Alaina thought for a minute, "You might want that to go Little Rabbit. Coming back here after seeing the Captain might arouse suspicions we don't want."
"Oh!" his eyes pop open wide at the thought of a potentially unhappy Captain. "Okay, yeah, um...to go please!" to the innkeeper.
Laurett laughs at Cel's quick change of order and turns around to attend to it on the counter behind the bar. She whispers something to Smitty, who disappears into the kitchen for a moment and comes out with a small wheel of cheese covered in red wax.
Laurett takes it from him with an affectionate "Thank you," and places it on the bar along with something slightly larger carefully wrapped in coarse cloth.
"Cheese and bread for the road," she calls. "Two silver."
Cel takes two silver out pieces, each in separate pockets, and hands them to her before quickly darting out the door calling out behind him, "Thanks!" He starts digging in to the cloth wrapped object before he even hits the door, using his hindquarters to push the door open, shoving a piece of bread in his mouth.
Henri stood, and took a few moments performing the arduous task of replacing everything in their proper holsters before sweeping her cold weather poncho over her shoulders. She nods at Cel. "Don't worry, we'll be back out pretty quick." She walks over to the door and takes a moment to lean against it, soaking in the heat for a few moments before leaving, and gives a small smile around to her party members. "I'm ready to go, too."
Dulae drank back the rest of her cider and stood, throwing her cloak over her armor. "Lets be about it, then." She pauses for a moment to give a wave to Laurett before stepping into the cold.
Laurett calls after Alaina, “We’ll have a room for you too. Come and get your key when you’re ready.”
Alaina can feel Sanaa’s eyes on her as she leaves.
The mid-morning sun takes some of the sting out of the bitter cold, and the party’s breath fogs immediately on their way down the road.
The military headquarters is a broad building with flat walls. There are no hollows, including under the stairs. There are few windows, and these are too high for casual passersby on the inside to easily look out.
Xizoh, Henri, and Cel notice there doesn’t appear to be anyone patrolling the roof.
There is about ten feet between the building and the stables, and many sets of footprints indicate heavy traffic from riders and stable hands here.
Across the road from the headquarters is the Altien church; a stone building with decorative crevices on all sides that offer partial cover. There are also windows on all sides that may allow an inside observer to easily see someone approach a church wall.
There is a lone 15’ pine tree with a very full set of snow-covered branches outside the church, about 10 feet away from the road. A stone bench near the tree offers a picturesque view of the mountains. The bench is cleared of snow and a few tracks of footprints lead to the bench from the road and the church door.
Dulae, Henri, and Cel notice the road to the mountain pass looks clear of travelers all the way to the treeline.
As the group enters the warmth of headquarters, Private Zahan is walking up the steps from the hall below with a worried expression. When he sees the group he nods in greeting and gives them a friendly smile.
Narwita is standing by the entrance this morning. She moves to speak to the group, but Zahan calls, “They’ve got an appointment, lieutenant. I’ll take them up.”
She nods an assent at Zahan and he waves the group to join him in ascending the stairs to the waiting room. “They’re not ready for you yet, but it should be soon,” he says as they walk.
The waiting room is empty except for Blaine, who is lounging easily in a chair in the middle of the room. As they enter he calls, “Morning,” in a relaxed drawl.
Private Zahan bristles at the sight of Blaine, clenching his jaw and narrowing his eyes. “Are you here to see the captain, Guillen?”
“Easy, Zahan,” Blaine says with a smug smile. “I just came to say a proper hello to your newest recruits.” He gives the group an appraising look, and his gaze lingers on Dulae before coming to rest on Henri. “I hear you’re getting yourselves a fancy tracking map for the mountain. Care to share?”
As they left, Alaina found herself thinking, Must have made quite the impression.
"Sounds like more than a hello to me." Henri adjusts her hat to get a better look at Blaine and gives him a once-over, before meeting his gaze. "Share what, exactly?" She asks, the slight hint of a smile. "Confirmation that we may or may not have access to a tracking map? Information on what may or may not be on this theoretical tracking map? Or the map itself, that may exist or may just be some weird rumor you heard?" She smiles and scratches at her scar. "Well, what would you be willing to trade for that info?"
”My apologies, where are my manners?” He gives Henri a lingering smile and rises to offer a handshake. “Blaine Guillen, at your service.”
“I like to keep an eye on the operations around here,” he casually flicks his hand to gesture around the room. “It’s safe it say I already know more about your map than you do.”
“As to what I can offer you for a look at it,” Blaine says smoothly, speaking to the group, “Going with only four is obviously dangerous. Most of the teams have been seven. Captain Vazquez sent me to replace the other Abbhen who was dismissed.”
Alaina gets the sense sending him along without announcement or introduction seems unlike the captain’s style.
Dulae can’t spot a flaw in his delivery, but from experience in the military she suspects this is not the whole truth.
Oh great, him again.
Dulae stares at Blaine, trying to gauge whether or not he would be useful. The officers here seem to trust him, if not like him. Then again, the arroance and lying do not bode well for succesful teamwork.
"Somehow I doubt that, Mr. Guillen. Are looking for an escort up the mountain? I fear they may be in short supply at the moment."
Alaina crossed her arms and looked at the man scrupulously.
"And is that what she would say if we asked her to verify that claim?" Alaina asked.
Lieutenant Buhari emerges from the captain's office, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him. Anyone who turns to look observes the lieutenant's bearing stiffens and his features twitch in obvious dislike at seeing Blaine before settling into a frosty neutral.
After Alaina's question Blaine levels his gaze at her with interest. "So suspicious," he says, moving his hand over his heart in a teasing gesture of hurt. “You'd trust a foreign captain over a fellow countryman?"
“Guillen…” Lieutenant Buhari says warningly.
Blaine shrugs the lieutenant off and says to the group, "Somehow I think I'd be more useful to you on the mountain than you would be to me."
He pauses and narrows his eyes at Dulae. “Hey, I know you. Aren’t you the paladin that tried to detect evil in me earlier?” His face twists in a playful smile. “See anything interesting?”
"I may not agree with some of the Captain's policies, but she has earned some of my respect. You on the other hand, will have to earn the same." Alaina replied with an equally steely gaze.
Henri extends her own hand and firmly grasps Blaine's, an eyebrow raised. "Henri," she says, simply. "And while I'm sure you can... handle yourself, I think we've got enough strength between us." She puts a hand on her hip, and brushes back her leather jacket to obviously stroke her own pistol. "You can always expect a lawman to be a lawman. There's no telling what a stranger will do." With a small smile, she continues; "Even a 'fellow countryman.'"
Dulae nods gravely. "Your cloak appears to be attempting to posses you. You should get that checked."
She turns her attention back to Zahan. "The Captain is expecting us?"
Blaine looks pleasantly surprised by Alaina’s resolve. “Bold. I think I like you.”
He shrugs nonchalantly at Henri’s comment. “From what I’ve heard, you may stand a chance at finding something interesting this time. If you change your mind, you can find me here.” He gives her an enticing smile.
In response to Dulae’s bluff, Blaine chuckles and says, “I see… not a paladin then.” He looks thoughtful for a moment, then grows a confident smirk. “Hm, didn’t make the cut, did we?” He pauses to read Dulae’s response. “That’s a shame. I’ve heard what the military does with people like you.”
Cel sits quietly on the bench eating his food. He isn't sure how long the rest of the group will be in the office, but figures it shouldn't be long considering that they aren't going back to the tavern to start fresh tomorrow. He decides to use the time to spend some time contemplating the events of the day as they have played out, particularly, trying to mentally steel himself from making similar mistakes again.
Lieutenant Buhari steps next to Blaine and says, “That’s enough,” in a harsh whisper. Blaine mockingly holds his hands up in defeat.
Before Zahan can reply to Dulae, the captain’s voice echoes from the gap in the office door, “Mr. Guillen, do not delay my search party. They are quite busy.” Her voice is calm and assured, but tinged with weariness.
A flicker of uncertainty crosses Blaine’s face, and he straightens his posture. “Yes, sir,” he calls, giving the door a City of Iron-style salute. He then flashes his teeth to the group in a sly smile and says more softly, "See you around."
Blaine strides out of the waiting room, calling behind him, “Stay safe out there.”
Lieutenant Buhari’s face looks drawn. He gives the group a quick, pinched smile and says, “It seems Silo and the captain are ready for you,” before leading them through the door. He shoots a concerned look at Dulae as she passes.
----
The office looks much more orderly than when they left. Loose papers have been arranged into dozens of sorted stacks across two of the desks, and Silo’s apprentices are back to work on their projects.
Captain Vazquez and Silo are standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the front desk looking at a document. The captain is frowning at what she sees. As the group enters she glances up and gives them a respectful nod of acknowledgement.
Silo beams at them, “Come in, come in! It’s all ready and I think it works just beautifully. Come and see.” He gestures to the document.
Laid out on the desk is a map of Mount Oranis.
“Here is the mountain, obviously,” he says, pointing to Mount Oranis. “And here is where the tracking spell has honed in on our missing person. Look at the precision!” he says proudly, pointing to the fine red dot.
The captain lets a smile slip briefly, then clears her throat and points out other features of the map to the group, including the road and the pass.
“This is Switchback Trail. It was made for archeological expeditions to haul equipment, so there are no shear faces or very steep slopes.
“For your reference, I also marked where the original archeology team of six was meant to be digging the day they were lost as a blue X. The blue shaded area around it has already been searched by the army.
“At Sergeant Toema's request, I had all potentially interesting caves marked.” She points to the caves drawn in brown. “These caves were carved out by smugglers just after the war - they go over Mount Oranis near the surface and form a passage to the other side of the mountains. They were closed down by Abbhen many years ago to keep people to the road, but the entrances may be serviceable if you need somewhere to duck in.”
She pauses before continuing, “The map indicates a missing person may be quite close to the lowest cave. Don’t take any risks,” she gives them a firm look, “but if you see any evidence that it is in use, please report it.”
She draws herself up and considers the map as a whole. “It may be faster and less risky to take the trail rather than climbing up. I’d prefer you do that - the mountain face is steep and icy. From town to these caves is about three hours by trail at a brisk hike.”
“That means it takes up to three hours to return.” The captain meets each of their eyes. "You have seven and a half hours of daylight left. Watch out for clouds. And watch out for each other. You’re to return together. Understood?”
After about five minutes on the bench, Cel spots something bright flash near where the road disappears into the trees. After a minute, he sees it again.
Cel sees something unusual off in the distance, and as much as he really wants to investigate he knows he should stay here and wait for the group. He gets off the bench, finds a place behind a nearby tree that still isn't in direct view of the military headquarters and watches intently at where the flash eminated seeing if he can make anything out.
"Interesting." The half elf holds his chin as he observes the map. Six archeology and the soldiers sent to rescue them, and all we have is a single person who we hopefully have the location of. There may be worse odds, but by the White Forge I'll see this through.
Turning to the captain, he asks, Why clouds if I may ask? As far as the group," he turns to his allies, "it's a medic's responsibility to look after the party." He grins a little as he says it, before continuing to ponder the map.
map.
As he watches, Cel sees motion at the tree line that manifests into a group of perhaps half a dozen walking on the road towards town. Every other minute there is a bright flash from the group as they walk that looks like the sun catching metal.
They are less than a half mile away, and it looks like they should reach the town border by the road in 10-15 minutes.
Cel watches from behind the tree, and once he sees that it's nothing more than a group coming back down the mountain, he sits back down on the bench and pretends to not be paying attention to the group coming down. He does keep a steady eye on them, though, looking for anything interesting about them or what they may say.
Henri shrugs. "Hike the trail, find the dot. Barring any ice dragons it sounds like cake." She glances around at her party members. Something about this feels off, though. Seems too easy, even if they are pushing how 'dangerous' this thing really is. "Should be pretty doable. And if that dot really does lead us to survivors, or a body, we could probably have this finished today!"
She thought for a moment. "Is there an incentive for bringing the people back early? Beyond the goodness of my own heart, of course -" she smirks slightly, "If I were a crook I'd make much more money drawing out the search and taking more days to complete it.
After Xizoh’s question, Silo says, “Ah yes, clouds, of course. Did I not mention clouds? Hmm, well, that is when the first party disappeared. Mist during the day, when the sun was obscured. There's clearly some correlation with weather, and according to my calculations…”
“Yes, thank you Silo,” Captain Vazquez cuts him off gently. “I believe we’ve covered this.”
The captain looks unamused at Henri’s question. “Miss Marchand, you are getting paid extremely well,” she shoots a meaningful glare at Silo, “to serve as a scout."
“You are correct that your mission is simple. You find the dot, you investigate, you report back.” She crosses her arms. “If these maps turn out to be useful, or you find something of interest, the army will handle it from there. You will have your pay and gratitude of myself and the Altiendel military.”
She states neutrally, “If I were to discover you did not file a truthful report, you would all be arrested to face trial for colluding to hinder a military investigation,” as though this should be obvious.
Silo interjects, “Ah, but my dear captain, she is quite right. Some incentive serves the best interests of all.” He turns to thumb through the top of a nearby stack of papers. “Let me see… I seem to have lost my notes…” He quickly gives up and says, “Ah well. I believe I’ve offered the other groups an extra 200 gold to discover something that leads to the return of those missing.”
Captain Vazquez opens her mouth to object, then seems to think the better of it, giving Silo an inscrutable look.
She looks back at the group and says, “Any other questions?”
As the group gets closer Cel can see they're walking slowly, as though they're tired. One party member seems to be limping. Most look heavily armed, but Cel doesn't see any obvious wounds, blood, or other signs of battle.
Cel doesn't spot anyone with them who looks like they've been on the mountain for a few days.
Dulae’s eyes burn in cold rage at Blaine's comment.
She notices Blaine looks away and takes a half step back from her gaze before the captain distracts his attention.
Dulae follows Lieutenant Buhari into the office and listens to the discussion without saying a word.
Henri looks aghast, and while she wouldn't consider something like that for more than a moment, she does exaggerate her reaction a bit for the sake of the captain. "I did not wish to say... Well, I apologize, I wouldn't want to imply that I would ever do something like that, nor would I think that you couldn't figure it out."
Henri nods at Silo. "Thank you, that is fantastic. I will certainly try my best to find whatever I can for you. Not that I was ever going to give you any less than my best. Like The captain said," Henri gestures to Vazquez, "You are paying me extremely well."
The captain's expression softens and she says, "I would not have agreed to hire you if I thought for a moment that you would, Miss Marchand."
She hesitates, then says, "It was not my intention to cause you unease," in a firm tone that has the barest hint of apology.
Silo looks pleasantly surprised at this exchange. "Well now, Captain," he says encouragingly, giving the captain a delighted smile.
Alaina stayed quiet during the whole interaction, which might strike some people as odd given her previous behavior. But she was employing a Ring Fighter's trick of observing an opponent from the audience. Something about this certainly doesn't sit right. But it's the best chance I have to find that bastard Marcus quickly. Her fist tightened at the thought of seeing his face again, and putting her fist through it. Be damned with the consequences, I'd certainly feel better.
Cel stares intently at the remaining food he has, eating slowly, but trying hard to listen to the group as they come closer seeing if he can catch any tidbits of information if they are talking.
Silence holds Xizoh as his train of thought runs through ideas and plans like a runaway ox through a cart of rotten produce. As he thinks he looks to the others, ready to get on the trail of the missing.
Dulae grits her teeth and listens carefully, all the while plotting ways of getting Blaine arrested, despite knowing that she won't go through with them.
Henri lets out a hint of a genuine smile from behind her hat. "'sall right." Well, that was something. I'm a little surprised. She sat back, no more questions to throw.
“Yes, good, good,” Silo says abruptly, clapping his hands together. “Off you go then. Burning daylight, aren’t we?”
Captain Vazquez begins to carefully roll up the tracking map.
“Take care not to tear it,” Silo says, his eyes fixed on the map with thoughtful concern. “I’m not sure what would happen to the spell.”
The captain smiles faintly at Silo’s fleeting worry. She ties a piece of string around the rolled-up map and hands it to Alaina. “Be sure to return the map when you report back this evening.”
“Oh! One more thing,” Silo says to Henri. “Please tell that kineticist friend of yours I’d like to see him here before he leaves.”
“In the waiting room, away from the papers, thank you,” the captain says dryly.
As the group leaves the office, she says, “Exercise caution,” with a curt nod of farewell.
The group walks down the stairs, out of the building, and into the cold. The wind has picked up a bit since the early morning, making any flying drift snow sting exposed skin.
They pass another civilian search party of seven headed to the entrance, all unfamiliar faces. They largely seem to be fighters, well-armed with swords, bows, shields, axes, and pikes. They move as if they are very tired, with one fighter limping. None seem to have any wounds or other obvious signs of battle. They look downcast, with their attention focused on the next step in front of them, saying very little.
Around the corner, the group spots Cel, who is sitting quietly on a bench near the Altien church that overlooks the mountains.
As the group reaches Cel, no one else is out on the road to the pass, and town-side of the road also looks relatively free of traffic at the moment.
The civilian search party passes Cel, and he counts seven. They largely seem to be fighters, well-armed with swords, bows, shields, axes, and pikes. They look downcast, with their attention focused on the next step in front of them.
One fighter says to the woman next to her, “Smells like there’s going to be snow later today.”
“Mm,” agrees her companion. “My knee’s been aching.”
A minute after this search party turns the corner to head to the military headquarters entrance, Cel can hear another set of footsteps headed his way. If he turns to look, he sees it is his own party.
By the time the party reaches Cel, no one else is out on the road to the pass, and town-side of the road also looks relatively free of traffic at the moment.
Cel sees his group and a small smile forms at the familiarity of them. It also means he can finally start going after his current object of curiosity...what happened to those soldiers! He takes a moment to look around without trying to draw attention to himself to see if there is anyone with the group he doesn't know. Seeing no one new he pops up from the bench excited to be on the road.
"Hi! Are we ready? Can we go now? I'm a little familiar with this area, but does the map show the best way to get around?"
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"Caution. Gotcha." Henri shoots off a finger gun at the Captain as she leaves with a wink. "I'll let him know, wizard guy," she says over her shoulder. Readjusting her cold weather outfit and pulling her goggles down over her eyes, watching her breath twirl up into the cold air. She cracks her knuckles, enjoying the natural air. She always liked the cold.
Henri gives Cel a small wave as she approaches with the others, still stretching her arms and neck. "Hey, Rabbit, thanks for waiting, I'm sure it was a challenge for ya." Henri glances at Alaina. "Red's got the map, but from what I hear is there's a 'recommended trail' for us to take. Supposed to be the fastest way, so I guess we should take that route."
If/when Alaina shows Cel the map, he knows without anyone telling him that the caves drawn in black are natural and the caves drawn in brown were carved out by smugglers just after the war. He remembers they go over Mount Oranis near the surface and form a passage to the other side of the mountains, although he thinks they were closed down by Abbhen years ago.
He knows the side of the mountain can be steep and icy, so a switchback trail would be a very reliable way, if not necessarily the absolute fastest in every case (for daredevil climbers).
He does not know what the blue cross is, the blue area, or the red dot without some explanation.
"Given how much time we have left in the day, that might actually be a good idea. Besides, I look forward to sleeping in a warm bed again tonight." Alaina responded.
Cel looks at the map, "Oh I know some of this stuff! Those caves up top, those are smugglers caves, but I think they're not accessible any more. They might be, though! Maybe we should check those out. What's the two marks on the map for?"
"Ah, yes, the two marks are..." after a moment of thinking, she snaps her fingers. "Right, the blue X is where the team was supposed to be digging, and the red dot is where the missing person is supposed to be. Well, their hair or something. The trail is the trail, obviously, and the blue area that looks like a lake or something is where the military is searching." She nods and mumbles something to herself. "At least I think that was it..."
Cel mouth hangs open in complete confusion as he stares at Henri stumbling through the description. "Right...uh...got it."
"Then shall we depart?" The half elf bounces with barely contained energy. "Do we want to deviate from the path to check the lower, natural caves as well?"