Adventure 2002 September 8

We're still at Kratys Freehold. The fire is now out, the ghouls are dead. It's about 3am, a few minutes after the fight ended. Stone has been revived, but he's shivering and looks very ill. As we start to regroup, he passes out, so Miriel takes him into one of the sick rooms, then goes to her own bed to sleep and recharge.

The others start to clean up after the fire. Suddenly, a tall brown-haired man appears out of thin air. He has a white owl on his shoulder. At the same time, one of the townspeople runs up and says "Sysy's escaped!"

The tall man asks one of the people nearby where he is; the townsperson simultaneously says "Who are you?" He introduces himself as Telryn and says he was sent this way, seeking someone who has knowledge of a strange ink. He asks again where he is. Everyone regards him suspiciously. Chuck says we're in Kratys Freehold. Paks asks Chuck to watch the new guy, then asks the townsperson (Garth, the Guard) how Sysy escaped. Garth says he ran down to see the fire and the fight. He says Milo told him he'd watch Sysy. When he went back, she was gone. Paks asks Chuck to lock the townsperson up until the escape is sorted.

Chuck takes the protesting Garth away to the tower. Telryn looks nervous and asks if he has to be worried about being locked up. Chuck decides to hogtie Garth, but the other townspeople object; Tarran says that Garth fought with him at the battle of Twotrees. Paks says it's either Garth or Milo who let Sysy get away. Tarran says not to hogtie him, just lock him in the tower. Paks and Chuck agree. Chuck takes him up to the tower, in the process examining the room that Sysy was locked in. He sees an untied rope and an empty vial, but no signs of struggle. He examines the vial and thinks it was probably a healing potion. He apologizes to Garth, who says "Just save the town from the rat men!"

Chuck goes back to Telryn and explains the situation with the town and the rat men. Paks explains where the town is located. Telryn does not seem pleased. Chuck runs after Miriel and tells her that there's a guy looking for glitter ink. Miriel refers Chuck to Paks and goes to bed.

Telryn tells his story. "I am but an errand boy, sent by my master to fetch a special ink. He sent me to a mage named Delmeron, who told me he would send me to the place where the people who got the ink for him were. Obviously, this is not the best situation to be in, but I'm willing to help, so that I can get back to my master."

Paks: "Who is your master?"

Telryn: "He's a powerful mage in Molistown. His name is Loowys Strangeblood."

Chuck pulls Paks aside to explain what happened with Sysy. He tells her that Milo probably gave Sysy a healing potion, so it was also probably Milo who freed her. Paks sends some people to check the integrity of the wall around the stable. She lets the people on the tower know that Telryn is okay. Telryn offers to help, since he's stuck here anyway. Paks sets some of the children to search for Milo and Sysy, with an adult supervising. She goes to check the barn for tunnels. She sends Chuck back to reinforcing the exterior walls, and sets Telryn to help him.

Paks finds some tight tunnels into the barn; theoretically a man could crawl through, but they're pretty small. They're probably big enough for rat men, who are quite good at burrowing. She notes that about half the livestock are dead, and starts moving the live ones out of the building. She calls Chuck and Telryn back to fill the ends of the tunnels with bricks. Chuck summarizes the situation at the hold for Telryn as they work, explaining about the rat men, Southport, etc. Telryn looks very nervous.

The rat men in the woods have been harrying us with arrows the whole time, but have not hit anyone. Around 4am, from the woods near the barn, a bolt of fire or lightning arcs over the walls and over the arrow blinds and almost hits one of the freeholders. He dives out of the way at the last minute, and it hits the spot where he was standing, leaving a scorched and steaming area.

Paks tells everyone to hold their places and watch the woods carefully. She sets a guard to patrolling inside the walls with a dog. Nothing more happens until sunrise, when Goldpetal sends his two hawks out east and west to see what they can spy out. They are careful to stay above bowshot range, flying above the level of the trees. The hawks see a camp to the southwest where something which Goldpetal thinks may be a catapult is being assembled. They see a flock of people around it. They see a really big person that they don't like at all; it's shiny and clanky. They see other small flocks of people and a few individuals in the woods.

By 5am, we've filled the holes with bricks and are back to reinforcing the walls. Miriel wakes up and checks on Stone. He stills looks very sick. She believes that he is diseased and contagious, so she tells everyone to stay away from him, and brings him some food and drink herself. She then goes to start cooking for the shift that's waking up.

At 7:30am, the catapult is complete. Chuck suggests coating the dead bodies in pitch, lighting them, and catapulting them. Tarran doesn't like this idea, as it could start a wildfire through the dry, empty fields. Goldpetal asks what he suggests we throw. He suggests bricks, chains, and caltrops. Miriel suggests sending parties out into the woods to get the archers, but Paks says no, she wants to lure them out to attack the siege engine; she says attacking in the woods would be suicidal. Chuck suggests filling sacks with pitch and splattering the rat men camp, so that they will be less likely to play with fire. Paks asks Telryn if his owl, Chester, can get a more accurate view of the camp. He says it can. He also says he has a flask of Alchemist's fire, which we can dip arrows in to shoot when the rat men approach the walls. At ten-minute intervals, Goldpetal sends the hawks to check and see if a large group of rat men is moving towards the freehold.

We load fifty pounds of nails into the catapult and fling it towards the rat men camp where the hawks saw the siege engine. The hawks and owl are watching the camp as we do this. They see the rat men scattering into the woods. Some of them are clearly injured, and some lie still on the ground. There is much chaos.

Fifteen minutes later, when the catapult has been re-set, we load fifty pounds of dead-eater corpses into our catapult and launch it at the rat men's catapult. They miss the catapult, but we get good ranging information. Goldpetal scans the edge of the forest through the telescope but doesn't see anything much, other than some rat men behind their archery blinds.

Shortly, the hawks see that the rat men seem to be regrouping. They also recognize Milo with the group of rat men. He seems free and friendly with them.

After another fifteen minutes, we shoot another fifty pounds of dead meat and hit the catapult, damaging it somewhat. Goldpetal sees two groups of rat men charging from the southwest and southeast out of the orchards toward the walls. He casts Entangle at the southeast area that they're emerging from. The rat men all shoot arrows at him, but he ducks and they miss. The freeholder with Goldpetal rings the alarm bell. The rat men rush the front and back gates, though many of those who would be charging the back gate are entangled in the woods. In the southwest, we see a giant armored rat.

Delonia runs toward the main hall. Telryn casts Mage Armor on himself and climbs to the roof of the kitchen. Paks moves towards the front gate. The squad of heavy infantry wakes up and they climb to the top of the main hall. Goldpetal shoots an arrow at one of the rat men in the southeast and hits it. The captain of the rat men reaches the walls. Myrs wakes up and runs up the tower to stand with Goldpetal behind the archery blind. Chuck climbs to the roof of the kitchen and shoots at the captain on the wall, but misses. Two groups of rat men archers shoot from the orchard at the heavy infantry squad and Chuck, but they all miss. Miriel runs into the main hall to be there for the wounded. Brand wakes up and climbs up to the roof of the forge. He shoots at one of the rat men coming from the orchards toward the main gate and kills it. Tarran goes to the roof of the kitchen and shoots at the captain. He misses and trips and falls but hangs onto his weapon. Milo charges up to the wall near the captain and kitchen. Chester flies down to the main hall. The rat man lieutenant charges toward the back gate, reaching the wall. A freeholder shoots at him from the ruined barn and hits him. Another joins Brand on the roof of the forge and shoots at the nearest rat man charging the walls, but misses. A group of freeholders heads for the top of the barn. Another wakes up and goes to the roof of the kitchen. The one up the tower with Goldpetal shoots at the lieutenant and misses. One in the kitchen climbs to the roof and shoots at the captain, but misses. More rat man units reach the back gate and others range themselves along the front wall. Some of the dogs run over to Paks at the front gate while others go to the back gate. The mauler in the woods attempts to free the shaman, but fails. Llewyn mounts her warhorse. The hawks head up out of arrow range and start circling.

Delonia runs up to the top of the main hall. Telryn runs to the top of the tower. Paks climbs the wall near the main gate to the catwalk. The heavy infantry squad also climbs the wall and shoots at the nearest rat man unit, but they miss. Goldpetal shoots an arrow at the lieutenant and hits it. The captain starts climbing the wall. Myrs casts sleep on the rat man unit and lieutenant at the back gate; four fall asleep. Chuck moves over to shoot at the captain (Xyler Blackfoot), who is climbing the wall and puts an arrow right through him. Miriel waits in the main hall for wounded. One group of archers shoot at Chuck and miss. Another shoots at the freeholders on the kitchen roof and misses. Brand shoots at the nearest group of rat men and misses. Tarran stands up and shoots Xyler Blackfoot, putting another arrow through him. Milo climbs the wall. One of the freeholders swings at him and hits him, cutting him badly and knocking him off the wall. He tumbles down and lands on his feet. Chester the owl stays in the main hall. The lieutenant climbs the wall and makes it to the catwalk. We can see that he has a scimitar and shield in one hand, and a big mace attached to his tail. A unit of freeholders see him and shoot their bows at him. Two of them hit him, and he falls down off the catwalk, dead. Brand's assistant shoots at the newest group of rat men and misses. The freeholder unit near Chuck does the same and hits, killing one. The man with Goldpetal shoots at the rat man at the back gate that is not asleep, but misses. The freeholder on top of the barn runs over above the sleeping rat men. Some dogs follow Paks up to the catwalk. The others mill around near the back gate. The rat man who is not asleep climbs the wall and the guy at the top of the wall swings at him and kills him. All the other rat men along the front wall climb the walls and those on the 10-foot walls start to attack. Brand and his assistant try to kill them but miss. One of the dogs tears a rat man apart. The other two miss. Paks swings at one, misses, falls over, and drops her sword over the wall. Four of the group of infantry hit the unit of four rat men, and they fall off and break their necks. One unit of rat men draw their scimitars and attack Brand. One of them scratches him. Another unit attacks one of the dogs and two of them hit it, killing it. Another group attacks the other two dogs, but they all miss. Another group climbs over Paks, who plays dead, and attack one of the two dogs, but miss. The next group attacks the heavy infantry and hit them, not injuring them seriously. The mauler tries to pull the shaman free, but fails. Llewyn rides to the back gate and gathers the dogs, heading back to the front gate. The hawks circle.

Delonia runs to the roof of the kitchen. Telryn climbs down the tower and runs back to the roof of the kitchen. Paks stands up and attacks a unit of rat men, but misses. The heavy infantry attack the nearby group of rat men but miss. Goldpetal turns and shoots at a group of rat men on the catwalk and hits one. The captain climbs to the top of the roof; Chuck attacks him and hits him, cutting deep, but does not knock him off the wall. Tarran attacks him too and and misses. The captain attacks Chuck with his sword, which is segmented and whips out, getting a critical hit on Chuck. Myrs stays up on the tower, watching for an opportunity to help. Chuck swings at the captain with his longsword, missing. The archers in the orchards shoot at Tarran and one of the freeholders and miss. Miriel continues to wait for wounded or a call for help. Brand tries to hit the group in front of him, misses, and falls over. He drops his bastard sword, and it flies off the roof. Tarran attacks Xyler Blackfoot and gets a critical hit. Milo stays on the ground. The owl stays in the hall. The freeholders on the barn run around the catwalk towards the fight. The freeholder above the sleeping rat men shoots at them, but misses. The guy with Goldpetal shoots at the mauler and hits it hard. A freeholder on the kitchen attacks a group of rat men and misses, losing initiative. A unit hits a unit of rat men who are climbing the wall. Brand's assistant attacks the group near him, but misses. The dogs with Llewyn run towards the forge, heading for the stairs up to the catwalk. They make it to the stairs. One of the sheepdogs being attacked by the rat men jumps down off the catwalk. The guard dog attacks a unit of rat men, ripping the throat out of one. The group near Brand leap on him, slicing him with their scimitars, and three hit, but he's still conscious. Another group of four run over to attack Brand's assistant, but miss. Another group of four jumps down from the catwalk and heads for the catapult. They pull out their slings and sling at the guard dog. Three stones hit him. He yelps, but is not knocked out. Two more groups jump down and ready their slings, one shooting at Paks. She swings at one of them as they pass, but she misses. Four of them hit her and knock her out. Another reaches the top of the wall by Tarran and attack him. Two of them hit him. Another group reaches the top and a unit of freeholders attack them, but miss. They attack Delonia and hit her. Another unit climbs up into a unit of freeholders and attacks them, injuring them. The final unit climbs up near the lone freeholder and he hits one of them, knocking it off the wall. The other three attack him, two of them hit him, killing him. The mauler tries to pull the shaman free again and finally pulls him out. The shaman casts the arcing fire from his fingertips at Myrs, but she dives out of the way. Llewyn rides over to one of the groups by the catapult and she and her warhorse attack them. She misses with her sword. The horse bites at them and misses. It tramples them with its hooves and kills one. The hawks continue to circle.

Delonia casts burning hands on the rat men who attacked her. Telryn casts sleep on the rat men in front of him, but they do not fall asleep. Paks lies there bleeding. The heavy infantry jump down and attack the nearest group of rat men, but misses. Goldpetal shoots at the mauler, but misses it. The captain swings at Chuck and hits him hard, knocking him out. Myrs casts sleep on the two groups nearest Llewyn and puts three of them to sleep. Chuck bleeds. The rat men archers move out from the woods towards the wall and one group fires at the five man unit coming around, but misses. The other shoots at Tarran, and two of them hit him. Miriel waits in the main hall to be called. Brand gets up, draws a sword, and attacks a unit of rat men, killing one. Tarran calls "Medic" and cuts the head off of two rat men. Miriel hears Tarran and runs out, over to the kitchen. Milo tries to climb the wall again, but fails. The freeholders keep running around the wall to fight. Brand's assistant attacks and misses. A unit hits and kills a unit of rat men. The freeholder on the tower shoots at the mauler, but misses and falls over. The freeholder over the sleeping rat men shoots at the mauler and hits it hard. The guard dog runs at the rat men attacking Brand, flanking them, but misses. The one behind Brand attacks from the front and bites one hard. The sheepdogs attack the other group near Brand and bite one. The dog near the barn follows Llewyn. The unit of rat men near Brand attack him; fumbling and missing. The other group attacks his assistant; one hits him. One of the groups on the ground runs into the forge. The next attacks the heavy infantry and hits them. The unit next to Llewyn attacks her and hits her. A group attacks Delonia, moving past Tarran, who attacks them, killing one. The other three attack Delonia and one hits her. The rat men on fire stop to put it out. The rat man who fell off the wall pulls out his sling and slings at the unit of infantry and misses. The last unit runs past the unit of infantry to attack Delonia. The infantry swing at them as they go by, but miss. Two of them hit her, one critically. She falls down bleeding. The mauler and the shaman skirt the woods to circle around to the front of the freehold. Llewyn tramples the three sleeping rat men next to her and attacks the last one, getting a critical hit and killing it. The freeholder at the top of the tower gets to his feet.

Delonia bleeds. Telryn casts Magic Missile at the captain, who says "Ow, you bastard." Paks bleeds. The heavy infantry attacks the adjacent rat men unit, but miss. Goldpetal shoots at the mauler and hits it. It's limping. The captain attacks Tarran with the whipsword, but misses. Myrs puts four more rat men to sleep. Chuck bleeds. The archers continue to advance towards the freehold. One group shoots at Tarran, but misses him. The other shoots at the group of freeholders coming around to the forge, but misses. Those that are entangled try to get free, but fail. Brand swings at the group near him and kills one. Tarran attacks the captain twice and chops his head off; it flies onto the roof. Miriel climbs up and heals Chuck, waking him up. Milo tries to climb up the wall again, but fails. The freeholders coming around the wall run down and attack the unit inside the forge, wounding them badly, and killing one. Brand's assistant misses. Three freeholders kill the sleeping rat men, while two attack some of the non-sleeping rat men, killing two. The others shoot at the shaman and mauler, but miss. The guard dogs attack the group of rat men attacking Brand, killing two of them. The sheep dogs attack the survivor, but miss. The dog on the ground attacks and misses. One of the units attacks Miriel. Tarran kills one of them as they go by. Two hit Miriel while the other one fumbles. The five-rat-man unit on the ground attacks Llewyn, and two hit, one critically, knocking her unconscious. The five on the roof of the forge attack Brand's assistant, hitting him. One fumbles and falls to the ground, dropping his weapon. The group in the forge run outside and sling rocks at one of the guard dogs. Two hit it. The mauler and shaman duck into the woods. The horse attacks the group in front of it, smashing them with its hooves; it makes one critical hit and kills one. The freeholder on the tower shoots at the group that ran out of the forge, but he misses.

Delonia bleeds. Telryn shoots at the group of rat men attacking Miriel, killing one. Paks bleeds. The heavy infantry attacks. Goldpetal shoots the rat men near the forge and kills one. Myrs runs down the tower and across the roof towards Delonia and shouts to Miriel to take care of Paks. Chuck gets up and attacks the rat men who attacked Miriel with both swords, but misses both. The archers shoot at Tarran and one gets a critical hit. The other archers shoot at Brand's assistant and hit him, killing him. The last one tries to unentangle himself, but fails. Brand swings at the unit near him, but misses. Tarran hits the two rat men in front of him and kills both. Miriel runs over to Paks. Milo starts to run away. The freeholders chase the rat men out of the forge and kill them. The freeholders on the kitchen kill the sleeping rat man, while others kill the one that fell off the roof. The freeholder above the original sleeping group jumps down and slits the throat of one of the sleeping rat men. The man on the tower runs down to help him. The guard dog attacks the rat man that fell and kills it. The other guard dog leaps at a group of rat men and fumbles, but recovers. The sheepdogs attack the other group and one hits while the other fumbles and recovers. The rat men on the roof attack Brand, but miss. The group near Llewyn attack her horse, but miss. The mauler and shaman disappear into the woods. Llewyn bleeds; her horse attacks the group of rat men near her, but misses. The hawks continue to circle.

Delonia bleeds. Telryn waits to see what happens. Paks bleeds. The heavy infantry attack the rat men, but miss. Goldpetal communicates with his hawks. Myrs gives Delonia a potion of healing. Chuck calls upon the gods and shoots at Milo, trying to get him in the leg, but misses. The rat men archers start moving away, still firing. One group fires at Brand, and one hits him. The other group shoots at Milo, but misses. Brand attacks the group of rat men in front of him, killing one. Tarran runs down to Llewyn, calling for Chuck or someone to help him. Miriel heals Paks; she's unconscious, but no longer bleeding. The owl comes out and flies up above the freehold. The unit of freeholders runs over to the catapult. The one on the wall above the sleeping unit jumps down and the two freeholders slit two throats. The other unit shoots at the archers, but misses. The two guard dogs attack the rat men on the top of the forge, killing one. The two sheep dogs attack the wounded rat man and kills one. The sheep dog on the ground wounds one of the rat men attacking Llewyn. Llewyn bleeds. The horse attacks the group of rat men, biting and trampling them, killing two and wounding one. Telryn moves to the edge of the building. The hawks fly out above the forest in the direction Milo was going.

Delonia and Paks are still unconscious. The heavy infantry hammer the remaning rat men on the ground, killing them all. Goldpetal casts entangle at Milo. Myrs runs downstairs towards Llewyn. Chuck follows. The archers break and run. Brand swings at the rat men again, but misses. Tarran starts calming Llewyn's horse. Miriel heals Paks again; she's awake now. Milo "does the obvious" (unknown, since he's not visible in the forest). The owl continues to circle; he sees a halfling caught in some trees, some archers running away, and a bunch of rat men entangled in some trees in the southwest. Telryn tells Chuck about the halfling in the trees. The freeholders kill the last rat man on the ground. More freeholders run out the back gate to get the rat men trapped in the woods. The dogs attack the rat man attacking Brand. One trips, the other tears the rat man apart and starts gnawing on it.

Chuck performs first aid on Llewyn, while Miriel jumps down to heal her. After Miriel heals her, she wakes up. The freeholders kill the 20 rat men trapped in the woods. Chuck starts searching the bodies, the captain first, then the lieutenant; he suggests that the rest of us search the others, and Telryn goes to it. On the captain, Chuck finds the whipsword, an ornate rat-man dagger, studded leather armor, a shield, 18 silver pieces, and some jewelry - a chain and two rings. Paks sends the ten kids with the dogs to search the freehold. She gets Brand and Tarran and Myrs and heads out to find Milo. Myrs casts Sleep on him, then they tie him up and bring him back. Llewyn takes seventeen infantry and scours the forest and rat man camp. They come back two hours later. We make a pyre of the rat man bodies. Miriel, Goldpetal, Telryn and Myrs sleep while everyone else cleans up. By noon, things are in pretty good shape. We didn't find much loot, just a lot of weapons and armor. The lieutenant had a weird tail mace. They all had silver pieces (a total of 250) and cheap silver and gold jewelry. We put the weapons in the smithy. Paks checks out the whip sword.

When Miriel wakes up, she goes to Stone's room and starts meditating and praying to Madriel for inspiration as to how to help him. She also asks Delonia if she knows anything about this disease, but Delonia can't help. Miriel then heals Delonia and Paks again (Paks twice) and goes back to sleep for the afternoon. Everyone rests after the cleanup. Myrs and the freeholders start preparing a feast. Delonia casts Charm on Milo, then Paks and Tarran interrogate him.

Milo: "What happened?"

Paks: "You joined the rat men and attacked us."

Milo: "I'm trying to remember. I went out, killed rat men, came back, and went out again. I saw the shaman and a cloaked figure talking about treachery and invading the compound. They spotted me. I ran away and ran for hours; they caught me and beat me up and interrogated me. Afterwards, I had this compulsion to free Sysy. Did you find Sysy? Did she get away?"

Paks: "She got away."

Milo: "Damn, I guess that's my fault, huh?"

Paks: "Yes, it's your fault."

Milo: "I was instructed to set the barn on fire as a diversion, so I did. Then I freed Sysy, and she cast a spell on me and I followed her. Now I feel like a fog has been lifted."

Paks: "What happened to Garth?"

Milo: "I sent him away with the story of the fire in the barn, so I could get to Sysy."

Paks: "That clears Garth."

Tarran: "I knew it was that stupid halfling."

We free Garth and apologize.

Goldpetal: "We should take Milo to Grilliam, to be sure he was really enchanted and is now free."

Paks: "It's up to Tarran; he's the injured party. We can take him back to Grilliam if you want."

Tarran: "Well, we're owed a weregild, but he's your companion, and if you hadn't showed up here we'd be dead anyway, so I'll leave it in your hands. While he's in the keep here, though, he'll have to remain locked up."

Paks: "What sort of death price do you demand?"

Tarran: "I'll have to think about it. It's a complicated situation."

Paks asks the rest of the group. Miriel agrees with Goldpetal about taking Milo to Grilliam, but she als says he can't travel freely with us again without a satisfactory answer. Delonia says to kill him right away, she never liked him. She reminds Chuck that Jim never trusted Milo either. Chuck believes Milo's story, but still isn't sure if he can trust him. Tarran says he's happy with us taking Milo away. Telryn asks if this means we'll be leaving soon? We say yes, but we'll rest here tonight first.

That evening, there's a big home-cooked meal, quite delicious. Spicy pasta and excellent beer, even better than Fox's. The festivities go long into the evening. As they're drinking, Tarran pulls Paks aside.

Tarran: "I know you're planning to go back to Southport with the halfling, but I have an idea - it looks like we've decimated this disease tribe - maybe you should counter-attack now? A group of adventurers like you should have no trouble with them. You don't have to decide now."

Paks: "We might want to wait until after we go to Southport."

Tarran: "You might not want to wait too long; it would give them a chance to fortify."

Paks: "Good point. Do you think Brand and Llewyn might be willing to come?"

Tarran: "They might, though I'd like to have them here. I think you guys could handle the rat men alone, though."

Paks goes to discuss it with the rest of the group, individually. She starts with Chuck. He's all for killing rat men. He's not sure that Tarran is right about us having weakened the tribe so much, but he's still in favor of attaching them. Paks sends Chuck to talk to Miriel while Paks talks to Goldpetal.

Goldpetal asks how many rat men escaped, and if we can catch them before they reach the rest of their tribe. Paks thinks we'll have to chase them back to base. Goldpetal is worried that they will come back and attack. Paks suggests taking a look at their base, prepared to run if we're outmatched. If we really have weakened them, we can kill them off, and there will be treasure, too. Goldpetal is not interested in things made by or belonging to rat men, but he is very interested in killing rat men. He particularly hates the shaman.

Chuck talks to Miriel. She's not sure that it's a good idea to chase after them. She asks if he knows where they live? He replies that a hundred men coming to the freehold would have left a significant trail, so we can follow them. He says he knows it's an unnecessary battle for us as a group, but he really believes it's the right thing to do to attack them. Miriel is swayed by the argument that it's the right thing to do, but says we should ask for help from the freeholders. Chuck agrees.

Paks talks to Telryn. He says we're obviously an interesting group, but he needs to get the ink he was sent for. Paks suggests that the ink comes from the swamp, based on what we know, so coming with us may be the quickest way to get any.

Paks asks Llewyn and Brand if they will come, but they say they need to stay to protect their families. Llewyn says a scouting mission to the swamp is a good idea, but Chuck could probably handle the tracking, even if he's lost two masters.

Goldpetal approaches Taryn and says he's become attached to the hawks, and asks if there's some way they can come with him. Tarran says they're his, in thanks for helping the freehold. Paks asks if we can buy one of the guard dogs, but Tarran looks doubtful, so she asks for a puppy, which he is happy to agree to. Paks asks if she can invite the freeholders to join us in the attack on the rat men. Tarran regretfully has to refuse. He needs the men to stay and look after the freehold, especially with all the damage to repair from the attack. In fact, he would like us to stay and help out, if we don't choose to go attack the rat men.

Paks talks to Delonia, pays her the other half of her fee, and asks if she'd like to come along.

Delonia: "No thank you. I took a beating like I haven't had in a very long time. I don't think your luck is going to hold much longer. I'm done with Grilliam, done with the rat men, I'm going west."

Miriel: "Tarran, can we leave Milo with you under guard?"

Tarran: "Well, if you insist, I'll hold him, but I'm not thrilled about it, and I can't guarantee his safety. My people think he's a traitor. I could send him back to Southport under guard, but he probably won't make it. If you trust him, you should take him with you. If you don't trust him, you should hang him."

Chuck: "I actually believe Milo."

Miriel: "If we can't leave Milo and we can't trust him, we must take him to Grilliam."

Chuck: "I'm worried about a vendetta against me in Southport. I'm not sure I want to go back right now."

Paks: "Going back to Southport with unfinished business is no good; it's just a crutch for us. If Chuck trusts Milo, I'm willing to trust him, for now."

Goldpetal: "On the one hand, he was helping the rat men, so he deserves to die. On the other hand, he claims that someone cast a spell on him."

Chuck: "Would he have used a healing potion on Sysy if he wasn't under a spell? We have no reason not to trust him."

Miriel: "We have plenty of reason not to trust him. I'm not comfortable travelling with him, but I also can't leave him to be killed outright. Does anyone else have a suggestion?"

Paks: "We could take him with us, tied up."

Miriel: "That's just like killing him, if we get into a fight."

Delonia: "Push him into some quicksand."

Paks: "We know from his past actions that he wouldn't help Sysy."

Miriel: "No, we don't."

Paks: "He wanted to kill her."

Delonia: "No, he actually attacked me when I tried to kill her."

Paks: "Tarran can keep him here or dispatch someone with him to Southport."

Miriel: "But Tarran can't promise he will not die if we leave him..."

Tarran: "I can't guarantee his safety. I don't really have the personnel to watch him, either."

Delonia: "I can charm him for three hours."

Chuck: "I could go either way, take him to Southport or take him with us, tied up."

Paks: "We can take him with us tied up."

Goldpetal: "It's not safe; if we don't trust him, we should kill him. He might escape. What's his incentive to help us out, especially if we demonstrate we don't trust him?"

Paks: "Well, we'll know he's on their side if he helps them."

Miriel: "That's a good point. Let's take him, and kill him if he tries anything. We can let him know that this is how he can redeem or reveal himself."

Paks: "That sounds good to me."

Delonia: "That's a mistake; kill him!"

Paks: "We had the same debate over you."

Goldpetal: "We cannot free him until after we leave here."

Miriel: "We should never free him except when he's being watched closely."

We all agree to this plan. Miriel brings Chuck with her to talk to Milo. She explains the situation with the freeholders. He tries to argue. Chuck suggests that it would be best if he shuts up. Miriel explains the plan of watching him. He protests again, and says that she's just offering him a choice of dying by the freeholders or dying with us, attacking the rat men. She points out that one option is pretty sure death, the other at least has a chance. She agrees with him that it's risky. He argues some more. He asks why not just let him go. Miriel says we can't trust him enough. Chuck says he'll kill him right now. Milo argues some more. Miriel finally says she'll let him think on it for the night, then tells Chuck to bring him some food, then tie him to the bed. Chuck says he's fine on the floor. Miriel insists, so Chuck agrees. She leaves and Chuck continues to argue with Milo for a while, then feeds him, ties him to the bed, and leaves him for the night.