Alem bows his head before his mistress, touching the fingers of one hand to his forehead. Master Hassan had entrusted him as his representative to serve Almah to the best of his ability, and he would not fail either of them.
"Mistress Almah, salaam. We have investigated the matter you put before us, and we believe that those responsible for Eloias's most unfortunate passing come from outside our own ranks." Beyond that, the story is more complicated and less certain. Alem pauses for a moment to allow others to take over or for Almah to ask more questions.
"Jackal-Rats. We are unsure if the murder was pre meditated. We believe the creatures somehow were the cause of the fire though. "
"We found tracks around Eloias' wagon, smaller even than the feet of our gnomish friends," Fawziya replies to the Merchant Princess. "We have not yet investigated where they lead yet, as we wanted to be certain we had exhausted our leads within the camp now that there are signs that the culprits came from without. If it be your desire, we will follow these tracks to wherever they lead and demand justice for our fallen comrade!"
Almah considers all your comments, and nods along as she listens.
"So which is it?!" Almah suddenly demands, a frown on her face. "Is it someone in the camp itself or these jackal rats you speak of? What manner of creature are these?"
"Yeah! What he said!" Zoisa adds, glad Reauleaux actually managed to say something that made sense...in his convoluted kind of way. She figures that must just be his thing, a guy who loved to hear himself talk. "These jackal-rats are apparently also called pugwampis. From what the taller girls said, it sounds like what happened was the pugwampis were hanging around Eloais' wagon, and since they jinx everything around 'em, it caused Eloais to have an accident with the candles in his wagon, which is what ACTUALLY started the fire. And if I'm right, I'd say our role in this is about to change from "investigation" to "pest control." Right, boss?"
Still a bit suprised how Reuleaux was able to say so many things about the investigation but in the end not say very much. Seyhannah asks...
"The question remains Mistress, whether to track these creatures down or not? From what we know of the creatures, there is a good chance that we will encounters Gnolls along the way. What is your pleasure?"
Almah nods at Seyhannah's suggestion.
"Yes, I think I would like one of pugwumpis so I can show the crew what to watch out for. I trust Dashki, but I hesitate to leave him in camp as suspicion against him is the strongest. Take him with you and have him help track down these beasts. Perform well, and I will consider this an on hand test for your hiring of the caravan, as well as add a hefty bonus to the initial pay as well."
"We shall do as you say, mistress. We will not return without a pugwampi in hand." Bowing again, Alem leaves to begin his preparations (and to limit Kaspar's opportunity for mischief).
Seyhannah turns to go find Dashki. Thinking to herself "I hope he was right. Looks like all of our reputations are riding on this little Jackal-Rat. "
Fawziya grins ear to ear at the mention of extra pay. "Done! Does this jackal rat need to be alive? Or will a dead one suffice?"
"If what we know about 'em's true, then a live one'd probably bring more trouble. We already had a fire and a casualty thanks to these things, I think only ONE bad omen will suffice on this trip, thankyouverymuch!" Zoisa says matter-of-factly.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Fawziya's Five appeals to me," says the warrior woman.
"Well, Eloais was talking about that whole "Legacy of Fire" thing the other day. Why not something like "The Fire Legates," eh? Eh?" Zoisa throws out.
"A dead one is preferable." Almah answers. "If the creature is as unpleasant as I expect, I do not want it alive."
Dashki is alright enough joining the hunt to clear his name, but he absolutely refuses to talk to Reu or Fawziya. He makes it clear. If either of these two individuals speaks to him or does anything insulting, even if he just suspects it, he is returning to camp.
Dashki explains that if they hunt the pugwampi during the day, they would never reveal themselves and could see them approach a mile away. As such, he insists waiting until night time.
The desert at night is cooler and feels almost chilly after the intense heat of the day. not only that, but the winds that blow scatter sand which sets off the keener of the group as potential enemy movement.
Dashki has a torch for himself, bu the light it casts won't get far if it should last the entire hunt. How are you all solving your lighting situation, either depending on others, nightvision, etc?
Seyhannah has always had fantastic vision at night and the cool winds of the evening remind her of days long ago when she and her family roamed the deserts.
Sey tries to act as a liaison between Dashki and her two companions trying to keep the peace. Let it be said however that her patience is not great.
"These kind of nights remind me of when I was girl." Seyhannah says atempting to break tension.
If Fawziya takes offense at Dashki's cold attitude, she doesn't show it. As the sun begins to dip below the horizon, she pulls out her own torch and lights it.
"Did you and your family wander the dunes, Seyhannah?", she asks as they travel. "That is a harsh life, living in the wastes, but it breeds strong folk that survive it."
"My people are nomads. This the only life they know. City life has its benefits but out here, it makes you feel closer to the gods. I didn't realize how much I'd missed it. Where you from Fawziya?"
Zoisa mutters a few arcane words and then four glowing balls of light, like the will-o'-the-wisps the northerners speak of, spring out of her hand. They playfully circle a few of the band, before returning to float near Zoisa's head.
"Anyone need a light? I can give us one of these if you don't have a torch or something."
She listens to Seyhannah and Fawziya with rapt attention.
"That sounds splendiferous," she says at Seyhannah's description of the nomadic life. "Always chasin' Sarenrae's skirt, seein' new places, an' seein' old places with new perspectives..."
Seyhannah cocks her head at the sight of Reu with a disguise kit on his head. "If that is indeed your plan please make said disguise so that we can recognize you. If there would be any other Gnolls around I'd hate to get you confused with them."
With the lighting situation....situated....and the disguise of Reu donned, the group sets out to find these supposed Pugwampis in the dead of night..
Dashki leads you to a cragerous area that he belives a pugwampi would favor hiding on top of.
The patches of rocky hills are harder to climb than you anticipated and you find you scuff yourself against the cragerous earth. Uneven shadows dance about in the crackle of Dashki's torch. Every now and then, you can swear a physical shadow is rushing towards you, but a quick wave of Dashki's torch reveals either a small animal or nothing at all.
"We are looking for a little creature, human-shape, even smaller than small-folk (halflings). Light fur, dirty claws, and a tiny jackal head."
You stop at some point, reaching a plateau area.
"Look for tracks.." Dashki mumbles, and presses his face closely to the ground.
"Agarabar originally, Seyhannah," Fawziya says as she begins to examine the area for tracks. "A modest city of some wealth, and my father assists the governor directly. Or, at least, I assume he still does. I have not been back for years, ever since I left to earn glory for my name and gold for my purse. Since then, I've traveled extensively from one end of the Inner Sea to the other, testing my sword arm against the worst foes I could find. But I'll save those stories for another day."
While Fawziya isn't necessarily lying about anything, it sounds like she's omitting things from her story.
Alem gladly accepts Zoisa's offer of a floating light, as he had neglected to prepare such a spell for himself. "Master Hassan has often told me of the benefits of partial preparation, but it seemed unnecessary to me when he was already prepared for anything."
Alem is not the only one who appreciates Zoisa's gift. The monkey grabs for the light, trying to catch the witchlight in his hands. "Kaspar, this is no time for games!"
Reu's disguise makes Alem uneasy. He thought it would be comical to see little Reuleaux with greasy face-paint and a fake mane trying to look like a fearsome gnoll, but the effect is closer to the real thing than expected. For the first time, Alem begins to appreciate that they might actually encounter gnolls out here in the wastes, and the thought makes him nervous. "I hope that the great Fawziya bint Abdul-Wali has felled many gnolls by her blade. I know of no worse foes than those foul creatures. When I was a young boy, gnolls came and attacked our village. Those they did not kill, they took as chattel for the Fleshfair."
Seyhannah draws her scimitar and begins looking around the area for tracks.
"Wow! You've a core of iron, lady!" Zoisa exclaims at Fawziya's story. Then she hears Alem's and she makes a disgusted noise.
"Gross. I almost ended up a slave when my parents died. I couldn't fend off their creditors and so they were gonna take their money out of my hide by selling it. If Haleen hadn't helped me, I'd probably have Bleached in captivity! No one deserves to be held like that. Just another reason why these gnolls should be punted out of Kelmarane, so they can't do it to anyone else!"
You do find dozens of small footprints leading to and from the Sultan's Claw, finally retreating into the darkness of hill country. What's more, you swear you find what looks remarkably like goat tracks.
This winds whip at your clothing, and you can't be certain if its the howling of the wind, or the howling of something far more....sinister.
Seyhannah looks at Dashki and nods "Tracks, all over. They seem to be heading toward the hills. I think they might have been chasing a goat. Keep that torch low, it will easily give away our position. "
"Of course, Alem! I have tested myself against the mongrel dogmen of the dunes, and shattered the chains of a dozen slaves meant for the auction block. You could not stand against the gnolls as a child, but you are a child no more. With your magics and my sword, the gnolls shall rue the day they chose to raid your village!"
"Or Almah might be pleased if we retrieve one of the unaccounted-for missing animals. And even if it isn't one of ours, hey! Free goat!" Zoisa adds.
You follow the trail for several hundred feet with Fawziya's aid, enjoying the dancing lightsZoisa has provided, but the soon flicker and go out leaving anyone with normal vision to depend on Dashki's torch and Reja's light spear. It makes for a constant process but does give you all excellent vision before it needs to be recast.
With every step you take, you swear the shadows are growing longer, increasingly jagged and reaching for you when you aren't looking, only to snap back into place when you check. Tension rises, and all of you feel as if something terrible is about to happen. Reuleaux can see the way the moonlight plays tricks, but even he still snaps to suspicious movements just in case. And then....
A brief cry of what sound like a human child begins to emanate from the darkness. It seems you're entering what appears to e cactus fields as well, the cry coming from deeper inside the patch.
Seyhannah peers into the patch trying to see anything of the enemy and to discern a way through.
Zoisa conjures more dancing lights, and she winces a bit at the strange sounds and noises. She sidles up to Dashki and whispers to him.
"Are the pugwampis doing this, making it seem like the world's turning against us? If so, the little @#$%ers are more devious than I expected."
Concern crosses Fawziya's face as she hears the child's cry cut short, and her scimitar is quickly unsheathed from her hip. "Give me a light, I shall lead our way in to investigate." Once a firebrand is in her other hand, she enters, attempting to clear-cut a way towards the source of the noise.
Dashki shakes his head in the negative to Zoisa's question.
"The desert takes many lives...Some say those spirits still haunt the sands..."
Reuleaux proceeds to summon an invisible servant of sorts, the only evidence of it being there is the two foot impressions in the sand and (assuming someone does lend a blade) it proceeds to start hacking at the thick patch of cactus.
It is slow goings, and as the sword isn't really made to cut through thick trunks of cactus and the unseen servant isn't the strongest of beings, you estimate it will take a very, very long time before a suitable path is made. As the minimum, it'll probably be day again.
Alem listens closely to the summoning tune. That is no magic that I recognize. Perhaps his servant comes from the Maelstrom? Surely no normal air elemental would respond to such a call. Unimpressed with the speed at which the invisible creature hacks through the field, Alem sends his monkey out to locate the source of the sound and pushes forward into the cactus field himself. "Kaspar, go find the crying child. Lead me to him."
Obviously impatient with the rate at which the cactus clearing is going, Seyhannahs sees Alem move into the cactus himself is the last straw for her. Retrieving her sword from the silent helper,"I'll take that." she drives into the patch following Alem.
As Alem makes his way through the catcus patch, he feels sure of his steps and pace. Yet, suddenly he misses a stone that should have easily been spotted and slips pressing a hand into a nearby cactus to balance himself.
How Unlucky....
Seyhannah moves to follow, but has a much worse time of it.
How Unlucky...
You both are about halfway through the cactus patch.
"Ah!" Alem recoils from the cactus, his hand bleeding from the spine. Still, there is nothing for it but to press on.