Oddly enough, the lot of you feel as if you are being watched.

Segev, holding the reigns of the horse bearing the headless corpse, glances 
around the camp, impassively taking in the signs of the fools who were here as 
well as the corpse of the fallen armless crusader. Only after observing the 
scene does he meet the dire wolf's glare with an implacable, unblinking gaze of 
his own.

Without breaking his gaze away from Narush's, he comments, "This may be a good 
place to set up camp. If the fools are to return, we can ambush them here. If 
they are gone, it is an already secured site." He could be commenting on the 
weather, or explaining one of Glim's theories, for all the inflection his voice 
contains. He might be discussing pleasentries as he continues, "On the other 
hand, we have not traveled far. If our more militant companions feel they are up 
to the mundane threats of the road, we may wish to find a site further along our 
route."

Lannstucht laughs harshly.  "Surely you are joking.  We've hardly gone 20 rodek 
from that village.  Have you forgotten our primary mission already? Besides, 
getting this gaggle on the road takes so long, I'd prefer to have a greater 
distance behind us before we have to reverse the process."  

  Kyran looks over the scene and frowns.  The odd feeling does seem to 'bother' 
him, as he takes a steady gaze around the scene, as well as a few sniffs to pick 
up odd scents that may be traveling his way from something hiding in the bushes.

Tanda bit back a few choice words on the subject of the constant need to 
establish dominance and said, "I wouldn't mind pressing on. Really." She takes 
out her boot knife and eyes the symbol of Yohévohé warily.

"Ever feel like you're being watched?" Tanda asked conversationally. "You are."  
'By what,' she didn't add, 'I don't know.' She turned to Korg. "You know, this 
is the closest I've ever been to Redwater since... that day."
 
"Hmmm," Korg replies, almost unconsciously reaching behind him to loosen his 
greatsword in it's back sheath.  "There hasn't been much cause to come near the 
vile place though, has there, now that you've left."

Tanda hmmmed. "You do have a point." She began to scratch out the Yahoovahoo 
holy symbol carved into the tree with her knife, making a X through it.

Kyran remarks.  "I think so?  Maybe..."

Drakar stands, walks over to Narush and puts a restraining/comforting hand on 
the wolf through the scale mail armor.  Facing the group, he indicates the 
fallen crusader as he addresses them.

"He bled to death from his wounds on the way here.  I only hope that he did not 
have the chance to warn comrades.  The rest of you may ride on and I thank you 
for your aid before," he nods to Kyran and the others, "but I must ensure that 
no more of those zealots remain to threaten the area under my protection.  I 
would perhaps ask you to stay a bit longer....." the half-orc indicates the 
remains of the campfire, "at least until I can discover whether all of his 
companions are accounted for already, but I sense you have somewhere urgent to 
be...."  Drakar trails off expectantly, regarding the group, wondering if 
there's any way he can engage their help to search for errant crusaders.

Kyran looks somewhat distracted as he conciously looks around and listens 
carefully.  "It was my pleasure to help, that it was.  I can easily assist in 
helping you find their whereabouts, bu-"  He cuts himself off as he keeps 
looking around.
	
Menaria kneels beside the dead man. Sadness threatens to engulf her as the 
knowledge came to her of the man already being dead. 'So much death...and within 
such a short time frame. But that is the real world though, isn't it? Death and 
destruction. Chaos and mayhem.'  
 
Getting up from the ground, she walks a little bit away from the group. 
Kneeling, she grasps her holy symbol and prays, praying more for reassurance and 
comfort than guidance.

Kyran notices Menaria' praying easily enough and looks at her with a little 
concern.  "What's wrong Menaria?  Something must be troubling you, that much I 
can tell.  Faith is always strongest when you feel distressed."

Looking up from her kneeling position, she smiled weakly. "Just all 
thiskilling... first my head priestess then the mayhem in town. I know I 
shouldn't let it get to me. But sometimes it overwhelms me. So much chaos and 
evil running rampart. Too much all at once." She shook her head sadly.
 
"Thank you for being concern. You are right, I go to my goddess when I'm 
stressed. I just hope we can find the killer and prevent further unnecessary 
killings."

Kyran responds, "That is why I am traveling with you."  He gives a reassuring 
smile.  "I don't like it either, and it does bother me.  That is why I am doing 
something about it, yes it is."

A bit of light returns to her dull green eyes as the smile finally reaches them. 
"We do what we can, eh? All too true." She gets up from her kneeling position, 
dusting her knees off and then looks at the others.

Neither Kyran nor Dunnstacht appears to sense anything unusual.  However, Ananzi 
cocks his head in the direction the party was headed, and Kyran seems to spot a 
humanoid form in the distance before it disappears.

'Odd smell,' Ananzi mentions to Katrina through their link.  'Seemed familiar, 
yet not. Fleeting.'

Katrina sends a mental command to Ananzi to investigate, while staying hidden.

Segev turns his attention to Drakar, replying, "They were gone before he 
arrived. They have not yet found out of their companions' demise."

"You're absolutely right.  The firepit over there had maybe two dozen people 
camped here.  Only four of the crusaders have been accounted for.  This fellow 
being the fourth.  Two sets of tracks lead away from here."  Drakar indicates a 
set of mangled hoofprints in the soft earth between the campsite and the side of 
the cobblestone road.  "Four...five hours old. Five horses stepped from this 
campsite to the road not long after sunrise this morning, but the cobblestones 
hide which way they went."  

Drakar walks over to another set of hoof prints on the far side of the 
smoldering camp.  "And these two went further inland, away from the road."

The half-ork turns to face the group.  "Will you help me track them down, before 
their wrath descends on the town that just gave its hospitality to you?"

Kyran snaps out of his almost trance-like state as Drakar's words leave his 
mouth.  "Huh?  Oh, I can probably follow them if the trail isn't too cold.  
Instinct, you know.  But I'm pretty positive someone was over th- ah, they must 
have noticed us and left."

Lannstucht frowns slightly.  "Unfortunately, we cannot.  Thankfully, I believe 
the baron's soldiers can take care of this threat themselves.  We must continue 
on the trail so that more murders will be prevented."

"Then there is little point in remaining here any longer. If you are done 
desecrating Yohévohé's signs and looting what you desire, we should continue 
on." Suiting action to toneless words, Segev leads the horse bearing his loot 
onwards at a pace that will not separate him from the group at all, should they 
likewise start moving.

Overhearing the bit about not being able to help the half-orc, one of Menaria's 
eyebrows raises. "Why can't we help? If it is on the way it won't hinder us too 
much."

From behind the horse bearing his cargo (conveniently placed such that said 
horse is between himself and Dunnstacht), Segev overhears the last bit of 
Menaria's question. "We will be left no choice but to 'help' if it is on our way 
- we will encounter the fools, then. Menaria, you should not be so eager to 
pursue this matter; does not your goddess preach against vengeance? 'Helping' 
Drakar in this way can only end in more blood and death," he explains with all 
the care of a farmer speaking of harvesting grain.

Sighing heavily, Menaria shrugs. "We do what we have to do. And there are some 
things that become unavoidable, and it so happens that blood and death happens 
to be them. I have to face the facts sooner or later. Believe me, I'd rather 
*never* face those facts...but life goes on as must I. I just hope we can solve 
this mystery before to many more priests and priestesses meet their end."

Segev tilts his head in acknowledgement. Was that--approval?--in his eyes before 
he looked away? Nah, couldn't have been. Must have been the imagination of 
anyone watching.

Kyran nods and looks at Menaria.  "See?  Even the stuffy man who's curious about 
me and wears a dress agress with you.  What he's curious about is anyone's 
guess.  I'm not *that* curious."  Kyran gives a smile.

The man in the black "dress" doesn't acknowledge this barb, though his mouth 
does move in silent puzzlement for a moment. "...scruffy?"

Kyran blinks.  "Scruffy?"  He rubs his chin, feeling for an nonexistant facial 
hair.  "No, not scruffy at all.  Why do you ask?"

Segev does not reply, continuing on in silence.

Dunnstacht bares his teeth and tosses his head angrily at Segev's presumption, 
then shoulders his way between the necromancer and the stallion's new 
'acquisition'.  Lannstuch just chuckles and lets him prance his way in front, 
amused by his antics.

A brief look of annoyance is quickly supressed from the wizard's countenance as 
the stallion's bulk nearly knocks the scrawny man down. Regaining his balance 
with the help of his "walking stick", he calmly walks over to the other side of 
the horse bearing his cargo.

"Calm yourself, Dunnstacht. I am not stealing your mistress's equine. I had 
expected better behavior from so well-trained a steed. Perhaps you are not 
worthy of the praise Lannstuch heaps upon you, after all." The direction of his 
gaze indicates that this missive is directed as much at Lannstuch as at 
Dunnstacht.
 
Lannstucht simply smiles at Segev.  "Oh, I wouldn't want to injury his male 
dignity after all.  Men are so fragile."

A small smile briefly touches Segev's thin lips. "True dignity cannot be injured 
by the actions or opinions of others. If it is fragile, then it is false, and 
deserves shattering." Whether the statement is intended to be ironic or serious 
is unclear.

Lannstucht laughs brightly, the sound ringing through the air like a bell. "I 
must say I agree with you, Seggie.  I congratulate you, most males never figure 
that out."

"Few beings, male or female, ever have true dignity." Glancing in the direction 
the party had been travelling, he continues, without turning back to look at 
Lannstucht, "As you are experianced in herding, perhaps you would like to get 
this little caravan moving once more. If our goal is to cover ground, debating 
here is merely wasting daylight."

Glim looks over at Lannstucht.  "Sorry to contradict you, lass, but that 
statement is simply not true. Why, do you have any notion all how much shear 
punishment a humanoid body can stand up to and keep going?"

Looking at the standing Menaria and departing Segev, Drakar asks. "Where to are 
you going?"

Drakar watches Segev continue walking away and growls under his breath something 
about necromancers and their disregard for life.

Turning to Menaria as she stands from her prayer he barks at her with scorn.  
"There is nothing good and honest in the souls of adventurers these days.  I see 
that they selfishly seek only their own causes and give naught for the suffering 
of farmers and poor folk from the tyrranny and oppression of the fanatics of 
Yohévohé."

Turning to Lannstacht he shouts in Rochladish, "And you!  I never would have 
imagined a Rochlada breeder acting with the stupidity of a firracht!  Do you 
imagine that the only people in this area who are not human live within the 
confines of the Barony's walls?  You should walk instead of riding!"

Finally, the half-ork turns to Tanda and Korg.  "The two of you say you know 
something of Redwater, well you should be familiar with the fate of every non-
human farmer, peasant and merchant from here to Penticon with those bastards 
running loose.  Not to mention anything magical and good."

Drakar roars to the entire group.  "If you won't sacrifice one day to hunt down 
their remnants and deal with them before any more innocents meet their butchery, 
then I will do so alone - Rilke take you all!"  He shakes his fist in the air at 
the group, and beside him the pony-sized black-furred dire wolf snarls as its 
armor spikes rattle against one another.

"Well, how do you like that?" Glim says to no one in particular. "All that about 
you humans and those Redwater folk and he has nothing to say to me. Racist half-
orcs."

Lannstucht merely raises an eyebrow at the half-orc's tirade.  "Obviously you 
misunderstand the meaning of the term firracht.  Of course I realize that these 
Crusaders should be stopped.  However, as I pointed out before, I regret that 
our party cannot be of help in this beyond what we already have been.  A day 
clearly seems like very little to you, but it may mean the difference in far 
more people's lives than the population around here. That being said, I wish you 
the best of fortune in your endeavor." Turning Dunnstacht, she continues on the 
path.

Kyran frowns as he walks up to Drakar, completly ignoring any threat the wolf 
appears to be making.  "I don't mean to sound rude, but we are currently 
attempting to stop something considerably more sinister at the moment, that we 
are.  I do not know if they wish to share the objectives of their mission, 
but...  Do not hold it against them for following the path they wish, no.  Also, 
do not hold it against me for their actions...  Being an adventurer myself, I 
take great offense in saying there is no good in us, espically after I aided 
your friend and you so."

Completely ignoring the fool's ranting, Segev turns to Lannstucht as she and 
Dunnstacht quickly catch up to his slow pace. "I am curious. What does 
'firracht' mean?"

"'Firracht' is a term roughly meaning equal-but-lesser.  It is generally used 
only for males and isn't considered a derogatory term, although a Rochlada woman 
would certainly correct the usage if it was applied to her. Rather, it is used 
to denote the different strengths between men and women.  In short, while men 
may tend to be stronger physically and both genders possess roughly equal 
intelligence, women tend to have far better judgement.  It only makes sense that 
the gender most responsible for the next generation would have better long term 
vision, does it not?  In the Rochladastacht, we acknowledge this basic fact and 
so women are responsible for the guidance of Rochlad."

"It is, perhaps, too generous a term when applied to most so-called intelligent 
species."

Lannstucht chuckles mildly.  "I admit that sometimes it seems to be so.  All too 
few beings seem to think at all, much less actually give the outcome of their 
actions the slightest consideration."

Tanda rode up next to Lannstucht. "You know," she said, "I think you just 
described the relationship me and Korg have. I hate to say this, but you're 
pretty smart." She added a crooked grin. "For a prissy, stuck-up, stodgy type, 
that is."

Lannstucht smiles slightly.  "For a decadent hothead with leanings toward 
complete dissipation, you possess some measure of intelligence yourself."

Korg turns about on his mount to face the half-ork.  "You raise a compelling 
argument, sir..." he rumbles after a moment, voice dripping with scorn.  "Surely 
in a town at this distance from Redwater we are the only forces that stand to 
contest a raiding party.  The barons local to here obviously have no idea what 
it takes to hold their territory, and it must be completely defenseless.  You 
are absolutely right... in fact, let us take the fight directly to Redwater and 
conquer it once and for all."  His tone of voice changes, seeming to indicate 
that he's done with his sarcastic tirade.

"As profitable as slaying those zealots was, and as little as I care for their 
ilk, they were in the way.  As Lannstucht said, detouring could well have far 
greater consequences than letting a small raiding party be dealt with by forces 
in control of the area.  Perhaps you would know all of these things if you had 
thought about it, or bothered to ask what our task is... but then, perhaps 
assuming that you know what is going on is what led to you being captured by 
those we slew in the first place.  It would be ironic, given that they are also 
ones who assume much and don't bother to learn how things really are."

Katrina, who has been mostly silent through all this, speaks up, as she nudges 
Alastyn forward. "What were they doing so far south, I wonder? Perhaps they are 
connected to our current problem."

As the group ponders this, leaving campsight behind, and apparently ignoring 
Drakar's insistence on finding the remaining Crusaders, a loud, rumbling sound 
akin to a black powder explosion reverberates through the air.  A black plume of 
smoke is soon visible coming from the northeast.