although I can imagine you would need something to smoothen the throat, right?"
Kintampo moves to the old man "Do you mind if I join you for a cup?" he gestures to the gnome or halfling "Can you get us two of what he is having?"
@Raevin: "Bit far away for the harvest, aintcha?", the half-elf asks. "And just the two of you?"
@Kintampo: The gnome chuckles after the man rants. "Gillins, you know you ain't heard nothing. Hell, you can barely hear at all!", the proprietor chuckling at his own joke. The old man barks back, "Ah, shuddup you lil whippasnappa!".
After your inquiry, Gillins mouth beams wide. "Ahh, see? This foreign freak believes me!" After you sit next to the man, the halfling mouths 'Oh great...' and delivers the two beverages, quickly taking the payment and getting away from the upcoming geezering. "Well, back as I heard it, dem lil things were playin' a game o tag, but of course they weren't playing it right. I mean, back in my day, you had to use a stick to tag someone. And not just any stick, but the biggest stick you could carry! I always had da biggest stick, as long as a goblin is dumb. And I carried it everywhere for a game of tag, fifteen miles uphill to see my friend Billman. Anyway, those kids were chasin' each other and one of 'em slipped and landed in a pile of blood! Downright looked like the kid went face-first into a cask of wine. Say, I remember this place about 20 miles, one way, that has the best wine this side of Taldor. They always kept a bottle for me whenever I'd visit. 'Gillins Grape' they called it, since I kept on ordering it. Some demons burned that darn vinyerd down three decades ago; I remember cuz that's the same year I got this here knot on my knee. Hurts when I walk, but now I can tell when a hurricane'll hit. Now, dem kids, in the pile of blood, sees this guy with a large set of pruning sheers and he's cuttin' off everyone of the guys fingers. Course the head was already cut off, so he couldn't scream and all. But them kiddos cried out and ran, so while the one with the scissors was cutting off fingers, one of the other Pathfindas starts chasing the kids saying 'Boogey boogey boogey'! He almost got one of 'em, but he was all slippery from the blood, see, so the runt managed to get out. And that's how they caught them! Cuz his handprint was on the kid. One of the Pathfindas' hands matched the bloody print on the kiddo and nows they get to hand in a few days! And good riddance!", Gillins ending his story by spitting on the ground again before gulping down some more ale.
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Wyeth pulls a silver from his belt pouch in a way calculated to be obvious but apparently casual... and then he causes his face to light up as the proprietor's words seem to sink in. He turns to the halfling and speaks in delighted tones.
"A murder, you say!" He drops the silver back into his pouch and pulls out a gold piece. "Now that's more like it, sounds exciting! Do tell!" He works the coin between his fingers as he looks over at the old man and raises his voice a bit.
"Well I'm glad innocent children weren't harmed! Any idea who they were or where I might find them? I'd love to hear their tale firsthand. I imagine money wouldn't mean much to them," he says as he casually flips the gold into the air and catches it, "but perhaps for a sweet or a toy they'd be willing to indulge my curiosity!"
"Hmm," he says thoughtfully as he continues to flip the gold piece, looking between the old man and the halfling. "Now who should like to have this coin, I wonder."
@Wyeth: The gnome sighs while you contemplate who to be near. Seeing the coin flip up and your interest in the old man's tale, he decides to step up. "You damn well know that no kids were involved in the murders, Gillins! Stop messing with the tourists!" The gnome walks up to you and pulls himself up on the stool. "Careful if you head out to the general store, too. Still some blood stains 'round the back and the shopkeep has been bragging to everyone how he fought off the murderer! Orug's a nice enough guy, but he'll talk your ear off if you let him! An' stretch the truth out for a better story, but at least he ain't as wrong as this guy!", pointing his thumb back at old man Gillins. The gnome then continues. "Personally, I them Pathfinders are innocent. Us fellow half-pints gotta stick up for ourselves!", the chipper gnome almost panics for a second, looking around the tavern for something, then sighs with relief. "...Course, it's hard to say that outloud with that bloody inquisitor throwing accusations left and right and the people here more than interested in seeing some necks hanged."
@Marduk: "Like I said, us lil people gotta stick together! Well, okay, dwarves ain't 'little', but they're short enough. An' although both the dwarves were armored well enough and probably could kill someone easily enough, that halfling just don't look the part to me."
The gnome then nods to your second question. "Yuppers, an Iomedaean refugee from Kenabres. Been around these parts for a few months now, but she has only recently made shop a couple of weeks ago."
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Wyeth returns Marduk's glance, and his eyes narrow. "I don't trust anyone who bows and scrapes before a god. We mortals cause enough trouble of our own without doing their dirty work, too. And then an inquisitor besides..." The oracle shakes his head.
He takes a calming breath and resumes in quieter tones. "Sorry, my heritage is showing. Pay me no mind when I start ranting." Refocusing on matters at hand, he pushes the gold piece across the bar towards the gnome. "Go on please," he says, flashing Marduk a look implying the monk should take the lead.
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Religious fanatics, those types are generally linewalkers. I don't really like such types.
"What can you tell us about this particular inquisitor?"
"Kenabres, wasn't...that the crusader city? That strikes me as odd. An inquisitor of a crusader city who's fled. I've not met many, but they normally fight with devotion against a threat."
@Raevin: Can you give me a Bluff check?
@Wyeth: "Heh, no worries, still shorter than Gillins. Hope your homeboy didn't have anything he needed to do, because he's going to be busy for a while!"
@Marduk: You do know that around the time of the Third Crusade, many inquisitions came out trying to root out those either possessed or corrupted by demons and their spawn. Such self-inflicted battles and losses as the inquisitions tried to purge anyone who showed symptoms of what could be demon taint led to the crusades failure. Inquisitors of Iomedae were surprisingly vicious and vigilant in those duties many years ago.
To know more about Kenabres, I'll either need a Kn: Local or Kn: History to know yourself, or a Diplomacy check to see if you can convince the gnome innkeeper to share some details.
As about the inquisitor, he does provide a couple of details. "Yeah, a lady who came by here a lil while ago. Nice enough, but she watched everyone like a hawk, trying to find corruption anywhere she could. Rumor has it that she only made it out of Kenabres alive cuz her teacher sacrificed himself to let his acolytes escape. If that's the truth, I can't blame her for wanting to do what she can to root out demons... doesn't make her less of a goblin's rear in the process, though. She's the one who pushed the hardest for justice to be meted out against the Pathfinders, riled up the town enough to force the execution."
@Marduk: Yeah, Kenabres was a tragedy alright, glad the crusaders managed to keep things held back no deeper than that, but still was a frightful incident to be sure!
@Raevin: "But of course. Orug will draw you up the bath... and tell me of some of your lil travels! Don't get much for details about the rest of the world outside of our lil part of Mendev, yanno?", the half-elf leaning closer with interest in her eyes.
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"Well, I'm from Varisia, from one of the larger cities there, called Korvosa. My dad was never really comfortable with city life, but that's where his work was. I actually kind of liked it there, but never really fit in. Then I guess I was afflicted with some wanderlust and hired on with a caravan as a sort of guard, though in truth I'm not much the burly fighter type, if you know what I mean. Still, I loved the travel from city to city, meeting new people and all. While I was in Magnimar, another city in Varisia, I met up with some folks who traveled together for the adventure of it all, and that seemed like fun. I quit the caravan-guard trade and joined them. I've traveled a lot since then, with one group or another. Not long ago, I found myself with Mivvy here, and a few others and we worked our way east. We heard about the Worldwound and the troubles there and decided to check out the areas near there, without actually going TO the place itself, as it sounded too dangerous. We were camped a few days out from Dawnton when we heard from another group of travelers about the excitement here and we came to see what it was all about. It's not often one gets to witness an execution in such a festive environment. So here we are."
"Anyway, that's my life in a nutshell. Sorry, didn't mean to ramble on so... but in my travels I've seen many strange and wondrous things - caverns sparkling with crystals and gems, mountain peaks that reach to the sky, dead bodies that walk and attack in the night, great cities with spires and minarets that glimmer with gold in the sunlight... It's all been wonderful to behold, and I wouldn't have missed any of it, not even for a quiet, safe life, which is more conducive to a long existence."