Kikiri frowned at Calder. "True. There are. I've seen them." The ways they kept prisoners back in his tribe sent a small shutter up Kikiri's spine. He never liked that practice.
"I say we take it. Any risk we accrue from it, Kolung and I can easily overcome it, if need be. My vote is to take it!"
"I'm happy to give it a shot, but before we decide for sure...do any of you know anything about how favorable the markets will be in Riddleport or the other upcoming towns?"
Clara looks around her fellow recruits as well as at her sister, Ameiko, Shalelu, and Sandru.
"Human laws still confuse me, but I'm a big fan of plants that do cool things. Even if we decide no, I'll pick up at least a little to experiment with, alchemically."
Ameiko thinks for a few moments, idly plucking strings as usual. "Hmm. If we wanted to sell in Riddleport, I don't think it'd be a problem at all... it's not exactly solid government there. If I remember crime in the city correctly though, we just have to pay a slice of the profits to Overlord Cromarcky."
She holds a finger up. "The farther we carry a good, though, the more it'll sell for."
Clara nods, already looking distracted by scribbling formulae on a few leafs of parchment. "OK, thumbs up from me!"
The funds are scooped out of whatever secret place that caravan funds are kept, and the man agrees to come back the next morning with the barrels. True to his word, when the caravan is getting ready to set out, he comes back with a couple of big, burly farmboys carrying large barrels. He accepts the gold with a smile and has his boys load the barrels onto the nearest supply cart. "Good doing business with you, and good luck selling it!" he wishes, as the caravan's carts rumble down the road.
For the past couple of days, the caravan has been rumbling along on an ill-used dirt road between the Lampblack River and the Churlwood, and yesterday it started to rain. The kind of vaguely damp rain that's even colder because it's so utterly mediocre. The wagon-coverings are slick with water, and the wheels of the wagons dig deep into the muddy road. Sandru drove the wagons right past Wolf's Ear, telling everyone to sleep right through the night as he drove the caravan past it. He doesn't trust the town. He says werewolves live there.
The rain's continued unabated for a whole day and a half, and the group can't get even a small fire going. Shalelu came back when camp was set up with a dead elk slung over her shoulder, but the whole caravan miserably eats cold, canned beans and hardtack for dinner instead, unable to cook the venison.
The caravan is running out of food, and the Chevali River needs to be ferried. To that end, Sandru has decided to make a one-day stop in Roderic's Cove. Roderic's Cove is a small town owned by the Overlord in Riddleport, but separated from its hustle and bustle of urban sprawl. Only a few hundred people live here, and it's also home to a large ferry port that Sandru plans to use to cross the river. It'll be slow going, as only a single wagon can go at a time, but when it comes to rivers impossible to ford, it's the only way.
The caravan rumbling into town garners quite a bit of attention. Little kids run alongside the carts, laughing. A man comes out of a nearby building as the carts creak to a stop, and he and Sandru confer for a minute. A few coins are handed over, and a handshake later, Sandru comes to talk to the whole group. "I've gotten us rooms at the local tavern, Roderic's Flagon. I figure you'd enjoy a bed every once in awhile." he says, chucking. "Especially after the sogginess of the last couple of days. I gotta restock us on food and check the wagons for any breaks. Y'all have the day off, I'll see you later tonight, for drinks!"
It has a very distinctive red feather on its chest that obviously separates it from the other ravens and crows.
Clara finds herself getting more and more antsy as they travel. "Why isn't it EXCITING yet?!" she asks of whoever will listen. "Where's the unique discoveries! Grand-granddaddy Umbilicus' journals never talked about days of dampness, and seeing the same totally normal plants for days in a row, and sore bottoms from sitting on benches too long. Oh Em Gee am I Bleaching already? Uggh I bet I will be soon!"
Staving off boredom, the gnome begins to scan the town for anything of interest...and notices a raven with a single red chest-feather that seems to be carefully following and studying the caravan.
In a whisper she say, "Hey, don't look now but that raven keeps checking us out. See how she follows us? What do you think, is it maybe someone's familiar? Oooooh, or a shapechanger, like a were-raven? Or some fae? Or, or, or...maybe a Raven God come to help us. Are there any raven gods?" As she talks her curiosity and excitement grow into a tremor in her voice.
Calder doesn't see the crow until Clarabibulus points it out, he curses foully and looks for something to throw at it. "Hels damned Winter witches spy! I'll make a cloak out of you."
Finally shooting at it with his bow.
The raven spots Calder pulling out his bow and takes off from its perch before he manages to even nock an arrow. It takes off and flies away from the group. Calder launches an arrow towards it, but it soars up and out of range. It does a few loops until it's many hundreds of feet in the air, and slowly soars out of sight.
Still emotionless but obviously concerned, Shalelu appears from around one of the carts with her own bow in her hand. "Calder. What happened?"
"A Raven marked with a red feather has been watching us." Calder growls, storing his bow away again.
He looks seriously at Shalelu, "May be nothing, but it may be something like those Jadwiga filth, spying on the caravan through the birds eyes."
"Or, y'know, could've been a new friend. Or a were-raven. Or a Raven God." the gnome mumbles, clearly a bit put out that the raven she was so curious about has been shooed away by Calder's arrow.
Calder makes sure his axe is ready at hand. "We're meant to be guarding the caravan. Not coming up with crazy stories!" He growls at Clarabibulus.
Shalelu shrugs. "I can go kill all the ravens nearby, see if I find one with a red feather. Would you be comforted by the presence of a red-feathered raven corpse? I have four extra hours at night on top of you humans. That's a lot of time to hunt ravens."
Calder sighs and shakes his head. "Thank you anyway, but no need to slaughter a lot of birds on the off chance I was right."
He grins wryly, "And you might anger the Raven god. I hear there's one around."
Shalelu raises an eyebrow, but unstrings her bow and places it on her back all the same. "If you say so. I doubt any "Raven God" would be any more than a particularly large raven. Just as easily felled with arrows as the regular kind."
"Do let me know if there's anything I can do to ease your concern regarding being spied on."
Just after that incident, Ameiko comes up from behind, hitting Calder across the shoulders with her arms, hanging on him. "C'mon, you big grumpypants! Sandru gave us a day off and rooms at the local inn! Why are you worrying about birds when you could be challenging the local farmboy to an arm-wrestling contest for my entertainment?" She giggles.
Calder has to laugh, "But of course Milady. Lets go find some poor local lads and torture them for your amusement."
As he does have the day off a long, cold drink does sound tempting.
He is still worried about the Raven though. There is a reason the Witch wardens guarding the border against Irrisen wear cloaks of black raven feathers.
Kikiri and Kolung come along, staying close to Ameiko, but the notice of the crow caught their attention. Kikiri seemed curious by the bird, but Kolung stayed quiet, staring intently up that the crow as it flew away. Finally, the kobold noticed his companion's silence, looking down at him.
"That bird... I wonder if... hrm... no, nevermind. I am probably overreacting. I think it's just an odd bird. Nothing more."
Kikiri quirked his brow, but shrugged. If Kolung didn't think it was big deal, no worries! Truth be told, Kikiri was interested in seeing what the place had to offer! "Kolung and I are going to go check out what they have for sale in some of the stranger shops. I want to get something cool before we leave!"
Awaiting anyone else who might be interested, the duo set in search of something unique and strange to take with them on their trip.
Rae had remained quiet during the discussion of the drugs, curious to hear from the others. While she herself wasn't interested in the premise, it was beneficial to know where everyone landed on it. It didn't come as a surprise when they decided to try to sell them, though she hoped it wouldn't be a decision that would haunt them later.
She looks curiously at Calder and Shalelu. "They say that ravens with red feathers are a sign of luck. Dealer's choice whether it's good or bad. People see what they want, I suppose."
Realising that she hadn't gotten to know the Kobold and his dragon companion at all so far, Rae opts to join them on their foray into the shops. "So..." She begins as they start wandering off. "What made the two of you decide to join?"
Ameiko wrangles everyone who will go with her into the Roderic's Flagon and orders a round of drinks for the whole bar as soon as she enters. That immediately gets her the attention and approval of the whole bar, and it isn't long at all until a rousing party is going on and the whole town's men are centered around her.
When Irissa asks her, Shalelu shrugs. "Well, I guess I won't be hunting down the local ravens, so... I guess I'm free." She glances at Calder before giving Irissa a rare grin. "You want to go find a really big tree and climb it?"
Sandru busies himself with loading up on food and securing dinner for the group, which he insists everybody gather together to eat. It's for morale, he insists.
Roderic's Cove doesn't hold the group for very long, and the next day Sandru gets the caravan's wagons one-by-one on the Cove's ferry. The ferry is basically a flat wooden platform with a wheel that propels it, and a line that connects the two sides of the river so that it goes straight. The wagons fit one at a time on the ferry, so it takes a few hours for the whole caravan to cross the river. That sets the first day's journey back a bit, but it still isn't a long journey to Riddleport from Roderic's Cove.
The twelfth day of traveling is clear, if cold. The sun's light reaches the ground, but it seems distant, and the day is far from a warm, sunny one. The ground shines silvery instead of gold from the sunlight, and the evening comes swift enough that you could call it night by the time the caravan rolls into the Riddleport area. Sandru decides that it would be best to camp on a high bluff outside of the town rather than to enter the town itself. Riddleport, after all, has a relatively dangerous reputation. One that's well-earned, to be sure. Sandru makes sure that everybody knows that he's going to leave early the next morning, but if there's anything that the group wants to do in Riddleport in the meantime, anything that needs to be bought... or sold... then now's the time to do it.
Calder
Calder is on the lookout for it, if it's pointed out to him he scowls at it, but doesn't make anymore outbursts.
Kikiri perked up at the question from Rae. "Oh, us? We must! It is my duty as the last of the Shadowscale tribe, as well as the last Dragon Caller, to protect the royal family of Minkai. My ancestors used to be deadly warriors who served the Amatatsu family and protected them on their escape. I'm the last of them, so, it's up to me and Kolung to return Empress Ameiko to her throne, and rebuild my tribe."
For a brief moment, Kikiri's enthusiasm faded as he looked at the ground, as if the weight of his task had finally hit him just then. The dragon beneath him looked up and spoke something to him in Draconic, which made Kikiri smile a bit. "True... I am not alone. I have my brother, Kolung, to help me... and now, I have you all as well! -OH! Check that out!" Kolung immediately swerved to check out whatever it was that Kikiri just had to see.
***************************
Riddleport. A world market if there ever was one! Kikiri just wanted to see it all, but knew that they had a mission, and as a dangerous place, this was not exactly the time to go sightseeing. Still, he did want to know if there might be anything worth checking out... perhaps some potential customers? Or even a chance to get something really cool to take with them.
Shalelu frowns, coming up to stand abreast with Irissa. "I wouldn't recommend selling anything in Crying Leaf," she says. "You know I'm from there, yeah? Elves don't particularly like things like that. Maybe if you had some fine wines..."
"I don't know much about the lands up north. I never really went that far."
"Riddleport." Calder nods, "Further north? You might be able to find a buyer in Eightfingers lands, but most Ulfen prefer something that gets the blood up."
The group heads into the town of Riddleport to ask around for somebody to buy the drugs that were bought in Galduria... and they manage to find somebody. In a seedy bar near the outskirts of town, a young man who owns a local casino will buy the goods for 880gp. Unfortunately, selling goods like that here has a tax. Overlord Cromarcky is owed ten percent of the cost of the good when goods like this are sold.
Clara goes through the market looking for interesting plants she hasn't seen before...and if she doesn't find anything goes and wanders a bit out of town as well.
You scrape at it until you fill a vial with the stuff. You're certain that it won't be good for any kind of fizzy drink, but it might be interesting to experiment with anyway.
Calder isn't interested in Riddleport, he's been through before. He sticks with the caravan and makes sure the locals don't get any ideas.
Kikiri and Kolung venture into Riddleport for a little bit to see the markets and add a little more to his small collection of useless souvenirs. Beyond that, he doesn't see anythign that strikes his fancy.
Clara delights at the odd mold, and spends a good deal of time poking it, cutting it, pushing it back together again, heating it, staring at it, and pouring fizzy drinks onto it.
Late that evening, when the rumbling in her belly finally gets distracting, she meets the group back up at the tavern. While dipping hard bread in soup and gnawing on it, she summarizes, "So, you say we could sell it for 880 gold...but we'd have to give all of the profit to the local toughs? Where's the fun in that?
"I say we carry on with it, and see if we can get a better deal elsewhere." After another bite, she adds, "I haven't found a way to make it add much to a fizzy drink yet...but I still think it has potential."
After poking around with the mold for awhile, Clara figures out that it secretes a certain concentrated fluid that she can use to add to a fizzy drink. She's not sure what will happen when she does, but it might as well be worth a shot, right?
The seller scoffs at the notion of leaving him and his money behind. "Pff. Good luck carrying that somewhere where somebody will actually buy it," he says. "Breaking even in business is normal. Hell, I'll throw in a few extra gold if it'll make the difference between you walking and you selling now."
Having decided to hold onto their 'goods', hoping for a better price, the caravan moves on from Riddleport the very next day. Sandru guides the caravan across a long plain to the forests of Crying Leaf, but Shalelu asks politely that they not visit the town. Deciding to press on a few extra hours into the night, the caravan rumbles past the forestland Elven town. The red-feathered raven is spotted again, tailing the caravan as it leaves Riddleport. It quickly flies away once spotted though.
The Mierani Forest falls away quickly as the caravan travels across the Velashu Uplands, getting ever farther north as the days go by. The days are short, grey, and cold. Pharast in the North gets pretty uncomfortable, and Koya breaks out a chest full of thick furs that she's packed for everybody. Even bundled up, sitting in a cart for hours in the cold is pretty difficult, so most of the caravan's passengers get up and walk alongside the caravan for most of the trip these few days.
Eventually, the caravan rumbles near Brinewall, an old abandoned town at the northern end of the land of Varisia. From here extend the Nolands, and then the Land of the Linnorm Kings. At the northern edge of the decrepit town lies a bridge, a wide stone bridge that the group can use to cross the river. After Shalelu checks out its supports to make sure that it can support a wagon, the caravan rumbles to a stop just south of the bridge. Night is falling, and camping near Brinewall is a good stopping point. If anybody has the calling, they can go try to scavenge some supplies from the buildings. Plus, camping near civilization (or what once was civilization) gives them a nice clear and level place to stay.
Sandru and Ameiko stoke up a fire and circle the wagons in order to make camp, and Shalelu brings in a dead elk she's caught. Dinner is roasted, and Koya tells a story that her mother Niska shared with her years ago. Dinner is pleasant as night descends upon the caravan.
Calder has his back to the fire to preserve some night vision, chewing happily on roast elk.
Rae eats quietly. She wasn't sure what she expected when she signed up for this expedition, but things had been remarkably uneventful so far. While it was pleasantly surprising, it also left her feeling somewhat on edge. Even as she ate, with the comfortable night and people she had come to consider friends, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was a part of her that longed for some kind of difficulty, some kind of challenge. Something that at least went beyond the discussions of where to sell the drugs. Shaking her head, she looks at the fire.
Kikiri sits and listens with entertained and wide eyes, but Kolung keeps a watch on the edges of the wagon train, keeping an eye out for danger. He doesn't even touch his roasted elk, although Kikiri seems more than happy to scarf it down for him.
As the evening progresses into night, and the moon is the only light beyond the dying fire, Koya decides to turn in first. She's old, she says. She needs her rest, and she hasn't been able to get up before 5 in the morning in fifteen years.
The forest and the river beyond seem uncomfortably quiet...
All of these sounds come from below the bridge that spans the nearby river.
Calder
As the caravan continues northward, Clara amuses herself by experimenting with the odd mold. Once she has a single fizzy drink made of it, she goes back and forth every hour or two...should I drink it now? Or save it?...OK, maybe I'll save it just a little longer...OK, that's enough right? Let's drink it...OK, I can wait a bit longer! I can do it!
"G'night, sis." she says as Koya turns in.
Around the fire, she turns to her companions and says, "Hey, so, what do you all think so far? Calder and Sandru, are caravans always like this? Just a bunch of walking and riding and hunting?
"I was picturing...I don't know, more Amazing Discoveries and Deadly Battles and Heroic Rescues and such."
Sandru laughs, his hand slapping his knee with the strength of his mirth. "Oh, it's been a long number of years since I've had a journey with any real sort of danger. Caravan trips are usually for trade, and when you're bringing somebody else's valuables across long distances, you don't really want to be in danger."
Shalelu, who is sitting on top of Koya's wooden carriage, pipes up. "I do hear tell of many dangerous creatures in the lands to the North. Perhaps you'll get your fill of 'deadly battles' once we cross the Nolands."
Suddenly, the quiet of the night is interrupted! From the river nearby, there come a chorus of cries, battle-oaths and the pounding of heavily booted feet. Charging out of the darkness and into the dying firelight come more than a dozen angry Ulfen men, carrying battleaxes and wearing gleaming golden arm-bands. They roar.
Ameiko draws her mithral rapier and stands to battle alongside you, but Shalelu, Koya and Sandru join the guards that the caravan has hired to fight back a few more that emerge from the other side of the river.
Calder heads for the closest Raider and swings at him.
Yelling at them "Come and die Bakrauf!"
Calder charges up into combat with the Ulfen raiders and swings his axe. The man tries to jerk out of the way, but Calder's axe finds purchase in the flesh of his chest, and blood flecks the frosty ground.
"Ulp!" Clara's blue hair stands on end.
OK now, moment of truth! You think you're up for following in Great-great-great-great-grampa Umbilicus' footsteps? Prove it!
The tiny brewer of fizzy drinks takes a step toward their assailants, grabs a fizzy drink from her belt, shakes it up, and throws it at one of the Ulfen warriors.
When it hits (him or nearby) it explodes in fire and noxious smoke.
"Hehehehe, it really is just like Great-grampa always said: if a fizzy drink turns out good, share it with your friends. If it's a bit too fiery...share it with your enemies!"
_______________
Clara hucks a fizzy drink at one of the warriors and just barely has enough time to see that warrior get blasted to pieces before the smoke envelops him and his allies.
Rae draws her sword and runs out, surprised at how far the raiders are from the wagon.