After a lengthy session of whispering among themselves, Team 2 comes to a not-entirely-unanimous decision.

"We agree to accompany the army to Pinekeep, Lord Jarl," Edeleth announces. "But while we will certainly respect the authority of the army's commanders and provide what support we can, we want it clearly understood that we are accompanying your military, not being inducted into it."

He has not consulted with his companions on the latter part, but he is pretty certain that nobody on his team is volunteering to be a soldier, or is agreeing to be bound by the orders of the task force's officers.

So it is decided: Team1 and 2 will ACCOMPANY the soldiers, without being inducted into their ranks, and with freedom to act as they please (within reason), while Team 3 will investigate the Gingerbread Man.

Team1 and 2, we will keep posting on this thread until you split up.

Team3 will be posting on the Team3 thread. Thank you all for your patience.

Meanwhile, Team Evil will be whispering in my ears through pm as usual 😈

Let the adventuring begin! 

Good luck, and may the Gods be with you all!

Once they are dismissed by Jarl Haræd, Edeleth realizes that they had better make any last-minute preparations at once. Apparently, tomorrow there would be a large celebration throughout the city, and it might not be easy to do business.

Transportation is once more an issue.  Buying that mule cart he was considering would help them to maintain a level of independence from the military forces. On the other hand, asking the army to carry them would give them one less thing to worry about, and allow him to save his gold until he could afford a less...rustic vehicle.

He asks his companions' opinions.

Rosri look up at Edeleth. "We could ask Gavin if he has a wagon we can borrow. It was he who draged us in to this mess after all..". Just as he answer a burly dwarf with a big black beard bumps in to Rosri "Whatch where ya going you twerp!" the man yell at Rosri who falls flat on his butt. Rosri stands up and look for the man, but there is no trace of him..

Roscoe ponders the situation with his companions. "If yous think that's a good idea, we's should do it." He does his best to support their conclusions. Working with the army was definitely going to be offering new opportunities, but he wasn't sure how this would help him find himself. 

Cade - Turning to look for Ellethy she makes herself visible again. He goes and tries and gets the rest of the group to talk about what just happened and what will they do?

Edeleth glowers after the rude dwarf who knocked his friend over, and helps Rosri to his feet.

"Asking Gavin is certainly an option," he says, feeling somewhat that Gavin has been at least partly responsible for getting them into this situation. It also might be considerably cheaper to rent only a wagon, if he buys the mules and attempts to drive the rig himself.

He is glad that the Jarl had not insisted in placing them under the army's direct command, or pressing them into service directly. He had been drafted into endless games of Army by Prince Kalrondo as a small child, and they involved a lot of being shouted at, crawling through the mud, screaming insults and firing arrows at imaginary assailants, and having pine cones thrown at one's head.  He is even less eager to experience the real thing, especially since he was almost always the first to die in combat in the Prince's courtyard wars.

Usually through his own choice--it was the fastest way to get out of the game.

Quote from Dean_Laxer >>

Cade - Turning to look for Ellethy she makes herself visible again. He goes and tries and gets the rest of the group to talk about what just happened and what will they do?

 "Hmm, well while we travel, if the army has a cart we can borrow we can have Taranonn pull it along, we could even take a soldier or two, depending on the size of the cart. As for our objective, it seems similar to what we had to do in Turniptown, however on a much larger scale. More gnolls to deal with. We are to provide aid to the army however possible, and certainly there are talents among us the army does not have. We may also simply be an investigative team, using our wits to find the enemies where the army cannot, as the Jarl said. I suspect we will be briefed along the way on our exact roles."

Cade - Hearing what Saerrira said he replies, "I don't like the idea I just had...but, I wonder if we should go out ahead of the army? This way we will be seen as a small group of travelers and if there is trouble that we run into...the army wouldn't be far behind."

Quote from Dean_Laxer >>

Cade - Hearing what Saerrira said he replies, "I don't like the idea I just had...but, I wonder if we should go out ahead of the army? This way we will be seen as a small group of travelers and if there is trouble that we run into...the army wouldn't be far behind."

 "You wish to scout ahead for the army? An excellent idea, however I imagine we will have at least one of those eagle riders among the army troops with us, so I think they will likely do the scouting, as they will literally have a better view than any of us could achieve."

Cade - Hearing the idea of the eagle rider Cade says, "You mean...we could just fly there and completely ignore the walking portion of the travel? I never thought that would be an option."

Peshley came up behind Cade and Saerrira. "Eagles would be so amazing. I wish we had the chance to fly back on them from Turniptown, but there are so many places you can hide out there that the eagles, especially ones those size, can't get to. I fear we might be going by foot again. I do agree with Cade though. I think we would work best on our own. You know the army is so big that they're going to be slow and there is no way they can travel unnoticed. Our little group can slip into places almost unseen and get word to them about what is going on."

"I do not think the army will let untrained people use their eagles, so hopefully at least one can stay overhead as lookout. And yes Peshley, I agree the army's pave will likely be slower than our own, but they could also have access to equipment we do not. Perhaps the 5 of us scout ahead on the ground while one or two eagle riders scout from the air. Or if not, then perhaps we could be given more flares, possibly different colors, so as to signal whether it is clear or we need the army's aid in battle. Admittedly, I would love to do the scouting from above, but I lack the wings of a true Dragon." 

If it is possible for scales to display blushes, the barest hint of one can be seen on Saerirra's cheek as she looks off at nothing in particular.

 "You are beautiful just as you are," chimed in Laievis (assuming the talk happened in the tavern, and why not - who would make an open discussion in-front of  royalties?). "The problem is, we still do not know how exactly the King sees cooperation of our group and the army." Ok, in his imagination Laievis already saw himself if not as the head of Battle-healers, at least as one of the major healer of the army, but Saerirra was right - nobody said anything about their role. "I always though, when armies are involved, the target is clear and all what is needed - the precise strike. Untrained scouts does not sound like something an army would use." " Yet again, I am no military expert and can be very wrong on it".

(Would the royalties even let them have discussions in the hall anyway? That's the thing. Safe to assume, after the meeting we went back to the tavern, or at least waited til we were back on the streets to talk.)

"My parents were in the Silver Clan military. I did not learn too much about military protocol from them as I did not take to the blade or the career of a soldier as they did. As I had mentioned before, I am sure we will be informed of our target or targets when we join the army's travels. We can assume we are merely support for them, for they may not have as many or as powerful arcanists among them. Let's also not forget that we also have garnered the support of King Dragonslayer himself. That is not to be taken lightly."

After careful recalculation, Edeleth realizes that he does indeed have enough to cover the mules and an actual wagon--but only just barely.

He decides to make the purchase, and try to negotiate to have twenty days' feed and tonight's stabling thrown in free with the equipage, on top of his hero's discount. 

Position of Privilege or Persuasion 17

(Or, failing that, to ask for it on credit.  After all, they know now that he is reliable, and the feed would cost only a fraction of what he owed last time.) If all else fails, he may be put in the shameful position of having to ask his friends to kick in...a humiliating prospect for someone of his station.

At any rate, he walks away with two mules, a wagon, and a single silver piece to his name.

Returning to the Hanging Chicken for the night, Edeleth wonders what his companions have been up to.

He particularly needs to speak with Zyman.

Zyman described himself as a medic when he joined the party, but he has done little healing so far--possibly because Edeleth stepped ahead of him (and possibly on his toes.) Edeleth's healing spells served him well enough on his solo journey and the party's small Oakfields skirmish, but now that they are going into what promises to be a larger conflict, he feels he ought to consider more spells with tactical applications.

This would mean giving up some of his healing powers, and he is hesitant to do it without consulting Zyman's opinion first. For one thing, Edeleth wants to be assured that the party's healing needs will be covered one way or the other: and Zyman, if he has come to expect Edeleth to handle the healing, might also be re-prioritizing his skills.

As they make their way back to the Inn, Rosri is a little broody and nervous. What are they thinking going out to war? All the nerves in his body is telling him that this is a bad, bad idée. Sure he had been in a few battles this last couple of days and survived. But that was mostly due to luck and Edeleth would surly be dead if it wasn’t for Zyman blasting the entier village with his ominous powers! 

 No going to war was definitely a bad idée..  At least he had his poison now and the new gear that Gavin gave them. Maybe I can try talking to them once more back at the inn..

*Back at the Inn* 

When everyone is in their rooms and changing from their fine dressings, Rosri sneaks over to Edeleth’s room and knock on the door. 

“Ehm, excuse me, Mr Edeleth, but I would like to exchange a few word if it is okey? I was wondering about this war business, are you sure it is the right choice for our group? I mean we’re not soldiers, and I for one really doesn’t like a crowded place. What can we even do that the soldiers can’t do them self? I don’t mind helping the clans against the Red Lord, I just don’t think our place is with the army..”

Edeleth opens the door and invites Rosri in, offering the chair to his favorite rogue and sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"I don't blame you for your misgivings," he said. "To a degree, I share them. That's why I insisted on its being clear that we would not be part of the army ourselves--we will be free to choose our own actions and time of departure. As little as I like the idea of...well, going to war as you put it, I don't see an alternative."

"We have made friends here, and they are in danger, and so are many other innocent people.  I can't turn my back on them and leave, not when I am being asked to help. Especially after accepting Gavin's gifts and hospitality. When I accepted this ridiculous chicken emblem, I accepted certain obligations along with it."

"You may not share that view, and I would understand if you decided to make a run for it.  But what if this Red Lord keeps spreading his territory?  What if there is no place to run in the end?  Better to pry up a weed when it's young, than to wait until it's spread its roots all over the garden."

"As to what we will be doing, let's hope that we're mostly swaggering around looking heroic to improve morale, or hiding behind the actual troops who know what they're doing, casting some spells and shooting some arrows."

He shrugs.  "But one never knows what fate has in store. Perhaps there is some task ahead that only we can complete."

“Well it is not that I want to run and hide. And I do want to help our friends. I just wish that there were an other way. I’m just scared I guess, but you are my friends, you, Roscoe, Ozymandian.. and even Grunda, and I won’t abandon you...” He look at Edeleth for a long while, considering something. “There might be something I can do to help out predicament, but I can’t tell you just yet.. will you trust me?  Not knowing if what he was about to do would be a good thing, Rosri left Edeleth and went down to the common area to get something to eat, waiting for darkness to fall.