Atal winces.  "Schools of magic.  Sounds expensive.  And like you need to have some kind of formal education to get in, in the first place."  He sighs, and gives a polite bow to the two elves.  "Well, thank you both for answering my questions, though.  I appreciate it.  And I hope your colleague recovers fully from his experience."

Turning to H'Aris, Atal studies him curiously.  "Thanks for translating.  Honestly, I didn't expect anyone to help me here.  You're one of those Chosen Men, right?  The Right Hand's fingers, if I'm guessing what your jobs are correctly.  Why are you being kind to me after what I said to your boss?  I had the impression most people there wanted to shank me for speaking my mind."

"The Right Hand decided so. Each of the Chosen Men have their own specialty, and for the same reason the warsmith is working to equip you with better weapons, I translate. I am a linguist by trade, and to be honest, it would be more effort on my part to sit there silently and observe as the three of you become frustrated, struggling to communicate."

At this point, he took the glasses from his face, and fded them atop the closed book, placing both on the table next to him. "As Captain Sharpe bluntly, but accurately mentioned, you speak from a place of ignorance, rather than incompetence. Your words were not a matter of biting the hand that feeds you, but merely spitting on it."

"Indeed, you are no longer in a familiar environment, but you are in a position to go where laws prohibit us from doing so. And certainly, you may fail in your endeavors, but we'd be doing ourselves a disservice not to assist in setting you up for success."

"Hmm.  The Hand that feeds us, huh?  That's not a great pun, and if you ask me, the Hand could have let us know it was trying to feed us rather than beat us a bit sooner.  But, well, I suppose I grasp the situation a little better now.  They should have opened with that instead of all this wall of stone guard business," Atal says with a shrug.  "You should put it to become their public relations officer.  Maybe having someone who focuses on communication doing the talking would smooth things over if you find yourself recruiting criminals and misfits again in the future."  Atal sticks his hand into his pocket and fingers the crumpled note in it, and frowns.  "Ah, well... thanks again for your help, but I need to find some people here before we set off.  Nice meeting you properly, H'aris."

After hearing out whatever else H'Aris might have to say, Atal takes his leave and makes his way back over to the Café Formerly Known As Nancy's, this time with the goal of specifically asking after Juppo and finding the little hairball.

"Well hindsight does offer clarity. This would not be the first time we've spoken with individuals of...ahem, 'different walks of life'. It is however, the first time I've seen having to recruit foreigners though. And likely may be the last time, while I'm still around to see it." H'Aris nods at Atal's departure, and upon seeing nothing further is needed from him, returned to his book.

As Atal heads to the door, Felix says to him "Make sure whatever it is, you make it quick."

While the outside of the Cafe Formerly Known as Nancy's was rather bare, when the group went to have lunch there, the interior was actually a much more bustling scene. Most of the tables were filled and the general sounds of conversation filled it almost with a dull roar. A bartender with an age-stained white shirt and balding head stood behind the counter, attending to a variety of individuals with drinks. 

At a table, almost pushed into a corner, Atal spied to such individuals with drinks, that he in fact knew: Maas and Juppo. It was a slightly different Juppo than Atal had previously seen, as this one was now fully clothed.

Atal waves at the two and walks over to the table.  He grins at the two of them, hand lifted in a wave.  „Hey!“ he says familiarly, before remembering that the two had only met Ura, at least physically.  „Uh, it‘s me.  One of the people you met in the ruins.  I should tell you my full name, which is Atalura.  Today, I‘m Atal.“

After the two have processed this, Atal tells them, „We‘ll be leaving with the Right Hand and her people soon, and there‘s a good chance we‘re not coming back, one way or the other.  I wanted to thank the two of you for helping us, and apologize about not being able to help Bloth.“ He looks over at Juppo, specifically, and reaches into his pocket, pulling out the I.O.U. he‘d stolen, as well as a few coins.  „You should have this back. He was your friend.  And, well, you‘re ours now, and it doesn‘t feel right to take it away.  Have a drink on me, both of you, and take care of yourselves.“

(Atal will listen to whatever they want to say / answer any questions, but once they‘re done talking so is he, and he‘d return to the group to get ready to leave.)

Juppo and Maas accepted that Atal was Ura, more likely under the assumption that it was simply a disguise, rather than the actual magical means that made it happen.

When Atal hands the note and coins toward Juppo, the halfling takes the IOU and leaves the coins where they lay on the table. Hugging the note close to himself, Juppo proceeds to break down blubbering and crying. Maas pats him in the back, and looks to Atal. "Thank you. Where will you all go from here?"

"Ah, well.  I kind of pissed off the Right Hand and her guards, not that it changed their plans for us in the long run.  We're being escorted to Midgar, then kicked out of the kingdom.  Probably officially because we caused offense."  Atal looks around, then seats himself and leans in, pulling his hood to hide the movement of his lips as he speaks in a low undertone meant only for Juppo and Maas's ears.  "We've actually been, shall we say, forcefully recruited to go headhunting after Zelda Berrosus and her mother, Tetra.  The Right Hand wants them stopped as much as we do, but they don't want to risk any political incidents by being personally involved outside of their borders.  We have the advantage of being officially unrelated to the Kingdom's administration, and the added bonus of being expendable should we fail in that mission."  Atal smiles wryly.  "Well, at least we know what we're walking into, and they did offer to equip us before we leave."

He sits back and collects the coin that Juppo refused with a sympathetic nod at the sobbing halfling.  "But enough about us.  You know, you two... if you're still looking for work after this, I know the guard in Midgar is recruiting at the moment.  And the Right Hand is putting some coin behind that, too.  If you ever feel like traveling in that direction, there might be some good, steady work for you down there if you're willing to join them.  Lieutenant Ripley is a good and fair sort, and so is Sergeant York.  And you're both braver and more qualified to serve than the last new hire of theirs I met.  Think about it, if you're hard up for money in the future."

Cafe:

While Juppo continued to wail, grabbing the attention of nearby patrons whom were obviously attempting not to stare or turn towards it, Maas nodded in reply to Atal, and consoled the halfling.

After Atal got up to leave, Maas exited the cafe right behind him. "Really. Thank you all. I regret we couldn't do anything more for Juppo. He and Bloth were more than friends. This work was supposed to give them enough to leave and sort of start a new life together." Maas let out a single breath laugh. "They had a crazy idea about a honey farm. Neither of them had even ever seen a bee before. Bloth apparently knew people out west. Old shipmates or something. Here." He forced a thin smile when he looked at Atal and gave him an empty envelope with a name and location written on it.

S.L. Ortez, City of Gulch, New Republic of Chorus

"If you're all really going after them; make them pay for what they did. Maybe you can look these people up, let them know about Bloth."

Maas stood there, only waiting to go inside after Atal had responded, if so, or watched him walk down the street and back to the inn.

Inn:

As if like clockwork, as soon as Atal entered the inn, and the entire party was once again together, the Right Hand descended the stairs. "It's time." Her Chosen Men, at least the ones still there, got up and began moving towards the door. She looked toward Felix and the party. "Your horses are being brought up. I hope you all can ride."

Uthal pops an eyebrow. "I've never seen a horse my size before, so no, unless you count unsuccessful attempts to jump on the back of a mountain lion."

Atal gives Maas a pat on the shoulder and a nod.  "I intend to.  We all do.  Take care of Juppo."  He turns and marches back towards the inn, in time to see the Right Hand ordering the party to leave.  He watches the woman warily, but decides to remain silent this time, lest he stir any more trouble in the waters before the departure.  Still, he pales a little at her words.

"Riding?" he mumbles to the others as he steps in line with them.  "I'm fairly confident I can stay on a horse's back, but directing it?  Uhh... damn.  I feel like I should've asked Anders for some pointers while he was with us," he curses under his breath.

Austin just shrugs and moves to get in line and follow the Right Hand out and to those waiting mounts. Her impression of a foolish, incompetant, noble just gets stronger and stronger in regard to this Right Hand, who cannot even take into account that the majority of non-nobles cannot ride a horse with any sort of skill. Austin just follows along though, planning on continuing to do so unless something changes.

Outside the Holidae Inn, the Right Hand points towards four horses, being led by Sers Tongue and Hagman (the two Chosen Men Atal and Anearis had met thebfirst time they entered Lindenfeld). And then almost in a comical fashion, a fifth horse, who dwarfed the others in comparison was being led by the young human male of the group, who wore chainmail, and had earlier assisted the Warsmith in carrying the group's weapons.

"Your weapons have already been stowed upon them." The Right Hand then strode toward her own horse and mounted, alongside the remaining Chosen Men. "I assume the larger one is for you." Felix said, standing next to Uthal. He too though then followed the Right Hand and mounted his horse as well, though with some help, as Ser Sharpe held the horse's reigns until Felix settled into place.

The horses were brought before each party member, and as expected the goliath of a horse was indeed a goliath. At eye level with Uthal, he saw just over the saddle of the beast, though it was more of a broad figure than a tall one. Even its hooves looked as though the heads of warhammers, that could break the knees of hostile horses. While the largest, and potentially the most dangerous, it appeared to be the most docile. "Your draft horse, sir." The young man said to Uthal.

"Let us know if any of ye need an assist to mount." Hagman said to the group, holding the reigns of the horses in front of Austin and Atal.

((OOC: Equipment updates sent via PM))

Uthal takes the hammer and examines it for a while, his hand rubbing the rune before stowing it at his side and attempting to mount up like he remembers Ander doing.

Animal Handling: 14

While the horse shifts slightly to account for the weight, as Uthal mounted it, the creature seemed otherwise uncovered by the new rider now on his back. Uthal climbed with the same amount of effort at he would have expected to climb a wall of the same height. He sat there stoic as the horse stood in place, and the young human male handed the reigns to him.

„Oh, sure, please do help,“ Atal says, after trading a look with his horse.  Then, placing his foot on a stirrup, he totally ignores everything he ever saw Anders do and instead tries to shimmie up to the horse‘s back with the lightest touch possible.

Acrobatics: 19

Atal: 14  

Practically vaulting onto the animal, Atal managed to land without causing the horse concern. Hagman had been holding the reigns still, and offers a friendly warning handing the rope to him.

"I recommend a slow climb, going forward, not a balancing act. But now, all you need do is sit there and let it walk."

Current stares at the strange equestrian creature for a moment. They didn't seriously expect her to get on top of it, did they? She had tried riding dolphins before with her mother, but that mostly involved swimming while holding their fin. This, on the other hand, seemed completely different. Current shifts uncomfortably as the others mount their steeds and says, "I need to get on top of this," Current pauses for a moment in thought, "harse?" She says the name slowly as if trying to remember the word as she is saying it, and her posture makes it very obvious that she has never been around one before. Before moving any closer herself, the genasi mentally commands her sprite to try and ascertain more about this beast. With that Tide flits over and touches the beast using her fey knowledge to determine more about the beast's emotional state.

Anearis approaches the beast and runs his hand down the mane trying to make the horse comfortable with him. 

Animal handling: 10

He then spots his shortbow. He could hardly recognize it in with its new dark color. He picked it up and began pulling on the string to test its solidity and weight. It felt much like it used to, but there was something different about it. He could feel the faintest hint of a connection to the element through it.

Anearis stowed the weapon back and turned around to the metal man. "Thank you. I believe this will do nicely." 

There's a bit of clanking and shifting as Atal puts his weapons away as well, slipping the almost unnoticable knife into his boot.  "That guy sure did a number on my stuff," he says with appreciation, though he pauses as he looks over his shortbow.  "I'm kind of glad he didn't do too much to this shortbow, though.  After all, this one's just a part-timer until I meet Viggo again," Atal says, his eyes narrowing and a calculating grin stealing over his face.

Austin grimaces at the horse she is facing. reaching out she runs a hand over the staff attached to the saddle, nodding as she lifts it free. After a bit of balancing it in her hand she slips it back into its place on the saddle. "I am definitely not dressed for this." She mutters as she puts a foot in place and moves to toss one foot over the saddle. She has to gather her chain mail and long tunic, with one hand, trying not to give a show as she mounts the horse.

Athletics: 18
Animal handling: 1