Chapter 10: A Curious Caravan

With the addition of horses aiding their progress, the time it would take to journey to Astor was considerably shortened. What would have taken them several days' travel was cut down to only one. They had managed to have an undisturbed nights rest, despite the slight paranoia of being attacked in their sleep once more.

Needless to say, Varus had been less than forthcoming with his explanations about Gauss. Regardless of what had been asked and by whom, he had been very deflective when it came to answering. All they had managed to gather was that Gauss was important to him, and that she did not suffer fools gladly. She was obviously very intelligent, and was unhappy about being treated like a pet. Alistair found this out the hard way when an off hand comment about Gauss being cuter as a fox earned him a facefull of spit courtesy of Gauss' horse form.

As they travelled, the rolling grass fields started to become less common, replaced instead by more agricultural land. Occasional farmers were out with livestock, ploughing the land in order to plant whatever they were planning on growing that season. It was approaching midday before the group encountered anything interesting on the road itself, however.

Rogon, currently riding the lead horse, brought it to a stop and looked out down the road. "Hmm, looks like some sorta 'old up down the way, see?" he said, holding his hand over his eyes in order to shield the glare from the sun. As the rest of the group paused as they caught up and looked where he had indicated, it did indeed appear that the road ahead was blocked. A large group of people were gathered around what appeared to be a large old-fashioned caravan. The back was covered by canvas, and the front had two horses pulling it along.

Currently however, they were not moving, with some of the group sitting off to the side of the road while a few were gathered by the caravan. From this distance, it was hard to tell exactly what was happening, but it also meant that they had yet to spot them approaching.

Varus swiftly dismounted from Gauss, the purple horse reverting to her fox form in a puff of smoke. She then hopped up and disappeared into Varus' chest in a similar manner to how she first appeared. Clearly he had deemed the glowing horse to be somewhat conspicuous if we were to be interacting with strangers. By now, the group was getting used to the unusual behaviour of the pair, and barely spared him a glance.

"So...what? We just wait here until they move on? They could be ages, surely we can simply go around them?" Alistair murmured, earning agreements from most of the group. Garrick pushed his horse to the front, and started to proceed down the road. "I agree, we should press on. But we ought to be careful, we don't want to startle them with our numbers and incite aggression. Just because they look harmless doesn't mean that they are." With more nods, they all started to approach the caravan, Varus walking alongside on foot. "...Paranoid old man." he huffed.

As they got closer, it became apparent that the reason for the caravan blocking the road was that it was currently missing one of it's wheels, causing the caravan itself to slant to one side. Two of the group, consisting of two males, were attempting to fix the caravan with little apparent progress.

The group that sat on the side of the road were what caught many of their eyes, however. They had been unable to make out details from a distance, but once they approached it was clear that the entire group consisted of children. Around eight boys and girls of varying ages either sat or played with each other while waiting for the repairs to be completed. The party exchanged slightly uneasy looks. It was unusual to see so many children with so few adults. Still, a quick look didn't reveal that the children were upset with their situation, many laughing as they played.

As they approached, one of the men by the caravan noticed them. He broke away from where he was looking at the damaged wheel in order to circle around to meet the group. The man was human, with mid-length blond hair and stubble. He was wearing hard-wearing leathers, with a claw hammer hanging from his belt. He also held a slightly guarded look as he saw so many travellers approach.

"Hail. Sorry for causing a blockage, we should be out of the way soon enough. Sorry for causing any inconvenience" the man called, his hand hovering over the hammer slightly defensively. The party stopped a short way away, so as not to spook the man further. As they did, several of the children also noticed the group's arrival, with several pointing and waving. Indira was quick to smile and wave back.

Garrick pulled forward slightly on his horse. "Well met, sorry to trouble you. We are merely attempting to get to Astor" he explained. The blond man nodded and relaxed slightly. "Very well. By all means, feel free to go around us, we may be some time yet." Garrick nodded, and was about to do exactly that. However, Rogon had instead slipped off his horse, moving to approach the caravan. Garrick paused, watching his progress with a raised eyebrow. "I do hope he doesn't cause a scene here" he thought.

The blond man tensed as the giant half-orc approached. "Halt. We don't want any trouble" he said warily. Rogon paused, and gave a wide smile. "I ain't gonna harm ya. Was gonna offer you a hand with the caravan. I'm a dab hand at fixing things" he said, gesturing to the toolkit on his own belt. The man paused, considering the offer.

"I appreciate it, but I am sure we will have it fixed before long…" he started, just as the caravan gave a slight lurch downwards, followed by the soft cursing of his companion. The man beneath the caravan extricated himself, revealing a dust covered face with freckles and short curly hair. He was clearly a younger man, around eighteen summers or so. Rogon raised an eyebrow at this, and the man sighed before stepping aside and gesturing with his hand. "By all means, help us out. Thanks." Rogon nodded and approached the broken wheel.

The rest of the group observed the interaction with interest. Varus pulled up alongside Garrick, hands in his pockets and scowling slightly. "Are we really gonna wait 'til green boy finishes up, could take a while. Thought we were on a schedule?" he asked. Garrick sighed and looked to him "We are, but the horses have already helped with that. Doesn't hurt to help out others in need. Besides…" he said, as he turned back to the caravan just as Rogon lifted the chassis up with a single hand in order to inspect the axle, gaining a shocked look from the two men. "...I feel it will not take him too long. Best we hang back to prevent panic." He then dismounted from the horse for a bit of a stretch.

Varus slunk off to the side of the road, muttering about having to help the useless. Indira also slid off the back of her horse, skipping over to the waving children and starting to play with them, under the watchful gaze of the blond man. Seeing her play pat-a-cake with several of the girls appeased him slightly, however. The rest of the group hung back, chatting amongst themselves while Rogon worked.

A short while later saw Rogon happily spinning a repaired wheel, before placing the caravan back down on all fours. The blond man gave an appreciative whistle, "Gotta say, you do good work. Would have taken us a good deal longer." The man then extended his hand. "Benston is the name. This here is Johnson. Sorry about the suspicion earlier, can't be too careful on the roads these days."

Rogon chuckled, finishing putting his tools away and accepting the offered hand. "Rogon. And no worries, I get it. Couldn' just walk by and not lend a hand when I could though." The pair shook hands and split ways. Benston and Johnson then proceeded to start rounding up the children into the caravan, earning several moans at having to stop playing. Several waved to Indira as she too returned to the horses.

As they approached, Garrick turned to them. "So? Anything up with them?" he questioned. Rogon snorted "I don't think so. Neither of the men 'ad visible weapons. Friendly pair, though they were definitely defensive." Alistair chuckled at that "Can't blame them. We outnumber them, and you're an intimidating man just because of your size, Rogon." Rogon conceded this point with a bashful smile.

"Well," Indira said, as she remounted the horse behind Alistair. "The children were darlings. They seemed happy enough, but some would get sad occasionally for no apparent reason. If I asked, they would clam up. Something's happened to them, but what I cannot say." Garrick gave a grunt of agreement. "Then perhaps we should continue to follow them, for the time being. Regardless of whether they are up to something or not, these roads could be dangerous due to the presence of shadows. I would hate for a caravan of children to be attacked."

He got a round of nods from most, though Varus just rolled his eyes. As they finished their discussion, the caravan had loaded up and started to move out. They proceeded to follow at a respectable distance. Varus chose to keep up by simply walking alongside, keeping Gauss' presence a secret from the group for now. They got a few glances from Benston, but otherwise the caravan seemed content with their presence.

It was mid afternoon when the caravan came to a stop once more, this time by a small hamlet of houses that had formed around a junction in the road. The party also chose to stop and rest, eating some of their rations and keeping an eye on the caravan. The children had hopped out while Benston had gone to greet a few adults standing by the side of one of the buildings. After exchanging a few words, he turned to the children, who had lined up by the caravan.

One of the adults, an older man with a farmers garb, walked along the line inspecting the children. Some were fidgeting as he did so. Finally, he stopped and pointed at a young boy of around ten summers. The rest of the children swarmed him in hugs, as the child in question started to tear up slightly. Soon after, he stepped forward, following the man as he led him back towards a building in the hamlet. The rest of the children waved after him, before starting to climb into the caravan once more.

The party watched this with rapt attention. "Interesting. What is it they are doing?" Na'ish murmured from his perch. Rogon shrugged "Not sure. An orphanage perhaps? Looks like adoption ta me." Alistair frowned and huffed "If that's so, why from the back of a caravan? Why not a good old fashioned building in a town? Something feels off, I tell you" he grumbled.

Garrick cast an eye over the procession of kids as they climbed back into the caravan. "So what? Think it's something else?" Varus scoffed from where he was leaning against a fence post. "Perhaps they're selling them off. Good labour so long as they're trained from young" he got several frowns at the callous way he had said that. Still, it had a worrying grain of truth. "...So, child trafficking, perhaps?" Garrick muttered worriedly.

The group remounted their horses in order to follow once more as the caravan moved off. Regardless of the truth, they now felt obliged to keep a closer eye on the group, just in case. No more stops occurred until it started to turn to dusk. The caravan then pulled off the road, onto a large field. They clearly had the intention to stop the night here.

The party chose to pull off on the other side of the road, giving the caravan enough space so as not to panic at their continued presence but still keep them within easy sight. Benston was starting to unload a few rolled tents from the back of the caravan, clearly intent on using them to sleep in rather than the caravan itself. The children were soon spilling out and playing once more, with some of the older kids assisting in setting up the tent.

Meanwhile, Garrick and Indira were securing the horses for the night, allowing them to graze on the grass for some sustenance. Rogon and Na'ish were busy setting a fire up for the night, while Alistair had found and rolled some larger logs over in order to sit on them by the fire. Varus had wandered off on his own. As the sun started to set, he returned with a few braces of rabbit, dumping them down by the fire before moving on to sit at the edge of the firelight.

Garrick raised an eyebrow but picked the rabbits up happily. He started to skin and prepare them, an action he had had to do many times before. There were five rabbits in all, enough for almost one each. Garrick did note, however, that the rabbits did not appear to have any injury upon them from their capture. No arrows, blood etc, they were simply dead. Just how did Varus get these?

Still, it made his job easier, and before long they had several rabbits roasting on skewers. While they were cooking, the topic of conversation turned back to the caravan across the way. "Hmm. They've not lost any more children in transit…" Garrick mentioned, having done a quick head count. Rogon looked over the group, noticing the couple of tents that housed the group. "Looks like Benston and Johnson will be on night watch. Strange, I didn' think they had any weapons on them, 'cept that claw hammer o'course."

Alistair grabbed one of the recently cooked rabbits, chewing on it contentedly. "Do they even know that there are zombies and Shadows wandering the countryside at the moment?" he said, ignoring the admonishing look from Indira for having spoken with a mouthful of food. "Mmm, these are good! Hey Varus! Rabbits done, you want one since you got them for us?" Varus just raised a hand from where he lay "Nope. Already eaten." Alistair just shrugged and took another sizable bite.

"There is a good chance they do not. Perhaps we should warn them?" Garrick said, also grabbing a rabbit. Avery jumped up and dusted her legs down. "I'll go, wanna go meet these scamps!" She said. Garrick looked her way "Not going to steal from them, then?" Avery took on a mock look of betrayal. "Me? Steal from children? Even I'm not that desperate!" Garrick just rolled his eyes at her.

Indira also stood "I'll go with you, they know me, so will be less likely to be threatened. Here," she said, holding out a hand and allowing Peanut to jump along her arm and leap towards Avery. She flinched slightly, this being the first time she had seen him, but was quick to compose herself and allow him to land on her shoulder. "Take Peanut, I'm sure the kids will love him! I can speak to Benston about the threat then." The girls headed over to the caravan, as the others started to settle down for the night and organise a night watch.

Garrick had taken first watch, allowing the others to start to sleep. He watched the fire glow while looking over to the similar glow coming from the caravan's fire. It seemed Avery and Indira had managed to integrate without trouble. He looked over to the children of the group, pausing at one of the girls that was around eight summers of age. His eyes gained a slight pained expression, as his hand reached into his breast pocket and retrieved an item.

The item he had retrieved was a finely crafted doll, made with silk with a head of real hair. The doll had buttons for eyes and had clearly seen a lot of use, with the occasional sign of wear and tear on it. He thumbed it and looked it over with something akin to nostalgia.

"Didn't strike you as the sort to play with dolls, old man. Would have thought you were past that" came the voice of Varus from the dark behind him. Clearly, Varus had been watching without Garrick being aware. Garrick quickly returned the doll into his breast pocket. "I am not. Pretend you didn't see anything" he grunted.

"Hey, I won't judge if you want to play with kids' things" Varus returned. Garrick sighed "Just...go to sleep, Varus." Thankfully, Varus went silent after that, leaving Garrick to his thoughts. He watched as Avery and Indira finished their business, leaving the kids to get their sleep and return to camp.

"Success?" he whispered, conscious of the sleeping members. The girls nodded, "Yes, we warned them of the dangers. Not sure how seriously they took them though, Benston simply gave me a raised eyebrow when I explained the Shadows" Indira whispered back, starting to gather her things in order to meditate. Garrick nodded at this "Hardly surprising. Not sure I would believe the story had I not been there to see it. Still, we've done our bit to help them at least."

The girls settled down and Garrick oversaw the group for the first few hours of the night. Once he felt he had done his fair share, he walked over in order to nudge Alistair awake with his foot. After some grumbling, he took over watch duties to allow Garrick to rest.

While Alistair was poking the fire, he occasionally cast glances over to the caravan. With his better night vision than most, he was able to make out the tents over the road. Benston and Johnson were sat huddled and conversing by the waning firelight. As he watched, Benston stood and started to walk off into the woodland surrounding the clearing, leaving Johnson on watch.

At first, he assumed that he must have just been going to relieve himself, a necessary task after all. But he wasn't so sure after the first half hour passed. Benston eventually returned around an hour later, looking slightly more dishevelled but otherwise unharmed. He then took over from Johnson, the younger man retreating into one of the tents. "Interesting...where exactly did the guy go all that time?" Alistair thought. Still, the man didn't do anything else suspicious, and before long it was time for Rogon to be woken up to take the final watch.

Morning broke, and it did not take either group long to break camp and prepare to move out once more. As the group with the caravan was just finishing up placing the tents into the back, Garrick watched from his spot across the road. Alistair had informed them of the excursion Bentson had made last night. Suspicious, but nothing that could say for sure that they were up to something. The caravan, overall, was an enigma.

Just as they were about to head out, one group of the playing kids strayed over the road. Despite Benston calling to them, they swiftly involved Indira and Avery in their game. Garrick looked at the scene fondly, before looking back to Benston. The man appeared torn between getting the kids back or letting them be. As his eyes met Garrick's, he huffed and rolled his eyes, before mounting the caravan in order to start to steer it down the road.

Garrick gained a small smile, before mounting his horse and following. Now, rather than following at a distance, the group mingled as they travelled. Indira continued to play with both the children and Peanut, pausing to sit on the back of the caravan and tell the children a story. Rogon had vacated his horse, choosing to walk alongside the caravan instead, occasionally chatting with Benston and Johnson. Varus, still unwilling to allow Gauss out with strangers, had chosen to mount Rogon's horse.

As they progressed, Rogon fell back in order to listen in to the story Indira was telling the kids. It was clearly about some of her time spent in her forest home, full of centaurs and satyrs and all manner of interesting fauna. As he was listening, some movement caught his eye towards the back of the caravan. There, almost hidden by the tent bag and various blankets, was a cat.

The cat was large, bigger than most domestic breeds, with ginger hair and a flattened face. What really set it apart, however, were it's eyes. They glowed violet, with a star-like pattern of sparkles rather than a standard pupil. These were made all the more apparent in the dim light of the back of the caravan.

Rogon was so transfixed on the unusual sight that he missed the small rock on the road in his path. His footing slipped as he stood on it, causing him to stagger and have to catch himself. Once he returned his gaze back to the back of the caravan, he blinked in confusion when there was no sign of the feline from before. "...Must be seeing things.." Rogon thought.

The group continued to travel like this until around midday. Just as the sun hit it's zenith, the caravan stopped at a junction in the road. Benston hopped down off the front seat and approached the group. "Well, this is where we part ways. If you're heading to Astor, just follow this road straight. Should be a day's journey on horseback." Rogon shook his hand with a smile. "Pleasure! Keep yourself well now!" he chuckled.

Benston then climbed back on the caravan and started to drive it down the left hand path. The children in the back all waved at the group as they left, Indira and Avery waving back the most enthusiastically. The party waited until the caravan turned a corner out of sight, and they could no longer see them to wave.

Garrick gave a heavy sigh as Alistair trotted up beside him "So, think it's ok to let them go like that?" Alistair questioned. Garrick just shook his head slightly, "What choice do we have? They may appear suspicious, but we can hardly keep following them. We need to get to Astor." The rest of the party nodded, and started to move off in the direction of Astor.

As Garrick turned his horse to do the same, he noticed from the corner of his eye that one of the horses had yet to follow the group. Looking back, he noticed that the horse didn't even currently have a rider. He then looked at the group as a whole, doing a quick head count. As he did, his eyes widened and his stomach dropped slightly.

"Er...where is Varus?"

Character Profile

Name: Rogon

Race: Half-Orc

Class: Fighter

Subclass: Gunslinger

Rogon set out from his home in the Headlands in search of his father. Rogon had never known him, only hearing stories of him from his mother. His signature weapon, a tool he has taken to calling a revolver, was a gift from his mother. She, in turn, said it once belonged to his father. Having never seen another weapon like it, Rogon hopes it will be the key to finding out more about his father.