9/18/02

Aster pipes up, "This place is rotten to the core. The elves won't talk to us, the people are a sad lot, and killing that horseman doesn't seem to do much aside from postpone him. Let's leave. There's much more waiting for us in Geanevue, and if these people are doomed to die here, let them come with us! That horseman can't mow us all down on our way out, and I bet the elves would just be thrilled to see them all leave! This place is cursed and the land is hardly worth the effort of defending."

Leodan shakes his head thoughtfully. 'You are right on many counts, Aster, yet I must confess I am still intrigued by the trouble here. It is so very odd. A power able to produce these effects would surely be worth overthrowing. There could be spoils of considerable magical value. We might only need one more piece of information to be able to formulate a coherent strategy. Perhaps you should parley with the Elves?'

Eldane pipes up. "What about the other sets of standing stones? They sound interesting. We've only seen two of them." He cocks his head, "But Geanevue sounds interesting too. I've heard the castle is carved from a single piece of stone!" He pouts, "Now I can't decide." He starts humming a tune to himself.

Ash grunts thoughtfully at this discussion of the future.

"The rude elf is right, there is something rotten in this town. I don't like this Tully person who has been trouncing around with us, and her partner the magic man, Dyson, seems okay but his arrival in this town is a little too coincidental with the troubles around these parts. I think he knows something more than he is telling us.

On the other hand, I feel like we should help some of these people, like the farmer we met on the way in, and some of these starving townsfolk. We don't have the provisions for a journey with all of them to Geanevue , besides, what would they do if they did get there alive? I doubt the town will just give them room and board for free, and they are farmers, not city folk. They would starve there just as surly as they would here."

Taking up some hay to chew on, Ash nods to himself. After an extended period of time, seemingly lost to the discussion, he pipes back up again.

"This idea of talking with the elves, that's a difficult one. They're even less friendly than Aster! And they hide as well as him too. I was thinking it's a better plan to just kill them. But, if you think we should talk with them, I guess I'm okay with that too. But we would first have to find them by wandering in that forest, and then catch one of them and force some reason on to him. Maybe they are just scared of something, and we need to convince them that we are not that something. Maybe Eldane could charm one of them, like he did that Dragon that one time? Course we have to find them first..."

"As for other standing stones, I don't know much about that sort of stuff. I suppose we could ask this Dyson fellow if there are more around here, if Eldane thinks it's worth the trouble. And while we are at it, we should ask him more about this damn horseman. My javelin went right through that thing, so it sure seemed like it was a ghost. And ghosts come from dead people, usually important dead people. At least, that thing didn't seem like it was the ghost of some poor farmer who tripped off a hay stack. The magic man, Dyson, seemed to know a little about this area, maybe he knows of someone important that died around here? Maybe his old master died somewhere close to here, some place we could go investigate?"

Ash grunts to himself, looking around at everyone listening to him. He shyly tapers off his speech, embarrassed at the attention to his words.

I agree, says Torj, that this place seems cursed. I like battles where I can see my enemy, stand and fight them, know that they are vanquished when they fall or fade. I get no satisfaction from chasing off this horseman, or watching my friends get caught in traps. The elves seem too intent on hiding and I do not wish to get my head smashed in by a falling tree trying to find them in these cursed woods. My first impulse is to leave Ossington to the will of the gods, for some power seems to have passed judgment on this place. Before we leave though, I sense a mystery worth exploring in the ancient mounds surrounding this area. Such places often hide power and treasure, and we were told that when the horseman first appeared he went to each of the ancient mounds.

Since the elves will not show themselves to us, and their attacks seem to have started at the same time the horseman appeared, I think, if we stay here longer, we should forget about the elves and focus on the mystery of the horseman. I would like to explore the mounds further. Though I am frustrated by the helplessness of these people, should we save them then many stories will be told of our deeds, If we learn nothing from these mounds then we were not meant to save this place, let the powers take it then.

Aster nods, "Well, you've piqued my curiousity with those other stone rings. Although I don't know what we could learn from more when we've already seen two sets. I'm getting pretty sick of having opponents conjured at me, so unless we learn something significant in visiting these other rings, I say we offer to accompany any refugees who wish to cut thier losses and head off to the great city."

Iryijanna sits up in bed and starts ranting: Look guys, this is the thing. The thing is it doesn't matter what we do. Or it does, but theres no way to find out, unless we act like it matters or it doesn't and we see what happens! Now if this is some kind of a test, or if it MEANS something, then theres nothing that we can do about it and we'll end up having to face the horseman anyway. Or something else just as powerful in Genevue or on the Way to Genevue or whatever it is. Maybe the test is if we'll just figure it out that we don't have to take this crap and keep going. Or Maybe it's moral. Like if it's about the villagers and if it's our responsibility to interfere with the Prime Directive or what. We've been cast as the heros, obviously. So the question is do we have to be, or can we just walk away? So we test it. I say we investigate the monuments or whatever it is, and then head out of town. This has been going on here for months. A couple of weeks to rustle up some help and advice on the matter in the city won't make much of a difference if we mean to help these guys. We stay out of the goddam woods which every preeschooler knows in Elf country cause it's nothing but a maze of traps, and if our "destiny" jumps out at us on the road we beat the living shit out of it. Undead shit. And then at least we'll know. You know?

Her companions stare at her, some in awe, and some in confusion. Not another word is said as the group chew upon what has been said