720 Nuzyael 26

A strong, steady wind blows from the north west, making an already cold morning even colder. And with the overcast sky's, the two hour journey up to Kolorn Keep is simply miserable. Slowly moving past a couple of small villages and manors, the wind rushes over the River Kald, picking up moisture and saturating your clothes and hair. By the time you reach the keep, you are all thoroughly damp, even though not a drop of rain has yet to of fallen.

Off to your right, in the distance, you are able to make out a mammoth structure, the Kolorn Keep. It is built along, and partially on, the side of a steep cliff facing the River Kald. The four plus story Keep of Kolorn easily bests the one in Jedes in size and splendor.

As you continue north on the road, you enter the village of Alterand, which supports the Keep and it's nobles. Many of the residence stop their field work to watch you pass, and more than once, a small lad is seen running from the house, some in the direction of the village, and some in the direction of the Keep. News of your arrival will be in the town long before you.

As you enter the village, you are able to see signs for the following:

Temple of Peoni
Bonding House
The Last Wolfs Head (tavern & Inn)
Miller
Clothier
Chandler
Metalsmith
Thather/Teamster

In the Bastune Square, the prisoners are tied up to a pole, and have already been severely whipped. Not among the prisoners is Kathal.

Once you enter town, most people will be back to work, but still mindfull of you strangers.

The Keep is a little less than a quarter mile in from the river, on the highest point in the viewable area.

Bors ‘The Large’ motions for his traveling companions to follow, thoughts of spending the coin in his purse left his rather large head the colder and wetter he became. It takes him but a few minutes to locate The Last Wolfs Head, and he walks quickly towards it.

“A hot meal and a warm fire is just what we need,” he says in a slightly gravely voice, “first round’s on me …”

The group enters The Last Wolf's Head, the warm glow of the fire roaring along the rear wall being the first thing they see.

Along the right wall are the stairs heading up to the rooms above, and along the left side, standing behind the bar, is a short, stocky, powerful looking man in his mid 30's, Dikel the owner and proprietor.

He quickly eyeballs each of you with the eyes of a man obviously trained to look at people with military precision. Quickly summing up each of you, he nods, and jerks his head over toward the fire where there are two empty tables, and three filled ones.

The room is about 30' wide and 40' deep. Game heads line the wall, ranging from rabbit's to huge horned elk, and a few animals that you are not familiar with. The bulk of the tables and chairs have been pushed toward the fire, leaving the front third of the room almost completely bare, and the last third highly crowded.

Coming through a side door is a lovely young woman carrying a couple of bowls of steaming stew and a couple pints of ale for a couple of men at a table near the fire.

All in all, besides you, there are 8 other people in the bar.

Bors lumbers towards one of the empty tables, the one closer to the fire, and shivers slightly as the cold chill slowly begins to leave him. He removes his traveling cloak, and sets his bag down next to the table. Then promptly drops himself into a chair, cursing loudly as it snaps under his bulk. He reminds himself that he must be more careful of his choice of chairs. The large man tosses the remains of the chair onto the fire, and pauses a moment to warm himself. Giving it a second try, he carefully selects a more sturdy looking chair, this time it holds his weight. Noticing his friends are all seated, Bors pounds his massive fist onto the table, and raises his voice to the bartender, slapping some coins onto the table.

"A round for me an' my friends."

Dikel looks angrily at Bors and at the broken chair, catches himself short of addressing the need and cost to replace the item, then begins to say something when the door opens again.

Entering the door is a young lad of about 12 years old dressed in nice clothing. Dikel addresses him and the boy says he's here with a message for the recent arrivals. He has a message from the Baron for Anneliese.

At the mention of her name, Anneliese perks up and the boy rushes over and hands over his note, complete with Royal seal. He nods quickly, and then rushes back out.

Opening the letter, Anneliese see's an invitation to have dinner with the Baron this very evening.

Seeing the letter from the Baron, Dikel's attitude changes completely, and he smiles warmly at his new customers. He snaps for the bar wench to bring up the round of drinks, with a special glass of Brandy for Anneliese.

Anneliese finished her drink then headed to the nearest dress shop. She bought a red and white dress, which was very flattering on her. She stopped by an inn for a nice warm bath and a place where she could prepare herself to meet the Baron.

The rest of the day goes by. Everyone goes off to explore the town and make their purchases.

Quintin seeks out a bird and a dog to have as pets, and ends up running into Mylara. She offers to assist him with training himself and his new animals for a few days.

Silas buys some supplies and ends up finding a bit of short term work in the village doing some carpentry.

Anneliese has her date with the Barron, which she successfully fends off his advances.

Bors has his armor and clothes cleaned, as well as purchases some more supplies. Then, realizing that his trusty war flail was in a sad state, decided to have a local weaponcrafter make him a fine quality weapon.

Along the day, Anneliese and Qunitin find Othena in the village, as she had escorted a cart of exports from Jedes, and was stopped over in town, and she decided to stick around with the group to escort them back toward Jedes when they decided to return.