Hearing the small gnome from so far away, "Time to move." Tar'kanas, with Untari following close behind, head out toward the women.
Makoa puts his weapons away and follows slowly. He tries to look not-frightening, but he's not the best looking member of the party and knows it.
The women lead you farther along the banks of the river, Zakiyya taking the lead and the other three falling in behind. After a few minutes, you see a small hut up ahead, which the women lead you directly up to.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable out here," Zakiyya says. "We'd invite you inside, but it would be rather cramped with so many. We will provide you with what we have." She then heads inside the hut. Alala and Osumare follow her in, while Masozi hurries over to a fire pit behind the house and begins getting it ready.
"It feels odd to have someone not try to kill us. Inviting us for dinner and all, unless I misunderstood something." Urza says jokingly. He goes over to the fire pit, "Can I help? Fire is kind of my specialty."
"Greetings, I'm Mahjik. I'm glad to experience your hospitality - it's a refreshing change of pace. Don't hesitate to ask me to help in any way. It is the least I can do," Mahjik introduces himself. He looks about the area to see if there's anything obvious that could require assistance.
"It feels odd to have someone not try to kill us. Inviting us for dinner and all, unless I misunderstood something." Urza says jokingly. He goes over to the fire pit, "Can I help? Fire is kind of my specialty."
Masozi looks up as Urza approaches. She watches him blank-eyed as he speaks, then smiles, her eyes brightening gleefully. "Yes, thank you. I'm always a little bit clumsy with firepots. Your specialty is fire? You must have a fierce animal spirit."
She stops as Mahjik approaches. "Nice to meet you Mahjik. I am Masozi. This kind person has already offered to help with the fire but perhaps you can both help."
Urza's pride is obvious when she mentions him having a fierce animal spirit. "My mother said that I am of the blood of dragons." He uses Prestidigitation to help light the fire as well as make shapes out of the rising smoke.
"I'm called Makoa Wolf'sKin." He tells them, watching the rising smoke swirl with Urza's magic.
Tar'kanas stands off to the side with Untari, bent at the knees as he strokes the top of her head, keeping an eye on their hostesses.
"Masozi, where are the men folk and the kids?" Mahjik asks as he bends down to prepare a wood stack for the fire.
"Masozi, where are the men folk and the kids?" Mahjik asks as he bends down to prepare a wood stack for the fire.
"In their homes, I would presume," Masozi replies with a slight hint of laughter in her voice. She adds a bit more kindling to the fire. "Are you looking for some specific men folk and kids?"
Urza looks around. "Where are they? The other huts, I mean. Yours seems to be built apart from the rest."
Masozi giggles slightly, but then lowers her eyes in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. My reply was meant in humour as I thought it was fairly obvious that we are the only ones here. There are other villages within a day's journey of here, and we often visit them for supplies, but my sisters and I live out here alone."
After a few minutes, Zakiyya, Alala, and Osumare return from inside the hut, carrying baskets of fish, fruit, and vegetables, which they carry over to the fire that Masozi and Urza are just getting going. The amount of food would be quite large for just the four women, but spread across your entire group, it will be somewhat smaller.
Sasha offers to do some hunting to help boost the food quantity. "It's what we'd be doing around now, anyway," she tells the women in Polyglot. While Sasha (and anyone else who wishes to assist in hunting) is off, Masozi and Osumare begin cooking the food that they already have.
Zakiyya invites the rest of you to find comfortable seats in the grass in front of their hut. "Please tell us a bit about yourselves," she says.
"I'm Douena," Douena immediately obliges, "and I come from Whistledown, and I used to work at my brother-in-law's inn, but then I got on a ship and came here, only I didn't like the ship very much. But then the ship crashed, and we met a lady who lived in a tree and a bird-man who lived in a crab, and Pezock came with us, but Aycenia stayed behind. I wish she'd have come with us too, don't you, Makoa? But she didn't want to leave her tree, I guess. She must be awfully lonely without us, but we left her my swing. And this is Sir Ralph. He's a camel-lion, even though he looks like a lizard. Do you know if there are any Tiny bears around here?" Douena covers some of the high points of their journey thus far, careful not to mention anything about the lost city or the Pathfinders or the vampire-snake people; she also doesn't say anything about Jask's recent tranformation, figuring he/she's better off if no one knows she used to be a Mwangi man.
"I shall aid you, Sasha." Tar'kanas, with Untari right behind him, accompany Sasha to hunt for food.
Zakiyya nudges Alala, who pipes up, "Tiny bears?" Alala glances briefly at Osumare and Masozi, who both shrug. Alala turns back to Douena. "What are these tiny bears like? I'm not sure I'm familiar with bears that aren't tiny. What are they like?"
"Yes," Masozi adds, "if you tell us what they are like, maybe we can help you find them. We know this land well--the hills, the plains, and the jungle."
"They're furry," Douena answers readily, "and they walk on four legs, and they have claws and teeth, and they live in the forest, I think. And they're black or brown; I've heard there are white ones that live up north where it snows all the time. Maybe if one lived in the jungle, it would be green. And they're big, but I want a little one like a fox or a lizard, but no one knows where I can find one."
"There are many creatures that have claws and teeth," Alala replies, "but I don't think I recognize the kind you mean." She glances at Masozi and Osumare again. They both shrug. "Sorry," Alala says.
The women go silent for a moment before Zakiyya nudges Osumare. The younger woman looks at Zakiyya, who just nods slightly. Turning back to look at the group and Douena specifically, Osumare says, "Perhaps your spirit animal can help you. We can help you to contact it if you are not sure how. We are spirit dancers."
Alala and Masozi perk up. "Yes! We can help all of you to contact your spirit animals!" they both say in near unison.
"That sounds fairly interesting." He saw them when he gazed at the moon at night, so seeing his wolves again wouldn't be too new, but learning what the others had as their spirits?
"Is it like dreaming? Because Desna sends me messages in my dreams all the time. That's the first place I saw my Tiny bear!"
Osumare nods. "Very like dreaming," she says. "You need to be dreaming when it happens. We will guide you through your dreams. But..." She pauses and looks to Zakiyya, who makes no motion and says nothing in response. Osumare looks back at the group. "We will need to drug you to get you in the right state."
She perks up suddenly again. "But don't worry. It's perfectly safe! We've taken many people through the process before and been through it ourselves. It won't harm you. Are you interested?"
"We can't do that," Douena says flatly. "There's people trying to kill us. The last thing we should consider doing is sit around all dreaming and helpless at the same time."
As they're out hunting, Tar'kanas speaks his thoughts aloud to Sasha. "There is something odd about the human women. It is unsettling. Outwardly, I would gather they could not survive a day out here by themselves. I believe there is more to them than what is perceived."
Urza's whole attitude changes. He becomes more agitated and attentive. "I agree with Douena. It wouldn't be smart for us to as you ask. I must decline."
As they're out hunting, Tar'kanas speaks his thoughts aloud to Sasha. "There is something odd about the human women. It is unsettling. Outwardly, I would gather they could not survive a day out here by themselves. I believe there is more to them than what is perceived."
"You think so? I thought they seemed rather nice." Sasha pauses for a moment, thinking about what she's just said. "On second thought, we don't meet very many nice people, do we? Yeah, something's up." Then she grins and laughs. "Seriously though, you have a point."
Osumare frowns at Douena's and Urza's responses. "Oh," she says. She looks saddened and forlorn.
Masozi and Alala also frown. "Who is trying to kill you?" Alala asks.
"Contacting your spirit animal could help you against these attackers," Zakiyya says. "You spirit animal can provide you with heightened senses. You will be able to detect your attackers well in advance of their arrival."
"Yes, yes!" Osumare says, brightening up again. "They could definitely help in that regard. It would be to your benefit." Masozi and Osumare nod in agreement.
Also, they very obviously defer to Zakiyya (who is clearly the one in charge), but there seems more to it than that. It's almost as if they are under some sort of mental control.
Sense Motive
"Nearly everyone we've met. Frankly, it's gotten old. But because of that, we're a little cautious. That's why we can't find our spirit creatures."
"It's not the animals," Douena explains apologetically. "It's the dreaming to meet them that's the problem. One of the last people who tried to kill us was a child. Lorenz even bought some of the carvings she was selling, even though they weren't very well made," she sniffs. "And we were in a place where we were told we'd be safe and secure at the time. You see that we can't just agree to incapacitate ourselves in the middle of nowhere. If the people who keep trying to kill us were to find us while we were helpless...."
Lorenz nods. "Douena and I disagree on a lot of things," he says, "but she's right about this one. It's not that we don't trust you. It's just that we don't trust our enemies not to jump out while we're unconscious, kill you, and then kill us."
After Jask translates Lorenz's words, Zakiyya smiles understandingly. "I think you will find we are better at defending ourselves from your enemies than you realise. However, we understand your reluctance. Let us prepare food and eat. If you change your minds, the offer remains open. Masozi, please start the cooking."
Masozi nods, jumps to her feet, and starts filling the pot.
"Osumare, come with me please," Zakiyya says. "I think we may be able to find a couple more things to add to the feast." She stands up and heads into the hut. Osumare follows her. Alala remains seated in place.
"Oh?" Mahjik turns his attention to Zakija. "Actually, I might be interested - it sounds not unlike the heightened state of awareness that monks strive for in meditation. If the same could be achieved with other means... that would be a thing worth investigating and rep- and think about." He grins, "Besides, I think we can risk one or two of us visiting the dream world you speak of. If enemies attack, you could return us to wakefulness quickly, yes? We can do it after dinner?"
With only three of the Mwangi, Mahjik waits for an opportunity to quietly mention to one of his companions (let's assume Ursa): "I sense there is something deeper here - it is like Masozi and Osumare defer to Zakiyya in everything, but more so. Almost like Zakiyya has some form of mental control over them."
"If you really want to, friend." Urza says, "But it is a bad idea." Urza tries to keep close to Douena. If he feels he can do so surreptitiously, he'll cast Detect Magic and examine the ladies.
Zakiyya pauses to listen to Mahjik before entering the hut. She turns around. "We can certainly do it after dinner. Returning you to wakefulness if your enemies attack, however, would be more difficult. As Osumare said, for the procedure to work, we will need to drug you. The drug only causes a deep sleep with no other ill effects, but the sleep lasts for a few hours. It is very difficult to wake someone under its effects. Not impossible, but difficult. What I can promise, however, is that we would defend you with our lives if you were attacked while unconscious."
1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
Mahjik nods. "See," he tells Urza, "safe as the lips of angels. Since we need to camp the night anyway, we can combine the practical with the curious."
"Yes," Douena remarks a bit acidly in Taldane, "because the last time we trusted someone to watch over us while we rested, it turned out so well."
"We will watch over you as well." Urza says pointedly.
"We are not those people, Douena." Makoa points out. "We will keep him safe, with any luck."
When Zakiyya goes into the tent, Urza will cast Detect Magic and examine the other ladies.
Osumare goes into the hut with Zakiyya, so Urza is unable to examine her for any auras. However, on each of Masozi and Alala, he detects three distinct magical auras. Each one is wearing a magical amulet and magical bracers. The third aura is not on a specific item they carry, but is rather on them themselves--presumably a spell or spell-like ability that has been cast on each of them.
Urza will maintain his surveillance until he can determine the school of magic on them. From what Mahjik said, he suspects to find it is of the enchantment school.
Urza stops scanning the women with his Detect Magic and turns to Douena and whispers, [smaller]"It looks like you were right to be worried. They have some spell on them. It might be protective. I can't tell, but, somehow, I doubt it."[smaller]
Zakiyya and Osumare come back out of the hut a few minutes later. Osumare is carrying a tray tray with what appears to be jars of herbs on it. She carries it over to Masozi, who begins adding some of the herbs to the food that's cooking.
Around this time, Tar'kanas and Sasha also arrive back with additional food, which they add to what is being cooked.
When Osumare brings the tray over to Masozi, she also surreptitiously presses one of the jars into Masozi's hand. This is when Masozi's expression changes as per the spoiler result above.
For a little while during the cooking, Masozi appears troubled, although she is trying to hide it. After a few minutes, however, she seems to calm down.
Urza stops scanning the women with his Detect Magic and turns to Douena and whispers, "It looks like you were right to be worried. They have some spell on them. It might be protective. I can't tell, but, somehow, I doubt it."
"Which ones?" Douena whispers back in Taldane. "Masozi looks unhappy about whatever she's cooking. I think they might be determined to introduce us to our spirit animals whether we want to or not."