The rising stage on where the motley crew of men and the young lad will embark to find the start of their journey. After the five had went off to bed the skies poured through the night, giving way to a crisp spring morning, with dew on the shops and on "The Deep Barrell". Petrichor swiftly entering the nostrils of the men and bargaining to see if they might stay in town one more day.
The men and young lad keen though were keen to set out prior to another torrential downpour.
"Alas, our farewell is now" said Arthur with his fine tuned pompous nature oozing out as he called out to the owner of the pub and the new shop girl, Jeannette.
"I bid thee farewell" said the level headed Sir Scott.
"See you again one day, hopefully not too soon!" Called out Fabio to his childhood friend Jeannette.
Aurelius now cloaked once more gave a simple nod; as the the everlasting grin on Bartholomew's face shown through and he boisterously shouted "We'll take good care of the kid! Don't you lovely ladies have any worry over us now."
The large and looming Sir Scott easily swung the casks of alcohol onto the caravan and soothed the horses with his truly calm demeanor.
Fabio and the res of the man laughing amongst themselves at Bartholomew's attempt to be good with woman was enough to get a rise out of anyone.
Aurelius sternly said to the others "everybody climb aboard and let's set out to the city of Orpus to see if we can get more information on The Gauntlets we all so crave."
And so the journey began on the cobbled stone in the town of Winterhaven. The moving caravan was almost enough to make Fabio puke and the others relished in amusement as Sir Scott steadied the horses through town. The swaying of the caravan seemingly growing on the young Rosas as he held his new sword firmly kindling his heart ablaze with his sights headed directly at the adventure he has always dreamed of.
The morning dew cooled the rays of the sun as they evaporated, giving a somewhat stickiness to the air as they rode out. Slowly making their way through the large gates with a carved sign that said "Winterhaven" in jewel toned lettering.
The cool breeze struck the merry bands faces as they headed west with the trees bounding with new found life from the nights downpour.
"Still fresh with dew" called out Sir Scott to the rest of the crew
Young Rosa's climbed to the front of the caravan to sit with the mostly silent Scott of the house of Gryphon. He spoke swiftly "I hope you don't ,ind if I join you at the front of the caravan"
"Not at all young lad" the priest said seemingly unbothered "I could use the company regardless."
"And here I was hoping for a silent ride through the beautiful evergreens and morning sun rays" Fabio said quite obviously joking.
"Ah, talented at hunting and funny I see" them both chuckling together now.
"So what's your story" Fabio asked Scott solemnly
"Well as you can see I'm a war priest… I give a lot of last rites and swift deaths to those who fall off the path of righteousness. I heal, but some even call me the angel of death. You never know truly if you're alive until you see the life fade from another's" he said only half joking in response to his questioning
"So, young lad tell me how you ended up in that pub, keen enough to join a band as merry as ours?" The 6'4" Scott towering above him said in his reverberating voice that Fabio was sure he had to have practiced.
"Well, my parents fell ill to the plague and left me orphaned by the time that nigh seven years old. I did a lot of fending for myself and growing up to quick. I learned to hunt from the butcher, to sew from Mrs. Doubtfire, and some swordplay from Mr. Doubtfire. All in all the village of "Winterhaven" raised me up to be the man I am today" pausing thoughtfully and choosing his next words carefully he spoke again "To me that is a man of integrity, charisma, ability to survive, and a will to adventure"
Sir Scott rubbed his bald head and smiled "Young Rosas I don't think I've ever heard a better answer from anyone before. I think I like your attitude and spirit more than that of Bartholomew's to say the least."
The both of them chuckled at that.
"Hey, I heard that!" Chimed in Bartholomew
Aurelius spoke smiling through his cloak "It seems to me we have another eavesdropper on our hands and it's definitely not the boy this time!"
"In the event that I'm not eavesdropping, you shall know I have dropped dead" replied Bartholomew chuckling through his yellowed teeth.
Grazing not too far in the distance was group of wild horses or so they thought.
"Be on guard" the well traveled priest said in a hushed but firm tone to the rest of the crew
"I sense something a bit amiss over by the treeline… the glimmer of a-" he was cut off abruptly as an arrow whizzed past his head and stuck into the side of the caravan. "Bandits!" The priest shouted "Everybody to arms!"
"It seems your lucky day to have your bow and arrow, because we need back end support" Scott grinned as he spoke to Fabio all the while grabbing his large staff and hopping out of the caravan with the other men "plus you haven't had your sword training yet! See if you can take out the archer while we handle the rest" he spoke in a direct but not harsh manner
"Will do" said Fabio
He caught sight of the archer and with one pull and release of the twine of his bow he shot the archer square in the chest. Blood spewing from the man as he collapsed to the floor.
In the meanwhile there were three others who jumped out of the bushes and rushed the caravan. Dressed in leather arms with short swords Fabio thought to himself this will be an easy fight for the men.
With one crashing swoop from his staff the priest crushed an enemies skull. Aurelius pulled his two short swords out and with the fanciest sword art of the lot he caught his opponents blade and slashed at his wind pipe in one swift motion. Bartholomew with no struggle at all also handled his opponent with ease; slashing his leg first and then his neck after his opponent had fallen.
"Well seems I needn't even come out of the caravan, what an easy fight that was" Arthur had said giggling to himself.
As the men wrangled their tired bodies back into the caravan the coast seemed to be clear. The priest was busy clearing the bodies of their wares and giving them the final prayers of his single god.
"May god be with you on the journey through the afterlife" he spoke into each carcasses ear as he closed their eyes with his free hand still wielding his long staff in the other.
He was the last to climb back into his seat on the caravan and they rode for a distance longer until it was near dusk and they founded a small clearing where they settled. And broke the dusk fall with a small fire and potted water with salted meat for dinner.