Back to Basics Chapter 1: Where are we ?

[kintire]

Alia looks a little surprised

"I am sure he has no sinister intention. He is probably talking to us seperately so that he gets our different stories and can compare them to see if any one of us has noticed anything seperate. If he got us all together, it is likely that some would do the talking and others fall silent. As for his authority, well I do not know if it is lawful or not, or even if there IS any law beyond this village, but what matter? the villagers accept his authority, therefore he has some."

[ewancummins]

Dalorna replies-


''Let us hope that you are right. I still say that it's better to stick together until we have a better idea of just who this Ping really is. There is something strange about him.
I will see him because I am curious. He mentioned a map. I have no intention of going alone to see him, though. Isidar and my brother will be going with me. The question is this: are you going to come with us?"

[steveflam]

Arnulf has time to investigate the village completely and thus, calm down. He still is sore at the man, but that can not be helped.
Returning, he takes his fishing pole and heads back to the spot he was fishing earlier. Nothing calmed him like fishing. HE didn't care what Lorna said, he is not a boy or a dimwit as this man thinks he is.

[kintire]

Alia looks bows, face bland

"Were it my choice I would not risk our relations with our host, but your wisdom exceeds mine as the Dragons exceeds the ant. I will be guided by your illimitable intellect"

[BigBadQDaddy]

Huln's Interview

"What case would that be ? " Pings arches his eyebrow at the weird question ." I just asked you who you are and where your from and if you knew how you got here is all ."And with that Pings waits for your response .

"It is the same questions that I pose to you, Mr. Ping." The Professor shifts uneasily in his seat before he continues, allowing the tension to subdue a bit.
"The people I arrived here with and myself have just been through a great ordeal for the people of this village. We have taken great strain upon ourselves for the betterment of this community and it's people and have not asked anything in return. And the people have been gracious to us in return.
"Yourself on the other hand have split us up in order to conduct some strange interview of your own purposes to which we know not. What I ask is who You are, Where You came from since you are obviously not originally of these people, and to what end you seek by speaking to myself and my fellow lost travelers in such a manner. Until you do what is proper and polite by answering my simple request, you shall not receive any cooperation from me and I will advise my fellow travelers towards the same action."

[ewancummins]

Alia looks bows, face bland

"Were it my choice I would not risk our relations with our host, but your wisdom exceeds mine as the Dragons exceeds the ant. I will be guided by your illimitable intellect"

Dalorna smiles at the dancer-bard-

'' I feel better knowing that you will come with us, Alia. I'm very glad to have met you. I do hope that you will travel with Arnulf, Isidar and me as we seek the way to Marsember."

[kintire]

The pleasure from our meeting is also mine, and to it I can add the honour of making your acquaintence

Shw bows sinuously

yes... Marsember indeed. I - may not stay with you all the way back. But certainly until we know where we are.

[Lord Skybolt]

"Well actually that "ordeal" would be only light work for some one with my abilities . And to were I'm from and why I wanted to question you individual is because I wanted to find out if you all from the hail from the same place and that you are not agents of the local lords or priests from up north since they don't like any one else having any magic that is not under their control . As I had to deal with them while those Goblins came to this place of my retirement and took the children for moving rations considering that breed of goblin . As I cannot get back to my real home so I retired here and the village grew up around my home . I'm from a province in country that you more than likely have never heard of ."Ping Seats back down pours himself some tea by the smell of it that he takes out from underneath the table with sipping at his tea while waiting for Hulns response .

[BigBadQDaddy]

Huln's Interview

Huln allows himself to stir with consideration for a moment, watching as the old man drinks his tea. If what Ping said was true then it was very likely that Ping was from a very different place, much like how Huln himself believed he was.
"Very well. My name is Huln Aumnoir. I am from a land by the name of Unthar, though I was brought to this village by way of a large city by the name of Marsember. Prior to arriving here I was not aware of my present companions. We are simply lost travelers afflicted by the same set of poor circumstances.
"Since we seem to share a common theme, Mr. Ping, I believe we could very well benefit from a more collected and open meeting. If you wield as much power as you say you do perhaps the way home that we all seek is that much more possible with the help of myself and my fellow travelers, though of course I cannot commit them to any course of action without their consent, I believe that they would be more than agreeable if offered assistance with our present misfortune.

[ewancummins]

The pleasure from our meeting is also mine, and to it I can add the honour of making your acquaintence

Shw bows sinuously

yes... Marsember indeed. I - may not stay with you all the way back. But certainly until we know where we are.

Dalorna finds a dry, clean place to sit.

''Well, right now I cannot think of anywhere I'd rather be than home in Marsember. I'd been away at school for several years, and I miss my family. This...umm...occurence...was quite unexpected. Now, I just want to get Arnulf and myself home in safety."

She pauses, looking over at her kid brother. Sighing, she turns back to her conversation with Alia-

''So, you are an entertainer? What is it like? ''

[steveflam]

Arnulf listens to Lorna then adds before Alia responds "She wants go get me home and I won't let anything happen to
her. So until we find our way back home, I won't be comfortable. As for going to school, that was her thing. I spent my time
learning how to fish as you saw. I also was a guard for a while."

He turns back to his fishing whistling, face concentrated on the task at hand.

[kintire]

Alia smiles at Arnulf

"I can see that your sister is as safe in your care as if she were already in her own home"

She glances back at Dalorna

"Being an entertainer is at once wonderful and dangerous. On good days when the audience is happy and the coins are ringing their own tune upon the table, the joy of the art is beyond compare. But it is a trade with many unexpected twists and turns. An audience in a black mood... a disreputable arranger... trouble on the road... the dark hand of fate can fall upon you in moments, and few trouble themselves about the fate of a dancing girl. Indeed such a stroke may well have befallen me. I suspect that my prolonged absence with master Humbert's mule and luggage has called the darkest suspicions to his mind, and my tale of being whisked away by a magical mist will be unlikely to find credence in his heart. I suspect a new city should now see my talents"

[ewancummins]

Dalorna replies-

''I expect we'll all see new cities or twons before we get back to Marsember. Being as these locals claim not have have even heard of Cormyr....this magic mist may have carried us far indeed. Or maybe these fisherfolk are simply ignorant of the outside world? It seems unlikely, though. Sara mentioned some names of cities and countries, but I must confess I've never heard of them. Her Chondathan is weirdly accented, as is the speech of these fisherfolk. I'm not always sure if I understand her correctly. Maybe she's just using the names she knows, for places known to us? Maybe she's using old names from histories or travellers' tales? In Halruaa, I came across that sort of thing...''


The girl sighs and looks up into the sky.

''Well, if I were a navigator with charts and an astrolabe, I'd look for the stars tonight and try to estimate our location. Alas, I'm not trained in that science.''

[steveflam]

"You mean you didn't study the use of an astrolabe in school? What is that anyways? Sounds like a bookworm item to me."

Arnulf looks at Aria and says "I'd get nervous on stage in front of people myself. You're pretty brave to do it. Well, I might not know much about performing but people tend to be moody. You can't perform on just good days for them. Take the good with the bad is what I would do. And don't worry about Mr Humbert. I will personally tell him what happened to you.

So, sis, you think Sara is not speaking our language right? Maybe she comes from a far away place and our places are like that, old wives tales maybe?"

[ewancummins]

"You mean you didn't study the use of an astrolabe in school? What is that anyways? Sounds like a bookworm item to me."

.........

So, sis, you think Sara is not speaking our language right? Maybe she comes from a far away place and our places are like that, old wives tales maybe?"

''No, no work with astrolabes. I wasn't studying navigation. No doubt there are magic spells which could detrmine our relative location- but such are beyond my current state of knowledge and ability. For now."
She smiles a little.

''As for Sara...I don't know. She said she was from some city called Pontamuzzo in the country of Reeshmuloh. I've never heard of either place, but the world is a very big place. I'm positive that there must be many countries and cities of which you and I have never heard, or only know as fairy tales. I recall hearing some of the common Halruuans telling legends of the exotic lands of Cormyr. Far away places seem strange to us, but are of course familiar to their own inhabitants."


Dalorna turns to Isidar-

''Hey, Isidar, what do you think we should do about our current situation? Ideas?"