"I will do no such thing, that would give the piece of s!~# the ability to undo his bindings. He'll not pass on due to being uncomfortable, don't you worry."
The bed is brought to the equipment shed and setup under the building's side overhang behind the wagon when the team of horses that had pulled it are unhooked and are returned to their stable. The group is allowed to rest for the remainder of the afternoon either in the bed(Louis), in the bed of the wagon (Markas & Latovius), or hanging around(Timerious). Starvation is barely kept at bay when Louis' mother brings the group a pot of vegetable broth which is mostly vegetable flavored water. Markas is forced into being the one to feed his slave as no one will approach the wild man. Thankfully the task is an easy one for Markas consisting of pouring his share of the meal into Timerious' mouth at a rate not to drown the man.
Towards dusk Louis' father returns from working the fields and animals with the families' other farm hand. The head of the family is quickly is caught up on the reason for the four men resting under the roof of his equipment shed. He visits his ailing son before having eaten anything, he says little and keeps his distance from his ill son. A half hour after nightfall Louis' other brother returns and informs everyone that the other families would arrive the next evening for the town hall meeting that had been requested. "Why have you requested such a meeting take place? The last one went so poorly and that has cost us dearly! We are no longer on good terms with the other families in these parts. I don't mind standing up for my kin when they are in the right, I pray that whatever this is about that we're in the right." Louis' dad fretted in the darkness as he took out a simple pipe and filled it with tobacco.
With little or much to do before the meeting the cleric of Petra decides on retribution as his only course of action. He begins by sharing Petra's healing touch on Louis to hopefully allow him to be cognizant for the meeting and then walks off in the direction he threw the headdress with intents of destroying the thing with whatever strength remained in his body. Praise Petra.
Markas touches the ailing Louis and imparts a large surge of healing magic into the sick man. Any and all cuts and wounds are mended on Louis, however the ill pallor and likely the underlying illness within the man remains. Dark grey sunken eyes, ashen grey patches of split raw skin, shakes, fever, chills, aching bones all continue to plague Louis. With no other healing magics that he could spare Markas offers a warm smile to console his friend and leaves his side. Taking up his mace and war hammer the cleric exhausts himself upon the brass and ivory circlet in the middle road leading to the farm for nearly a half hour. All manner of strikes land upon the item to no visible effect, at least as far as the sweating, sore, and exhausted Markas can see. Markas spends the rest of the afternoon resting his tired and defeated body after carefully putting the headdress into the damp backpack without touching it.
Hanging from the pulley in front of the equipment barn Timerious watched with growing anger the spectacle of Markas' fury and then exhaustion.
'The fool Markas just spent a half hour tiring himself out hammering on Perrin's crown for no apparent purpose or reason. The idiotic fool must be going mad! These imbeciles think me mad, string me up like a side of beef, and say I'm a slave to that man? NEVER! Perrin, the Black Knight, and now these fools have inflicted horrors upon me. ME! The, the.. right hand of Halav! I must escape this latest trial and fulfill my destiny.' The warrior thought to himself, unfortunately besides when Markas provided him with broth none would come close through out the day for him to even have a chance at somehow escaping.
After sunset the questions of Louis' father remain unanswered by the exhausted Markas and Louis. The cleric and fighter remained too tired and foggy minded to provide the farmer with any answers. The man left the men to rest, not wanting to pursue answers that did not appear to be forthcoming to his questions from the armed men.
The resting group is awoken by lights in the main cabin a half hour before sunup. Louis' mother and youngest sister bring four plates of eggs and potatoes that are quickly devoured by the men staying at the equipment barn. Markas then prays for and receives all of his spells that morning.
Markas notices that Louis continues to lose health and so he imparts healing blessings upon himself, Louis, and the rough looking Timerious this day.
Feeling is returned to the exhausted frame of Timerious allowing for pain sensations to develop anew. Those feelings return to numbness all over again throughout the day as he hangs. The group continues to rest and recover through the day leading up to the meeting with the families of Hawk's Hill.
Starting a half hour or so before sunset the wagons and carriages of the families from Hawk's Hill begin to arrive at the Mon roi de Dunis farm. The wagons and their occupants are guided to an area at the front of the house, out of sight of the equipment barn with the ill tempered Timerious hanging there. Markas does his best to try and greet the families as they arrive, most have little to do or say to the cleric beyond being minimally polite. When it appears that all have arrived Louis' father climbs atop his wife's white painted wagon and calls everyone's attention. Markas climbs aboard the wagon, meeting the disgruntled stares of many family heads and members. He begins with asking everyone to bow their heads for a short prayer to Petra, most do so hesitantly more out of respect for a deity rather then being actual followers of Petra. After the prayer Markas informs the hamlet's residents of what has been occurring in the southern part of the Thunder Rift valley at the keep of the Black Knight. The cleric stresses the banditry defeated and the return of both Gertie and Adrianna safely to Hawk's Hill. Markas allows a few moments to pass, and the crowd appears to be warming to him. Louis makes his way onto the bed of the wagon at this point with his pack in hand. From it the fighter produces four silver statues and holds them aloft for all to see. "Our founder's statues. Somehow taken from us and held by the Black Knight in his keep. We defeated that danger and return these to Hawk's Hill and its families. We are looking out for the safety of all of you by our actions and we will continue to do so! Listen to what we have to say and what our offer is with open ears, it serves to strengthen and protect our community and the Thunder Rift." The demeanor of the gathered families takes a drastic turn for the worse, no one seemed to be aware that the statues had been stolen. Accusations fly between families as Markas thanks his friend and tells the people of Hawk's Hill about the small and goodly aligned tribe of ogres who have sworn to protect the citizens of the southern Thunder Rift for a full year from all manners of foes. "The ogres would like to visit Hawk's Hill occasionally to barter and trade for items they can not make themselves or sell those things they have no need of. One of the ogres is a profound blacksmith and another is a spell caster of some power, the rest are fine warriors. All have families just like you do and they have lost kin to the dangers of these lands and are willing to protect it alongside of us. Will you trade with them and help to build lasting alliances with our allies?" Markas finishes talking and he goes silent, he and Louis wait for the community to come to a consensus as all start speaking at once. Curiously both men notice as the discussion between families becomes heated that one completely empty wagon begins to sag downward as if under the weight of several hundred pounds but neither man can see anything. Markas calls out over the roar of the crowd towards the oddly tilted wagon. A familiar to voice to Markas and Louis replies from the back of the wagon yet nothing can be seen of its source. Several moments go by and the crowd slowly begins to quiet during that time as they too look about for the source of the loud voice. A firefly takes flight, a moment later a couple more do the same, and yet more and more appear and take flight over the crowd. The crowd and children especially enjoy taking in the unexpected sight of hundreds of twinkling fireflies over the next minute or so. The ogre magi Gruulin appears to all suddenly with a warm smile taking in the spectacle of the fireflies just the same as they were. In the intimidating presence of the ogre-magi beneath a living light show there appeared to be no farmer brave enough to speak up and deny the request for trade with the ogres. Gruulin got up from his seat upon the back of the wagon and leaned on his quarter staff while looking upon all of the citizens of Hawk's Hill beneath the living light spectacle he had conjured. Gruulin waved his large hand through the swirling glowing cloud of fireflies, gathered one tiny insect in his hand before placing it in the tiny hands of Louis' youngest sister as he walked past the wide eyed girl and into the night. On the back of the wagon bed was a sizeable bag of coin with a rolled piece of paper sticking out of it.
With the trade agreement struck between the citizens of Hawk's Hill and the ogres Markas, Louis, and Latovius make their way back to where they had been resting at the equipment shed as the meeting winds down. Upon the ground in front of the equipment shed was the lifeless body of the Mon roi de Dunis farmhand that had been tasked with watching Timerious during the meeting. One of the families notice that the horse that had been tied to their wagon is missing at the same time the three at the barn notice that Timerious, his belongings, and Markas' pack were nowhere to be found at the moment....
Sunset on the end of the second day arrives as Timerious continues to hang from his rope. Timerious' anger has boiled within him for a day and a half, all he wanted was his rightful freedom and to be away from these f!+#ing torturers. Halav heard his prayers finally with Louis, Markas, and Latovius leaving to meet with the ass backwards bumpkins of this s~%! hole in the middle of nowhere. The fools, they left some damned dim-wit farm hand to tend to him! It took little effort to trick the man into lowering him down by claiming he needed to take a s%+~. It didn't matter at all to Timerious when the man's neck snapped while he was trying to choke the farmhand out for this foe stood between Timerious and his rightful freedom! Dropping the body to the ground Timerious went to his pack and used the Black Knight's sword to sever his rope bindings. Timerious gathered his pack and Markas' since it contained Perrin's headdress. He left the body and circled quietly in the darkness behind the gathered crowd, there were several horses tethered to wagons back here! Timerious took one and walked it a couple hundred feet away from the gathering before getting on it to ride away. Timerious and the beast traveled on the darkened country roads in the direction of Overton and the cleric of Halav that awaited him there.