Spinning and whirling with a strange fluid grace, the robed figure slides amongst the spiny plant. The shining star at her breast bobs and weaves, like an eccentric comet tumbling towards the goat.
Flickering shadows amongst the vines, with the slight sound as thorns catch her dark clothing.
Alik pays more attention to the further surroundings than he does to those immediately close to him.
The cacti certainly aren't as easily surmounted an obstacle as Alik had originally hoped.
Jaykae stays silent as the others "discuss" the ramifications of how their magic creates light and looks up sadly as the religious man speaks out further and others respond. She shakes her head then looks towards the goat again.
Her eyes begin to move back and forth looking for any trouble and she gets ready for any such thing.
Perception roll:
Alik continues to struggle through the cacti to get to the goat. His eyes constantly sweep the area around the animal.
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Despite his keen nose Garruth isn't finding anything out of the ordinary. He shakes his head "Hmmm... Three very enticing fragrances of some enchanting humanoids, and one rather tasty smelling goat, but no unexpected odors."
He watches Ruika gracefully tumble through the thicket, and Alik who seems to be having a bit more trouble, he decides that he'll leave it up to them, and not get his fur tangled in cacti. "How is the goat?"
Ruika initially passes through the thicket with grace, unscathed by the sticky spines. Despite her careful movements however, the hem of her cloak suddenly snags on one of the cacti, causing her to stumble right into one of the spiky plant before her.
From the very beginning, Alik barrels right into the cacti. The countless spines jab at him from all directions, one even managing to draw a thin cut across his arm as he moves on through.
Unfortunately, further progress through the thicket does not prove to be any less painful. Cacti needles continue to poke and scratch at you, until finally, you emerge from the thicket and step onto a thin strip of barren land. Thin, because just 5 feet ahead you see that the ground comes to an abrupt end, dropping into a 15-foot wide ravine.
Rombard stands nearby, tethered to a desert shrub with a short length of rope. Upon seeing the two of you, the goat lets out another painful bleat. Now closer to the goat, you notice that dozens of cacti spines protrude from its back and neck.
"Poor thing, is injured." Ruika says seeing the creature; she instinctively moving forward her vision barely moving from the creature.
Then she softly tried to lay her hands on it's back; "You tall & feisty, calm the creature." she asks Alik as she summons her power to heal the animal.
'Why is he tethered here?' she thinks too late, her strange compassion having got the better of her.
Alik clucks again to the hapless goat while scanning the surroundings.
Alik eyes the goat critically. "Magic Rombard all you want. We're still going to have to get all those needles out of him before he can truly heal."
Keiko peers about, eyes resting for a moment on all of those point cacti, and glancing about to watch the backs of the others, using that fancy low-light vision before following through reluctantly.
Corneilious holds his ground. No sense in everybody running into the cacti.
As the healing powers flow into the poor beast, Ruika feels pleased the barbarian has calmed the creature. "And get him out of here safely." she replies; her gruff voice quiet with concern in the dark.
'And I'll probably need them out of me too.' she thinks feeling their bitter sting.
Keiko is able to slip past the cacti with ease, their spines just barely skimming her clothing as she passes through. She traverses the thicket agilely, emerging on the thin strip of land posthaste, where she finds Ruika and Alik, as well as Rombard the goat.
Rombard calms down significantly, no longer making any efforts to free itself. He stands still as Ruika heals him, the great majority of his wounds sealing shut. Many of the cacti needles simply fall out in the process. Still tethered to the bush, the goat lets out another wary bleat, looking to the rocky outcropping that lines the nearby cliff.
"Hold the lead, we cut our way out." Ruika states looking to the tall man with his animal handling skills and his thick thews. 'Hmmm, maybe I should ask the twins they were good at handling the cat-man earlier.' she thinks to herself with a wry smile, meaning it kindly. From her belt she produces a small cutting knife, it's cold-iron blade glinting in the moon light.
"One mystery down." Jaykae says quietly as she stands outside the range of the cacti. It was better to not go in with the others there. They did not need too many people in there to scare the goat plus she didn't want to go near those pointy plants. It felt selfish but the twin figured she did not need to feel guilty as there were enough people in there anyway.
'Hang on, you fool. Animals are smart - smarter than people sometimes.' she gives a rusty chuckle at the self-deprecating joke. With her other gloved hand she gently touches her pack, where her little fox chum is curled up gently rumbling. The soft nurturing touch amongst all this trouble; reassuring Ruika that Lyssa is unhurt.
Then with a slow step the shadowy figure of Ruika moves towards the rocky outcropping that Rombard is staring at. 'He's spotted something.' the knife is low by her side.
Keiko says, "Heeey, it's the goat. Heya, goat. Been looking for you." She watches the animal for a few moments and then follows its gaze curiously.
She stares blankly off and then shrugs.
"Hey!" Alik hisses at Ruika. "You do not look strong enough to be facing the terrors in the dark, you should be the one to untie the goat and lead it."
Alik hefts Freaksfire and squints into the darkness.
Assuming there is nothing to see, Alik will ready his naginata to begin cutting down cacti to open a more traversable route back.
Pale eyes glisten under her hood. 'He insults me, I will not stand for that. Vengeance will be swift.' she thinks darkly.
At a glance, there does not appear out of the ordinary near the rocks. Looking carefully however, Alik and Ruika spot something strange - a tiny, furry head peeking over the outcropping, watching you all intently. For the briefest of moments, its beady eyes meet your own. Realizing that it has been caught, the creature hops over the rock and into plain view. The small creature is exactly as Dashki described it - barely up to your knees in height and dressed in rags, the humanoid has an all-too-distinct jackal-like head.
At the very sight of the pugwampi Rombard begins to panic once again, letting out loud bleats of fear. The tiny creature lets out its own shrill cry which pierces the night.
"I am strong enough to face the dark! I am the terror in the dark!" Ruika retorts to Alik, before her attention turns to the small troublesome creature.
"And you!" The eyes inside her dark robe glitter; "Stop being naughty, why burn the tree?" There is a hint of doubt in her eye, she still isn't sure that this creature caused the inferno.
But her dark eye glimmers; the Evil Eye she was going to give to the muscle-bound Ifrit she turns on the creature.
"Be on your guard! There is likely more than one".
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Garruth watches Keiko make her way nimbly through the cacti, despite her having made it unscathed, he still felt he'd rather not follow, the thought of picking spines out of his fur afterwards was not appealing.
He finds himself standing next to Jaykae. It could be a coincidence, but considering his actions thus far, he's probably taking the opportunity to get closer to the young bard while her sister is occupied. "This goat is making me hungry, we should find something to eat when we're done here."
With the emmergence of the pugwampi his eyes widen and he calls out "It's a puggy wuggy thing! Show it who's boss Ruika!" Apparently he expects Ruika to take care of the pugwampi, maybe because of her little retort to Alik.
The tiny beast does not seem to be very threatening, but the bestial face and animalistic cry triggers a response in Alik. The nights of his gladiatorial displays in the freak circus had honed his instincts, and it didn't take Alik any time at all to know that this pugwampi's screeching was probably a call to others of its kind...or worse.
In a flash, Alik darts forward and using the reach of his naginata attempts to cut the creature down and end its cry.
"Whoa, whoa. What is that?" says Keiko, caught a bit off guard, her rapier already drawn.
Keiko - 16
Corneilious - 16
Jaykae - 12
Dashki - 11
Garruth - 6
Ruika casts a dark gaze at the pugwampi, attempting to afflict it with her hex. ()
The small creature suddenly stops screeching, strangely put off by the witch's power. Scrambling about, it pulls what appears to be a tiny bow out from behind its back...
But taking advantage of its length, Alik swings his weapon at the pugwampi from afar.
The jackal rat seems to poise itself to leap out of the way, but inexplicably hesitates. It does not even have the time to yell out in pain as Freaksfire's blade sunders its tiny body, very nearly splitting it in half. The mangy creature drops to the ground almost immediately, twitching as blood pours from its massive wound.
Alik immediately begins to look around for more adversaries.
Barring any other enemies, Alik will make sure the beast is completely dead. Alik would not like to watch a living creature suffer needlessly and will deliver a coup de grace if the animal lingers.
Otherwise Alik's next move will be to begin chopping down cacti to make the way passable for Ruika, Keiko, and the goat.
Jaykae gasps as she sees the being, creature, whatever it was and gives her head a slight shake of shock then nods to Garruth's statement of it being what they were looking for. She is unsure of what it is doing with it's reactions to them being there. It seemed that maybe the little thing was just as confused about them as they were about it.
Then it was done and Jaykae found herself standing there with her hand over her mouth and eyes wide. Could they have found a way to talk to the thing?
She looks up at Garruth, her eyes still wide and now fearful. Should she be scared for these little beings or for themselves: she was not sure either way but it was a shock to her to see something struck down so swiftly when they did not know if it were friend, foe or food.
From deep within the folds of the cowl, Ruika looks on darkly - her mind awhirl.
'Good strike, it was going for a weapon. Was it the only one of its kind? Did it cause the fire? Is the hunt over?' closing her eyes for a seconds contemplation; 'In the desert life is harsh, the elements are against you. Survival is near impossible even without animals trying to attack. I mourn its passing but see the necessity of the action.'
There's a small nod of grudging respect for Alik's skilful blow. "Adequate." she states simply.
She moves over to the remains of the creature, checking it out for any signs of intellect or craftsmanship. With gloved hands the witch picks up the bow, wondering who crafted it.
'Was the creature paid to attack the caravan? Is it Dashiki's scapegoat? Did he set the pugwampi up, whilst burning the charlatan alive in a jealous pique?' a host of questions jump to mind. Ruika had been taught a harsh lesson by the tribe not to speak out of turn or voice all her opinions. Long has she kept thoughts and doubts stored inside, in an attempt to be a good orc.
After checking out the creature’s body for other items of interest, she then pulls it into the shade and leaves it to feed the local fauna.
’It’s spirit, as it’s bones, will be picked clean and become part of the desert.’
Finally, the robed figure moves over to Keiko and Rombard. Untying and holding his leash she follows the path Alik hews.
"Perhaps we can get back to the camp and finally rest. All this travel is starting to take its toll. A Man can barley find time to Pray through all of this excitement."
Alik found regret coming over him...just as he always had when forced to fight in the circus. The creatures before him had been starved and frightened; most of them only dangerous because of their condition. Of course, his survival had also been on the line as the bloodthirsty circus would have been just as happy if it had been his lifeblood that had ebbed on the ground.
However, the strange creature called a pugwampi had seemed to be of little threat overall, yet it's sudden appearance and shriek had brought forth the barbaric killer that Alik had become. His instincts were too honed for response when threatened. Perhaps there had been another way...but Alik knew he was trained for no other resolution.
He swung at the cacti again, his anger lending strength to his blows.
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Garruth saw Alik's quick reaction and mighty swing, it's hard to see clearly through the cacti, but the smell of fresh blood gives away that it was a good strike. He winces a bit, poor little thing never had a chance a swing like that probably cut it right in half, though Garruth supposes cutting their enemies in half was perhaps Alik's specialty.
Seeing the fearful look in Jaykae's eyes he puts his arms around her hopefully it will help to comfort her. "I guess we're not interrogating it... Don't worry Jay everyone's ok, and I'm sure the puggy wuggy didn't suffer." 'I wonder if we can eat it.'
The cat-man turns his head towards Corneilious when he speaks and nods "Yes, some rest would be good. We've been travelling together for some time, but it would be nice to have a chance to unwind a bit and share a drink with you folks."
"It was fast." Jaykae responds to Garruth as she takes comfort in his arms folded around her, putting her cheek on his left forearm in thought, "I'm surprised there are no more." She says quietly, hardly audible.
Jaykae is not unused to killing and part of her perks up at the scent of blood, a scent that makes her lick her lips even as she relaxes against the cat man. She can hear the heavy hacking of the cacti and notices that there is more stress upon the air likely due to the death of the small creature.
Perhaps fortunately, the pugwampi bleeds to death within seconds, leaving no need for a killing blow.
Ruika's inspection of the creature's ruined body turns up its tiny, crudely-made shortbow, with twenty or so arrows comparable in size to toothpicks. She also finds a similarly-sized rusty dagger, as well as a dozen singed cards easily recognizable as parts of a Harrow deck.
Rombard seems satisfied with the creature's death, letting out one last bleat as the witch unties him.
It takes several minutes of chopping, but Alik is eventually able to clear a path through the cacti thicket large enough for them all to leave through unharmed. Dashki looks to the ifrit with surprise when he emerges.
"Well, I'll be. That was fast," he says with a toothy grin that looks just a tad too wolfish, "Don't forget the jackal rat's corpse; Almah will be wanting to see it. Assuming there's anything left to bring - you must've done a number on it."
Alik nods at Dashki's suggestion. "Your suggestion is good." Alik returns to the small creature's corpse and once again remorse fills him even as he sees the beast's ugliness. Alik steeled himself and remembered that the beast was responsible for a fire and the theft of the goat. Alik picked up the small body and cradled it in a nook of one arm. He would have to try and clean his clothes and armor of its blood once they returned.
As the ifrit walked back through the newly cleared area, one thought kept coming back to him. How in the world had one tiny creature managed all this? Alik found his instincts growling a warning in his mind. He set his jaw and walked, nodding to Dashki to lead the way back to camp. Alik remained alert however. Somehow this had just been too easy...
Ruika takes the burnt Harrowing cards, along with the weapons; 'Did it take this from the caravan? Or was it given it, like a dog tracking with scent? By a hunter maybe.' she wonders having learnt from experience that trust is hard to come by. With a sidelong glance at Dashki as he speaks, the robed figure nods.
"Like desert - it try to kill." she motions to the little pugwampi corpse; "Don't feel bad, it dulls the blade. We drink to it's spirit." She claps Alik softly upon the shoulder; "Maybe I teach you to drink like a warrior!"
Ruika feels unsure of this, to lose control could be bad but sometimes the spirits needed respite.
As they start to walk back to the camp Ruika takes the reins of Rombard and leads him into the darkness, following the others. Not to be outdone by all the commotion, Lyssa snuffles her way out of the back-pack and looks around. The fox licks her lips and eyes adjusted to the dark makes "YIFF YIFF" bark looking about for attention.
Keiko follows after the others, looking towards the corpse for a few moments and then moving in to walk alongside her sister. "Hey Jaykae, are you doing alright? I know you're not used to that kinda thing..." Of course, neither is Keiko, just being a poet herself.
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Garruth smiles towards Jaykae, she seems to relax he nods to her hardly audible comment "Yes, it does seem strange the little thing would be on it's own." He smirks seeing the bard lick her lips and supposes he has that effect on some women.
He releases the Kitsune woman as the others come back he smiles a bit towards Keiko when she comes to check on her sister she really took good care of Jaykae.
Noting the thing under Alik's arm Garruth says "Good, we've got the culprit. Let's get back and talk to Almah, then get something to eat. This puggy wuggy hunting is hungry work." The catman says as if he'd had some contribution in either the tracking or subduing of the creature. He seems to get a great idea "Oooh maybe she'll join us!"
He looks to the little yiffing fox and reaches his hand out towards it, he'll pick it up and stroke the little orange fluffball if she will let him.
"M'ok Kei. Garruth stayed with me so I felt safe." The twin said smiling at the other young woman and sighing, "But ... well, something seems wrong here but I can't put a finger on it."
The last part she says quietly to her sister, not minding if the cat man can hear it or not. She is sure there is something strange but thinks that it could just be her imagination. In story books it always said how heroes got through situations with little to no trouble but in her experience life was not as easy as a book.
"Oh Lyssa! Do you feel ignored?" Jaykae says leaving Garruth the chance to pet and hold the fox if she allows it. He seemed eager for attention from the little one as well.
Lyssa snuggles and wriggles out of the back-pack compartment and jumps into Garruths arms. The little ruddy ball of fluff starts to purr, pushing the side of her face into his furred arms; enjoying the sensation their fur pushing against one and another. Lyssa looks to Jaykae with a little pant, the foxes eyes shine in the dark and a previous stroker.
Carefully watching Garruth with her companion. "Seems all the ladies like you." Ruika states, maybe implying more than she'd care. 'Little one, you do like a lot of attention.'
Moving closer to the group as she leads the skittish Rombard, through the dark towards the camp. Patting Keiko on the shoulder. "Good sister." she attempts to be familiar. 'Travellers in the desert need to bond to survive. Maybe then I can prove to Alik I am no weakling.'
Alik plods on through the darkness. His mind is troubled. He had expected there to be more to this adventure than one small creature no matter how filthy. Something about this was just off..
Alik prayed that his doubt was unjustified and that the caravan was safe for the moment. Hopefully this would be the last such incident.
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Garruth strokes Lyssa as she snuggles into his arms, she was quite the affectionate little fox. He seems to recall Ruika saying something about Lyssa biting people she doesn't like, and is glad he's not one of them.
With a grin towards Ruika "Oh? Does that include you?" the feline man teases, but continues not making her answer to spare potential embarrassment. "I guess it's a talent, I've always had a pretty easy time making friends, especially with ladies. Thinking back I probably never would have made it out here without the friends I made along the way." He chuckles softly "Travelling through the desert with hardly any money maybe wasn't my smartest move... then again if I hadn't I never would have met you."
Considering Jaykae's worry about something seeming off he had to agree although she was speaking quietly to her sister and it probably wasn't meant for him. "Now that you mention it something is strange..." He looks to Ruika walking the goat then to the small bisected creature carried by Alik "That thing's pretty small, would it really be able to control the goat by itself?"
Beneath the dark robes Ruika flushes at the catfolks query, grateful that he continues on. 'That's how a tribe should be, trusting one another else the desert consumes them.' Garruth's last words intrigue and set her mind aflare.
Casting a glance at Corneilious, knowing the wise Holy man will have some thoughts on the situation even if he doesn't share them.
With the pugwampi dead and Rombard in tow, the return trip to the Sultan's Claw passes without incident. It is nearly midnight by the time you arrive at the camp again - sure enough, it appears to look just as you left it. Just moments after stepping into camp however, you see Hadrod running towards your group. As though he were oblivious to your presence, he rushes right to Rombard's side and drops to his knees.
"Oh, Rombard! You're back!" he proclaims, his voice filled with joy. The camel driver embraces the poor goat, nuzzling its white fur. Dashki curls his lip in disgust at the display. "Oi, you're filthy! I'll clean you up all nice and give you some of your favorite veggies!" He holds his embrace for a while longer before releasing him. At last he seems to notice your presence. "Thank you!" he says, to Ruika in particular.
Hearing the commotion, Garavel emerges from Almah's tent and approaches you as well. He looks to the goat and then to the corpse in Alik's arm, his eyes widening ever so slightly at the sight. "So it is done then," he says with a nod. "Come, Almah has been worried about you lot. I am sure you have much to tell her."
Alik throws a quick glance across the others, his lips pressed into a line and his doubts hidden. He lowers his head at Garavel's request and follow the man into the tent, the pugwampi's body cradled like a babe.
Ruika nods to the grateful farmer, the cowl slowly inclining to the side as if she's heard a voice or deep in thought. Then she starts a quick incantation, placing her hand to the side of the still hurt goat.
She then leans into Hadrod; "Good man." she says quietly to him. Then Ruika turns slowly away and follows Alik into Almah's presence. 'I hope it isn't me to talk, I'm not eloquent - that's for troubadours & lovers.'
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Garruth watches the man embrace his goat finding it interesting that he seems to have this goat to fill his heart rather than his stomach. Personally Garruth would probably do that the other way around, eat the goat and find a nice woman to embrace, but to each their own.
Speaking of which according to Garavel there's a nice woman in need of visiting right now, though embracing might be a stretch. He glances towards Garavel, considering the glare the man gave him from just touching Almah's hand he probably wouldn't allow any show of affection.
The catman pushes those thoughts aside and smiles widely at Garavel "Oh, she was worried about me? Well that's sweet of her, but with companions such as these I don't think there was any need. All the same I look forward to seeing her." He moves along into the tent.
Corneilious quietly follows everybody to the tent.
Keiko also follows into the tent, mumbling to herself, considering the rhythmic properties of the words that she is speaking. She nods once to Garavel and says, an idle question, "What even rhymes with pugwampi?"