Though there is some last minute arguing, everyone manages to get to their places as the skies begin to open.  Rain pummels down and the wind picks up to a screaming whistle overhead, though the placement of the tent in the gulley seems to shelter the group for the most part from the worst of the windstorm.  Gustav stands out with the horses for a time, trying to keep them calm, though the harsh trill of the winds seem to be beyond his ability to calm.

Gustav double and triple checks the ropes binding the animals, but when Lilly rears back and accidentally strikes Gustav with a forehoof, causing immediate bruising, Gustav decides he's done all he can and heads back into the tent.

Eventually there is some hail with the storm, though it seems to be small - the size of peas at worst, not bad enough to damage the tent or steeds.  Though the animals continue to whinny in discomfort it seems all their ropes continue to hold.

After three quarters of an hour later it seems most of the storm has passed...  At least until a massive gust of wind completely knocks over the tent from its supports, sending a large portion of the weight crashing down on Rolf unexpectedly.

Still, all told, the storm does no permanent damage.  The horses remain secure and none of their equipment is destroyed.  It is only in the aftermath as they assess the damage that the biggest inconvenience is discovered.

"The road's been washed out!"  Terri calls from a hill over.  "It was definitely right here, I mean, I guess if you could call it a road... it was mostly just worn down grass, but now you can't even tell!  The water and wind have pretty much taken out anything that's left!"

OOC:  Sorry for the lag here.  I've been searching through the two modules I'm using and unfortunately I've found very little of use for the rest of the adventure.  For right now, you guys have two options to continue on, either of you can choose to attempt either a (modified) tracking roll to put you back on the road or either of you can make an appropriate navigation roll to send you in the general right direction.  If you don't want to do either of those, you can choose someone else in the party to make a roll.  If you wish I can make a secret IQ roll to give you an assessment on who you think is the most skilled person to make the roll for you.

As a sidenote, some damage was caused by Gustav's bite and the tent falling on Rolf, but as Rolf is a healer, it's a moot point... I'm not even bothering to make the healing rolls as there will be plenty of time and opportunities for him to do so over the next few days.

Gustav is not comfortable with trying to track or navigate, but will if noone better is present.

Rolf's nerves are on edge.  He fears high winds and rampant lightning could make a disaster of their camp.  Making himself useful, the mage creates a brilliant light to keep the camp well lit.

His feared lightning fortunately doesn't come to pass, but the horses are spooked and even the steady handed Gustav struggles to keep them in line.  After getting a solid horse kick to the leg, the man returns to the tent, hobbled and soaked to the bone.

Rolf moves in and out of the tent periodically at first, but keeps to the relatively dry shelter after it becomes apparent no bolts are coming their way.

But there is wind!  Enough so that a large gust knocks the tent down upon him.  Shocked and surprised, the bruised mage pulls himself out and does a damage assessment in the driving rain.  A bit battered, he finds himself mostly okay and steadies himself by a wagon before returning to help with the dismantled tent.

The heavy storm wraps up in a short amount of time after finishing slamming the camp.  Upon it's exit, a quiet, wet stillness permeates the air.  Frazzled and disheveled, Rolf helps with the camp as best he can while Terri scouts around.

"No road?!?" he says in reply.  "Now what?" he asks openly as his mind works what to do next.

OOC:  I can shapeshift as a crow to scout ahead, and I could possibly use seek earth if there are any significant land markers with an unusual type of earth or stone to search for.  But my effective seek range is probably only a mile.  Crow form will probably be more effective.

I have the tracking skill, but Rolf is pretty average at it.  If there is a better skilled tracker in the group, maybe Terri?, he will defer.  But perhaps he could still lend a hand to help.  I seem to remember there maybe is a rule where I could add +1 to another's skill roll if I help.  Not sure.  In any event if Rolf is the best tracker he will try to find the road.  And maybe use crow form if there are any landmarkers to search for.  It could also be that having a literal birds eye view might reveal the road's location that might otherwise be easily missed on the ground.

Rolf doesn't have any Navigation skills.

Though there are questions as to how the group will move along, Rolf eventually comes up with the plan of changing himself into a crow to get a bird's eye view while Terri tries to find the path from the ground.

"Umm...  I might be able to find it again."  Terri says tepidly as Rolf explains the plan.  "I'll at least be able to get us in the right direction while the weather remains good.  I spent a long time on the ships in Keyhole Bay and picked up some of the finer points of how to figure out where you are going when there's nothing but the sky to find your way.  It should be good enough to at least get us down to the Makarem where we can find the western road."

And so they set off again, finding the easiest ground they can for the carts and wagons with Gustav leading Lilly from his cart while Rolf searches from the skies above.  Within an hour, they have found the road again, despite Rolf's limited ability to really see any extra detail from the skies or two communicate it to Terri with anything other than a throaty "Caw!"

"It's here!"  Terri shouts.  "I thought we had been following it... I wasn't sure, but this is certainly packed ground and ruts from wagons!"

Rolf is overjoyed by the news, his brain slightly fogged from being a bird for so long.  He found himself much more concerned with which of the hardings seems slowest and oldest...  he fostered thoughts of whether Kunai might chase one down and kill it, leaving the fresh carcass to be picked over...  thankfully, he circles back to the ground where he takes over his things and Lilly from Gustav.

The afternoon and evening pass on with little more affair, as do several more days.

"We're close, I can feel it."  Ayun says hopefully to Rolf on the eleventh day of their journey.  "One of the soldiers from the fort came by Craine for liberty, and he said they found gold in the mines.  Loads of it.  It'll be near free money for anyone that can do honest work or provide a service."

Rolf can hear Ayun nearly salivating over the words, his chin raised and a pleasant smirk dancing across his face.

"They say Bran sent a hundred of his own slaves down to work the mines, who won't be paid, but they'll need to eat...  I'm glad we got in on this early, they'll be desperate for food and goods to keep things moving.  The prices we can sell at will be astronomical.  Think of all..."

"Hey."  Kiro interrupts the others.  "What day is it?"

"Twentyfifth."  Tatsori responds.

"That's what I thought!"  Kiro nearly shouts.  "It's Christmas!  Merry Christmas everybody!"

"...paid in gold!"  Ayun finishes as his horse stops dead in its tracks behind Fzoul's stopped cart.

"What's the holdup?"  Ayun shouts ahead, as he notices the hardings ahead have stopped as well.

"I think we took a wrong turn!"  Terri's voice calls back.  "Come look at this!"

Up ahead, the hilly landscape is split open with a rocky canyon that spans some fifty to a hundred yards and drops away several hundred feet down into the earth.  There appears to be a cave or two dotting the opposite canyon wall, though no clear way of how to get to the bottom from here on the rim.

"Think that's the mine?"  Fzoul asks.

Rolf, who was there on the initial expedition sees stark resemblances, though the canyon here seems much longer than the large sinkhole he had traveled in so long ago with Bromdaeg and Darran.

"Maybe we should head back?"  Terri suggests.  "I think your right, we can't be that far off from the village, but this definitely isn't the way."

OOC:  Stopping here to give you guys options if you wish.  This is clearly not the way you are supposed to be going, though you haven't been long on the wrong track.  If you wish to just carry on to the village on Three Corners just say so and we'll keep moving on.

If this is Not the place, then mayhap we should find the village. Of course, this may also be loaded with valuable minerals as well.  onder if it has been explored as well?

After some discussion it is decided to leave it to Terri to handle the tracking and navigation on the ground, while Rolf flies above.  The woman is better skilled than Rolf, and he isn't the type to not defer to his betters.  He knows when he's outclassed.

In preparation of his spell, Rolf removes his shield, weapons and pack.  Placing his gear on Lilly, he hands the reigns to Gustav.  Knowing full well he'll take good care of his newly found horse and possessions.

Mutare Vocem he exclaims as he weaves his hands intricately, and transforms into a crow!  Stretching his jet black wings to get a feel of his new diminutive body, he takes flight and soars high above.

To Rolf the plains look all the same, but here and there he thinks he can pick out the sight of a broken trail ahead, and returns to Terri to point in the direction they should go.

Communication is simplistic at best, but between them, they find their way.

Once Terri is sure she has the trail, Rolf returns to land to transform back to human.  His mind is foggy as he takes Lilly back, but it fades quickly.  "Great job Terri.  I doubt I could have found the trail on my own.  We might have been out here running in circles for days if it weren't for you." he says with genuine affection.

They follow the next few days uneventfully.  As they near their destination, Rolf softly smiles as the men discuss with excitement at the prospect of the gold they will be reaping.  He knows it wouldn't be that way if it weren't for his efforts and the small group of men that had traveled him.  He thinks to say something boastful, but decides against it.  He has no call to be prideful.

As they near the canyon, it's clear it's not the one they want.  "This isn't it.  I'm sure of it."

He takes a closer look at the steep walls and the sheerness of the drop down.

"We could try to rappel down to investigate the caves, but just getting to them is going to be dangerous." he says as he looks over the climb before them.  "I could cast a flying spell on Gustav who could carry maybe a few of us down there, plus himself.  But you'd still have to likely climb back up.  Or use more magic."

"And many of these caves are empty.  Devoid of life or treasure making the effort fruitless.  But the ones that do have life are of the extremely deadly variety.  I encountered creatures that hung to the ceilings in wait for prey.  They were very difficult to bypass and kill."

"And they were easy compared to the great worm.  It bit Darran's leg clean off and nearly killed us all.  It was covered in a tough scaly hide and had the most enormous mouth filled with razor sharp teeth I've ever seen."

Pointing to his chest he adds, "I had his hide made to armor.  Wish I had more of him.  It protects me well."

Getting more to the point he says, "In only one cave were precious metals found.  The odds are against this cave having any itself.  But it could be if this cave is close enough to the other, it might be part of the same vein of ore."

"Stay and investigate or go?  I am okay either way.  We could get killed, get rich, or waste our time.  But nothing ventured nothing gained I always say."

"What say you all?"

OOC:  Do I recall finding these caves?  If not, I'm okay with investigating if the majority of the group wants to.  I say we should put it to a vote.  Rolf will vote yes to investigate.  Also, is there anyone in our party with a metallurgic background? It would be most helpful is someone does.  Rolf has some Naturalist skill, but that's it.

Perhaps wiser to find the village and the things we may need, like rope and torches. we can come back then if w wish.

"I can handle the light, and I have some rope stored away, though we will need more than what I have. In any event I worry someone could come along and usurp our claim here."

"Of course that's all moot if no one here has any skills finding and identifying precious metals and ore."

Turning to the group Rolf says, "What say you all? Want to investigate the caves?"

Rolf petitions the group as to what to do about the caves and the responses are various.  Once Fzoul has realizes that these are indeed not the mines already discovered and plumbed by the Duke's envoy he immediately puts in his vote to head back to the village.

"'sno point in heading down there.  Just splits us up and makes it take more time headed to the village.  We can tell everybody about finding 'em and you can come back if you're interested.  Animals'll probably lose their minds up here if we leave 'em."

Ayun however, takes a much more adventurist approach.

"These are new caves you say?  So you're saying if we find gold here it's all ours?  Seems like too good of a chance to pass up right?  Even just the information that there's another place to mine could be worth a fortune to the Duke...  So long's we know for sure that there's gold down there.

Tatsori seems noncommittal, merely shrugging his shoulders and not seeming to take any side.

"I think there's something to it."  Kiro suggests.  "We don't even all have to go down there, we could leaves some up here with the animals and carts..."

"I'm not sure splitting up is a good idea though..."  Terri suggests softly

"Well we can't just leave everything alone up here!"  Fzoul sputters.  "The Hardings need to graze, they can't just stay here and eat dust!"

"Ha, yes they can!"  Ayun laughs in response.  "That's why they're called hardings old boy.  And we won't be gone long enough for any of the animals to suffer.  Just a quick look to find the gold and maybe dig out a handful before we pop right back up and head to the village."

OOC:  Your vote yields the following results:  For exploring:  Ayun, Kiro  Abstain:  Tatsori, Terri, Against:  Fzoul.

No one has a metalurgic background or a background in jewelry.

"Ok.  It's settled then.  Some of us go down and some of us stay." Rolf says as he sizes up the group.

"I think myself, Gustav, Kiro and Terri should go.  If they are all willing.  While the rest stay and mind the camp and animals."

Attempting to nip in the bud any arguments he adds, "And we all get an even split of whatever we find.  Whether or not you stay in camp or go down, the cut will be the same.  Someone has to mind the camp and perhaps pull up a wounded man with rope if the case arises."

"Speaking of which, we'll need more rope than what I have.  Anyone have any?"

OOC:  I will lobby myself, Gustav (assuming he wants to go), Kiro and Terri go down.  I know Terri was neutral and Ayun is eager to go, but I trust Terri to handle herself more than Ayun so I'm hoping she'll agree to go.

"That's the spirit!"  Ayun shouts as Rolf decides to bring the group down the cliff face to the caves.

Though his jovial attitude deflates slightly when he realizes he won't be one of the ones to go, his spirits seem to pick up again as Rolf suggests everything will be split evenly between the whole group.

"Well, I suppose that's fair."  Ayun muses.  "Someone does have to stay up here with the animals after all.  And we'll be here to pull people up if someone gets hurt."

The rest of the group demurs to their assignments and prepares themselves to head down the cliffs as Fzoul rounds all the wagons together aided by Kiro and Tatsori who have little gear to assemble.  Meanwhile Ayun speculates on what the others will find down in the caves, which seems to run the gamut from massive veins of precious metals to full-grown cave trolls.

Terri collects her bow and large shoulder quiver stashed with arrows, Gustav takes all of the gear he needs into Rolf's magical bag.  Everyone who has it gathers their spare rope into a pile, all together there is some 130 yards of various strength, enough to drop a line to the bottom and still leave Rolf with his 30 yards for whatever is needed down in the cave.

With the last little bit of rope, Rolf ties up an impromptu harness, one side tight enough to just barely fit Gustav's midsection, the other loose enough to be easily slipped on and off the biggest of them for a bit of added safety without adding a load of time.

After fifteen or so minutes of preparation, everyone seems ready to move on, and the sun is near its peak, showing as much detail of the canyon floor as can be hoped for.  Much of the landscape is empty dirt, thought there seems to be a line of desert scrub and trees just near the center of the canyon floor.  Some of the scrub continues blooms out towards the wall of the canyon however, even obscuring parts the lower face of the cliff.

"I bet that's where you want to go."  Ayun points towards the lower cave.  "Gold's bound to be in the deeper parts... you know, farther from the surface."  Ayun makes a self-satisfied nod, though from there he leans back against his cart, casting his eyes in Rolf's direction.

It seems the mage has taken a sort of de facto lead of the mission.

OOC:  it is 1315 on the 25th of December.  The Canyon is approximately 100 yards deep and something like 100 yards across at the top, though the walls are not sheer and the canyon floor is significantly narrower.  Both sides seem climbable with a bit of effort and skill (or risk).  It seems like your plan is to cast flight on Gustav, then have him carry the rest of the crew down to the floor of the canyon while holding his gear in the bag of holding.  If that's the case here's what I need:

1.  A roll against the appropriate spell
2.  The gear everyone plans on taking
3.  General intentions (which cave you are heading towards, how long you are waiting... etc.)

Rolf is glad Ayun agrees with little fuss about staying up top.  Especially with the promised full cut of any treasure the caves may have.  And that's without the inherent risk involved on the venture they'll be going on.  Rolf knows from experience the caves around here can be very dangerous and hopes these caves have nothing menacing in them.

Still, having help above is not only prudent, it could be paramount.  Those in camp have an important job staying at the ready if help is needed, and minding the horses and all else that's needed to keep their camp in good running order.

Rolf doesn't have much to prepare as he plans on bringing all his gear with him.  He does however dig out his tent and leaves it at camp as he can't see it will serve any purpose where he's going.  The rest of his stuff might be needed, so he decides why not bring it.  Especially as a lot of it is essentially weightless with the benefit of being able to store items in the bag of holding.

A rather mundane magical item at first glance, but the bag is so very useful.  Adventuring requires a lot of gear that can get quite heavy.  And the more you weigh, the slower you move.  And slow feet can get you killed.  Being able to offload weight is an enormous boon.

While the others get ready, Rolf creates a rope harness to tie around Gustav as a safety measure in case someone slips in the descent down.  Ever the worrier, he doesn't want to risk a death in case something goes awry.

The noonday sun rises as they are ready to embark.  "Yes, Ayun.  I agree the east cave might be better, but we must investigate the western one first.  It'll be far easier to climb down from there than it will be to climb up to it." Rolf says as he plans out their moves.  The mage wouldn't want to admit it, but he's not the greatest climber.  He knows the basics, but not much more.  Which is understandable when why bother to climb, when you can float?

Taking charge he says to those going down, "The plan is for Gustav to carry us down one at a time using my magic for flight.  He'll wear a rope harness that will drape over those he carries for safety.  He'll drop us off at the western cave and we'll start from there."

To Ayun he adds, "It could take us some time to fully search the caves.  But if we are gone for more than a couple of days, go and get help.  I can't imagine it will take that long, but I definitely could see it going into the morrow.  I don't want to rush this and take any unnecessary risks.  Give us tomorrow and the day after and on the third get help."

OOC:  I believe those going down are myself, Gustav, Terri, Tatsori and Kiro.  Staying are Fzoul and Ayun.  I would assume the safest way would be a mutual bear hug between the flyer and flyee, with rope loop under the armpits of the flyee.  The last thing I would want to see is someone get dropped.

Rolf will take all his gear sans his tent which he'll leave up above.  I would like Rolf to be the second one down.  That way he won't be alone at the west cave entrance once he gets there and won't be limited by low FP and half ST on the way down. He will strap his shield on his back to keep his hands free.  If his crossbow is not capable of being strapped to his back, he'll put it in the bag of holding.

Gustav Puts his Crossbow and Shield in the sack of Holding, He keeps the Black sword and the Knife or Poisons on himself.

As everyone is set, Kiro volunteers to be the first down, eager as he is to see the caves for himself.  Rolf agrees, seeing as he would rather go down second than be left alone and exhausted in a potentially hostile place.

Gustav puts his crossbow and shield into Rolf's incredible bag, leaving only his weapons and his magical bracers on himself.

"Volant!"  Rolf calls as everyone is set and Gustav hovers just slightly in the air before hooking his arms under Kiro and the two float down at the pace of a brisk jog towards the cave on the far wall of the cliff.

OOC: I'm sorry to do this to everybody, but it can't be avoided.  This thread is now exclusive to Rolf.  I'll update things as you see them, and you can feel free to take any action you wish.

The plan is settled and put into action.  Looking down the canyon, Rolf's heart flutters a bit at the risk involved.  Normally he's totally fine with flight, but in this instance he's not going to be the one flown and instead carried.  Something he's never tried before.

On paper it's not a big deal.  They all should be easily strong enough to hold on, especially with a harness back up.  Still, if they were flying just above the ground it would mentally be no big deal, but they are flying down a steep wall canyon with a long drop.

It's similar to taking a swim in a small pond versus the open ocean.  The magnitude of the operating environment makes a world of difference.  Rolf is concerned for his, and everyone else's safety as there's no room for error.

The mage's spell goes off without a hitch which is good.  He's going to need every shred of strength he has to pull this flying off, and doesn't have the wiggle room to be wasting energy on miscasts.

Rolf feels the power of the spell flow through him and into Gustav.  Already in a bear hug with Kiro, the pair look a little odd.  Without a moments delay Gustav rises up slightly with Kiro in tow and they move outward and down at a decent pace.  Slightly less than one would walking.

As they move away Rolf decides Kiro deserves a bonus for volunteering to be first.  "Stalwart lad he is." he mutters as he waits for Gustav to return.

Long.  Too long it takes for Gustav to return.  Rolf was sure that he had emphasized the importance of haste, that he could not hold the spell for extended periods, yet he watches as the two men land at the cave, barely blips color in the distance, and stay there for several moments...

Were they having trouble with the harness?  Was there something there at the entrance that had caused delay?

Rolf ponders as he feeds more of his energy to the spell, his head spinning with the dual effort.

But then Rolf realizes that Gustav is returning, and he breathes a sigh of relief... until he realizes that Kiro is still tethered to the harness.

"It's a grave I think!"  Gustav yells from the distance, as the two slowly grow in size as they approach the edge of the canyon.

OOC:  Gustav and Kiro rejoin us here.  Sorry for splitting the threads up for what seems like little reason, but I'm glad I did it, as I completely confused his intentions with the private I sent him.  Rolf has already put 2 minutes worth of energy into the spell and there are now 0 people down at the cave.  It seems clear that you are not going to get 4 people down there without going to extreme measures or resting and then recasting the spell later.

Rolf waits patiently for Gustav to return.  "It's taking too long" he says as more than a minute passes.

Sweat beads on Rolf's forehead from the effort to not only cast the spell, but bind it longer than it would normally last.

Worried something bad happened, he cocks his head at the sound of a grave down below and wonders what impact that would have on their investigation of the caves and why it's thwarted their desire to ferry them all down below.

Settling back on the ground at the top, Gustav releases Kiro, It seems to be full of skulls, Kiro took a quick look, but I think we'll not find much ore in a grave site.

Rolf waits for the men to return and settle themselves on safe land.

"Skulls is it?" Rolf says as he sits.  "I've heard tale of some religions that don't bury their dead and leave them to the open air...To decompose in the sun and be preyed upon by whatever animal finds them.  A bit strange if you ask me, but I've heard of worse."

"It could be a tribe used this canyon to cast off their deceased parishioners for some time.  Doesn't mean there's no ore to be found down there."

Rolf thinks some more.  As he ponders the situation he frowns.  "It could also be some sort of sacrifice though.  Maybe they were casting off some of their own to appease some sort of creature that lives in the caves that would feed upon those cast down."

"I for one don't want to be caught up in that."

Taking charge he says to group, "I see two options.  The first is we simply leave."

"The second, we trap or hunt down an animal and toss it over the canyon's edge to see if anything comes to feed.  If nothing does then we head down again and search the caves."

"If all goes well I would guess we'd have to try again on the morrow to search."

Looking around he adds, "What say you all?  What do you prefer?  Leave?  Or try again to head down the canyon, likely tomorrow morning?"

OOC: Rolf will put to a vote to stay or go.  He will vote to stay and try to search.

These skulls are not just thrown or scattered, they are stacked against the walls; can't say how many, but seemed like quite a few stacked as high as a man stands. It is a Grave, and those placed there were but bones when so placed.

"Sacrifice?"  Kiro says the word nearly as soon as Rolf suggests it.  "No...  Well, I don't think so.  These skulls weren't sitting down on the ground, but set up into the cave wall, 'bout head high.  And I don't think there weren't no bodies neither.  Unless they were buried alive in the wall and just their faces was poking out..."

Kiro thinks on the possibility for a moment before he shakes his head.

"I didn't see nothing to say that they were recent dead, nor that there was anything down there that died recently.  I think it may just be all old.  I think we can go down there and check it out.  I didn't see nothing close in those caves to bother us."

Despite Kiro's encouragement, Tatsori seems a little shaken by the news.

"I don't know..."  Tatsori starts.  "We were thinking there was gold down there.  I don't think going down to do disturb graves is right.  I'm not interested in crypt robbing."

"Well they're not using the gold!"  Ayun nearly shouts, obviously having only barely held himself from speaking until this moment.  "Who cares if there's dead bodies down there?  Nobody's gotten hurt from things that are dead!  It's us living who needs the money, and just because people's been buried there, doesn't mean there isn't a mine!"

Tatsori bites his lip, but doesn't respond to Ayun, and the merchant too seems to manage to calm down as Rolf asks around who wants to continue to try and search the caves.  Though the vote stays largely the same as before, Tatsori shifts his vote to leaving, earning a glare from Ayun, who raises a second hand when asked who wants to stay.

OOC:  Votes for leaving:  Tatsori, Fzoul.  Votes for staying:  Ayun, Kiro.  Abstain:  Terri.

I think there may be a some missing information which may change the plan here.  The skulls weren't bodies piled on the cave floor but rather set into the stone and dirt of the walls.  If pressed, Kiro will state that he walked a foot or two into the cave and saw that it split up in three directions, but he didn't press things any farther than just taking a glance.

With the amount of conversation going on, I think it's clear that Rolf's spell has expired.  Assume that you have kept it up for 2 minutes and then let the spell lapse.  Fatigue is not noted on your sheet, but I'll work it in to the time the next time I fast forward (if you don't want to rest than I'll just note the fatigue on your sheet.)

Gustav is not interested in disturbing a grave site either

Rolf listens to the group as they give their opinion on what to do.  Each side on whether to stay or go has valid points.

By the mage's count, it's a deadlock.  "Since there's no consensus on what to do then let's leave.  Those that want to can always come back later."

"In fact I will plan on doing so, assuming I can get a group willing to join me."

OOC: Let's head to where we planned.  But I will do my best to remember where this canyon is.  Using markers and the like so I can return.

Rolf makes the decision, at least for now, for the group to leave the caves.  Almost everyone takes the news in stride, the exception being Ayun who curses loudly and calls out a few indelicate names, though the slurs don't seem to be pointed at anyone in particular and Rolf feels it best to just let the man get his anger out.

"Be easy enough to find our way down now."  Terri says as the group gathers their things together.  "We're probably less than a day out.  I haven't seen exactly where the town's been started, but we can't be that far off of the river, and they wouldn't be very far from that."

"Almost there."  Tatsori smiles back as he gets back on to his cart, the horses harnessed and ready to pull.

"Almost there."  Terri agrees.

Kunai barks merrily in seeming agreement as he chases back one of the hardings that has strayed just too close to the edge of the cliff.

"Almost there."  Fzoul repeats as he pushes his own horses onward, closing the last bit of the gap between the caravan and Three Corners.

OOC:  Congrats on a successful thread!  Sorry things were so haphazard here.  I was borrowing material from two different sources that I had only read glancingly and after the windstorm I found that nothing at all fit with the storyline I was trying to create.  I'll send each of you PMs with character points, and I'll move on as quickly as I can to getting the next threads started, though we'll probably come to a halt for two weeks starting Monday.

Feel free to write a closing post for each of your characters.

Rolf ignores Ayun's small tirade about leaving.  Best to leave him be.

Sure Rolf would have liked to investigate the caves, but he also would like to do so safely and really, it doesn't make sense to spend all that effort without the help of a seasoned miner to search for ore.

Better to note the places location for later.  He's sure he could drudge up a crew to come back, especially with the possibility of finding a new mine.

Also, if there is malevolent force only a days march from the Three Corners it will need to be dealt with.  It would do no one any good if evil were allowed to fester there.

In the last leg of their journey Rolf notes his feet are quite sore and he'd love to rest a bit before taking on other challenges though he'll unlikely get much time to himself.

He isn't sure what role he will be asked to play once he gets to the new town.  They need people to assist governing Three Corners and seeing as Rolf has never held such a position he's not sure what he'll have to do.

In any case he'll wing it as best he can.

"Almost there indeed."