Subject: Setting out

The final supply list was finished by midmorning, and Telwyn brought it to Snylledd.

(ODM: The adventurer's outfits, you wear. As for the healing potions, I gave 5 Cure Light Wounds potions (which cost 250 gp total!) instead of 15 Cure Minor wounds potions. These, also, you would likely carry. Total weight comes out to 237.5 lbs, which is a light load on two mules.)

When the mules are packed and ready, and the group rechecks the inventory to make sure they didn' t miss anything [last chance for free provisions], they inform Snylledd that they are set to embark. Buchek is tied again only around the waist, this time by a single rope only, and escorted by six guards (two armed with glaives, two with longswords and shields, two with longbows).

Ferrac says his goodbyes to Buchek and offers his apologies for the scene at the festival, wishing the party the blessings of Fharlanghan and all good luck. Gurk and Grev are there to see Erk off - Grev solemnly giving a blessing for safety and wisdom, and Gurk showing a rare moment of sentimentality as he grips Erk in a great bear hug and tells him to take care of himself.

Gurk bows low to Kayla as well, thanking her for gracing his tavern with her talents and offering a room any time she wishes to return - but there is sadness in his eyes as he says it, belying the fact that he has accepted that she will likely not return.

Bernin's farewell to Bermid is very formal, wishing good fortune and great glory, but his straightforward words are betrayed by the worry and concern written on his face. He specifically avoids the eyes of Buchek and Holn, but wishes the group success in their endeavor.

Finally, Manuuv, the priest of St. Cuthbert, steps weakly forward to Erk. Putting his hand on the dwarf's shoulder, he silently prays to his god. Then, looking up, he whispers, "Please... save my son," and then walks feably off toward his temple.

Walking from Segreda, the travelers follow the East Road, a narrow swath cut through the "short" waist high grasses between the city and the outpost of Caro. They pass one or two carts heading in the opposite direction, and several small cartpaths leading out from the main road to farmhouses in the distance.

Late in the afternoon, they see the stone tower that marks the outpost and arrive as the sun is setting behind them, casting the tower in a blaze of orange and reflecting light from the surface of the river it rests upon.

(attached is a map. The gray square to the left of the path is the tower, it's two stories tall and made of gray stone. The brown shape across from it is a tavern. The other small squares and rectangles along the wall are blacksmith, armorsmith, weaponsmith shops, the temple to Fharlanghan, and barracks.

The guards will stay very close to Buchek until they get him across the river on the other side of the wall the following morning, at which point they will release him and he won't be allowed to return.

I'm also sending out a couple of private emails.)