Slime Salad

The agitated guard groans audibly at this and holds his head in his hands. "There now" says the old guard. "The Duke has it under control. Thanks to the Harborbishop, we'll know soon where they are going, and no doubt the Duke will send a whole battalion to wipe them out and fetch it ...

The shadows are indeed growing long. The sun will go down soon. When Hyne takes out a ration, the old guard fetches one of his own, but he does not seem inclined to volunteer further conversation After some time, three other guards come down from the mountainside. They all look exhausted. One of the...

"Mmm... Fair enough." The man says in an mildly offended tone, and then he clams up, and focuses on poking the fire with a stick.

"well, whoever she marries will be royal consort. There is plenty of honor in being consort, but it ain't the same as being king... And that crown is more than a silly gold hat. It has strong magic in it they say. I don't know anyone's seen it firsthand, but it's supposed to be able to call dow...

"I can see you ain't a Srappan" says the guard. He says it without any kind of hostility. "Righto, the king used to have a son, but he died young. His only heir is princess Arkwyn. She's a maid of about 20, I believe, but I dare say nobody know what kind of a queen she'll be, since sh...

"I don't know." Says the guard. "Maybe he has some plan, but I don't know how he is so confident that the crown will be easy to get back. He only left the four of us, and told us to only bother searching one night, then to call it quits and catch up. I don't know how they intend to cr...

"Right," says the guard, seating himself "Those Jenn aren't coming back. They got what they wanted, and now they're no doubt high-tailing off with their prize" "...But what don't make sense to me... The Duke says the parade has to get moving fast in case they come back... Th...

"Meh!? Oh, hallo there." The man says, dropping a log on the still-small fire. "You're the Pelorian's friend, right?" He has a short grey beard and a long grey moustache. Although old, he looks strong. "I reckon it makes no sense to me, but it ain't my job to understand, it'...

For the record, Catt's opinion on going back to town for supplies would have been very different if the party had already founds a bit of treasure to spend.

(And I think the secretary idea is cool)

The bodyguard tucks away his slate, discards the wood he had been whittling, turns and jogs down the road after the procession. Near the campfire, the horses are grazing. The guard seems older than most. He has an eye-patch. He is dragging some loose wood over to his campfire. His sword is leaning a...

When the bodyguard spots Hyne, he reaches into his coat and takes out a small slate. He writes one word on it and points it towards Hyne.

"OKAY?"

"Neat!" Catt says to Renold. I want to go check out the chapel.

She goes into the tunnel Renold just emerged from. She doesn't bother with the rope, since Renold made it there and back.

Catt calls after Renold, "Don't forget the rope! And if you find any puff adders, come right back and let me take over!"

The wagons and carriages are all gone. They must have only just departed, considering how little time has gone by. Five headless corpses are sprawled in the center of the clearing. Borgan's mute bodyguard is standing near them and scanning the treeline. Near the road at the north end of the clearing...

It takes some time to get back.

The box is still there, hidden and undisturbed. Hyne is able to retrieve it without difficulty.

The area is very silent. No noises of wagon repair are audible.