Tebati looks tentatively to Kieran for tactical guidance. "In the middle?" she questions, pointing to the space between their own ruined wagon and the one behind. "Four in front of us, four behind, and four in between to move quickly where we might be needed? Is that wise?"
Ansha quickly hides a scowl at the thought that others still think she needs protection--even if she can't really deny the truth of the assertion. "Either riding with the wagon, or between the second and third wagons would seem wisest to me," she volunteers, idling toying with her fortune-teller's deck.
I will talk to him soon. Need a day or so to digest this. Thank you Tebati. And I am sorry that I mocked your faith. It was crass and ignorant of me. Thank you for taking the effort to speak to me in spite of my stupidity."
At the meeting. "The middle does seem the best. The foe would be hard pressed to get away with someone or something important before we could run there. Would it be a good idea to put some things we could stand to loose in the more accessible locations? A raider just looking for something to steal might just grab the first thing and run. WE don't loose much and have to fight one less raider. But then that only works if we have things we can afford to loose."
Jeggare adds the four of you to the centre of the caravan, between the two middle wagons, nodding in satisfaction.
Right, its settled then. Consider this our general marching formation for whenever the caravan's moving from now on. Thats a good suggestion Jakob- we'll switch the caravans around and put as few people in the outer caravans as we can; the most valuable thing they can take from us are our staff and grabbing slaves might draw them to where we are strong.
Jeggare looks up from his drawing.
Well, i'm satisfied. Anyone got anything else to say while we're here.
Qhude nods his grim approval at the wagon march plans. "We will be as ready as we can be if they come upon us... and if they do come we must bloody them to the extent that they will not dare strike a second time..."
Kieran nods in agreement as well, content that he will be able to keep his eyes on both Tebati and Ansha. "I have nothing to add, save that we should probably be on our merry way again as soon as possible. The sooner we move onwards, the sooner we can deal with whatever the Bandu may have in store of us and be done with it."
The half-elf moves a little closer to Tebati, his voice low and soft as his hand moves to touch her cheek. "This time I will not be so foolish as to let you out of my sight if I can help it."
The caravan's preparations are dragging on somewhat this morning- a result of the reshuffling of personnel and items in the wagons. After a filling breakfast, you begin to take your places in the new formation; N'bellocq and Qhude distinctly alone a fair distance ahead and behind the caravan.
There is an aura of nervousness as the lush green plains of Sargava hae almost entirely rolled away, replaced by foothills, rocky outcrops and poor quality earth. The jungle to your south is now over a dozen miles away and to the north you can just about make out the peaks of the mountain range around Devil's Cradle.
[ooc]Anything I should be aware of today, or shall I move on? Spell preparation for instance?
Qhude takes his position at the rear of the caravan, wearing his rope and javelins at the ready in case trouble did come. The sweats and sickly look of the day before had passed, though the pensive scowl remained on his face. The newly won honor scar had been permitted to scab over, though still looked unsightly.
The half-elf moves a little closer to Tebati, his voice low and soft as his hand moves to touch her cheek. "This time I will not be so foolish as to let you out of my sight if I can help it."
She smiles up at him, leaning into his touch. "We are both fools to think the other any safer in our sight than out of it," she says lightly. "My heart beats easier to think of N'bellocq far out in the front by himself than you. What does that say of me? That I am a poor cousin? Or that I have little confidence in your ability to stay alive and free?"
After her morning meditation, Tebati goes in search of the two scouts.
Ansha spends the remainder of the evening after the meeting idly playing with her fortune-teller's deck next to the campfire and trying to convince someone to play cards or dice with her.
That following day, the morning of the 28th, she spends quietly conversing with porters and soldiers until the caravan is finally ready to depart.
"Thank you for the blessing Cousin, but do not concern yourself too much on that account. The Ombo with find me much tougher than last time...and a lot faster." He adds with a dry chuckle.
Morning of the 28th, round breakfast.
Jakob walks around the smoldering campfire to approach Qhude.
"Qhude." Jakob's voice is controlled, almost sad. "I've been thinking and you are right. Leaving the boat was a bad choice. I'm sorry. You were all depending on me, at least a little, to be there if something went wrong and I left. That was a bad choice.
I don't expect anything to change, I'm not asking for anything. I just want you to know that you were right. Thank you for staying with the others and keeping them safe."
As the caravan gets ready.
N'bellocq, hold up a moment. Have something you might find useful." Jakob holds out a bosuns whistle on a leather cord. "You are ranging a bit far away from the wagons. Blow this and we will come running. Voices and screams can be imitated but I doubt there are many of these whistles in a hundred miles. Jakob thinks for a moment. "The noise might even scare off an animal if it's not to hungry."
Morning of the 28th:
Qhude holds his usual stoic face when Jakob approaches, though his words were not expected. Behind the blank mask you can sense some confusion, but also that the words were heard. Giving only a nod of his head in way of acknowledgement initially, Qhude is struck dumb for a few seconds, shuffling feet and sideways glances showing he is cognizant of the others also seated around the fire. He then responds more cogently "Your words are accepted induna.... if your feet brought you across my path later today, I would have some words to return." though there is no sense of sarcasm hanging on his use of the word teacher this time.
She smiles up at him, leaning into his touch. "We are both fools to think the other any safer in our sight than out of it," she says lightly. "My heart beats easier to think of N'bellocq far out in the front by himself than you. What does that say of me? That I am a poor cousin? Or that I have little confidence in your ability to stay alive and free?"
"Is there not a third, simpler explanation? That perhaps you care about me enough that you let your heart do the thinking for you?" Kieran's smile is warm as he moves to place a gentle kiss on Tebati's forehead and then another one on her lips. He chuckles softly as his next words are spoken in a playful tone. "If, however, it really is a matter of confidence in me, then perhaps I should be hurt. Thankfully, I can think of a few ways you can make it up to me."
The rest of the evening he passes more or less in a relaxed manner. The rogue does, however, spend at least a small part of it taking Ansha up on her offer of a game or two of cards or dice, asking Tebati if she would join them and even suggesting a small wager now and then to make it a little more interesting.
A look of genuine surprise marks the half-elf's face as he sees the exchange between Qhude and Jakob before giving its place to an expression of approval. He then turns to Tebati. "You would not have anything to do with this, I take it?"
"Is there not a third, simpler explanation? That perhaps you care about me enough that you let your heart do the thinking for you?" Kieran's smile is warm as he moves to place a gentle kiss on Tebati's forehead and then another one on her lips.
At the half-elf's suggestion, she is unable to hold his gaze, lowering her eyes in confusion; although the tone of her skin does not betray her, he can feel the heat of her blush beneath his lips.
He chuckles softly as his next words are spoken in a playful tone. "If, however, it really is a matter of confidence in me, then perhaps I should be hurt. Thankfully, I can think of a few ways you can make it up to me."
The rest of the evening he passes more or less in a relaxed manner. The rogue does, however, spend at least a small part of it taking Ansha up on her offer of a game or two of cards or dice, asking Tebati if she would join them and even suggesting a small wager now and then to make it a little more interesting.
Happy to please Kieran, Tebati is willingly drawn into the circle. Although she is unfamiliar with the rules, she picks them up reasonably well with a few whispered reminders from Kieran about which combinations of numbers or cards are particularly valuable. She doesn't seem quite to comprehend the general appeal of the game; to her its sole attraction is the company of the other players.
A look of genuine surprise marks the half-elf's face as he sees the exchange between Qhude and Jakob before giving its place to an expression of approval. He then turns to Tebati. "You would not have anything to do with this, I take it?"
"I?" she questions with feigned astonishment, smiling back at him. "What could I have done? Perhaps you should ask Ansha if she has enchanted them to be more agreeable." She does seem quite pleased, however, both with Jakob's conciliatory approach and with Qhude's mild reply.
Survival (if needed): 1d20+6 = 26
While on watch, Qhude keeps a weather eye to the sides and rear of the wagons...
Perception:
N'bellocq takes the whistle but adds, "Don't be too quick to come to my aid. I will fall back on the caravan if I can."
N'bellocq moves ahead enough that the animals are not yet spooked by the approaching wagons. His pace is slowed to keep pace with the caravan, he senses searching for anything out of the normal.
If I remember Shadow in the Sky correctly, gambling is a Cha check, which means she ought to be half-way decent at it, although even without her loaded dice and marked cards, Ansha would have the edge.
Happy to please Kieran, Tebati is willingly drawn into the circle. Although she is unfamiliar with the rules, she picks them up reasonably well with a few whispered reminders from Kieran about which combinations of numbers or cards are particularly valuable. She doesn't seem quite to comprehend the general appeal of the game; to her its sole attraction is the company of the other players.
Yours to be fleeced, Ansha. ;)
Ansha smiles blandly after getting a handful of players for her game. "I trust you are all familiar with games of chance? This one is a bit of a variation I picked up in...well, it doesn't matter. Now, here are the rules...." She goes on to describe the game of craps, then places a set of dice in front of her. "Now, I'll start. Pass bet of five silver, point is six."
You continue on through the badlands terrain, Qhude and N'bellocq 150 feet to the caravan's front and rear respectively, everyone nervously keeping an eye out for trouble and grimly noticing that except for the road itself, the ground is littered with dozens of large boulders, cacti, bushes and dead trees; and to your imagination there could be Bandu lurking behind any of them.
Qhude can't help but get the impression that people were moving through here recently, but they seem to have covered their tracks well. Here and there he spots some disturbed earth, a broken twig, although he doesn't note any tracks.
N'bellocq has just led the caravan over a steep hill and it is back on level terrain now; and his suspicious is immediately aroused as he can see a large tree trunk has been placed to block the road ahead. To the north of his position is a small, steep hill with what seems to be the crumbled ruins of a former stone fort or watchtower; to the south is an overturned wagon which looks to have been ransacked- N'bellocq didn't see it on his approach from the west due to a large boulder obscuring it from that side. He can't tell if either of the two bodies lying near it are alive, but neither of them are moving and one seems to have a leg trapped under the wagon. It stands to reason that the attack on the wagon couldn't have happened too long ago, or scavengers would have picked the bodies clean of flesh. It also seems likely that the fallen tree was placed to prevent this particular wagon from escaping.
Ansha seems to be on a winning streak with her dice--though she occasionally loses a game, she is definitely winning more than losing, and enjoying it thoroughly, given that she can't quite hide her glee every time she wins.
Tebati walks with Kieran, Jakob, and Ansha in their knot in the midst of the wagons. She is obviously anxious and unhappy to have N'bellocq so far out of her sight and tenses at every sound from the countryside around them, constantly expecting a call to arms.
N'bellocq puts his whistle to his mouth but does not blow it. He holds it in case he is watched and a hidden arrow will speed his way once he turns back. If attacked he will blow it, but otherwise wants to have the caravan avoid an ambush.
He ducks into the underbrush and starts to make his way back up the trail to halt the caravan, hopefully quickly and quietly to report what is ahead, before their presence is known.
Midmorning 27 Sarneth
Jakob hops onto the wagon Ansha is riding in.
"Excuse me Ansha. Mind if I come on board?" "Hey you have quite the comfy seat here. Oh did you make any headway on that message I found on the pirate ship? I saw a secratary bird this morning and it brought this back to mind."
Jakob hops onto the wagon Ansha is riding in.
"Excuse me Ansha. Mind if I come on board?" "Hey you have quite the comfy seat here. Oh did you make any headway on that message I found on the pirate ship? I saw a secratary bird this morning and it brought this back to mind."
Ansha glances up from the fortune-teller's deck she had been idly toying with. She shrugs at Jakob, offering him a smile. "Please, do. And to answer your question: Sort of. I translated the message, I think, but I'm unsure of the meaning all the same." She looks around surreptitiously to make sure none of the porters or escorts are in earshot as she lowers her voice a bit, continuing, "So, to mix metaphors, I left a few extra ears around Eleder to keep an eye on it for me."
"People accuse me of playing politics and here you are setting up a spy network. Good going. What did the message say? I hope I didn't risk the Custodian's wrath for someones shopping list."
Jakob also keeps an eye on the wagon driver and the others.
Ansha's smile becomes a bit more guarded. "The short of it is that someone ordered your friends in that ship to disrupt the final trial, and they were captured on purpose. Things didn't quite go according to their plan, though, since they were supposed to be captured with no casualties--and weren't expecting to be ransomed."
N'bellocq cautiously makes his way back to the caravan, although painfully aware as he moves from cover to cover that theres no way he could have remain hidden the whole 150 feet; he could feasibly have hidden in one place but theres just too much open ground to remain fully hidden.
N'bellocq, you arrive at the head of the caravan. Its still currently moving forward.
Qhude continues to follow at the rear of the wagon, unaware of what has transpired at it's head.
N'bellocq steps on to the trail and signals to the teamster to stop the wagon and then to remain quiet. He then moves down the line doing the same for the other wagons.
He motions for the others to dismount. "Looks like bandits up ahead. A tree blocks the road and a smashed wagon remains from those that tried to go around. Two bodies lie in the road, but I did not approach. The attack could not have been too long ago. A small ruined keep lies on a hill to the north, likely the source of the bandits"
To Ansha: "I thought that was too easy. Do you think we should pass this tidbit along to the General or ....I wonder why N'bellocq is back?"
To Ak: Any sign of carrion birds? Raptors parked high over head hoping to snag one of the carrion feeders?
To N'bellocq et al: "An ambush? Do they hope to hit us while we are moving the tree? Would it be better to scout this or move the caravan closer to avoid seperating?"
Ansha shakes her head. "It'd be too early to show our cards, I think. That's why I'm sitting on it for now."
Glancing over at N'Bellocq, the guarded smile turns to a frown as the elf mage puts her fortune-teller's deck away. "Oh, good. More excitement," she sighs, "I wonder if I'll have more lions chase me today--or if I'll survive with just smelling like an offal pit."
"Well, I suppose we were bound to run into an ambush sooner or later, all things considered, so it is a good thing we have such an early warning," the half-elf remarks with a small incline of his head, acknowledging N'bellocq's skill at scouting. "I have to say though that the keep worries me a bit more, if it is indeed the bandits' base of operations. Depending on their numbers there, they could very well reinforce their ambush or have more of them along the road," he says after a moment's thought. "Or they could even hound us once they learn of our merry little band, even if we are to deal with this first trap of theirs."
Kieran sighs, a wry look on his face. "We are not going to be laying siege to that keep of theirs, are we? Sieges are such tiresome affairs, you should know. At least that is what I have gathered from reading about them in some book somewhere..."
"Well, they hit somebody as they went around. That choice is not open to us now with the wagon in the way. We will need to move the tree or the wagon. But first we should scout out the bandits, distracted with their new loot, and hit them before they hit us. Leave the guards with the caravan in case we somehow miss them in the trees. And give them this if there is trouble here," and N'bellocq hands the whistle off.
By this point, the caravan has stopped, but although curious glances are shot towards the centre where N'bellocq has convened with most of you, only Jeggare has come to see what the hubbub is about, the others holding their position so as not to expose the caravan to attack.
N'bellocq, whats going on? the half-elf asks urgently.
"It's a....I think it is a trap. Look up, No birds. This is a hard country we're crossing. Free meat does not stay unclaimed long. We should see buzzards coming to eat or hawks waiting to nab the rats and mice."
To N'bellocq, sounding a bit worried.
"Do you remember seeing or hearing flies? A kill as big as a person will draw quite a cloud and quickly."
"The bodies are....fresh. No scavengers yet." Turning to Jeggare, "Bandits. They have to be close. They dropped a tree in the road and hit a wagon trying to squeeze around. At least two dead."
Jeggare thinks for a moment.
At some point, we'll have to move that tree. These wagons are far too large to even try and navigate off the trail.
Tebati's eyes mark N'bellocq's appearance with alarm, but as he seems to be neither in distress nor followed by pursuers, she waits for him to work his way back to their location. Listening to the discussion, particularly Jakob's observation about the carrion birds, she asks, "These bodies ... you are sure they are prey and not predators? If they are only playing dead, waiting for would-be rescuers to approach, perhaps with poison...." She gives Kieran an uneasy glance, remembering how he fell helpless in the Trials with barely a scratch.
Noticing that the wagon has ceased its forward movement, Qhude stays in position... warily watching the area around him.
Jakob Walks over to Unwe
"Excuse me, hate to bother, but could you run back and let Qhude know what is going on?"
Unwe looks a little unsure whether she should follow the orders of someone who isn't Albert.
Is that wise? If N'bellocq suspects an ambush and we have already temporarily lost our forward scout... The more we gather here the more gaps we leave in our defence.
To Unwe. "True, Good thinking."
Jakob walks away from Unwe and speeds to a jog heading down the line of wagons until he reaches Qhude.
Jakob jogs over to Qhude without any harm coming to him.
As N'Bellocq gathers an impromptu conference around him, Ansha hops down from the wagon she had been riding in. She doesn't speak up just yet, though she overhears the exchange about the fort and the fallen tree, as well as the broken wagon. Instead, her eyes drift to the ruined keep, squinting as she attempts to spot anything out of the ordinary--as well as determine what angles of approach are most likely.
After a brief look to either side and behind, Qhude accepts Jakob's invitation and moves up to join the others. Hearing the suggestions thus far he adds "One of us should move to check on the wagon and men." clearly his body language suggesting that he should be that person "If there is foul play then we can fall back unto the wagons for defense..."
The ruined keep is significantly ahead of your position Ansha, and with the wagons obscuring your vision you don't see much of it. It is obviously the remains of an abandoned outpost the colonials built.