Stranded in 1650: IC

[Evoker]

I'll tell the others what he said.

Well, at least the spell works. Shame they can't understand me, and our plan of gesturing seems to have fallen through.

[Thundercracker]

I'll tell the others what he said.

Well, at least the spell works. Shame they can't understand me, and our plan of gesturing seems to have fallen through.

Samuel ignores his comrade’s pessimism and shakes his head at Sunbul.
“No,” he said, moving the plate of porridge aside, to show they understood.

“Speak,” he said, pointing to his mouth, “Sunbul speak.”

“Ontor listen,” he said, pointing directly to Ontor’s ear.

[JbeJ275]

You mean to learn to understand us? That would be wise indeed. Ahh.. We will find a teacher for you yes? He says with hand gestures indicating speech and writing but with little overall clarity.

[Evoker]

Well, I'll report that to the other party members.

Is it possible to distinguish and/or parrot specific words by matching them with the meanings I receive, or does that fly to close to the spell granting me the ability to speak the language/is impossible because I don't match meanings to specific sounds, just get the overall meaning of the speech as a whole.

[Thundercracker]

Samuel nodded.

“Magic,” he said, casting detect magic.

“Ontor”, Samuel said, pointing to Ontor’s ear.
“Understand,” he said.

“Magic, Ontor, understand,” he said, casting detect magic again, then to their ears.

[JbeJ275]

Wait this is... more sorcery? And you admit that it is true sorcery? You... can understand now what we say? Hüseyin Pasha will be most interested. Can you understand me? If you can... Ontor please point towards a window with the most little finger on your left hand. At this point he has stopped with the hand gestures, and adopted a look of clear bewilderment.

[Evoker]

I do so, then wait for him to continue.

[Toliudar]

Mama

Well, it seems like some kind of communication was occurring.

"If you can maybe ask this Sunbul guy to write down a hundred or so common words, then you'll be able to read them and write down our versions next to them, right? That way, when your magic wears off, we'll have the start of real translating. Remember, if they don't have magic, they're probably gonna be really scared of it. And us."

[JbeJ275]

Following this exchange Sunbul continues to speak, largely seeming concerned with the immediate situation. You have landed on the island of Crete and after a far-away nation used the kingdom here to launch attacks on innocent travellers within their realm, an empire ruled by the house of Osman, thus they launched an expedition here to persuade the kingdom to change loyalties and evict these Venetians and their mercenary armies. Most of the island greeted them openly with open arms including Rethimno, the town you're currently in, and Chania the city you're heading to. Your appearance was quite sudden, and you arrived next to Candia. That was the one city that the Venetians had enough control over to prevent a peaceful turnover and force an unnecessary fight. The city is now under siege, and so when you appeared they initially worried the gleaming light was related to the Venetian fleet somehow so sent riders and soldiers to investigate and ascertain the cause. Now you are being taken to see Gazi Hüseyin Pasha, the leader of the military force.

He does seem receptive to answering more specific questions, and is willing to backtrack to cover more complex areas. However your inability to ask proper questions does hinder you somewhat.

Breakfast finishes while he is still describing your circumstances, and he rides with you in the carriage as he goes into more detail.

[Evoker]

I'll translate for the rest of the group. I'll also give Sense Motive a try, see if he's lying or concealing the truth in some way.

Spoiler: Sense Motive

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(d20+3)[5]

[JbeJ275]

He seems to be honest in regards to the broad strokes details he’s giving you.

[Thundercracker]

Samuel

“Good idea, Mama,” Samuel said. He turned back to Sunbul.

“Samuel, magic,” Samuel said, casting detect magic again.

“Ontor, magic” Samuel said, pointing to Ontor’s ear.

“Gazi Husayin Pasha, magic?” Samuel asked.

[JbeJ275]

Mage-ic? Ah, your word for sorcery. He replies. No, Husayin Pasha is no witch or sorcerer. Nor one of those mystics who claim blessing from the prophets. I do not know where you come from but here there are no men who practice such things openly and those miracle workers that claim to work true magic in the City’s streets are never so bold or clear about it. It shall be Husayin Pasha who decides your fate as we know you have no bond to the prophet.

[Toliudar]

Mama

As soon as it becomes clear that they are being guided toward a carriage, Mama stops and uses gestures of riding a horse and pointing to herself that she wants her horse brought here, to travel with them. She will not become violent, but will get quite loud in her repetition if necessary.

[Evoker]

I'll translate any responses that Sunbul makes to the gestures that Mama's making.

[Dimers]

"This is a chance for our hosts to show their goodwill, Mama Masala," Emlin notes, also wanting to see his own beast. "Have they cared well for what we came with? Will they be fair about allowing us our worldly goods -- and our friends? I know Tikka cares for you, and not just because you give her carrots." The young paladin stands firm with the midwife, 'speaking' as best he can with gesture. Makes me wish I'd learned to draw better than a child!

[Thundercracker]

"This is a chance for our hosts to show their goodwill, Mama Masala," Emlin notes, also wanting to see his own beast. "Have they cared well for what we came with? Will they be fair about allowing us our worldly goods -- and our friends? I know Tikka cares for you, and not just because you give her carrots." The young paladin stands firm with the midwife, 'speaking' as best he can with gesture. Makes me wish I'd learned to draw better than a child!

“I almost think we should craft an earring of comprehend languages before we go,” Samuel said, “then we could have proper talks. From what he says, it sounds like magic is frowned upon, if not outright banned. We could be walking into a very serious situation here.”

[Evoker]

That's not a bad idea. Is anyone able to craft an item of that sort? I am not, unfortunately.

[Thundercracker]

That's not a bad idea. Is anyone able to craft an item of that sort? I am not, unfortunately.

“I can, with the right materials,” Samuel said.

[JbeJ275]

Mama

As soon as it becomes clear that they are being guided toward a carriage, Mama stops and uses gestures of riding a horse and pointing to herself that she wants her horse brought here, to travel with them. She will not become violent, but will get quite loud in her repetition if necessary.

They take a while to correctly interpret the gesture but seem to eventually. They are somewhat hesitant to let you ride freely, but seem willing to replace one of the horses drawing the carriage with Tikka if that would quiet your complaints.

[Toliudar]

Mama

Mama quiets down when the folks offer to put Tikka into the team pulling the carriage. She stands nearby and gives Tikka reassuring gestures as she's harnessed into a team for the first time.

And then, when the others are ready, Mama settles back in the carriage and tries not to show how frightened she is. She watches out the window for landmarks, and for signs of how the people in this land are faring under this government.

[Evoker]

I'll talk with Samuel regarding the creation of a comprehend languages item.

Spoiler: Question

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Do I need to make some sort of Knowledge check to suggest creating a Pearl of Speech (MIC)

[Evoker]

You could craft a Pearl of Speech. The requisite spell it's embedded with is a little beyond my capabilities, but it would allow convenient two-way communication.

[Thundercracker]

You could craft a Pearl of Speech. The requisite spell it's embedded with is a little beyond my capabilities, but it would allow convenient two-way communication.

“Maybe,” Samuel replied, “but we need to find someone who can cast ‘tongues’, plus it only works for one language. Two earrings of comprehend languages will let us lend one out and talk to anyone.”

“More importantly, we need to get out of this situation and get back to town first...” he added.

[Evoker]

True. I am worried about that... On the bright side, they do seem to be fairly honest about their motivations. I can't believe that they would be so thoroughly deceptive as to create a fairly complex motivation for their actions without even knowing anything about our own goals. For all they know, we could be in favor of unprovoked war, as the orcs are.

[Toliudar]

Mama Masala

Mama shrugs.

"You remember being a kid, Ontor? Every fight was always the other guy's fault. This is no different. For all we know, the 'Venetians' have been in charge here peacefully for a thousand years, and these folks are the invaders.

"And now they're taking us to some siege so...what? So that we can use our terrible sorceries to tear down Chania's defences, maybe? Best case is they never figure out that we can't do that. Worst case is they figure out that we can't do the big stuff, and they decide not to sweat the small stuff."

A new thought occurs to her.

"Weird. If they don't HAVE magic here, how come they even have words for it? I mean, maybe, this empire of theirs HAD magic, but lost it somehow, a long time ago."

[JbeJ275]

As you speak the carriage continues down the long sea road, blessedly better maintained than the earlier paths. Sunbul remains in the carriage, speaking mainly about the commander's place in the Ottoman court and the various factions that exist within the army units here. He goes on to speak more, presumably of other topics and is responsive to people asking for more specific information but soon enough the spell does fade. (Would Ontor use more castings to hear this information or ask him more questions?)

After several hours of this you see another city out of the carriage's front window. It is settled neatly above a large harbour, occupying one side of an isthmus that connects the main island to a smaller landmass, there a barracks and training field has been set up to keep the soldiers here well stationed and keep their skills honed. The harbour is almost entirely empty, the ships currently there well below what you'd expect for such a large piece of infrastructure. From afar you see the city walls, which seems to have had several breaches patched over. You also see a series of ruins on the coastline or on various islands beyond the fort, all fallen but one almost completely levelled as though by an extremely powerful explosion.

The carriage skirts around the walls of the city, instead entering a low wooden building next to the military buildings. Here you are shown inside again and taken to another room. Sunbul, having travelled with you throughout this will slowly repeat what he said earlier, somewhat confused by your changing ability to understand him but not to agitated. (Would you cast it again now?) They show you down several halls until eventually having you in another room, one that seems better appointed than most soldiers would have, likely forming part of the officer quarters. Here they attempt to show Mama into one room and the other three into another, are you co-operative in this? And do you do anything else on your journey over.

Spoiler: PS

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For successfully finding out the current political situation without making any enemies, and also learning a little bit about magic in this world you all gain 250 XP.

[Toliudar]

Mama Masala

On the carriage ride over:

"Keep an eye out for mice, squirrels, critters like those. In the morning, we might be able to convince one of them to head back home with a message. Let everyone else know what we've learned, anyway."

She follows her own advice, keeping an eye out on rest and bio-breaks to try to lure a small rodent into her shopping bag.

--

Seeing the ruins, and especially the evidence of the explosion:

"Holy sh*t! Maybe they don't call it magic, but they've got something here. And if our hosts can do that, it certainly helps explain why there's only one city holding out from them."

--

When their hosts try to show Mama into a separate room, she simply smiles and pats one of their cheeks.

"Now, I understand. Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do, flatter me with special treatment. I know that I'm twice as old and twice as sexy as that lot, but there's no need to embarrass the boys by giving me a room of my own."

She follows Emlin, Ontor and Samuel into their room.

Spoiler: OOC

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Survival? to lure in a rodent or other small animal (suitable for the Animal Messenger Spell) with some bits of bread. (1d20+10)[22]. If she has a moment of privacy, she'll form her Shapesand into a wireframe hamster ball around the critter and drop it in her Haversack (finding opportunities to take it out for air whenever they have privacy).

Diplomacy? to defuse any tensions with their hosts when they try to separate Mama. (1d20+7)[11].

And in preparation/hope of casting Animal Messenger in the morning: Survival? to understand roughly how far they've travelled and in what direction, since yesterday morning. (1d20+10)[21]

[JbeJ275]

The guards are a little slow to react, and when Mama slips into the other rooms they haven't had the chance to react. She sees a room with a few benches, a few basins of water, a few dividing curtains and three folded pairs of gentlemen's formal wear. It's fairly similar in style and cut to what the officers have been wearing on the trip over. Common sense tells you this is a dressing room of some sort.

Spoiler: OOC:

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You find a suitable Rock Dove with little difficulty, and it seems just as readily friendly as wild creatures back home helping you out with little trouble.

The guards certainly seemed agitated and wary when you slipped past them, but none to the point of violence.

The constant presence of the northern shoreline makes tracking direction very easy. Distance is a little harder but you have a good estimate, it's between forty and fifty miles between riding for much of yesterday and the carriage trip today.

[Evoker]

Unless someone else has a specific request of me to re-open communications, I'm saving my second casting of comprehend languages for an emergency.

I'm very impressed by the evidence left by the explosion. Assuming that it would be similar to a Fireball, I'll prepare a casting of Resist Energy the next time I rest, swapping out my preparation of Augury.

I will try to object to the formal wear, trying to communicate to the guards that I'm not willing to part with my armor.

Spoiler: Diplomacy?

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(d20)[2]