Terry thanks him as graciously as he can when he is presented with the sun-umbrella. He holds it aloft, thinking, If my parents could see me now...trudging through the desert with a parasol...
Terry's grumpy expression fades away immediately with a happy sigh as he discovers the rainfall. "Now, that is a neat trick..." he mutters, his eyes closed as he holds his face up to it.
Jacen is still fuming to himself.
"I can't believe we just traded about trading a greatsword for an STUPID umbrella. What a rip! That son of a..."
Then, he notices Terry's expression change as the drizzle rests on his face.
"Okay, that is a LITTLE better."
He waits impatiently for 10 minutes which feels more like 10 hours to him as he bottles up his anger before politely asking.
"Terry, um, when you are done using the umbrella do you mind if I try it?"
Terry will hand it over to the next party member nearest to him - probably Jacen - after he gets his face good and wet, probably before 10 minutes go by.
As Terry passes the umbrella, the drizzle on his head evaporates in seconds, due to the absurd heat from the desert sun above, and the desert sand below.
It is refreshing though, and you feel very happy to have had it, if even for ten minutes.
You walk for what feels like hours, while enjoying the surroundings of the forest, when suddenly, from one step into the other, you are in a barren, wasteful desert area, the sun scorching your backs and the sand burning your feet.
You notice rather quickly that you indeed leave no tracks. A few seconds after you make an impression in the sand, it dissipates and the sand is back exactly the way it was before.
Valeeran walks along with the rest. He chuckles a bit at the centaurs mention of "Sure as rain". "Perhaps more apt to say "sure as no rain" here." he whispers to Skitter. When talk of the sword comes up he asks, "So what do you think you'll get for such a blade? In fact how exactly does trading work among the storykin? Do you need to eat or drink? We did locate some dwarves mining but are there farms and such?"
You arrive at a desert "camp", although it looks nothing like you had expected.
This colorful collection of tents and draft animals settles comfortably into the dunes. Dozens of humanoid figures wander about, and the rattle of chains is omnipresent.
It seems like it is essentially a small, selfsufficient village. Nothing would seem amiss if not for the large slave pens and the shackles hobbling most of the residents.
Most of the camp’s slaves, employees, and slave masters are simple, humanoid storykin.
Terry narrows his eyes in disgust. "These slaves yours, centaur?"
"So this is the Nightpeddler's camp? Didn't realize he was a slaver."
"The Peddler is someone who can see value in anything, including the lives of men who have nothing else to pay with."
He looks a bit strange when Terry looks disgusted, but doesn't go on about it.
"See you later, yeah?" he asks, going up into the crowd (unless someone stops him).
"Wait!" Terry calls after him. "How will we know how to find you when we're ready to depart?"
"You promised food, water and shelter! The centaur provided none of these. Aren't you a person of your word?" He yells at the merchant for all to hear.
"I knew he was a scoundrel." He curses underneath his breath.
"Let's find a place to rest for the night. I'm feeling cranky."
Jacen searches out the best innkeeper and bargains accommodations for the entire party after casting Honeyed Tongue upon himself.
Anja looks confused by the slaves, and then puts her finger on what's bothering her. "If they choose to pay with their 'lives', they shouldn't need to be chained. If they didn't agree to that price, then the Nightpeddler is just a slaver."
She walks up to one of the caged men. "You chose to pay with servitude? What did you receive in return?"
Terry:
"Don't worry, these guys will surely point you in my direction, should you want to find me."
Jacen:
"There is food here, water and lots of shelter." he says, with a little irk in his voice.
"I have delivered what I promised."
Anja:
The slave looks at you, and speaks plainly: "A deal was made and I honour it. In return for 'this' my family has escaped a certain death."
"Slavery in exchange for rescue offered under duress is still slavery," Terry growls. His expression is grim.
"What threatened your family? And besides, y'all are storykin, right? They'd have come back at the waxworks, anyway."
"And I still don't understand why you're caged if you're obedient."
The slave looks at you, the expression on his face blank.
You notice he doesn't like to talk about it, but tries none-the-less.
"Death comes in many ways. Ilness comes in many ways. By accepting this as payment, the Nightpeddler has given my family a way to live, without the illness. I am grateful for this chance."
"DOn't know the waxworks."
"It's part of the deal. If the Nightpeddler chooses to let me out of my bonds, the deal will be invalid and a new deal must be made."
Terry tugs on Anja's sleeve. Sotto voce, he mutters, "I don't like this. Something feels wrong, very wrong. Let's accept our host's hospitality for as long as we need and no longer."
"Let's deal with the slaver in the morning. It's been a VERY long journey and my feet are killing me. I need a cool bath followed by a five course meal, a feather bed and 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep."
Jacen winces in pain with every step and wanders to the nearest bathhouse shaking the sand from his clothing.
"Yeah. Let's go see about that rest for the night. We should probably post watch, though. I can go first. The desert wasn't so tough on me."
She points at the centaur as he ambles off, "You better be around when we're ready to go!"
The centaur nods, as he moves into the crowd.
Terry's not interested in anything beyond bed. He's not even going to take his clothes off before passing out as soon as he's able, unless he's needed for a watch or something.
The centaur moves into the crowd, and you find yourself standing in front of a fairly large yurt. The innkeeper who had spoken to the centaur comes towards you, while gesturing some of his slaves to help you with your gear.
Servants come to wake you as instructed, and you sit down for a hardy meal. Life outside is continueing as usual, and before you know it you are once again on the busy streets of the Nightpeddler's tent-city.
During breakfast, Anja stops one of the slaves serving food. "What can you tell us about the Nightpeddler?"
The slave in question looks at you, not used to you not ordering him around.
"The nightpeddler, si.. ma'am? He is the.. boss of this encampement. Nothing around here gets done without him, ma'am. Deals are made, and get his blessing, ma'am. He has a large tent, in the center, can't miss him. Of course, the purple skin also tends to make it easier to find him, ma'am."
"Purple skin...now I've heard of everything," Terry mutters into his food. "Are we beelining there, Anja?"
Jacen fills his belly with blueberry jam on fresh bread, hickory-smoked bacon and hard apple cider. The new day has washed away any lingering bitterness from their arduous journey.
He leans in and whispers to his friends, "Before we meet Mister Purple, I'd like to gather information about him. Perhaps, he has a weakness we can discover. Or she. I'm not certain."
If the group reaches a consensous, then he spends time learning about the Nightpeddler after casting Honeyed Tongue on himself to aid his efforts.
"Yeah, let's see what we can learn about him first. Best to be prepared."
By asking questions and listening at the right moments, Jacen learns a few things
I relay the gathered information. What is "NP" and what is the certain type of liquor?
Liquor is anything you want it to be, your choice.
When Jacen returns, Terry asks him about what he learned. "I like the look of these slaves not at all," he offers. "Such willingness to be pressed into servitude strikes me as unnatural. When can we be off?"
"He prefers a red and black raspberry liqueur commonly found in a spherical bottle called Chambord or The Purple Hooter Shooter by those out of earshot of the Nightpeddler."
Jacen grins and produces a bottle.
"Perhaps it will help us gain entrance if we come bearing a gift."
Terry grins widely for the first time since entering the slaver's camp. "Good thinking. The more we butter up this master of flesh the better - make him think we're wealthy enough to be good friends."
"That's good to hear. He can have your frou-frou liqueur and I can keep my whiskey."
She takes a pensive swig of said whiskey before sharing her thoughts, "I'm not being unreasonable in wanting to kill everything we run into in this stupid dimension, though, am I?"
Illustrating the rhetorical intent, she quickly adds, "Let's go."
At Anja's first question, Terry shakes his head emphatically, indicating she's not being unreasonable at all.
We are following our badass barbarian into the Nightpeddler's tent.
Before entering, Jacen casts Honeyed-tongue upon himself and Good Hope on the party.
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Ongoing Effects: Good Hope (9 min), Honeyed-tongue (1.5 hr)
The guards eye you suspiciously when you start casting, and bar you the way.
"What is that magic there?" they say, lances slightly more in your direction.
"Don't want no trouble here sir, if you know what we mean? Strangers in these here parts have a tendency to cause them, and we're not too fond of them."
At the same time, people on the 'streets' are looking at you, and your magic. Not just noticing, but looking at it...
Terry holds up a placating hand to the guards. "Good sirs, it's just a simple parlor trick. We mean no harm."
As around you the murmuring starts of a crowd getting riled up, you notice you have something in your eye...
As you rub it, you notice the sounds and smells have all but changed, and you don't recall taking of your armor... And why are you on your back..
Then you hear a cock crow outside.