Mists over the Musarde, Chapter Five

[Adam]

Bennedict thinks it over.

"Yes, perhaps you are correct." He ruffles around inside his pack, digging out Wolutha's grimoire, robes, and some other items from the keep, laying them out on the ground in front of him.

He stands, pulling his battered and dented breastplate up with him. Picking up his wooden club, he bangs it against the front repeatedly. He looks around and waits for people to turn and give him their attention.

[ewancummins]

After several minutes of banging and yelling, Wat and Benn have managed to get the attention of most of the large crowd that fills the Moot-Hall.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio raises an eyebrow as Ottokar mentions the friend with tinker blood. "You are reminding me of something one of the tinkers said. We--"

He stops, hearing a bang from somewhere in the hall. He stands and turns to see Benn, with Wolutha's effects at his feet. "Ha! Well, I think he will be explaining," he tells Ottokar, pointing towards the scholar.

[Adam]

After seeing the attention of all the people of the moot-house turned towards him, Bennedict gulps nervously, realizing he hadn't really thought this through.

"Excuse me," he says, haltingly utilizing the local dialect. "I have a tale to tell, one which should add some levity to the party this evening. My companions and I have traveled far and faced a deadly foe, the witch who lives in the darkest parts of your woods. We have faced her in combat and, I tell you now, we have defeated her and put her to rest...FOREVER." He gestures to the objects on the ground. "These things are treasures taken from her home. You are free of her!"

[ewancummins]

the Moot-Hall-

A hush falls over the crowd. For a minute or two, no one speaks, and then comes pandemonium! People all across the hall are shouting, questioning, jumping about in confusion, dancing for joy, or shaking their heads in disbelief.

Wat snatches up one of the trophies, a swatch of moldered tapestry, and exclaims-

''It's true, friends, the Witch is gone forever, and her Rider is gone, too!''

A small group of elders approach the party as the confused scene begins to settle. These old men and women [among whom the party may recognize the Cunning-Man that Benn had consulted, before leaving the Moot, last time] now examine the artifacts taken from the Witch-Keep. After a brief consultation with Benn and his comrades, the elders declare to the crowd that the story is true.

Someone in the crowd cries out-

''Hail, Hail, Hail the heroes!''

The crowd roars back-

''HAIL! HAIL!''

The celebratory mood of the Moot now comes into full bloom. No one, not even sly Ottokar, is bartering for goods now- everyone seems to be dancing, or drinking, or trying to get close to the party and have a look at the heroes.

[Adam]

"I say, well, you're welcome."

Bennedict smiles, accepting a mug of free booze and joining in the revelry.

[ewancummins]

Wat claps Benn on the back.

''You are heroes now, Benn! Maybe you should stay here and take a wife, eh? I can show you how to clear trees and plant a garden, raise some chickens. It's a good life- and will be better now that the Witch and her Rider are finished.''

[Lord Skybolt]

As Alain hears the cheers of Heroes he thinks to himself: Who cares about being a hero if you can't see your hand in front of your face . Then takes a sip of his drink . As stairs off into the nothingness of his eternal night .

[steveflam]

Norzak isn't really one to brag about him being a hero. He walks over to where Alain sits and sits next to him, clearing his thraot. "Ay, Al. Once we git back ta Pont A Mooseau, I'sa makin it me priority ta git ye cured. I be sure Sancerre kin help us out if need be. So I knows ye must be real down bout yer situation, but Imma gonna git ye some help. Now, why'n ye join me fer a drink. Change yer mind a lil, bub?"

[Lord Skybolt]

"Sure I will join you for a drink and thank you for your promise of doing all in your power to help me get my sight back ."With that he puts out his hand to be guided to another place in side . Thinking to himself:Since you are one of one's I hold at least partially responsible for my condition and bumbling actions in not supporting me in the first attack on Wolutha .

[steveflam]

Norzak leads Alain to get a few drinks!

[JMaytr]

The speech from Benn said, the crowd's reaction is alarming to Jonathan. The boy was not used to seeing such happiness, such overjoy of emotion to this extreme. He was swept up in the fever and rejoined the revelry, dancing and singing along to songs he didnt know.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

At first, he seems to blush as Benn recounts their tale, but then comes the adulation of the crowd. A broad, tooth grin slowly spreads across his face. "Yes, the Morninglord be praised!

He doesn't say no to a celebratory quaff, but he seems more interested in any tobacco proffered. He wants to stay sharp in case something comes in the night, though he still feels intoxicated. He mills about the crowd, talking excitedly with strangers, nearly drunk on the attention of the common man for what seems like the first time in his life. The Gundarakites had always been grateful in their gruff way, and the group at Sancerre's party had been politely curious. But this, this was different. This, he muses, was power...

[ewancummins]

The revelry carries on for several hours, but eventually fatigue takes its toll and folk begin to go off in search of places to rest. Some sleep in the great wooden hall, and some camp under the stars, in the open ground.

By an hour or so past midnight, nearly everyone is asleep.

Dorgio sits up on a cot made from sticks and deer-hide, watching over the sleeping forms of Nissa and her little sister, Heda. A candle is his only source of light within the darkened hall.

A little distance away from the cleric and his sleeping charges, Norzak lies sprawled on the hard packed earthen
floor, drooling like a baby. Pink foam is flecked all over the dwarf's beard and mustachios in a most alarming manner- but Norzak's loud snoring reveals him to be very much alive and well.


If Dorgio looks back and stares hard enough into the gloom, he may spot the vague and shifting outline of Norzak's living shadow where it crouches ,watching over the sleeping dwarf.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio crushes out another cigarillo he'd been smoking to keep him awake. Though its glow was faint, the room now seems all the darker without it. He shifts his cloak on his shoulders, the one relic of his Vistani mother. He wonders at Ottokar's story about his half-gypsy friend. If that man could walk the mistroads, could Dorgio as well? Perhaps that was why he alone had escaped Barovia that night...

Dorgio blinks and raises his spear, seeing a jumble of movement in the darkness. He shakes his head, only Norzak's shadow. The priest settles back into the gloom, continuing his vigil.