The Oakdell Circle

Chapter One

Ari awoke with a start. The thick jungle canopy overhead was still dark from the night's twilight, the rays of dawn slowly beginning to creep over the hills and peak through the tall trees. She rolled over awkwardly onto her side. Her body ached all over and her head throbbed like it was hit with a hammer. What happened she silently wondered. Gathering herself the brown-skinned wood elf slowly stood, brushing off her drab green robes and shaking leaves and twigs from her heavy dark brown dreadlocks that she flung back in place. She looked around anxiously for any signs of the camp they'd made the night prior. She saw none. Gathering her staff and untangling her cloak Ari began to set off towards where she thought camp was. She cast a healing spell to wash over herself as she stepped through the tangled underbrush of the forest. Looking towards the sunrise she set her bearings and set out in the direction they had been traveling the night before.

Just then a shrill cry rang out in the early morning. Whipping around towards the sound, Ari recognized the source right away. Tamar, she thought hastily and rushed off in the direction of the yell. The tangle of undergrowth made way for her as she rushed across the jungle floor. Bounding over fallen trees and sudden slopes the wood elf unexpectedly came across one of her traveling companions laying in the underbrush. It was Chaucer, the white grung bard that travelled with them. He was unconscious but breathing, his tiny chest rising and falling with life. Placing a hand over his head she sensed that he was gravely wounded and sent a healing spell surging through his body. He woke suddenly, gasping and confused. Seeing his friend Ari, he breathed a sigh of relief and set his head back down in defeat. "Dere's no time fe dat," Ari chided the grung in her thick patwah accent, "Tamar needs ah help an we ave ta find de rest of de paty."

Chaucer hopped up with renewed energy and vigor. He tilted his head curiously looking up at Ari. "Any idea what in the Yellow King's name happened?" the grung asked in his proper tone while rubbing his backside. "One minute we were fighting a manticore and the next minute it's lights out."

"Mi tink we caught de business end ah its tail if mi remember right," the elf said in an unsure voice. "Mi was knocked out too, just a few dozen feet from ere. Its tail attack must ave flung us over ere." Another shout rang out, this time in a deeper pitch. A war cry from the sound of it.

"That sounds like Samash," Chaucer remarked just as Ari had been thinking it. "Time to get back in the fight! A pair of tyrannosaurus rexes seems appropriate for the occasion, eh?" Chaucer smirked. Polymorph. It was their go to spell and when they worked as a team there was almost no stopping them. Ari nodded softly and began chanting as her nimble fingers made the intricate patterns of the spell. Chaucer backed up a few steps and did the same. Within a gust of magic the two friends were morphed into huge dinosaurs. Chaucer was an all-white T-Rex with black eyes and an almost frog shaped head. Ari was a green and brown T-Rex, with colorful plumes of feathers protruding from her head and down her back. Together they let out a thunderous roar and charged towards the sounds of battle.

Samash the half-orc barbarian swung his halberd down with ferocity, his corded muscles flexing with the swing. It glanced off the armored tail of the manticore, the beast biting and snarling as it focused on Kuku the kenku monk to its front. With a flurry of blows the penguin patterned monk assaulted the manticore, pummeling its head with fists of fury. Behind it, Samash thrust his halberd out again, this time catching the beast in the flank. Popping out of the shadows, Tamar the tabaxi rogue drove her two poison tipped daggers into the monster and darted out of the kill zone to shrink back into the shadows. As she did so the loud crack of Goilon the dwarven ranger's blunderbuss rang out, the enchanted slug hitting the manticore in the shoulder and causing it to falter. With a roar it lashed out with both claw and tail sending Samash and Kuku sprawling.

As the monk and barbarian struggled to their feet, they felt the ground quake from booming footsteps. They watched as two tyrannosaurus rex burst into the clearing, one white, one feathered. The two huge beasts let out a threatening roar as they charged at the manticore, its full attention now on the newly arrived dinosaurs. Recognizing the two dinosaurs as their allies Ari and Chaucer in their polymorph form, Samash and Kuku nodded to one another and leapt to their feet, rushing the backside of the monster while the new arrivals held its attention. Chaucer barreled in first and with his gaping mouth went straight for the manticore's head, embracing it in dagger like teeth. Ari came up on the side and bit down over the monster's back, its upper torso from the shoulders down engulfed in her mouth. With the manticore grappled the remaining party assaulted the rear of the manticore simultaneously. Kuku with his greatsword, Samash with his halberd, Tamar with her crossbow, and Goilon with his blunderbuss.

Ari and Chaucer looked at one another and, with the manticore in their mouths, nodded. Both clenched down hard and pulled their heads away from the other, tearing the manticore in two, blood and gore spilling out onto the ground. Chaucer swallowed the head whole while Ari shook the beast in her mouth before finally flinging the limp body into the dense brush. Before she could even turn her head back, she saw Chaucer hopping past in his regular form towards where she'd just flung the corpse. "Spell components, don't you know!" he mused. "Praise the King in Yellow for magical creatures!" Ari laughed as she reverted to her natural form and saw to anyone in need of healing while Chaucer, Goilon, and Tamar hacked away at the corpse of the manticore for components and poisons. Samash wandered the campsite collecting up their things that had gotten strewn about camp in the fight, his long black stringy hair hanging down around his face. Kuku waddled over to the fire where the iron pot still dangled above the flames, the morning's soup still fit to eat. Scooping his bowl into the soup he sat down on an adjacent log, pulling a dead fish from the bag of colding and slapping it into his soup. Samash shuttered at Kuku and dipped his own bowl into the soup. Ari sat on the ground next to the fire, pulling off her boots and socks to clean her feet, wiggling her toes in delight as they became free of the leather and cotton. Pulling a large bowl-shaped pan from her pack she placed it under her feet and began pouring water from her waterskin into a pitcher she'd also pulled from her pack.

"How much longer until we reach Port Nyanzaru," Tamar asked Ari as she walked up to the camp pocketing her new vials of poison in her leather belt pouch. "I am so done with this deadly jungle" Two tiny fairy dragons, one a reddish pink and the other a light green, erupted from her cloak as she took a seat next to Ari. The dragons, Kevin and Adora, zipped excitedly around the camp with glee chasing one another as Tamar looked on. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I can handle my own. I'm just anxious to get back to the city and turn this quest in to Syndra Silvane." Tamar remarked, her orange cat tail flicking behind her.

Ari gently spilled water over her feet in the bowl as she considered Tamar and thought about her question. She sprinkled soap into the bowl and looked over to the rogue. "We be in Mbala by night fall. Mi taken us trough what mi know ta be de least populated spots of de jungle," Ari continued as she lathered her feet, "dis is why de journey as taken as long as it as." Rinsing the soapy water from her feet she added in her soft patwah accent, "Afta defeatin Acererak mi figured we were na rush. We ave anoda two weeks ta Port Nyanzaru from Mbala if memry serves mi right". She towel dried her feet and pulled a fresh pair of socks from her pack and unrolled them. Pulling on the white cotton fabric she ran her hands over the soft material as she crossed her feet and placed her hands in her lap asking Tamar, "Do tabaxi lick demselves clean like ousecats do?"

Tamar let out a light laugh scratching behind her orange feline ear. She patted Ari on the shoulder. "Yes, but I try to do that in private. I don't lick clean things like blood and gore though," she said, "for that I take a bath same as you." Tamar canted her head slightly to Ari, watching her gather her boots. "Speaking of baths, why do you only wash your feet?" Tamar asked.

Ari chuckled. "I too bade in private but is not evry day dat mi ave access to a bat. On dose days mi at least wash mi face an feet. Feet ah very important and if ya ignore dem ya get injuries dat cyan be painful an lead ta disease, especially while traveling. Mi change mi socks every day ta keep mi feet dry an safe."

Samash made his way over while pulling on a new shirt, standing between them and the small fire. His muscles rippled under the fabric, his greenish hued skin glowing in the early morning sun. "We'd better get a move on it if we're going to make Mbala by tonight," he said sternly as he pulled his stringy black hair into a thick ponytail at the crown of his head. The girls nodded and began to gather their things. Ari rubbed the bottoms of her socks against her russet legs to get off any dirt before pulling her tan leather boots on. Tamar whistled as she went to her pack and Kevin and Adora flew back over to her and into her cloak. Kuku had already finished his soup and fish, pouring it down his gullet in one swig. The bird-like monk had strapped his traveling pack to his back already and was checking the camp for anything left behind. Goilon was tamping out the fire with clunky dwarven boots while his well-manicured beard bounced with the motion. Chaucer loaded his new spell components into his pack before adjusting his fancy vest and slinging his pack onto his back. The loud moan of dinosaurs nearby rang out over the camp. Instinctively the group all turned to Ari with worried looks on their faces. "Herbivores," she stated flatly, "but dis gives mi an idea," she said with a coy smile pulling her dreads back into a neatly tucked bun, the remainder spilling down her back over her cloak.

Applying her daily salve as she walked, Ari led the party to the edge of a clearing where a pack of stegosaurus were grazing in the early morning sun. She motioned for the party to be silent and still as she gingerly stepped out into the clearing from the forest. Weaving a silent spell her hands made the somatic motions of a spell Chaucer was not familiar with. Slowly Ari walked up to the largest dinosaur and leaned ever so gently against its shoulder whispering to it. Tamar looked at Chaucer and whispered, "Knowing her she's probably making friends." Chaucer smirked and nodded. Of course she would be. Afterall, Chaucer had heard tales of Ari's exploits when it came to dinosaurs, like the time she'd disrupted the dinosaur races in Port Nyanzaru by making friends with the large tyrannosaurus rex and setting the beasts free in the middle of a race. It had been absolute bedlam. People ran in fear and fell over one another in the stands as large dinosaurs of all kinds ran free both inside the colosseum and through the streets of Port Nyanzaru. Some had even made it out of the city and on to the jungle to freedom.

After several minutes of communicating with the dinosaurs the dreadlocked druid returned to the party and ushered them out into the clearing. "Dey ah friendly wit us now an wi take us as far as de base of Mbala," Ari said, "From dere we ah on ah own." Samash came up to the elf and clasped Ari's bare shoulder in thanks and said, "This will be very helpful. Once we are at Mbala we can take the river routes to Port." He smiled to the party, his orcish tusks protruding out. "With this new development we just may be there by dinner. Mount up!"

It was about an hour after evening fall when the party crested the top of the sheer plateau that was Mbala. The journey had been easy, the loud thud of the dinosaur's footfalls chasing off any would-be enemies the party might have faced. Each person rode atop the back of a stegosaurus, wedged comfortably between the tall plates on their backs, their spiked tails swinging with their movements. Ari laid on her belly kicking her bare feet in the air as she rode while Samash and Kuku struggled to stay in place. At a few points during the journey Ari walked barefoot alongside the dinosaurs and fed them herbs and foliage from her satchel. By sundown they had reached the site where Ari had been crystalized and her brother had forfeited his life. Ari lit a small candle in remembrance of her brother on an altar she'd built after being resurrected. The stegosaurus were already on their way back to their grazing grounds as the party watched them go while they ascended the side of the plateau in the giant lift that had been constructed to transport people from the basin to the top.

It had been some time since Ari was last here. At that time Ari had been a sort of corpse, risen by foul magic to serve at the hands of the evil Nanny Pu'pu, then the sole resident of the Mbala plateau. Her comrades had defeated the evil witch, but not before Ari had plunged to what she thought would be her ultimate death. In the time since, her former ally Cotton the warrior gnome had taken up residence in Mbala and made it his life's work to restore it. Cotton had been the hard-hitting of the party, arriving in Port Nyanzaru with Samash as his indentured charge. Now here in Mbala Cotton had built up a small town that served to ferry travelers from Mbala to Port Nyanzaru. He'd attracted refugees and new residents who now made Mbala their home. And thanks to a wily smuggler that travelled briefly with the party, had a thriving black market and active thieves guild. Cotton of course was unaware of the smuggler's activities despite the resources to build the town having come from the same black market.

Samash led the party through the dust of the plateau and up to the town hall in the center of the small village. Knocking on the door he stood back tall and proud while Tamar peered in through the windows. From inside she could see the shadow of a small figure and a rhythmic clank could be heard along with footfalls. The heavy door opened with a creak and a small gnome poked his colorful head out. "Eh? Who's there?" the green and pink wild haired gnome asked to the silhouetted figures gathered on the front porch. Samash stepped forward into the candlelight casting out from the opening of the door. "Who indeed old friend," smiled Samash in a wide grin as Cotton's eyes lit up with his smile.

"Samash you old dog!" exclaimed the gnome excitedly, "How have you been?! I'm so glad you came by to see what we've done with the place. Come in, come in!" Cotton exclaimed as he threw open the door and hobbled into the main corridor, basking them all in the soft candlelight. Ari looked around anxiously as she entered, still on edge to be in Mbala and pulled her cloak tightly around her. The building was modest with a very utilitarian feel. It was clean and in good repair. Smaller rooms off the main corridor were cluttered with workbenches and tables where laid all manner of mechanisms and tools. The main hall was empty save for some wall torches and a large brazier toward the front leading to a stage. In a room off the back of the hall Cotton ushered them all in, greeting each party member. "Tamar, nice to see you still have all your fingers. And your dragons too! Ari! Back from the dead? Will wonders never cease. Kuku, looking good as always! And a frog person, strange. Grung I assume?" He looked over to Goilon and extended his hand. "Mm, and you seem to have picked up a dwarf, too. Hi there. I'm Cotton, nice to meet you. And you are?"

Goilon looked the gnome over as he considered his outstretched hand. The gnome had pink and green hair, a long thin mustache, and a prosthetic leg. His face was weathered with age and he had a funny twang to his accent. Goilon took his hand and shook it. "Goilon, good sir. A pleasure ta make yer acquaintance, lad." Shaking hands the gnome ushered the blunderbuss totting dwarf into his office and stepped in behind everyone. It was cramped but cozy, the furniture all made of fine craftsmanship and materials of Nyanzaru's finest. Cotton moved around to behind his desk and plopped into his seat.

"It's so good to see you all again! Where is Crom and that ranger you were traveling with?" asked Cotton. "Rori was it? The one with the big cat."

"Riri," corrected Samash, "Raziri Natombé actually, and her cat was Onika. She and Crom were unable to complete the quest with us. Riri and Onika were called away on personal business by her old traveling companion while Crom disappeared after drawing a card from the deck of many things as we entered Omu. We didn't have the resources to go hunting for him at the time, but we're hoping we might be able to now that we've taken care of the death curse"

Cotton stared at the half-orc in surprise. "Ooo, those decks are bad news," he mused. "It sounds all too much like him, though. But you took care of the death curse?! Well that is good news!" Next he turned his attention to Ari who sat there silently. "I thought you were dead – twice!" the gnome exclaimed. "How are you here with the death curse in place or are you recently resurrected?"

Ari thought for a moment shifting uneasily in her seat. "It turns out mi neva was dead. De flowa stalk dat infested mi an choked mi put mi ina sort ah stasis. When ya trew what ya tought was mi corpse inna riva mi washed down ere ta Mbala." She paused a moment to collect herself, twirling one of her dreadlocks nervously. "Dis allowed Nanny Pu'pu ta manipulate mi furder an use mi her tool." Ari moved uncomfortably in her seat as she continued. "When mi come to afta her defeat an saw mi as undead monstrosity dat she make mi inta mi leapt to what mi hoped was mi deat. Instead mi was cursed an began ta crystalize before even hittin bottom.

Fe whatever reason mi did na shatta an instead spent monts trapped inna crystalized form until mi were saved by a strange shaman an mi bruda, Chinedu, ooh ad been searchin fe way ta free mi eva since he hear mi plight. He even travel wit de paty fe brief time." Ari looked down as a tear trickled down her cheek as she softly said, "Him sacrificed himself so dat mi cyan live free once more."

Cotton sat looking astonished. "Wow, that is a lot," he commented. "Sorry about your brother and for throwing you into the river. We thought you were dead, and with the death curse lingering we didn't know of any way to bring you back. Well," he paused "I'm glad you're back and looking healthy. I really did miss you and regretted throwing you in the river." He composed himself and looked at Samash who stood tall in the back. "And what about you? What will you do now that your quest has come to an end and your freedom is granted?"

Samash smiled, his tusks poking up from behind his big lower lip. "Well, I've grown to appreciate adventuring and this party has become like a family to me. We go now to meet with Syndra Silvane who sent us on this quest and then on to the famed mage Bilben Mulberry in Port Nyanzaru. He had been in one of the first adventuring parties to try to end the death curse along with the ranger Riri we travelled with. Bilben even accompanied us briefly to Omu to translate the ancient script among the ruins so that we might find our way in. We go now to report our victory and hope that we can muster the resources to seek out Crom. We hope Bilben is able to help us locate him." Cotton nodded and riffled through some papers in a desk drawer. "Aha!" he exclaimed, pulling a roll of parchment from the drawer and holding it high.

"This," Cotton explained, "is documentation for the ride to Port Nyanzaru. Provide these letters, one for each of you, to the ferryman and he will provide you free passage to Nyanzaru. In the meantime there are no boats leaving for the remainder of the evening so please feel free to bed down in the meeting hall," he pointed out his office door and into the large empty hall. "I will have some hot meals brought over and you can have free reign of the place. Just please don't touch my workshops," the gnome chuckled. "I can't be responsible for anything that happens should you fool around with any of my gadgets or gismos." With that Cotton hopped down from his gilded seat and came around his desk. "Follow me, follow me," he said absently.

Sometime after midnight Ari stirred in her bedroll and sat up. All around her travelling companions were laid out on their bedrolls and blankets, the brazier flickering low in the dim light. Slipping out of her bedroll Ari padded down the corridor in her bare feet and thin night shirt out to the front porch. There she took a seat at the steps that lead up to the structure, crossing her arms over her legs and pulling them close to her as she stared up at the night sky. It was strange being back in Mbala, a cursed place for the wood elf where so much trauma had happened to her. She knew that Nanny Pu'pu was vanquished but being here meant she couldn't shake the feeling that it would all happen again. It had been a terrifying experience being possessed by the hag and bent to its will. She'd been used like an evil tool by Pu'pu, attacking her own friends and casting foul magic. She'd lost so much through Nanny Pu'pu – her independence, her confidence, and worst of all her brother Chinedu. He had been working with the mysterious shaman to restore her to life from her crystalized form, gathering materials and magic necessary to perform the ritual. He scoured the jungles searching for baubles and trinkets that the shaman demanded, at times putting himself in grave danger to acquire the necessary components.

For a time Chinedu had even travelled with her own adventuring party as a Hexblade, leaving them promptly when it became clear that restoring her had not been their priority. It wasn't until everything was gathered and the ritual had started that the Shaman revealed to Chinedu that a sacrifice was needed to complete the spell. With determination and devotion to his sister, he didn't even think twice. Ari had been conscious through the entire ordeal and watched as her brother sacrificed himself so that she could be freed, unable to scream out or stop him. When it was done there was nothing left of him, his entire being absorbed by the magic, a dark scorch mark left behind from where he'd been. Ari had wept for days, following mournfully along with the Shaman as he took her unknowingly back to Port Nyanzaru. It was there in the city's gladiator arena that Ari had been reunited by the shaman to be with her former adventuring party, the young elven druid now a darker and more somber Ari. It wouldn't be until their arrival in the lost city of Omu that Ari would finally start to see a return to her former curious and loving self.

Ari stepped off the porch and slowly made her way to the cliffside where she had jumped from after her possession by Nanny Pu'pu. Looking down the cliffside she could see the site where she'd been trapped in crystalized form. A soft vague scorch mark now signaled where Chinedu had sacrificed himself. To the left of that mark she could see the small shrine she and the shaman had constructed to honor his legacy where she'd stopped and lit a candle yesterday as they arrived, the flame still faintly flickering. She inched up to the very edge of the cliff, her bare feet hanging over, toes curled. Lifting her head back she spread her arms wide as a cool night breeze played through her dreadlocks and pulled at her thin shirt. Softly she began to mutter an incantation as she leaned forward over the cliff, springing up and out with the balls of her feet. Falling down the cliffside she sustained the incantation, eyes closed as the ground continued to rush up to meet her. With a last word her eyes shot open and the world took on a different feel. She was one with the island and she would not be controlled again.

Cotton burst out of the hall and onto the porch just in time to see Ari leap from the cliff clad in his own nightshirt, leather apron, and tinker headlight. He ran as fast as his prosthetic limb allowed him to the edge and skidded over on his hands and knee, calling out for Ari in a panic. He peered over the edge but couldn't see her in the darkness. He let out a pained moan and slammed his hands against the ground. "Why, child? Why?!" he bellowed. He balled his fist in anger just as a crow soared up from the cliffside, hovering just in front of him. The crow was peculiar in nature having colorful feathers plumed around its neck and head. Cotton shook his head. "That's you isn't it, Ari?" Cotton said softly. "You pesky girl, you." The crow settled on his shoulder cocking its head and with its wing reached over and ever so lightly tapped Cotton on the nose. "Oh ho!," replied Cotton, "Boop indeed." Cotton chuckled as the crow lifted off from his shoulder and flew off into the night. "Elves," Cotton commented as he made his way back to the workshop shaking his head, "always so dramatic about everything."

The next morning saw the party refreshed and ready to travel. Ari had returned in the early dawn hours, making her way to the bathhouse before joining up with her party. When she finished she padded barefoot to a small cluster of trees and set herself up under a nearby tree inhabited by two falcons. Pulling out a morsel of food she fed the excited birds. As they ate she began the somatic motions of a spell, reciting the spell's text as she focused on one of the falcons. When she finished her spell, the bird perched before her ready to be commanded. Stroking its chest with her index finger she told the attentive creature its mission. "Ya must fly ta Port Nyanzaru an find de halflin mage Bilben Mulberry. Him is small stature, appears young, but presents himself as old. Tell him de following: De Oakdell Circle is victorious an is travellin up de riva from Mbala ta meet ya." She continued, "We should arrive in two weeks' time." As she finished she bid the falcon farewell as it sprung from its branch and took flight. As she watched it fly off she was met by Chaucer who had walked up from the hall as she had been instructing the falcon on its mission.

"Bird watching again?" joked the white grung. "You really do love all the little critters and beasties, don't you?" Ari looked down at him thoughtfully. Even though Chaucer was sentient and considered humanoid, she couldn't help but only see the root creature that he was, a frog. Perhaps there was truth in his off the cuff comment, as Ari was much closer with her animalistic travelling companions than she was with the more humanoid ones.

"Mi sent a falcon ahead of us ta deliva a message ta Bilben ta expect us widin de next two weeks. De falcon should reach him before de spell expires," Ari stated as a matter of fact. "Dough iffi doesn't is not de end of de world," she added lightly.

Tamar silently wandered over as Chaucer continued. "Well the rest of the party is getting their things packed up for the trip. Samash and Goilon are at the general store stocking up on supplies we might need for the journey."

"Me and Kuku are ready," chimed in Tamar to Chaucer's surprise. "Have you two prepared your spells for the day?" Ari and Chaucer chuckled lightly. It was comforting to hear their travelling companions being thoughtful of their needs as casters.

"Oh, they are definitely prepared," mused Chaucer. "It's the first thing I do when I wake up!" Ari nodded and Tamar smirked. "Just wanted to make sure you two are prepared," Tamar said, "You're both pretty squishy in a fight."

"Until Chauca Polymorphs inta sperm whale like him prone ta do," responded Ari. "Den him's anyting but squishy." Tamar shrugged and turned towards the hall to watch as Kuku and Cotton walked up to the group.

"Come to see us off?" called out Tamar to the approaching gnome, Kevin and Adora flying up from behind Cotton to land on each of Tamar's shoulders.

"And perhaps to make sure Ari doesn't go cliff diving again," chuckled Cotton. "Seems to be a favorite pastime of hers" The group turned to regard Ari, confused looks on their faces. Ari blushed and looked down, pushing her toes down into the dirt.

"Mi may ave given ah host a stat dis morning when mi went fe early mornin flight," she said softly with a bit of amusement in her voice. "Mi needed ta overcome some grief experienced ere so mi leapt off de cliff before changing inta bird." She looked up at her companions with a faint smirk on her face. "Mi didn't know he was watchin," she shrugged.

"Made my old heart skip a beat, child!" exclaimed Cotton. "I don't think I could stand to watch you die again on my watch," he stated, "especially knowing now that you weren't even really dead either time before!" Cotton patted Ari on the arm to comfort her as he sensed the heightened level of trauma she felt. Tamar was taking some treats and breaking them in two to feed to Kevin and Adora when Samash and Goilon walked into view.

"Looks like we're about ready," said Tamar as she finished feeding the snacks to her faerie dragons. "We better go gather the rest of our things from the hall." Ari and Chaucer nodded in agreement and began to head with Tamar to the hall to grab their packs. Ari made a point to gently pet the remaining falcon before going after Tamar to retrieve her boots and pack, running barefoot through the dirt to catch up.

Kuku and Cotton made their way towards Samash and Goilon who already had their packs strapped to their backs and carried with them sacks of merchandise they'd purchased from the general store. Goilon's beard was different than yesterday, now braided with jewelry but still well-manicured. Cotton assumed he must have done that the night before. Cotton smiled at the sunny gentle morning that greeted them. "Nice day for travelling," Cotton said, "hope the weather continues to hold off. It's no fun sailing on the river in a torrential downpour."