Calder puts a hand on Clara to calm her down. "Perhaps you should pour some of your drink into a bowl for the bear." He suggests to distract her. "See if he would like a drink?"
He studies the other man carefully. "It would seem these men were ensorcelled to attack us by these bands." He indicates the gold armbands. "One tried to speak to us after and was slain by the magic"
Indicating where the bodies have been laid. "You can examine them yourself for your missing kin."
Once he has officially obtained permission from one of the southerners, Tallak begins methodically looking over the fallen Ulfen somberly, continuing to cast glances back to the old woman.
The men and women of the caravan are edgy and cautious around Tallak and Alita. Shalelu keeps her hand near her bow, though it's slung over her shoulder. Kelda and Dyami huddle around Sandru, and they all murmur while the Ulfen man searches the battlefield for his fallen kin.
Koya watches Tallak curiously, though with his helmet and his beard and the years of difference, she doesn't recognize him right away. Whenever he casts a glance at her, her curiousity amplifies.
Ameiko, on the other hand, follows Tallak around while he searches the bodies. "Why are you out here?" she asks. "Were you following the men that attacked us? Do you know any of these people? What's that white wolf cloak for? Just for show? Because it's working - it's pretty showy." She snorts before giving a chuckle, "It's certainly snowy."
And then you find him... Drakon, slumped on top of another one of his dead brothers, slain by a mighty axe blow that opened up his belly.
Each man, including Drakon, wears a golden armband bearing a lion. You recognize this as the crest of Jarl Asvig Longthews, a man who leads a group of notoriously cruel raiders and who lives in Kalsgard.
"Alita...det er Dakon...han er her," Tallak says as he kneels over the body and removes his helm. He looks at the armband and mutters through clenched teeth. "Asvig."
In reply to the woman questioning him, he says, "Yes, I was following this man in particular," he points to the body of Dakon. "He is...he was my eldest son."
He pauses a moment to settle his nerves before continuing. "The cloak is a symbol of station within my clan, that of the White Wolf, the head shaman. It belonged to my father, and his father before him."
He stands and looks her in the eye, "I would like to build a funeral pyre for my son. But there is something I must know first," he adds before tucking his helm beneath his arm and walking over to Koya. "Many years ago, when I was slightly younger than Dakon, I was found near a camp of Ulfen after a goblin raid killed my kin, and taken to the home of a woman bearing your name. Was that you?" Tallak asks the old woman, waiting for her to say something...anything...that could confirm her identity to him.
Alita jogs over to Tallak's side, kneeling beside him to examine Drakon's body. She frowns. "Jeg er ked af, min shaman."
Koya tilts her head curiously, and then walks forward towards Tallak. "If you were younger than this man...then that must have been... twenty years ago, at least. My name is Koya Mvashti, and I don't know another. My mother and I have taken in many injured travelers over the years and nursed them back to health." She squints, looking at his face. "I think I do remember you... Goblins, you said? Shalelu was out exploring and said she had found a whole pack of dead Ulfen...and you."
Shalelu nods. "Yes, I remember as well. I found this one as a boy, bleeding in the snow."
His eyes widen as the story etched in his memory is told before him. "It all makes sense. Dakon's dishonor is Fate, a direct result of the dishonor I myself enacted by fleeing your home rather than repay the debt I owed. And Fate guided him here, to lead me back to you so that..."
Tallak turns to Alita, "Alita, jeg har en sidste kommando for dig. Retur kappen af den hvide ulv til vores folk, somthat vores jarl kan udpege en anden. Jeg er ære bundet til at tilbagebetale det liv gæld i påløbne år siden, mindre mere vanære falde over mig selv, min familie, eller vores folk, på grund af mine handlinger." As he speaks, he reverently unclasps the mantle of white fur about his shoulders and hands it to Alita.
He then turns to Koya and kneels as he says, "I hereby pledge a life debt to you, Lady Mvashti, for the service you rendered me years ago, in hopes to remove the dishonor from my name. Your will is my command, your quests are now mine, until they are seen to fruition."
Alita initially is very surprised when Tallak tells her to take his cloak... But honor is an important thing, so she nods gravely and tucks it carefully into her pack.
Koya examines Tallak carefully as he offers his loyalty to her. "I'm not going to demand any sort of oath from you, young man. I'm not going to turn any aid away if it's forthcoming, but I have to warn you... Our goal is treacherous. Our friend here," she pauses, indicating Ameiko, "Has some sort of dynasty to discover in Tian-Min. We plan to see her there, and cross the Crown of the World. Are you sure you want to come on such a journey?"
"On the plus side," Clara pipes up, "I hear they make really great noodles in Minkai. And if you stick around, I hope to succeed at brewing the Ultimate Fizzy Drink for you to drink with them.
"Plus we all take very seriously which humans are ruling which other humans, of course."
Turning to Irissa, she says, "Oh right, I guess you already said you didn't make that eye-blood-thing happen. It just was one of the most creepy and vivid things I've seen all week, I guess it made an impression."
"If that is your quest, then it is now mine."
"Very well then." says Koya, nodding gravely.
That night, Alita takes her leave of the caravan. She has a long journey ahead of her, and even with the protection of nature's magic it won't be comfortable making a long overland trip back home on foot. She bids a respectful farewell to her shaman, telling him that she'll ensure that the inheritor of the warg's cloak will be worthy. Then, she disappears into the darkness of the forest.
Koya takes the time to introduce Tallak around, though most remain cagey around him at least at first. Shalelu seems apathetic at first, though she takes a moment to tell him that if he's being duplicitous in any way... he'll feel the wrath of her arrows. Ameiko of course is friendly and warm, offering to play Tallak a song on her samisen, or show him around the caravan, showing him all of the random things they have.
Koya takes the time to heal Calder's remaining injuries, and the group takes a bit of time piling the Ulfen bodies into their boat (which rests underneath the bridge, up against the shore) and setting it ablaze.
The next day is foggy and cold, and the caravan takes its first steps outside of Varisia, entering the wide-open plains of the Nolands. Vegetation is plentiful (if mostly dead, it being winter) in the southern miles of the Nolands, but the farther north the caravan gets, the more it transitions into just hard, dead grass and short, thin trees. Sometimes, Ameiko breaks out her samisen, singing a lovely tune in Tian while she plays it, but other times Sandru silences her, telling her that they must be quiet in order to avoid the attention of the Nolanders.
Apparently, honorless barbarians and vagabonds live in the Nolands. Indeed, the caravan does pass by a couple of small settlements as it rumbles through the Nolands. Sandru insists that they never stop the night in any one settlement, though he does pause sometimes to trade some of his long-lasting dry goods for fresher produce.
This far north, the winter is brutally cold, and Koya offers to abjure anybody who can't handle it with endure elements, and she offers warm, fuzzy cold-weather outfits to anybody else who happens to not have any. Foraging for any food that isn't meat becomes pretty hard up here, and Eglin and Shalelu have some queries for Tallak about the best types of game to hunt and eat in this area, and the best ways to cook them.
Other than all of that, the next several days of the journey are very boring. The red-feathered raven is spotted a few more times, every day or two. Sometimes, somebody sitting in a wagon and looking out into the wilderness can see some predator animal stalking the caravan for awhile... but fifteen humans all together is hardly easy prey, and nothing larger and scarier comes knocking. Not even very many people are seen, only the cagey and wary Nolanders, and only a few dozen of those at that. Sandru is glad to enter Kopparberget, a mining settlement run by hardy mountainous Ulfen men and dwarves. The settlement is the first stop in a trading route that passes around the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and sets them on a real trail frequented by other travelers. The next morning, with the company of another dozen travelers, the caravan heads back down the mountain and towards the Grungir Forest. With short stops in other settlements along the way to drop off supplies and pick off new ones, the expanded group rides right into the heart of the Grungir.
One superstitious man, riding on horseback alongside Ameiko's caravan, tells her the story of Fafnheir, the Father of All Linnorms. It is lucky that it is winter now, and that he is sleeping...because when he is awake, nobody dares enter the Grungir, even at its thinnest point, because his lair sits within the forest, and none yet have survived his wrath...even those who claim to have slain him. It is said that the Father of All Linnorms clambers reborn from the corpses of even those who manage to slay him, the mightiest of all dragons.
Travel through the forest takes only a day, and it is only two more days of rumbling across featureless and cold plains before the group reaches Kalsgard. The roar of humanity can be heard from far away, as Kalsgard contains many tens of thousands of people. Great stone walls separate the city from the harsh lands outside, and more stone walls break the city into segments. Each district hosts a different kind of life. Kalsgard is ruled by an old man named Svienn, a man who is one of the mighty linnorm kings - warriors capable of slaying a primeval and mighty dragon mano a mano. It is here that the group must procure a guide to lead them across the Path of Aganhei, and it is here that Ameiko's grandfather's sword Suishen would be found. Sixty years ago, Rokuro Amatatsu, Ameiko's grandfather, sold the blade to an Ulfen man named Fynn Svaenald. It is the group's only lead on the location of the sword.
It is also here that Asvig Longthews, the chieftain responsible for the nighttime attack on the caravan, lives. Asking around might turn up news of his other doings, or perhaps turn up the location of the man's house.
The caravan has to head into the Bone District, the only place that Varisian travelers are allowed to stay, but Sandru suggests that the rest of the group find someplace else to lodge for the night, the better to keep suspicion off of them. He keeps Ameiko hidden in a wagon, and tells Tallak to take the group into the city and find an inn.
Calder is a native of Kalsgard, after checking that Sandru doesn't need him for anything he has family to visit. Nieces and nephews waiting for presents from lands faraway.
If anyone wants to come along with Calder they're welcome. Calder does leave information of where he can be found with Sandru.
Tallak is quiet throughout much of their journey, seemingly deep in thought. He never strays far from Koya, even if she insists.
Upon arriving to Kalsgard, Tallak grows very agitated, being overly harsh with Ursus, and wearing a constant scowl on his face. He is loathe to leave Koya and the caravan, but eventually relents and follows quietly along with the largest group of the southerners he has now found his destiny intertwined with.
Calder will make a visit to his family. Greet everyone, and catch up on the local news.
He will use the family to find out about guides, and any information on Asvig Longthews. Taking an afternoon for his visit and then returning with anything he's found out.
As Calder served in the Kings guard for a term he can drop in on old comrades in a tavern or two and spread a little gold buying them drinks. Leading the conversation to local figures, such as Asvig, and rumors of magic swords (Always popular among the Ulfen).
Having worked as a caravan guard Calder knows a few merchants and can visit them for their opinions on reliable guides if required.
Calder heads into the city, finding his old family house. While he was gone, many of the younger members of the family have moved out to pursue their fortunes (much as Calder himself did) his aunts, uncles and other older members of his family are happy to see him, and invite him in for a pint and some gossip.
After his visit, Calder heads out to some local taverns to look for some old contacts.
Calder's visit to his merchant and guard friends proves a little bit more productive, though he still can't find any appropriate information on finding a guide. Either his friends just don't know anything, or there just aren't any available for hire.
One of Calder's friends, though, is one of King Svienn's huscarls. That friend recently had to deal with the report of a grievance. He doesn't remember any details, but a man named Fynn recently came in to the castle to report the theft of his prized possession - a katana was stolen from his house! No weregild (which is a monetary repayment of lost goods or offense) was offered, so Fynn got official sanction to pursue blood vengeance.
Calder's friend chuckles. There's no way Fynn can pursue any blood anything. He must be older than ninety!
Even though it's only midday when Calder starts his search, the fact that it's winter means that the sun has set by the time he's finished talking to all of his contacts and his family.
Tallak heads into the city separately from Calder, leaving Rae, Irissa and Clara to their own devices as the caravan rumbles into the Bone District to find a place to park.
He heads into the Fire District, where most of the city's bordellos and taverns are, as well as their regular liquor stores. He heads around, investigating and asking around about Asvig Longthews.
In fact, visiting the Hall of Splendid Valor (the most expensive bordello in town, themed to be like the great halls in Valenhall) confirms that Asvig has gone there recently. The proprietor, a gorgeous blonde woman named Belende wearing very little other than an iron brassiere and a pair of angel wings, shares that she's surprised that he has the nerve. His wife is, after all, known to consort with dark powers in exchange for powerful witches' magic.
Calder returns, telling Sandru and Ameiko the news of Fynn and his loss. Suggesting they visit the man. "He has sworn blood vengeance over the loss and will be looking for allies." Is Calder's view. "If need be I can stand for him in the fight."
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Heeding Sandru's advice, Irissa heads out to seek lodgings in the city. After asking around a bit to learn more about Kalsgard, she chooses to head over to the Fire District and see if any of the more upscale brothels are interested in hiring a performer for a few days with quality food and lodgings as part of the deal.
From her limited experience, senior staff at such establishments tends to be remarkably well-informed about their city's ongoings and often well-connected. Besides, the idea of getting paid for essentially partying around strongly appealed to her, especially if she lands at one of those stupidly luxurious places.
At the Grim Harvest, Irissa finds a dark, dour atmosphere and people drinking from cups that looks suspiciously like human skulls. It's likely that some sort of dark-themed show would be appropriate there...perhaps with illusions.
At the House of the Deep-Minded, the proprietor offers Irissa (a silly southerner looking to intrude on Ulfen business) a free room if she plays a game called hnefatafl shirtless and wins against one of the tavern's champions.
The Hall of Splendid Valor is easily the nicest bordello in town, and the proprietor, Belende the Showy, offers Irissa a room for free if she attracts and "provides for" three satisfied customers. Of course, she'd have to put on the stylized and sexual valkyrie outfit.
Irissa also hears about a place called The Hunting Serpent Inn, an inexpensive inn that caters to travelers. The owner is a worshipper of Cayden Cailean, and if Irissa doesn't want to pay the nominal fee, a drinking contest victory would surely get her a room.
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The Fox requires a bit more dedication to classics than she can muster, and the Harvest is really too gloom. The bet she's offered at the House of the Deep-Minded, on the other hand, is fairly amusing. Irissa's curious about the unfamiliar game to begin with, and the idea of causing some chaos in this prim establishment appeals to her. She has no issue with showing off, and relying on her charms is the only thing that may give her a chance to begin with.
"I'll take your ante in coin, I think, but it sounds fun," the girl agrees, grinning at the proprietor, then proceeding to do her best to get him bet genrously - it's not like he's expecting her to win after all (neither does Irissa, to be honest, but it's all about the road, not the destination).
While things are being arranged, she observes a couple ongoing games, getting some of the more enthusiastic spectators to explain the rules. Finally it's time, and she walks to the board before turning to the crowd, removing her dress in a smooth, sensual move and waving cheerfully, now clad in nothing but a pair of elegant boots and some jewelry.
The House of the Deep-Minded is a pretty classy bar, as far as Ulfen places go. With wood paneling, specialty drinks and a fairly calm populace, Irissa doesn't stand out quite so much.
hnefatafl is a lot like a game that Irissa's already played before - chess. The object of the game is to protect your "King" from your opponent's army for a certain duration of turns. The catch is that the player without a king has a larger and more powerful "army" of board pieces than the player with the king.
Most of the people playing the game are random Ulfen men, but one player - in fact, the tavern's champion, is an unusual sight indeed. A seven-foot tall green-skinned creature wearing furs and whose tusks jut out much farther than any half-orc. It bears a passing resemblance to a troll, but it's much too small to be one of those giants. Some of the other patrons identify him as Goti Runecaster, a local mercenary and sorcerer.
When Irissa is ready, she strides up to the game board and removes her dress. Goti's eyes bulge in his head, and when the tavern owner comes up to explain to him the situation, he laughs harshly and slaps 75gp down in the betting trough. Many of the men in the tavern cheer and cat-call Irissa, and when she sits down to play, Goti rotates the board around so that Irissa is the one who must protect her King. He grins. "I do hope you're prepared to protect your precious goods from my...forces." he says, his voice guttural and savage.
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Ahahaha, how awkward, Irissa smiles weakly. The original idea was to mess with the champion a bit, hopefully distracting them from the game, but she suddenly feels rather disinclined to do that, uncertain what consequences that could bring. In hindsight, she probably should've asked about the champion first.
In any case, she could but do what she can and rely on luck from there at this point. And after the game, regardless of outcome, she'll thank the audience graciously and quietly excuse herself.
"I'll do my best," she nods and focuses on the game.
Clara turns to Rae and Kikiri, "What do you say we go looking for someone who knows the way over the Crown of the World? You can be diplomatical and I can...ummm...help some?"
As they begin to ask around, Clara does her best to chip in helpfully...but she starts getting bored and distracted quickly and doesn't turn out to be that helpful. Whenever she sees a plant or mineral that's new to her, she stops and sniffs and scrapes it (forcing her companions to wait for her to catch up). It's obvious her attention tilts far more toward new alchemical ingredients than toward navigation.
Having spent more time than he'd like at the Hall of Splendid Valor, being a married man and having been away from his wife so long already, Tallak politely excuses himself. Seeking a more respectable place to think, he heads to House of the Deep-Minded.
Instead of what he expected, he is greeted with the sight of the alluring southern woman in their company playing a game of hnefatafl, essentially naked. Again faced with temptation, he considers turning around and leaving. The looks many of the men are giving her, however, makes him uneasy. Instead, he moves closer in case his new traveling companion becomes endangered...
Irissa can tell, making her first couple of moves, that Goti is distracted by her body. However, Goti is a master at the game, and takes one of Irissa's pieces right off the bat. Irissa, on the other hand, has no idea what she's doing and makes several tactical blunders.
Irissa makes one good move, taking her king into a relatively safe position and taking one of Goti's warriors, but then the tables turn, and Goti's men surge in, cornering Irissa's king. She can tell that Goti has stopped focusing so much n her body, and has started to really pay attention to the game.
Irissa sacrifices most of her remaining soldiers trying to get her king to safety, but then finds herself in a great position. With the superior power of her Knights, and the King itself, she is able to hold Goti off for all of the remaining turns from a bottleneck on the board. She wins!
Goti growls, pushing the gold in the trough towards her. "Good match." he says, darkly.
The trio head into the city, and find that there is absolutely no "school" anywhere to be found, and no real scholarly types. However, their search for merchants leads them to the Ivory Quarter, the mercantile sector of the city. Here, all of the city's traders, merchants and travelers gather. They organize voyages, trade caravans, and sell they goods that they gather from their voyages.
The trip leads the party over to the guildhouse of the Seven Lands group, the largest guild and apparently a go-between for all of the other guilds. One of the guild factors (a management-level employee) greets them at the door, goes through her books for...several minutes, and then looks up with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but it appears that all of the guides have been booked for...several months." she says. "The time to cross the Crown is nearing, after all. Perhaps you could hire an independent, non-sanctioned guide? I wouldn't recommend it... we usually try to get all of the best guides under contract. We simply don't have any for hire, though."
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"Hell yeah!!!" Irissa jumps from her seat in excitement and bounces around, throwing her arms in the air, flushed red from the tense game and her risque stunt in equal measure. Grabbing her possessions and her winnings, she bows to the audience and heads over to where she sees Tallak, thoughs of slinking away forgotten for the moment.
While searching for ingredients, Clara finds a hardy little alleyway bush that grows tiny red berries. Tasting one, they taste like a really good fruit took a dump. Still, you take one. You think maybe blended up they could counter out the taste of some other particularly strong ingredient you might use.
"Well played," Tallak says gruffly, "and an...interesting tactic."
He offers to help her dress quickly, though is clearly flustered by her nudity.
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"That was part of the bet, actually. I think the owner expected me to run away in outrage or something, so I just couldn't resist poking them instead," Irissa grins, putting the dress back on. "Fun game, too. Shall we?"
She moves to leave, bidding farewell to the patrons that cheered for her.
"I'm going to the Hall of Splendid Valor now, that's supposed to be the snazziest place around. Wanna come along?"
Arching an eyebrow, Tallak replies, "I just came from there, actually. I was trying to learn about the whereabouts of Asvig, the man whose men attacked you. The man whose poisoned words corrupted my son..." Tallak's hands clench tightly into fists as he talks about Asvig.
"He often with a band of powerful band of mercenaries known as the Rimerunners Guild. They pay him well enough so that he can afford to both be a minor ring-giver, as well as frequent the Hall, despite being married to the witch Helva."
He clenches his teeth to calm his vengeful rage, takes a breath, and adds, "If you wish to return there, I will accompany you, though it might be seen as odd for me to return after not having partaken of their 'wares' earlier."
As the guild factor goes through his books, Clara takes a tiny taste from one of the berries she found. As he gives his answer, her faces puckers up, turns red, and she lets out a gasp. "Wow! That was...uniquely disgusting. Marvelous!"
Scraping her tongue on the back of her sleeve, she turns her attention back to the guild-man and says, "Hmmm, so there are still independent, non-sanctioned, non-recommended guides? That sounds exciting. Where would we find one?"
. . .
If given a tip for a new place to go (and unless Rae or Kikiri have anything to ask here) she and her unusually agreeable and compliant companions head there. As she leaves that office, the berries in her pocket remind her of the experimental fizzy drink that she'd made from the mold she found earlier. Feeling bored by all of their waiting and walking, she decides now is the perfect time to drink it.
She pops off the cork and chugs it down.
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"The witch part would explain the raven and the enchantment on that raider, I suppose," Irissa nods thoughtfully. "I'll see if I can find out anything interesting about them. That said, if you come along, you'll want to actually indulge yourself, lest we stand out even more. I should be fine by myself though"
***
The proprietor of the Hall, Belende the Showy, requests that the Varisian girl attends to a number of guests as her part of the deal, but otherwise agrees easily enough. After negotiating the exact terms, Irissa ducks away to change into the most skimpy and provocative variant of the establishment's "uniform" she can find and heads out to the common room.
She'll start by making friends with some local girls - she used to get along quite well with the staff of the Pixie's Kitten, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Besides, gossip is major reason she's here in the first place. Dancing on the stage every now and then won't go amiss either, especially if one of her new acquantances is willing to join in her performance for extra effect.
The clerk in the merchant's guild office awkwardly scratches his head "Uhhh... Yes. I've been told not to advise people to seek out additional guides. Any seeking to cross the Crown really should just... Wait until next year. She smiles insincerely, but Kikiri puffs up. "That am not very nice to say! He says indignantly. "We traveled far to get here!"
The official lets a little smile enter his face and says "Well... If you insist... You can probably find a few of the disenfranchised workers over in the Fire District. They like to frequent a bar called 'The Beast's Pit'."
With that tip, the trio leaves the office. Heading over to the bar, Clara drinks her newest experiment ... And feels a wave of sadness come over her. Strong grief ... Grief for a lost pet, floods her mind. It goes away after two or three minutes, thankfully.
At first reluctant to return, Tallak's mind processes just how long he has been away from home, and how much longer it may be until he returns...if he returns. "I...I will accompany you. But I must find boarding for Ursus first. I will give you some time so as to not make any efforts at learning more on Asvig overly difficult."
He waits a few blocks away so that it isn't obvious he is associated with Irissa, and then returns to the Hall. This time, he lets the proprietor know he is here for a room and "business" for the night.
He meanders through the main hall, examining the women on display, studying whether any may have mutual interest in him.
It's late evening by the time that Tallak and Irissa get to the Hall of Splendid Valor, and the time that Clara reaches the Beast's Pit. Unfortunately for Clara, none of the Varki trackers that the guild factor had mentioned are in the bar at that moment. The bartender advises that Clara come back another time. They might be back the next day.
Both Tallak and Irissa can find overnight company in the Hall of Splendid Valor, both of them pleasantly cocooned in silk blankets and the limbs of a lover. Despite rumourmongering, Irissa finds that none of the prostitutes who work in the Hall really have any information that could help her out much.
Calder manages to find a room to sleep in at one of his cousin's houses. They let him sleep there for free, of course. Clara, Rae and Kikiri manage to find a cheap tavern to stay the night in, and everybody sleeps the night away.
When sunrise happens and everyone pulls themselves out of wherever they slept the night before, everyone meets up at a local cheap bar to talk about the findings of the previous day.
Tallak orders a horn of mead and some meat and potatoes while he waits for everyone to arrive. Once they do, he speaks up, but only loud enough so that his table-mates can hear.
"I want to let you all know what I learned about the man responsible for the attack on your caravan. His name is Asvig, and he often works with a band of powerful band of mercenaries known as the Rimerunners Guild. They pay him well enough so that he can afford to both be a minor ring-giver, as well as frequent the brothels of the city, despite being married to the witch Helva. I ran into Irissa yesterday, and already informed her of all this."
Clara looks over the menu and finds a dish unlike anything she's ever tasted before, a fermented shark. The innkeeper raises an eyebrow when she orders it for breakfast...and when it arrives the smell is overwhelming.
Clara tears into it cheerily, and then starts to gag. "Whoa, who knew fish could taste that strangely awful? Anyone want a bite?"
She washes it down with a generous slug of mead and then starts to chew on another big mouthful.
When Tallak shares his news, she wonders aloud, "Interesting. I'd thought maybe these were just brigands who attack caravans whenever they're able...but if he works as a mercenary...did someone hire him to attack us in particular? Though that doesn't make sense. They wouldn't really have any way to know anything particular about us, right?
"Unless...you said his wife's a witch? That creepy red-feathered raven keeps following us. It's probably nothing but, gosh now I'm curious what her familiar is!"
Clara takes another bite, and again screws her face up in an expression of pure misery.
"We went looking for a guide. All the sanctioned, official guides were booked months ago, sounds like. That's the bad news. The good news is there might totally be some unlicensed unsanctioned Varki trackers that hang out at the Beast's Pit and who we might be able to hire."
Tallak can't help but snicker slightly at the little gnome's reaction to hákarl.
"It is hard to say, little one. Perhaps they had other motives, but it is also likely that they simply spied your caravan from a distance and hoped it was easy prey. Quite a few of those men were young and easily influenced," Tallak says, his voice quieting and trailing off towards the end.
As she mentions a red feathered raven, Tallak looks at the gnome quizzically, and then to the others for confirmation of what she says to be true.
Tallak knows the omen of the red-feathered raven. They're said to be an omen of luck. Good or bad luck, it's not clear. However, the red-feathered raven is just a regular animal. Of course, spellcasters take regular animals as their familiars all the time...
Anyone from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings knows about the Path of Aganhei. It connects Kalsgard with Tian-Min beyond, and it is many hundreds of miles long. Nobody knows exactly how long, but depending on the weather it can take as long as a year to cross the Crown of the World. Particularly quick groups have made it in a manner of a couple of months, but... that's the lucky ones who don't have to deal with the morozkos. Oh yes, the morozkos, or hungry storms. They're the most dangerous of the Crown's dangers (in addition to the ice trolls, snow elves, ice-based undead, the wendigos, starvation, thirst, the mazelike terrain, and the other various monsters of the Crown). They seem to follow people who try to cross or live on the Crown, swallowing you up in gale-force winds driving daggerlike ice shards.
You're certainly free to traverse such an unmapped, dangerous land all alone. Most people hire guides because they have absolutely no idea where they're going and don't want to put their lives on the side of luck... but hey, every guide has gone on the Crown for the first time once.
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"If we're going to deal with this Asvig, we'll need to either make sure Rimerunners won't intervene on his behalf or secure royal backing first," Irissa warns them. "As it turns out, they are the single most powerful merchant guild in the kingdom, and it's not unheard of for their would-be competitors to disappear. That aside, I also tried to look into Asvig's wife, Helva, but not much is known other than that she's a witch of moderate ability who mostly uses magic for her personal convenience."
She takes a sip of her wine.
"As for the guide, I was actually thinking of us joining another caravan heading over to Tian Xia, so I'll probably look into merchants that plan to use that route this season."
Calder has enjoyed his breakfast, making sure the stench of Clara's selection doesn't reach him. "This man Fynn has sworn blood vengeance over the theft of his prized sword, a Katana. It bears looking into, a sword such as we seek going missing at the same time we start our journey? Along with that, the guides being strangely unavailable? Too much of a coincidence I feel."
He finishes his mug of morning beer. "Let us visit this Fynn and offer our aid. He may even have more information to help us in unraveling this knot."
Clara nods "Joining another caravan's a good idea too, if we can talk our way into it--and if they're going close enough to our timing and route. Otherwise, totally unregistered unlicensed unrecommended-by-the guild guides sound really interesting too, don't you think?" (The gnomish alchemist shows not a hint of self-awareness that she'd thought hákarl looked 'really interesting' just moments ago.)
"And there can't be that many prized katana in Kalsgard, right? We should totally go talk to Flynn-the-former-owner-of-a-prized-katana...though maybe we want to offer to find it for him on condition that he's willing to sell it to Ameiko afterward? Isn't it important for her to get back?"
She finishes off her pickled shark, grimacing once more. "Irissa or Tallak, did you meet anyone who would know what Helva's familiar is, if she has one? It sure would be interesting to know if it's a red-feathered raven."
"I know nothing about her servant creature. The red-feathered raven is a creature of omen. A sign of luck," Tallak says. "Whether it bodes good or ill, always is found out later."
He takes a swig of mead from his horn and listens to the others. "I would suggest joining up with another caravan if possible, one that has a guide. Though, if that isn't possible, any guide is better than none. The morozkos are not something to trifle with, like the rest of the creatures of the Crown."
It's not hard to find someone who will give you directions over to Fynn's. He's not an unknown in the city, being a well-known trader of whale oil and amber. He's also known to collect Tian antiquities from time to time. His home, a two-story affair that actually looks pretty nice, is easy to find. A simple knock at the door produces an old, wrinkled Ulfen man with a long beard. His eyebrow comes up as he sees the unusual group before him of Varisians and Ulfen. "Can I help you?" he asks.