Abigail accepts the coin from Derika, as well as the scroll, with a smile.
its a little difficult accepting this much, I mean, considering all the troubles I caused you. In any event, I am not sure what I will be doing now. If you still want me around with you guys, that's fine. I'll try not to get anyone into bad situations anymore.
sitting on the table beside her is her white scarf, the symbol of the order she was attempting to join. This could be the only time (besides sleeping) that she has taken it off.
She ponders the idea of letting go of that order, there was so much that she had seen and experienced, much of their ideals were called into question. maybe this order was not the place for her.
Her ideas for the keep had long ago been abandoned, she does not bring that up at all.
Basically she now looks like a young priestess looking to rediscover who she is.
Listening to Abby she sighs as she hears the familiar self doubt in her voice. Sighing she gets up and goes to sit next to the young priestess, "Hey, I thought we agreed to forget about all that? Totally over and done with and I'm not into beating dead horses, so why don't we just move on from here huh?" In a very uncharacteristc move she wraps her arms aroung the young woman in a hug, "Of course we want you with us. Stop being so hard on yourself. Half of us wouldn't have made it out of that place alive without you." She leans back and looks into Abby's eyes, "Not only do we want you with us, but I think it's fairly obvious that we need you with us. I mean, I can't put all the responsibility of always saving my stubborn ass on Vishanti." She pauses for a moment, "Is that clear enough of an answer for you Abby? I know sometimes it's hard for me to say things the right way, but I hope I can at least be clear about how much we want you with us." She sits there for a few minutes to give Abby time to process everything before responding to her. She needed Abby to believe in herself and know that she held no ill feelings against her for anything that happened. She just hoped that she didn't make her feel uncomfortable with the whole hugging thing. While it felt a little strange to her, she just felt that that was what Abby needed at that moment. To know that she was wanted, needed, and cared about.
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"I thank you for carrying it and for it's safe return." Vishanti says as she takes back the shield.
Later as they speak, Vishanti cannot help the glimmer of a smile that arises when Derika says waht is needed with her signature bluntness. "She is absolutely right Abigail, we do need you."
She gives Vishanti a smile in thanks of the support before looking back at Abby, "See....I'm not the only one that thinks so either. You deserve every bit of that coin as much as the rest of us.....stop thinking that you....or even your feelings don't matter, because they do. You matter to us okay?" Slipping an arm around Abs she gives the young woman a light, but supportive squeeze before taking her arm back.
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Thangrom grins like he'd been given the deed to his own personal gold mine, counting the coins and quickly placing them in his coin purse, before hiding the purse in the depths of his satchel. "Right then, 'nough o' this sappy nonsense. Let's get some rest, an' we can start out t' check out th' map in a day or two."
She glances over at Thangrom and smirks, "Ya know what? One of these days I'm gonna get you to admit that it's okay to express your feelings and that even you are capable of it." Before grinning at Vishanti like a cat that just swallowed a bird.
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She doesn't exactly understand why she can't stop grinning, but something inside of her tells her that this could be a turning point, for all of them. The thought of spending some time, even a day or two with.....friends has her grinning the first real grin she's felt in a long time. Getting up and going back to her seat she sits, "That dinner Lynnie was talking about sounded great. I can't hardly wait to taste it."
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Thangrom snorts at Derika's jibe. "Maybe when elves pull the trees outta their rears, lass. Maybe then," he retorts, too pleased with his payout to do anything but grin foolishly.
Lynnie returns with six dinners. "Enjoy. The rooms are still yours until you leave us."
As Thangrom makes his comment she just shakes her head and smirks. We'll see about that She thinks as Lynn comes out with the dinners. Taking a deep whif of the food she sighs happily, "That smells great! Thanks so much Lynn, for everything." After everyone gets a plate she digs into her food, savoring every bite.
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Telsyn looks at his butt.
Trees?
Rolling his eyes, Thangrom gives Telsyn a pat on the shoulder. "Not ya, lad. Yer decidedly less of a pain than most o' yer kind," he explains as he attempts to stop chuckling.
Abby smiles at the idea that she still is needed but then lets out a grunt as the over affectionate brawler squeezes the frail girl's frame.
Thanks, I just wasn't sure, But I do have 1 small rule, I mean request... If I am to be your healer, then let be be the healer. don't go wastin' potions an such when my healing is right here. ok?
she makes the request with a smile as she knows it really won't be fully adhered to but Derika did say to she should not be afraid to talk about things. and Abby wanted to simply solidify her role in the group.
When the food arrives she is happy that the distraction she wanted came just in time.. and she changed the subject to the pleasantness of a good meal.
Telsyn grins at the husky dwarf. He liked them, generally. But every race likes to kid others, now and then. Their peoples shared a long history of cooperation.
He turns to Abigail. Makes sense.
He eats quickly, eager to go learn some new spells and increase his repertoire.
Jerrica eats her meal, happy to not be fighting something for a change. "I'm probably going to see if I can get this armor reinforced."
Between mouthfulls she nods at Abby, "Fair nough'" and then goes back to her food.
"Good idea, you're second in the running for most blood spilled after all, and I'd rather you kept your innards on the inside as well." Vishanti says with a small smile.
After a couple days of rest and preparation, you all head to Isotalo's home. The sage ushers you inside, the two maps unfurled on his dining room table. The older man gestures for you to sit. "So you're interested in the ruins, eh? They are quite fascinating...the last stronghold of the great dwarven empires. Sacked by orcs nearly a hundred years ago, they've been visited by many grave robbers and would-be treasure hunters. Yet none of them have found the vault..."
The sage pauses for a moment. "My interest is a book in that vault: the chronicles of a dwarven priest named Argathor. Rumor has it that he perfected a way to create potions of healing from nearly nothing. Such a find would be a boon, making affordable healing available to all."
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Interesting. That would be very nice, if it's true.
"I'm sure there are other things of interest to adventurers, such as yourself," Isotalo adds. "However I am willing to pay a thousand gold for the retrieval of the book. Half now and half upon delivery."
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She nods as she looks at the others, "It sounds like something worth searching for and fun too. I'm in....what do the rest of you think?"
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Thangrom runs a hand through his beard, looking well-rested. "So th' coin's got me interest, but we gonna get to crack some skulls along th' way? Because, if so, then ya can count me in for sure."
She just smirks and shakes her head, "I'm sure of it. Since when did adventuring not include "cracking skulls"? Orcs and who knows what else has been down there, no tellin' what we'll find."
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After a couple days of rest she seems more relaxed.
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Abby ponders for a bit, well, I'm not really one for "cracking skulls" and such, and while the idea of making such healing possible sounds great, will it put people like me out of a job?
eventually she nods, alright, I'll go, but, lets not get too much enjoyment out of killing, please.
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She looks at Abby and rolls her eyes, "Listen, everyone has their own ways of dealing with things like stress and being attacked repeatedly. If I want to take some satisfaction out of bringing some pain down on the evil bastards doing the attacking, then that's what the hell I'm gonna do. Everyone has the right to feel how they feel about things, and while you have the right to your opinions and beliefs....we don't need you shoving them down our throats. So, if we want to enjoy destroying monsters, then that's exactly what we'll do and there's nothing wrong with it. Though thank you for sharing your opinion, it will be taken into consideration while we're enjoying the "skull cracking"." She smiles impishly at the priestest knowing by now exactly how to push her buttons.
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Isotalo kindly moves the conversation along. "So you agree then?"
She knew Abby could be defensive about some things and she wanted her to feel comfortable talking to them about things that bothered her. But she had to understand that she couldn't tell other people how to feel. Thangrom followed a God of war apparently and so he would definitely enjoy killing things, it was just part of what made him...him. She didn't want anyone to feel like they had to be something they weren't or pretend to be a certain way to make someone else happy. She knew it would take time, but Abby would have to develop some thicker skin if she wanted to make it in this world.
She looks around, "Yeah...I'm pretty sure we all are up for something that takes us far far away from this keep."
"Wonderful!" Isotalo exclaims, taking a sack of coins and setting it in front of the group. "If you head northeast, you should reach Loweir in three days, give or take."
He hands Telsyn the maps. "Hopefully, these aren't too outdated and should be of use to you. As far as I know, Loweir is still standing."
She looks at him, "Do you know anything else of that area? Like what kinds of things might roam out there? It's okay if you don't, I'm just wondering."
Very well. We'll get right to it!
Isotalo shakes his head. "I'm afraid not. That road hasn't been traveled in twenty years. It's not a main road anymore, mind you."
She sighs as she thinks, "So...what you're saying is that it's gonna be rough going and we're more than likely gonna have to clear a path as we go?"
The sage merely shrugs. "Who knows? It might actually be a pleasant trip."
She shrugs and looks at the others, "Okay, so how do we want to handle dividing this? If we divide it now it'll be eighty-three with three left over to stay in our party funds, or do we want to wait until we....accumulate some more things and divide it later? Totally up to you guys. We could keep it in our party funds in case we need to get something for the whole group as an emergency." She shrugs, "We'll go and just deal with things as they pop up, not much else we can really do anyways."
"Unless there is something specific anyone needs to prepare for this we may as well just hold on to it until we make some progress if everyone is fine with that." Vishanti suggests.
A group fund is good. We can still all carry it, so we always have most of it if we lose someone. There won't be anyplace to spend it, where we're going.
Telsyn packs the maps carefully, taking time to go through his pack, adjust his straps and buckles and so on, and get ready for a nice long hike.
But if we find a casino out there, don't blow your money!
She shrugs, "I'm pretty good. I just want to make sure we have enough supplies and are ready for any circumstances, well as much as possible anyways."
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"Well, we have daylight and nothing to do," Jerrica says. "We ready to go?"
She nods again, "I just need to pick up some more trail rations and fill my waterskin and I should be ready to go." She seems slightly distracted, but gets up and readies herself to buy supplies.
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"I need a quiet place to prepare, I'll be back at the rooms." Vishanti says as they prepare to leave.
"I guess I can go with you, Derika."
She nods, "Okay....let's go."
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Vishanti sits quietly on her bed, ignoring all distractions as she communes with the spirits of the land seeking an answer to if embarking on this adventure would be in thier best interest.
Derika is quiet as they make their way through town and quietly looks around as they go towards the shops.
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Telsyn is ready, so he'll go with Vishanti and wait for her somewhere close by.
That leaves 2 with nothing to do.
Derika and Jerrica find a small stall, where a balding man sells various sundries.
She smiles politely, "Good morning Sir, I was wondering if I could purchase some rations from you? About ten days worth?"
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