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You pay for the meal and quietly sit and eat as the different shifts of workers rotate through for their midday meal.
The dwarf looks over the elf and then shrugs his massive shoulders and nod in the direction of an opening that leads to a small, messy kitchen.
"Help yerself. I'm Beorc by the way. Sorry for the rough greeting, we don't get many strangers in here!"
As the party finishes their meals, they have a chance to ask some questions of the local labours.
"Well if you move quickly you might make it to the Blackriver Road. There is a small community at the junction and a new Inn. Called 'The Riverbend' or something like that."
Another patron speaks.
"The main road usually has a patrol running a 5-day shift, but who knows if that is still happening. I hear Corvis is low on guards and hiring is not going well...poor pay most likely!"
At this, another man speaks up.
"Naw, that's not it, there are all tied up for their Founding Day celebration. Was there last year, and boy-howdy what a party! I can see why they need more guards, har har har!!"
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Jocularity... nought but the braying of those who do not have their thoughts fixed on Holiness, rasps a deep voice with the austere strictness of a school teacher. A largish man, more broad than being abnormally tall, with a thick bull-like neck rises from his modest table where a pot of fragrant tea sits, its lid set askew.
Eyes burn with a fanatics fervor and the craggy face looks like it hasn't smiled in the last 10 years.
"With the wars going on, a little celebration now and again serves some good purposes. Still, if there is a chance to sleep in a bed tonight we should probably get going." Nevitash rises and pulls out a few pieces of silver and copper and pays the dwarf. "Agner, if you have had your fill we can see if our new friends can match their words."
Looking over at the the fanatical looking man he asks, "Are you also on the road to Corvis?"
You pay for the meal and quietly sit and eat as the different shifts of workers rotate through for their midday meal.
The dwarf looks over the elf and then shrugs his massive shoulders and nod in the direction of an opening that leads to a small, messy kitchen.
"Help yerself. I'm Beorc by the way. Sorry for the rough greeting, we don't get many strangers in here!"
As the party finishes their meals, they have a chance to ask some questions of the local labours.
"Well if you move quickly you might make it to the Blackriver Road. There is a small community at the junction and a new Inn. Called 'The Riverbend' or something like that."
Another patron speaks.
"The main road usually has a patrol running a 5-day shift, but who knows if that is still happening. I hear Corvis is low on guards and hiring is not going well...poor pay most likely!"
At this, another man speaks up.
"Naw, that's not it, there are all tied up for their Founding Day celebration. Was there last year, and boy-howdy what a party! I can see why they need more guards, har har har!!"
"Well met Beorc, I am Erryll. I mean that by the way, 'well met' - I do not begrudge you your surprise, nor did I find your greeting all that rough. Whiskey, coffee, food; what more do I need, the tavern master to courtsey? I think not ..."
Erryll smiles as he helps get food to his companions"I have been places where strangers are treated far far worse, you have my thanks."
Anyone who knew him could tell Erryll was thinking of home.
Looking over at the the fanatical looking man he asks, "Are you also on the road to Corvis?"
Corvis? Aye, As the Lawgiver wills it. Your feet wander in that direction it seems... but are your steps guided by His holy law?, he says guesturing a hand sign of the faithful.
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Kita ate the bread and forced down some stew, but gave her piece of pork to Agnar. She didn't eat much any more; she was rarely hungry, but she knew she needed proper food.
"Gratitude unto you, kind madam!" Agnar chortled in gay frivolity as the unexpected boon of fatty pork landed upon his plate. He nods and bows, mimicking formality.
He had tucked into the local fare with gusto. Not for the taste, but because he knew road-food can be bad and get worse still for lack of variety. That was the chief reason he had impulse-bought the haunch of goat. At some point he really should have learned how to prepare it.
Jocularity... nought but the braying of those who do not have their thoughts fixed on Holiness, rasps a deep voice with the austere strictness of a school teacher.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" the emphasized stoicism of the schoolmarm only makes the statement seem overly played, like the straight-man replying that, yes, his nose was running just before his partner delivers a well-rehearsed: "Then ya better go and catch it!"
"Ooo-ha! Indeed, that is the most jocularity I have heard to date! Well said, sirrah, well said! We shall have to watch your wit with a solid eye, sir!"
Agnar briefly pondered that if him taking it as jocularity now made the man less holy by his own standard, but that was too much thinking for him. He had promised himself that he would not think overmuch, lest he realize he has thrown all his past away and take the first coach heading straight back to where he had come from. Nay, let us put some miles under these heels before we ponder things overmuch. Speaking of which...
"Aye, Nevitash, aye. Rain or no, I would have us under the roof of The Riverbend afore dark. Beseems there is not overmuch in patrols, and we will have adventure enough without tempting nighttime rogues.
I am of a mind to ask after The Riverbend's reputation, but with the celebration going on, that will change things of course. So too, I doubt we have much choice, so I would have us make some haste and leave the rest to chance.
Best not overthink things."
The zealot scowls but as burning people... and non humans... is generally frowned on here (for now), he does little else but signal haughtily for his bill.
The zealot scowls but as burning people... and non humans... is generally frowned on here (for now), he does little else but signal haughtily for his bill.
"Agnar ... mein Freund ... hilf mir bitte: meine Götter sterben mit mehr Freude als das ... vielleicht sollte ich auch für ihn bezahlen!?"
Eyes burn with a fanatics fervor and the craggy face looks like it hasn't smiled in the last 10 years.
Kita jumped when she heard the voice. She'd spotted the Knight Exemplar on the train - briefly - and had ducked her head that he might not notice her. She was relieved that he hadn't - for she had been having a singularly jocular time.
Corvis? Aye, As the Lawgiver wills it. Your feet wander in that direction it seems... but are your steps guided by His holy law?, he says gesturing a hand sign of the faithful.
Kita flinched as Agnar choose that exact moment to make one of his weird jokes. As the ogrun turned his attention to Nevitash, Kita half-rose in her seat and bowed her head in obeisance to the Knight. Gesturing with the same sign, she said, "Greetings and well-met, Good Knight. I am Kita Samadrah, at your service, in the name of the Lawgiver. She meant it literally - it was the duty of her people to serve the church, and she would if called upon to do so.
***
Once they were settled up (she thanked Erryll and Nevitash for the drink and vittles - she made a mental note to take a turn paying once she had money again), she jammed her too-big hat down on her head, shouldered her pack, and said, "Well, shall we prove our pace to these longshanks, and make Riverbend by dark?" Making sure her pistols were settled on her hips, and her rifle was an easy reach over her shoulder, she headed back out into the rain.
While his craggy expression does not soften, his posture relaxes somewhat and he makes a sign of benediction.
Bless'ed are those who know their place at His holy feet, where there is room for all that would serve the creator of humanity and the granter of the gifts of civilisation.
He gathers his pack, strapped with armour and shield overlaying it, evidently having travelled unarmed on the train.
I am bound for Corvis. It will be good to travel with one of the faithful.
As a travel companion he travels armed while on the road, and is quiet and uncomplaining, marching as if he was prepared to march for days. He sets a brisk military pace, and when he gets too far ahead he is seen to stop to pray or softly sing snippets of hymns.
There is no god above Menoth.
There is no labor unendurable in the name of Menoth.
There is no pain unbearable in the cause of Menoth.
There is no fear unassailable with faith in Menoth.
There is no object that cannot be given up for Menoth.
There is no word other than the word of Menoth.
There is no end. There is a place for us all at the feet of Menoth.
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"Agnar ... mein Freund ... hilf mir bitte: meine Götter sterben mit mehr Freude als das ... vielleicht sollte ich auch für ihn bezahlen!?"
Agnar was whistling a soft tune, trying to come up for a thyme for 'sabotage'.
"Okay, I'll bite," he says to Mr. Bey. "What does doing something for Menoth mean? One can endure pain to protect a village from raiding raiders. However, when can also endure pain in the name of being the raiding raider.
So too, one can endure fear in the name of standing in common defense with a bunch of unbelievers. Of course, one can also stand against a bunch of unbelieving heretics with leave to do anything you want to them, on account of them being heretics.
On which side of the fence do you come down?"
Rosaleen had been taking bites of food in between scrawling symbols in her notebook as she tried to work out a piece of the formula she had gotten from the stranger on the train. Bits and pieces of the conversation floated in one ear and out the other without much notice since a lot of it seemed to be religious in nature.
The scraping of chair legs on the floor signalled to the alchemist that the others were getting ready to leave. "We headed for Riverbend, then?" She collected her things and followed Kita outside.
She rearranged her backpack straps so that they didn't impede her reaching for any of the grenades secured into her bandolier. Her hands then tapped other of her items in turn to make sure they were still there...gas mask, key to her alchemist's field kit, formula book tucked in an inner pocket, and belt pouch for collecting plants. Once reassured, her pace quickened to keep up with the others.
"How long have you all been traveling together? Many of you seem to have familiarity with each other."
"Okay, I'll bite," he says to Mr. Bey. "What does doing something for Menoth mean? One can endure pain to protect a village from raiding raiders. However, when can also endure pain in the name of being the raiding raider.So too, one can endure fear in the name of standing in common defense with a bunch of unbelievers. Of course, one can also stand against a bunch of unbelieving heretics with leave to do anything you want to them, on account of them being heretics.
On which side of the fence do you come down?"
The priest seems to go through an internal struggle, possibly judging the sincerity of the question and weighing it against the opportunity for continued blasphemy... and the likelihood of bloodshed. One thing seemed certain, he was not one for humorous debate and light conversation on religious matters.
Righteous Endurance is in following His Holy dictates and Law, not in mere endurance for endurances sake, he rasps.
He continues his sermon relying on the crunch of the road under his boots to provide a narrative cadence to his lession, The primary service we can render and SHOULD render unto Him, is obedience. Menoth has laid laws for conduct of children to parents, wife to husband, families to clans and clans to the State. Likewise he has laid divine governance of our lives to each other in Trade, in Government, in Faith, and The Holy Church, much of which fortunately combines in one, to guide much of our lives.
Sacrifice to obey the dictates of Law, sanctifies the individual, state and Church alike.
If I were to convey His message in few words? It is this. Let he who has ears, let him hear.
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Righteous Endurance is in following His Holy dictates and Law, not in mere endurance for endurances sake, he rasps.
He continues his sermon relying on the crunch of the road under his boots to provide a narrative cadence to his lession, The primary service we can render and SHOULD render unto Him, is obedience. Menoth has laid laws for conduct of children to parents, wife to husband, families to clans and clans to the State. Likewise he has laid divine governance of our lives to each other in Trade, in Government, in Faith, and The Holy Church, much of which fortunately combines in one, to guide much of our lives.
Sacrifice to obey the dictates of Law, sanctifies the individual, state and Church alike.
If I were to convey His message in few words? It is this. Let he who has ears, let him hear.
"Okay. Gotcha!" Agnar acknowledges. A part of him thought about pointing out the lack of details of what, exactly, were the nature of the services rendered, be it protection of the weak, or, well, subjugation of the weak. But he could pick up on the subtle hints that continued discussion about the man's beliefs wasn't high on his list of Fun Things To Do.
Besides, there were zealots enough in the Grey's. He had eaten his fill of that table, and found it not to his liking.
"How long have you all been traveling together? Many of you seem to have familiarity with each other."
"Oh, ha! Please, if I give that impression, be not fooled. I am...trying new things. And pretending at familiarity with strangers instead of treating old friends with a cold stoicism is one of those things.
I know -of- Kita more than I know her. She just, sort of, put things in a new light, and it was the snowflake that started an avalanche, philosophically speaking.
And Nevitash I take as a brother based on relation of spirit. My, um, our people are not known for their wanderlust. To meet another on the road without their tribe is a rare thing, so I accept that we are kindred spirits at face value. That he has proven a fine man is just gravy.
And yes, we are headed for Riverbend, the creek don't rise and the bridge don't break, as the saying goes."
I know -of- Kita more than I know her. She just, sort of, put things in a new light, and it was the snowflake that started an avalanche, philosophically speaking.
Kita looked offended. "We did that one job together. That counts as knowing me. Well, as co-workers at least."
She turned to Rosaleen and said, "I'm a member of the Warder's Guild. So I've worked with all sorts, all around the southwest. I showed Agnar the ropes a while back. And Erryll and I been working together off and on for more than a year now. He's the reason I'm here - he's got business in Corvis, and told me it would "be fun"." She made exaggerated air quotes with her fingers. "So far, I ain't overwhelmed."
Eying Rosaleen's gear, she asked, "What brings you to this corner of nowhere?"
I know -of- Kita more than I know her. She just, sort of, put things in a new light, and it was the snowflake that started an avalanche, philosophically speaking.Kita looked offended. "We did that one job together. That counts as knowing me. Well, as co-workers at least."
She turned to Rosaleen and said, "I'm a member of the Warder's Guild. So I've worked with all sorts, all around the southwest. I showed Agnar the ropes a while back. And Erryll and I been working together off and on for more than a year now. He's the reason I'm here - he's got business in Corvis, and told me it would "be fun"." She made exaggerated air quotes with her fingers. "So far, I ain't overwhelmed."
Eying Rosaleen's gear, she asked, "What brings you to this corner of nowhere?"
"I need to be really honest Rosaleen, in fairness to this whole experience: I think if breakfast hadn't been pork, Kita would be in a MUCH better mood. She might be perkier if the one-word menu had been something other than "Whiskey" also. Just around the Riverbend ... I am READY!!"
Eying Rosaleen's gear, she asked, "What brings you to this corner of nowhere?"
Rosaleen stares off into the distance at Kita's question. "After everything that happened back in Llael, I've become a wanderer. No physical home left so I take home with me wherever I go." If possible she looks even more somber than before when she adds, "A guy brought me close to this corner of nowhere. We moved around a lot before parting ways. Now I go where the wind takes me."
"I need to be really honest Rosaleen, in fairness to this whole experience: I think if breakfast hadn't been pork, Kita would be in a MUCH better mood. She might be perkier if the one-word menu had been something other than "Whiskey" also. Just around the Riverbend ... I am READY!!"
The alchemist almost cracks a smile at the elf's words, "So Kita has specifics to her type of hangry...it mustn't include pork or whiskey. Good to know. I'll make a note."
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The talking as you hurry up the rough trail helps take your mind off the miserable weather, but as it begins to grow dark and there is still no sign of the Blackriver Road or the Inn, you begin to get concerned. As the sun slowly dips below the horizon, the temperature also drops, and soon you can all see your breath pluming out before you in the cold air.
Passive Perception rolls:
Kita-14
Agnar - 14
Erryll - 14
Rosaleen - 12
Mohammed - 15
Nevitash - 13
roll:
As you move forward, you are suddenly aware of noises coming from the right and left sides of the path, just in the thickets and long grass that borders the route. It is easily identified as people moving and not-so-quietly hushing each other. You have halted about ten feet before this "ambush" area.
Nevitash was holding his heavy coat tightly to him but slips one hand in to a strange looking wrench that he has beneath his cloak. "A fine night it is. But it would go much better for you lot if you were to just slink off into those bushes and stay there." The large ogren calls out to the brush as those in ambush were probably humans and any local law may not appreciate an ogren killing humans even if they were brigands.
Banditry is against the law... and in this case? Punishable by death! Sitting in the bushes doing nothing just makes you a wierdo but you'll remain living!, says the Menothite as he loads his crossbow.
Kita's pistols were in her hands before her brain had finished processing the sounds of ambush. "Y'all are gonna find that we ain't easy pickin's." Kita said, keeping her back to Erryll out of habit. She scanned the left side of the trail, trusting Erryll to take the right. As for their new trailmates, she'd see how they handled themselves.
"Best come on out slowly, and we can all go our separate paths without this coming to bloodshed."
Rosaleen pulled one of her flash bang grenades from her bandolier and held it at the ready to lob into the bushes if their would-be bandits didn't listen to reason.
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Kita's pistols were in her hands before her brain had finished processing the sounds of ambush. "Y'all are gonna find that we ain't easy pickin's." Kita said, keeping her back to Erryll out of habit. She scanned the left side of the trail, trusting Erryll to take the right. As for their new trailmates, she'd see how they handled themselves.
"Best come on out slowly, and we can all go our separate paths without this coming to bloodshed."
[dice= help Mohammed intimidate]1d20+3
Erryll scans down the right hand side of the trail, also interested to see their new comrades in action
" ... or .... come out crazy, and learn a little bit about how magic can be part of your life, for a moment."
"It's always a good day when reason prevails," Rosaleen declared. "However, if you don't hold to your word then you will be paying a high price for your deception."
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"Cowards die in SHAME!" Agnar barks without thinking when the skuldugerous whispers reach him. But then he shakes his head. 'No, I...I don't have to do that now.'
He thinks of something else. What would someone who didn't say that first thing say now?
"Um, er, I mean...Mercy is a sign of weakness!"
'Okay, maybe I have to work on this a little.'
His guns are already out and he's moving right, past Erryll, extending the flank.
In his left hand is already the hand repeater. Blitzen is a good gun, but it's not his issue.
His issued Magegun in his right hand, ready and willing as always. It is
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"A Man who has NOTHING can still have FAITH!
A Man who has NOTHING can still offer his LIFE!"
'That doesn't seem "very" suitable for this discussion. How about I try something else?'
"Erm, ah, I mean, we have no way way of knowing if you're being serious or if you're just being patronizing.
Why don't you at least come out and show yourselves so we can discuss this like civilized folk?
And, like, I do mean all of you. You can see us, so isn't it fair that we can see you?"
'Then when they are out of cover they can be neutralized in good order...is totally something I don't have to think.'
In the Order, there was a very technical term for the apearance of spell runes; students though, just called it 'rune creep' -- no different than loading a pistol really, magic comes when it is called ...
... and there were other well aligned terms too. While Erryll wasn't the worst at this, he wasn't the best either; his 'rune face' matched his rune-glow in almost every case, and in THIS case, non-magical folks might even say Trigger Happy: Erryll was ready to open fire.
"Please do come out, slowly and calmly. Thankfully this isn't Ios, and I will not be foresworn if we let you live."
Kita elbowed Erryll, and jerked her head further up the path. She didn't need the rogues to come out, she just needed them not to attack.
Keeping her pistols aimed into the bushes, she began to walk slowly sideways, edging up the path. She was fairly certain they wouldn't attack - there was too much risk for no certain gain.
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The voice from the thickets is quiet for a little while you assume they digest all the threats and offers. Finally, the voice calls out once again.
"OK, if we come out, you promise not to kill us...right?"
One by one several dishevelled men and women exit the overgrown ditches to either side of the road. All are ragged and dirty. Armed with an assortment of weapons, including a few rusty pistols, the group looks more like poor villagers than brigands.
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'Educate men without Faith and you but make clever devils.'
The thought rung in his mind. He knew what has happening here. Bandits, marauders, highwaymen. Call them what you will but these were people without remorse, without regret, who had left their morals on the altar of greed. The only reason they weren't shooting at them is they had not expected a full hand of armed adults.
But what of the next group? What of the family? What about a man and his woman, a pack of rugrats in tow and their life savings in their shoulders? Would they receive the same deference the bandits were now showing.
He thought of a wife being violated and the children killed while the husband was tortured and forced to watch and his blood began to boil.
Still, perhaps they could be neutralized without blood? But how?
"Wir können sie nicht einfach verlassen." Agnar calls out to the group, aware that most of them had shown to speak his native tongue. "Was ist mit der nächsten Band nach uns? Ihr Blut wird an unseren Händen kleben. Was wäre, wenn wir sie mitnehmen würden? Vielleicht konnten sie einmal in Riverbend zu ehrlicher Arbeit überredet werden?
Ich würde sie lieber tot sehen als zurückgelassen, um Böses über die Welt zu säen."
"We can't just leave them. What about the next band after us? Their blood will be on our hands. What if we took them with us? Perhaps once at Riverbend they could be persuaded into honest work?
I would rather see them dead then left to sow evil upon the world."
Nevitash sighs and nods as he says, "Sie haben Recht, aber wir sind nicht zuständig und wurden nicht angeheuert, um hier zu patrouillieren. Also müssen wir aufpassen, dass wir auch nicht als Banditen untergehen."
Then in Taldane he says, "You are a sad looking lot. What drove you to this path? You should come with us and we can look to find you some honest work before you hurt others and get hurt in return."
Be ye not sinners and live, he says breaking out some hard tack and dried fruit rations. He handed it to the men to distribute among their number while he waited for their reply.
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Seeing that the "bandits" were not terribly dangerous looking, Kita holstered her pistols. Seeing the bewildered look on Rosaleen's face, she leaned over to her and whispered, "The big guys are debating whether to gun them down or not. I'm firmly in the avoiding cold-blooded murder category."
She watched, bemused, as the Knight fed the hungry. If she'd had anything to give, she would have. At least, since he was looking, she would have.
As she waited, she continued on with her conversation as though it hadn't been interrupted. "So, you followed a fella out here, then he legged it? Well, his loss, our gain." She looked over to Agnar, still speaking to Nevitash. "He's another leaf in the wind. Seems I collect those."
Erryl turns to Kita, clearly trying to suppress the threat-resonse of the rune-glow ...
"Do me a favor? Maybe give this to the knight and ask him to charge their leader with feeding their people with it?"
Erryll hands his friend 5 gold coins
"I hope it will help."
Erryl turns to Kita, clearly trying to suppress the threat-resonse of the rune-glow ...
"Do me a favor? Maybe give this to the knight and ask him to charge their leader with feeding their people with it?"
Erryll hands his friend 5 gold coins
"I hope it will help."
Kita had mostly had her back to Erryll, and hadn't realized just how ready he was to fight. What he called his "rune glow" was at what she would call "pre-massacre". He was clearly fighting it, which was good, but at this point, not yet a sure thing.
Ignoring the money for the moment, she took his "spell hand" in hers and intertwined his fingers in hers. With her other hand, she ran her fingers along his forehead, around his left ear, and down his neck, until he shivered. The rune-glow began to lessen (though another glow took light in his eyes), and she slowly released his hand. "You good?"
Presenting the donation to Mohammed, she said, "An offering, Sir Knight, for the needy."
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The would-be brigands seem shocked at the party's quick change from murderous vigilantes, to caring do-gooders.
"Umm..errr, thanks? It be hard times and sometimes people are forced to do things that maybe, given any other choice, they would never do. The war took much from all of us..."
The man trails off and accepts a small portion of food from the warrior priest. One of the woman actually responds with a few words of Menite scripture and kisses the warrior's hand...a common enough gesture in the old Protectorate, but somewhat out of place in the wilds of Cygnar.
Erryl turns to Kita, clearly trying to suppress the threat-resonse of the rune-glow ...
"Do me a favor? Maybe give this to the knight and ask him to charge their leader with feeding their people with it?"
Erryll hands his friend 5 gold coins
"I hope it will help."
Kita had mostly had her back to Erryll, and hadn't realized just how ready he was to fight. What he called his "rune glow" was at what she would call "pre-massacre". He was clearly fighting it, which was good, but at this point, not yet a sure thing.
Ignoring the money for the moment, she took his "spell hand" in hers and intertwined his fingers in hers. With her other hand, she ran her fingers along his forehead, around his left ear, and down his neck, until he shivered. The rune-glow began to lessen (though another glow took light in his eyes), and she slowly released his hand. "You good?"
Presenting the donation to Mohammed, she said, "An offering, Sir Knight, for the needy."
Erryll takes a very deep breath as he looks at Kita
"Gracias cara mia, tus ayuda es siempre calmante <3"
dot
The coins are also handed over and prayers said over the faithful.
Follow the law if you would call yourself Leader, he rebukes the erstwhile spokesman. A bad decision here, even born of desperation could have meant the death of you all. I would have felt no pity or remorse had you attacked. None. In fact I would have strung you all up as an object lession! Hie you towards the town and if need be even sell yourselves into indentured servitude for a season... better that then to be cast into the Ur-Caen without Menoth!
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Agnar observes the goings on, then stands awhile in ulfish thought.
"So, why not come with us?" he asks of the seven would-be bandits. "There is nothing for you here. But we are headed for the new inn. Surely at a busy cross-roads with a big building going up -somebody- must think that there is money to be made. And new investment means jobs.
Surely even the prospect of honest jobs is better than...whatever you have around here?" Agnar turns about, motioning to the nothing around them.
"That's the best way to stay out of trouble, you know! The best way to stay out of the way of someone," he stares down at White Death, feeling it's desire to spout death and be done with it, "well, of someone like me. And we'll be back, if you go back. You know that."
Then he brightens and faces the people with a smile again. "And with some food and half'a-platinum of grubstake, you can find rooms and provisions until your work starts paying off. What a great time to start a new leaf!
Whadayasay?"
Rosaleen was about to answer Kita when their would-be attackers finally answered the others. She watched their exchange while putting her grenade back into place in her bandolier.
The war took much from all of us...
Different waves of emotion hit Rosaleen with those eight words. Sympathy because she related to doing what you had to do to survive after losing everything. Anger that somehow their situation justified victimizing others who had also lost everything. Weariness at it all and sadness that things won’t change with words.
”Whether they come with us or not, we should keep going. It’s only getting later and I’d rather sleep in a bed for a few hours than camp out here.”
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Shaking his head, the leader of the ragged band seems even more morose.
"We tried, but there are no places for us. They chased us away...there are too many people wandering the roads and not enough willing to help. We will carry on to the train and perhaps we can work on the rails...'
The group slowly gathers together and begins to move on down the path in the dark, cold rain.
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Kita breathed a sigh of relief as the ragged band of "bandits" made their way in the opposite direction. She was relieved that it wasn't necessary to kill them, but she didn't want to travel with them either.
As they began to move again, she sidled up to Rosaleen. "Any chance you speak Iosan? Erryll's been teaching me, but it ain't an easy language. He calls me "cara mia", but I'm pretty sure cara means face. That's weird, right? But languages got all sorts of weird expressions. Maybe he's calling be pretty? Got any ideas?"
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The gloom engulfs the party as they trudge along the path in the cold rain. About an hour after their run-in with the displaced peasants, a light illuminates the hazy horizon. Within another half hour, the group can make out the lines of a large building...almost barn-like, but with a porch and several main-floor windows, from which a welcoming glow emanates. A sign over the main entrance denotes this place as the "Riverbend Inn".
"About time..." Nevitash grumbles as he speeds up to head towards the entrance to the inn in the hopes of a hot drink and food and a warm bath.
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Agnar nods amicably as the would-be bandits discuss a future plan that does not involve banditry.
Still, his base impulses are unsatisfied that a few lives were not taken as righteous retribution, and it is only as the group has started down the road that he comes to his senses and catches up.
At the inn he wastes no time in following Nevitash inside
The priest seems no more or less eager than before at the prospect of the inn but trudges towards it...