[Pathfinder] Return of the Runelords, part 4: Farewell to the Roadkeepers

 

Hastily scribbled sidebar note from Seren: 

The ferry operator is Lullaby Vankaskerkin. She leases it from the owner, Hallen, who's grown too old to operate it in person. Lullaby had a helper who drowned under suspicious circumstances and was only recently replaced by the suspicious person who appeared to send a messenger bird when we crossed the river.

Enough trying to write you letters, Master Taeral. I'll take notes in my journal and tell you about it when I see you again. 

We questioned Dolland further and he told us that the 'C' who signed the note to him is named Cassias! But we're not sure if she's the same Cassias who Mayor Thort blames for Sir Roderic's death. It seems unlikely, as this Cassias is too young, and Dolland says that's a common name in this region. Fox kept asking if she had an unusual sword, which Dolland said she did but it didn't sound anything like the Sword of Pride. 

Dolland admitted he's joined the Roadkeepers years ago, and had only lately become involved with this Cassias, who's a member of a group called the Peacocks in Roderic's Cove. He'd reached out to her for funding to buy some special equipment, as the Roadkeepers were trying break into an ancient vault underground that had a very complex combination lock. Cassias had sent him a set of very high quality lockpicks made of platinum. He'd been imprisoned by the other Roadkeepers because they'd found the note from Cassias, and they considered it stealing from them if he used her equipment to open the vault.

At first Fox thought we ought to take all of his things, but Hunter pointed out he wouldn't have much incentive to help us any further if we took his belongings. In the end we agreed to give everything back to Dolland if he'd help us open the vault. I would have liked to leave it unopened since it's likely it has something to do with Alaznist and that's nothing to toy with, but since so many people are aware of it that doesn't seem like a possibility. If we don't open it someone else will.

Dolland also cleared up some confusion for us about the Roadkeepers. Their leader is the goblin Cheektooth as we'd heard, but Cheektooth and the goblin who's inscribed dagger we'd found, Snucktooth, are actually the same goblin. 

We asked him what he knew about the Peacocks and that turned out to be a disturbing tale. They're a group of nobles who've been secretly meeting in Sir Roderic's manor! They've bribed the guards to look the other way. Dolland doesn't think the mayor knows anything about this. He claims she actually has little power in the town. 

Next we questioned Dolland about the odd room with the glowing blue light that we'd seen in the passage that had partly collapsed. He explained that inside the room is a teleportation circle that can transport a person to one of two locations. One of these locations is another room, not connected to the teleportation room in any other way, in which a permanent zone of truth spell has been cast, as well as a wall of force. It is a meeting room where the occupants cannot lie, and they cannot attack one another because the half of the room on the other side of the barrier can only be accessed from a second teleportation circle! What an ingenious construction! I may fear the Runelords, but I can't deny how amazing some of their creations are. Thus a person can only enter each side of the Room of Truth from a separate teleportation circle, and each circle can only carry a person who activates it to one and only one side of the Room of Truth or to another part of the subterranean structure on the other side of the mountain.

We asked Dolland to go with us to the teleportation room we could access and show us how it worked. On the way he told us there was a goblin who spent all his time in the Room of Truth because he found it amusing to be forced to constantly tell the truth. 

As soon as I looked inside the teleportation room and saw the Thassilonian runes covering the walls I understood how the circle worked. A touch of one rune would send the person to one location, a second rune to send them to the second location. After we looked over the room we moved into a second workshop next to the one where we'd found Dolland's belongings, but this room was entirely empty and long disused. We made a bargain with Dolland that if we let him go he would leave and not go to tell the Peacocks anything. I don't know if we can trust him, but our other option would have been to kill him.

We returned to the teleportation room and used it to transfer ourselves to the second teleportation room. Only four could go at one time, so I waited with Lonn while the others went through first. A passage led out from the room into a larger area of rough-hewn stone. This was where the goblins could usually be found according to Dolland. Zinovia went in first as she's able to see in darkness. Dolland pointed out the structure where Cheektooth could usually be found, but there were goblins inside singing and we were able to creep past unnoticed. The vault lay beyond that in a corner behind a purple curtain. A staircase led down between Cheektooth's lair and the vault.

After Hunter and Lonn looked at the lock on the vault, they realized the symbols were the same as those on the fragment of paper Lonn had from Sir Roderic's things. Together they were able to determine what the combination was to open the lock.

Inside there was evidence that the room was actually a mage's magnificent mansion, and it had contained a fiery trap for robbers that had already been set off at some time in the past. Dolland had mentioned signs that someone had tried to open the vault ten years earlier, which I suspect was Sir Roderic. There was a chest in the vault that had held some books, which had sadly been burned beyond usefulness. There was also another sword case like the one we'd found in the Wreck, with the name Baraket on it. The chest also held a pair of gauntlets that I examined and found very interesting and a bit frightening. I believe they are meant to protect the wearer from an intelligent weapon that is capable of controlling its wielder's mind. Perhaps the Sword of Pride is such a weapon. 

Zinovia was keeping watch on Cheektooth's lair while the rest of us examined the contents of the vault. Suddenly she was approached by a goblin. She hit him and he fell down but survived. After she looked him over she realized that he seemed to be lacking his wits, although he was unusually hardy. 

Then another goblin attacked her and promptly fell to her blade, never to rise again. Afterward Zinovia discovered that the witless goblin had a collar on with the word "Grumble" engraved on it in the common tongue. 

At that point everything changed when Cheektooth came out of his lair. We'd forgotten to take care how much noise we made. I ran up and threw a flurry of snowballs at him, and afterward a pair of missiles. Zinovia and Hunter both went at him toe to toe with their weapons, Hunter even pushing him back inside his lair. Cheektooth hurled out a ball of fire and after that I was unaware of what happened until several potions and wands had been used to revive me. Everyone else was injured too, but Cheektooth was dead and several other goblins as well. We took Cheektooth's flaming dog-slicer that he was so proud of (or so we were told), as well as his other ill-gotten gains.

When everyone was healthy enough we went north into an area we realized must have been an armory at one time. Fox went first and saw that there were more goblins ahead around a fire. He blasted them with his own fire, and that was all it took to be rid of them. Burnt goblin smells awful.

Then a creature suddenly appeared, though I couldn't see it from the narrow passage I stood in at that moment. It fascinated Lonn with its gaze, and Hunter had a long struggle with it. I crept out of the passage and let it feel my frosty ray a few times to help him. The creature was a goblin snake, and it proved much hardier than the goblins Fox had set fire to. Hunter finally rid us of it. It could speak, disturbingly, and it had an ioun stone whizzing about its head, one that granted it enhanced strength.

Moving farther north we found the exit from the lair, and a pair of goblin dogs tied up in a side chamber. There were two goblins standing guard outside that Zinovia and Hunter easily dealt with. We didn't feel safe letting the goblin dogs free and didn't want to leave them to starve so Fox got rid of them. 

When we'd cleared that area and explored everything, we went back to where we'd found Dolland. Zinovia, Lonn and Fox took turns going into the Room of Truth to talk to the goblin there. He didn't have much useful information, but he did have possession of four thunderstones and another ioun stone, and a wand containing a fireball spell. Zinovia spent quite a long time talking to him. She's surprisingly soft-hearted for such a fierce warrior. She insisted on taking Grumble, the witless goblin, along with us when we left. But in the end she didn't prevent Hunter from slaying the goblin in the Room of Truth. I suppose the teleportation rooms were meant to be under guard to prevent that sort of thing from happening.

With all the goblins eliminated and Dolland seen off, we decided to spend the night in the Roadkeepers' hideout as all of us who can use magic had expended most of what was available to us by then. I had nothing left but my ray of frost and a light spell, and my mage armor had worn off.

The next day we decided to deal with the two rooms where we'd found the fungi. We felt much less fearful of them after dealing with all the goblins, and we discovered that the fungi weren't particularly dangerous after all. There was little of use in either of those rooms. Then we left, taking our one Roadkeeper prisoner with us.

After Lullaby brought the ferry across for us we told her we'd eliminated the Roadkeepers and showed her Cheektooth's blade as proof. She gave us our trip free of charge. We also learned that the suspicious man who'd been working for her on our first voyage had suddenly run off. He'll be disappointed if he goes to the bandits' lair now. 

Zinovia is still very interested in finding out where Grumble came from. The goblin in the Room of Truth had told her that Grumble was found in a box in the river and the goblins who found him had thrown the box back into the water. She and Hunter went for a swim and eventually found the remains of what they thought was the box, which had come from a merchant transporting wild animals. So we still don't know much about Grumble. He keeps trying to lick her. I'm not sure why she wants to keep him. 

Next: part 5, An Unexpected Party

[Pathfinder] Return of the Runelords, part 3: Hunt for the Roadkeepers

 

Seren Aelsonor

Master Taeral - 

After we finished our investigation of the haunted building, we retired to our rooms at the inn to rest. The next day we gave Kynae a morning meal, after which we planned to meet with the guards at the warehouse Kynae had told us he had seen Roadkeepers near. We went to the market first so Hunter could purchase soom tools for opening locks, and Fox and Lonn both bought wands of healing like the one Hunter has. 

The guards who met us at the warehouse had brought a list of all the items that were meant to be in the warehouse. The guards told us that they didn't know how the Roadkeepers kept getting back inside the town.

The warehouse

The warehouse proved to hold nothing of interest. It took us some time to go through it, but we found no parcels or crates that weren't on the list the guards brought, nor could Fox find any hidden exits or compartments in the building.

When we had left the warehouse Hunter and Lonn had a conversation about how Lonn had avoided fighting anything in the house and whether he was opposed to doing so. Lonn seemed to feel he isn't skilled in combat, but said he will help fight in the future.

We looked at the map fragment we'd found, which seemed to point toward the Churlwood outside of Roderic's Cove. We decided that we should investigate that location next. The wood is half a day's walk from town, so we gathered up all of our gear with the assumption we'd be staying overnight. We took the ferry across the river. Hunter noticed one of the other passengers seemed to be behaving a bit suspiciously, and also took a small bird out of his sleeve and sent it away. As soon as we disembarked from the ferry we tried to follow the bird, with Zinovia taking the lead as she was the only member of our group who had seen which direction it flew. We soon realized that the bird was heading in the same direction we had been planning to go.

We lost track of the bird and kept heading toward the hill that we'd seen on the map. It was getting late, and when we came to a clearing with a large lone tree at its center we decided to camp there overnight. There were signs that someone else had camped there before us but it had been a week or more earlier. Zinovia worried that the area was too open if someone had been warned of our approach. We were about to move into the trees to set up our camp when a creature suddenly emerged from within the tree.

I knew the creature was some sort of undead thing that could be dealt with using sharp-edged weapons. Lonn recalled that it was called a trailgaunt, a creature that despises travelers. The trailgaunt bit and clawed at Zinovia. She dealt it a might blow, and a second blow from Hunter rid us of the creature. Curiously this creature had a holy symbol of Desna in its possession. It also had an amulet that could protect the wearer against magic that affects the mind and will. Hunter suggested we give it to Zinovia as having her turned against us would be a dangerous situation. We also discovered the bodies of several people that had been slain and stuffed into a crack in the tree trunk, presumably by the trailgaunt. Lonn thought this was foolish of us as we didn't know any of these people, but we took the time to bury so they couldn't arise as undead themselves. 

Trailgaunt

Mind Sentinel medallion

Holy symbol of Desna

No people or animals approached the clearing during the night. The next morning we continued on to the hill we sought. There we found a small but sturdy structure surrounded by several merchants' wagons that had been emptied of their cargo. There were empty crates stacked all around them. Three people sat beside a large fire pit. 

One of the men by the fire asked if we'd come to trade. Hunter responded, "We trade with this!" and summoned his sword. One man responded that if we didn't want to barter we'd have to pay the road tax. Zinova poised for battle. The two of them swiftly downed one Roadkeeper, and Hunter asked the rest if they wanted to suffer the same fate while Zinovia roared at them that she had no use for their 'tax.' I took cover behind a wagon and sent my missiles at them. One of the brigands tried to flee, then stopped and turned to attack after Zinovia dropped his other compatriot. She took him down, too.

While Zinovia and Hunter checked the bodies for anything of interest, an old woman armed with a dagger in each hand emerged from the little building. Hunter asked her if she was a Roadkeeper, to which she answered that she just took care of the house. Fox asked her who was leader of the Roadkeepers, and though she was coy at first she did admit that the gang's leader was the goblin Cheektooth. She added that we couldn't miss him, as he had a big flaming sword. 

Hunter suggested that she might want to consider retirement to avoid the fate of the others, and that she should leave her knives. She agreed with him but would only leave one knife. Before she departed Lonn questioned her about where Cheektooth was and she revealed that there was something below the little building. It seems there may be tunnels that lead from the building to the location where Cheektooth can be found, which she told us was in a cave to the West where the goblins had a den. She also mentioned that the main work of the Roadkeepers was done here at this house, but the things they took were shipped to Riddleport. 

The old woman then took her dagger and walked off. Fox checked the dagger she left to make sure there was nothing dangerous about it. 

The little house seemed to have nothing in it but a pile of straw and a blanket for the old woman to sleep on. Fortunately Fox's spell for finding hidden doorways revealed a door that led to a descending stair. When we climbed down we were met by more Roadkeepers, who were dealt with fairly rapidly despite the tight space causing Zinovia to strike her sword on the finished stone walls several times. After the bandits were dealt with Hunter discovered a nearby room had some type of fungus creature in it. He shut and locked the door to keep it from coming out. It didn't seem capable of freeing itself. 

Phantom fungus

Zinovia had left one of the highwaymen alive, and he was questioned. The area under the house was all finished stonework that looked like it had been there for a long time. The Roadkeepers appeared to have been excavating a cave-in. The man revealed that they had found a statue of a woman, some magic circles, weapons, and traps there, as well as the fungus which they had intentionally trapped in the room wher Hunter found it. The man admitted they'd tried to slay the fungus with fire and acid but it didn't seem to be much harmed by those substances, and it was apparently also capable of teleporting or becoming ethereal so it could appear suddenly without warning. We decided to leave it in the room.

Hunter knocked the man unconscious and we went to look at the statue they'd found. It depicted a woman with her arm upraised as if giving a battle cry to exhort her followers, just as the Runelord of Wrath is always shown. But the sword she usually carries is missing. The statue radiates a faint trace of divination magic, as if Alaznist could use it to communicate with her followers. This may be an outpost of her territory.

Another staircase led down from this area. It opened into a larger chamber, pillared like the level above it. Zinovia went in first and heard some people talking. After she warned us, she immediately attacked the first person she came across. Two more Roadkeepers came to flank her. Fox and I began firing our ice and fire spells at them while they fought toe to toe with Zinovia and Hunter. Four of the Roadkeepers fell to their swords.

We decided to take a rest at that point and went back up to the little house on the surface while we did so. As I'd experienced while we were in Roderic's Wreck, after resting I could prepare spells from my book that I hadn't been able to use before. 

After our rest and return to the lower level, Zinovia found a box we'd overlooked earlier that proved to contain some very valuable and useful items. I came away with a collection of scrolls of various spells, some of them more powerful than I'm able to cast at present. Fox acquired a rod that can make his spells do more damage. 

When we moved on to another room we had yet to enter, we found more Roadkeepers awaiting us. I hung back in the doorway while Zinovia, Hunter, and Fox went into the passage to face them. At one point they had four people against them and Hunter cast a new spell that dropped one fellow immediately. One of the others ran away. We took everything they carried. Fox looked ahead and saw one of the areas they seemed to be engaged in excavating. A tunnel had been blocked by a collapse. Another room contained another fungus, although of a different variety, so we closed the door on it too. We could hear it hammering on the reinforced door but it seemed unlikely to break through.

To the right of the collapsed section was a door from beneath which a blue glow was visible. The door wasn't fully closed. We left it and turned to the door on the opposite side of the blocked passageway.

In that chamber we found a dwarf in a cell. He told us his name was Dolland and he'd been taken prisoner by the Roadkeepers and forced to make alchemical substances for them. We released him and escorted him to the workshop where his toolkit was kept, but somehow Hunter realized that his story was a lie and he was actually one of the Roadkeepers. He freely admitted this when Hunter pointed out his lie. 

Dolland

Dolland's cell

In the workshop Zinovia found another chest containing more valuables, including a magical bag and a silver holy symbol of the Peacock Spirit. There was also a note in the addressed to Dolland from someone named Corsela. 

Workshop

Peacock Spirit

Bag of holding

Corsela's note

Characters are now 3rd level.

Next: part 4, Farewell to the Roadkeepers

[RuneQuest] Brylaneth's Journey Continues: Life in Black Stag Vale

 

My name is Brylaneth daughter of Eonor of Black Stag Vale. I'll tell you the tale of the days after I became a woman.

Before I went into the Riddle, there was a feast day. We competed at games, dancing and singing, all of us who were of an age to be initiated and some of those where still children as well. Everyone was at the feast: Morganeth the priestess, her child Bothildr, Ernina Copper-Axe who served Babeester Gor, Keladon Blue-Eye the Eurmal trickster, Borkar the merchant and his wife Drugalla Apple-Cheeks, Enerin and Entessa and Erynn, Esrola and Harella, Jareena and Sabine. 

Wurk and Collan Fire-Hair had both gone through their initiations too, and Wurk was showing Erynn that he liked her. She was the foster-daughter of Goranor. That day was the first time I saw the Red Crow. He was watching us from above. Wurk's father told him we should stay away from Red Crow, but I didn't listen.

We had a contest of throwing javelins at a target. Bothildr wanted to compete with the young men and go through the men's initiation. I tried throwing my javelin against the other young women and my aim was good. I didn't win the contest but I hit the target well on my first round. The second round I missed. Bothildr's javelin nearly went through the target and came out the other side. 

Later on I watched Bothildr playing hide and seek with Ernina. I ran a footrace against Bothildr and did well, but Collan Fire-Hair well outran the priestess's child. I danced against Bothildr and lost at that, but I was the better singer of the two of us that day. I did better at that than when I danced for the Earth Mother. I didn't do so badly as to bring shame on my family, but I forgot the proper order of the steps.

When we all ate together the tale of the Black Stag and the Seven-Tailed Wolf was told, I remember. Esrola snuck off while we ate. Keladon Blue-Eye told stories of his tricking Fazzur Wideread. Then he told a grimmer tale, of the duck that warned the clan of danger.

On the eighth day after the initiation there was another feast.

On Fire Day of Movement Week in Sea Season of that year I helped for the first time as an adult with caring for the dead. An old woman, I can't remember her name. I helped the other women wash her body and say the prayers and sing over her, and we put out her hearth fire and stood watch over her for seven days.

Wild Day was the holy day for Issaries. Wurk sang and make a good speech. There were sacrifices and we enjoyed beer and ale. In the evening everyone gathered together. Arlanda flirted with Collan Fire-Hair and they went off behind a shed together. I spend a little while with Erynn and saw that she liked Wurk.

After the beginning of the year Wurk and Collan both acquired shadowcats. Wurk named his Rops and Collan called his Shadow. Wurk was sent to take some cattle from Cliff Shield to new pasture - Wurk's father Shorr was a herder. I went along because I didn't have any duties at home. We went with Gorhas and his son Andren. We heard an animal scream as we went along and found that two sabercats had brought down a ghost deer stag and were trying to slay the doe too. Wurk tried to scare them by beating his spear on his shield but they didn't care. I wanted to cast a befuddlement spell on the male cat but the magic wasn't in me then. Gorhas came to where we were and told Andren to take the cows away. He took his spear and thrust it at the cat. In the time since I've forgotten what happened to the cats, but I remember seeing the dead stag and hearing the doe's scream. 

The night after that I saw the Black Stag in a dream. I went to the village hall but I'd forgotten to put on my clothes. There was a circle of swords floating in front of me and I hid behind it until I found a robe to wear. There were other people at the hall but I didn't know why they were there. They didn't seem to see the swords. But the Black Stag saw the swords and he nodded and they disappeared. The Black Stag nodded at me. I saw the Inner Ring and the Outer Ring of the Vale there too, and Chabo the old cranky shaman. He smacked his apprentice with a stick. Then I saw the Red Crow with the Black Stag. He was painted white with ash and his hair stuck straight out. The Black Stag stepped back and I saw that Red Crow's shadow was shaped like a crow and it was red. He seemed big, and then he wasn't big because he didn't need to be big to impress anyone. He and the Black Stag seemed familiar with one another. Then the Stag was gone, and now I was with the Crow. The swords had come back, but they folded together and I felt an aura like an opening, a gateway to somewhere else. After that I woke.

Collan told us later he'd had a dream too, of a thane in the river that might have been a water spirit. This spirit came out of the water as a brown-haired young man wearing nice clothes. He mirrored Collan's movements. He had a huge goblet in his hand that he used to scoop some fish out of the river, and Collan knew this was a good omen. Then he woke up.

Wurk said he dreamed about Erynn.

In Illusion week of Sea Season, Wurk got permission from his father to talk to Borkar about learning the ways of a merchant. Wurk didn't want to be a herdsman like his father. Erynn said she'd wait for him.

A few days later Wurk arranged to teach some children about herding so they could help his father when he went off with Borkar. He sought Aventarl's younger brother Doraso from Bear Fallen. Aventarl told him to talk to the thane, Ernina Copper-Axe, but get to know her first. 

At that same time I decided to seek out Red Crow. I went to the west side of the plateau where I had seen him before in the waking world and saw him with the Stag again. The Stag went off to the west and Red Crow strolled northward. I followed him and walked faster until I caught up with him. We came to a place in a ravine where there was a waterfall, and Red Crow went behind it. I hesitated. I could smell food. I looked around the waterfall and realized it was like a curtain and I could walk behind it. There was a cave behind the water. 

Red Crow was in the cave cooking. He nodded to me to sit down and then nodded for me to get some bowls. He gave me some good fish stew. It had some vegetable in it I didn't recognize. In person he wasn't as big as he seemed in my dream.

We didn't talk while we ate, but after a while he said to me that he knew I was a good student and he could use a helper and I could learn. He also told me that if I saw a crow to consider it him, and to consider him the crow. If both were in the cave they were both him. 

After that I went to the cave whenever I could. I cleaned and took care of things for him. There were lots of interesting things in his cave, but he told me not to touch them. He still didn't talk much, but he did tell me about the uses of herbs and plants that the women in the Vale don't use for potions or poultices.

Wurk found several kids to take over the herding for him. He had Andren, and the twins Kiyora and Kiyara, but they had to get permission from their father Tarn Sharp-Eyed first. Tarn gave permission. While they were out they spotted a puma, but it fled. Wurk told the young ones what to do if they saw a predator and how to summon help if they needed it. 

One day I was on the way home from the Red Crow's cave when I saw a shadowcat acting strange, like it was trying to get my attention. I lost sight of it and went home. That night I went to Ernalda's temple and was entertained by Collan's behavior there. He was only interested in finding dreaming mushrooms.

Wurk had a surprise when he was out with the herd the next day and he found Andren, who was always odd, petting an aurochs bull. The bull was so friendly it went into the herd and had its way with three hiefers. 

On Windsnight I was heading home again and saw the same cat as before. It acted like it wanted me to follow it. I did, and it led me to a ravine to the north where there had been a landslide. The cat turned to the right and suddenly I saw bear cubs to the left. I turned around and the mother bear was right behind me. She wasn't happy to see me so near to her cubs. She swung her paw at me and nearly took my left arm off at the shoulder. I tried to use the Stag's Leap to get away but I was too hurt and scared to do it.

Then the Red Crow appeared. He made a pushing motion at the bear, and the shadowcat leaped on her back and clawed her. There were sparkles around the bear, like little embers flying out of a fire. She seemed confused. She took her cubs and ran. 

The Red Crow healed my arm with his magic, but I still have the scar. The shadowcat seemed anxious again and was pawing at some of the fallen rocks. Red Crow started pulling the rocks away and motioned for me to help. We spent a long time moving rocks. Red Crow created a light. We moved rocks until we exposed a little den where the cat's mate and kittens had been trapped. They took the kittens and moved them to a new den. 

On Gods Day Wurk found he had another student for learning about herding cows. The other kids brought Ashart, son of Beroth the cottar. 

That night was Eurmal's feast night. Jaryan nephew of Karenstar joined our group then. He was looking for someone to sponsor him in a cult. He offered a gift of food and sang a song of Orlanth's initiation, but he didn't find a sponsor. 

We heard that the people in Twice Blessed needed some cattle. That was where Jaryan lived. While we were climbing up the hillside I fell and hit my head on a rock. 

That night I we stood watches over the cows. I had the last watch, but while it was Collan's watch he spotted Sambori raiders creeping up on us. They were all well armed. There were six of them. Collan banged on his shield to ward them off and wake the rest of us. He set his shadowcat on one of them and it ripped open the raider's leg. The raiders used Stag's Leap to flee. 

Then we spied something glinting down in a ravine. I improvised a torch with my magic and Collan and I climbed down to see what it was and this time I didn't fall. The wolf had been stabbed with a spear that was still in the body, but the youth showed no wound though his leg was broken. 

We wrapped the body of the youth in Wurk's tent and to carry it out of the ravine. While we were doing that a Telmori warrior with a spear appeared and tried to push Jaryan off the edge, but Jaryan stopped him. Wurk blocked with his shield and tried to persuade him to parley, but he wouldn't. Jaryan kicked him and he went down on his knees. Then he turned into a wolf and ran away. 

When we had the body where Wurk could see it he said he knew this boy. His name was Killed Three Bears and Wurk had met him during his initiation. They had helped each other so Wurk wanted to take the body back to the Telmori. In the morning we went toward the Telmori territory. When we came to the boundary Sees Far and Black Fang came out to meet us. They told us the one who'd attacked Jaryan was a rival to Killed Three Bears. Sees Far told us they'd remember what we did. We knew they would owe us a favor for bringing back the body of Killed Three Bears.

The holy day of Lhankor Mhy came and Jordi and Gordangar bickered like they always did about who was best suited to be chief. The food ran out but Jordi made himself look good by having a whole ox butchered and roasted.