Kerim lays out his trade goods for Flower's inspection and lets the locals know that he is prepared to trade as well. Within minutes locals start to appear and pick over the goods and 30 minutes later trading is well under way. Peter arrives with a couple of the farmers and picks over the goods with them. Trade is slow, and while there are many things the locals want, most leave without making an offer. Kerim gets one offer of 5lbs of rice for a spearhead, 7lbs of rice for a knife, 2 pounds of rice for 10 pitons and a small keg* of rice wine for a sickle.

One man pulls him aside and, almost furtively, displays 6 shell buttons. They are well cut and pierced, and nicely polished, in the right market they might go for a gold piece each. He wants a hand axe, a sickle, an iron pot, a dagger, a spearhead and five pitons in return ...

Fairly early in the session Flower sees the chain mail pieces. "They must be heavy to carry around like that, and they need an armourer to make anything of them. I tell you what, I'll give you 45gp for them, and take a chance that I can sell them to an armourer I know in Angasa."

Rolf and Madelyn spar, although it is clear that Rolf is getting much more from the session than Madelyn. Although she is going through the motions, she is not really paying attention, and a couple of times Rolf has to pull his shots or risk injuring her, although she insists she is prepared to keep sparring.

It takes about 30 minutes for both Elsbeth at one end of the village and Herloch at the other end to come to terms with them selves, through prayer and meditation, and with I a few minutes of each other they start to head back to the Inn.

Mandrake and Callum never left the cup and retire back to converse with the elders …

And Candy takes Smilo, to a small clump of bushes not far from the village and lays out a picnic for him. She encourages Smilo to get comfortable and busies herself with the food and the ale, making sure that Smilo gets the choicest of the titbits she has in the bag and sharing the first bottle of ale with him. Then they settle down comfortably together to share the second bottle, and Candy starts to relax, and become much friendlier.

Suddenly from outside the bushes there is a shout, "There they are, I knew I saw them come out this way, and there he is with our Candy …." Three Halfling youths, some of whom had been watching Smilo the night before are standing out side the bushes, all have freshly torn clubs in their hands and start beating a way into the bushes…

Candy jumps to her feet, her bodice half undone, and starts shouting back at the lads , "You have ruined it, you always ruin it why do you do that to me " and then she bursts into tears. The lads at first taken aback by her verbal attack soon start muttering among them selves "…His fault…" and start advancing on Smilo again.

Candy shouts "Oh Stop it! Stop it!" to the boys while stamping here feet, but when they don't stop screams at Smilo, "Get out of here you fool….." and starts running back to the village in tears.

* a keg = about 25 pitchers

Mental wonderings

By Daren
who plays Mandrake

Smilo walks off hand in hand with the young lass from the village and Mandrake has a quick look around for the village lads, but as they are no where to be seen, he decides that it is best to stay discretely absent this time.

As Kerim and the others wander off and finally Rolf takes his leave of Mandrake and departs with Madelyn leaving him standing by the Cup with Callum, a feeling of loneliness sweeps through him.

It strikes Mandrake for the first time that the world is changing, and more, that it is changing at a rate that even he in his relatively short life can perceive. The numbers of the old races are shrinking and the newer ones, more especially humans, are increasing at such a rate that they can more than fill the gaps left.

Oh, the various human 'races' may call themselves different, but they only think that it is so because their life span is so short. The old Gnomish scripts tell a story of the spread of human tribes in the early days, of their creation, and as one who studies languages, Mandrake has noticed the similarities between them.

No, the world was changing, and for the first time the possibility crossed his mind that those who organised and lead the marauding tribes of orcs and other monsters had foreseen this, and feared for the future to which the path lead. For the first time Mandrake felt the possibility of understanding, perhaps even of pity for them.

Mandrake looked around and smiled at Callum, "Shall we retire to the Cup and share a mug or two of ale with the elders?"

Yes, the world was changing, and with a final look over his shoulders at the backs of the retreating figures, Mandrake made his own predictions of how it would develop. The halflings, of all the elder races, seemed to get on best with the humans, they would spend more and more time together, and as they did so the differences would become less and less.

Then there were their cousins the dwarves, who had already chosen their way, they would stay underground, trading with the humans at first. The problem is, the humans learn quickly, and they always think that they can do better, so they would start to mine the earth, and if this caused problems as it inevitably would, shear numbers would force the dwarves ever deeper if they wished to survive.

As for his own people, they would probably follow the dwarves eventually. Humans cut the forests for wood and then ploughed the land below it for crops, at lease for as long as the soils remained with none of the forest roots to hold it. Eventually there would be no forests and no land free from plough in which to dig a burrow, and this is when they would try to join their cousins, if they could find them by that time.

Mandrake could not see a brighter future for the other races, those that could not or would not retreat underground. Ah well, that was for others than he to worry about, at the moment he was surrounded by people who, if not liked, then at least respected him, and he had a more urgent task to perform for his own people.

Hey ...

By Ian
who plays Peter

Peter walks back with a couple of tha farmers and browses through the trade good with them. Then turning to Kerim, "I didn't realise you were carrying those shields Kerim, one of those would have been useful when those dogheads were attacking and the wolf jumped me. How much do you want for one?".

Here she comes again!

By Joe
who plays Herloch

Herloch approaches The Cup, but when he reaches into his pocket he is reminded that he is still broke. He thinks about what he could pawn off, but realizes that the mug of ale isn't worth it. He stays outside and leans against the wall next to the door, folding his arms across his chest.

A moment later he notices Elsbeth approaching from the opposite direction from which he came. She's a sensitive one. One that needs her hand held all the time, he thinks to himself. Oh, she had that outburst all right. But was it really to what I said, or what the barbarian said? They all must have trouble with her.

She gets closer and a smirk forms on his face. Wiping it off quickly he says, "Feeling better?"

Brave Smilo

By Jim
who plays Smilo Hairfoot

"Hah!" said a distainful Smilo. "I've outran better than you." With that, he's off through the brush like a rabbit, running in a wide circle back to the inn.

Why me?

By lechrist
who plays Elsbeth

Elsbeth makes her way back to the Cup, preoccupied and lost in thought, the wolf padding quietly behind her. She is just getting back into a fairly calm temper when she sees Herloch waiting at the Inn. She notes that the big man quickly schools his features at her approach but not quick enough to be missed by the auburn-haired woman.

"Feeling better," he asks.

Elsbeth briefly wonders if the warrior spends his time trying to upset her on purpose. She decides to find out.

Taking a deep breath, the druid remains calm. "I'm no longer upset, if that's what you be meaning," she replies carefully. She regards Herloch with calm grey eyes before continuing. "I'm not one to let such be making me angry as a rule. I am wondering though. Are you the kind to try to upset a lass on purpose or do you do it out of pure ignorance?" she asks softly.

Ale and Chat

By malc
who plays Callum

Callum takes up Mandrakes' offer and joins him at the Elders table with a cup of ale.

A show of trust

By Joe
who plays Herloch

Herloch pushes himself away from the wall with his foot, taking a few steps towards Elsbeth to stop at arm's length. He takes a look around to be sure that what he says stays private.

"Let me answer your question this way," he says, taking a moment to think about how he will phrase the next part. "When I entered this village, I overheard some talk from the villagers about your encounters with creatures called Dogheads. I understand that Gnomish friend of yours made quite a magical show about it. They're brutal, animalistic… evil by many standards, don't you agree? I don't know exactly how yet, but I believe them to be somehow related to Orcs. And, Orcs are the same way. My point is this. Why are they the way they are? Is it just their culture, their way? I don't think so, because if it were just a cultural trait, you would think you'd find Orcs who are not that way, who are good. I've never heard of such a thing as honor or decency among Orcs."

Herloch pauses, contemplating his next words.

"I think they are that way because it's in their blood."

A couple walks past and Herloch quiets until they are out of earshot.

"My last name is Rominard, but I do not carry Rominard blood in me. It's a long story, but my father is an Orc who used sorcery to seduce my mother. I know it's hard to believe; I look normal to you. But, inside, I have my father's heritage and feel the rage that all Orcs feel. Every moment of every day I do my best to keep it in check. Like an itch you know you shouldn't scratch, but at the same time it bothers you to the point where it makes you irritable to those around you."

There's a moment of silence between the priest and druid. "I don't normally tell people this. I would appreciate if you would keep this private."

Understanding

By lechrist
who plays Elsbeth

Elsbeth listens carefully, her face going pale as Herloch quietly explains his heritage. Her eyes explore his, even as her tense posture indicates her slight fright. Then, she nods slowly.

"Forgive me," she whispers. "I... I had no way of knowing..."

She pauses. "You do have a way of rubbing one the wrong way, that be true enough. But I give you my word, I'll not tell a soul. And I thank you for trusting me."

Sparring

By Sharon
who plays Madelyn

"Perhaps we should give her some privacy. Come."

Madelyn looks to Elsbeth and hesitates before turning back to Rolf and gently nodding. She follows him to the secluded spot, and watches as he mimics some of the moves that she had seen in Callum’s fighting.

Before he has finished her mind has drifted off onto other subjects, she worries about Elsbeth and as always not far from her mind, her slaying of the doghead and how she will face the church.

With robotic ease, she unsheathes her sword and starts sparring with Rolf, it is not until his second near miss that she snaps out of her reverie, concentrating on the task at hand.

Within minutes, her worries forgotten, she begins to enjoy the session, and gives Rolf a run for his money. She laughs as he dodges a near miss, and colour once again returns to her face.

Practice time

By Brad
who plays Rolf

After several moments of sparring, Rolf frowns a bit. He finds himself having to spar gently as Madelyn seems rather distracted. But given a bit of time, she begins to focus on the task at hand. Sparring in earnest until his breath is heavy and he develops a workmans sweat, he waves Madelyn off.

"My thanks, Madelyn. What say we call it a draw and down a pint of the Cup's best?"

Enough

By Sharon
who plays Madelyn

Madelyn backs away from Rolf breathing deeply. Wisps of hair sticking to her face with sweat get brushed back as she quickly checks over her sword before re-sheathing it.

With laughter in her eyes she says playfully, "Did I keep you on your toes? Am I too much for you?" She gives him a gently nudge with her elbow before adding, "but you're right I could certainately do with a drink". She turns to make her way back to the village.

In the Cup, good times....

By Brad
who plays Rolf

In response to her prodding, Rolf nods. "Aye miss, I'll grant your sword skill surpasses my own. Mayhaps we should try an archery contest one of these days. Win or lose, at least I wouldn't have to sharpen my blade afterwords." He escorts the lady back to the Cup.

Once inside, his eyes adjust and he makes out Elsbeth over by the big warrior. Everything seems calm. Giving her a bit of time to herself seems to have done the trick this time. He glances sidelong at Madelyn, still wondering what's been troubling her all this time. Well, perhaps he'd find out in time. Stepping over to the bar, he orders two mugs of ale and setting a few minor coins down to cover the bill. Handing one to Madelyn, he wipes the sweat from his brow.

Getting to the heart of it

By Joe
who plays Herloch

Herloch smiles, accepting the apology from Elsbeth. "Don’t worry about it," he says as he puts his muscular arm around her to comfort her.

"Let's go inside and see what the others are up to," he continues, motioning to the inn's entrance, "unless you would like to take a walk and tell me why that barbarian, um, I forget his name… well, why his comment bothered you so. I've been told that once people get to know me they find I'm a very good listener."

Uneasy

By lechrist
who plays Elsbeth

Elsbeth cringes despite herself as Herloch puts his arm around her. Still, she bites her lip and forces herself to relax.

"Callum's the lad's name," she responds quickly. "I'm thinking we should go back to see what the others are about. I'd not be wanting anyone to worry about me, after all."

Elsbeth wonders if she wants to get back inside for that reason or if its because she's afraid to be alone with someone who is part... well, part monster. She chides herself for her squeemishness and looks up at Herloch.

"There be not much to tell," she admits. "He's such a wild lad, Callum is, half a beastie of the woods I'm thinking. He's of the old ones, of the old clans before we were what we are now." She sighs. "He and I just don't see eye to eye on many things," she admits. "And I'm not one to eat flesh, you see, and he's a bit bloodthirsty for my thinking. After all, I was raised with gentle folk, not with the creatures of the field! And him and you both rubbed me a wee bit wrong at the same time, is all that happened."

Last Day?

By David
who plays Kerim

After some deliberation, Kerim decides that the meagre profit he is making is worth it. He agrees to take all the rice (14 lbs plus the keg) for the spearhead, knife, pitons & sickle.

He packs the trade goods away (for the moment...).

He takes the man offering the shell buttons to one side and asks to inspect them "somewhere a little more private", whereupon he inspects the goods and starts haggling the price, with only little of the conversion being heard out loud "... difficult to locate the right market...".

When he has finished he catches up with Flower and walks with him to Flower's ship, with the odd phrase being heard "... enough chain there to make a full set of armour ... only a little work ... Think of the profit you could make...".

Looking for Peter, "My friend, for the paltry sum of 25 Silver Pieces, the shield is yours, surely a bargain no one can resist".

Leaving both the man offering buttons & Flower to get back to him, he makes his way back to the Cup.

Having paid little attention to Rolf and Madelyn's swordplay, he follows them into the Cup to see how it went.

Seeing Smilo run back into the village, having gone out with a young lady in tow, Kerim smiles to himself, reminding himself of past events perhaps?

Seeing almost all the party in the Cup, he buys a pitcher of Ale for all, "Well, we've rested, traded and some others maybe something else a little more energetic perhaps. What now?".