8 - Preparing for the Journey
Kythorn 2nd, at the Ivory Pearl Inn, evening…
The party had agreed to reassemble at the inn later that evening. When at last Shalia and Hawke entered, they saw the others and sat down, signalling the bartender for drinks.
"Welcome back" Griffin greeted them as they took their seats.
"Thanks, what did you find at the house?" Shalia asked, taking a sip of her ale.
"Lara Tressborough, Aiwen's sister, who was fairly inconsolable until our mighty paladin here offered her justice to dry her tears" Griffin guffawed slapping Lathander on the back hard as the boy smiled meekly. He continued, "from what she told us Aiwen was a powerful sorceress and was fairly well regarded by her neighbours."
"Ahh, that tracks with what we learned at the Mages College" Hawke replied, "but apparently she could be strong headed and determined, she was told not to meet with someone behind the inn last night after she ALSO received a strange letter."
"More strange letters, and no more answers, Gond damn it all" Griffin cursed under his beard.
With that, a sound was heard at the door to the tavern. In stumbled a stack of white fold out boxes with legs. No wait, it was Nimreth! She cheered as she saw her new friends and rushed over. The orc barkeep promptly brought two ales but Nimreth declined the second stating solemnly that two tankard Tuesday had passed.
"Hey fam, how did we make out with the investigation?" She started, opening one of the boxes and pulling out a pastry, "also who wants some cause this shit be bussin'!"
They each had a pastry, and gushed over how delectable they were. As they ate they filled Nimreth in on what they had learned after which they asked where she had disappeared to.
"Oh, well, you see, I sniffed out this lil' bakery in Markettown. That's where I got these bomb ass pastries. Then I found some punks picking on a couple kids and me and Baeblade taught them a lesson" she finished, lovingly wiping some dried blood off the blade of her axe.
"An interesting adventure indeed" Griffin began, "however, we will need more than jam pastries to get us to Laketon or Elràise. I suggest we hit up the stalls in Markettown tomorrow morning before departing."
"Maybe we can also go to the stables in the Bricks, the one that had the horse stolen, sir." Nevon added thoughtfully.
"Yes, great idea Nevon." Griffin replied with a nod of approval.
"That's supposing whoever fled to Laketon is still there, we have given them a full day's head start on us." Shalia added, dreading what travelling in this awful, wet, land would be like. She longed for the red sandy dunes of home where she could sail a skiff like nobody's business. Judging by the look she spied on Hawke's face, he was missing home too.
"It's settled, we leave at first dawn. First to get basic rations and equipment, then to head to the stables in the Bricks and finally, on to Laketon." Griffin stated with authority, slamming his fist down on the table before continuing, "Now, who wants another round."
Kythorn 3rd, Ivory Pearl Inn, early morning…
Nevon woke with a start, his nightmare had been one he'd seen again and again since the war. Him and Griffin fighting off against unending hordes of Muckmen, eventually being overwhelmed and drowned in the mud. A fate many of their comrades had faced, a fate they had managed to avoid. It seemed unfair that those men and women died when Nevon, someone who made a pact with an evil god, got to live. Maybe that was fate's cruel way of saying Nevon had to suffer more, or maybe it was Erebos intervening to ensure Nevon died at the right time for the right reasons. Either way, he didn't know.
He sat up out of his bottom bunk bed, and assessed the room. He heard the sound of a few people still snoring and looking around saw Shalia, Hawke, and Nimreth still sleeping. The others must've been downstairs. He got up, put on his boots, and started for the lower level.
When he got there the inn was quieter than usual, he waved at the barkeep for some food and went to sit with Griffin and Wilmer.
"Morning Nevon, take a seat" Griffin greeted him "we were just brainstorming what supplies we might need for the journey" as was the Reverend's way, his mind always on the task at hand.
"Morning Nev'" Wilmer said casually, looking up from the list they were writing out, "So far we have bread, fruit, dried meat, and extra waterskins" they listed.
Nevon thought for a moment and said "Maybe we should try to find a tent. It was raining the day we got here, we wouldn't want to be stuck in it right Reverend?"
The Reverend's face went dark and grim, he muttered an agreement but Nevon didn't push the matter. He had obviously brought back similar dark memories to what he had dreamed about, and felt bad for doing so.
Wilmer had just finished writing 'tent, possibly?' when Shalia and Nimreth strolled up together. Shalia's fur looked like she had lost a fight with another cat, it was matted and sticking up in strange ways.
"Restful sleep?" Wilmer asked, trying to hold back a smile and failing to do so.
"Something like that" Shalia replied groggily through half opened eyes "Hey barkeep can we get some coffee here?"
They ate and drank as they waited for their last member to arrive, which he did about twenty minutes later. Yawning he approached the group "sorry about sleeping in everyone, I didn't expect that third ale to hit so hard." Taking the last seat at the table Hawke began stuffing himself with eggs, sausage, biscuits, and coffee.
When they were all good and satiated they paid and left the inn, heading for Markettown. Once there they split among themselves the different materials and goods they would need and agreed to meet back up in the central plaza under the obelisk.
Kythorn 3rd, amid the Markettown stalls, mid-morning…
Lathander hadn't been to Caston often, once or twice growing up when their family decided to take the trip down to the big city. Being immersed in the stalls and kiosks of Markettown was enough to make their head spin. Culture shock hit like a ton of bricks.
Thankfully, they had Nimreth with them, or at least, hopefully they could be thankful for that. They weren't sure how they felt about the barbarian yet, as she seemed to exist in a constant state of inebriation and yet, the vibes were immaculate so they could hardly blame her. They wandered between food and produce stands looking for goods that were within their budget, avoiding foods imported from other provinces and trying to shop local was hard when local was three times as much, but they knew those Pinedale apples would be worth the extra coins they'd spent.
Nimreth had done quite well for herself as well, she collected a wide variety of cured meats and even managed to snag some extra blankets at a discount from a rug merchant. They would surely come in handy should the weather take a turn for the worse again.
As they were getting ready to head to the obelisk Nimreth spoke up.
"Aye fam, we should go to that bakery I went to yesterday, trust me." She said assertively, seeming to tower over the paladin.
Lathander gulped, they knew they should get back soon because they were already 2 nights behind their pursuit, but the pastries WERE really good too. They knew when they saw an opportunity.
Kythorn 3rd, Klinton's Forge, mid-morning…
Hawke and Shalia entered a hot, dusty forge. Inside a tall deep green orc swung repeatedly at a piece of metal on the anvil in front of him. He brought the hammer down one last time before submerging the sword in a bucket of water with a satisfying hissssss.
Turning to the two he said "Fuck off human"
"Fuck you too! What's that for?" Shalia spat back, sticking up for her friend.
"Nothin' personal, just don't like humies, simple as." The orc grumbled, scowling at Hawke.
"Well you can't expect to get good business acting like that to potential customers. It's kind of racist." Hawke said, kind of taken aback by the disdain from the orc.
"I can when humies are the ones who burned and raided my clan's stronghold back home." The orc growled, growing taller as he straightened himself to full height, rearing his shoulders and barring his fangs.
"Point taken" Shalia said, trying to keep the peace and hoping things wouldn't escalate further. "We were hoping you might be able to sell us some equipment, arrows, swords, things like that"
The orc nodded, "yeah I gots things like that."
Kythorn 3rd, Telvana's Potions & Herbs, mid-morning…
Griffin opened the door to the herbalists as Nevon followed him inside. They were here to see if they could procure potions or medicinal items of any kind. Griffin usually did this before a big journey, he never liked relying solely on his magic for healing. That was a gift from Gond and should be used when absolutely since coming to this continent, he hadn't yet told Nevon, he felt muted.
Not muted as in he couldn't talk, but muted as in he couldn't feel his connection to Gond anymore. He wondered if praying at a temple would help, but he had given a quick prayer yesterday when they went to the Temple of the Divines. He had even prayed that morning when he woke up. Still bupkis. He figured he would worry about that later, and perhaps seek a temple in the next town they visited or a wayshrine along the way.
The woman in the shop was old and crone-ish. She had a long hooked nose and many earrings on her ears. She wore a purple sash on her head and purple robes. She appeared quite the mystic.
"Hello darlings" she purred, almost like Shalia but she wasn't a tabaxi, "What can Telvana do for you today."
"We are here to buy healing potions and herbs" Nevon replied directly, approaching the counter and pulling out his coin purse.
"Ahhhh I can supply that of course" she said, walking over to a shelf to pull some poultices down and setting them on the counter. Then she went into a back room and grabbed some hanging plants that were drying, they looked like Lily's Breath.*
"How much for all this?" Nevon asked, unsure with the amount the woman had put before him, about seven bottles and three bundles of herbs.
"For you my dear, thirty coins." she purred a response.
"Uhh, Reverend, wanna help here?" Nevon said unsurely.
Griffin snapped back to reality and gave a grunt of affirmation and pulled out his own coin purse to supplement the rest of the cost.
With that they headed back out to rendezvous with the rest of the party before leaving.
* A common herb used for healing salves.