Brek glances at the shapechanger and based on the whispers, shape of everyone one could infer to what happened.
"I see your viper tongue is still at work despite being behind bars." he remarks.
Turning to the commander Brek begins to report.
"We encountered Guardians of a sacred site and with successful negotiations we have being granted leave to cross their borders provided we stay within the stipulated boundaries. we'll need to build a bridge to cross a river and if done well we might be able to leave it as a permanent structure. Ogre bands roam the region in large tribes and a rumored allied hill giant. There are caves where other monsters dwell but we have reliable information that the caves themselves hold hazards like burning water apparently." Brek pauses to allow everyone to take his words in.
"We can add the map details to the caravan's cartographers though I'm sure someone would like to tell us what happened in our absence?" Brek studies the wounds on the commander.
"Do you require more healing?" Brek enquires.
Well that atleast is good news. I saw the chasm on the maps but didn't realize it was as bad as it appears. Now these guardians, what site were they guarding? As for what happened, the conniving creature was involved in an attempt to break free. It seems he had at least half a dozen other changers as well still in our ranks. he pauses and fishes for something among his gear..these are for you, there aren't many I trust with this situation but your group brought him in so... he holds out a scroll and several small pins.
The scroll should help you...He looks at Brek and Ohime identify other shapechangers.
These others are protection from acid amulets. They will help allow you more freedom in camp should we get acid rain again. I hope this will help in securing the camp.
You have two goals now. Take the lead to decide which is the best option, barges or bridge. THe bridge may be more advantageous knowing that we are also looking for settlement possibilities. But take my advisor and some engineers and look at both options. he motions to the advisor from your previous meeting. GO with them and negotiate a space to set up camp until the barges or bridge can be built. We have run afoul of to much this early and so I would not want to run a foul of these guardians if we can negotiate out of it.
Turning his gaze back to you, The second goal maybe easier to accomplish in a shorter time. YOu have the resources of the camp at your disposal but know that the beast with the lying tongue that has been the source of many of our troubles will be executed by night fall. I want you to "talk" in any manner you deem appropriate and see what information we implicate from his words or assume from what he doesn't say. We need to know the location and numbers of these tribes of ogre. They are apt to have shifters among them as well. We need any information you can get about the region and denizens there.
At the camp,
Krokkin takes the food and begins eating, At Sorogar's question he answers
I am ready to do what needs to be done.
Then he goes back to eating.
As they make there way back to camp he spends his time harnessing his frustration and fear from the previous night and purifying it to add to his river of rage. A technique that was taught to him by one of the protectors of his pride. He stripes away the words and gets down to the core feelings. Those he adds to his currently calm pool. He has worked for some time to cultivate this inner source of power.
As the day moves on his body becomes less tense and his motions more smooth and alert.
As the voice speaks up out of the bushes Krokkin has a sword and sheild in hand in an instant but makes no move to approach. He is where he wants to be in front of those he wants to protect. He stays alert and does not interfere with the speakers.
Let them speak, I am a hunter, swift and silent
As they are escorted thru the camp Krokkin sees no reason to put away his weapon. He prowls behind the guard and at each look of suspicion given to him he glares back and allows a low growl to escape his lips.
His hackles raise as he sees the shifter in the cage. He turns to face this new threat positioning himself between the cage and the rest of the group. To Sorogar he adds,
We should have killed this prey the first time, all you see is due to being merciful.
He listens to the commander speak and when he finishes Krookin immediately responds.
I will lend my strength to make him talk
Ohime answers the proud and caged enemy in a soft sweet voice,"From where you sit, you'd look like a fine pincushion in that cage if we really wanted to use you for target practice. I've healed enough people this week due to you. There are limits to our patience..."
Of course, she was of the same mind as Krokkin who attempted to kill him. Breathing threats in a hostile land is a death penalty, and now that it seemed he had come through with them, all the more she suspects he is at the end of leniency.
Once inside the tent, she listens to Brek explain. She would explain the barge situation at the lake as perhaps being a better solution as Brek doesn't mention it.
The commander then hands them amulets and she will place it into her robe and around her neck without suspicion. The scroll she leaves with Brek, unless he wishes that she have it.
"The guardians do seem quite capable and powerful, so it is best," she agrees with the commander on avoiding them.
With Krokkin volunteering to help with the interrogation, she mentions to the commander, "We will need a squad of troops with us for when we find these shapechangers. It would do well to have the whole camp gathered in one place with a ring of guards previously checked to make sure none make it out. The last thing we need is escapees trailing us for the weeks ahead."
The advisor just shrugged then in a somewhat demure voice states We only have about 30 I can vouch for personally. The others that attacked blended in quickly so we have no ready number of "enemy" troops. The guess is somewhere around 20-30 infraction initiates.
In a much smoother quieter voice I can see that those men are nearby but if we have them all gather obviously then the enemy know or strength and faces.I'd suggest we start with a truth spell on this one and then see what can be figured out from his attempts to avoid telling us the truth. The choice is yours..anyway i will start gathering a few of our troops that I trust.
He walks back toward the tent and motions for 3 people to approach. you stay with them, you two go find our core bunch. THe ones from the previous caravan that still survive. have them come and linger around the area doing tasks that will not make it seem they are guarding this group. Turning to the half-orc in robes, he turns and leads him back.You Gerrish will answer to her or him.He points to Ohime and Brek.Follow their instructions as if I were there and I will be around as well just not standing with the group. We don't want all the loyal made known or so obvious. It would make for a fine ambush if we did and it might be worth the the attempt.
Intimidate: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
The enemy moves as far in the cage as he can away from her. He never lets his eyes leave her during the whole conversation with the advisor.He doesn't seem scared, just cowed a little and definitely uncertain now as to what is going to happen. HE cannot hear the conversation from where he is but guesses it doesn't bode well for him.
After several minutes, it is obvious to you that armed men are finding things to keep them occupied nearby. At this point the two soldiers return and salute.Done as asked. is their simple report.
Brek signs to Ohime to keep the scroll even as he tucks the amulet out of sight within his tunic.
"It's really in your best interest to cooperate with us here. How many of you are there and how do you bunch communicate?" he indicates Krokkin.
"He's out of practice in certain 'skills' but you could do fine as a test subject."
"He's not fussy on tools and he's naturally well equipped to improvise, wouldn't you agree?" Brek pushes the point towards the creature.
"I... don't understand why they'd do such a thing, Ohime," Sorogar admits. "But, you're a good herbalist and singer. Why don't you come live here in the rainforest? Every clan would accept your worth, probably, and you'd have a village to live in. Take this father of yours too, if he's like you. Maybe it's a bit... simpler than your cities, but every clan is close. Like a large family."
"If you don't mind the occasional bloody conflict between the Growlings of the different villages. They're always amusing!" Her spirit wolf laughs, laying in the grass to her side.
She listens to Brek describe his youth wide wide eyes. "You were... 'trained' in seducing people? Um... is that a normal outsider thing? What sort of things did you-"
Looking over Brek's physical appearance closely, she blushes. "Ah, never mind. I, um, don't want to know."
Something tells you that regardless of her words, she's totally curious.
Sorogar gasps and immediately joins the other healers to see if she can help diagnosing and/or patching them up in some way. If she believes it will help, she uses one charge of the wand of cure critical wounds on the captain.
When the goal of finding the imposters is discussed, she excuses herself for a moment and gestures for Mosely and Krokkin to come with her. "We'll be back," she tells the others, and temporarily leaves the interrogration to Ohime's impressive intimidation skills and Brek's persistance.
She leads Krokkin and Mosely to a nearby tent to discuss her idea. "Okay. So, we're left with a lot of shapechangers hidden in the camp, and using these scrolls to detect them is a bit obvious and inaccurate. So I was wondering... Krokkin, you're a catfolk, and we have one of them prisoner. Can you take the scent of him without being too obvious about it? Perhaps it also still lingers on that armor we took from him earlier - the one in Mosely's magic pack. If you've got it, we could try to start identifying the others of his kind by smell."
She opens her bag and takes out some of the freshly caught herbs from yesterday. "Of course, I'll try helping you by making a potion that enhances your scent. For that, I could use your help too, Mosely. I lack kingsfoil, ashleaf and two blood oranges to make the potion. Think you can help me look in for those in the jungle? And when we get back, we should devise some plan that allows us to take out the identified enemies one by one without the rest noticing. I have an idea for that, but we should make the potion and get the scent first."
"Thank you for the invitation," she will chuckle at her glee. She will not discuss whether or not she has decided to take her up on the offer yet though.
As they switch to the topic of seduction, Ohime listens with interest. Her golden eyes study Brek for his answer but also read the young half-orc's behavior. She likely finishes third putting her finishing touches on packing away her things. Sorogar seems in a daze thinking on such things, so Ohime will go right up next to her on the grass and will kneel down.
"You should probably brush your hair and get ready to go here soon."
"I wish I had a truth spell."
If one cannot be provided, she will attempt to get the information the hard way. Already their prisoner was susceptible to her interrogation.
"You seem smart. I think you know that the end is near for you. You played your game of threats and mockeries, but now you have nothing left except to plead. Maybe you have too much honor for that, but I doubt it since you so readily sneak about. So let's get to a place where we can come to an understanding. We want to know some things:
How many are there of you?
How do you know whether someone is in disguise?
Do you recognize each other?
Are you the strongest of those in our encampment?
What do you know of these lands and the ogres?"
She will ask each one hoping for the answer and cooperation, with magic or without. Her eyes occasionally will travel to Krokkin in the distance, as if to remind their prey that he was soon to return.
Led to one side by Sorogar, Mosely makes for the short part of a comical triad. He puts his pack down and reaches in with both hands to pull out the armor that Sorogar indicated.
"The prisoner's probably not going to give us anything useful. He knows he's done for, why would he cooperate? He'll just spit in our face as he goes to his grave. There's no reason for him to help us unless we give him one, and even then, we can't trust anything he says - if there are other shapeshifters infiltrating the encampment, he may well tell us lies just to sow confusion and cover for them. Why not? He's going to be executed anyway, after all," says Mosely.
"We need to figure out a way to not only track down the shapeshifters, but to make sure each person is tested once, and that someone can't fake being tested - like a shapeshifter spotting someone we test, then hiding and assuming person's form later so that we skip over them."
"Anyway, the scent is a good idea. Especially if we can figure out, in addition, a smell to which only shapeshifters react, or one that Krokkin can smell but they can't - this would allow us to mark people who've been tested, so we can tell who's safe and who's still on the wildcard list. I'll help you with the herbalism."
Mosely shoulders his pack once more and says, "Just dump the armor back in when you're done." He draws his machete with the expectation of doing more brush-clearing and hacking while the team looks for roots and flowers.
We are a tribe that has ruled the ogres for centuries. There have always been enough of us for what we need. It will matter little when you meet us though for you shall also become our slaves. Or sport. replies the once haughty creature.
The lands are my homelands in this plane. I know that we ride the things I told Baithro could be caged. I have only seen them forced to servitude though. They do not listen to reason when you can get them to talk instead of attempt to dominate.
The region is steep and dangerous but danger builds strength. We have been here for centuries bidding our time until the tribes have been unified enough to take our rightful place among this land. We muster the tribes now and I was just a contingent sent as a forerunner. You shall run into lots of things that your modern and mundane world would be astounded by. Baithro would be pleased with all the possibilities but returning from their capture would be the real test.
We hunt the Ngoga as a test of strength and the mountains abound with young dragonlings that are sport to our youth. The brekka are bred to give us materials to dominate our neighbors. Many other beasts challenge us or make sport for our young.
There are even plants that give challenge in the lower regions, large shambling mounds of vegetation that are a minor challenge to many of our parties. Ogres, orcs, trolls, giants and many other denizens have fallen subjugated to our rule. Others we deem sport only and not worth the time to “domesticate” into slaves.
Growing in confidence as it talks, it continues,
It’s not a disguise but our natural form. You see us as you say “in disguise” because others would not accept the natural beauty we have. So we use our magics to fool the common sheep.
The aggressive mannerisms begin to re appear the longer Ohime communicates with the Rakshasa. Its once regal tiger head, now tattered and singed, takes on the air of defiant, arrogance known only to those unfamiliar with defeat.
Ha! I am the strongest sent to encroach up on your security in this moving pincushion. But as you have seen I did not come alone nor did I come with only other Oni. We came with a contingent of slaves that knew if we die so do they. We play the waiting game even now. If you had not been lucky you would not have known we were here among you until you reached my homelands. Then we would have taken all of you as food, slaves, or both. You will still probably end up at the end of our spits. My mate will make sure you specifically suffer when she receives word.
His head rises in full glory at the thought of his mate exacting revenge. He finishes his statement with a catlike hiss of agitation. My only regret is not being there to see you suffer.
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Krokkin takes the amulet and puts it on under his armor and follows Sorogar to the nearby tent and listens while keeping an eye on the prisoner.
You want me to scent him, he says quietly but with obvious disgust. Fine, but it is a mistake to scent the armor, I will deal with it. Make your potion I will get what i need.
Krokkin begins to walk away from the group but turns once the prisoner is between him and Ohime. As the prisoner continues talking to her and gaining confidence Krokkin moves up to him as quietly as he can.
He pulls out his dagger and flips the blade so the blade is resting against his forearm as he is about 20 feet away. As he comes up next to the cage and is right next to the prisoner he quickly reaches thru the cage and cuts a swatch of fur off the back of the creatures head.
The prisoners head rises up as he says "My only regret is not being there to see you suffer", just as krokkin's knife makes the swipe to cut some fur. His knife comes back with more than fur. The fur is attached to a small swatch of skin and fur. Krokkin pulls back quickly and steps back laughing.
Hey kitty, you needed a shave. Let me try again.
He puts the fur patch away and tosses the knife up in the air letting it flip a couple times before catching it.
He looks over to Ohime and continues, Old one, he is distracting you with fluff and lies. time for something different. He turns to one of the three guards the advisor left with them. You, he points, Bring me Honey, a 5 inch long hollow pipe, baking powder, some fuze cord, and a container of fire ants. That should pair nicely with my rope and soap. he wipes his blade, chuckles again and puts it away. He raises an eyebrow as the prisoner tries to respond. He patiently waits with a smile on his face.
Brek shrugs as he watches Krokkin finally step in.
"We're the nice ones. Him." he indicates the smug catman.
"is not. Have fun." he makes as if to walk away and see if the prisoner wishes to say more.
I have no need to lie. When you lie to a foe you demean yourself below them. Especially when you are in a no win situation. THe cat says with slight fear in his voice watching you.
Brek laughs.
"I quote. When you lie to a foe you demean yourself below them. Yet you and your kind hide among us. Nice to see you in a constant lie."
He looks at Krokkin and begins to pace the small area of his confines. He appears at ease o the eye but you can tell he is topsy turvy inside.
Ohime is not evil, and so while she believes in justice, even to the point of death, she will not go out of her way to torture the Rakshasa. Perhaps the fear of it, sure, but actual torture, probably not; to a degree. If she really wanted to, she'd just poison him. To her, that is how she eats. After Krokkin's order to the soldier, she will respond.
"He may think he's distracting me, but he has already volunteered much that we can use; much information that has already betrayed his own people too, as we shall see eventually unfold due to his pride. Truly he must not care much about them. Besides, he doesn't realize that every step that brings us closer to them, we are strengthened. Despite his feeble group's attempts at backstabbing, this camp, on the whole, is becoming more deadly. Unified. Unwavering. Perhaps, in a way, despite initially thinking of us as sheep, eventually, we may be people worthy of respect in his eyes; if he were to see it. Doubtful, but already, I can see, that as he sitsss in his cage, torn apart, trying to be tough, he can at least respect us more than when he first infiltrated us."
She will look to Krokkin through the gap between her mask and hood.
"Go get me your half-orc friend, as she walked away with you and the halfling. Have her come back here. I have need of her. We will try something first before my methods or yours."
If Krokkin and the others leave, in a casual manner, she will angle her hood so that Brek cannot see her face--only the Rakshasa. She will pull down her mask, revealing what she is to him and will seemingly yawn.
Ohime opens her mouth just wide enough to show him her fangs. While he would see that she is stunningly beautiful before the darkened mask returns upon her face, he would also see poison dripping from her fangs and a serpentine tongue. Once more, casually, she will speak to him:
"While we are waiting, I just have to say, I'm not one for torture. I prefer to go more direct, so I am going to come to you in that fashion right now. Can we now understand each other? Or at least be creatures with a minor bit of respect towards each other's skills?" she gestures as if giving in. With a note of respect, she continues, "I have to give you accolades for your infiltration here. We weren't expecting that. I think we're more on guard now. What do you think?"
She hopes to trigger his pride once more and into giving away vital information.
"All right. Be careful, you two. We trust and need you both to succeed." Sorogar watched Mosely and Krokkin take off and nods, pleased that they went along with the plan. She'd planned to assist Mosely finding the herbs, but there was one thing she had to do first.
She walks out of the tent and starts searching for Grindel, the Fey Ambassador that stayed behind on behalf of Firekin.
"Grindel, we need your help. You very likely know of the attack on the chief, and that the hidden ogres in the camp are behind it. I have a plan to deal with them, but we need your help," Sorogar thinks back to the attack on the camp earlier. "These... 'Trollovs' you mentioned earlier - your friends able to throw boulders and trees into the camp from the jungle line outside. Do you think you could ask them for aid once more?"
The creature backs away from you to the far side of his cage. What are you?? WHat else do you want from me? I've told you what I thought would be of assistance.What more can I give i'm already a dead man so it doesn't matter what I say. You are dead anyway once you get there so what is the advantage of lying?
Krokkin laughs at Breks turn of words, and continues to smile.
To Ohime he responds, Use you time well, this mouse, he pauses staring at the prisoner, is mine to play with when I get back and the supplies arrive.
He turns and heads off in the direction that he notices Sorogar headed off in.
After a bit of careful searching he is able to find her as she finishes her conversation with the Fey.
Follow me, we need to talk.
Assuming she will follow, he starts walking away from from the fey and looking for a less crowded spot to talk. He sees an area where a couple of carts are positioned to create a space that is a bit secluded and empty. Once he is in there with her he speaks low and quick.
If it is to be believed, they have ruled Ogres for centuries, we are heading to their homelands, and they are ready for war. He is part of a scouting party, and much boasting. Ohime feels she is reaching him. I took a different tact to keep him on his toes. Grinning he pulls out an inch wide strip of golden fur with a black line running across it that is 2 inches long.
Now I can scent, we can try your plan He puts the fur back in his pouch.
She won't answer his question about what exactly she is. Clearly, he has not seen her kind before.
"No, I don't believe you are lying, but I believe you are purposefully omitting what you know we want to know. You know we want to know how to tell who is of your group here. You know, but I think you are having too much fun waiting for us to let down our guard again. I don't think that will happen. You see, we will find them out and kill them all. We'll do it effectively and surgically if that makes sense to you?" she asks him, unsure if he understands what "surgery" means, rhetorically she will continue on unless he needs an explanation, "Right now, this camp is more concerned with the general number of those who have infiltrated. Yes, they want to see you dead, but more so, they want to sleep easy."
He will have noticed that she has not moved a muscle as she's stood there speaking to him. She is like a serpent ready to strike at any moment.
"If you were to give them up....perhaps the camp's anger toward you could be disarmed? Perhaps we could even become 'allies' again?"
Her voice seems to have an enchanting, soothing, almost echo sound to it. It is both seductive and calming at the same time.
If it is to be believed, they have ruled Ogres for centuries, we are heading to their homelands, and they are ready for war. He is part of a scouting party, and much boasting. Ohime feels she is reaching him. I took a different tact to keep him on his toes. Grinning he pulls out an inch wide strip of golden fur with a black line running across it that is 2 inches long.
Now I can scent, we can try your plan He puts the fur back in his pouch.
Sorogar looks at the strip of bloody skin and winces, but still nods. "Good. It seems that in the end, it still helped us to have him alive. He can provide a fresh scent, which will in turn give away his underlings. It's also good to know they have 'ruled', perhaps unkowingly, the Ogre tribes. That might open a route to turn those enemies on eachother and can gain us an alliances with the ogres, if we do this carefully."
Brujah flitters from her shoulder to point at her backpack. "Yes, of course we'll have to wait for Mosely. I can't make the potion without the ingredients."
She crosses her arms for a moment and looks down, lost in thought. Then she sighs. "Krokkin, a lot of this plan relies on you. We will need you to identify the Imposter Ogres one by one by their smell, and then lead them to a location where we can deal with them without the rest of them noticing. We will probably need to attack them from the back at the end. It's not particularly honorable, but then again they are a race fond of deception themselves. Are you sure you're to this, and see it through to the end? Do you trust and respect me enough to hold to the plan the entire way?"
Maybe you aren't a worthless grub. What exactly is it you want to know? We number about 50 or so total. We can assume almost any lesser humanoid form. I am the only surviving rakshasa in camp. The others fled, cowards, or died, useless.
There should be a few other slaves in camp if they didn't flee or die as well. Baras, James, Timona, and Herik were the 4 who accompanied me. We didn't meet each other directly so that our plans could be worked from multiple angles without chance of being found out. I knew three of them and knew that there were 5 in the initial "raiding party."
My fellows and I established a presence and then sent for more to join. I know not if more came but we usually only work in small groups. We tend to not work well together as I am smarter than many of the others.
The fey ambassador looks surprised at your request but nods in assent as you explain what exactly you want.
"Yes...you seem to be intelligent. That is why we had so much trouble with you and your plans. So, to clarify, you have 50 others in your tribe total? or that you had set out with to here?"
Yes there were only 50 of us in the whole tribe. I know of only 5 that joined this camp though. He states.
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I take honor in hunting, honor in protecting. There is no honor in what it did.
As he speaks he seems to gain in courage and defiance.
I protect my pack, I protect the brood mother. He growls. I mean I will protect you. I am the sword or the... or the axe. You are the arm. Direct me and I will do the dirty bits.
He pauses for a moment realizing what he just said. He looks down for a second, then snaps his head up locking eyes with her. The the rage and anger behind his eyes hinting at what is inside him.
In a measured low and menacing voice he continues.
Do not betray me, do not belittle me, do not trick me like Warren. If you do you will find that the arm no longer controls the axe. This axe is razer sharp. You are part of my pack now and forever.
He stops for a moment again searching her eyes, the glint in his eye fading. In an almost conversational tone he speaks one more time
Shall we go, we have work to do.
Brek considers the words of this one.
50 of them? Just 5 came in this camp he thinks.
Something didn't add up. How then did they cause so much chaos then? Their numbers didn't sit right.
"Tell me about your people." He commands since he might as well get more intelligence on why they are behaving as such.
Before he answers, she will mutter something to her bird familiar inside her hood, who takes up to a ledge within arms reach and lets out a beautiful little chirp song to inspire her competence to see through his potential lies. She has learned plenty, so she will let Brek handle the rest, but as for her, she will be silent and study her prey to see his answers if they are truthful.
Sorogar holds Krokkin's gaze and smiles. "Right! We'll fo this together. First, we need to gather the others and i'll explain what I think we should do..."
As she walks off with Brujah and Krokkin, Movah the spirit wolf lazily tags along. "All hail the power of friendship. Yay." he says sarcastically.
The fey follows you telling you of how large the creatures called trolows are and that the real trick is that they have learned to throw things several sizes larger than them.
For instance, I watch one pick up a boulder that had to weigh close to a ton and throw it. And he was only about as tall as 2 of me standing on your head. He was much broader though. Now that I think about it, he's kinda like a large gorilla only more intelligent. I have 3 that are still here to help me if I need. I just have to call them through magic.
I guess you could say he is about the size of the shifter when he was ogre sized. He was much more your size once he shifted. But trollovs are much more ape like and have longer arms that they use to windmill in large objects.
They could hide near our palisade using their natural magics to become trees. I would just fear for the cutters whom are still cutting wood if they tried to cut a trollov. They don't take well to that.
Sorogar nods at the explanation of Grindel and smiles. "Perfect! I think we only need two, and that they can hide as trees will make it a lot easier. Can you signal them to stay nearby while we make our preparations? If so, we only have to wait for Mosely to come back with the ingredients. And collect the-"
Brujah flies around the side of her head and pokes her cheek with a wing, followed by a screetch. "Oh, right. There was still that other matter... did you find the answer?"
As much as a bat can huff and look annoyed in an 'Who do you think I am' manner, Brujah gets it across. He wasn't a semi-immortal life spirit for nothing!
"Great! Then we have all the preparations. Time to see how the interrogation is going."
A minute or so later, Sorogar rejoins the tent along with Krokkin and, if she followed, Grindel. "How are things going over here with the prisoner?" she asks Brek and Ohime. "If you're done, we're about ready to start the meeting. Mosely is out on an errand, but knowing his efficiency I doubt it will take him long."
"Tell me about your people." He commands since he might as well get more intelligence on why they are behaving as such.
The tigerman continues We are wanderers of the planes. Having subjugated our plane of existence we turned on each other. Finally we came to an accord and decided not to fight over the homeland but to go out and conquer others. SO we split into bands of 50 to 100 and came to different places/planes and began to establish ourselves again. The females of the tribes for the most part stayed on the home world. SOme like my mate came with us.
We found the easiest to subjugate and dominate here on the material plane and so many of us established enclaves in various regions. The ogres were to dumb to notice a few more and so we quickly took over their tribes. We have made allies as well of other denizens of the region. We rule some 400 ogres now and they form a rough alliance of tribes.
We have other lesser allies and have subjugated many of the local human and lizardfolk tribes as well. They make great fodder and tend to believe we are loyal to them because of their loyalty to our cause and ourselves. WOrms they are! The haughtiness is beginning to return again this time with an odd gleam in his eyes.
"If the ogres were too dumb to resist, and your numbers are only 50, perhaps we can offer the ogres freedom by giving them the common sense that they outnumber you...Interesting. We may not even have to deal with the ogres as a threat, and we'd be rid of you all invading our plane of existence."
"Yes yes...Well...you've been very informative. I can't tell if you are lying or not, but we'll make do."
She will nod to Brek and as Sorogar begins to make her way over toward them, she meets up with her away from the Rakshasa.
Quietly, she talks to her companions away from prying ears, "Our interrogation has been very fruitful. I could use your wand of Charm Monster. I want to ask him if he's lied to me, and if so, what about. He has said there are 50 in his tribe in the area across the river. Five came here and infiltrated us. Of these five, he's the strongest. He also gave us intelligence on what we are likely to face ahead...and he might have peed himself a little," she will joke from behind the mask.
If given the wand, she will attempt to use it at a distance on the Rakshasa from behind, hopefully without him knowing. If it works, she will ask him, "We are friends, right? Have you lied to me about anything in our discussions?"
Her bird once more will sound out to inspire the competence of the group
Sorogar hands Ohime the wand. "Use it if you want to be sure, however I can tell up front that he's either lying or omitting parts of the truth. Remember what the chief said? He estimated there were between twenty to thirty in the attack. Five is too far off that number. While it might be true there are five of his own tribe , there would have to be other tribes here as well."
While it probably won't change her opinion, she will observe the prisoner one last time before moving forward with the plan.
"And what do you mean I should comb my hair and come back 'here'?"
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"I know," she will reply happily in tone to the half-orc, "I got him to confess as much. I just want to be sure magically. I think one charge won't be too much of an expenditure to be sure on that front." "They were talking over there alone. Hopefully, they don't think Brek or even I am one of these others. Why else did they leave to talk?"
With Sorogar's intuition, even through Ohime's concealment of facial features, Sorogar can tell the worries of Ohime's thoughts.
They charm the Rakshasa. It seems he was telling the truth on all fronts. She will nod to him in parting and will leave him once more. There is nothing further she can think to ask him, and so she will communicate what she's discovered to the group in private.
Krokkin looks over a Ohime, So what you are saying is that I will be nothing but howls, hate, and torment out of it. You took all the knowledge it had.
He looks over at the prisoner smiling, are you sure that there is nothing left.?
He turns is back to the prisoners cage and for a moment his face slips showing relief, before plastering the smile back on his face.
Should I just kill him now, since I beat him once already?
"Wait." Brek holds up a hand.
"How do you tell each other apart given that you have already disguised yourself among us. Can you be forced out of your current states to reveal your through forms via other methods?" Brek was certain that this answer was important.
The other tribes might be using the same methods.
"Please answer him, for my sake," she points out to the Rakshasa in light of Brek's question. She doubts there is a way, but under magic, perhaps he will reveal truth to her.
To Krokkin, she nods a yes from under the mask in answer to his question, but does not answer his second question as to whether there may or may not be anything left.
In a soft, calming voice, she replies to the catfolk barbarian to his other comment, "His life is within your hands but he is scheduled to die this evening. I suppose the benefit of keeping him alive right now is to not encourage his allies to leave just yet or to provoke another attack on the camp. I'd rather have them all dealt with first if we can, then we lay out his due punishment whenever we wish. He's accepted his fate. There is nothing left of him except a false shell of bravado and impending doom. I'd say you've already killed him but...he does need to actually die."
We can detect when something is using a polymorph magic. We then reachout with our minds and try to see if there is an answer. That is how we communicate with each other and identify each other.So there is no way of catching us in our changed form.
As for forcing us out of our forms, can't happen unless you enrage one f us enough that we refuse to stay hidden and put up with insults. Even then some of us especially those with jackal or shark bloodlines will rather stalk you and make it worse later than reveal what they are. Each bloodline has its own method of tracking the others and each loodline has a different method for extracting revenge.
There was a boarkin, a wolf kin, 2 tigerkin, and a jackal kin that came under my command. The two tigerkin I saw overwhelmed or dead by magic. THe others I cannot contact from in here. THe magic of this cage stops my mental communication as well. THe once arrogant creature now shrinks both mentally, physically, and in pride at having to reveal his last withheld information.
Sorogar listens to the new information thoughtfully. "I see. Let's discuss what to do before we do anything else. Come, everyone."
Figuring the best spot to have a meeting - when anyone in the camp could be a spy - was out in an open field nearby, she waits for Mosely to make it back to the camp and then heads to that direction. She gives a signal to Brujah, who nods and starts flying around the gathered party members (and Grindel, if she came along).
"All right. I've worked out the basis of a plan. There are some bits that I'm not entirely sure of, and I could use the advice of each of you on this," she begins, sitting down.
"Let's first go over what we know. These Rakshasha creatures are able to assume the form of any creature they want, but then also able to change back out of it. They can sense polymorphed beings and can communicate with eachother mentally. Initial estimations by the camp camptain, who suffered an attack from them today, put their numbers at around 20 to 30. In contrast, the one we captured is convinced there are only three others. At least, that is to the best of his knowledge."
She looks around the group. "I'm not sure why there's such a large difference between those numbers. Maybe some of the camp followers gave a false report to save face for failing to adequately defend the captain against a small force? Still, that number is too far off for my liking. If there would be 20 to 30 and they all were as strong as the prisoner then they'd have taken over the camp already. However, let's assume for the sake of safety that there's still some truth to that claim. Even if there's a Rakshasha military impersonator who made these numbers up himself, I think it's too risky to discard it."
Taking out the scroll of detection, she rolls it open and continues while studying the contents. "We have limited use of magical detection. But using this out in the open is obvious, and if we attack one it could mentally signal the others to start attacking or flee. We'd likely lose a lot of people before we could subdue them or risk them infiltrating again later. I would prefer to avoid both risks."
"The best way I can come up with now, is me making a potion that drastically enhances a person's sense of smell and simply detect them by scent. Based on their abilities to change in and out of different disguises, the insides of their bodies have to retain a strong semblance of their own form that allows them to do these changes. And since we already have a blood and skin sample of a prisoner, thanks to Krokkin, identifying them as such should be a lot easier. The best candidate to use the potion is also Krokkin, as he is a catfolk and is already used to a very potent sense of natural smell."
Then, she starts drawing a circle in the earth on the ground with the tip of her Falchion. "Of course, that's only the method of detection. To prevent collateral damage, we need to take them out one by one. This circle is the camp. Currently, there is a martial law in place that prevents anyone from entering or leaving. The basic concept is that we will have the camp only have one exit which everyone will pass through one by one, which we will have Krokkin screen."
She sighs. "Knowing the Rakshasha, however, to do this without a ruse of some kind would be far too suspicious for it to work, and we can't forget that they can communicate by thoughts. So that's where the rest of us come in. Here was my suggestion for what we should do."
"Ohime, you're an alchemist and a potion peddler. I need you to make a cauldron of something pleasant that makes whoever drinks it feel good in some way, but would be hard to identify on the spot. It could be something really simple like pouring some potions of minor healing into a cauldron and making a tasty soup, but I'll defer to your judgment. try not to make it too spicy so that it doesn't interfere much with Krokkin's scent, if possible."
She looks at Brek. "Brek, you were trained in... um, subterfuge, right? So I assume that makes you good at lying. What we'll tell the camp is that Ohime's potion is a strengthening tonic that we'll be giving to each camp member to help them in case we are attacked again, which has been happening a lot lately. However, due to it being rare and hard to make, we will only be giving one dose to each person, and screening them to make sure no one goes around for a second helping. This is the ruse we will use to get everyone inside the room one by one, and where Krokkin will be so that he can smell the Rakshasha. They will exit the room by the only exits out of the camp, which will be the ones behind the tent we're making this potion in."
She pauses briedly to give a nut to Brujah, who then flies off again. "Of course, the best lies have some part of truth in them, and I'd imagine that the more crafty Rakshasha already know of our immediate goals. So, what we'll also tell the camp followers is that we will be dividing them into two groups. One group will start making a bridge on our side, while the second group will cross the river by boat to scout and start the work of the bridge on the other side. The Boat team, however, is a ruse. We'll have Krokkin, as a muscular warrior, give a judgment on whoever takes the potion to divide them into the Bridge or the Boat. If he smells a Rakshasha, he will call out Boat and leave by a special exit. Everyone else will be on the bridge team and take the normal exit."
She stands up and paces around as she completes the idea. "This leaves us with two problems after identifying a Rakshasha. I hope to take them out instantly, so that they won't have time to call for help or warn the others. For that, behind this second entrance, we'll have Grindel's Trollovs disguised as trees. To the side. The moment someone exits the 'Boat Team' exit, I want the Trollovs to pound on the Rakshasha in front. They are strong enough to throw trees, and shouldn't have much problems knocking them out with sheer blunt force, or killing them on the spot. However, to further cover the sound problem, I am hoping Mosely can put his Machete to use by stabbing them in the Kidney."
She shrugs. "Why the kidney? Because being stabbed there forces a creature to inhale, which makes it impossible for them to scream. this seems to be consistant between species. I don't know why that is, but it works. Take it from me that the kidneys of opponents are very popular targets in Tribal Warfare. According to our friendly immortal Life Spirit, the kidneys are in the same place as a human. If anything, it will have a more devastating effect since it's surrounded by cartilage which adds no hardness to it at all, but is apparently important to their functioning."
"Finally, they could maybe get off a mental signal in the split seconds before the ambush claims them. I am not fully sure how to counter this, but we could use the cage which the captured Rakshasha helpfully informs us blocks this. Perhaps we could remove the top, and camouflage the bottom to place at the exit? Assuming it still works then, that is. And there's also the factor that they will be in huge pain and I'm not sure if they'd be able to concentrate well enough to send out a message in the first place."
She looks over everyone. "Do you all agree with this plan? Any advice or ideas on how to improve it? I'm also open to other plans, of course."
Ohime will move with the others out into the opening and away from prying ears. She listens to Sorogar's ideas and nods as she explains further.
"I can aid you with making the potion before I start on my dish."
"I think I am going to make a variant of my soothing syrup potion that infuses the healing effects of my starfish draught. It should taste delicious and make people quite happy and comfortable throughout the rest of the day. Any soreness as the day will continue on, will very slowly heal and get better. Will that work for your purposes?
"For the sound problem, perhaps there is a spellcaster who can make a zone of silence in the camp? That would help immensely. Then you could just be as loud as you want."