The Long Sunset (IC)

[Eurus]

There is no sunrise in Fortitude. For those not wealthy enough to reside in the city's central towers, the dawn is a distant thing, eclipsed and drowned out by the walls' own ever-present light. Day and night are mere suggestions, the deeper you live in the city's own shadow. To call this inner ring a slum wouldn't be entirely inaccurate; violence seldom bubbles to the surface, for fear of attracting the guards, but simmers tensely underneath it. It is a neighborhood that never sleeps, running on frayed circadians and grim determination, and many of you probably call it home.

In the wealthier, loftier parts of the city, safety comes at the price of isolation. In their elegant towers and suspended manors, the old and wealthy families of Fortitude have exactly as much contact with their neighbors as they wish -- and they do not generally wish for much. The occasional carefully choreographed party, the temple of your choice on Sunday mornings. Beautiful, sterile, and dizzying.

But whether you are aware of it or not, it is morning. And on this particular morning, a caravan is to head north out of the city, the only such group scheduled for weeks. While it ostensibly travels to carry a load of goods for trade with the distant dwarfhold of Ob-Guchir, it's also taken on far more passengers than normal, almost all of them dragonchasers.

Those of you with the means might pay for your passage, or have your family do so. Those without, and unable to beg, barter, or steal their way to a ticket, might work for their passage. While it's unlikely that a child could get hired on as a mercenary guard without some truly impressive display of prowess, the increased number of passengers means that more hands are needed for basic labor on the long trip.

No matter the method, that caravan holds your destiny. Whether that destiny involves horrible death is yet to be determined.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

In the back of a wagon, a young girl with cat ears and a tail is resting rather uncomfortably on top of a barrel of pickled herring. She paid for her trip with her gambling winnings and isn't quite sure where she's going, just that it might have a casino she isn't banned from. The girl slowly opens her eyes and hops off of her makeshift bed.

"Caravan people of the caravan country? It's me, Nyanko. Anyone want to play a game of 52 week pickup truck?" she says to the barrel. It takes her a moment to realize that she's looking in the wrong direction and then walks towards the front of the wagon. "Mr Driver?" It takes her another moment to realize that the caravan is parked.

"Don't leave without me, Mr Driver." she says before wandering around the campground, looking for someone to talk to.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

The silver-haired boy checked his travel papers again, then resumed examining the ornate box his parents had sent with him. It was extremely well-made, with a silver metal lining and blue gems on the edges.

Dad probably fabricated it the morning before Jason thought, before packing it away and telepathically pinging Miri to see if she was ok.

"Ah well. No use thinking about it now."

Jason steps off the wagon he was on and takes a walk, and is soon utterly confused by what seems to be a cat-eared person talking to a barrel. He follows her when she goes off into the campground, keeping his distance but watching carefully.

[Malanorea]

Akai

With the morning came an end to her work and enough money to make it through the day. Maybe a little more, if she was lucky.Since discovering her pseudo-magical aptitude, she'd been managing to get by wandering the inner part of the city and providing overnight security for whoever wanted the service. It had been a while since her days of being the world's punching bag, but she didn't care for this place any more. And so it was time to find some food, get some rest, and find someone else to work for.

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Miriam was well known in her neighborhood, if not by name then by sight. She was the one who helped. Carrying a heavy load? Dropped something as valuable as gold or as worthless as copper? Her being willing to lend a hand was so well known that her being used as willing labor was a common thing. Of course, this morning she was running on a time table, and when she felt the gentle caress of Jason's telepathic ping, she almost tripped and spilled Old Nana Ghorza's groceries. With a sigh and a smile, she gently sent a feeling of contentment along the link.

"Nana, I'm sorry, but a friend and I are going on a trip. I won't be able to help you get next week's groceries." At the old orcs nod and acknowledgement, she smiled and glanced upward. While most wouldn't be able to tell the time by looking at the sky, she could feel it in her heart, her core, that it was dawn. And so, following a hurried placement of groceries in all the right places, Miriam bolted from the apartment that Nana Ghorza shared with her brother and headed toward the gate.

Of course, she didn't make it all the way without some sort of speed bump. Or in this case, a down on her luck (though, if she just ran into Miri, her luck would probably increase!) half giant who was just coming off shift.

~Imported from IRC~

Miri bounced off of the woman, looking up and up and up at the towering figure. Surprised and a little disoriented from over two hundred pounds of solid humanoid, she looked up at the woman as she looked down. Scrambling, Miri remembered her manners. "Whoops, sorry!"

After a brief moment, Miri noticed how... gloomy the woman looked, and so she did what she always did in this scenario. She helped. "Hey, is something wrong? Did your kitty die?"

The woman blinked, and then shook her head. "No, just... long night." Miri felt more sure, and something niggled in the back of her mind.

"Really? What were you doing?" She knew, from experience, that most people didn't realize that despite being young, she knew more than she let on. Dodging her concerns, even if she was a stranger, was a bad sign.

"Just some work. I do body-guarding and security whenever someone decides to pay me for it. It's... enough." The way she'd ended the sentence there was so... melancholy. And so Miri frowned, the niggling in the back of her mind getting sharper.

"Enough to live or enough to live?" Miri asked, pushing as much concern as she could into her voice. This person was Unhappy and some fundamental part of Miri's being wanted to fix that.

After a few moments thought, the woman spoke again. "The former, if I understand you appropriately. I get by." There. There it was. And, unconsciously, her frown deepened. This Would Not Do. At all. Not even the slightest. Miri made her decision, reached out to snag the woman's wrist, pulling her along as she went toward the gate.

"You need an adventure. It'll do you some good. And I know just the thing. Oh, and before I forget, my name's Miriam, but you can call me Miri!" She tugged on the woman's wrist and, after a moment's hesitation, the woman obediently followed. Miri frowned internally as she reached out with her telepathic link to Jason, gently requesting some of his attention. "Oh, and by the way, what's your name?"

"Akai." The woman responded with just a hint of amusement, still following obediently.

"Alright. Play along when we get there!" The girl's face's took on an expression that had, in the past, driven Jason up the wall: Miri's grin said 'I have an Idea!' and it wasn't at all subtle about it.

"Where are we going?" Akai (Akai. Akai. Ah-kayuh. She wouldn't forget that name, no she wouldn't!) asked, and Miri glanced back and up, still grinning.

"You'll see! Just let me and Jason do all the talking, we'll handle everything." She turned forward again and tapped Jason again, a little more firmly this time, not caring that it had only been twenty seconds from the first tap.

"Jason?" And Miri would have smiled, but she already was. She tilted her head even as she guided Akai northward toward the gate, gears turning in her head as she... schemed was the wrong word, it implied something villainous, and plot had the same problem! Well, she was planning something, and if she did say so herself, she was brilliant. This was her best idea yet!

"He's my best friend. I think you two will get along great."

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The little cat-eared girl is hiding behind various bits of cargo as she slowly moves towards nowhere in particular. Upon seeing Akai, a thought enters her tiny head.

She rushes up behind Akai and hides behind her, then occasionally peers around her leg while making an exaggerated show of searching for something.

"Dun da-da-la dun, dun dun dun, dun da-la-dun, dun dun dun da-dun! Da dun-dun!" she says quite loudly, defeating the purpose of what little stealth she had.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason, understanding what (but not why) the strange catgirl is doing, walks past her and greets Miriam and the tall woman she is talking to.

"Hey, what's up? Who's the new friend?"

[Malanorea]

Akai

The half-giant pretends not to notice the catgirl as she's dragged along by Miri, letting the 'sneaky' one have her fun as she looks down to the man much better dressed than she; Akai was in what could politely be called 'rags'. "Hello. Jason, I presume?"

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"That I am. How are you doing today, madam?"

Jason sees that the group is being dragged along and says with a smirk: "I see you've met Miri."

[Malanorea]

Akai

"Erm, yes. She was rather insistent that I come meet you. She said something about an 'adventure'."

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"She's dragg-er- We're going with the caravan in the hopes of seeing the dragon.

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Miri was silent, letting her new friend meet her old and giving Jason a once over. And then she dumped a giant block of thinking into his head. The Plan: pass Akai off as her guardian for the trip; while originally it had been Jason being the "adult" to her "child" (though she knew in her head that she could probably hold her own just as well as he could, thanks) pulling in Akai as the adult would not add any financial burden in any case. It also contained her worries relating to Akai and the sense that, regardless of how things turned out, dragon or no dragon, her coming with them would Help.

And, with most of her thoughts done, she smiled, nodded, and then skipped away to where the pack animals were being kept in order to grab her most favoritest animal ever.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason continued making small talk with Akai, then when he got the telepathic infodump he responded that his parents, knowing Miri (and probably using divination of some sort) had given them two extra sets of papers, so it's a moot point.

Then he cheerfully says to Akai,
"If you want to join us on this caravan, I have an extra set of travel papers you could use. Miri is adamant that you're coming, but the choice is yours."

[Malanorea]

Akai

"Oh, well... I suppose I may as well. It's not as though I've anything keeping me here, and I guess I wouldn't want to disappoint her." At about this time, she looked back to the loudly-humming catgirl behind her.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

A girl walks in from the deeper slums, but for all she is dressed little better than the poor around her, she walks regally. Her face and hair are clean and held high: not haughtily looking down on others, but confidently facing the day. She stops and talks to those around her, despite the fact that her hair – which moves unnaturally, and occasionally even grasps and lifts things in the market for her to inspect – marks her as “���descended from darkness,” corrupted and unclean, not one who should be so boldly marching through the streets.

Of course, since this boldness is her custom, and one that has been soundly protected in the past, she no longer shocks so much. Irritates, concerns, even frightens maybe. But they’ve stopped being so surprised. A good thing, perhaps, but they’ve gotten too comfortable. This dragon’s timing couldn’t be better.

She reaches the caravan with a ticket in her pocket. Her ticket, now. Its previous owner won’t be needing it. She imagines that right about now, somewhere, some poor member of the guard is likely being berated for being unable to find any leads among that mess.

Casting about for familiar faces, she sees a few. She walks these streets as much as anybody, after all.... or nearly so, she considers upon spying “the helper.” A bit surprising to see her leaving. R��úsëa hasn’t actually introduced herself; no need to tarnish one of the few bright reputations in the slums, after all. But if the girl is leaving...

“I’m surprised to see you leaving, Miriam. These streets will miss you, I think.”

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Are you going on the trip too? I'd love to have you aboard, even though I'm just a passenger and have no say over who gets on the wagons. If you touch my fish, I'll cut you into eggplant."

The girl reaches into her bag and pulls out some dried fish. "Want some?"

At no point during her threats and offers of food does she look in the right direction.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"Well yes, it seems we are going on this trip too. Nice to meet you, I'm Jason... as I'm sure you heard. What's your name, miss?"

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"How rude, asking for my name. I am Princess Angelina Rockefeller. Us Marigolds have a proud tradition of letting our reputations precede us. If the people we meet don't know our names, then clearly they don't know of our proud history of being coopers. That's why our name is Smith, after all."

The girl takes a nibble out of her fish and then says "Hi, my name is Nyanko Fluffywhiskers. What's your name, miss?"

[Forrestfire]

Here's the stuff from the IRC:

Nyanko nibbles on her fish, wondering why everyone is looking at her funny.

Akai: "Erm... hello. I'm Akai."

Nyanko: "Hello Red!"

Nyanko: "I'm brown!"

Akai looks at the small cat-like girl in confusion.

Jason is also confused by the strange cat-eared girl

Nyanko: "So, where are you going, where are you going? Will there be money?"

Akai: looks to Jason.

Jason: looks back

Jason: "Well, we're going to see the dragon"

Jason: "assuming there actually *is* a dragon"

Jason: "Although I doubt that any dragon would give us its money"

Nyanko: "Dwagons! And of course we're not going to ask politely. That would be rude."

Nyanko: "We're going to take enough of it to fill our pockets but not enough of it for him to notice."

Jason: "It's a dragon though. Ancient, highly-intelligent creatures covered in magic."

Jason: "They can also see with their eyes closed"

Nyanko: "So that means it can't see if it has its eyes open then!"

Jason: "Er..."

Akai:"What, like a snake?"

Nyanko: "Silly Red, snakes don't have eyes. They're called sight orbs."

Jason: "Dragons have a highly advanced set of sensory organs that lets them 'see' around them in a small area. They also see in the dark."

Jason: "So sort of like a horrible monstrous snake that you can't hide from"

Nyanko: "I see."

Nyanko: "Hi dragons!"

Nyanko: waves in a random direction, towards the dragons she thinks are looking towards her.

Jason: grins at the sheer ridiculousness of this person

Nyanko: "So, why are you going? This seems like a nice enough place. Too nice for me though"

Jason: "Well, for a couple of reasons"

Jason: "The first one is because it's interesting"

Jason: "The second one is because my best friend heard about it and was like 'DRAGONS!' and dragged me along"

Jason: "Hrm... third reason would be that it's interesting."

Nyanko: "Will there be Baccarat?"

Jason: "I... don't know what that is"

Akai:"I think it's a pastry?"

Nyanko: "It's like Blackjack but more confusing."

Akai:"Oh."

Jason: "... I don't know what Blackjack is either..."

Nyanko: "It's two things: A card game where the goal is to get as close to 21 as possible, or the thing they hit you with if you try to cheat. Also it really hurts if you get hit with it."

Jason: "Interesting."

(Miriam is off feeding her pet dinosaur and talking to some chick with ridiculous hair.)

Jason: "Why would you cheat?"

Nyanko: "Why wouldn't you? It's not cheating if you don't get caught."

Akai:"Isn't it?"

Jason: "It kinda is"

Jason: "In any case, why put yourself in a situation where you need to cheat to win?"

Nyanko: "Win?"

Jason: "Well, I'd assume that the goal of cheating is to win"

Nyanko: "No, I was the dealer."

Jason: "..."

Nyanko: "And it was for fun. Gambling for money isn't really legal in most places they know how to play blackjack."

Jason: "Oh, well in that case-"

Jason: "-wait, why cheat in the first place then?"

Nyanko: "Practice."

Jason: "Oh well that's all good then-hey wait no. There's better ways to win that cheating"

Nyanko: "Not if the other guy can't get caught."

Jason: "Well, if both players are cheating, it's a whole different game then, isn't it?"

Nyanko: "No, it's the same game, just with cheating."

Nyanko: pulls out a deck of cards.

Jason: "Except... cheating isn't in the game..."

Nyanko: "But it's not cheating if you don't get caught."

Jason: "Yes it is!"

Nyanko: "So if you don't get caught, it's the same game."

Jason: "..."

Jason: "Let's go with that"

Nyanko: "So you agree it's not cheating if you don't get caught."

Jason: "It's cheating whether or not you get caught, but the definition of the game changes when people know others are cheating"

Nyanko: "But they don't know if nobody gets caught."

Jason: "But *you* know"

Jason: "The cheaters know"

Nyanko: "But I don't know if I've been caught. Thus I think that it's not cheating. Thus I don't know. Thus it's still not cheating."

Jason: "In any case, the best way to do stuff like that is to bend the rules in a way that doesn't break them."

Nyanko: "You mean cheating without getting punished?"

Nyanko: "Which is the same as not getting caught?"

Jason: "But if you're consciously cheating, you have caught yourself"

Nyanko: "But nobody else has caught me. "

Nyanko: "And they can't catch me if they're on fire."

Jason: "Also, cheating involves breaking the rules. Bending them is an entirely different story"

Nyanko: then spots a butterfly.

Nyanko: chases after the butterfly for a bit.

Jason: "Because you're still within the rul-aaaand I lost her"

Jason: , to Akai, "here's your papers for the caravan. I'm going to follow her and make sure she doesn't cause any trouble. Or eat a butterfly or something... who knows where it's been"

Jason: hands a folder off and follows Nyanko

Akai: stashes said papers with a nod and finds a place to lie down.

Nyanko: runs around in circles and then wanders towards the dinosaur.

Nyanko: "AAAAAHHHHHH! Giant bird!"

Nyanko: "It's come to take revenge on me for all the chickens I didn't eat!"

Nyanko: ((Dinosaurs are birds. Of course, Nyanko doesn't know that, but it doesn't stop her from saying that.))

Nyanko: Nyanko hides behind a barrel, scared of the large lizard that doesn't look at all like a bird.

Jason: walks up behind her and says "Doc Rex is not going to hurt you. He's a *nice* monstrosity of science"

Jason: "And magic. And nature, I guess. In any case, he's a nice dinosaur"

Nyanko: "What is a dinosaur?"

Jason: "It's a type of animal somewhere between bird and reptile"

(About this time is when a shoe flies at Jason's head.)

Nyanko: "What's a rep - SHOE!"

Miriam: "TAKE THAT BACK. DOC REX IS NOT A REPTILE. HE'S AWESOME!"

Nyanko: "Whose shoe is that?"

(Miri stands over there sans one shoe.)

Jason: "I said BETWEEN reptile and bird!"

Nyanko: still looks around, not sure of what she is looking for. She even looks straight at Miri and isn't sure what she's looking for.

18:25:30: Jason: ((note: Nyanko will never find out whose shoe that is))

Nyanko: "Clearly there is a deranged cobbler running about."

Jason: says with a smirk, "Clearly."

Nyanko: Still hiding behind the barrel, "What is a Doctor Rex?"

Miriam: "HE DOESN'T HAVE FEATHERS EITHER!"

Jason: calls back "FEATHERED DINOSAURS ARE COOLER THOUGH!"

Jason: continues to Nyanko: "Doctor Rex is the product of a breeding program to create a magically-enhanced, more intelligent Velociraptor. He's also trained for battle"

Miriam: "I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP!" And miri turns back to her conversation partner sending feelins of amusement to Jason over their bond.

Jason: "SO DO I-wait"

Nyanko: "I DON'T!"

Nyanko: "So do velocity-tors move fast?"

Jason: Faster than either of us

Jason: "Actually, probably faster than a horse"

Nyanko: "So I can't escape from him!?"

Jason says cheerfully "I’m sure that if he wanted to, he could run any of us down and eat us"

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Miriam smiled to herself, gently scratching her pet's brow as she was working on getting him harnessed up. When spoken to she turned to look, and then smiled.

"The city's streets will be here when I return. I'll come back and help make the city shine like I know it can." Miri tilted her head, eyeing the blonde. "I take it you're coming with us, then?"

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa’s hair flairs a bit dramatically as she responds, “I am indeed. A rare opportunity, I think, to bring light to Fortitude.”

[Forrestfire]

OoC: I'm going to assume that unless something happens, Jason and Nyanko make small talk until bothered, since I'm too lazy to make more entire conversations.

[UglyPanda]

OOC:
I shall assume that as well, but with random requests for card cards and at some point she tries to nibble your character's face, realizes she's too short, and falls over.

[Forrestfire]

OoC: So how bout they end up finding a table or other flat surface and playing cards until bothered, with Nyanko trying to teach Jason (the wrong way) to cheat?

Jason's really bad at cards that involve bluffing, btw.

[UglyPanda]

OOC:
No, Nyanko instead tries to teach him a dozen different games, never once focusing long enough to teach him strategy.

[Forrestfire]

OoC: Fair enough. So that's several hours spent doing stuff. I'm assuming that the caravan is meant to leave at some point during that time.

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Miri shakes her head, grinning. "It's great to have you along then. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to chat, but Doc here needs to get geared up."

And so, with a smile and a shrug, she goes back to saddling up her mount and ensuring that her luggage is all in place.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa nods, and turns back to the caravan to find herself a spot.

[Eurus]

The Caravan

When one thinks of a caravan, one does not picture a simple procession of wagons. The world is dangerous, and must be met with courage and, ideally, firepower. Armored carts, dozens of guards, possibly a spell turret or bound elemental... expensive, but the merchant families are not the sorts to take chances with their goods, and nobody with sense would venture outside the walls in anything less.

One assumes, therefore, that the owners of this particular caravan are somewhat lacking in aforementioned sense.

Your caravan consists of seven wagons, covered by nothing stronger than wood and cloth, and some perfectly mundane horses. Two of the wagons seem to be devoted to supplies, two to the actual cargo, and the remaining three for passengers. Faded paint on the side of one of the wagons proclaims it to be "The Trailblazer", although it looks as though its blazing days are long behind it.

A quick head count turns up fourteen other people, although it's not entirely clear how many are guards and how many are passengers. Either way, you seem to be in unusually diverse company. The term "ethnic rainbow" might even apply, if it weren't spectacularly inappropriate. At a glance, it includes a full-blooded orcish couple with an infant, a young man with a prominent whiplike tail playing a lute, an elderly dwarf with an intricately braided beard smoking an equally intricate pipe, a young woman with a faintly greenish tinge to her skin, a man who could be charitably described as a shaved gorilla, and a pair of identical-looking men with offensively red hair.


Jason & Nyanko:

After less than an hour, a matronly-looking woman with a bun of white hair and enough petticoats to stop an arrow spots Jason and moves toward him with the sort of terrifying glee that only an old lady descending on a child can manage. Thankfully, she stops just short of pinching his cheeks.

"Oh, you must be the Abital boy! I'd recognize that hair in an instant. And is this your friend? I'm so glad to meet you both, dears. My name's Gretchen, I'm in charge of this little caravan, along with my Robbie over there," she gestures toward a man at the head of the wagon train, round-bellied with an impressive mane of white hair, "so if there's anything you need, you just ask one of us, okay? Your wagon is that one there, with the blue stripe. It should be all set up, but if anything's missing, just give me a holler! We were going to leave with only six, you know, until your family reserved an entire cart for you kids. So if you need any more blankets or anything, let us know."

She seems like she's about to continue her chatter, until one of the twins calls for her. "Oh dear, I seem to have gotten myself all distracted! Got to finish up preparations, you know. We should be leaving in about an hour!"


Miriam:

With the bustle of activity around the caravan right now, finding or getting into anything proves rather difficult. Eventually, you spot the subtly verdant young lady tacking up several horses near the rearmost wagon. She, in turn, spots you, and raises an eyebrow.

"...That's quite a steed. Hope it doesn't make a snack of anyone."

Despite her wry tone, she helps Miriam take care of Doc, explaining where the gear and feed is -- "Not that I imagine that thing'll be good on grain, huh?" -- and explaining that it'll be able to rest with the horses when they stop for the night, if Mirian desires.


Rúsëa:

At a glance, two of the passenger wagons appear to be similar, and rather full. While they're mostly devoid of actual people, since nobody seems to be particularly eager to climb into a wagon that they'll be spending far too much time in over the next few weeks anyway, the small bags of personal effects seem to indicate that most of the beds are already claimed, aside from one or two. The third wagon, on the other hand, is... rather better furnished. While it's not exactly luxurious, it's certainly a little roomier, softer, prettier, and better-lit than the others. It also seems to be reserved.

As she explores the caravan, Rúsëa likely notices the young man with the lute watching her from his position sitting against the side of one of the wagons. He grins in a way that could only be described as "roguish", and plucks out a few notes on his instrument.

"You're a little young to be chasing dragons, aren't you?"

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason thanks Gretchen for the information, and wishes her a good day as she leaves.

Then he says to Nyanko: "Let's relocate. It seems like we might be leaving soon."

And pings Miri with a [[Our cart's the one with the blue stripe]]

[Malanorea]

Akai

Akai is sleeping. Someone should wake her. Probably Miri.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

Nyanko goes into the wagon and sets up her blankets for maximum comfort. She then pulls out a few decks of cards.

"Mr. Jay's Son, do you want to play Baccarat until something more exciting than Baccarat but less exciting than poker happens?"

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"In the spirit of this caravan, why not Three-Dragon Ante? I have a deck on me"

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Okie dokie, hokey pokey man."

The girl takes the deck, shuffles, and shuffles, and shuffles, and shuffles. Ten minutes later she deals the cards.

"What are we playing?"

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason explains the rules of three-dragon ante, then deals, re-explaining the rules when asked at regular intervals.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

It’s probably worth noting that I imagine Rúsëa to be a bit older than I gather the others are; at the end of or just past adolescence.

“Have you seen some of the children on this crusade? Beneath the walls, people grow up fast; I’d have little trouble imagining that some of those children are more hardened to life and veterans of more battles than many of the city’s ‘elder statesmen,’ and where I come from, I am... rather a veteran myself.”

[Eurus]

Akai

The giantblooded girl is woken after what can't be more than a few minutes by someone else clopping around the wagon. A glance reveals it to be the old dwarven man, who notices her and nods apologetically. "Apologies, didn't mean to wake you up. We're pushing off in a few minutes."

Most of his features are eclipsed by the sheer majesty of that beard, but he doesn't seem to be armed or armored. Rather, all of his clothing, while made from plain enough leather and cloth, is intricately detailed and perfectly fitted. His accent is mild enough, at least compared to the mangling one would normally expect from a dwarf, but still noticeable.

Settling down on one of the cushions near the door, the man puffs on his pipe, politely directing most of his exhalations outside.

Rúsëa

Up closer, the lute-player doesn't actually look that much older than Rúsëa herself, perhaps more than a teen but still certainly a young man. Depending on what kind of blood runs through his veins, though, that could be misleading. His clothes are colorful, but heavily-patched, a hodgepodge of cheap and expensive fabrics cobbled into a vaguely functional whole. The lute, on the other hand, looks expensive. Apart from the twitching tail, he doesn't seem to have any other visible "characteristics."

Chuckling wryly, he nods. "Yeah, I suppose people have to grow up fast nowadays. I'm sure you're more dangerous than you look, then. I'll hide behind you if we get attacked, heh."

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

"We brought our own feed for Rex, and I'll keep him with me, but thanks." Miri grinned at the woman before starting away, murmuring for the dinosaur to go find Jason and follows after the suddenly extremely excited and happy raptor at a more sedate pace.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa grins back, “if you can keep up.”

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"I'm pretty sure the secret to this game is to pay attention" says the girl while she stares far away from the game.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather play a game of slapjack?"

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"Eh... you know what we should do? We should grab more people to play cards with. Or probably find somewhere to sit as the wagons leave. Or both"

[Malanorea]

Akai

The girl stands up with a little groan and nods to the smaller man. "Thank you." She then heads off to find the people she met earlier, so as not to get left behind when the caravan heads out.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"I thought we were in a wagon." Nyanko looks around, then curls back up in her blankets and takes out some dried fish.

She starts to nibble on it and says "How come people don't like fish that much? It's delicious!"

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"I was thinking I'd see if I can sit on top of one or somewhere else open instead of in here. But come to think of it, I may just sit here. Can I try your fish?"

[Eurus]

The Caravan

Shortly thereafter, Gretchen's voice carries over the general din of the area. "Attention, everyone! We're all set to leave now! So if you'll please move to the front for one last head count, we can take off!"

The aimless crowd quickly organizes into a flow of bodies toward the front wagon, where Gretchen and her husband stand. Beside them are both twins, the green-skinned woman, and the man-mountain. Gretchen seems to be in a positively elated mood, while her husband looks politely bored underneath all that obfuscating white hair.

"It looks like everyone's here, how lovely! Before we go, let me just introduce our guards. They're here to make sure everyone stays safe, so please listen to them if they tell you anything. Hopefully, we can all get along wonderfully!"

One by one, she introduces the woman, Dasha; the twins, Matthew and Elias; and the larger man, Verut. To anyone who doesn't already know, she also introduces herself and her husband, Robert.

"So if you have any questions or concerns, just speak to any of us and we'll do our best to make you comfortable! We've got a long trip ahead of us, but our first stop will be in Ironford town, which we should reach in about two days. And now, if everyone's ready... let's move!"

Gretchen giggles to herself as she and her husband climb up to lead the front wagon, and most of the other passengers climb into their own wagons. A few decide to walk alongside for a while, perhaps enjoying the fresh air.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The girl settles in for a long journey of fish, soft blankets, and games that aren't as fun as baccarat.

She reaches into a barrel and pulls out a preserved fish and gives it to Jason.

"Do you have any fish for me to have? Do you? Do you? Do you?"

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason takes the fish, tries it, and doesn't like it. However, he hides that fact and eats it anyway because that's the polite thing to do. He declines any more fish.

"I don't have any fish on me, but I'm sure we could find some at some point. In any case, it's only two days to Ironford, so you could always find some there if it comes to it."

He then settles down and makes small talk/listens to Nyanko babble, occasionally pinging Miri. At some point he climbs on top of the wagon and rides up there for a few hours.

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Miri takes a brief period mingling with various people before she eventually mounts up on Doc Rex and runs circles around the caravan, somewhat literally, though if asked she'd say they were more like ovals than circles. Once Doc's excess energy was burned off she turned Doc loose (he was well trained enough to not get in trouble) and clambered up onto the wagon roof and flopped onto her stomach next to Jason, feet kicking at nothing, eyes roaming the landscape, some attention given to Rex but most of it on the horizon.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa rides along, chatting with everyone around her, and occasionally making daring leaps from one moving wagon to another so she can meet new people.

She is very carefully trying to get information from the occupants: who they are, where they’re going, what they want, and especially what they hope for from the dragon. She wants to try to judge who will be useful, who will be dangerous, and who will be a problem. She’s careful not to reveal much of herself, though she’ll try to leave people with the impression that the conversation is two-way. For now, the emphasis is on “freebies” – that which she can get out of them without prying and raising suspicions, or having to answer any difficult questions herself. Instead she gives the impression of being exceptionally friendly, ideally in a naïve sort of way, and genuinely interested in all the people around her.

[roll0]
[roll1] if necessary

[Eurus]

Meeting and Greeting:

The overall atmosphere in the caravan is... politely guarded. People are glad to introduce themselves and to make small talk, but nobody brings up the dragon at all, and it seems like everyone is somewhat cautious about volunteering personal information.

Everyone, that is, except the bard. He has no problem chatting, although from the looks of things, most of the other passengers are actively avoiding him.

"Of course they're dragon-chasers! Why else would anyone be out here? Except that nice Orcish couple, I have no idea what they're doing. I heard most of the guards are amateurs, even. Signed up in exchange for free passage."

If anyone overhears him, and they almost certainly do, they don't say anything.


Nightfall:

The caravan comes to a stop shortly before sunset, setting up a fire and camp. Only Gretchen's indefatigable cheerfulness marshals everyone together -- anyone trying to play the lone wolf and eat away from the group or inside one of the wagons is hustled toward the fire with matronly persistence. But the crowd is still mostly quiet as they sit around sipping at bowls of stew.

Gretchen once again acts to break the silence, looking around expectantly at everyone. "So quiet tonight! I'd think we'd all be eager to get to know each other, with as long of a trip as we've got ahead of us. Well, does anyone have any games in mind? Or perhaps a song from our resident musician?"

The aforementioned musician looks positively delighted by the suggestion, but is interrupted as soon as he opens his mouth by the old dwarf clearing his throat. "I believe the tradition, on a journey like this, would be storytelling."

The bard is only slightly put out by this. "Oh, that's fun too."

"Yes, what a lovely idea! A good way to break the ice and get to know each other. Let's see, how should we do this..."

"A contest, of course! Here, I'll put up a purse of my own for the winner. That is, if anyone can do better than mine."

"Ooh, a wager! Well then. Robert and I will be your impartial mediators. We'll hear one story a night, each night that we're not in a town. That should get us to Ob-Guchir well enough. And when we're there, everyone will vote on the best story!"

"Naturally, I volunteer to go first."

"Keep your pants on. Anyone else want to give it a try, before he takes over?"

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Oooh. This is like that story about those people who told stories but their own story never got finished. I volunteer for the first one!"

Nyanko walks into the center of the caravan, takes a far more dignified posture than she has ever taken and then speaks in a much more mature voice than her usual squeaking. "Once upon a time, in a land far away, in there lived a boy, age of 14, with eyes of blue and hair the color of wheat. He lived there with his aunt and his uncle and their farm was so poor that the only money they made was from their well. The Boy spent his time practicing with his boy until the end of each day, where he watched the sunset, hoping to one day visit where the sun met the horizon."

"One day was a very special day, one that would change his life, The Boy's uncle had allowed the boy to purchase a dog, to alleviate his loneliness. So The Boy went to the local kennel and asked to buy a dog. The first dog was too flamboyant for him, so he left it. He liked the second dog he was shown but it suddenly collapsed as soon as he tried to take it out of the kennel. The last dog was friendly and already had a collar. The boy thought of the good fortune of having a dog that already had a collar and returned home."

"Once The Boy returned home, The Dog keep pestering the boy, trying to get him to remove the collar. After ignoring him a few times, The Boy finally complied. The moment he did, a small hidden message slipped out, held against the dog's fur by the color. It read 'This is the Princess of the Kingdom of Algers. Find the Old Hermit of the mountain of solace, tell him I have been captured by the General Mask. Hidden in the dog's collar are the plans to the fortress of death. Find the rebellion and give them the plans. Find the Old Hermit, he is my only hope.'"

Nyanko takes a short break to scratch her ear, then continues. "The boy gathered his things and ran as quickly as he could to the mountain, but halfway there was stopped by a group of highwaymen. Without saying a word, they pointed their weapons at the boy's backpack while The Boy and The Dog shook in terror. After that, a voice was heard. 'You don't want to attack him.' shouted a voice from the shadows. The highwaymen scattered and the boy stared in awe. It was the Old Hermit, still heavily muscled from his years as a soldier and wielding a rapier with such confidence that he almost didn't need the weapon. 'Boy, why have you sought me out?' The Boy was too scared to reply and merely handed over the message along with the dog's collar. 'Troublesome. But this is no task for a mere child, I will have to take you home first.' The Old Hermit helped The Boy into his donkey cart and drove him back to his home. It was there that tragedy stuck."

"Soldiers from another kingdom had struck The Boy's home, with The Boy's Aunt and Uncle dead, hanging from a tree by the front walkway. 'They must have known of the message. This land is no longer safe for you.' And so, The Boy and The Dog, led by the Old Hermit, never saw the village again. The Old Hermit enlisted the services of a pair of caravan drivers, one clever and handsome and the other massive and regal, to take them to Algers. The new group quickly made their escape from the village as the soldiers continued to hunt them down to stop the message."

"The group made it to Algers, or at least, what they thought was Algers. The place where Algers should have been was naught but rubble and burnt wood. Hoping for a rest, the group decided to travel to an inn they spotted on the horizon. But as they moved closer, it looked much bigger than they thought. And it was moving towards them! It was a massive fortress of mithril, a mile long and a mile deep, floating along the ground by magic. The group tried to escape, but the mages of the fortress teleported their whole caravan into their stables."

"The group hid in the back of the caravan and waited as two soldiers entered the caravan. As soon as those two soldiers were out of sight, the group attacked them, stole their armor, and hid their bodies in The Old Hermit's magical bag. Wearing the armor of their enemy, the Clever Driver and The Boy walked out with the rest of the group in tow, claiming they were guards and the rest of the group were their prisoners."

"The group, bluffing their way to the jail, found a cell with beautiful young girl with auburn hair in a white dress. It was the Princess of Algers, the girl that needed saving. They rescued her from her captivity and it appeared that all was well and they would be able to get back to the stables quickly - until General Mask appeared. He was a massive man, completely encased in adamantine armor the color of night. The Old Hermit knew they could not defeat them and ordered the rest to leave. The Boy refused but was dragged off by the Clever Driver as the Old Hermit tried to hold The General off. They had an intense battle, but it ended with The Old Hermit beheaded and the rest of the group barely escaping the soldiers in their caravan."

"After mourning the Old Hermit's death, the group made their way to the camp of the rebellion, the group that wanted to end the tyranny of the dark kingdom from which the group had just escaped. From the plans hidden in The Dog's collar, they deduced that there was a spot in the side of the fortress where if an explosive were lain, the entire fortress would collapse in on itself. The Boy volunteered to be a member of the cavalry launching a sneak attack on that spot. The Princess would stay behind and to The Boy's displease, the caravan drivers planned to leave upon receiving the payment they were due."

"The rebels assembled in formation and they struck upon the fortress. One by one, the rebels died as the fortress's defenses mowed them down. Despite this, they were doing much better than they had hoped until General Mask and a group of his elite soldiers came charging in on a group of black demonic horses. One by one they died until all who were left were The Boy and a single soldier of the rebellion. All seemed lost. Until a shot with a massive crossbow struck General Mask's horse. It came from the two caravan drivers, they had not abandoned The Boy as he thought. The boy tied an explosive to his arrow and fired at the weakened spot. The fortress lost its structural integrity and broke apart, scattering bodies and massive bits of debris everywhere. The Boy, the Caravan, and the lone soldier escaped just in time."

"The war was not over but for the first time in a long time, they had A New Hope."

Back to her regular squeaky voice, Nyanko says "Ok, give me a minute to rest before part 2 starts up."

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Miri clears her throat, but remains seated at her place in the circle, absently petting the head of the dinosaur in her lap.

"This is a story I heard from the elven painter who passed away last winter. He claimed it to be true, pieced together himself during a silent secret war in the shadows when Fortitude was still a city of Gods, both Great and Terrible. I cannot claim its legitimacy as history, nor deny it, especially given the sketchy nature of our records of the time." She shrugs, taking a moment to gather her thoughts.

"It begins with a boy. The boy was, as most boys of the time were and many today are, a womanizing layabout who barely did anything of value for society and survived only due to the support of his family. The boy loved his family, and his family loved him. Thus, when his family was arrested by representatives of the Grand Temple to the Light and charged with treason, deemed a threat to the sanctity of not just the temple, but the city itself, he snuck into the jail to ask his father what was going on and, at his father's bidding, sought out evidence that proved his father's innocence and delivered them to their spokesperson in the court directly.

"But when the trial happened, the evidence was not presented, and the Boy was forced to sit, by watching as his family (excepting his sister) was executed in front of him. He was taken aback as their spokesperson in the court declared them traitorous, and in his fury, slew the man. Realizing with a mixture of shame and fear that he had just slew a representative of the Temple, the Boy fled Fortitude to a distant relation's village, where he trained in secret, learning both to control his mystical power and the art of silently killing with steel and venoms. But not only did he train his body, he trained his mind and learned to investigate, to understand. He delved deep in an effort to understand why the church had decided to murder his family and, thirsting for vengeance, he worked to find all those responsible for their deaths.

"Returning to the city with a mantle of feathers from the bird of Freedom, his hunt lead him to root out many a conspiracy against the city and its government, killing those who were guilty of far more corrupt actions than the mere murder of an innocent family. Slavers, merchants, generals, priests, all fell beneath his fury when he returned to the city of his birth. He hunted, constantly, for the man he could ultimately blame for the deaths of his family and he eventually found him wearing the robes of the High Priest of the Light. But when the boy, now a man, had the High Priest under his blade, he realized that murdering the high priest wouldn't bring his family back. He spared the priest's life and left the city, to return to his new home in the village his great uncle resided in.

"But, despite sparing his foes life, despite the mercy shown, the High Priest's son could not let the shaming his family had received go and launched an all out assault on the village, once more sparking a war with the ddeath of our hero's sister. This time, with the identity of his attacker clear, the vengeful eagle took flight once more; where before the deaths had been fairly random to the untrained eye, targetting those who could lead him to his end goal, now his goal was pure and simple. He would destroy his enemies so completely that they could never threaten him again. He destroyed their base of power, subverting their funds, brought their corruption to light, raised a brotherhood from the oppressed to fight against their oppressors, and the son of the high priest, in desperation, sought his father's aid, sought to turn the temple into a weapon, and the High Priest, knowing the enemy that his son had made, refused. The High Priest, though he did not truly believe in the Light, would not see the church destroyed.

"The high priest, seeking to end the conflict, arranged the death of his son, perhaps hoping, for the head of his son to appease the eagle, only for his son to turn it back on him, slaying his father and fleeing the city, a wanted criminal, vowing vengeance against our hero. And, knowing that such threats would not be idle words, our hero gave chase. It took him many years and much killing before he finally killed the man responsible for his sister's death.

"When he returned to Fortitude, he found it changed once more. The brotherhood he'd helped construct had fallen without him there to hold them together, and the city was in a state of tension, those underground supporters of the gods and those who were actively attempting to kill the gods in conflict just beneath the surface. This time, though, he fought not for vengeance but for the preservation of that brotherhood and the knowledge of his ancestors. Sadly, my knowledge of the tale does not extend further, for the painter died before he could relate the end of this hero's tale.

"I do, however, know that the name of our hero was Aeolus Abital, and the man's efforts to preserve the city are partially responsible for the family's position in the city."

Miri gives a mental prod at Jason, letting him feel more than a little mirth and giving the impression of her sticking her tongue out at him, though she's visibly shrugging. "The family has changed much since then and the family's records share nothing of Aeolus. As I've said, the accuracy of the records we have are difficult to vouch for."

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

After Miri's prods after the story, he responds with a [[Nice story, but I still don't think he ever existed. I mean, we would totally know about something like that happening... My family doesn't seem like the type to forget stuff like that. :smalltongue:]]

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The young girl with the cat ears starts wandering around the campsite once her story finished. She tries and fails to stay out of sight while singing the stealth song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqqq8uqSDnk). "Nya-nya-nya, nya-nya-nya nya-nyaa, nya nya nya... hey, I know you!"

The girl points at a wagon, then Akai, then she tries to latch onto Akai's back.

"Don't mind me, I'm just a backpack."

[Malanorea]

Akai

The giant girl pauses in her meandering, this being the first night in a while when she didn't have to be up all night, when she feels someone jump on her. After a few seconds of shocked flailing, she looks over her shoulder to see who it is, and hears the girl's words. "Wait, a backpack? What would I have to keep in a backpack?"

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"This isn't the type of backpack you keep stuff in, it's the kind of backpack that keeps telling you want it is and goes on adventures with you and your animal friend."

"I'm Felicia Catpun, what's your name?"

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

At this point, Jason bids the rest of the group goodnight and returns to his wagon to sleep.

[Malanorea]

Akai

The large woman just sighs, realizing that the catlike girl may not be all there, and reaches back to give her a scratch. "Come along, let's go find somewhere to sit, miss kitty."

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Bad Elizabeth, you don't scratch your back... purrrrrrr."

The catlike girl purrs contently and once Akai sits down, she curls up in her lap and naps.

[Eurus]

As Nyanko tells her story, everyone seems... politely interested, if not exactly enthralled. Gretchen applauds cheerfully as it concludes. Since the night is still young, Miri launches into her own story after.

Her story provokes a much more interesting reaction. Several members of the gathered group seem quite curious, and Gretchen in particular has a faint, almost wistful smile. When it's finished, she chuckles.

"Funny how these things always change with every retelling, hmm... Ah, but that was a lovely story, dear. Very nice."

By the time it's concluded, everyone seems to be getting sleepy. They disperse into their carts, and before long, the camp is all but silent.

Jason Abital

You feel fatigue creep up on you before the story even finishes, and by the time it does, it's an effort just to keep your eyes open. As soon as your head hits the bed, you are swallowed by a grey, dreamless sleep.

Somewhere in the back of your slumbering mind, a strange sort of anxious foreboding pricks up. It takes you a moment to realize, when you slip back into the waking world, and another moment to put together what woke you up.

The light of the fire outside is down to dim embers, but you can hear movement, the shuffle of feet and the gentle click and slide of metal. Sleep still hangs heavily on your limbs and scratches at your eyes, threatening to close them again, but that ominous feeling hasn't left; if anything, it's even stronger.

Everyone in your cart except Akai seems to be sleeping. Rusea in particular seems nearly comatose, her breath slow and shallow.

Akai:

Perhaps due to your earlier nap, you find yourself less immediately tired than the others. You're barely starting to doze off when a murmur of sound wakes you.

The light of the fire outside is down to dim embers, but you can hear movement, the shuffle of feet and the gentle click and slide of metal slowly approaching the camp. There's a soft whisper of voices, too low to make out.

Everyone in your cart except Jason seems to be sleeping. Rusea in particular seems nearly comatose, her breath slow and shallow.

Miri, Nyanko, Rusea:

You are asleep, but perhaps not for long.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason sees that Akai is also awake and whispers "Do you hear that?" as he nudges Miri awake.

[Malanorea]

Akai

Akai nods to Jason, ectoplasm flashing around her, a suit of armor appearing around her of the purplish stuff ass she looks outside.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason looks outside the wagon as well. When Miri wakes up, he sends [[Might have someone attacking the camp.]]

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

After a few nudges, Miri stirs, her own motion waking Rex. She sits up and stretches, before petting Rex gently. Despite her tired smile and half asleep expression, her mental voice is cool, crisp, and alert. [[Are you sure?]]

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

[[No, but I heard footsteps and what sounded like metal sliding. Better safe than sorry]]

Jason takes a careful look outside the wagon.

[Eurus]

It's difficult to see much, in this darkness, but the light of the moon and stars traces out a group of figures. There are maybe ten of them, with weapons, and they seem to be creeping through the camp. It's not entirely clear what their goal is, but it probably wouldn't be fun to find out.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

[[Looks like ten people with weapons, definitely not ours.]]

Jason tries to step out of the wagon without being noticed, activating his mind blade as he goes. A dimly-glowing blue light appears in his palms and he quickly looks around to see if anyone else noticed the assailants.

[roll0]
[roll1] (if needed to see if we have other allies)


EDIT: Jason also likely trips and falls out of the wagon because of the potion's effects.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The catlike girl purrs in Akai's lap, oblivious to the world around her as she dreams of whale-blimps and electric rats.

[Eurus]

Jason utterly fails to exit the wagon with anything approximating stealth. Immediately, several heads turn toward him, in surprise and alarm.

It's hard to see much in the dark, but near the dim carcass of the fire, you see the enormous shape of Verut sitting motionlessly. It's hard to tell if he's asleep, or... worse.

Around the same time, Rusea and Nyanko suddenly wake up.

Jason:
Despite the chaos, you hear what you're pretty sure is someone whispering a spell from... behind you. Somewhere in or very close to the wagon.

Rusea and Nyanko:
A sensation not unlike a sort of electric shock buzzes through your mind, lifting you abruptly back into the waking world. You have just enough time to notice Jason come very close to face-planting on his way out of the wagon, and take in your immediate surroundings.

Nyanko:
You are fairly certain that you were woken with some kind of spell. The exact nature eludes you, at the moment, but it obviously didn't come from any of your friends.

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Miriam's instinctive reaction to threat, observing the scene through Jason's eyes, is to close her own. She reached deep within herself, to song in her soul, and hummed a soft tune as she stoked the fire of her Radiance.

With a thought she brings the energy to the surface, surrounding herself with a small swarm of floating motes of light. At the same time, the violent surge in radiance reaches through her link to Jason and a barrier springs into existence around him. And with a gentle coaxing she and her pet step out of their resting place, the bracelet on her hand glowing and transforming into a gauntlet covering much of her forearm.

"Big brother, are you okay?" Her eyes closed, glowing and hair tussled from sleep, she turns her lack of gaze upon the invaders.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason quickly picks himself up, noticing that the assailants have obviously spotted them and preparing himself for a fight.

"I'm fine. Just tripped. Verut might not be."

Jason thinks for a second, before shouting "HEY THERE ARE PEOPLE WITH SWORDS HERE WAKE UP!" at the top of his lungs.

[Malanorea]

Akai

At this, Akai jumps from the wagon, a blade and shield of the same pseudo-real stuff she's currently wearing shimmering into existence in her hands as she looks about at the would-be ambushers.

[Eurus]

Jason's offensively loud shout breaks the silence so jarringly that the men freeze up for a moment, in surprise or fear. A long moment stretches out as the noise dies away, swallowed up by the quiet night without a trace. There are no sounds of anybody else rousing.

One of the bandits suddenly breaks into a thin, nervous chuckle. "...Huh. Guess it worked."

Confidence returning, several of the men advance toward your wagon with blades drawn and grimly determined expressions, while the others move off toward other wagons.

Map:
http://i.imgur.com/SbF2hOX.png

Terrain:
All ground is relatively flat, with light grass that does not hinder movement.

Brown squares: Wagons. About ten feet tall. Blocks line of sight/effect, but can be entered/exited from the front or back.

Light green squares: Your wagon. You can start in any square inside or adjacent to it.

Orange squares: Campfire, currently very low. No bright illumination, only projects shadowy illumination out to 30 feet. Costs 2 squares of movement to enter, and deals one point of fire damage to anyone entering or starting their turn in it.

Illumination:
Gray squares: Darkness. Total concealment for anyone without darkvision or a light source.

White squares: Shadowy illumination. 20% concealment for anyone without darkvision.

Pink squares: Darkness for anyone without low-light vision, but shadowy illumination for anyone with.

Characters:
Blue V: Verut. Asleep or dead.

Green numbered squares: Enemies.

Everyone else is, presumably, inside a wagon somewhere.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"NYAAAAAA!" the girl screams as she's thrown from Akai's lap onto the hard ground.

"Nya nya nya? Why did someone wake me up? Is there cake? Cake is delicious and cake-like. Cake!"

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason moves from the side of the wagon to Q17 and readies an action to attack the first enemy that gets in range with his mind blade, while also trying to tell if Verut is obviously alive or dead.

He then yells "BANDIT ATTACK! WAKE UP AND DEFEND YOURSELVES!" in an attempt to wake people up.

[RúsëaMenci]

[roll0]

Rúsëa, being a light sleeper, wakes up quickly, and being used to the dangers of the poorer sections of town, does so silently and alertly. She immediately begins to scan her surroundings for what’s going on, while trying to avoid drawing attention to herself.

[roll1] Rúsëa will try to avoid seeming like an active threat until she knows what’s going on.

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Raising her arm in the direction of the bandits, Miriam wills her sight back to her own eyes, one hand resting on Rex's head. After a moments hesitation, she gently pushes him back into the wagon. She moves forward, toward the downed Verut, ending in P20 with her weapon raised, her attention on the bandits as she takes a moment to look for an obvious injury to Verut.

"So it's clear, just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I won't break you in half."

Standard action - Ready an attack if any of the bandits move toward her.
Move - Movement!
Swift - Sight back to her.

[roll0] - Attack
[roll1] damage

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The cat-like girl crawls towards point T20 and looks at the enemy.

"Weirdos..."

The girl starts batting at the air until a ball of energy appears. She then bats it at ENEMY 8

OOC:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Forrestfire]

Oh yeah, I probably should have rolled for the readied attack.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Eurus]

Before the men can get far, Jason and Miriam burst from the wagon and take up defensive positions near Verut. Between Jason's persistent but entirely useless yelling and Miri's threat, they don't even notice Nyanko until she launches a crackling ball of energy right into their ranks.

The blast flies surprisingly steady, slamming into one of the bandits. With a pained and slightly baffled expression, he hurriedly retreats backward. One man -- no differently equipped than the others, but with a subtly more confident and assertive demeanor that seems to suggest leadership -- chuckles softly. "...Ash, Mal, Gem. Babysit the kids for a while."

Nodding, three of the men advance toward the campfire, weapons bared. One of them steps into melee with Jason, easily parrying the boy's strike with his superior reach and strength before following up with a relatively unsophisticated backhand. The other two pull out small crossbows and take shots at Miri and Nyanko -- shots which, perhaps surprisingly, seem to be made with blunted bolts. Whether the attackers had some moral compunction for taking life or merely knew of a decent slave market would have to be seen later.

While all this happens, the majority of the bandits seem to all but ignore the party. Four of them disappear to the north, while two more (including their leader) dart south. Nobody seems to even realize that Rúsëa is awake, yet.

http://i.imgur.com/mdWu3NJ.png
Bandit 7 makes an unarmed attack against Jason, allowing you to make an attack of opportunity against him.

[roll0]
[roll1]

Bandit 6 shoots at Miri, and Bandit 10 shoots at Nyan.

[roll2]
[roll3]

[roll4]
[roll5]

Miri:
Up close, it seems that Verut is uninjured, but fast asleep. His breathing is very slow and shallow, and it doesn't take a medic to realize that he's heavily drugged. For a man that size, it would probably take quite a bit more than the moderate dose the rest of you got... the open canteen sitting next to him might be the culprit there.

You could try to wake him, but seeing as the shouting hasn't done the job yet, you'd probably need to manhandle him a little to have any chance.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason easily sidesteps the strike and responds with a palm thrust (imbued with a mind blade, of course).

Attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]

[NineThePuma]

Miri

As a crossbow bolt whizzes past her head, Miriam responds by focusing her Radiance into her weapon, causing it to expand further, as she launches a blast at the man who fired at her, her Radiance forming a Barricade between them.

Move Action - Barricade from the left edge of N18 down one square and then wrapped around the bottom of O18. No effect on LoS or LoE, but moving through it requires spending 15ft of movement; it also sheds Bright Light for 20 ft around it.
Standard - SHOOT
[roll0]
[roll1]
Swift- allocate 1 Mote to my weapon's Oversized costume effect.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The cat-like girl crawls towards S17 and hisses at ENEMY 10. She extends her right leg at him and a set of magical pink claws appear from her right foot and her left hand.

"Snikt bub!" she screams before slashing.

The girl then starts screaming. "WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP! PEOPLE ARE ATTACKING AND LOTS OF EVIL STUFF AND WE HAVE TO STOP THEM AND FEED THEIR BRAINS TO SHEEP!"

OOC:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Malanorea]

Akai

The half-giant moves up, holding at R17 to block that baddie's advance.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa casts a small mystery as she draws a pair of daggers – one of which is coated in a toxin, made that much more potent by her power.

She focuses her attention, for the moment, against the bandit standing too near the cart (N).

The mystery was widowmaker, and the dagger has Drow poison on it.

[roll0]
Assuming a hit:
This Round:
[roll1]
DC 14 Fort save vs. [roll2]
DC 14 Fort save vs. Unconsciousness
Next round:
DC 14 Fort save vs. [roll3]
DC 14 Fort save vs. Unconsciousness for [roll4]
The target takes a −1 penalty on these Fortitude saves.

[roll5]
Assuming a hit:
This Round:
[roll6]

And finally, [roll7], taking the −20 penalty for Sniping. I'm not sure if anyone but N can even see me, though. Against N, I have a +2 bonus on Stealth checks.

[Eurus]

While the bandits first volley may have fallen short of causing actual damage, the party seems determined to do better with their own return fire. Jason's nimble counterattack catches the first bandit with a palm thrust. Rapidly backpedaling, the man grunts in pain and surprise as he looks down to see the shallow stab wound that easily pierced his leather armor. Grimacing, he focuses more seriously on Jason this time, quickly pulling out a crossbow of his own and firing a blunted bolt.

Almost simultaneously, Nyanko pounces on her own target, slashing at the man with deadly claws of energy. A spray of blood flicks out across her face, as his yelp cuts off abruptly into a gurgle. When Nyan looks up, she sees two daggers planted to the hilt in his throat and chest. He falls immediately, landing in a rapidly growing pool of his own blood.

The shining screen of light that Miri conjures around Verut is dazzlingly bright in the gloom, as is the bolt of energy that she unleashes on her own attacker. The impact nearly knocks him down, and he immediately starts backing away. While he seems to be too busy coughing up blood to attack, someone certainly isn't, as a bolt whizzes out of the darkness to the north toward Miri.

I wasn't entirely clear who Rúsëa was targeting, since the "N" square is Nyanko. Looking back, I see that I didn't actually explain that, but in case it was unclear, PCs and allies are represented by a blue square with their initial. (N)yan, (M)iri, (J)ason, (A)kai, (R)úsëa, (V)erut. In fact, just to be clearer, I changed Verut to a lighter square. So dark blue/purpleish = PCs, light blue = friendly NPCs, green = enemies, as a general rule.

Anyway, went with bandit 10 for her target, but I can fix it if that's incorrect. I also went and dropped her in one of the wagons, since it was never stated which one she was in, for which I apologize. Still getting the hang of this.

http://i.imgur.com/X0x8RQx.png

Bandit 6 is hit by Miri, and backs off. If you have low-light vision, you can see him reload.

Bandit 10 goes down, dead.

Bandit 7 is hit by Jason, steps back, and fires with his own crossbow.

Bandit 8 (wounded from last turn) runs off when he sees his ally get killed. The two bandits who were moving south continue that way, disappearing into the darkness. One bandit steps out to the north where you can see him before firing at Miri.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2] (He has total concealment due to darkness, so you're flat footed)
[roll3]

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason easily dodges the crossbow bolt, saying "Good try, but no" as he dashes forward and around the bandit to O14, laying down another quick strike, this one a sharp poke aimed at pressure points instead of an energy pulse.


Nonlethal Unarmed Strike [roll0]

If it hits, damage is [roll1]

Stunning Fist charge burnt, Fort Save 14 or stunned for one round.


After his strike (hit or miss), Jason again yells "WE'RE BEING ATTACKED, DEFEND YOURSELVES!"

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The catlike girl hops on one leg to square S14 while waving around her energy claws.

"I'M GONNA COOK YOUR LIVERS WITH FAVA BEANS AND THEN BURN THEM ON THE STOVE SO DARK THAT EVEN DOGS WON'T WANT TO EAT THEM!"

"DIE HUMANS, YOU DON'T BELONG IN THIS WORLD! OR THAT ONE! OR THAT ONE! REALLY YOU BELONG IN A WORLD COMPOSED ENTIRELY OF THE SNOT FROM PEOPLE WITH REALLY BAD COLDS!"

The girl retracts her magical claws, switches to a fighting stance and presses her wrists together with her palms extended forward. She draws her wrists back, charges up some energy in her palms, then thrusts her hands forward.

"HADOKEN!"

OOC:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Malanorea]

Akai

Akai is less animated than her compatriots, and just charges up to O12, slashing at Bandit #6.

Attack roll: [roll0]
Damage roll: [roll1]

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Miriam moves into cover at N19 and shoots a blast of pure radiance at bandit 1.

attack [roll0]
damage [roll1]

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa steps up to the cart's opening, peering around the edge of the covering and picking her next target. Seeing #7, she flicks another two daggers at him, not bothering now with poison seeing how easily they go down.

Just two plain daggers this time.

[roll0] for [roll1]
[roll2] for [roll3]

[Eurus]

Jason's strike sends the bandit staggering backwards to his knees, and two more daggers make certain that he won't get back up. Akai's slash connects with the other one, and he collapses, clutching his bleeding chest. Miri's blast of light briefly illuminates the shape of the man holding the crossbow to the north, but doesn't connect.

Somewhere to the west, you hear a shout. "Screw this! They killed Ash and Gem, boss!"

After a moment, one of the men that you recognize as the one giving out orders earlier steps out from the south, while another man moves out from the north. The leader, unlike the others, holds a sword instead of a crossbow, and carries himself with confidence and poise.

"...My boys go to all the trouble of bringing the nonlethal ammo, and this is how you thank them, huh? Awfully bloodthirsty, for kids."

Two more bolts come from the north, at Akai and Miri.

http://i.imgur.com/408RSGR.png


[roll1]

[roll2]1d20+3
[roll3]

The leader has a readied action.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa immediately switches her attention to the new boss, and readies an action of her own to fling a poisoned dagger at him as soon as she has an unobstructed shot.

Should the readied attack come:
[roll0] for [roll1]
DC 13 Fortitude save vs. Unconsciousness
The secondary save (against 2d4 hours of Unconsciousness) isn't for a minute this time, so I'll hold off on rolling it.

Also, while stalking the boss, Rúsëa can take attacks of opportunity that he provokes by doing anything other than simple motion. Her range for this is 20 ft. So if he starts casting a spell or something, she's on that.

EDIT: Have I rolled anything other than max damage yet?

EDIT2: No, no I have not. Five straight perfect damage rolls. It's a d4, so the odds aren't stupendous, but it's still less than one in a thousand.

[Malanorea]

Akai

The half-giant follows up her stellar swing by charging up to L15, to do the same to the enemy up there.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason moves to R19 and readies an action to attack the leader if he comes into reach.

"As much as I dislike using lethal force, I'm not going to fault the others for it. You brought it on yourselves when you attacked us!


Readied Action: Nonlethal unarmed strike + stunning fist
Attack roll: [roll0]
Damage roll: [roll1]

Fort DC 14 or stunned for one round


If it hits: Jason executes a quick strike on a pressure point, hopefully striking accurately enough to inhibit motor functions a bit.

If it misses: Jason moves to strike, but draws back and returns to a defensive stance after seeing that the man had no safe openings.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The catlike girl moves to R17 by running vigorously from side to side while magical energies appear to surround her. She then releases the energy in the form of a beam inside a number of rings, aimed at Enemy 2.

OOC:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

"Hey, you woke us up in the middle of the night while attacking our caravan, now GET AWAY FROM REX." She responds to the leader by channeling motes around herself once more, firing an energy bolt at the leader!

Swift to activate a Courage illumination and gain +1 AC.
Standard: ATTACCCCCCKKKKK!
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Eurus]

Akai's slash barely misses, as the now far more wary bandit dodges backwards out of the way. Nyanko's energy bolt also goes wide, nearly clipping Akai's arm. At the same time, Miri continues the parade of failure by missing with an attack of her own. Both bandits retaliate with shots of their own.

Whatever he was waiting for, it didn't seem to happen. He advances slowly, but confidently, his narrow blade nearly motionless but positioned to intercept any attack. While his attention seems primarily focused on Miri, he reacts fluidly to Jason's attack, shifting his guard and forcing the boy to abort the attempt or risk meeting steel.

Shifting his focus from Miri to Jason, the bandit leader smiles thinly. "Alright, kid. You wanna tangle, let's go."

Snake-quick, the man retaliates with a quick, precise slash at Jason's chest. Almost simultaneously, another dagger embeds itself in his chest, puncturing his breastplate. Teeth clenched, the man quickly steps back into a guarded position, his blade like a barrier of flashing steel in front of him.

http://i.imgur.com/xVH4x0W.png

[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
[roll3]

[roll4]
[roll5]

[Malanorea]

Akai

Akai lets out a soft growl, and steps up to K14 to continue her assault.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason yelps and staggers as the sword cuts into his chest, then attempts a strike with his energized palm before returning to a defensive stance.


Mind Blade Attack [roll0] (fighting defensively)
Damage [roll1]


If it hits: Jason lands a quick palm thrust on the man, piercing him with an energy pulse before fluidly returning to a more defensive stance.

If it misses: Jason again finds the man has no safe opening, then moves back and returns to a defensive stance.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The cat-like girl, confused as to what is going on, rolls over to S19 while extending a set of cyan claws from her toes.

The girl then attempts to kick ENEMY L in the face.

"You stole my tuna!"

OOC:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Hah, nonlethal weapons, such a nice favor. Leave us in prime condition for the slaving pens, very generous. Kid’s got some balls, though.

Rúsëa flicks another pair of daggers at the boss from the shadows of the wagon. She guesses he’s not likely to succumb to poison, so doesn’t bother to spend more of it; at the rate he’s getting cut up, he won’t last long enough to feel it anyway.

Normal dagger full-attack.

[roll0] for [roll1]
[roll2] (Natural 1) for [roll3]


OK, what is going on? That’s seven in a row, or a 1 in 16,384 chance.

The italics are her internal thoughts, by the way.

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Rather than fire another Death Blast, Miri throws a wall up behind the Leader even as the whirling storm of motes around herself swarms over to surround Jason.

Swift to give Jason +1 AC, Move to throw barrier in place behind the Leader.

[Eurus]

Akai's chop comes close to severing the arm off one of the bandits, who blacks out quickly from shock and blood loss. Jason and Nyanko, meanwhile, do their best to focus on the leader, but have limited success; he wards off Jason's efforts, and while Nyanko's claws reach through his armor to nick his side, the wound is shallow.

Focused on those two, he's unable to avoid the daggers that speed toward him out of the dark. One is nevertheless intercepted by his blade through pure dumb luck, while the other embeds itself into the arm he reflexively raises to shield himself.

Breath coming heavy and ragged, the man shifts his guard, sacrificing aggression for caution and focusing on minimizing his exposure to Rúsëa even at the expense of his full attention on the two nearest him. So it's somewhat unexpected when he lashes out at Jason with the flat of his blade without even looking at the boy, relying on the unexpected speed of the attack to slip past his defenses.

http://i.imgur.com/Ih8XclV.png

Feinting on Jason, oppose with your Sense Motive+Base attack bonus. If you fail, you are flat-footed versus the ensuing attack.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

And another crossbow at Miri.

[roll3]
[roll4]

[Malanorea]

Akai

After dropping another foe, Akai runs over to G21 in an attempt to take out the last henchman while her companions handle the leader.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason reels from the heavy blow, thanking whatever powers are listening for the fact that his opponent seems to want him alive, before attempting one more strike and trying to carefully retreat to P17.


Mind Blade Attack Roll [roll0]
Damage [roll1]


If it hits: Jason quickly claps the man on the arm instead of going for a body blow, bursting an energy pulse through it before retreating.

If it misses: Jason again tries to strike, and again find the man's form too good to strike through safely, so he retreats instead.

Tumble Acrobatics Check [roll2]

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

If this guy’s gonna stick with the kid and the cat, Rúsëa is happy to oblige him by continuing to fling daggers at him.


[roll0] for [roll1]
[roll2] for [roll3]

[RúsëaMenci]

Finally didn’t perfect my damage roll... but only once I’d crit. And I’m back to perfect rolls the attack after. Crazy.

[roll0] for [roll1]

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"I'm going to stomp on you while you're in a vertical position so it's not really a stomp but instead a kick and I'm kicking you in the middle of a sentence!"

The girl then waits a full second to launch an attack, clearly not getting the point of attacking mid-sentence.

OOC:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[roll2]
[roll3]

[NineThePuma]

Miri

Miri pouts as she moves the wall between the leader and Jason, turning back to shoot the bandit that's shooting at her.

[roll0] - Attack
[roll1] - Damage

[Eurus]

While it's obvious that the man would quite like to get to Rúsëa, Jason and Nyanko continue to make that all but impossible. Jason retreats skillfully, avoiding any opening for a potentially disastrous strike, while Nyanko continues her eccentric assault.

It's obvious that the man is on his last legs, and he seems to be fully aware of it. Rather than attacking, he calls out to his men.

"Back to the base! I'll meet you there!"

In response to their leader's command, the few remaining underlings scatter into the darkness, headed generally east. The leader follows suit, withdrawing carefully away from Nyanko and into the near-total darkness.

http://i.imgur.com/2OK8Wkb.png

[Malanorea]

Akai

Akai keeps moving over to K23 expecting to head off a henchman, but instead sees the poorly-faring bandit leader!

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The catlike girl doesn't lose sight of her prey in the darkness and moves to S23.

"I will play with your entrails!" she screams as she lobs a ball of magic energy at the Bandit Leader.

OOC:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Eurus]

Nyanko's amusingly brutal threat turns out to be much more than an idle boast, as her blast catches the man in the chest. He freezes, sword dropping from his hands, before slowly sinking down to his knees with a violent, bloody cough. A moment later, he's unconscious on the ground.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"... Nice shot."

Jason runs over to keep any enemies from retrieving the unconscious bandit leader, and also to keep any of his allies from murdering the guy.

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

With the enemy routed, Miri's thoughts turn toward Jason's injuries, and she hurries over to him, frowning and wishing she'd thought to have heals on hand.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

[[Just a sword to the chest. I'm sure I'll be fine :smalltongue:]]

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The cat-like girl, somewhat calmer, crawls over to her prey and starts batting around its head with her hands.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"It'd appreciate it if you stopped that. He's already down. No need to bang him up more."

Assuming the character rework applies at this point, Jason picks up (if the bandit weighs less than 230 pounds) or drags (if he weighs more) the bandit leader back towards the camp and takes 10 on a Use Rope check to tie him up. (Escape Artist DC 21).

[[Miri, could you come and make sure this guy doesn't bleed out or something?]]

[NineThePuma]

Miri

[[... Only because if I don't you'll be upset.]] The girl touches her Radiance as she walks over to the bandit leader and the pale glow that flows across her hand is soothing, and she gently touches the man's body, causing his wounds to scab over almost immediately before she turns her attention to Jason and pinning him with her gaze, the glow not fading from her hand as she points him back toward their wagon.

Healing him by one hit point to stabilize

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"Thank you Miri."

Jason, used to that sort of reaction, ignores her glare as he checks the bonds again, then goes to try to rouse Verut.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"But I'm playing with my prey so his muscles aren't filled with that nasty adrenaline taste!"

The cat-like girl then decides to steal the bandit leader's gear and pants* and places them in a nearby pile.

She then walks over on two legs to do the same to the other bandits.

OOC:
*This may involve slashing their pants off with laser claws.

[Malanorea]

Akai

Seeing the bandit leader go down, Akai's armor changes to some strange sort of ectoplasm bodysuit thing, and she runs much faster to rejoin the others. "Nice shot, kitty."

[Eurus]

The spark of healing magic has little visible effect on the leader's many wounds, but at least stops the bleeding. Jason manages to hoist the man up, amusingly, and carries him back to the wagons to leave him bound near the campfire.

As that happens, a rustle of movement from one of the wagons reveals... Gretchen. Slightly disheveled, and in a frilly nightgown, but awake and looking rather alarmed. Nyanko's comment draws a rather disconcerted look from her, as do the several corpses and the heavily injured leader. "Bandits? Oh my goodness, is everyone okay?"

Jason's attempt to rouse Verut takes a concentrated effort, probably in the form of shaking, slapping, or splashing him, since no amount of noise will seem to do the trick. After a few seconds he shudders back to consciousness, rubbing his eyes reflexively before looking around. "Did I... fall asleep?"

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Yes you were. Sorry for waking you in such a rude way. It seems that bandits managed to slip a sleeping drug into our food or something...

Jason trails off for a second as he thoughts to Miri [[I'll bet there's someone in the camp who was working with the bandits. How else could they have drugged us?]]

"In any case, some of us woke up and drove the bandits off. We captured their leader and tied him up."

"Can you help me deal with these?"

Jason gestures to the corpses.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The catlike girl finishes robbing and depantsing the bandits before dragging one of the dead bandits in front of Akai as if it were a gift.

OOC:
Anything sellable on them?

[Malanorea]

Akai

The half-giant looks at the corpse presented to her with a sigh, then pets Nyanko and lifts her to carry back to camp.

[Eurus]

It's still eerily quiet, since nobody but the lot of you, Gretchen, and Verut are awake. Gretchen can't seem to quite tear her attention away from Nyanko, who she watches go about her disturbingly thorough looting with mounting distress and concern. Verut doesn't seem particularly thrilled by the declothing either, but he looks grim pretty much all the time anyway, so it's hard to tell.

Gretchen immediately starts fussing over Jason's injuries after it becomes apparent that he's the only one seriously hurt, more or less forcing him in her irrepressibly matronly way to sit still and let her clean and stitch them up, which she does with precision. She briefly glances over to tell Verut to wake up the other guards and her husband, but let the other passengers sleep through it, since there's no sense traumatizing the poor people. Sighing, she shakes her head mournfully.

"What an awful mess... we should see these men buried, and bring the survivor into town with us."

After a few moments, Robert and the guards stumble out blearily, until the bloody spectacle quickly jars them into focus. Sighing, the twins and Verut go out and start digging a row of shallow graves, while Dasha and Robert start taking inventory of anything that might have been stolen. They return a few minutes later.

"Looks like they got two crates of food and two of the feed for the horses, but they didn't have time for anything more."

Each of the dead bandits (4 in total, I think) have a suit of studded leather armor sized for a medium creature, plus a light crossbow, a dozen nonlethal bolts, and a short sword. No coin, not much else. The pants are cheap patched cloth or leather.

The leader has a masterwork rapier, plain looking but well-balanced, and a normal chain shirt. Nothing pings as magical.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason mostly does as he is directed after being forced to be patched up by Gretchen, thanks her, and goes off to help dig the graves with a solemn look afterwards.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa just kind of hovers nearby the group, staying out of the way of both the looting and the healing. She doubted that the bandits had much of great value, though the leader might have something. She doesn’t offer any conversation, and would have faded back into the caravan but for the fact that she wants to observe how each person reacts to the attack.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

At some point, Jason notices Rúsëa hovering off to the side and approaches her.

"Thank you for helping defend the caravan from the bandits, miss."

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"I will trade you this armor for more blankies." Nyanko says while staring at the darkness and holding one of the sets of armor.

[Eurus]

Everyone seems to react a little differently. Verut is as quiet and stoic as ever, even as he lowers blood-soaked bodies into the earth, moving with the same sort of slow care and thoughtfulness that he always did. He does the work of any other two men put together without complaint, moving slowly but steadily until the bodies are covered properly, then pauses for a moment over the graves in what might be his way of paying his respects, dealing with the stress, or simply catching his breath.

Matthew seems half-asleep, still, blithely moving dirt around without seeming to wonder or particularly care about the circumstances. Elias, by contrast, is awake and perhaps rather anxious, glancing around in the dark several times over the hour or so that it takes. Hard to blame him, perhaps, considering the unsettling nature of the night's work.

Gretchen moves on to the bandit leader as soon as she finishes up with Jason, checking the man's wounds with a sigh and a shake of her head before tending to them properly. "He's lost a lot of blood, but he'll live. Until they hang him, I suppose. Poor thing, he can't be more than half through his twenties."

Robert seems to be keeping focused on the practical things, working out exactly what's gone, how much it will cost to replace, how far they can get without it, where they can keep a bound prisoner, what on earth they're going to tell the passengers in the morning--the little bits and pieces that make sense and can be dealt with.

Dasha, on the other hand, is far less focused on the situation, and far more focused on you. In between helping Gretchen and Robert, she seems to be trying to figure out what all happened here, tracing footsteps and blood sprays with her eyes and building a mental picture. You catch her shooting sidelong glances at you all several times, and poking around the remains of the food. Eventually, she heads to the fire where Gretchen is sitting with the prisoner and the others who've finished with their gravedigging, and frowns.

"...Not that it's a surprise, but someone definitely drugged us. There was some in the passengers' food, but a lot more in ours, and an extra dose in Verut's canteen. I'm kind of amazed he's not dead. None of the stores are contaminated, just what we ate tonight. Putting two and two together... I'm pretty sure someone in the caravan must have done the spiking, yeah. Even invisible, nobody else could have gotten that kind of access and known who was going to be on first watch."

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

"If it was one of my companions, we wouldn't have responded with lethal force. For the most part."

[Eurus]

Dasha just shrugs. "Shame you did. We could have interrogated them. I'll take my best shot at the leader if I can manage to wake him up, but it's a little unreliable when you only have one to work with."

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa politely downplays her role, having already collected her daggers and figuring most likely no one (but she herself) kept a careful count of how many she’d thrown. “Anything I contributed was luck,” and “A girl from the streets of course carries a few daggers,” and most of all, she tries to turn the conversation back towards Jason: “And of course I never could have stood up to them if you weren’t so bravely facing down that brute!” Figures the kid’s old enough to get flustered and awkward by flirting compliments from an older girl, but not old enough to give her a headache thinking they had something going on.

Assuming I’ve understood Jason’s age correctly – mid-to-high teens? Rúsëa is twenty-four.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason either ignores or doesn't notice the flirtiness of the compliment, responding with:

"Not very brave, given that the man destroyed me. I mostly just kept him in place while the rest of you all pelted him with your own attacks." :smallsmile:

Jason proceeds to pull out a freshly cleaned dagger from his bag and hand it to her, before grinning in an amused way and continuing "Also, I realize that a girl from the streets must carry a few daggers, but isn't sleeping with at least nine blades hidden away a bit excessive?" :smallamused:

Yeah, he's fifteen.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa slides right past the count of daggers (Hah, excessive? I had another sixteen! Kid’s right clueless.) and continues to give Jason the lion’s share of the credit. “Oh, but that’s exactly what’s so brave! He was so much bigger and you stood right up to him!” Truth be told, the crazy cat girl probably deserved more credit, but there didn’t seem to be much to gain by buttering her up.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"There's a difference between "bravery" and "necessity." It was either I stand in his way or he fights my sister. He'd have probably died if he tried that..."

[Eurus]

"Yeah, we're all impressed by your bravery, you little thugs. Now come on, help me drag this poor bastard over there so I can question him without messing up the campsite."

Dasha points out farther from the road, and starts hauling over some empty crates to use as makeshift chairs. She doesn't seem to have any trouble navigating in the dark.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"I... er... um."

Jason is momentarily about to object, then composes himself and lifts the unconscious guy in a fireman carry before dumping him unceremoniously on the ground near Dasha.

He then uncomfortably excuses himself and returns to the camp.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The cat-like girl continues to try to trade random people a set of leather armor for its value in blankets, paying no heed to the "interrogation".

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa stays for the interrogation but for now allows Dasha to handle it. She could be plenty scary when she needed to be, but she had rarely had any need to talk with those she wished harm.

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

Miri spends about fifteen minutes checking up on everyone in the caravan, using her Radiance to heal any scrapes and abrasions that they picked up, and then goes back to sleep, curled up with her dinosaur.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason returns to the camp after leaving the bandit with Rusea and Dasha, then decides to go back to sleep because he's tired from waking up and fighting bandits.

[Eurus]

Dasha, Rúsëa, & Co.

Anyone who decides to follow Dasha is met with an appraising look and a raised eyebrow, but otherwise silence. Out in the darkness, she seats the bandit leader on a flat rock, and herself on a short log seat. She motions anyone else observing to take a seat a few yards away, on the ground.

In the near-pitch darkness it's hard to see more than shapes, until she gently waves a hand over a pebble and it begins to gleam with a shifting, yellow-green light. She pulls a slender black stick from her belt and taps the man with it, and he begins to look a little less pale as his wounds rapidly knit together.

It takes him almost a minute to regain consciousness, time that she spends re-stowing her wand and calmly appraising him. It's another few moments for him to shake off the lingering daze, and figure out where he is. Finally, he sets his jaw and glares challengingly at Dasha.

"...If it helps, know that I don't do this lightly. Normally I'd give you the choice; we can do this the fair way, or the easy way. But we're short on time, and you might have friends out there waiting to cut our throats. So the easy way it is."


It's hard to overhear the conversation, murmured in the dark. It drags on for almost an hour, about half of which the man spends cursing and struggling, while she maintains a calm, soothing tone. And then something seems to shift, like a flipped switch or a cut string, and the tension releases from his body. And they have a quiet, peaceful discussion.


The Next Morning

The mood is grim as Gretchen explains the situation to the assembled group of passengers and guards.

"Fortunately, nobody was injured, but we did lose about half of our food. We were planning on restocking in Bridgekeep anyway, so it's not a disaster. Our funds for this trip have enough wiggle room to absorb the loss, so as far as our plan goes, nothing really changes. We should reach town some time this evening to turn over our temporary passenger and stock up, and leave before noon the next day, so bear with us for now."

After most of the passengers migrate back to their wagons, Dasha quietly addresses the caravan's other employees. "He confirmed that we were drugged by someone in the camp, but he said he didn't know who. Long story, but the deal was supposedly arranged by a contact of his in Fortitude, so our friend -- Mikaiah Aswein, if you're curious -- never had a reason to know their name or face. He might be lying, but without anyone to cross his story against it's the best I can do. He also strongly suggested that we avoid Bridgekeep, although he was vague on why. He implied that it's a dangerous place. More for him than for us, I'd guess."

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

[roll0] to hear Dasha’s interrogation. Given the poor roll, Rúsëa will subtly and carefully move closer, avoiding any kind of interruption or distraction but ensuring she can hear and see everything.

Rúsëa’s only response to Dasha’s report is, “On that, I’m sure he spoke truthfully. Bridgekeep is a dangerous place, just like every place else.”

[Eurus]

Once she's gotten him compliant, Dasha asks the man about himself, his group, and his actions. That's when he introduces himself as Mikaiah. He says that he has a group of fourteen men, not counting himself, most of whom were with him tonight. The rest guard their hideout, which is about two hours away on horseback, but are likely to take everything and hide out in the woods considering how disastrously the night went.

He mentions that he has been robbing caravans coming into and out of Bridgekeep for about four months now, and maintains that he and his men have never killed anyone who didn't deserve it, which is why they stick to nonlethal weapons.

He's vague on the subject of Bridgekeep itself, and perhaps because it's an ungodly hour of the night by then, Dasha isn't the most thorough about pressing for details. He just says that it's a dangerous place that should be avoided.

All of the corpses, but not the leader, have a strange mark on their right palms, a discolored patch of flesh like some sort of odd tattoo. It's in an odd sort of T-shape.

This particular mark indicates that the bearer is a criminal. They used to use brands, but it was too easy for healers to fix the scars, so they found an alchemical compound that creates marks that are almost impossible to erase without seriously impressive magic, on the level of severing and regrowing the hand. The mark is supposed to symbolize a gallows. Traditionally, many cities and kingdoms around this area had what they considered a "merciful" two-strike policy. First crime, you get the mark. Second crime, you hang. Fortitude gave up that particular policy for a more nuanced system of imprisonment and specific consequences for specific crimes years ago, but it's still widely practiced.

Also, Mikaiah's ears, normally covered by a hat, have a gentle point to them, marking him as a half-elf. Half-elves, incidentally, are extremely rare. It's possible that you might have gone your entire lives in Fortitude seeing only one or two, if any.

The reasons for this rarity are twofold. First, elves and humans simply don't interact that often in the modern age, and become romantically entangled even less. Second, the elf-human pairing is only barely viable, biologically. Half-elf children born to human mothers are usually premature and have health issues in life, while those born to elvish mothers are more likely to endanger the mother during the pregnancy. Partly because of this, human/elf pairings are rare and rather taboo in most societies.


In human society, half-elves are mostly just looked at with the same general scorn and racism that full elves receive. In elvish society, however, half-elves are considered to be fulcrums of fate, or omens. Usually bad ones. They're generally sent on pseudo-exile in the form of a "Journey", to either make their fortune and fulfill destiny's plan for them, or die somewhere far away where they won't cause a catastrophe in elven lands.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Nobody wanted to buy the armor. You could sell them to get me more sardines. I still don't know why you buried them. We're not going to have a chance to go back for that stash. Instead we should have left them out as bait for bears and then ate the bears."

She repeats this message a number of times to a number of people, not once to anyone important.

[Malanorea]

Akai

Once the bulk of Nyanko's shenanigans are through, the half-giant takes the catgirl back to the wagon, aiming for some more sleep and kittyscritchings.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"No, don't make me go to school today! I'm sick with a fever of... purrrrrrrrr."

The cat-like girl falls asleep in Akai's arms as she's carried back to the wagon.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason doesn't focus as much on the fact that they lost a good amount of food (as the group was told it was being handled), and spends a good amount of his day alternating between making small talk with passengers and laying on top of the wagon keeping watch for any overly suspicious activity. At some point he probably practices forms and exercises.


Perception check [roll0]
Sense Motive check [roll1]

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa will spend the day helping out, for the most part avoiding those who fought last night in favor of small talk and helpfulness for those who slept. She doesn’t actively attempt to discern who the traitor is, so much as just get to know everyone around her better. She aims to keep topics light and allow others to direct the flow of conversation, and avoids again offering too much of substance about herself, her opinions, or her actions the night before.

Note that the intent is that Rúsëa is at least somewhat good at inconspicuously talking with people to get information without divulging much of her own. There was apparently some confusion where posts like this one were seen as Rúsëa acting suspiciously, which seemed a bit to be metagame knowledge.

[Eurus]

Matthew grins at Rusea's comment. "I hope so. Can't believe I missed the fun last night."


Episode 0: Prologue Complete

The mood for the rest of the day is rather subdued. Several of the guards, especially Dasha and Verut, seem to be keeping a closer eye on everyone than before, perhaps looking for any hint as to the poisoner in their midst. Even the normally chipper members of the caravan like Gretchen and the bard are a little quieter today, perhaps sobered by the blood still weighing on their minds.

The prisoner is watched in shifts by at least two guards at once, after Dasha points out that the traitor might try to either free Mikaiah or kill him to keep their secret if they got to him alone. He remains quiet, staring off into the distance with something like grim resignation.

Eventually, the sun dips low and the town comes into sight. It's quickly evident where the name Bridgekeep came from; the settlement appears to be built around a large castle which somehow sits atop the river itself, acting as a giant and heavily-fortified bridge. It's a large town, although nothing compared to Fortitude, made of plain but sturdy-looking stone buildings with only a simple squat wall around it. The castle obviously serves as the town's main defense, large enough to likely accommodate and protect the entire population in the event of an attack.

Your caravan attracts curious stares as it rolls up to the gate, Gretchen and Robert hopping down to speak to the guards. After a moment, they return to address everyone again.

"...Well, mostly good news and a little bit of bad news, dears. They'll take this fellow off our hands for us, but if we want to get our supplies replaced it'll probably take until tomorrow morning or so. We're arranging to rent a few rooms at the inn for everyone to share, although if you'd like to pitch in for a private room you're welcome to do so, just speak to me or Robert about it..."

Robert coughs to clear his throat awkwardly as Gretchen trails off. "Bridgekeep is... strict about some things. It's important that y'all try to stay out of trouble here. No drinking, no gambling, no disturbing the peace, and no magic."

Having said their piece, Robert starts guiding the caravan through the gates, while Gretchen discretely pulls Dasha and, for some reason, the bard, into her wagon for some sort of discussion.


~Episode 1: Dura Lex~

The atmosphere in Bridgekeep is tense. Tired-looking people wearing drab clothes watch you from windows or doorsteps as the caravan limps down the road and toward the inn. Before they can begin the process of stabling the horses, four soldiers approach, wearing dull but sturdy-looking armor and carrying sharp spears. Verut wordlessly brings out the prisoner.

As soon as the man is brought out of the wagon and handed over to the guards, a ripple of surprise spreads through the crowd. The reaction is... unexpected. While some look intrigued or pleased, far more look grim, shocked, or even openly mournful. A few seem to hide tears. Mikaiah remains stoic, looking blankly ahead as he's shackled and taken toward the towering castle. One of the guards nods respectfully at Robert and Verut, and hands over a small pouch of coin, to their surprise.

"We appreciate this, strangers. This man's been causing us trouble for some time now. We put a reward out, so it's yours. The hanging'll be tomorrow morning, if you're sticking around. Have to dust off the gallows, it's been a few months."

As the guards depart, Robert just sighs and shakes his head. Verut remains as unreadable as ever. They focus on unhitching and stabling the horses, while Gretchen, Dasha, and the bard suddenly climb out of the wagon. At least, it looks like Dasha and the bard, although some rather unexpected revisions seem to have occurred very quickly. Dasha's normally viridescent skin is now a more conventional light brown tone, while the bard's prominent tail seems to have vanished entirely. Dasha seems a little irritated by the whole thing and spends a few moments sulking before pitching in to help Verut, while the bard just shrugs it off and wanders into town.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason is fairly cautious of the town, but knows that what he would do (stay in the inn and out of the way) is not what's going to happen with Miri around.

[[Miri, please make sure you don't do anything magical, even if it's not overt. We don't want to deal with the hassle if there's trouble.]]

...

[do need to use magic, please let me know immediately if I'm not there.]]

Jason will tag along with Miri unless something detains him, but strongly suggests that they just stay at the inn laying low, given the fact that screwing up is likely to be bad in this town.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"So there is gambling and magic in this town? Yay! They wouldn't have pointed it out if it didn't happen often!"

The cat-like girl dances around Akai, waiting for something to happen.

"We should go play Laser Parcheesi! What do you say, Miss Fancy Blade?"

[Malanorea]

Akai

The half-giant, dressed much like the town's equally-energetic populace, lifts Nyanko to her shoulder. "Maybe we should just take this opportunity to relax and stay out of trouble. I'm sure we'll find plenty of excitement after we head back out."

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Yay! I'm a pirate!"

"Why should I stay out of trouble? I should be in trouble to stop the trouble, for I am The Cat Revenger."

[Malanorea]

Akai

"Well, maybe we can help out with the bandit problem. Let's ask around, see if we can find anyone who knows about what's been happening." She wanders off with her shoulder-cat to try and keep the girl occupied.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"For justice and all that!"

The cat-like girl holds onto Akai and practices her menacing faces while waiting for someone to interrogate.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa does not like this one bit. This is exactly why she operates on her own: so she can freely choose to shove these xenophobic *******s in their own bull****. But the consequences to others... she’ll be avoiding everyone and everything in this town.

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

[[I make no promises. After all, you know what friendship is like!]] And with that, Miri's off to wander around and make friends with the locals. In particular, she's trying to figure out why people are sad about the bandit's capture.

[roll0] - Gather Information!

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason follows Miri, basically with the same goal.

Gather Information check: [roll0]

[Eurus]

Nyanko and Akai

The sight of two young girls, one of them seven feet tall and the other some kind of cat-creature, draws quite a few stares from Bridgekeep's inhabitants as the two of you wander the streets. Most people seem to make a point of avoiding eye contact or scuttling off somewhere, which is at least better than causing trouble.

In the wide market square at the center of town, a handful of guards can be seen putting together the gallows. Several people watch from around the edges of the square, housewives and widows gossiping grimly with their grocery baskets and men smoking in somber silence.

Abruptly, a harsh croaking voice shouts out at you, grabbing the attention of almost all the square's occupants. "You murderers! We don't need your meddling here! Take your blood money and go away!"

The source seems to be a woman in a shapeless green dress, hunched and withered with age, who glares at you through cloudy eyes as she shouts all manner of accusations and . The townspeople watch with alarm as two of the guards break off from the group to approach you all, the woman's rant never pausing even as they move to apprehend her with a disgusted shake of their heads.

"Shouting treason in the middle of town... not your best idea you crazy old bat."

She doesn't even look at the guards as they sigh and grab her by each arm, her struggles approximately as effective as a breeze against a stone wall, and just continues cursing you out with a surprising breadth of vocabulary.

Jason and Miri

Attempting to gather information seems to be a losing battle. It's clear that the villagers don't trust you at best, or at worst look at you with something like disgust.

On the other hand, it eventually becomes apparent that not everyone is displeased. Several people give you respectful nods or the like as you pass, including a few guards. One well-dressed man gives you a jaunty wave from the doorway of what seems to be a shop of some kind. "You were with the caravan, right? Dannek Silver, pleased to meet you."

Matthew suddenly appears in the doorway as well, leaning casually over Dannek's shoulder with a grin. You can faintly hear the sounds of laughter and music from inside the building.

"Hey, there you are! My new friend here's throwing a little party for us 'conquering heroes', but y'all are the ones who deserve the praise, right? Dasha blew me off, but I got Elias and Verut, and there's like a dozen rich people in here whose names I keep forgetting... the food's great, though. C'mon in, I'm sure everyone wants to meet y'all, eh?"

Rúsëa

It seems that most of the passengers have decided to idle away the hours in the inn, either in their rooms or the communal area. The latter looks rather like you'd expect from a tavern, simple wooden tables and a bar, except of course that there's no alcohol. The food is plain, but decent, and apparently paid for by whatever group deal Gretchen arranged already.

Matthew and Elias are present at the inn for only a few moments before leaving, dragging a reluctant Verut with them. The bard is also out to explore the town almost immediately, while Dasha seems to be content nursing a mug of cider at the bar and hating her life. Gretchen and Robert retire to their rooms to rest, and the orcish family follows suit, while the dwarf takes a table in the corner and whittles something while slowly puffing on his pipe.

Other than the caravan group, the inn seems almost empty, and even as small as it is, there's quite a bit of awkward space. Dasha eventually migrates over to wherever Rúsëa's sitting, perhaps from sheer boredom, and pushes a second mug of cider over toward the girl.

"...Not the talkative type, huh? Can't blame you, I guess. Not a very welcoming place."

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason, having had growing feelings that something is not right with the town, decides that it'd be best to at least get off the streets for now.

"Let's go see what this is all about. Maybe someone in there will have some answers."

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Hey, let that old lady go!" the cat-like girl screams as her eyes glow with purple energy and the hairs on her hair and tail stick up on end as the girl starts to cackle with energy.

Once the guards react, the cat-like girl calms down and says "We committed justifiable homocide, not murder. Say it with me, 'justifiable homocide'. Ok, now I've stopped caring."

[NineThePuma]

Miriam

"No thanks, I can't stand parties." Miri shakes her had, smiling at Matthew. Before looking expectantly toward her big brother.

[[They're celebrating his capture while others mourn it. The reason why they mourn is more important than some fancy food. If you wanna go, I'll stay in touch though.]]

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"Alright. I'm gonna go grab some food then I'll probably come find you later."

Jason smiles at Miri and heads inside with Matthew and Dannek.

[[Point. Anyway, Let's see if I can't get at least half the story in there. Good luck figuring out the rest.]]

[NineThePuma]

Miri

With a nod given to her adoptive sibling, Miri heads off, this time searching for one of the more grim looking people on the street so that she can ask them directly.

Something along the lines of.

"Alright, there's a reason for everything and a story behind everything. All I know is that he attacked us in the middle of the night. I want to know more about the man that I've apparently sentenced to death, and to know why his death has such an impact on this town. And I, frankly, won't take no for an answer."

[Malanorea]

Akai

Seeing Nyanko get riled so, Akai tries to subdue her as one would do with a cat: via scritchings. She then carries the girl away, trying to find someone who doesn't actively avoid her to inquire about the surrounding bandits.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Hey, don't... remember, remember, the fifth of... purrr..."
The cat-like girl goes into a dream-like state as she's carried off by Akai.

OOC:
I think you need a gather info check, Mala.
[roll0]

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa hesitates about the drink; normally she would not want to dull her senses, but maybe this is a situation that warrants it a bit. Assuming she hadn’t, up til now, noticed anyone in the bar paying unusual attention to her, Dasha, or the caravan, she decides that it just might be after all. After a moment, she reaches out, her hair reaching first before she uses her hand and tries to play off the motion of her hair as natural. She nurses the drink a bit, and responds, “No, it is not.”

(the idea being that Dasha might have noticed the hair if she was paying attention, but the rest of the bar didn’t unless there’s someone explicitly watching them that Rúsëa didn’t notice)

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

At the party, Jason makes small talk of some sort, downplaying his role in the bandit attack and eventually pressing for the story behind the guy. He does not find the company of presumably drunken parti-goers to be particularly fun, but the food is good, and the recognition at least mildly enjoyable, even with the bad feelings from not knowing the whole story.


Diplomacy check to move them from friendly to helpful: [roll0]

Gather Information check if needed for this: [roll1]

Sense Motive check for any lies being fed to Jason: [roll2]


#$&%#&$@!

[Malanorea]

Akai

After a bit of just distracting the catgirl, Akai finally tries to get in some actual work at getting information from townspeople.

Gather Info (Including +2 from aid another): [roll0]

[Eurus]

((Feel free to read whatever spoilers you want, it's just formatted like this for convenience.))

The building seems to be a shop selling the odd combination of jewelry, weapons, and other luxury metal goods. It doesn't seem like the sort of place that would do particularly brisk business in Bridgekeep, but it apparently does well, considering how expensive everything seems. Down the stairs, there's a lavishly-decorated room lit with candles and a fireplace, and about ten well-dressed strangers laughing and socializing.

Despite the earlier warning about alcohol, the wine seems to be flowing freely here, explaining Matthew's rather inebriated state. Verut seems to be standing stoically near the corner, meanwhile, while Elias hovers near him looking nervous with a nearly-untouched glass of wine.

Unfortunately, Jason seems to have a difficult time making a good impression. It soon becomes apparent that few people here are taking the youth seriously, most looking at him as a curiosity or amusement at most. That is, until Matthew cheerfully throws an arm over his shoulder and mentions that the Abital family financed the entire trip, with plenty to spare, so that their dear son could go dragon-chasing.

That draws attention, and a sudden shift in perspectives as people suddenly become much more interested in the scion of such an important family.

"You should meet my daughter! She's about your age, and if you heard her singing voice, you'd marry her right then," giggles a rather pulvinate woman with a wig of sky-blue curls and a silver-gilded fan.

"Don't waste your breath, Elle," your esteemed host Dannek replies with a chuckle, looking rather tipsy. "Our young friend here is already taken, if I'm not mistaken."

"That girl with the dreadful creature? Oh my..."

"Hey, nothing wrong with slumming it. And the monsters are a family thing, right? Heh, they can chop up whatever animals they want as long as they've got the money to back it up."

From the sidelong glances and covered chuckles of amusement, it seems that Dannek is rapidly overstepping the bounds of propriety and likely to be embarrassing himself. On the other hand, the exasperated or disapproving looks from others seem to imply that it's not an unusual occurrence.


Miri's attempt to gather information is met with quite a bit of resistance. It quickly becomes clear that nobody trusts her, and with how fast gossip spreads here, most people quickly get the idea that her friend was seen at Dannik's little get-together, which only exacerbates the suspicions.

It's after almost an hour of this fruitless effort that she notices a woman watching her. She looks perhaps in her forties, tanned skin and a long braid of black hair, and she's tightly patching and stitching together holes in a tattered coat with the casual precision of endless years of practice. Her expression is oddly neutral, neither afraid nor bitter nor amused like most of the looks Miri's gotten today, just coolly appraising while her hands never slow or miss a stitch.


Dasha takes a few seconds to respond, giving Rúsëa an odd look, as though she was trying to put together or figure out exactly what she might have just seen. After a moment, she shakes her head. "Well. The sooner we're out of here, the better, as far as I'm concerned."

A minute later, the door opens and your old friend the nameless bard trots in with a rather untrustworthy grin, casually taking a seat at the table with Rúsëa and Dasha. She raises an eyebrow at him, wordlessly questioning, and he flips her a small wooden token of some sort with a chuckle. "Told you so. Took me all of five minutes to make friends with someone and get an invitation. It's an old house just a short jog from here, not a bad little dive if you don't mind the smell."

"How very efficient of you," Dasha responds drily. "I hope you haven't tipped your hand already."

"Nah. Made sure to lose about twenty gold pieces between the card table and the booze, so they'll be glad to see me back. Told me to feel free to bring friends, even."

"I wouldn't call us friends yet, kid."

"Maybe you're right. Too much simmering sexual tension for that," the bard sighs with an exaggerated bat of his eyelashes, prompting a half-hearted swat to the back of the head from Dasha.

"Anyway, are you chickening out, or still in? You're welcome to join us, miss Rúsëa. Should be a fun and profitable night, if your conscience will allow it."

He grins sardonically with that last comment, and Dasha just rolls her eyes.


The guards and woman alike stare with widened eyes at Nyanko's flashy display and blithe dismissal of the woman's denouncements, before Akai starts to haul her away. Behind you, the woman bursts into tears, while one of the guards starts to stammer out something like "You, uh... you can't do... that..." but nobody makes an effort to apprehend them. On the other hand, the gazes of the men and women around the town square seem to have become colder than ever, all pointed squarely at the two of you.

Your attempts to gather information fail about as spectacularly as you would imagine. Most people actively scurry across to the other side of the road to get away from you, and the guards, when you pass them, keep a suspicious eye on you at all times.

Eventually, however, Akai spots something. A suspicious conversation between two men, huddled together in an alley. And one of them, she recognizes -- though tightly bundled up, she realizes that he's one of the bandits who attacked the caravan, now in town for some reason. He doesn't seem to have noticed you yet, as you're about twenty yards off.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

As his polite attempts at getting information on the bandits failed, Jason gives up at some point, and has a growing feeling that he's simply out of place here. Around the point that the conversation turns towards the Abitals, he's begun searching for a way to excuse himself without being too awkward.

He is also extremely surprised and moderately angry to find out that the Abitals financed to trip, but keeps it to himself, making a note to have a discussion with his parents (and whether or not he will be thanking them for financing the trip or arguing at them for not telling him he's not sure...)

And around the time the discussion turns to the pulvinate woman's daughter, he's about ready to leave, slowly making his way towards the door as Dannek makes states his assumption about Miri and Jason's relationship. Jason halts as the conversation turns to insults about his family, turns back toward Dannek, obviously bristling from the man's comments.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand your meaning. Could you clarify for me what you meant when you said I'm taken?"

[Eurus]

It's hard to tell whether Dannek quite grasps the implicit threat in Jason's tone and is egging him on or simply fails to realize, but several of the other people around seem to, including Elle, who looks suddenly very intrigued even as she backs a step away. From his corner perch, Verut focuses his attention on the exchange with a slightly narrowed gaze as if waiting for any sign of trouble, while Matthew can't quite bite back a laugh.

"Eh? What, you're not with the girl? Shame, she doesn't look half bad. I mean, too young for me, but a few years older..."

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

The small part of Jason that hoped it was simply a misunderstanding disappears as Dannek continues talking. He steps forward as he says

"Three things you should know. One: She's twelve. Two: she's my sister, and three: conversation's over. We're done here."

... before simultaneously slamming his palm into Dannek's face and using his leg to knock him off balance, pushing him to the floor with the force of the blow.


Surprise round attack is a trip attempt, [roll0], resolved against touch AC sans Dexterity bonus.

Opposed strength check to trip: [roll1]

If the trip succeeds, unarmed strike in the followup: [roll2], nonlethal damage [roll3]


Then something appropriate happens, I guess, but that's up to you.

[Eurus]

Dannek goes down hard, slamming into the ground as most of the other partiers people shriek or jump in surprise. Someone drops a wine glass, or several someones, and a circle quickly clears around Jason and Dannek. Matthew seems to be laughing so hard that he has to brace himself against the wall just to stay upright, and Elias seems on the verge of a panic attack.

Slowly, Dannek levers himself up off the ground, nose bleeding heavily, and looks at Jason with an almost mystified expression, before suddenly barking a laugh. His expression twists slightly manic, grinning as he wipes some of the streaming blood off his face.

"Oh dear, guess I ruffled some feathers with that one. But that's okay, we can settle this like gentlemen, right?"

Slowly, he reaches for his belt and pulls out a dagger, still encased in an intricately decorated leather sheath, and tosses it to Jason.

"That's the tradition around here, for things like this. For challenging someone to a duel. Gotta remember tradition, right? Otherwise we're no better than those mongrels you hang out with."

The crowd seems split between horror and amusement at the sight. No matter who comes out on top, it seems, the audience will be quite entertained by the result.

"So! If you feel like indulging me, let's take this outside, huh? And we'll handle this politely."

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason catches the dagger and examines it.

"Rules of the duel?"

[Eurus]

"Bladed weapons. No seconds, I don't believe we need to pull anyone else into such a petty squabble. I'm sure we've no shortage of witnesses. And fought to the point of yielding, maiming, or death."

An older looking man, perhaps some sort of servant, steps forward to hand Dannek his weapons -- two slender blades, one about the length of a rapier and the other more like a long dagger.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Miss Lady, what are we looking for? I don't think we managed to get any blue herring in our trip around the island. Maybe we should challenge someone to a duel so we can get some slapping halibut."

Nyanko looks around the crowd, looks in a random direction and says "Is that a puppy!? No... no it's not. Frown. Not smile. Not three."

[Malanorea]

Akai

Upon recognizing the man, she blinks for a moment, then flashes into her astral skin and charges to grab the bandit-fellow.

Touch attack, assuming he doesn't get/misses or deals less than 2 damage with his AoO: [roll0]
If touch attack is successfull, grapple check: [roll1]
If grappling, unarmed strike damage (nonlethal): [roll2]

If successful: "Stay down and stay quiet. You're going to tell me what you were doing last night, got it?"

If unsuccessful, he can respond appropriately.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

"I accept your terms. Let's get started then."

Jason walks outside with Dannek.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Why are you attacking someone in the middle of the street? Is he not sharing food with his family and you're punishing him to make an example of him? Capital punishment is ineffective against family members but a good deterrent to crime if you use it on one hundred percent of the population. Unfortunately, we don't have enough diapers for that."

[Eurus]

Being both unarmored and surprised, the man is easily apprehended by Akai, who gets him in a tight hold. He struggles feebly in the painfully constricting hold, while the man he was talking to quickly turns and runs for it.

Her whisper seems to get through, and he manages a slight nod as he slowly lowers his hands and stops scratching at her brawny forearm. "I... I wasn't doing anything last night, I don't know what you mean..."

Dannek heads upstairs and outside, followed by the guards and four of the other guests. The road is mostly empty here, probably because the sun is setting by now and most people are either at home or trying to get there.

So Dannek seems to decide that the road right in front of his own house is as good as anywhere else, nodding with that same slightly unhinged-looking grin and drawing his weapons. "Ready when you are, kid."

((Initiative, unless you have something else to do or say first. [roll]1d20+3))

[Eurus]

((Right, can't edit in rolls, oops. [roll0]))

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason does not return the grin as he unsheathes the dagger and takes on a stance appropriate to the weapon, holding the blade in his left hand.

"Interesting weapons, I haven't fought a drunken fencer before. Let's see if you can hold onto them."

Jason thinks, then adds: "... You can have the first strike. You'll need all the help you can get." before returning Dannek's unhinged grin.

Initiative: [roll0]

[Malanorea]

Akai

The girl pins the man, pushing his face to the ground. "You attacked our caravan! Who helped you? Where is your gang's base?"

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Are you sure you have the right person? And we know why the caravan was attacked. It was to steal things for the sake of stealing."

[Eurus]

Dannek decides to try and get the first strike in rather than continuing banter, dashing forward and striking viciously with both blades. It becomes clear that the man is far from defenseless, even if his style is a little flashier and more wasteful than a proper warrior's bearing.

[roll0]; [roll1]
[roll2]; [roll3]

[roll4]; [roll5]
[roll6]; [roll7]

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason deftly dodges the longer blade, but his dodge places him in the path of Dannek's dagger.

"Well done, you actually landed a hit. My turn."


Opposed attack roll for disarm attempt: [roll0]

Free attack with rapier if the disarm succeeds: [roll1]
Confirmation if a crit threat: [roll2]

Damage: [roll3]
Extra damage if a crit: [roll4]


Jason attempts to make a strike at Dannek's hand to disarm him, but fails to actually connect with his blade, returning to his stance afterwards.

[Eurus]

[roll0]

The man has a hard time talking while shoved into the ground, but manages to squeal something like "Yes, we did, I'm sorry!"

Rather than risk being slowly crushed to death, he decides to be a little more forthcoming. "We don't have a base right now, there's a gorge with some caves in the side around the river a few miles upstream where we've been hiding. The boss said we had some kind of inside man who'd make sure nobody woke up, but I dunno the details!"

[Eurus]

Dannek attacks recklessly but swiftly, blades flashing back and forth as he applies the longer reach of his main blade to keep bearing down on Jason and his smaller blade to vex any openings the boy leaves.

Around this time, two guards wander into sight at the end of the street, observing the display curiously without making any move to actually stop it.

[roll0]; [roll1]; [roll2]
[roll3]; [roll4]; [roll5]

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason again dodges the larger blade and gets clipped with the knife.

"That knife is getting annoying."

Jason attempts a strike with his hand but is warded off by the blades, and tries to disarm the man of his knife, but can't get a clean shot.

Flurry of Blows
First attack: [roll0]
Nonlethal damage: [roll1]

Second attack is a disarm attempt against the dagger: [roll2]
If it succeeds, free attack with the taken dagger: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4]

[Eurus]

((Attack roll to not get disarmed: [roll0]))

[Malanorea]

Akai

Akai growls in frustration, a frustration she tries to work out by punching him unconscious. After that's done, she hefts him, morphs out of her Ecto Ranger costume, and carries him and Nyanko back to the caravan, which may or may not take them past Jason and his fun.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"Please stop being so mad. I'll make purring noises! Purr purr purr... oh my! I've forgotten how to purr! Think, think, think..." she says before falling asleep. The cat-like girl starts to make a noise that's a cross between a purr and a snore.

"I'm awake! Don't send me to the kennel!"

"Oh. We're taking prisoners. I think this will make people even more mad at us."

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa really shouldn’t go; she’s liable to give something away, she wasn’t looking for a mark, she didn’t care about swindling idiots... not really. But if she couldn’t kill, perhaps the con would be some small measure of justice. Like using a fly-swatter where a scalpel was needed, but nothing could be done about that.

“Sure, I’m up for burning a few bûbhoshu.”
bûbhoshu, n. pl., 1. pig-guts; 2. fools

Implication is people who fear stupid things, or whose fear drives to stupidity, though it’s also just a common insult without those specific meanings.

And hopefully their consciences were up to the task of dealing with her.

[Eurus]

Jason

Unfortunately, Jason's determination to disarm his opponent cleanly seems to be working against him, as Dennek has long since caught on and is taking care to avoid the attempts. Not so much care as to slow down his own assault, though, and a smug smirk spreads across his face.

"Feel like yielding? No hard feelings, if you do."

[roll0]; [roll1]; [roll2]
[roll3]; [roll4]; [roll5]

Akai and Nyanko

This late in the day, the roads are mostly empty, which is probably to your benefit. That is, until you stumble upon quite a significant crowd gathered in the road, apparently watching some sort of fight. Most of the audience is unusually well-dressed, in dresses and suits with glittering jewelry rather than the drab functional outfits common to the town. There are also several guards watching with some amusement, so fortunately none of them are paying attention to either of you.

Faintly, you hear voices coming from the circle. And one of them, apparently, is Jason.

Rúsëa

It looks like Dasha doesn't quite catch the term, although the bard does, if his grin is an indication. Either way, the two seem glad to have "another youth along to corrupt", as the bard puts it. Neither of them look much older than Rúsëa, but, well, who could tell these days. Although from the glance he slides her, it seems that the bard is lumping Dasha in with "youth" as well.

Your ragtag band slips through narrow, empty streets in the darkness, lit only by the last faint orange rays of sunset and Rúsëa's own golden glow. The house in question, when you reach it, is large but rather shabby looking, and squarely in one of the poorer parts of town, further from the castle and river. The bard leads you to the back door and casually knocks, and a young woman soon opens the door to welcome you into what appears to be a perfectly normal house and shows you down the stairs to the cellar. A bookcase sits next to the stairway door, and seems to be positioned such that it could be moved to cover it if need be.

Downstairs, you find a cozy little speakeasy, if your definition of "cozy" includes unpleasantly warm and smelling like cheap ale and cheaper tobacco. A number of people appear to be focused entirely on their sullen drinking, while a number more play dice or cards. Typical, really, that banning the practices probably made them both even more popular than they otherwise would have been -- dice tends to be a horrendously boring game at the best of times, but any port in a storm.

At the moment, the card table seems to be dominated by a full group, playing for higher stakes than the usual. Most of the players are gruff-looking men, with the notable exception of the current dealer, a girl perhaps two or three years younger than Rúsëa in a bright blue and gold tunic. She appears to be accumulating a decent amount of wealth, and likely a decent amount of ire.

Dasha and the bard spare that table only a glance before picking up a mug each and heading over to the dice table. She starts to play, while he wanders around making conversation with people he seems to already faintly know. Their plan appears to be a longer game, identifying promising marks to either cheat or rob later on and building up a rapport; both of them appear to be making friends very quickly.

[Forrestfire]

Jason Abital

Jason responds with an amused "Yield, what's that?" as he dodges the blades.

Jason then drops his own blade and abruptly steps forward, planting his palm in the center of Dannek's chest and knocking him to the ground with the force of the blow. During his fall, he snatches Dannek's knife from his hand and slashes with it.

"How 'bout you? Feel like yielding?" :smallamused:

Initiating the mighty throw maneuver.

Melee touch attack: [roll0]
Trip attempt: [roll1]

If the trip succeeds, free attack from Improved Trip is a Disarm attempt against the kukri: [roll2]

If the Disarm succeeds, the weapon is held and Snatch Weapon grants a free attack with Dannek at -4 AC from being prone against melee: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4]

Confirmation if crit: [roll5]
Extra damage: [roll6]

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

The catlike girl, hanging limply from Akai's arms simply screams "FREEBIRD!" before going limp again. "Let's go to the wagon train to the dwagons, Miss Awesome Pants."

[NineThePuma]

**** it, Miri goes back to the stable where Rex is and curls up with her pet dinosaur. She then sleeps until the party leaves the town.

[Malanorea]

Akai

Seeing the crowd, Akai decides to dump the guy in a corner and follow what is likely the most helpful suggestion to come from the cat, going back to the wagons for the night, cat-cuddling as she's come to do.

[RúsëaMenci]

Rúsëa Menci

Rúsëa isn’t there for cards, though she does make a show of a bit of wide-eyed wonder at them. She tries striking up conversation, flirting a bit, but both poorly and awkwardly: she’s not a seductress, at least not this night, she’s a naive country girl, harmless and quite possibly vulnerable, which might draw the attention of either predators or would-be knights.

Taking-10 for 17 on Disguise.

[UglyPanda]

Nyanko Fluffywhiskers

"So, who do we talk to about figuring out why everyone hates us? You think their mayo is an evil condiment, oppressing and overtaxing everyone?"