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Prosper watched the precedings with vauge intrest.

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(THE ABOVE USER HAS BEEN BANNED)

"Nice to meet ya, Jorn! I'm Marcus!" The Lizzard extended his scaly hand but the faerie man quaked in fear.

"I won't hurt ya. I promise."

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Jorn said: "Oh... heh.. hello. Marcus. Quite. Won't hurt me. Yes. Well... nice to meet you, but I have to be off.. Good luck with.. um.. whatever it was that you all are doing out here. I'll let the pass the word about you folk. Perhaps someone in my town can get word to the Pixies that you're coming their way. They'd probably be glad to see some humans after all the trouble. they've had with the Orcs, but them Pixies are an unpredictable lot. They like to play games and they don't know when to quit. Anyways, nice to meet you all. If you're ever around this way again, just shout my name into a tree and someone will come out to greet you. Love to show you our hospitality. Goodbye now."
And with that, the little man jumped into the air and vanished with a little "poof" of brown dust.

Captain Sealem said: "Hrm, interesting. The little man may have given us some valuable information, or he could be trying to deceive us somehow. Either way, it doesn't alter our plan but let's keep what he said in mind, just in case.
OK eveyrone: Listen up. We keep moving. My three remaining Guardsmen are going to cover our rear, about a 100 yards behind us. Master Prosper and Mister Marcus, I want you two flanking either side of the front of the wagon close enough that you can hear the the wheels creak. Stay sharp and don't let your guard down. Marcus, if we're attacked I want you to defend the wagon. That goes for you too, Master Prosper. Maxwell and Farnham, you two flank me on either side as I walk behind the wagon, and stay on your guard. Good Master Horin will drive the wagon while Acedia... er.. where is Acedia... I hope she didn't wander off.
Anyways, Drek, I want you to cover Taryn while Taryn scouts ahead. Don't loose sight of her, but stay within sight of the wagon. Taryn: I don't want you out Drek's signt unless you have to be. We need to stick together out here, alright?
Ok, everyone: Taryn has the lead. Let's roll.

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"I'm right here, sir," Acedia squeaked loudly from her perch on Eruantian's abdomen. She sat up on her back legs, quite unlike a normal rat, and waved.

Taryn said nothing in response to her instructions, only nodded. She turned around again, reoriented herself with her surroundings, then pointed decisively in a specific direction and began to walk in a straight line. "Mind the root," she called, after just barely missing a protruding tree root that could easily tip the wagon. There was room to the side to go around it, however.

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Marcus saluted the Captain. "Yes SIR!"

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Captain Sealem looked down and waved back. "I see. And what are you doing, might I ask?"



The Horse pulling Horin's wagon negotiated the obstacle deftly, and the wagon rocked a bit as it bumpily made it's way along the path that Taryn was leading it on.

Micheal strode up behind Captain Sealem and said: "I think I'll ride up from with Horin. Care to join me, Aurieul?"

<GM's Note: Captain Sealem is unsure of Auriuel's abilities, which is why he didn't assign a position in the party to her. It's not so much that he doesn't trust her, it's just that he doesn't really know what her abilities are and where she might fit in in terms of strategy & tactics.
Micheal, on the other hand, kind of scares Captain Sealem. The Captain doesn't really know what to do with a Mage of Micheal's power. How does one give orders to a man who could blast lightning from his fingertips? To Sealem, Micheal's place in the tactical framework is a bit of an enigma, so he just lets Micheal find his own place and hopes it works out for the best.
Sealem feels conflicted regarding Prosper. He takes his job as Prosper's bodyguard seriously, but he respects the boy enough that he feels that he knows must let Prosper learn to defend himself. He that the only way one truly can learn to fight is in a real fight, and so he must let Prosper have some freedom. Deep in Captain Sealem's heart of hearts, tucked away in a secret place he rarely allows himself to think about at, Sealem of Suldeneselar sees Prosper like a son.>

<GM's personal note: Spring is finaly here in my area! To paraquote the movie Cool Runings: "I'm feeling very storytllering today"

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"Riding, rather than walking," Acedia replied. "Either the charms on my medallions are fraying or I've gained some kind of new ability, but for some reason, and completely at random, I'm forced to see the world through the eyes of whatever creature might be near. It's quite dizzying, and I wouldn't want to slow our progress."

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Horin shifted uneasily in his seat... "Mind the things in the way, I've already replaced two wheels in my journey." He said to the driver.

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Prosper was surprised that Sealem was letting him do something besides sit back and stay out of trouble. He nodded and took up his position.

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As Taryn walked along the impromptu path to the old road, she began to whistle softly and jovially to keep herself entertained, taking glances over her shoulder far more often than might seem necessary. Now she understood why her kind always preferred to direct, rather than to lead: leadership, while dreadfully boring, managed to stir some kind of long-suppressed, vague feeling of anxiety deep within her. Maybe the fear of losing one's prey? Perhaps.

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Micheal overheard this and said: "That's certainly understandable. I was meaning to bring this up with you, Acedia... I suppose now's a good a time as any:
I'll tell you a secret, Acedia: There are some people who have the ability to manipulate magic, and some of those people are extra-special because they can do it without having to study. They just seem to have a direct connection with mother nature that allows them to tap directly into the source of magic. In your case, you seem to be able to make your Talismans do things their maker didn't intend. Somehow you've unlocked a latent magical talent. My best diagnosis is that it's a case of what we Mages call "Maga Savant"; That basically means that you have developed the ability to access a very specific sub-set of the regular set of Magus powers. In your case, you're subconsciously boosting the powers of the Talismans you have, but you've yet to learn how to control it. You should practice on something relatively safe until you get the hang of it. Perhaps if you were to become friends with Drek's pet Goldwing, you would feel more comfortable seeing though his eyes. Just keep working on it. It's a skill you have to develop, like riding a horse or sewing a blouse... It's nothing to be afraid of. If feel like talking about it, come find me. My ear is always open."

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Marcus faithfully guarded the wagon as the party walked, keeping his sword ready and his eyes and nose out for any danger.

"No little people here, sir! Just lotsa trees n' flowers n' such."

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"That's great Marcus, but you don't have to report every little detail. Just raise the alarm if you spot something dangerous. Understand?"

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Why is it that whenever I seem to be gone for a while I come back to find someone has spoken to me?

Sorry about the delay Michael. Assume I just nodded and followed you over to Acedia. Aurieul is feeling a bit...well, she's not entirely sure, but quiet is okay with her for a bit.

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Acedia listened intently to Michael, giving an understanding nod of the head every so often. "How...erm, interesting," she said finally. "That's certainly the last explanation I would've come up with, but I suppose your diagnosis is correct." She was silent again for a moment. Then she added: "I believe Goldwing is a she, actually."

Acedia, like so many others before her, was slowly coming to the unpleasant realization that she didn't know nearly as much about anything as she thought she did. She laid back down on Eruantian's stomach, curled up and fell asleep, mostly to conserve energy so the rat form would hold for just a little while longer. She could feel it beginning to fray.

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"I'm just looking out for yeh, Captain." Marcus frowned. "It's not like you're giving me money to guard the wagon anyways."

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Goldwing heard her name and gave a little peep. Drek was pleased that Goldwing was recognizing her new name so quickly.

Micheal said: "I never could tell a bird's gender by looking at it. I'll take your word for it, though, Acedia. Sleep well, little mouse. "

Meanwhile, Taryn had found across a patch of wild Dregen Nut Bushes. The bushes had overgrown the path, but the wagon would be able to scrape by with ease. The horse pulling the wagon, however, would be seriously hurt if it was forced to pull the wagon through these thorny bushes.

<GM's Note: Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the fruit of the Dregen plant is actually a woody legume (or pod) and not a nut; just the same as how peanuts are actually legumes. However, unlike Peanuts, Dregen Nuts are perennials (meaning that they will flower and produce their nuts once every year). The plant is a very thorny green-leafed bush that usually appear in clusters of varying size on the forest floor. The thorns are similar in size and shape to the kind of thorns one finds on a Rose bush. The plant also produces an small dark brown flower that can be used for making tea. Dregen Nuts are highly prized in herbal medicine because they can be used (along with some other relatively rare ingredients) to prepare a very effective poultice that has excellent wound-closing properties when prepared properly. However, more than a few herbalists consider the gathering of Dregen Nuts more trouble than it's worth because of all the thorns.
And yes, I just made all this stuff up. Just now.>

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"This is a predicament," Taryn murmured, pausing and considering the thorny mass currently blocking their path. She motioned for the rest of the party to stop moving for the moment. "I'm unfamiliar with this sort of plant. How do we get through, over, or around it?" she asked, speaking generally to the party behind her.

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Eruantian, being delusional, started to rub the area behind Acedia's ear for some reason. "I probably should have given the brownie some cheese" he randomly stated "He deserves a gift for cleaning my room last night. Right, kitty?"

{ Eruantian really does need some kind of attention O_o;; But he's funny to watch. XD }

Acedia stirred and made a soft squeaky noise, only to curl up and sleep again. If she'd been awake, she probably would have wondered aloud how potent the drug was that affected him enough that he might mistake what was quite clearly a rat for a kitten.

Taryn looked expectantly at Drek and the rest of the party for a solution to their dregen nut bush problem.

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Marcus hissed off the Captain's comments and went back to keeping watch ahead of the wagon.

Stupid elf, he said to himself in Lizzard-Tongue, If he knows what's good for him he'll shut that mouth of his. At least I'm actually doing something for everyone. Sealem won't want a Lizzard attacking 'im if he knows what's good for 'im. And when am I going to get those letters so's I can be spun back in?

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Drek crouched next to the bushes, inspecting them. "Hmm, Dregen nuts. If we had more time, I might want to harvest them. They're used to make to make a good poultice for healing wounds, and herbalists will normally pay good money for them, since they're so hard to harvest. But for now, we should probably just cut the bushes away."

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Taryn, too, took a close look at the bushes. "Hmm. I don't currently have anything in my arsenal that will cut that tangled mass," she remarked, rather more nonchalantly than would probably be appropriate.

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<GM's Note: Since our stalwart but silent Dwarven fighter has been silent for a long time now, I'll assume he's abandoned the game. Until he returns, he's an NPC>

Axe in hand, the party's lone Dwarven fighter steeped forth, saying "By my grandfather's axe, that's one mighty thorny plant there. Shame about it's location, though. You are one of them flame-shooting types, right Taryn? It's not one of them poisonous ones, is it Drek? 'Casue I do have an axe.. we could take turns hacking at it until l the path is clear."

<GM's Note: The wagon party has only come about 100 meters down the path from the camp at this point, and the scouting party is only about 30 meters ahead of them.>

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Drek shook his head. "No, it's not poisonous. Your axe should take care of it without too much trouble."

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Without another word, the Dwarf lifted his axe and started to chop at the plant.

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"I'm reluctant to try and burn it," Taryn said, looking at the plant and at the surrounding foliage. "This area seems awfully dry and I don't much feel like destroying any more of my cousins' property." At the mention of cousins, a soft, echoing rustle could be faintly heard around them. "They don't like that we're harming this...dregen nut...plant, but they do understand that it's necessary if we're to be on our way out of here."

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Marcus smelled the source of the rustling. Going into Lizzard mode, he dropped down onto all fours and started hissing.

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"Marcus, don't waste your energy," Taryn warned. "We can't afford to lose you on this expedition. I can tell you right now that if you pick a fight with them, you will lose."

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Drek looked around warily. "Try not to remove any more than you have to. I don't want any trouble from Taryn's... cousins."

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