Ch. 4, Page 10

The strange dog had a fearsome countenance and made it clear, with plenty of growling and barred teeth, that Ehlissa was to keep her distance. It did not prevent her from following Erac's Cousin at a distance, though -- so that's precisely what she did.

It seemed clear this "cousin" of Erac's planned to lose her in the crowded marketplace, or at least keep them in noisy enough surroundings where he would not be able to hear her from six paces back. So she just talked louder.

"When did you last see your cousin?" she shouted over a vegetable cart.

"When I was facing him."

"Was this recently?" She struggled to keep close as the dog nipped at her.

"Recently enough," Erac's Cousin answered, peeking back around a pair of merchants whispering to each other.

"Did he say where he was going?" she asked, hoping to see if this man even knew of Erac's trip to Castle Greyhawk.

But...

Ch. 4, Page 9

Ehlissa hardly knew what to say. From some angles, or if she squinted at him, this looked just like Erac. But if Erac came back from Castle Greyhawk looking slightly changed (and this did happen on occasion; she heard of an adventurer coming back once as a lizard man, and another adventurer who was a man coming back as a woman!), then why this game of deception?

She would dig deeper and get answers from him!

Ch. 4, Page 8

The next morning, Ehlissa promised herself she would not obsess on thinking about Erac's fate. If he was coming back to her, he would. She had work to do. She needed a hundred more gold orbs saved up to settle her debts and she was earning them slowly as distracted as she had been.

She had just one errand to run in the Low Market before she went to work for the day. One quick errand. But before she could complete it-

Ch. 4 Page 7

Ehlissa went with him. She went back home, packed quickly, ran back, caught up to Erac before he could leave, and went with him and his adventuring party back to Castle Greyhawk. Or at least she did in her mind.

Every time she reviewed her decision to stay, she was perplexed. Why couldn't she do it? What was holding her here? She was questioning herself until sleep finally came to her that night, and continued on into the next, rainy morning...

Ch. 4, Page 6

Ehlissa was fearful that she was too late and Erac was already gone. But she pushed that fear aside into a special place she had for fears and began to think about it rationally as she ran through the Foreign Quarter of the city. Robilar would not have told her about Erac leaving if it was too late to catch him. Robilar was also known to stick fairly close to the Foreign Quarter, except for the occasional dalliance into the Old City, but the Old City was the wrong way to reach Castle Greyhawk. So, even though there were many gates in the outer curtain wall of the city, the Cargo Gate was the one Erac was most likely to use.

Luck was with Ehlissa at the Cargo Gate -- a sentry there remembered a man matching Erac's description, having recently gone through as part of a party of four -- and had not even asked Ehlissa for a bribe for the information. They were close to the river here, but Ehlissa knew no one sensible tried to reach Castle Greyhawk by river, for it wound well away from the old ruins. In that case, Erac was likely on the road that led north, parallel to the city's outer wall. Now it was just a matter of catching him in time...

Ch. 4, Page 5

Ehlissa was in good spirits every day now, and nothing ever seemed to bring her down. She ignored all talk at the inn of adventures and killing monsters and winning treasures. She half-listened when some people talked about the dungeons being more dangerous than ever lately, with more monsters on the move and wandering about between the dungeon levels. It did not seem like it would ever matter to her, though.

Ch. 4, Page 4

In the days that followed, Ehlissa had many more opportunities to talk to Erac. She learned his favorite wines quickly enough; she learned that he liked to treat himself to Furyondy Emerald Pale when his coin purse was full, and scrimped on Keoish Golden when he had to be thrifty. He brought his own flask, which had been a gift from his father. His father had been a scribe, but had respected Erac’s decision to pursue a life of adventure. 

A friendship grew out of these early talks. Ehlissa found she looked more and more forward to each time Erac came to the inn. Sometimes he would have something new to show her, something he would want her to come see after work, or some idea for an outing the next day planned. 

Erac was a magic-user, like herself, and an adventurer like Tenser, and for these reasons she still guarded herself around him some, at first. Of his actual exploits, she knew little. Erac was not a braggart, and never talked about where he went for a few days at a time (though Ehlissa suspected it was Castle Greyhawk). He never seemed to return rich, but he never hurt for money either.

As the weeks went on, Ehlissa and Erac became almost inseparable whenever he was in the city.