for thoughs who get bored or RANDOMIFICATION!!!

[KeegaKurGurk]

*An armor clad figure walks up to the bar.*
Yo bar keep tall glass of milk on the rox. *the man in dragon riders armor comands, Being dressed as he is the bar keep looks at him and complies.*
Will that be all sir.? *the bar keep asks*
I will also be needing a pint of your strongest whisky. And this should be able to take care of it.
*the dragon rider takes a small pouch from seemingly now where and dumps 12 rubies on the bar.*
Why yes sir. Right away sir. Would you also like a room sir? *the bar keep stammers as he stares at the fortune the strange dragon rider placed on the bar*
No, no, i am in no need of a room im just paying for the horses my steed may eat while im here... and for the mugs.................. and the cart i landed on. *replied the dragon rider politely then turned and walked back out the door with both the whisky and his glass of milk.*

[asianmommy]

*as he walks out of the bar, Kella slides off the back of the dragon and lands gracefully at his side. Kella, though not a tall woman, is incredibly imposing in all company. The slim sword on her back and two daggers at her hips speak nothing for the ruthless tenacity of her spirit or the quickness of her intellect. Though physically she is weaker than most, and her right leg weak, very few bother to mess with her. (being friends with the dragon guy could help)* Whiskey?

*It's gone in a flash and she's smiling.* I always like a town with whiskey.

[KeegaKurGurk]

Yea if you want more just go inside the tavurn and tellem ur with me im sure thel give you no hastle,
....... just dont drink to much i know how you get when your intoxicated.
Ill set up camp and put melphine to sleep so she dont tear up anything els.
*the dragon rider turns away and gulps the milk down and shivers as he just starts feeling teh nights chill, he then turns to the dragon and takes teh camp suplies off its back and with a simple wave of a hand the dragons asleep*
Oh by the way i never told you my name have I?
*the dragon rider asked Kella with puzzlement as he could have sworn all the time that he was with her the subject never came up*

[asianmommy]

No, you haven't. You can tell me when I get back though. I want more whiskey and something to eat.

*walks off into the tavern which is warm and smells of meat cooking and ale being sloshed about. She takes three strides to the bar and hops onto it, swinging her feet over and landing on the other side in front of the stunned keeper.* Hello!

*He starts to protest as she grabs whiskey bottles from his shelves but she stops him* My friend out there with the dragon told me to come in and I'd be accommodated. Thanks!

*Hopping out with her plunder she walks over to the fire, takes the whole spit, bites off a chunk of meat and smiles.* It's good! Can I have some bread and maybe honey, and butter in a bag? Thanks!

*She walks off with her loot, no one has said a word as they watch her go. She makes her way to camp, chewing off pieces of roast and sucking down whiskey as she meets up with the dragon rider.*

[KeegaKurGurk]

Well now that was fast i havent even got the fire started yet. *the dragon rider states, now having most of his armor off he stands tall at 5' 11" but for a dragon rider hes rather spindley looking although under the armor and from the tone of his voice you wouldnt notice, he stands there wood in hand smileing*
Oh yea my name it Drake, Drake Cazen.... But you may call me what ever you wish as you could tell i dont mind.
*Drake gets teh fire going and pulls some bread out of a puch at his side*
well looks like you made quite the haul there i take it they gave you no trouble.

[asianmommy]

*blink* who? oh, those people in the tavern... no, I don't think they realized what was happening until I left.

*hands him half her bread loaf* mine's fresher and I have honey, butter and meat if you want some.

Well, Drake, to formally introduce myself, my name is Kella, daughter of Immani, I'm a witch and a singer by trade, but my hobbies include mostly stealing things or tricking people out of things. Don't worry, I haven't taken anything from you. It was kind of you to give me a lift outta that tight spot back there. Most people would've just left me.

[KeegaKurGurk]

Well im a kind heart, even though my look may not reflect it with all the spikes and things.
*he takes some of teh offerd bread* Thanks for teh fresher bread i was getting a bit tired of the cracker i have. *he says with chuckle* And I think Would like a bit of meat if you truly dont mind.

I know i dont have to worry about you taking anything from me as i dont realy have anything worth stealing, at least nothing you could sell later. Belive me iv tried...........
*he says while siting there looking intesly in to the fire*

By the way why was the entire vilage after you in teh first place it couldnt be because of the aformentiond skills in deception would it? *he asked curiously*

[asianmommy]

Oh nothing like that. I may have angered the town governor's perfectly arranged marriage for his daughter with a wealthy neighboring land owner by stealing his daughter away for a passionate night of youthful exploration and to the discovery that she is a lover of the... "fairer" sex. She ran away that night and was no where to be discovered by the wedding morning. And, while I was consoling her fiance, I might have accidentally let my knife slip into his... guts?

Well, the two were both well liked by the town, even though he was a horse's ass, and that's insulting to the horse.

So, they wanted me out of town.

Did I mention I was there to sing at their wedding?

[KeegaKurGurk]

Well now quite a story I know never to anger you. hehe.
so thats why i had seen a young woman in the forest i had thought she was out on a picknik so i payed it no mind and she didnt seem to notice me ither although i was flying rather low.

And i hope oyu leaned your lesson.... i mean govoners daughters could be fun and all but killing there fiances aranged or not is alwase a bad idea. *he said jokingly*

*he looks up andnotices a star burning out then coming back to life*
Ill be right back keep the fire going would you?
*he walkes off to the darkness and dissapears a few feet away from the fires light*

[asianmommy]

*She shrugs, tends the fire and hums a tune, taking long drinks off the pillaged whiskey bottle*

(Hi, Sableagle)

[KeegaKurGurk]

*A few moments later he returns.* I've got an asingment care to tag along it get quite lonly up there in teh sky we will be heading to the coast seems some one has problems with raiders...............
*he trails off* But then agian maybe you would like to stay her a bit longer.

[sableagle]

(Hi there. I'd join in but I was about four posts behind by the time I hit post.)

[KeegaKurGurk]

(sight join in any old time sabe)

[sableagle]

One of the people in the smoky tavern quietly sets down his mug, glances around and stands up, lifting a bulky cloak and a harness covered in pouches from beneath the bench. The harness swings onto him with the same comfortable fit as his well-used boots, and two hilts stand up past his shoulders as he buckles the chest and waist straps. Draping the cloak over his left arm, he strides to the door and out into the night.

A cool breeze sliding down off the hillside swirls gently around him and a full-grown dragon. The local bats flitter by overhead, grabbing the bugs from teh warm air over the tavern door, and a horse stamps in a stall somewhere. Out of habit, he lifts his face and sniffs lightly at the breeze. It smells clean, and slightly earthy. He casts a glance at the sky, where a few faint clouds mask some of the stars. It's going to be a cold night, but a dry one. With another glance at the dragon and one each way along the street, he walks towards the two figures talking there.

The dragon seems asleep, or at the least utterly unruffled. The man standing by it is clearly its rider. It's as obvious as two wolves being in the same pack. He seems at ease with the woman, and she with him, but they stand differently towards each other, like strangers.

The dragonrider steps away into the night, getting the firelight out of his eyes. The man quietly approaching is between him and the lamplit street, and obviously visible. For a moment he considers striking an exaggerated casual pose against the wall, then discards the notion and just keeps walking with the same long, soft gait.

"I only know one you might mean." He points through several buildings. "Half a mile above the shallows at the north end of the lake? The young lady, was she on the level or going up?" He looks down at the ground for a moment. "One village, that is. I know one village where someone was going to be married around now. She ... ah ... if she's going to hide and go back and settle for another arranged marriage ... well, if she's not she's going to have to keep moving, and if she's not going above the cliff-line there, ah ... is she?"

He waits, looking at both of them, wondering whether he's made a mess of this. It's all so simple in his mind, the shape of the land, the nature of the ground, where clean water is, how cold it'll be and everything else. It's the talking that's unfamiliar, the other people aspect of it. He looks at them, examining their faces, watching for a reaction.

[asianmommy]

*Passing the newcomer the bottle, she invites him to sit* I'm Kella, this is Drake. I don't know what's to become of her. And, I do wanna stick around her long enough to get some supplies, and a blanket for padding. Riding that dragon has put a sore spot on my behind.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake looks at kella.*
Alright we will re suplie here in the morning and get soem rest kella im not due there for a few days and as the crow flies we can get there in under half.

*with a polite smile he gestures to the man to sit.*
So tell us you storry and posible you name sir an ddont worry the dragon is quite asleep. As young as she is she needs it.

[sableagle]

He stands slightly back from the fire, takes a sip of whiskey and passes it back with a momentary smile for thanks. Even as he passes it back, he's glancing up the slope at the horizon, black against dark grey clouds and near-black blue sky. There's nothing moving, which is probably largely due to the dragon, which hasn't reacted to his arrival or his voice.

Noone's answered whether the runaway was going uphill or level with the river. He got something wrong, but he's not sure what.

"Did you see whether she was heading above or below the cliffs?"

It's a fair way from that village to where she'd really be in trouble, and not all that far from here. She'll have stopped for the night by now, as dark as the woods will be. As long as she's somewhere sheltered she should be fine, and he can get there around the same time as she should be stumbling into trouble if she went the wrong way, which just leaves the question of how to meet her head-on.

At the dragonrider's gesture, he drops to a crouch, then swings the cloak over himself, hiding his form and holding in some warmth. What had been missing was now obvious: a name. "Lindela," he answers. A story is slightly harder to provide, as it's years long and much of it just normal living. After some thought he narrows it down: "I took a job with a group for someone who couldn't pay us because one of us killed him. I may go back once it's quieter again. Meanwhile, I'm over here." An inclination of his head towards a distant mountain pass is the only clue to where he was before. To him, it's not so important. Sudden laughter from the tavern echoes jarringly up the street and he twists round to look, hands coming out of the cloak, then waits and watches.

[asianmommy]

*She waves her hand in front of his face* Hello!

If you're looking to find her, she's long gone. She headed north from town, but I don't know where else she went, but we're not interested in her, we're interested in you, darling.

[KeegaKurGurk]

Oh yes sorry about that small detail i didnt see which way she was heading as she was sitting by a small stream. but by the way she was facing i belive she was going twards the river when i passed overhead and there was no one for a good 5 miles at the time.
*Drake replied in apology*
If you would like i could take you to wher i had seen her last it wouldnt take long.
And if your nervous about riding a dragon i have other modes of transport.

welcome to our lil camp fire Lindela stay as long as you wish.
And may i as who was to pay you upon you done deed?

[sableagle]

"Oh. Thanks, but where she was isn't much good if she's not still there. I can't follow her in the dark myself and there aren't any wolves around there to ask. They know better."

He looks around again, then sits on a rock. He's silent for a long moment, thinking about the dragon and money and inheritances and who needs what and how much it's worth.

"Interested in me how?"

[asianmommy]

Who are you? How do you come to be here? Why'd you walk up to a strange woman and a man with a dragon?

[KeegaKurGurk]

And i must ask why are you interested in the girl?
*drake looks inquizitivly twards Lindela.*
Ya know just out of curiosity.

[sableagle]

He looks at her, unblinking, wondering how to explain further.

"Here is where someone paid someone to deliver a few bottles of something," he says, "and I'm the someone she paid ... so I'm here. Er ... "

He's out of practice. It's been a while. Most people were interested in whether he meant harm, whether he meant to take anything of theirs, whether they could take anything of his and whether he could pay for the drinks.

"I like it out there," he goes on, gesturing away from the firelight and the village, towards wooded valleys, windswept moors and high mountains. "I do jobs out there without all the fuss and shiny armour and wagons. It's ... more harmonious."

He smiles then, a lopsided grin. "You ... are unusual. I don't get to meet many dragons. You're interesting." He stops and thinks about that. "They're not," he adds, meaning the people in the village.

"She ... might get into trouble, which would be ugliness. I never did like rich gits and arranged marriages, anyway. If she wants to be free, I ... respect that." His teeth flash in a grin at the mention of rich gits. He apparently has no objection to knives in rich gits.

[asianmommy]

I like you too. *She grins and hands him back the bottle.* The girl, my one night stand, she paid you?

*She takes out a small ink kit and asks him* What's your name?

[KeegaKurGurk]

Yes interesting iv been called that many a time. Usualy by the bothel maids at most taverns.
You your slef are intriging as well.
*drake stares off in to the distance paying atention to all his suroundings tuning out the clatter in the tavern.*
Hmm. Smells like it may yet rain although it wont be tonight.
none the less ill have to put the tent up in the morning just incase.

and you Lindela are welcome to stay by the fire as long as you wish for i sleep little and enjoy a good story.

[sableagle]

He takes the bottle and takes another small sip, then passes it to the dragonrider. "Still Lindela, although it's been other things. Your one-night stand ... I presume you mean one-night lay? I've never seen her, as far as I know. I was making a delivery for an alchemist. The medicine man here has a clue, and she grows herbs and pickles and ferments things and so on. Payment for this one is when I get back there with the empties and his money for her."

He looks at the sky again and then back down to the village. "It's always going to rain soon around here. It saves carrying so many waterskins. Not tonight, but they're easier if I stay under a roof." He nods towards the village again. The people there are, indeed, easier-going with strangers who do what they consider normal, and sleep indoors. "The innkeeper's glad of the medicine supply. Feet swell up. Quiet time for him. I got a room. The dragon wouldn't fit, though." That the room was meant for one and three together would be in a heap draped over each other is a detail he feels no need to mention, seeing no problem with such an arrangement.

[KeegaKurGurk]

nah, I prefer to sleep out here with Melphine her and i are acustome to it and nobody has given me trouble about it.
*Drake pats Melphine's headress of scales* Besides you would have to think of what would happen if i werent here to comphort her when she awakes suddenly.

[asianmommy]

Thanks, I forget names easily. *writes name on hand* So's I can remember.

*She listens to the two of them talk*

I'd be glad to sleep indoors tonight.

[sableagle]

"Oh." Lindela thinks about it for a while. A nervous young filly, all alone and the size of a dragon, is not the most peaceful image he's ever had. "Is she still quite young?" He's never had the chance to really look at a dragon like this. They'd always been rather busy with something, and whatever a dragon was doing tended to take priority over anything else going on nearby. They'd also usually been further away.

He glances at the woman standing closer to him now, then at the dragon. "First light?" he asks, with no indication of what event should be timed for it. With that, he stands up and half-turns towards the lamplight.

[KeegaKurGurk]

yes im her first master shes only 4 years below me, and as you may know dragons may live for hundreds of years. Shes basicly still a pup and im more or less her fauther figure but i must admit it wasnt planed that way. Back at the guild i was being traind to ride much older dragons whom have had more diciplin and i had found her egg years ago when my training had just begun.

[sableagle]

Lindela looks over the dragon's sleeping form again, and at all the places someone could curl up and the large and presumably water-proof wings. "Is she warm?"

[KeegaKurGurk]

Not as much as you would think, but i have my blankets and sleaping gear. So i will be fine t'night ive been sleaping next to her since i was a child and nothing ill has come of me.
She also seems to enjoy it so its more for her "feeling safe" then for mine.

[asianmommy]

I guess we're not going in then. *She shrugs, walks over to the dragon, inhales and lays down in the crook of a hind leg.*

Good night, boys.

[sableagle]

I was merely curious.

Shall we, or are you happy there now?

[asianmommy]

I'm alright. she is pretty warm. Come, lay down here.

[sableagle]

Lindela runs a glance over the village, thinks about the cold night and the distance to anywhere else, the few items in his room and the innkeeper's likely ratio of nerve to common sense, and strides off into town. A minute later he's coming back, pacing over the grass with two long bundles. One turns out to be a thick blanket, which he rolls out in a narrow strip next to Kella. Taking off the harness with his pouches and two short swords, he places that and the other bundle on the blanket then lies on it, against Kella, and drapes his cloak over the bundles and the two of them to create a warm, dry space for the night. The tavern smells too towny anyway.

An owl calls, a long, soft note, and is answered with a sharp squeak from another. All is well. He sleeps, listening to the bats and the owls and the others breathing.

[asianmommy]

Kella lays close to Lindela and his warm body is a comfort to her own travel weary self. She falls asleep quickly.

[KeegaKurGurk]

drake watches as Lindela leaves and returns with his belongings

Well as long as your comphortable, sleep as long as you would like we will be here for a couple days.

Drake walks to the riding harnes on Melphines back and unclasps it freeing her to breath easier then sits down by her side and slowly drifts to sleep..

[asianmommy]

In the morning, the sun shines clean and bright over Kella's face. She wakes next to Lindela, who is curled against her side. She eases herself away, walks to the fire and starts it up. She starts to make a list of the things she'll need to get before they leave.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake walks back from teh village with a couple of suplies for himself*

Ah your awake finaly, im surprised me moving Melphine didnt awake you earlyer i had t take her to a lake for a drink.
*glances over at Lindela*
And i see our new friend is still sleeping well.

[asianmommy]

Yeah. He's nice and warm.

I don't need much and I won't be long.
*She stands and goes into town for what she needs, leaving the two, almost, strangers to themselves for a couple of hours*

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake starts to cook breakfast and tries to stir Lindela*
I wonder what every one wants to eat.
*rocks lindela back and forth* hey hey hey wake up friend. hmm maybe i should let him sleep.......
*goes back to the fire and starts cooking up the eggs he bought from town*

[sableagle]

Lindela opens one eye.

"Your dragon is far too polite to inform you that you snore like a pig."

He rolls over and glances at Kella. There's a custom to be observed, although it's been a while. It comes to him.

"Good morning."

Judging by the reaction, he did that right. It all comes back to him. It's like riding a horse.

"There were a couple of kids wanting to join me for the walk back. They've gone looking for your lover. They're local. They'll be quick, quicker than me on young legs."

Lindela rolls over again and up to his feet, and shakes out his cloak.

"You know she ran partly because you showed her an alternative? She could have walked right into any of half a dozen things along that stretch of river, running away from something she didn't know she could escape until she met you. Don't worry. One of those two was wearing one of those half dozen things when they left."

He turns and looks at Drake. "That leaves me free to finish this delivery job, or start something else. You said something about raiders."

[asianmommy]

(I is not there anymore)

*After two hours she comes back, laden with packages and a fine looking horse* hi.

[sableagle]

(We seem to have developed a bad case of lag here. Also it's half past eleven at night where I am.)

[asianmommy]

(wow, where are you?)

[KeegaKurGurk]

Yes thats my next asignment im to go help defend a coastal town seems there chieftan is tired og giving up his food and his comunities tired of having there children taken from them. there next raid is to be in a week.

[sableagle]

(In the UK. Middle of the night here:

http://timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunearth.html

Still daylight over most of the USA and already daylight in Cambodia.)

[KeegaKurGurk]

(yea it is so shal we postpown this till u awake for reals lol)

[sableagle]

(I was going to suggest leaving it at "good night" and saying good night and starting tomorrow tomorrow.

Work and sleep eat up so much of my life. :( I keep having to buy all my own food too. Grrrrr.)

[KeegaKurGurk]

(im srry bout that so yea we can do as youv sujested that can work fine)

[sableagle]

(Thanks. See you tomorrow.)

[asianmommy]

(sure, see ya tomorrow!)

[sableagle]

(Okay, folks. I'm back. You there?

We have openings for the warrior in the thing-hide from town, that warrior's friend and the runaway bride, assuming they can find her and lead her to safety without anyone sinking in the bog, drinking something poisonous, being stung by something deadly or getting eaten.)

[asianmommy]

(I'm here. Keeg might not be up yet since he's in Oregon and it's like... 6 or 7 am there.)

[sableagle]

(Okay. Recycling and shopping, and back in an hour or so.

Are we taking up from the middle of the night?)

[asianmommy]

(That's fine with me, since the morning was sort of confused last night.

::hits rewind:: )

[KeegaKurGurk]

(refff werrrrr flllaaaaarrr rbbb)ok we are wound

[sableagle]

(Am back. My bird feeders arrived, so I've been setting them up. The pear-eating blackbird appears unimpressed.)

The night goes by uneventfully, with three people and a dragon being left well alone. The early pre-dawn light stirs the birds to song, and Linela wakes up. Kella's warm body and the dragon blocking the wind make it pleasantly warm under his cloak even in the chilly dawn. He slips out from beneath it, scooping up his bundles and harness, and paces over the grass towards the town. The thick cloak settles over Kella, so there is no cold draught. Drake and Melphines are cuddled together, which is probably a good thing considering what Drake said about her waking up nervous.

The town is still quiet, with only a few people about chores so early. The maid at the inn pauses to eye him curiously from a window. As he passes the stable the smell of dragon and the wild makes the horses stir and mutter. From the shadows beyond it, two figures step out, one medium height and solid without being heavy, wearing a long coat against the chill, the other tall and slim, with well-muscled shoulders and a quick step, wearing scaly-looking clothes that flex strangely moves and grimacing slightly at the chill in the air.

"Are we going already?" asks the first. "He won't be up for a few hours yet. He doesn't like the cold mornings and doesn't like to build a big fire."

"Change of plan," answers Lindela. "Girl in the woods to find, before she walks into the swamp, if I can."

The taller one exchanges a glance with the other. "If she's above the crags ..."

"Below."

"Then we find her. We know that area. It's where I got my new armour." The armour, in the growing light, is clearly the hides of some sort of creature.

Lindela looks it over, judging the size of the larger scales, and nods. "Can you protect her through it?"

"No need. There are paths up the crags if you know where." This revelation is accompanied by a flourishing gesture that reveals a fistful of spikes, hooks and peculiar metal devices with wheels. Each one has a large clip screwed closed on one end, big enough for a rope to run freely through it.

Lindela looks them both over and weighs up the risks of the swamp and how scary the crags are likely to be. He nods, turns and walks back to the dragon. The two turn and run together towards the river road, eating ground with long, easy paces. Lindela puts down his bundles and harness and slips back under the cloak next to the warmth of Kella.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake waking up from his light sleep by the daylight, he stands from the other side fo Melphine to see Kella and Lindela still asleep or atleast trying to sleep in the shade of the dragon. Drake sets off for breakfast suplies.*

[sableagle]

Lindela watches Drake going into town, weighs up conversation versus cosy loafing and decides to get up and talk ... once Drake gets back. For now, he fishes a slightly soft pear from a pouch and quietly eats it, listening to the birds.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Few minits later Drake returns with an arm load of food* So what would you like for breakfast lindela? *he asks with a slight grin* oh and where did you slink off to this morning?

*Gathering wood then siting down to start the fire* Its alright im not suspicious just curious.

[sableagle]

Lindela slips out from the cloak, swings his harness back on and goes to sit by Drake.

"Eh, food is food. I was meeting two eager kids who were going to join me on the return leg. They know the river area better than I, and they're young enough to run all the way there. They'll try to find that lass and bring her here ... as long as she's not afraid of heights."

Lindela looks at Drake's fire preparations, leans over, stirs the ashes of the previous night's fire and blows a small flame back into life.

"That leaves me. These raiders, how much do you know about them?"

[asianmommy]

*Kella wakes next to Lindela and slides her arm around his waist. It's been a long time since she's found herself next to such a warm, friendly body. She breathes him in and smiles.*

[KeegaKurGurk]

*gives a slightly disapointed look to a rather smal twig*Not as much as id like to.... the only information i have is that they come by sea, leave the same way, and riad every month or so.
The villagers just dont have enough manpower to drive them back to where they came.
*gets up and gets the cooking equipment*
I'm to be the force in which to make the raiders leave for good but any help would be useful.

[sableagle]

Lindela places his hands gently along Kella's arm, a comfortable contact with a fellow being, and looks into the flames for a moment.

"They want you to toast the ship at the time, or meet them on land? They might be easier to upset if you surprise them when they're not all warred up. They have to be based somewhere, another town, an island or something. If you've got any hopes of taking the children back, you'll need to find that. They probably want their children back."

Lindela takes a hand from Kella's arm and runs it over all his kit, checking various packages of herbs and seeds, bottles of oil, spare socks, rags, bandages and rations, a collection of river-rounded pebbles and a slingshot, a spare bowstring and a reel of gut, a tinderbox, two knives and some other items that have come in handy enough to become routine carry for him. His fingers play over the dull, blackened hilt of the longer, more slender knife as he mentions the children.

[KeegaKurGurk]

I was to meet them in hand to hand combat first so id have to hide melphine. *Drake pats his sleeping dragons paw* Then I am to folow them to there port and make sure the children return home safely. That is ofcourse after i dispach a good lot of the Raiders that is.
*Drake turns to Lindela*
That is definitly a heafty bit of kit you have there.

[sableagle]

"It's easier to carry if you wear it. It's all balanced and doesn't swing or bounce. This is the hefty part." Lindela passes Drake the sword that makes up most of the weight of the bundle that isn't a blanket. "It's rather a good one, judging by the mess it made of the bandits who tried to take it off its previous owner. It's just a bit too long to be useful in dense woods ... or indoors." He pats the bundle. "The bow weighs a sight less, but arrows are bulky things and have to be replaced or retrieved."

He leans back over Kella and against the dragon and looks at Drake silently for a moment.

"Hand to hand combat sounds awfully honourable. They might just have a few bows of their own. How do you force them to be honourable too?"

[asianmommy]

(somehow i missed like 6 posts, sorry)

*kella gets up and stretches. she begins rummaging through her things, flustered that she can't find what she's looking for.*

That traitorous little wench!

[sableagle]

Lindela glances at Kella, then back at Drake.

"See? If you can't even trust girls you're saving from a life of only sleeping with men, you can't trust a bunch of thieves and kidnappers either. The man that sword couldn't save didn't bleed to death from the tiny wounds he took. His blood clotted too fast for that. All his blood clotted too fast for that. Someone had a very dirty knife."

Lindela gets up, takes his pear core and a stick, walks a short way from the fire, pokes a hole in the ground and drops the pear core into it.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*takes the sword from lindela and stands* Well it cirtantly seems well balanced.
They dont have to be honorable, I will just have to deflect most of teh arows that come my way.
*Drake grins and does his best deflecting move* Im faster then most even in my heavy armor although it does get tireing after a while. would you like a demonstration?

*Drake looks over to Kella* Loose something Kella?

[asianmommy]

You don't understand, this is dreadfully important. She took ... something that means life or death for me. I need to get it back.

[KeegaKurGurk]

Are you sure you didnt place it in one of my sadle bags?*Drake glances over to the hills then to the dragon* If you tell me what it is im sure i can catch up to lindelas friends and be back befor night fall... As im sure i they have found her by now.

[sableagle]

"Probably you could. I doubt they'll be trying to hide, and anywhere you can hide from a dragon along that stretch of river you're in some pack's favourite ambush-ground or right on their burrow, which would be bad. They said they knew ways up the cliffs, so they might be going up and coming the high way if they found her before you got there. The woods are pretty thick up there." Lindela thinks about the woods there and town-girl perspective of such things. "Unless she's a wild one, she'll stay with them and they'll be here tonight or tomorrow morning. There's a harmless little bird that lives there and makes the eeriest noises."

[asianmommy]

Its... *she considers a moment* a talisman. It belongs to my people. It's very important. I must have it back or ... I could lose my life over this.

[sableagle]

"Is it dangerous to have without knowing about it?"

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake gets dressed in a more comphortable set leathers and returns Lindelas sword* Oh i wont need to take Melhpine with me. I can catch up to your friends on foot alone and i know of the dangers in the forest. *he slips a sheathed sword on to his back for running* I will be back befor night fall, and I will tell your friends hello.

*Drake sprints off at a horses speed*

[asianmommy]

it's... dangerous if you know what it is. it has some life to it, and a mind of it's own about things.

*she bites her nails and tries to settle* you think he'll find them?

[sableagle]

"Try not to sink!"

Linela watches Drake go. "Whatever he's been taking to run like that, he'll still need to watch his step. So, a talisman of some sort ... entrusted to you and swiped by some pretty girl you thought you'd seduced?" His voice sounds faintly amused, but he does not like things people are so unwilling to describe. They have a nasty tendency to blow holes in the floor and summon demons, or control people's minds or anything far less pleasant than create clouds of butterflies.

"Even if he keeps that pace up I don't see how he thinks he can catch up with them on the way there if he also thinks they've probably already found her, and that lanky kid's idea of a path tends to require rope or wings. He said this dragon's likely to be upset if she wakes up without him here, too. Shall we go elsewhere for a while?"

[asianmommy]

yes. lets. buy me some breakfast and i'll tell you more about my past if you like.
*She rises, repacks her belongings and smiles, hoping to reassure him.*

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake hears Lindelas advice and comits it to memory knowing the swamps are natorious for taking people by suprise he figures it would best to go by tree but that problem will have to be delt with when it arises*

[sableagle]

Lindela ponders the idea of buying breakfast when there's all that food within reach, then looks at the dragon and decides dragons probably wake up hungry. "Do tell," he says, standing up and taking a sideways step to join Kella facing the town. Where he was crouching, there is a foot-high sapling standing from the ground. If noone stands on it and no rabbit or larger grazer bites it off, one day there will be a pear tree there.

[asianmommy]

Wait! *She looks at the sapling and smiles. With but a few breaths the wind stirs around her and her eyes seem to glow. She is mouthing in an unrecognizable tongue. In a blink the tree is grown almost ten years.*

I wouldn't want it to be destroyed.

My full name is Kellanakia, I am the daughter of the Immani in the lands far West of here. We are the speakers of Imman and the knowers of the Kegrah.

I came to this land to study the Eastern World, but I've gotten distracted along the way *she smiles a slightly mischievous grin*

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Bout a half mile out of town Drake quickens his pace and with in a half hour hes at the edge of the forest* Well now its time to go climbing.
*He shimys up a tree and starts to swing from one if its branches like a primate*
But I must do what I must. I hope i can awake Melphine when i get back i dont understand how she can be so lazy some days.
*drake goes on swining from tree to tree in search for 2 young men whom are hopefuly with the female*

[sableagle]

Lindela smiles at the tree, and at Kella, then starts walking. "A lesson, then: in that swamp the nocturnal water-snakes and diurnal tree-snakes are venomous, the toads and algae are poisonous, the water-snails give off little swimming parasites when sunlight hits them and if one of those touches you it'll make a nasty mess of your insides, some of the vines will make you itch so badly you'll pull lumps out of your own skin, the little black berries on the dark bushes will make your heart speed up until it kills you, anything that looks like an injured or dozing pup is actually bait for an ambush and most of the solid ground is actually floating turf." He thinks about that and decides to add something more friendly: "There's also a kind of mushroom that cures quite a few nasty ailments, and a wide bush that produces a very useful spice. The snakes don't like it at all, and stay away."

[asianmommy]

wow. *she smiles* I hope I can remember all that. Where shall we eat? Away from the sleeping dragon I hope.

What do you know about the Land to the West, I am curious. Most rumors I have heard tell of a strange people, ghostly and mysterious. That is far from true, though few here seem to have any knowledge of us, we know much about these lands.

[sableagle]

"The tavern here. The cook is the medicine man's sister, and similarly inclined to learn how to do things, and do them right. You don't need to know all about that swamp if you don't go there." He smiles encouragingly, then flicks his gaze back to the town, watching the movement of people on the day's first errands, the shifting of shadows at alleymouths and the stances of a few birds, and listening for strange noises among the din of humanity in what most people would call a small, quiet village.

"To the West ... a lot of emphasis on the tribe and the clan, with almost no difference between a brother and a third cousin, a loyalty to tribal spirits, much reverence for the shamanic guides of most aspects of life, some interesting uses for mushrooms and plants I'd probably avoid, a constant striving for balance between a lot of forces or spirits or essences or ... I suppose the word doesn't translate ... and a big fertility festival every spring equinox, largely involving mead, blankets in the meadows and wreaths of living flowers." Linela holds up a hand to forestall a denial. "I just saw that living wreaths could be made where you learned, and I know that festival's real, even if it's really somewhere a thousand miles from where you meant."

He reaches the tavern door and steps in and quickly sideways out of the frame, then holds a hand out for Kella.

[asianmommy]

*she takes his hand and smiles. he is certainly talking about lands west of where they are, but not west enough.*

You are right, west from here, those people are like that. I have spent much time with them. I am talking about a land so far to the west that it is almost to the east. It is not separated by water, but rather by a long mountain range, one which you may never see in your life time. Before it is a great desert. I'm sorry, this must sound awfully strange. A woman who looks no different from most others except for her strange eyes, claiming there is a land that probably no one he's ever met has seen or heard of.

[sableagle]

"A long mountain range and then a vast desert? That's the far side of a land a long way east? Well, maybe never, at that. Do you plan to go back?"

[asianmommy]

Eventually.I have many years left here before I can even think about journeying home, though I will have to return sooner if the talisman is lost.

What people are you from? What are their ways?
*she orders eggs, fruit, water, and bread for breakfast*

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake Continues on his way to the cliffs of crag, trying to dodge the vines up this high isnt easy and hes growing a bit fatigued*

[sableagle]

Lindela asks for a bowl of fruit porage, then answers:

"We were always just 'us', at least to ourselves. You know the Three Deltas, or Hundred Islands, where all those rivers empty into the sea and a few old volcanos extend the tangle of channels and islands out into deeper water? Just inland from there, where the high ground between the flood plains starts and people raise sheep as well as crops, I grew up in and around a farming village. It was all peaceful and idyllic, as you've no doubt heard, with the stone walls and children battering each other silly to burn off energy and the same few foods every day in any given season and the smell of wet sheep everywhere." He gives Kella a wry smile at that detail.

"We took pretty much everyone who settled there and pulled their weight and a few who just settled, and I spent some time with every crafter that would let me, learning that horses don't like me, I'm a lousy blacksmith, I can't shear sheep, card or spin wool, knit, weave or swing a scythe and people make less sense the less time you spend around them. I turned out to be fairly good with some of our little boats, and at running errands, so I did that, and learned to fight and hunt, and one of the shamen who can talk to animals taught me some of that, and a kind druid taught me what I did with that pear, which is how I've had so much fresh fruit all my life. I only need to find a tree or bush big enough to produce it. The druid had to be happy with that. She could cut a dozen sticks off a willow tree, plant them and make them grow into a hut in the last hour's sunlight. I can get apples."

[asianmommy]

That's a handy skill, Lindela, and I might add, one that is much valued by those with little magic. I have met many such folk on my travels. *she smiles warmly at him and then her attention shifts. Her eyes lose focus and a small, silver rabbit appears before them. it speaks to Kella in a strange tongue, which is the Imman, and then disappears*

I apologize. It is a warning. My people know that the Talisman is lost.

[sableagle]

"That has got to be incredibly inconvenient. That thing was glowing." Linela glances around the room at the other guests, who appear to have been so busy ignoring the dragonrider's two friends that they neither saw nor heard the glowing rabbit speaking a foreign language.

"So why did they send the talisman with you on a trip to study this land?"

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake Finaly sees two men dressed strangly for this region but there with the femal he passed. He decides to drop down out of the trees a few feet away.* Hey fellas iv come from the town i know Lindela and this girl has taken something she shouldnt have. *Drake Spots 3 talasmen hanging around her neck two of wich he rocognises instantly the third he can only guess as to being Kellas*

[sableagle]

(Urgent casting call for one young trainee warrior, one young trainee something {both just now declared apparently male} and a girl!)

[KeegaKurGurk]

(might as well be male but it doesnt mater they could turn out to be female and my character has bad jugmen on that gound hehe oh and you can play more then one character concidering you brought them in to the story just a thought)

[asianmommy]

*she sighs, takes a long drink of water and grabs Lindela's hand*

It is a long story, but I will shorten it to this. There has been a long standing war in my land with the people of the Sky, the Pelldras. They have often tried to steal the Talisman of my people, so as to understand Imman, and thus gain the secrets of our long lives and great knowledge. The king of the Pelldras is a man terrible to behold. He came to my father and wanted my hand in marriage, to solidify a treaty between our societies.

I knew this was a trick, so I stole the talisman and left the land of my people. So you see, I am not entirely here to learn. As long as the Talisman was in my possession, the people who have been "hunting me" have let me be, all being of my personal guard. However, now that it is gone, my father will be alerted to where it is, and he will find me, and it. If I am found without it, I will be killed for treason to my people. If I am found with it, I will be taken back to Imman. If i can get it before my Father ever leaves Imman, I will be safe.

[sableagle]

"National jealousy is a terrible thing. You've got quite a lot of trouble following you around. It's possible she wasn't who you thought, in which case my eager kids might just walk into trouble themselves. I think we ought to go and meet them outside town. There might just be something planned for their arrival."

[asianmommy]

That sounds like a good idea, thank you. You've been very kind to me. *she rises and then sits down hard.* It takes a lot to receive that kind of message. *She drags out her whiskey, takes a long drink and stands up again.* Alright, ready to go.

((i think we can double up on those characters, or we start jumping people and dragging them into the game.))

[sableagle]

"You might find a nibble of this helps more than whiskey." He places a paper-wrapped slab of something in her hand. "Just don't overdo it. If you can feel the veins standing out on the sides of your head, you've taken too much and should leave off for a couple of days."

Standing, he opens the long roll containing his bow, slips the bottom loop into place, bends the staff over his knee and slides the top loop into its notches, then opens his quiver and slings both on his back, puts the sword in its sheath through a belt-loop and goes to the window, then the door.

[KeegaKurGurk]

(eiter or i think the doubleing thing would work for now untill we find a couple ppl who would gladly take the position and you can alwase jump pll for us :P )
*Drake still not geting an answer walks over to small group and speeks to the female* i do belive one of thoughs three talismans isnt yours, And i also belive you knowmy Friend Kella quite intimetly. *drake winkes at her*

[asianmommy]

*Flabbergasted the girl starts.* I don't know what you mean! Kella? That whoring tramp, what could she have had that I would have wanted? These talismans are mine.

---

*Kella tastes some of the strange block and smiles. Her friend is quite a treasure. She follows him to meet what ever will come.*

[sableagle]

Lindela strides to the southern side of town, making fairly good speed for someone not running, and gently re-wraps the block in Kella's hands.

"So ... is she planning to start something here, or in view of here, or slip away at night? If she does know what the talisman is, does she plan to use it? Would she have to get away to do that?"

[asianmommy]

I don't know, unless she's employed by someone from my homeland, that anyone here could know the use of that talisman. I thought one had to speak Imman and know our ways to use it.

If she does, however, she can be anywhere, and cause great harm.

[KeegaKurGurk]

well no need to be defencive i was only doing my duty as a friend. *he backs up slightly* and what is your name miss?

[sableagle]

Lindela stares at the countryside, thinks it over and sets off along the road towards the ill-looking greens of the swamp ahead. The road swerves away from it and a vague path wanders on, with no cover around. The road goes uphill towards the healthier-looking woodland on the higher ground, where there are places to lurk.

"You said it has a mind of its own, and it teaches?"

[asianmommy]

I'm Onaki. I've been picked up by these two... companions. *she looks askance at them* and I am headed out with them. How do you come to know Kella?

[asianmommy]

(sorry for double post augh!)

It does have a mind of it's own, though we don't know how. And it teaches in dreams the uses of it, but again, the user must speak the Imman. Still, I am worried. There are those who whisper that the Pelldras have learned some of the Imman from their dealings with us, and could whisper secretly to the Talisman.

It has unknown powers that even our people have yet to discover, but the eldest say that it has the ability to change events in time.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake confused by the look she gave her two companions replies* I picked her out of a troubleing spot a day ago,
*Drake has to restrain a chuckle as he says* and by picked I litrealy mean it.

[sableagle]

"If it speaks in dreams, someone from the homeland of my name may be able to speak to it in dreams. Dreams do not need words to communicate. She's had a night with it, at least." Lindela loosens all three swords in their sheaths as he walks, a nervous gesture from another time of life and other companions.

[asianmommy]

I don't get what you mean, but fine, whatever. Why would I want something of Kella's? She has nothing of value. She's a vagabond witch.

[asianmommy]

With your name? *Kella stops him with her hand and listens. It's too quiet.*

You're right, of course. I hadn't considered that, but it is like us not to think that the peoples of these lands could communicate with it. Sheer arrogance I guess. Foolish to think so.

[KeegaKurGurk]

I know for a fact that shes no vagabond, and what she had misplaced my not have any intrinsic value but it was sentimental in some way. *looking as friendly as posible* I only came to retrive something for a friend im not acusing you of anything.

[sableagle]

"I'm no dreamwalker." His voice is usually pitched not to carry. Now it's quieter, pitched not to drown out anything else. Kella's right. It is quiet. There ought to be something making noise in the woods. All the sound and motion is from the open space nearer the town, as if its environs have been carefully left alone. "It might be able to teach me but I doubt I can talk to it. I might not be able to merge into that wood now either." He takes off his cloak, unbuttons the neck, reaches in and pulls it inside-out, then buttons it up and puts it on. Instead of dark blue and thick, it is now lightweight and brown, with green, brown, midnight blue, dull ochre and greenish yellow scraps hanging from it. "Trick from the southerners." His smile is tight, and gone in an instant. "I can still hide from sight."

[asianmommy]

Fine. She is too a vagabond tho, travelling from place to place, seducing young women, killing people, and her witch craft is better than most, so she gets away with it. Stop looking at my talisman. It is a family thing.

[KeegaKurGurk]

alright do you mind if i accompany your group out of this swamp land?
*drake turns on his heals and puts an arm up as if to have her grab it and walk along side him*
on my way in i seen a few paths that would be easy to follow and a few in the trees as well.

[asianmommy]

That is quite some trick. You are full of mystery, and I am intrigued enough to find out more about you, but for now, lets figure out where the noise went.

*she leans in to where she thinks he is and inhales deeply of his scent. she hopes it will help her find him if he's ever in a state such as this.*

[asianmommy]

Fine with me, but you must talk to my companions. I care not what you do. *she ignores his arm and walks ahead of him.*

[sableagle]

"Heh. It's just some clever sewing. It works a lot better if you don't already know I'm there and I'm not upright in the middle of a road and not moving. As for the noise, it went where the animals went, which is apparently *away*. This means I don't get to ask animals where the noise went. I wonder whether those kids have twigged to it yet."

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake turns back to all three of them * Im sure they wont mind im also friends with thier..... is he a friend or your boss im not sure but I know Lindela. Drakes the name by the way incase any one was wondering.

[asianmommy]

*She seems to get a nasty shock by hearing this name in connection to Kella's. She does not say a word but walks on in silence*

((someone gonna pick up the other two?))
------

Twigged?
I'd love to learn that bit of sewing. maybe someday you'll teach me.

[KeegaKurGurk]

((i hope so but having them be silent kinda gives them a mesteriousness hehe and from what sable wrote befor hand they dont speak much any way))

[asianmommy]

((I'm done at work and I'm going to have dinner with my mom tonight, I'll be back round 8 easter standard time (NY time))

[sableagle]

(Lindela's a quite sort on a job, and they know each other well enough to work together without having to talk. They're also fairly new, and probably both watching for wildlife and bandit threats and assuming others in their group are doing their jobs and getting along just fine.)

[asianmommy]

((i'm back! cleaning, so i might be a bit slow))

*She is disturbed by the stranger who knows something about Kella and the Talisman. She must not let them get their hands on her new prize.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake, Onaki, and the rest of the groupe venture back to the villige with no problems although it was slower then Drake would have liked, coming out of the dark forest the daylight seemed to blind and Drake wonderd what time it was.*

[sableagle]

Lindela stops and stares at the edge of the woods. "Are we even sure she was who you thought?" He resumes walking, more slowly, looking all around more often than before. "If she was, she must have known the swamp, so she was going there for a good reason, like to meet someone. If not, she had no reason to go that way. If not, what of her fiance? He kept you busy ... and you suspected him first, not her, by which time she was gone, or had had time to use that talisman, or deliver it."

He looks at Kella as they walk, watching for stray thoughts in her face as his own mind races to get to the woods before their feet do.

"She's only had one night with it, and that was a way south of here yet, and she was running and hiding. A dragon overhead would disturb the birds. She'd be bound to notice. You were supposed to be dallying with her heartbroken fiance, not riding ahead on a dragon to the very place she was meeting her employer or co-conspirator or lackeys. They were already here. They weren't expecting anyone, then they saw you, and she probably looked up after you passed and saw you, and this is for you. If they're dreamwalkers they could have shared that information last night and they know you're here." He freezes, listening hard. His eyes shut and he stops breathing for a few seconds, a hand holding Kella still at his side.

"You're right. It really is too quiet. It's totally silent. There's no wind in the trees. Nothing's that quiet except a dream. You're dreaming the silence. Here!" He pulls her off the road into the deep path of a small stream and scoops water against her face. It sparkles in the sunlight, rising in a cloud of shining points, then splashes icily over her face and ears. The drops splash off her ears and drip down. His finger is over her lips before she can cry out. The wind whispers through the grass along the edges. Water burbles over rocks. A bird's wings flutter as it changes course overhead. Downstream, in a slow pool, frogs call with deep, rising purrs.

"See? Someone's here, and hiding as if they're in a cave or a mausoleum." His voice is soft, so quiet in her ear the breeze in the grass almost drowns it out. He makes a face that might be a grin but would look better on a wolf. "See the watercress? This is clean water. Pick some of the reeds and weave a little mat from them. Trust me." With that he ducks, pulls his hood over his head and crawls downstream, moving with the water. Soon a glance away and back is all it takes to lose him until he moves again, and then there's only the stream, the frogs, a bird seeking tiny fish and the breeze stirring the grass. She might as well have come here alone.

Anyone watching, as someone surely was, would see Kella collecting something in the stream bed and sitting to work with it. She and her companion must be working on something important. Someone lurking in the shade of the trees, standing very still, watching, would wonder what they were doing and why. Someone sitting further back, maintaining the dream of silence and stillness, would not feel them there, so far yet from the trees. He would sit and maintain an air of silence over the woods, so noone would hear the irritated chit-chit-chit of some bird or the alarm calls of another, disturbed by a scout, and wait for the signal that Onaki was in sight on the ridge between the two long arms of woodland above the crags.

Lindela thinks of the stream, the flow of water, the glint of sunlight on ripples, the flight of the birds, the rippling of the grass, the swaying of trees even in this slight breeze, the way the whole natural world feels and moves, and not of himself or Kella at all, and all around him his thoughts and his soul mesh with the profusion of living things that a city-raised fool would call empty nowhere. A stream from the woods, scented with resin and flowers and the musk of a deer that drank from it further up, provides a deep channel where the guard standing still among the gently swaying trees cannot see.

Noone could walk up it unseen, but a sweeping look from the woods would show only a narrow depression with small bushes and a mossy boulder, just a narrow depression with small bushes and mossy boulders, nothing more than a narrow depression with small bushes and a mossy boulder, and the uneven, hopping gait of a jackdaw looking for juicy grubs, the distant movements of the town, the flickering flight of a butterfly, no cause for concern at all, nothing to distract from Kella in the ditch far away.

The woods, silent to a distant observer, are full of life in Lindela's mind, and life has thoughts and feelings, hunger, fear, friendship and anger. Anger has a direction, and enough directions from enough places provide a single point in space. There are three here. The first has his back to a path between thick thorn bushes, and is still watching Kella when Lindela's hand covers his mouth and his dagger goes through his neck from the other side, severing both carotid arteries and then his throat. A quick thrust puts the point into his heart so the blood will not spatter from the neck, a twist lets the air out of his lungs so he won't gurgle, and his lifeless body is slowly lowered to the floor, all amid thoughts of trees and birds and mice and flowers and the soft sighing of the wind.

The second is the dreamer, the one creating the dreadful silence of a nightmare of lurking monsters, and he hears nothing but the silence and feels nothing but his own dream until the same dagger goes point-first through his eyelid and eye and into his brain. The third is harder, moving around irregularly, making him hard to approach. He's a far better sentry, a hard man to take by surprise in a town indeed, but he's all alone and he doesn't know it. Eventually, he leans his spear against a tree to unwrap his lunch, and the bread muffles his cry as the dagger pierces his heart.

Lindela pauses, breathes again, feels his way through the woods in his mind and finds the other three, one each side of the clifftop path and one halfway back to the dreamer's body, coming back to talk about something. That one gets an arrow in the back of his neck just as he sees the body. Again, Lindela takes two deep, calming breaths, then he stalks the other two. The smell confirms his find, and something else. The smell is of cheap beer and mustard, as someone might smear thickly on cheap beef, and of stale sweat. That one moves back from his position to relieve himself, and it is Lindela that moves back to it.

There's another smell, ever so faint but still there, and associated with a mind like a bundle of spikes: a tree viper. The last guard is standing right in front of it, and it is still watching him unhappily. Lindela takes a pebble from the floor and throws it straight up. It drops and the guard turns and takes a long, silent, cautious step up to the tree trunk, his mind and all his senses focused on the stone-thrower behind his position. There's noone there, but there is a snake in the tree, and he steps too close. The snake watches him choke and fall, then moves off, looking for somewhere more peaceful to hunt.

With three small purses, one spear, a clay pipe, a patterned cloth strip and a curved knife, Lindela slips back to the edge of the woods.

Drake and the other three emerge, and the shorter of the two locals looks right at Lindela the second they are clear of the trees. There's no fooling a scout at home. Scouts know where the boulders are. That leaves the question of whether to say hello. The tall young warrior sees Kella holding out her handiwork as if for inspection by someone else hidden in the streambed.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*drake notices teh shorter of the two "body guards" look over to his right and does teh same not saying anything, simply understanding that some one is there unseen. Next he sees Kella siting at the stream holding something up in front of her and knew instantly who was hiding and for what purpose. He kept walking silently in to town where when he had a chance he would slip away unseen to prepair himslef for a battle he could feel coming on*

[asianmommy]

*Kella comes to, holding her work, as if from sleeping. She looks around and is shocked to see everyone together, and that traitorous girl. She sneers. "Contain yourself, Kella." She thinks. She stands and walks to Lindela's side, hands him her craft, and puts her hand on his shoulder. Then she concentrates hard on the Talisman. It hasn't been used, not yet. Relief floods her veins.*

[sableagle]

(I think the geography's got all twisted. Did Drake go past Kella without the others seeing her somehow or what?)

Lindela takes the mat, examines the work and nods approvingly as if it's the single most important thing on his mind, then grins and puts a handful of leaves and berries in the middle, rolls it up and tucks the ends in, then places it in the folded cloth strip he took in the woods. "There. Lunch." He hands it all to Kella. Other than the cloth, there's no sign of him having been up to anything but foraging. He even has four small but perfectly ripe and unblemished apples to hand out, despite the season.

[KeegaKurGurk]

((no its not that nobody noticed her we havent passed Kella yet in my post))
*The party reaches the edge of town and Drake quickly slips off in to the shadows of a neer by ally and heads back to Melphine and puts his Riders armor on then walks back to bar where the other three had stoped* Onaki your definitly far from home. *Drake was suprised at how diffrent his voice sounded behind his helmat* Why are you here?

[asianmommy]

((I came over to you. I didn't wait for someone to come to me. Trying to be proactive she is))

*Kella tries to pretend she only has eyes for Lindela, not wanting to stare or rip the amulet from Onaki's throat.*

---
I'm here on my business. I'm going to find myself a better life, a different life than the one I had. My father and my fiancee would have never understand. I guess, I have Kella to thank. *she fakes her way through graciousness well*

[sableagle]

Lindela slips an arm around Kella's waist, waits for her to find out just how vile that bundle tastes, catches it as she spits and takes back the rest too, leaving her holding the embroidered cloth from the dead soldier at the near side of the woods.

"There. Maybe you'll learn something from that." He turns her to face back along the path. "Something like not to leave my pestle and mortar lying by a stream. Take a good look around, and make sure you haven't forgotten anything else. Noone here makes ceramics." He gives her a gentle push towards the stream where there is no pestle and mortar but there is a little cache of knife, pipe, spear and coins that are not local. She might indeed learn something while taking a good look at them, or from the cloth.

"Actually, this stuff is edible, but it's far more useful as a poultice for vine-rash," he tells the others, offering it to Drake first. Then he looks over Onaki once, paying no attention to decorations, only to her. "Quick find, good condition. Well done. Shall we eat?" He gestures to the tavern, having enough local coin to afford it. The two watching the farther side had been ordinary hirelings, the sort anyone could pick up, use and discard fairly cheaply, but they could afford a few hot meals and some hot drinks with an inordinate amount of liquor in them.

[asianmommy]

*She goes where he wants her to, Kella knows Lindela does things with a purpose. She is glad to be with someone like him, for once.*

((Anything specific about these items or stuff - pm me?))

[sableagle]

Soldiers being disinclined to turn down free food, they walk to the door in a triangle that means Onaki's going nowhere but with them unless she's prepared to shove, and get a table. A few people look at them as they sit, then look away when Drake enters. Onaki finds herself sat by the wall, with a tall hunter in armour next to her and the hearth behind, facing the mild expression of her other local escort and observed from diagonally across the table by Drake, while Lindela is still standing, and ordering drinks.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake siting with his helmat still on motions to Lindela that he wouldn't be needing any thing*
So I heard about your Fiance' Onaki why dont you tell my your side of teh story?

[asianmommy]

What's my side? My side is that I was seduced by one of the most disreputable tricksters in the world. She came and took away my life in one fell swoop with her beauty and her body, and she promised me that she'd come away with me. Then she killed my fiance, and I ran. I ran, because her spell on me was broken and I realized that loving her would be like loving death and destruction. She could never change who she was, a witch and a theif and a killer.

*Kella walks in, overhears this, and sits down on Lindela's lap, without a word. She kept a hold of what she found, she knew that those items could tell her a lot more about what had happened. She didn't want to ask Lindela any questions yet, so she waited.*

Onaki caught Kella's eye when she sat down and then looked away toward Drake as if asking for another question or challenge.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake notices Kella walk in and take a seat and Onaki's expression* That seems rather shalow on your part dont you think? I meen I dont know this Kella person at least not personaly I have head of her, she doesnt seem all that horible, and besides she gave you the means in which to leave your village am i corect?
*looking over to Lindela and Kella he asks*
And who might you be m'lady?
*Playing it off as if they had just met and hopping Kella catches on to the ruse that hes not Drake but infact a diffrent Dragon Rider*

[asianmommy]

*Kella tries not to laugh as Drake asks her who she is. This ruse is old, but still effective, she hopes.*

Actually, I'm Kella. And Onaki is a liar just as much as I am, but it is of no matter to me at the moment. *She pretends to be enamored completely with Lindela, and while she does find him attractive, she is goading Onaki as well.*

*Onaki is furious that Kella is paying attention to a man instead of her, but seems relieved that Kella has not said more. She sneers but says no more.*

[sableagle]

The maid returns with a tray of drink and places it in front of Lindela, who hands the first to Onaki, then one each to the others, finishing by giving one to Kella and taking one himself. To Onaki, he says: "To your safe arrival." Even as he finishes speaking, he's turning his head to smile warmly and gaze into Kella's eyes so they drink as if they're the only people in the room. That Kella's arrival holding a spear that should have been there to meet Onaki in the woods provoked no special reaction from Onaki has thrown his previous assessment of the situation askew.

Maybe the exotic weapon meant nothing to her because she had been unaware of the presence of foreign soldiers here, and maybe she is just a talented actress. Kella's scent, tense and angry and warmly womanly, mingles with the fumes of the hot wine in his nose, a reminder of evenings in a wooden hut on a snow-covered mountainside years and leagues away. Onaki seems to be slightly flustered by something, but she has plenty of reasons.

A small dog, someone's rat-catcher, pricks up its ears and wanders over to sit by Onaki, head against her thigh. Lindela's tiny smile is lost in the wider smile he still shares with Kella as his eyes wander over her face.

[asianmommy]

Onaki pets the dog, and ignores that Kella seems so wrapped up in some man. "I thought she'd never dallied with a man before" Onaki thought bitterly. She was not going to rise to it though. She didn't want to show how much Kella hurt her.

"I will have my revenge anyway" Thought Onaki.

--

*Kella keeps up her act, her thoughts concentrated on thinking of the shape of Lindela's face, his eyes, his lips, she keeps herself blank, waiting. Somewhere the Talisman sings out to her blood, but she ignores it in hopes that no one will know.*

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake takes a quick glace over an Kella and Lindela and secretly smiles behind his helmat as they gaze at each other and as to how its putting off poor Onaki*
That is a nice set of decoration you have there Onaki now who would have parted with so many adornments.
*Drake leans closer to onaki pointing out the one that belongs to Kella*
This one i don't recognize where is it from?

[sableagle]

Lindela puts his mouth close enough to Kella's ear to be licking behind the lobe, then breathes: "Keep her nervous so she drinks." He and Drake have hot wine and hot water in equal parts, Kella and the two locals have hot, spiced wine and Onaki has hot wine with a little extra spice to disguise the flavours of the mead rum and something else that are making it a little stronger than the others' drinks. He lifts his to his mouth again and tips it against his top lip, taking a smaller sip than it seems.

"He's right," Lindela tells Onaki. "That is a well-decorated neck. Do you have bracelets to go with them? It's sometimes better to spread the charms. What do those ones do?"

[asianmommy]

The charms? Well they do lots of things. I am a collector of sorts and these talismans are the prizes of the collection. They're quite nice, aren't they? This one *she holds one up* is for healing and good life. And this *another* is for fortune and wealth. This one *Kella's* is new.

*Kella smiles at Lindela and keeps drinking lightly, nuzzling Lindela's hair and smiling*

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake sits back in his seat taking up the cup and drinks through his helmet, a trick most dragon riders dont master, and when he finishes he askes* So do you know what it does?

[asianmommy]

Not exactly, but I know I'll figure it out.

[sableagle]

"Rather brave of you to slip it around your neck without knowing," remarks Lindela, taking another sip disguised as a swig. He looks at his cup, seeming suprised by something, and beckons the barmaid then gestures at the cups. "This could do with topping up," he tells her, and she fetches two steaming jugs, one of which conveniently runs out topping up every cup but Onaki's so the other must finish the job.

Lindela watches slightly wide-eyed, then frowns in thought. "What are you very good at?" he asks Onaki, tracing fingertips up and down Kella's back.

[asianmommy]

I am not worried about it, honestly. I do not think that it will take me long to figure out. I have a good friend and mentor who is very good at the undersanding of talismans. I am very good at doing what will be best for myself. I am ruthless and cunning. *She smiles at Lindela seductively.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake is intrigued by what Onaki says and asks.* So who might this friend be i may know him as well and could take you there tomorrow if so.

[sableagle]

"What'll be best for you? Did this friend of yours tell you that thing's safe to wear? Have you got any others you don't understand? If you're wearing an aakili'ilfuchuuch slave bracelet I'd rather know about it in advance. Those things really aren't good for you." Lindela lets the pretence of benign tipsiness slip as he mentions the bracelet, and his face takes on a look that moves people out of the way in dark alleys. He still maintains a silent touch on the dog's mind, tracking her scent, seeing whether she's tense or sweating, waiting for a reaction.

"I know something that wouldn't be good for you," he adds after a moment. "Wandering around alone and unarmed isn't as safe as it used to be. Perhaps we should make sure you get to this friend safely. We're in no hurry. The further it is, the more time you'll get to spend with us." He grins at her, showing a lot of teeth and not much warmth.

[asianmommy]

I am the daughter of a governor. I am one of the wealthiest girls in this area. And, I would be happy to accept your company, as long as it does not include her. *Drinking deeply from her glass she points at Kella*

*Kella does not look up. She is intently focused on sucking on Lindela's throat, making purring noises, and acting decidedly intoxicated*

[sableagle]

"Ah, yes, wealth," says Lindela. "The number of things someone could take from you." If that was an offer of a bribe he apparently totally missed it. He smiles, then looks down at Kella and back at Onaki. "Why not her? She could be very useful ... and she's nice and warm." He gives her a squeeze to reinforce the point. "If we're camping, more warm bodies in the heap means a more comfortable night and an easier start in the morning. How far away is your friend?"

[asianmommy]

I don't want her near me, but she may come if you are insisting. *Onaki glares at Kella on Lindela's lap.*

*Kella whispers in Lindela's ear, "She knows more about the talisman than she is saying"*

It is not far. *She tops another drink down her throat*

[sableagle]

"How close? Could we be there tonight?" Lindela looks set to jump up and set off again, and watches for a response to the suggestion of finishing this before anyone goes to sleep.

[asianmommy]

It's only a day I believe. Tomorrow we can set out *hich* but I'm a bit drunk at the moment so I think I'll retire

Yes, lets retire *kella tongues Lindela's ear and smiles at Onaki*

[sableagle]

"I think it's still a little early, and we do have food on the way." Lindela gestures to a boy and two girls approaching with bowls and a basket of bread. "A mug of chai'll help your eyes stay open. Perhaps you could do us a small favour while we eat. Some cunning and ruthlessness could come in handy." His smile and a flash of his eyes suggest he reckons he has enough already, but he's quite happy to have another mind considering the issue and making suggestions, whether he trusts them or not. "We have some raiders to consider, and I don't know nearly enough yet." He rather pointedly watches the food being served, and waits for some privacy.

Turning to Drake, he starts reeling off questions: "The time of month they come, is it always a double full or double new moon or one of each? Do they fly or wear any insignia or colours? Do they have mages? Do they come from north, south or out to sea? What sort of length, beam and draught do their vessels have? How consistent is the time of day of their arrival? Do they come straight into town or land outside? What items do they take first? How long has it been going on? How many children are missing? Do they leave in a hurry or stay to be thorough?"

Lindela does not expect Drake to answer them all in order, but wants details, even the ones that seem insignificant in case they mean something to him or one of the other four. For someone who seemed tipsy a minute ago he's clearly fully alert, and his eyes flick to other patrons as he speaks, watching for any reaction or anyone being too still as they listen hard.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake turns his head to Lindella and speaks calmly.* They come only during the full moon from the Eastern sea, Sorces say they dont have mages but its best to be prepaird for anything. They wear various colors mostly reds and greens, Atack in the middle of teh night from both sides of the small village, sofar they have only been interested in the children whom are oldenough to do any kid of work although a few of them have taken small personal items such as gold talasmans, and the ocasional ring or bracelet. As far as i know its been going of for around a year now and most of the children are missing only the youngest, younger then five i think, are still in the village and with as many men as they have they rush in hurried and leave the same way but are still thuorough enough to pick the children from there familys grasp. I know nothing of thier ships as noone has seen them close enough to describe what they are that detail im sure we can fill in once we arive.

[sableagle]

"Full moons bring higher tides. They're leaving as soon as it gets high enough for them to get out, and racing to be back before it goes too far down. If they're delayed, they're stuck at sea for a month. They're one or two days' sailing out, midnight to midnight. Sandbars or coral reefs without river channels one or two days out ... There are islands out there, a long line of them. The bigger ones have farms and towns. A small one. Children ... they take children because ... they suffer casualties and they aren't breeding. They live by raiding. They've fortified an island. It must be stable, so not an active volcano. Hey, noble girl!" Lindela turns to Onaki very suddenly. "Whose colours are red and green?" He's focused everyone's attention on her mid-swallow.

[asianmommy]

*At the mention of food Kella's attention shifts and she dives into her meal with single minded ferocity*

Red and green? Why? I know several who have red and green, but is there more? An animal? a crest?

[KeegaKurGurk]

I was told there were several difrent animals adorning the attacking hord But thoughs who seemed to be comanding wore Ither a bird or a bull across thier chest. My informant seems to think it is a classing system and nothing more. *Drake looks down at the plate sat in front of himself and graciously pushes it away explaining* We dragon riders dont eat much but who ever els wants it please dont let it go to waste.

[sableagle]

Lindela eases Kella off his lap onto the seat, takes Drake's meal and divides it among the other five plates, finishing behind Onaki's shoulder. "You cup is empty. What a coincidence. So's mine." He gestures to the young lady standing for more chai. By the time the high from that wears off, the alcohol and the other thing in Onaki's wine will be ready to drop her into a peaceful, restorative and significantly dreamless sleep. He remains behind her as the drinks are poured, then pulls up a stool to eat his dinner.

"If that dragon of yours can't carry all those children at once, or even if she can, we may need alternative means. My guess is that they raid the mainland and trade with the other islanders, paying slightly high and not raiding them in return for their survival. I could be wrong, though. There could be more ships going to other towns, to farms and to good foraging grounds every month too. Either way, if we could be there with a boat before they set out it might help. Somehow, I doubt they'd ignore a dragon flying around carrying a boat, and we don't have time to sail there. We may have to steal one. Any chance you learned to sail the river boats?" He directs the last to Onaki, genuine hope in his voice. An experienced helm would be a great asset.

[asianmommy]

No I do not have any boat experience. and the bull ... well I know the people and they are warriors and fierce to be sure. They call themselves the Banuchi. They fight dirty and they are said to steal the souls of the children to keep themselves alive. They live on an island south west of the city i am from, as the crow flies it is about two days journey. They keep to themselves when they aren't raiding, and listen to no peace offerings.

*Kella has been eating, listening, gathering information. She's now stuck in the middle of something she had no intention on being a part of. She doesn't care about raiders or Onaki, but she does care about her talisman. 'how strange,' she thinks. 'that i should end up here after being rescued. i've found myself in another adventure altogether.' she makes a mental note. 'at least Lindela and Drake seem well trustworthy.' she makes up her mind to stay with them to rescue the children, even after she's gotten it back. She looks at the group and says,* I know everything you need to know about boats and navigating, but if I'm going to do it, there's something I want in return.

[KeegaKurGurk]

Im sure we could ablige Miss. Kella, what was it that you had in mind? *Drake smiels as he already suspects what she may want and it wouldnt be from ither Lindella or himself.*

[asianmommy]

Well, you can't have the Talisman, Kella! *Onaki glared angrily, and then, sensing that this was the wrong time to put up a fight...* Unless you really want it. *she looks dejectedly about but knows she can get it off of Kella later if she has to*

In fact, Onaki, that is one of the things I want. The second is to have someone around here buy me a damned outfit that isn't so revealing. I have got to get something I can fight and sail in, that isn't so damn chilly.

*Onaki hands over the talisman, to everyone's surprise, especially kellas. Once on kella's neck it makes a low humming and glows green. Kella smiles and says something to it that no one understands. With that she goes back to eating. Onaki winces at the light from the Talisman, and more that Kella understands how to use it.*

[KeegaKurGurk]

I would gladly buy you another outfit that wasnt so reveiling. *Drake smiles behind his helmet as he had planed to do this any way.* In what style would you like the new garb to be fitted?

[sableagle]

Lindela watches Kella put the talisman on and frowns at the way it feels around the edges of his mind. It is an alien thing to him, not evil, not twisted, not wild, not good, not hungry, not alive, not angry and not afraid in any way he recognises. "I'm wearing all my clothes already," he says, then measures Kella with his eyes. "Perhaps the medicine man's daughter, or the boy there." He nods towards the kitchen. "I can adjust little details." He turns back to his food, then thinks of something else: "What sort of outfit?"

Even as he waits for a response, his mind is bringing up rumours, legends and myths of things that feed on souls, and what becomes of the soulless. He's sure of none of them, which hardly helps. If it's true, there'll be a lot of work to do, and need of both his local friends, the tall and energetic warrior and the quiet, unobtrusive one whose time among clerics and monks in half a dozen countries may be their best chance to assess just who has whose soul.

[asianmommy]

I'd like some sailing clothes, something loose and airy, but not something that will get caught in the rigging. Nothing tight. I want pants, no skirts or dresses, and I'd like something soft if I can get it. I want to pass for a man if I have to.

[sableagle]

"Well then," says Lindela. "The young gentleman may have just the thing. I'll ask. You'd better come and try them on." He clears the last food off his plate and stands. "Do we need to find you weapons too?" He turns to Onaki. "How about you?"

[asianmommy]

I have all the weapons I need, thanks.

I need weapons, and I suppose I better get something more suited to ship life as well. *She follows but is clearly uneasy to be so near Kella*

*kella keeps herself completely wrapped up in Lindela, ignoring Onaki.*

[sableagle]

"Ah. You're not the same shape. Hey, rider? Would you mind? Nothing that'll drag or soak up too much water. It's harder to get dry and warm than wet and cold. Leave her hands clear. Ropes eat frills." He leaves Onaki and Drake to deal with Onaki's need for clothes and leads Kella away to seek boy clothes. Out of earshot, he asks: "Anything familiar, from the woods?"

[sableagle]

"Anything remind you of home, or your erstwhile fiance?" Lindela asks Kella. "The designs aren't familiar to me, but I thought you might have seen them before, among your own people or his." A maid scurries past with an armful of laundry, forcing a pause, and once she's past he preempts Kella's answer with more in a low voice meant not to be heard through the doors they pass: "You said Onaki could do terrible things with that talisman. You never said she would, or that you couldn't or wouldn't. I can't help wondering what you do with your long lives that's so great, and what someone else might do with such a span that would be so terrible, besides breed like rabbits and pave half the continent."

He's aware he must sound hostile, but the feel of the thing about her neck makes him uncomfortable, and he does wonder why someone would be hiding herself from her own people with an object so important to them. It seems better to ask alone than in front of everyone else, even if that means hasty words.

[asianmommy]

*Kella sighs* Lindela I'm going to have to ask you to trust me. All that I've told you about my people is the truth, the reason I've gone away, the power of the talisman... and those people were of the Sky People. They had the writing of the Clouds. I cannot tell you more about the extent of the powers of this talisman for even I do not know it's limits. We have done good with it because we are an old and long lived people who have learned much, and are wise enough to use it for good. But others, without such understanding, could do much evil with it, kill thousands, destroy the land, poison the water, and burn the sky.

Lindela, you need to trust me for now, because I will be able to reveal more with time.

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake takes Onaki to the nearest clothing shop* So Onaki what is it that you would prefer wearing in teh high seas? Take you pick but you may only have one we dont have much room to cary things.

[sableagle]

"Again, you say could," insists Lindela. "Isn't your long life attributable to the talisman? The talisman stays with you because you do good with it because you live long because you have it. How much of its power do the Sky People ask, and how much do they really want? They're big. Soldiers as ordinary as those two wouldn't have metalwork as good as that without a big country to issue it to them. They can be a force for good or evil or chaos or verdancy or bleak death with no more than that. I've seen good and bad in their myriad forms from young and old, wise and innocent, strong and weak, bold and mild, large and small and whatever else."

He stops, two things on his mind. The more urgent comes to the fore: "A large nation's soldiers show up here for the first time, and a journeyman dreamer is with them, so far from home for them all, waiting so close to where you lost that talisman at the time you realised you had? They can find you, with it or without it. Probably without it. Maybe they can find it. They must know a lot already. We've gone right past that boy's room. Turn round. They know, and they're all the way out here. There is no way those few were all. Where's everyone else?"

The tone of his voice makes it clear he doesn't expect her to know but does think the matter warrants her consideration. However quietly they wanted to operate, the Sky People would have sent something scarier, and so it must still be out there, and if they'd got this close they might be able to find this tavern undetected. They could be watching the tavern already ...

Lindela points at a door. "There!" he says, then starts to run. He passes, the door, pulls up sharply, turns back and lunges into the room, long dagger flashing in the lamplight as he draws it. There is a moment's tense silence, then he steps back out. "Nothing but him. Try something on." With that he turns and runs for the rear door and the courtyard. They brought something scary, they could be out there in large numbers and Drake and Onaki are out shopping.

[asianmommy]

*onaki frets, this whole situation spells disaster but she goes along with the dragon rider to get clothes* I just want something that will cover me and keep me warm on the water.

-- *When Lindela is gone Kella sits down and sighs. There are so many things to consider, and so much that she wishes she could share. She looks at the talisman around her neck and closes her eyes. She is flooded with sensory experience and when it's over she is resolute. she tries on clothes, waiting for him to return*

[sableagle]

Lindela stops by the door, kneels and takes his sword from its bundle, then puts the rest out of sight on a stack of shelves. He thrusts the sheath through its belt-loop and unties the ribbons from the grip, then draws it, stands and dashes out into the courtyard. Seeing noone and nothing amiss, he jumps to an empty barrel and from that to the wall. With one hand on top he lunges up and gets a foot on top, then stands to look into the back street. Again, noone is there and nothing seems wrong. After a glance at the visible windows, he jumps down, lands in a crouch and sheaths the sword, then runs to the next alley. A quick glance shows noone, and he steps round the corner and paces quickly and softly to the main street.

Here, people are everywhere, going out, going home, closing shops, carrying goods, lighting lamps, pushing or pulling carts and generally creating a hubbub and stink and too much movement. Still, noone seems to be doing anything odd or acting in any unusual way. He lopes away from the inn and crosses the street, then moves to the edge of town and feels for the dragon and all the other life out there, still looking round at and listening to the town.

Still nothing seems wrong, and the racket in his mind is making this hard work. He goes looking for Drake and Onaki. If the drink and the day's tension does catch up with Onaki, Drake can carry her, but whether Drake can fight effectively at the same time is another question, one Lindela hopes not to have to answer.

[asianmommy]

*Kella finds two pairs of loose trousers and three loose cool shirts that fit her well. She takes these and a few pairs of socks. She smiles as she stows them in her bag and then she reaches in and pulls out a necklace. She puts this on next to the talisman. The talisman glows and Kella's focus shifts.*

*Onaki looks to Drake.* Thank you for trusting me.

[KeegaKurGurk]

Onaki it is not my place to judge you on what any one may have thought you have done. I will judge you on what you do from this moment on what you will do. So i will trust you as long as you cause no trouble. *Drake removes his helmet reveling his identity* And I trust you do the same or you may be left here.

[sableagle]

Lindela turns into another alley, draws his two shorter sword and turns into the backstreet at the end. One man pushing a wheelbarrow away and a few scavenging birds are all the movement he sees, and two people arguing about something are the only nearby noise. It's not even too quiet. Teeth bared, he runs to the back of the clothes shop where he guesses Drake and Onaki went, dodging side-to-side as he goes and stopping to look back and check windows and rooftops.

Nothing happens, and he reaches the shop. Walking softly, he closes on the back door and listens to normal shop sounds as he checks for any sign of untoward activity like a forced lock. For a few moments he waits, scanning the street, then he sheathes both swords and goes to the front. If anything's happening, it's happening later, not now in broad daylight with everyone awake. A large force would want to come in and surround the inn before anyone could give a warning. Strolling into town and sticking a poisoned barb into someone in the chaos of a market was for a different sort.

Thinking about tactics, about the inn and the number of ways to get out of it, about ruffians and murderers and how they might get someone out of an inn, he looks over the town again, looking not at the life moving through it but at the structures and how close together they are. This would be one hellish place for a keg of lamp oil to shatter and ignite. The sooner they are all gone from here and out where there is no crowd to provide cover, the better. Leaning against the wall by the shop door, he still cannot shake the feeling that someone might be watching, weighing up who's with whom and how alert they are, choosing a way and a time.

[asianmommy]

*Kella has lived long enough and been away from home enough to know when to trust and when to distrust, for the most part. her weakness is, and always was, a pretty face. She curses herself for falling in with Onaki, not to mention the loss of the talisman. she searches the town with Kegrah ((the knowledge of her people)) and Imman ((the language of that knowledge)).

She can feel her people searching for their Immana (daughter of the Immani - kind of like a princess). She can feel the Pelldras, they too are in the eastern land, far from home.

There is someone in this town even, who speaks Imman and knows Kegrah, if not forefront in their mind, it thrums in their heart.

She sighs and recites the language of her people, word and knowledge, this quest will be good for her, if not wholly productive.*

[KeegaKurGurk]

*Drake walk out of the clothing room noticing a figure darting about* Who's there?
*He turns the corner and sees the ally is empty and dark, as he returns he picks up the scent of flowers lindela had been in not that long ago* Lindella come out of the darkness there is no one here who is dumb enough to go up aginst a Dragonrider.

[asianmommy]

*Onaki follows the DragonRider out of the shop, clutching her few things, and ready to run, or fight, whichever presents itself.* what's going on?

[sableagle]

"Oops," says Lindela, very quietly.

"Apparently nothing. Isn't that marvellous? Well, nothing but shopping. I was ... eh ... concerned that our dragonrider friend might have been over-generous with the outfits. I don't know how much that dragon can carry but we've got to get everything to her first. Only the one, I see. That's great. Why don't I carry that for you while he carries you?" Lindela smiles gently as Onaki gently leans over against Drake and then puts her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes. Gently, he takes the new outfit from her hand and drapes it over his left arm, leaving his right free.

"Isn't it a lovely evening?" he asks Drake. "Rain on the way, the wind gusting, the smell of the cess pit outside town ... all very peaceful, if you like that sort of thing. The prevailing winds do smell a lot better, you know. What do you say to us getting gone first thing tomorrow? Sunrise from the mountains is quite something to see, so it must be good from a dragon's back." He looks at Onaki, now walking by reflex and pretty much dead to the world. "Someone might come looking. Are you sure that message was from the town?"

[asianmommy]

*Onaki is glad to be swept up by the dragon rider, and carried off as they finish what they need.* Leaving tomorrow morning will be fine. How long will it take us to get to the ship then?

*Kella has finished and is waiting for them in the tavern at the bar*

[sableagle]

"Hello Kella. Good fit. If you don't like looking the way you did, why did you?" Having calmed down a bit, Lindela is back to his terse self.

"A disguise," says a woman's voice, and the tall soldier returns to the room without her armour. She has the slim but toned build of someone who's grown up very active and never been more than adequately fed, on a frame meant for an amazon. A simple linen shirt makes her figure scarcely more obvious without the armour than it was with, but her bare face is clearly feminine and strikingly beautiful on both sides of the nasty scars that run from right ear to nose and right cheek-bone to jaw. She exchanges nods with Lindela,