Martyn
(day after his arrival at "New Marrid")

     [I'm sensing a dragon down below!] Havelok told him excitedly.  Without 
being told, the gray dragon immediately began winging over in that direction.

     *Ah, another one!* Martyn told the dragon.  *Find out who it is!*

     After having found his way to the new warren which was still being 
constructed, Martyn had spoken to Carrie, the acting Warrenlady.  Carrie's 
first concern had been to locate the warren's missing riders, of whom there 
were a considerable number.  She'd related to him how the suddenness of the 
final magic shift had caught everyone by surprise, and how the resulting 
evacuation of Marrid had been utter chaos.  Riders and dragons had teleported 
out by ones and twos and in small groups.  Many had turned up at the new 
warren, but others were still missing.  

     Martyn had immediately offered his services in locating them - his 
instructions from R'ven did seem to give him that latitude, and he was after 
all better suited than most for such a task.  Carrie, having of course 
nothing to lose, accepted his offer.  After a short rest, he and Havelok had 
taken off to scour the countryside for the missing riders and their dragons.  
He feared, as did everyone, that some might never be found.  It was entirely 
possible that some dragons had had their teleports disrupted by the 
fluctuations of the magic at the old warren, and had never come out.  He 
hoped that was not the case, but he was also a realist.

     Since then, he and Havelok had been at work almost nonstop.  They'd 
found some of the missing riders and helped them on their way back, and the 
two of them had been about ready to make a trip back to the new warren to 
determine just how many were still missing when Havelok had sensed the other 
dragon.

     [Hmmph,} said Havelok.  [She's not being very communicative...seems 
downright suspicious of me, in fact.]

     *Are you sure its not a wilder?* Martyn asked.

     [No, she is a joined dragon,] Havelok reported.  [It's pretty easy to 
tell the difference, actually.]

    *Then land us nearby,* he told the dragon.  *Perhaps she or her rider are 
hurt....that would explain why she's wary of us.*

     Soon, Martyn was making his way on foot toward some trees where Havelok 
told him the other dragon was.  Soon, he came upon the dragon herself, a 
large purple beast.  She eyed him with some suspicion, but made no hostile 
moves.  From the description he'd been given by Carrie, this must be Ribbon.  
And that, in turn, meant that he'd found Lakoda the Healer.  

     Well, at least he hoped he had, for she was nowhere in sight.  She had, 
however, apparently left her lunch behind.  That *should* mean that she 
didn't intend to be long...but out of old habit, he walked over to where the 
food lay to get a good look at it.  From what he could see, it hadn't been 
sitting here long.  That meant that the healer hadn't gone far.  Not in any 
danger, obviously, or her dragon wouldn't be sitting here staring at him.

     "Touch my dinner and it'll be the last thing you do!" said a voice, and 
he looked up to see a woman approaching him.   A very good looking one, too - 
and, of course, one who just happened to match the description of the rider 
who belonged to the dragon Ribbon.

     "I was just going to have a look at it to see how long it had been here, 
my lady," he said, bowing from the waist.

>"Sure you were you thief," she glared at him accusingly. "You saw it siting
there and were deciding to eat it... Don't think I didn't see you looking
around here to see what else we had."

>"We.." his left eye brow rose, causing her to take a step back. "Then there
are more of you here in this place?"

>"My dragon's here with me and she's all I need to protect me from someone
like you... Right drag.. Ah.. Ribbon?"

>"My name is Martyn and I'm here trying to find riders who got lost from
Marrid Warren when the magic shifted," he told her, all business like now,
but it didn't fool her.

     He had an irrational desire to tell her that she was beautiful when she 
was angry.  He suppressed it, of course, and found himself wondering what she 
looked like when she *wasn't* angry.

(insert the rest of Barb's post here)

* * * * * * * *
(after the arrival at the new warren)

>Talera!!" she was screaming out loud and looking all around as they landed.
She was off the dragons back as soon as they touch the ground and ran up to
the first person she saw. "Where's my daughter!?! Where's Talera!!" 

     Martyn was surprised when suddenly Lakoda hurried off...who was Talera?  
He ran after her.  "Wait...who is Talera?" he asked.

     Koda turned slowly towards him. Her eyes open wide in fear. "My 
daughter... I had to leave her behind... But they should have been here by 
now!"

     Martyn put his hands on her shoulders.  "My dear lady, *please*  calm 
yourself! Tell me what happened, and perhaps I could help."

     "Donāt tell me to calm down!" her voice rose as she jerked herself away 
from him. "Iāll calm down when I see her and not before. I have to find her."

     Martyn sighed and raised a hand.  "Where will you look?" he asked.  "I 
don't know if I mentioned to you, but I used to make a profession of finding 
people.  I cannot, however, do it without any facts. I assume you left her 
back at Marrid Warren...and someone was to bring her here?"

     "I didnāt want to leave her.. but the magic... and Ribbon had been sick 
and there just wasnāt anytime to go look for her... I love her you know, but 
I had to leave her there with Cātain and his sisters... Only way to save 
Ribbon," she reached up and grabbed the front of his shirt. "You find people 
you say? Yes? Then go find her... Bring her back and maybe Iāll forget you 
were trying to steal my food!"

     Martyn straightened himself up.  "Steal?? My dear lady, do you have any 
idea who I am?!" 

     She yanked him right back down to her face level. "Mister.. I have no 
idea who you are. And I donāt care unless you can get my daughter back for me 
like you said you could. If you can't then just go away and steal someone 
elseās lunch. I have more important things to do then hang around here and 
trade pedigrees with you! Now can you or can you not find my child?"

     Having his face this close to hers stirred something within him.  Before 
he even realized what he was doing, he'd closed the scant inches that 
separated their lips, and planted a firm kiss on her.  He saw her eyes widen 
in surprise, and had to admit he was more than a little surprised himself.  
He pulled back, clearing his throat.

     "Ah...yes...I mean...my lady, I will certainly put my talents to work in 
finding your daughter..."

     "Yes..." she stared up into his eyes, still shocked over what he had 
done. "You kissed me!" She accused. 

     "Why yes maāam so I did. Now how about telling me what your daughter 
looks like and which way you think they might be bring the kids here?"

     "Sheās a newborn.. not even two weeks old. Iām not sure..." she lowered 
her eyes. "Which road theyāll be on. Thereās two main roads.. if you want to 
call them that that we used to bring in supplies... I just donāt know which 
one theyāll take. Though Carrie might know."

     Martyn nodded.  "So, she wasn't taken by dragonriders?"  Lakoda shook 
her head.  "Well, then, let's go see Carrie.  In the meantime, can you tell 
me when they would have left the warren?  That would help us figure out how 
far they could have gotten by now."

     "I donāt know," she muttered, still not looking at him. "You see 
Ribbon... My dragon had been sick and we had trouble teleporting.. And ended 
up where you found us. I donāt know how long we were there or how much time 
has passed. They could be anywhere between here and the old Warren."

     Martyn was feeling more than a little distracted...he'd *kissed* her!  
Why had he done that?  And while he was on an assignment, too! 

     They soon found Carrie, the acting warrenlady.  She was able to give 
them some information regarding the time the wagon had left the warren, but 
not which road it might have taken.

     "Well, then,"  Martyn decided, "trying hard to get his mind back on 
business.  "I'll simply have to check out both roads.  If they're not on one, 
I'll look on the other."

     "They should be nearly here if they left soon after the dragonriders 
did, Carrie nodded her head then looked back at the tiny healer. "Koda are 
you okay?" the Warrenlady asked. "Because we've injured who need to be looked 
after."

     "You look after the injured," Martyn told her.  "Havelok and I will find 
your daughter."

     Lakoda looked doubtful, but then bowed to the inevitable.  "Iām okay 
Carrie," she sighed, turning to look at Martyn again.  "Find her.. find them 
all and bring them safely back to us."

     "I will, my ladies!" he said, bowing to Carrie and Lakoda.  Then he 
hurried back over to the waiting Havelok.  A moment later they were airborne 
again.

NRPG:  Okay, Martyn will be heading back in the direction of the old warren, 
following one of the roads.  I don't know how long it will take him to find 
C'tain's group, but if anyone else has a character in that area, feel free to 
run into him.

Barb, did I get Koda right? :)

Submitted by:

John

Martyn & Havelok
Marrid Warren

AKA
Warrenlady Tara & Queen Varaenna, Jasra Warren
Trevor & Trissana, Cleft Warren
T'rell & Flerrion, Daere Warren