Immersive Ink

Gustave stuffs down the charred flesh with frenzied relish, sanity slowly returning to his eyes as his belly fills. He pauses only to remove the silken bedding still wrapped around his waist, regarding it with impatient confusion before returning to his feast.

Upon Highbough's suggestion of a trade, and Dorgan's refusal, he gladly hands over his veggies for an addition serve of meat. Sucking this back with pleasurable murmurs.

Finally, he sits back and grins contentedly, "That, my dear friends, was a feast unworthy of these sordid lips, that have shared banquets with princes and kings. My most heartfelt complements to the chef", and with this collapses back onto the discarded bedding and is immediately snoring.

By the time Wen returns to the gully with the remainder of the company in tow the moon is high in the night sky, and the cool air in the gully is thick with the smell of roasting mule. The half-starved company can scarcely wait for the flesh to char before they fall upon it, tearing the tough, fibrous meat from the bone with trembling fingers and bared teeth. Not a word is spoken until the entirety of it is devoured. Nobody notices that mule meat takes like souring venison, nor that some parts are well under-cooked.

Their bellies full once more, everyone but Highbough immediately falls asleep. The old Elf watches for the remainder of the night, smiling with quiet satisfaction to himself as he picks over the offal and bone marrow. The others sleep deeply.

d6

...

Dawn arrives without incident.

The company awake feeling amazingly fulfilled and revived by comparison with the last several days. It is a glorious thing to not be starving. Ket is only a day's march away (with the blinded hobbits, or half a day for an unencumbered man moving at a steady lope).

Josiane was too tired to examine the clerical goodies properly last night but, if desired, she could spend the morning studying them. But this would delay her setting off toward Ket, if indeed that is the goal for today.

What to do?

[OOC: Do we still have that mansion in town?]

mushgnome wrote:[OOC: Do we still have that mansion in town?]

You did indeed leave the Manse on Eagle Street under the management of Bennug and staff when you last departed Ket. That was some two weeks ago...

Dorgan suggests we proceed as soon as everyone is awake. Better to return to the (relative) safety of Ket and examine the relics in our abode. Or even return them right away and see if Mother Whatshername throws in a free Cure Blindness out of the kindness of her own heart.

Armando awakes with the sunrise and sits up, a dainty burp escaping his lips. He notes a half-eaten rib to hand and gnaws at it thoughtfully for a moment while pondering what remains of the mule's carcass. He then begins readying himself for the day.

"As much a boon to us as this animal was, I fear it is also a fearful omen ..." he muses aloud, squinting northwards toward the smoke in the distance.

Concerned about the smoke on the horizon, Highbough wonders if a few of the more... human... party members should scout ahead a bit to make sure the coast is clear. If there's goblin-related trouble, it's not going to be very safe for elf-types. He is happy to hang back and keep an eye on Desmond et al.

Selfishly, he just wants to go back to the manse and enjoy a hot non-mule meal, a bath, and a good night's sleep---damn the Sisters!

mushgnome wrote:Concerned about the smoke on the horizon, Highbough wonders if a few of the more... human... party members should scout ahead a bit to make sure the coast is clear. If there's goblin-related trouble, it's not going to be very safe for elf-types. He is happy to hang back and keep an eye on Desmond et al.

Selfishly, he just wants to go back to the manse and enjoy a hot non-mule meal, a bath, and a good night's sleep---damn the Sisters!

Torben

If discussion turns to scouting ahead, Torben would volunteer. He's quick on his feet, unknown, and unaffiliated to anyone's knowledge in Ket.

Dorgan would want the entire party fairly close behind whichever one we choose to scout. Safety in numbers is his mantra these days, it seems.