The Search Party

"You see," said Merlise, "Some of the nobility were out on one of their foxhunts, and a summer storm suddenly broke. Three of the party were missing, and we are searching for them."

"Can you describe them for me?" asked Fred.

"Sure", said Chris. "The man of foremost rank in question is Ethelfirn, the Third Earl of Arcsine. The Earl is a jovial man of middle age, distinguished by a bushy black moustache and a long nose. The Earl is quite fit, and is known for his broad sense of humour - at first we thought that he may have been playing a practical joke, but he has been out too long for that to be probable. The earl rode a bay stallion with two white front hooves."

"And the other two?"

Jorge chipped in, "Morty the Short was a ranger in service to the reeve of Barthol's Forest. Morty knows this area well, so there is a chance that they are still alive. Morty you can recognize by his Lincoln green tunic, and a red birthmark on the right side of his neck. It is shaped like an eagle. Morty does not talk much, but he knows his business. His mount is a black mare with a white star-shaped patch on her left rear flank."

Tweak then chimed in, "The third person we are looking for is Muffin, a servant of our fair lady, the Grand Duchess of Swimpel. There have been many songs about the beauty of Lady Swimpel. I am composing one that I would like to share

Oh we love our Lady Swimpel
As she simpers from her wimple
Our hearts of all a-flutter
And she doesn't even stutter...

Much to the relief of everyone, Lord Fred cut off Tweak's tribute to Lady Swimpel. "We are not looking for Lady Swimpel, we are looking for Muffin. What can you tell me about her?"

"Oh, she is not that interesting. Kind of chunky and red-faced. Not worth making a four-line poem about."

"Look, Tweak, I am not interested in composing poetry. I am interesting in helping you find your missing people. Distinguishing features, what horse she is riding, wilderness survival abilities?"

Merlise answered, "Well, Muffin was not the sort of person that one remembers easily. She was just a young servant of the Duchess, and she travelled on foot. Her duty on the hunt was to cook and clean."

"Now, where were they last seen?"

Anales answered:

1. "By the ford of the Plymouth River. We lost the trail around there."
2. "Near the Cliffs of Peril. They looked icky, so we decided to search in a nicer place."

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