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Eventually, the caravan arrives at the clearing. It stands bounded by high cliffs and sheltered by a deep overhang many meters up. It is a natural fort. There is a small stream running through it. There are perhaps a dozen devil merks visible, all male, all armed. The camp is ringed with additional fortifications. Saplings have been sharpened and braced in a perimeter, and low berms have shields emplaced upon them, affording an excellent spot for archers to lie and face the path. It is now dark and the only light comes from the fire and from Nuyok's lumina.
An area against the cliff has been left for the caravan to use. It's somewhat sheltered, but if your hosts were to turn hostile, it affords little protection or avenue for escape.
Fortunately, they do not seem inclined to hostility. The little you have heard of Devil Merks paints them as bloodthirsty killing machines, but the camp seems to be the definition of order and discipline. You are greeted by the leader, Tarn Ranak.
"Greetings, merchants. You are welcome to the open area beside the cliff. We will be breaking camp and travelling by dawn, but we are willing to share this area until then."

Edited on Tuesday, December 7, 2004 02:36:54 PM by Keith Curtis

OOC: What kind of stories has Cas heard about these folk?

"Cas, perhaps you could tell a story by fire-light that would take the edge off the group here?"

(Ol' Riccoco don' be thinkin' two Lekchoks be puttin' the Devils off... Nooooo...)0Oo.

Ricco moves about preparing his cargo for camp. Slipping right into the noose of the rope seems to have him as put off as Angilak is. Any word of dinner (and drinking) will likely perk him up.

(Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.)

Vagrant rests farthest from the devils as he can. He mumbles for anyone in the caravan to overhear, "This place continually tests my nature. To be sharing a camp with devils when they are the blackest of evil in my time's religion. Is there nothing of my time that I dare hold on to without having to have it tested?"

Vagrant slumps onto a nearby log and eyes his latest companions suspiciously.

Nuyok looks over at Vagrant, quietly acknowledging that the devils are probably not well received even now...

Faliol pads over and plops down beside Vagrant.

"James, did you know that Riccoco, Cas, Celeste, and I thought Nuyok was a wanted killer when first we all met, but he has proven himself to be a friend and demonstrates the falsehood of our assumption hourly. Rath looked like a fearsome Riven, but was a gentle boy trapped in a man's body."

(Glancing at Celeste and Beka) "I remember approaching a certain fierce barbarian warrior maiden for the first time. I just knew that Celeste would turn me into a shawl and bowl of fox stew...but she ended up becoming my cherished big sister. I first thought Miss Beka was a spoilt brat of a rich girl... Who knew she would be so generous and lead so well?"

(Standing up and flourishing the TAIL) "Then there is the world's best looking fox kit. One look tells you, 'This virile kit has a bevy of vixen in every town, impatiently counting the hours till his next visit when they can proceed to feed him succulent chicken and smother him in affection'. You may have noticed that I am not exactly being chased by hordes of females? I can't even get one crazy vixen to notice me! The moral of my story is abundantly clear, James. Appearances are deceiving. They may look like devils on the outside and be angels within..."

Faliol takes a deep breath and asks Vagrant, "James, what is your religion, if you don't mind my asking?"

Missed your request. Here is a link

En route to the camp site, Nuyok will get Lekchock's attention, and ask "The devil merk leader asked if I was tree folk or stone folk, and indicated that he did not know that stone talkers, adepts that is, were among your kind, is that true? Is there anything else I should know about your people while in this form? He seems knowledgeable about your people, so we should be wary..."

"I don' know what a 'stone talker' is, but if he talkin' bout your Tru Eyes din he's right. Tree Folk got no Tru Eyes. We got elders dat talk to our ancestors and give dem signs, but dats about it."

OOC: Keith I know that Mutants can't be adpets, so the elders obviously don't do "real" magic. I'm picturing it akin to the Native American culture...or Ewoks however you want to look at it

"Ah, that confirms what he said. Anything else about your people I should know?"

[i]OOC: Keith, would adepts know that mutant races don't have adepts?[/i]

"Derz lots you shoul' know. Took me allah my life to learn evryting I hadda know 'bout my people. I guess I shoul' start from da beging o' my people. Ya see waaay back when..." It looks like this could be a really long story...

Nuyok appears intent to listen, but his eyes start to glaze over...

OOC: Great. Now I have Cajun Ewoks stuck in my head.

"Ichi-Wa, dontchaknow."

On a more serious note. Nuyok would suspect this to be true, but he's never researched it.

Nuyok will sock away this little tidbit of information about Lekchock's race as one instance that confirms his suspicion...

Wouldn't Nuyok suspect that the whole "talking to ancestors" might be a form of magic? This could add further confusion.

Hey, your people might have something going on, but Nuyok's just concerned with adepts

As the caravan moves in and begins to set up, Nuyok says "Tarn Ranak, thank you again for our accomodations. Here is Beka, our caravan leader," and Nuyok gives her a knowing glance regarding the wine bottle, and continues on "so, where does your company travel to?"

This got posted in the wrong campaign, odd!

Edited on Wednesday, November 17, 2004 04:27:52 PM by Susan Dwyer

I have this lovely Adalan "Silk". I hear it is very good. I hope it will serve.

Presumably they have largely completed their defenses, so what do the devil merks appear to be doing otherwise, sharpening their weapons, eyeing any particular party members as snacks, etc.?

Edited on Thursday, November 18, 2004 12:24:53 PM by John Slaughter

They have apparently killed some sort of forest pig and are turning it on a spit. Some others have gathered around a roped area and are practicing with wooden swords. They are delivering fairly powerful blows for folks who are only sparring.
Occasionally a scout enters camp to report, but the reports are delivered privately to the tarn.

Celeste watches the sparring with some interest. The speed and agility of warriors of such size amazes her.

"Ahem, Tarn..."

"Yes, adept?"

"So, where does your company travel to?"

"South" comes the non-comittal answer.

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More posting later this evening, I promise

If the inviting scout appears, Nuyok will engage him in some idle conversation and thank him for the invitation, and see if he can find out what they are up to...

Udan Rothar is easy enough to find. He seem to be highly placed, some kind of direct subordinate to the Tarn.
In response to your thanks he replies, "It is that our swords are bought to other purpose. The Tarn will decrees no wanton slaughter; it makes us difficult to employ. There are other companies less restrained. You are fortunate to have encountered the Roughs."
He gazes at your lumina as did Ranak. "I see you are a Stonetalker, though you appear to be Forest Man. What is your name, and from whence do you truly hail?"

"I am sure that many companies are more...cutthroat, if you will. I take it you are hired on for a worthwhile endeavor, with your moral inclinations. As for me, I am Nuyok, and I hail from Tallon, as I said before. I grew up on the streets there, a hard upbringing, but had later fortunes...," Nuyok trails off, thinking of how things ended when he was last in Tallon.

"Moral? No, we can afford no morality when the business of our life is death. Ethics however, are a coin we spend most carefully." He is sharpening a blade as he speaks, casually watching the drill combat, which is now done with reversed spears.

Nuyok, you barely hear the previous speech as suddenly your are overwhelmed with a sudden sense of personal danger. Someone or something nearby has lethal intentions toward you or the camp in general.
Mastering the impulse to bolt upright and look about, a casual sweep of the camp reveals no great changes in anyone's behavior, nor no lurking animals.
however...
PER
[roll]:
Roll: 10 Thursday, December 2, 2004 01:39:58 PM

Tarn Ranak seems to be deep in whispered consultation with one of the soldiers. It is difficult to tell if it is one you have met before. They all tend to look a bit alike.

"Udan, don't react too quickly, but we may be in danger," Nuyok will say in a guarded whisper, keeping watch on Udan as well as the Tarn, as he attempts to get a better idea of the source of danger as well as to approach the caravan group to warn them.

The Udan nods and casually walks over to the Tarn. They are over deep in the Devil section of camp so you cannot hear what they are saying, though there seems to be a disagreement.
You now notice that the Devils seem to be quietly getting into a state of combat readiness. Armor is re-donned or tightened. Weapons are carried unsheathed. The Tarn has sent several Devils to the single narrow exit, where they are facing inward.

The merchant party is slowly becoming aware of the movements of the Merks. (Amazingly, every single person made a PER roll) You have a limited time to react. As of yet, no one has made a hostile movement. It's one of those uncomfortable moments, where no one is sure if something bad is about to happen, but doesn't want to point things out for fear of provoking it.

The sense of danger has become very sharp and personal. It is diffused, though. Is it some mindless animals lurking somewhere? It couldn't be the entire camp of Merks, could it? There's no way that many people could hide treacherous intentions from a psychist such as yourself.
Nevertheless, things are starting to look pretty edgy.
Looking about, you can see that Angilkak's fur is raised. He doesn't look happy, either.

Nuyok will continue to cautiously move toward the caravan, while focusing on his full spirit sense in an attempt to detect the source of the danger, including looking for a potentially invisible or camouflaged foe, taking extra time.

PER, 13-
[3D6]:
Roll: 6, 5, 5 = 16 STUN, 4 BODY Tuesday, December 7, 2004 09:03:59 AM

OOC: Facing IN huh

Faliol removes Betsy and nocks an arrow, mumbling a "...are you happy now, you bloodthirsty bow?"

He doesn't aim at anyone, but keeps an eye on Nuyok. The Adept will be the first to know where the trouble is located.

Nodding towards Ricco, "No heroics this time, old 'coon. I know how much you enjoy a good fight, but try to leave some for the rest of us, ok?"

Ricco is hard-pressed not to leap behind the cart of Nipgin. He moves slowly over, trying to use the cart as cover, if possible. Unsheathing the Yarazan sabre, his masked eyes flick from the nearest Devil Mercs, to the two Lekchocks, to Faliol and Angilak, and then back again.

He blinks, shaking his head and mutters, "Too many to be lookin' at an' all this waitin' be hard on Ol' Riccoco's nerves. Suren', the Goat be a Hairy thing, these Mercs be wantin' Beast Blood."

"It won' be comin' easy, though!" He doesn't quite shout but, his words are loud enough to be heard by all caravan members nearby, (and the quotient Devil Mercs).

Once Nuyok is positioned with his back toward the rest of caravan, he will casually call out "Tarn, if you have any suggestions with how I can help, please let me know," in an attempt to make an innocuous statement in case of other listeners present, as well as to help defuse any potential situation between the caravan and devil merks.

Once the camp and caravan have settled in and the campfire is burning low, Nuyok will approach Will and inquire "So, once we reach Tallon, what plans do you have?"

"Most likely seek the company of others like myself. It is sometimes helpful to hear other perspectives and experiences. Then there are some wonders to behold. I am told the great glass dome of the Hall of Art glitters like a gem of infinite hue."

OOC: I don't know what happened to my time in real life, logging in to post is difficult though I do follow by email and occasionally see a message to respond to.

After some minor chatting and observation of the crowd, Cas will make the decision to tell a story to the camp. After careful consideration, the theme of the story will be one of action.

Cas tells the story of Logent, the fearless adventurer. A man born with no family. The story will focus on Logent's journey into the cave of endless fire where he encounted an army of bandits. In classic swashbuckeling action, Logent subdued and defeated the entire army and discovered their treasure trove and a kidnapped princess.

(Think of Logent as a Swashbuckeling James Bond with a bit of Indiana Jones to him).