Cole grinds to a halt when the creatures flee. He splits his suspicious watch between them and the poisondusk only a few steps away.
He nods without looking at Wultram. "It is the kind thing to do." He pauses to look down more small, lifeless bodies of his one-time teammates, "Though I have no shovel."
Irret looks down. "Good meat on the dog," she comments.
Cole looks back at Irret shakes his head, responding in draconic.
He indicates the dinosaur bodies.
"Good meat on the big ugly f!@+ing birds too." Rehil breathes while he looks at the bodies. Even a casual glance is enough to show there's no hope of reviving them, but Rehil stares on, seeming to drink in the scene.
Will was odd, but he made a good medic. Patched me up a couple times. F#@$, that's two of us gone. Three, if you count Bokehn. Four if you count the dog. What did Niaceniel say, 'Don't count the cost, just look to the mission.' How in darkness' name do you make yourself that cold?
He turns away and wipes his sword clean.
Irret shrugs, then grunts an order. The Finbacks begin butchering the dinosaur carcasses. All the the while, Oula watches the outsiders impassively.
The lizardfolk wait while Will's companions do the best they can to honour their fallen companion, but they are keen to move off - the scent of blood will draw other predators. They head down the stream for about half-an-hour before it joins another. Through a gap in the trees they can see the Finbacks' village about a mile ahead.
It is quite a lot larger that Pooma's village. There are more huts, and in the middle there is an open space and a large, dome-shaped structure. Beyond the palisade is the Finback River, along which are stretched a large number of lean-to's and other temporary dwellings.
As they draw closer along the river bank, it becomes clear what is going on. The shacks and bivouacs are occupied by lizardfolk warriors, many of whom gaze at the newcomers with undisguised hostility. Most do not have the same markings as the Finbacks, showing them to be from other tribal lands. All bear arms, and not a few carry wounds. The tribes - some of them, at least - have answered the chief of the Finbacks' call to war, and this is where the army has gathered.
Some of the braves jostle and Irret hisses at a few to make them draw back. But as the softskins head towards the gate into the village, a large group of lizardfolk gathers in their wake, following and getting larger as more join it. The grumble and murmur of lizardfolk voices gets louder.
As they enter the village, the adventurers see an unexpected sight. A few of the Finbacks are going about their business. But in the central square, they spot a human - approaching middle age, dishevelled but seemingly in decent health. He stands with two Finback lizardfolk - one young, the other venerable and leaning on a staff. Irret heads in their direction.
Cold or not, Rehil appreciates the value of good gear, especially given how little they have. He moves to Will's body and lays it out straight on the bank. Then he begins going through the halfling's goods.
Rehil finds himself growing more anxious as they see more of the mustering lizardmen's encampment. We're not getting out of here without the chief's bond.
The sight of a human in rags among the lizardmen fills Rehil with dread. A captive. I hope he doesn't want us to save him from being present as dinner. I'm not sure we could save ourselves. Still maybe we could learn something about the despoiler's plans from him
Rehil is pretty sure that if the point was forced, Cole would try to save the man. His heart sinks further, but he squares his shoulders and forces his face to remain impassive.
Vaard steps cautiously into the camp with the group. Surrounded by lizardfolk from hostile tribes, he braces himself to be attacked at any moment.
Another human captive, he thinks upon seeing Otto. Why was he in Q'Barra? Why is he being kept alive?
Cole marches stoically into the sprawling lizardfolk village. At some point, the growing number of lizardfolk warriors overwhelms his capacity to track them all … much less have any confidence that they could effectively cut their way to freedom if they needed to. He does try to keep tabs on the Ouala and his cronies, but even that becomes impossible in the press of scaled flesh around them.
Then he sees the other human. Cole pauses momentarily, caught off-guard, before he exchanges a look with Rehil. With a shrug, he continues following along, a solitary dark gray metal pillar among all the soft-skins.
When the human approaches, Cole steps forward, paranoid and overly-protective of his group, as usual.
Cole answers the man bluntly in Galifaran, his rumbling voice lacking any emotion. “Are you with the group that’s been warring with the lizard men?”
Ship!? Rehil frowns. Was it the ship?
It's Rehil's turn to exchange a look with Cole, and Wultram and Vaard and Nalverren and Ashshar, before the elf speaks, "Relax, man. If you have nothing to fear from the lizardfolk, you have nothing to fear from us."
Nalverren apprises the situation, and regards the newcomer with a blank face.
"The Karrn's got the right of it. First order of business is keeping our heads on."
Rehil scowls. "Otto. I'm Rehil Ecraish. This is Cole. Nalverren, Ashshar, and Vaard. Pull yourself together. If you are not with the despoilers, they may believe that you can be of use. But you must not look weak. How is it that you're still alive?"
The massive, so-dark-gray-as-to-be-nearly-black warforged nods slightly at his introduction. He's a hulking model, and one of older construction to someone who knew what they were looking at ... with thick, clumsy-looking joints and thickly-constructed limbs. And another oddity ... other than some recent-looking damage and wear-and-tear, he looks to be in surprisingly good condition for such an old war model.
Seemingly satisfied with the human's answer, Cole re-shoulders his longspear—a thing of lizardfolks make that matches a massive war maul slung on his back—and resumes his watch of the activity around them.
"We're only here willingly because one of their warriors made some kind of binding truce with us in order to get us to come talk to their chief." He nods to two lizardfolk who seem to be comfortable among the outlander party , "Vaard says they'll honor the truce as long as we do. But a word of advice ... don't trust the little ones. They have their own agenda, and it seems to include the destruction of all of us."
Rehil nods. "Especially the little shaman with the croc. He's got status and power fueled by a whole lot of hate."
Meanwhile, Irret approaches and speaks with the old lizardfolk woman:
"Not quite as instructed," replies Koouri, "Where is Ssendaar? Many of the braves who left with you are missing. And the outsiders still bear arms."
"They are powerful warriors. Ssendar and the others were slain in the battle. I offered them the binding truce so they would come with us. They seem honourable."
The old female nods slowly. "That was both wise... and unwise. But the egg which hatches unexpectedly bears opportunities. We shall see. But the chief will be displeased with Ssendaar's death and so many braves. He is ever quick to anger, and slow to think. It will make him less amenable to us, and may strengthen Jageela against us."
"I did what I could," replies Irret, somewhat defensively.
"You did. If we could see the end of every battle there would be no need to fight. Now we must fight with different weapons."
They break off their conversation as Oula arrives, borne by his crocodile, with his three remaining poisondusk archers. The large crowd of lizardfolk follows behind him, streaming through the village gate. He turns and addresses the mob.
There is a collective hiss from the mass of lizardfolk warriors and they press closer. Someone throws something which splashes in a puddle close to Cole.
The crowd grumbles at Wultram's outburst and Oula bridles. Then Irret speaks up.
A Cold Sun lizardman steps out of the throng. Judging by his gear he is of some seniority, and his scale markings show him as from a different tribe to the Finbacks. Irret immediately bobs her head in deference. He turns and addresses the assembled lizard-warriors.
The crowd begins slowly to disperse, the lizardfolk heading back out of the gate. The lizard-warrior looks back towards Koouri and nods before following them. Oula hisses and turns his crocodile towards the chief's palace, his archers trailing in his wake.
Koouri grunts:
She looks at Wultram.
Cole’s stance becomes uncomfortable at the volatile exchange between the poisondusk and Wultram … until the older warrior steps forward to disperse the crowd. Cole looks down at Wultram.
“I can’t blame you, but Otto is right. We should be careful while here. I don’t plan on being destroyed in this camp, but that will take some caution.”
Cole’s inhuman gaze shifts between Otto, the older lizard-warrior, his group, and then to this Koouri.
Rehil motionlessly watches the exchanges with a dull expression until Wultram's outburst. Then his free hand slides by the knife-hilt on his belt. He doesn't dare do anything more overt. The hand creeps away as the senior lizardman defuses the situation.
...
Wultram looks at Otto and Cole. "You are probably right, but at least we will now likely actually get to the chief. Though me losing my temper does not likely improve their opinion of us."The mage then turns his attention towards the woman.
...
"I doubt anything could worsen the Poisondusk's opinion of us. Talking back may have shown some of the Finbacks that we won't be cowed. Was that tall noble-looking lizardman who calmed the crowd the chief? How do we stand?"
Later, Rehil edges around the group to stand behind Otto's right shoulder. "Does anyone here speak a human tongue?"
Koouri replies to Wultram.
With that, she hobbles towards one of the larger huts around the central space in the village. The younger lizardman follows her, while Irret takes her leave and heads towards the chief's compound.
When tensions increase, Nalverren leans on his cane, pressing the sheath into the mud slightly. As the situation is diffused, he pokes the cane into the puddle near Cole, to see what was thrown in.
Probably a rock or offal, but perhaps a hidden message...
When Rehil complains about the language, Nalverren looks at him. "I speak the human language!" while smiling to indicate the joke.
Nalverren summarizes the situation for Rehil in Common, "So far, the croc-shaman tried to stir up s*+~. Our captors reminded everyone of the truth, and sent everyone else packing since it's the Chief's decision whether we live or die."
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"Not that I know..." answers Otto with a shrug. "Not that I had an opportunity to discern this. I would count on the priests to speak our language."
"Too bad."
When Rehil complains about the language, Nalverren looks at him. "I speak the human language!" while smiling to indicate the joke.
The elf looks at Nalverren blankly. The mildly awkward moment ends when Koouri leads them away.
Cole nods towards the retreating Koouri, and his rumbling voice addresses the whole group.
“We should stay together … at least for now.”
If the group follows Wultram, so does Cole, hoping as always to be where he needs to be to protect them.
Rehil follows, keeping an eye out for anyone following them.
On the way he tries Otto with an
Vaard also trails Wultram cautiously.
Perhaps this human is of the friendly variety. I can never tell with the humans...
".Yes, it is. You look like a learned man and I was hoping to speak my mother's tongue again."
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Probably a rock or offal, but perhaps a hidden message...
The adventurers enter Koouri's hut. There are benches around the edge of a central space and embers smoulder in a central hearth. Koouri sits down wearily and indicates that the visitors should do the same. Eshsheth stands by the doorway. She opens the conversation:
Cole stoops to enter the hut, and remains standing even after offered a seat. It's not done in a challenging manner ... more a mix of knowing the weakness of his teammate's flesh and NOT realizing it might be rude not to accept the offer of hospitality.
He responds in Draconic, halting on some of the more difficult concepts or words.
Rehil drops to a seat next to Ashshar and asks the lizardman to provide a running translation.
The elf looks keenly around hut.
Koouri looks curiously at Cole as he provides a cogent answer in her own language. She is obviously surprised and intrigued that he clearly has a mind of his own.
"We lizardfolk struggle to understand the affection the humans have for pieces of shiny metal. It seems to bring them little happiness, and endless strife.
"But to answer your question, the humans arrived in their sky-boat at Da'Sheth perhaps a month ago. Da'sheth is taboo for most lizardfolk, but we shamans visit it for certain ceremonies, to ensure that the demons buried there do not stir. We Finbacks were the first to find out, and were attacked by humans and metal men, and some sort of metal giant. They seemed to be digging." She shudders. "Everything has gone mad since then. Perhaps the demons are already abroad among us.
"The desecration made Chief Ylyeshshi angry, and he order that the humans be thrown out of Da'sheth. But the humans have many powerful weapons, and the braves of the Finbacks were thrown back time and again, and many died. This made the chief even more angry, and he called upon the other tribes to aid him. They have gathered here to fight the humans. But I fear that they will still fall to the fire and lightning the humans and metal men wield.
"And the poisondusk and the blackscale also came, at the behest of the dragon lord of Haka'torvhak. They sway the chief with notions of defeating the humans in Da'sheth and then destroying the human kingdom in the south. But it seems that the Cold Suns lose their braves while the poisondusks hang back. Instead, the Finbacks are weakened and become prey for other tribes. But the chief cannot see this." She shakes her head. "He only sees war, and glory, and blood."
"And then, a week ago, the humans came in their sky-baot and took the meeting stone that stands between the Finback and River Serpent lands. Our braves fought them, but were slain. When they took the stone, the land seemed to die in a big circle about where the stone had stood. It was never like that before."