Geedra' enthusiasm drops as she figures out the hat's capabilities. "No good for Geedra. Geedra stay warm already very good." She pushes it towards the others. "Group take for cold. Am useful to group not like cold. Geedra am kill evil Fey good enough.
She happily tears at the venison, tossing Fox a piece of the lean meat and some of the bread. She kept the fatty part, tearing at it with her sharp fanged mouth. She grinned at the children, noticing them watching her.
After Skäne finishes with the cairn, Cara visits it afterwards to give a silent prayer of her own to aid the departed in journeying to the next world.
She then enjoys the warmth and relative safety of the group's current circumstances but remains mostly quiet. Not knowing when another comfortable night will be afforded to the group again, she goes to sleep early.
Maret shakily accepts Skäne's throwing axe, her lip trembling for a response. When the viking speaks of its strength against the fey and the vengeance it can bring, her son Jory's eyes seem to fixate on the weapon and a steely look takes hold of his face.
You eat, drink, and sleep the weariness of the day away, and rouse at dawn for the last leg of your journey to Whitethrone. Maret thanks you again for your assistance and wishes you good fortune, and Nadya embraces her children tightly.
"Be good, boys. Mind Maret and look after her children. I will be back as soon as I can." Nadya has tears welling in the corners of her eyes as she says goodbye, and Orm and Mjoli who always try to be so brave can't help but sniffle. Nadya embraces Maret as well, whom she has apparently become fast friends with. "I cannot thank you enough," she tells the widow.
"Nor I you," Maret replies.
After all of your own farewells, Nadya leads you through the brush and down the hill into the village, such that it is. You see that two sleds are ready for you outside of a stable, a man waiting there for you. You recognize many of the dogs as Nadya's, or the ones commandeered from the Pale Tower, but others are new additions. The sleds are stocked with new supplies and foodstuffs to last a few days. You divide three and three on the sleds with Nadya taking the lead, and you set off away from Ellsprin and into the tundra.
The first day is a welcome respite, a still and quiet passage during which the wind and cold do not sink down into the marrow. The going is smooth and unmolested, and the night is mild and calm.
The second day takes you over a crest that unveils a small herd of caribou thundering across the crusty snow, but unfortunately they are too far off and too nimble to warrant giving chase. A few hours later a gyrfalcon soars overhead. An hour after that, 5 gyrfalcons soar overhead, which is a strange sight to behold indeed.
Just as you raise your brows at the solitary hunters apparently heading in your direction in a flock, a hail of arrows arcs from just over the tip of a large snowdrift to the west, about a hundred and fifty feet away. The arrows sink into the snow all around the sleds, enough to cause Nadya to pull a hard right both in surprise and to protect the dogs from fire by putting the sacks of supplies between the rise and the dogs.
Looking to the origin of the projectiles, near a half dozen figures in fur coats and helmets appear atop the drift, trudging over the snow on snowshoes as they ready arrows for another shot...
Round 1
Nadya brings her sled close to the rear sled, and loops a rope around one of the front rungs of it to keep the two vehicles together, and immediately sets to work keeping the dogs under control.
Init:
Nadya: 17
Katie: 15
Skäne: 13
Enemies: 11
Cara: 8
Geedra: 5
Krosh: 2
Skäne recognises the hard look in Maret's son and stoops to the lad laying a hand on his slight shoulder;
"You are Jory Bolvarsonn. Honour your faðir and his sacrifice. Earn that axe a name..."
Skäne takes up a position in the rear sled mindful that others have keener eyes in this terrain than him.
As the falcons dart o'erhead the gruff Northman scowls at them balefully from within his helm. The rain of arrows that follow do little to improve his black mood.
With a curse Skäne dismounts his sled ;
"We'll be like īgullr lest we give those kylar something to fear..."
He nods towards the distant bowmen, and readies his shield
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In a battle like this, it's time to move over and stand next to Skane, and begin singing. Cara should be able to deal with most of this, right?
Right! She hopes so, anyways.
While she's trying to remember where she was on the song that she usually sings, she instead goes with a relatively old Skald war ballad.
She hopes that singing a song from the Land of the Linnorm Kings would make clear that they are Not To Be Messed With.
Skäne and Katie act first, both disembarking the rear sled and turning their attention to the approaching archers. Skäne readies his trusted shield and Katie breaks into song - a northern war chant that fills the lot of you with confidence and ardor.
The falcons screech as they speed forward, unhesitating in their focus in attacking you - such obedience and resolve that Cara recognizes as a bond beyond mere man and pet. The grey, blue, and white birds sail over the two Ulfen and specifically target your backline, harassing Cara, Geedra, and Krosh. Two falcons descend upon Cara with their slashing talons. In avoiding the first, the ranmger puts herself in harms way of the second, and a gash opens up on her neck, very near her throat! Two more attack Krosh. One falcon rakes at his armor ineffectually, while the other nips his exposed wrist. The remaining falcon swoops in to strike Geedra, but the goblin ducks under the blow.
The archers continue their approach and all open fire on Skäne and Katie, and a hail of arrows falls around the two Ulfen. Three arrows fall to the snow around Skäne, one having bounced off of his shield. One narrowly misses Katie, but the second careening towards her sinks into her leg and bites deep.
miss
threat
hit
miss
miss
miss
Cursing again as his shield fails to protect Katie, Skäne growls in growing anger.
Bellowing he charges toward the distant archers;
Geedra takes a 5’ step away from the threatening falcon, fears her head back and let’s out a silent scream meant only for the bird’s ears.
Giving Aran a command to guard her against anymore falcon attacks, Cara fires a volley of arrows at the closest archer.
[+1 if within 30'; +2 if human]
[+1 if within 30'; +2 if human]
[+1 if within 30'; +2 if human]
Skane is going for the archers, Cara is going for the archers... Geedra is dealing with the falcons, and so is her pet.
She keeps right on singing and heads for the falcons, firing off a cure spell to fix her leg along the way. So what if the arrow to the knee was hurting?! She'd have time for pain later!
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Geedra dives away from the raptor attacking her, and swiftly weaves her eldritch prowess to counter the falcon's screaming descent with her own sonic blast. The falcon suddenly starts to spasm in midair from the deafening wrack, obviously pained by the spell and offset to boot.
Cara calls upon her own extraordinary avian bond, calling on Aran the snowy owl to intercept the falcon's advance. She then lines her sight against one of the encroaching archers and releases a pair of arrows into the arctic air. One sails past its intended target, but the second one bites down deep enough that you can hear the struck man bellow a curse.
Krosh grumbles low in his throat at the falcon attack and shifts away also, positioning himself to get his own spell landed on the birds. He holds out his hands and mutters a strange intonation, and flames leap out in a swirling arc from his fingertips, the shadows in them almost looking like faces for a flicker of a moment. One of the falcons turns on the wing in time to avoid the full blast, though its feathers still are singed and smoldered. The second takes the wave full on falls in a charred mess into the snow.
Round 2
Nadya continues to keep the dogs under control despite the screeching falcons, magical spells, and falling arrows.
Skäne bellows a curse to the archers and sets off on a full charge at them, covering more than half the distance between you and them with thunderous footfalls.
Katie leaves her mentor to the charge and turns to help her comrades, healing herself of the ragged arrow wound in the process.
You hear a few shrill whistles of differing pitches from the archers, and the singed falcon makes a loop and begins flying back towards its master, as does the one who had attacked Cara. The dazed falcon cannot do so, nor can the incinerated one. The archers themselves halt their approach upon seeing the charging Ulfen suddenly only forty feet from them and turn their arrows onto him to stop his advance. Their arrows, however, shoot past and fall around the Ulfen, with one looking as though it is about to strike when suddednly the viking's trusty shield comes up to bat it away.
Things are looking in your favor, but suddenly a deep growl erupts from behind the sleds, and a huge white wolf the size of a horse charges in from around a snowdrift! As if its sudden growl and appearance and size were not enough, it yells out at you in the common tongue.. "You shall pay for your attack on the Pale Tower!" it booms.
Stopping fifteen feet short of the sleds, the wolf heaves and blows out a cone of frigid elemental cold! The sharp, surging blast courses over much of the gathered group...
Nadya: 17
Katie: 15
Skäne: 13
Enemies: 11
Cara: 8
Geedra: 5
Krosh: 2
Krosh HP: 13/31
Krosh spells:
0 - Create Water, Detect Magic, Purify Food and Drink, Know Direction
1 - Burning Hands, Bless, Hex Ward, Protection from Evil, Bane
2 - Flame Blade, Lesser Restoration, Cure Moderate Wounds
As the winter wolf appears, Skäne curses under his frozen breath;
"Skit! Vetr-valdr !"
The warrior considers veering back toward his companions... to face the greater threat and better death, but instead plows murderously toward the nearest archer;
:
:
After dodging the worst of the cold blast, Cara directs her bow at the talking, cold-breathing giant wolf. Afterwards she takes a 5' step off her sled.
Reflex
Geedra casts Aggressive Thundercloud to Harris’s the giant wolf.
Electricity damage
DC 16 Reflex to avoid.
Cutting off her song to support her ally, Katie moves her way around the sled to get closer to the wolf. Ideally, she'll get between the wolf and their ranged support--but stay 10 feet away from the thing so it can't full attack her. If that leaves her with a standard action, she'll use it on a mirror image spell.
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Round 2 Continued
The winter wolf's arctic blast crashes around the sleds and their passengers in an incisive campaign, carrying a cold so intense it burns as it sinks through furs and leathers and skin alike. Nadya, Geedra, and Krosh take the full brunt of the blast, sharp needles of frost and rime surging all over them. Katie and Cara manage to avoid the total impact, their evasive maneuvering protecting them from some of the cold.
Cara retaliates with another quick display of fluid archery, sending a pair of arrows into the magical wolf. One glides by, tearing a gash in the wolf's foreleg as it goes, and the other sinks into the beast's thick hide on his side. It yelps out from the sudden pain, a sound that quickly becomes a growl. Geedra follows up with a spell that pulls static from the dry air into a sphere of electricity that blasts into the wolf who does not expect it and howls as the spell arcs and sizzles across his fur.
Krosh gets off of a sled and moves around some the piled cargo, removing himself from the wolf's line of sight, and grasps a talisman hanging about his neck. Silver motes of light pour out from it and swirl about the rest of you around the sleds, bringing a warm, healing glow that counteracts some of the damage you have suffered.
Round 3
Nadya, who had suffered harshly at the breath attack, breathes a deep gulp of air upon being healed, her color returning. She swallows hard and draws her sword and axe, moving up to put herself between the wolf and Geedra/Cara, prepared to go toe to toe with the wolf, perhaps against her better judgment. Katie moves up alongside her a moment later and suddenly there are 6 Katie's there with the completion of a bardic spell. All images of her move as one, making it quite difficult indeed to discern the real her.
Skäne charges the archers to harry them while his allies confront the winter wolf. His rampaging advance lends weight and fury to the swing of his blade, where it collides with the first archer in formation, the same one sporting one of Cara's arrow. He yells in sudden realization of his mortality as the large Ulfen warrior barrels down upon him, and Skäne's blade hews viciously into the man's side, reddening the silver snow underfoot. The man falls.
The remaining archers move away from Skäne in different directions, one moving straight back, the other two splitting off on either side. They all draw a bead and fire upon him, hoping that their volleys will bring him down. One archer misses, the second's arrow is batted away by Skäne's shield, but the third strikes home.
If that weren't enough focusing of fire, two falcons scream and divebomb the viking from behind, but neither's talons are able to break through his armor. The falcon that Geedra had dazed comes to its senses and begins a flight back to its master.
The winter wolf approaches Nadya and Katie slowly, obviously made hesitant due to Katie's illusion.
"I am no stranger to magic, girl...and the witches ply stronger than you.." he growls. He seems to study the 6 Katie's for a moment before suddenly breaking into a dash to bite at the bard, and his terribly jaws snap around her waist...but the image bursts and vanishes as the beast bites an illusion, leaving 5 more Katie's to vex him.
Krosh HP: 24/31
Krosh spells:
0 - Create Water, Detect Magic, Purify Food and Drink, Know Direction
1 - Burning Hands, Bless, Hex Ward, Protection from Evil, Bane
2 - Flame Blade, Lesser Restoration, Cure Moderate Wounds
WW HP: 31
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"That's because I'm no mage."
Katie shifts her grip to twohanded, the channeled energy having fully healed her as she runs her fingers down the sword to infuse it with her arcane magics before swinging with all she has.
She had the perfect one liner in mind, but she opts to hold her tongue until she actually connects.
When the arrow bites into his thigh, Skäne bellows in first pain, then fury as he spits insults at the huntsmen;
"Hrafnasueltir! I will leave bones kald und shivering in the sna!"
Biting his shield, the beserking warrior barrels forward toward one of the men, hacking wildly with his sword:
:
:
Cara remains quiet and focused as she sends another set of arrows at the winter wolf adversary.
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Round 3 (continued)
Undaunted, Cara presses on, firing another pair of arrows at the winter wolf as it faces off with Katie and her copies. Two more arrows pound into the side of the magical beast and it staggers a step from the impact of the hits. It turns its attention towards Cara.
Krosh fiddles with a talisman again and whispers, eyes closed. A light breeze ripples through the area, soft swirls of snow whirl around his feet and around Geedra, Nadya, Katie, and Cara. Each feels a sense of otherworldly guidance settle into them.
Round 4
Nadya maneuvers a step away from Katie and brings her weapons at the wolf in a quick flurry of strikes. Her longsword comes down on the beast's back from the side and as it further turns its attention to the new source of pain, her hand axe comes up in an upward swing that buries into its throat. It grunts and lets out a growl that quickly becomes a gurgle and collapses. Nadya exhales deeply, almost seeming surprised that she felled the creature.
A short distance away, Skäne roars his fury and threats to the archers, entering his viking rage. He charges forward like a feral bear and hacks into an archer hard with his longsword, blade tasting flesh and blood alike. The man yells and staggers around where he stands but manages to keep his footing, though he looks gravely wounded. He drops his bow and pulls out his own blade and swipes back at Skäne, who blocks the incoming strike with his shield. The remaining two archers follow Cara's strategy, each firing a pair of arrows at the enraged warrior, but they land in the snow around his feet, bounce off of his shield, or sail past. The falcons descend upon him from behind, but their talons fail to penetrate his armor.
Geedra cackles as the mouthy Wolf was easily taken down. She moves in Skane ‘s direction, pulling her wand of ice Spears as she did so. If he didn’t take them out next round, she planned on trying it out!
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Blade: Buried.
With that done, it's time to head towards the archers.
With the winter wolf menace neutralized, Cara steps 5 feet closer to the one of the archers and fires two arrows at them.
Round 4 Continued
Katie buries her blade into the downed wolf, driving the weapon deep into the evil hound. It is limned in deep, scarlet red upon egress, yet notably the blood does not steam in the cold air, but turns into feathery red rime. The bard turns and marches towards the rest of the enemies, followed by a cackling Geedra who pulls out a long blue icicle. Cara wastes no time and picking a new target, and sends another pair of arrows screaming through the air at a distant archer. One whizzes by him, but the other punches through his armor and he lets out a cry, forcing him to turn and look at the source. The man's eyes grow wide at the sight of the slain wolf and the advance of the rest of the group. He fumbles with his bow trying to fit another arrow to the string.
Krosh channels energy once more to take the lingering bite of the wolf's breath off of his allies before stomping off to join the others.
Round 5.
Nadya joins the others in their advance.
As the hunters come under fire from his companions, a berserking Skäne flashes a lunatic's grin and launches a vicious blow at the man who faces him ;
:
:
Cara moves 20 feet closer and fires another arrow at the same archer, or another if s/he is already down.
[+1 if within 30 feet]
[+1 if within 30 feet]
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Katie continues her charge up towards the archers, moving her full single move before busting out another Inspire Courage to spur her friends on.
Geedra waits to see how many opponents are left before choosing an attack option.
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Round 5 Cont.
Skäne's sinister grin of pure fury and delight in carnage is the last thing the Falconer before him sees before the frigid hand of death helps him shed the itchy, wet skin of life. The sword rips a path of gore through the already gravely injured man and reduces him to a bleeding wreckage of flesh on the snow. Skäne takes a moment to relish in his victory before springing to another target.
Katie rushes forward and begins another ballad of war, bolstering the resolve and focus of her allies in earshot.
One falcon soars away from the fray, its master dead. Two archers remain, and despite things looking grim for them, they seem intent on taking down the raging Skäne, perhaps thinking his demise is their only way to escape. They each fire a pair of arrows at the raging warrior. The injured archer misses both of his shots, his wounds getting the better of his accuracy. The last bowman's projectiles hone in with precision on their target, though Skäne bashes one away with this shield. The second bites.
The remaining two falcons return to their masters.
Cara advances with her allies and draws a bead on the target she had struck before, sending another arrow tearing through the arctic air. It digs into the man's chest and he heaves, lurching over. He doesn't move.
Nadya: 17
Katie: 15
Skäne: 13
Enemies: 11
Cara: 8
Geedra: 5
Krosh: 2
Geedra doesn’t even waste a charge of her icicle wand against the lone archer. She kept moving towards him, grinning. ”Big human am so going to kill Archer. Geedra am excited. Stay back here so Archer blood not get all over Geedra. Better give up,” the goblin cheerfully threatens.
Intimidate
Skäne growls as he takes the arrow in his shoulder, then turns his baleful gaze toward the last archer.
The vikingr bellows and charges toward the man with bloody intent;
:
:
Cara moves within 30' of the last archer and fires another arrow if he hasn't been defeated.
And Katie joins in with a sword charge as well, if he somehow survives the arrows and the Skane. She activates Arcane Strike as she goes. In either case, she ends her performance. Lingering should cover the rest.
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Nadya, Skäne, and Katie descend upon the lone archer in a gruesome display of Ulfen fury. Their blades ring out a song to their ancestors and the man has no chance, falling into bloody ribbons before their assault. With his demise, the remaining falcons break away and take to the air, speeding away from the violence, their supernatural bonds broken.
Checking for supplies, between the five archers you come up with five composite longbows (+1 str bonus), five suits of studded leather, and some seventy arrows. Each also has a longsword and a falconry gauntlet. You pool 32 gold pieces together, and five potions of cure light wounds.
The winter wolf does not have any equipment, but Nadya makes a remark. "This winter wolf has one blue eye and one purple eye. There's an old folk tale about winter wolves with different eyes, strange as it sounds...supposedly, the pelts of such ones are magical. Some say the pelts allow their wearers to take a wolf form."
Krosh speaks up at this as well. "The huntress is right. I have heard of this. It may be true. The spirits are known for their strangeness."
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"Skin, skin, skin the wolf we smote~"
Skäne leaves the skinning of the wolf to those will better skills than him.
"Minn skills lie in the slatr of virðar ..."
He sets about arraying the bodies of the archers, then stripping them of all items worth the group's attention.
"I can try to skin the creature to see if the rumor is true. Although I would appreciate any help that is offered." Cara says with a thoughtful expression as she looks over the dead creature. Once everyone is ready, she began to carefully remove the pelt.
[+2 if Cold environment helps]
Geedra was intrigued by the chance to make a magic item that would allow someone to turn into a wolf. She tried to help.
Aid another Survival
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Cara leads the process of skinning the slain winter wolf, with Katie, Geedra, Nadya, and Krosh all helping in their own way. Meticulously the hide is taken from the wolf, great care exercised as to not damage any part of the skin for the preparation of its transmutation into a possible magical item. After an hour of work, the job seems to have been a grand success. So successful, in fact, that the hide radiates magical energy already. Geedra studies the aura and their properties, ascertaining that this winter wolf pelt has already become a magical rimepelt all on its own. The reason for this is uncertain - perhaps it has to do with the already-high concentration of magical energy in Irrisen, or perhaps it speaks to the wolf's own eldritch power. Either way, the rimepelt is now in your possession.
After identifying the properties of the rimepelt and finishing with the bodies of the slain guards, you head off again for Whitethrone, dogsleds taking you north.
You travel another forty miles over the next few days, until finally the pinnacles of Whitethrone appear on the horizon. As you come closer and closer to the city, you see that a small river cuts across your path, heading south toward the cliffs that overlook Glacier Lake, the body of water against Whitethrone sits. A stone bridge crosses the river, seemingly constructed with horse, wagon, and caravan traffic in mind. The bridge is well-maintained and the snow has been cleared from its span. Four-foot high stone railings run along both sides of the bridge, topped at either end by iron spikes upon which clean and polished skills have been carefully impaled as if to observe the traffic. A white-painted signpost greets you as you approach from the east, and reads: Merchants must have all proper licenses to do business in Whitethrone. All outsiders are subject to search and inspection at any time. Licensing inquiries may be made at the city gates.'
Upon reading the signs, Nadya looks over her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure my uncle can help with that. We won't need to get into the city to find him. He should be in the Fishcamps, and as far as I know the jadwiga don't bother themselves with that place. After we cross the bridge I can take us there."
She starts the dogs across the bridge, but they suddenly slow to a stop, despite Nadya's mushing. They start to sniff the air and bark and whine. As you are wondering what is the cause, suddenly three huge figures appear emerging from the water, two to your left and one to the right. They clamber up the sides of the bridge, clawed and webbed hands and feet assisting their climb. Twelve feet tall with putrid green, scaly skin, long limbs, hooked noses, beady eyes, and slavering maws, the giants look down at you, dripping ice water. The one in front speaks out in a gravely, broken attempt at the common tongue while holding out his hand. "Papers, please."
After discovering the secrets of the Rimepelt, Cara becomes thoughtful, "Perhaps we can use this later to make travel through the city less difficult. Katie, do you think you can pretend to be a Winter Wolf if necessary?"
When the giants appears, however, she narrows her eyes and waits to see if one of the others can deal with this diplomatically first before she starts firing arrows.
When the water-borne giants lumber toward the group, Skäne scowls and curses under his breath;
"Skit... Trow..."
Instinctively his hand brushes the pommel of his blade, but he holds tongue and iron further as Geedra strides to meet the brutal trio chittering and waving papers.
The lead troll snatches the scroll from Geedra's hands, holding the parchment somewhat carefully in his pointed claws. He peers down his nose, rotating the paper this way and that and squinting at it with his beady eyes. The other two look on, interested. At one point he seems to be looking at the scroll upside-down. After a few moments of this, the troll grunts and stamps his foot, causing the railings on the bridge to rattle slightly.
"Papers not in order! You pay bridge tax!" he exclaims robustly. His two fellows rub their hands together in apparent excitement, slavering grins spreading across their features. They step in close behind the leader, who tosses the scroll back down towards the goblin. "You pay tax, you can pass!" he continues, looking over the caravan of sleds. He points down towards it. "Give us some dogs, then you go!"
Nadya visibly tenses at the suggestion, her fingers tightening as she looks to the rest of you for the next move. Krosh sits quietly on a sled, methodically rotating a talisman of small bird bones in his hand.
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"I could try... disguises aren't my forte, but..."
Oh, wait. There's a social problem. That was supposed to be the job of a Bard, wasn't it? But she wasn't really a bard bard... and the trolls were a little bit... terrifying... But Nadya needed those dogs. Loved them, even. And love...
Love is lovely, so she has to protect it! OKAY, you arcane duelist! It's time to bard! For love!
"So... if we give you dogs, we can go? That's what you're saying, right? But dogs are... well, they're good for pulling, but they get old really fast, and they wind up having to eat all of your food, and then they die." She's not 100% sure where she's going with this... until she is. An idea hits.
"So... how about I give you something wonderful instead? Dogs are nice, but do you know what's eternal? Entertainment. In exchange for passage, I'll teach the lot of you the absolutely perfect song to sing to strike terror into the hearts of anyone who would ever try to pass the troll bridge without paying the troll toll. I should know, being rather terrifying while singing it myself. As a bonus, the song will even let the courage within you well up and let you all be your very best, as well."
She's pretty sure that it only works that way when she sings it, but if they can trade music for passage... well, it's worth a shot.
Skäne watches the interplay between the trio of brutes and Geedra. When the trolls announce that a tax must be canine tax must be paid, the warrior's jaw sets and he moves slowly to interpose himself between sleds and the giants.
As Katie offers up a song over dog-meat, he grimaces;
Ach Rosten... You are either jarn headed or jarn-blodded!
"If they don't accept her singing, we're not giving any dogs." Cara whispers resolutely to the others.
”Ugh, guards want dogs? Dogs am yucky, smell bad, and taste worse. Probably am poison. Guards want be poisoned. Be sick and throwing up? Crazy. How about big human and elf am give guards five whole pieces of gold? Guards can buy real good meat then.”
Diplomacy
Skäne acknowledges Cara's whisper with a nod, then eyes Geedra as the goblin suggests they part with gold...
The trolls look down at Katie, puzzled looks - or, at least you think they're puzzled looks - take over their gnarled features. Once the bard has spoken her piece, the lead troll grunts.
"Song taste good?" he asks, holding out his hand as if to accept the song into it. One of the other trolls standing behind him reaches out with his long-fingered hand and pushes him on the shoulder.
"Song is noise little fleshies make when not talking," the other explains, narrowing his eyes at his...colleague. The first troll turns slightly to regard him.
"Like screaming when you break arms?" he laughs. The other two join in with a light chuckle; a throaty, gravely noise that almost makes you wince. "Can't eat noise, little girl. Can eat dogs."
When Geedra pipes up about gold, the trolls look back to her, then turn to converse with one another for a moment in slightly hushed voices before coming up with an answer. All three hold out their hands, fingers spread and palms outstretched.
"You give us one gold for each finger. Then you go to city. Take offer or we eat all your dogs."