Though the rain hides much from view, most of you, with the exception of Chloe of course, cannot help but notice the thick band of dark clouds racing towards you from the bay.
Based on your observations and connection to the natural world, you believe that this storm will be fierce, with high winds and a good chance of lightning, but over by midday. After that, you think the weather should be relatively clear with temperatures rising slightly over the next few days.
Your animals begin to act nervously,Dodi and the mules neighing and balking more, as Corvus squawks out Storm! Storm! Even the normally stolid Gellig seems somewhat perturbed, in an indescribably toady way.
When Chloe makes it over to the horse to join Morin, hearing his suggestion, and blinks for a moment, almost ashamed that she'd missed whatever marvelous method her small friend had utilized to accomplish such a feat.
"How... how did you...? Something you learned on the seas..?"
She lets out a short semblance of a whistle (for all her time spent in solitude, she never mastered the skill: overthinking can do that).
"I can help from now on, too.. if you can just show me how..."
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The morning's ride had Chloe sitting like some sort of overstimulated zombie. She doesn't even bother to put on her goggles; no need to hide eyes that were covered mostly by damp, thick hair pressed down in the rain. She does manage to join the conversation with a soft mention of how things could be much worse shortly before the animals reacted, which gave Chloe a bit of a start.
"The storm will be brief, but fierce," says Sarusa. "We should look for shelter--it would be unpleasant to be struck by lightning out here."
Sarusa peers through the rain and spies a few scrubby pine trees closer to the bay.
You are relatively certain that it will be much more dangerous to be near individuals wearing or carrying significant amounts of metal.
"Folks, I hate to say this, but if we're going to shelter in the trees that Sarusa's spotted,, we might want to not stand too close together. Not to put too fine a point on it, but we might not want to stand next to anyone wearing a great deal of...metal. Some of us might want to not wear so much of the stuff, in fact. If we were at sea with that black blow a-comin', we'd be reefing sails and running before the storm, so I think some shelter would be a fine idea."
"-but it's on them so tight, Morin... Tekkis especially: he sounds like a great tin when he moves...,"
Chloe removes a hand from the reigns for a moment, placing it over her heart before making a casting motion in the direction of the fighter as subtly as possible before returning to full control of Dodi.
"How... how long do we have, you think, before... before we get strikes..?" her voice has an edge. The oracle doesn't even try to mask that she's terrified. The roar of the thunder will drown out all, and the clouds already blocked the goddess's warmth. Besides, separation seldom worked out well.
"-and you say... it will end soon?"
"Not soon enough! EVERYONE! Divest yourselves of large metal objects as quick as you can and get it covered in the cart! Tekk, that means your armor, you great bounder! Lightning will strike the highest and most isolated point first--and it will conduct right through us. We have to get to those trees and be spread apart and low to the ground. Even that is no guarantee. Let's move!"
Sarusa runs to help Tekkis with his gauntlets and helmet.
"Of all the days not to be a storm druid! Menhirs on a stick!" she curses.
Knowing an authoritative call when she heard one, the oracle moves to make another link with Sarusa whilst waiting for Morin's directions. She had a morningstar, so the cart would be a fair destination, but the one weapon might not warrant a trek. But then again,their combined weapons might.
"The cart, Morin... which way...? Then the trees...?"
"Quickly, Chloe, give me yer morningstar! I'll toss our metal in the cart and be back in a trice. You keep Dodi here calm, and be ready to give me a hoist back up when I've finished, and we'll get safe to the trees," says Morin, casting a quick, worried eye at the rapidly approaching wall of black clouds.
With Chloe's weapon in hand, he drops off the horse's back and runs quickly to the cart. He tosses the morningstar over the side and in, then quickly draws his shortswords over his shoulders and throws them in as well, thinking as he does so, I'm not like to be the highest point standing on the ground, but ahorse with Chloe we're taller than anyone - but Dodi'll get us to the trees fast, so we'll both be safer. Hate to part with my swords, but Sarusa sounded more than a little concerned.
Morin rushes back to Dodi, calling up to Chloe, "I'm here by your left stirrup, lass. Hoist me up and we'll make for shelter."
Once seated in front of Chloe, Morin holds a hand out close to her face where she can make it out and points toward the trees, "That way, and let's be quick about it. Come on, folks!"
Karozekas begins tossing his blades into the cart. He then shrugs off his chain shirt. After he removes his metal items, he begins to assist Tekkis in removing his armor.
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With Chloe's weapon in hand, he drops off the horse's back and runs quickly to the cart. He tosses the morningstar over the side and in, then quickly draws his shortswords over his shoulders and throws them in as well,
"WAIT!, I don't like this idea!" Corbyn shouts as he takes off his Chain Shirt and Scimitar.
"If lightning strikes the cart we'll never be able to carry our supplies half was across the country, and I can't afford a new one to replace it at the moment."
"Why don't we stuff all the metal objects into Chloe's Haversack. I doubt lightning will be able to strike through to extra dimensional spaces!"
"Corbyn... friend... I cannot take all of it, even if my bag... even if it were empty, I think...My kits and medicines have taken much of the space... Would it be smarter to just drop them once away from the road and run... Who would steal them in a storm...?!"
"You're both right. And that's a fine idea, Chloe. I was going to suggest just dropping it all in the road, but off the road a bit's a much better plan. It seems not having your eyes distract you does lend itself to your thinking more clearly than most. We'll need to get the mules unhitched as well, or they'll be struck for certain."
With this, Morin urges Dodi over toward the cart and steps directly from the horse's back to the cart bed. He scrambles to the front and onto Jeminda's mule and begins to undo the harness connecting the animal to the cart.
"I'll get this'n cast off. Corbyn, can you get Plod? Once they're loose, the rest of you take what you can carry and get going. Chloe and I can leave last, as we can ride faster than you can run, and we'll carry what's left and drop it somewhere. Say, just before that little hillock with the two dark bushes on it. All right, everyone?"
Morin points off the side of the road toward the spot he's described, then turns his attention to the harness.
Sarusa tosses her scimitar in the cart and covers up everything. "Go!"
Morin sees the almost frantic urgency with which Sarusa gets rid of her weapon and he begins to move even faster. He finishes unhitching the mule and grabs the lead line hanging from her bridle, then gives her a tug and leads her to the side of the cart, where Chloe waits on Dodi.
"We'd better move like the wind, Chloe. Our weather expert is moving faster than any of us. Hold still and I'll be aboard in a moment."
Morin clutches the lead line in his teeth and grabs his swords and Chloe's awkward weapon from the side of the cart where he placed them moments ago. He climbs onto the horse in front of Chloe, shifts the mule's lead to his hand and says "Head for the bay!"
As they near the trees, Morin drops the swords and morningstar in a bush at the edge of the small copse, thinking I think we'll be able to find them there again. I hope nothing else finds us in the meantime.
"Bless you, Morin... I know you didn't have to stay to help me-you never did, but... you always do."
Chloe makes one final link. It was probably unneeded, but if she could do anything to help her companion, she'd worry about being overprotective later.
Despite Tekkis' recalcitrance, the six of you manage to divest yourselves of metal and take shelter beneath the pines. Once there, you can only gape in awe at the display of raw power on display. Lightning bolts arc back and forth from cloud to earth too fast to count.
Several huge, winged shapes cavort amidst the clouds, seemingly unaffected by the lightning around them. Their sinuous bodies twist and turn in a strange dance, heedless of the fury of the storm.
Waterlogged and bedraggled, you emerge from the relative safety of the trees a few hours later. You, your beasts, and your equipment seem unscathed. The road is a morass of sucking mud, the ditches to the side filled with muddy water.
Karo emerges from his hiding spot and begins getting his gear in order, helping the others when he can. Well, wasn't that an amazing display of nature's power. I bet if I had the time to search I could discover some fulgurites out there under the earth. He stares wistfully for a moment. Another time perhaps.
During the worst of the storm, Chloe had simply covered her head with her hands and made herself as small as possible while humming and muttering prayers, not finding as much wonderment in the workings of nature's fury as her companions might. All she could really gather from it was the noise. The persistent and overpowering howls of the wind and the earth-shaking lightning strikes terrified her, reminding her of a flooded cellar and days left wandering the wilds without hope. Still, she wasn't alone this time in any sense of the word, which made these elements bearable.
---
Chloe slogs through the mud to find the place where she and Morin had left Dodi without a word, burying her head into the horse's neck for a moment like a child seeking comfort before trying to gauge where everything and everyone is again. Obviously, none of her companions had been harmed during the storm, so her services are unneeded in that regard, at least.
Listening to Karozekas, Chloe can't help but wonder what a fulgurite could be. She hopes she won't step on one.
"Thanks for your help. I do not like to be without my armor, but in that storm..." He shakes his head as he begins gathering up the scattered pieces of his field plate.
"Surtova, any other storms on the way? I'd hate to get everything back on just to tear it off again."
Morin laughs and raps a hand on the side of his head.
"It'll be a bit before I hear right, after all that knocking about the heavens did. A blow like that at sea would have taken us a dozen leagues off course - glad that we can still see the road from here, even if it's too soupy to travel on."
"I'm also glad we all made it through that. We did pretty well, pulling together as a crew there, many of us having only just met. That was good work, Karo, diving in to help Tekkis get out of his lightning suit. And thank you for warning us, Sarusa. I think I'd like to buy the lot of you a drink in Sandpoint, unless we find a suitable place closer than that."
Then, more quietly, "And, Chloe, I heard what ya said afore the storm hit - we're crew, and we help each other, never ye doubt that."
"Surtova? Did a stray bolt hit the metal in your head?" Sarusa grins. "It should clear up today--the storm has blown itself out. The water on the ground will be a problem for a while. We will have relatively clear skies. ...it is early in the season, so we won't be troubled by mosquitoes and gnats and sweatflies. I hope. And leeches and biting water bugs and tree snakes..."
She continues a list of biting and crawling things while oiling her scimitar and flashing it in the sun, then checking on foodstuffs in the cart.
"Who's for lunch? That is, who is interested in eating lunch?"
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"I could eat. Besides it will give me a chance to dry out some of my things. We shouldn't linger too long though. We did promise Jeminda we'd find Elyas in a timely fashion."
Corbyn begins affixing any wet items to the cart. He doesn't figure they will be dry by the time everyone leaves so he'll just let them dry on the road.
"I like lunch!"
Tekk takes an involuntary step back before stammering, "Surtova?! Did I call you that?"
He blinks a few times, "Sorry, Sarusa, force of habit. She was an old acquaintance..."
Listening to Sarusa go on about all the vermin, Tekk just shakes his head and makes a sour face. He heads to the cart and retrieves a bundle of oily rags from his backpack. Sitting down with his back leaning against a cart wheel, Tekk begins expertly wiping down pieces of armor, then lying them in the grass to dry.
Relieved that there is to be no other storm, Chloe sighs happily, her spirits returning quickly, with Morin's reassurance prompting a beaming smile.
"I'm hungry, too, and I guess we won't go anywhere for a while... yes...?"
Chloe proceeds to wring out her hair.
"Sarusa, your frog friend... surely he's enjoying this, eh..?"
After a meal and the necessary maintenance to your equipment, the party is ready to continue. While the road is hardly in ideal condition, it still seems easier to traverse than the water-logged fields that bound it. The fertile, green shoots would also fare better if they were not trampled. Your beasts nevertheless eat their fill of nearby grasses, and Gellig and Corvus discover some fine worms for their sustenance. Most of the clouds have been swept away by the storm, and Sarenrae's light returns to warm your skins.
"Suuuure she was, Tekki of the Small Nippers. Did she oil your armor regularly?" teases Sarusa.
Sarusa tests out the field, squishing around to see if they can continue overland off of the mud glop that is now the road.
"Do we have any engineer-minded people who can eyeball this cart? We're bound to get stuck if we try the road, but perhaps we can find our way through the shorter grass..."
"Are-are you sure the road still isn't better?"
Chloe taps her fingers together, not wanting to harm the innocent grass beneath her feet. Many things about the wild had proven their enmity, but never the grass or crops themselves.
"I'll follow no matter what, but... but I don't want to be stuck too far away from the main thoroughfare...,"
"Um, something like that. More along the lines of 'betrayed my trust, jammed a spear through my chest, dumped me in a rat-intested alley, and left me to die'." Tekk says dispassionately while inspecting his helm.
He raises his eyes to meet Sarusa's, "It does me well to know that the only qualities you share with her are similar names." he adds with a grin.
Tekk cradles his helm and stands, looking around at the road and fields, "Now... which way to go..."
"Bah, they both look like bad options. I say stick with the road."
Corbyn's words strike Chloe as being a little odd.
"Are we.. are we hiding from someone right now? I know that Elyas went missing, but..."
She doesn't really mean anything by these words. If she knew Sczarni from Korvosa were scheduled to come down the way, she might never go back the roads, but if there was a danger she was unaware of, she had to find out as soon as possible.
While the road is hardly in ideal condition, it still seems easier to traverse than the water-logged fields that bound it. The fertile, green shoots would also fare better if they were not trampled.
"Looks to me like we can swim through the fields or wade on the road. And it's a lot easier to travel, and fight should it come to that, when you're wading. And for all my singing a boaty song about yer cart, Corbyn, I don't think she's meant to float on these fields of muck. I'd rather kedge a crabber against a spring tide than try to roll anything through this mud - I say we take the road."
Considering the time she'd spent in Korvosa was almost entirely underground, Chloe blinks at this, having no idea what the sect in question was, really.
"...Oh... That's no good at all... But-er... why would they be after you, Corbyn..? You don't seem the criminal type...,"
Karo, overhearing Corbyn and Chloe turns. I do hope I'm around when that happens. Do you think I could study him a little, perhaps aquire a feather or two?
As he finishes his sentence Corvus lands on his shoulder and cahs. Oh no need to worry Corvus, I would never dream of replacing you.
Don't know until you try, I always say.
As your group continues on its way, midday turns to afternoon. The heat of the day has improved the conditions of the road somewhat, though there are still difficult patches. Your beasts are muddy past their knees, and the drainage ditches to either side are still a soupy mess. You spot a bend in the road some three hundred feet before you. The ubiquitous hedgerows conceal what lies beyond.
You can hear a voice tinged with the accent of the countryside and the braying of a donkey coming from somewhere ahead of you.
Morin calls out to the group "Hold, friends!" and raises a hand to his ear to quiet them.
"I'm near certain it's no hippogriff-ridin' marine, but I hear something ahead of us on the road. Sounds a bit like a yokel engaged in conversation with a donkey, unless I mistake myself."
"-perhaps a farmer?"
Chloe pulls her smoked goggles over her face and smiles.
"...it would be unsurprising if someone with a cart got stuck in this, yes...?"
The rest of you do not hear whatever it is that Morin's keen ears have picked up, but some of you do see a dilapidated pair of buildings off to the south east. Perhaps it is an abandoned farmstead.
You can't quite make out what's being said, but you can hear two distinct voices (not counting the mule.)
Karo readies his bow. Perhaps we should examine the buildings and get off the road to see who is coming?
"Hmm, sounds like it's two voices, not one. So we're not necessarily heading for someone who chats with his donkey. No reason to think they mean us any harm, unless it's an especially bloodthirsty donkey, and I'd hate to startle anyone by coming upon them with a bunch of weapons drawn. Let's carry on and see who we see."