No Dawdling

## **Synopsis**

In Chapter 56: No Dawdling, the party scrambled to their feet with only the light of the moon guiding us.  With Vegepygmies shuffling about in all directions beneath our feet, we had only a brief moment to take stock of what was missing – especially as it became clear that some of the creatures were making a break for the river with their pilfered loot.

While Erland and Beezaura retrieved their stolen weapons, it was up to Safira and the spellcasters to do the bulk of the damage – but after a pair of chieftains and their thorny companions reached the shoreline, it was all hands on deck to batter them back with blunt strikes and steel.

When the dust settled, we were relieved to find we'd acted quickly enough to retrieve all of our belongings – and most of them in fine shape with the exception of a soggy spellbook that would require a bit of careful drying out.  Grumbling to ourselves about the unwelcome interruption, we finished our rest – and prepared for what was likely to be a long day of travel up to the Acqly Grove tomorrow.

It was only a few hours after we'd started north that we found a crossing to take us to the east bank – but nobility (or perhaps just curiosity) got the better of us when we saw a woman stealing items from a gravesite by the river.  The irritable Neeas had a bit of a grudge against the Acqly Elves and was looking to be 'reimbursed' for what she felt was intentionally poor advice that had cost her a good sum of money.  We didn't want to start a fight, and didn't have a particular loyalty to either side in this situation – so we let her go, but chose not to disrupt the grave any further despite learning there may be valuables buried in the dirt.

The next interruption along our path came with some familiar faces – a group of bounty hunters that we'd already crossed paths with outside of Tuktu, making camp here in the woods as they worked another contract.  It was hard to tell if the invitation to join them for a meal was in good faith, so we opted to mostly ignore them – even when some overheard whispers revealed that they seemed to be on the lookout for the escaped servants from the Halls of Transmutation.

In the later afternoon we had nearly reached the bend in the Acqly River just outside of DES, and just as advertised the presence of the Tempests meant harsh winds and booming cracks of thunder.  With each flash of lightning, varying packs of animals seemed to heed the call – heading toward the storm rather than running from it.  Their level of focus made it hard for Safira to glean any information from them (even with her Speak to Animals spell) – but it seemed the Tempests would soon be choosing a new 'warden' of the Grove, though what exactly that entailed was unclear.

Swinging east, we continued to follow the river and looked for a way to pass into ISI – which came in the form of another bridge with a temporary settlement on the other side.  A group of Acqly Elves had relocated here after moving out of DES, and despite their odd presence it seemed like a decent place to make camp – some safety in numbers after last night's frustrating interruption.

Also present at the camp was a human man named Daud Zlatko – a hunter who traveled with the Elves as a self-proclaimed "necessary evil" who could protect the citizens of the grove from Copper Claw bears, as in their culture these animals were sacred and not to be harmed by an Elf.  Daud offered to guide us through the ruins of Joiruk as a way to save some time – an offer that we strongly considered, given that we also wanted to skirt the border of MIL to see if we could find the spot marked on the map we'd taken from Clemens's caravan.

As we mulled over the possibility of taking on a hired hand, we sat by the fire and learned what we could from one of the natives – though it was hard to concentrate after Daud went to wash his tunic in the river and revealed a large number "7" tattooed on his back.  With Erland trying to process what he'd seen and the rest of the group thinking about what story they might want to tell, we shared a meal.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: two natural ones were rolled in this Chapter. 1 each by John and Matt.