Niko wakes up refreshed and asks ,"Who wants fresh fish?" Not really waiting for an answer, he grabs an empty sack and dives into the ocean.
"Yo!" Gilstrock says, as he strips off his armor and goes running into the ocean after Niko, carrying only his spear, intending to valiantly attempt to spear some fish.
Niko returns after about a half an hour with a sack full of fish.
Niko cries out cheerfully ,"OK...who's hungry? We've got mackeral, stripers, and a couple of lobsters! Give me a few more minutes and I probably dig up some clams and a couple of crabs, too!"
"Lord Valdar, any objections to a fire? I don't really like my fish raw."
Valdar nods.
Darian grabs some more downed wood and gets the fire going again.
Niko looks at the fire being built by Darian "Ah! Good work, Darian. I guess that means you're going to be our cook for the day, too!"
Darian looks dubiously at the fish. "Well, I'll try. Not all that experienced with cooking fish or those lobster things you found. They don't have any wings do they?"
As you settle down to a meal of broiled fish and lobster, Darian comments on Valdar's confession of the day before.
"Well, that sounds rather ominous. Lord Valdar, what are we up against?"
"I'm not sure," the elf-lord admits. "I'm just being careful. All I know is that we elves have being trying to deal with these pirates for several years already, and they have always managed to elude us. They seem to be able to track our ships...being able to intercept our merchants and dodge our warships. It is logical to assume that they have agents in the various ports along this coast."
He pauses.
"In fact, they may well know already that an Elf-lord is in the area, if they do have someone in Koltalla. It was probably unwise for me to show myself there, last night. The rest of you should have gone in alone, without me.
"Oh well."
Darian shakes his head. "They would've known something was up with a group as large as this traveling up the coast. If we'd posed as merchants or a group of acrobats, we could've fooled people. But, it's far too late now. With a group this powerful, we should be able to find something about these pirates and start hurting them enough that they have to face us."
"Or we could have posed as fools," says Pharian. "But given our performance at the bridge, they might have seen through our disguise."
Darian grins and sticks his tongue out.
Niko nods solemnly, "Aye. It's possible. No one should have been able to track my ship in that storm the other night...and yet, they did. Probably, pirate spies at my last port-of-call."
"Or magic?"
"Lord Valdar, may I ask why you stopped in Kotalla? It's a pretty insignificant fishing village and not really the most convenient town to stop in, unless you wanted to hug the coastline."
Valdar gives Niko a wry smile.
"I wanted to talk to your friend Horatio. He keeps an eye on things around here, for me."
Niko nods "Makes sense. He was awfully interested in my plight. I couldn't get much out of him, though. Did he have any information useful about the pirates?"
Valdar nods.
"Two months ago, the crew of a fishing boat sighted a black two-masted schooner sailing away rapidly to the north. A short time later, they came across a lot of wreckage floating in the water. There were no survivors...but there were bodies floating there as well. They were all elves."
"Did they notice what flag the pirates had raised?" Niko asks.
"They were flying no flag."
Darian asks curiously, "Is that unusual?"
Niko shrugs "Not necessarily. The pirates I've run across usually will raise their flags. Mostly to scare other ships, but also because they cocky S.O.B.'s."
Valdar, however, says, "Yes."
Niko looks surprised "Oh, in what way?"
Valdar looks at Niko.
"Ships usually fly the flags of their nation of origin, or their home port. Did you not fly the flag of The Havens before you lost your ship?"
Valdar gives Niko a paranoid-suspicious look that would do any member of the PBEM party credit.
"Stop looking at me that way!" Niko snaps. "Any pirate worth his salt isn't going to fly his true colors!"
"Or they'd fly the wrong colors to fool people."
"You didn't answer my question..." Valdar says, still regarding the grey elf darkly. "Haff ve done ze lie detection zing on him, yet?" he asks, lapsing into orcish. "Unt vere is ze paladin?"
"Off on assignment, but we've a few clerics who can fill in, sir."
The twinkle in his eye belies Valdar's expression.
Darian manages to keep a grin off his face.
Finishing you breakfast, you pack up and return to the road. The day is sunny, but the temperature is cooler than yesterday. Late in the morning the road descends into a marshy area, and shortly after noon you come to a shallow river. There is no bridge here and so you must ford it. Just this side of the ford is an intersection with another road, running east. As usual, there is a signpost here -
North: To Eagle Cliff and the Victoria Peninsula.East: To the Elven Coast Road and The Malbarmarsh.
South: To Koltalla and Drugger's Rush.
You splash across the river and continue north.
After another hour the road has cleared the marsh and is continuing to parallel the ocean, running northeast through fairly open forest.
The rest of the day's journey is uneventful, and you again camp on the beach for the night, under the silvery rays of an almost-full moon.
"Lord Valdar, if we're concerned about spies learning of this party heading north, perhaps we should set a more elaborate watch up for the next couple of night."
"May not be a bad idea," says Valdar.
"And perhaps have outriders during the day? We've at least a few rangers who can perform scouting, plus a few elves who are also capable in the wilderness. Let's use them to keep any unwanted eyes away."
Before you sleep for the night, Orlon casts commune about the items you found in the dragon horde...
14 potionsa wand
14 sling bullets
a dagger
a staff
a periapt
a broadsword
a ring
a rod
a shield
"Is any of this stuff cursed?" he asks.
"NO," comes the answer from above.
He mumbles another question under his breath.
"YES," is the answer.
Frowning, Niko elbows Gilstrock in the side. "Does he always do that?"
Jesse laughs lightly, "He is a cleric, that should say it all."
"Which? Mumble, or check up on the new guys? Clearly they don't always check up on the new guys, because they promised to check to make sure Pharian and I weren't evil when they first picked us up, byt they never remembered to do that," Gilstrock says by way of answer.
"How rude!" Niko exclaims. Looking slightly worried, he adds, "I hope I passed!"
"I wouldn't worry Niko," Oh Well slaps him on the back. "We let Gilstrock the paranoid in the group, afterall."
Darian grins. "Well, they checked me, so they must've upped their standards after you and Pharian joined. Didn't want to let in any more riff raff."
"No, it's just a question of reasonable suspicion," says Pharian. "Niko's obviously suspect because he has a tattoo. You were suspect because you are too sincere. That's a sign that you are hiding something."
Darian grins. "What am I hiding?"
"I'm not sure," says Pharian. "I can't see anything through that smokescreen of sincerity."
Darian grins even wider. "Thanks."