(D&D 5e) The Plague of Nightmares IC

[Jrpergande78]

Jynx walks over to the carrier as she hands the letter to Yvonne.

Because, the sender of this letter knew our family names! Names that I for one, never shared. Only Manda knows my family name and I'm sure none here can or will speak to him. This bag it was in, do you still have it? I must see it.

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu gets the distinct feeling he should have haggled for more than 5 silver, but he let it slide. After all Horsey and Toady seem to have hit it off well enough.

He experimentally gets on her saddle and starts to feed her a carrot.

In any case, Zuzu, being perched atop Horsey, is now at eye level with the Knightess. Conjuring up a Mage Hand, he snatches up the letter and reads it. Of course it HAS to be written in poetry. With atrocious metre and forced rhymes at that! Such things make something that is already meant to be already quite abstruse to be even more enigmatical. And so, the young gnome reads it out sonorously (to the extent his vocal cords are capable of producing any amount of bass, which they aren't) and his mind tries to translate the esoteric prose to something more comprehensible.

"I don't get it," he finally says. "Why the concern about the last names? Only nobles have them; my Master said so. And anyway, shouldn't you be more angry at being called a lunatic or devil? I'm not mad at all, of course, because I think I'm the enforcer and it doesn't sound bad at all!" Zuzu grins to himself. Most likely, Lady Yvonne was the guardian, leaving Snakey to be the devil and Jynx to be the lunatic.

General Intelligence Check to understand the poem, because I'm not as smart as Zuzu: (d20+3)[14]

[Awful]

Poetry.

Yvonne had never cared for poetry.

"Use your wits, child," she grunted to Zuzu. "It is not the names in particular; it is what they signify on the letter. Who or what wrote this letter clearly has a lot of knowledge about us, while we know nothing about them - except a fondness for verse, it seems."
She stared at the letter now held in the gnome's tiny hands.
"Devils, undead and fallen angels. Whether it's truly a warning or an attempt to dissuade us makes no difference, in the end. I will not be turned away by poetry, not matter how awful."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Religion check to see what she recognises that the letter might be talking about: (1d20)[17]
History check for the same: (1d20+3)[6]

[Jrpergande78]

I for one, Lady Yvonne, am ready to move out.
No devils, fallen Angels or anything else will stop us from putting an end to these nightmares.

Jynx remounts on top of Manda's head, she knew if it were a puzzle, she'd not be able to figure it out.

[Requilac]

Jynx walks over to the carrier as she hands the letter to Yvonne.

Because, the sender of this letter knew our family names! Names that I for one, never shared. Only Manda knows my family name and I'm sure none here can or will speak to him. This bag it was in, do you still have it? I must see it.

The courier hands you the fur pouch that s/he also used to carry the letter over without making much remark. It looks like the pouch was once meant to hold jewelry or other small, delicate valuables, but you see no trace of it in there. It seems to be made of yak hair. You don't really notice anything remarkable about the little pouch other than that, so if there is anything supernatural about it then it is well hidden.

General Intelligence Check to understand the poem, because I'm not as smart as Zuzu: [roll0]

You can't really decipher what this deal about the abandoned house and mists of time is, but the mention of angels turning into cannibals reminds you of something.

Spoiler: A Flashback

Show

You find yourself back in the wizard's tower of your old master. The particular room you are in is not his regular area of study, and the cell sized stone chamber you are in is sparsely decorated. All that there is here is a desk, chair, blindingly large amount of sconces on the walls and a grate in the center of the room. The grate looks down into a 20 ft. deep and claustrophobic cylindrical chamber.

The master is standing next to the grate and looking down into it. You follow suit, but can hear a barrage of sad whimpering before you actually see it. Down inside is what at first you think is some kind of hyena, but then you realize that it is actually closer to a humanoid child with a hyena's head attached to it. Its arms and legs are abnormally long though and oddly jointed, which it uses to jump nearly half the way up the well and scrape its claws against the sides of its chamber, like a child trying futily to escape from its crib. Its eyes meet yours and it lets out a long mournful howl that is almost like a song to you.

You are cracked out of your revelry by the feeling of a switch scraping your leg. "Zuzu", your master intones too eerily quiet, "listen to me. Hand me my book pen, the jar with the rat, and the pedant. "

You do so and then ask what the creature is, and immediately feel guilty for asking such questions. Instead of beating you though, as he normally would for such infractions, he merely looks down in the cell dazed as he accepts the items. Then he actually answer your question.

"This is a gnoll. Once the race of these creatures were angels, serving for the God of Light and Law and sniffing out those who he had deemed needed to be brought to justice. This god's most loyal servant was known as Yeenoghu, and it was she who gave birth to the first generation of gnolls. But when the Godsfall Cataclysm came, Yeenoghu betrayed her master and devoured him, embracing the power of the fiend. And then all of the gnolls under her were inflicted with her madness and infernal magic, and became corrupted. They changed from avatars of justice, to harbingers of vengeance that relentlessly slay anyone who wronged them in the slightest."

He opens the jar and drops the rat into the chamber. On its descent it hits the hyena like creatures on the head. The creature in the cell below suddenly erupts into a violent fury and minces the rat in a flurry of claws and bites. There is no interest in eating, only in completely obliterating its corpse. A brief growl emits as it is doing this, but the process goes by so quickly that not nearly as much sounds of rage are made. Only a second after it began, the creature has returned back to its whimpering state.

"Such creatures would make such a wonderful servant", the master continues in morbid amazement, "if only they were a little more obedient to their true masters than to Yeenoghu. But Yeenoghu's attachment does not go so easily... but I wonder... what would happen if they believed that they found a stronger, more worthy, master than Yeenoghu? Could then perhaps they be tamed."

The pedant is that of a silver bat with emerald eyes and it is connected to a chain much longer than is needed. He whispers something to the pedant and its eyes glow before gripping the end of the chain. He then lets the pedant drop into the chamber right on the head of the gnoll, still holding the chain so that the icon dangles. You expect the hound hybrid to tear it apart like the rat, but instead it cowers in fear, hands over its head. A smile spreads across the master's face as this happens.

He always did have such an odd way of teaching you. It frankly seemed like half the time he was simply revealing to you his theories. This one is especially interesting, but you make no comment on it, because you are not supposed it.

Poetry.

Yvonne had never cared for poetry.

"Use your wits, child," she grunted to Zuzu. "It is not the names in particular; it is what they signify on the letter. Who or what wrote this letter clearly has a lot of knowledge about us, while we know nothing about them - except a fondness for verse, it seems."
She stared at the letter now held in the gnome's tiny hands.
"Devils, undead and fallen angels. Whether it's truly a warning or an attempt to dissuade us makes no difference, in the end. I will not be turned away by poetry, not matter how awful."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Religion check to see what she recognises that the letter might be talking about: [roll0]
History check for the same: [roll1]

The mention of falling angels turning into cannibals seems like gnolls to you. The story goes that they were once a race of low level angels that served the God of Light and Law, but they became corrupted with infernal power and went mad. Now instead of serving out fair justice they are relentlessly intent on wreaking vengeance against anyone that hires a band of them to kill someone who has wronged them, violently slaying all who get in their way. You have never seen one personally, but have heard tell from the history of other countries that enraged rebels have summoned bands of gnolls to completely massacre the opposition, and then the warband seemingly dissapeared without a trace. It all seemed too epic to be true, and your teachers never really seemed to talk about them, so you always assumed that gnolls were a myth, or even if they were real, that they were greatly exaggerated.

[Zergrinch]

Okay. Looks like we're going to see some gnolls. They're like humans but with hyena heads. My master showed one to me and it was able to tear apart a rat very quickly! But my master was able to tame it with some kind of pendant, but he never told me how. So what are hyenas afraid of? Or maybe we should buy some bones to distract them, after we buy some clothing for the colder climate.

Oh, Lady Yvonne, is there enough left to buy a cart? Maybe we can get another pack horse to carry our stuff because I'm sure Mr. Snakey and Snakey-Snakey will not want to carry things.

[bc56]

Yaotl hisses in pain. He should know, but he doesn't; it's infuriating. "Thossse wordsss, sssomething'sss wrong with them."

[Awful]

"There is enough... but I'm loath to spend more on a cart and all the encumbrance that involves if we're able to carry the weight ourselves, never mind if one of us is experinced in manning a cart."

[Requilac]

Yaotl hisses in pain. He should know, but he doesn't; it's infuriating. "Thossse wordsss, sssomething'sss wrong with them."

The more you ponder it, the more it feels like needles are swimming through your skin. You then begin to realize that you feel stab wounds in more than just one place, but all over your body. This almost perfectly correlates with the flashback you had earlier of being stabbed in mass. For some reason, the name Citlacotzin was very much on your mind as you were being felled.

[Zergrinch]

"Mr. Snakey is under attack!" Zuzu declares as he scans around looking for enemies to flambe.

Initiative: (d20+3)[7]
Perception: (d20)[17]

[Jrpergande78]

From outside the barn Jynx hears the declaration that "Mr. Snakey" was being attacked caused her and Mand to look around for someone dumb enough to try to attck Manda, she forgets momentarily about Yaotl.

[Requilac]

"Mr. Snakey is under attack!" Zuzu declares as he scans around looking for enemies to flambe.

Initiative: [roll0]
Perception: [roll1]

You don't really see anything around that could really attack Yaotl. No animals larger than a squirrel are about, and the only humans here is the party and the courier, neither of which are close enough to stab him. And looking at Yaot, you see no sign of injury other than his reaction. Either he is having another plague delusion, or he is being bitten by insects, the latter of which you cannot see either.

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu goes to the squirrel and tries to talk to it, asking if some evil person is lurking around.

Animal Handling (1d20)[18]

[Requilac]

Riding atop your valiant steeds of Eyor the gray horse, Horsey the maroon pony, and Manda the serpent you all head out on the road. It is snowing outside at a decent pace, one which isn't enough to restrict your horse's movement too much but does restrict your sight quite a bit. It doesn't take very long for the dirt road to be so covered in snow that it cannot be seen, but luckily cairns have been placed all along the roads so that you know where to go. So far the sun is managing to shine through the snow clouds well, making it so that things are well lit outside even if the mist obscures your vision.

Those of you who are used to snow expect a sort of quiet to come with it because many of the animals hibernate or migrate from the frigid areas; this is absolutely not the case here. A chorus of frantic frogs and cicadas are madly sounding off as if it were in the middle of mating season, despite the conditions outside being absolutely impracticle for it. Bats, Owls and other night predators are out and about during the light of day and feasting upon the many insects which are about. Squirrels and rabbits are frantically rushing about as if it were a forest fire, and you can see several of their corpses buried in the snow. There is something incredibly disturbing by how active this forest is in conditions like this.

For hours on this path you didn't pass a single soul, but as you look ahead you see the first sign of people on this road. A small caravan of what you assume to be 16 or so people is up ahead. A legion of llamas can be seen herding around four different tube-shaped wooden covered wagons, with four llamas per wagon. Around this caravan you can see what appears to be a troop of seven or so soldiers, all dressed in winter clothing made from tough fleece that would blend perfectly in with the snow if they actually tried to conceal themselves. It is difficult to identify any distinguishing features through the full winter clothing and matching uniforms. Each of them are equipped with a greenish tinted arming sword, a quiver of darts and some strange but thin device for throwing them

The closest three soldier towards you rides out towards in your direction at a nonthreatening canter and stops in front of the party. Trailing close to them is some strange canine creature with brownish fur and black spots that looks like so lean that it almost reminds you of more of a cat than a dog. Its lips are pulled back in a sort of cruel smile and it delivers an odd yip at you that sounds almost like an impossibly deep throated cat yowling, mixed like almost a bird call. One of the soldiers dismounts from their llama and stands before you, with weapons clearly visible but not willing to draw them.

The cavalry person speaks in a sonorous and rolling accent,where the pronunciation of words which don't place emphasis on the vowels are completely butchered. For once though you can actually tell that the speaker is a woman, which marks the first time ever since you entered Senckried when you could successfully asks someone's gender. "We are here acting under the orders of High Captain Barakathe of the Army of Tloclix Empire to maintain peace in immediate area. We have evidence that the Order of Umbra is active on this road. What is your reason for trying to go down this path, and do you have any involvement in the Order of Umbra?"

This is completely blindsiding most of you. The Tloclix Empire has never once had any sort of presence in Braughlmark, and now here they are saying that they have authority to harass travellers like this in its grounds. Most people in Braughlmark don't even know what the Tloclix Empire is, and even then you all know very little about it other than the fact that it is some sort of Elvish Empire in the Jungles to the South. You haven't heard much about them at all, much less of them having any involvement in Senckried. Actually, wait a second... didn't the guerillas say something about the Tloclix before?

Spoiler: Your characters Knowledge on the Tloclix and Elves

Show

Jynx: This probably isn't your first time dealing with the Tloclix Empire. You are well acquainted with the fact that elves are simply a race of humanoids that where given special powers by the Fey Wardens of Sylwyth, of whom Yig is one, and that most of their race belongs to the Tloclix Empire. Of all the humanoid countries, they are the most receptive to fey coming into their lands, and often times elves will deliver sacrifices or worship to higher ranking fey. You don't really view them as any different than normal humans who are just generally more tolerant of druidic magic.

Yaotl: You distinctly remember that the elves were once a race of humans who, after being cursed by a fiend to forever be haunted by nightmares that prevent them from resting, employed the fey to help. The fey wardens aided this race of humans and granted them special supernatural abilities, the most signifigant of which is the fact that they do not actually need to sleep, just meditate to rest. You also remember that the clergy of the Tloclix empire has a habit of performing human sacrifices on felons and prisoners of war, which seems to be something you can recall very specifically. Their interaction certainly strikes you at odd, but seeing as how Yig and other fey where seen in the area, it isn't wholly something outside the realm of possibility.

Yvonne: You have heard the fact that there was Empire in the jungles across the sea mentioned before on rare occasion, but you never truly decided to focus much on the matter. In your history class you vaguely remember hearing a lesson about how they were once a race of people that somehow became close to the Fey, but you didn't particularly find that History lesson signifigant so you didn't listen very much and can remember very little about it. Almost all stories depict Elves as dishonorable thieves and cowards that aren't really all that dangerous but are incredibly untrustworthy and deceitful, likely to betray anybody for a profit. Yvonne probably believes this negative stereotype about them because this is the first time she has ever seen one before, but she couldn't really pinpoint where this belief comes from.

Zuzu: The elves of the Tloclix empire has made some very good strides in fey research and druidic magic, so they are pretty well known to you due to your stuides. Although the history on this matter is vague, it is clear that they are a race of humans who where imbued with the magic of the fey, giving them special capabilities. At first the Tloclix was just a tribe, but eventually they conquered so much land that they became one of the largest empires in the world. You don't remember ever hearing about the Tloclix being active in Braughlmark, but colonizing certainly isn't outside of their regular activities, so this isn't like hell has frozen over just yet.

[Awful]

Yvonne narrowed her eyes as the patrolwoman rode up. She pulled on the reins of her horse, bringing him to a halt, and she gazed imperiously down at the approaching warriors.
"I am Knightess Yvonne of Sonnenstahl, faithful of Vitay and noble of the kingdom of Braughlmurk." Her tone was strong and forceful. "This is not the Tloclix Empire, and you have no authority here. By what right do you dare bar our passage?"

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu the blabbermouth begins to talk unbidden.

"Oh hi there, lady, you are Tloclix right? I'm Zuzu and I have the Plague of Nightmares and I'm gonna die soon but before I die I want revenge on those stupid Order of Umbra people. We are on our way to see the Knightess' friend, and someone wrote us this very strange poem which says that there are gnolls nearly and that they are serving the undead. Oh, and there was something about lingering memories given some kind of life sublime. Oh it also ends with something saying madness comes for our souls, but I think it is just poetic license and nothing more than a attempt to impress us.

So now I told you about us can you tell me about you? Is it true you know some fey magic? I am looking for a way to summon a familiar which is a creature from the fey wild and I think it will be very helpful for our mission. I can trade this Wendigo collar for it if you like! What do you say?"

[Awful]

As Zuzu began to speak, and before he could get very far, Yvonne interrupted him and barked "Quiet!"

[Jrpergande78]

Not caring about the petty issues between the Empire, or other kingdoms, Jynx and Manda moves up.

While what Lady Yvonne says is harsh it's true, you have no right here, as for the Umbal, the only dealings with them we have is stopping the nightmarish plague that is taking over the land. As for where or why we are heading in this direction, well it's not of any concern to you. I have dealt with the Emmppire before, I'll not tell you, again as nicely. Please step aside, go back home and let us do what the gods have tasked us to.

[Requilac]

Yvonne narrowed her eyes as the patrolwoman rode up. She pulled on the reins of her horse, bringing him to a halt, and she gazed imperiously down at the approaching warriors.
"I am Knightess Yvonne of Sonnenstahl, faithful of Vitay and noble of the kingdom of Braughlmurk." Her tone was strong and forceful. "This is not the Tloclix Empire, and you have no authority here. By what right do you dare bar our passage?"

The winter clothed soldier regards you with a respectful bow but her tone of voice rings with a repressed frustration. "My lady, I am sorry, but you must understand, I am not an ambassador, I am a soldier. I do not know any of the minutia regarding foreign affairs or what country has authority to do what in this convoluted and ambiguous mess called "politics". I am simply following the orders given to me by my superior officers. I don't want to be here, I didn't choose to be here, and I don't fully understand what is happening here, but I have to carry out my duties here. If you are truly a knight as you say, then you have to understand the importance of following orders. If you have a complaint with the Tloclix Empire, then I am not the person you should bring it up with, because I am not in a position to do much of anything except for do what others tell me to."

Zuzu the blabbermouth begins to talk unbidden.

"Oh hi there, lady, you are Tloclix right? I'm Zuzu and I have the Plague of Nightmares and I'm gonna die soon but before I die I want revenge on those stupid Order of Umbra people. We are on our way to see the Knightess' friend, and someone wrote us this very strange poem which says that there are gnolls nearly and that they are serving the undead. Oh, and there was something about lingering memories given some kind of life sublime. Oh it also ends with something saying madness comes for our souls, but I think it is just poetic license and nothing more than a attempt to impress us.

So now I told you about us can you tell me about you? Is it true you know some fey magic? I am looking for a way to summon a familiar which is a creature from the fey wild and I think it will be very helpful for our mission. I can trade this Wendigo collar for it if you like! What do you say?"

Not caring about the petty issues between the Empire, or other kingdoms, Jynx and Manda moves up.

While what Lady Yvonne says is harsh it's true, you have no right here, as for the Umbal, the only dealings with them we have is stopping the nightmarish plague that is taking over the land. As for where or why we are heading in this direction, well it's not of any concern to you. I have dealt with the Emmppire before, I'll not tell you, again as nicely. Please step aside, go back home and let us do what the gods have tasked us to.

The patroller looks slightly surprised and amused by Zuzu's behavior, but doesn't really let that show in her tone. Instead she directs her attention towards Jynx, which is luckily much less awkward then it needs to be because you are on Manda's pack when she is not mounted, making your eye levels roughly equal. "So you are an enemy of the Order of Umbra then, is that correct? If so, all you have to do is present us with some proof that you have fought against the Order of Umbra or are otherwise affiliated with a group that is working against them and then we will let you go through. We will not take anything from you, but we will need to at least see something."

"I am sorry if this is inconvenient for you, and I don't personally have anything against you, but my orders are my orders. I would have gone back home months ago if I had the choice to. Please don't make this harder for either of us here by doing this."

Interestingly enough, neither of the two soldiers next to her are saying anything. While its true that usually one person in a group will be a lead speaker, the fact that the others have said absolutely nothing strikes you as off. There must be some odd procedures these foreign soldiers are accustomed to.

[Jrpergande78]

Why, my and my companion(pats Manda on his his head), are all the proof you need. Yig herself has brought us here to be with this group and to put a stop to the plague and those who try stop us is against Yig, and those against Yig pay dearly with their lives. Of course that's what she told me, anyways you are far beyond your borders and the fact that you will not allow us to pass makes me believe that perhaps you are involved with the order of Umbra. So, I present to you the very same proposition, show us proof you are the enemy of Umbra, and we'll show you ours.

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu fishes out the steel hula hoop he got (remnants of the Wendigo's collar). For good measure, he waves around the Sceptre of the Storm the Sorcerer dropped.

"Here's a control collar we got from a Wendigo that the Order was controlling and it was eating a lot of people. And so we got on a trip to kill the Wendigo, and actually while we thought to ambush it, we were the ones ambushed. It was a bloody fight and the Order was controlling the Wendigo through this collar by their evil Sorcerer representative. But we beat the bad guys up and the Sorcerer dropped his wand and now it is mine, and the Knightess chopped off its head with a single blow! And then we tracked them to their hideout and found it abandoned because the Nagaraja was killing them all. But we did find this mushroom thing whose spores are in this vial and this ration that we found when we first met on the way to Senkreid. But it's okay because we beat it so bad that it became invisible, and ran away in shame. I am sure it will never bother us again. So yes I hope this answers your question whether we are friends of Umbra or not."

[bc56]

Yaotl doesn't speak, because he's currently in the form of a snake, curled up in one of the horses' saddlebags with his head poking out. He hisses frustratedly, but doesn't act at the moment.

[Requilac]

Why, my and my companion(pats Manda on his his head), are all the proof you need. Yig herself has brought us here to be with this group and to put a stop to the plague and those who try stop us is against Yig, and those against Yig pay dearly with their lives. Of course that's what she told me, anyways you are far beyond your borders and the fact that you will not allow us to pass makes me believe that perhaps you are involved with the order of Umbra. So, I present to you the very same proposition, show us proof you are the enemy of Umbra, and we'll show you ours.

Zuzu fishes out the steel hula hoop he got (remnants of the Wendigo's collar). For good measure, he waves around the Sceptre of the Storm the Sorcerer dropped.

"Here's a control collar we got from a Wendigo that the Order was controlling and it was eating a lot of people. And so we got on a trip to kill the Wendigo, and actually while we thought to ambush it, we were the ones ambushed. It was a bloody fight and the Order was controlling the Wendigo through this collar by their evil Sorcerer representative. But we beat the bad guys up and the Sorcerer dropped his wand and now it is mine, and the Knightess chopped off its head with a single blow! And then we tracked them to their hideout and found it abandoned because the Nagaraja was killing them all. But we did find this mushroom thing whose spores are in this vial and this ration that we found when we first met on the way to Senkreid. But it's okay because we beat it so bad that it became invisible, and ran away in shame. I am sure it will never bother us again. So yes I hope this answers your question whether we are friends of Umbra or not."

The leading soldier manages to keep her composure pretty well, but the two next two her aren't so unemotive. One of them takes their hand off the hilt off their sword and seems to noticeably relax, and the other just sighs out of boredom and frustration. The yet to be unnamed women-at-arms nods at Jynx and clasps her hands together.

"So you will not give us any evidence that we are fighting against Umbra unless we show you proof that we are. That can be arranged for."

She then turns slightly to the side and yells, "Ey, Chaplain, faigh thairis an seo, agus na bràistean againn a thoirt seachad an seo cuideachd!"

A response is then delivered rather angrily by one of the men back at the caravan: "Tha an t-ùghdarras againn thairis orra an seo, agus chan eil ùine againn airson seo. Na leig leotha bacadh a chur air ar n-obair."

Another winter-clad figure steps out from the caravan and then responds back to the previous speaker in a much calmer voice: "Chan eil dad sam bith eile ri dhèanamh fad an latha, agus is dòcha gum bi sinn cuideachd a 'toirt beagan mhionaidean gus an socrachadh."

He then walks towards where the other trio of soldiers are standing, where he receives another request by the woman you have been speaking too. "Seall dhaibh gu bheil sinn càirdeach do Yig".

The new person responds to this by taking out the Holy Symbol of Yig: a jade snake wrapped around a holly branch. He then waves his hand over it and causes it to grow a green light. A Venus Fly Trap, another symbol closely related to Yig, then sprouts from the end of the branch and opens to reveal a dead beetle. Manda, almost as if acting on a well known custom, lowers her head into the trap and slowly pulls the insect out, the fly trap only shutting when Manda's head is taken out. The snake nods to Yynx, as if here expressing approval at this.

"That should give you proof we are aligned with Yig at the very least. If that isn't satisfactory enough for you, I had my friend here carry over my badge and papers if you needed to see them." The person who just made this display of druidic magic raises a stack of leather bound parchments and a token carved out of Jade. The token depicts a tree with five branches that has different animal heads deriving from each branch: owl, mouse, cat, moose and snake. Jynx and Yaotl can recognize that this an official badge given to enlisted soldiers by the Tloclix empire, but Yaotl isn't sure why he remembers that. It looks almost too familiar though.

[Zergrinch]

Now that their bona fides have been established, Zuzu turns to one of the more relaxed Tloxians.

Is it true you know some fey magic? I am looking for a way to summon a familiar which is a creature from the fey wild and I think it will be very helpful for our mission. I can trade this Wendigo collar for it if you like! What do you say?

[Awful]

Yvonne cast a glance at the forest to either side, looking for signs of Tloxy troops hiding for a potential ambush. She grunted, unimpressed at the basic magic with the symbol of Yig.
"Very well. I'll see those papers and the badge."
The noble held out her hand to demand the papers, which she would scrutinise.

"Well, you can consider my companion here enough evidence: I'd hardly consider the Umbra likely to ride a snake."
She stared at the wagon and the troops around it for a moment.
"Are we likely to encounter more of you on the road? Where are you based from, soldier?"