Zidek departs from the group stating that he and Lede will return in the morning to assist them; after the rather explosive fight between them he seems in a bit of a rush to locate her. The night proves to be rather uneventful and passes swiftly; when the group awakens they are greeted by the sweet smell of fresh baked goods in the common area below; a warm and sunny day awaits them beyond the windowsill.

 

Soren frowns, looking outside while he's packing. "Better get used to the nice weather while it lasts." he mumbles. "Can't say I'm a fan of the cold..."

 

<+Goroh> "Meh, the cold's not that bad."

 

<+Kansu> "Once you've survived the cold grasp of a full-blown blizzard with nothing but a cloak, your definition of cold changes."

 

<+Gorland> "Fur," was Gorland's only response.

 

<+Soren> "Yeah, well, I'm not an ice queen." He rolls his eyes. "Just once I'd like to travel somewhere with a nice beach and floral shirt, sipping drinks and enjoying myself."

 

Soren wanders over after wrapping up his packing and knocks on Mina's door a few times. "Rise and shine, sleepy."

 

<+Mina> *a load crash can be heard from Mina's room*

 

Soren sighs.

 

<@Soren> "Y'okay?"

 

<+Mina> *a slightly awake grunt can be heard followed by another crash*

 

<@Soren> "Uh huh."

 

<@Soren> "Well, try not to kill yourself on the way out the door."

 

<+Mina> *Moments later Mina emerges although not quite awake*

 

<+Mina> "Y...yes..?"

 

<@Soren> "Early start today if we're going to make some progress. Might want to eat something."

 

The innkeeper suddenly appears in the hall; panting hard as if he has just ran the whole flight of stairs plus more; ‘What is that crashing noise?!’

 

<+Mina> "Yeah yeah..mpph""

 

<@Soren> "Just my friend. She's awfully clumsy. It's a talent, it seems..."

 

Kansu exits the room and eyes the scene, "Interesting."

 

<+Mina> "I..'m ready to go...I guess."

 

Gorland pops in from the rooftop, through a window in the hall, walking up to Soren and Mina. "Is everything alright?"

 

<+Mina> "I'm fine...uggh lets just get moving."

 

<@Soren> "People are sleepy. No surprise. Might want to eat something before we head out."

 

<+Kansu> "Alright."

 

Kansu walks downstairs.

 

The innkeeper narrows his eyes; "I better not find anything broken." he turns and starts to head down the stairs; "Your check-out time is in one hour."

 

Mina moves (still half asleep) down with the others.

 

Soren shrugs, working his way down the stairs. "No one needs to pick up anything else before we head out, then?"

 

<+Gorland> "Not that I can think of. If I get too cold, I can transform to a suitable form."

 

<+Mina> "I made sure to pick up my warm clothing and supplies yesterday." *Mina wipes the last of sleet from her eyes*

 

Soren nods. "Sounds good. I've just got a couple more things to do, won't take but a minute."

 

Kansu waits for Soren to do his stuff while eating breakfast.

 

The innkeeper eyes the group suspiciously as they wait in the common area; perhaps he is waiting for an opportune moment to dash and check on Mina’s room.

 

Soren wanders back only a few minutes later. "Great. Now, about our ride..."

 

Soren pulls out a silver pocket watch, eyeing it closely. "We shouldn't have to wait more than a few minutes..."

 

<+Gorland> "So you've procured transportation?"

 

<@Soren> "Not really. I just have a feeling something will turn up."

 

<+Gorland> "..Right."

 

<@Soren> "What? Don't you?"

 

<+Gorland> "I do."

 

<+Gorland> "But only because I think you've planned something."

 

Gorland smirks and stretches

 

Zidek bursts into the inn, turning as he stumbles and shaking a fist at the passing crowd beyond the door; ‘Hey there! Watch it now. Damn, people just don’t know how to slow down these days.’ He clears his throat and straightens his posture, dusting off his shirt as he does so; ‘What was I doing.. oh right, of course.’

 

Soren smirks, a bit of an "I told you so" expression on his face. "Zidek. Good to see you again."

 

Zidek turns towards Soren as he speaks; "Ah, there you are - it was a hell of a time getting here. People have been flocking from Ka.. Lodir, it seems. Is your group ready to depart?"

 

<+Goroh> "I'm ready."

 

<+Mina> "Yeah" *Mina now seems to be awake*

 

<+Kansu> "I'm ready."

 

<@Soren> "All set, I think. Shall we?"

 

Gorland blinks at Zidek's slip of the tongue, but says nothing, and merely nods.

 

Zidek nods with a smile; "Follow me then; we have parked one of our homes on a hill just outside the city; that's where we shall depart from."

 

Soren stands, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "After you, folks."

 

<+Gorland> "..Parked a home, hmm?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he followed the leader.

 

Zidek laughs; "Yes... My wife and I find it a nuisance to try and build a home wherever we go; so we have a travel cottage we tend to take along with us. It won't be going to Ourenos, however; not weather suited for that."

 

Mina grabs her things and stands waiting for the rest to get moving

 

<+Gorland> "So what will be our mode of transportation then?"

 

<@Soren> "House, by the sound of it."

 

<+Kansu> "This'll be interesting."

 

Soren shrugs. "Either way, it's better than travelling a few days for a ship."

 

Zidek leads the group through the busy streets of Opanka; which seemed to be packed to the brim with moving bodies; a large percentage of which hold sulking or generally unhappy faces. At the gate the line of refugees waiting to enter the city is quite large, but there is no outgoing line and the group is allowed to depart without any trouble.

 

After a brisk walk along the country road Zidek stops at the bottom of a small hill; on top of which rests a small house looking rather cozy and elegant. ‘Here we are - home sweet home.’

 

Soren raises an eyebrow. "Do you get a lot of odd looks when a house appears out of nowhere?"

 

"Depends if we've been there before or not." he laughs; "Here... yes, we have gotten many."

 

He motions for the group to start climbing the hill; "Shall we?"

 

Kansu sighs, "Right."

 

Soren nods and starts working his way up. "It's your place, you should be going first..."

 

Zidek nods and moves to the door, opening it and stepping inside; "Lede? I have brought our company."

 

Goroh makes his way up the hill, following in after Zidek

 

<+Lede> "Uh huh." Lede mumbles, still a bit occupied with cleaning up. "Make sure to take off your shoes as you come in, I just cleaned this house up."

 

Gorland kicks his shoes off at the door, waiting to be ushered in.

 

Zidek removes his shoes and says; "Come on in, then!"

 

Gorland steps in, looking around quietly.

 

Kansu takes off his shoes at the door and walks in.

 

Mina removes her boots and follows

 

Soren does so as well, cracking his knuckles reflexively. "Alright then. What's the plan?"

 

Goroh takes off his boots, stepping in a bit slower than normal

 

Zidek leads the group into a cozy living room with just enough seating for all; "The plan, hmmm. Well.. We are going to take you to Tahis; if Lilith has taken a ship to Ourenos, this is where her journey will have started. If she is seeking the 'Felten Tower'; which I doubt she will have any luck finding, she may have headed to Setelo from there."

 

Soren nods. "Well, at least it's part of the way. Got another question too, actually...regarding a piece of parchment we picked up."

 

Zidek nods lightly; "What might the question be?"

 

<@Soren> "Guess more of a translation issue, really. It's all glowy and magical and I don't really do that sort of thing."

 

Zidek holds out his hand; "Let me take a look; both Lede and I tend to be good with these

 

Soren nods and digs through his things, finally handing over the still untranslated one.

 

Zidek looks over the page and taps it a few times, and examines it further; ‘It’s a secret page.’ He says finally. ‘Password protected, I guess you could say. Unfortunately I cannot read the material with my true sight; you will simply have to try and crack the code.’

 

<@Soren> "Fantastic. Any idea how to go about that?"

 

‘Well, if it has been left by Lilith in the hopes your group would find it; she must have set it to something you would be able to guess.’

 

<@Soren> "Sunhat, clearly."

 

Soren rolls his eyes. "Alright, well, I'll take a look at it later and try to work it out some. Let's get this show on the road?"

 

The letter does not respond as the word 'Sunhat' is spoken.

 

Lede enters at last, dusting off her hands some. "Alright then. Tahis, was it...?"

 

<+Gorland> "It wouldn't be so simple as "Tedward is adorable" would it?"

 

Zidek smiles and nods, "Yes, lets." he looks to Lede, "That's right."

 

Lede nods, moving farther into the house. "After the first few times, I got a bit tired of doing this myself..." She dusts off a few objects as she goes. "So I decided to set up the house a little differently. An incantation, sort of. All I need to do is set it up correctly and it's good to go. If you'll head to the den, I'll be there shortly.

 

Soren nods. "Alright, then. I'm going to get to work on this letter...it has to be something somewhat obvious, I know it..."

 

<@Soren> "How about the rest of you? I don't imagine the trip'll be long."

 

Gorland shrugs. "I tend to keep to myself unless someone wants help with something. You seem fairly confident in figuring out the letter."

 

<+Mina> "I doubt I'll be much help"

 

Lede shrugs. "It's a bit annoying to explain, actually. This house kind of works as a hub for teleportation; there are a number of different places it sort of 'bookmarks'. Just need to set things. Sit tight and we'll be off in a moment."

 

<@Soren> "Right, most of you don't really know Lilith that well..." He chuckles. "I'll see what I can do."

 

Lede fiddles with a few more objects. "Might want to keep your arms and legs inside, folks. Wouldn't want to lose them."

 

<+Gorland> "That would be detrimental to my physical wellbeing."

 

<+Mina> "....."

 

Goroh stays well inside the building

 

<+Lede> "Hope you don't mind sudden changes in temperature, by the way, because we'll be off...in...just...a...second." Lede mutters.