The merchant caravan organized and owned by Silas Gribb sets out of Cassomir on Gozran 14th 4713. The first two days of travel are lazy as the small caravan travels on the well-used roads surrounding the huge city. As the caravan settle down for the evening, the green stretch of a forest can be seen in the distance. Silas, his smooth voice confident, stands up once everyone has their evening meal. "Tomorrow we reach the Verduran Forest so I need all of you to be prepared. We'll be traveling on the Verduran Highway and on such a well-used passage we probably only need to be worried about looking like a juicy target for bandits."
He smiles, only a little of the snake-oil charm coming through now that he has you on 'his' team. "But the forest has dangers. Ettercaps, fey, river pirates and even dragons." He shrugs at the last, "I've never seen one, but supposedly it is true."
He takes a bite of his own bowl of stew. "So what I'm saying, if you think your in over your head, Cassomir is only a few days walk back." Just the glint of steel in his shewd eyes, "If you can give me back your advance pay, of course." He makes this almost sound like a joke, almost.
"Any questions?"
Farmer snorts, looking down at his twisted leg. "Not walking anywhere. I'm good."
"Not to worry, Farmer." Akatsuki says with something of a shy grin as she inspects one of her horses, "If you truly need getting somewhere, I'm sure Yoake here could get you there just fine." Aka isn't really sure why she finds herself attracted to the affable big man, I mean, they pretty much just met, but she is. She'll try to figure that one out later, maybe over a cup of mead or something stronger. She turns to Silas, "Have previous caravans been attacked more often while traveling or at night when camped? And how long should it take to get to Yanmas?"
Pasara gets a faraway, almost dreamy, look in her eyes when mention is made of dragons. But she reigns in her woolgathering and thinks over Silas' warning.
She shrugs as if to say "No questions."
"Should be just a hair over three weeks," Silas says, confident in the distance, "unless something slows us down. Most nights will be camping on the side of the road, but there are a few small villages between here and there. We'll be trading for a few things in Belhaim, I have a contact from Wispil and that's a fair meeting point for us." The expected questions are easy, the answers flowing off of the merchant-man's tongue.
"Were peril a concern of mine," Willem says, his tail lashing back and forth, "I might refrain from carrying explosive powder next to my heart. Nor close my eyes 'round the likes of her." This last is punctuated with a nod at his partner Bakuu.
Akatsuki had been initially unsure about the little rat-man and his more familiar feathered friend, but after a few minutes had accepted them as just being different. "and what is Belhaim known for?" she continues, apparently choosing to overlook Silas bypassing her first question and the possible response, or not, by the rat-folk. Then sh blinks and decides that would not be courteous. She smiles at Black Willem and says, "I will be sure to keep that in mind and look forward to fighting by your sides...for the right reasons, course."
"I'll not worry, Akatsuki."
Farmer's chain shirt makes noise as he shifts and squints at Silas.
"How often do you anticipate we will be attacked?"
Sigrit nods sharply in acknowledgement at the words of her new companions. Akatsuki's words of reassurance to Farmer seem to please her, or perhaps amuse her.
She tilts her head, considering, at Willem's statement, and looks him over carefully, as if trying to sift out recklessness from courage.
Silas answers Farmer's question first, "I've done this run about a half dozen times now. In total we've been jumped by bandits three times. Did lose a guard on the first run when he went scouting and got ate by a plant."
Then, directed ever so slightly more to Akatsuki, "It's just a little farming village. If it weren't for the fact that it's close to the Verduran Highway and along the Eastern Wispil Road, I'd not even know it existed." He smiles, "If we keep to my normal schedule we'll get there just about dusk and leave the next morning." A pause, "They have decent apples."
A pause, "They have decent apples."
Akatsuki smiles, patting her horses neck, and looking up at her fondly. "You'd like that wouldn't you Hana?" and noticing Sigrit's eyes on her grins in return and nods in acknowledgement to the Pharasmian cleric.
Faf scowls thoughtfully at the wide expanse of green forest ahead as Master Gribb speaks, his face getting a bit uglier at the mention of Wispil. "Bandits'll be the least of our troubles in the Verduran. With luck the rest will keep to themselves if we do the same." He scratches at his recently shaved head with a harsh rasping sound, eliciting a pained look from the rather large lizard-raptor curled at his feet. The beast takes a moment to hiss at the ranger before going back to gnawing on a piece of . . . something it found along the way.
Pasara regards her new friends. She seems about to say something, but reconsiders. While she's excited for the adventures to come, Faf's and Aka's talk make her feel a lot greener than she did when she joined up. And Willem's comments don't make her feel any easier.
Silas smiles over at Faf, "That's why I hired you, Badgerhand, always a gleaming ray of optimism." He takes a bite of his stew. A small shudder at the flavor and he moves away from the main campfire to chat quietly with Hans and Sven, the other wagon drivers.
Sigrit regards Pasara. "What comes, comes. We'll manage it." She pronounces her words with a great deal of care, although she doesn't seem to be unfamiliar with the language. "That one just wants to see if we can be needled, methinks."
"Were peril a concern of mine," Willem says, his tail lashing back and forth, "I might refrain from carrying explosive powder next to my heart. Nor close my eyes 'round the likes of her." This last is punctuated with a nod at his partner Bakuu.
"Willem, you've closed your eyes several times just today." Bakuu lays her fingers across the new paint around her own eyes with a smile. "Your pockets are safe." She regards the group around the caravan, eyes focusing on Sigrit. "Yes, we'll manage it," she says with the same cadence, patting the curved blade at her hip. She slides over to Pasara, regarding her intently. "You done this before, lassy? You seem... ill at ease. Her voice takes on a gravelly tone. When Bakuu stands still, it's very still. It may even be easy for someone to forget she's standing there at all as she waits for an answer.
"Willem, you've closed your eyes several times just today."
"True, though never both at the same time," he says this with a suspicious glance at the party's animals.
At Sigrit's words, Pasara seems to ease a bit. She gives the cleric a small thankful smile.
"Um. No, this is my first real caravan," she replies to Bakuu. "I'm not as sure of this as the rest of you seem to be."
"Um. No, this is my first real caravan," she replies to Bakuu. "I'm not as sure of this as the rest of you seem to be."
"Take comfort in that should the inevitable occur, Pharasma will not have to look long to find us," Willem says.
"Take comfort in that should the inevitable occur, Pharasma will not have to look long to find us," Willem says.
"Why does that not bring me comfort?" Pasara mutters, mostly to herself.
Sigrit regards Pasara. "What comes, comes. We'll manage it." She pronounces her words with a great deal of care, although she doesn't seem to be unfamiliar with the language. "That one just wants to see if we can be needled, methinks."
Faf inclines his head slightly in respect to Sigrit - "More than that Akhoond Pharasma. The Verduran shelters a great many things, quite a few of which I would rather not disturb. We should be ready for anything. Victory rarely favors the unprepared." The last said while worrying at his badly scarred hand.
"Victory rarely favors the unprepared." The last said while worrying at his badly scarred hand.
Farmer pulls out a spiral-shaped flask, and takes a deep draught. "Indeed," he says.
Gribb and the two drivers settle down shortly after dinner, leaving the hired guards with the full responsibility of watches and security. His trust seems well placed as the night passes peacefully and the only disturbances in the night are those expected - although those familiar with the area are a little surprised that the normal animals remain further from the camp than is typical.
Around noon the following day the caravan enters the edge of the Verduran. This close to the edge, the group only seems one or two of the blackwood treets for which the area is famous. They pass a few other people on the main highway but not many. Once in a while, someone catches sight of what was at one point and time a road leading deeper into the forest - now overgrown, slowly reclaimed by the ancient woods.
After two solid days travel through the Verduran, the caravan comes to the meeting of the Verduran Fork and Sellen River. In the dusky light, the shape of the Isle of Arenway can be made out across the river, small lights appearing in the few structures allowed by the druids.
After dinner, Coming quickly across the water, two dark shapes being towed through the current. With a bit of a wave, the two men are pushed up on the small fishing dock. A woman rises out of the water, her body invisble in the water, but resolving into the visual range out of the water.
Both of the men immediately start gasping to breath, coughing up painful lungfuls of water. Her limpid blue eyes move over the group, "에어 브리더 내 수영장을 따라 나무를 절단 하였다." She motions to them, "그들은 위치 죽은." She says rather defensively, as though that has been an issue before.
She settles back into the water, her pale blond hair turning invisible as it sinks into the water, seeing if the group has any questions before she leaves the men. Both men, still hacking, look rightful terrified of the woman.
They are dead.
There is a decent chance that she understands Taldane.
Willem holds his gun loosely, barrel pointed vaguely in the direction of the water woman while he awaits translation or the commencement of hostilities.
Guessing what is going on, Faf nods to the woman, and takes the two sputtering men by the scruff of their collars and pull them away from the water.
"You boys are lucky, she need not have left you on dry land. So what mischief were the pair of you up to then?"
The wagon itself does not seem to bother Azdahag, but he starts to make a low hissing sound when he gets close enough to smell the passengers. A hiss that gets noticable louder when the small gunslinger comes into view.
One day, when Faf and Azdahag are passing from one side of the caravan to the other, they circle around the wagon Black Willem is riding. When the pair gets a little closer than the raptor likes, he hisses defensively at the ratfolk gunslinger.
Guessing what is going on, Faf nods to the woman, and takes the two sputtering men by the scruff of their collars and pull them away from the water.
"You boys are lucky, she need not have left you on dry land. So what mischief were the pair of you up to then?"
One, the younger of the pair by over a decade, continues to cough, not looking at any of the group. The older, snarls, "She shouldn't have grabbed us off the shore in the first bloody place. What kind of world is it coming to when a man can't whittle a bit without being blindsided by a f&&#ing fey?"
Pasara looks from Faf to the woman in the water to the men from the boat, hoping an explanation comes soon.
She also mentally calculates whether the woman is likely to be subject to her Sleep spell, and doesn't like the answer she is coming up with.
Farmer watches the scene unfold.
Faf glowers at the older, wet man - "Whittling you say? And what were you whittling at, exactly? The fey have better things to do than take the likes of you on a swim. These woods are protected by the Treaty of Wildwood. "Whittling" on proscribed trees is forbidden by mutual agreement between the Druids and Kingdom of Taldor. Of course, if I read your speech right you're Andoran - not bound by the Treaty, nor protected by it. The lady fey is within her rights to do with you what she will. What say you to that?" *nudges the younger man with his boot*
Faf chides the raptor - "Azdahag, mind your manners! This one is a friend." - gives the dino a bit or jerky to worry at.
"Easy Faar-Ghazi Willem, this great dragon is no threat to you. Save your ire for the forest dragons our caravan master have us worry about. I've not met one of your ilk before - might I ask from where you hail?"
"As I remain unet, he remains unshot. On my honor as a shootist, such that it may be, I'll not be he who breaks the peace. Extract similar promise from your... turkey beast... and we'll be as babes in the warren."
Willem's tail lashes back and forth, and he continues in his normal, gruff manner. Combined with the squeakiness of his voice, that presents an odd juxtaposition.
"Ask as you like, though the answer have no meaning. Your kind lives above ground. Oh, you build to the heavens every now and again, and you'll dig a hole to store your goods, your dead, or to pull something shiny from the earth. But your domain is the inch of dirt beneath your feet. You've named it, though never has your name sunk deeper than that inch. We that burrow, we have our own names for our tunnels."
His gestures grow more emphatic, and only his pink fingertips and blackened claws are visible in his fingerless gloves.
"Oh, we have no tongue of our own, supposing we are as they say, some accident of fate, some foolish c*%&%+!@~! playing as the gods do. Or perhaps the ancient ratfolk looked upon the Taldane language and thought, 'Yes, that is as good as we will ever do.' The tongues may be twins, though the names have never met."
He unconsciously fixes his whiskers, which have been waxed into a decent facsimile of a curled mustache. "I'll not call Tempest Cay my home, though it was she spat me onto this particular dirt of yours. At least here powder can forgo moisture for longer than the span of a breath."
Faf glowers at the older, wet man - "Whittling you say? And what were you whittling at, exactly? The fey have better things to do than take the likes of you on a swim. These woods are protected by the Treaty of Wildwood. "Whittling" on proscribed trees is forbidden by mutual agreement between the Druids and Kingdom of Taldor. Of course, if I read your speech right you're Andoran - not bound by the Treaty, nor protected by it. The lady fey is within her rights to do with you what she will. What say you to that?" *nudges the younger man with his boot*
The younger man flinches away from the boot, still refusing to actually look at any of the people.
The man mutters under his breath,
Faf chides the raptor - "Azdahag, mind your manners! This one is a friend." - gives the dino a bit or jerky to worry at.
The small raptor takes the jerky, sulkily moving to put the ranger between himself and the ratfolk.
And continues to eye Willem, utterly suspicious of the gunslinger.
The more agitated the man gets, the less attention Farmer pays. He sits back down and takes another slug from his flask.
Perception:
While the grumpy Andoran man so seems like he's not going to get violent, Pasara keeps alert in case he needs a nap.
Bakuu watches, fascinated, as the men are pushed up onto the dock. She listens, almost greedily, to the way the fey creature speaks. Closing her eyes, she tries to make the words come to life in her mouth. Not enough, not yet. The language was almost as appealing as Auran to her ears. She inches closer to the men as they're interrogated by Faf, studying them for anything they might be carrying. She turns her ear back to Willem's conversation with Faf as she examines the damp humans.
"Feel lucky your shiny white ass weren't what the fey wanted, hey?" She pokes the younger man, trying to move into his field of vision as he avoids looking at anyone. "What do you want here? Certainly there are better trees elsewhere. Easier trees. Easier trees." Sometimes, Taldane flows so nicely.
Akatsuki bends down close to her horses head, whispering into her ear.
After dinner, Coming quickly across the water, two dark shapes being towed through the current. With a bit of a wave, the two men are pushed up on the small fishing dock. A woman rises out of the water, her body invisble in the water, but resolving into the visual range out of the water.
Both of the men immediately start gasping to breath, coughing up painful lungfuls of water. Her limpid blue eyes move over the group, "에어 브리더 내 수영장을 따라 나무를 절단 하였다." She motions to them, "그들은 위치 죽은." She says rather defensively, as though that has been an issue before.
Akatsuki cocks her head and her brow furrows, she looks around to the others, her brow puzzled until Faf begins his conversation. She listens intently, her gaze following the conversation from one to the other.
He glares at Faf for a moment, "Fine. It may have been a bit more than 'whittling' but between your tree hugging fey types and the big merchant corps on our side, there just ain't a way for a man to make his own living. It's a shame. A..." his eyes move across the group, trying to see if this is working at all. "An injustice, I tell you."
"Perhaps if you find what is allowed first, you will be more easily able to ply your trade." Aka says, the right corner of mouth quirking up just a little, "And keep at if for a much longer time, since you will more likely be alive to do so. In fact, if you agree to plant and nurture a tree or two for every one you destroy, maybe the forest creatures might even be helpful." her eyes shift to the fey momentarily, not really believing she will be understood, but...
With the increased attention towards her, the fey rises a little out of the water, preening a bit. The diaphanous shawl wrapped around her barely hiding her nude form beneath.
"Perhaps if you find what is allowed first, you will be more easily able to ply your trade." Aka says, the right corner of mouth quirking up just a little, "And keep at if for a much longer time, since you will more likely be alive to do so. In fact, if you agree to plant and nurture a tree or two for every one you destroy, maybe the forest creatures might even be helpful." her eyes shift to the fey momentarily, not really believing she will be understood, but...
The guy looks at Akatsuki, a cunning gleam joining the mostly-fabricated ire. "That's the idea. Just need to make the forest better." If Faf allows it, he stands straight, slapping his pants hard enough to make the water soaked leather lose sprays of moisture. "Lesson learned. Two trees for the one and we're good to go, right?"
"Feel lucky your shiny white ass weren't what the fey wanted, hey?" She pokes the younger man, trying to move into his field of vision as he avoids looking at anyone. "What do you want here? Certainly there are better trees elsewhere. Easier trees. Easier trees." Sometimes, Taldane flows so nicely.
Forced to, the younger man looks up, his light brown eyes seem huge and flash with emotion and river water. (Or maybe tears.)
His voice is barely audible, contrasting to the older man's bombastic speech. "Blackwood only grows in the Verduran. Wood is cheap, blackwood is almost worth its weight in gold."
By contrast, the older man isn't fat, but he is comfortably fed.
Akatsuki's eyes which were held momentarily by what she assumes must be a river nymph, having never met one before...or whatever the beautiful creature actually is, flash back to the older man, seething with a fire that so far remains contained, but is beginning to boil under the surface. "I may not know much about the forest, the trees here or the ways of nature, but I know enough to know you are not looking to play by the laws set forth here." She pauses keeping him affixed with her steely glare, "My guess is, that for you it should be grow one or two saplings of the type you desire to cull, before you cut any of the desired wood. And know this, man who would dare twist my words to further his own ends, I am not the one setting law here. I was merely suggesting a course of action by which you might be able to gain your wishes and possibly gain as allies those whom you seem so determined to make your enemies." she takes a breath and her calm demeanor which had so suddenly vanished, returns with a not completely forced smile, and she seems to further relax as her eyes drift back to the water spirit. "If you succeed in what you appear to have been trying to do and all this blackwood is cut down, what will you do for your livelihood then? I would suggest spending some time on that question tonight." her gaze flicks back first to one man, then the other, before returning to the water. She shrugs, "Perhaps I have said too much. It is your life. But it is also likely your only life. Be careful how you choose to spend it before visiting the Lady of Graves in the Boneyard." she says, possibly as a final admonishment and with a sidelong apologetic glance to Sigrit to make sure her words were not taken as an affront.
Willem frowns briefly but says nothing, continuing to keep his gun trained loosely on the fey woman.
Sigrit shows no sign of offense, and indeed, affirms Akatsuki's statement.
"All go to Pharasma, in the end. But some are in an unseemly rush. Best make sure you've learned what you need to here before moving on."
She bows a little to the fey. "We beg pardon, child of water."
Sigrit then strides over to the younger man. "Let's have a look at you. Have you taken harm?" She performs a quick examination of the young man, checking so see if he has water in his lungs or other injury.
She leans close to the young man. "Lots of shinies worth their weight in gold won't anger the water folk. Might anger other folk. Be stealthier in your acquisitions, young sir. And maybe smaller." She whispers, eyeing the trees. "Besides, trees make books, and books are much more interesting to look at." She stands straight, patting the young man on the head before moving aside for Sigrit. "His only malady seems to be guilt for hacking up the trees."
"Azdahag, you hear that? We don't eat friends, yah?"
"Peace, Faar-Ghazi Willem - I meant no offence by the asking. The druids tell there's a place for all living things here, and the whims of man have little say in it. However, if you wish to gnaw your own liver about your birthing I'll leave that to you, though I'll tell you my years moderating 'twixt the Fey, the Druids, and Taldor have shown me the good and bad comes from our own making. The highest-born of Taldor and the eldest of druids can be naught but spoilt children next to the simple wisdom of the smallest of fey, just trying to live happily."
Faf's expression grows a bit sheepish, embarrassed at his words.
"Bah, 'tis all dog's balls anyhow. We see this caravan safely to it's end, and all will be apples. That's what's important."
Willem, who had been calm, stiffens, his expression darkens. "I thank you for the wisdom, no doubt snatched from the very mouth of the badger himself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I find I have to meditate on this new great truth suddenly illuminated." With that, the rat walks away.
Sigrit shows no sign of offense, and indeed, affirms Akatsuki's statement.
"All go to Pharasma, in the end. But some are in an unseemly rush. Best make sure you've learned what you need to here before moving on."
The older man looks from the young woman to the older dwarf, "So.... We can go and sin no more?"
She leans close to the young man. "Lots of shinies worth their weight in gold won't anger the water folk. Might anger other folk. Be stealthier in your acquisitions, young sir. And maybe smaller." She whispers, eyeing the trees. "Besides, trees make books, and books are much more interesting to look at." She stands straight, patting the young man on the head before moving aside for Sigrit. "His only malady seems to be guilt for hacking up the trees."
Sigrit's examination would bear out Bakuu's assessment. Not that the possibility of drowning hadn't been real, just that the men had been removed from the water before it became a certainty.
The younger man catches the tengu's eyes, his own showing surprise at the intelligence in the bird-woman's gaze. "Regular trees are for books." His voice quiet, polite and still scared. "Blackwood is for ships."
Willem frowns briefly but says nothing, continuing to keep his gun trained loosely on the fey woman.
She sighs, rather dramatically, and sinks back into the water with only her eyes and the top of her skull visible above the water.
She bows a little to the fey. "We beg pardon, child of water."
The creatures words bubble up from the few inches below the water, "음, 흙 파는 만났다. 귀하 요소 광산 섞이지 남아있을 수 있습니다."
"All go to Pharasma, in the end."
This draws a tiny yet reverent nod from Willem.
With the fey woman's departure, Pasara realizes that two near-drowned men are not really a threat and relaxes a bit.
She thinks about tending to her horse, but hangs around to see how this situation here plays out.
The older man looks from the young woman to the older dwarf, "So.... We can go and sin no more?"
"Not me you've sinned against."
She finishes up her examination of the younger man. She gestures in the air, tracing a symbol of Pharasma upon his forehead. "Get some rest, lad."