The crowd murmurs and calms, at least some, as they are soothed by Stasolya's performance.  Still, many angry eyes are turned in through the doors of Cole's office as Mayor Ivo and the new Captain of the Guard, Daelar, come leading Cole out.  The Mayor raises his hands and tries to chortle some sort of reassurance to the people of Jappiter before Daelar speaks up, drowning Ivo out.  

"I'm not sure what to say."  Daelar says, holding Cole close to him.  The big, imposing former miner towers over most of the people gathered around him.  None of them look ready to try to come after Cole as long as Daelar is there.  "I know there's some uh....some feelings about this, alright?  But we're going to do this the right way.  For now, Mr. Cole is in my custody.  He'll be afforded the same rights as any one of you would be, alright?  Alright.  Come along, Mr. Cole."  

"Oh Goddesses, thank you for your mercy."  Cole muttered as he was led away.  

As Cole leaves, he looks back one last time at the Fourth Band, before turning away.  

The music continues, and then a young girl steps over to Stasolya and strokes the fur on the shoulder of her foreleg.  

"But...what can we do?"

Stasolya stands placidly, playing the lute, one hind hoof cocked on its toe, her head bowed, as Cole is led out of the office by Daelar. Mercy and justice meet this day.

As the young girl approaches her and pets her shoulder, she looks down at her and smiles. She stops playing and puts the lute away, then rocks back to lower herself on one knee to be closer to eye level with the child. She puts a hand on the girl's shoulder, her eyes large and sad. "Never think that even the smallest deed and act of love goes unseen, that it is not without echo throughout all the foundations of Hyboria. Stand against evil, love the Childlike Empress, do no wrong to anyone. If someone wrongs you, forgive them. Overcoming evil will take sacrifice from all of us, but inside your heart is the one place that evil cannot touch, unless you let it, no matter what it does outside. Take care of your family and your friends; Jappiter may be in for hard times. Share what you have, and be kind to those who struggle. Each of us has our part to play---each of us has a hero's call. It's not an easy path, but in the end it is the only way to peace. Now!"

Straightening back up, she looks up at Ereni and Thea. "We have an army to rout from beneath that mine!"

Thea looks back to where Stasolya is talking with the townsfolk and then back to Ereni. She clearly looks torn between leaving Ereni alone and leaving the rest of the group behind. “Oh! I wish I could send Skot to tell them what was happening or with you so I could check in!” Frowning, “Let me try to get the others and we will catch up. But remember, none of us has to go it alone, yeah? We have each other?” With a shy smile to Ereni, she tells her “Good luck and be safe! We will see you soon!” She runs back to the office as fast as she can to alert Stasolya of Ereni’s departure and her concern of the army that’s due to come through tomorrow. She rallies Curly to be ready to go and waits for the others to depart. After chatting in Bantha with Curly, she calls out to the others, “There’s other animals to help, too!” And she points to where they are. “Let’s hurry and help Ereni if we can? I don’t know the way to the mine!”

Cinder nods and hops of the desk. "I'm not great with horses, but I'll come with you. Better to keep us all together for now. Besides that mine could be really fun to turn into a death trap for Vader's orcs!" She seems a bit too happy at the mention of death trap, a huge grin on her face. "Malenia you coming?" She says turning to the Jedi. 

Stasolya nods. "I do not think we are needed here any longer. Let's see what good we can do at the site of attack. Perhaps by the time we get there, Ereni will have some intelligence from the Kruthiks." She waits as the others prepare, being ready to go and her own mount, herself.

“Curly says one more can ride with us, too!”  She stands and studies Curly trying to figure out how to get on. After more bizarre noises of conversation she gives him one last cactus and begins climbing on this magnificent (but giant!) beast! Once she’s mounted and ready to go, “Just lead the way! I’ll help as best as I can!”

Athletics 18, clumsy Thea did well under Curly’s teaching! (Unsure how to do the spoiler thing on the phone)

Malenia hops up with Thea, Giving her companion a nod. "Dont worry, I wont get in the way." She stays standing, folding her arms. Ready to brace at a moments notice. 

Silhouetted against the setting sun, Ereni emerges from the mine and stretches with a grimace.  Her legs and jaws ache, not from the hard run through the desert, but rather the ten minutes of tortuous clicking and stomping that had followed.  She stands still, listening to the deep subterranean rumbling.

Might be I just killed all the Kruthiks.  As I had meant to do when I heard about Emmett, come to think of it.  Won't be by my own hand, as it happens, but signed their death warrant just the same.  Only now I don't want them dead any more. Careful what you wish for, girl, my father always told me...

Ereni shivers and shakes her head, feeling a strange mix of triumph and sorrow.  Face smudged with streaks of rock dust and sweat, she begins loping back towards Jappiter and her companions as twilight gathers and the desert darkens beneath an indigo sky.

There is a rumbling that resounds from the deserts around Jappiter as the many mines and tunnels around the town begin to collapse in on themselves.  The ground shakes, and a bell rattles humbly somewhere in the town.

Toward the town, there is the sound of the townspeople raising quite a ruckus.  They're yelling and screaming and rattling all sorts of percussion instruments somewhere near the Mayor's office as if they're in a great agitation over Cole's treachery.  A chant begins to rise up out of the town as the angry crowd starts to consolidate their thoughts into one upset mantra.

Stasolya leads the way towards the mine with Thea and Malenia tramping after on the bantha. They've only gotten a few hundred feet when the rumbling starts... the bell tolling erratically with the quake. Stasolya stops in mid-lope and rears up, twisting around to look back at the town, and coming down facing it from the direction she was heading.

"An earthquake---the tunnels!"

Ereni continues at her quick jog back towards Jappiter.  She had not thought the Kruthiks would be as effective collapsing the tunnels as it sounds like they were from all the rumbling.  She hopes she has done the right thing.  She wonders dolefully what the unintended consequences might be this time.

"It's like that smart-ass lieutenant when I was a fresh recruit.  The one with the feverish eyes.  Always talking about understanding consequences of actions.  'Light a fire for a man and keep him warm for a night,' he'd drawl, 'But light a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life...'"

All dead or captured now anyway.  By Vader's hand.  He's coming for you next, Ereni, once he gets his payback on the Kruthiks for collapsing his tunnels.

Curly moans and stops, stamping his feet and refusing to go any further toward the mines as the world continues to spasm.  The rumbling ends within moments, though it felt like an eternity.  Curly looks back over his fat neck and grumbles something to Thea, and then kneels down before flopping onto his side.  

Thea hops off and cries out, “Curly!? What’s wrong?!” She kneels next to him to console him and make sure he’s ok? She looks to the others with frightened eyes. “Whats happening? Is it him? Is it V-Vader?!”

Stasolya, involuntarily dancing around nervously as the earth shakes, stands still as it stops and the bantha flops over. As if reflexively, she slowly grasps the AURYN around her neck, distant for a moment, and then seems to come back to the present, shaking her head. She looks at Thea. "I don't know. Ereni may have news---if she survived. Doubtless we can find the answer at the mines... What happened to Curly?"

Curly moans and looks back at Thea and moans again.  He looks unwilling to go further.  

Thea chats with Curly in very mournful tones. She hugs him and buries her face in his fur. Looking to the group, “He’s afraid! He wants to go back to town and not go into the desert and he doesn’t want to see the Kruthiks again. He wants to be with his friends… We may need to head back!” Trying to boost his morale. “It’s alright Curly! We won’t take you into danger!”

Malenia hops down off the Bantha, looking in the direction of the mine. "Go back if you wish, Ereni may need help. I''ll continue forward on foot." Malenia does not wait for a response, instead taking off the in the direction of the Mine in a full on dash. Intent to find if her companion is out of harms way.

“I would imagine we should stick together?” She looks to Stasolya and Cinder for confirmation. “I can tell Curly to go back to town and go with you!”

After the shaking stops, Cinder looks around before settling on the rest of the group. "We should follow her right?" She says looking in the direction that Malenia went. "At least figure out whats going on?"

Stasolya nods. "We should find out what's happened, and if Ereni is all right." The centaur looks at Thea. "You're quite small, climb on my back and we'll catch up." She seems to expect that Cinder can keep up on her own... perhaps because she has hooves?