Subj : Re: Peace] 6B repost 1/3
To   : All
From : yl112@cornell.edu
Date : Mon Jul 17 2000 04:22 am

From: yl112@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: Peace] 6B repost 1/3



On Wed, 12 Jul 2000, Michelle & Boyd Bottorff wrote:

Sorry for the delays.

YHL

> The guards do a semi-professional job of searching you.  They allow one
> person at a time out of the net, taking all obvious weapons and mothey
> don't do a more detailed search.  Then those people already searched
> have their hands tied and are held under guard while the next person is
> searched.  They take Brother John's staff, and Ger and Mik's weapons.
> They toss the staff to one side, and keep the weapons.  When they get to
> the Earl of Sniegrass, he yells "DON'T YOU TAKE MY TRUMPET!  DON'T EVEN
> THINK ABOUT IT!"  The guard starts to say "Now, ki--" when the king cuts
> him off.  "Oh, let him have it.  It's important to treat the nobles
> right, I'll remdind you."  As the earl clutches his trumpet
> possessively, glaring at the guards, the guards search him quickly and
> go on to Edgar.  Edgar instinctively tries to make his purse
> inconspicuous, but that's not even close to fooling the guards.  He
> sighs slightly, and Colonel Mik says, in a faux haughty voice, "Let them
> have it, Edg-- ah, it's only money, and it's not worth your life, man."
> The guards go into whoops as they look into the purse, and the king
> smiles when he sees the contents, which he promptly keeps.  The guards
> also take the rod that you have been using to follow the trail, although
> they don't seem to be making much out of it.

Edgar sighs to himself.  It was worth a try.  Besides, he thinks to 
himself, considering the conditions these folks are living in, they 
probably need the money...but why us?

> As the guards move on to the horses, the first thing they find are the
> homing pigeons.  The king looks at them, and says "good, good.  I've
> always wanted to start a dovecote, and these birds will start it off
> well.  Hmm..." he says, suspiciously.  "These look like pigeons...
> homing pigeons..."
> 
> Colonel Mik speaks up quickly.  "Of course they are.  For... ah...
> sending notes back home.  Letters, and stuff like that.  Ah, the, uh,
> castle doesn't run itself, you know.  I'm sure they'll be good for
> sending a ransom note, don't you know."

Edgar adds, "And they're nice for sending me relatives my latest 
poetry."  Not that he's had time to compose any while on this harebrained 
quest.

> The guards continue through the wagon.  Holding up the Scroll of
> Communication, the king looks at Mik, who identifies it correctly.  "For
> emergencies, of course."  Then the king finds the letters of marque.
> 
> "Ah, your majesty", says Colonel Mik, "could I speak to you privately
> for a moment about these?"  The guards mutter a bit about this.  Looking
> at the guards, Mik says sharply "My hands are tied and I have no weapon!
> Do you think I'm going to jump on him to death?"
> 
> The two go aside for a minute.  Mik speaks quietly to him; you can't
> hear quite what they're saying.  The king nods a few times during the
> discussion, and seems to have accepted whatever Mik told him, for you
> are all soon headed off through the trees.

Edgar is burning with curiosity, but eavesdropping was never his good point.
At least Mik knows what he's doing, though; he's just hoping the Earl of 
Sniegrass doesn't bloody get them killed.

> After about twenty minutes, you arrive at what is obviously an
> encampment, although a temporary one.  Tents are arranged in a circle,
> with a fancy wagon at one end.  There's a fire in the middle, and you're
> made to sit around the fire.  They untie your hands, but tie your feet,
> and there are four guards near you at all times.  Your horses are taken
> outside of the wagon circle.  You would guess that there are possibly
> forty or fifty people here in total, but only thirty-five or so are
> actual fighters; the rest are women (possibly wives or mistresses of the
> men, two you would guess are camp followers, and you occaisonally
> glimpse one who might be the queen to the king.)

Poor lasses, Edgar think sympathetically, but the king doesn't seem to be 
a bad sort, all things considered.  On the other hand, if any of them are 
disaffected...he watches them more closely.

YHL

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