Thikka narrows her eyes, but just pats Minerva on the arm. "That's fine girl. If you think of something later, let us know." Is all she says. "Ok, let's get a move on, before something else attacks us, or a cow falls out of the sky."
Satisfied that the “thing” is safe, Agent Hughes reaches out and closes the box once again, leaving the strange picture frame and cord attached to it.
Yes, let’s get moving, she says. Derrick, can you help me replace the canvas?
Minerva witholds a sigh of relief as the scrutinising Ratwoman narrows her eyes before relenting.
Tightening the bindings on her mule, She nods and grabs the lead of the thing "Thank you Thikka.. I'll be sure to if I remember."
Thikka looks at the former ambushers. "I'm going to ram my stick up your bumm if you don't get your feet moving, that's what. I didn't heal you up to let you go rob more caravans or get killed by some slaver. Now get moving. We'll figure out what to do with you when we find out if you were lying or not." She pauses, then looks at them with narrowed eyes. "I'd take any attempt to run as admission you were lying earlier about being forced into attacking, and I'd probably burn you to a crisp. Now move it."
Valind is fascinated by the runes - he is, after all, a priest of the god of writing - and jots down a few in his book. He even flicks back through his pages to see if he can spot similar symbols. He is distracted, however, when his keenly honed lawyer skills detect the inflection in Minerva's voice.
"Are you sure?" he asks Minerva "Runes don't so much get recycled as it is that languages are related to one another. What do your symbols mean?"
Minerva outright flinches as the Cleric weighs in, and she stutters slightly in her delivery "N-nothing at-t all" the lie this time rang clear as a bell, though perhaps obscured by the fear and slight irritation in her voice.
She can't keep her composure under the eyes of Valind, and barely restrains herself switching to an uglier tongue, like orcish or undercommon "just leave me alone, priest" She spits the word 'priest' as anyone else might say an insult. This time she couldn't hide the undercurrent of fear in her voice, instead settling to tuck her head inside her hood and clasp her cloak completely around her body.
Thikka eyes the halfling. "Let it go priest... if and when she's ready, I'm sure she'll remember something. Until then, pushing her on it isn't going to help."
While the group reassembles and prepares to move out, Unbolath will see to the prisoners. "I'd like you folk to stay out of trouble and out of the way. We can provide food and water and some of my team appear to have legal experience that may aid your case. If any of you attempt anything harmful I will execute you on the spot, if you run, my arrows will find you, and I can track you to the ends of the earth." Unbolath looks hard at the prisoners for a bit his eyes black and piercing. "This is not an attempt to intimidate you, it is merely a statement of fact." Next he moves to inspect the cattle, the wagon and other gear. Finally he gives the battlefield and area a quick once over to make sure everything is ready.
Ritmush rubs the back of his head and mutters dark things after the ratfolk Later.. perhaps once I gotta rock tween me an' her. stupid fire shootin' weasel person. Ignoring the current situation and mostly letting his feet follow the rest of the group as everyone gathers to move forward ritmush turns his attentions back to the goggles on his head.
"Err.. My names Ritmush. Hello tiny person who is now living my goggles?
You have tha' same name as the one in that window over there are you a gnome too?
Nevah encountered a gnome with one name before, all of em' I've seen have eleventy two an' they wanna say each one on introductions."
He adjusts the strap on the back of his head and looks in the direction of the box's revealed contents.
"Soo.. Diana, wha's it like bein' a tiny ghost? Also don' spose ya know what the heck that thing was?"
Ritmush states amiably talking to himself, gesturing to the content of the box for his question. The looks he gets for his actions are entirely worth it Dunno wha's what in this but those sky wizards just put a tiny person in my goggles. So I'm gonna quit while I'm ahead.
Look, people I agree we need to get going and all, but we’ve got a couple, I mean you’ve got a couple of problem’s and one of them I might be able to help with.
He moves to the back of the wagon, and points at the ambushers
If that woman is right, then the people or person trying to smuggle these artifacts out of your little fort either didn’t count on being double crossed, or maybe they are the double crossers. Either way, you take a big risk trotting those men and women into that village, showing the person at the other end of this deal that what was planned didn’t work and if they were counting on it to go the other way; it’ll bad for all of us, but worse for these miserable folk. That’s the first problem, and I might have a solution for that one. The second problem, you see, he says taking a small orange, glass-like ball out of his pocket, is this. The person I am working for is looking for the thing that is in that box. She thought there might be a clue to its location in the wagon. She never must have suspected it would be here or I imagine she wouldn’t have sent little ol’ me. Now she, and I use that term loosely, she wants that thing badly. She wanted me to find it, return to her and tell her where it was, and then she’s going to send the right kinds of people to collect it. Now, she told me that the object cannot be transported by any kind of magic, but she gave me this. It’s an orb of translocation, and using it I can return to where she is in an instant, and if I need to I can take those people with me. Oh, don’t worry, they’ll be safe, It’Dupree has a soft spot for those kinds of people. She’ll take good care of them and they won’t ever have to worry about this pace, or where ever they came from ever again. The real problem is this. I was paid handsomely to find that thing, and I always keep my deals, always. When It’Dupree finds out that it is here, she will send someone to collect it. I wasn’t paid to do that. The people, or even things, she sends might be nice, nicer than me even, but maybe not. She works, oddly enough, with a lot of very strange people. They will take that object. Nothing will stop them I guarantee it. You see, she has a problem, a problem that has been bothering her for a few hundred years and she thinks that thing will solve her problem in a big way. She wants it, in a bad way. And It’Dupree always gets what she wants.
Droka furrows his brow in thought, but he has no clue who this It'Dupree is.
Valind starts to reply to the ratfolk, but is distracted by the wagoneer's speech
"May I start by saying how much I admire your sense of honour. I myself share that sense of honour. I have been contracted to deliver this wagon to the village, and I intend to do so."
"Now if this It-Dupree of yours takes the device after I've delivered it I don't really mind. Given the circumstances it sounds like she may be in the right."
"If she tries to take it while I'm guarding it, however, there will be mayhem."
"I suppose my question is; how long do you think it will take her to send people to take it? How long have we got?"
Ritmush looks at the behatted man, his quirked eyebrow impossible to read due to the goggles on his head.
"Uhh.. kay. So two questions.
one, whats a Dupree? souns like somekinda dumb hat. Oh, and two if this Dupree person's hired ya to find somethin don'çha think she won'be happy if she discovers yeh let the game go? Much harder ta get somethin' if the owner ah tha thing knows what its worth."
Ritmush puts a palm on the side of his face
"Buh I spose ya could kill a buncha things with one trick if ya jus' gave those No-bold guys tha stone thingy, follow em an'find out tha deal with where tha stuff is goin. Then ya can jus' sick this Dupree person on tha'other guy. Get yer info an' deal with crazy magic thing."
Adjusting his goggles slightly to scratch an itch he thinks a bit more
"Or ya could jus'hire someone ta take the stone to the Ambusher's boss an'try to get paid for it. Though ya'd need a good plan for escape as tha's askin'ta get stabbed."
While the others are distracted with talking -she didn't trust a word coming from 'Victor's mouth, it sounded rather too much like a 'protection' speech the thieve's guilds gave to shop owners- Minerva moved as silently as she could to the side of the wagon with a sheet of paper and her charcoal.
Mindful of the the rest of the group, she sketched a simplistic version of the sphere, then began drawing a catalogue of the symbols as they played across it, making sure to note if a symbol was one she had never seen before.
She would have a few more tattoos by the end of this, she was sure.
All the while, he couldn't help keeping on eye on the chatty Wagoneer. She didn't need to be a very good thief to spot another.
Hello, Ritmush. I am not a gnome. I am an operating system.
When Ritmush points at the object in the box before it is closed! and asks about it the voice is silent, but an image appears on the goggles. The image is a series of scrolling text. The message can only be read by Ritmush, if he can read common
Victor takes a step closer to Valind, and answers his question,
Well, Valind is it? I can only imagine she’ll send someone after it immediately. She can teleport people to just about anywhere, but for reasons she isn’t all tom clear about she is reluctant to try and drop anyone too close to that thing. She’ll send someone to the city on the coast, with instructions on how to get to where we are the hard way. If I return now, with the information I have. I imagine you folks have got at least four weeks before someone shows up looking for that globe.
He turns to Ritmush, and blinks a few times as he tries to keep up with the small man’s strange questions. When Ritmush is finished, Victor laughs.
That’s not a bad idea, Ritmush. But I think these other folks would object, and besides I don’t really care who has the thing when It’Dypree comes looking for it. She made it quite clear to me that whatever it is, it’s dangerous, and unpredictable, and she only paid me to find out if there was an indication that something like it was floating around over in this part of the world. Don’t ask me how she got wind of the strange things going on here, but this I know, she keeps track of a lot of things. And so were clear, again, I’m not with these other two. They have there agenda, I have mine. Dupree probably knows about them, and if she didn’t need to tell me about them then I don’t need to worry about them myself.
When Minerva begins sketching the sphere, Victor takes a step to the side, so as to give her a better, closer view.
Then he goes on
Look, people, I know this is probably about as confusing as it gets, but don’t let me make any decisions for you. I don’t like trouble, and I don’t like confrontations. I say we get moving, no hurry mind you. If I understand what I’ve learned about this place Mystic Valley, we still have a good chance of reaching it before sunset. You’ve got a few hours to decide what you want to do. I’ll drive the wagon, at least as close as we can get to Mystic Valley before we think anyone has spotted us. Portia’s eye in the sky ought to be able to give us a good heads up on the first buildings that we are getting near. Then I’m going to leave you folks. Take my information back to It’Dupree. If you want me to take these ragged folk with me I will, it’s up to you.
"I think, when it comes to the ragged folk, you'd do better to ask them directly. As to taking this item to someone, I am loath to send it off to someone I don't know about. On the other hand, I'm loath to walk around with it either." She shrugs. "I'm willing to go along with the group on that one."
"At this point I am not sure I am inclined to believe anyone regarding their claim to this device. If indeed it is powerful, I suspect people very high up the political chain with their wizards and sages would be best able to deal with it. Is there a king? High Council? I am not from these lands to be honest . Turning it over to any random person who says they should have it seems to he problematic to me. I think its best that we keep an eye on it, and safeguard it."
Minerva didn't quite know how to react to this... The possible answer to a question that had plagued her race for so long after their exodus.
She recorded everything she could; the new symbols, the old symbols, the order in which they all appeared and a simple design of how she would add it all to her skin.
She barely suppressed her gleeful expression, though that was made easier as doubts weighed in on her mind, about how much more precious trust she'd have to give out to have it translated with magic.
"Victor seems to have a good idea. We can still complete our mission, and hopefully do it tonight."
"Victor - I'm impressed. Is there much of a church of Valindor up.. er, out... yes, out there in the stars?"
Victor climbs back into the seat of the wagon and takes up the reins, saying to Valind, Valindor, hmmm, nope can’t say I’ve encounter one of those churches. Then again There aren’t a lot of you Aeromnians living in Du’Orbna, that’s on the eastern ring, you know, in the Bay of Irddlwyn. I imagine you’re from Aeromnia, aren’t you? That’s on the western ring. Your kind, I understand, have made some voyages to the west, from Aeromnia, and landed on the eastern shores of the eastern ring, but Du’Orbna is on the west coast, and it’s a bit of a journey to take the trains all the way across Moderia to get to our fair city, so I don’t imagine your temple has made a foot hold there yet, but don’t worry It’Dupree is tolerant of all kinds of worship.
Thikka narrows her eyes, and casts detect magic on the cow.
The cow then begins to transform right before everyone’s eyes into a human woman standing about four feet eleven inches tall, she is dressed in expensive armor made from what appears to be a combination of Splint, Chain, and Leather armor. She has no weapons. Her hair is brown, shoulder length, and combed neatly back away from her face and tucked behind her ears. She has a child like appearance, though she is a full figured woman. An arrow is stuck in one of the plates of her armor
Now, don’t go all nutsy cuckoo on me, alright the woman says to Thikka, holding out one hand palm toward the witch. I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. Okay, okay, everybody can just calm down, relax, please, gob-droket just calm down. Okay, okay, let’s just keep walking and I’ll explain. My name is Calliope, and I am not, obviously a cow, and I’m not exactly a human fighter either, but I know this shape and I hoped it would not get me attacked immediately. Look, stop gawking already. I’m not from around here. Hehe, I’m not actually from around anywhere anymore. You see, I’m a doppelganger, if you know what that is, but not the kind you might have heard of, or well, maybe that kind, but honest to snack time I don’t want to hurt anybody. I was living in this big city, see, and I wasn’t bothering anybody, until I made a mistake and accidentally, accidently mind you, exposed another, well a couple of other of my kind who your kind sort of thought were up to no good, and then wham bam thank you manticore, I got shipped off to fort horizon. I’d been living there for a while, mostly as the cow, which this is sort of funny, but one day I took on the form of a cow and nobody in that fort recognized they had an extra cow, that’s hilarious if you ask me. Then I got pulled into this supply a couple of cows to Mystic Valley and I thought, what the heck, why not. I figured it’s got to be better than that fort, right, right? So, look, I’ll go along with you guys to Mystic Valley, you tell them that there was always only one cow, you know, whatever, sort of, and we go our separate ways, no hard feelings, and I swear I will not hurt anyone in this Mystic Valley place. I’m only looking to find my way back to the coast, anywhere not in that city mind you, and get on a boat out of here as soon as I can.
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Portia hears Issabelle squeak a couples times. She whistles her over, to see why her feathery friend is all in a fuss.
When she hears the cow, she draws her sword. She takes a defensive stance, as the cow becomes a woman. She tries to keep her composure, but she cannot help but have her jaw drop.
What the hell is going on. First I am at home in the comfort of my forest, now I am in a strange power struggle between who knows who it how many. There is strange artifacts from another world, dimension. Now there is a talking cow, who is a dopple-something or other.
What exactly is a doppelgänger? as she keeps her blade out just in case.
They are shapechangers. Capable of taking thew shape of most anything. This is truly an odd development.
"Perceived reality seems to be changing often today. I wonder what other surprises we might be on store."
Unbolath eyeballs the other two bovine, and raps on the wagon, shrugs.
He idly wanders over to Calliope. "So what sort of trade or profession do you practice?"
Valindor blinks a few times
"So this is what it's like to go mad." he says, in the tone of one having an epiphany.
"Hello Ms Cow." he says, pleasantly.
Minerva, from her position near the back, blinked at the new development and eyed her own mule for a moment with light suspicion.
"If you've been lying to me all these years, speak up or no more ale-oats" she warned, silently questioning her own sanity.
After a moment or silence Minerva shrugged, satisfied she wasn't being watched, and fed the animal an oat-cake before inspecting the new half-cow doppel-thing with critical eye.
Thikka eyes the shapeshifter. Then she stalks up to her, eying her firmly, eye to eye, given the shapeshifter's short stature.
THONK
The walking stick raps her on the forehead. "Pay more attention next time, that stupid arrow sticking out of your backside nearly got you burned. Good thing for you I think first and act later, half this lot act first and don't bother thinking later..." She eyes Ritmus as a prime example, then gives Valind a glare. "Alright folks, let's get going, I'm tired of these stupid interruptions. Next weird person or thing that stops this caravan, I turn them into a cricket and feed them to Bhen."
Valind, still doubting his sanity, starts to record what he's seeing in his book.
If it's a dream he might as well play along.
"So, Ms Calliope the Cow. Are you from another world as well? Actually, if you're a shapeshifter are you even a Ms? I wouldn't want to get that wrong."
He considers further "And you're not really wearing armour, are you?"
"At this rate, my ballad is a shoo-in for an Umbral Award!
Thikka snorts at Droka, then says in a nasally affected voice. "Well, Ms. Thikka, how did your trip from the Fort go? Any excitement? Anything unusual?"
Thikka then continues in her normal voice. "Nope, not a damn thing happened. Quietest walk I've had in 10 years. Had a cow panic and break it's fool neck, other than that, nothin."
She switches back to the nasally voice. "Well, your fellow companions are telling some wild stories, and the bard has a song that makes little sense. Honestly we're beginning to question their sanity."
Thikka switches back to her normal voice. "Nope, nothin' weird happened. I think it was the purple mushrooms they all had for dinner a few days ago, I did't eat 'em, they looked bad. They started sayin' all sorts of weird stuff after that, and the halfling cleric started trying to mount the cow, that's why it panick'd and ran off the ravine and broke it's neck, poor cow. I liked that cow. I think they're all nuttier than a barrel of acorns."
Back to the nasally voice. "OH! That would surely explain it, we'll just have to put them in the asylum and hope they recover in the next ten years or so."
"What IS it with you. It's possible to talk to someone of the other sex without trying to sleep with them! We don't have to be segregated! I mean I don't suggest anything about the way you hang out with her!" Valind points at Minerva.
Minerva flinched as if physically struck when the cleric pointed at her, the tiefling quickly turning to dig through he mule's saddlebags, hiding both her look of sheer terror on her face and the slight blush as the implications of what the halfling said sunk in, she let the thought run rampant for a moment just to distract herself from the icy fear in her heart.