Myri stays observant, especially in the direction the wind is traveling towards and the meeting house...though she does share some jerky with the wolves as they wait.
Perception: +2 vs. traps not incl, +4 FE:human not incl
Rhost waits.
Her voice low, savage, she turns to the group. "The bastards who took our friends are torturing them. They are being taken to Runecaster and someone new, Kimandatsu. They want to confirm if Ameiko is Amatatsu and if she has any other living relatives."
Her voice goes very, very calm. "So we really cannot afford to f~#+ up. And we should really try to get a audience with Runecaster this evening."
"Houe do ye knou thes?" Lio asks, quietly, though the soflty uttered question is probably going to enrage the 1/4 Orc.
"Houe do ye knou thes?" Lio asks, quietly, though the soflty uttered question is probably going to enrage the 1/4 Orc.
Her voice still calm, "Zaiobe told me, before..." Mel's eyes close, her voice shaking slightly, "Before they knocked her out." Quietly, almost just to herself, "They only knocked her out."
That afternoon, before setting out for the Guild Hall, in your room at the Inn you find the mirror you had been admiring earlier.
A note next to it reads, "We thought you might like this -- Shae & Myri"
"Houe do ye knou thes?" Lio asks, quietly, though the soflty uttered question is probably going to enrage the 1/4 Orc.Her voice still calm, "Zaiobe told me, before..." Mel's eyes close, her voice shaking slightly, "Before they knocked her out." Quietly, almost just to herself, "They only knocked her out."
Lio does not say anything further for a long moment.
bluff
She quietly starts to calculate, based on her own experience, how long someone can survive being tortured, and how long they might possibly hold out before giving up the information that the torturers sought. Because when you're tortured long enough and with sufficient skill, you break. She says nothing, but those who know her well enough, might read in the blank expression on her face, that she is thinking about what would happen once any of the people taken would break. There would be no reason to keep the other's alive after that. Not unless they kept torturing them for fun. Let's hope they're sadists. She thinks.
"Ye kann both 'ear 'er, or oneley ye Mel?" Lio eventually asks Melinda and Alaric.
heal check:
profession, all (torturer, maybe?) at + 5:
knowledge, all at +3:
As the color drains from Kalimac's face from this news, he speaks in a calm, controlled manner. "We have our appointment with the factor this evening. We will get what we need from him. We all know what's at stake now. We can't let ourselves be turned by any of the various evils we have seen. Everyone needs to keep a tight leash on their emotions if we want to see our friends and loved ones alive. He turns to each of his friends, looking everyone in the eye in turn.
Lio is probably the only one in the group who does not meet Kalimac's gaze. She doesn't even look like she heard him. Her mind is elsewhere.
"Ye kann both 'ear 'er, or oneley ye Mel?" Lio eventually asks Melinda and Alaric.
"I can hear her as well," Alaric says with the tone of a man admitting an embarrassing bowel obstruction.
As close as two people could be without touching. The miniscule distance between their bodies bridged by beads of sweat. As Melinda heaves, Alaric moves with her, eyes never leaving hers. "You want what, love?" he gasps out. "What do you want?"
"Ye kann both 'ear 'er, or oneley ye Mel?" Lio eventually asks Melinda and Alaric."I can hear her as well," Alaric says with the tone of a man admitting an embarrassing bowel obstruction.
"Seince yer 'e onley uns who kann kommunekaite weth Zaiobe, an' thus our onley kontact weth 'er, ken ye shoudde beh en 'e saime groupe? Maighte beh b'tt'r tah keep unne ah ye outsaide 'e belden weth e' guardes." Lio suggests, fully expecting to be shut down, but deciding the thought needed to be voiced.
"Seince yer 'e onley uns who kann kommunekaite weth Zaiobe, an' thus our onley kontact weth 'er, ken ye shoudde beh en 'e saime groupe? Maighte beh b'tt'r tah keep unne ah ye outsaide 'e belden weth e' guardes." Lio suggests, fully expecting to be shut down, but deciding the thought needed to be voiced.
Mel shakes her head. "Not happening."
A small sigh, "If it wasn't for the fact that we want the wolves close so that we can move on any information we get immediately.... I would prefer to not have any of us split off right now. Sadly, not an option, so I need to trust that Myri and Rhost will do their damnest to not also be caught up by the people" the word spit out like a curse, who took the rest of our friends."
Her voice drops, "I want to feel you. I want your hands and body all over mine."
Her expressive green eyes close, but open a split second later as she continues to speak, as if she couldn't start the next sentence when looking him in the eye. "I want you inside me."
And finally, whispered into the space between their lips, "And I want to make you feel as good as you always make me feel."
If, on the other hand, your enemies are combining torture and magical mind-reading techniques, you would expect them to have the information they want within a day. So the length of time will completely depend on what resources they have available.
2) There would be no issue with a Freedwoman accompanying a merchant group; although there are social situations where your presence would be inappropriate, some freedpeople are quite wealthy, and merchants deal with such people all the time.
Kalimac begins the proceedings. "Good evening, Mr. Drunnarsson. I'm so glad you could meet with us on such short notice. I trust we find you well?" Kalimac oozes sincerity that he does not feel.
"Quite well, thank you. And I hope all of you are the same."
"Well, I've looked over the paperwork, and the proposal sounds like something the Rimerunners would be very interested in. I'd feel completely confident that if I passed it on to those above me in the Guild, it would receive approval."
Liothonae is with the Guard Group.
"Seince yer 'e onley uns who kann kommunekaite weth Zaiobe, an' thus our onley kontact weth 'er, ken ye shoudde beh en 'e saime groupe? Maighte beh b'tt'r tah keep unne ah ye outsaide 'e belden weth e' guardes." Lio suggests, fully expecting to be shut down, but deciding the thought needed to be voiced.Mel shakes her head. "Not happening."
A small sigh, "If it wasn't for the fact that we want the wolves close so that we can move on any information we get immediately.... I would prefer to not have any of us split off right now. Sadly, not an option, so I need to trust that Myri and Rhost will do their damnest to not also be caught up by the people" the word spit out like a curse, who took the rest of our friends."
Liothonae looks levelly at Mel, but does not comment.
A moment later, quietly, though she does not whisper, "Next taime ye tolk ta 'er, ask ef 'ere usen magek, or mundane tortur' m'thods. G't er ta elborate ef ye kann." She realizes how that sounds, and explains, "Ef ye kann get meh detailes, ah kann tell ye 'ow long weh 'ave. Ded... ded she tehll ye annykainde ah enformashun on whot 'ey were doen ta 'er 'afore ye lost kontakt?"
(If you were wondering about timing, it could have been purchased and left there either before or after your argument with Myri.)
Kalimac begins the proceedings. "Good evening, Mr. Drunnarsson. I'm so glad you could meet with us on such short notice. I trust we find you well?" Kalimac oozes sincerity that he does not feel.
"Mr. Snaevald certainly did not exaggerate," adds Hrunndalf, absentmindedly stroking the new gold in his beard. "A most impressive guild hall."
"Well, I've looked over the paperwork, and the proposal sounds like something the Rimerunners would be very interested in. I'd feel completely confident that if I passed it on to those above me in the Guild, it would receive approval."
Mel looks to consider Drunnarsson's words, "That does sound wonderful. Sadly, Mr. Snaevald was expecting us to have a more definite assurance. Perhaps, if we were able to present our offer personally to them?" She sighs, "That sounds so... pushy to me. But we really only have a limited window for this particular deal."
Mel looks to consider Drunnarsson's words, "That does sound wonderful. Sadly, Mr. Snaevald was expecting us to have a more definite assurance. Perhaps, if we were able to present our offer personally to them?" She sighs, "That sounds so... pushy to me. But we really only have a limited window for this particular deal."
He looks regretful. "A personal meeting is difficult to arrange, and especially so if there's a limited time. I'm afraid the Guild Leaders are currently away from town, and not expected back for a week or more. Even just getting a message to them takes a day's travel on horseback at the moment."
Her lips part, forming the shapes of words for a moment but unable to put breath behind them, to actually speak. Her eyes stay locked with his, making the truth behind what she says apparent, even if she can only squeeze out the words in broken gasps. "I need."
So quiet that it's hard to hear over his own ragged breathing, "I want to feel you slide into me. I want to find my pleasure over and over until finally we reach that end together. I want your hands to tease and sweetly torture me until I forget that there is anything in this universe but you."
And finally she ends with, "Please. I need, want, you to f#$! me."
He looks regretful. "A personal meeting is difficult to arrange, and especially so if there's a limited time. I'm afraid the Guild Leaders are currently away from town, and not expected back for a week or more. Even just getting a message to them takes a day's travel on horseback at the moment."
Mel looks absolutely crestfallen, "And it would be such poor courtesy to request that they rush back." She thinks for a moment, "It's too bad that we can't just act as the messengers in addition to the message. I mean, I think it would be easy for someone like Silverskorr to see how advantageous this is for everyone involved."
Mel looks absolutely crestfallen, "And it would be such poor courtesy to request that they rush back." She thinks for a moment, "It's too bad that we can't just act as the messengers in addition to the message. I mean, I think it would be easy for someone like Silverskorr to see how advantageous this is for everyone involved."
"I'm afraid that's quite impossible," he says with an air of genuine regret. "They're very concerned about their privacy ..."
He hesitates for a moment, then adds, with the air of someone pleased to have figured something out and wishing to show off, "Especially when they are out at Ravenscraeg, and they must be there right now, because some kind of sizable shipment addressed to Guildsman Runecaster was sent there from here late this afternoon."
He hesitates for a moment, then adds, with the air of someone pleased to have figured something out and wishing to show off, "Especially when they are out at Ravenscraeg, and they must be there right now, because some kind of sizable shipment addressed to Guildsman Runecaster was sent there from here late this afternoon."
"That's understandable," says Hrunndalf. "We are scarcely about to impose ourselves as unwelcome guests if the Guild Leaders are busy. But surely we could leave a message with their servants, to be read and acted upon by the Leaders at their leisure. I hear the Guildmistress Silverskorr is well-versed in the Northern virtues; no doubt she would not mistake the virtue of being beint áfram with unseemly intrusion."
"Look, you've made the urgency clear. I'll send it off by fast courier in the morning, marked for their attention. You should have a response the day after tomorrow. That's as fast as this can possibly be done, and you'll simply have to make that clear to Master Snaevald."
Kalimac looks around to see that all are in agreement. "I suppose that concludes our business for today."
The group that went into the Guildhall emerges back out onto the street, and the three groups rejoin.
Mel steps next to Hrunndalf, looking at the ground, her shoulders and bearing stiff.
"Now, what the hell were you thinking? We had what we needed, what we came for. Why in the world did you make that little man suspicious of us when you didn't need to?"
"Now we need to find out where Ravenscraeg is tonight, now. Because the guildsman is not going to hold off sending his messenger, and we now need to beat him there. You know, since the element of surprise would be nice for once."
Keeping his voice to a volume that only the immediate group will hear, Kalimac asks, "So. Anyone know how to get to Ravenscraeg?"
He gives a sheepish shrug. "Just because I look like a trader now doesn't make me one."
"So. Anyone know how to get to Ravenscraeg?"
"I don't," says Hrunndalf, "but wherever it is, let's race that sizable shipment to its destination."
Mel looks at Lio, after all the elven woman has told them far more about the local customs and mores than anyone else.
She breathes, calming"You need to think through your words and your actions."
"I don't," says Hrunndalf, "but wherever it is, let's race that sizable shipment to its destination."
"That shipment left a while ago. The best we can shoot for is to find and approach quickly, before they are expecting us to knock on their doorstep. And hope that they don't..." She shakes her head, not wanting to give voice to that particular fear.
Liothonae, who has picked up many an odd piece of information about Snorri Stone-Eye from talking with local thralls, reveals the information contained in the aforementioned spoiler.
Her knowledge of the location of Ravenscraeg is certainly good enough to get you there.
"At that distance, and since we're in a hurry, we should look into hiring some horses."
Mostly thinking aloud, Kalimac continues, "I suppose we could use the horses in the caravan, but they lack the kit to use them for riding. I think it would be simpler and quicker to hire or buy some riding horses with appropriate gear. Unless someone has a better idea."