Ford rushes over to the shop he saw Lurel pointing to, stumbling slightly under the weight of all the fruit.. Once inside...

"Hey, do they sell anything we need here? I already got some fresh fruit... there are some stalls still open outside but probably not for long."

Lurel shakes his head at the shopkeeper. "Not Branden Forest. We're heading for the sea. Are there any lodgings that way?"

He accords the shopkeeper a conspiratorial grin. "It's a bit of a dare we've got on with some friends, you see. Everyone keeps telling us that we'll never make it and that the sea's too far away. We really want to show them, so any help or information you could give us would be welcome."

He turns around. "Hello Ford. What else do the stalls sell? Anything we might need?"

Then his attention is back on the shopkeeper. "Like I was saying, we want to be as well prepared as possible. Travel rations, rope, porridge oats, tea - and maybe some extra water bottles might not be such a bad idea. How much for all that? What's the terrain like between here and the sea - is there plenty of shelter?"

Hardly pausing for breath, he addresses Ford again. "Have I forgotten anything?"

Taken aback at the speed of the delivery the shop keeper has to stop and think. He then addresses Ford:

"I'll sort out the hardware but tea and porridge will be with the dried goods merchant. He has a stall outside."

To Lurel he says. "Rope, water bottles - you have bedrolls, tents, groundsheets? You might need gloves but the clothiers are closed now. I've got an old pair I'll throw in for nothing if you spend 10 gold."

He pauses again. "The sea, you say? I tried to make it once with a friend. One badly split forehead and a broken ankle later... Well, I wish you the joy of it. The terrain - there's not even enough flat land to put a foot down straight."

He starts pulling the items you have asked for towards him. "How many water bottles did you want?"

Lisette continued to eat her dinner quickly and efficiently. "They bothered me before. They aren't bothering me now. I admit that I probably went overboard with the swords, but what's done is done. I can't take it back now."

She looks curiously at Midge. "What did you mean by 'you could drop them all in a second..?'"

"I don't think so Lurel..."

Hearing the shop keeper's answer he nods and walks out the door, heading for what looks like a dried goods merchant stall. When he arrives he addresses the vendor.

"Hello, could I have some porridge and tea please?"

Ford

The man passes across a small carton of tea and a larger sack of dried porridge oats. "Two gold pieces, please."

Ford hands over the 2 gold pieces and takes the goods. He heads back to the shop and once inside he addresses Lurel.

"Hey, I got the tea and porridge!"

He shows Lurel the carton and sack.

"Shall we head back to the inn?"

Lurel thinks for a moment.

"The terrain doesn't sound suitable for camping," he replies thoughtfully, " but maybe a groundsheet or two might be useful. Make it four waterbottles, please, as well as the rope. And I never thought about gloves, but I daresay they might come in handy. How much for all that and a couple of groundsheets?"

He looks at the shopkeeper quizzically. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you get injured on your trip to the sea? Did you trip, or get caught in some freak weather, or something like that? It would be good to know of any possible dangers before we set out."

Lurel fishes in his pockets for some of the gold coins he carries.

"Water bottles 2 gold for four, rope 2 gold, groundsheets one gold a piece. Don't come to ten gold. Why not take a tent? Got one that sleeps two six gold or a big one for eleven. Or you can buy the gloves for one gold piece."

He holds up a disreputable looking pair of gloves. The best that can be said of them is that the palms are thick leather.

"As for our wounds. Well, first it rains so hard each step sends us slithering. That's when I broke my ankle. Then it bakes so dry when I fall... Well, you're going to find that out, aren't you?"

His supercilious smile makes it quite clear that he knows you will soon be back.

"Rain," Lurel replies with a shudder. "In that case I suppose tents might not be such a bad idea. We'll take two of the smaller tents, if you have them - they might be easier to pitch than one large one. And the water bottles, and rope. That brings us to over ten gold coins, right? So yes, please, I'd like the gloves too. And if you have travel rations, we'll have some of those too."

He starts counting out gold coins and placing them on the counter, then suddenly notices Ford.

"Oh, hello Ford. I didn't notice you coming in. Do you think we have enough food?"

Lurel grimaces. "All that food and equipment is going to be heavy. Do you think we'll manage to get it all back to the inn?"

"Well, I bought 1 carton of tea, 1 small sack of oats, 10 apples and pears, and 3 grape bunches... still not many rations there if this trip could take as long as 2 weeks."

Ford winces slightly.

"Er yeah it will be a bit heavy. The fresh fruit is the majority of the weight though. If we split that between us 50/50 maybe we can manage the other stuff..."

The shopkeeper sorts out your provisions. "I don't have rations. You'd best buy anything you think you need from one of the farms you'll pass on the way. They usually have too much for themselves. And they often have cured meat. Save carrying it - as far as you get."

He takes 18 gold and hands Lurel - 4 water bottles, one rope, two small tents, 2 groundsheets and a manky pair of gloves.

He looks as if he has done well out of the deal. Most of the customers would haggle for a better price.

Lurel staggers under the weight of his purchases as he heads back towards the inn. He wonders whether he should have haggled for a better price, but he was in such a hurry....

At least they have some equipment now - he hopes he won't have to carry it all though once they are on their way!

He looks over his shoulder to see if Ford is following him.

"I'm starving," he sighs. "I hope they kept us some of that stew back at the inn."

Something is nagging at him though...there was something the shopkeeper mentioned....

Lurel shrugs, and hopes that he will remember it in time if it was important. For now, his thoughts are occupied with food.

Ford's stomach lets loose a loud rumble.

"Tell me about it. I wouldn't care if the stew's gone cold and slimey..."

He groans as they slowly make their way back to the inn.

Lurel sighs audibly when they reach the inn, and somehow rearranges his shopping so that he can push open the door. It is with great relief that he drops his purchases beside Lisette.

"Got some tents as well," he explains. "Apparently it rains a lot over in that direction."

Grinning at Midge he asks: "How's the stew? Did you leave any for us?"

He walks over to the bar, to ask the barmaid for some stew for himself and Ford.

Ford lumps his backpack full of fruit onto the table.

"And I got fruit! Not to mention some tea and porridge oats..."

He sits down with a loud sigh and stretches.

The barmaid nods and brings the stew across. It is still hot.

"Hey, thanks!"

Ford beams at the barmaid and tucks into the food hungrily, barely stopping to chew.

Lurel wolfs down his stew. Only when the bowl is already half empty does he slow down and pause long enough to speak.

"We should probably have an early night if we want to leave early tomorrow. Is Padden going to meet us here?"

He dips his spoon into his stew, balances it in front of his mouth so that no lipreader can see what he is saying.

"We need somewhere a bit more private than this to talk over our plans," he murmurs, then gets on with the serious business of eating.

"Good stew," he comments with a happy sigh when he has all but licked his bowl clean.

Ford nods in agreement as he finishes his stew. He picks the bowl up and drinks the rest of the sauce down before putting the bowl back down on the table. He wipes his mouth on his sleeve and sighs.

"Much be-*URP*... um, excuse me."

He grins slightly.

"Guess I shouldn't have eaten so fast... uh, maybe we could go into one of the rooms to discuss our plans?"

"I agree that we should have an early night." Lisette agrees quietly, barely overheard amidst the taproom's noise. "We've got the two rooms at the top of the stairs on the left. I suggest we go up, reallocate the supplies, and get some rest. Padden will meet us outside at dawn."

She stands up and takes hold of some of the supplies. "Shall we go?"

Lurel nods, wipes his mouth. He tries to stifle a yawn, feeling tired all of a sudden. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten so fast.

He gathers up his share of the supplies.

"Uh huh," he mumbles through the yawn which will no longer be suppressed. "Sounds like a splendid idea to me."

"Well, if Lurel says so..."

Ford picks up his backpack full of fruit from the table and heads upstairs, looking around.

"Any idea where our rooms are?"

"Top of the stairs, on the left, Lisette said," Lurel replies, still yawning.

He heads for one of the doors on the left, and has to drop some of the supplies he is carrying on the floor so that he can get a hand free to put on the door handle.

"Is this the right room, Lisette?" he asks, looking over his shoulder.

"This should be them. The barmaid said the first two on the left at the top of the stairs. You can't lock them, but there is a bar for security. Let's bring in the supplies and discuss our plans."

Lisette walks into the first bedroom and places her pack on the third bed.

Lurel spreads out the supplies he has purchased in the middle of the floor.

"Let's sort out the supplies first," he suggests. "If this trip is as long as Padden says then we need to make sure we split the loads up so nobody carries more than they can. And the terrains doesn't sound good."

He passes on the scant information he managed to get from the shopkeeper, still aware of something nagging at the back of his mind. Then he has it.

"Walking sticks!" Lurel exclaims, and snaps his fingers. "That was it. The shopkeeper mentioned walking sticks. And later on he said that the ground was slippery with rain. If the ground is as treacherous as he says maybe we should cut some stout sticks once we leave town tomorrow? And well - I suppose there are things I could do when the ground gets really bad, but what do you think of the walking stick idea?"

Lurel looks up at the others.

Ford walks into the room and throws his backpack onto the floor, sending a couple of apples rolling out.

"Yeesh that's heavy... walking sticks huh? Might be an idea. Don't wanna end up with broken ankles like that shopkeeper."

Lurel frowns, and picks up the apples.

"We might as well divide up the food supplies too while we're here."

After adding the apples to the pile of supplies, Lurel sits on one of the beds.

"There is something odd about the way to the sea," he begins. "And it's not just that the terrain seems to be so difficult that people have to give up and return here injured. Injured badly enough to force them to give up - but nobody has yet mentioned anyone killed in the attempt. And nobody has warned us off, either. They just don't seem to be even remotely curious about the sea. It's strange - they just seem to accept that the can't get there."

Lurel gnaws his lip, looks at the others.

"You know, that's making me even more curious to find out what is causing their lack of interest in the sea."

Lisette takes one of the ground cloths and folds it into a compact bundle to store in her pack.

"It does seem strange that no one is interested in travelling to the sea," she says. "It almost seems as if there mild form of compelling going on. Enough to distract someone from following through on their intentions to travel there. People get injured, but not too seriously, get dejected and return home. Any thoughts of going back are turned aside. At least that's how it appears to me, anyway." She moves to the other supplies. "If that is the case, then I think we need to get moving quickly in the morning before this apathy deters us."

"I also think that it might be a good idea if we let each other know about some of the skills and attributes we each possess - so we can all know our strengths and weaknesses."

She gets out a dagger from behind her belt and looks thoughtfully at it and then back to the group. This dagger for instance. I can change it into any weapon I choose." She concentrates on it and wills it to change into a staff and grins at Lurel. "As you can see, I don't think that I'll need a walking stick."

"I am fairly proficient with the care and use of weapons. I'm not afraid to use them and I won't back down from a fight unless I know I can't win it. Finally, I have some ability with fire, but that is a work in progress. I can produce it, but my control is a bit better than chancy. At least we won't have problems starting the evening campfires." she laughs.

"are you so sure?" inquires Midge, "After all as i hear the shopkeeper predicts heavy rain...

what we need aren't walking sticks, they won't help us if all we are on is mud and hills

"Well," Lurel says thoughtfully, "it may be that I can do something about the terrain." He holds out his hand, and shows the wolf branded into his palm. "The sign of a rockbrother. The Earth elementals allow me to use the magic of earth - and unless it interferes with their designs, I should be able to clear a path for us where the going gets difficult. And there's more."

He grins uncomfortably at the others. "Don't be alarmed, but lycanthropy is one of the gifts of Earth. I can turn into a wolf at need."

"However," he adds after a brief pause, "there's nothing I can do about the rain, unfortunately." He pulls a face, and starts stuffing one of the tents into his pack.

Even folded the tent doesn't fit very well, and Lurel empties his pack on the floor. Hastily he picks up a little worn doll. "Just a keepsake," he murmurs. "Used to be my sister's."

Lurel repacks his belongings more carefully this time, finding space for his share of the food supplies and the gloves too. He places the doll gently between his spare clothes, holding on to it for just a little bit longer than necessary.

With a sigh he folds the tent into as compact as space as he can, then straps it to the top of his pack.

"Geez Lurel. Got any other tricks up your sleeve? Just don't go eating us in the night..."

Ford grins slightly.

"As for my skills, well, I can handle a blade alright. Oh, and I got this special piece of straw..." He pulls a piece of straw out of his pocket. "When I blow on it, it disrupts people's hearing. Let's out a really quiet yet powerful noise, but it messes with my hearing too. So I guess it could come in handy for distraction but not much else..."

"Sounds like I'm not the only one with tricks up my sleeve then," Lurel replies with a grin. "Now all we need is for Midge to tell us that he can turn off the rain, and we're all set."

Lurel's grin turns into a yawn.

"Of course I don't know what skills the locals had whose attempts to reach the sea failed, but somehow I think that between us we have a wide range of skills, which I hope will give us a much better chance of success. What we don't know, though, is how far this ... ward....whatever you want to call it that's keeping people away from the sea.... is prepared to go. Maybe there have been no deaths we've heard about because people gave up rather than persevered. Maybe if we don't give up we have to expect greater danger. But perhaps that this....thing...isn't trying to kill from the outset is a good sign."

Again Lurel yawns, and can't stop. "Oh, I don't know. I guess we'll have to be prepared for anything, and pay attention to the smallest clue. But I can hardly keep my eyes open - I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep. How do we split up the rooms for tonight? I don't care - just tell me which bed is mine."

Lurel looks ready to fall asleep on the spot.

"I'd like to run through my kata practice before retiring, and I do not want to keep Lurel awake. I'll go in the other room.

"Just so you know, it's more a mind clearing and stretching regime that I practice daily. There's not a lot of jumping around or noise for that matter, but it can be disconcerting to see someone flashing a blade around near you. If you all choose to stay in this room, I'll not be offended."

Lisette wills the staff back into its previous dagger shaped form, picks up her gear, and heads to the door.

"Well, see you in the morning then," Lurel says to Lisette. "Good night."

Lurel flops onto one of the beds, pulls the blanket over himself and is soon fast asleep.

"Night."

Ford yawns and stretches. He eventually gets up off the floor and collapses onto one of the beds with a thump, not even bothering to tuck himself in, and is asleep in the matter of a few minutes.

Lisette moves quietly into the other room, put the gear on a bed and proceeds to run through her kata of stretching and daggerwork. If no one else decides to join her by the time she is finished, she drops the bar over the door, prepares for bed and is soon fast asleep.

OOC> ShinJiOh, if you want to post an earlier piece (in time) I'll shift this post to tomorrow morning.

Nothing not even dreams disturbs your sleep. The time agreed to meet Padden means that your breakfast, bread, cold meat, hard boiled eggs and fruit has been left out for you on a table in the tavern. There is also juice that you later identify as apple and raspberry.

While you are sorting out what you want Padden proudly presents each of you with a hand-sized rectangular block of dark chocolate. (He does not tell you the walk to and from his farm took eight hours.)

He then says, with a tinge of embarrassment in his voice. "I hope you'll let me guide you as far as the path goes. I don't get much chance to do anything with Taffo - he's just sooo lazy. We can get there in a day. But I must get back to my mother the next day. She is not well and although she is keen for me to go, if there is an emergency..."

He says no more immediately then blurts out. "The thing is we'll only have time to stop once. There are things of interest and if you try to see all of them I'll have to turn back. You can do the other two on your way back. I'll tell you the three places and if you've got any questions about them I'll try to answer and then you can decide."

He spells out the choices.

"There's the abandoned farm where Zekic and his family vanished from. It's got this weird hole in the living room floor but it doesn't go anywhere. Then there's the Moldo's old place. It's a burned out shell but nobody likes going there. They say it has a strange feeling about it. And then there's the Beacon. It's just a small stone monument with a plaque giving its history. People claim that they can hear voices in the air but I never have. Does one of those sound particularly interesting?"

OOC> Please post any questions in one post each after which please vote giving a reason. The one chosen will be the majority vote or, if there is a tie, Lurel will decide. Padden has bought you food and drink as well as chocolate. You can visit the other two on the way back. So humour him.

Lurel thanks Padden, and nibbles on the chocolate. "Mmm...this is good! I'm sorry to hear your mother is not well, but I hope you'll pass on our thanks to her too - this is the best chocolate I've ever eaten. If you don't mind me asking, what ails her?"

He pours himself some juice and helps himself to some bread and fruit while he considers the options.

"Why those three places in particular?" he asks Padden. Chewing on a mouthful of bread and fruit he considers his next question.

"You said Zekic was your friend, so I guess you've been to his house a lot of times before he left. You said there was a weird hole in the floor - but is there anything else about the place which is strange?"

After a sip of juice, and another mouthful of bread Lurel asks quietly:

"Did you know the people who lived at the burnt out farm?"

Lurel continues his breakfast while he waits for Padden's answer.

Ford thanks Padden for the chocolate and stows it away in his backpack.

"I'll save this for later."

He grins and starts eating some of the cold meat.

"Zekic's place sounds... interesting... wonder why it would have a hole in the living room that doesn't go anywhere? On the other hand, if we went to the burnt out farm maybe we could find out more about the strange force that seems to turn people away from the beach..."

He drinks some juice as he thinks.

Lisette wakes at dawn and runs through a quick series of stretches and limbering exercises. She swiftly repacks her gear, checking for her knives and closes the door quietly behind her. She comes downstairs and walks over to where Lurel, Padden, and Ford are sitting and takes some juice, eggs and bread for breakfast. Sitting across from Padden, and seeing the square of chocolate, she takes one and stores in her pack. "Thank you Padden, that was kindly done. I hope it wasn't too much trouble. I'll save it for later."

Looking to the group, "I overheard the choices for a possible sidetrip on our route to the sea. I have to admit that all of these places sound intriguing..... holes that don't go anywhere and strange feelings.... but the one that most piqued my curiosity is the Beacon." She takes a sip of juice before continuing.

"Padden, what is the monument for? Do you know anyone who heard these voices and what those voices said? And I wonder what the voices would tell us, if anything, if we chose to visit it? "

(OOC - She doesn't just machine guns the questions at Padden, but rather waits for an answer as in normal conversation. I though that would be the quickest way to get the info out! )

Padden does his best to answer.

To Lurel he says. "Apart from those three there's nothing much to see. The lanes are bordered by hedges and fences, or stone walls. Nobody here would walk on another's land without approval. It;s going to be warm, so I thought you might want some shade when we stop to eat. Zekic's old house is intact, the Moldo farm has cellars and the Beacon casts a shadow. We could stop at a farm but people around here are a bit tight-lipped with strangers. We don't have to stop at all but it's hard to eat when walking along."

He considers Zekic. "We were at school and used to meet up to go for walks or to parties. I don't suppose I've been to his house more than twice. It's a long way from where I live. But I know that there was no hole when I went to see him. We don't know exactly when they left. Someone reported the Moldo's farm being burned out and a group of us went to see if we could help. I called in to see if Zekic wanted to join us. Zekic was friendly with the Moldos, I hardly knew them. They had a boy called Sammi who went to the same school but he was a lot younger - ten or eleven. If the farm was burning I can imagine Zekic going to help, even his family. Maybe something killed them all? But there were no bodies."

He turns to Lisette with grin. "Glad you're going with me, the girls here are a bit narrow, if you know what I mean. The Beacon - well - thousands of years ago we used to suffer raids from a land that has since disappeared. If ships were sighted the farmers lit fires to warn the townsfolk. I don't know why they felt a need to build a monunment to it. It's a popular place for a walk. It has a good view. Some say they can hear words as if they were eavesdropping on someone's conversation. Nothing made sense but they got scared an ran off. Different people on a different occasions have said the same but I never heard anything!"

He eats an apple. "I'll answer anything else as we're walking along. When we get near to Zekic's farm you can tell me which one you have chosen."

"No bodies?" Lurel repeats with a frown, taking in what Padden has told them. "Well, I'd like to see all three of them, really, but if we only have time for one then I'd probably want to see that burnt out farm where people just vanished."

He puts his plate and cup on the counter, and gets his backpack ready. Looking at the leftover food, Lurel hesitates.

"Padden, will we be able to buy food at one of the farms on the way? I don't think we've got enough for a long trip, and you said people might not be too friendly towards strangers..." Another thought occurs to Lurel then, and hesistantly he adds: "That about being tight-lipped with strangers - were people round here always like that, or just since those events at Zekic's house and the Moldos' farm?"

Lurel looks at the others. "What do you think?"

Padden shrugs. "We never get many visitors and they are usually officials of one kind or another. Like that bunch from the census office. It's nothing personal. But any farm will sell you spare produce. No one says no to a bit of hard cash!"

Ford nods.

"Well I'm fine with going to the burnt out farm... sounds interesting."

He finally fills up and drinks a mouthful of juice. He wipes his mouth on his sleeve and releases a small belch.

"Going to the burned out farm is okay with me" says Lisette. Looking around, she asks, " Where is Midge anyway? I thought he'd be down for breakfast by now....Don't want to leave without him."

OOC> right here and rather late

Midge walks through the bar door and says,
"sorry i went out for a stroll.. being so young as i am i wake up earlier than most."

*After a quick explanation of what's going on Midge says*
"in my opinion, i question why we should stop at any of these places, i know we have to stop while eating, but that doesn't mean we have to stop at places like those.

As i see it, we shouldn't go to any, firsly a house with a hole that goes to nowhere sounds like a bad idea, as you never know what creatures could come out of the abyss. The burnt down farm is a bad idea because of possible poltergeists and not to mention a burn down house with a cellar remaining...im not a tomb raider.

And lastly, i thought it was rude to eavesdrop, but as Padden says he has heard nothing it must have been the voice on the end of the wind, but if it is a good view... i have no problem with going to this Beacon." Midge looks around,

"Though it seems you all want to go to this burnt down farm..."

Padden sets off at a brisk pace, Midge almost having to run to keep up. The road is easy to walk on but there are walls on both sides that sometimes block the view. The road twists turns and forks often. You see now that Padden had been right about easily getting lost.

As the day wears on it gets hotter and hotter but Padden seems unconcerned. He points to a path that leads to Zekic's family farm but hastens on.

You meet no one on the road. From time to time you see people at work in the fields. Padden sometimes hails them and gets a cheerful reply but he does not introduce you or say what he is doing.

"There will be a water pump at the Moldo's farm. You can cool off under it if you wish."

By the time the farm has been reached it is past noon. He takes you into the ruin. The building is a shell, hardly anything remaining above waist level. Some of the furniture remains. Midge notices a bright shiny spoon lying almost invisible underneath an overturned chair.

There is an uncomfortable feel to the place.

Padden throws open a trap door that leads to the cellars. "Only a few rotting scraps of food down here now but it's out of the sunshine."

The farm pump is just beyond the ruin.

Padden waits for you to decide what to do.

Lurel looks around, and shivers involuntarily.

"I see what you mean about the place feeling strange. Still, I'd like to see the cellar, and a bit of shade would be nice - but I have an odd feeling about this place. I don't want to get trapped down there...."

Lurel looks at Padden. "Did anyone ever find out what caused this fire?"

He looks at the opening down into the cellar. With his earth magic he has perhaps less cause to fear getting trapped underground, but that does not ease his feelings. After spending all morning in the hot sunshine Lurel can't rid himself of the thought that the cellar resembles a tomb....


"I'll go and fill up the water bottles first," Lurel offers. "Then I'll definitely have a look around that cellar."

He waits to see what the others will do, and who will give him a water bottle to refill at the pump.

"What's the matter Lurel? Scared?"

Ford smirks cheekily, clearly trying to hide the fact he's uncomfortable too.

"Well, if you insist, my bottle could use refilling, if you would..."

He hands Lurel his near empty water bottle.

"Thanks!"