Tess heads to a bar first to check how the place runs. At the bar there are student waitresses and mostly students, although there is a roped off section for staff.
Tess heads from there to try and meet the Dean of Divination - Thora had spoken to the Dean of Divination and some of his students. Tess introduces himself as a friend of Thora's. He's most interested in the research they did on the set of armor. As Tess is a Diviner, he also expresses some interest in the Dean's work et al. - trying to be friendly, interested, and courteous. Tess makes a small payment for the information.
The Dean only has a small amount of information about the suit - just accounts of people wearing it. The suit itself, and the wearer, are immune to divinations. The tales of the suit are very very old, passed down from generation to generation via stories told. The stories predate the Thyatians coming, and maybe even predate the local king who formed the basis for the Halav legend. In those days it is said that humans served another race. There are no recent tales about the suit. Knowledge of where it is has long been lost, but the best place to find out would be the north of Karameikos. Maybe the Elves there, who have lived there for a very long time.
The Elves in Karameikos are Callarii or Vyvalian Elves. The Vyvalian Elves are spread across the Karamekian/Thyatian border region, while the Callarii are near the middle of Karameikos. The Elves here can be a bit prickly to other Elves, given the situation with the flood of refugees from Alfheim. Best find someone who they already know. Rifllian is close to Kelvin, a major town.
Tess asks if the the Dean heard of the Faerie Gift of Sight. Tess will mention that story and the ability to see vampires that are trying to be invisible, and his limited experience with a couple of (drug-induced) visions. The Dean knows of this, and from what he has heard it allows one to penetrate faerie invisibility, but only faeries. Why that affects vampires ... who knows? Vampires are, while not exactly common, more common across Karameikos than other places - the Dean thinks it's due to the deep woods. Lycanthropes are also more common too, again, for some reason. Tess makes a mental note to eat more garlic than usual.
The route to Rifllian is dead easy. Follow the river. Kelvin is on the right fork, Rifllian is off the left fork a bit. You can catch a river barge or walk up the trail to Kelvin. Tessarael walks up to Kelvin in two days.
Tess is told that Riffllian is a small settlement on the left fork of the river. Just a trading outpost. There are Callarrii Elves there. It's fairly close. Maybe a day's walk.
The river boat master is Kalanos. There are nine crew on the boat, employees (through Kalanos) of Stephan. Stephan will be traveling seperately, and will meet Tess at the village Sukiskyn.
The boat drop Tess off at Misha's ferry, near to the village, and Tess can walk overland to the village to collect the horses. More people will be at the village to help transport the horses. It's about 9 miles from the ferry to the village, along the river. Pretty safe.
The journey to the ferry takes only half a day, and is without incident. At the ferry they help Tess off the boat. The ferry is very small, merely a single house. Kalanos says not to worry about the ferrymistress being missing, as she often goes hunting with her 'mangy flea-bitten bear', you can either make yourself at home, or leave immediately for the village, as is your preference. The ferry mistress is a Human woman who lives alone out here. The boat casts off, and heads further upriver, leaving Tess to his own devices. There is a jetty, a cabin, and thats about it.
Tess decides to wait around to chat with the ferry mistress. The inside of the hut looks like a small hut for one. A rabbit-fur bed spread covers the single person bed, with a few drying herbs. Tess goes back outside to enjoy the sunshine and trees in the afternoon, scouting around the nearby area a little.
As Tess sneaks around, he spots a bear. The bear is growling, and it's fur is matted with blood. It looks quite upset, as bears go, and is heading towards the hut. Tess release Aldaras to have a look from a bit higher up, and Tess keeps a bit of distance from the bear. There is no obvious trail from the bear's blood. The bear heads right up to the hut and scratches at the door. The bear might be mangy, but it's a fairly large bear. Not dire, just large.
Tess will move out into the open. Quietly. Unafraid but keeping some distance. Tess puts down a bit of trail rations for the bear, that being all the food Tess has with him. The bear sniffs the air, and then lumbers in Tess' direction. Ignoring the food, it heads towards Tess. Tess can see it has a few arrows sticking out of it. Tess backs off and climbs a tree. The bear stops at the bottom of the tree.
Aldara has spotted a humanoid shape lurking under the water near the edge of the jetty. Tess casts Invisibility. Tess has no smell, so the bear can't figure out where he is. Tess hops down from the tree without making too much noise. Aldara stays out of the way, just keeping an overview. Tess sneaks over to the water (using cover where possible), to check the humanoid figure in the water. It's hard to see anything there at all from on the bank where Tess is. The humanoid shape is fairly deep and it is motionless. It's about 20' away, and hard to see against the plants on the bottom. Tess casts Arcane Sight and takes a look, but detects nothing magical. Tess drops a pebble in the water near the body - it does not react.
The bear wanders over to the hut again (which is closer to Tess). The bear seems to peer in the windows and scratches at the door again. The bear seems to be frustrated and wanders back the way it came, into the woods. Tess sneaks over and opens the door of the hut. The bear lurches inside, peers around and sniffs a bit, then wanders off. Tess shadows the bear. It appears to be wandering aimlessly, occasionally letting out a roar. Aldara scouts further afield for Tess, but sees nothing else.
Tess heads back, drops his gear, and grabs a rock to sink to the bottom of the river near the body. He takes only his mithril shortsword and mithril shirt, and a rope. The plants on the bottom are close and tight. Tess has some problems and gets trapped at the bottom by the plants, which have drifted to wrap around Tess. Tess is staring at the corpse of someone else who drowned right here recently. Tess cuts the plants off with his shortsword with some difficulty. Tess heads back to the surface, ties a rope up top, and then repeats the procedure, getting down to where the body is and tying the rope around it. Tess swims back up, and then retrieves the body.
It's a human female, age indeterminate. Dead not tooooo long. Bloated though. Tess uses an application of the Unguent of Timelessness on the body to stop the smell. The woman's corpse is dressed in a chain mail top (not chain shirt) over what appears to be a nightshirt. There are no obvious signs of death.
The bear was not wet at all, and had no signs it had been swimming. The wounds on the bear didn't look immediately fresh.
Tess mentions the wounded bear and dead woman over the communicator to Thora. Thora will be busy for several days before she can come and help.
Tess searches the hut. In the hut Tess finds some money (47gp) in a jug on a shelf, and a set of chainmail pants. Tess leaves that there. Tess also finds some arrows and fletching equipment, tanning salt, etc.
Tess wraps the body and then heads off towards the village carrying it. The body weights 155lb without the chain top. Tess slowly walks the miles with his heavy load along the stream to the village Sukiskyn. Tess sees the village lights up ahead over the trees, in the light of dusk. No, they're not villages lights ... it looks like fire leaping up, there are shouts, yelling and swords clashing. It is about 500 yards away. Tess puts down the body and runs towards the village, releasing Aldara to fly up and take a look. They both see a small village on the other side of the fast flowing stream. There is a bridge, which leads to a palisaded homestead. A barn on the left is burning, and on the far side of that are a group of humanoids, waving weapons and shouting. The humanoids are small, probably Goblins.
On Tess' side of the river is a group of Goblins on wolf back. They have seen Tess. The Human defenders on top of the gate of the wooden palisade about the village also see Tess. Tess heads over to the village, the defenders yell, "Come over here! Quick before they catch you!" There are dozens of humanoids - Tess decides not to try his chances attacking them. The palisade is 10' high.
Tess goes over the bridge and up to the gate. A defender, a young Human woman, opens the gate slightly for Tess to come in. The village barn is well and truly alight, and part of the wooden palisade and one of the towers is alight too. The main building inside is stone. Some Goblins have also broken in near the barn. The young woman runs towards the houses, which seem to be built with an eye on defense. The people have move into the buildings and are firing arrows from within them. A woman in leather armour is waiting at the foot of the burning ower while a man climbs down out of it. Tess fires his bow and hits several Goblins before they reach the couple at the tower, and then heads inside a building. The Goblins retreat seeing the situation as some of them fall. Tess gets inside, and the door is slammed shut and barred behind him.
Village defenders: "A warm welcome to you, traveler." Heh heh.
Tess smiles wryly, "A little too warm for my liking. Well met."
Pyotr: "I am Pyotr. We thank you for your aid."
Weston: "The Goblins seem to be outside of the palisade now, maybe waiting for the north wall to burn down."
Pyotr: "Safe for the moment then."
Tessarael: "Any estimate of how many Goblins there are? And who's in charge here? How many able bodied warriors do you have? My name is Tessarael by the way."
Pyotr: "I am. We have only a few able bodied people here, but we are well prepared." One of the people here is doing nothing but sobbing. The others are looking grim.
Tessarael: "If you have a decent supply of arrows, I can fly out and take out some more Goblins. That may discourage them from continuing, depending on how many there are."
The couple Tess saved introduce themselves as Taras and Alfana. Tess nods in greeting in respose, shaking hands briefly. The others also introduce themselves. There are nine combatants: Pyotr, Darya, Taras, Alfana, Irinia, Matvey, Kuzma, Masha and Stellios. In addition to the nine adults, there are also a few kids.
Pyotr is about 40, red haired, and the leader of this little clan. His wife is Darya, she is the same age, and is wearing a long green dress. Their eldest son is Taras, who seems fairly eager to bash Goblins. Not stupid enough to actually go out there though. Tara's wife is Alfana, a fair haired woman in an apron with leather shoved over the top. Both are about 20. Irinia is also Pytor and Darya's daughter, and slightly younger than Taras. Irinia is plump with red hair. Matvey is Puytor's youngest, at 10. Kuzma is Pytor's mother and is pretty old for a human - she mutters a lot. Masha spends most of her time crying - the two dead people were her daughter and husband. Stellios is the household servant, and only has one arm. He is also as old as Kuzma. He still is ready with a sword though. Masha has an infant that she is holding tightly.
Pyotr: "If you can fly that would be good. Make them keep their distance."
Tessarael: "For a little while. I will need to borrow some arrows. The ferrymistress was dead, and her bear wounded. Maybe the same group of Goblins."
Pyotr: "There are two whole clans of Goblins out there. Another one, the Vipers, ran off after stealing the horses from the pens."
Tessarael: "Ah ... how many warriors in a clan of Goblins?"
Village defender: "They killed Novannes and Hakos when they did, thieving vermin." Tessarael nods grimly.
Pyotr: "Oh about 80 or so."
Tessarael: "Are there any larger towns nearby where you would be safer? Or places where you could get help?"
Pyotr: "Our position here is possibly better than they expect though. If they charge us we should inflict a great many casualities through our arrow slits."
Village defender: "I doubt they will stay beyond dawn, Goblins don't like the light much."
Tessarael: "Well I can create sunlight if that would help ... I'm thinking I may as well go out and pick off some of the Goblins while they're waiting. It will help improve our odds."
Solmund and Pyotr both say, "Good luck."
One of the towers is stone, off the main building, and is manned (womanned) by Kuzma and Irinia. Kuzma is ancient, and Irinia is a teenager. From there Tess can get an idea of the layout and where the Goblins are. Tess calls Aldara back to him. From the tower (which appears to be their armory too), Tess can see into the east and north clearings. Some Goblins are whooping and hollering in those clearings, which Tess can see clearly with his Elf sight. Tess snipes some Goblins. Goblins fall like skittles, and the few who survive rush back into the forest, which is quite close. Judging by the drumming and the fires being lit, the Goblins are numerous and not planning on attacking right now. From this spot the Goblins can't possibly get through the east without being shot at, nor the north-northeast. The Goblins can come from the west, but that means crossing the bridge, and the people in the hall can shoot at them as they cross.
Tessarael sneaks out into the forest to kill some more Goblins. He and Aldara try to spot the position of Goblin scouts then Tess shoots them. The forest is full of running and yelling Goblins - like small children on speed. Tess does discover that there are less Goblins than he initially thought. Some of the Goblins are lighting fires that they don't need to increase their apparent numbers. Still there are plenty of Goblins here, 100 to 150 all told. It is hard to tell who the Goblin leaders are. They certainly don't seem to be doing any leading - maybe the most brightly painted ones, or the ones with the biggest hats - who knows? A group of eight Goblins get together and go to the edge of the forest to snipe at the windows. The two sides exhancge fire for a little while before the Goblins retreat back, having lost two of their number. More Goblins were watching that group. This is only the east side. There is the west side, on the other side of the stream/river. Some goblins are in favor of attacking, some not so much. The most gung ho were those eight.
Tess heads back, getting Aldara to check on the other areas. After talking to the villagers, Tess creates a Silent Image of a group of armed men running into the palisaded area from the south to reinforce the village. The Goblins shoot at the soldiers. Some of the Goblins seem to realise it's an illusion, some don't. Afterwards the Goblins hang a bit further back. Tess can sometimes see their beady red eyes watching from the forest.
A bit further on in the night, the drumming reaches a peak and then stops. Then all is silent, just the heavy breathing of the people standing ready with polearms and bows at the windows. After a few minutes, some of the drumming starts back up and again and it goes back to normal. Some time after that, off to the east, there are some screams and a figure in a yellow dress being dragged through the forest.
Pyotr: "It's trick, ignore it."
Tessarael: "They have a spellcaster?"
Darya: "No! My friend Katarina has a dress just like that."
Tessarael: "I can go and take a look."
Pyotr: "Darya, it's just a Goblin trick."
Darya: "It might be her! If you could I'd be very grateful."
Tess sends Aldara off to take a closer look. Pyotr comforts his wife, Darya. Tess heads out in that direction carefully, hiding. Aldara quickly returns and report it's a trick - no humans there at all, just a Goblin in a skirt. Tess passes that information on. The other Goblins around it were doubled up in silent laughter too, apparently. Darya looks very relieved.
Some more time passes while they wait for the Goblins to come out so they can shoot them. Aldara will return and report that the sky is no longer safe. There is a group of giant vampire (not undead) bats now circling the homestead out of arrow range. Pytor tells everyone to stay off the battlements of the tower now - inside only.
As it gets close to dawn, some of the Goblin on thew west side start to gather themselves. They beat on their shields and scream a lot. The ones on the east side seem to be packing up and leaving. Everyone readies themselves for an attack by the Goblins, who oblige. Tess helps with his bow at first, then with his sword. Tess yells in Goblin, to the Goblins, while swinging the Sunblade and creating sunlight, "Begone or I will strike you with the power of the sun!" The sunblade will be enough to drive the Goblins off - the survivors slink off. Tess thanks his blade, Sonnescheint, and cleans Sonnescheint off. Unfortunately during the battle, Stellios was hit by an arrow and died before he could be saved.
Once the Goblins have left, they go out and take a look. There's plenty of garbage, a few stripped Goblin bodies, dire wolf prints, and a small bit of treasure (a silver amulet in the shape of a ruined tower, worth 10 gp). The tracks aren't very clear, but the large group of the Goblins who left with a bunch of horses are. 41 horses were stolen by the Goblins.
Taras: "We should follow them and try to steal our own horses back."
Tessarael: "What? The Goblins out number you greatly. The only reason why less people died last night was because of the good defenses."
Pyotr: "We were planning to sell those horses for a goodly profit you know. My brother was due here any day now to take them away. Pity he wasn't here, his guards would have been most useful in this fight."
Tessarael: "I was his guard. I guess he decided to save some money and just hire me."
Pyotr looks alarmed. "Where is he then?"
Tessarael: "He said he would meet me here independently."
Tessarael: "Stephan is the name of your brother?"
Pyotr: "Yes."
Tessarael: "Are the Goblins likely to be back?"
Pyotr: "I don't think so. We bloodied their noses and they got nothing except our horses."
Taras: "I'm not sure. Anyway, the viper clan left because they are the smallest and most cowardly of all the Goblins."
Taras: "The horses aren't even valuable to them. They don't ride them."
Tessarael: "And do you want me to help escort you to Kelvin?"
Pyotr: "Leave here? We have withstood Goblin attacks before, and we will again."
Tessarael: "How many are there in the Viper clan?"
Taras: "Once they got our horses they immediately fled, even though they outnumbered us 5 to one."
Taras: "I'm going after them. We need those horses."
Alfana: "Taras...be careful. Be sneaky, like the elf."
Taras asks Tess, "Will you accompany me?"
Pyotr says quickly, "We can pay.
Tessarael: "Certainly."
Pyotr: "Say...20 gold per horse you assist in the recovery of?"
Tess nods. "Let's see how many horses we recover. I'm happy to help." Tessarael asks Pyotr, "Any idea which route your brother would have taken?"
Taras: "We should leave soon. We want to avoid the other clans if we can. They are much worse than the Viper Goblin Clan."
Pyotr: "The only sensible route, down the river. Unless he went to one of the other households, that is possible."
Tessarael: "Well, we'll find out in due course. I dropped the ferrymistress' body about 500 yards from here."
Pyotr: "Misha? Oh that poor woman. I knew she shoudn't have stayed by herself."
Tessarael: "We'll go and pick up her body and bring it here - or maybe if a couple of you do that (Tess will describe where he dropped it). Then if you could sort out the other bodies so they're out of the way to limit disease. Then we can go and hunt down the horses." They will bury the bodies.
Tess hasn't had time to rest during the night and is fatigued. Tess and Tara head off. Taras rides a horse and Tess keeps up on foot. The Vipers left at the start of the night, but on foot, so they shouldn't be too far behind the Vipers. Taras' plan is to sneak up on them and convince them that there are nearly as many of them as there are Goblins. The cowardly Vipers should immediately scatter if that is the case. They take some spare arrows with them.
The trail leads across the Dymrak forest, pops out again, follows along the edge of it...where you find the Goblins. What is left of them anyway. It seems someone has attacked and slaughtered them. The corpse of a tall and obese Goblin is hanging from his feet from a tree. There are some dead white horses here. There are 17 dead horses and 22 dead Goblins - they died from arrow wounds.
Tessarael asks Taras, "Any idea what did this?"
Taras: "No idea. I doubt it was the other Goblins. Besides, once they attack, they split up and don't come back for at least a few months."
Tess notices a Goblin hiding in the trees, watching.
Tess asks Taras to go and check to see where the tracks went from here, while keeping an eye out on the Goblin out of the corner of his eye. Once Taras is away a bit, Tess will speak in Goblin to the Goblin, "Come down from there - I will not kill you. What happened here?"
Goblin female: "Eeek! You not hurt me! Not like humans."
Tessarael: "I will not hurt you. I am not from here. What happened?"
The Goblin female looks unsure.
Tess offers the Goblin female some trail rations. If you're hungry, here's a bit of food."
Goblin female: "I'm not sure if I should tell you." Tessarael offers the Goblin several gold pieces. "Why should I tell you? You're just going to kill me anyway! I'm wise to your tricks, tricksey Elves!"
Tessarael: "I sent the human away so that he would not kill you."
Goblin female: "So you can use your elven magic on me. One... two ... three ..." The Goblin female thinks. "One...two ... three... one ...two ... three ..." The Goblin female appears to be trying to resist an enchantment.
Tess waits quietly. Offering the Goblin female the money. "If you let me know what happened, maybe I will be able to revenge the deaths of your tribe members."
The Goblin female stops chanting and looks at the money. "Hmmm, ok. They were killed by humans. Lots of humans. They went thatta way, " she points southeast.
Tessarael: "Any idea which humans? What were the humans wearing?"
Goblin female: "They took the horses too."
Tessarael: "The horses were killed when the Goblins were riding them?"
Goblin female: "Not humans in clothes all alike, just humans in all kinds of clothes with all kinds of weapons. Bows though."
Goblin female: "No, but some tried to hide behind them. I was smart, I hid behind a tree. Humans aren't interested in trees, just horses."
Tessarael: "That's true. Elves like trees." Tess smiles, "That's why I spotted you."
Goblin female: "The woman with them was an Elf."
Tessarael: "Oh? Tell me about her."
Goblin female: "She had tricky magic. Waved her hands and made the Vipers fall asleep. Her and her four buddies, then they killed the sleepers."
Tessarael: "Her 4 buddies cast spells as well?"
Goblin female: "Not all of them were sleep, even when she did it again, so they threw arrows at each other until the Vipers were all dead. No, they are Humans. Humans don't cast spells. Can I go now?"
Tess gives the Goblin the gold pieces. "Travel safely. And try to avoid attacking humans." The Goblin female scampers away.
Taras returns. Tess goes over to catch up with Taras. Taras says, "I found a bunch of horses. I think someone else caught them and led them away."
Tess tells Taras what he found out from the Goblin. "What do you want to do? Any idea who the other humans and elf were? I wonder if one of them was Stephan, who figured out a cheap way to get the horses. A bit strange the way he only hired me."
Taras: "You let it go?"
Tessarael: "Yes." Taras shakes his head. "It wasn't going to do us any harm."
Taras: "My uncle might have, yes. Assuming he hired some more people, since seems reasonable, then he would have recognised our horses. Why did he go south then? Rather than northwest, towards home?"
Tessarael: "He was planning to pick up the horses then sell them. Could he sell them in the south? Which direction is Rifflian from here?"
Taras: "No, south is just the rest of the Dymrak forest. It's where the Goblins come from. Unless he means to head to ... No, that wouldn't make any sense. Besides, that is east."
Tessarael: "He was planning to sell them to Elves. What are you thinking? And what is to the east?"
Taras: "East is the Segenyev homestead."
Tessarael: "An Elven homestead I assume?"
Taras: "No, human. North of here is the Cherkass homestead Northwest is the Hokol, Ilyakana and Sielo homesteads. Here, I'll draw you a map." See accompanying map - the pink is the path the Goblins took that we've followed. One square is about 8 miles - although the pink line is actually only about 12 miles long.
Tess and Taras come to a sign, "Miss L. Fyodorrl - Equine Entreprenaur - Dealer in fine horses." There is a small camp, with a great many horses. Most of them white. There is a wagon as well. Plus a couple of rough looking people.
Tessarael: "Taras, how about you stay back a bit ... Maybe I should go in and see what they have for sale and see who is in charge." Tess diguises himself as a human merchant.
Taras: "Ok. I'll be ready to support you if you look like you need it."
Tessarael: "It should be fine, just keep you head low and stay out of trouble."
Tess will wander in and inquire what horses they have for sale.
An elven female will step out of the wagon. Miss L. Fodorrl: "Well well well, what do we have here?" Miss L. Fodorrl looks Tess over. The guys at the fire laugh roughly. "What can I do you for?"
Tessarael: "Might I see your horses? My name is Venar, and I would be looking to buy at least one horse, maybe more."
"Sure." Miss L. Fodorrl asks over her shoulder. "We purchased these from some Goblins not long ago. You like what you see?" Tess takes a look at the horses, keeping an eye on Miss L. Fodorrl. Miss L. Fodorrl shows her wares - consisting of 21 white horses, 2 light warhorses and a heavy warhorse. It looks like the white horses (as described) plus a few extras.
Tessarael: "They look quite good ..." She is asking for 50gp each. Tess bargains with her for a bit, he should be able to arrange funds to buy the white horses in a couple of weeks and them come to pick them up. Is that acceptable? She would rather get them off her hands now, and is willing to offer a discount - down to 40gp each, which includes the war horses. She seems sincere in wanting to make the deal, though of course the whole thing is a shady fast sale.
Tess asks for 3 days or so to get the money together. Miss L. Fodorrl frowns. "How quickly do you have to move them?"
Miss L. Fodorrl: "I'd prefer to get rid of them now. Save on feed, you know?" Tess notices looking around that she doesn't actually have any horse feed.
Tessarael: "Perhaps we should chat in private."
Miss L. Fodorrl purrs, "Certainly." Miss L. Fodorrl leads Tess into the wagon. Inside there is clearly no room for anyone else to be hiding. In fact, as Tess get closer, he realises this wagon probably hasn't moved in months or years. The inside is cosy and out of the wind at least. "So, do you have any other currency?"
Tessarael: "Nothing local I'm afraid. It doesn't help that these horses were stolen last night and that the Goblins who stole them are dead."
Miss L. Fodorrl: "Really? Nothing we couldn't...barter? Oh thats a shame."
Tessarael: "But perhaps we can make an arrangement whereby you get some pay in return for them going back to the people who bred the horses."
Miss L. Fodorrl: "I bought them fair and square. If the Goblins stole them, that isn't my problem."
Tess describes the dead Goblins. "If you call that buying the horses ... well I suppose you did. In any case, I believe the original owners might be able to offer you 20 gold pieces per horse."
Miss L. Fodorrl: "20? Thats outrageous, for such fine horses as this."
Tessarael: "For which you have no horse feed."
Miss L. Fodorrl: "I woulnd't accept less than 30. They can survive a while without feed."
Tessarael: "25 and we have a deal."
Miss L. Fodorrl grimaces. "Oh all right. Sheesh, I bought them for 15."
Tessarael: "Who did you buy them from?"
Miss L. Fodorrl: "The Goblins!"
Tessarael: "Which Goblin tribe?"
Miss L. Fodorrl: "Don't know. Foul mouthed little bastards though."
Tessarael: "Very well. If you want Karameikan currency, perhaps you would be so kind as to bring the horses back to the village they came from, and we'll finish this transaction, Either that or wait several hours and I'll bring the original owners over here to pay you."
Miss L. Fodorrl: "Heeeeyy. Transport is extra."
Tessarael smiles, "Well, we can arrange transport ourselves."
Miss L. Fodorrl: "Alright then."
Tessarael: "Can you wait a few hours?"
Miss L. Fodorrl: "I can."
Tessarael: "Very well. I'll arrange payment and be back shortly. Thank you."
Tess leaves and talks to Taras. The village is about half a day away by horse. Tess hides his haversack with Aldara keeping an eye on it, teleports to the village to pick up payment and then teleports back with payment. The villagers will be pretty upset at paying for their own horses, but decide it's either that or fight for it, which they aren't willing to do, so they will agree. They're not too happy about having lost 17 horses either.