As Celeste removes Arkis' cloak, Cas sees what she believes must be the thing Arkis was hiding beneath it. There is a flat leather case, about the size of a large book.
There is no attack from the hidden Yaraza. Instead, the eyes of both Brother Cadbury and Master Nuyok are immediately drawn to the package. Nuyok tears his gaze away to return to the body of Jareek, which lies motionless upon the ground.
Brother Cadbury however remains fixed upon the case. "Be careful," he says. "It's enhanced."
"It is more than that," says one of the Yaraza, who addresses the camp from a distance. "It is sacred."
He stands up the path some thirty yards. He does not look frightened to reveal himself. He is marked in savage fashion with ash and dye, and wears a loincloth and a few leather accoutrements. His voice is thick with an odd accent.
"Bring it to me, Cassandra, and that within you which is broken shall be made whole. Refuse, and your entire second family will die."
He addresses the rest. "Harm it in any way, and the Brotherhood of the Yaraza will pursue you, and your family, and your relatives to the fifth degree."
"Each of your names is known to us. Handle and Drummel told all."

OK, post your actions very carefully here. This is a stand-off or a showdown, depending on your motivations. Please post only one action, so that others (and myself) have an opportunity to respond. If your action is too involved (or posted too late), I may cut it off, depending upon what others do.
Also, there is a good solid belief that at least one if not all of the Yaraza are adepts. Please post your thoughts as well as your actions.

Celeste looks at the others in the camp, "Too many have died because of this, without even knowing why they died." She looks at Arkis' bloody corpse, "He knew and he was willing to risk all our lives, but he has paid the price as well. If the only good to come of it is to help Cas then I say give it back to its keepers. Perhaps they will help Jareek and Bergen as well." Celeste stands protectively over Cas.
.oO(We are not in a position to bargain...just be rid of it)

[EDITED on Wed March 3, 2004 @3:28 AM (PST)]

Lekchock stands looking at the assassins, his knees are bent and muscles are taught ready to move into action if need be.

.oO(Don' know wha' dis group gonna do most ov em are crazy, but I hope dey give up da book. Jus gotta be ready to move.)

From the edge of the trees Vagrant meekly offers his opinion, "I wanted revenge for these deaths just a short time ago and in part we got it with Arkis' death. If this item is sacred to these Yaraza then I have seen enough religion zealots in my time to know that a battle or war caught up with religion will not get sweet revenge but will just get more and more people killed. No solution. No end. Cas, if you please, give them back there artifact...whatever it is. Maybe we can divert fate and end this here."

"Easy for you to say, Vagrant, they didn't kill your father or your brother, only your friend. I am done 'thinking'. My actions have lead to disaster. Do whatever you want. Give it back or break it, I really do not care."

He intends to see the caravan to Tallon (he intends to see one responsibility through to completion) and then return here to kill these Yaraza.

Vagrant takes in a large breath readying himself to defend his opinion. Then, he looks around at the faces in this group and reconsiders his place. Retreating back into his cloaks he backs up a step out of the clearing.

"My apologizes, it wasn't my place. I am just so tired of all of this...all of it."

Celeste turns to Vagrant, "You have as much right to say what happens as anyone in this group. No one else should have to die because of this thing." Looking at Ricco and Faliol, "My little brothers, I may not know your land so well, but I do know when a battle is pointless. If we should fight for this thing, we will not win. He has offered to heal Cas in exchange for something that already belongs to him. We see one Yaraza, but I fear they are like roaches, where you see one, there are ten more that you cannot see. And unlike roaches, these Yaraza are deadly. No, we cannot win here, we would not survive five minutes against this adversary. And look what its presence has done, something not even Throne or Ash could do, we are divided..."

If Jareek can be helped, Nuyok will do so (as indicated in the previous thread). If he can not, Nuyok will slowly rise, and rest against a tree, in case things goes bad, and glance toward Handle to see if anything remains of his special vial. Regardless, he will quietly say "All this over a book? And they expect us to let them kill our companions, and then just give it to them? They won't get away with this..."

Ricco tugs the borrowed sword from the cooling carcass. His muzzle twitches into a snarl as the Yaraza allow themselves to be seen by the rest of the group. Only his own cowardice keeps him from launching into an attack.

.oO(Bastards be killin' the lot o' us iffin' they be havin' the chance. No problem bleedin' the 'andle or tryin' ta kill Ol' Riccoco. Still, what chance do a crew o' Beasts an' Hoomans be havin' again' a Brother the Hood o' Adepts? Either way... 'andle can't be bein' forgotten so easy-like.)

Without another thought, Ricco tosses the sword into the clearing between himself and the Yaraza spokesman. As it sticks in the ground, still shaking, he shouts out, "Blood debt, ya Yaraza Bastards. You be killin' us. We be needin' somethin' back for the loss o' our kin. No folk can be goin' aroun' killin' an' not be expectin' to pay for it."

"The Belted Earl has spoken."

"We won't be bowin' to ya no more, Englishman."

"Reap the Whirlwind, Sheriff Brady. Reap it."

"Now, it's over."

"Don' tink ya'll are tinking straight. Wha ya'll do when Throne kill Rath? You killt 'em and anyone who worked wit 'im. Some o' dem guards we killt dinin' know anythin' 'bout wha happened o' wha Throne 'ad done. Same ting 'appenin' here. Somethin' just as important ta these people was taken, taken by someone in our group, would we done anything different?"

"Yes, we would have done things differently, we would not have attacked random caravaners, we would have gone after the thief. In the case of Rath and Throne, those guards were "in" on the deal with Throne and took their chances. Big difference."

"Would we have done anything differently? Are you like them, that you have to ask? Would you torture someone like they tortured Drummel and Handle? Would you poison Jareek and Bergen? If so, maybe YOU belong with your buddies, the ones in whom you find so little fault."

Furious, Faliol turns away from Lekchock, a monumental effort to control his anger.

Looking at Vagrant, "Celeste is correct. I shouldn't take my grief out on you, Vagrant. You have every right to speak. Apologies."

OOC:Just roleplaying, Brian

"Jareek wouldn't want anyone else to die over a stupid book. Give the evil bastards their book. Someday, somehow, when you Yaraza crazies least expect it, I will get vengeance on you. But not today."

OOC: Jareek is now dead? "...return to the body of Jareek..." can be interpreted in several ways

OOC: We don't know yet. It's one of those evil GM tricks to promote suspense.

Try and give Cas a chance to post before going too much further.

OOC: Had I realized... well I would have taken the time yesterday. Anyway.

The voices of friends are very distant following what the Yaraza has just stated. She holds the items in her hands and takes a glance to everyone. Then she nods at Vagrant and steps forward. She will walk close to the Yaraza. Just enough that if they wanted, they could take the artifact and run. She crades the book in her arms like one would hold a young child.

Before she hands it over she says, "There are so many times when selfishness has killed those we care about. What I do now is out of selflessness. This was stolen from you and it is by all rights yours. You need not do anything in return."

She extends her arms, holding out the book to the Yaraza, "However, if there is anything you can do for those of us who are poisoned it would make me ever so happy." It doesn't take an adept that this is not the only Cas would like to see.

OOC: Argh... bad grammar attack.

[EDITED on Wed March 3, 2004 @5:24 PM (EST)]

Assuming you mean no ruse, he takes the book from you. "You have acted wisely vixen. The Book of Yara is not for the unclean. As for the poison, only your Handle would have known for sure; they were his own. Do you wish your reward?"

For those who make a PER roll:
Brother Cadbury's eyes widen at the mention of the Book of Yara. He drops what he is holding and makes a sign. He almost starts moving toward the Yaraza leader and then checks himself.

For those who make a Merikian Culture/History roll:
The Book of Yara is one of the Books of Standing Stones. Each City has its own or shares it with another. It is the interpretation of the Stones of that city. The Book of Shannon is the text of the city of Tallon; Shannon was a prophet, or sympath, of the Stones. The Book of Yara was officially never written, for the Sympath Yara died in a war between Melvil and Boothia, but some believe it was written and lost. Yara was born and raised in Boothia, but educated in Melvil. The Lost Book of Yara would be worth an Archon's ransom. Or a war, probably between Melvil and Boothia. For more info, go here.

But words can never hurt me....
Celeste know very, very little, actually an infintesimal amount about this strange flatlander religion....she still thinks it very odd that these people worship stones....so nope, nothin' about Merikian culture
However,
Per
3d6: 5, 3, 2 (STUN: 10, BODY: 3) Thu March 4, 2004 @3:49 AM (PST)
to notice if Cadbury's actions seem to threaten the Yaraza

Okay, she would have stepped over to him and intervened if he had continued to advance towards the yaraza and the book. But, he stopped....just in the nick of time

[EDITED on Thu March 4, 2004 @3:53 AM (PST)]

Cas is greatly saddened by the statement that poison was Handles. She looks to Faliol, "Take flight quickly and save his life. We will catch up with you as soon as we can."

Cas turns back to the Yaraza, "I am scared of what is up there... but I want to know that what I have forgotten."

PER, 13-
3d6: 4, 6, 2 (STUN: 12, BODY: 4) Thu March 4, 2004 @9:49 AM (EST)
KS: History, 8-
3d6: 6, 4, 5 (STUN: 15, BODY: 4) Thu March 4, 2004 @9:49 AM (EST)

Regardless of his observations/knowledge, Nuyok will continue to rest and watch the proceedings unobtrusively.

Nuyok will gesture for Vagrant's attention, "if they are powerful adepts handing out rewards, they might be able to help you too..."

Nuyok will watch carefully as to any attempt to "reward" Cas, prepared to warn everyone as necessary.

PER, 13-
3d6: 1, 4, 1 (STUN: 6, BODY: 1) Thu March 4, 2004 @9:51 AM (EST)

In addition to spirit sense, Nuyok will have Detect Hostile Intent active.
3d6: 5, 5, 3 (STUN: 13, BODY: 3) Thu March 4, 2004 @9:51 AM (EST)

A couple of things occur to you Nuyok. The first is that the Yaraza speaking to you has a low but unmistakeable feeling of threat about him. You're not sure if Cas should trust him. The second is that neither he nor the 3-4 you can see in the forest about have anything on their persons that is spiritually enhanced.
Unfortunately, your main attention is upon Jareek.

Talking lowly to Nuyok he says, "As much as I want to be healed once and for all, I'm not sure that I would ever trust these fellows to do it. I guess a bit more prudence will give me a better idea of their current intentions."

Lekchock would have no idea what the book was about.

PER 15-
3d6: 6 Thu March 4, 2004 @10:01 AM (EST)

Ricco trembles in his rage. It seemed the Yaraza and even his cohorts would ignore his raccoon request. So be it.

Still, there would be a reckoning.

Konnur suddenly growls, "You bastards killed my brother. My brother! If you think you're walking away from this with blood in your bodies, you're making a fatal mistake."
He looks about. "There can't be more than half a dozen of 'em! Let's make them pay!"
Umbra looks uncertain, Cadbury is stil fixated on the book, while Dashel seems more than willing to let the Yaraza go. Angilak quietly says to Riccoco, "How much poison did Handle have?"

[EDITED on Thu March 4, 2004 @2:01 PM (PST)]

Ricco replies. "Only be enou' to be carryin' abou'."

I really don't know. Handle did say they stole his poisons, but not how much he had.

"These bastards be goin' ta kill us all. 'andle be tellin' me an' so did one o' 'em. Be ready to be movin'."

Ricco moves to slip Angilak's throwing axe from the body of Arkis.

How many Yaraza can Ricco spot?
PER 15-
3d6: 9 Thu March 4, 2004 @10:17 AM (CST)

Stealth (Does he have sleight of hand?) 13-
3d6: 10 Thu March 4, 2004 @10:17 AM (CST)

Ricco expects the Yaraza to attack. (Though, I had forgotten that when I did the Blood Debt ploy.)

OOC: Not bad for a dead man, not bad at all.....man must be part cat or something...

OOC: Geez, I need a savage proofreader.

OOC: Isn't that what your wife is for?

You're tired young man, you've been working too hard. Here, lay down in this field of poppies and get some sleeeeeeeep..........

Nuyok will casually say, "Konnur, there's only three or four more I see...without spirit enhancement...and Handle did not have much poison." And a bit louder, "Cas, BE CAREFUL."

Given how much poison has been used so far, and given Nuyok knew how much Handle had in his pouch, does Nuyok think they have very much more?

[EDITED on Thu March 4, 2004 @3:23 PM (EST)]

Without KS poisons, you can't tell. However, the physical amount was not great: three tiny vials.

While Konnur is attempting to get himself killed, Celeste will look around the clearing to see where Beka is standing.

OOC: Go to bed early one night and all heck breaks loose!

Beka is shaking her head at all the talk. Her eyes widen as she hears this is the book of Yara. "So it idoes exist," she whispers.

I move toward Handle's body and look for his things (or go to where he stowed them when asleep). I start rumaging around in his pack looking for an antidote and ignoring anyone around me unless they physically try to stop me.

I pull out a meager collection and offer them up to Nuyok. "Does anything here look like an antidote?" I am pointedly ignoring the Yaraza.

Doubting Handle had one, but Nuyok will take what Beka offers and examine it, while keeping a close eye on Cas.