[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: Our heroes did a heck of a lot of planning, which consisted primarily of consulting with people who know the peninsula and finding out what, precisely, was to the northeast. The general concensus seemed to be the port city of Gateway, which seems to be a pretty good spot to find just about anything.] [Maybe our heroes can find something that's definitely not on the standard equipment lists there.] [They're as ready as they're going to be, and hopefully they can pick up a broken down horse or two on the way, for all the good it'll do them.] [Session... START!] * The sun rises on our heroes. All four of them. ... Fine and dandy time for them to fuckin' disappear. ..Man. We'll just have to get going and hope they show up later. * Tiffany looks around before facepalming. "This is becoming habit-forming." As long as we stick together, they seem to manifest around the group. 's what always happens. You guys ready to head out? As I ever be, I suppose. I suppose. No better time than the present. * Fadi looks around and shrugs. "Then let's go... Anyone remember which way was North East?" * Tiffany shakes her head and looks at Harold. ... well, there's only one road, we might as well start there. * Tiffany nodds and gets to walking. * Fadi laughs. "Of course. Why didn't I think of that." He starts walking down the road. * Harold shrugs and walks along with the others, staff in hand. "If I recall the map correctly, the first settlement we come to will be the trading post, and there we can get our horses." That sounds like a good way to start. And, from there... well, we're going to be doing lots of walking. * Fadi shrugs. "What good does it do ya if you're not?" ... not much, I admit. * Harold decides to dig it out and double-check, just a bit nervously. * The map concurs with Harold. * Harold breathes a sigh of relief, and then tucks it back away. * And in a not-flash of nothing, quite suddenly Sophie is there walking beside Harold, looking down at the map. ... agh! * Sophie nods. "Yeah, I think the map is poorly made, too." * Nick has been silent up to this point, but recoils when Sophie suddenly appears. "..Whoa." * Fadi looks back, smirks, then starts walking again. So, now what are we doing? Going to Gateway. We're going to buy horses so we can travel to a far-off city named Gateway. Buying horses is, of course, the important part of this equation. * Fadi rolls his eyes. Oh. Well, then, let's continue on. Do we even have enough money for *a* horse? I doubt it. Maybe we'll have some good luck on the way... surely, with all the treasure we found on the raid we can get _something_. * Fadi shrugs. "What good will it do us later?" Then again.. We don't really need to pay for it.. ... Nick, _no_. What if you get caught? Come on, we're honorable adventurers. I'm srue we can afford the horse... or put it on an installment plan or something. ..I run? * Harold scowls at Nick in disapproval. * Nick grins back. You've GOT to be kidding. Are you honestly suggesting we lower ourselves to common thieves? I'm *anything* but common. * Fadi shrugs. "I could just kill the horse traders instead. But I don't want to get blood all over my sword again." ~_^ Besides, I don't want you guys coming along, you make too much noise. * Sophie whaps Fadi over the back of the head. "You'll do no such thing." * Fadi gets whaped and laughs. "Geeze, can't you take a joke? I'm not gonna be a manslaughterer and you know it." * Tiffany winces at the slapping noise that Sophie's hand makes on Fadi's skull, and then grins a little, despite herself. * Sophie nods. "Good. See that you don't." We'll just keep our eyes peeled for ways to get some extra cash on the way there. Probably a good idea... though I still haven't figured out the dollar-to-solar exchange rate. * Nick just keeps smiling. * Sophie nods. "Bloody hell, I have enough trouble with the dollar-to-pound rate." * Fadi chuckles. "What about dollars to ounces?" Heh. Ha ha. I hear you use dollars because common 'cents' aren't worth much in your country. ... oh, _Sophie_. * Nick groans. "Can we just keep walking?" * Fadi shrugs and has been walking the entire time. Thank you very much. * Tiffany giggles. Was that really necessary Sophie? Hmmmmmmm..... Yes. Good. ^_^ I can't believe a pun like that is _ever_ necessary. Only in her own little world, Harold. * Time passes. * It's near noon, and the forest has closed in around the road. The overhang of most of the branches provides a level of shade that's comfortable without being too dark to see clearly. * Harold still trudges along, not paying as much attention to the surroundings as he really should be. All he's interested in is signs of civilization. * Tiffany plods along, looking down at the ground very intently. She's been silent for some time now, lost in thought. * Sophie walks along, following the others. They know what's going on better than she does. * A loud grumble comes from the general vicinity of Tiffany, clearly audible in a sudden hush. Then the moment is past, and a light breeze is keeping you relatively comfortable again. * Nick glances over at Tiffany. Hungry? Yeah, are ya? * Tiffany looks at her own stomach. "How rude," She says, sarcastically. ... er, that _was_ you, wasn't it? * Nick glances around. * There appear to be no ravenously hungry monsters in the general vicinity. * Tiffany reaches into her pack and pulls out her waterskin. "Yeah." She drinks deeply. "Well, aren't you guys hungry too?" ..Yeah, now that you mention it. * Fadi shrugs. "Guess I could find something to eat." I suppose. It is getting on towards noon, after all. Should we pause for lunch? If we could, please. That seems to be a decent enough idea. Alright, cool. * Fadi nods and stops then. "How far away is the next settlement, anyways?" Ahh... if I read the map correctly, I imagine we'll travel three or four days to reach it. So, we got anywhere from tomorrow to a week. Got it. * Tiffany sighs. "Long time to walk, still." * Harold frowns at Fadi, but doesn't say anything-- no point in arguing unless it's something important. * Sophie nods and sighs. Hey, long walk'll do us good. So, what have you got to eat? I imagine we all just brought rations. I know I did. ... the rest of you did too, right? ..Ah-heh. ... ..Should I just go hunt a deer or something? * Fadi chuckles as he searches his backpack. "I seem to have neglected that. I'll get something for myself." * Fadi winces. "In fact, I think I will get something for myself..." He runs off into the bushes. * Harold sighs. "I brought enough for myself for a week... we can get by if we all share, I suppose." * Nick rummages through his backpack. "..One M&M." * Tiffany sits down and begins munching on whatever's available. She doesn't look too pleased with the bland taste of her ration. Just.. uh, give me your crossbow or something. * Harold sighs again, and hands the crossbow and a few bolts over. "_Please_ don't get it damaged." Right-o, priest-boy. * Nick salutes with the crossbow, and follows after Fadi. * Tiffany raises one hand in caution, "Be..." and then puts it down as they meander away quickly, "careful, guys." We can't even _travel_ right. * Harold rubs his forehead. Well... I guess we are skilled. And learning all the time. * Tiffany continues to munch on her ration. "So... which of the guys do you think'll make it back with food first? If either." I'm sure one of them will probably get eaten or something. * Harold munches on his, and drinks a little water from his skin. Not interesting fare, but it won't kill him. I hope they don't get eaten now, we might need them later. Come on, Sophie, show some confidence in our teammates. I know you haven't been around a lot, but we're all becoming somewhat accomplished adventurers. Acomplished horse-stealing man-slaughtering adventurers, that's us. Sarcasm, Sophie... sarcasm. They didn't mean any of that stuff, but they're still dealing with their... newfound power. I realize that. Both of that. * Fadi walks back, with two packs. One backpack that he normally had, and another one that's full of something over his shoulder. "Hey, I said I'd find food." He plops the backpack down. Still bothers me that they're so casual about it. * Sophie looks about to say something else, but looks at Fadi and doesn't. As for that, boys will be boys. Well... all of them but Harold. ^_^ * Nick plods out behind him, tossing the crossbow over to Harold. * Harold catches it, awkwardly, and flushes a little bit red at Tiffany's crack. ... Fadi, where'd you get that new sword? * Fadi laughs. "I got it four ways. I found'it, killed someone for it, traded for it off a traveling merchant that had to leave because he was sellin' pot, snagged it off of an adventurer who just ran away from a swarm of goblins and dropped it, and it fell out of a tree. ..Wait, what? ... that's five ways. * Fadi smiles. "Exactly." So who did you murder for it? Your momma. Really? Perhaps you'll tell us how to get back to Earth, then? I'm confused. Can we eat now? Yes, no, and no. In that order. * Fadi hmmms... "Okay, we can eat now." * Nick scratches his head, shrugs, and grabs some rations. * Sophie looks over at Tiffany, "Like I said..." * Fadi smirks. "Okay, I'll give you that I didn't kill anyone for it. If I did, my sword would be all bloody and I'd probably be missing a tooth or three. Now throw me one of those rations." Not if you killed him in his sleep. * Harold throws Fadi another ration, relieved that he's decided to come clean. "Let's just assume he didn't kill anyone and see what he managed to bring us." * Fadi catches it with one hand. "I'd have blood on my clothing, then. What, you think I wouldn't know that?" If he was asleep, you could be careful enough to avoid it. Draw a knife across his throat. Quick and clean. I'm *eating* over here! * Tiffany lowers her ration from her mouth in disgust. Of course, there would be blood on the knife, but if it was HIS knife, you could have left it there and we'd never know. Or you might have just strangled him to death. * Fadi eats, and doesn't have any issue over talking about killing people while eating. "You forget that nobody is sleeping in the middle of the day." Uh huh. Nobody in the entire world could ever possibly do that, hm? Kill talk later, eat now! * Fadi shrugs. "Your assumptions are as empty as your head. You are making an accusation based on pure speculation and no real proof." Nevertheless, you suddenly have a new sword and a second backpack, and you won't tell us how you acquired them. But you did suggest that you may have injured or killed someone for them. I can also suggest I pulled them out of your ass. Normally we might assume it's a joke, but since it IS you... People, _please_. Fadi will tell us what happened when the mood strikes him and not before, arguing won't get us to the truth any faster. Ok children! Food now, Answers later. Arguments... later still. * Fadi is more than halfway done with his ration. He nibbles a little more, then saves the rest in his backpack for later today. * Nick tosses the ration, and three others, into his pack. Can we go now? * Fadi picks up the extra backpack. "Yeah, I'm good to go." Well, I'm certainly not hungry anymore. But now that Fadi's done, I would also like to know where the pack came from. It was on the ground. There. * Nick stands up, shoulders his gear, and starts walking. Hmm. If that's the case, I hope the original owner doesn't come calling for it. * Fadi nods, picking up the rest of his gear and walking as well. If that's how you want to play it, then fine. But I really don't think that it's a good idea to start hiding information from one another so early in our journey. Yeah, whatever. * Sophie stands and nods to Tiffany. * Harold sighs again. "Let's just get going." * Tiffany nodds dejectedly and gets moving. [Session... end!]