Thurston moves his head from side to side. 

"I doubt these people could tell us more than the elves.. or the rabbits. " he says looking to Dorno. " I have more confidence in the rabbits.." he adds almost mumbling.

The raven is only gone for a few minutes. It can be seen in the distance circling over the camp several times, before it returns to Vark. It turns to Dorno and in a series of hoarse squawks explains that there are thirteen humanoids in and around the camp. They have lit a new campfire, manned the remaining watchtower and seem to be burying what remains of the bones from the large pyre that was set before the group last left the compound.

" We do not have time to waste planning and attacking that dammed gates again. We should have burn the entire place to the ground. " says Thurston clearly impatien. "If you want to know if they know where the basilisk are I will ask them right away..." 

Once again, the impetuous paladin start walking towards his intended objective.

“I do agree with Thurston, if we are going to ask, let us ask. No need to be wastin’ Our time twiddlin’ our thumbs. But let’s avoid a fight, if we can.”

Val stares at the mirror for quite sometime before thanking Hurrig for the well-made gift. She initially does not look at herself, put instead stashes it inside her backpack to keep it safe for when it is truly needed.

As Thurston begins striding up towards the gates, Val rushes up behind quickly. "Wait for me, Thurston. I shall come as well. No sense in you doing this alone."

Thurston had put his mirror on the belt at his left hip and he nods to Val and walks straitgh ahead to the camp. 

"YO!" he yells to the guards at the tower "Welmet!!" he continues as he advances until they can hear him well. He doesn't make any sudden movement but he has his hammer on his right hand, resting on his shoulder. He stops when he can be heard, but not to close to be at a comfortable distance for them to fire with bows. He continues yelling.

"We are travelers from afar and we have come searching for some creatures we've heard roam this lands!! We wonder if you could know where to find these beast!. Are you hunters?!"

Thurston stops just over fifty yards from the walls, since the compound's occupants are unlikely to be carrying anything that is accurate beyond that range. Nevertheless, the figure atop the watchtower turns and sets an arrow to his bow in readiness. The compound's gates appear to be shut tight.

"Begone wit ye, vagabonds!" He yells across the distance. "Ye'll find no charity here!"

Val's eyebrows raise in irritation at the 'welcome' she and Thurston received and part of her itched to hurl a javelin at the man, but instead she bristles quietly as her breath starts to fog. She glances to Thurston, letting him take the lead here.

"Are you deaf?!" he turns to Val but continue yelling " Who puts a deaf man at talking?" 

He turns back to the man in the tower, moving his hands to help  understand the deaf man what he is saying. Pointing to him and to the man at the tower and talking very loud and very slowly.

" WE DON'T WANT NOTHING FROM YOU. JUST INFORMATION. DO YOU KNOW WHERE WE CAN FIND... " at this point he stops... trying to figure out how to represent his last word. He finally makes a fierce face and raise his hands above his head ".. BASILISKS!!! WE LOOK FOR BASILISKS!!" 

"B-but thirteen is a lot... maybe we should just lea-.. Th-Thurston! Wait!" Vark says in feeble protest as he begins chasing after the warriors. As he comes upon his friends and hears the exchange, he tugs on Thurston's arm. "Uhhh m-maybe... lets just leave. I... well the whole point of scouting was to avoid... this."

The watchman bellows out a loud, hearty laugh that goes on for a good few seconds and echoes about the hills.

"Basilisks?? Aye, ye'll find 'em a good thirty miles north-north-west o' 'ere. Send my love to Megren when ye' statues decorate 'er dining hall!"

He bursts out laughing once more at his own joke.

Thurston replies

"THANK YOU! GOOD DAY!" he says making a slight bow.

He then turns to his friends, apparently very satisfied with himself

"Well, that was surprisingly useful, wasn't it? let's go pick the others and go to that direction. No more time to lose!" 

He then walks strongly towards the rest of the party and tells them the information. 

"We should probably come back once the elf village situation and the mines emergency has been deal with and warn them of the perils of that place... or destroy them all if they had turned to undeads... and this time burn the place to the ground... " 

Val nods as she walks alongside Thurston and Vark. "Agreed. Hopefully these fools don't damn themselves and others..."

Dorno shrugs with regard to Vark's point about the increased danger of their various quests.  "Dorno thinks friends know what to do, like shiny man and big lady and maybe little funny talker..."  With a whisper, Dorno adds "but Dorno does not always know his words" with regard to Brundir.  "Dorno thinks they mean to do good, and Oak Father thinks so too or he would not help, so Dorno will help too.  Big lady and shiny thunder man will protect friends, and now Dorno's job is to protect all friends too.  Dorno gets scared like you, but Dorno has had less danger but less friends, and Dorno was more scared."

Dorno conveys the message from the raven to anyone who has not rushed ahead with Thurston.  He say "oh no, I hope we don't have to fight more bad men!"  When Thurston and Val return he is relieved and says "yes, see, rabbit friends tell right place."  "Dorno will ask them again when we is closer."

The party heads northwest for another six hours, until Eldren's mighty trees once more begin to rear up in the distance on their left. It's past noon by now and time to break for lunch. According to the watchman's directions they should arrive in the general area of the basilisk warrens some time late this afternoon.

While eating their minimal lunch, Val ponders over their course of action. "I feel that perhaps once we get close, we should try to scout out the location as best we can. Maybe draw one of the basilisks out one at a time. Perhaps we should have a fresh kill? A stag might do the trick if we were trying to lure out wolves or a bear." She glances over at Dorno as an afterthought. "Although, maybe not. I don't want to upset you, Dorno. Would that be wrong to do?"

Jex thinks on Val's suggestion, this was far more to his taste.

"If we want to try to lure a smaller, weaker basilisk, perhaps smaller bait. We have already learnt that they are fond of rabbit..." 

"I still do not fully understand these creatures. So they turn their prey to stone? Then.. why don't eat stone and save them the trouble?" asks Thurston trying hard to understand these weird creatures.

Val shrugs. "I know nothing of these creatures, but eating rocks? That sounds... very strange."

"Yeah, right? But why then turn to stone their prey then? If they do not eat stone, but they hunt turning to stone with their gaze... then they would starve!" 

Thurston seems more confused the more he thinks and talks about it.