That night, and Mission Two

[Nanaba]

[...]

[Michelangelo]

I hope I'll have yet have the time and facilities to make sense of my personal hygiene! From the port to the station to the wagon to here, I haven't bathed once, and I rode in with no more than the armor on my back and some trail supplies. I'm hardly presentable to any governor in this informal armor as it is, much less a set I haven't removed in days. And for the matter of how I got here, what was the church thinking, sending me here with no instruction, not one servant, and not even a guide?! Just because I jumped at the chance doesn't mean I intended to map the whole continent myself. Oh, what I'd give for one minute with those fools in charge of the church's dealings with the New World...
For a few minutes, Michelangelo is lost in his thoughts (which begin to grow increasingly haughty) on the way back.

After a bit, he looks to the couple. "Say, my children, I never got around to knowing, do you have any baths in town? What do you do to clean your laundry?"
Turning to the rest of the group: "I'll wash the lot of your wearables for you, if I receive your permissions and the opportunity."

His usual smile is oddly absent.

[sheikiebaby]

Dominic snores loudly in response.

[Nanaba]

These are the only clothes I have, weirdo...

[Michelangelo]

Michelangelo continues to look at them expectantly (ignoring Dominic) until a simple realization begins to dawn.
"You can't mean that we've all only...what we're wearing...?"

He shudders. "I'd planned to acquire some ritual components and a journal after our first bit of monetary compensation, but I'd never imagined!...I'll see that you all have something to change into, first chance we get."

He puts his hand to his forehead, eyes widening. "Mercy, I hope such an opportunity presents itself before we meet the magistrate. We smell like soiled guttersnipes, we offend the nostrils so!" _{...Though the town itself did have a rather colorful aroma to it, on reflection.}

[Michelangelo]

Not long after finishing that exchange (with himself), Michelangelo turns to the couple. He tries to keep his tone amicable.
"If you'll pardon my saying so, young masters, you two've been a bit of trouble to find, and the four of us (or at least myself) hadn't but arrived here before we were all sent to find you. Though I'm flattered at it, I find myself wondering why and how four perfect strangers, and out-of-towners at that, came to be used to find missing persons as important as yourselves."

a history roll, to see if Michelangelo can call up any particular knowledge of the region/local life/governance (for the heck of it):

an insight roll, to observe the couple's moods/ attitudes/reactions:

[DefeatistElitist]

(Weeee, I'm free)
"There are baths, and I don't think they've got a shortage of water right now, you should be fine."

"There just aren't enough resources, you were probably sent to find us because the rest of the police were tied up keeping things running. The increased risk might also have played into it," says Jennifer in response to Michelangelo's latest question. As far as Michelangelo can tell, they are telling the truth.

Shortly thereafter, you roll back into town. Night has fallen. An officer meets you by the edge of town, apparently having been stationed there waiting for your return, and guides you back to the constabulary. Inside you find the Sherrif.

"Well, well, well!" he says, seeing the couple, "I'm damn pleased if I don't say so myself. You've saved me lot of trouble fellas. As promised, we'll give you your reward, though you might wanna keep it quite, especially 'round here. If ya'd like, we can keep it safe for you here. Anyhow, you better have a good rest, but come tomorrow morning we should have a nice chat, maybe a defib- defaul- de- whatever they call it."

(100 XP and 2000 GP all around, puts you at 650 XP total).

[DefeatistElitist]

logs:

[Pyotr]

very good

[DefeatistElitist]

After a few more minutes of looking around, the sheriff turns to you.

"Well boys. And girl. I suppose we better head back to town now. I feel kinda nervous leaving this place all alone though, though I'm not so sure how we'd best guard it. I figure half of us can stay here, the other half can grab some more people from in town and bring'em out," says the sheriff.

[Pyotr]

"If you bring people from the town and elementals appear again, they're as good as dead."

[DefeatistElitist]

"You're right," says the sheriff, "I was thinking something along those lines. On the other hand, we can't just have you four stand around here, day and night, can we? I figure if we stay vigilant, they should be able to flee if anything bad happens."

[sheikiebaby]

"I don't care what you do, I just know I'm staying here for round two."

[Nanaba]

"We'd be better equipped to deal with the elementals, should they come back...the sheriff and policeman should be able to guard the professor on his way back to town."

[Pyotr]

"We can camp out, I think. For a while, anyway."

[DefeatistElitist]

"We'll head back to town then shortly, I suppose," says the sheriff, "Let me know now if there's anything you need."

[Michelangelo]

"Ehrm. Ah. Yes. Although, that is, I mean, to be sure, I-"

Michelangelo stops muttering under his breath as they finish. "Yes, if I may I ask, is this land, and this area in general, is it effectively owned by the magistrate, or simply by Haus? Or is it effectively in No Man's Land? I wouldn't want to, uh, make any mistakes in docume-er, interpreting the state of affairs."

[DefeatistElitist]

"The government claims all land out to a hundred kilometers from the nearest settlement, plus whatever they officially claim on a map, so this would fall under that. Of course, that might not matter."

[Michelangelo]

"Hmm. Bandits and a lack of official presence make it easier to say than to apply, I presume?"

[DefeatistElitist]

"Pretty much. I mean, the government's got a lot on its plate too, lots of things to do, can't be everywhere all the time."

[Michelangelo]

"Mm-hm." Michelangelo prepares to head back, and tries to recall what the latest affairs he's heard have been going on in Haus.

History Roll(1d20)+8:
13,+8
Total:21

[DefeatistElitist]

Michelangelo recalls that Haus is trying to rapidly expand through its entire southern frontier amid rising tensions between itself and the nearby nations of Bataar and Veer. In addition, the war in Dommes means that there are potentially vulnerable overseas holdings for the taking.

[Pyotr]

"How long will we be watching this place, and what are we watching for?"

[Michelangelo]

Michelangelo looks at Pyotr a moment, then smiles a bit nervously. [he didn't hear Stella because he was muttering to himself]

"Oh, Sheriff, I think I may have gotten the wrong impression somewhere. Did you wish for myself, or, er, any of the rest of us to accompany you and scholar Franklin back to town? Or did you mean that you two would be going back to town yourselves? I'd, ah, assume stay here a bit, but if you should feel the journey back would be safer with an addition to your escort..."

Michelangelo tries and probably fails to keep his gaze from blatantly wandering towards Dominic.

OOC:

Michelangelo remembers something just after he finishes speaking, and kicks himself internally for forgetting to look for a particular ritual while he was in town, but keeps quiet.
It can wait.

[DefeatistElitist]

"Franklin, myself and my officer will head back to town now then, we'll leave you all here. If we're lucky it won't be necessary, but I'd rather err on the side of caution. Bandits could come back, or those things could rise again. We should be back tomorrow with a lot more people."

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