Meanwhile...

Saeval looked up at the grey skies above Phlan and wished, not for the first time, that he had followed Zalina south into warmer lands. Still, he knew splitting up had been the right thing to do. The thieves had been in Melvaunt and after a small fortune in bribes to a man styling himself as a "street prophet," he had finally traced them here. Yet just when success seemed close at hand, the trail had evaporated.

"Jafreggi," as the leader of the band was known, had indeed been here. A sergeant of the guard, his hand weighed down by yet another bribe from Saeval's rapidly-dwindling purse, had known the thief by name, and further had personally helped chase him and his companion out the city gates after a botched robbery. He knew nothing of the Chalice, but said they'd gone east down the Iron Path west.

Looking out the gate, Saeval thought the term "path" was quite apt. Even the pretense of paving or maintaining the road was abandoned within bowshot of the city walls. He sighed and patted Selas on the neck as he prepared to set out. The horse had already carried him some fifty miles along the shoddy road from Melvaunt, and he felt a bit sorry that the route ahead looked no better.

A minor commotion at the gates behind stalled him. A man and woman were arguing in urgent, low voices.

Saeval refrained from listening in on their conversation, but it was clear enough that the woman -- a vaguely pretty human girl with dirty blonde hair -- was afraid to leave the city. Her companion, a heavyset, unshaven man with an air of desperation, seemed equally afraid to stay.

"It's not far," Saeval heard the man assure her. "A day or two, at most. Then we'll be alright and we can rest a while."

The two humans were dressed in dirty, somewhat ragged clothes that Saeval associated with the poorer members of the human communities he'd visited in the past weeks. They had horses, however, which struck him as a bit incongruous. Likely they had spent the majority of their savings on the animals, he thought, as their supplies looked meager indeed. The man wore a rusty rapier and hung a light crossbow from his saddle, but the woman appeared to be completely unarmed. They also seemed about to fall off the horses at any moment, as though they'd never ridden before. It was hardly likely they would survive long on a road like this one.

Spurred by conscience, Saeval turned Selas in the road until the humans stopped short and regarded him cautiously.

"Greetings," he said with as pleasant a smile as he could muster, "I see we travel the same way."

"Uh ... yes, I suppose so." The man was suspicious, untrusting. This came as little surprise to Saeval, as almost every human he'd met in this unpleasant land had exhibited similar behavior.

"Perhaps we might travel together," the elf suggested. "We would certainly be safer as a group."

"I don't ... uh ... thanks, but ..." the man seemed nonplussed. Kindness, in this land, was suspicious in itself, Saeval thought sadly.

The girl stared pointedly at her companion and in a somewhat reproachful tone urged him, "Please." When he continued to hesitate, she sighed huffily and looked up at Saeval, smiling. "Of course, sir, we would be grateful for your company."

The man looked angry for a moment, but at last he nodded agreement. "Aye, it'd be safer," he admitted.

"Excellent," Saeval replied, keeping his misgivings out of his voice with some effort. "Let's be off, then." He turned his horse and the trio began heading down the muddy path that passed for a road. "I am Saeval, by the way," he introduced himself.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, sir," the girl replied. "I am Talina, and this is my ... companion, Corwyn."