"I do not wish to rush anyone or anything, but we should pack up and get ready to continue our explorations.
The sooner we have secured the area around our home, we can begin to plan for the future in more detail.
Besides, we have already set some plans in motion that will require our attention soon, so we are getting a little pressed for time..."
Furiel nods.
"Let's ride!"
Kressle smirks with Norton's description of the offered item.
She lets out an impressed whistle as she gets a good look at it.
"Mighty fine... Mighty fine."
As you mount up, you see your new subjects busy going about their own doings. Many turn and wave. Their content eager faces, and apparent drive to build a future here is surely as drastic a change any fort has seen in such a short time.
"So, this time it would be the area right south of Stagfall yes? If I recall correctly, it is mostly just water there, so we might even get done with the next area as well."
"Let us complete mapping the last area so we can move on to the next. Socializing with the farmers took some time yesterday."
"That it did indeed my friend; they were only too pleased to ply us with victuals and friendly cheer.
I am going to live on that for awhile, because I doubt we will find such warm welcome everywhere.
Sooner or later, we will find more people opposing us, and sooner rather than later I fear, before we become too strong to challenge."
You travel east.. just north of Quillor and Kinsilvi farms. Though there are numerous areas for good farming, the northern part of this hex has a fair amount of hilly terrain.
A little less than an hour after passing north of Kinsilvi Farm, you see the estate ahead of you atop a large flat-top hill. There is an outer cobblestone wall - just a few feet high, and crumbling. Beyond that is a wood-framed fence with stone blocks. It is about five feet high in most areas - as high as eight feet on either side of the gate and where the flat portions of stone-block wall meet, and appears to still be sturdy. There is a shut iron bar gate which is about ten feet wide, and eight feet high.
Within the walls are three buildings. A villa-style manor between a small tenement-style house, and a building which appears to be a stable on the near side, and some type of workshop on the other.
As you near the gate of the inner wall, you do not immediately see signs of life.
Furiel has cast a spell to put a translucent chain shirt on himself.
"A barred gate to a deserted manor. How.....Suspicious!"
"Well, if you remember, it is not deserted. The farmers mentioned hiding some of their family here.
Hmmm, might not have had time to tell them about us, so I guess we may have to reassure them."
You notice the front door is nailed shut with boards from the outside, as are the first floor windows. The second story windows are shuttered, but not boarded.
Birds perched on the wall and tenement house scatter as you approach. There are a few lingering shreds of white paint on the villa, but it is otherwise weathered grey.
Some of the birds perch on the roof, some circle and fly out of sight, but many of them seem to just disappear over the villa.
"We met Quillor 2 days ago, seems strange they didn't send somebody to tell who was hiding that the danger was gone."
"Fair point, I had lost a day there in my recollections.
But he DID say that there was a woman here we were supposed to meet here to learn more about our ”friend" the want to be lord didn't he?
Doesn't look like she is here however.
But I have to wonder why they decided to board up the place when they left if they knew we were coming here?"
"Probably the Luretons boarded the place when they left, who was hiding here left the boards in place to not give his presence away. Probably there is a small entrance somewhere around the house."
"Good thinking, so, do we look through the estate for clues?
Hmmm...do you think there might be traps on the grounds?
There SHOULDN'T be since they know we are coming here, but one never knows...a pit trap takes a lot of time to fill in."
Furiel points out that some of the birds perch on the roof, some circle and fly out of sight, but many of them seem to just disappear over the villa.
"Is this an illusion."
Furiel cast detect magic.
"Those aren't magpies...are they?"
Ta'de-win nods "They are."
There is some non-detection at work here. The "birds" are radiating magic, but their auras disappear when they do.
Furiel explains: "The birds detect magic, then they disappear along with all traces of magic."
He steps forwards: "Magpies, we need to talk now!!"
A familiar-looking child exits a near door of the tenement house. You recognize her as the tomboy girl from Quillor Farm as she walks toward the gate.
"Hey. Got a message." She passes a note through the barred gate...
and whispers quickly. "Illew ib sheno ar Mivon. Doreni shoar ev wanda lok... umm.. clahry. Ahtan sheef, ewnulli geeth."
"Now get lost." She turns and begins to walk back to the tenement house.
(signed) X
"Leaders just caught your Mivoni swordsman. Holding him and my aunt as traitor. Second floor, please help."
Ta'de-win speaks quietly, so the birds cannot overhear and with her back to the home. "I believe we must exercise caution in how we approach this situation at this point. Events have become more difficult." She turns to Green for a moment, "Stay calm at what I am about to say." She then relates what the young girl said. "It seems they hold her aunt and our Mivoni swordsman hostage, on the second floor of the house. She has requested help."
The Green Man predictably looks like he is about to explode, but with a titanic amount of willpower he manages to stop the charge at the main gates that his heart is telling him is the right thing to do.
THINK! THINK! Must listen, promised I would not ignore the others, promised I would think...
Instead he turns to the others, speaking in a normal tone of voice and with a relatively relaxed tone.
"This is unfortunate, but we came here to LIBERATE the lands from a tyrant, not to become tyrants ourselves.
Let us give them a little time; they may see the value in joining us if we do not pressure them.
Let's go, we can begin to explore the next area today instead of tomorrow."
Helping Furiel back in the saddle, The Green Man begins to turn the horse away.
"I'm not going. This is not the time to leave hostages. I do not mind their desire for independence, but taking one of our agents I sent to them as captives is going to far."
He looks around.
"I cannot abandon those I sent on my behalf to captivity."
Speaking to Norton:
"This is the time for you to reason with these magpies. I will leave with the captives and not trespass if they consent to that. Otherwise, my methods will be more direct."
Furiel decides to push things and yell to the house:
"You don't want to tangle with our new archmage Senix the Great. He is not one you want to mess with! We can settle this without bloodshed, but we do not leave our own!"
"I'm bewildered"[b] Norton exclaims [b]"But it seems that I find myself in agreed with Furiel."
Then he tries to explain himself.
"Someone requested our help, it doesn't seem right to me to leave. I can try to make contact, but, given the message, I am expecting this to go south pretty quickly, so I will step forward only if I am sure you are right behind."
The Green Man is left leaning out of his saddle with his hand outstretched towards Furiel, looking completely dumbfounded.
"Err...I was trying to be subtle...you know, pretending to leave so we could discuss our options out of their hearing...
And not letting them know the child had passed a secret message so she wouldn't be in danger..."
"Sometimes you are too subtle… so, what's the plan?"
"Well, it depends a little on what we can assume now.
Assuming they cannot hear us when we speak like this, they don't know that we are aware of the hostages.
But they are likely to pay attention to us now, so if we try anything right away, they will likely fire from cover of the house, and possibly kill the hostages.
The absolute best would be to retreat and try to take them unaware.
It would probably be best if we can make it seem like we are full of hot air.
We should posture, bluster and call threats to make them think we are fools, then retreat and come back later, possibly at night IF we are willing to wait that long"
While The Green Man speaks calmly enough, he looks rather sour, like something has made him in a bad mood.
"We will have to recover the lost ground after retreating against magical creatures with access to aerial scouts. Every minute the hostages are in danger. Do you want to risk it? Especially as the hostages have little use to them if your ruse works."
The Green Mans sour face turns even angrier.
"After all we've been through together, you really think I would abandon people in need?"
"I'm trying to learn from what we talked about before, not rushing ahead into anything, stating facts as I see them so we can all chip in and make a good plan, TOGETHER."
Keeping his voice from rising with an effort, The Green Man continues through gritted teeth.
"Someone had to state a plan so we could either begin to agree, disagree or offer counterpoints."
"I can obscure our movements with a mist if we wish to assault. It would aid us in getting close. Perhaps if you charge the front, cause a distraction, I can assume the form of an eagle and attempt to free the hostages during the ruckus. It is risky, I will be on my own. Invisibility magics would aid me greatly in this case, if anyone has access to such."
"To clarify my plan, I could summon a cloud to cover the front of the building. We break through the gate and towards the door. Once within the cloud I take the form of an eagle and fly towards the second floor and attempt to find our friends. While you distract the others I can attempt to free the hostages. I will still have access to another beast transformation and can summon another cloud if needed to cover my movements . Once I have them out of the building, we can either continue the assault or retreat."
Furiel adds: "You will have air elementals to assist you too! But first a big basher for the front door."
Furiel looks at Norton with a pleading look:
"It is a long shot, but if anyone can avert conflict....."
Nevertheless Furiel begins to cast and form a creature out of earth to give the druidess the distraction she needs.
Ta will begin her own spell, preparing to summon a mist to obscure the front of the structure as soon as Furiel's basher begins to form. "It would do us well to break through the gate quickly, if you are able."
"Yes, we have to do this quickly, since they most likely have observed us all the time, we can't wait longer or they may harm the hostage.
Also, remember the escape tunnel in the fort? There is a chance there is one here as well, so we can't allow them time to slip away."
Norton steps ahead of the group and, since no one seems to be around, addresses an invisible audience.
"You say you do not recognize our rule, and we appreciate the honesty: a straight attitude is always appreciated. We can even understand your position: we don't know each others, why should you accept us to rule you?"
Norton opens his arm and shows open hands. "But since we are here why shouldn't we speak? We might find out we can work an agreement."
"Everyone ready? I don't like being the aggressor, but they have forced our hand by taking hostages, ESPECIALLY a small girl. There are no excuses for that.
If they don't answer right away, we strike hard and fast.
I'm not giving them a third chance, they do not deserve it."
A magpie descends 10 feet on the other side of the gate, and morphs into a woman - a little past middle-aged... She is wearing a feathered shawl with a high collar. Her dress underneath looks like a perfectly crafted understated dress of a governess or other high-class servant.
A high bun in her grey-tinged dark brown hair complements the matronly look. Her leather gloves and the dueling sword on her hip certainly stand out.
She looks at each of you then addresses Norton.
"I had no intention of entering a discussion with you, but... "
She nods to Norton.
"We are holding your Mivoni ally... though his transgressions are not unforgivable."
Her eyes dart around looking at and past the group as she speaks, and after... "This new archmage you speak of is unknown to me... is he here? Or did he stay behind to protect your homestead? If he has chosen to remain, he will be dead with the rest of your subjects should you make a move against me."
Her glare lingers on Furiel.
"Now. What can I do to help hasten your departure from my gate?"
Die..
The Green Man finds that despite the ease with he thinks an answer to the magpies question; he has no problem leaving it unsaid.
The shouting done had been cathartic enough to leave him more relaxed.
Of course, for a natural born berserker, relaxed is a relative term.
Part of him realized that he probably WANTED to take this woman down, especially if she was the leader.
I don't think we can deal with these people, she hinted that she was willing to let our swordsman go, but not the aunt, which is unacceptable.
AND, she made the mistake of threatening innocent people coming here to make a life for themselves, not even Gorum himself could stop me if he stepped between us now...
"Bargaining from a position of strength is one thing, resorting to threats from the get go is another.
You've made your position perfectly clear, but there is no reason we cannot keep this civil is there?"
The Green Man manages to keep even his voice calm and collected, sounding perfectly reasonable, without being condescending or accusations.
She starts with a hint of irritation, but seems to start enjoy the candid moment. "The fact you stand here now drives home exactly how poorly things have been handled by this flock of mine. Well.. your sources of intelligence must be afflicted with the same ineptitude if you expect civility from me. I don't believe I've had the opportunity in my many years to ever pronounce myself the enemy, but here you are. There is no one here but me to tell you our goals are directly opposed."
She takes a step forward. "I feel no desire to break your spirits or watch you suffer. Perhaps it would be best to end this now. These lands will never be yours. Each paltry victory you tally in your favor will make your fall more tragic."
As the negotiations went south Furiel completes his first summons--a creature of earth. He begins to start the summons for a creature of air. He was concerned for the druidess, and wanted her to have some backup when she took to the air. The earth creature begins to rip up the gate.
As the elemental of earth appears, Ta'de-win summons forth the mist as planned. Perhaps it's the wrong decision to make, given the circumstance, but at least each knows their role in it, and it does seem the best chance to save everyone given the circumstance.
"I am sorry to hear that you took hostages, such aggressive act is hard to take lightly. Why are you so certain that our presence is opposed to yours and the land?"
The gate starts to creak from the earth elemental pushing against it.
The matronly woman on the other side makes a bird-like sound, and gestures... "Chur chur" before replying to Norton.
"Because I know... what I have to gain from my current master is more than you could possibly have to offer.
Draw your sword young lord. Time to be tested."
She draws her dueling sword, and turns back toward the main house as Ta'de-win's fog starts to form.