February 18th:

"I agree with zeiss. although we'll have to make sure they don't need to go searching in there for their well being. they might find it by accident and I doubt any sorta scaring will deter them if they turn desperate. Dwarven miners are hardy folk."

"What airship?"

Spoiler:

Rory's vexed expression remained fixed on his features. "Sure, whatever," he replied, completely waving off any notion concerning the airship. "I'll be out until nightfall. See you at the inn." He headed into the surrounding area to hunt.

Caladrius points out, "You realize that just saying it's dangerous won't deter them at all, like Araiguna said, right? They'll just ask another Adventurer to journey down there for them, or get desperate enough to do so themselves. It's unlikely they'll leave if they already haven't, and they have no other real source of income at the town level so..." He trails off.

Rory:
There is small and large game in the area, deer, bears, rabbits, squirrels, fowl, and the like.

"Well, we will send a group to research this place. Tomorrow. At least, this is what I had in mind. We could say that we will study the artifacts then give them to the town. Let the people in town understand that we will help them more than Araiguna did. That should be enough to keep them away from the ruins."

Outside of town, Rory simply begins stalking whatever game happens to be the closest to him, moving onto the next one after killing the first.

Caladrius nods a bit, looks around, and adds, "Um am I the only one here who's really bothered by the fact that our stated enemy, the dread Gold Lord or Red Cloak or whatever he's calling himself can turn all of us in to mindless slave Tuskers at a whim?"

"isn't "the dread Gold Lord" long dead? its been 100's or even 1000's of years. I bet i stepped on a pile of dust that used to be him. besides, we do have a cure.... assuming tonight i get some actual sleep."

"We do not know if the Gold Lord is still alive. After what we saw, I hope he isn't. But we have Fierneceal and since she is a Scion, I hope she could help us if we ever meet him..."

He turns towards the others.

"Anyone has anything else to say? We should rest for the night and return to Holtburg tomorrow. Oh... Caladrius, can I talk with you?"

He takes Caladrius alone and asks him if he would be willing to go to Ritholme tomorrow to receive the response from Gretta.

Caladrius blinks at Zeiss and, loud enough that others can hear says, "You want me to go, alone, undefended, into another mob boss's territory to negotiate with them?!"

Having spent the previous night on guard watching the ruins, Gwydo grunts approval at the idea of finding an inn as he sets Araiguna down.

Zeiss sighs.

"Fine, I will go. We only need to receive their answer. Not negotiate."

He pauses, thinking.

"You guys go take a rest. I'll see you in Holtburg tomorrow."

He walks away to leave the ruins.

After securing the preserved body, Snarg crashes at the inn, snoring loudly as Zipar rests on his back.

Spoiler:

*Z had refrained from going back to town with the others. She went back to where she had made camp the night before. After a while she heard the sound of animals running in an uncharacteristic manner. Shortly there after came several grunts that sounded a lot like Rory, curious she followed the noise.*

Rory:
You manage to hunt to your heart's content, nabbing an elk, bear, deer, and found a rabbit hole you may do with as you wish. You also in your travels find a strange bottle labeled "Mudder's Milk". If you pull the cork off the top and sniff, it smells like extremely pungent alcohol.

Z:
You find Rory without incident.

After having finished feeding Rainbow, Zeiss takes his belongings, goes on his horse and leave Marblebush for Ritholme.

Rory abandoned the rabbit hidey-hole, finding no prey in sight. He tasted the alcohol, but pocketed it in deciding it would be best experimented with in a safer environment, continuing his crude and wanton hunting.

*Z follows Rory for a while. After his 3rd animal killed and abandoned she calls out*

"Didn't peg you for the mindless killing type."

Hearing a voice, Rory gave a start, and turned to see where it came from. He found Z.

Overcome with an uncannily strong irritation bordering on that of rage as well as a similarly scaled--but felt weaker--confusion, his features rippled with a glare. The raised outer edges of his eyebrows compliment the furrowed inner brow, giving off the impression of a threat in response to a perceived threat. He slowly begins stepping toward Z in a straightforward gait, carrying himself powerfully, with his knife at this side, held by the handle in his enclosed fist with the knife pointing behind him.

"What are you doing here...?" he starts, his speech low in the back of the throat, his R's emphasized a little. "What...what do you want from me?"

Though not muttered or whispered, he almost sounds like he's talking to himself as much as the perceived contender. The tone of his interrogation seems a bit off, unbecoming of what would otherwise sound derisive, or indignant.

"Following the path of the person who has the wildlife in this area so perturbed. Any particular reason why you seem hell bent on eradicating the local wildlife?"

*Z is clearly not impressed or intimidated. She stands there with one fist planted firmly on her hip the other arm hanging loosely at her side. She has one eyebrow raised at you.*

Rory observed Z for a moment, watching her. After nearly a minute, he turned around and began walking away from her. "Get out," he replied laconically, uncharacteristically unresponsive to her inquiry. Though his pace was a bit slackened, he was nevertheless determined to leave Z behind in search of more outlets.

*Z appears highly amused and follows Rory.*

"Get out? Get out of what? This public land? This forest which none holds claim to besides the animals you are so inclined on killing of aimless pleasure?"

*You think you catch the tail end of an under her breath snicker.*

Z wrote:*Z appears highly amused and follows Rory.*

"Get out? Get out of what? This public land? This forest which none holds claim to besides the animals you are so inclined on killing of aimless pleasure?"

*You think you catch the tail end of an under her breath snicker.*

Annoyed at being pestered to spell it out, as well as the need to, and furious at feeling the sting of ridicule, Rory stopped and dropped his knife and stormed into Z's personal space. "I don't want to see you," he said, speaking rapidly. "I don't want to hear you, smell you, turn my back and somehow think that you're still there when I'm not looking."

With finality, he quickly backed off. Opening a clenched fist, he picked up the knife and continued on. "Go be merry somewhere else."

*Z is now thoroughly amused and laughing outright.*

"But I'm feeling plenty merry here."

Rory bristled, but was determined to continue onward. "You could always find a room, sit on your hand and spin around. You'd be just as merry, maybe more."