Bingo scuffs his feet in the dust before following Norn to the stables, "Aww, I wanted ta see 'em fight. Oh, well, mebbe next time. C'mon, Hermie, I'll help ya saddle yer horse."
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"Listen, Drispeera, I'm sorry if I misinterpreted what you said, and I surely didn't want to talk down to you, but I thought Kaeso, you and me all talked about the same Kobolds. As it seems now, Kaeso and I actually did.And I don't know how it was in your homeland, but since we haven't actually done anything remotely similar to, I don't know, electing a leader who gets to say 'I have decided that we will go', the usual practice in this land would be that everyone who has one voices his opinion and then we all follow whichever opinion the majority of this companionship supports. Most of us have already proven that we are doing exactly that.
So as long as the rest of this group doesn't suddenly proclaim you our leader, maybe you should think about wether you are able and willing to do the same.
If you aren't, this companionship might not be the right environment for you, after all.
This isn't about you, this isn't about me, this is about all of us making compromises so that we can work together."
Hmmm... I have studied this democracy you speak of. Tell me, does it consist of all of us agreeing on a plan... and then your doing something different, as in our first battle together? Or is it Bingo leaving you alone with three living opponents in order to come to my aid? (Very sweet of you, dear, if ill-considered.) Or perhaps it is your wasting time negotiating with those living opponents while your teammates were dying in active combat? Maybe 'making compromises' was YOUR decision of where we will all go when only two other people have spoken, and one disagrees with you, and the other half-agrees with each of us? When YOU give the command, it's democracy? And when I actually decide to accept your advice and go with you, you can't graciously accept-- you have to antagonize me again in front of the others? THIS is what you call working together?
From our earlier private discussions, it's clear that you are the one without much experience interacting with others, and are used to keeping to yourself and selfishly following your own whims. On the other hand I have great experience working with others. For instance I know from experience that kobolds' stupidity is surpassed only by their evilness. They will easily betray any agreement if it suits them to do so. That is why I would not tolerate those in our company working for them. Perhaps I could have been more patient explaining that to young Sir Kaeso. In truth, I had already spent my patience on these discussions. I am from a noble house (to Hermia-- in Kyonin, actually. I personally have no ties to Brevoy at all) and I am unused to being disrespected in such a way. In opposition to your noble words of the common cause, you have broken our agreements, and made assumptions about me several times, at times putting our whole groups' life at stake to selfishly follow your own ideas.
You are a child when it comes to wordly matters so I will let this pass one last time. I think everyone here would admit (at least to themselves) that I have been enormously helpful with the team goals, and she shoots Bingo a quick look (and with party morale) -wink-. And what have I asked for in return? Anything beyond an even share with the rest of you? No. Simply to be heard and treated with respect. Not to have my decisions taken from my hands. For that small price you will have the benefit of my substantial talents in your quests. What say all of you? If I give aid and carry my share and more of the burden, is it too much to ask for courtesy and respect in return?
Taking a moment to let her words sink in, Drispeera then turns and rides after Norn.
Hermia nods and follows Bingo and Norn to the stables, where her proud stallion Faun waited among the stalls. She hears the argument swell between the two women, and decides that the best choice is to allow them to come to terms with themselves. Knowing literally nothing of either woman, her voice and any attempt at mediation would simply confuse their intent.
It does not even occur to her that Bingo has a disadvantage to help her saddle her horse until she sees Faun and their difference in height, when she giggles.
"That is, of course, very silly of me," she says aloud. Finding herself alone in the stables with three men, and recognizing that Norn is very handsome, Hermia blushes and keeps her eyes trained on her mount. "Might I ask what you do for entertainment?" she inquires. "Surely it can't all be watching your fellows disagree with each other."
Paladins. Why do girls love paladins so much?
"I like to ride and, well, lift heavy stuff. Other than that I'm pretty quiet. Well, I'm starting to enjoy archery, too." He takes a long look at Hermia, and then notices that he's staring, and quickly looks away.
"I sure hope Drispeera and Mornaura can get along. You should have seen them working together in our first fight! It was glorious. In our second fight, we could have been more careful and focused. We got separated, and I remember Drispeera walked away from the group and right into a trap. I wish she'd waited for me."
Kaeso smiles at the memory of the sleep spells and the falcon. "I really hope they can get along. If they join forces, I think the Stag Lord doesn't stand a chance."
"Alright, use your superior courtly linguistic proficiency to mix different situations and twist words until everything suits you. I don't care."
With a wave of her hand, Mornaura lets out a very tired sounding sigh.
"All I wanted is to make clear that you aren't our leader and nor am I."
The witch checks the girths and buckles of her horse for at least the third time, before finally mounting it.
Hermia smiles at Kaeso's reply. "I like to read and I can mend small broken things with spells if I prepare them before hand," she says cheerfully. "I also like... to take walks," she pauses and looks to the ground again. It was easy enough to walk where the rangers patrolled and kept folk safe, but if Kaeso's words were any indication, there would be little call for such innocent adventures, here.
"Everyone knows that bandits serve their greed first, and a leader second," she says. "I also hope we can learn to work together. Effective communication and cooperation will lend to victory over our foes, in any guise."
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Very well, are we agreed then? We're off to get magic zucchini's for the kind Svetlana's soup? We can offer a little in trade. But if that is not acceptable, we just put them to sleep and take some. No indenturing ourselves to little evil gremlins.
And from there hopefully we can get clues for the many quests Brevoy has decided to grace us with.
To Hermia My apologies for that uncourteous introduction to our group. Truly we are very happy to have you join our merry band. Your talents are sorely needed. But tell me, what made you leave the safety of the temples to venture out into the dangerous wilds?
Hermia blushes and nods as she clambers atop her huge stallion. "I argued with my elders concerning our position on banditry," she admits as she hooks her slender leg over Faun's flank. "I wished to be more proactive. The Father did not agree. And I thought that my... extensive experience and patience with tedium could be of better use here," she almost jokes and smiles.
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As for myself, I'm from a noble family in Kyonin-- Home of the Elves--do you know it? But alas, I am a lesser daughter. My family decreed I was to wed some elderly noble in Brevoy as a business arrangement. She gives a self-deprecating smile. Perhaps that is why I so hate being told what I will do. I could be wearing silks and sleeping in a down bed, instead of getting chaffed by this stinky beast-- if only I had learned the art of being quiet and doing what I was told.
"Now, you two, kiss and make up," says Bingo, with a wink at Hermia.
Hermia settles herself atop Faun's back as she listens to Dispeeera, clearly not an experienced rider. "No, I cannot say as I am familiar," she says almost apologetically. She pauses and considers Dispeera's words. "It is difficult to know the intent of our elders, especially when it concerns our freedoms.
"My... family believed that the influence of the church would cool the hot and flighty nature of my soul," she tells Dispeera and looks ahead, eyes focused on something far in the distance. "Learning letters and magics interested, it is true, but I chafed under the scrutiny of my elders, and looked for every opportunity to be engaged away from the temple."
Hermia blushes at Bingo's proposal, and barely can meet his eyes before leaning forward and patting Faun's neck. "It must be the influence of my Faun," she returns with a faint smile, before biting her lower lip softly and shifting on her saddle for a more comfortable position.
With a deadpan face and a contemplative voice, the witch says, "I bet what Bingo really wanted to say is 'kiss and make out', but I think noone here will do him such a huge favor."
She musters Hermia for a while, especially to see if her face will become even more red.
"So you are something of a rogue cleric, then. A pretty temple cat gone astray. Well, it seems all of us are strayers, moving out of the reach of our elders, in some way or another," she adds, still thougtful, but quietly chuckling.
Norn raises his chin and looks towards the sky pensive for a moment after Hermia's question.
"I came here from Taldor at a very young age, and Taldans are not very... respected around here. A lot of old resentments still exist in its people since the last invasion. I had to work very hard to finally prove myself as a true Rostlander, although I may not be a Rostlander by blood.
"As for fun, I like a good hunt. Although I am much better with my sword, I am not exactly a slouch with a bow. Kaeso has said the same as well, I wonder if it is just the land or even Erastil pushing us towards it. For an usually good deity, he can be a bit twisted some times, hehe." He lets out a low chuckle.
He beams a smile at Hermia after hearing her story. He finds her strong willed, willing to pursue what she believes in instead of just doing what is expected of her, and he respects that.
"Allright gang, let us head out. Mornaura, I hope you do not mind, but I will go ahead and take one of the longbows. I only brought this short one from home, and I can get much more range with this." Norn takes out the longbow and starts testing the strings, trying to imitate Kaeso when he did so a few days ago.
"A-aye," Hermia stumbles in response to Mornaura. "It has been said before. The cat reference," she adds, apparently exasperated.
Truth, very few mothers would allow their boys near the stray cat Hermia. For years Hermia struggled to define their hesitance, if it were her position as an acolyte and recently a priestess, but she had heard it said that none were certain of her origins, that the only mother she had known was never full with her. It was whispered that her father, though none too devout, lay with another woman in his roaming and brought Hermia to home when he swallowed his shame. Though the Father discouraged gossips, Hermia could not dismiss the possibility. Hermia knew quite well that people could be cruel.
As Norn leads the charge, Hermia stays quietly, and assumes a place where she knows that her healing will be most effective, nearer the ladies and Bingo.
Bingo listens to the others telling their stories but does not say anything.
Kaeso drops back to ride next to Bingo.
"Like I said, I don't mean to pry. . ." Kaeso is at a loss, and dosen't know what else to say. He thinks perhaps he's said too much already.
Kaeso drops back to ride next to Bingo.
** spoiler omitted **
Bingo rides quietly beside Kaeso for several minutes, deep in thought.
random encounter
You travel back to the radish patch without too much trouble. Any special preparations? (i.e., traveling at night or at day? trying to sneak on em?)
"People close to me died, Kaeso, died in ways too horrible to contemplate. I swore it would never happen again, not if I had to die to stop it. Some day, maybe, I'll tell you more but not today." Bingo glances at Kaeso, shakes himself and then rides up next to Hermia. "Heya, cutie, wattcha doin'? Mebbe we kin do sum a' thet prayin' tonight." He leers at the young cleric.
Hermia blushes and spares a glance for Dispeera and Mornaura. "I... am trying to recall what I know of siege engines," she answers honestly, "but Faun's gait is a bit of a hindrance," she admits.
Hermia pulls her lower lip between her teeth in an attempt to forestall answering Bingo's question. His leer is obvious, and though flattering, she is wary of how relations between party members, already strained, might suffer. But then, he could genuinely be asking to pray, in which case she would make a wanton snob of herself, and worse a scoundrel of him. "Certainly," she says, and offers a faint smile. "When I have completed any chores the others set for me."
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More than happy to lift Bingo's spirits from whatever dire topic he'd been discussing with Kaeso, and tease Hermia at the same time, Drispeera bursts into laughter. Oh, trust me, time with that one is no chore. In fact it's quite invigorating! Then she feigns contemplation. But a moment ago you were offering two crowns for me to kiss Mornie or was it Hermia, or was it to take their eyes out? I'm confused. No matter, I'll do either, with either, for two crowns. Or both at once for 5!
"All right," chortles Bingo, rubbing his hands together. "Now yer talkin'! Mornie, Hermie, Dris sez she'll kiss both of y'all for 5 gold crowns. Or scratch yer eyes out! What'll you offer me? C'mon, make a bid, let's get some action goin' here."
You approach the radish patch again, and surprisingly, the patch is empty today. You do see 3 small spears lying about...
Kaeso looks around nervously: "I'm glad they are gone, but why would they leave their spears?"
He sees what he can see on horseback. Perception:
"It might be a very close call, but I would rather be kissed than getting my eyes scratched out," she mutters in Bingo's direction.
Arriving at the radish patch, she answers Kaeso's question, "Um, I don't think they would leave them voluntarily. Either something scared them off or they had something more important to carry. Let me take a closer look," she adds with a shrug.
Mornaura pulls her staff out of the saddle holster, gets off her horse and walks over, all the while looking around carefully.
Arriving at the spot, she squats down, examines the ground and the spears closely, and sends Faron up to get an overview of the surroundings.
Mornaura's survival instincts point her in the right direction. She finds some footprints and tracks. They seem to have been made by a hoof, possibly of a large boar or a similar animal. The tiny kobold's footprints seem to scatter recklessly across the field and disappear into the eventual bushes.
The radishes seem to be unharmed.
Faron, however, notices a corpse to the south of the patch. When you get closer, you recognize it as probably one of the kobolds from earlier. At least, it has the same coloring of scales, which usually means they are the same tribe.
"We might as well get the radishes, while we can."
Kaeso stays mounted, and has his lance ready, in case some beastie comes out of the trees.
When Faron comes back and, with the help of the Feral Speech hex on Mornaura's side of the conversation, tells his mistress about the corpse before heading of for the next round of scouting, the witch leads her companions to the corpse.
"Looks like something DID scare them after all... Ah, we really should have convinced Borden to come with us instead of guarding the transport of the prisoners. I got to admit that his tracking skills are really not to be sneezed at."
After slowly turning around herself, trying to get a feeling for the direction the kobolds have taken, Mornaura looks up to Kaeso, chuckling slightly.
"You're right, Kaeso. At least we don't have to haggle over them now. I'd suggest we harvest the radishes and then try to follow the kobolds' - and the beast's - tracks...? Maybe they lead us to their burrow. What do you all say?
Oh, and does anyone know what exactly killed the kobold?"
She walks back to one of the packhorses and unties the shovel from the saddlebags.
Harvesting. How I hate it.
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Does the dead kobold appear to have been gored? Or any other apparent reason for its death? Also does it have anything of note worth taking?
Perception:
Drispeera hesitates before finally dismounting.Ack! Do they really expect me to do this? Better give it a shot. Don't want to be scolded for not being a team player, again. It seems our debate about what to do with the kobolds has been postponed.
At home, Chef used to make raisin-braised turnips in a lime and shallot cream sauce. Heavenly! I've never actually seen them in, you know, the dirt before. -sighs- I suppose its just as well to get off this horse tho. My bum is so stiff.
With a slow start to watch the others, Drispeera is actually fairly nimble at pulling the little bulbs up.
Bingo examines the kobold's body and the surroundings.
Perception
Heal
Survival
Heal d20 +3
The kobold body is indeed dead. After inspecting the wounds, Bingo can deduct that the kobold's death was caused by impalement, such as with a tusk, through the chest. Poor little guy.
The tracks are not entirely fresh, there were most likely caused relatively close in time to when you were here last time.
This would also match the time of death for the corpse, Bingo points out.
Hermia tries to maintain a smile when Bingo's eyes appear empty. A priestess, she can't very well ignore a man in pain, but the act he has taken upon himself is lewd enough for her to politely decline.
"I scarcely believe that Dispeeera need monetary inducement to kiss one as lovely as me," Hermia opines loudly, and winks at the sorceress, "though the church, being me, would appreciate the proceeds," she says and laughs softly.
...
Hermia frowns at the corpse of the kobold, and dismounts from her horse, but does not reach it in time before Bingo kneels to study it injuries. She watches the others move across the field and remains close to Bingo, always keeping Kaeso and Norn in sight.
"If it is your intent to take these radishes now, my magics can keep them fresh for as long as it is required for us to follow the track you found, Miss Mornaura."
"Oh, I guessed they would remain fresh long enough even if we decide but if you can ensure that with the help of your magical gift, Hermia, I would certainly appreciate it," the witch answers, similing benignly. "Oh, but you don't have to 'Miss' me. We're all companions here, right?"
She stuffs the next few handfuls of radishes into the well-stocked saddlebags, then looks at her companions.
"I think these bags are full, how about yours? When we're finished here, do we want to follow the tracks and find out if they lead us to the kobolds' burrow? And if so, Bingo, would you mind helping me with the actual tracking?"
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Just out of curiosity... We care about kobold-skewering boars because? 1)We fear for the lives of the other poor, dear, inebriated kobolds? 2)We haven't gotten to eat real bacon in a while? 3)We hope the kobolds have sobered up enough at the end of this to be worth interrogating? If it's the second or third answer, I'm in. Let's see if I can find anything.
Aid Another (survival):
Edit: Look! There's a bunny!
Just out of curiosity... We care about kobold-skewering boars because? <snip>
"I care if there are kobold-skewering boars, because, being a wild beast, it isn't likely to skewer just kobolds. Taking down a vicious beast would be a service to the whole countryside."
Kaeso smiles: "Bacon is a bonus."
Aid another (survival):
"Oh, I haven't really thought about the beast yet, but now that you've mentioned bacon, I'm thinking about wether the Levetons have a smoking oven," Mornaura giggles.
Mornaura is able to detect the large animal's tracks as coming from and then towards the southwest. Sadly, the kobolds did not really have any tracks out of this place :(
"Can we follow the tracks on horseback? In any case, my lance is pretty long. I might be able to keep it at bay while we clobber it. That is, if it's some kind of boar. Who knows what sorts of things are out here?"
Kaeso scratches his blonde hair. "I could try to charge whatever it is, and the rest of you could take it from the flanks, maybe. If there's only one, that is. Mornaura, Drispeera, you're both smart. Do you have a plan?"
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Enchanting creatures and putting them to sleep before we fight them is my specialty, you may have noticed. But if that would take away all your fun, by all means charge it. I am practicing spells for combating awake opponents, but they are not reliable yet. So if you thirst for combat, have fun. I just can't help once everyone is tangled together.
"Oh, Drispeera, I won't deny I'm a little thrilled at the thought of a boar hunt, but I'm not stupid. If you can sleep it, all the better. I've heard these things impale themselves on the spear and just keep going to get the guy holding the spear."
"Maybe we could track it with the falcon going first, and then Bingo moving as quietly as he can. I'd really rather have us surprise the beast rather than it surprise us."
Kaeso dismounts and asks the ladies to turn their heads for a few minutes. He removes his scale mail and puts on leather armor. Then, gear packed onto Joss, he climbs back onto Happ's old horse, shield in one hand and lance in the other. "I can't really ride very well in that stuff," he says apologetically.
"If that beast had eaten any kobolds, there should be... remains. And it wouldn't have left the that one in one piece. Maybe they just ran into each other."
Leaning on her staff while waiting for Kaeso to change his armor, the witch looks up to Faron, who's still circling above the group, and makes some strange, bird-like noises.
Mustering Kaeso's new outfit, the witch shrugs.
"Well, if that's more comfortable... Shall we go, then?"
Bingo slips off Fern's back and tosses the reins to Hermia,"Look after Fern fer me, wud ya, darlin'? I'll see 'bout follerin' these tracks."
Bingo draws his dagger and short sword and starts to follow the tracks leading to the southwest.
Survival
Edit: Damn, where'd that tree come from?
"Bingo? That's northeast you're heading."