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Garruth looks towards the large wooden claw, then at his paw extending his claws, one with claws such as that would be an incredible beast. His ears twitch swiveling slightly as he listens to Jaykae's tune.
He turns to Ruika when she mentions rest "Are you getting fatigued Ruika? This desert does have a way of draining the vigor out of person." He apparently didn't make the connection that she's asking about who would be joining them.
"Fatigued never!" she takes it as affront, straightening in the saddle despite her previous tired slouch moments earlier. Ruika's running off of adrenaline brought on by the thought of approaching battle. However with that vexed for a moment, her limbs feel tired and denuded of vitality.
From the dark folds of the hood she looks to the cat-man, she looks archly at him; "I am vigorous!" she states to him. Although this is meant to be statement of fact, it could be misinterpreted.
“Come, I had best take you to Almah,” Garavel tells the group, pointing to an elaborate tent at the edge of camp. “She will want to speak with you.” As the majordomo leads you closer to the Sultan’s Claw however, something goes terribly wrong.
A pillar of flame suddenly erupts from one of the wagons, reaching up to the tree branch hanging over it. Both the wagon and branch are immediately lit ablaze, lighting the night with an orange glow. Almost immediately after, chaos ensues.
With the flickering firelight, you can see at least a dozen people scrambling about the camp. A pair of armored men drags two bodies away from the flaming wagon, before joining another two of their companions in trying to push a nearby wagon out of the way. An elderly man rushes to the injured, kneeling down beside them. All the while, an assortment of confused pigs, goats, and sheep wander around the camp, having somehow broken out of their holding pen. A man and women chase after them with little success.
When your group finally reaches the large tent, its central flap is suddenly flung open. A regally-dressed woman steps out into the fire-lit night and immediately takes command. “Douse that flame!” she shouts to four red-armored men surrounding the burning wagon, before turning in your direction.
“Ah, Garavel! And just a moment later than the nick of time, as usual.” Looking past her majordomo, she looks directly at the six of you and barks out a simple order. “Find some way to help!” With that, she gestures to Garavel, who dismounts from his camel. The two of them then run off towards the fire.
Ruika knows from long years in the desert that her eyes are ill-suited to the rolling pale sands. Many predators can hide amongst the dunes that she cannot spot, that is for others in the tribe.
However, she knows time is of the essence.
"Break the Flaming Branch." she barks authoritatively. "Look for the despoilers."
'Is my entrance of a bad omen, do I doom whatever tribe I meet?' she mind whirls but she has to act. Ruika guides her camel towards the Elderly gentleman tending to the injured. Virtually falling off her mount as it refuses to move, she lands upon her knees and rushes over to the burnt men.
Without even spending too much time assessing their condition she calls forth her will. Binding the firsts wounds through her knowledge of anatomy and force of personality. She places her hands upon him and tries to keep him alive. "Check other!" she demands of the old man, whilst she works. Her gruff tone holding the Orcish accent from deep within the folds of her hood.
Corneilious dismounts and rushes over to the burning wagon. He stands roughly 20 feet away from the blaze and begins casting back to back Create Water spells in order to quench the flames.
"What caused this?" he shouts to anybody who might have a clue...
Moving over to the wagon, you see four burly mercenaries struggling to push it away from the fire.
"This damn thing won't budge!" one of them shouts, kicking the wagon's wheel in frustration.
"If we don't move this out the way, the whole damn thing's gonna burst into flames!" another shouts in response, before noticing you. Evidently caring little for who you are, he moves over to give you room to join in on their endeavor.
Keiko looks about and then decides to help herd the confused animals back to safety.
She licks her lips lightly as she tries to herd some chickens, making some clucking sounds to try and call it, but she might not be the most trustworthy person in the world to a chicken.
The gust of fire and reactions thereof makes Jaykae look about in horror. She dismounts and runs into camp. She takes out her flute and starts to play in order to inspire courage among those who are panicking so that they can become less of a hindrance and maybe even be helpful in this crisis.
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Having left Tulley with the other camels, Alik responds to Almah's singular command by rushing to the wagon area. Containing the blaze was of paramount importance. If this was an attack, hindering this would be an important move. Alik's freakshow caravan had been attacked many times by bandits and worse, and this tactic was a favorite for misdirection and inciting panic.
Alik scanned the area immediately around the burning wagon away from the camp looking for any signs there were attackers.
"Check the surround!" Alik bellowed. "Be wary of the wilderness!"
Keeping half an eye on the area, Alik tries to see if he can find any kind of container or sack laying around in view.
Approaching the two injured mercenaries, you see that both – one male and one female – are covered with severe burns. Seeing that neither is more hurt than the other, you cast your hex on the woman, the closer of the two. Her burn wounds all seem to melt away, as though they were never there to begin with. Immediately after, the mercenary awakens, coughing profusely as she attempts to sit up.
The old man does not seem to notice her or your command, distracted by the bubbling glass vials he is busy handling. As he pours their contents into a single bottle, he mutters under his breath, shaking his head.
“It’s no good, I only have enough for one!” he says in frustration, holding the apparently finished product in his hand, “How in blazes am I supposed to save… both… of… them?” Only then does he notice you and your healed patient, wearing an expression of awe and confusion. As though he just remembered what he was doing, he places his concoction at the unconscious man’s lips and pours it into his open mouth. His wounds similarly fade away, and the mercenary begins to stir, letting out a groan. Looking up at you, the old man nods. “Thank you.”
Now closer to the wagon, you see that Almah, Garavel, and the mercenaries are all carrying pails of water. After splashing it onto the fire they run to a nearby cart, where they scoop more water out of a large barrel. You catch sight of a number of extra buckets lying on the ground near the cart.
With your spell you are able to produce at least twice as much water with less than half the effort, doubtlessly doubling the group’s efforts. Nonetheless, the first salvo of splashes has no discernible effect on the immense blaze.
"Alright, one... two... three... PUSH!"
You and the mercenaries push against the wagon as hard as you can, but despite your added manpower, it just barely budges.
"Damn it! Again!"
Your attempts to imitate the chickens only seems to succeed at frightening them more. The small birds run off faster in a panic, leaving a trail of feathers in their wake.
"Blasted birds!" the man who was chasing the animals before shouts after them, as he attempts to shove a cow back into the holding pen.
Amidst the shouting, the roaring flames and the panicked cries of the escaped animals, your music seems to be drowned out.
In the firelight you can just make out what appear to be tiny footprints on the loose dirt near the wagon. In their rush to extinguish the fire however, some of the red-armored mercenaries step all over them, all but obliterating the impressions.
In your search for a container, you see that the cart the firefighters are retrieving water from has a slew of extra buckets lying on the ground near it.
Alik feels his warning to be wary was correct and continues to encourage all he encounters to keep an eye out. He also has other advice.
"Hey, hey! Fools! Stop wasting that water!"
Alik demonstrates the effectiveness of filling the buckets with loose dirt and sand to smother the fire along with Corneilious' water spells.
Then Alik leaps from the flaming wagon wheel with Freaksfire and swings in a two handed stroke attempting to sever the burning branch from the tree before the whole thing is ablaze (if possible). Alik trusts in his natural resistance to fire to protect him from incidental singing.
Then she turns her force of personality upon the sitting up woman; "Stay down, better that way." placing a gloved hand on the recovering woman. Gently pushing her down to stay where she is, Ryuika rises to move over to the man who is stirring. She motions and draws upon her strength to help alleviate the rest of his burns.
The beautiful fiery fox, jumps off the camel and rushes across the soft sand. Then it nuzzles the witch's legs absently, wanting more attention. Trying to push her way under the dark cloak, to find shade and comforting rubbing. Ruika stands up and looks about for more injured or the source of the conflict.
"Bock bock bock come on you dumb jerk birds!" grumbles Keiko as the chickens only succeed in scattering, not having much patience for their inability to cooperate with her.
She takes a moment to calm down and says sickeningly sweetly to the chickens, taking advantage of the fact that they do not understand language, only tone, "Come on you awful little beasts, come to Keiko, and I won't punch you in your stupid little beaks."
Jaykae puts her flute away figuring that it is not loud enough and that the tune does not carry well in this situation so decides to sing her encouragement song instead of playing it, hoping that her voice would carry more weight.
Corneilious continues to Create Water and get the fire under control.
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Garruth huffs at the effort, and strains trying to move the wagon, while it barely even budges he growls lightly in frustration. That attempt was pretty much as good as they were going to get from him. "RRgh I'm not cut out for this work. We might need more help." He calls out to anyone that might be around "If anyone has a bicep to spare we might need some more help, this wagon is incredibly heavy."
As Corneilious and the others continue to splash water onto the flame, Alik climbs onto the burning wagon wheel.
Almah shouts at him as she sees the spectacle, before realizing that for some strange reason, the man was not being burnt to a crisp. All but Garavel stop dead in their tracks, in awe of the sight before them. They watch as Alik takes his leap and swings his weapon at the tree branch.
Bolstered by Jaykae's bardic music, Alik's blade splits straight through the large tree branch, amputating the flaming limb. With a yawn, the branch snaps off the tree and lands right on top of the wagon, collapsing what little remained of its roof. Much of the fire is snuffed out by the debris, but the blaze persists.
"Well, I'll be!" the old man remarks with a smile, inspecting the two patients and finding that the majority of their wounds had been completely healed. "You're quite the talent, miss!" Looking to the persisting fire, he then frowns grimly. "You had best help out the others; I will look after these two."
"Bock-bock, booock!" The chickens seem to come just inches within your grasp, before taking off again, making even more noise than before. Almost as though they were spiting you. The nearby woman pushing sheep into the pen sees your plight, and calls out to the man.
"Hadrod, give that young lady a hand!"
Within seconds the middle-aged man joins your side, panting tiredly.
"Alright miss, these chickens are real devils I'll tell you!" he says exasperatedly, whilst glancing about frantically, as though he were looking for something.
Everyone can hear Garruth's request for more help at the wagon.
'Well, I have helped these, as much as I can. Best help that fuzzy-man with the caravan. I hope the others are looking out for the cause of this.' Ruika rises and gives a nod to the older gentleman.
She moves towards the fire, not caring about the temperature. Looking around the clearing she sees if there are any injured or attackers. Then moves to Garruth's side silently. She tries to help, really putting her shoulder against the side of the vehicle.
Having landed, Alik pats a couple of spots where fire has attached to his clothing burning a hole here and there.
"We're not finished yet!" Alik calls to the group of wagon pushers. Stabbing the naginata into the dirt under the wagon, Alik attempts to help move the wagon with an improvised lever.
Raykae's song becomes a bit more excited as things start to go their way and she is caught up in it's tones. The lady is caught up in her music as she walks about trying to keep everyone, or as many as possible, calmer with a braver feeling.
"You horrible feathery clucking fools," scoffs Keiko, catching the look on the man's face. "Are you looking for something I can help you find? I might not be the best chicken wrangler..."
She still tries to wrangle those chickens.
“One… two… three… PUSH!”
The wagon’s wheels finally loosen from their torpor, allowing the wagon to lurch forward. With its wheels unstuck, it proves easy enough to push the wagon several feet. Their objective complete, the greasy-haired mercenaries cheer raucously, one of the males going so far as to slap your backs with a nonexistent sense of familiarity. None of them seem to notice that the fire they were pushing the wagon away from is all but completely gone...
The chickens prove to be even more troublesome than before, but with Hadrod's help, you finally manage to chase the evil creatures back into their holding pen.
As the woman corrals some goats into the holding pen, an exasperated Hadrod looks among them desperately.
"Oh no... oh no..." he murmurs, practically on the verge of tears, "I don't see him anywhere! Where is Rombard!?"
With the entire Sultan's Claw no longer in danger of being consumed by flames, it is easy enough of a task for everyone to snuff out the remaining flames. With one last splash of water from Corneilious' spell, the fire is no more. A column of smoke pours out from the ruined wagon, charred black by the extinguished inferno. At Almah's behest, the red armored guards immediately begin the process of clearing out the smoldering wreckage.
With the crisis averted, the people in the camp gather around, the sound of murmurs filling the air.
"Ha, in your face you beaked monstrosities!" taunts Keiko once the chickens are properly herded. She takes a step back and looks towards Hadrod, expression growing more serious, "Rombard? Who is Rombard? I will help..."
"Yes indeed, the spell with unlimited uses" Corneilious says to nobody in particular as he puts his magic to rest.
"Rombard's my favorite goat," Hadrod says with a half-sob. It is hard to tell the man's tears apart from the beads of sweat running down his face. "Had him ever since he was just a kid, raised him myself and everything... and now I can't find him!"
The woman sighs, shaking her head. "I'm sure he just ran off somewhere in a panic, Hadrod. He'll come back!" She then smiles widely at Keiko. "Thank you for the help! Those chickens give us trouble all the time, so don't feel too bad. I have no idea how they all managed to break out though..." Minding her thoughts, she holds her hand out to Keiko in greeting. "The name's Hadrah, by the way!"
Despite her reassurance, Hadrod continues to murmur woefully. "Poor Rombard, out there all alone in the cold..."
"I'm not very good with animals but I will offer to assist you in finding your Goat. I once had a friend named Hamish. He was a young ginger haired kid who had a special affinity for Goats. I wonder what he's up to now-a-days? I don't know what made me think of that just now? My point is, I can relate to your want to find a missing loved one. Perhaps Ragathiel will help guide me to your Goat as he watches me in searching for what I'm looking for."
Jaykae walks over to her sister's side and shyly lowers her head while brushing one foot against the other. She looks about quietly while the others start gathering around and wonders where this favourite goat may have gotten to.
The bard's mind starts filling with tunes once again and she smiles at the notes going through her head.
"Keiko, Keiko Zerda. I'm a poet," says Keiko proudly, "And I'll help you look for Rombard if you want. I'm not really a good... goat finder or anything, but maybe the catman can snuffle him up. I hear that catmen have great snuffling abilities."
"Anyways, it's nice to meet you Hadrah, and Hadrod. I know it's hard when someone you love goes missing, even if it is a goat..." She considers that and says, "On that note, if you've heard anything about someone named Haleen... I'd appreciate it if you'd share it with me. Me and my sister are looking for her..."
"Oh no, don't worry about it right now," Hadrod says to Corneilious and Keiko, sounding as though he doesn't believe the words coming out of his own mouth, "I'm sure Almah will want to speak with you all. She's going to want to get this mess all sorted out..."
"Haleen? I'm sorry, I've never heard of anybody by that name before," Hadrah answers thoughtfully, before spotting Jaykae. "Your sister...?" she repeats with wonder, looking back and forth between her and Keiko. "Oh my, you two look just like one another! Are you twins?"
"I hear that catmen have great snuffling abilities."
"I believe you're thinking of DogMen, a Hound Archon perhaps. Its canines that have the superior snuffling capabilities. Yes, DogMen with large blades who populate Heaven's Legions! They'd seek out that Goat in no time."
"Yeah, we're twins. The amazing Zerda sisters! Surely you've heard of us!" says Keiko proudly. Most people have not heard of them.
She then looks towards Corneilious and says, "Oh, yeah, canines are better snufflers, aren't they? I wouldn't know about canine snuffling abilities. The catman might be fine at it? I guess it's academic at this point..."
Jaykae smiles as she is noticed and nods at the word "twins." She bows when Keiko gives her announcement of whom they are then plays a cute little tune on her flute, a jaunty couple of notes.
She puts her flute away and shrugs, "I'm sure both feline or canine would be able to follow a trail but that would depend on their training or specific noses. Sometimes one can smell something but not necessarily realize what it is that they are smelling. Or ... so I've been told. Or I actually read." The twin looks like she's unsure of the reaction she would get over what she just said and got the shy look back on her face.
Putting her back into the cart, sandles digging into the sand she is pleased when the cart rolls away from the smouldering wreck. However not so pleased when the greasy haired caravaner slaps her back, but she shrugs it off.
Ruika wanders over to the old herbalist to see if any others have been injured. Showing the others the first time she has used any of her healing powers, or in fact any of her powers. Without saying a word the hooded figure looks to see if there are any other injuries. If so she quietly treats them, using her healing hex as necessary.
Carefully examining the sundered branch, she hopes the tree is not sacred - else there might be reprecussions. The snout of a furry red creature pokes out from beneath the hem of the long cloak.
When the old man sees Ruika approaching he breaks out into a smile.
"Ah, there you are!" he says in greeting. Looking over to the two previously burnt mercenaries, he waves them over. "Trevvis! Kallien! This is the woman who saved your lives!"
The two seem rather sluggish as they approach the witch, but are otherwise uninjured. The man, Trevvis, rubs the back of his head whilst averting his gaze.
"...thanks."
She nods to the pair of men, displaying little emotion. "An honour." she says simply. Then she looks about and sees no more signs of injury. "Anything else, I'll return." her foreboding words hold the promise of future conflicts. Although with their route to the gnoll encampment it is inevitable.
Traipsing across the sand, her wide sandals leaving a strange trail, she moves to the burnt wagon and Almah. "What was aboard? Enemy attack?" she queries, wondering if she will get any answers.
"This man's favorite goat is missing." Jaykae says quietly as she turns to see Garruth, "We were trying to think of ways to find it but he says the goat should come back." She seems a bit less timid around Garruth now but still rather quiet. In fact the younger twin is much more comfortable in front of people performing than being in the ranks.
"I thought you could maybe snuffle out the goat," comments Keiko helpfully. "You've probably got an okay snuffling nose?"
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"A favorite goat? Hmmm that is a shame." He's pleased to see Jaykae is at least starting to get more comfortable with him "Are you able to track by smell Jay? That's great! Some of the folks back home were incredible hunters sniffing out all kinds of things. Must be pretty hard with the smoke from the fire though..."
He looks to Keiko when she comments "Me? well... I don't really have any training in tracking. My nose an ok snuffler I guess; for instance you two may look the same, but you won't trick the snuffler."
"Hmm. Me? Track?" Jaykae blinks then gasps as she looks at Garruth, her eyes wide, [b]"We're identical twins! Of course we look the same except Keiko has a spot on her ... uh ... nevermind."
"Whoa, Jaykae, let's not talk about spots I may or may not have..." says Keiko, eyes widening also at her sister's words. "That might be more information than the nice catman cares to hear."
Back to Garruth she says, "And how could she track by smell? Look at that normal human snuffler on her, just like me! And all I smell is burnt..."
“I do not know who is responsible,” Almah answers Ruika absentmindedly, as she watches her personal guards sift through the blackened mess, extracting what little remains of the broken tree branch. “But I intend to find out.”
After a few moments, one of the red-armored guards emerges from the ruined wagon and approaches Almah. “Eloais is dead,” he reports, his tone grim yet devoid of sorrow.
Almah shows remarkably little concern over the casualty, simply nodding in response to the bad news. For a while she remains still, stroking her chin contemplatively. In the meantime, the other denizens of the camp go about their business. Her personal guards leave as well, taking their stations at her tent. Having apparently made up her mind on something, Almah turns to her majordomo.
“I would like for you to investigate this matter," she says to him, her voice calm yet stern. "I want to know if someone in the camp was responsible for starting that fire. I will not stand for having a traitor in our midst." She then looks to Ruika and the rest of you. "I would like the six of you to assist him. None of you were here when the fire started – that gives me reason enough to believe in your innocence. Find out what you can and then report back to me."
Keiko nods towards Almah and says, bowing slightly at the waist, "Ah, certainly. I will help in any way that I can." She glances towards her sister.
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Garruth looks curiously at Jaykae her reaction seemed a little over the top, but smiles towards the twins "You two are interesting, I like you. I admit I am curious to learn all the differences between you, but if you just told me, that would spoil the fun." He shrugs his shoulders when Keiko talks about human snufflers "I'm no expert in normal human snufflers can none track by smell?"
He turns his attention towards Almah when she addresses them. "Of course I will help My Lady. Would you have any information we can work with? If someone was seen near the wagon shortly before, or how the fire started? If it was magical we might quickly narrow down the number of suspects."
Ruika goes to one knee at the news of Eloais' death; to lose a tribe-mate is serious and mournful ocassion. Ruika nods and stands upon Almah's command; "I, Ruika Grumnash agree to fulfill your command. I thank you for your trust." she rises and nods.