RttToFC/Session5

Beyond the Tomb of Five Corners - Session 5

Kuros: When we last left our heroes, they were flying over a village beset by a horde of several hundred zombies.

Lei_Zu: "Walking corpses filled with mindless agression. This is not the instrument of a sane person, this is a weapon of terror. We need to find out who is behind this."

Alyssa: "True. Is there any means to stop these here though - they will cause great harm in very little time."

Alyssa: "I an unsure if battling them directly is practical however."

Lei_Zu: "I was thinking that left to their own devices they might lead us back to their master. But then I'm by no means an expert on the walking dead."

Kuros: The village is mostly in flames, and the villagers are already out of the village, heading south.

Lei_Zu: (are they being pursued?)

Kuros: (No.)

Alyssa: "This many of the... things... has doubtless left a trail. Perhaps I could follow it on the ground, to their origin."

Lei_Zu: "They don't seem to pursue. Intervention at this time would seem pointless."

Alyssa: "Then let us find the one who raised them."

Lei_Zu: "I would love to have a talk with him or her."

Alyssa: (can we land behind the zombies?)

Kuros: (Sure.)

Kuros: The zombies have begun to mill aimlessly around the remains of the village. Some are even catching fire, but they don't seem to notice.

Lei_Zu: "There isn't enough evidence at this point, but considering what we know it seems likely, that this is connected to the Mistress of Pacts Sealed in Blood and thus to the tyrant of Thorns."

Alyssa: (they came from the north? is there a visible path or trail?)

Kuros: (How far north do you fly to look?)

Lei_Zu: While Alyssa examines the tracks Lei Zu keeps a close eye on the zombies.

Alyssa: only within a few hundred yards of the village

Lei_Zu: (How do they look? Uniforms? Any sign of what they were before, where they came from?)

Kuros: (They are not wearing any clothes, though some are wielding swords, spears, and shields.)

Lei_Zu: (same type of weapons for everyone, IE do they look as if they were equipped or merely given whatever weapon-like things were at hand?)

Kuros: The weapons are of the same type, bronze short swords, and the shields all bear the same crest

Alyssa: "I think there's an old mass grave not far from us. They seem to have come from it."

Casteen: "Hm. Perhaps that should be where we begin our investigation, then."

Lei_Zu: "Lead on."

Alyssa directs the Circle towards the middle of the grainfield.

Alyssa: Following the flattened path.

Casteen nods, taking the wasp down to where Alyssa points.

Kuros: You hear a faint buzzing, and see a black dot appear several miles away in the air.

Alyssa: "Look! Up in the sky!"

Casteen looks cautiously toward whatever is heading their direction.

Kuros: It quickly resolves into another wasp like the ones you are riding.

Kuros: (Yup, it is Caran)

Caran glances around, wondering what the ehll is going on

Lei_Zu has his hands concealed in his sleeves as he often does when not sure if to expect trouble or not.

Casteen: (Is he close enough to speak to?)

Lei Zu is a Realm-born man with green eyes and black hair tied back into an orderly braid. He wears expensive clothes in a shade of blue so dark it is almost black.

Casteen shouts to Caran, "Hey, we're gonna touch down over near that flattened area. Follow us!"

Caran nods, then replies "I sense I've missed something." as he motions to the flaming village.

Alyssa: "The undead appear to have been raised."

Caran: "Did any of us do it?" Caran asks, smiling.

Alyssa: "Do I look like the Mistress of Pacts Sealed in Blood?"

Lei_Zu: "Much more alive."

Kuros: The area is nearly half a mile north of the village, several hundred yards west of the road. The ground is riddled with holes, each one slightly over a foot deep, and the length and width of a human body.

Kuros: The grass around the graves is brown and withered, and crumbles to dust under your feet.

Caran: "Interesting creatures." Caran says as e climbs off the bug.

Lei_Zu: After dismounting Lei Zu bows toward Caran in greeting. "Since my previous alias has become known to the Wyld Hunt I have now assumed the name and appearance of Lei Zu. I hope this won't lead to confusion."

Caran: "Understood."

Alyssa: "'Casteen'", Alyssa waves at Son, "Chose well, it seems. Very able steeds."

Lei_Zu: nods. "They have been useful."

Caran: "So, what is this about the Wyld Hunt?"

Lei_Zu: "After you left for Northeast Spoke one turned up at the village near the tomb."

Caran: "Did you see who was leading it?"

Lei_Zu: "One old Water Aspect, a younger Fire Aspect and one Dragonblooded of unknown aspect. We left instead of waiting for their reinforcements to arrive, so we don't know how many more there are."

Caran winces at the word reinforcments

Lei_Zu: "They might only have been talking about mortal troops, but we can't be sure."

Alyssa: "And not a risk that I care to take. How are your own soldiers, Caran?"

Caran: "I don't know. The bug caught up to me before I made it to Spoke, and I thought coming straight here was the best course."

Alyssa: "All things considered, your presence might make all the difference," Alyssa says. "Necromancy isn't all that widespread, not on this scale. It's unlikely we're dealing with less than a deathknight."

Lei_Zu: "The question is, what is that Deathknight trying to achieve here?"

Alyssa: "When we find her - or him - we shall find out, I think."

Caran: "Deathknight you say. And a Wyld Hunt on our tail as well?" Caran smiles. "Certainly not a boring life we lead."

Alyssa: "No, that it is not."

Lei_Zu: "So it seems. I must say, I could do without the complication of the Wyld Hunt. The time for that confrontation has not yet come."

Alyssa: "No. But that time is coming. One way or another."

Lei_Zu nods. "It is inevitable. And the Wyld Hunt is only the beginning of course."

Alyssa: "Yes. Thankfully, the Realm does not seem inclined to send out armies for the moment. Otherwise, there could be a hundred river barges on the river and a Wing of Imperial soldiers enjoying my wine cellar."

Lei_Zu: "In time the Realm as whole will come to object to our presence, plans and achievements."

Caran: "Truthfully, I await the day we can stand and face the Hunt on our terms."

Alyssa: "Yes. The trappings of power: armies, followers... these aren't things we had in the past to bolster our egos. We need them as much as they need us."

Lei_Zu: "It's not so much the question whether we can as it is whether that would be to our advantage, I'd say."

Lei_Zu: "A destroyed hunt confirms our presence, leaves witnesses unless we kill every single shikari and proves that we are a grave threat. As long as we avoid a direct confrontation their resources will be drained and further action delayed."

Lei_Zu: "Of course this has to be weighed against the disruption to our plans they represent. But for the moment I don't think we stand to gain from a battle."

Alyssa: "Oh now, certainly. They would gladly lose every member of a Hunt just to kill one of us. We would be the losers if they manage that."

Alyssa: "At some point, however, to be able to throw them back would make a very clear statement to potential allies that we are a power worthy of their attention. And a warning to the Realm that we are not hunted any more, we are hunters."

Caran: "You both say true. Still, I still long to see them all broken and powerless."

Alyssa: "That day will come. I hope though, that it is not also the day that the Demons or the Dead are triumphant."

Lei_Zu: "There is no place for the Dead in the new world order if they are all as enarmored with senseless violence as the Mistress or whoever did this."

Lei_Zu: "If that proves to be the case, they are merely another in the long list of obstacles and adversaries to overcome."

Lei Zu walks the perimeter of the disturbed grave area looking for tracks of a potential necromancer

Alyssa examines one of the holes

Kuros: The holes are roughly the length and width of a human body, and a little over a foot deep.

Alyssa: (is the bottom the actual bottom or is it loose material?)

Alyssa: (poke it with my staff)

Kuros: It is solid at the bottom

Kuros: There are no tool marks around the edges of the holes. In the bottom of the graves, you can see scraps of cloth and broken bits of clay and stone...

Alyssa: "Shallow graves... do people NEVER learn?"

Casteen looks around for any obvious signs of sorcery.

Kuros: (THe only obvious sign is the brown, dead grass...)

Lei_Zu returns from walking the perimeter. "Someone came here by wagon and then returned to the road." He points in the direction.

Alyssa: "How long ago do you think?"

Lei_Zu: "It's been longer than one day, beyond that I can't tell."

Lei_Zu: "What about these graves, is the disturbance fresher than that or older?"

Kuros: (The earth is still dark and moist)

Alyssa: "I think fresher. But who knows how long it took for them to rise."

Casteen: "Well, if those wagon wheels are related, I'm not entirely sure how. I see no marks in the area that are generally required for necromancy of this sort."

Caran: "Can you tell which way the wagon headed?"

Lei_Zu: "So, we have some unknown person, possibly a Deathknight, who seeks out this graveyard and does his necromancy, then leaves again leaving the risen dead to their own devices."

Lei_Zu: "Back to the road, I'd have to check in which direction is went from there."

Caran: "Hmmm. They seem to be our only lead."

Lei_Zu nods and quickly follows the tracks to the road, trying to discern in which the wagon went from there

Lei_Zu returns at a jog. "It seems they were going northwest from here."

Lei_Zu: (Zu will have measured the exact width of the tracks to possibly compare it later on)

Lei_Zu: "Son, you said there aren't any marks of necromancy - what else could have been involved?"

Caran: "Follow the tracks? I see little else to work with."

Casteen shakes his head. "Necromancy isn't really my specialty, but I would say that it could have been a god or it could have been an artifact."

Lei_Zu: "There are gods for this kind of thing? What good is that?"

Casteen: "Well, a god of death or decay or something might be angry with the villagers and seeking vengeance."

Casteen: "Or even a god of this specific burial site."

Lei_Zu: "Is there any way to find out if that is the case?"

Casteen: "We would have to find and ask the god in question."

Alyssa activates Spirit-Detecting Glance on the offchance

Alyssa: (are there any dematerialised spirits that look as if they might be involved?)

Lei_Zu: "From what I've heard this kind of thing has happened more than once in this area, so it would have to be a regional god of sorts, if I understand this right. We should keep this in mind but pursue the Deathknight/necromancer leads first."

Alyssa: "I think I have a witness."

Lei_Zu: "Oh?"

Casteen turns to Alyssa. "What do you mean?"

Alyssa walks a few steps. "What happened here?"

Caran watches Alyssa, wondering what she's doing

Lei_Zu waits to see what becomes of this

Alyssa: "I am Chosen. Who are you?"

Alyssa: "What happened here, Tien? What happened to your charges?"

Alyssa: "Can you describe the man and the wagon to me. I believe that justice should be done for this."

Kuros: With a ripple in the air, a man appears in the center of the battlefield. He is short, and thin. His black hair is long and stringy, and his flesh is deathly pale.

Kuros: "You are all Chosen?"

Alyssa: "We are."

Casteen nods. "Yes."

Caran: "Yes."

Lei_Zu slightly shifts his stance, his hands hidden in his voluminous sleeves. He doesn't anwer but doesn't contradict Alyssa's answer for all of them either.

Kuros: "The man wore a red robe, and the wagon was drawn by a single horse. It was old."

Alyssa: "When was he here, Tien?"

Kuros: "Two days ago."

Kuros: "At midnight."

Kuros: "My charges didn't rise until some few hours ago."

Lei_Zu: "Besides his red robe, what can you tell us about his appearance?"

Kuros: "He wore cloth around his face. I couldn't see."

Kuros: The god sighs, gets on his knees, and begins to fill in one of the graves.

Alyssa: "Thank you for your help."

Kuros: "There was a battle here, centuries ago, you know."

Alyssa: "I surmised as much."

Lei_Zu makes a note in his little book

Kuros: "The orb he used was silver, but I could hear it screaming."

Caran looks to Alyssa. "Nice work. I'd have never thought of that"

Alyssa: "We'll have to move fast if we wish to catch this red robed man." Alyssa says. "It was what L- our companion said that suggested the possibility to me."

Lei_Zu silently bows to the god in thanks

Lei_Zu: "Since he has two days head start we should use the agatae. On foot we won't catch up with him."

Alyssa: "The wagon may be more distinctive than a robe he might not be wearing any more."

Caran: "Seems like the best choice, though I'd prefer a mount a little more subtle."

Lei_Zu: "We will have to fly high enough not to be identfied and low enough to see."

Alyssa: "Well, if that's how it has to be done then that's all that we can do."

Lei_Zu: "There might be additional gravesites he has disturbed. If we see more places where the grass is afflicted like it is here, that might help in following him."

Alyssa: "That would make matters easier... and more horrific."

Kuros: (The village is almost completey gone now. All the buildings are mostly piles of burning rubble now.)

Caran: (pairing up on the bugs is probably a good idea)

Kuros: (More than half the zombies have burned to death, the rest are just milling around the outskirts of the village.)

Kuros: Following the road north, you pass several villages, but none seem to be on fire. Or suffering an unusual zombie immigration problem

Casteen: "Hm. I wonder why only that one village would have been targeted."

Lei_Zu: "Maybe the only one with a conveniently located and unguarded graveyard?"

Alyssa: (are there any other roads - major ones, not local ones?)

Kuros: (Not until you get to Lanterntown, which is quite close by now.)

Alyssa: (how far would Lanterntown be from the village?)

Kuros: (The one that burned? Close to 100 miles north.)

Alyssa: (were there any carts on the road?)

Kuros: (Quite a few. Also travelers on foot, on horseback, and in wagon trains.)

Kuros: (None in bright red robes, though.)

Kuros: The next village after the burned one is a bit bigger, and is about 40 miles north.

Kuros: It looks to have quite a few inns, and serve mainly as a waystation on the route going south from Lanterntown to Nexus.

Kuros: You would guess only a few hundred people live there.

Alyssa asks directions to the village mayor or headman

Kuros: We'll assume you ask a random person in the dusty area that serves as the town square...

Lei_Zu transforms his expensive dark blue silks into less conspicuous clothes before entering the village

Kuros: She points to a low building, that is a bit larger than the rest. It is old and wooden, but seems solidly built.

Kuros: "Mayor Wan works from there. If he's sober, that is."

Kuros: She giggles and hurries off.

Alyssa goes to the building, in search of Mayor Wan.

Caran: trails behind Alyssa, following her lead

Casteen: shall follow at the rear of the group.

Kuros: The interior is a maze of small offices and tiny hallways, and a haze of tobacco smoke permeates everything.

Kuros: In one of the larger offices towards the back, you see a large, portly, balding man dressed in bright red and black clothing reading through some paper

Kuros: The room reeks of rice wine.

Alyssa: "Mayor Wan?" Alyssa says pleasently.

Kuros: He looks up as you enter, blinks, and gets a lecherous smile on his face. "That I am, my dear."

Kuros: He looks you up and down.

Kuros: (What are Caran and Casteen doing?)

Casteen: (I'll follow into the office, but I'm trying to look rather unassuming)

Caran: (staying behind Alyssa and being quiet)

Kuros: "I haven't seen you around here before. What brings you to our little town?"

Alyssa: "I have a warning for you," Alyssa says seriously. "Someone has been raising the dead. A village a few days south of here was burnt to the ground and the perpetrator was last seen travelling in this direction."

Kuros: He stands up, swaying slightly on his feet, and his words are a bit slurred. He gestures towards a rather precarious looking chair in front of his desk.

Alyssa: Alyssa rests one hand on the back of the chair but does not sit.

Kuros: He blinks, and sits down, looking a bit paler.

Kuros: "The...the dead?"

Alyssa: "That is so."

Kuros: "I had heard rumors, but I thought they were just that."

Alyssa: "Sadly not. The description we have had is of a man wearing a red robe, traveling with a horse and cart."

Kuros: "Thank you for the warning. I'll have to request troops from Lanterntown."

Alyssa: "Have there been any visitors here matching that description?"

Kuros: "Not that I know of. I'll be sure to put it in my message, though."

Kuros: "Thank you again for bringing me this news."

Alyssa: "No thanks are required," Alyssa says calmly. "When I find the man responsible and his associates, I intend to ensure that he NEVER does this again. Do you know what a village getting sacked looks like, Mayor Wan?"

Kuros: "I can't say that I do."

Kuros: He gets a piece of paper, and begins to write

Alyssa: "Be glad of that. Oh, while I'm here, do you know of anyone who might have a red robe?"

Kuros: He doesn't look up. "I'm sure many people here have red robes. It is a popular color."

Alyssa: "I suppose I'll have to look around then. Horrible thing to say, but I have to at least consider that he might be from here. That would be unfortunate."

Alyssa bows and heads for the door.

Casteen follows closely behind Alyssa.

Caran follows as well.

Kuros: Wan looks up at you, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face. "I don't know who you are, but I do not suggest you interfere with our internal affairs."

Alyssa: Alyssa does nothing to indicate that she heard him.

Lei_Zu meanwhile methodically walks around the village, listening to people and poking around everywhere

Lei_Zu: (Easily Overlooked Presence Method)

Kuros: (Looking for anything in specific?)

Lei_Zu: (1) are they talking about anything related to the attacks 2) (obviously) do I see a man in a red robe, 3) asking random people if they have seen such a man, relying on EOPM to make myself innocuous 4) if none of the above get my anything, he might get desperate enough to compare carts to the measurements he's taken)

Kuros: 1) No, but the news probably hasn't had time to travel this far. Remember, your wasps travel at 30 miles per hour. 2) No

Kuros: You do pick up some rumors of it having happened two or three other times in the past 3 months.

Kuros: 3) People get funny looks on their faces when you ask, and hurry away

Lei_Zu: As the villager turns to hurry away Gavane holds him by the arm, without hurting him but in an inescapable grip. "What's the matter? Answer the question."

Kuros: The man gulps, and begins to sweat.

Kuros: "We don't talk about them."

Kuros: "We can't."

Lei_Zu: "Them? Why can't you talk about 'them'?"

Kuros: "They'll kill me!"

Kuros: "Just let me go, please!"

Lei_Zu steps closer. "They won't know. They are not here - I am." His green eyes bore into his without blinking.

Kuros: The man backs into a building wall. "I really don't know anything except they come from Lanterntown!"

Lei_Zu: "What are they called? What do they do? Are any of them in the village right now?"

Kuros: "I don't know! They just appear, and then disappear!"

Kuros: "Everyone hears rumors, but I don't know anything else!"

Lei_Zu: "What are those rumours?"

Kuros: "That they are demons, or ghosts, and they've been around for centuries."

Lei_Zu: "And the Immaculate Order does nothing about them?"

Kuros: "What? There's no Immaculate Order in Lanterntown."

Lei_Zu smiles thinly "Then perhaps others forces will have to intervene. You have been helpful to us."

Lei_Zu: He gives the man a silver piece and lets him go.

Kuros: He takes it, gapes at it, then turns and runs

Lei_Zu lets his EOPM reassert itself, then walks around some more before waiting for the others where everyone entered the village

Alyssa: (for the record, the Mayor really wants me to leave town in a hurry)

Alyssa goes to meet Lei Zu outside the village

Alyssa: "I think we've got lucky already - the Mayor practically wet himself when I mentioned that robe."

Alyssa: "Do you think you could keep a close eye on him, Zu? It seems to me that he's likely to lead us right to our prey."

Caran: "So he knows who we are after?"

Lei_Zu: "I have additional information that makes that seem unlikely."

Alyssa: "Oh?"

Lei_Zu: "There are rumours going around of these red-robed people - that they are demons or ghosts, have been around for centuries and appear and disappear mysteriously."

Lei_Zu: "The man I talked to was afraid they'd kill him, if he spoke about them."

Lei_Zu: "That would account for the mayor's nervousness."

Lei_Zu: "Oh, and they are based in Lanterntown according to these rumours."

Lei_Zu: "Now, rumours are not facts, but they ARE a good basis for further investigation ..."

Alyssa: "I see. In that case I really want to know what the good Mayor will be putting in the letter he started writing to them. Still, it will probably be encrypted. So, Lanterntown?"

Casteen nods. "Definitely. It's the only real lead we have, besides."

Caran: "Agreed."

Lei_Zu: "Oh? How is he sending the letter? If you think it likely that intercepting it will give us further information ..."

Lei_Zu: "But yes, apart from that Laterntown is where we should go."

Alyssa: "Unfortunately, I don't know how he's sending it."

Lei_Zu: "If there's a whole group of these people, that is cause for concern indeed."

Caran: "A group of people raising the dead. Why I wonder. What is their game?"

Lei_Zu: "If you leave me one of the agatae while you go ahead to Lanterntown, I can see what I can do about that letter."

Casteen nods. "I am sure that would not be an issue."

Alyssa: "Is your Manse near here, Casteen?"

Casteen points North East, toward a clearly visible mountain. "It's just over that direction, not terribly far."

Lei_Zu: "I should hurry then. Where do we meet up again?"

(a place to meet is presumably agreed upon)

Kuros: (Lanterntown will take you a few hours to fly to.)

Kuros: Lantern is spread out across two sides of a river, and is quite large. Two large bridges cross the river, linking both sides.

Kuros: You see quite a few barges and ships in the river section bordering the town

Kuros: The city itself is full of multicolored lights, instead of the typical smoky yellow

Alyssa: "Ah, Lanterns. No wonder."

Caran: "I see why they named the town so."

Kuros: on the east bank, there are two gates, one leading into the north edge of the town, and one heading out of the south end

Kuros: on the west bank, there's only one road meandering off to the northwest

Alyssa: (which side of the river were the villages on?)

Kuros: The river flows to the southwest, whereas the road the villagers were on is to the southeast

Kuros: So, the east, but they were miles from the river.

Alyssa: "Well, I think we can hope for a better hostelry this time."

Kuros: (The city is several square miles at least. It has around 40,000 people.)

Kuros: (Not nearly nexus size...)

Kuros: (But still sizable

Caran: "I'm not very sure where we should begin?"

Casteen shrugs. "I do not know. We'll just have to ask the locals what they might know."

Alyssa: "Well, possibly a temple would be the place to start. These red robes sound almost like a cult, so a temple - even an Immaculate temple, hard as it is to admit - would be a possible source of information."

Caran: "... I don't look forward to walking in to an Immaculate temple."

Casteen frowns. "Neither do I."

Alyssa: "I mentioned them only as a last resort. There are likely other temples."

Casteen: "Yeah, there probably are."

Kuros: (Landing...?)

Alyssa: (out of sight of the city, then walking I think(

Kuros: There's a constant stream of people into and out of Lanterntown, so it is easy to blend in.

Alyssa: (if it's getting late, an inn for the night should be the first priority)

Kuros: (It is rather late, yes.)

Kuros: There's quite a few, from cheap dives, to multi-level borderline palaces farther in the city.

Kuros: (Let's stop here, if everyone is ok with it. I need to figure out how to get my maps uploaded.)

Alyssa: when's the next game?

Kuros: (Next Friday, 1PM)

Lei_Zu: any xp?

Kuros: 7xp

Lei Zu's hunt for the mayor's letter

Lei_Zu: Once we have an agreed upon place to meet again Lei Zu will take up Easily Overlooked Presence Method again and visit the mayor's place.

Kuros: It is late evening. Do you go immediately?

Lei_Zu: (yes, ideally I'd like to see him finish the letter so I know hwere it goes)

Lei_Zu: (Once there add mundane stealth and Mental Invisibility Technique to see what he's doing and if I can find that letter.)

Kuros: The mayor is not in his office.

Lei_Zu goes through his things, looking for just-finished letters (and if something else seems suspicious he can look at it later)

Kuros: You find quite a few letters. The ones you skim over (unless you want to take more time to read each) seem to deal mainly with town business, taxes, trade, that sort of thing.

Kuros: But no letter.

Kuros: There is a stack of fresh parchment on the desk, though

Lei_Zu: In that case Zu stealthily moves through the rest of the building looking for either the mayor or anything else that might help me find that letter.

Kuros: You find a lot more paper, and a few people working late, but no mayor.

Lei_Zu: Ok, Plan B: Zu leaves the building, drops Mental Invisibility and enters it again, to speak to the first person he can find

Kuros: You find an old woman laboriously binding paper with string, and stacking them into cubby holes set into the wall.

Lei_Zu: "Excuse me?"

Kuros: She grunts in surprise, and drops the scrolls."

Kuros: "Look what you made me do!"

Kuros: Groaning, she gets on her knees and begins to pick them up

Lei_Zu: "Oh, I'm sorry." He helps her if he can.

Kuros: "Who are you, anyway? I haven't seen you before."

Kuros: She glares at you suspiciously, holding her bundles of paper

Lei_Zu: "I'm on the way to Lanterntown, but I'm staying in town for the night at <name of inn>. The thing is, I need to send a message ahead to Lanterntown and I thought the mayor's office would be the best place to find a way to send it."

Kuros: "Do we look like a post station, young man?"

Kuros: She sighs in exasperation.

Lei_Zu: "No, but I thought if anyone knows how to get a message there, if would be the mayor's office."

Lei_Zu: He shrugs apologetically.

Kuros: "There's a post station in town."

Kuros: "They have fast riders if you're in a hurry, but it costs a lot."

Kuros: She begins to put away her papers, sniffing

Lei_Zu: "I must have missed that. My, is my face red. Thank you."

Kuros: She doesn't reply, absorbed in her work.

Lei_Zu goes to find the post station

Kuros: It's a small building with a large stable in the back. You can hear (and smell) horses as you approach.

Kuros: You see a light burning in the window

Lei_Zu: Wrapped in his aura of unimportantness and walking quietly Zu begins to check the stables for recent departures.

Kuros: A few stalls are empty

Lei_Zu looks around for someone tending to the horses

Kuros: You find a stall with fresh hay and feed, but no horse.

Kuros: And there is no one tending the horses.

Lei_Zu: Walking slowly but confidently as if his presence is nothing out of the ordinary Lei Zu approaches the door from the stables to the post building and enters.

Kuros: The door opens into a small room. Across one wall are square cubbies with rolls of paper sticking out of various ones. In the back of the room, there is a wooden table covered with even more papers. Behind that is a large, portly man looking over a piece of paper.

Kuros: He's dressed in a uniform, and apparently knows how to read and write.

Kuros: And he is older, late fifties.

Kuros: He looks up as the door opens, and a flicker of annoyance crosses his face.

Lei_Zu: As he gets up Lei Zu clears his throat, calling attention to himself.

Kuros: The man whirls to face you. "Wh-- What-- Who are you?"

Lei_Zu makes a confused face. "Who, me? I'm Bley. Sorry to have startled you."

Lei_Zu: "Who are you?" The question immediately follows his previous statement as to keep the man off balance.

Kuros: He goes back to his desk, settling himself into his chair. "I'm the postmaster, boy. What business do you have here?"

Lei_Zu: "Oh, good. Did you already send the rider to Lanterntown?"

Kuros: He narrows his eyes. "Official communications are not your business. Now be off with you, unless you have some business!"

Lei_Zu: "Oh. I just thought, I could send a message with the same rider and it might be cheaper that way. But if he's already left ..."

Kuros: "I can get your message there by tommorow night, if you need it."

Kuros: "Won't be cheap, though."

Kuros: He squints at you.

Lei_Zu: After waiting a moment to see the mans reaction Lei Zu bows slightly. "Sorry to have wasted your time then. No way I can afford that." His voice is a little sad.

Kuros: He grunts, and goes back to reading his papers.

Lei_Zu leaves the building, leaves the village, goes to rendesvouz with his agata

Lei_Zu: He then commands it to fly along the road leading to Lanterntown, looking to catch up with the rider. Going by air he should be able to catch up with him.

Kuros: The bug takes off, and heads north. Even at night, the road is relatively busy, but you do see a rider galloping north.

Lei_Zu: (does he have a post uniform, too? how many villages are there between this one and Lanterntown? how far away is the next one and could the rider reach the next one?)

Kuros: (You can't tell about his uniform from this far up. 1 village. The next one is about 20 miles away. Yes, he can reach it.)

Lei_Zu turns his clothes night black and makes sure his face is well covered. "The hard way then," he sighs.