Edeleth smiles a bit nervously at  Lieutenant Grohlak's friendly overtures, and thanks him for the useful information. He returns to his companions, his head filled with thoughts of eagle riding which will not go away, no matter how many good reasons he thinks of why it would be impractical to accompany the air force. 

Conversely, accompanying the Dwarf army seemed somewhat safer, and they could keep their wagon, and be much more free to slip away quietly when necessary, so it seemed the obvious choice...but they would also have three full days of putting up with the insufferable Captain Shatterstone.

And, in the end, whatever way they choose to travel will depend on the secret mission.  Edeleth wonders if Rosri has told Grunda and Zyman about it yet. He hopes Rosri will finish his nap soon. He supposes the sound of a cricket chirping next to his ear might hurry an end to the halfling's snooze, but it is the end of winter, when it is unlikely to find a cricket hopping around, so it would seem highly suspicious. Not that Edeleth would abuse Druidcraft for such an unworthy purpose. Absolutely not. Never.

...inside the wagon, a soft rustling noise and the faint squeak of a mouse can be heard...

Zyman is readying his pack, making it as compact as his various tomes and other materials allow, and readies himself to tag along with Edeleth to potentially ride with the Eagles. He didn’t have to be an academy-trained officer yo know that the Allied Airforce was a huge deal. With eyes in the sky and a means of supporting troops in a pinch or getting wounded people out of danger, they could weather the harshest ambush on a good day... there was hoping that Edeleth’s druidic talents were strong enough to ensure clear skies for the entire trek though, because he didn’t wanna know what happened to the airforce during thunderstorms...

Roscoe has been rather quiet while the preparations are underway. He seems lost in thought though it isn't clear what the halfling had on his mind. He tended to his weapons, making sure that they would be ready for whatever they were to face as well as making sure his armor was worn correctly. He kept his eyes out for the ally movement around him trying to understand the workings of a large scale force. He often cast his glances towards the giant eagles in fascination though he wasn't sure how well he could ride one of them. 

Rosri’s sleep in the wagon is ever so peaceful thanks to his sleeping cap. That is until a mouse started to squeak in his ear. At first he didn’t mind it but when it bit him in the earlobe he woke up. “Damn mouse squeaking me in the ear and biting.. “ Rosri mutters as we comes out to the others. He can see Edeleth chuckling to himself. “What are you laughing at?” He ask grumpily and rub the sleep from his eyes. 

Then he sees that the army is getting ready do leave.

“What’s going on? Are we leaving?”

"We need to make a choice, quickly," Edeleth answers. "We may either go with the Dwarven army, or with the Air Force. I'm not sure all of our company are aware of the, um, special stop we plan to make, but if it will be possible from eagle-back, I am leaning toward stabling the mules for now and going by air."

"Of course," he admits, "As long as we get to Pinekeep in time to help retake the town, I suppose it doesn't particularly matter if we accompany either. The Air Force has offered to teach us eagle-riding, but the army seems to have little use for us."

Roscoe looks at the various options. "We's can go with any of thems. We's never ridden an eagle before but it could be fun."

Rosri look up at the still soaring eagles and swallows hard. “F-fly on t-those? As in the air?” He goes pale as a ghost. He looks at their eager faces. It is clear that all of them want to do it. And after they agreed to help him, who is he to refuse? He try to subtly change the subject “um yeah.. okey.. I better tell all of you then...” and he retells the story of how he was contacted by the thieves guild and what he had agreed to do on this journey. “..and so I need to find out who this Rollo is and where the cache is hidden. Maybe we can do both? If we stay with the army until we find him, then we can talk to the riders an find the cache from the sky?” 

"Rollo?" Says Edeleth.  "I can point him out for you right now.  It's that blond dwarf way over there.  I heard Shatterstone rebuking him, something about his boots, and I was wondering whether we could make him an ally within the dwarf forces, so I took note of him."

Roscoe does his best to slyly look over in the direction Edeleth is gesturing trying to get an idea of who they were talking about. 

"Maybe we could have a quick word with him now," Edeleth suggests.  "Before the army moves out.  We could say it's about mending his boots. How much privacy do you think you will need, though?"

"I kind of think that, once the air force has left, it will be too late to change.  It will take them only five hours to reach Pinekeep, while the army will take three days."

Roscoe nods at the suggestion. "If we's can settle this now. It's one less thing we's need to worry about later."

“Oh, Olidamara smiles upon us” Rosri comment when he sees Rollo. ”but I don’t think  it is a good idea to speak with him about this before we leave, unless you are gonna tell him that The Gingerbread man sent you.  He might get scared and run..” Rosri take on a serious tone and look at all of them. “I was planing to sneak in to his tent when he is out to see what I can find. Maybe he has a map to the cache.” “And don’t you think that the airforces need to get back at least once to inform Shatterstone about the situation? 

"Apparently Commander Byllian has come means of communicating long-distance, and has no intention of sending runners back," says Edeleth. "I have parchment and a pen, still.  Perhaps you could hand Rollo a note while Roscoe and I work on fixing his boots, and he can write an answer.  Tell him you're the son of a famous cobbler, and can take an order for a new pair of boots for him, then nobody will be surprised if he reads and fills out an order form."

"Anyway," he mutters, "he can't get scared and run too fast if we have his boots off."

”I see.. ” Rosri say and consider Edeleth plan. “Lets say we do it this way, how will we get him to show us the cache when we have befriended him? Wont he just think that we’re just cobblers? As I said, I was going to sneak in to his tent and search for the location of the cache and maybe afterwards, question him about the Gingerbread man. But are you suggesting an infiltration? I didn’t even consider that.” He looks at Edeleth intrigued. It seemed as if his entier team was shrewder then he gave them credit for. “What is your plan?”

"Hmmm..." Edeleth hesitated. Infiltration?  He wasn't sure Rosri was thinking along the same lines as he was. "I thought perhaps we could persuade him to draw us a quick map of the location, either by your pretending to be one of the Gingerbread man's allies who has been sent to him for information, or simply by threatening to expose his criminal connections to the army commander. Deception or extortion. Or possibly both. 

"How about you, do you have other ideas?  Searching his tent is certainly a possibility, but only if he has a physical map of the location, and it would definitely require us to make the journey with the army. If you think there is a chance of befriending him, it opens up more possibilities. If he is connected to the Gingerbread Man against his will and we are able to offer him an escape of some sort, that would also be a plan.  Did the--the guild give you any further information about this Rollo character? "

“Then, how about we talk to Rollo now. We can tell him we’re on business for Mr.G and if he cooperate and give us the intel we need, we can leave with the eagles. And of not, we stay with the army and try to find a new way to get it?” 

At first Rosri was feeling confident that this would be easy now that they had found Rollo, but it was getting more and more complicated. 

“At least I still got that invisibility potion. So I can always sneak in to his tent if this doesn’t pan out. And no He didn’t give me more on him unfortunately.  

"All right, then. Let's go see if Rollo is feeling cooperative."

Rosri walks over to the man Edeleth pointed out as Rollo. He could feel the nervousness welling up, but for some reason he was never as frightened while he put on a new persona.
He comes up to Rollo reach out his hand. “Hi.. Rollo.. you are Rollo right?” He glance up at Edeleth quickly before continue, “we heard you needed your shoes mended? I’m.. uhm.. Ralph and this is my.. uhm.. partner.. Lauren..” He probably should have gone over the names with Edeleth beforehand. (ooc: pun intended) “How do you do?” 

He looks Rollo over to see if the man is carrying anything concealed on his body.   

Roscoe watches the events unfold. He wasn't one for deception or even persuasion all that much so decided to keep at a safe distance unless things went a little shaky. He takes a large bite of an apple that he'd stashed away and finds a place to sit and watch the exchange.