The Beginning of All Things (Inactive)

Game Master Terquem

I see, then my recommendation changes to stopping to see the Lyph village but getting over the camp so that we can be in a scouting position to move quickly in order to rescue as many villagers as possible.

The same would go for Poseus as well, rescuing one person is less difficult than rescuing all the other Gymnaga, but since they probably don't know we're on their tail, we should wait until they leave for the fortress and then free as many Gymnaga as possible.

"We must help both! But if we help the Lyph first, they may help us in getting back the prisoners! The altilyph are fierce warriors From what I can remember!

"Caorann makes a good point. Alomar's comment on our expedition's strength is also valid. If the Lyph can aid us, even in a small manner, it might tip the odds in our favor." Calex gives Caorann wink, then says in the prisoner's direction "Perhaps they can turn them all to stone for their crimes, yes?"

Dieredon pulls the prisoner to his feet, and he shoves him forward.

Ok, then, lead us to the Lyph Village, and no funny business, or you will feel the pointy end of my blade.

Day 9, to find the Lyph Village

Collin unties the Tafganor’s feet, and then rebinds his hands behind his back, adding a length of rope to use as a leash.

The Tafganor lowers his head, and then looks up to the left and then to the right and says

It is this way.

You are only going a short distance when Alomar speaks up

Alomar
Wait, everyone, for a moment. I think we’ve learned some very important information, and could be going head first into some serious trouble. I think it is most important that Cicily, and, and the old man, Flaherty I think is his name, be told what we have learned. I can find my way back and will go and tell them and then try to find more volunteers from our village to follow your trail and try to catch up with you. Good luck my friends. Don’t worry I will go as fast as I can, be careful and be cautious.

Alomar will not be talked out of this decision, and maybe you will see him again someday.

The Tafganor heads almost due south, away from the trail that Dieredon was following. In an hour or so you come to a stream that flows south by southeast, and he turns to follow it. He begins talking to you and his voice seems hollow, broken, and his eyes stare ahead, it is as if he has lost part of his mind and talks about things as if he was watching them happen. He tells you, They came to a hill with a spring. It was beautiful and it gushed out of the ground filling a pond before it flowed to the northwest. There was a village there. The demons of this village have dark skin, and their wings are concealed on their backs under hard shells. They attacked them, killing as many as they could catch. They attacked them several days ago looking for spell stones. The demons had some of the stones, but none of them were ready to be used and the demons refused to tell them how the magic could be bound into them. They killed them all, all of the demons that did not escape, and many of them did. He saw them flying away. He saw them carrying their dead, and flying away. They burned the village. They destroyed the pens and the walls. Then they brought the pagrot and chained it to the largest tree on the hill. The pagrot feasted on the remains of the demons, and now it will guard the hill to ensure the demons do not return.

Pagrot is a word that none of you recognize

Calex watches Alomar leave with sadness and resignation, then turns back to his remaining friends. "I will miss him, and we are weakened by his leaving. But he was right that Woodbridge needs to be warned, and he has the skills to make sure the warning arrives. I am grateful that, even should we fail, our home may be forearmed and ready."

Poseus looks up as the orc mentions the word 'pagrot' and turns his head in quick surprise, but also he looks concerned.

"A pagrot? I've heard stories of something called a panallogrot in Urandoman language. We Gymnaga call such a thing a Land Shark, though I've only have hearsay of it, stories from times gone by when the Gymnaga where recently free from slavery and traversed great wastes. The reason why it's called a Land Shark would be painfully clear as it can almost travel through the dirt and earth as easily as a shark can travel through the water."

Poseus shakes his head.

"To me, such a creature is a beast of legend, almost falling into a similar category as that huge creature we faced in the bogs."

"And yet that bog monster was very, VERY real."Calex shakes his head at the memory of their frantic race to escape the creature. "It seems we have passed into a new age, with the creatures not seen in generations emerging back from the shadows of myth into our daily lives once again. That sounds all fine for a bard's fireside tale, but as we are learning, the old saw about adventures is true: an adventure is someone else far away having a really terrible time. I wonder at the cause of their sudden appearance, though. Is this simply something that has always been but passed unnoticed by us, or perhaps part of some grand cycle that comes every few generations upon us? Or is there a cause, something forcing these events for some yet unbeknown purpose?" Calex shrugs, makes a gesture to encompass them all, and answers his own question: "In any event, I think we might well be looking at a time where we might be forced to play the role of the heroes of old in the near future. And since many of those stories have the heroes dying a glorious death, I recommend an over-abundance of caution. I would rather be a LIVING legend myself."

Collin stops, pulls the rope, and forces the Tafganor prisoner to stop as well, and then he says

Hold on just a moment. I barely know your people’s languages, and I certainly don’t know your lands or the strange things that inhabit them. So tell me, once again, Poseus is it?

He addresses Poseus with a hard stare

Poseus, right, so tell me exactly what you think this, land shark thing is. Are we talking something like a bear, a lion, maybe a boar? And why would it be chained? Are we walking into a trap?

Day 9, turn 108, approximate time of day, 5:50 pm

You had been walking for a few hours before the Tafganor made the first announcement about the lyph village, it is nearly sunset now

While Collin waits for Poseus to answer, the prisoner, turns and an evil smile spreads across his face, though his eyes are blank and stare off into the distance.

They don’t know the pargot, they don’t know, the Tafganor throws his head back and laughs hysterically, and it is becoming obvious that this man-like creature has lost his mind. They catch them deep in the tunnels, they do, they do, in the deep, deep, in the dark, dark. The pargot is an abomination, a monster of one mind, to eat and eat and eat. Hahahaha, maybe it likes little halfman flesh, yes, haha. It is chained by the legs. The chain s long, but it cannot drag the chain into the ground, no, no, it can’t, and so it will make a hole and wait. It will make a hole and wait, and wait. The demons will not return to their homes as long as the pargot prowls.

The shadows of the setting sun begin to grow long, and still you have not reached the hill where the lyph village is located.

When you have walked until sun is nearly almost set completely, the Tafganor says, Another mile, maybe another two. We are close. He seems to have calmed down somewhat, but his voice is hollow and far away.

Before it is completely dark, with the sun setting in the southwest, behind the mountains, you can see a hill just to the south, above the trees and it does appear to be only a mile away.

What will you do?

I suggest that we push on to the village.

Caorann has been unusually quiet for a while now, fearful of what they'll find at the village. She speaks up quietly when they get close

Arcana: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

The lyph call it the Bullet. It's a huge beast, all armor and teeth. I've heard stories of them leaping and picking off lyph 30 feet it the air! We must kill it so the lyph can return!

Sorry for the hold up. I've been in the hospital for appendicitis for the last couple days and they've been giving me the good stuff. I go home tomorrow though and it looks I'll have plenty of time on my hands to post :)

Appendicitis is nothing to fool around with! You take it easy and get better.

"That sounds like a monster we don't want to meet in the dark. Are you sure you want to push on tonight Dieredon?"

Day 9, to find the lyph village

As Calex question the safety of continuing in the dark, in unknown territory, he cannot be sure if Dieredon is silent because of the truth behind Calex’s concern, or if it is something else…

Poseus approaches Dieredon, who is kneeling on the ground and looks as if he is examining tracks. They are tracks that are very obvious in nature and tracks that have already been examined.

When Poseus bends over at the waist to try and see what it is that Dieredon is doing, Dieredon gives the young Gymnaga a slight smile, and a wink. And then the elf looks past Poseus, over Poseus’ left shoulder, and winks again.

Poseus understands the signal, and moves away from Dieredon to stand near Collin and Calex, and then he looks at Riku and Caorann, trying to act naturally, and then he looks where Dieredon was watching.

Something is out there. Something is hiding in the shadows of the trees and bushes.

Is any of the party wounded?

Foraged Food: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19 Mina has enough fresh food for herself and four others on her person

A Female Maetaur slowly steps out of the woods, having had a chance to (hopefully) gauge the group's actions enough to warrant some degree of trust. Her people had accused her of being too trusting on occasion... but that hadn't killed her yet.

Her dark hair was cropped close to her head, simplistic jewelry hanging from her neck, and touching upon her metal breastplate, thoroughly worked to have nature-images etched into the articulations. As for the rest of the details of her clothing, they were lost in the darkening light. She held a crossbow, loaded, in both hands in a defensive posture as she did so. Her eyes were on the Tafganor, but her weapon was not pointed at anyone.

"Hello there." she looked across the assembled group once more, before returning her gaze to the orc, a friendly smirk playing across her face. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

Calex is surprised to see another maetaur step forth from the undergrowth, and at first thinks it might be Alomar returning. The newcomer, however, is obviously not their departed friend. He quickly realizes she is a stranger, but the maetaur have always been allies to the village, so he's intrigued rather than concerned by her arrival. "Hello, and welcome. We're on our way to help some Lyph deal with a Tafganor raid on their home."

"Ah, I see. It seemed strange to have so many so... out of place. If you're heading for the village to the north... we've already checked it. It was laid waste to, and they're already trying to pick up the pieces. While they're queen is missing, the trap they laid there... freed itself. It headed for the marshes, according to the locals... so I wouldn't travel much further west. Something about a giant bug that ate through a tree to free itself." She shook her head slowly. "What's left of 'Lyph's in the village plans to head to Woodbridge, rather than Otter Lake."

Dieredon approachs the new Maetur.

I am Dieredon. Well met. Thank you for the information, but our friend, Caorann, may still want to check out the village.

"A pleasure, I'm sure. Which one's Caorann? And why, may I ask? Three-score... creatures... She looked to the Tafganor, as she said this, "Raised the village. Then joined with an even larger force heading to the east. I can't really understand why many would seek out such destruction, unless there was something personal at stake."

"I am!"

Out of know where, the flitting form of Caorann dives down, her wings turning an electric blue.

"The bullette is gone? Are the lyph alright? Where's the queen?!

"That... I... maybe? What's a bullette? Is it a bug? Some of the Lyph are. Or as well as can be expected. They... don't know where the queen is. But since there's no body, either the bug thing ate her, or someone took her... or she got away. I couldn't tell you, really. Were you heading to the 'Lyph village to the... mostly north? The landscape around here is dotted with 'Lyph villages." She seemed only slightly perplexed by the barrage of questions, delaying until she could figure out some of the questions and order her ducks, so to speak.

Gonna do the sleeping thing!

Calex listens intently, then asks "Have the survivors left for Woodbridge yet? We are from there, you see, and might be able to help with their move. We can tell them who to talk to, and I can even offer up my glass-works shop as a place to shelter until they can re-establish themselves. If they tell the village that Sir Calex has offered them sanctuary, they may have an easier time of it." Calex gives the orc a shove forward and adds "Plus our captive "friend" here has some news about their village druid I believe. He claimed she had been taken prisoner to be a sacrifice of some sort. As they have also taken some gymnaga as slaves from Woodbridge we had hoped for their aid in our mutual rescue efforts."

"The assault was the night before last. We only arrived yesterday, and left shortly after. My allies went back to our village, but I opted to track the creatures. I couldn't tell you what the Lyph's have done since then. Likely there was very little to move, though. Even still, they may have searched for their queen." She gave a shrug, finally letting the crossbow slip into one hand.

As she did so, possibly the largest skunk you've ever seen snuck around from behind her and started climbing up her skirt. She didn't seem to take any notice.

"Well met Mina!" The young and only Gymnaga of the group says as calex, Dieredon and Caorann finished their talk.

"The Bullette is also called a Land Shark. It has the ability to approach underneath the earth like a fish could swim in the water, or so the stories go. You say it travelled further west? Further into the marshlands. That could be a bit of good fortune for us, though the tidings you bring of the Lyphs are dual in nature. It's good to hear that survivors are going to Woodbridge, but like Calex said we hoped to gain some more help to free my kin."

Poseus turns towards the others.

"So we have more things to do. Find and free the Lyph Queen, free my kin from slavery, warn people about that Bullette in the marshlands, free Rosilindae from the clutches of the Tafganor. I hope that the first two are closely linked as I fear we might have too much to do as it is."

"I had intended to travel onwards, tracking the main group's movements, but if you feel you would be capable of gathering aid from the villages of the area, then by all means. If we could catch up to the force with a sizable enough group, we could deal them a heavy blow. Though I am uncertain of the willingness of the majority to risk themselves in this... she shook her head slowly. "I would appeal to their senses of justice, and the loss they are feeling. I know for certain I will be able to do very little, on my own.

An important note to Terquem: Mina can heal any person once per day with cure light wounds, effectively for free. This means that basically anyone with wounds in the lyph village would have received a not-insignificant amount of healing, if they would simply let Mina touch them.

You are in luck! the Lyphs of Kinamay Brawnoor are far less xenophobic than most other lyphs. There would have been at least one critically injured lyph survivor, who benefitted from your ability. Anyone who has had dealings with other lyph communities, this includes Caorann, will understand that most lyphs do not welcome strangers, and are reluctant to accept help from outsiders

"Regardless of all that, were you intending to make camp soon? I can refill any waterskins, mend wounds, and I have a bit of extra foraged food from the area. It's just berries, edible mushrooms, and some root vegetables, but if any of you have cooking gear,it would make a decent stew, with some dessert, and cut down on your need for trail rations, if you're limited in that way." she shrugs. The skunk has burrowed under a portion of her Maetaur skirts, and disappeared, leaving a large lump where a saddle would normally be.

Caorann, are you ok with setting up camp, or do you need to actually get to the village, now, based upon what we know?

Caorann flits about impatiently

"No! We need to get to the village! It's not far! They may stil need help

Come now, all, quickly. Let us press on.

Mina shrugs... then watches the others start traveling in the opposite direction that she expected. "Ah, a different village. Very well then. I thought you may have been coming from this one."

"It would seem we got our stories entangled." Calex says to Mina. "Still, you are welcome to join us in our rescue mission if it suites you. We have been successful in most of our encounters with the tafganor, but with greater challenges ahead your help would be appreciated."

"Well, the goal is still to gather a force, then move after them to challenge the group and rescue the people taken, no? Then that is still a much better goal than the one I had of simply following in its wake."

Day 9, to find the Lyph Village

Determined to press on, and with Caorann’s encouragement, Deiredon shoves the Tafganor forward, and the groups keeps moving though now it is becoming dark.

The sky is partly cloudy, this evening. There is almost no moon or star light to guide them as they go, and more than once the Tafganor stops, looks left and right, changes his direction and stops again

There’s no way I can find it in this darkness* the orc cries out, and then moans, I can’t even see the mountains. I don’t know what direction we are even going anymore.

Everything seems hopeless, but then suddenly Caorann hears a buzzing sound that is all too familiar.

She turns in the direction the sound is coming from and comes face to face, in the dark, with an Altilypf flying right toward her.

Caorann! the lyph bellows, and flings his arms out wide to embrace her. She knows this lyoh, his name is Rudggal. He is a young, and quite thick lyph with tan skin, a round face and curly brown hair. His beetle-like wings buzz loudly as he tries to match Caorann’s hovering.

He is wearing a breastplate of armor made from linked pieces of pine cone. And hanging from his belkt is a needle like steel sword.

I wasn’t sure it was you at first, the lyph says to Caorann as he lets go of her, We saw something moving in the woods, and feared the monsters were returning. We don’t dare light a fire so we had no idea who it was until you were almost right on top of us, and believe me, seeing that thing marching at the front of your group gave us a reason to launch an attack. It wasn’t until Gerull saw that the monster’s hands were tied and that he was being followed by humans and others that we decided not to attack. If you are looking for our village, it’s that way, to the south of here, but there’s no reason to go there. Only fourteen of us survived, well, we’ve only manage to find twelve others, Gerull and I . We were not in the village when the monsters attacked. We heard the yells and saw the flames, but there was nothing we could do. We didn’t even bother going back after they left. I only hope that others made it out before it was too late.

The altilyph flies to a branch nearby and lands, and breaths hard.

Well I don’t know what I was thinking trying to match you in the air. I’m exhausted. Tell me who your friends are and why you are out this way. Have those monsters attacked the human, wait, you even have a Maetaur with you. Hello brother of the wild, I didn’t see you at first.

The altilyph bows to the group and introduces himself

I am Rudggal Corger, formally of Jalvo Brawnoor, a hunter and trapper by trade, my wife Gerull is just this way with survivors of an attack on our village by an army of monsters like that fellow that you have captured. I hope you met them in battle and crushed them severely, if he is the last of them standing, then the wind god, Haxallahma, is truly your guardian and protector this day.

"Hail Master Corger! We are glad to meet- but sad to hear the story of the attack on your home told to us by this..(Calex points to the tafganor)..thing has proven so true. I am Calex of Woodbridge, and no, unfortunately this is only one of many. They recently raided the Gymnaga hamlet near our village, taking many prisoners for slaves or worse. As the Gymnaga have been our friends, neighbors and allies for years we gathered a small force in pursuit. We were ambushed unsuccessfully while on their trail, and this one is the lone survivor. It told us of your village, and we had hoped to enlist aid to continue our rescue mission, since our prisoner tells us that many of your own folk were taken as well."

Mina looks over her shoulder as a response to the 'brother' comment. Perhaps a running joke. "Well met, I suppose... though under poor circumstances. My people have not been attacked, to my knowledge, though I come from Kinamay... which has met with a similar fate to your own. Their queen is missing. I would there were better news, but... I won't hide an important truth. Two 'Lyph villages in as many days... there is something going on here. They march eastward... towards my home." She frowned at that.

"Though I was just part of a scouting party that investigated Kinamay. My village should have ample warning. Nevermind all of that, and apologies for the bad news. Do you have any injured, if so, simply point me in that direction, and I'll do what I can to tend their wounds."

The gigantic skunk, for its part, seemed to burrow out of her extra coverings, and plop heavily to the ground, before beginning to snuffle around of its own accord.

Caorann's wings turn a happy yellow and nearly knocks him out of the air with the force of the tackle-hug
"Rudggual! I'm glad to see you safe!"

She alights on the branch next to him, highlighting how small she is at about half the altilyphs height.

"Well it's all that extra weight your carrying! You should be smaller, like me!"

Pointing in turn she says This is Poseus, Diederon, Calex, and Mina. We were following some tafganor and Sashi-Ahain who attacked Woodbridge. One of them had this holds up belt We came here to help and maybe get some help to free some villagers they took.

Day 9, evening, north, northeast of the lyph village, in the woods

I am going to assume that Caorann is the first to speak, if that is alright

Would that I could be, Caorann, Rudggual laughs heartily as he slaps his own belly, My love for blueberries and buttercake will not permit that. I am sized as best as I can be and thankful that I am not bigger, eh. I am pleased to met friends of a friend, Calex, Dieredon, Poseus, Mina, Collin, and Riku.* He repeats each person’s name in turn and waits for that person to nod, smile, or wave, as a way of keeping sure he knows who he is talking to.

When Caoraan produces the belt, Rudggual extends a hand, but does not touch it, and he beg9ins to choke up, It was the belt of Aluia, our beloved queen. She, she, forgive me, it is hard to talk about, but she tried to buy everyon time by leading her closest friends and companions on a counter attack when the Tafganor begin setting our homes ablaze. She fought most bravely, but, in the end, they brought her down with nets, and, and, they clubbed her to death. I didn’t know they took her belt. There, great goddess, there, there wasn’t much left of her, you see, it was, it was terrible, he leans into Caorann and cries deep heavy sobs.

When he can control himself again, he wipes his face with a cloth drawn from his belt, and says, Naturally we’ll do what we can to help you, Caorann, but we cannot join you in attacking the Tafganor, our numbers are too small, and we must continue to search for our own who fled in the raid, they may be lost, frightened, and troubled.

Rudggal listens to Calex, and says nothing, but nods along with each revelation, and it appears to Calex that the fellow understands. When Mina offers her help, Rudggal bows, and lets out a long breath, saying, That would be most helpful, indeed. We have a few who were injured, their injuries are minor, mostly, but there are also some who have suffered burns, foolishly trying to recover things from their homes while the monsters burned them down. I’ll show you the way, but please, keep your lanterns shielded, use as little light as possible, as there could be more of these Tafganor still roaming about. Wait, I see you aren’t using a lantern, how have you been making your way in the dark? Never mind, it’s not important. You see, we’ve seen a couple of that one’s kind roaming about in the forest. We don’t know if they are deserters from their army, looters, or what their purpose is, but we’ve managed to avoid them, for now.

*Caorann – I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to assume she would have remembered everyone in the group, but I am troubled about Riku and will send another PM to him to see if he is going to return, Collin, on the other hand, being an NPC is going to have to get used to being overlooked, even if his admiration and respect for the little sorceress grows by the minute.

Well met, and I am truly sorry for your loss. We should probably get on the trail of these beasts. I assume that we will want to camp here for the night?

Dieredon begins to search the immediate vicinity for an adequate campsite.

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Day 10, Morning north-northeast of the lyph village, in the woods

Deiredon finds a suitable camp site for the group, and quickly, Rudggal and Caorann gather the lyph survivors (hiding in trees nearby) to bring them to Mina’s care.

Mina has her hands full and quickly puts Collin to work, heating water, cleaning wounds, and breaking out rations for everyone.

A small, well controlled campfire is started by Posues, and Calex settles down to make copious notes in his journal, making sure he is keeping all that he learns in order. He allows Caorann to do the talking, but implores her to ask many more questions than she feels are necessary. Calex writes down the names of the lyphs, there are nine in all, three are very young and are thankfully the least injured. Mina makes sure no one is in immediate danger, and stays close to Calex to learn what she can and also offer information from her own experience. Dieredon and Poseus move silently in a slow perimeter of the camp, setting simple snares that will rustle the bushes and alert them if anyone or anything approaches.

After several hours, the camp is quiet, and a few brave souls sit up taking turns keeping watch, while the tired and injured rest.
In the morning, as the sun rises, birds are singing in the trees. The air is fresh and clean, no clouds are in the sky this morning, it is bright and sunny, and if it were not for the terrifying memory of the past few days it would almost seem like a perfect Urandoman day.

That is when Collin mentions to Dieredon

Ryku has decided to leave us during the night. He’s gone. I suspect he was a spy.

"A spy for whom?" Mina tilted her head as she tinkered with her headband. It was the first morning she'd have someone to protect her since investigating the other Lyph village... and as such the first chance she'd had to try her hand at enchanting the piece safely.

Accelerated Crafting: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20 If she has four solid hours, it will take her 4 days spending 4 hours of time each day, assuming she can accelerate it, to complete the crafting of her Headband of Wisdom+2. If she has to tinker with it only during off-hours, it will take twice as long.

Collin looks straight, and hard at Dieredon, making no pretense of it, and then says to Mina, Well, the enemy, naturally

Mina's face twitches into a slight frown. "And who exactly is 'the enemy' as you see it?"

That is troubling, Collin. I believe he refers to the beasts that attacked us. What leads you to that conclusion, Collin?

Collin is about to answer Mina, when Dieredon speaks out.

His face is devoid of any expression, and Collin will not meet Dieredon's eyes with his own, but merely says

Naturally I mean these enemies we have all been following. But, Mina, you say your name is, I hope you can understand I am a stranger in your land, your people, though pleasant, and forgiving to a fault, do not have the experiences of my people, or so it would seem. To us, enemies are more than just warriors who attack your homes and steal your families, sometimes your enemy is simply someone who doesn’t want you to be free, no matter where you go, or what you do. But I digress. Mister D’atarisian, to answer your question, I suppose I’d call it a feeling, a hunch. He was always quiet, even back in Woodbridge, kept to himself all of the time, except that one occasion, with a boy who was injured, but then again I only heard that story, I don’t know if it is true or not. But there was something about him that made me wonder why now, all of a sudden, he was interested in following you, and Calex. And when I said he was a spy, of the enemy, I meant of the monsters, yes, but now that I think about it, I suppose he could have been a spy for, I don’t know, other interests. You, and Calex, surely must know that the world of Woodbridge grows larger, and somewhat smaller, every passing day.

"Ah. I was simply ensuring that the problem wasn't between the company I was keeping. I'm never good at catching on to that, and discovering that you dislike elves, or Maetaur, or 'Lyphs, or Naga... or maybe even Humans as a whole is something I'd have been interested in discovering. Racism is something I've never been willing to tolerate." She lets the statement hang in the air, while she continues to tinker with the belt. "If more healing is necessary, and we're still here, the spirits will likely allow my blessings to affect the Fae once more this eve." She says after a slight pause, allowing the previous statement to be either forgotten, or punctuated, as each member saw fit.

Poseus looks a bit confounded at Collin as he speaks of enemies, Riuku being one of them.

"I can't speak for Dieredon or Calex, they might have had such enemies or not I do not know. The Gymnaga have always had such an enemy in the Sashi-Anhain, I... we know the constant pressure of groups who wish to enslave you. Though are recent times were easy, we never lost the stories from before about our enslavement. If Riku was working for the Sashi-Anhain or Tafganor he did a good job of hiding it, if some other group wishes us harm I've yet to hear of them."

My feelings about enemies of any sort have heightened as of late because of my newly appointed duties. See, I am now responsible for the protection of my territory, both the land and the living beings therein. So, any previous likes or dislikes have succumbed to such matters of immediate importance.

He looks around and begins to contemplate the trail that will lead them forward. Dieredon checks his armor and weapons as he prepares to move out.

We need to get moving if we plan ant retribution or rescue at all of those taken.