A man climbs up over the ridge. He is tall, well built, muscular and has numerous runic tattoos on his face.
He shouts at you but his attention remains fixed on the bird circling above
"ຍ້າຍຫລີກໄປທາງຫນຶ່ງ! ຂອງນົກຊະນິດອາກາດຫນາວບໍ່ຕ້ອງຫນີ!"
He spins his weapon, a large spear in circles above his head and a whistling sounds is produced.
The bird shrieks loudly in response.
"Speak common?" He looks at the others to see if they understand the language, then looks back at the tatooded man and says in giant "Giant perhaps?"
Mogwag will raises both his hands to show that he bears so hostiles intention.
Hello, there we are explorers. he tries in Draconic and Elven
Tik'Klik leaves the talking to those who don't have a borked voice box, and just watches the man and the bird.
The man grunts when Craw speaks in Giant.
"Little."
He points his spear above.
"Frost Raptor. Bad."
Craw immediately lowers his pistol. "Ah, not your bird than. Know anything about it?"
The man keeps his gaze on the creature.
"Bad omen."
This answer seems to satisfy him and he lifts his spear up menacingly.
Meanwhile the bird makes tighter and tighter circles.
Craw frowns. "Looks like a bad bird to me. They normally prey on men?"
The man nods.
"You want first shot?"
Craw glances at the man, then the bird, not wanting to shoot an animal if it's not intent on bothering them.
Banny looks grumpy at the discussion happening in a language that's familiar to her after her captivity, but which she doesn't speak.
"Oy. What're you an' him sayin'?"
Curden switches back to common. "Sorry. He says that's a frost raptor, bad omen and a bad predator. I'm debating on taking a shot at it, but I'm not sure if it's going to bother us yet. Don't care to waste ammo firing at birds that don't want to kill me."
The man seems quite serious about shooting it. And the bird seems to be circling in a predatory approach.
In common, "Well it looks hungry." Craw brings up his pistol high this time, shattering the quiet with a loud crack! and a puff of smoke.
The bullet tears into the surprised avian. Shrieking loudly it dives back downwards into the fjord.
The man smiles.
"You wounded it. A fine shot."
He looks calmly at your group the points towards the smoke.
"Home. You follow me?"
Not knowing what was said for most of the conversation, Tik'Klik simply prepares for an attack if the bird attacks. When it screams and flies off, he turns his sensor crystals back to Craw and watches him and the strange man.
Mogwag nods when the man points toward the village.
Banny squints and listens, watching the man's gestures.
"If he's invitin' us on home, s'pose that's alright."
Though she keeps a hand on her bow, in case that bird comes back.
Craw spins his pistol, turning enough to wink at Tik before letting it come to rest in it's holster. In giant,
The man nods.
He gestures that you follow him, and all together you set off south. Within the day you arrive at the village.
Tall walls of hewn wood and stone dominate the exterior. The sounds of village life can be heard from within.
The man holds up his hand, gesturing you to wait.
"I go. Wait here."
Craw nods, leaning towards the others. "Wants us to wait here while he visits real quick."
Makes sense.
"Tik'Klik"
"Tik wait tik tik way way wait here said tik klik klik klik the spy spy spyder to the tik tik fuh fuh fuhly fly fly spyder to the fly."
The golem's speech is improving, slowly. The wooden creature eyes the village while preparing to cast a spell if any hostilities come to light.
Craw shakes his head and sits on a nearby rock, opening up his pepperbox to reload the shot he fired off at the bird. "Yer wound up tighter than a spring loaded jackrabbit. If the man wanted us dead he'd either 'ave let that bird get us or would lead us blind into an ambush. Out 'ere we can see any host coming for miles off."
Tik'klik looks from Craw, to the village within bow and spell shot, and all the village buildings and rocks and such that offer excellent cover, and that hides an entire host within it's structures, and shakes his head, obviously feeling the merely organic creature has lost it's freaking mind.
The man is seen coming out from the village walls and indicates that you should follow him.
Assuming you do, you are lead through the wall and down a path leading through the village.
Close enough but no lake, and walls.
You all reach a tall wooden building.
The man speaks up.
"Chief is inside. You ready to meet?"
Craw takes in all of the village, noting the defensive walls. When he sees women and children he drops his cigar and twists it under the toe of his boot. He looks up at the tall wooden building. "Yup, let's go."
"Tik.. tik.. klik réi réi Réidh Réi Réidh." The golem intones, and then shifts speech patterns again. "Tik.. tik.. tay.. tay.. Tayari.. tik.. klik tai tai Tayari." And then again. "Tik Tik Гат Гат Tik Гат Гатовы." And finally again. "Tik Tik Spe Tikspe Spe Spe Spreman."
Tik.. Tik.. Klik.. Re re Ready re ready!
As ready as we will ever be. he says with a smile
"You talk a lot, you know that?" Banny grunts at Ticky-Klicky. The thing knows Dwarvish though. Point in its favor.
"Yeh. Let's go."
The man, who you still have yet to learn his name leads you into the a large wooden hallway which ends in a wide dining chamber.
A tall, towering man is seated on a high backed wooden chair, an elderly man of smaller stature with one white eye by his right side.
Your guide goes to stand by the taller man's left side.
The colossal gentleman indicates seats around the table.
"Come foreigners. Seat yourself at my table. We have much to talk about."
Craw glances around for a moment, then sits down. "What is it we got to talk about?"
"Tik'Klik"
The golem walks up to the table, and looks at it, then the chairs, then around again. He moves a chair out of the way, and stands at the table, his head about even with everyone else, rather than looking at the table underside while sitting down.
"Tik'Klik"
I'm sorry, yes he is.
===
"For now, eat. We can talk when your stomachs are full."
"Very hospitable of you, but my daddy always taught me to at least get a man's name and shake his hand before eating his grub." He walks over, taking off his hat and offering a hand. "Curden Craw." He gives the old man and the other two an expectant gaze.
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"Tik'Klik?"
The golem looks at the plate of food, then at Craw and Banny and Mogwag. The golem looks back down at the plate, then his head does a 360 degree spin as he looks around the room. Spotting a pair of hounds in the corner, the golem takes the turkey leg off his plate, and tosses it to the dogs, who tear it to shreds and begin gnawing on the bones.
Looking down at his plate, the golem then dumps half the veggies onto Mogwag's plate, and the other half onto Banny's. Then his mug of ale is pushed over to Banny.
"Tik'Klik!"
The golem seems pleased to be the first to have finished his meal.
The golem seems pleased to be the first to have finished his meal.
The man shakes your hand warmly.
Lord Varreim. A pleasure to make the acquaintance of one as polite as you. Here, sit, tell me of your reason for coming to these frozen shores and let my son pour you some of our finest."
He gestures to your guide.
"My eldest, Ljorn. He does not speak your common tongue but he tells me you come from afar."
Craw gives the man a smile (well you assume it's that, you see his beard raise up a bit) and sets his hat down before sitting at the table. "Pretty much just exploring the area. Got a lot of work ahead of us."
Mogwag is Mogwag's name in the lands, and we have come far across the sea to explore this vast frost land.
"Tik'Klik! Klik klik tik kliktik tik tik klik klik."
"Oy." Banny looks down at the vegetables on her plate, looks at Tik'Klik, contemplates the fact that the wooden thing has given her its ale, too... well. Kind of breakin' even there, aren't they...
"Good," she says to the golem, tapping the ale and flashing a thumbs-up symbol. "This stuff's for the elf though." With a jerk of her chin at the greens.
"I can't eat that stuff, it's all plant matter an' all and I don't think I could come that close to eating a comrade, eh."
Deadpan aside, Banny listens intently to the introductions, then offers the lord a short bow. "I'm called Banny Kneebreaker in this language. You don't mind me askin', how is it you speak it, anyhow? Best we know, this is a new land and we all oughta be right strange to each other, but you speak it fine as any fancypants I've ever known."
Lord Varreim gestures to the older gentleman.
"Roveer here is a foreigner much like yourself and has been my personal mentor in all things foreign for thirty years."
A man comes in and whispers to the king.
"More foreigners! Have you friends with you on our shores? Four odd fellows perhaps?"
Banny shrugs with her mouth in the ale mug. She lowers it, wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Dunno as we're friends. Colleagues, like, pursuin' the same goals, workin' for the same folk."
She sees no harm in relating that-- if the other four 'odd fellows' have gotten up to some mischief, then she's set up a bit of distance between their teams, indicating they ain't too close, without calling them enemies.
She squints sidelong at Roveer, giving him a small, terse nod.
Mogwag and this men came on a ship, an other team was also dispatched to also explore he will give a brief description of the other team
As Mogwag finishes explaining, the doors open and in walks...
as the door open Mogwag will turn his head in order to see who it might be
Will is going to walk in followed by the rest. He seems to be looking around the room talk.g everything in when his eyes settle on the other group.
Hey guys. Sorry we took so long, we would have been here sooner but we had to do some pest control
He will turn to the chief.
Greetings your Lordship, I am William Scotts. Investigator. Explorer. Adventurer. Here to experience the the beauty of your lands.
Will is then going to offer his hand to the chief.