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The raider Friday accosts shakes his head in sheer fright. "Mat. Rikedom. Inget mer."
Friday arches a brow at the frightened man, the others were better talkers than he was. "Thank you." he says with a bow towards the Paladin.
His blood starting to slow he starts to takes note of the shiny golden arm-rings the attackers were wearing. He goes about collecting them.
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The rest of the caravan appears to have taken is share of wounds. Ameiko, Maxim, Sandru & Ishgha appear to have been in the thick of it, and sport several injuries that are taken care of.
Zaiobe, Spivey & Shalelu have taken no injuries at all.
Koya and the other caravan drivers have weathered the attack well enough.
And Kelda... is apparently doing quite well for herself. She stalks over to Kavell dressed in little more than her smallclothes, her sword, shield and several gallons of blood. "Ah! There you are. Don't worry--not much of it is Kelda's." She laughs, rather at ease compared to the others in the caravan.
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Kelda takes the arm-ring Friday holds up and scrutinizes it. "Hmm."
She doesn't seem at all bothered by the cold. "Detta är ungefär som en flagga. Det förklarar din trohet till en härskare över detta land." She replies, sounding much more comfortable speaking Skald.
"In other words, this means you're a thane's man." She glares at the two living raiders.
Friday nods and bows towards Kelda.
It was a good thing Valeria had decided to listen in to Friday's questioning - Friday may have bought the raider's story, but it wasn't convincing her.
She punctuated the last part by conjuring a small flame in her hand as though readying to unleash her flame arc again. Fortunately; the energy to do so wasn't truly expended until the arc was released, so simply readying it in her hand like this wouldn't drain her of any more power. Plus she was hoping that the combination of the flame and her tiefling features would... lead him to certain conclusions.
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The moment he saw Kelda covered in blood he moved quickly reaching out his hands aglow to touch her to search for wounds... as he words registered into his ears He opened his mouth and colored quite red.
I am glad of that.
He said with an awkward smile it took him a moment more before he realized he was still touching her to take his hands away. He took a few steps away glaring at the arm ring.
So it sounds like they were ordered to come find us... how many men does a thane??? have to send on things like this?
He asked he wasnt entirely sure what a Thane was, but it sounded like a title of sorts.
Kasha notes the language spoken by both the raiders and a number of her companions, considering the value of learning it at some later date.
"As many as he can bring to his side, and as many as he cares to send." Kelda replies to Kavell, grinning at him.
She looks down at herself after Kavell heals her and wrinkles her nose. "...perhaps Kelda should find some clothes."
The raider Valeria threatens turns deathly pale and keeps shaking his head.
"Mitt liv är förverkad om jag talar! Jag kan inte! Snälla du!" He starts begging.
Friday shrugs.
The raider swallows, closes his eyes, and whimpers.
"As--" He starts.
It stops abruptly as his eyes suddenly open and he starts choking and coughing.
"... crap. Miss Kasha..."
Read enough spy novels from authors who actually do their research and you learn pretty quick of spells that can make sure someone doesn't talk and give their employer up. As soon as the prisoner started to choke and cough, she started scanning him for any such spell or similar magic. If it was something she could identify, it could be something she could undo.
"Damnit; he's under a geas. And I don't think any of us are powerful enough to remove it. Wait..."
As an idea came to her about just what the geas' conditions might be, she switched to Skald.
She now just desperately hoped that her guess about the geas simply being to stop him revealing his employer and reason for attacking was right. Unless they had some way to break enchantments or the like, preventing the geas from triggering at all was their only option.
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The raider gasps for air and coughs up a gout of blood, and he falls to all fours. Blood is starting to trickle from his nose, ears and eyes.
It takes a minute or two, but the man manages to stop convulsing and bleeding. He takes several breaths as the rest of the caravan looks on.
"Jag ljög inte. Snälla låt mig gå." He gasps, unable to stand.
"Stay with us, and I promise I'll do everything I can to remove the geas and let you live your life free and safely. I apologise for scaring you before; you threatened my friends, I'm sure you can understand."
"As many as he can bring to his side, and as many as he cares to send." Kelda replies to Kavell, grinning at him.
She looks down at herself after Kavell heals her and wrinkles her nose. "...perhaps Kelda should find some clothes."
He was going to open his agree, but found it dry. So he swallowed and again managing to nod.
You were not lying about it being cold in your lands... how can you be so...
He didnt finish the words, mostly because he didnt want to seem to forward. It was certainly a clash of cultures but he was intruigued...but he certainly didnt want to push too hard.
Perhaps I can come visit you when we stop later, I should attend to the others whom are hurt my lady.
He began taking leave of her to check on everyone else.
Kasha studies the man to determine how much damage the geas had done.
Kasha sigs as she studies the man. Crouching down beside him she rests a hand on his shoulder, whispering an invocation as the healing magic flows into his body.
The broken man sucks in a breath of air that's surprisingly free of blood. He doesn't seem to be able to get to his feet yet.
"...Tack. Men du kan inte hjälpa mig längre." He nods, sounding exhausted and defeated.
He shakily gets to his feet, his eyes somewhat clearer as he looks the caravan over. "De vet att du kommer. Jag kan inte säga något mer."
Kasha looks to the others and shrugs, not understanding the man.
Friday looks to the others as well.
Haru shakes her head slowly, "I've heard of a geas, but I have no idea how we would remove one. I guess he has to leave."
Alternatively, you could try to find a mage or priest who is more powerful than whoever levelled the geas upon him in the first place.
The two raiders start warily backing away from the caravan, still trembling and frightened from their close brush with death.
"So what now?" Friday asks the others?
"Well..." Ameiko bows her head in thought. "...the fact that at least one of those raiders was under a geas means that someone powerful has their eye on us." She cringes and straightens herself up. "We're going to have to be even more cautious than before, where we're going."
"And we'll need to keep an eye out for that raven-like thing we've been seeing lately. I don't like the idea of a creature with a solid potential for being a familiar hanging around so close to us on the same day we get attacked by people under a geas. I might do some digging before bed, see if the familiar-mage link can be traced. Not confident but something worth looking into."
"All the signs point to a rather powerful spell caster having made us their focus. Someone with enough influence to have the raiders act as their muscle where magic might not be ideal." Kasha says frowning.
"So follow the raiders?" Friday suggests.
"Probably not; I doubt they'll be eager to head back to someone who had to put a geas on them to make sure they'd do the job. Odds are that their employer would just kill them. They'll still be under the geas if they flee, but working around its restrictions has a better chance of survival than going back to the one who put it there. Besides; I think we have other options for finding this mage."
She looked at the arm rings on some of the corpses. "Kelda said that these guys worked for a thane. If we can find out who that is, who these people were, we might have something to go on." She had a few other concerns and theories as to who their assailant was, but she wasn't confident about them until she had more to go on.
"Oh, okay." Friday replied before he went about collecting all the arm rings or anything else that he thought Valeria might find useful.
Might more of the raiders return? I am not an expert on this 'geas' you speak of it sounds terrible, but whats to say they wont return perhaps better prepared for what we can do? We should keep a wary eye about us until we can get some answers.
He asked watching those that fled off in the distance his solib blue eyes almost aglow. He looked very troubled and concerned for the poor raiders in a way. The very idea of some magical compulsion forcing them to do something disturbed him at his very core.
"Yeah, they could come back, it's just pursuing them that wouldn't get us anywhere. And if the mage who 'hired' them was watching the fight, then they'll probably go for a different approach next time - they probably know what we're capable of now."
The caravan returns to their rest, shaken by the night’s events and wary of the road ahead…
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Oathday, 25th of Desnus, 4715 AR
The night passes without a repeat incident. An early morning fog blankets the riverbank as the caravan begins to pack up and get ready to move. The sky overhead is completely overcast with dark grey clouds. ”Hmm… it may begin snowing soon.” Shalelu says as she wraps herself in furs and sets out on the trail.
The caravan crosses the Skalsbrïdge and continues on the trail as it turns west. The fog persists for a long time, sometimes becoming thick enough that the trail ahead becomes quite difficult to find. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of Haru & Shalelu, the caravan is able to maintain a good pace and follow the road, despite the fog’s best efforts to obscure it.
The rest of the caravaneers are a bit shaken from their encounter with the raiding band. Koya in particular is more reclusive than usual, rarely even so much as poking her head out her wagon to let the others know she’s doing well. Spivey keeps her company, admittedly less out of wanting to see Koya get better and more because of what drove the raiders—the mention of a geas forcing them to attack them almost sent her into a frothing rage that Koya spends most of the rest of the trip calming her down from. Sandru, Maxim and the other drivers focus on the road ahead and don’t say much.
Other caravaneers are weathering the news with more aplomb. Ameiko in particular doesn’t seem to be at all disturbed by the news, and neither does Kelda—the bardess continues to sing songs of bravery and faraway lands, while the berserker seems to relish the chance to draw steel on whoever sent the hapless raiders against the caravan. Ishgha is as stoic as ever, keeping his eyes focused on the road and the surrounding, fog-enshrouded wildlands.
And Zaiobe… well, she’s her usual quiet self. Except she seems to be taking more of an interest in Friday in the aftermath of the raid. She’s smiling more whenever she glimpses him.
The fog lifts around mid-afternoon, revealing a grand city of carved wood and hewn stone on the southern bank of the Rimeflow River. The sprawling metropolis is teeming with countless throngs of people from all walks of life, each of them hustling about to complete their daily errands—carpenters rub shoulders with landed nobles, courtesans entice sailors, mercenaries & other rough sorts with promises of pleasure and relief from the constant stress of work, mead is drank and spilled with equal fervor in aged, distinguished taverns—and above it all, a feeling of freedom. Freedom to live as you will. Locals and visitors alike call this city Kalsgard: the oldest settlement of the Linnorm Kingdoms, and the final stop before the Crown of the North.
The caravan is directed by customs officials clad in gilded steel armour to a part of the city that locals call the Bone Quarter—one of the newest parts of the city, if clearly the poorest and dirtiest. The party notices that there are several other caravans here—some of Varisian stock, but others mostly of Ulfen make.
As the days grow colder, Kasha takes to beginning her mornings with a spell that allows her body to adapt to the cooling climate. Alternating her spot in the caravan to interact with her companions, and still spend ample time checking in on Koya, she enjoys Ameiko’s tales, her presence working to slightly improve the mood.
When the stunning sight of the the grand city comes into view, the young shamaness takes it all in with substantial enthusiasm, eager to see what their time here would yield.
One benefit of being a tiefling was that heat and cold don't affect them as much - it was common for Valeria to still be wearing her split-skirts well into Winter on all but the coldest days. Even now, her sleeveless armour and the way the skirt left one thigh-high boot-clad leg exposed looked like it would give her frostbite, but there was no sign of her even feeling the cold.
She did feel it, but not enough to rug up just yet. She was sure that her resistance wouldn't be enough once they reached the Crown, but for now she didn't feel the need to change her attire.
Xel, on the other hand, had been keeping himself anywhere where he could stay warm - perched near torches, burrowed into spare clothing, occasionally sitting in Valeria's hood if he just wanted to get out of the wind.
After the attack, Valeria had spent what time she could trying to see if the link between a mage and a familiar could be detected.
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As the city came into view, Valeria was amazed - the only other big city she'd seen before this had been Magnimar and it still surprised her at the sheer scale a city could reach.
Friday didn't care for having to wear heavier clothes, or being in a metropolis. Though that did remind him....
"Um, Miss Zaiobe? Were you needing anything from the city?" he ask the Harpy when he gets a chance.
Zaiobe grins at you, revealing a row of sharp teeth. She sidles up to you and puts her hands on her shoulders, leaning into you. <Well, if you could be so kind, I'd LOVE to have something to cover myself up while we're in town...>
Her grin is promptly replaced by a sad look. <I'm honestly tired of having to stay in the caravan when other people are around. I want to take a look around this place--it's so big and marvellous...>
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Once the caravan is settled in, Sandru and Shalelu call a meeting.
"Alright, so the first order of business..." Shalelu starts, pacing around the caravan's campfire. "...we need to get over the Crown of the North. That'll mean buying supplies and finding a guide. From what I've heard of the mountains here, they're nigh-impossible to traverse without one--we should see what we can dig up while we're here."
"That, and there's the matter of finding out whoever sent those men to kill us." Sandru pipes up, his face uncharacteristically serious for a change. "I'm not comfortable with that little problem hanging over our heads--especially not when it means Ameiko's in danger."
Ameiko gives Sandru a disapproving look. "You worry too much, man. That's Shalelu's thing--no offense, Shae--and really, I don't think we have much to worry about." She gives the party an approving smile. "Hell, we've got four or five of the most skilled warriors and mages around on our side, I think we'll be fine."
"I want to check this city out--I've never been this far north, and I'm not planning to squander this chance sitting in a wagon. I've had quite enough of that on the ride here."
Friday tenses nervously once she leans up against him, his mouth opening to say okay before she continues on, which does away with his tenseness. "You shouldn't have to cover yourself up, you can just come into town with us. Though if that's what you would prefer I can keep an eye out for some robes or furs, you might need them as it's getting colder anyway the further north we go."
"Skill only does so much against someone with an army," he states.
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"If they do I'll just kill him." he calmly says as if it was the most simplest thing.
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Friday happily and innocently smiles back at the harpy. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."
As much as Valeria appreciated Ameiko's optimism, she didn't share it.
"Unfortunately; finding this mage won't be easy. I thought we could track him through the link between him and his familiar but I was wrong; the connection's a subtle and conceptually-intimate kind of magic, the kind that's undetectable under normal circumstances. And if there are abnormal circumstances that would make tracing it possible, none of the researchers I have material from even theorised one.
"Not to say we don't have options, they're just a bit more... mundane. Any city this size should have a rumour mill big enough for us to pick up possible supernatural activity that would suggest a mage. Ameiko; I'll go with you into town - you know how to get people talking and I know what to look for."
Ameiko laughs. "That's what I like to hear, Valeria."
"And since we're proper adventurers, I think we all know the best places to start stirring up info!" She turns to the entrance to the rest of the city. "I say we find the nearest tavern. Sample the local cuisine, listen to what folks are talking about, the whole deal!"
"I'd love to help find us a guide. The new environment and terrain is fascinating and I want to see more of the city as well." Kasha chimes in.