"Speaking of finding things, Dathyra," Jodon began, "I have come to trust you as being more perceptive than I am, able to see what I miss."

"Have you seen our seven foot injured Dragonborn?  He was here just a minute ago."

Now that he had mentioned it, she hadn't seen her for a while, and that was saying something, considering she was about as hard to miss as Holg. A slight sinking feeling started to hit Dathyra's stomach. She knew that Mijira had been through a lot, and probably wasn't keen on reliving the trauma. But their group couldn't be falling apart at the seams again. She took a quick glance around the store, hoping that she had only gone towards the back to poke around.

Holoman interjects from behind Dathyra and Jodon as they fail to spot Mijira in the shop, "Oh, was she with you? She kept close to the door until a moment ago. She left in such a hurry, I was wondering if she was trying a bit of thievery. My shop is notorious for its wards so when someone does steal from me, I always get a good laugh."

"She did not seem like the type to steal," Jodon says apologetically to the merchant.  "If she did so attempt, please rest assured we had no idea, but if I may, she has recently been through great hardship, and on a previous visit to market, she seemed very disturbed by some of the people she saw.  Perhaps trauma was the cause for the sudden departure, or that she is in trouble even now?"  Still wanting to believe the best about people, Jodon checks inside the shop, and goes to the window to check outside, for any sign of the excessively large man or his compatriots at the market.

Outwardly, she hoped that Jodon was right and that she had only stepped out for a bit. Inside, Dathyra felt that chill that came over her when Sly abandoned them in the middle of dealing with an enemy. Looking back at this morning, she wished she could have said something, anything to Mijira. She had seen those bruises on her neck, and knew that the torture she had gone through looked unbearable. True, she had no means of relating to such an experience, but sometimes knowing that someone cared was enough, and she hadn't done that for the dragonborn. She felt awful.

Stepping to the window, Jodon doesn't see any sign of the blue dragonborn so he steps out the front door a few paces. To get a better view, the halfling hops up onto a crate and scouts the area to no avail. It seems that Mijira slipped away into the crowd without so much as a word. Coming back into the shop, he shakes his head, answering his other companions' silent question.

Jodon worriedly looks at his companions.  "She's...gone.   Mijira did say she would never rest until the rest of the captives were liberated.  Possibly she went ahead. Another reason to see this to the end.   Either we find , or we find those who set her on this path."  To the shopkeeper he adds "If you find she did take something, let me know.  When we find her, we will make it right.  You can ask for us at the Tapped Keg.  But I'm sure you wont' have to.  After all, since this is the last shop we'll ever need, I'm sure we'll be back."

Jodon rocks awkwardly back and forth during the silence.  Finally, he sets his chin, and addresses his companions.  "If we have everything, then, let's go.  We are using time that Mijira or others may not have."  He looks directly at the veteran Holg for advice.  "Since they may know we are coming, what's our plan?"

Planning at least gave Dathyra something else to think about other than yet another missing companion. "I at least have a few preventative measures on hand," she said. "With what I was able to get in the shop, I can use a spell to create a protective shield for one of us, but it would only be temporary. I wouldn't want to use that unless we were truly in need. And, I still have the Alchemist's Fire from yesterday. If Kristoff continues his usual routines, then likely we'll run into more foes once we're in the tunnel through the pit in the manor. There is going to be the matter of how to get all three of us lowered into it, but I expect we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Walking through the city towards Kristoff's manor proves to be harder than it should be. The trio lost one potential companion right away before even knowing what their quest was about and now, only a day later, two more companions are gone without any explanation of why. Those thoughts weighed heavily on the three of them, but motivation for doing what's right carried one foot in front of the other. After what seemed like a long journey of a thirty minute walk, the party found themselves once again on the street that ended in Kristoff's manor. The large house stood at the end of the street with not a soul in sight within its walled yard.

Holg could sense the tension building among the group. The odds seemed stacked against them. Standing outside of Kristoffs manor once again, Holg felt compelled to insipre his companions, as doing such was part of his duty in his former life. He turns and faces Jodon and Dathyra...

"Well here we are again it seems. Yet something is different. We are different. This has turned into something bigger than any of us imagined. And yet maybe that is what draws us to it. We have some idea of what to expect in there, but that does not mean that the odds aren't against us. It will be dangerous. It could be deadly. But stories of heros and songs of valor were not written for those that played it safe. Regardless of what happens beyond this wall, I am proud to have met you both and fight by your side." And with a hard gulp in an attempt to suppress the lump in his theoat, Holg drops to one knee against the wall and motions to Jodon for a boost. "Shall we?"

She felt inspired by Holg's words, though she really, really hoped there would be the possibility that they come out of this alive. While the half-orc helped Jodon up, Dathyra began her own climb up the wall.

Jodon makes sure to point out to the others the wardings from the day before, then gratefully accepts the big man's aid and climbs.

The manor stands as it did the first time, save an open window on the second floor, just left of the front door. Coincidentally, a chill breeze blows across the party just then. Winter was a few tendays out, but its effects were already being felt throughout the north.

Jodon shivers at the chill and turns to the others, trying to lighten the mood, and, if he was truly being honest, to avoid making the decision himself.  “So, in the door like invited guests, or through the window, like uninvited gusts?”  He chuckles weakly, allowing his nerves to show, at least a little.

Dathyra particularly didn't like the coming of winter. For one, elves weren't exactly well suited to the cold, being of slighter build and paler skin than most races. True, High Forest had been in the north, but the canopy of trees had often shielded them from the harshest winds and biting blizzards. The temple was another matter. It was often drafty and very poorly insulated, meaning winter was most certainly never fun, and the cold often distracted her from her work. There was another reason she disliked winter, though. It had been a particularly cold day when it had happened years ago, and she was drifting in and out of consciousness, a pain radiating through every fiber of her being, and everyone around her already thought she had been lost.

She shook the thought out of her mind. "Through the front door, we would be closer to the pit. But, we could always try to go in through the kitchen like we did last time."