[001] The Road to the Ruins

[joertexas]

"So, we go to the old city now? Daxter asks nervously as he shifts from one foot to the other.

"I think so," Carsta responds. "Come, walk with me."

[ateno]

"Daxter, your safe, honest."

de Francisco

[terrymixon]

Linder smiled but said nothing.

[Darithe]

Vesper

"Yes Daxter," she says with a smile, "You are one of us now, whether you like it or not."

[ateno]

"So this revaluation causes problems, the Kobolds won't support us unless they have their eternal ally who turned on them.

I don't know, does anyone have any idea? They seem to think they will be safe in the hollows they find. Which makes me think, why did they not go there in the first place."

de Francisco

[joertexas]

"So this revaluation causes problems, the Kobolds won't support us unless they have their eternal ally who turned on them.

I don't know, does anyone have any idea? They seem to think they will be safe in the hollows they find. Which makes me think, why did they not go there in the first place."

de Francisco

"They're looking for something, but I don't know what it is," Carsta replied quietly.

[Eris]

Vesper

"Yes Daxter," she says with a smile, "You are one of us now, whether you like it or not."

"Not." you can hear Daxter murmur to himself, "Very not."

Salma, the Barkling, mutters, "I don't like it! Nothing good comes from Kobolds. They are the worse of the canides, dumber than a dog, sneaker than a coyote, meaner than a wolf."

[Eris]

"So this revaluation causes problems, the Kobolds won't support us unless they have their eternal ally who turned on them.

I don't know, does anyone have any idea? They seem to think they will be safe in the hollows they find. Which makes me think, why did they not go there in the first place."

de Francisco

"Don't like to leave home." says Daxter, "There were lots of good holes in the ruins to hide it, lots of things to catch and eat, and we knew it well."

"The hollows are there, and we can hide there for a while, but not as many things to catch and eat. Too exposed to things that catch and eat us. Can't stay there too long." Daxter adds looking glum.

"Well, we want to go back to our hills." says Salma, "Everybody grumbled about all the work and trouble of trying to live in those ruins of yours, but the Orcs ran us out, so we had to go. Hardly anything to eat where we are now except rats and boney burrowing critters. That's why the Chief bought those human pups, make them do the work, fatten them up and eat them. It made some sense, but I couldn't stomach doing that to any pups. So here I am, an outlaw without a pack."

[joertexas]

"So this revaluation causes problems, the Kobolds won't support us unless they have their eternal ally who turned on them.

I don't know, does anyone have any idea? They seem to think they will be safe in the hollows they find. Which makes me think, why did they not go there in the first place."

de Francisco

"Don't like to leave home." says Daxter, "There were lots of good holes in the ruins to hide it, lots of things to catch and eat, and we knew it well."

"The hollows are there, and we can hide there for a while, but not as many things to catch and eat. Too exposed to things that catch and eat us. Can't stay there too long." Daxter adds looking glum.

"Well, we want to go back to our hills." says Salma, "Everybody grumbled about all the work and trouble of trying to live in those ruins of yours, but the Orcs ran us out, so we had to go. Hardly anything to eat where we are now except rats and boney burrowing critters. That's why the Chief bought those human pups, make them do the work, fatten them up and eat them. It made some sense, but I couldn't stomach doing that to any pups. So here I am, an outlaw without a pack."

"Trying to eat our children will bring more trouble that your chief wants," Carsta says. "We can help you both to find a way for all of us to live peaceably. I'm not sure how we will do that just yet, though."

[Darithe]

Vesper

"Well there is one thing I know. If my companions put their heads together we will solve whatever problem we encounter," at least that is what Vesper told herself, though she wasn't sure she believed it.

[ateno]

"I suspect the first thing is to welcome Daxter and have him lead us to the edge of the ruins and we can go from there? Sounds like a small step anyway."

de Francisco

[Eris]

It is after midnight now. Do you march all night or get some sleep? If you march all night you will reach the edge of the ruins mid-morning, but you will be tired and that is a problem. If you sleep the rest of the night you will be fresh in the morning, but won't reach the ruins until mid afternoon.

What do you do?

[joertexas]

It is after midnight now. Do you march all night or get some sleep? If you march all night you will reach the edge of the ruins mid-morning, but you will be tired and that is a problem. If you sleep the rest of the night you will be fresh in the morning, but won't reach the ruins until mid afternoon.

What do you do?

"We should go to the ruins. We can rest once we arrive," Carsta proposes.

[ateno]

"I'm good with that, we will need light.

Daxter, tell us about yourself!"

de Francisco

[Darithe]

Vesper

Walks along humming, glad to be on the open road.

[terrymixon]

Linder will willow along, keeping an eye out.

[Eris]

"I'm good with that, we will need light.

Daxter, tell us about yourself!"

de Francisco

"No lights! There's a moon." Daxter says, "There will be lookouts and they'll see lights. Send fighters to ambush us. That's what we'd do, anyway."

"Nothing to say about me." Daxter shrugs, "I just do what the Chief says and if I live long enough I get to breed and then I die. Mostly, I catch rats and rabbits and lizards. Sometimes, I try to catch bigger game with my clutch like last night, but taking on you long shanks is always dangerous. You more sneaky than even us."

The night turns into early morning as the party winds there way along the trail that leads up into the hills north and west of Lakeside. Breaking the crest of a hill you can just make out the broken towers of the ruins in the distance ahead.

This was once a large city, larger by far than Lakeside, with a high wall around it and several tall towers rising in its center. Now in the dim pre-dawn light you see the wall has crumbled to the ground in many places and all of the, once proud, towers are jagged spires where time and trouble have taken parts of them down.

Sharp eyed Vesper sees the flickering of light reflected off part of a stone wall near what once was a large gate. It looks like a campfire someone built to hide from sight, but neglected to take into account reflections off the stone wall behind it.

Linder who has been moving like a shadow ahead of the party also spies the light and a trail of smoke above it. Daylight will be coming soon, and the light of the fire will be gone, but the smoke will remain.

[terrymixon]

"I'm good with that, we will need light.

Daxter, tell us about yourself!"

de Francisco

"No lights! There's a moon." Daxter says, "There will be lookouts and they'll see lights. Send fighters to ambush us. That's what we'd do, anyway."

"Nothing to say about me." Daxter shrugs, "I just do what the Chief says and if I live long enough I get to breed and then I die. Mostly, I catch rats and rabbits and lizards. Sometimes, I try to catch bigger game with my clutch like last night, but taking on you long shanks is always dangerous. You more sneaky than even us."

The night turns into early morning as the party winds there way along the trail that leads up into the hills north and west of Lakeside. Breaking the crest of a hill you can just make out the broken towers of the ruins in the distance ahead.

This was once a large city, larger by far than Lakeside, with a high wall around it and several tall towers rising in its center. Now in the dim pre-dawn light you see the wall has crumbled to the ground in many places and all of the, once proud, towers are jagged spires where time and trouble have taken parts of them down.

Sharp eyed Vesper sees the flickering of light reflected off part of a stone wall near what once was a large gate. It looks like a campfire someone built to hide from sight, but neglected to take into account reflections off the stone wall behind it.

Linder who has been moving like a shadow ahead of the party also spies the light and a trail of smoke above it. Daylight will be coming soon, and the light of the fire will be gone, but the smoke will remain.

Linder drops back to the party. "There's a hidden fire, so we have sentries," he said softly.

Linder

[Darithe]

Vesper

"Yes tis true, I saw it also", Vesper whispers to the others, "Someone built it in such a way as to hide it from plain sight, so we must be careful. They clearly don't want to be found either for good or ill."

[joertexas]

Vesper

"Yes tis true, I saw it also", Vesper whispers to the others, "Someone built it in such a way as to hide it from plain sight, so we must be careful. They clearly don't want to be found either for good or ill."

"Who is best at moving quietly," Carsta asks.