The Avatar of Inala and her companion have not advanced far past the temple to Gorphat when they hear a clatter of wheels and footsteps coming up the road behind them.

Envoy looks back over her shoulder to see what's coming, and also begins to move to the side of the path.

The Gallee's ears perk and she stops, turning around and moving towards the side of the road with Envoy. "Have we been followed?" wonders Elise.

Behind them, advancing along the road, is a massive carriage of with an ornate frame that might be of carved ivory, or bone, and lined with walls of what looks to be smooth brown velvet that ripples in the gray light. Several sickly-looking Eeee pull the contraption, set into various places on the leather harness where, in Rephidim, one might expect Drokars to be. At the coachman's seat rests a priestess of Gorphat, holding a long leather whip coiled lazily in one hand. She smiles to the two travelers. "Good greeting to you, Avatar. My Goddess thought it unfit that you should labor so hard that you might visit Her, so we have prepared a coach for you."

Envoy blinks, then looks to Elise and shrugs. To the priestess, she says, "Thank you for the courtesy."

Elise looks between the Avatar and the coach and seems just about as puzzled. She inclines her head to Envoy's shrug and steps forward, taking up position by the door at attention as if prepared to assist Envoy in entering.

The coach rumbles up to the pair, and a smartly liveried bat hops down from the side board to open the door for the two, brushing past Elise. The unhealthy-looking "team" pullers take advantage of what seems a much-needed respite, breathing heavily. A few places in the harness stand empty.

The erstwhile Avatar of Inala steps up into the coach, and takes a quick look around to see if there are any nasty surprises lying in wait.

Inside, plush, furred cushions line both walls, making two comfortable if slightly narrow "beds" on which to recline, while the same ornamental bonework adorns the interior. Windows line all sides, screened by gauzy curtains, so that the travelers can see out from all sides while within. No traps are immediately evident.

Meanwhile Elise waits patiently for Envoy to check the interior, quietly standing at attention with her left hand resting upon the pommel of her sword.

Taking a seat on the rearward pile of cushions, Envoy admires the bonework and tries to act appropriate to her station.

"It's okay, Elise," Envoy says to her escort.

Some of the bone decorations feature tiny pieces, that, as Envoy studies them, she can identify as teeth and small finger bones. As Elise touches the door, she notices that the "velvet" forming its walls feels disturbingly like the fur of an Eeee.

"Yes Mistress," responds the "escort", Elise. Shortly after, the warrior-poodle is climbing to enter the carriage, only to pause as she holds the door open for herself. Her head turns to regard the door and carefully she traces a finger across its frame, brows raising slightly.

"Do you find anything amiss?" Envoy asks the Gallee.

The tactile memory of Eeee fur resounds in Elise's head as she runs her finger over the frame. Meanwhile, the priestess peers back towards her from the driver's seat. The winded Eeee who pull the carriage inhale deeply, in unsteady breaths through the pause, probably grateful for the delay.

The poodle doesn't respond immediately, only seemingly able to regard the door and later the interior itself. "The construction is … interesting, Mistress," she answers eventually. Having said that, she steps fully into the carriage and lightly sits on the edge of the bench opposite Envoy, folding her hands tightly in her lap and frowning uncomfortably.

"The Eeee have great respect for the dead," the Aeolun comments after noticing Elise's reactions.

"All the more reason to find this … interesting," whispers Elise, her tone bordering on a mutter.

The priestess nods as the servant enters, and the liveried Eeee hops back into place on the sideboard. With a crack of her whip that makes one Eeee cry out in pain, the vehicle lurches forward. The coach moves slower than the two travelers had on their own feet, but it moves.

Envoy gazes out through the gauze-draped windows at the passing landscape, seeming to be lost in thought.

As the carriage moves along, the lady poodle tries her best to stare out one window or another though she doesn't appear to be focusing on the path outside, more trying to ignore the view inside. Every so often when she shifts her gaze, she freezes, examining one bit of the carriage or another and looking mildly ill for it.

As Elise turns to look through the forward window, in her efforts to avoid the view inside, she notices that a couple of the bats pulling the coach are quite small – children, probably. The outline of one looks … familiar.

"It is sickening," spits out Elise suddenly, angrily. She shifts her now glaring eyes elsewhere, to another window, and shifts in her seat.

Envoy blinks and turns to Elise. "Well, this is Gorphat's realm. You should expect to be sickened."

The scenery drifts past slowly as the carriage rumbles down the path, and the priestess coos at Elise's words. "Thank you, my dear. I'm sure Gorphat will be pleased to know that you find it so."

"The Gods may seem cruel or depraved at times, Elise," Envoy mutters, "but really, they don't hold a candle to what mortals can do in such areas."

After hearing the responses from the others, Elise opens her mouth as if about to speak, then abruptly stops and shuts it. She nods slowly, and after a deep intake of breath, let's it out. "As you say, Mistress," is all she says.

Outside, scenery rolls past, as the carriage makes its way up the winding road of jagged, broken red stone, up the mountainside. Curious trees can be seen along the way … suggesting hands grasping for the sky. One of the pulling Eeees nearly breaks down in a racking cough. The carriage slows further, and the driver cracks her whip. "Enough with your slacking! Keep on!" A high-pitched cry, female-sounding, from one of the "team", and the motion resumes, smooth again.

"Mistress … I would not abide … by failing children pulling your carriage … " The poodle looks up and over to Envoy, nodding to her. "Would allow me the … the honor of replacing that child?"

Envoy frowns and thinks about this. "Would you be willing to take on the child's Gift as well, Elise? Such might be implied by your offer, after all."

"Perhaps we should inquire of the coach, that we may be enlightened as to the terms of such a request?" Elise intentionally raises her voice such that it can be easily heard by Eeee ears.

The priestess chuckles at the speech of her passengers. "I do not think the boy would give up his place, would he, child?" she asks, her voice lazy.

"N-no, Mistress," the young boy's voice comes, uncertainly. "I will bear the carriage to the top, I swore it."

Envoy nods. "They labor in exchange for Gorphat's favor."

Forgetting where she is, Elise leans backwards and nods, though hesitantly. "Very well then," she says.

"If the carriage reaches the top, then any who pull it will have Gorphat's Gift lifted from them," the priestess explains, indolently.

"Is that so?" inquires Elise. She sits up once again and unfolds her arms, putting them against the seat at her side. "Then perhaps, I would pull the carriage as well? I noted room enough."

The slow journey continues, landscape slipping by. There's something wet and slick about the trees in places, as if they are weeping sap. A putrid smell blows on the wind, which tousles the barren boughs, and plays with tattered scraps of gauze and … cloth? … caught in the spiny branches

"Take heart in that you and I are providing them this opportunity to serve their Goddess, Elise," Envoy warns. "If we lessen their burden, they may not be deemed to have done enough."

"Charity in this realm must come from Gorphat herself," the Avatar explains. "For anyone else to offer it is to insult the Goddess."

The priestess chuckles. "Does the Avatar presume to speak for my Goddess as well as her own, now?" she asks, redolent from her perch. The whip cracks again, with an ensuing squeak of pain from an Eeee.

"Is it ever enough … ?" The lady poodle frowns all the more and resumes leaning back in her seat, refolding her arms. "Priestess, is what the Avatar says true? Would such an offering that her carriage be pulled by me be considered an insult, and danger to those that labor here?"

"I felt it necessary that somebody speak on her behalf," Envoy replies in a mildly reproving tone to the Priestess.

The priestess laughs. "I believe I am quite capable of speaking for my Lady, when She has something to say." She waves one hand negligently in answer to Elise. "It is of no matter to us if you choose to labor or rest, servant. The promise has been given – if the coach reaches the top, they shall be rewarded. My Goddess cares not for how this goal is attained, only that it is."

Without hesitation, Elise once again pushes herself up and looks about ready to get up. "Then … " She eyes Envoy. "… by your leave, Avatar, I shall assist in pulling the carriage."

Envoy frowns, and cautions, "This is probably a Challenge, Elise, so be careful if you must do this. The consequences for you are not so clear as they are for the current bearers."

"The consequences are already present, Mistress. Do you not feel it?" Continuing her preparations, Elise shifts her sword, and draws herself up. She carefully moves to the door of the carriage and waits for it to stop. "Priestess, when you are ready," she calls up to the front.

The priestess chuckles again, crying, "Ho!" to her team. The carriage rumbles to a halt, and the weary bearers stand in their traces, panting, ears drooped.

Once the carriage has stopped in its trek up the hill, the Templar opens the door and climbs down. She then shuts the carriage door behind her and steps through the worn and muddied road around toward the front of the carriage looking for the manner in which she might assist.

Envoy changes seats, moving to the front of the carriage so as to keep a better watch over Elise.

There are two places open at the moment, one at the front, and the other near the back, where most of the load is borne. A few of those in harness look to her, with expressions of confused curiosity, while the others do not waste energy on such actions. The young boy that Elise saw earlier in Gorphat's temple stands just before the opening in the back, with his mother at his side.

After reviewing the placements and load of those who carry the carriage, the poodle woman, after frowning for a brief moment, nods and steps forward. She makes her way further around the carriage to the rear open harness and after taking a moment to figure how best to fit in to it, does so, lifting it about her neck and getting a good grip on the handles.

After allowing the poodle to step into place, the priestess cracks the lash again, opening a new welt on the shoulder of one of the lead bats. A few welts from the whip show through the tattered clothing on almost every one of the eight Eeee in harness, one with a gash along his wing so deep it has torn through the membranes at the edge. The carriage begins to rumble forward promptly, the whipped bat jerking it forward.

"Are you enjoying your visit to my Lady's realm so far, Avatar?" the priestess inquires after the coach sets off again.

Elise sets her jaw and begins pulling the carriage forward along with the others. As she does so, she takes a moment to study those present, trying to get a better idea of those that she has not met. And in doing this, she seems to try that much harder.

"I cannot honestly say that I am, for I find it very depressing," Envoy says, hoping the Priestess will take it as a compliment.

"Oh, that must be a terrible burden for you, in service to Inala as you are," the priestess answers with apparent sympathy. "You do great honor to our little mountain by coming despite that."

"I can only wonder what Gorphat might seek in a champion or an Avatar," Envoy says to the priestess. "Someone willing to live riddled with disease, or perhaps one seeking to always have perfect health? An urge to spread malaise, or one to cure it? Maybe even a simple farmer, that knows how to make good compost. What do you think she wants?"

The other small bat, positioned in front of the mother Elise encountered at the temple, looks to be a handful of years older than the boy directly in front of the poodle – or perhaps she is just short. Next to the girl, a middle-aged, stout Eeee who seems hardier than the rest pulls his weight with even, studied strides, as if he had long practice at it. Before that pair marches two adult bats, one gray and one brown with a club foot that makes his stride off, and at the lead is a twitchy young male who jerks nervously at every crack of the whip, whether it touches him or not.

Elise perks her ears slightly so as to listen to the conversation behind her. However, pulling the carriage seems to strain her, and she cannot quite focus well enough on it to offer any words of her own. She can only set her eyes forward to study those before her and march onward up the hill.

"Why, Avatar, my Lady is the most giving and generous of all people. She wants only to share Her many Gifts with those around Her," the priestess driving the coach replies, with a smirk. "But those who find ways to please Her may be spared Her Touch. She is a fickle creature."

"I would imagine she does not get along well with Sunala then, who would cut short the time a mortal has to appreciate Gorphat's Gifts," Envoy comments, watching the priestess.

The poodle's determined marching stride seems to take significant strain from those in front of her, and even the Eeee beside her, an old woman, shoots her a grateful look as they advance. What had seemed like a gentle slope when she was unburdened, and was hardly noticeable while riding in the carriage, has raised to a punishing angle as they advance. The muddied, filthy road is treacherously slick beneath her armored boots.

The Gallee continues her march, looking all the more tired as she does so. When the Eeee beside her displays gratitude in a look, Elise can only nod briefly, unwilling to let herself slip in her focus lest she fail to keep up her place in the line. Her armor, though perhaps a shield against the whip, hinders her. It is normally heavy enough to be worn over long periods, but now it as a lead weight in her back and does little to help her footing.

The priestess smiles, leisurely cracking the whip, the lash falling on the shoulder of the boy before Elise, who stumbles but neither cries out nor falls at the impact. "Ah, but therein is the joy, for always there are new people for Gorphat to introduce to the intricacies of Her talents. Inala sees to that. What matter if Sunala takes yesterday's worn-out toys?"

"Still, a toy that never wears out would be quite a prize, wouldn't it?" the Aeolun asks, sounding coy.

"Oh, I do not know," the Yodhgorphat answers, yawning and reclining in her seat, wings spread at her side. "You sound as if you have something in mind, however."

"Oh, just curious," Envoy says, waving a hand. "You know how siblings can be, squabbling over who gets the best toy or the most attention. I just wouldn't want to cause any undue jealousy or envy between Gorphat and Inala."

The poodle lifts her head slightly in order to get a better look at the boy in front of her, noting the impact from the whip and surprised when he continues on defiantly. After a moment of watching, she dips her head and resumes as she was.

The woman in the coach's seat twists to peer through the veils at Envoy for a moment, leaving the pullers to their task unguided – which, as they are all sentient, is no difficulty. In fact, the Yodhgorphat's only instrument of guidance is the whip, since reins serve little purpose when your team understands the spoken word perfectly fine. After a moment of quiet contemplation, she turns forward again. "Of course not," the bat comments.

The carriage rumbles through one of the many switchbacks with some difficulty, the ungainly, weighty shape difficult for the team of pullers to negotiate. One of the wheels on the right – the side opposite Elise's – gets stuck in a half-rotted carcass most of the way through, and the elderly bat struggles against the harness, fighting to pull it over.

Envoy goes back to watching the bearers, thinking of the various spells and cantrips that could be used to make the road more negotiable back in the real world, but are almost certainly useless here.

Elise frees the hand closest to the elderly Eeee and reaches over to get his attention. She then points back at the carcass and shows him three fingers, as if to count with. She also pushes a bit more into her harness to demonstrate that she means to combine their effort on a count of three in order to free the wheel.

The bat swings her head about to see Elise's motions, then nods to them. She jerks a little at the harness, backwards, then stops pulling herself, waiting for Elise's cue to resume.

The Templar steadily counts down from three to one, and on finishing one nods quickly before pushing herself into the harness with what strength she can muster. Unused to such hard work the poodle winces, but pushes as she can.

As Elise counts, the others get the hint and wait for the final signal to resume their strain. Just as the priestess starts to shift her position, raising her whip to berate the pullers for halting, Elise reaches "one" and the carriage surges forward. The Yodhgorphat squeaks, unbalanced by the cross between shifting place and having the carriage surge at the same moment, and topples from the coach, landing in an undignified heap on the ground.

Peering out of the window, Envoy asks the priestess if she's all right.

"Are you all right, priestess?" inquires Elise. Peering over her shoulder and down at the fallen driver, she raises a brow, looking only vaguely curious and not particularly concerned.

"Ooo!" The Priestess struggles to regain her feet, plopped squarely in one of the decaying mounds. "One of you insolent fools help me!" she squeaks, the lash of the whip wriggling impotently in the dirt as she squirms.

Most of the Eeee in the traces seem to be taking advantage of another unexpected break, breathing heavily. The mother, whose breath wheezes out of her unsteadily, wavers on her feet, possibly not even aware that the priestess has fallen.

Envoy exits the coach, and offers the fallen bat a hand. "Maybe it would be better to walk alongside the carriage the rest of the way?" she suggests.

Elise shifts her gaze to the window where Envoy was watching previously before she steps out from under the harness and trudges over to assist the priestess as well. She inquires no further, only leaving a hand extended to help pull the fallen priestess up.

"Walk?" she squawks as she is pulled back to her feet, insulted. She waves the whip vaguely at her team. "Are you mad? What is the point in the coach if we are to walk?" The Yodhgorphat flaps back to her post on the carriage, then cracks the whip at Elise, ineffectually glancing the blow against the shoulder of the poodle's armor. "Back in line!" she cries.

The Aeolun sighs and returns to the interior of the coach.

Elise instinctively shifts away from the whip, though the blow does little to harm her. She stares up at the Eeee for just a moment before turning and walking back into line, resuming her position under one of the rear harnesses.

Another crack, and the nervous lead Eeee starts the team rolling again. Time trickles past slowly for the Eeee pullers, marked by lashes from the whip and paces against the seemingly endless road. The scenery grows, if anything, more desolate, as they ascend past one switchback after another. The poodle's armor protects her from most of the whip blows, but as they curve through one turn, the lash makes a stunning strike against her head, slicing a gash across the side of her muzzle that drips blood into her mouth.

"I don't think they need extra encouragement from your lash," Envoy grumbles to the priestess. "Or do you enjoy being cruel to them?"

"They're just lowlifes. They cannot see beyond their next meal or the next blow. If I do not remind them of the consequences for ill behavior, who knows what they might do?" the priestess replies, with another yawn, the whip curled beside her. "The pain will keep their minds focused."

The Gallee jerks in response from the sudden blow to her head, dazed from the pain of a strike against her head. She snaps out of it soon enough and frees one of her hands, almost reaching for the wound with her glove on before she remembers where she is and decides against touching it with her gauntlet. Instead she reaches the hand to her other, slides off the gauntlet and holds it in her off hand, and uses the now uncovered hand to touch at the wound and ascertain the damage done to her face.

The cut stings when Elise touches it, and she can feel the edge of the wound, as sharp as if sliced by a knife. Instinctively, she presses the lips of the injury together. It doesn't seem serious, but it could get infected. Meanwhile, the Eeee around her take up the slack on the carriage, letting her walk in her place for the moment without pulling the weight of the carriage.

At the sight of the yawn, Envoy says, "You look like you can use a bit of focus yourself. I will not tolerate further abuses against … my servant." The Aeolun's expression is not kind.

Though she uses one hand to hold the wound together in an attempt to ward off infection, Elise does not allow herself to cease carrying the weight for long. She glances around to the others near her and notes their wounds, much like her own, and how they are carrying the carriage while she checks her wound. Again she sets her jaw and pushes herself against the harness, holding on with but one hand but pressing on all the same.

At the tone in the Exile's voice, the priestess glances back sharply. "You would do well to remember Whose realm you are in, Avatar," she answers, before turning back. "She volunteered for the place; why should I treat her any differently? Still … " She shrugs. "… She is your servant, and for your sake, I will spare her."

Watching her hold the injury closed, the elderly Eeee at the poodle's side leans close to whisper, "All our diseases cured, when the pullers reach the top. All of them. By Gorphat's sworn word through seven priestesses."

"Unnecessary," says Elise, the most she's said while pulling the carriage the entire trip. "Do … do not be lax upon me. I am here, am I not? I … will take my share of this." Her words don't come off quite as strong-willed as they should, tinged in strain and ache as they are. To the woman beside her, Elise manages a smile to her before looking forward again.

Envoy turns her back to the forward window and works to suppress her anger.

The older woman nods, quickly, resuming her usual spot in the harness before the distracted priestess takes notice of her action. The coach makes it to another switchback with some difficulty, as the road narrows and the carrion piles become more of an obstacle. Elise feels lightheaded since the blow, and the dizziness in some way makes it almost easier to go on, as the footsteps become a blur, the dull ache spreading through her body from the continuous strain seeming less important as she staggers onwards. As they emerge from the latest turn, however, the coach comes to a halt, and the blinking poodle fancies she sees a solid stone wall blocking the road.

"Have we arrived?" Envoy asks as the coach stops, and turns to look out through the front window again.

Elise blinks a few times at the wall before her as if attempting to determine if it is truly there or simply a figment of her clouded mind. Choosing to believe its existence, the Gallee lets out a breath, leaning her shoulder against the harness to support herself as she rests and attempts to regain her focus. Since the blow, she's found it slipping away, and hasn't had the strain reduced since in order to steady herself.

"No." The Yodhgorphat sounds faintly surprised. "There's something blocking the path." The wall persists despite Elise's efforts to clear it from her vision. To Envoy's unclouded vision, a large stone wall blocks the road almost completely. A narrow footpath leads off and around it on the uphill side, while the steep downwards slope is uninviting both by the angle and the scrubby brush and rocky terrain that covers it.

Envoy exits the coach, and goes to examine the footpath. Calling back to the Eeee priestess, she asks, "Have you made this journey before?"

"Ah … allow me?" requests Elise. She removes her still gauntlet covered hand to point down the path ahead even as Envoy heads towards it.

Elise still continues to lean against the harness for support, however. And her gaze seems unsteady. Despite this she seems inclined to go anyway.

Shaking her head, Envoy says to Elise, "You're too tired, and you don't have wings if you were to lose your balance."

"Well," the Eeee begins, tapping the fingers of one hand against her cheek, "as a matter of fact, no. I suppose we'll have to walk from here. Terrible shame. Or fly." She hops down from the coach, then leans against it.

Most of the Eeee seem as dazed and weary as Elise, or more so. The mother, however, makes a soft squeak at the offered suggestions. "But … Mistress … the coach," she protests, wheezing.

Envoy turns back to the priestess. "Other groups have made it to the top to be cured, haven't they? If we leave the coach behind, won't that disqualify the bearers? Does Gorphat expect them to fly the coach over the wall?"

A shake of the head as if to clear herself and Elise looks up and over towards the Priestess. "But … the agreement states the … the coach must reach the top, does it … not? Would this not break the … the contract?" she asks.

"My Lady has never made this offer before. She only proposed the coach to ease Her beloved Sister's way in coming to see here," the priestess says. "Oh, well, that." She makes a face at Elise's comment. "Perhaps My Lady will make allowances as long as the Avatar reaches Her. There's no help for it; can't get the coach around that." She gestures languidly to the imposing obstacle.

Envoy eyes the coach critically, wondering if it could be broken down into smaller pieces somehow. "Well, I'm going to check the path. There may be a coach on the other side." She then turns back towards the treacherous looking path and walks towards it.

The coach, with its framework of bone and covering of stretched hide, does look more prone to disassembly than a typical wooden vehicle, although it doesn't look as though it was in any way meant to be taken apart.

Removing herself from the harness and dragging herself forward, Elise heads to the wall, moving so as to stand right in front of it. "You … you had no intention… ," she mutters back at the driver, her sentence left unfinished.

"Don't get snippy with me," the Yodhgorphat says, draping herself against the coach. "I've never been this far before. I had no idea." The seven Eeee remaining in their traces stand there, just breathing, while the Avatar and Elise investigate the path. The young boy then slips from his place to patter slowly after the poodle.

When Elise reaches the wall, she stops, reaching with her gauntleted off hand to press against the wall. Unaware that she is being followed, she begins exerting force against the barrier, straining against it in a dazed show of force as well as a test of its integrity.

The Aeolun finds negotiating her way around the wall a little tricky, due to a few rocks and roots along the footpath, but nothing very difficult. On the other side, the road continues, a bit narrower, but otherwise much the same and still wide enough to carry the coach … if it could get here. On the other hand, there is another, smaller-sprung vehicle waiting on the other side, with room for two to sit side by side, and four pullers.

When Elise presses against the wall, the surface seems hard and unyielding for the most part, although one of the stones higher up seems to shift beneath her hand – though perhaps the poodle merely imagines it.

Deciding to take a more direct route back to the other side of the wall, Envoy spreads her wings and tries to simply fly over it.

The young batling moves next to Elise, tapping gingerly at the wall, then looking up at the woman hopefully.

The Gallee pauses, staring at the section that responded differently for a moment as if attempt to determine, too, if it was really there or a figment. She decides that even if it is a figment, she ought to try again. So, after stepping back and readying herself, she walks forward and pushes with all her strength upon the single section that seemed to give way earlier. Her expression is a mix of determination and hazy stupor, not perfectly focused, but with enough will behind it to be visible.

Flying over proves trivially easy for the healthy Aeolun, who soars back even as Elise is pushing at the loose block. She manages to shove it partially forward, but it is too high up for her to push it all the way through. The boy next to her watches, then tugs at the poodle's robe, gently.

"What's on the other side?" the priestess asks the returning Envoy. She has climbed back into the driver's seat to lie down, watching the commotion diffidently.

Wearing herself out, Elise just uses the wall as a crutch for a moment, leaning heavily against it. No longer occupied with her struggle against the stone, she shifts her head to look downward to the boy. "Yes … young one? Have you the same thought as I?" she asks him tiredly but gently.

Envoy lands next to the coach, and reports, "There is a small two-seat carriage on the other side, with places for four bearers." Looking to the priestess, she adds, "I suppose you can probably go home now, if you want. You don't need to reach the top of the mountain, after all."

Looking at him fully for the first time, Elise realizes that the boy has green eyes that look startlingly familiar, were it not for the youth of their owner. He nods silently, and while she rests against the wall, he flaps his wings, darting up to the loose block. He almost fits into the empty place it's making, and he starts shoving mightily at it, squeaking with the exertion.

"Oh, lovely! We can take that. And just enough space for the two of us," the Yodhgorphat says, smiling. "I think I shall enjoy this opportunity to meet my Lady – wouldn't want to pass it up. Come along!" She gestures to the pullers, who exchange confused glances, while the priestess soars handily over the wall and settles herself into the new buggy.

Needing a bit more time to keep up with the boy, the lady poodle simply leans on the wall a moment more, smiling to herself for that time until she finds herself ready to move again. It doesn't take too long, and soon she is standing upon her toes, reaching to help the boy with the brick.

Envoy doesn't react to the priestess' departure immediately, her attention caught by Elise and the young bat's attempt to dislodge one of the stones. She flies up to the top of the wall, and starts testing for loose blocks up there.

The footman watches the priestess go from his place on the sideboard of the original coach, and with a shrug, follows slowly after her. Meanwhile, the boy has pushed the block so far in that he is almost lost inside the space it makes, and the poodle soon finds she cannot reach past him to touch the loose stone. "Keyni?" his mother calls out, a little fearful at his actions, and she drops from the harness to go toward him.

Envoy's own prodding detects a loose block in the top, that shifts easily beneath her manipulation. Meanwhile, the priestess hums cheerily to herself, settling comfortably into the buggy and flexing her whip, not yet noticing that only the footman has followed her.

"Be careful young one," warns Elise. She too begins to look worried, and instead of reaching for the brick, she places a hand around the Eeee child's leg so as not to lose him to the depths of the wall.

After checking to make sure nobody is underneath it, Envoy tries to lever the loose top stone over onto the uphill road.

The batling makes an "mmm!" noise at the cautions of the poodle and his mother, while Envoy, with a little effort, works loose her block. Once free, it plummets down the other side, landing in a pile of refuse with a loud splurt, sending a dark spray onto the side of the buggy, and a few spatters on the already soiled bandages wrapping the priestess. She idly turns about to look for the source of the noise.

Abruptly, the block the child has been working on topples out with a clatter, as well, and the wall beneath Envoy's hooves trembles precipitously.

"Keyni!" the mother cries out, dashing forward.

Envoy beats her wings to clear the wall, and calls down, "Everyone get clear of the wall!"

Elise immediately wedges one foot against the wall, and in a sudden moment of clarity carefully yet quickly yanks the boy back out from the wall and towards her.

Some of the bats still in harness glance to each other at this commotion, while others – the nervous leader and the one with the club foot, in particular – are still too exhausted to do anything more than breathe and stare fixedly forward. The top half of the wall starts to crumble outwards, while the footman squeaks and flies free. The Yodhgorphat blinks, turning towards the source of the noise, just as stone starts to rain down on top of her and the buggy.

All though her action manages to free the child in time, it gives little in the way of support to Elise once she has actually pulled him out. Thus the Gallee catches the boy in her arms and, while clutching him, staggers backwards a few steps before falling onto her back. A splash of mud and foulness erupts from where she lands.

Envoy lands back near the original coach, and looks over the damage to the wall.

The priestess lets out a high-pitched wail as realization suddenly dawns on her of her predicament. She struggles to get out of her comfortable seat in the wagon, even as stones rain down upon her. She throws up a wing and an arm in a vain attempt to shield herself, but in a moment, and with a crunching of breaking wood and bone, she and the smaller buggy are buried under the cascade. Dust and foulness fills the air, temporarily obscuring vision.

After the dust settles, they can see that the top two thirds of the stone wall have completely fallen over, an apparent chain reaction caused by the pivotal block removed from it. It has fallen even lower than the height of the loose block pried out from the center, and crumbled at the edges. Even now, a few blocks along the top are clearly out of place and loose, if one were determined to knock them over.

"I think we'd better clear out the rest of the blocks, so we can get the coach through," Envoy tells Elise, after finding her sitting in the muck with a small bat in her arms. "The smaller carriage is smashed. I'll go see if the priestess survived."

After having rested where she fell, Elise suddenly inhales deeply through her teeth as if in reaction to a sudden pain. She removes one hand from the boy even as the other clings to him tightly, reaching for the cut on her face before she realizes that hand too is covered in muck. Instead she places that hand against the ground and pushes herself up to a seating position.

The mother bat rushes to kneel next to her child, who blinks up at her, smiling innocently. "Mama!" he says, holding out his little hands. She catches him up, hugging him tightly to her, and offers a smile of pure gratitude to Elise.

Elise shakes her head again, though her daze is likely more from having hurled herself backwards than her wound. Shifting her gaze to look about she notices the Eeee mother, and surrenders the child to her. She also notices her smile, and returns it before standing up.

"Thank you," the woman whispers, fervently, to Elise, still kneeling with the child in her embrace. The stout bat drops from his harness and marches to the wall, knocking loose the free blocks at its top. After a moment, the gray one and the elderly woman advance, as well, testing for other stones not properly seated in the remainder of the wall.

"Y-yes … we, we should … " The poodle clutches her head on the side free of the wound, steadying herself again. "… mm … We should clear these blocks if we are to proceed. Will you assist me?" The question is addressed towards those around her, mostly to those still at the old carriage.

Envoy tries to find the priestess under the pile of rubble from the wall. "Can you hear me in there?"

Again Elise focuses on the mother beside her and kneels down next to her, smiling again. "Think nothing of it. He … reminds … me of someone, but, even if he did not … " She leaves her sentence unfinished.

Jarred into life by Elise's request, the three remaining in the harness nod dumbly, then advance to the wall, assisting their fellows in testing the rubble. They move unsteadily, with the nervous bat and the stout man coughing often as they work, but they continue with determination. After a lingering hug, the mother releases Keyni and the two join the others in clearing the remainder of the wall, and then the path beyond.

Once the mother begins moving towards the rubble, the now rather muddy Gallee does the same. A suitable set of loose bricks is located and she begins hefting, shoving or pushing them so as to force their tumble off the edge ofthe path, down the steep slope. Every so often she pauses, staring into space as if considering something before she continues.

Envoy keeps trying to uncover the remains of the smaller carriage, and – presumably – the priestess that was sitting in it, by pushing blocks off of the pile.

Envoy's investigation of the wreckage of the buggy yields no response, and when she pries at the stones covering it, she soon discovers the very mangled and broken body of the former Yodhgorphat beneath the rubble.

The Aeolun sits back down on a block, and ponders what to do about the body. "What sort of funeral rites do the priestesses of Gorphat practice? We can't leave her in the middle of the road. There wouldn't be room to get the coach around her."

The footman grimaces and wrinkles his nose at the sight of the body. He's standing over near the coach again, apparently waiting for the road to be cleared so that they may continue. Meanwhile, the gray bat pauses in his work at Envoy's question. He looks about at the surrounding, bleak countryside, at all of the unburied bodies lying in the open, rotting, in piles of filth, with bugs crawling all over them or scavengers picking at them. And then, he just shrugs by way of response.

"I … I can think of two ways to deal with her. Pitch her from the road … as … would be common enough on the path to Mount Gorphat … or if someone knows the … " She stops to consider, possibly having lost track of what shewas saying. " … the ah, yes … burial rites of the Eeee; we could perhaps bury her." More bricks are pushed away, sending them tumbling on down below.

Envoy clears away the rest of the rubble from the body, and tries to pick it up to carry to the side of the road.

The body seems to have joints now in places where it really ought not to, and it requires a second trip to get all of the priestess to the side of the road, but in short order, Envoy is able to do the former Yodhgorphat at least that much, while the others work on clearing the path.

The stout bat steps over the last blocks from the wall, and strides to the buggy, tugging at loose parts to drag it to one side, as well. The club-footed Eeee joins him, while mother and son work together to move blocks off. The young girl has collapsed in a daze against one stone, blinking, while the nervous Eeee similarly seems unable to continue, consumed by a wracking cough. The gray furred bat comforts the whipped Eeee awkwardly with pats on the back, avoidingthe gashed wing and other injuries inflicted.

Watching the bearers, Envoy begins to notice the vacant way they seem to be acting. Maybe they really do need something to focus their attention on, like the priestess said. "Hey everyone, you know what makes work go by faster? A song! Those of you with trouble breathing can just hum along, though."

After having tossed one of the last bricks from where the wall was, Elise takes a moment to rest, bending one knee and kneeling in the mud, careful to keep from splashing herself further. She looks across the group thoughtfully, considering what has been accomplished here and studying carefully the detail of all the Eeee who had been pulling the carriage. Her gaze settles on the young girl, and finding no one is around to comfort her, she decides that something should be done about that. Elise pulls herself up to her feet and walks over to the little girl, smiling and offering what she can to comfort her.