OOP: WOW! So many posts while I was writing my post!

IP: Anavren listens to everyone's council silently with his chin resting on fist. "I agree with Horek that the scout shouldn't be too far away. I'd hate for us not to be able to easily support the scout."

"I understand Acea's argument," Anavren says with a hard glance at Acea, "for acting as if we don't know that another party is ahead of us. However, I feel uncomfortable not proceeding stealthily. Perhaps, if we'd have proceeded as I suggested yesterday, the party ahead of us would have had no chance of detecting us. But after the cacaphony we made, I think we can assume our presence is known.

"On the other hand, since time is seemingly of the essence, I'd feel far more comfortable buying horses for the lot of us and riding as hard as we can to the mine. It's not stealthy, but it puts us ahead in the game. I'd certainly hate for an evil group to get the Healer before we do. Then again, assuming those six horses represent a party of evil individuals, I'd rather catch them and execute them before we enter the mine rather than have them catch us and ambush us as we exit the mine with the Healer. If it's another party that intends to give the Canon the Healer, their presence isn't so important. If they can get the Healer to the Canon before us, more power to them.

"On the other hand, perhaps we could wait outside the entrance of the mine and wait for the other party to retrieve the Healer, in essence, using an evil party's tactics against them. Once they exit the mine, we could ambush them for the artifact. Admittedly, that is a less than honorable tactic, but it may be effective."

Anavren throws up his hand in disgust and shakes his head. "No matter. I don't expect this party to listen to reason, and I don't have the inclination to waste time trying to explain. Let me know when you've made up your minds." Anavren sits on the ground nearby, gathers pebbles in his hand and throws them to the ground lightly as he listens to the rest of the party discuss strategy and tactics.
Anavren is a tall high elf with typical black hair & green eyes. He stands 5' 5" tall & weighs about 135 lbs. Anavren is dressed in forest colors and leather armor. He is never without his composite shortbow and a sheaf of arrows!