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Grim goes along for the most part, playing his role of menacing protector. He almost strikes out at the gnoll for hitting the Halfling, but manages to refrain as he recalls his military academy training and the cold exterior that doesn't react to external pressure or actions. But he walks a little closer to the 'cargo', periodically checking their bindings, their skin, and their eyes. "High slaves, these are. Lower price if broken. You damage cargo, I take the cost out of your hide..." he growls.
With slaves in tow, Hargur and Vangru lead their tiny caravan northeast past cultivated fields of pesh cacti that surround Okeno and to a small ruin near the road with just enough of a superstructure left to provide some shade. It's mid-day Vangru barks, as if it is a matter of great relevance. We take a rest here.
Gnolls are naturally nocturnal, so they would be sleepy at this point.
Not only did Blackjack read the affiliation of the halfling well, he also senses that she is panicked, desperate to escape. With the drowsiness of the gnolls, she senses her chance has come.
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Know:Nature
"Good idea, no one likes walking through the heat of the day - the cooler hours are much better..." he cordially agrees, he makes a show of looking around, whilst ending not too far from the panicked Halfling "I haven't seen any running rabbits out here, suppose its too dangerous for them - the Steely claws of a Falcon would probably be looking over them... no doubt they'd be best served Tilling the earth for cover with their kindred spirits and biding their time"
Bluff
"We can watch over the slaves, reckon you have earned a good sleep" Blackjack suggests to the Gnolls.
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Once the gnolls are resting, Marra whispers to the halfling in halfling language "My name is Marra. What are you doing so far from Chelian?"
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Gima looks slightly confused at Jacques, then picks up on the words in his remarks. I hear the rabbit outturns the fox, but shouldn't be caught in a hole. Perhaps a false scent would help the rabbit win the carrot?
Responding to Marra, she says I am Gima. I was made a slave after a bad harvest., not stepping down from the coded references, but refusing to speak out in the open as to her allegiance.
If there's a path to be found, the rabbit should blaze the trail, or he'll be buried in the hole. Marra's words are convincing, but fail to sway the halfling.
She starts fiddling with some animal bones and cactus spines, trying to pick the lock on her collar. Amazingly, it looks like she will succeed.
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[ooc]Also, I believe the slave hands where tied as well, but I would expect the halfling would escape those as early as the collar[ooc]
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Gima smiles approvingly at the offer of help from Jhalan. She indeed managed to wriggle her hands free, and the collar seem to be no match for her skills. Soon, both Jhalan and Gima are free of bonds ().
Har? What? WHAT?! The slaves are escaping! Hargur shouts, and Vangru gets up almost immediately. You! Vangru commands Blackjack and Ariward make yourself useful! Get them.
The gnolls run after Jhalan, letting themselves be led by the Hyena, and soon catch the Keleshite.
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Blackjack makes a show of chasing the Halfling, only to catch up to her when out of sight of the Gnolls.
Once he catches up to her, he furnishes her with rations, his hidden dagger, and directions to safety.
Blackjack accepts no thanks for the supplies instead he only looks truly heartbroken - "You have brought me only sadness and dismay, you looked after yourself ahead of showing solidarity with our comrades in chains, and left a Steel Falcon and a group of Pathfinders in a precarious position - maybe costing one man his life as he sacrificed himself freely to save you, and countless others who may now be deprived of us liberating them as our espionage unravels. I would have expected aid from a Bellflower, a noble display of SOLIDARITY, not...this...I don't understand..."
Only a single tear is shed.
"Ari, we must go and salvage what we can now, for many others are quietly praying that we will come as angels to deliver them liberte, egalite, fraternite and emancipation from the shackes that bind them, they long for freedom"
His body language is that of a man who expected to find a fellow champion of liberty, a patriot of goodness, and instead found that behind the curtain of idealism was someone well short of his measure.
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Grim makes a good show of running after the other Halfling, but becoming winded after only a short distance and stopping to walk, wheezing and groaning. He will return a short while later, sweating and looking very out of shape and say, "Darn those little legs move fast! And I am carrying this gear and she had nothing, so of course she outran me... bah - she'll die before the night is over out here on her own. Let's keep moving and salvage what we can."
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Marra considers freeing hershelf during all the commotion, but chooses to wait. Meanwhile, she strikes up a conversation with the two human slaves "If you two are inclined to escape too, now is probably the best time. If not then sit tight, by the way my name is Marra what's yours and how did you end up here?"
With the help of their Hyena, the two gnolls quickly catch up with Jhalan, and do not hesitate to cause him a bloody lip.
The other slaves, seeing Jhalan beaten like this, are more than hesitant to make a run for it. What do you know of these things, halfling? A Keleshite man who introduced himself as Talmin says I'm here to pay off my debt, not to get killed.
The other slave is Epanas, a female Kellid hunter from Numeria. I have been enslaved for so long now. I long for freedom, but out here... Where would I run?
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Ariward could not even run as fast as Blackjack. He tried to stop it throwing his whip in halfling direction, as trying to distract Gima, but missed. Than took his whip and walked back to other prisoners.
"Damn, short legged weasel", he walked back to camp, cleaning his face from a sand, "Lizards to eat your face!" he screamed a curse to the back of runner.
He stayed with other slaves, trying to act like enraged guard, when only gnolls appeared.
Gima averts the scornful gaze of Jacques, aware as she is of her guilt. I... she tries, but can't seem to find the courage to respond. Finally, she whispers Thank you... I will not forget. and disappears.
The gnolls throw Jacques an annoyed and suspicious look, but finally seem to buy the story.
On the morning of the third day of travel, a roc flies high overhead, casting its shadow across the group. Har, Vangru. It's come to eat you.
Hargur, shut up you stupid fool. Vangru responds. We must hurry, or it WILL eat us.
The gnolls force the pace.
At the end of the day, the gnolls arrive at Fort Stonejaws. On arriving at the gate, a gnoll in the watchtower shouts down to the Vangry and Hargur, exclaiming,
Har-woo-ha-ha. Hoor-ah-har-woo-ha. Har-har-woo-ah-oor-wah-ha! HAar-we-hoo-ar-we hah wine.
The gnolls seem to be in a good mood, and clearly recognisable from that speech was the word 'wine', which apparently doesn't exist in the gnoll language.
Hargur and Vangru lead the party into the fort. A wall of ochre bricks bristles at its base with sharp stakes, barring entrance to a deep round hollow in the red rocky cliff. The wall curves at a small watchtower with a leather tent roof. Beyond the wall, the cliff rises over a hundred feet, its lower reaches dotted with shallow caves. ()
You the gnolls order Jacques, Grimaldus and Ariward around. Put that chest on the floor of the kennels. () A stone dais painted with a hyena-like face occupies the center of this round chamber. A wide, eight-foot-high ledge runs around the perimeter of the room with a crude ladder to the east connecting the floor and elevated area. To the south, an iron portcullis hangs over the entrance to the caves. Several shallow caves with wooden gates and floors covered in straw open into this room from the north. A door to the east and a door with a barred grille to the west lead to other parts of the stronghold. A shattered wooden box and several dozen scraps of sodden, torn paper lie scattered across the floor.
There's a strangely mutated hyena don in this area, resting in one of the caves, but otherwise unchained.
[b]Once you're done that, wait out here in the courtyard for the chief to see you!
The gnolls then gather up the slaves and lead them to the slaves' pen. (). The slave quarters consist of a single long room with several bunk beds against the back wall, a pair of buckets in the corner, and a heavy wood door that can be barred from outside.
A Kelishite man wearing a pale linen scarf about his head and an excessively wide grin on his face, resides here with two other slaves.
“Welcome! I am Korshad, overseer for our masters. Though I wear a collar, you’ll find it’s best to do as I say! Now, they lock us in at night when they go hunting, but mostly we have the run of the place, nearly as much liberty as the hyenas. You’ll be trained to be excellent house slaves, then taken back to the ships to be sold to nice noble families. It may seem harsh, but if you take to it, it’s probably a better life than you were used to before. Meanwhile you should get some rest and we can begin your lessons in the morning. As the proverb says, ‘When the day is hottest, even the busy must rest and wait.’”
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Despite the harsh beating, Jhalan manages to remain conscious throughout the rest of the forced march. Nothing can prevent him from beaming a slight smile, knowing that Gima could find freedom. However, he's sensible enough not to provoke the gnolls further, and lay low for a while - at least until he's in his cell.
Later, as he's resting in his cell, he carefully gives Korshad a wide berth, preferring to ignore the gnolls' head slave.
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Grim finds the sun and actually running to be too much for him - before he was pretending but now he really is fatigued! 'Better for the disguise, I guess.' he thinks bitterly.
Perhaps he should add some running and endurance exercises to his regular strength and quickness routines...
At the slavers stronghold, he gratefully slumps against a wall in the shade, drinking water and trying to stop his hands from shaking.
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Marra arrives at Fort Stonejaws winded and ready for a break. Seeing the Gnolls are excited about something she ask the overseer "Why are the Gnolls excited?
The little halfling rest for a bit to retain her breath before looking around. If she can, Marra will glance at the scraps of soggy paper near the shattered box.
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Fort
Blackjack equally feels defeated by the heat.
As the orders are given, Blackjack plays along and avoid drawing attention.
At the briefing he nods sagely as though Korshad speaks the truth then when the man stops speaking he approaches in a friendly manner "Tell me, Korshad, how long have you been here? Are you the major domo? Odd a smart slave as yourself is still here and not serving in a more...established setting."
"Oh and I'd access to my man who was rightly beaten by our escorts - damaged stock is lost profit"
Diplomacy to schmooze the boss-slave and draw him into conversation.
Regardless, once he gets Jhalans eye contact, Jaques comments loudly but not at anyone in particular...
"A few hours rest out of the Sun would be ideal, just to catch breath, I suppose we can unpack at Sunset, and simply tell tall tales to each other until then"
Jhalan moves to the slave pen without resistance. Marra gets an unfriendly response from the overseer Shut up, you!, who pushes Marra to the ground. On the ground, she gets a closer look at the paper. They're torn to shreds, but some signatures are still legible:
"--orn Desimire", "M. Sloan", and "Jacquo Dals--"
Blackjack manages to sneak in a message spell before the group is separated.
Korshad has a strange birthmark on his arm. ([ooc]Roll K(religion) to identify)
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While on the ground, Marra tries to take one of the papers unseen.
Not seeing the birthmark until it was pointed out, Marra thinks if it means anything to her.
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To Marra, the shape of the birthmark is obvious - nothing less than the symbol of Sarenrae!
The 'slavers' wait outside, but there is no sign of an imminent arrival of a boss. The gnolls just laze around, throwing dice and bickering among themselves every now and then.
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Via the message spell Marra suggest "Best to wait until after the gnolls to go hunting, that way there are fewer gnolls and hyenas. But if we move too soon we may spook our pray. She also tells them about the partial signatures on the paper she saw."
After an hour of rest, Marra says a prayer making sure Korshad can overhear her quite request "Downflower grant me the strength to forbear this state of slavery until until it is Sarenrae's will to grant deliverance and freedom." The halfling watches to see how he reacts, ready to defend herself if it is violently.
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Grim recommends patience, believing they will have a chance to strike when they meet the boss - but is ready to follow Jaques' lead (well, after recovering from his run through the desert...)
Unless the plan is to fight their way in and destroy the entire camp...then Grim is ready to roll! However, that may be best accomplished during the day, when the gnolls are least active and the party would have an advantage.
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Via message system
"Once they go out, all the locks will be in place and all the slower we will be. Also they mentioned something about 'wine' earlier, sounds more like they have something in mind, and even if they do go out we'd still need to deal with them returning in darkness when our halflings and humans can't see properly and the Gnolls are in their element. Besides, I've had my fill of 'em..."
A follower of the Dawnflower? Korshad reacts, his manner a lot less haughty and dominant than it was before. I used to an acolyte. You see, this birthmark, I saw it as a sign. Alas, I was young and brash, and easily frustrated. I abandoned the faith, and made poor decision upon poor decision. Look at where I ended up.
The man eagerly takes the opportunity of conversation: Of all those choices, I regret abandoning my faith the most. There is no turning back - my service to the gnolls has forever tainted me in the eyes of the dawnflower.
Marra sees that the man is guilt-struck, but that he would still make a ruckus should the group try to break out the slaves.
As the sun starts to set, Farug, the strongest and meanest of the gnolls, breaks out a couple of bottles of wine of the gnolls to celebrate with. He himself abstains from drinking, and forbids Vangru and Hangur to take part, but the other members of the pack soon are drunk as a skunk.
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Marra smiles warmly "Sarenrae offers hope to all! The cleansing light of the Dawnflower will purify your soul , as long as your hart is in the right place you are not beyond redemption. Sarenrae has great patience especially for acolytes marked by her who have been blind! Open your eyes and hart to the Dawflower and use your training to commune with her once again bother!" The halfling dawnflower helps Korshad return to the fold is he so chooses.
if she judges he has changed to our side then, Marra informs him that "Know this, through the Dawnflower will this place and it's masters day of reconing has arrived, for slavery is a abomination to Sarenrae. Korshad, your help is welcome."
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Jhalan smiles, and joins in the conversation.
"Truly the Dawnflower is great, for she has put you on our path so that we may alleviate your soul with the guilt of your early giving up, only to replace it with the undomitable certainty that you're welcome to return to her embrace when you wish it. Everything is forgiven, brother. That is who She is."
*************
Concerning the plan set up by Blackjack, Jhalan is grateful for everyone to wait three hours until his bruises are less sore, then will gladly jump into action. "I have heard of your impressive rethorical abilities, and I think that the other slaves' loyalty could be obtained with a heartfelt speech. Do not forget to mention the Liberty's Edge."
Korshad seems to be given new hope by the words of Marra, and though he remains introspectively silent, Marra senses that he is unlikely to interfere with any breakout attempt.
Korshad would be an ideal candidate for a Silver Crusade member to take under her wing and steer back toward the path of good. For the Silver Crusade that should at least involve two acts: one to convince him to recommence his training (or at least actively pursue a good life, even if it doesn’t involve a divine patron) and another to inspire him to persevere no matter the odds.
Indeed, as Jhalan said, one of the most enduring images in Liberty’s Edge faction lore is the daring hero giving a stirring speech to the oppressed before liberating them. These slaves would certainly qualify.