Elleraden grunted in frustration as he attempted to clean the pot covered in a thin film of sauce. No matter how hard he scrubbed, nothing seemed to remove the sticky mass. The door behind him creaked open. "May I assist you?"
Smiling, the ranger lowered the pot into the sink and rubbed the soap over it again. "No thank you Hellen, I can manage. But could you get me another cake of soap? I'm almost out."
Elleraden had spent much of the evening preparing for the journey, before having a final supper at the house of one of his dearest friends. Hellen was a plump elderly woman whom Elleraden had saved from a band of slavers several years before. She had lived at the ranger camp ever since, and had always been on of his most special friends.
Later that evening, after finishing the dishes, Elleraden hurried over to the main hall, not wanting to be late for the meeting. When he arrived, Islist had already begun his speech.
Quote:
"Every one, we leave at this time tomorow. Actually, meet here at sunset. We shall leave then. Tonight, get every thing packed on your horse, then strip it down. Keep it in a pile inside your tents. Remember how it went on. Tomorow I want you all to rest and say goodbye to the others not coming. You are coming because of your skills and loyalty. We need no other rangers. The ones that have just arrived will come as soon as possible. The time to get more rangers is too great, so we must not try. I expect you all to be on time, and any one who is not is left. Do I make my self clear?"
"Yes sir," they all answered together.
Islist's stern face suddenly turned to a smile and said, "Now, let's celebrate one last night," and he jumped off the barrel, grabbed mugs, and within minutes had every one a mug of dwarven malt beer.
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Conversation soon became merry, and stories were told by various rangers. Elleraden took the time to meet the new rangers that were coming with them.