Gorland suddenly roars, hands transforming into claws as he digs them into the desk. The cloth of his garments covering his arms, rippled as they too transformed, fur growing on his skin. The transformation flowed through his body, as he changed in height, weight, and build, until finally, he was a bear standing on his hind legs, resting against the desk. "A refund."

 

The witch scratches her chin briefly; as if considering the current situation. "No; and I won’t be deciphering those scrolls for you either." She turns her thin gaze upon Mina; "Take them elsewhere; any -real- sorcerer will be able to decipher them. And take your hairy friend with you."

 

Mina does not give in to her at this point very large amounts of frustration and grabs the scolls "Common Gorland, were just wasting time here."

 

Soren walks up to the door, pokes his head in, and decides to wait for the very angry bear before entering.

 

Gorland blinks, tilting bear head, before laughing uproariously. "Wait wait...You say a -real- sorcerer will be able to decipher them.. So it should be easy for you.. So then why are you trying to turn us away under a guise?..I suppose you can't really do it. That would be why you scam people isn't it? Only way to make money, hmm?"

 

Kansu picks up the parchment and begins writing.

 

"Aaaand it's a talking bear. Swell." He shrugs and pokes his head in. "Come on, folks. No need for this place right now, we've got a destination in mind. Dress warmly."

 

Kansu takes the parchment and places it in the box.

 

<+Goroh> "Alright."

 

Mina pushes past Soren to exit the store

 

The witch frowns suddenly; "You think, I am a scam? Do you now... Fine." she holds out a hand; "Bring one of those back here."

 

Mina stops at that turning her head with a look of disbelief.

 

<+Gorland> "Well, do we have the time, Mr. Soren?"

 

<@Soren> "Go for it. I'll be picking up some warmer clothes. Meet back in the same place when you're done, then."

 

The witch scratches the brim of her nose; "Well..?"

 

Gorland takes the paper from Mina, and hands it to the witch.

 

Kansu waits where Soren left him. Drawing pictures in the snow. Yes, snow.

 

She shakes out the parchment a few times, and then pulls a pair of glasses from her pocket, setting them on the brim of her nose, "Hmm..."

 

 â€˜Kah, well... This isn’t the start of a letter, but the end of it. And there is no signature... such poor format. Shall I read what it says?’

 

<+Gorland> "Either that or write it down."

 

The witch clears her throat, and then begins to read.

 

Alas I feel I have carried on this letter for too long; but I am sure you will understand the reason for it. Meet me within the ‘Felten Town‘ on the Ice Scape; I am sorry there is no map I can provide you with, but I am sure you are aware it has never been scribed.  As a last request I ask that you bring the Core on your journey; though I don’t believe you have any choice against that mater.  May your feet be swift, for I need your help to destroy this world.

 

Ever mine.

 

She stares at the parchment for a long moment before holding it back to Gorland.

 

Gorland blinks, sighing and taking it, storming out of the shop. "Consider the return of your scroll your payment. An exchange instead of a refund."

 

Soren picks up a few warmer articles of clothing before heading back to the King's Pillow.

 

Gorland drops to all fours and stalks back to the King's Pillow, after returning the parchment to Mina.

 

Mina follows Gorland back to meet Soren "Well that was...interesting."

 

Kansu waves as the group returns.

 

<@Soren> "Anything useful come of it?"

 

<+Gorland> "Not really...It was part of a letter. We don't know what the other parchment says.. And we don't know who the letter was from or who it was to."

 

Soren frowns, folding up some of his new purchases. "Want to elaborate a bit?"

 

<+Gorland> "Just that someone is meeting someone in Felten Town, on the Ice Scape, uncharted territory.. And that the person receiving the letter is to bring something called "the Core" "

 

<+Gorland> "They apparently mean to destroy 'this' world together."

 

<@Soren> "Fantastic. All the more reason to hurry."

 

<+Kansu> "Sounds like a good plan.

 

<@Soren> "Dress warmly." He pauses for a second, looking to Kansu. "Well, aside from you, I bet."

 

<+Goroh> "Alright."

 

Mina grumbles slightly checking her things to see if she packed anything "warm"

 

<+Kansu> "Oh you know me too well."

 

<+Mina> *sigh* "Well I'm ready then."

 

<+Gorland> "We are no longer splitting up?"

 

Gorland is obviously unconcerned about the cold.

 

<@Soren> "Not a concern right now."

 

<+Gorland> "Very well. What has brought you to your new decisions, may I ask?"

 

<+Goroh> "Probably the letter."

 

Soren leans back a bit. "Nah. Just more communication with our 'friend' in the box. There's no need to seek him out right now."

 

<+Kansu> "Yes. Our friend the wooden talking box of indeterminate origin."

 

<+Gorland> "Very well."

 

Soren stands up a bit suddenly, cracking his knuckles. "Right, I think that wraps things up here. If a few of you wish to find transportation, I've just got one last thing to check."

 

<+Gorland> "I'm pretty much my own transportation."

 

<+Gorland> "Badger mole? That's awesome."

 

<@Soren> "Badger moles won't get us to another continent. Try again." He shrugs. "Back in a few."

 

Soren heads out for a few minutes, deciding to track down his letter and see if any progress was made.

 

<+Kansu> "Moving on. Where were we going?"

 

Soren departs from the group and heads towards the library in the hopes of discovering the status of his letter. His trip, however, is cut short when he spots the recipient of this letter standing on the Library steps, puffing away on a pipe in a bit of a daze as he watches the busy streets.

 

Soren chuckles, moving to the library steps. "Good to see you. Did you get my letter?"

 

Zidek jumps slightly and fumbles his pipe as he tucks it away; "Soren! I wasn’t expecting to see you until this evening; I would have headed to the ‘King’s Pillow’ already... but Lede stormed off shopping and told me to stay put."

 

<@Soren> "Ah...huh. Been keeping well enough?"

 

He frowns slightly and shrugs, "Not... really. But my problems should not concern you." he smiles slightly and asks, "What is it you needed to speak to me about?"

 

Soren shrugs. "Oh, you know, a bit of everything. Memory loss, trips to Lodir, events of the last year. The usual sort of thing with our group." He takes a seat on the library steps. "I don't suppose you're up for a trip anytime soon..."

 

Kansu goes to see about securing transportation to wherever it is the group is going.

 

Zidek glances towards Soren from the corner of his eyes and smirks; ‘Depends... what kind of trip are we speaking of?’

 

Gorland transforms back into his human self and starts looking for transportation as well.

 

<@Soren> "Again, you know, the usual. Dangerous creatures, snowy destination, no clue if we'll find what we want there." He pauses, lowering his voice some. "We're looking for Lilith. Something isn't quite right here."

 

Kansu looks into chartering an airship.

 

Zidek’s interest seems to perk slightly as Soren speaks; ‘Snowy destination huh? I can’t say I’ve ever been one for the cold.’ He frowns slightly; ‘What do you mean, something isn’t right?’

 

Gorland transforms back into his human self and starts looking for transportation as well.

 

Soren leans back. "Hard to say out in the open. We'll be around for a little bit yet, if your interest has been piqued to learn a little more. The more the merrier, anyway..."

 

Kansu heads towards the edge of the city where the airship docking can be found along the north most wall of the capitol. From the ground, it looks like there are only two ships in at the moment; perhaps he should climb onto the platforms and look for a captain.

 

Zidek pulls the tobacco pipe from his pocket and stares at it for a moment; ‘To be honest, I can’t give you an answer without speaking to Lede; I know you have reason to be quite concerned about the princesses’ disappearance - with the mysterious way things are being dealt with in this city... but something much closer to my heart has undergone trouble in the last few months. I’m not sure if this is an appropriate time to be straying - even if there is nothing I can do about the situation...’

 

Soren nods. "Understandable enough. If you can both show up at the King's Pillow later, maybe we can shed a little more light on things...it should still be a bit until we leave, anyway."

 

Kansu climbs to the platforms!

 

Zidek nods lightly; "Certainly... we will meet with you then."

 

Soren stands up, preparing to depart. "Then we'll see you soonish."

 

Zidek nods and starts to take a puff from his pipe, turning his gaze back to the streets.

 

Soren returns promptly to the King's Pillow. "Think that should take care of most of my preparations..."

 

The platforms appear to be rather busy as crates are loaded from and into the ships; it’s hard to distinguish exactly who is in charge, but eventually Kansu makes out a mate that seems to be giving directions and keeping inventory or what is loaded into his ship.

 

Kansu walks up to the man, "Hey, you."

 

The man glances over his shoulder to Kansu, "Errm?"

 

<@Soren> "And the rest of you? If you don't dress warmly you might have a little trouble."

 

<+Kansu> "I'm looking to charter an airship to Lodir. Are you the captain of this one?"

 

<+Mina> "Won't speak for the others but I'm all ready now."

 

<@Soren> "Fair enough. We might have a couple other guests, but can't hurt to be ready to leave tonight."

 

The man stares at Kansu for a long moment, as if judging him. He then burst into laughter; ‘Hear that boys? He wants a flight - to Lodir! Bwahahah.’

 

Kansu leans more on his staff, "I'm afraid I'm not joking."

 

The captain wipes a tear from his eye, ‘Well then you’ll be glad to know Lodir is now our next door neighbor; Kama declared defeat late last night.’ He frowns for a moment and then runs a hand through his hair; ‘And no ship of any type tends to head to Ourenos these days. You will have to either find one of their merchant ships returning to their location; or charter a private navigator.’

 

<+Kansu> "Alright. Do you know any of those around here?"

 

He lightly shakes his head; "Sorry... your best bet would be to look for a ship at Bharai-Allach; trade routes have been pretty tight around here and K..Lodir due to the recent war."

 

<+Kansu> "K...?"

 

"Kama; I keep forgetting it doesn't exist anymore."

 

<+Kansu> "Ah hah."

 

<+Kansu> "Well alright then. Where is Bharai-Allach? I'm a bit new to the area."

 

"It's about two days North of here by road; right along the coast."

 

<+Kansu> "Thanks... Good luck with whatever it is you're doing."

 

Kansu waves and returns to the group's meeting place.

 

<@Soren> "Any luck?" Soren remarks, watching Kansu as he finally reenters.

 

<+Kansu> "Nobody appears to be flying to Lodir. I thought it wise to check if you're willing to travel to Barai-Allach before going with the forceful approach."

 

<@Soren> "Don't see any reason why we can't. Bit of a detour, but we'll just have to put up with it." Soren taps his fingers on the table a little impatiently. "We'll be here only a bit longer, anyway. Might have a couple of additional guests."

 

<+Kansu> "I'll keep checking the port here every day."

 

Soren frowns. "I think that's all the prep we need to do until later tonight, then, unless you have something else in mind."

 

<+Kansu> "Maybe eventually. But not now."