GLoG 93: Something something something babies

[Earl of Purple]

Arriving

There are about forty people, twenty-five women and thirteen men, plus Prumathe, Sekhmet, a large snake with a human head and two tails, a half-drow captive and Samantha the brownie, who is hard to see- she appears most often as movement in the corner of the eye, and it's difficult to look straight at her. The ex-slaves are mostly wearing ragged old clothing, and several are bearing injuries. Nothing too serious, but certainly painful. Approximately half the slaves are human, the rest are a mix of goblins, halflings, gnomes, elves and dwarfs, with a few oddities- a white-skinned kor with long silver hair and quite unusually for her kind, no tattoos; an obese hobgoblin and a blue-skinned mudokon.

"We, uh, should let someone in charge know to get these guys settled. And figure out what to do with her." He nods at the half-drow, standing a short distance away and trying to look at everything she possibly can- if Sekhmet lets her.

[bc56]

Arriving

Sekhmet has the half-drow's actions pretty well controlled. She can move her eyes and mouth, and not much else. Sekhmet marches her to the gate and then leads the group to the main office. "We should, uh, probably talk to someone in charge."

[Shadowcaller]

Ironoak Cabin

”Oh, no problem, then. I’ll go get my sword!”
Domhnall sticks some food in his mouth and goes trotting back to his cabin to dig through his things without waiting to see if Pathfinder meant after the meal or after the preparations.

[Ironoak Cabin]

"I'll have to go by my office before we leave too," Sophie says. "There's something I'll need in case of trouble."

Tuskfang, meanwhile, is looking strangely sullen. This looks like spirit stuff that his dad does and which interests him greatly. But it also looks like it'll be dangerous, so they probably won't let him come.

Ironoak Cabin

Tuskfang's disappointment is noted by his father, who reaches out to set a hand upon his shoulder. "Not much longer, I promise." He swears, giving the shoulder a squeeze. "Then I'll teach you more about it." He'll settle in and wait for Reelshka to arrive before filling her in. If she doesn't object, especially after nibbling some ears, he'll grab his belt of pouches, a pair of tomahawks, his flint dagger, and a cloak. The Wolfen is ready to depart whenever they're all ready and squared away.

Ironoak Cabin

Anika looks to the others who suddenly seemed in such a hurry which in her mind meant she had to hurry along as well. "You think the demons already back?! Yikes, I got to hurry then! Meet me at the well, Domhnall can take you there!" With that she turns into a large red hawk and flies back towards the well.

[Earl of Purple]

Arriving

"Maybe we should have told someone what we were planning on doing before we, um, actually did it." That would have probably been wise. The half-drow doesn't fight Sekhmet's control; she hasn't figured out how. Mostly the ex-captives will settle down here- including Nocri, who has come to the realisation that, by selling her, the Fairy Godfather has forgiven her remaining debt. Or at least acknowledged she can't pay it, which is basically the same thing. So she's much happier than she's been in a long time, without that worry over her head.

[bc56]

Arriving

"There wasn't enough time. We did what we had to," Sekhmet reassures Prumathe. She brings the controlled slaver over to her. "We need to deal with her now." She tries to flag down someone of authority to help with their captured slaver issue.

[Earl of Purple]

Arriving

"Yes, we do. Hm. MERC might want her, they've got a no slavers policy. Intersection... Slavery's illegal in Inside, but she's not an Inside citizen, probably. There's nothing they could charge her with. Vigil are also anti-slavery. GLoG doesn't have anywhere to put her, I don't think." Prumathe's never noticed a jail about to put captive slavers in, so Vigil or Merc seem like the brighter ideas. Sekhmet also knows people in Vigil, but I don't think Prumathe knows that.

[Morty]

[Arriving]

Reelshka arrives quickly after Prumathe and Sekhmet arrive with the slaves. She's quick to organize shelter and food for them, since that's what GLoG does on a regular basis. The rest of this situation is going to take some explaining.

"It seems you've had quite the adventure," the goblin woman says matter of factly. "I'm glad you brought people who need help to us, but there's clearly more to it." She waves her hand towards their captive.

[bc56]

Arriving

"I, uh, have a friend in VIGIL. I can, uh, phone her." Sekhmet pulls out her cell phone. She begins dialing Geneva's number, but holds until Prumathe give approval. "If that doesn't work, uh, I'm sure MERC will take her." She gives the slaver a pointed look. How does she feel about being handed over to either of the two anti-slavery organizations? They won't be nearly as soft on her.

She looks to Reelshka for advice. "She, uh, followed us home." The prisoner doesn't have any visible restraints, but is standing stock-still, not moving except for her eyes. "What do you, uh, think we should do?"

[Earl of Purple]

Arriving

"My sister, Nocri, was abducted by her loanshark and sold to pay off her debts. We, uh, rescued her. But had to do it quickly before the opportunity dried up. I'm sorry we couldn't warn you first, but... Time was important. We were told by Aethelflaed that if they had about sixty in the Groundtown warehouse, they'd ship them to Skyside for processing." And there's about forty ex-slaves present, so it was closer than Prumathe liked.

The half-drow doesn't seem very worried about being handed over to Merc or Vigil, but she looks with interest at Reelshka.

[Morty]

[Arriving]

"That's... understandable, I suppose." Reelshka doesn't look pleased with the situation, but she does understand. She's simply a person who doesn't react well to being surprised. "Anyone rescued from the slave trade is to be treasured. And... is this person your prisoner? Are you controlling her somehow?"

[bc56]

Arriving

"Uh, just her body. She would have, uh, sounded the alarm. Sekhmet looks guilty. This goes against her principles, but it would have been a lot harder to get away otherwise. "She's, uh, threatened to report everything she's seen to, uh, the guild." Sekhmet understands that that means GLoG's defenses as well. She noticed how much the captured slaver was trying to observe.

[Earl of Purple]

Arriving

Given that the half-drow doesn't have any special senses, she didn't see the ghost fence, nor any of the supernatural wards against intruders. Just the physical cactus fence that I think still exists.

"I could eat her. Would that make things easier?" The speaker is the large snake with the humanoid head and the twin tails, the first things it's said since it was freed from its cage.
"It... would not, no." Prumathe thinks eating the half-drow would make things easier, but he doesn't want to watch. And also it's probably morally wrong, even if slavers are the lowest form of scum.

[Gullara]

Hawthorn Cabin

"Was it?" Sekhmet sips her tea. She's very curious what the children think now that they actually have met her, and aren't working off rumor. Of course, their meeting with Ellie first probably didn't help things, but the alien beastie is currently lurking beneath the table and snarfing up crumbs of biscuit that Russel drops with a long tongue.

[Hawthorn Cabin]

Lucy shakes her head. "Not really. It's kinda normal." Russell pokes Lucy's arm and the girls turns to him. "What?" He points at Ellie. "Oh yeah, she was scratching at the door and there was scratches on the floor and that was kinda scary."

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

"Ellie's a big softie. Most of the time, she's harmless. Right girl?" Sekhmet reaches under the table and gives Ellie a scratch. "She got worried because someone broke in and she didn't know who it was." Hopefully that's believable, because Ellie actually wanted to kill the intruders, but Sekhmet stopped her.

[Morty]

[Arriving]

Reelshka's ears dip. This just got a lot more complicated.

"No one is going to be eaten, no. But neither can we let her get back to her superiors, for all kinds of reasons. And since we can't keep her here, we need to hand her over to someone."

[bc56]

Arriving

"Yes, we were, uh, just talking about it. Do we give her to VIGIL or to, uh, MERC?" Sekhmet is busy measuring the pros and cons of each approach. MERC is more actively opposed to slavers, but she knows people in VIGIL which might make some of the work easier for transferring the prisoner, and the VIGIL base is pretty secure and should be hard to escape.

[Earl of Purple]

Arriving

"I think maybe Vigil? We won't have to pay them to take her off our hands, at least." And this soon after the wedding, Prumathe's finances are still a little tight. Paying MERC is a little outside his budget, unless they're cheaper than he thinks they are.

The refugees are splitting up a little, looking around and finding somewhere to stay. Samantha and Nocri who have been here before are acting as guides, and presumably some of the other inhabitants are helping.

[Morty]

[Arriving]

Reelshka puts her hands on her hips.

"MERC has a grudge against slavers, that's true. Their leader... well, I know where he comes from and what they do to slavers down there. But that doesn't make MERC particularly trustworthy, so Vigil is probably a better option."

[bc56]

Arriving

"I, uh, have a friend in VIGIL. Should I phone her?" Sekhmet is unsure of the procedures involved in transferring prisoners like this. Do they just go there and hand her over? Will she even be able to maintain her control that long?

[Murkus]

[Giant Slide]

Lucy probably fails to notice the arrow on the first ride down. The second time, however, she probably tries to drag Tuskfang along so they can 'double check', and there's good odds he or Jillian will notice by then. Even if she's the last to see, she'll probably be the first to shoot off that way.

[Earl of Purple]

Arriving

"Yes, you call her. I'll keep her still whilst you do." Prumathe walks to the half-drow and grabs her around the middle, pinning her arms to her sides and lifting her effortlessly up. She can't struggle; he's boosting his strength and stamina so even if Sekhmet let go, unless she has some magical trick that could help, she's not going anywhere.

[Gullara]

[Hawthorn Cabin]

Lucy glances under the table at Ellie. There's definitely some uncertainty there. She doesn't act like a normal animal from her perspective. Normal animals aren't so hostile. "We never broke in. The window was open." Lucy clarifies.

[Giant Slide]

As it turns out, Lucy and Jillian's instinct to go down the giant slide first is correct, because while they're heading down, they might notice an arrow created out of rocks and pebbles on nearby sand, pointing towards the centre of the camp. Whether either of the two girls notice it quickly is another question. The arrow is difficult to notice from ground level (at least kid-sized ground level).

[Giant Slide]

Lucy probably fails to notice the arrow on the first ride down. The second time, however, she probably tries to drag Tuskfang along so they can 'double check', and there's good odds he or Jillian will notice by then. Even if she's the last to see, she'll probably be the first to shoot off that way.

[Giant Slide]

Going down a slide is pretty distracting, on account of being very fun. However on her second trip to the top, when she's adjusting her skirt to sit down on the slide, Jillian notices the arrow. "Lucy look! There's a big arrow!" She points at it from atop the slide.

[Deathkeeper]

Ironoak Cabin

Domhnall returns after a few minutes with a sword strapped on.
”Wait, where is everyone?” he asks Pathfinder.

[bc56]

Hawthorn Cabin

"Sure, sure." Sekhmet replies. Her tea is drained, a lot of biscuits are eaten, and everything else seems to be finishing up. "I should, uh, probably bring you two back to your mother, shouldn't I? She's probably worried by now." They've been gone for what, a half hour now?

[Morty]

[Giant Slide]

Tuskfang is on the bottom when Jillian calls out. He's not quite as excited to use the slide, since he sees it every day. He turns to look in that direction.

"It must only be visible from up there! That's clever. Where is it pointing?"

[Arriving]

Reelshka eyes the slaver. She doesn't like violence, even towards someone who has in all likelihood done worse to others. But there's no other option here for now.

[bc56]

Arriving

Sekhmet spends a few minutes on the phone. "We can, uh, bring her over whenever. They'll, uh, have a cell ready for her." She looks around. "Do we, uh, have rope or, uh, handcuffs? Keeping her, uh, immobile is tiring." And Sekhmet's been doing it for quite a while now.

[Earl of Purple]

Arriving

"Um, I don't have any, but I've got her for now if you need a break." Prumathe didn't think he'd need rope or handcuffs, ever. He doesn't own anything like that. Unfortunately, most of the ex-slaves also don't have anything like that either. None of them had bindings in the warehouse.

[Morty]

[Arriving]

"We do have some rope. It's probably best if Vigil take her away soon. GLoG isn't a place for keeping prisoners," Reelshka says, her tone and expression still worried.

[bc56]

Arriving (and probably leaving again soon)

The slaver should be summarily tied up. Now everyone should be ready to go to VIGIL. "Thanks for the help! Bye!" Sekhmet waves farewell to Reelshka.

[Earl of Purple]

Arriving, And Leaving

The slaver doesn't resist being tied up, and they can leave. She's hoping to be a good girl and get... Maybe not rewarded, but lowered defences.