Fetch was sick. Really sick. He had trouble standing, couldn't hold down food , and was dizzy. He didn't think sailing would be that bad. He never realized what the ocean was till after the northern gambler left port. The bay that Narwhal hold was connected to didn't seem that remarkable. The ice and snow , hid the fact that the water was not frozen. Fetch had never seen unfrozen water outside a pot before. Even on the plateau, the only water outside peoples houses he saw was from the well, everything else was frozen. Frozen lakes, frozen rivers, Frozen marshes. The crashing waves and rolling tides were just too much for him.

Tyris was by his side. She seemed to relish the fact that he was suffering he thought. She enjoyed doting and caring for him. Normally he was so independent and strong. Now he was helpless at her mercy, he weakly smiled. Many other passengers were afflicted like Fetch. They were huddled in the corners of the galley's hold. Some were trying to sleep others were trying not to throw up .

A loud chorus of yelling came from above decks. Fetch could make out the sounds of combat . He looked at Tyris and she nodded. She smiled then grew a serious look to her face. She drew a dagger and put it in her teeth. Then she leapt up , grasped one of the ships beams , and with a fluid motion propelled her graceful legs forwards and upwards. She released and her momentum carried her upwards out of sight onto the deck. The other passengers were shocked at how effortless her grace was. Fetch wasn't surprised , hes seen it too many times. He was appreciative of seeing her in action though, it was poetry in motion . It made him feel very very lucky, that she was still with him.

Fetch struggled to his feet and used his sword and scabbard as a crutch as he began making his way up to the decks . The sounds of combat subsided, before he made it to the stairs. . Fetch was curious why the crys of the wounded weren't being heard. He can hear some arguing as he made his way up the stairs. There were several sailors and passengers blocking his path, they seemed as interested as what was happening as Fetch was.

"STOWAWAY! STEP ASIDE , SO WE CAN CAST HER OVERBOARD!", exclaimed the bosun.

"Wait...a minute...guys... look at how frightened and afraid she looks...and hot...and sexy...", Frank said in his familiar voice.

"Step aside or you and your companions will be cast off as well!", yelled the bosun with a chorus of "ayes" agreeing with him.

"First off, I paid good money for my berth. Second, leave my buddies out of this.. Third...I'll like to see you try...One at a time or all at once. ", said the cocky Frank.

"I'm not afraid of him. I served with the Boar once. ", said a gruff unfamiliar voice. Fetch knew there was trouble coming, but was too weak to force his way up.

A quick grunt and heavy thudd followed Franks boasting , "Who's next! Nobody's throwing anyone overboard while I'm around. I'm a knight you know. Helping damsels in distress is part of my code. Under the section about getting laid by sexy women.", Frank continued to boast.

"WHATS GOIN ON HERE!", cried the distinct voice of the captain."You!, the stupid one with the sword, tell me whats going on."

"Umm...they found a half naked stowaway. They wanted to throw her overboard, I said no. and there was some heated debate.", said Frank simply.

"BOSUN! We will not be throwing people overboard. But stowaways will not be tolerated, we will set close to shore, and drop her off there.", proclaimed Captain.

"Wait! We're in the middle of nowhere, if the elements doesn't get her the monsters will!", said Frank.

"That's my decision. Unless, someone is willing to pay for her passage. Otherwise , set course to the coast.", said the Captain. His willingness to make a profit once again guiding his decisions.

There was some yelling. Then Fetch could hear Tyris say ." No...Don't".

Frank finally yelled, "Here you money grubbing Grommer. Your lucky I'm so well mannered or I'd kick all your asses right now."

After some more angry mumbling , the crowd dispersed. Fetch was pushed down the stairs, and he made his way back to "their" corner.

Tyris literally flipped into the hold, and landed with arms stretched out, like a cross. She barely bent her knees to brace for her landing. She first helped Fetch down then started to explain what was going on, but Frank came and interrupted her.

Frank came down leading a young wide eyed woman down with him. She seemed like a beautiful maiden or a princess out of a story book not a dirty stowaway. She was naked except, a makeshift toga made from a potato sack. She had the most golden blonde hair Fetch had ever seen, and deep sky blue eyes. Fetch wondered how a stowaway kept so clean. Fetch was a paying customer and he was filthy. Even Tyris who took great pains to keep clean was getting to look worn and dirtied.

"So guess what !", said Frank." I rescued this maiden from a horrible fate. All it cost me was the last of my wealth ...and now shes gonna repay me back ...with some kisses or sexy time or something.", he said with a grin on his face. The maiden gave him a blank look in return.

"Kiss? How about a hug? ...Does she even understand me?", ask Frank getting confused.

The mysterious maiden seemed to react to her surroundings. She looked at whoever was talking to her, but that was the only reaction she gave. She had a dumb confused look to her. Even dumber looking then Frank's.

"You're the linguist. Try some of your lingo magic on her.",asked Frank. Tyris nodded with his last statement. She showed some disapproval at his previous statements but guarded her distaste for the entire situation.

Fetch wondered what they meant about his lingo magic, they must mean my knack for knowing bits and phrases of a few languages he though. He began by saying hi, whats your name in several languages. Elvish, dwarfish, halfling, ..then some of the more exotic ones like infernal, celestial, aquan, Arborean, eladrin, asurian, draconian ...then some really bizarre ones like Aklo, thieves cant, Jotun, Ixitxachitl . None seem to have any effect although she did react a little to draconian. Further proddings in that language produced no recognition. She most likely reacted to the harsh way the syllables are pronounced Fetch thought.

Fetch noticed more of a reaction from Tyris when he spoke Thieves cant. She seemed genuinely shocked that he knew it. Shock was an emotion he seldom saw from her. Her shock quickly melted away to a smile . She moved closer to Fetch and whispered thieves cant in his ear. "The abram auntess hoists your love. Sham abrams and lets find a fencing ken." ...she looked into his eyes intensely and mouthed a "now".

"I'm not feeling so good , Frank. Watch our corner ok", said Fetch suddenly holding his stomach.

Tyris helped him up and the two left .Fetch said something Tyris and she giggled.

"Wow that was weird. What the hell were they babbling about? ", Frank said at the retreating couple. Despite failure, Frank tried again from square one. He decided on the speak slow method. "What...is...your ...name? You ...cost ...me ...a lot ...of ...money.", he said rubbing his fingers. She looked blankly at him.

"It will do you no good. I tried reading her mind, its ...how should I say...a fog over a storm.", said an elvish voice.

Frank looked around, then realized it was Galatea."The princess awakes. I didn't know you could read minds. "

"The greatest magic items know telepathy. It helps us communicate with wielders who do not know our tongue. Its a big world out there and there are more languages then one can hope to learn , there are at least several human languages and there are even elves that do not speak the same language. ", replied Galatea.

"Hmm so your tele pathetic powers says shes a blank.", Frank stared at the smiling but blank eye beauty before him. Her features were delicate and her eyes and breasts so inviting. "So she wont mind if I did this." He leaned over and gave her a passionate kiss. He kissed for a long time. When he finally withdrew the knight smiled, and looked again at her face. She continued with her blank look.

"Were you expecting your kiss to break the "evil enchantment " over her? You disgust me!", said Galatea.

Frank was disappointed. A few moments ago he wanted to take her right there in the hold. Who cared if anyone watched, but all his lust and passion were gone now. "Forget ...its like kissing a fancy porcelain statue of a woman. No reaction, no feeling. next thing you now you break it, and try to clean it, but your mom finds out. So you blame one of your identical triplet brothers and they hold a grudge on you. ...err not that has ever happened to me."

After 5 days, the boat sailed out of the savage northern glaciers. The northern Grom seas, were still icy and unforgiving, but had less icebergs. The sailing was easier and smoother.

Fetch was feeling much better. Not only had he conquered his sea sickness, but he seemed to be enjoying the ship more . He was seen all around the ship with Tyris talking in some strange nonsense tongue.

Tyris seemed to have changed overnight. Ever since she discovered that Fetch could talk Thieves cant , the normally shy and reserved young woman, was constantly chattering to the her companion. Fetch was amazed at this transformation, the closest thing to an explanation he could think of was that the northern tongue was not her first language. For some strange reason she could easily express herself with this strange language he picked up from Bard on the plateau. He didn't question it, he enjoyed talking freely to Tyris. Many of her secrets were still unanswered but he was just glad she was opening up. As well as talking more, she was more frisky and uninhibited. That suited Fetch just fine.

Frank was feeling trapped. Ever since he "rescued" the stowaway she had followed him around the ship like an obedient slave. She still didn't react to anything he said and gave everyone that dumb blank look. Sometimes she would smile, at Frank or Tyris but otherwise her expression remained the same. Galatea kept quiet for the rest of the trip, despite the fact that Frank would sometimes talk out loud to her. Fetch though his Frank was slowly losing it.

The bosun told the passengers that they will dock at Baltar's ( or Porlock's depending on the map you used) Port in 2 days or so. The bosun and his "boys"still hadn't got over the way Frank slapped them around a few days ago and Fetch wondered if they would try anything on board or at the docks.

*CREEAAAKK*

The boat suddenly slowed down rapidly and came to a stop. The bosun looked overboard and yelled to get the hooks..They were stuck on kelp. A sailor handed him a hook and he leaned over to start chopping at the kelp, when suddenly he fell in with a splash. The sailor next to him looked overboard to find his boss, but then a large green slimy claw raised it self over the galley and dragged the screaming man into the cold ocean.

"SCRAGGGGSS! ", yelled a panicked sailor."There bee SCRAGGGSS!"

The crew were unready for monsters. It was foolish considering how dangerous the north was, but the captain saved some money by not employing marines. It not only saved on his payroll but opend up room for more paying customers.

Several large green and slimy humanoids crawled their way up onto the deck with several more behind them. They landed with a flop like a large wet fish. Fetch had never met a scrag before, but heard they were like trolls. Instead of a long troll face with short hair and a long almost comical nose, these creatures had large wide heads filled with rows of teeth and wild long hair. One leaped at a passenger , gnashing with his tooth lined jaw, and slashing wildly with his long claws. At that point the scared crew and passengers panicked. People were running everywhere. One man pushed a barrel overboard, and jumped upon it. A large claw from the green waters erupted from the water and dragged him out of his container and into the sea . It then returned and dragged the barrel down as well.

Fetch normally carried a sword since it was both deadly and easy to travel with, but for some strange reason he had a feeling he should use his hammer instead. Fetch grabbed the large stone hammer at his side, and it seemed to almost burn his hands with its power. Fetch had felt the hammers power before but never so intense. He spotted Tyris mercilessly jabbing at a scrag several times with her rapier, singing a haunting song that he never heard before. The creature had longer reach then her , but she seemed to almost dance out of reach every time she lunged forward to jab the creature. After a few more jabs the creature grew frustrated and jumped back in the water. Frank on the other hand seemed to be protecting his "woman" , The violence seemed to have no effect on her and she stood on deck gazing blankly at the creatures. Frank ordered her below decks, yelled at her, and even pushed her,...all she did was stumble a bit and straightened up to watch the fight some more. A Scrag slashed at her with its long claws, but Frank intercepted with his shield. With a grunt he threw the hand off, and chopped deeply into its wrist. Despite being wet and slimy the creatures claw caught on fire, as Frank did a flourish with his flaming blade. Fetch didn't realize he had a flaming sword, but it didn't surprise him. The knight always had a trick or two it seems.

The captain was cornered by 2 scrags, he was unable to make it below decks in time. He slashed at one with his scimitar but bit only the heavy leathery skin of the creature. The creature grabbed his sword arm and took a deep bite into it. Drawing a frenzied scream from the captain. Fetch charged at the biting creature and tried to smash it away from the captain. Lightning and thunder erupted from his hammer as a thunderclap sounded when his hammer connected with the creatures side. It flew like a rag doll, smashing the rail of the galley and falling lifeless on the ground. Fetch expected the creature to stagger back but didnt expect that.

The other scrag pointed at Fetch and screamed in Jotun," Thunderbringer, Thunderbringer!"

The remaining trolls roared and charged Fetch.

Frank stabbed one deeply in the back as it broke melee with him. Frank was a dangerous foe to turn your back to in melee. The one fleeing Tyris was rewarded with a deep slice to its ankle. It fell screaming on the ground , clutching its foot. Another ran past her when she seemed occupied by her down foe, but she casually swept her rapier backwards. Catching the creature in one eye. It stopped and howled and clutched its empty eye socket. Its eyes focused on a rapier point a mere inches from its eye. Impaled on the raper was his eye. A quick jab to the confused poked its other eye out. It screamed and ran in a random direction. Frank gave the fleeing creature a kick. and it tumbled into the hold with a heavy crash. Sounds of thrashing and screaming were heard from below decks.

"Errr...sorry about that! Don't worry it cant see you! ", cried an embarrassed Frank .

Including the one in front of him, 4 trolls surrounded Fetch. Fetch instinctively grabbed the hammers leather belt loop, and flung it around him in a wide arc. He wondered what made him do such a unorthodox combat maneuver, but it worked. The one in front of him was hit soundly with another clap of thunder and it too fell lifeless on deck. It caught one with a glancing blow to the arm, the arm flared and shattered, then it hung limp from the creatures shoulders. The other 2 backed off , and with a nod between them they leaped overboard, out of reach of the hammer.

The one with the broken arm staggered back, and screamed at his attackers. Fetch was before him. To his left was the man with the accursed flaming sword. To the right was the eyeball poking woman. It spied a woman paralyzed in fright, and pounced towards her like a hunting dog. It crashed heavily into her. She was quite heavy for her size but the troll was heavier. She fell on her back, the scrag then attempted to grab her by the shoulder with his teeth, and use her as a hostage to escape, however Frank swung his shield as a club towards its face. It met the creatures long teeth , and they shattered before it like crystal goblets. The creature eyes bulged in shock and pain. The crab knight then used his shield hand to grasp the surprised creatures head and pushed it back. With its neck and lower jaw exposed, he drove his flaming sword through its lower jaw and into its brain. The creatures head burst into flames as it fell briefly thrashing before it laid stilled.

Fetch scanned the boat for more Scraggs but saw none. Frank withdrew his blade, and put to torch any Scrag bodies he could find. Fetch found out later that Scrags could only use the mystical regeneration power of the trolls while in sea water. Above water they were more like big bestial ogres , with longer teeth and sharper claws. Some more struggles were heard below deck in the hold, but that soon stopped .

Frank checked the fallen girl, and gave Fetch the thumbs up. She was ok it seems. Fetch looked at his hammer, its power rapidly dieing down. He wondered if its true power would only manifest itself in the presence of scrags, or had it expended its powers. Tyris stopped her singing and silently flipped into the hold . Fetch wanted to say something to impress her, but he didn't feel the need to . He would give her a few phrases of thieves cant later. He raised his hammer, and it roared a final time with a thunderclap , threatening any scrags that would dare attack the vessel.

Frank walked up to him and gave him a jab. "Hey whats the deal showing me up. I bring out a flaming sword, and you one up me with a thunder hammer.", he said with mock anger in his voice. "Seriously though, we looked so cool there like heroes or something, too bad everyone was hiding in the hold."

"I can't wait to get to Grom, look at us, we're a trio of taer mopping, demon slaying, scrag killing mother fuckers. We banish demon lords on weekdays, and save the world on weekends. What could they possibly have in Grom that could challenge us!", declared Frank proudly.

"MERCY! MERCY! please no more", cried Frank.

His attacker continued , unmoved by his pleads ," so with the clean air tax, and your slave tax. Your total comes to 2850 gp. Oh an 2851 gold if you intend to pay with gold. Gold tax you now. "

"But but...shes not my slave! She just follows me around. ", exclaimed Frank.

"If shes not your slave, then her taxes will be done independently from yours, fear not , she has little possessions so her bill wont be that much. Lets see clean air tax, basic grom tax, salt tax, resource tax, travel tax...Only 21 gold. And your total drops 2830 gold . If she can't pay then she will be put in paupers prison , to work her debts off or sent back on the boat she came from. ", calmly explained the tax collector. The tax collector seemed fairly nefarious from the start, he had 4 large orc "assistants " next to him. And a large armor plated spikey demon thing behind him. It was a creature that Fetch never saw before, but it looked intimidating and deadly. The collector himself appeared to be a dark mage or something. He wore black and red robes, and had a sinister look to him.

"She can't pay the tax, shes an idiot and broke!", continued Frank.

"Oh..shes broke...the pauper tax raises her total to 22 gp. 23 if she pays with gold." , continued the tax collector.

"Grrrr...alright ...here's your 2851 gold.", said Frank angrily.

"2853, I had to do her tax assessment. Thats 2 gp administrative fee.", continued the Collector undetered.

"ARRRRGHGGGGG!", screamed Frank as he dug deep into his remaining cash. In the end Frank did not have the funds, and ended up borrowing from Fetch. Another 5 gp was taxed to Fetch for holding loans over 1000gp. Fetch and Tyris already went through their taxes earlier and Fetch was in a foul mood. The 2 angrily rejoined Tyris with the mystery woman in tow.

"She seems quite attached to you,", observed Tyris with disapproval in her voice. Despite her blank expression, she seemed to have grown a "bond " to Frank. She still had the blank look, but would follow Frank around like an obedient pet or slave. Frank was growing annoyed and near the end of the journey he even yelled at her to leave, but it seemed to make no difference. "So, you paid the slave tax on her..Is she your slave or something?", Tyris continued with a cold tone in her voice.

Frank didn't notice her tone and explained," I was thinking of just finding a crowd and running, but...look at her. Some sex crazed fiend would quickly take advantage of her.", said Frank.

"Yeah...those crazed sex fiends..there everywhere. Always getting into trouble, " , she said at Franks expense. but he didn't notice the reference.

Before Frank realized he was being insulted, Fetch decided to step in" Maybe we can find a home for wayward women or something. Or we can find a helpful church. I heard there are churches to gods that aren't war gods in Grom. Anyways for now , lets give her a name..so at least we don't have to call her "Hey You!" ".

Fetch tried out a bunch of names to test for a reaction .

Beth... Ruth...Rose... Lily...Lila...Darla...Drew...

Sue...Suzzana...Adriana...Adrienne...Aylenne...

"Alice...Allison...Madison...Morgan...Morganna..Goldanna..."

The last name drew a response from the woman, she turned her head to Fetch.

"Goldilocks...Goldy...Golgatha...hmmm...Goldy...Goldanna...Goldanna."

"I think she likes Goldana ',said Fetch and 3 agreed on a name for her.

Baltars port was the largest settlement Fetch had ever seen . A fellow knight from the northlands told them that over 100,000 people lived in the city. More during the summer when the port was full. The port area was bustling, seedy and full of life. A pick pocket tried to steal Fetch's coin purse, but Tyris pinned him to the wall with her dagger. A shake of her head and a wagging finger, convinced him to find better targets elsewhere. Even after his recent fleecing Fetch still had funds, but knew their money were rapidly vanishing at this rate. He wondered how the Grommers get by with all these levies and taxes.

They decided to spend a few nights in Baltar's port. Fetch needed to get instructions to Karlston and then McDunnalds , and find a caravan or a guide to lead them there. Also he wanted to explore the city. Tyris seemed at home here, although she didnt seem to particularity like it. She was comfortable and navigated the noisy city easily. Which was the opposite of where she was the last 3 years, she was happy in the north but seemed confused and disorientated there.

Frank left with Goldanna, he was going to hit the local churches or women's shelters and find someone to take her off his hands. Frank seemed a bit more at ease then Fetch here. He was a much more worldly traveler and had been to big ports before. Despite his idiocy and poor judgement at times, he was a lot more streetwise then Fetch.

While Fetch and Tyris were scouting and sightseeing , Fetch saw an unusual store on the street. "Fetch's Fortune. " , He turned to Tyris, but she was gone. Fetch wasn't worried, that was like the 10th time that day she took off for a few minutes to buy something , or look at something . Fetch started to look around for her again but decided to examine the store while he was in font of in it.

The store seemed unremarkable from the outside. Some beads served as the door, and the scent of incense wafted from within. Fetch didn't really believe in fortune tellers , and almost never used divination magics, but for some reason he wandered in.

A short fat elf, sat on a table with a typical crystal ball on it. The elf wore old wrinkled colorful clothes and had that unshaven look to him, which was rare for elves since most can't grow facial hair. On his hat he wore a large white turban with a glowing gem on it. He beckoned Fetch to sit down.

"Errr , is this gonna be expensive.?..I just wanted to take a look because the name of your store was weird.", explained the young northman.

"Sit down, this stores for you.",replied the elf. Fetch wasn't sure what he meant, and then he thought the sign might changed to the name of the person observing it. If Frank saw it it would be Franks fortune . He decided to play this interesting game and sat down.

The elf pointed at a sign "Fortunes read for 4gold. Special rate for Fetch 2gp"

Fetch chuckled, that confirmed his suspicion , he happily paid 2 gp to reward the fortune teller for his clever use of magic.

The elf continued" Would you like to know about your future, your love life, or your destiny."

Fetch wondered what the difference between his future and his destiny were, but he replied" Love life" , without hesitation.

The elf stared at his crystal ball intently. As he was staring intently at the ball, what looked liked the Elf's doppelganger , except without the strange clothes, snuck into the room. He walked silently behind the fortuneteller and held his finger to his lips while staring at Fetch. He put his arm by the fortunetellers hat and with supple grace and incredible speed he pried the gem free. He then placed a large frozen fish on the turban. He smiled at Fetch and then snuck out.

Frank clapped, at this bizarre show. His 2 gp was definitely worth it. The fortune teller looked at him with an odd look. He motioned for him to be quiet .

"I see 3 loves in your life. One is a dark hair beauty , the daughter of a evil that devours demons, that will be kindred to you in your soul and whom will bear you children. One that walks the path of fire, has stolen your heart, and you hers , her passion will forge you from iron to a blade . And one that inspires you to great things, but always brings you to misery , she will come to you like a boat through the fog, but she never docks. Oh wait, this fortune is 3 years old. It would have been more cryptic and prophetic 3 years ago.

Fetch thought the fat elf used some pretty sexy imagery , but he wasn't sure what he was talking about...the elf continued" tell you what, I'll give you another fortune for free. take your pick. "

Fetch thought, "the future"

The elf nodded, and looked at his mirror again ," I see old friends and new enemies. enemies of your friend that you think are your enemies but are his enemies but will become yours. I see a goddess of the north, cruel and laughing. Golden arches...a Many eyed beast,... battles to fight the shadow, but an even greater shadow growing in your midst, An old debt, dragons fire, an a forge of souls...wait...whats that smell...Hey who put this fish on my head. Wheres the eye of Poseidon! ." The elf stopped and threw his hat and fish on the ground. He started muttering in elvish and started looking behind cabinets and rugs.

Fetch wondered if the elf had a generic phrase book he used. He nodded, and though of what he said. it made little sense. The only thing he could think of was the golden arches of McDunnalds . But he figured that's a pretty popular fortune since it was a major city of the north. He paid the man 2 more gold hear his destiny. He was pretty entertaining so far.

The elf stopped his maddened search and smiled ," The higher you climb, the farther you will fall."

Fetch wanted to complain that the last fortune was a rip off, but suddenly he was back in the crowd, with Tyris at his side pulling on his sleeve. Fetch looked around , to look for the mysterious store and its keeper. The memory of the smell of incense and the strange elf's prophecies still crystal clear in his mind.

"This way, there's a caravan heading to Karlston. We can book passage there.", said Tyris with a puzzled look on her face. "Are you all right, looks like you hit your head." , she said with a worried look , while feeling his head with the palm of her hand.

He took her hand and kissed it, she turned away and blushed, embarrassed at being kissed in a crowded street. "I'm fine , i just spaced out or something, there . Had some weird thoughts in my head."

"Are you going to make me a "provender in ruffles" later? That kind of weird.?", she asked in the cant with a mischievous smile.

"No..but that can be arranged.", he smiled responding to her cant.

Fetch and Tyris waited at the west gate. It was a few hours past morning now, and they were getting impatient. They lost track of Frank, but assumed he could handle himself in a port city. They all knew they were leaving in the morning.

The caravan was preparing to leave, they booked passage as passengers instead of guards but the good spots on the wagons were rapidly being taken . A guard even came to ask them if their companion was showing up , but Fetch assured them he was going to be there soon. They began to argue, when finally Frank arrived. His armor was put on hap hazzardly and his weapons hung loosely from his belt.

"Sorry." , he said simply,"There was a party, then a goat got loose, and there was this fountain, and somebody summoned a celestial unicorn...", Frank smiled.

"Oh forget it , lets go.", sighed Fetch. They hopped on the last wagon, it had a squeaky wheel and it wasnt covered. The sundry supplies were kept on it. After a mile or so , Fetch grew bored. He was going to ask Tyris to sing a song, but she shot up and pointed behind them. Frank and Fetch narrowed their eyes and could see a brown figure following them on the road.

"Hey I thought you sent her to a church of something, ", said Fetch when he noticed it was the recently named Goldana.

"I did, the Sisters of Koryis.", sighed Frank. The 3 weren't sure what to do at that point. They didn't want her to follow, but they felt kind of bad watching her walking the rough roads.

Eventually her brisk pace caught up with the wagon. She just stared at them blankly while following them . She looked the same , a young blonde woman with perfect features and flawless beauty. She didnt even look haggard or dirty following them on the dirt road. she wore a simple Koryis Acolyte robe now, but still was barefoot.

Frank looked through the supplies and found some nuts. He began throwing them at her , "Shoo! go back to the Church..its too dangerous here !",

Goldanna ignored the projectiles and kept following them. Tyris finally hopped off their transport, and helped guide her onto the cart. Frank muttered, "its easy for you to do, shes not following you around"

They caravan slowly rolled its way past the Oceansend hills. They passed several staked goblins and giants . They also passed a burn out farmstead, and some overturned and destroyed wagons. Fetch was surprised that the edges of civilization were so close to the city they were just in. A totem made of human and animal skulls was the sign they had finally left civilized lands.

Frank told them, "In the days of the great republic and the demon king, the roads were controlled and "safe". Now between the squabbling city states, they only control whats around their own city. I heard Grom City has been pushing and enforcing more central controls recently, but its still a bad situation for the general population. Especially farmers and merchants. Well bad for them..good for people like us. "He said with a wink.

Fetch was beginning to miss the straightforward politics of the north. "Well , onwards! Lets see what challenges awaits us !"