The Wrong Guys IC III

[Ajadea]

Links: IC I (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157464), IC II (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190788), OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12657967#post12657967)

Players:
Audric (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=217882)
Rána (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=217793)
Antal Nirum (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=217778)
Llaars Hayden (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=218060)
Tayet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=388424)
Jess (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=388382)


The amount of Common spoken appears to have completely stupefied the halfling. "No. Speak no, speakin'," he says, looking bewildered.

The cloaked halfling chooses this moment to interject, as you begin walking on. "Some hae ne'er bin t' th' cities, ne'er had th' learnin'. Some hae lang bin hidin' in th' hills, like ye in th' forest, an' can spick only wee bits now. Still others hae the kennin's, but choose t' forget. Some things are better t' lose than t' hae."

The halflings seem to warm up to Antal quickly, chattering away in something that sounds vaguely like Common until you start listening closely. Jess's Common seem to provoke considerably more confusion, and no one appears to have a response. Mari is slightly more forthcoming with answers, though understanding anything through an accent like hers is a chore by itself. "Jist few ay them, haur an' thaur. Fewer still 'at woods tak' th' likes ay yer ma an' pa. Nae much fur th' bigguns like ye, most." She does not look back when speaking, eyes fixed on some non-existent path in front of you. Every so often, she turns, or stops and surveys the horizon for a few moments before heading off in another direction, not always entirely forwards.

In the shadows, you can catch glimpses of yet more halflings - at least two and possibly five or more, always staying so shrouded in darkness and shadows that it is impossible to tell if they are always the same ones. They are not making an effort to stay silent in the least. You can hear their footsteps crunching through the grass alongside your own.

Halfling-speakers
The halflings are quite impressed at the snippets Antal gives. In return, they offer plenty of information. There are maybe 40 other halflings at camp, including elders and children. They are hunters, skinners, and bandits, all halflings born in the hills or adopted into this band after falling out of the graces of the city. They were planning on robbing you blind for trespassing into their territory. They don't kill people if they can help it - they take things, not lives. And they won't steal from other halflings or the helpless. Those of you who have eaten their bread and accepted their hospitality are not viable targets for robbery either. They are extremely vague about the potential fate of those who have not partaken of the bread.
Mari is in charge - what she says goes. If she believes that there is a foe you are chasing, then the rest of them get some arms sized for big folk in a hurry. She is quite strongly religious, and in fact instantiated some of those rules against killing and such.
Hilltopple, the literal translation of what more often refers to giant-slaying, is an honorific well-earned in battle - they say she's fought an ogre and lived to tell the tale, that she carries its fang with her and fears no foe living or dead. Though none of them, apparently, have seen this tooth, nor do they have anything other than 'everyone says so' to back up the claims of giantslaying.

You arrive at the camp swiftly. There are three lightweight wagons here, with roofs of sackcloth and sides marked with carvings or paint. Their size clearly marks them as of human make, and a small ladder leaning against the teamster's seat allows easier entrance for the halflings. As well as the wagons, there are maybe half a dozen tents of varying size, construction, and shape. A human trying to enter one of those would likely get stuck in the entrance. Together, the tents and the wagons form a large oval, providing some measure of protection to those within.

The halflings here are not only warriors, it seems. There are old men and women, hair streaked with gray and wrinkles worn into their faces, and bright-eyed young children, who eye you with a mixture of wariness and curiosity. Most of fighting age are clad in leather armor of erratic quality, but a couple wear cloaks of gray or dust-brown cloth that hide all but their boots and the bottom halves of their faces. Almost all, except the youngest of the children, seem to tense as soon as you look at them, and many bear scars on face or hands.

There are three horses, grazing quietly at the far end of the oval, and a dozen riding dogs a distance outside it. The dogs are seemingly bounded only by a fence that looks as easily moved as the rest of the structures here, and watched only by a lone halfling wrapped in a thick coat to protect him against the chill of night.

You can smell bread baking - different from the one they gave you, and certainly fresher, and there are rabbits carefully being roasted over a fire. Mari says something in what you are beginning to recognize as the Halfling tongue, and the attitude of the camp denizens visibly relaxes. "'Main 'en noo, we dornt bite. Jist teel me whit ye need, an' I'll gie it fixed up fur ye."

[Savannah]

Rana glances around her companions, hoping they have something they want enough to justify this side trek....

[Strawberries]

Audric passes an hand through his hair. "Whatever you think you can spare" He notices a small child looking up at them with an awed expression - humans must seem so impossibly big to an Halfling child- and addresses him a tired smile, before turning again towards Mari "You have your people to think of, first. Other than that, the most important thing for us would be information. We are headed towards Edveras Ridge. It would be useful to know what we should expect on the way."

[DeafnotDumb]

Jess is smiling as she walks through the camp, looking around with a joyful glint in her eye. She waves at the few children young enough not to tense when she draws near, and walks confidently for the first time since she left the city. When Mari speaks, her face lights up.

"Let's see if I can drop the city accent. "Da was always talking about the accent..." She mutters, and then starts speaking remarkably fluent Halfling. "Mari, yew got a sun-symbol necklace? One of the Aldaran things?" She traces a finger around her neckline for a guide. "They do good as camouflage from the Church."

[Ajadea]

Mari looks slightly startled when Jess begins talking in fluent Halfling. To her credit, however, she recovers quickly and responds with a rapid stream of something unintelligible to most of you. The cloaked halfling makes a small sharp interjection about halfway through, which Mari seems to ignore.

The rest of the halflings that accompanied you here shed their face wrappings and weaponry, melting almost seamlessly into the crowd. Only the spear-wielder and the cloaked one remain, flanking you. They are almost perfectly still.

After a moment, the cloaked one stiffens, then very deliberately flees into the crowd, seeking out another of its ambiguously gendered and heavily cloaked kinsmen. They disappear into a tent, one leaning slightly on the other. They might be talking, but it's too loud to hear much.

Halfling

"I'm impressed. Not many humans speak our language, and fewer still as well as you. I don't know why a good lass like you would need to hide from the Church, and I'm not going to ask. Gods know everyone deserves their own secrets. But I can give you a symbol. Sounds like where you're going, the favor of any god would be welcome."

Whatever the cloaked halfling said, it wasn't in Halfling.

[DeafnotDumb]

Jess grins brightly at Mari, responding with a scattering of steadily more confident Halfling. Partway through the flow of words, hits her head and then she gestures at the tent where the two Halflings have disappeared to, tilting her head in time to her curious tone.

Halfling

"My parents taught me how to speak this. Couple of Halflings who took me in. Blame 'em. They also - hospitality! Always told me to help out a Halfling on the road. Anything I can do for you, then?

What's happening in that tent? If it's trouble, I think I might be helping - able to help, I mean. There's got to be something - life doesn't feel easy here."

[Strawberries]

Audric doesn't understand what she is saying, but he can follow the general tone and the gestures well enough. Frowning, he turns towards where the two cloaked halflings have disappeared.

Spot and listen checks, just in case.
[roll0] and
[roll1] Edit:whoa. Well, if they are talking in Halfling, that's only so far a natural 20 is going to help me. I said 'just in case', didn't I?

[Savannah]

Rana also eyes the tent the halflings have disappeared into.

I believe the roll I want is Sense Motive -- are they just happy to see each other or is there something more sinister going on?
[roll0]

[Ajadea]

Whatever Jess said, it seems to surprise Mari nearly as much as the fact she speaks Halfling at all. She answers with a barrage of words, a smile and shake of her head. It seems almost impossible, to the non-halfling speakers, that even a single word could possibly be understood in that rush. She pauses, as if considering, and then gestures at a nearby halfling child, who seems to be quite in awe of all the giants that have shown up at camp. He clutches a knit blanket around himself in a mimicry of the cloaked people, though it does not make him look mysterious so much as silly.

Halfling-speakers

"Then you aren't human at all, are you? Not really. Just a tall halfling." She shakes her head here, brushing off Jess' concerns. "Ach, don't worry about them. They're an odd bunch, these priests, and no question. Sorcerers, miracles. It's all unnatural, if you ask me. Best to let them and their trickery well alone."

"Life's not easy. But we get by. I think the young ones have taken an interest in you, though. Talk to them. They don't know much of the outside world, and them here... most don't want to talk about it. Not knowin' things doesn't make them go away though. Sooner or later, it'll be that one of them takes a fancy to going to the mysterious cities, an' I'd not have them go blindly."


Audric

You can't really see where they went, but even through the noise, you can pick out fearful and concerned tones in their voices.


Rana

The two cloaked halflings didn't look happy. There was fear in every gesture of the halfling that fled, and deep concern in its friend.

[Savannah]

Rana, still holding Audric's hand, rests her head on his shoulder casually. She whispers in elven "[They don't look happy to see us, especially the one that ran away. I don't think this was a good idea.]"

[Strawberries]

Audric looks slightly startled when Rana puts her head on his shoulder, but he realises what she's doing quickly enough. He leans slightly towards her and answers in Elven, matching her volume "[They seem frightened, more than hostile. I do not know why. Perhaps of us.]"

Perhaps of me, he slowly realises. The fact that he can't perceive if the cloaked people are magic users anymore doesn't mean that the others wouldn't believe him capable to. He bites his lips, looking around the camp for the possible location of other cloaked halflings.

In normal circumstances, he would have crouched at the child's eye level and tried to make him laugh - he likes children, and one of his regrets has always been that he never managed to see Adria's twins - but he's too tense to do it now, so when the little Halfling gets near, he just smiles briefly at him, tensely and somehow distractedly.

Well, I guess another spot check couldn't hurt, could it? [roll0]

[Jallorn]

Still speaking Halfling himself, Antal smiles at the child, Someone who could tell me what this cloak is would be great, I think, and if you've got someone who knows alchemy, we could certainly use some reliable potions. Other than that... got any mythical swords waiting around for the destined wielder we could test out?

[Ajadea]

The halfling child smiles cheerfully back up at Audric and Antal, apparently nonplussed or simply ignorant of the former's distraction. He is missing a tooth.

Mari blinks a few times, apparently rather unprepared for the nature of Antal's request. She responds rather more slowly this time, with a cautious edge to her voice, though she manages a wry smile at the end.

Halfling speakers

"We do have one alchemist among our number, and I suppose you could ask one of them adepts to take a look at that cloak of yours. Mmm... afraid we're fresh out of folkloric swords, but I can get you a decent enough blade if that's what you need."

[Savannah]

Rana nods slightly. "[Perhaps. I still don't like it.]"

Shadow seems less concerned than his mistress, and leaves her side to begin sniffing around the tents nearby.

[DeafnotDumb]

Jess smiles at Mari, taking her leave with a wave, and heads over to the children nearest the tent. She sits down and spreads her arms wide, chattering like a bird in spring, only letting her eyes flicker once to the tent as she listens to what's inside it.

Halfling

"Hello. I've been told to educate you young ones on the world that's outside there, best as I can, so shoot the questions that you like. Preferably the ones about the city, because I haven't been anywhere else."


OOC

Listen roll: [roll0]

[Ajadea]

The halfling children are incredibly tiny - none of the five around Jess appear to be more than two feet tall. Three have slings tucked into their belts though, and one also bears what looks like a human-sized dagger across his back like some sort of misshapen greatsword. They gather like flies to honey, chattering away at a tone so high-pitched it almost makes the insides of your ears hurt. They appear to be excited, and not at all afraid of the human in their midst. Indeed, quite the opposite - four crowd so close that all concept of personal space for those talking to them quickly becomes a mere fantasy. The last hangs back, toying with her long braid and staring with massive hazel eyes.

Jess

Whatever is going on inside that tent, the kids drown it out through sheer volume alone. They all sound very similar - you can just barely pick out the difference between male and female.

"Ah! You're so big!"
"Maybe she's one a' them ogres?"
"No, she don't have claws. And I don't think they let ogres in cities. They'd stab 'em first."
"Is everyone in cities big like you?"
"Well, there might be ogres in cities. Big, nasty, smelly. Seems like they'd fit in fine."
"Well, but she ain't nasty, else she'd not be here. So she ain't an ogre, even if them are in the city."
"There ain't ogres in the city, are there? Tell 'em."
"Are you from that fort place? Only Auntie said it burned down...."
"Are all them bigfolk really as mean as they say? Like, with the taking things that ain't theirs to take, and not doing any hossy-hospi-" The boy scrunches up his face in confusion, but soon settles for "-er, thing? Like, not even for other bigfolk?"
"Well, not all. She's a big."
"She don't seem like a bigfolk to me."
.........
"She's twice as long as my da."
"But she's nice, an' she hasn't tried to cut off anyone's ears yet."

[DeafnotDumb]

Jess falls back under the Halfling onslaught, holding up her hands in an amused gesture for space and silence. It takes a while for the noise to die down long enough to allow her to speak, and even then it seems more because the children have run out of anything to say than Jess's command. She speaks fast, so not to be overridden by the children, and at the end of the conversation she points at the hazel-eyed child at the back, attempting to draw her in to the conversation.

Halfling

"Hey, hey, that's a lot of questions! We'll do this a city way - I answer one of your questions and then you answer one of mine, okay? That way we both get to learn about each other.

Now, I may look like a bigfolk, but the thing is the people who adopted - looked after me were Halflings. So you could say that I'm both a bigfolk and a really tall Halfling! Difficult telling the bigfolk that, though, because they don't understand family like you.

Now, for my question - what are your names? Gotta introduce ourselves. I'm Jess, and after you've all told me who you are... you can ask me the next question, okay?"

[Strawberries]

"Sandry... " before Audric has time to say anything else, to point out how in a hurry they are, the sorcerer is swarmed by small children. Audric sighs and turns towards Mari: may as well use the time to get some information "Mari.
Do you know anything about the road between here and Evedras Ridge? Can you tell us what can we expect on the journey? "

"There is another thing. " He throws another look to the cloaked halfling that he has spotted in the crowd. "Your people there, seem worried. Is there... ah, is there something we can help you with? "

[Ajadea]

Mari shrugs. "Ne'er bin thaur, but ahve got a wee kennin' o' th' way. Big road runs up ben dwarf lands. Shoods be an easy trip up most th' way, wi' aw ay those staineheids about. Th' lest leg is a bit o' a hike, thocht ahm sure ye can manage it. Th' lain up top is supposed tae be haunted by th' deid soldiers. Personally, ah think it's jist th' win', an' fear ridin' it. Few woods gang up thaur, wi' 'at history about it." She follows Audric's gaze briefly. "Ach, they ur aye loch 'at. Dornt min' them," she says dismissively.

Whatever Jess said, it quiets the children down, though at the distance they're at, it's too far to hear much. They back away very slightly, which affords her about an inch of breathing space.

The girl with the braid glances at the rest of the group, still standing near the entrance of the camp. "Did they try to kill you too?" Her Common is not broken or accented, and seems to bypass ears in favor of jamming the ideas directly into your head.

Though no one seems to pause for more than a moment, the sudden tension in the air is palpable.

Jess or DC 13 Spot & Listen (both checks required)

Once the movement and the incessant babble dies down, you can just barely pick out slight differences - very slight - in their voices and appearance. "Carrie" is darker of hair and slight of build."Eileen" is freckled and does not carry a sling. "Tommy" has large ears and is constantly fidgeting. "Bran" goes last. He is the tallest of the four, and the one with the greatsword/dagger on his back.

The girl with the braid does not introduce herself.

[Savannah]

Rana jumps slightly and stares at the girl with the braids. "Ah. I see.

"Who do you mean?" she asks the girl.

[Strawberries]

Audric tenses at the girl's voice speaking directly into his mind, and takes a step towards her almost without realising... then he notices what he's doing and forcibly stops himself. Let Rana handle this. You will probably do more harm than good he thinks to himself.

[DeafnotDumb]

Jess is stunned into silence, even as she feels like her mind is working faster than ever to find something to say that would both answer the question and not out herself. Finally, she speaks, in a chatter of Halfling barely distinguishable from her earlier carefree use of the language.


"City's a rough place and one or two of the people there aren't nice, and took it to try and kill me. Why'd you ask? Thinking of going there?"

[Ajadea]

The girl's hands move in patterns as she continues to talk. She looks up at Rana, though she does not step closer. "The big folk. Humans and dwarves. Only two tried, among all those people?" She looks down, and up again, now at Jess. "Maybe I should go there one day." If she is joking, she doesn't give a sign of it.

Though movement has resumed in most of the camp, you notice that they seem to be giving the girl with the braid a larger berth.

Mari smiles uneasily. "Weel, if there be naethin' else, i'll jist see abit gettin' ye whit ye need noo." She heads off into the crowd, stopping every few second to talk with another halfling. Their moods range from worried to ecstatic, but their voices almost never vary from a low buzz of conversation.

[Savannah]

Rana squats down to be closer to the girl's level. "A lot more than that have tried, little one. I would stay here if I were you."

[Strawberries]

This time, Audric does take a couple steps towards Rana and the little girl, ready to intervene in case of troubles. He is visibly tense: he hadn't realised how dependent he had on his magic detection abilities, till now: he doesn't understand what the little girl is doing, and the strange way in which she is moving her hands makes him uneasy. Still, she is just a child: Audric is careful not to make any threatening gestures and to keep his hands well away from his weapons, to avoid scaring her.

[Nanoblack]

Llaars

Being well over three times the height of the Halfling children wasn't enough to stop Llaars from crouching down to as close to eye level as possible for a friendly conversation. "I don't really have too much on my wishlist, but if you got a hot meal I could take part in, I'd be real grateful."

[Ajadea]

"More than a village, that would come with torches and knives that cut tongues?"

There is a flurry of translation, and then a smiling halfling comes up to the party and gestures Llaars towards the fire. You can smell roasting meat and other hearty food, and, after some consideration, what looks like halfling-sized serving platters are brought out.

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet inches his way to Rana, trying to block out the talking of everyone around him. Halfling sounded like gibberish, and he only understood some of the common around him, and even then, only when they spoke at something normal speed. A dull headache was starting to appear. Behind her, he whispers. "Miss. Am uncomfortable. Still wary of help, still wary of halfling camp, and language barrier is still becoming problem for me. Small girl with braid is unnerving."*

*Sylvan

[Savannah]

Rana nods, "Yes, little one. My whole village came to kill me when I was your size. You should stay far away from the big folk -- here in the wild you can be safe, if you are careful." She absentmindedly rubs her small amber necklace as she speaks.

She looks up at Tayet standing behind her. (sylvan) ["I think she's why they're here,]" Rana says, quietly. "[I don't fully trust them, either, but....well, we have to stay until everyone else is done.]"

OOC
As far as I can remember, this is the first time Rana's said anything about her past around the rest of the party. Just in case someone wants to react.

[Ajadea]

The girl seems to finally react, stepping closer to Rana and looking up with sadness in her eyes. When she speaks again, the magical nature of her words becomes impossible to ignore. She has dropped all pretense of pretending to speak, and replies without even moving her lips. "They are so cruel even to their own?" The words are faint, tinged with disbelief, as if she cannot possibly wrap her mind around the idea. She stops gesturing and wraps her arms around herself.

"I am sorry. And but I wish I can be like you, sister. To be strong, and run away without getting hurt." The word sister seems to be stretched to fit the bounds of imagined language, but the concept - of kinship, of trust - is clear.

You can see several halflings pause, or twitch, when she addresses Rana as 'sister'. The other children begin to drift off, arguing and pushing each other lightly. None are looking particularly happy at being upstaged by the girl with the braid.

[Savannah]

"I'm not one of their own," Rana says, sounding slightly sad. She hesitates, then continues, "Some people are alright, but the safest route for those with our talents is to not take chances."

[Strawberries]

Audric gets another little bit closer. The little girl makes him uncomfortable. Why in Aldaran's name doesn't she -speak-? he thinks to himself, confused, and is almost about to say it, to urge her to stop putting everyone in danger with such a careless use of magic, when he suddenly understands it. Knives that cut tongues the little girl had said.

"...oh." It's a faint whisper of realisation, and whoever is looking at Audric right now will notice quite a few emotions passing on his face. The Order doesn't condone pointless torture. The Order teaches to slay child sorcerers quickly, efficiently, and with as little pain as possible. But still, you would be required to take out your sword and kill her where she stands. Audric has never done that, never to children: a couple of times, he has walked straight past the place where he could hear muffled whimpers, purposefully ignoring the magic aura he could clearly perceive there....

...and then Rana answers, interrupting his train of thoughts, adding another little piece to the story she had told him what seems now a long time ago. Her whole village tried to kill her. No wonder she wanted to stay away from the city. No wonder she didn't trust me - she probably still doesn't. Audric can't thing of anything else to do: he just puts an hand on Rana's shoulder, squeezing gently for a moment before letting go. "[I'm sorry]" he whispers, in Elven.

[Nanoblack]

Llaars

Completely unaware of the tense conversation going on behind him, Llaars heads over to the warmth of the campfire and joins the halflings in their meal. Once he's served his portion, he reaches toward his pack and retrieves the silver tin. "I wouldn't feel like a proper guest if I didn't bring something of my own to share around the fire. Here ya go." After removing the lid, he retrieves a dried apple slice and sniffs it before downing it in one bite and passing the remainder around.

[Ajadea]

"I... I see..." The girl replies. "Thank you... for telling me this." She bites her lip, then turns and bolts into the crowd. And then through it - it looks like she's heading to the far side of a wagon.

Llaars pries the tin open after a moment of fiddling. One thing becomes instantly clear. Whatever is in here, it is not even remotely like dried apples. The tin is almost full of viscous silvery liquid, shimmering like oil. The inside of the lid is stained with the stuff. It smells like cold and metal.


The tin was labeled as silver. Also, the apples are in the sack. They smell like apples.

[Strawberries]

Audric seems almost on the verge of following the girl, but changes his mind at the last moment. What would you do about it anyway? He definitely doesn't want to harm a little girl, and it seems she already has people to help and support her. He sighs and passes an hand through his hair, shooting a look at Rana to see if she wants to go after the little Halfling, then looks through the crowd to see if he can spot where Mari is... or any sign of the strange cloaked Halflings that had seemed so nervous earlier on.

[roll0]

[Jallorn]

Antal, however, does chase after the girl. Frozen by uncertainty and indecision before, he is finally motivated by the girl's own uncertainty and fear. He can help her, he's sure he can, assuming his understanding of magic is as good as he thinks it is.

[Savannah]

Rana stands up slowly, looking rather a lot sadder and more tired than she did when she first crouched down. She looks back at Audric. "The truth about the world is never easy when you are that age."

Shadow, meanwhile, has been sniffing around the camp and spots the pen of dogs. He trots over to sniff noses.

[Strawberries]

Audric starts shaking his head at her. "It doesn't have..." he starts, but then he actually thinks about what he's saying. Who am I trying to fool? She's right, of course it has to be like that. I tried to find another way and I lost everything. And then, on the wake of that thought You have to tell them, you know that, right? It isn't perhaps the best time, but he has to get that weight off his chest.

"Rana, I..." he swallows, uncertain of how to continue, then he realises that's probably better if he switches to elven, to try and guarantee at least a modicum of privacy. "[You... you asked me what was wrong, before. I think... I... I really have to talk to you]". To all of them, actually, but somehow it seems less daunting to start with her.

((Yeah, yeah, he'll tell you. Just give him a second to gather his courage. :smalltongue:))

[Savannah]

Oh, that talk. Right. I forgot about that talk...

Rana looks at Audric oddly, unsure for a moment if this is going to be about the things she'd said to the girl... Then she nods. "Alright, let's go make sure Shadow doesn't get in trouble with those dogs." She points to where the wolf is cautiously sniffing the halflings' riding dogs, over at the edge of camp where there are fewer people.

[DeafnotDumb]

Sorry, Jess thought, rarely regrew tongues or made survivors into young girls again. Looking at the fleeing child, she makes her decision, and takes Blackie off her shoulders and hands her to the nearby children with a chatter of Halfling before heading off after the mute girl. The black cat yowls furiously at her traitor mistress before getting enveloped by several curious hands.

Halfling

"Gotta go and help someone. Halfing hospitality, you know? So I'll trust you to return the favour and look after Blackie here for me. She's my friend. Blackie, don't bite."

[Ajadea]

Audric cannot figure out where any of them went. It seems like all the halflings look the same - curly hair and leather armor, smiling and scarred.

The lone halfling starts when Shadow appears, but when he realizes that the wolf poses no threat, he allows Shadow to pace around the fence and sniff at the other dogs.

Blackie looks hurt and betrayed, but she grudgingly consents to being petted, or at least poked at. The children seem to have forgotten their resentment altogether, and are for now, immersed in playing with this fuzzy creature.

The halflings pass the dried apples Llaars offers around, each taking one or two chunks - at least, that you can see. The chunks of fruit are tough, as dried fruit tends to be, but sweet. One carves fat slices of rabbit, dripping with juice, and places them on serving platters. While the halflings serve themselves from one plate, a second one is passed to another halfling wearing an apron. She adds a ladle of boiled vegetables and a slab of crusty brown bread before passing the entire serving plate - now bearing a hearty human-sized serving of food- to Llaars.

Antal and Jess chase after the girl, catching up with her near the edge of the wagon circle.

Antal and Jess

The girl stops when you catch up, staring up with wide fearful eyes. She fidgets, looking left and right, perhaps instinctively seeking an escape. But she does not say anything, yet.

[DeafnotDumb]

Jess crouches down, going to eye level with the girl, and then picks a rock up, making sure to hide what she is doing from the circle behind her. She throws the rock up and down a few times, and then winks as the rock hovers in the air for a few short seconds before dropping back down. She winks again, and holds a finger to her lips.



Casting Mage Hand. I assume that Jess can hide what she's doing from people not the girl and Antal, either by keeping the hover short and relying on them not caring enough, or by hiding the action with her body?

[Strawberries]

Rana (and anybody who's near enough or wants to get near enough to hear)

It is pretty clear that something has shaken Audric deeply. He looks exhausted - to be fair, he's looked exhausted since they've left Diamond Lake, but now there are tears in his eyes, and he seems to have difficulties holding her gaze.

(In Elven) "[I...]" he passes an hand through his hair, and tries again. "[There's something I have to tell you. I am not... I... Aldaran has turned from me. I am not a paladin anymore.]" It sounds so strange, hearing it said out loud. Audric clenches his hands, trying very hard to avoid shivering.

[Savannah]

Audric
Rana's eyes widen and she looks sharply around. "[What?! How did they find out? Did you talk to them or did they find us? Did we lead them here?]"

[Strawberries]

Rana
Audric frowns, deeply confused. "[I...what? Who do you mean?]" He tries to follow her gaze, trying to understand what she's looking at.

[Savannah]

Audric
Rana frowns as well, apparently just as confused. "[The....paladins. Who kicked you out. You didn't go back to the temple after the incident with Yistin, so they must have come to you. Or are you just saying that what happened with Yistin will get you kicked out when you go back? Because I thought we already knew that.]"

[Strawberries]

Rana
He looks at her strangely for a couple of seconds before realising the misunderstanding. "[No, I... I did not speak to anyone.] ". She is a druid, and an elf. He shouldn't have assumed that she knew anything about paladins, really. "[What I meant is... we... we are what we are because... because A-Aldaran blesses us...them... w-with the power to enforce justice in the world.]" His voice breaks and he has to swallow a couple of times in the middle of the sentence. He is clearly very near to tears. "[I do not have that power anymore. I... I am not in His light anymore.]" he repeats, hoping she will understand this time.

[Savannah]

Audric
Rana is clearly still confused. "[But...how do you know?]"

She shakes her head slightly, as if dismissing her own question, and takes a step closer to Audric, reaching towards him but not quite daring to hug him.

[Strawberries]

Rana
He seems too upset to actually realise that she has come near him with the intent of hugging him. He doesn't step back, but he doesn't make any move towards her, either. "[You have seen me using my... Aldaran powers]" he explains. "[Every time I healed you. Every time I was a-able to sense magic auras.] " A couple of tears are running down his cheeks, now. "[I tried to do it before, to p-perceive if Mari was a sorceress... and I couldn't. That is when I knew.] "

[Savannah]

Audric
"[Oh. I...see...]" Rana stares at her toes, rubbing a small spot on the ground, not quite sure how to react.

"[I...I could teach you my magic? That way you can heal again, at least?]" She sounds rather doubtful, but it's the best she can come up with.

[Ajadea]

Antal, Jess

The girl breathes in sharply, eyes wide in surprise. It is the most sound either of you have heard her make so far - even so, that is nearly drowned out by the clamor of activity around you. She smiles back, hesitantly, and mimics Jess, putting a finger to her lips.

[Jallorn]

I can't show off any tricks like that, Antal whispers, hoping the sense of secrecy might be a little fun for the kid, but I've learned a little magic, and I've found that an outsider's view can be quite illuminating. Your form of communication, for example, can be dangerous, I might be able to help you learn to control it.

Here's hoping he's not promising the moon and has at least some idea what to do to help.

Knowledge (Arcana)+Inspiration: [roll0]

[Strawberries]

Rana (And possibly Tayet, if he's eavesdropping)
Audric stares at Rana for a moment, before making a sound which is half a sob and half a chocked laughter. That's pretty much the only reaction he can think about having while still preserving a modicum of sanity. He wipes the tears from his eyes and attempts a smile. It doesn't come out very convincing "[I... Thank you, but... no. I could not use your kind of magic].". He can't turn his back to his belief just like that.

And what use exactly would you be, now, if your allies needed you? a tiny little seed of doubt at the back of his head challenges him. Audric shakes his head in the attempt to shut it up. By some miracle, he succeeds. "[I would have to...]"meditate, he guesses. Pray. Not something he has ever been particularly good at. "[...to think about what to do, I suppose]". He tries putting on a brave face, but he is still clearly frightened and distressed.

[Ajadea]

Antal, Jess

To her credit, the kid seems to understand the large and complicated words Antal has thrown at her. Her 'voice' comes at a whisper, little more than a subconscious thought - you aren't even sure if it is possible for others to eavesdrop on what she has to say. "I do not hurt. Never. I have been hurt. I do not hurt. I will not..... I do not want to do, the things that the outside have done to me." Her words sound like a silent plea.

[Nanoblack]

Llaars

There's a brief moment where the big man is registering the contents of the tin to himself before quickly popping the lid back on the container. "Eheheh... wrong container..." And with that he reaches for the sack of dried apples and allows them to be passed around the fire.

[Jallorn]

Ajadea, Jess
That's good, in fact, that's excellent, Antal smiles widely, trying to put the girl at ease, Judging from your ability to whisper, I don't think it will take nearly as much work as I'd feared. Why don't we start by getting to know each other better?

[DeafnotDumb]

Ajadea, Antal

"I'm Jess," Jess says, smiling, "and this is Antal. What's your name?"

[Ajadea]

Antal, Jess

"Eri," she whispers, smiling back. Her posture is more relaxed now, though not entirely so.

[DeafnotDumb]

Ajadea, Antal

Time to test out a theory. "Do you know how to write, Eri?" Jess asks, still with a smile on her face.

[Ajadea]

Blackie is being passed around like a fuzzy doll at this point - the children seem quite enamored of the small black cat. Around the fire, the average volume of conversation has steadily since the meal began. Whatever they're talking about, they aren't being quiet about it. Second and third helpings are freely offered, and any suggestions of a plate being empty are quickly smothered under another slice of bread or scoop of vegetables.

Antal, Jess

Eri bites her lip and shakes her head, looking ashamed.

Considering the amount of people at the fire, you're honestly surprised it isn't louder. A conversation with that many halflings more often than not deteriorates into a wave of interruptions, interjections, and tangents, but this one seems focused on recent events - fire, strange bigfolk showing up, and destinations.

[DeafnotDumb]

Ajadea, Antal

Charming. A child who couldn't communicate without terrifying people, and none of them had thought to teach her to write. Incompetence or malice? Hah."Don't be worried. Took me a whiles to learn the written word too." She said, keeping the smile on her face. A lie, but who cared? "Is there anyone we can take you to to start your education?"

[Savannah]

Audric, etc
"[Well....]" Rana's clearly thinking carefully, "[Is there any way for you to get your magic back then? Without going back to the paladins and getting yourself killed, I mean.]"

[Strawberries]

Rana and Tayet (maybe)

Audric shakes his head " [I... I do not know. It is... it may be a matter of regaining the favour of Aldaran, of proving that I am still doing His will. But... ]" he doesn't finish the sentence, but his meaning is clear enough. ... but I'm travelling with you

Here's hoping that Rana won't take it the wrong way... :smalltongue: Also, disclaimer :that's what Audric THINKS will work. I make no claim that it is the truth

[Savannah]

Audric
"[But you're traveling with us.]" Rana finishes, flatly. "[So I guess the question becomes what do you care about more, stopping the witch with us or killing us so you can get back into your Order?]"

Hey, I never said Rana was good at this comforting stuff! If you need a kick in the pants, she can probably assist, however :smalltongue:

[Strawberries]

Rana
He looks at her with an hurt expression. " [You cannot think me capable of killing any of you ] " he replies, slowly, disbelieving " [I.... I do not know what I will do, but I promise you that you will not be in danger from me. ] "

[Savannah]

Audric
"[Precisely.]" Rana nods. "[The more important thing is stopping the witch, despite this setback, which is what we will do.]"

Rana suddenly hugs Audric briefly, adding "[I never thought you'd pick the other option.]"

Ajadea, has anything major changed in the camp while we've been over here talking? And is there anyone hanging around looking like they're listening?

[Strawberries]

Rana
The paladin returns the hug, gratefully, briefly closing his eyes and resting his head on her shoulder. "Thank you." he whispers in common. He straightens up shortly after, looking around for their allies. "We should go and see where all the others are. We will have to leave soon"

[Savannah]

Rana nods. "Agreed. We don't want to lose any more time." She calls Shadow back to her, then gestures for Audric to go first back to the camp, watching him closely as she follows.

[Ajadea]

Shadow bounds back towards Rana, leaving behind a disappointed pen of dogs. At first, it seems like Mari is nowhere to be found. The guard has changed - two unfamiliar halflings stand on either side of the entrance into the camp, clad in leather and bearing spears. Neither looks particularly happy to be standing so far from the fire and the buzz of conversation.

Then you see her - she is sitting on a stool at the edge of the crowd, holding a mug of something and conversing with a brown-cloaked halfling. It has not even lowered its hood, and alone of all the group, it has no food or drink, instead standing stiffly by Mari's side.

Llaars is stuck near the middle of the crowd - he sticks out easily simply due to having somewhere around ten times the mass of most everyone else around him. Despite, as far as any of you know, not knowing a word of Halfling, he seems to fit right in. Antal and Jess are standing, or crouching, in Jess's case, near the edge of the wagon circle. Whatever they are doing, it is largely hidden by shadows.

Somehow, despite the cloak, the brown-cloaked halfling seems to notice your presence first, prodding Mari none too gently. When she sees you, she smiles and waves them over to the fire.

Antal and Jess

Eri shakes her head. She seems to be trying to compress herself into as small a space as possible. "Some of the cloaked priests, I think. But they're all quiet-like and scary and Granny Bendibrook says we mustn't talk to them." She doesn't appear to see the remotest hint of irony in her words.

[Savannah]

Rana nods politely to Mari, but seems more interested in what Jess and Antal are up to. She breaks away from Audric to head over in their direction.

[Strawberries]

Audric, on the other hand, after a brief nod of acknowledgment towards Rana, keeps walking towards Mari and the cloaked halfling. He has been wondering about the cloaked people from the beginning, and this may be a good moment to find out more. He nods in greetings to both of them when he approaches.

[Ajadea]

Antal, Jess, Rana

Rana walks over towards the little group in the shadows. She can easily see that the little girl with the braid is standing near Antal and Jess, shielded from view by their bodies and the shadows they cast.

Rana catches the last whispers of the girl's words in her mind. "-says we mustn't talk to them." Her 'voice' is no less piercing than before, though she seems to be trying to be heard by as few people as possible.


The cloaked person seems to become even more rigid as Audric draws nearer. Mari ignores it entirely. "Audric, was it? Had a guid gab wi' yer friend thaur?" She grins widely as she says this, then turns away briefly to take another gulp from her mug. "Sit doon an' hae some rabbit. It's guid for ye.

[Strawberries]

Audric sits down, taking the proffered rabbit. "Thank you for your hospitality" he says with a smile. It's tense, but it's a smile nonetheless. "But we will have to leave, I am afraid. We have to find a way to get to Evedras Ridge before the sorceress does."

I think I'm looking for [roll0] and [roll1] to see if he can figure out something about the cloaked Halfling.

[DeafnotDumb]

Antal Wolfgirl Rana, Ajadea

"Hey, wolfie." Jess says, turning but not standing up. "Nobody taught this girl to write." She doesn't seem angry at all. "Thinking we could find someone and fix that. Eri, this is Rana, but I call her wolfie because she has a pretty dog and I nickname my friends. Wolfie, this is Eri, who's getting a nickname when I think of one. Say hi."

[Jallorn]

Rana, Jess, Ajadea
Antal has been silent for a while, alternating between closely studying the girl, and having a far off look in his eyes. Upon the girl's last comment, his eyes, while still far away, narrow. Finally, he says something, though it doesn't seem directed at anyone in particular, That is a horribly irresponsible idea.

[Ajadea]

The roast rabbit is offered on a plate that looks a bit like a halfling-sized serving platter but functions quite well as a human-sized dinner plate. It is practically dripping with juice, which quickly spreads out to saturate the vegetables and the bottom of the bread as well. "Weeell... about that," Mari says, "Ah was thinkin', an' if ye pure need tae gie tae th' Ridge at speed, ah micht be able tae caa in some favors an' gie ye a coople horses. Bit o' delay noo, but shoods be faster in th' end. So, whaddya say?"

Audric

It's a guy... maybe. You think. It's mostly a tense person though, and on the edge of either sticking a dagger into something or running away screaming. Just for him? to keep standing there stiffly beside Mari must take impressive amounts of willpower.


Antal, Jess, and Rana

"Hi," Eri echoes obediently. Her words sound disturbingly like Jess', like a literal echo. "You have a dog? You should speak to Merris. He loves dogs." Antal's words seem to trigger more confusion. "Why? Why is it -irresponsible-?" Again, the word irresponsible seems to have been echoed directly from Antal's own voice - the effect is eerie.

[Strawberries]

Audric tries to balance the plate so as not to spill any of its content. Not the easiest of tasks, really. He thinks about what Mari's saying for a moment, then, carefully: "Horses would give us an advantage, yes... but I would have to ask that you be as fast as possible about bringing them. I do not want to impose on your goodwill, but we really do not have much time. If you do not think you will manage to obtain them, I would prefer to leave immediately."

He takes a couple of careful bites from the plate, relishing the simple pleasure of a well cooked, hot meal for a change, and trying his best not to put the cloaked Halfling MORE on edge than what he already is. He sighs and gives up after a couple of minutes. That doesn't look like it's going to work, and he doesn't feel comfortable eating a meal while standing two steps away from someone who's so clearly unnerved.
"My name is Audric. I do not think we have been introduced" he says, levelly, "If it is me you are worried about, I can assure you that I am no threat to you." As long as he doesn't endanger innocent people, that is.

Just because I'm paranoid, could I please have a sense motive on Mari? [roll0]. And just in case it's needed (i.e. if he replies something), on the cloaked Halfling as well, again. [roll1]

[Jallorn]

Jess, Rana, Ajadea
Er- Did I say that out loud? Antal's cheeks flush lightly, despite his quick redirection, Just something I was considering. Why don't you tell me about life here? You mentioned Merris, who's that?

[Ajadea]

The cloaked halfling pauses for a moment, then speaks, slowly, in the most monotone Halfling you have ever heard. Mari nods and replies in a more animated manner. The cloaked halfling practically spits out his response, and takes a few steps away, head bowed. "Yoo'll hae yer horses by next nicht," Mari says. "Sorry abit Derin. Him an' his kin' isnae much for strangefolk. Or bigfolk. Or folk in general, truth be tauld."

Audric

Mari's offer is laden with ulterior motives - not surprising, given the cost it would take to obtain enough fast horses to carry the entire party.

Also, you have a strange feeling that whatever they were talking about in Halfling, it had absolutely nothing to do with horses.


Antal, Jess, Rana

"Merris is the dog-man. He watches over them, and speaks into their hearts." Eri says. "He is a kind man. He would like to meet a pretty dog. Even if it is like a wolf too."

[Strawberries]

He looks sharply at Mari. "I will have to discuss it with the others. But, before that... Horses are not cheap, and we can't repay you in gold." Which should be clear enough simply by looking at them. "Which brings me to think you may require something else from us. I would like to know what you want in exchange, before we make a decision."

He follows Derin with his gaze "And, if I may ask... what would 'his kind' be?"

Diplomacy, if needed [roll0] And sense motive, to assess her answer [roll1]

[Ajadea]

Mari holds a hand up almost dismissively. "Ach, dornt fash yerself about 'at. Ye travel wi' two o' mah kin, an' that be enough. Gang off an' dae yer heroin'. Jus' brin' back th' horses when you're dain wi' 'em." She takes another deep swig from her mug. She must have refilled it at some point, because it is full again and for someone so small, she is certainly adept at holding her drink. "As fur Derin? He's a body ay them travelin' priests. You've seen them. In th' cloaks. Ah figure they've got as much right tae be haur as any other, spite o' all them seein' demons in every shade an' shimmer."

[Strawberries]

Audric sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I see. Thank you for the offer. I... I am inclined to accept, for the time it will save us. But I will have to discuss it with the others." He looks around, to assess where his allies have gone to, and at the same time, to try and make a quick count of the cloaked figures in the crowd.

Travelling priests, eh? I reckon I could attempt a knowledge (religion) roll. You may never know. [roll0]

Also, spot [roll1]. Let's see how observant the (ex) paladin is.
Edit: Blind as a bat. Figures. Not completely useless on the knowledge roll though. Hmmm....

[Savannah]

Jess, Antal, etc
Rana crouches down to be closer to Eri's eye level. "I'm sure I'd like Merris, then. What have you three been up to, hiding away over here?"

[Jallorn]

Rana, Jess, Ajadea
Just talking about magic and life here and getting to know one another. Got any good friends? Antal directs the last bit at Eri.

[Ajadea]

Audric

Your first guess about the cloaked figures is that they are priests of the Traveler. He is protector of all who walk any road, to any destination, and it is in that capacity alone that most paladins have any reason to pray to him. He is also said to lend aid to thieves and tricksters in their wrongdoings, though that is not often discussed at temple.

It is perhaps not entirely coincidental, one might think, that you are having an alarmingly difficult time finding or counting the number of cloaked halflings in the crowd.

You can just barely catch a glimpse of your allies, huddled at the far side of the crowd, away from the fire. You cannot tell why.


Antal, Jess, Rana

"Carrie's okay. She does not fear my voice as much as the others do. She speaks to me and lets me speak even though her mother fears, and wishes that she would not. And Missus Hilltopple, she took me in when none else would, when all her people fear me. Even the cloaked priests. But not her. She is kind." Eri looks up, finally daring to meet your eyes for the first time. "I suppose that is friends."

[Strawberries]

Audric nods in acknowledgment at Mari, and gets up... slowly and carefully, keeping an eye on Derin to make sure his movements are misinterpreted as threatening. Being a tall human in an Halfling camp has the disadvantage that you are pretty much overwhelming just by being there. "If you would excuse me", he says, politely, making his way towards the edge of the camp, where his allies are.

"Mari has a proposition for us" he starts, then, notices most of them are crouched on the ground "Is something wrong?"

[Savannah]

Rana looks sad as she replies slowly, "Yes, sometimes that is friends."

Hearing Audric approach, she turns to look at him. "No, nothing wrong."

[DeafnotDumb]

"Nobody taught Eri here to read or write." Jess says, keeping her eyes on the girl. "If she could communicate by writing, I figure she'd scare people less. That fine with you, Eri?"

[Strawberries]

"Eri?" Audric asks, confused, then notices the little girl. Little halflings are so tiny that he almost hadn't seen her. He crouches down as well and smiles at her. "Oh. Hello, Eri. My name's Audric." And he quite agrees with Jess, the girl should learn to read and write. If only because that way, she will use her magic less "Is there anyone that could teach you?"

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet slinks away from the corner when Audric mentions being incapable of killing any of them. Too new to these people. No guarantees for himself. He still hadn't learned anything from his tutor. Problematic. Tayet observes the large gathering of halflings, at ease for once. The only Paladin nearby, known or unknown, is having a heart to heart conversation with someone he was supposed to kill. Instead of a sword to heart conversation. The doubt in the Paladin was not at all comforting, despite it keeping Tayet alive. Doubt made you do reckless things.

He sees his group away from the rest, talking to... someone. He approaches, slowly, unsure of who the new face is. When he gets close enough, to see the small child, he stops a few feet behind. A child? Travelling with them? Why? He looks over at Rana, and tilts his head in confusion, pointing with his thumb over to the girl.

[Savannah]

Rana spots Tayet lurking in the background. She raises her eyebrows questioningly at his indication of the girl, apparently not sure what he's asking.

[Ajadea]

Eri shakes her head, braid whipping from side to side. "Perhaps the cloaked ones. But Granny Bendibrook says that the children must stay far away from them. She does not trust them. I do not know if any others can do this, the reading and the writing."

[Jallorn]

Wordlessly, Antal stands slowly, and makes his way over to Mari. Grabbing first for food, he sits for a moment and listens to the chatter at the table while he eats.

Gather information: [roll0]

[Strawberries]

Audric rubs his eyes in frustration. The cloaked halflings aren't going to speak to him, and even if they were inclined to, he doesn't speak their language. "The cloaked ones are travelling priests, Mari said" he clarifies for his allies' benefit "They worship the Wanderer, I think." And he may as well say what he's come to say "Mari has offered to provide us with horses for the trip. But it means that we would have to spend the night here. "

[Savannah]

Rana stands up, slowly, rubbing the small of her back as she does so. "We should take her up on her offer. I think all of us would be better with some time to sleep, and the halflings have not seemed inclined to hostility so far."

[DeafnotDumb]

"A campful of Halflings is safer than a campful of humans," Jess opinions, "Though if y' didn't eat some of that bread when it was offered, keep an eye on your belongings." She smirks at that. "Old Halfling ritual, like Da used to do. Marks you safe."

[Savannah]

Rana looks around at everyone. "So, we're staying here, then? Llaars doesn't look like he's going to object."

[Strawberries]

Audric looks over at Llaars, who definitely looks like he's enjoying himself, and nods "We are staying. " he declares. He looks back at Eri and smiles at her. He would have to speak with Mari about her, he decides.

[Ajadea]

You decide to stay, and wait for the offered horses. Any motion into the crowd is met with a plate piled high with food, and they seem intent on stuffing everyone with second, third, and occasionally, fourth helpings of it. The crowd disperses in chattering chunks, leaving a thoroughly trampled but surprisingly clean ground behind, and a slowly dying fire. Eri leaves at the same time as the last of them, moving in a completely different direction and looking tiny and slightly lost in the firelight. Mari stands by the fire, and waits until everyone is inside their wagons before speaking. "Ye sleep out haur. There's nae room in th' wagons, aam afraid, but th' fire shoods keep ye aw warm." Her tone makes it clear that it's not a request. "If ye'll jist hain me that cloak ay yoors, Antal, I'll hae them priests tak' a swatch at it this night. It'll be back afore ye e'en wake. Ye can see th' alchemist 'en too." She leaves, brushing past Jess as she walks.

You bed down for the night, stars overhead and flickering fire casting long shadows across the ground. It's... not too bad. The rest of the halflings are hidden away in their wagons and tents, leaving the six of you are alone out here. Walking so long, plus continuing to talk and eat for at least two hours beyond that... It can't be all that much longer till morning, but sleep nevertheless comes swiftly.


Antal

You fall asleep almost instantly as exhaustion claims you. Some time later - an hour, a minute, it's impossible to tell - you hear the sound of slow footsteps against the ground, so quiet it's amazing you even hear them.


Audric

Sleep does not come easily. It has been a long day, and the discovered loss of your powers has left a hollow feeling in your core. But exhausting yourself cannot do any good, and you are eventually able to fall asleep. Something seems to drop, a missed step in your dreams, or perhaps it was never there at all. You jolt into brief semi-wakefulness for a moment before falling again into uneasy sleep.


Rana

Though on account of refusing the bread, you have less protection than the others, the halflings do not emerge again from their wagons. You are able to fall into an uneasy sleep, Shadow a warm and familiar presence by your side.


Jess

Mari drops something into your hand as she goes by - a roughly carved symbol of Aldaran, wood darkened and edges dulled by time. These people cannot be all that rich, and have no solid roof over their head. But they offered delicious food and a warm hearth - what more could a girl ask?


Llaars

For such a small people, they sure know how to throw a feast. Stuffed to the gills with delicious halfling cuisine, you fall into a comfortable sleep almost as soon as you close your eyes.


Tayet

This place - filled with small strange people who are even less proficient at communicating with you than the average human - is not a comfortable one. But the others seem to be able to rest, and soon, exhaustion overtakes you and you sleep as well.

[Savannah]

As the halflings are dispersing, Rana watches Eri leave. "Where is she going?" she asks Mari.

(sorry)

[Ajadea]

"Tae sleep. She bunks in mah wagon. Most dinnae like th' idea, takin' in a body like 'er, but she's jus' a wee bairn still in mah sight, an' ah dinnae lae bairns out in th' cold. Nae matter wha' else they be." Mari's gaze follows yours, and her next words come much more quietly, almost gently, though Mari doesn't seem to be all that good at gentle. "Dinnae fear. She'll be well."

[Savannah]

Rana smiles, just a little. "That's good to hear."

[Strawberries]

Audric follows Eri with his gaze, frowning slightly, but seems to relax after Mari's reassurance. Mari is right: whatever else she is, she is a child first of all. He closes his eyes briefly. Another thought for which he is not sure if he should ask forgiveness or not... something else to think about this night, it seems.

Sleep finally comes, after no small amount of fidgeting and turning.

He can smell the smell of freshly ploughed ground, and he's sure that, if he was to turn around, he would see the silhouette of Attalin city, with the unmistakeable profile of the Temple. He doesn't turn around, though. For some reason, he doesn't want to see it. He focuses on the body on the ground in front of him, instead, the tall, bony teenager that they have gone through hell to save. Paral. He still isn't safe, he knows, there's a spirit possessing him, and he is the only one that can try to do something about it, no matter how frightened he is, but...
..."You can't help him, not anymore. You don't have that power anymore" someone that sounds a lot like himself says from behind him, and he finally does turn around, to see...
...Attalin's temple in flames, like fort Brennan had been, clear bright flames on a sky that's suddenly become a dark background, and it has been HIS fault, for delaying, for having taken the wrong decision, and...

He wakes up abruptly, passing a slightly trembling hand over his eyes and trying to remember where he is and what is happening.

This should be valid whenever we do wake up, either the following morning or at some point during the night...

[Jallorn]

Ajadea
Antal eases his eyes open, remaining still and feigning sleep. He seeks the cause of the sound with all his senses, as discretely as possible.

Spot: [roll0]
Listen: [roll1]
Bluff (w/inspiration point): [roll2]

[DeafnotDumb]

Upon waking up, Jess afixes her new symbol of Aldaran around her neck, enjoying the familiar weight of it. She felt a little better, more ready to face the new day. Petting Blackie, who was still sore about being left in the hands of four children and made it felt through a light scarring of her mistress's hand. Jess winced and pulled away.

Then she set out of the tent to see if anything interesting's happened while she was sleeping.

[Ajadea]

Antal

The sound has faded now - you see a hint of something lurking in the shadows, though now that the fire has near died out, there is not enough light to see exactly what it is. Whatever it is, it does not seem to have noticed your awakening.

[Jallorn]

Ajadea
Relying on the dark to mask his movements, Antal begins to crawl towards the something, grasping his kukri from it's place near his pillow as he does so.

Move Silently w/IP: [roll0]

[Ajadea]

Antal

Approaching soundlessly in the darkness, you realize quickly that the other thing - the other halfling has not only not noticed your approach, but is in fact creeping towards the burnt-out fire themselves, approach as silent as your own but somewhat more vertical, and thus ever so slightly more visible.

[Savannah]

Rana, who had been sleeping near Audric, wakes up just after he does. She still looks tired, despite the rest. She looks carefully at him, trying to judge his mood this morning. [elven]"[How do you feel?]"

Shadow, now relieved of pillow duty, wanders over to the dog enclosure to hike his leg on one of the posts.

[Jallorn]

Ajadea
Antal releases his Kukri, leaving it on the ground, and leaps for the other halfling, making to pin him or her to the ground.

Grapple I'm guessing: [roll0]
I included the size modifier.

[Ajadea]

Antal

You swing at the other halfling and they duck out of the way. A gleam of silver in the moonlight - they take their own swing, miss, and in light of that, duck out of the way, all stealth now forgotten, and lob the weapon straight at Audric. The blade sinks into flesh.


Audric

While with a little imagination, you could probably think of worse ways to wake up, a dagger sticking out of your shoulder is probably up there. It hurts. A lot. The wound feels cold and clammy but mostly painful.


You are awakened far too early by the sounds of paradoxically, quiet fighting. It can't be more than a few hours into your sleep - the sun has made only the barest pretenses of rising yet. But Audric has a dagger sticking out his shoulder, and Antal appears to be fighting with another halfling, clad in dark browns and faded blue. They - it is impossible to tell gender in the darkness - are holding a knife, small and sharp-looking

[Strawberries]

At first, Audric isn't sure if the pain and the dagger protruding from his shoulder are just another twist to the nightmare. He hisses in pain, and almost immediately realises that the warm of the blood running down his arm is a bit too real and detailed to be just a dream. He clamps his hand over his shoulder, trying to assess the damage.

The second thing he notices is Antal trying to wrestle with another person...the one that presumably stabbed him. And as he suddenly realises, even in his foggy state, that Antal may be in trouble he shots to his feet and starts reaching for his sword. They had been guests. They had eaten those people's bread. Attacking a guest in their sleep... Audric shakes his head to clear it. "What... what is the meaning of this? Does hospitality mean NOTHING to you?"

[Savannah]

Rana comes awake in an instant, glancing quickly around before moving. She makes a few short gestures and speaks a word, then growl-barks at Shadow, pointing to the halfling attacking Antal. ((Casting speak with animals. "Stop him but do not harm him."))

Shadow snorts in assent, then leaps at the halfling.
Attack [roll0] (with -4 penalty for non-lethal damage)
Damage [roll1] nonlethal
If the attack hits, trip [roll2]

Rana rolls to her feet, snatching up her cloak to use as an impromptu shield if necessary. As she does so, she says in common "Stop fighting and no one gets hurt!"

((I stuck Shadow's turn in the middle of Rana's as it made more sense that way, but that should all work in a round.))

[Ajadea]

Shadow misses, but that seems to be more than enough to scare the halfling anyways. They spout something incomprehensible and run away into the shadows, narrowly dodging Shadow's lunge at their retreating backside.

Halfling-speakers

"Accursed sorcerer... the poison should have worked, gods damn it all."

[DeafnotDumb]

Jess darts away from the sounds of combat at first before realizing her old instincts would not serve her hear. Cursing, she reversed direction in time to arrive at the scene as the shadowy figure retreated, cursing. She caught up to Rana.

"Wolfgir, you fine?" She asked, voice low. "That whoever mentioned something 'bout poisoning a sorcerer." She paused, and then looked down at herself. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope they meant you and not me."

[Strawberries]

Audric is trying very carefully to assess the damage to his shoulder, cursing quietly under his breath, when he hears Jess mention poison. Forgetting momentarily his own injury, he moves closer to Jess and Rana, a concerned frown on his face. "Are you both well? Let me..." he trails off, but takes a step closer to them, trying to check if they are alright.

OOC: I think I want a couple of heal checks, don't I?

For Rana: [roll0]
For Jess: [roll1]

Also, Ajadea, I haven't crossed any hp off my sheet, so... I suppose I should. How bad off am I?

[Ajadea]

With the attack staved off, you notice that the caravans are silent. The sounds even of such brief battle should have no trouble piercing the canvas of their tents and wagon roofs, but the only sounds come from you, and the last few cracklings of the embers.

Audric

In case you missed the OOC, Audric took 3 damage from halfling dagger attacks.

Neither Rana nor Jess appear to be poisoned, or indeed hurt in any way.

[Savannah]

"No, no, I feel fine," Rana says absently. "Does it seem particularly quiet here to you?"

Rana looks around for a bit, then walks to the nearest wagon and pulls the canvas open, peering inside.

[Strawberries]

"I..." he starts, then his brains catch up with his ears. Rana's right, it IS too quiet. And, on the wake of that thought. Poison. By Aldaran. He looks decidedly concerned now. "Hilltopple?" he calls out, loud and clear, then hurries up behind Rana, partly to have a look for himself and partly to protect her in case of danger.

[Ajadea]

In the shadows, it is difficult to see anything at first, but after a moment your sight focuses. The wagon is cluttered, but you can definitely see the shapes of beds in the wagons. A narrow bunk bed, a squashy sofa with a trundle sticking out, and a hammock, all occupied by halflings, or at least something very halfling-shaped. You look in to see more, when Audric collapses. One of them gasps audibly, and is just as audibly shushed by another halfling.

The halfling in the trundle sits up and starts yelling. She has an impressive set of lungs, and soon it seems like halflings are pouring out of nowhere. A few have small lamps or candles. Almost all are still in their nightclothes, shivering in the cold. It's far from the most delicate of wake-up calls. It does not, however, rouse Audric. And Mari is nowhere to be seen.

Audric

So, guess which party member got poisoned? Also, you got an 8 on your Fortitude save, after modifiers.


Halfling-speakers

"What in the world do you think you're doing! Get out! Get out of our wagon! Have you bigfolk no sense of privacy at all! Get out of our wagon right now! How dare you try and enter my wagon without permission? What did you want, huh? Trying to steal something from us? After we've been nothing but generous to you lot?! Have you no sense of decency? Get out of my sight!"

[Strawberries]

Seriously? :smallmad: :smallfrown:

Oh well. :smalltongue:

Audric moves behind Rana, ignoring the stab of pain from his shoulder. It can wait. The halfling was speaking of poisoning people, and it's too quiet, they need to make sure that those sleeping in the wagons are alright... The train of thought is interrupted by the realisation that the entire right side of his body is gone numb. What... . he thinks, confused, then, half a second later Of course. Poison, that is what he meant... . He doesn't manage to finish that though. He vaguely realises that he's falling, but he loses consciousness before he can feel himself impacting the ground.

[Jallorn]

Antal, having snatched up his kukri, dashes to stand over Audric and roars back in halfling.

Halfling speakers
You call poisoning a guest generous?! You call sneaking up on your guests with a dagger decent?! Knowing this dumb oaf, his first thought in reaction to being stabbed was probably to make sure you lot were safe! You lot may have just killed the only gods damned true Paladin in the world that ever existed!

OOC
Man, I really need an Interobang for those questions. Also: yeah, Antal has become somewhat fond of Audric, even if he is a dumb lout. :D

[Ajadea]

The halfling woman is stunned into silence, then responds, her tone utterly disbelieving. She remains standing in the shadows of her wagon, perhaps too intimidated to approach further.

Mari approaches then. The first she had leather armor on, under the dust and the brown cloth. Seeing her in red striped nightclothes seems wrong somehow. The fact she has tucked her pants into leather boots and has her sword belted on to her waist doesn't help. " What's aw this noo? Nae stabbin' or poisonin'll be dain while ye stand in th' walls ay me camp." She directs a pointed glance at Antal. "at goes fur ye too. Put 'at fancy dagger ay yoors doon an' we'll see what's ay this be abit." She clears her throat and switches to Halfling. Whatever she said, the crowd almost melts away, people returning to their wagons until only a few stragglers remain, watching to see what happens. Among their number is one of the cloaked halflings. All are silent. "So," Mari says. Her eyes linger on Audric's collapsed form for a moment, and she frowns slightly before returning her attention to you. "What's aw this abit stabbin'?"

Halfling-speakers

"What is this? What do you mean, stabbed? Who would do such a thing? Poisoning a guest? Stabbing a guest? You - poison?" She seems bewildered and confused.

(Mari switches to Halfling) "All of you get back into your wagons. There's still a few hours left that you might be able to sleep. I'll handle this lot."

[Savannah]

As soon as Audric collapses, Rana drops the canvas covering the wagon. She bends over his body, frantically checking his condition. After a second, she curses quietly, then mutters something, placing her hand on his forehead.

When Mari appears, Rana whirls to face her, still crouching by Audric's body. "It's already been done within your camp. One of your fellows stabbed Audric, apparently poisoning him, and then got into a fight with Antal. Or did you already know that?" She sounds furious, but oddly near tears, as well.

Shadow moves to stand over Audric, growling at anyone but Rana who comes near.

Heal check on Audric to determine what she can about his condition [roll0]

Casting Guidance on Audric -- Strawberries, you have +1 on a single attack roll, saving throw, or skill check within the next minute. I suggest using it on the save vs. secondary effects...

Sense motive on Mari [roll1]

[Ajadea]

Mari moves a half-step forward, but at Shadow's warning growl, backs off again. "Gods grant me strength. Poisonin' a guest... I'll hae their hide fur thes stupidity." She rubs the back of her neck with one hand, frowning. "If it was a body ay mine, jist git 'im laid doon nice an' neat. He'll wake in a few hours, nae harm 'ceptin' a bruise or two. An' th' stabbin', ay course. If you'd loch, I'll hae a girl git 'im patched up."

Rana

Audric is unconscious. You're not sure when he will wake up.

Mari seems to have a somewhat better idea of what's going on than she is admitting, and she is not particularly happy with it either.

[Savannah]

Rana gently arranges Audric in a more comfortable position, then stands up and takes a step towards Mari. Despite her height, she manages to loom over the halfling.

"You know more than that, Mari." It's a statement, not a question. "If you try to hide it, you are only putting us at risk of another attack. Tell me what you know. Now."

Diplomacy? Intimidate? What do you want me to roll?

[Jallorn]

Cure him of the poison, wake him up, and he can tend his own wounds, Antal is, of course, oblivious to Audric's failing powers. I'm afraid I couldn't tell you who it was attacked us, didn't get a good look at aught but the back of his head, but there might be some that recognize the blade.

[Ajadea]

Mari crosses her arms, unfazed by Rana's demands. "I've tauld ye whit ah ken. An' ah dornt hae an antidote fur th' poison. You'll jist hae tae bide. I'll tak' 'at cloak ay yoors, Antal, if ye dornt min'. They're aw up anyhow, micht as well gie it looked at afore th' horses gie haur."

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet crouches down to Audric's body, side-stepping the on-guard Shadow. He runs his fingers over the tell signs of injury. Pulse. Breathing. Heart. He looks up to Rana, keeping his voice low. "[Sylvan] I know this. This is blue whinnis. Only unconsciousness. Either to make easy to kill, or to rob. Unleft belongings at risk. Goes away in four hours most average, but, but I know how to speed it with right herbs. Watch Audric while I do?

"And, do you have any problems with holly? Something about elves and holly escapes me."

[Savannah]

Rana frowns at Mari, still sure she's hiding something.

Her frown relaxes at Tayet's words, however. [sylvan]"Oh. Good!" The relief is apparent in her voice, even to those who don't know the language. "I'll watch him. But...I don't know what you mean about holly?"

[Cardea]

Tayet


"[Sylvan] I... Old Man mentioned something about elves and holly. Maybe an allergy? Or a focus or... I don't know, its been a while. But it can help with this." Tayet says, frustration growing on his face. "I can try and find some of the things we need to help him out."

Survival: [roll0]
Knowledge (Nature): [roll1]

Looking for yarrow.

[Ajadea]

Tayet

You glimpse a few rather squashed looking bunches of mostly white flowers that might be yarrow under a wagon. It's probably been run over and is looking like it's on the verge of wilting, but short of raiding an unsuspecting healer for the desired goods, it looks like the best you've got.

[Cardea]

Tayet


Holding the limp and damaged flowers in his hand doesn't give Tayet much confidence. He racks his brain, trying to think of something. He perks his head up, and he heads over to Morrison. With one hand holding the white flower, he uses his other to ransack the bags on the horse, hoping he had something that gave him some hope.

[Ajadea]

Tayet reaches into his pack and retrieves various herbs. A mass of valerian, some crushed dried yarrow, or possibly yew, the label being a bit smudged, beech nuts, and not even a trace of holly.

Mari looks up at the sky. "Horses will be haur, mebbe two hoors or thereaboots. Any ye wantin' somethin' fur th' road?" Sometime while Tayet has been conducting his search for plant matter, one of the cloaked halflings has come up. This one is tall, for a halfling at least, and wears dusty grey. The cloak's edges drag on the ground. They stand awkwardly, as if toeing some invisible line encircling your group, and never face Rana or Audric. One outstretched hand reaches out of the slightly oversized cloak for the magic cloak found two weeks ago and far away, flipping it up and down, as if seeking a pattern, reading a hidden text. After a few minutes, they toss the cloak back to you, and speak. Female, probably, by the voice, though young man wasn't out of the question. She sounds satisfied.

Halfling-speakers

"A cloak of shadows. It will help you hide from sight, hide your steps. I won't ask where you got it."


Everyone

Have a magic item! It grants +5 to Hide Checks and Trackless Step, as a 3rd level druid.

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet scowls at the cloak as he rushes back from Morrison, to Audric. He holds the to-be medicine in a small canvas piece, and looks up to Rana. He raises up the yew/yarrow up first. "[Sylvan] Okay. This is either yew, or yarrow. The writing smudged over time. Yew is going to wake him up, but violently, by making him vomit. Yarrow makes him wake up. Which do you think it is?"

[Jallorn]

Lovely, thanks. Antal is quiet in his thanking of the cloaked halfling, then he dons the cloak. Turning to Mari, he says, I think it might be best if we stay on our own till we can leave, there's obviously people who don't want us around.

[Savannah]

Rana takes the herbs from Tayet and examines them closely.

K (nature) [roll0]
Heal [roll1]

Use whichever is more appropriate.

[Savannah]

Rana hands the herbs back. [Sylvan]"It's yarrow. See? You can see the leaves here.

"Let's...let's just use that for now. I'd rather not make him sick if we can avoid it."

[Cardea]

Tayet


"[Sylvan] Got it." Tayet takes the herbs back, and fetches a small clay bowl from Morrison's pack. "[Sylvan] Need to boil them in water until water changes color."

Survival: [roll0]
To either start, or restart, a small campfire.

[Ajadea]

Tayet quickly sets up a little fire and boils the herbs and water until it begins to steam, and the clear water is now brown and fragrant. Carefully, Tayet and Rana pour the hot liquid down Audric's throat, a little at a time. It's messy business, involving a few slightly burned fingers, but at least the majority of it goes down.

And then all there is to do is wait for him to stir. The halflings give you a very wide berth, taking circuitous paths from wagon to wagon and seemingly trying very hard to avoid even looking at anyone over four feet tall not named Jess.

No one lights the central fire.

They do not find the attacker, but you get the sense they aren't looking all that hard.

It is nearly an hour later when Audric stirs for the first time. The sky is beginning to lighten, though the sun is not yet visible. Somewhere on the far side of the wagons, someone has lit a fire. The thin smoke curls over the top of the canvas. Bowls can be glimpsed in the hands of some of the halflings, and you can smell peas and ham, but no one offers anything to you.

Eri sits on the seat of a wagon, gazing out at some point at the horizon and not blinking nearly enough. Her tiny feet swing back and forth, kicking at an errant piece of rope and coming nowhere near the ground. No one pays her any attention, but it is the very deliberate sort of not-paying-attention that comes only from keen awareness of the thing one is ignoring.

[Strawberries]

Audric makes some sort of unarticulated noise and tries opening his eyes. The close-up view of several stones and a pair of boots tells him he's on the ground, and the faint light from the sky tells him that some times has passed from when he's fallen down. He groans, blinks and makes an attempt to slowly sit up, rubbing his shoulder and looking around for any familiar faces. He spots Rana and Tayet near him soon enough. "Are... Is everyone alright? Were the Halfling safe?" he asks, worried. The lack of commotion all around and the smell of food are, however, reassuring enough. He doubts that the Halflings would have bothered cooking if the camp had been under attack.

[Savannah]

"We're all here and alive, if that's what you mean. The halflings? They're fine, of course." Rana sounds less than thrilled at the situation. [elven]"They know more than they're telling us."

[Strawberries]

Audric closes his eyes briefly "Thank Aldaran" he whispers quietly to himself. He throws Rana a confused look Know more about what?, then he carefully gets up from his sitting position, attempting to spot Mari in the crowd. "I...have you spoken to Mari about it?"

[Savannah]

"Yes. [elven] She's the one not talking about what she knows about the assassins."

[Strawberries]

[Elven] "The assassins? What assassins? I thought... you told me everybody was safe! Has someone been hurt?" He casts a worried glance around, trying to figure out if there is anybody that needs help. He can't heal people using his powers anymore, of course, he realises with a small grimace, but he still knows a bit of first aid.

Yup, he's STILL a stupid paladin. You're more than welcome to yell at him. :smallwink:

[Savannah]

Rana stares at Audric blankly for a moment before responding. [elven]"You don't remember why you were unconscious? You were attacked and poisoned."

[Cardea]

Tayet


"[Elven] Mi-. Rana is right. Everyone else is fine. You were poisoned with a knife. Blue Whinnis, if you've heard of it. Makes you sleep." Tayet says, wiping down the now empty bowl. "[Elven] Made medicine. One that did not make you throw up, thanks to her."

[Savannah]

Rana looks slightly embarrassed at Tayet's comment that she was responsible for not making Audric throw up.

[Strawberries]

Oh. Of course, they meant himself being hurt. He hadn't even considered that. "I... thank you, Tayet.". He addresses a slight smile to Rana when Tayet says she took care of him as well, even if he can't understand why she looks embarrassed. "Thank you as well. It seems I owe you a debt. I wouldn't have like to wake throwing up." There is a slightly teasing sparkle in his eyes, but he returns serious a moment later. "I think we'd better go speak to Mari now. We will need to leave soon, we lost too much time already."

[Ajadea]

After a while, it becomes clear that even though Mari is aware of Audric's awakening, she is not making any move to come over and talk to any of you. So you go to her instead. The crowd-clearing effects of being nearly twice the height and several times the weight of everyone else are immediately apparent - even though Mari is initially engaged in a civil, if not exactly cheery, conversation with several other halflings, by the time you have come up to her all have scattered and busied themselves with some other work.

"You're wakin', ah see. Guid. Th' horses should be haur suin. Aam afraid we coods gie but three, city bein' in th' state it is an' all. An' a ridin' dog fur ye, Antal. That 'un, leastways, be nae trouble." Her tone is business-like, with just barely a hint of annoyance showing through. "If ah were ye, ah'd be off suin as they showed."

[Savannah]

Rana watches the surrounding halflings suspiciously, trusting Audric to talk to Mari.

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet eyes the figures in the distance, and picks Cape off of his shoulders. Motioning to his eyes and to the figures, he sets Cape towards them, to get a better idea if those are the horses. Moving to the back of the group, under guise of adjusting harnesses, he speaks out words of power under his breath.

Casting Speak With Animals. Four minute duration.

Cape Spot Check: [roll0]

[Ajadea]

Mari's eyes narrow but she says nothing as Cape takes off. Some halflings take note of his subsequent loud screeching, though they do not seem to do more than jump slightly or stare up.

Tayet

Cape reports that there are two small two-legs and three big-four-legged things coming this way, one brown, one black, and one all spotty. There is a tall thing on the back of the black one, all shiny and gray.
----
Cape can give one more report before the spell ends.

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet nods. Giving one last command to Cape, he lets the bird fly off again.

Commanding him to make closer observation of the shiny and gray tall thing.

Cape Spot Check Deux: [roll0]

[Strawberries]

Audric approaches slowly so as to not frighten anyone, rubbing his shoulder a couple of times - Rana and Tayet (What is he anyway? Is he a druid like her?) have done a pretty good job, but it still feels sore.

"We... thank you for your hospitality" he says, formally and a bit stiffly. Somebody has tried to stab him during the night, but despite Rana's suspicions, he doesn't want to start pointing fingers against someone who seems to be helping. And thank Aldaran, he was the only one who suffered any damage. "I am glad none of yours got hurt in the attack. We will be departing as soon as the horses get here. And...ah, Mari," he lowers his voice "Please take care of Eri. Make sure she is safe. It is not her fault, but..." ...she is dangerous, to herself and all of you. he almost adds, an almost automatic reaction coming from his training. He stops himself before he can say it. "...I am worried about her" he finishes instead. It is true, at the very least.

[Ajadea]

Cape returns and settles on Tayet's shoulder. He continues to call for some time, but in a quieter tone.

Mari seems to soften a little. "Dinnae worry your heid aboot Eri. Sae lang as she stays wi' us, nae harm will come tae her."

Rana, and anyone else looking around notices that Eri has been quietly shepherded to the far end of camp along with all the other children by a portly woman in a red dress. The woman makes repeated motions, as if to hush them. "Jess, if ye dinnae mind, can ye go an' see aboot the bairns? They took tae ye a sight better than Granny Bendibrook an' I dinnae need 'em underfoot when thaur's horses aboot."

Jess pauses a moment before nodding. She heads over to the halfling children, who seem delighted that the tall halfling from the city and her pet cat have come to play with them again.

Tayet

The gray thing looks like a two-leg, but in a hard and shiny shell of gray. It is perching on the back of the black four-leg. It carries a big pointy stick, as long as you. There is a shell on its back, flat and too small to hide in. The shell is blue with a yellow flower design. The petals of the flower are shaped like triangles. The shiny gray two-legger doesn't seem to be noticing Cape.


Sense Motive DC 15

It is fairly obvious to anyone who takes the time to look that Mari's motives for getting Jess out of the way have little enough to do with children.

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet feels his heart pump faster and harder, adrenaline and panic rising in his mind. He motions for Cape to fly up, and wait for a signal to come down. He moves behind Rana, trying to keep the edge of panic out of his voice. [Sylvan]"Person coming, Cape says. Design on its 'shell'. It sounds like a sun, I know it, and we need to go. And hide. Now."

[Savannah]

Rana's entire body goes stiff. Shadow, sensing her distress, raises his hackles and begins to growl at any strangers that come close.

Rana turns sharply to Mari, looking for an instant as if she's about to strike the halfling, then stops herself. She shakes her head. When she does speak, she sounds slightly sad, "You'll need to get them farther away than the edge of camp, you know. Don't try to stop us."

Turning to the rest of her party, she grabs Audric's arm and begins to pull him away from Mari, away from the direction of the approaching riders. She speaks quickly, a note of tightly controlled panic in her voice, "We need to go, now, now, now! The horses are a trap! Grab anything you can't live without and run!" Rana follows her own advice, snatching up the sack at her feet and pulling Audric along as fast as she can.

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet pulls Morrison close, embraces him by the neck, bracing himself for the coming moments. He pulls a quiver from his rear flank, replacing his own. He motions for Rana and Audric"Get on. Morrison carry two of you. He is good horse. I can move without him. You cannot. I can hide. You cannot. No one catch me for many year. One cannot catch me now."

Tayet is swapping his batch of Dragonsbreath arrows with Swiftwing.

[Strawberries]

Audric takes a second to register what Rana is saying. When he does, he turns to Mari with a betrayed expression "Why would... We did not ask anything from you. Why would you sell us out? " He shakes his head at Tayet. What about Llaars, and Antal?

It isn't a difficult decision to make. The other people have horses as well, they're not going to go very far without some kind of distraction "You go, now. Grab everyone. Keep an eye on Antal. I will cover for you. " His tone says clearly don't argue with me now, we don't have time.

[Cardea]

Tayet


"He is...!?" Tayet nearly screams. "You will cover for no one." He grabs Audric by the armor near his neck, pulling him towards him. "You are shutting mouth. You are getting on Morrison. You are taking Antal. Llaars does not have glow, does he? You are Paladin. You keep weak protected. You are better man than other Paladin dream to be. You be keeping Miss Rana safe. I am Ranger. I will catch you, long before approaching one does."

"This is plan, friend. Please go."

[Savannah]

Rana nods to Tayet, grabbing Morrison's reins from him. "How long do we have before they get here?"

At Audric's statement, Rana sighs in exasperation. "Get on the gods-damned horse, Audric! They'll kill you, too, now, after..." she trails off, not wanting to expose his secret right now. "Antal can ride with you. Llaars is in no danger from them and Jess may be able to protect Eri. Cary my sack and I can become a ghost as well as Tayet can." She holds the bag out to him.

Without encumbrance, she can run. With woodland stride and trackless step, she can run at full speed through the undergrowth without leaving any trail.

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet looks from Rana, to Audric, to Rana again. "Time is running. Audric, trust me to keep Miss safe? I will find you again, she will be in your arms again. But we going now, she on horse, or she on foot."

[Ajadea]

Audric takes a second to register what Rana is saying. When he does, he turns to Mari with a betrayed expression "Why would... We did not ask anything from you. Why would you sell us out? "

"Sell ye oot?" Mari says, disbelieving. "I let ye in me camp, share me bread and me hearth wi' ye, pull ev'ry string I got tae gie ye where ye needs be going, ne'er askin' whit brings ye haur right up in th' wake o' th' whole city burnin' tae nae but coals and ye think I'd sell ye like that?"

Then she freezes. Slowly, a dawning realization spreads across her face. She waits for you to stop arguing before speaking again, voice icy and venomous as the poison purged so recently from Audric's veins. "If yer th' sort that flees frae e'en th' soldiers o' th' sun, 'en I shoods hae killed ye when I first laid een upon ye. As it stands, I gae ye th' safety ay th' hearth, an' ah wilnae break that trust or throw ye out. But go on, run, if ye must. Th' lads wilnae follow, an' I wilnae sell ye. I hae my honor. Yer friends will be safe here. The big man be nae harm, and Jess an' Antal be kin tae me. Ye three though, ye be neither. Leave these walls, an' there be nae more safety. If I see any o' ye walkin' these plains again once ye leave, ye'll nae be walkin' much longer." She draws her sword, but does not point it at anything in particular. In the sunlight, it looks very, very, sharp indeed. "Do we hae an understandin'?"

[Savannah]

Rana stops, frowning. "You...you didn't...? Damnit!"

"How many are coming? Could we draw them off the camp and defeat them?" she asks Tayet.

[Cardea]

Tayet


[Sylvan] "Two small folk, three horse, one Paladin." Tayet says. [Sylvan] "Can make shot from very far. Special arrow more better at range than normal. Have special fire arrow, for close. But don't know if shootin' Paladin make small folk attack."

[Strawberries]

Audric looks at Rana incredulously "No. Rana, no, we are not going to attack them.", he says firmly. Especially not if they are paladins, as Mari has seemed to imply. "If you go. I may... I might be able to explain. They might be able to help."

[Cardea]

Tayet


"No! No talking! Fight, I shoot them. Flight, I don't shoot them. Neither one do we 'taaaalk'. Last one talk, you know what happen. Last one fight, you know what happen. No more brothers on hand, yes? You have options. Rana go on horse, or Rana come with me." Tayet says. "You talk? Someone dying."

[Strawberries]

Audric looks torn for a second, before making a decision. He can't risk another fight with a member of the Order, not after what happened last time. He takes Rana's bag off her hands and Morrison's bridles from Tayet, motioning quickly at Antal to come closer, so he can help him get up the horse. He'll pretty much have to just hold tight to him, given the size of the horse compared with the Halfling, but there's unfortunately no way around it.

"We are going, but we are not... we were just trying to do what is right." He can't help but say to Mari. Even if he doesn't exactly know what that is anymore. "Tayet, take her and run. Run, don't fight. I'm trusting you on this." If Antal allows to be lifted on the horse he will mount after him, with one last warning to Rana and Tayet"Rana, keep him safe." Not that he doesn't appreciate Tayet's offer to look after her, despite the strange way he worded it (and he will definitely think about that some other moment), but he has never seen him fight, while he's confident that Rana can take well care of the both of them.

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet gives Audric a stern glare when he tells Miss to keep him safe. But brushes it off as he gives one last embrace to Morrison. He makes the motions, trying to get the horse to take instructions and direction from Audric, and to run. He lets go, and turns to Rana. [Sylvan] "Lets go."

[Jallorn]

Antal's long silence is finally broken, I want you to know, Mari, that I believe you. And that is why I will respond with a greater vow. Should I find that any of these friends I have made, or Eri, are gravely harmed as a result of your actions, I will bring a reckoning or die trying. This I swear by every god I refused to worship as a child, every god I will never serve; may they seize the opportunity to damn me should I fail to keep this vow... hmmm, may have overdone it a bit. Letting Audric pull him onto the horse, he pulls from his purse ten gold pieces, and tosses them to Mari, For the trouble, past and future.

[Ajadea]

Mari catches the coins out of the air in a single deft motion. "If I fail them sae, I'll hain ye th' blade fur th' deed." She sheathes her sword with a rasping sound. You can feel eyes on your backs as you leave.

The group scatters.

Tayet, Rana, Cape, and Shadow flee to the northeast, disappearing into the undergrowth until it is as if they are part of the wilderness. Silent. Invisible. They run directly towards Everdras Ridge, hoping to make up as much lost time as possible.

Audric and Antal, riding Morrison, have the advantage of speed instead of stealth and so head directly east. The hope is that taking a longer route will allow them to evade pursuit and ensuing awkward explanations. However, given that neither stands in favor with the gods, hoping for luck in their endeavors may be more than a little futile.

Tayet, Rana, and associated beasties

Having decided not to 'taaaalk' with oncoming paladins, you head directly for Everdras Ridge. Traveling through the wilderness is not inherently a hardship for you, and travel is swift. The sun is shining high overhead when you catch a glimpse of the road from the top of a swell. It is dusty brown, much like everything else around here. On the horizon to the west is a small black mark where you know a city once stood.

Shadow begins to bay, clearly having noticed something of interest.

Tayet: Roll Hide and Move Silently

Handle Animal, Spot, Survival, Knowledge (nature), and Heal are relevant checks at this point.


Audric, Antal

You ride for hours and hours. No pursuit is evident.

Morrison obeys Audric's commands without hesitation. The bracken increases slowly into a thin and scattered forest around the sixth hour of riding, all short and gnarled things with dark leaves. If anyone is pursuing, it is not evident.

Another two hours of riding and your steed's pace slows to barely a crawl. It is late afternoon and you are only barely closer to your destination. Exhaustion from the antics of last night/early this morning fights with every instinct in your body telling you that day is a time of action. If you rest now, it may well be another full day before you reunite with the others. Or you could push yourself and the horse even farther, risking potential damage in hopes of making up lost time.

[Savannah]

Rana quickly grabs Shadow and shushes him, before glancing around to see what he's spotted.

Conveniently, Rana has all of those skills....and a disturbing number have a +11 bonus :smalltongue:

Handle animal [roll0]
Spot [roll1]
Survival [roll2]
Knowledge (nature) [roll3]
Heal [roll4]

[Strawberries]

Antal, Audric
Audric gets off the saddle almost immediately when he sees that Morrison is starting to get tired to carry the both of them. He's the heaviest one, he reasons, they can cover a bit more road today if he walks beside the horse - even if it's going to be slower.

He hasn't said much to Antal during the ride, although the Halfling can probably tell he's very worried. "Do you think Eri and Jess will be safe?" he finally asks. Did we do the right thing in leaving them there?

[Ajadea]

It doesn't take you long to silence Shadow, or figure out what troubled him. the wind blows strongly from the north - from the road - carrying the scent of... something. Something very bad. From here, it is too far for you to see, and your noses are not keen enough to smell what he smells. But you have enough experience with animals to know it is distressing him.

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet signals for silence, as he moves forward. Keeping behind trees and bushes, he stays low.

Hide: [roll0]
Move Silently: [roll1]

[Ajadea]

You sneak up to see what Shadow has caught wind of.

The first thing you notice, once you get close enough to smell, is the foul stench. Burnt meat, with just a hint of wood smoke and rotten flesh.

Then you see it.

Some sort of wooden thing - you want to say a small cart, if only due to the lone wheel sitting in the middle of the road - has apparently been melted, burned, and warped beyond all recognition, all at the same time.

The poor dwarven owner of the cart has fared no better - his skinless, boneless, torso dangles from a tall spike of wood, ten feet up. His remaining lung flaps in the wind. You don't know where the lower half went.

If it was a cart, it was big enough to be pulled by a beast of burden. There is no such thing evident, dead or otherwise.

[Jallorn]

Tempted snark, Antal recognizes how bad an idea that would be, and instead says, Sure, why not? Realizing his choice of words isn't much better he adds, Nothing to do about it now, so might as well be optimistic about it.

Antal is tired. Woke up early, wrestled an attacker, and now an early-morning ride. He begins to drift off in the saddle, though he's not so far gone that Audric couldn't stir him.

[Savannah]

Rana holds Shadow, waiting silently for Tayet to return.

[Strawberries]

Because we left two sorcerers alone with paladins approaching Audric is about to snap, then Antal finishes the sentence and he just nods, recognising the coping mechanism for what it is. "I'll pray to Aldaran that you are right" he says instead, almost under his breath.

He notices Antal nodding off, but he doesn't make any move to stir him if there isn't any danger. Instead, he takes hold of Morrison's bridle to make sure he can still direct him and keeps walking beside the horse, allowing Antal to rest if he wants.

[Ajadea]

Antal dozes off on Morrison's back as Audric and Morrison themselves trudge on. You make one hour of headway, then two, Morrison being unusually obedient due to Tayet's directive. For a long time, the only sounds are your footsteps against the ground and Antal's barely-perceptible snoring.

But, two more hours of marching through the wilderness eventually takes its toll. Morrison will not move any further, and Audric finds himself very close to asleep on his aching feet. You come to a stop near a gnarled old oak, branches stretching so wide they seem to create a roof over your heads. Sleep is sounding like an extremely good idea.

Morrison has taken 5 lethal damage and is exhausted
Audric has taken 12 non-lethal damage and is also exhausted.
Antal is currently asleep, but otherwise functional.

[Strawberries]

When Morrison stops and refuses to take even one more step further, Audric has to admit to himself that it's the moment to stop. He guides the horse to the shelter of the oak tree, then lightly shakes the halfling to wake him up. "Antal. We will have to stop here for today." The tone is almost apologetic: part of himself still wanting to go forward to meet with the others and make up for lost time.

I have never claimed Audric was the best decision-maker when he wanted to go ahead before... :smalltongue:
Anyway, I'll be throwing in a Spot and listen check, I guess, just in case... [roll0] [roll1]

[Cardea]

Tayet


Tayet stares blankly at the 'body', before moving back to Rana. [Sylvan] "No one... no one alive, no but... dwarf. He has no bones. No skin. He is on a spike. There is a cart, destroyed. I don't know what did this. Didn't see anyone else up there, but... unsure of what may be around."

[Jallorn]

Waking after a few shakes, Antal issues a mumbled, Hwha?

[Strawberries]

Sorry for the delay, my weekend was a bit longer than expected...:smalleek:

The paladin tries very hard not to lose his patience and snap at Antal. Considering how tired he is, it's half a miracle that he manages, somehow. "We have to stop here for today. The horse is too tired to go any further." He doesn't mention that he's exhausted, as well, but it should be pretty clear just by looking at him.

[Savannah]

's all good, Strawberries -- apparently I've had GitP open in a tab for three days and never looked at it...

Rana shivers slightly. "We can't help him now," she whispers. "Let's go -- but circle far around and stay quiet."

She moves off, carefully holding on to Shadow to make sure he doesn't make a fuss or try to approach the body.

[Jallorn]

Alright, sounds good. Are we near the meeting location yet? Antal hops off the horse to the ground, taking a look around.

Spot check: [roll0]

[Ajadea]

You carefully avoid the destroyed wagon and spend the next hour walking through the hills before at last descending to the road in late afternoon. No one seems to be around, not even Audric and Antal. To be fair, they were taking a very long way around.



A cursory look around reveals that this place is nowhere near the meeting grounds. A tall and gnarled oak tree towers overhead, branches spread out so wide it seems to create a roof. Sunlight streams down through the branches - it is perhaps late afternoon.

[Savannah]

Rana looks around. "Well...I guess we should find a spot to wait out of sight for the others."

[Strawberries]

"No, we are still far away. I wanted to cover more ground, but there was no way we could go any further." Audric answers, tiredly. He gets two packet of rations out of his bag and hands one to Antal - his hand touches the glass of the jar he's been carrying since Attalin, reminding him he has to do something about that as well, but he's way too tired to think about that, too.

He tries to make camp as comfortably as he can for the three of them. "Sorry about forcing you like that. I wanted to get to your master as soon as I could" he tells Morrison, trying to tie him in a way that allows him to graze to his heart's content. As for himself, after having eaten something, he realises that it is either get to sleep by himself or collapsing from exhaustion "Wake me up if anything seems wrong." He warns Antal, before closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep.

[Ajadea]

Audric soon drifts off into sleep, and Morrison follows soon after, too tired to even eat.

Antal sits up and tries to keep watch.


You find somewhere comfortable to sit and wait. Suddenly, about two hours into your watch, a thick fog seems to fall over you. You want to sleep, badly, but you fight off the urge and the fog fades into a sharp moment of clarity. Just then, something falls from the trees. You look up instantly to see a thin, long, and very green hand retreating into the branches.


In the second hour, something falls from the trees. At your feet are three eagle feathers and a chipped emerald set in a tarnished copper disc. It looks like it would be a pendant, but the chain is long-gone. The edge is inscribed in a language you cannot read.

[Strawberries]

Audric is woken up from a surprisingly dreamless sleep by the sound of an object falling to the ground. He jolts up as quickly as his still aching head allows him, clumsily trying to fish for his sword, when he realises that there's really no danger that he can immediately see. "What happened?" He looks around for the source of the noise, and when he spots the pendent-like thing he bends closer to examine it, without touching it for the moment. Not for the first time, he wishes he could still tell if it was an arcane item or not.

Dice rolls!
Spot/listen to see if there's anyone around? [roll0] and [roll1]

Also, let me throw in a knowledge religion and/or a knowledge arcana, just to see if I can tell something about the amulet thingy. [roll2] and [roll3]

[Jallorn]

For his part, Antal only gives the amulet a passing glance only commenting, Might be cursed, I haven't a clue. Instead, he focuses his attention on the tree above him, trying to discern the details above them.

Inspired Spot check: [roll0]
If Search is more appropriate (though I don't think it is) drop 2 from that.

[Strawberries]

Audric finally resolves to pick up the amulet. He does so gingerly, keeping as away from his body as possible, at first, at least until he is satisfied that it isn't going to suddenly explode. "It is probably magical. Possibly a protective item. " He comments. He knows Antal well enough to realise there's little choice he won't pick up on that 'probably'. He braces himself for the inevitable questions, half hoping for Antal to decide to not pursue it, before continuing. "I cannot tell for certain, but it does not look like it's cursed. Did you see how it fell?"

[Ajadea]

The amulet utterly fails to explode. It doesn't really do anything at all, actually. It's heavier than it looks at first glance.



You decide to leave the burnt wreckage well enough alone and find somewhere safe to hide.

About a hundred and fifty feet from the wreck, you can see an erratic trail on the road, scattered drops of black liquid tracing a dotted line up towards the mountains.

[Jallorn]

Rather than responding, Antal looks for the nearest low branch, and then leaps for it, attempting to climb up into the tree.

Jump: [roll0]
Climb: [roll1]

[Ajadea]

Given that the nearest branch is fifteen feet up, Antal quite naturally doesn't come anywhere near it.

Trying to use the bark of the tree as hand and footholds works better. Antal quickly scrambles up into the tree.

You see a small cachet of objects hidden cleverly in an oval hole in the wood. Easily visible from here, but from the ground, completely invisible. An assortment of dried flowers, dangling from the top of the hideaway. More feathers, neatly bundled up by color and tied together with strands of long grass. A pair of leather boots, sized for a human. A carved rod of bone, about the length of Antal's forearm. Half a dozen icons, carved from oak wood, in the vague shape of a woman. A golden chalice, all inlays long gone, leaving only the depressions where they had once been. A silver mirror, polished to a shine.

[Strawberries]

"Antal..." Audric starts, in a tone between warning and exasperated, then gives up. He's travelled with Antal long enough to realise that he's probably not going to deter him. He probably should just be grateful he hasn't asked him any question on his recent incapability of perceiving signs of magic. Or, he hasn't asked yet. He suppresses a sigh, and opts to follow him with his gaze as best as he can, keeping an eye out for possible dangers. "Can you see anything?"

Keeping an eye out for possible dangers and possibly to protect Antal? [roll0]

[Jallorn]

Antal wrinkles his nose, thinking for a moment, and then pulls off his cloak and bundles everything up into it. Hey, Audric, catch, Antal motions to Audric to grab the bundle by leaning down and dangling it.

[Ajadea]

Antal reaches in and begins to pull out the treasures from the hole.

Just as suddenly, the tree moves, branches curving in like living things to form a cage.

Antal narrowly dives out of the way, escaping the tree's crushing embrace and dropping to the ground easily. Trinkets fall to the ground - a pair of human-sized boots, a thin bone rod, an oaken icon of a woman, a bundle of eagle feathers. A branch snakes down and a crude face forms from the marks in the bark. There are deep depressions where eyes would be, and a crack curls up into something like a snarl. Leaves tumble down like hair. The face hisses and rustles like branches in the wind, swaying from side to side.

[Jallorn]

Oh, geeze, uh, sorry about your stuff, Antal manages to stammer out an apology before it occurs to him that whatever this is probably doesn't speak common. Uh, do you speak elvish? Sorry? he tries out the only real possibile avenue for communication.

[Ajadea]

<"Speak."> The voice echoes from within the wood and as wind through the branches, forming what can be construed as words, if one listens closely. <"Prey-gait thou hast. Mercy I grant thee."> One branch snakes down to pick up the oaken icon, holding it up. <"Know I, small flesh one?">

[Strawberries]

Audric frowns and reaches his hand out to catch whatever Antal is about to pass him, only to recoil quickly, halfway drawing his sword from its scabbard when the whole tree moves. He doesn't complete the motion, though, since Antal seems to have managed to get himself to safety... and just in that moment, to top everything off, the tree starts to speak. What in Aldaran name IS that?

He very deliberately sheathes his swords and manages to keep his voice more or less even despite the fact that he is talking to a giant tree. "My... my friend and I did not realise..." ...that you were sentient. He catches himself before blurting that out "...that we were intruding. My apologies." Then he realizes something, and takes the amulet out of his pocket. "Is that yours? Did you give that to us?"



So, is the tree speaking elven? If it is, that's what Audric is speaking as well. I assumed we

Also, err... knowledge rolls? To see if he ever heard any story about talking trees? [roll0] and/or [roll1]

[Ajadea]

The tree is indeed speaking Elven, though a heavily accented and rather archaic version.

Its eyeless face swivels to stare at Audric. <"A warding. Thy warding. Is mine no more. Not... intruding..."> it says. The mouth-like gash on its face doesn't move. The words come from deeper than that. <"Long since I have seen thy kind."> Thin branches peel away and reach down, spindly limbs with far too many elbows and fingers to be healthy. Some of the branches get uncomfortably close to you, as if to caress. <"Stay. Rest. Is safe. Sap spilt not here.">


A single word comes to your mind. Dryad. An intelligent fey parasite known to inhabit trees, especially oaks, and especially old oaks. Sometimes benevolent, sometimes malicious, but mostly just powerful and difficult to predict or understand. They are said to have strong ties to druidic tradition.

In the few illuminated manuscripts that the temple had, they were generally depicted more like beautiful women with not enough clothes on. The thing you're looking at looks more like a giant tree spider, if spiders had about two dozen legs, hands, and a long snaky neck.

[Strawberries]

Audric forces himself to stand very still and avoid to either recoil or make any gesture that could be misconstrued as hostile when the branches come near. In the meanwhile his mind, after having helpfully provided the nature of the creature he is speaking to, is now very unhelpfully supplying him with a textbook list of the reasons why he should look for the nearest source of fire and burn the abomination in front of him to the ground, assembled together from half a dozen of textbooks and about five hundred different lessons. He does his best to ignore it: the dryad (he's pretty sure it is a dryad, even if it doesn't look like one) has been nothing but polite, so far.

That is exactly the sort of reasoning that put you in the mess you are in, that unhelpful part of his mind counteracts. Audric brushes a lock of hair back from his forehead and tells his brain to shove it, trying to refocus on the situation at hand. A warding, he said. That is sort of encouraging. It seems that the fey has their wellbeing as a concern - for whatever reason - and so he replies in pretty much the only possible way he can think of replying. "Thank you. We welcome your offer, and your protection." he says, bowing slightly. "May...whatever god you worship protect you, as well."

[Cardea]

"Climb trees? Hard for Shadow, yes? But leaves good cover."

[Ajadea]

The face-gash turns up at the corners, and the encroaching branches draw closer. <"Then thou shalt stay? My grove thine home. No harm to thee. Be at peace.">

[Strawberries]

"We..." Audric looks over at Antal, clearly asking for some kind of support with the decision. On one hand, they still need rest, and the dryad seems sincere in its offer of protection. On the other, he can think of few things more dangerous than putting oneself at the mercy of a fey. "We cannot stay long. We are... we are following someone. A human woman" For a given definition of 'human'.

[Savannah]

Rana shakes her head. "They're also a good place for getting trapped. I'd prefer to stay back and out of sight of the road -- maybe Shadow and I can stay back here and you can wait in the trees? That way you can keep an eye on the road and I can provide a distraction if someone tries to trap you in the tree."

[Cardea]

"Trap me in- what person do, make big dog noises? Wave big fist?" Tayet asks, an incredulous look on his face. "Bow, if they stay down, boot if they come up. But good plan. Not thinking Shadow is good climbing."

Tayet pulls off his gloves, and attempts to climb the sturdiest tree he can find, one row of trees away from the road. "So. How is one like you close with one such Audric?"

Climb: [roll0]
Splot: [roll1]
HEY GUYS I ROLLED LOW I'M OFFICIALLY BACK

[Savannah]

Rana takes Shadow and begins to turn away, but stops at Tayet's question. "Close? What do you mean? We're not..." She trails off, looking slightly alarmed. "I mean...we just...we were both just in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught up in this mess of witches and spirits. I guess...he's just nicer than most of the humans I've met, that's all. He's just.....nice," she finishes, rather lamely, not quite looking at Tayet.

[Ajadea]

You think it's old, lonely, and ultimately well-intentioned. The tree-thing seems to have no interest in harming you.
Two gnarled branches come together above your heads, like hands clasped in a plea. "But one night. One night. Not so hard? Rest now. Leave later. It has been so long since any little mortals come to my grove." The expressionless face twists from side to side, empty eyes staring at each of you in turn.


Tayet attempts to get up the tree, and proceeds to fall flat on his back, unable to get a foothold on the bark or reach up even to the lowest branch.

Nothing is visible but a pair of birds circling on the horizon, little more than black dots against the slowly darkening sky.

[Jallorn]

Yeah, we can stay for a bit., Antal grins a little, lonely, of course it is. In fact, if we survive what we're doing, I've got a friend who'd probably love to meet you.

[Cardea]

"Krepshick!" Tayet says, standing up. He looks over to Rana, laughing silently at her hesitation. "Nice? Axe from store room nice. Good head, strong grip. Looks good. That being nice. You? You look at Audric not like me and axe. Wrong place wrong time getting caught in fight, 'oh me oh my we was just fightin' enemies!', yes? Krepshick. Is not like he make sure you safe, watching you at night for predator. Is not like he not kill you, despite split-birth and nature blessing. Oh yeeeesssss, he just niiiiiice. This not sounding like story of legend or mating. Not story you telling kids

"You two close, even if not knowing. But feelings not what asking to know. How you two meet?"

[Strawberries]

Audric looks relieved that Antal has decided that there's no danger in staying for the night, although, knowing the halfling, it may not be exactly a resounding recommendation. But they need sleep, and being offered protection seems not so bad a thing. Even if it comes from a fey. "Yes, we will stay for tonight" he agrees, evan as he gives a slight perplexed look at Antal's mention of a 'friend'. That couldn't possibly be Paral, could it? "Thank you for your offer, and your kindness."

[Jallorn]

There was a, uh, mist earlier, that didn't seem entirely... benign. Do you know anything about that? Antal asks the question delicately, he honestly doesn't believe this creature means them any harm.

[Savannah]

"Oh, we never told you all of it!" Rana looks quite relieved at the shift in topic. "I'd just come to Attalin, and my damn hood slipped right in the middle of the market, so I ended up hiding in the sewers. Apparently it was a day for sewer exploration -- Audric was there investigating something for the temple, Llaars was I think looking for someone who he'd run off from his bar, Antal....I don't know why Antal was there, but he was, and Rowan -- wait, you never met Rowan, did you? She was nice enough, but didn't stick with us terribly long.

"Anyway, we all independently stumbled onto a couple of guards roughing up this scaly elf, and stepped in. Things....kinda went downhill for us from there."

[Ajadea]

The branches creak agitatedly as they open up, and the face retreats backwards, giving you some breathing room. <Thou hast my gratitude. No more mist now.> it rumbles.

The dryad is a very poor liar - it definitely knows about the mist.

[Strawberries]

Audric gives a perplexed look at Antal's mention of 'mist': he had been asleep at the time. It's clear the fey's answer is evasive at best, but it's better to let Antal decide if he wants to pursue it, he reasons.

For his part, he focuses on the amulet the dryad is still holding. He gets a bit closer, but not as much as to be perceived as a threat. "If I may inquire" he says "Is that symbol of some significance to you?"

Detect magic Yeah, I wish. Err.. knowledge (arcana), please? Just in case it's useful? [roll0]

[Cardea]

"No, you not tell any. We murder man shortly after meeting," Tayet pulls down his hood, scratching his head, staring at the tree. "No. Not meet Rowan. Know Rowan, however. Tree, ah? Bow made of such tree. But downhill tumbling. What happen?"

[Ajadea]

(OOC note of clarification, Cardea's above post is still directed at Rana & Tayet group.)


The tree seems to be settling down now that you are more comfortable. It withdraws its branches, settling into a position that almost looks like waiting. The branches come together in sets, neatly held together. <"Given by flesh ones, long time ago. Is like... like-ness. For thanks. I keep to remember.">

[Strawberries]

(OOC: I see where the confusion could be coming from....:smalltongue:)

"I see." Audric answers. Surprisingly enough, he does. The dryad has helped some humans - or elves, more likely - in the past and has been gifted an amulet in the shape of what a dryad is fabled to look like, and it keeps it as a memento. I'm going mad he thinks to himself, not for the first time. Fey are supposed to be strange and inhuman. It's worrying that he can understand this one's logic so readily.

There's nothing to be done for it right now, however. Rubbing his shoulder without even noticing, Audric sighs and starts to gather the things that he had scattered around in his hasty attempt to get up to protect Antal. If he's trusting a hundreds-years-old fey to care for their safety, may as well make a comfortable place to sleep for both himself and the halfling.

[Savannah]

Rana actually smiles, but returns to looking grim quickly as she continues*, "There's been so much....we met a witch who was siphoning power off of sorcerers, and nearly killed us. Except she turned out to be possessed by an ancient spirit, who I think is trying to bring back more of such spirits. And now we're chasing her in an attempt to stop her. Of course, I have no idea how we could stop her, let alone stop her and her friends if she succeeds. Well, that's not quite true -- Audric was able to cast out the spirit she'd had possessing one of Antal's friends, but" she stops suddenly, looking quite worried. "But I don't think we can count on that happening again. They've been gone so long. Perhaps they got lost? After all, they're not as home in the woods as we are. Perhaps we should go looking for them?"

*Please note that this is what I can remember while throwing together a post at 1am. Any inaccuracies should be entirely attributed to me, not Rana.

[Cardea]

"Am remember, old man used to play joke on me when I get lost when learning. He grab sticks, make scare face, spook little me." Tayet says, walking back to Rana and admitting defeat. "Would pretend being bear! And then, you knowing. Turn into bear. But him aside, I send Cape to look, yes? He better with sort of thing."

I send Cape off to scout the area. I'd like him to look for two minutes through/over trees, and then come back.

Listen: [roll0]
Spot: [roll1]

[Strawberries]

Preparations made, Audric nods respectfully to the dryad and settles down to try and rest for another little while, not before putting an hand on Antal's shoulder and leaning down to whisper to him "We are safe, I think, but... Be careful".

He lies down, leaning his head in the crook of his arm, and tries to get a little more rest, even if he's sleeping with his sword in close reach. He is aware he's entrusting his own and Antal's safety to a fey... but it seems sincere, and he feels too exhausted to find an alternative. For once, he is asleep in less than ten minutes.

[Savannah]

Rana starts looking around for a comfortable place to sit while waiting for Cape to return.

[Ajadea]

You make yourselves comfortable in the roots of the dryad's tree. Or perhaps simply the roots of the dryad. It is impossible to tell where tree ends and fey begins. You dream of softness and rich earth and nothing at all.

You wake to soft morning light streaming through the roots overhead. It takes a few moments to remember that there are not supposed to be roots overhead. And yet here they are, forming a roof over your sleeping-place. A wide gap on one side forms a sort of door, allowing you to get out, but it is, at least for Audric, somewhat of a tight fit.


Cape wheels around, scouting in all directions, then returns, calling loudly.


Cape cannot see Audric and Antal. They haven't even turned up this way yet. What Cape can see, however, is an abnormally large tree on the horizon, perhaps two hours south as a hawk flies.

[Jallorn]

Antal, Audric
As Audric drifts off, Antal turns to the dryad, I bet in your life you've seen and heard some great stories. Would you mind sharing them with me?

[Ajadea]

<"Some,"> the dryad creaks. Nestled here against the tree, you can practically feel the thrumming in its wood as it speaks. <"From fleshlings, seek solace. Hmm.">

<"Many seasons past. Little more than sapling then.

Was prince. Third in line. Sister, princess. Fourth, and discontent. Spake to white raven, to thorn-apple, to moon-pool dwelling deep. Each bend ear to dark princess. Each gave boon. From raven, feather, sharper than fire-glass. From thorn-apple, seed, whispering secrets of earth. From moon-spirit, draught of light, slumber eternal.

Prince came to my grove, bark thorn-cut, dripping red. Tells his tale, that I tell thee. Elder queen hast fallen, raven blade cut life from flesh. Moonlight draught in summer wine steals crown princess into darkness, wasting. Second vanish, as mist. Swallowed by earth. Third now flees, begging protection of grove. Had... hmm. I know not word. Is ring of gold, so big."> It outlines the shape in tendrils of green wood - about the size of a pie tin. <"Shine bright like stars. Is offered, as fleshling custom, for safety of the grove. I grant. Prince stays. Safe, many, many summers. But is mortal."> Another branch reaches up, pulls down the thin bone rod you saw earlier. Holds it like a precious treasure. <"I keep to remember.">

[Jallorn]

Antal, Audric
Uh-huh, so that's, and that's. Oh, a crown, cool! Do you still have that? Antal's quick mind is only a second or two behind what the Dryad says, and even while he translates, he does his best to compare the tale with what history he knows. Then something catches him, Oh, tradition, uh, yeah. I, uh, I don't have a ton of much value, but I've got, uh, he pauses for a moment, before settling on his Kukri, I've got this. I don't use it much, my short sword is a much more useful weapon, but I've always found it to be a beautiful blade, and it means a lot to me, has some great stories in it. Would you like to hear them?

OOC
Y'know, I'm getting the distinct impression that being around Audric is turning Antal good. I mean, he hasn't really had a chance to show it, but I think his actions lately have been more good than neutral.

[Ajadea]

One of the dryad's many branches reaches down. It splits into three spindly fingers at the end, two fingers and a long thumb tipped by a pair of leaves. It reaches out tentatively. At the last moment, less than three inches away from your cheek, the fingers curl up into the branch and remain there, almost but not quite touching you. <"Ah.... yes, small fleshling. If thou wilt speak, I listen.">

[Jallorn]

Antal, AudricWhile Audric sleeps, Antal shares tales of adventure in the big city with the dryad.

Diplomacy: [roll0]

[Cardea]

"Cape is not seeing Antal or Audric, but is... seeing large tree? Wrong large tree. Am doubting what I feed him now, but maybe is worth looking to?"

[Ajadea]

Antal isn't the best storyteller, it turns out, but the dryad seems overjoyed simply to be able to talk to someone. Roots continue to build up as he talks, slowly forming a hut of living wood around you.

Audric awakens to find Antal talking to the dryad. Roots and bark form a low root overhead and woven walls around. There is a gap in the roots, allowing one to exit the construction, but it is a tight fit. The dryad's long neck dangles through another hole in the city. Its nigh-featureless face is impossible to read. A hand, emerging from the far wall, holds a small kukri possessively.

[Strawberries]

Audric wakes up from a dream where he was trying to find his way in the Temple cellars, that for some reason had started to look more and more labyrinthine and uncomfortably like the sewers of Attalin City the more he was walking through them. His first reaction upon waking up is relief that he's not utterly lost like in his dream. Then he remembers exactly what was happening before he had gone to sleep. Oh. Being lost in an uncomfortable dampness full of potential enemies would have probably been better, he muses.

He considers the landscape around himself, trying to decide if he can stand without knocking his head or upset the branches in any way. Probably not. He clears his throat to attract Antal's attention on the fact that it's high time to move. "Thank you for your, ah, protection" he says, to the dryad. "We will be leaving, now."

[Jallorn]

Antal, Audric
Antal stops mid-sentence, turns to look and Audric, and nods, saying, Yeah, we can't afford to lose time. Thank you for your hospitality, I promise to return with my friend if we don't die on our quest. Well, that's a sobering thought to set out on.

[Ajadea]

<"NO!"> the dryad bellows. The wooden walls pulse and shudder and creak around you. <"Tis danger. Not safe. Here is safe. Not witch nor demon nor walking dead will cross my grove."> The fey creature is speaking faster and faster, expressionless head twisting on its long snaky neck. <"Thou art my ward. Is oath, is duty. Safety of the grove I give to thee. Thou art safe, for length of thine life. Not alone. Has been so long...."> The wood ripples and a hand reaches out of it, holding what looks like a finger bone. <"And thou shalt be remembered. Always live, in thought and life anew.">

[Strawberries]

NEVER trust the fey. Audric grits his teeth as he remembers the simple precept. They teach it in the first classes, really. Never ever trust the fey. They're so alien nobody can tell for certain what they are thinking. Wise words. Too bad he blatantly disregarded them yesterday evening.

"Antal, get behind me. Run if you have to." he says, as calmly as he can, then he straightens, slowly, hand on the pommel of his sword. "We cannot stay. We have a duty ourself, and an oath we have to fulfil."

Awww....

Diplomacy? [roll0]
If it doesn't work, I'm afraid it's Initiative [roll1]

[Jallorn]

Antal is surprisingly calm himself, in fact, he looks distinctly unsurprised, more disappointed than anything. In a calm voice, with only the slightest edge of irritation, Antal adresses the Dryad, This is a breach of hospitality, you cannot keep us here against our will, we are not your posessions, merely guests. I shall have to insist you return my gift, and warn you that as you have breached hospitality, you are no longer protected by it in turn. If you insist on keeping us, we will use force. To punctuate his point, Antal draws his short sword, though he keeps it pointed at the ground.

Diplomacy! (boosted): [roll0]

[Ajadea]

<"I shall protect,"> the dryad insists. The spidery hand pulls Antal's kukri closer to lie flat against the wood. The already small gap in the walls, your one gateway to the outside, begins to slowly constrict. <"Is hospitality, is oath. As before, for fleshlings like thee. Why else wouldst thou come, but to seek the safety of the grove?"> It sounds puzzled and distressed, head bobbing from side to side, but is not making any aggressive movements. Yet.

[Jallorn]

The rules of hospitality state that host and guests alike will keep the domain of the host free of hostility. Imprisonment is an act of hostility, and therefore a breach of hospitality. As you are the host, we are under no obligation to punish you, but we are free to do so if you force us. Antal's voice is icy cold, with only a hint of tension. In truth, he's more than a little worried. Even should they be able to kill the Dryad, something he doesn't want to do, Antal's not sure how tough the walls would be to pierce.

[Ajadea]

The dryad nods furiously, making a sound like rustling leaves that can only come from the branches overhead. <"Yes! No harm to thee. No fight, no hurt, no pain. Be sleep and peace and safe. So long as thou dost not leave this grove, no harm shall come to thee. 'Tis my oath, old as sun and moon, as stars in sky.">

[Strawberries]

Audric tightens his grip on the pommel of his sword a little more, but still doesn't draw it. Yet. "We told you, we have our oaths as well. We have people we need to protect. " A dryad is bound to a single place, Audric figures, wherever its tree is. That's possibly why it doesn't really understand the concept of going away. "Oaths are important to you, are they not? But in order to fulfil ours, we must leave. Do not force our hand. We will defend us if we have to."

I'm not sure if I should roll something else. Tell me if I have to.

[Jallorn]

No! Antal finally raises his voice, irritation showing through, You protect the space. You do it for the people, but you keep the space safe! Imprisoning us does not keep the space safe, it drives us to agression, so the act of forcing us to stay is a breach of hospitality. Lower those walls, and return my gift!

Also not sure if I should roll anything. Mostly I'm hoping to milk that fantastic 19 I rolled.

[Ajadea]

Something in your words seems to get through to the dryad, at least a little. <"Thine oath is mine. Has been long... long since I called the furred and feathered. But for thee, I do. To find thy friends. I will protect, as you. Thy oath fulfilled, and mine as well,"> it says. It speaks slowly, placidly, almost as if it is chanting. The walls loosen and stop shaking, and the ceiling opens up. It looks to be about mid-morning. The sky is clear. The dryad looks up and its leaves begin to shake, making a sound like a thousand people whispering. You can hear birdsong.

[Savannah]

Rana frowns. "Yes, I think we should look into that. Which way?"

[Strawberries]

Audric isn't completely sure of what the Dryad means with its last statement, but he's determined to take advantage of the reprieve. "Antal, GO." he orders, tautly, and he slowly backs away to follow him, without breaking eye contact with the dryad. "We... we need to stop a sorcerer. That is our oath. I thank you, for your help."

I have a pretty good inkling that we're having a bit of a misunderstanding here, but hey, I'll play it this way. Backing away from the dryad, not too quickly, but not too slow either. If we can. :smallwink:

[Ajadea]

You head south, where Cape is leading you. Two hours as a hawk flies is considerably longer a distance on the ground, as the humanoid walks, especially when the humanoid is walking over uneven, rocky, ground. The sparse forest grows denser as you progress. The sun crawls lower and lower on the horizon, and eventually, you have to stop and rest.

Nothing much interesting happens in the night. You wake up, and continue. Cape seems more and more enthusiastic to get to the large tree, swooping forward out of sight and only doubling back when called. The forest seems to grow louder and louder. You hear birdsong and the growling of animals and leaves rustling wildly. But nothing seems to be hostile.

Then the clearing comes into view.

The first thing you notice is Morrison, trapped in a large and sturdy-looking wooden cage. He is grazing placidly, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. The second thing is the tree. A massive, towering oak tree stands in the center of the clearing, twice as tall as any of the other trees surrounding it. Its leaves shake and quiver in a nonexistent breeze. A woven structure halfway between a hut and a cage is nested in the roots of the tree. In fact, when you take another look, the structure appears to be growing out of the tree. It has no roof, and spindly branches bend and dip into the open top. And there must be over a hundred creatures on and around the massive tree. All manner of birds, squirrels, and mice perch in its branches and on its knobby roots, as well as a handful of deer and even what seems to be a small and meek-looking black bear. And more keep arriving.



The dryad doesn't seem to hear you, being about fifteen feet above your head, but it's not stopping you from leaving if nothing else. You peer outside. There must be at least a dozen creatures out there, most of them small. Birds and rodents. And more are arriving. Mostly birds, again. The occasional deer. Small forest mice, squirrels with nuts in tow. Even a small and rather timid-looking black bear. You see Morrison has been wrapped in a large cage of roots. He doesn't seem to mind.

[Savannah]

Rana stops abruptly, grabbing Shadow as she does so. She observes the scene closely, clearly puzzled by these events.

Knowledge (nature) time! [roll0]
Also Spot and Listen while I'm at it. [roll1], [roll2]

[Savannah]

"It's a dryad. They're guardians of the woods, but can get a bit too protective, which is probably what's happening here. We don't want to hurt her, just get her to let our friends go.

"I'm going to go try to talk to her. You....should probably wait here, in case she manages to entrap me, too."

If Tayet doesn't object, Rana and Shadow will step into the clearing.