By dinner, Cassandra was feeling a lot better. Food and rest were good medicine. Now it was time to find out about something she'd been wondering about for a while. As with most Kobolds, Mikmek preferred dark places. So it was no surprise that she found him still picking at the meal Svetlana had made him in the shade of the watch tower. He still seemed uncomfortable around the other humans. She could certainly empathize. She sits down close but not close enough to make him uncomfortable. "I've been wondering about something. Where I am from there were Kobolds with the same purple scales you have. I've never seen any other Kobolds with same coloring. Their usually red, or blue or some other chromatic color. Are there other's in your tribe with the same color?"
Mikmek's Common is very bad. Without using Draconic, the best you can get out of him is, "Mikmek Sootscale! Sootscales tribe. Sootscales strong!"
In Draconic, he is much more explanatory:
Cassandra stares at the Kobold then slaps herself in the head. She calls over to the table, "Tel? Can you translate for me?"
Mikmek explains that his tribe lives not too far from the hated mites, and the two groups have been fighting for quite a while. He was part of a group of kobold warriors send on a raid after the statue of Old Sharptooth was stolen, but his team was overwhelmed and captured. He notes that his tribe didn't have the help of any tamed giant centipedes, which makes it very tough for them to dislodge the mites in their lair - a problem that you have conveniently solved.
Mikmek also notes that you are clearly large and capable big folks and that it would certainly be a great idea if you could all work together. He is especially excited about the idea of introducing you to Chief Sootscale as potential allies, since you have been so usefu- er, brave.
Telmarni perks up when called, jolting herself out of thinking too much of previous events. Walking over she nods in agreement. "Alright. Lets get this straight."
She listens intently to the Kobold as he explains his situation. "Ah... They are called 'Sootscales' because of their purple and black colored scales." She nods towards Mikmek and continues. "He says his chief, Chief Sootscale probably knows, since he is the smartest among his people. Also, of course, being very strong." She flexes her arms a bit at the last part.
Continuing to listen, Telmarni continues to translate. "Their lair is not too far from the mites lair. They have... Been fighting for a while. And Mikmek was part of a raiding group to reclaim that lizard statue." She turns to listen a bit more. "Of Old Sharptooth. In doing this, they were overwhelmed by the mites and captured."
She raises an eyebrow when he mentions that we cleared up for them. "Though, with the centipedes, the mites were hard to rout, but with us... The Sootscales won't have to worry about mites for a long while now."
Telmarni is kinda taken off guard by what Mikmek said next. "Hm... He just said that since we are big, capable folk, that it would be a good idea to work together. And wants to introduce us to Chief Sootscale. Since we are so... Useful." She looks back to the Kobold and sighs. "He means brave. That is what he meant."
"Them wilds hain't gonna map themselves," says Vance. "An' there's a reward for dealin' with the kobolds, one way or 'nother."
Jhod stops by once he has returned and checks out Cassandra's wounds, and declares her fit for travel once more.
It was good to hear the kobold excited at the proposition of unity. And better still they brought him back. For good or bad, he could see what humans were like. Hopefully he kept a favorable opinion. "That is good to hear. I hope we can work together again," she says to the kobold though Telmarni must translate. Then she rejoins the others for planning. "If the kobolds are close to the mites, maybe we should stop by to make sure the mites are really gone. If their work is what caused that great old tree to wither and die we don't want them destroying the whole forest."
At some point during the conversation, Cassandra tries to get the measure of Kavalina while she isn't looking. Lake of honesty had strained her friendship with Carinna and Cassandra didn't want that to happen again. She leans over to Carinna and whispers, "When do you think I should tell her? I mean she seems unusually fine with Telmarni. Didn't even mention the wings."
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Carinna got no time to answer Cassandra before Korinne blew all the subtlety through the air. She sighed before trying to fix the awkward moment. "Well... you know... tell Tel that Cassandra dreamt she was a cat... and Tel was a bird and..."
She sighed once more before continuing. "Oh crap, I'm terrible at this... Tell our new friend about Cassandra 'furry secret'... I think it would be better to do so after we have left these walls. We don't know how she'll react and any bad reaction would be better met outside not to cause a mayhem with everyone around."
"Furry secret?" Cassandra hisses. She looks around to see if anyone else had heard that. "That is the best you could come up with? That makes it sound like something embarrassing." By now a furious blush has arisen on her cheeks.
You set out to cross country quickly and reach the old sycamore with only a day of travel, since you are no longer stopping to map along the way. The tree is still there, old and creaky, with the large holes underneath it. You slide in carefully and look around, but nothing responds to your prodding.
Cassandra takes in the surroundings and it seems that no mites have been here for at least a day. There are some fresh tracks, but it looks like they all headed off to the east.
Following Mikmek's directions, you head southwest from the old sycamore to new territory that you haven't explored yet. Mikmek leads you through some low hills and stops excitedly within view of another cave, this one in a hillside only a couple miles from the twisting bends of the Shrike river.
"Ugh. Stop talking. You are not helping." Cassandra turns to Kavalina who, at this point, is probably completely lost and maybe a little nervous. She gives a strained smile. "I'll tell you later."
Later: The next day, once they are out of the outpost and out of sight, Cassandra signals Kavalina to come over. "I went through a rather...tense time with Carinna because I kept something from them that I should have said from the beginning," Cassandra starts. She wrings her hands in a nervous gesture. "I assumed that anyone that knew would think...ill of me. But I realized I was already doing that to my companions," she says sadly, looking over at them. She was starting to hate that part too, that she couldn't go near them while they rode horses. "Telmarni can't hide who she is. I can. And most of the time it works out better for everyone that it stay hidden. But we are wondering into dangerous territory and we need to be honest, to trust each other." Cassandra takes a deep and breath and let's her other half rise to the surface. She raises a hand. In the blink of an eye, and without a bit of sound, long hair grows thick along her forearm and her fingernails extend into inch-long thick claws. Her physique changes just slightly too. Her leather armor strains against the expanded muscles underneath. And her eyes change to the yellow pupils of a wolf. "I'm a skinwalker," she says a littl emore husky than before. "Hope that doesn't bother you."
As much as she tried, Kavalina couldn't get the horse to get even close to Cassandra, "Come on beauty, easy," she says as she tries to calm the horse down, "Rather sorry. The horse seems to get the better of me. Why yes, Telmarni is a Strict, but I have no ill will on them....."
Her eyes widen as she sees the woman change in front of her very eyes,"Well, did not expect that."
Telmarni giggles slightly at the conversation between Carinna and Cassandra. Okay... I might be a bit slow myself, but this is funny. She shakes her head. "Sorry, but you two make it sound... Interesting? Or at the least funny."
She then decides to wrap her wings around her, under her arms, making them look slightly like a feathered gown. "Well, if nothing else, I can do this, though..." She looks down at herself and sighs. "It makes my chest a bit more... Prominent though." She then looks towards the stable. "I'll see about figuring out rations for our trip in addition to Korinne's treats." She gets up from beside the kobold and looks to Kavalina. "Um, Kavalina, sorry about the rushed greeting yesterday, and the quietness afterwards, but care to help figure out how many trail rations we should bring along?" As she asks Kavalina if she wants to help.
With the next day started, that morning Telmarni makes sure to prepare more shield spells instead of the shocking grasp. It didn't help much at all. Defense should be preferred. She thinks. She makes sure to gather the rations and with assistance, pack them neatly onto the mounts. And with that, she says farewell to the people of the Trading Post and heads out with everyone.
She keeps her eyes and ears open while they ride, just making sure nothing gets a jump on them.
After a decent ride, she hears Cassandra begin to explain the situation. She turns and listens with a nod but feels slightly put off when she mentions that she is strict. I'm strict? How am... Oh. She sighs. "I am a Strix, I am not strict though." She looks away a bit but can't help but to watch Cassandra change . That is interesting to watch... I wonder if I will be able to learn someway to change my form.
Kavalina: "No body does," Cassandra says. Then she waits. That wasn't exactly a telling reaction. Was she going to walk away awkwardly now or what?
Mites: Cassandra was not going to take chances here. She was going to scout this whole thing and make sure they were good and gone. But first she'd have to get past the smell. It was still rank down there. But once she'd gotten over it, it was easy going. And there was nothing. few centipede eggs needed to be removed and placed elsewhere, she wasn't going to squish them, but no mites. And as farewell to the great old tree they destroyed, she hunts around for a seed. Once located, she walks a suitable distance away and plants it.
Kobolds:"What'd he say?"
Mikmek says something in the chirping fashion of kobolds and gestures to Korinne.
He then waits for Korinne's reaction.
Vance says, "Don' let the little buggers fool you an' get you in a position where you c'n be kidnapped an' held hostage."
"I should come along." As she dismounts and walks forward to the side of Korinne. "I can be rather scary if needed. And..." She sighs slightly. "I can protect Korinne in case anything happens. Plus who knows. They might like me due to being considered not-human" She shrugs.
She turns to Korinne. "I think you should lead the way. That way I look more like a guard. Might make them focus on you more, in case they don't like flying creatures larger then themselves."
Mikmek leads Korinne and Telmarni through a cleft in the hills, to... boxed text!
An outcropping of large boulders emerges from the weathered face of a nearby hillock. A narrow opening in the rock leads into darkness below. A fallen sign leans against the side of the cave entrance, and a cage made of branches and sticks sits on the other side.
Mikmek notes a single kobold guard at the cave entrance. He also points out that the cave holds one last mite, with red, puffy eyes and a scowl on its blue face. Mikmek shouts to the kobold guard, who seems startled at the appearance of big people.
The other kobold seems uncertain. He looks very much like he wants to run away... the finally he says,
Mikmek replies,
The kobold guard nods hesitantly, then turns and pads into the cave at a jog.
Mikmek smiles up at Korinne and says,
You wait uncomfortably for several minutes. The mite in the cage alternates between sobbing, scowling, and snarling. Mikmek gives it a haughty glare once, then ignores it.
After about ten minutes have passed, a kobold dressed in what passes for some kind of chiefly regalia emerges from the cave confidently, followed much more hesitantly by a half-dozen more of the curious little fellows. The other kobolds stay near the cave entrance, clearly quite nervous about this whole set-up.
Mikmek bows in an exaggerated fashion and says,
The chief eyes you for a few seconds, then says in a piping voice with the occasional growl,
"Well miss Lupin, you are indeed correct on such a statement. No one ever does I suppose. Would like me to do something of it? It's not like you are a werewolf or something, no full-moon. That and I didn't pack any silver," she smiles, "The goddess Shelyn teaches that good just like beauty, can be from within. You and your companions seem rather close. They judge you as proficient to trust in. In this land of seeming chaos, that is a rather important trait. So, I trust in you Ms. Lupin, that good, is within you."
Telmarni simply watches and keeps her eyes open. When the Chief kobold comes out, she bows her head when Mikmek bows before his chief.
She listens to Chief Sootscale and takes a breath before speaking in Draconic. "My name is Telmarni, and this is Korinne. Along with our friends, we seek to make these lands safe." She looks towards Korinne. "My friend here can explain more." Hoping to get Korinne to speak for them.
Before: Cassandra practically glows with the feeling of happiness and acceptance. Maybe...maybe people weren't so bad. Maybe she should show this side, her true side, to everyone. A thought niggles at the back of her mind. A saying of her grandfathers. Careful of success. It is a drug worse than any in large amounts. But it is small and easily ignored. "Who is Shelyn? I feel like I would like her."
Near the cave: "We'll ruin things if we go," Cassandra says trying to calm Carinna. "Just stay on your horse and be ready to ride. I am sure the two of them can handle things long enough to get away or us to rush in." Then she thinks for a moment. "We should get whistles. Have a signal for things like this."
The chief gives a slow nod, somehow managing to look regal while being barely more than three feet tall.
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A bit relieved, Carinna approaches the chief holding the statue in plain sight and with her hands as far from her sword (at her back) as possible. She decided to keep it with her though... she never leaves her sword behind.
Carinna bows to the chief and nods to Korinne, ask her to translate her words. She keeps the statue close to her though.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Chief Sootscale. As you might have already seen or heard off, we came her with two purposes... first is to safely return Mikmek, your brave warrior, and your statue back to their rightful home, and second is to make peace." She waits a couple moments for Korinne to translate before continuing. "We've been sent her to secure his region for human habitation and I imagine that peaceful terms with the natives whom live here would be beneficial for all parts... if everyone of you is half as brave as Mikmek, I tremble with the thought of any confrontation among our kind but we are numerous so in the end, I fear a confrontation would only result in mutual and unnecessary losses."
The chief listens to you carefully, then he thumps his staff into the dusty ground a few times. Thump. Thump. Thump. It seems to punctuate his thinking.
Finally, he says,
"You came to talk first, which is good. I want fortune and prosperity for me and my people. Mites are gone... but if they are replaced by human farms and human towns, we will have to leave, too."
"But maybe we can make a deal. You brought back my lost warrior. You have the statue? Return the statue to me and I will make a bargain with you. I will give you my word, not just leader to leader, but as leader of my whole tribe -- all Sootscales watching here witness, this is my word. We will strike a bargain for us both."
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