Fourth Adventure 08: Beginning of the End

"I ain't thinkin' ya goin' to be hidin' well wit' this group even if ya be goin' to the mountain. Anyone be havin' anyone good at all, they'll be findin' ya."

Tabran Cole wrote:"what makes you thing were been tracked so far we have been no really danger to who ever is behind all this?"

"I just assume we have. I don't think the Bastards would leave that to chance."

"Not to mention, the sheer size of this group would be difficult to miss, magically or otherwise."

"Yer already bein' track by Order anyho. S'easy as handin' 'em somethin' they're wantin' to be keepin'; like a coin."

"Order? What's Order? Are you guys on a job? Have I completely thrown you all off track?"

"Oh, yeah. Official-like member o' The Order o' Summoners. Ya . . . ya be knowin' 'bout The Order?"

Fierneceal wrote:"Order? What's Order? Are you guys on a job? Have I completely thrown you all off track?"

"No, don't worry. We've only been working for them for a few days now. As i understand it, they're some big powerful organization in this land."

"We are on the run Miss. That is our job for now."

Zeiss takes a sip from his drink. It looks tasty.

"The Order is an organization with its hands in much of our societies. They do research of the elements, help the poor and destitute, and have a military branch that tries to keep the peace as a neutral party. They have the power of a nation, but are not one themselves.

As you can probably guess, we are currently employed by the military branch. That's about all we can tell you."

"No, no I've never heard of them. I see. So, you were working for them, for a branch of the military, until this thing happened with the Mages, and now you're just trying to avoid everyone? Boy, things were much simpler on Vesayen Lassel. At least, until..." Fierneceal shakes her head in bewilderment and continues nibbling her food, more mindlessly following than anything right now.

"........"

Fierneceal wrote:"Boy, things were much simpler on Vesayen Lassel. At least, until..." Fierneceal shakes her head in bewilderment and continues nibbling her food, more mindlessly following than anything right now.

Rory shakes his head, too. "Yeah..."

"As far as I know we are still a part of The Order. We just need to lay low for a while. I'd tell you more but I'm not sure we are authorized to share."

"our last order from the Boss was to leave town and wait for contact for him."

Snarg cackles before responding: "Heh, ain't no 'were' 'bout it; ain't burned that bridge yet. They'll be havin' a post most everywhere ya goin'. Maybe ya wantin' 'em to be lookin' fer ya Flux if ya contact ain't helpin' ya?"

"I won't know if my contact can help until we get to Holtburg, if that is, in fact, where we're going. I may make my way back to Vesayen Lassel yet, but it just feels wrong at this point. Not without Flux. I can't go back without him."

"If ya ain't followed back. Lots o' people gonna be interested in ya and yer island. Ya gonna be attractin' lots o' attention in Holtburg. Everyone's gonna be wantin' ya land . . . 'specially in war."

Snarg of Wildpaw wrote:"If ya ain't followed back. Lots o' people gonna be interested in ya and yer island. Ya gonna be attractin' lots o' attention in Holtburg. Everyone's gonna be wantin' ya land . . . 'specially in war."

"Yeah. I'm starting to regret babbling my kinship to every bar patron to catch my eye."

The road is, as advertised, well trafficked and guarded. There are two points along the way at which you are stopped and your goods are inspected, but these are standard checkpoints that several of you are aware happen the closer you get to major cities across the continent. They find nothing wrong and you eye them carefully, but none of them seem to plant nor take anything during their search.

As you get closer and the day drags on, you begin to notice something odd; the amount of traffic coming from the opposite direction is dwindling off. Similarly, the flow of traffic going towards Al-Jalima is very gradually slowing down. By about 4 in the evening, the incoming traffic has stopped entirely, and the line is slowed down to a crawl.

Higaide & Tabran:

Spoiler:

After a couple minutes pass, the line inches forward another few feet.

"There's commotion ahead. People sound scared. Talking about Stonehold."

"Eh, what's goin' on? Stonehold's doin' somethin'?" Snarg says, jumping to see over the crowd.

Spoiler:

"stonehold?? thats miles away?"

As the road to Al-Jalima begins to jam up, Rory takes the time to settle a grievance and sidles up next to Kolson.

"Hey. Listen, I didn't like a word you said the day before," he starts, "but I was the one who went shooting my mouth off, and it wasn't keen. There was no call for making a scene. I'm sorry."

There is nothing to distinguish the people in line in front of you from anyone else you've seen today along the road. Travelers, merchants, haulers, workers, and students commuting

Zeiss, on his horse, stays with the wagon and decides to get behind the line. He takes his spyglass to look what is happening.