Caractacus shook his head again. "I have t-two caveats. First, we will be moving through the Old Country, yes? The undead are quite p-prevalent, and a necromancer l-like myself would not be, aheh, quite so sh-shunned, I would think. N-not to say the presence of our uh, slith compatriot--er, companion, isn't appreciated." Caractacus briefly smiled at Kij'hara. "But I wouldn't think a friendly face c-counts for much out there."

Caractacus stood up from his chair and stared the illithid in the eye. "And second. I do not now, nor will I ever, want you in my mind. You can respect that, or I will take my leave of you and this quest.

Masrith let out an annoyed sigh. He began to speak through the Slith. "I will not argue any longer. Ad a few last words before we depart. A necromancer will never be looked upon as a good omen along these accursed lands as you could easily be mistaken as a servant of the lich. Lastly, I respect the privacy of your mind, however if we are ever surrounded by enemies. I will talk to you in your mind regardless as speaking a plan aloud infront of your enemies is absurd." The Illithid took his hand off of the Sliths head and waited for them to depart. The Sliths eyes grew white again. Masrith would speak. "I suggest trying to capture a hollow undead. Defeating an enemy requires knowledge of its weaknesses and behavioral patterns. I had several hypothesis about the undead that are hollow."

Her foot hit the floor with a clang. Morro stamped in impatience, and turned to the Illithid with a glare. "The necromancer will lead the group until I return. I don't have time for you to argue against that." As the two continued to argue, the Knight fell silent and let her head droop in despair as the fact slowly sank in that the fate of the Three Nations could depend on these two. Finally something snapped, and she jabbed a finger towards the wizard. "You may be in charge, but the Lich's undead minions won't stop to listen to the Squid talking through the Lizard. Especially in the midst of battle. You are going to have to learn to work together, and if that means him talking to you through your mind then you'll just have to deal with it." Morro leaned forwards and thrust her face up to the Necromancers. "Got it?"

She didn't wait for a response before twisting away and storming up to the bartender. She muttered something to him and he nodded before rummaging around under the bar. She turned away from him and called over to the dysfunctional group over the heads of other frightened customers. "Make your way to the mountain, I'll find you there." The Knight made her way over to the doorway and was halfway through before she stopped and glared back at them, considering something for a second. Finally she spoke a few last words of farewell. "Good luck, and... Don't get yourself killed." With a final second taken to disapprovingly survey them one last time, she gave a small nod and disappeared out of the door.

Caractacus sighed, his grip tightening on the plain staff at his side. "I will do what I must. A curt answer, but one that would serve satisfactory. It was true, too. He was prepared to see this through now that he had a position of responsibility. Caractacus pushed away the empty plate and stood up.

"Very well. I am r-ready to leave, whenever you two are." He looked at his two newfound companions. He hoped they would serve trustworthy. As much as he hated the idea, he knew he would have to speak to the illithid mentally at some point. Morro was right in saying there would be no time to speak through the slith. It didn't stop his skin from crawling however.

Shaking the thought from his mind, he snapped his fingers at his zombies, and gave a terse order. "Follow. The shambling corpses followed close behind Caractacus as he took a position by the door.

Masrith stayed silent. He stood up when all were ready to leave. He walked out the door and looked around. He wasn't sure in which direction they were going because he hadn't been to the surface often and was not familiar with the area. "Where to?" The only words that the Illithid spoke. He closed his eyes. There wasn't really much sun light but it still bothered him. Knowing he spends most of his time in the dark contributed to that.

Caractacus stepped outside, flanked by his two zombies. He stared out across the great swamp that was now the land of the dead. Turning to the illithid, Caractacus answered curtly. "Into the center of the Old Country." He pointed at the newly sprung mountain looming in the distance. "To the mountain. He took a few steps away from the building, on to the muddy soil. Close behind were his zombies.

"Once the slith joins us, we'll head out. It should be some time before we reach the mountain proper, but if we set a pace, we should be there withing a fortnight. Would be easier with horses..." The beasts of the earth never liked his presence. Caractacus's strange aura seemed to even effect the lesser beings. He shrugged, and turned to wait for the third of the trio to join them outside.

Kij'hara lingered a moment before stepping outside to join the others, contemplating her options. Did she really want to do this? Was it worth the risk? Sunlight streamed into the tavern through the broken structure, and she savoured the warmth on her scales. Inside the mountain it would be dark, cold. Lifeless. The idea of such an unnatural place didn't appeal to her, but then again, what did she have to lose? Her mind was made up, and she stepped outside with a measured readiness for the journey ahead.

They appeared ready to move on, and the necromancer at least seemed to know where he was going. Kij'hara had never ventured far into the Old Country, even before the mountain and the dead rose again. "There appear to be no horses here. We may find some on our way, but until then it seems we'll have to travel on foot. Unless either of you has a better idea?" She glanced at the Illithid and then the mage, trying to gauge whether either of them did, in fact, have a better idea. Finally she settled her gaze on the human, and bared her teeth in a half hearted smile. "Lead on."

Caractacus returned the grimace that passed as a smile to the slith. "Aha. The l-last of our party arrives. If we are all ready, it is b-best we make haste."

Caractacus was about to strike out, when an idea struck him. "A th-thought occurs, if I may. If you've supplies that p-perhaps you do not need on hand at all times, my zomb--er, servants are more than capable of carrying them. It will make traveling easier with uh, less burden to bear, yes?" Caractacus unslung the leather rucksack from his back and handed it off to one of his two zombies. It did not even occur to him that the others may not appreciate having their goods handled by a shambling corpse. A hazard of his isolation.

Caractacus nodded to them both, and turned to start walking. Two paces down the road, he stopped. "Um--I j-just realized. I d-don't think I caught either of your n-names. Or m-maybe I just uh, forgot them. If I did, I'm s-sorry. I'm uh, Caractacus, if you didn't know mine..." He turned and kept walking, trying to keep the shame at his own awkwardness from showing.

Masrith followed the group. He heard Caractacus ask for names and he got a little frustrated. The Sliths voice became altered. "Masrith." The Illithid did no like the idea of speaking through someone else. It was soemthing he found to be annoying and absurd. The fact that he could not communicate with them easily simply because they were creeped out was rather annoying. Masrith did not care much at this point. He spoke into the momd of Caractacus. "I seek to capture a hollow undead. Experimentation is required to obtain a better understanding." The Illithids request may sound strange. Ots not something many people consoder but it was what his race was good at. Illithids may have been cruel, but they were also intelligent creatures.