This way I don't continue clogging up DRA's thread.
Did you ever get the private message I sent you?
Screaming through clenched teeth as the saw grinds through his humerus bone, Kai manages to spit out words of defiance. "YOU THINK THIS COMPARES TO WHAT THEY DO IN ABADDON YOU PUNK FAUX-LICH?! MY FATHER WAS A PURRODAEMON AND MY MOTHER WAS A SOUL DRINKER THAT COULD VAPORIZE YOU WITH A WORD!! I'VE ENDURED WORSE PAINS AS AN INFANT!!...." Gasping exhaustedly as the construct finishes its work, Kai spits at the lich's face. More weakly he continues, "I won't need that arm... to kick your ass... I should show you... what a real monster can do..."
Kai reaches back mentally to his youth and his martial training at the hands of Szuriel's deacons. It was there that his inner rebellion began; the source of his fury and inspiration both. After his escape, Kai chose not to be ashamed of what he was, but rather embrace it, and show the world that it could be made better. Unwittingly, the daemons of Abaddon had created a powerful force for good in the land while trying to make one for evil. And they had put some of their power into it. Kai called to this power now, hoping to channel even some small fraction of it so that he could burst his bonds and smash that smarmy little lich's face in.
Kai sputters in futile rage, his eyes rolling back as he passes out from the blood loss...
As you pass out, another figure enters your field of vision. You must be delirious from pain, though, because you're obviously hallucinating; the person looking back at you is you. This other you grins wickedly and fades away.
You come to in a different cell. Your arm is indeed gone, the stump having been cauterized shut with rude fire. No magical healing was applied, this is obvious to you. The pain is...significant. A large creature of some sort walks by outside your cell.
As you lay on the cold, wet, stone floor, contemplating your fate, there is a disgusting splattery noise and a whirring hiss. You crane your neck up behind you, every nerve ending on fire as you move, to see what's there. High in the corner of your cell, barely visible among the bloodstained stones, is a Cacodaemon. Several of its hideous and jaundiced eyes regard you while the rest look around the cell with obvious contempt.
Kai groans through his teeth as he clumsily shifts himself into a sitting position. Eyeing up the Cacodaemon Kai grimaces and thinks, Fantastic. Is this family business? Or are the horsemen working with the Black Dragonflight. I don't really care for either prospect, but there's only one way to find out... Kai awkwardly drags himself into the corner of the cell, and then stretches his remaining arm upward, and rests it over his head. What's one more disease?
He nods very slightly at the daemon, hoping it would be smart enough to come over and take a bite, so they could communicate without speaking out loud.
The little daemon gives you a disgusted look, its enormous cackle-toothed maw splitting into a grimace and one lip curling up in a surprisingly effective sneer. It remains floating up out of reach as you lay there, shaking with shock, pale and sweating and shivering at the same time.
Suddenly the cacodaemon makes a horrid retching sound and lets loose a sulfurous belch that turns your stomach. It retches again, and then hocks up a large black gemstone; the dully gleaming thing lands with a *clonk* on the floor a couple feet from your foot. The gem is covered in slimy mucous and innnard goo from the creature.
As you are regarding the gem, the fish-shaped daemon barfs up a second stone, this one a deeply unpleasant and mottled grey-white color. With that, the cacodaemon disappears. Both gems are near you, but down by your feet. You recognize them instantly as Soul Gems, but have never seen Soul Gems of these particularly...unpleasant colors.
Outside you hear heavy footsteps approaching your cell.
Kai glowers at the vanishing Cacodaemon, doing his best to show that he feels the same way toward it as it does toward him. After it disappears, he reaches out with his foot to drag the soul gems towards him, and with his remaining hand, swallow them quickly before whatever it is arrives.
Lurking in the shadows, Rakosh observes the interrogation intently. He takes no small pleasure watching the rogue tiefling's suffering, and also enjoys watching the alchemist's failure. What a pair of arrogant fools, so wrapped up in their false beliefs that they are special. Kai Kyrrosh, so judgemental and self-important, how do you enjoy being so utterly powerless? And Pike, I look forward to when you learn you have been nothing but another one of Veriala's pawns. You believe yourself to be a true power, but you are just a useful accident. I almost want to give the grimspawn have a few minutes alone with you... But I suppose that would get me in trouble, he thinks casually. He tries to use his mind-reading abilities on Kai, but the fool liches's interrogation 'techniques' have the tieflings thoughts so focused on insulting him, Rakosh only picks up noise.
Rakosh rolls his eyes when Pike orders the dismemberment. As Kai falls into uncosciousness, Rakosh steps forward and gives him a wicked smile. He turns to Pike and says, "Well, that was quite incompetently done. But I have learned all I need to know. I shall be preparing my report to Veriala now, and I will also be taking this. Grabbing the severed arm of Kai, he glares at the alchemist and tosses him a rag. "Don't forget to clean up your mess."
I know this is a bad choice that I am making, but what choice do I have? If they don't break my will, they will break my mind and I will tell them everything. I only hope the price will not be too high...
The clomping continues outside for a few seconds, and then your door is slammed open, revealing a really angry-looking brass construct of some sort. It starts to speak, but whatever it's saying quickly devolves into total gibberish:
"You shut up in here! I'll riopsoieioof;anioehoirhg;oafjsdfio;jadsoifjaiohrgioa;snnnnnnnnnn"
Everything then goes perfectly sideways as you slump over, and all sound ceases. Once again, you black out.
You come to on top of a pile of bodies, on a giant cart being pulled by ogrekin. The greasy, smelly ass of a fat orc is just inches from your face. Your right arm itches furiously, you think, until you remember it was removed. Looking carefully around, you see human soldiers of the Black Dragonflight walking alongside the cart, obviously meant as guards. They are very relaxed, though, so you'd guess you're still in their territory. You are outside, under an incredibly thick canopy of trees. Some woods of some sort, clearly. No casual stand of trees in farmland is this. The air is very cold, cold enough to be uncomfortable, and there are many calls and cries of birds and beasts you do not recognize.
The guards are wearing the usual high quality black-and-gold plate mail of their army and are armed with swords and bows and shields. They are laughing and talking among themselves. Still not even sure what happened, you strain to hear...
"Because the one on top is some enemy of Pike's. Did something or...I don't know. He's not supposed to be dead, is the point. Pike couldn't revive him and everyone's mad all the way up to Veriala herself. Said she was gonna meet with her Master."
"I hate that guy. He gives me the creeps. Worse than dealing with Rakosh or Pike or any of 'em."
"Pfffft. Pike's a rat, a goblin dog. He's nothing. His father's nothing, too, the cowed and cravenous old fool. The fact he brought us the Master's book so willingly is all you need to know to know that."
"Hmmm..."
"Anyway, we throw him to the goblins with the rest of the chum, and off we go. At least we get to be outside when the big bosses are all going around screaming at everybody."
"I heard they're gonna accelerate the march on Hallas, and take back Manaus. Also heard they have a way to crush the Archlich Firliadeth and take the Despair."
"...well...if anyone can do it, Veriala can, especially with help from the Master..."
There is a sudden lurching, then, and you are dumped down a hillside along with a dozen or more corpses. All you can smell or taste is corpse rot and orc farts.
Feeling oddly refreshed, you are able to grab a stone and pull yourself against the hillside, slipping into the shadow of an overhang. 100' below, in the pit, is a horrid chittering and pattering sound, and the sniffling and chirruping of goblin dogs. Not ten feet above you, the guards again:
"You see him? He down there?"
"Yarp. He's 'at one. See? Missing the arm."
"Ohhhhh right. I see 'im...you sure?!"
"Sure I'm sure! Dunce! Now let's back outta site and let the gobbos have their dinner, and we'll double-check once they're done."
Below you, hundreds and hundreds of ravenous, diseased goblins come charging out of the shadows and descend on the corpses, ripping them to pieces, taking their clothes and belongings and devouring their flesh. With the goblins below and the guards just a short distance above, you have few options. You can see that this ledge continues to your left about 50' and ends by some short trees it looks like you could use to pull yourself up. To your right is bare hillside bathed in starlight. Below you is actually a trail with lots of cover on either side, and it looks like it forks near the goblins, splitting off north, away from the midden-pit, and south right into it. This is likely the way the guards would come down to do their "check". But you wonder where that northern path goes... Lastly, you could remain tucked into this little crevice, but you're not sure how much cover it would grant you should the guards walk by.
Where the hell am I?
Master? Master's book? Wait...
Looking grimly at the goblins and keeping an out for black dragon flight soldiers, Kai clumsily moves down to the path below and wanders off along the side of the northern trail.
What the hell did those soul gems do? How did I get here?
@Min: Dr. Schrebel smiles at you. "It's not necessarily an either/or proposition, of course, but it might be. You might have to make that choice, so I want to get you thinking about it as early as possible." He reaches down to a lower desk drawer and opens it. Inside you see a hefty assortment of bizarre and wondrous-looking little items, but before you can get a closer look, he plucks one out, and closes the drawer. The item he picked looks like a gyroscope and a top mashed together, and with a handful of assorted brass gears in the middle, all spinning at different speeds. They interlock and then pull apart. It is a fantastic-looking little machine whose form gives no clue whatsoever as to its function.
"I am a teratologist, master Min, do you know what that is? It means I study monsters, and things monstrous. Deformed creatures, naturally occurring creatures that look deformed, intelligent megaflora, megafauna...all of it. Knowing that, it would be reasonable to ask yourself why I know anything at all about the Lionhearts, much less such details of their story. This device -- " he indicates the little whirring thing in his hand " -- is called a voirkyth, and it allows me to...well, you'll see. Are you ready to learn just what precisely it is you are in for, dealing with the Lionhearts? You can say 'no', and I will not show you, and you may go on your way none the wiser. But if you say 'yes', what you see may greatly change many things for you."
@DRA
What Dr. Schrebel had said had shook Min to the core. Such a decision he felt was beyond him to make at the present time but he knew that this strange professor was probably right. He was reminded eerily of what the painting had shown him and couldn't help but feel everything was spiraling out of control.
When Dr. Schrebel pulled out his strange device he couldn't help but feel guarded for a moment before realizing it wasn't an item their group was searching for. Taking a deep breath he tried to relax and listened intently to what the man said. At the end though he answered without hesitation, he had already seen hell, been threatened by a devil with eternal pain. He expected no less then more dire portents about his continued involvement with the Lionhearts. But he doggedly refused to believe that all was lost for their order, nothing was truly hopeless.
"Yes, I must know, if I am to understand then I must face whatever comes next. No matter how terrible..."
The painting showed me Lin and I dying, what will this device show me I wonder?
....it rememberssss... once a genie... noble... arrrrrogant...
Ahriman called to it... it was one of his sslavesss... then HE came...
it holds thisss token... it burnsss, but it wont let it go... the D..D..D...Dawnflower will make it whole againsss...
...it wandered the wastesss of abaddonnnnn.... centuries? millenia??? then by chance.... he wassss runnning... the Daemons... they pursued him..
...it met his eye... he resisted... it fought him but he put a sword to its throat and said... Are you a pawn of your creation? Do you not have free will???
He looked down upon the Div remorsefully, without hate. "This place, it does not suit me anymore. I have learned... so much. Let them take me, let me die now if it suits you. I cannot be a part of this world anymore..."
...it hesitates... there are roars in the distance... it hearsss zuriel shouted... it hears the name ankalia kyrrosh, a name it hasss learned to fear in abaddddonnn...
"Take this." Kai tosses a token of Sarenrae he found onto the weirdly ambivalent div. "If we meet again, I'll tell you how I found it.
...it burns itself.... it watches him run, and decides... sandstorm......
it lets him get away... it will find him again... it thinks again.. it has things to ask...
...it holdss the token... it still burns...
...it remembers....
He wakes to the sight of the bird standing in the corner, with it's usual blank gaze and beady eyes directed at him. Proper sleep was not something he was used to anymore, it had been a century and a half at least.
He looked curiously at the Tengu and spoke, "Well, Mr. Fein there are things that need doing. The faster we accomplish them, the faster you can return to Mamban. Go and fetch my war council."
With a squawk, the tengu melded into the shadows in the room, followed quickly by another miasmic blur.
[ooc]
@The Baron: The weeding out takes time, but after several days it has been completed to your satisfaction. The traitors are rooted out, only loyal Wolfguard remain. These soldiers are able to provide you with a map of what the Ice Lich has been up to lately, including markers for the large underground merope-storage chamber filled with merope the giants had been absconding with, two other such chambers, and some mines in Allemagh. There are other sites further north, as well, in the deadly and uncharted wastes of the White Dragonhold.
The men you send to Stormfare, however, return with bad news; The DePhazzes were all gone. Nathaniel and his sister had both vanished, Pike was still presumed dead, and Martin was still missing. The last anyone saw of Nathaniel, he had been working in his lab with an alchemist from the Legions of the Lost (under command of Dantoor of Gorum), and the last anyone saw of his sister, she was attending class. She left one class and never arrived at her next class.
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@Min: The voirkyth begins to spin, picking up tremendous speed. The doctor has you switch seats with him and look into the spinning device. He stands back out of the way.
The spinning becomes so fast that the thing is just a blur, and the hypnotic sound it makes causes you to enter a relaxed trance state. The borders of third-dimensional perception fall away and you enter the everywhen, becoming a fourth-dimensional percipient as you do. Humanoid senses are not made for the everywhen, though, and the strain on your mind is tremendous. Multiple events that happened across all times are visible to you as a simultaneity. You witness time as its architects -- the mighty time elementals and gravity elementals, and the Unseen God, Chronos -- are able, and marvel at its design and superstructure, at the arches and plinths, the supports and filigrees, the warp and woof of the fabric covering it all, the fabric that is life. It is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in your life.
Woven into this covering fabric is a distinct strain of bloody heroics. You are brought in to focus on it, bypassing other threads that tantalize you with their familiarity (was that...your thread?) or entice you with their importance. Zeroing in, you see that this belongs to Tanner Stormblade, dashing captain of the Lionhearts. It is an incredible act of will for you to get any one part of the everywhen to come into focus in your insufficient humanoid senses, but you make out a stream of images...
a 700-foot-tall burning humanoid is striding across the land, it must reach it target, it must protect them at all costs, but they are already dead, another one, the intricate tattoo no longer glowing, standing over them are the men in orange, again, they defy it, they rally, they fight
a pack of hounds of tindalos are hunting, they must find their target, they must protect them at all costs, but they are already dead, another one, the intricate tattoo no longer glowing, standiing over them are the men in orange, again, they defy the hounds, they rally, they fight
another one murdered and the star sailors have had enough, they call forth the leng spiders, who track them down, this time the one they murder is a set-up, and has no tattoo, and the star sailors send forth their greatest Deceptor, they send forth beautiful Perioolanar, its crimson garments fluttering as it whispers in the ear of asmodeus, as it whispers in the ear of sarenrae, as it whispers to all the gods, and as the men in orange are cursed, their leader is cast out, the mark of the gods upon him, and the star sailors freeze the world and he will walk forever and no one else will know
You suddenly pull out of the Everywhen, gasping for breath. The doctor is there, administering a potion to you as the voirkyth spins down. "So you see, Min, it is much worse than you thought. There is an infernal contract, this is true, but the Lionhearts have made the worst enemies they possibly could." You can barely move, you are so exhausted. Doctor Schrebel looks earnestly into your eyes. "They crossed the Telestari. And no one crosses the Telestari."
What he had witnessed was crushing, his hopes were thrown in face and everything he believed was a bitter mockery compared to the truth. He hardens, the order he believed was goodly was gone. Replaced by what he did not know and did not care. He understands fully, he'd finish the contract but no more would he deal with the Slain Throe, or the Lionhearts or whatever the bastards called themselves. He grows angry, no more would he care what happened to them as they deserved it, they'd earned it. He knew little of the Telestari and quite frankly he cared little as they weren't his concern either.
These thoughts and others rolled through his mind as he sat exhausted, drinking down the potion Doctor Schrebel gave him. He finishes the drink and despite his bodies protest he stands, his knees were shaky but anger drove him. Bitter anger at being so foolish and ignoring the advice of others, while placing what he cared for most at risk. He was an idiotic fool. His voice is strong despite his shaky appearance and carries the bitterness he feels. "I understand now, I had been blinded by hope only to find it was the first step on the road to disappointment." He bows to the good Doctor before standing straight once more. "My deepest apologies for disturbing you this late Doctor Schrebel, I appreciate your time and wish to repay you and Lord Tairen for your help if I am able." He's painfully straightforward, which was unlike him before now though he had a mission to complete.
The abominations had to be taken, contained and destroyed.
@Min:
The doctor gives you a concerned look and tugs on your arm, insisting you sit back down. "But do you understand, friend Min? I think there are details you are not seeing. The Telestari -- the Star Sailors -- they are not our friends, though they insist otherwise. They have frozen the land for their own petty revenge, and so they may keep it as it is. They have abused the megafauna for their own end, to keep alive the Four Gates such that they may reach their sacred city of Kutaisi and use the wild magic of the confluence to open a gate so all Telestari can return and reclaim the Land for their own. The Lionhearts knew this, and were cast out for it, and fought on anyway, when they had no hope. But no one save for a handful of us now know the truth, and to champion their cause is to face ridicule and rejection; as far as most people are concerned, the Telestari are our friends and allies, but they have re-written the history books. Even now they seek to frame the en-"
*kraka-THOOOOOOOOM!*
A sudden loud noise shakes the building and all three of you collapse to the floor. The doctor's eyes are wide in horror. "NO! Not NOW! It is too SOON! Min, you must...Tarien! Get him out of here! Min, go -- GO!" Whatever else the doctor was about to say is lost as the disheveled little man sprints to a secret panel and disappears through it. Tarien yanks you to your feet and pulls you to the hall. "Come. This way. There is an emergency exit." he tugs you along to a sliding door in the hall and pushes you down it. You spin and slide for what feels like minutes, and come crashing out into an alley way about four blocks east of the doctor's erstwhile museum. A homeless gnoll sees you pop out and screams in fright, running away down the alley. You're alone, and it is pouring rain again. You are already soaked through to the skin.
Confusion reigns through his mind, now he was truly lost as to what to do. What to think...
He considered everything that had happened with the Lionhearts up until now. The Telestari... Everyone mentioned them and they were beyond his ken. He was a woodsman dammit, not a scholar, not a crusader or a noble. His body was so tired, cold and wet but remaining where he was would only invite those who attacked the doctor to find him with ease. He took what little truth he had gained this night and did what he could to confuse Lin.
He stumbled his way to a bar and ordered a drink, just one as he didn't want things to be muddled, no he need to be clear. He needed to be able to think, but it would be enough to confuse her. For now...
From there he made his way through the city, moving from one shadowed place to another. All the while looking over his shoulder to ensure he wasn't being tailed and keeping himself mentally prepared to fight. However his motivation didn't last long he was exhausted, mentally and physically, he made it halfway before collapsing in an alley. His gear was too heavy for him to bear. In his desperation he spoke to his lifebow, normally he'd leave her alone and appreciate the times she spoke but this time they were in deep together. He knew if she had something to say for or against, now was the time.
He would never consider her a tool, not when she had a voice. :Avenaada, you think we can take on the Telestari? If they are truly a threat I will fight them if they truly threaten the world... All of them. No matter how strong they are. I know little about them though...:
@Min: Your bow replies simply :: we will fight whatever it is necessary for us to fight :: As you stagger along through the bitter rain and wind, fighting to keep your feet on the slippery cobblestones, you keep an eye out behind you, but you do not detect anyone following you.
He smiles, he had a feeling she would say that and it uplifted him to hear those words. He looked to the sky and couldn't help but think of just how he was going to face such a powerful opponent. Despite the coolness of the rain he wasn't cold, it was refreshing in a way, sobering up his mind and relaxing his body as he sat there thinking.
He had to speak with the Slain Throe and hopefully get some true answers before they rode, hopefully, to Tautha. However he had to do something more important, he still had the purse of gold he had planned to give to the Guild Mistress Chrystianne before he left the city. He found a dry place to sit, opened his journal and tore out a page and soaked it thoroughly in water.
It was a trick his mother had taught him, when she left him messages for him while he was at school. To pass along words of love and praise. He never thought he'd use it but now it was important. He placed the wet sheet against the smoothest part of the wall he could find and then placed the dry piece gently over the top of it. He wrote a message in elven, but used no ink, nothing that would give away what he was writing to the prying eyes that were surely watching him now. When he was done writing his message on the small page he'd torn out. He used prestidigitation to carefully remove the water from it and preserve the hidden message therein. He folded it up and placed it inside his pouch of gold, focusing on maintaining prestidigitation so that it didn't get wet again.
He stood once more and despite his fatigue made his way to the guild house in search of her.
He arrives back at the guild and despite the late hour hoped to catch Chrystianne before she left for the night. His eyes searched the stormed shadowed area's for anything amiss before he casted Message on himself and pressed on. If accosted for why he was there at such a late hour by official looking guards or such he explains simply that he is there to deliver a fee to Guild Mistress Chrystianne to thank her personally so that he may complete their transaction. It was a white lie but it was close to the truth as well...
Once he was past them and under cover again he used prestidigitation to push the water from his clothes. Finding her office he knocked on the door to see if she was there.
In case they were being overheard he spoke cordially to Chrystianne even if she was eyeing him suspiciously. "I had hoped to find you her Mistress, to finish our contract as I forgot to do so at dinner. May we have a private moment to go over the contract once more?" All of this was lies that only she should or would know about. He hoped she understood why he was lying so openly to her and allowed him to speak with her.
"Excellent, now where do I sign?"
He smiles broadly as he she allows him in and closes the door (if there is one) behind him. He sets the dry bag of gold on the table and motions with for her to stay calm as he kneels down next to her and motions for her to lean forward. With the power of message enchanting his words he hoped that no one could hear what he said. But if someone was spying he casually stroked her hair as if he were speaking sweet nothings to her alone. "I know not what trouble you're in but I leave in the morning and you should too, you'll find a bonus in the pouch but be careful not to get it wet. I had to repay you for all your help. May you always remember who your real friends are and tarry scant before you suffer peril in this storm drenched city." With that he places a finger against her lips, stopping her from speaking as he rose unsteadily to his feet. As he rose he removed his finger kissed her lightly on the lips to complete his ruse, he gave her a warm smile as he stood up fully. Despite the danger he couldn't help but enjoy himself at the rush he was feeling.
His act was tiring him to point where his strength was barely carrying him forward. However through the magic of the Muleback Cords alone he was still standing. "If you need anything else please send for me at Izmir as that is where I will return at my journey's end. How long though I do not know, so Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again and Blessed be fair maiden until then." Hoping to leave her speechless he left casually, walking straight out into the rain once more.
His message would appear once the paper was carefully wetted down, the creases would become pronounced and indicate what he had written in elven. He explains all that the demon had told him and how she was in danger and that a [i]gardener who enjoyed his job thoroughly may be coming for her.[/i] He hoped she understood and could work to defend herself, as he could not protect her from her troubles.
When he was alone in the darkness, his dragon boosted sight piercing the shadows and casting everything into a colorless black and white world. As he walked he flexed his fingers, preparing to defend himself as he headed for the hall of the Slain Throe, hoping to speak to them before his body gave out.
Back in the rain and alone in the darkness with his dragon boosted sight piercing the shadows and casting everything into a colorless black and white world. As he walked he flexed his fingers, preparing to defend himself as he headed for the hall of the Slain Throe, hoping to speak to them before his body gave out...
@Min: After leaving Chrystianne breathless at her desk, you make your way back to where the displaced Lionhearts are living. You find them all asleep except for a handful. They look up as you enter and nod a greeting.
Also, making in known that I eagerly await the huntress' return. Anyone seeing her should relay this information. ;)
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WHY WERE COOKIES NOT PART OF PLAN A?!
Min nodded in quiet greeting and took that as permission to enter their hall. As he wasn't a member and merely an employer he knew that they could expel him if they wished at any time. Approaching one of those who were awake he asked quietly, unsure if the halls echoed or not. "Apologies for my being here at such a late hour. Is Sprack around? It is somewhat urgent I speak with him. If not I will merely leave a message for him unless you have another officer I can speak too."
[ooc]Let me think on this, gotta decide which mission I want to put Azu on or if I want to keep him on bodyguard duty for now. Will probably let the Thriae bit play out as duly noted, but I haven't decided. The mines, well I don't see the Baron going there personally until he finds something of exceptional interest. I mean, I know he would in one in particular, but that is beyond meta. And you would slap me. But if I don't send Azu... that means... MOAR CHARACTER(S) I WILL RUN A WHOLE PARTY AHAHAHA!
So DRA, how do ya feel about starting a new thread involving the Baron's loyal followers? Lol, I keed. Or do I?
@Min: The half-elf to whom you're speaking gives you a baffled look. "Apologies?! By Cayden's Cups, man, who d'ya think yer talking to, this ain't tha spring cotillion, we're soldiers -- we don't sleep unless an enemy or an ale sees to it. Sprack is passed out right now but y'can talk with Chrugz, his second. 'Ang on." She stands up as lightly as a leaf falls and makes her way over to a table where some kind of strange game is going on between a handful of Lionhearts. She taps one of them and whispers, and then makes her way back to you. "'E's comin' now." she says softly, and goes back to her reading.
From the table there comes the sound of groaning wood and popping joints, and the largest man -- if he IS a man -- you have ever seen stands up and swivels his ponderous head your way, to regard you with fierce and beady little black eyes. His face breaks into what you really hope is supposed to be a smile. Lifting one tree-trunk-sized leg over the bench, then the other, you see this...thing called Chrugz is nearly 8' tall and broad as a barn. His muscles look like wargs wrestling over prey as he makes his slow way over to you. "I BE CHRUGZ." he booms. You can tell he's trying to whisper, but is almost comically loud despite the effort. "KALLA SAY WE TALK. WHAT YOU WANTS. YOU BE SPEAKIN' T' ME LIKE AS IF YOU BE SPEAKIN' TUH SPRACK. I BE SPRACK'S FRIEND. CAN TRUST CHRUGZ." Now that he's closer, you realize there is a very distinctive smell coming off Chrugz that gives you insight into his size; he's at least half ogre.
@Baron: Unfortunately, isolated as you are up in Inta, there is essentially no "foot traffic" in your vicinity. The Wolfguard who are loyal to you offer to make scouting runs to look for signs of The Huntress and/or possible defectors from enemy armies.
After sending word to Xhamira, queen of the nearby Thriae hive, a message comes back via one of her drones that she is going to send hunting parties out to retrieve the merope, and that all residents of Inta and Pechora should stay within their walls for the next week or so, as she cannot guarantee their safety as she and her people take revenge and retrieve their property.