Cailyn makes a very unheroic noise as she stumbles back, firing her crossbow almost on reflex.
Her bulbous friend doesn't need any more encouragement to attempt to eat the raider he is attempting to do so with.
Flori shrieks in pain as blood spurts everywhere and vanishes for a split second before appearing 10 ft to her left, surprised and just a little disorientated.
Orchid dodges axes and closes her jaws on another mans leg before savagely tearing backwards and leaving the ulfen on the ground with blood pouring out of him.
Vigny catches Tazio as he's finishing his night watch. He's helping hitch up the horses as his last task before getting a couple hours of sleep in one of the wagons as they begin the day's travel.
"I hate horses," he says with a grin and a shrug in Vigny's direction as he's tightening up one of the harnesses. "And they hate me right back." As if on cue, one of the animals in question grabs the man's dark braid in its teeth and gives it a hearty tug, nearly pulling him off his feet. He retrieves his hair from the horse's mouth and points. "See?!" He laughs and the horse nickers.
~~~~
Vigny slashes at one of the warriors threatening Cailyn and he cries out in pain. Flori magically moves away from the Ulfen that targeted her.
Orchid tears into another attacker, bringing him down to the ground as well.
----------------------------------
Round 3
Cailyn finishes off Vigny's target with a well-placed crossbow bolt and her frog ends the cries and embarassment of the one wrapped in his tongue.
Orchid's prey attempts to rise and meets the same fate as his brother as she snaps at him, ending his life.
The one remaining Ulfen attacking Orchid seems intimidated enough that his attack is barely lackluster and misses the woman in her wolf-form. More curses and rude epithets echo out from the mist as some of the attackers still stumble around blindly.
Flori's opponent is joined by one from the mist and between the two of them, she takes another nasty axe-gash. Down to a vicious one-on-one, Cailyn manages to avoid another axe-swing.
Orchid lands yet another bite but this time her opponent is better centred and she can't drag him down. The wolf doesn't seem even mildly deterred though.
Vigny moves onward to the the next raider threatening Flori while she casts again. Upon arrival she cleaves at him with her sword, a massive overhead swing downward at his head.
"You know what I think? I think the horses know you hate them and they think it's funny. So, they're messing with you, trying to get your goat. How else are they going to entertain themselves when they just pull wagons all day?"
Walking over, Vigny starts assisting Tazio.
"I can help with the horses if you like. I get along pretty well with animals."
While she and Tazio are busy with the horses, Vigny keeps an eye out for where Sandru might be. It would help if she can find a time when he'll reliably be somewhere within sight. Bringing him up with Tazio would seem more natural if there's a prompt of that sort so the subject of Sandru doesn't come out of nowhere.
Yelling out in frustration, Flori looks for the closest threat and a bright burst of the rainbow erupts from her out stretched arms.
Cailyn's heart hammers in her chest, fear makes her want to scream (again), but somehow she manages to keep away from the axe. An axe her keen eyes catch does not look clean enough for food prep, not that it matters for hacking into her body, but it seems even worse in a way.
The combination of her fear and misplaced thought patterns makes her attempt to fire her crossbow at this enemy go wide.
Her wonderful frog friend tries to catch her opponent with his big tongue, but the chaos is too great.
Then the thundering bounces rock the ground as it comes to help the one that loved it so much so long ago.
Orchid tears through another attacker, his lifeless body falling to the ground. Flori's blade does the same to one of Flori's opponents, opening his head up like a ripe melon. Flori sends a blast of magical swirling colors washing over both her and Cailyn's remaining attackers. One of them collapses unconscious.
----------------------------------
Round 4
Cailyn's bolt vanishes into the cold mist, failing to find its target.
One of the remaining attackers yells out, "Hörfðu þig!" Retreat! The cry is taken up and the attackers turn and flee back into the concealing mist.
----------------------------------
Combat Ends!
Checking in with the rest of the caravan reveals some injuries, but nothing life threatening. Gathering up the remains of the defeated culminates in eighteen ulfen bodies and one unconscious prisoner. The attackers wore chain shirts and carried traditional Ulfen axes and spears. Each one was also wearing a gold armband with an embossed lion's head .
When the unconscious attacker finally awakens, he glares at you, spits on the ground at your feet and then presses his lips together indicating that he has nothing to say.
"You might be right about that," Tazio replies with a shrug of his shoulder. He adjusts his braid and then glances over to where Vigny can see Sandru prepping his own horse for travel. "I just wish Sandru would assign me something else so the nasty beasts could take their boredom out on someone that deserves it."
Wolf-Orchid, muzzle still stained with blood, prowls over to the still living ulfen and bares her teeth.
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Leanings back she changes the subject away from Orchid, while filing away an observation for later.
"So, you hate dealing with the horses and you're just waiting around hoping that Sandru will switch your duties? Why don't you ask him? Can't hurt right?"
Vigny narrows her eyes, doing the clever expression again. But this time she's almost smug.
"I know Sandru very well you know. He's seems like he's all business all the time. But under the surface he's a big softy. Usually men, actually women too, who are so devastating good looking aren't very nice, but he is. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he changed you to something else if it's possible."
"Until you ask him though, I can help you out with the horses."
Later in the day Vigny catches Orchid as she skulks about doing whatever it is that Orchid does. She's positioned herself to be leaning on a wagon with her thumbs jammed into her belt looking all casual.
"Hey Orchid, come here for a minute."
Vigny is smiling when Orchid comes over.
"I think I know what you're doing. You're putting the horses up to giving Tazio a hard time aren't you? If you are, can you stop it please? It's causing problems."
Vigny collects one of the armbands and goes to speak with the new prisoner. She sits down on the ground across from him very friendly and places her tankard on the ground in front of her crossed legs.
"Veistu, þessi litla árás þín var ekki mjög klár. Ég er með töluna núna, átján af þínu fólki eru látnir. Okkur megin, nokkrar skrámur."
"You know, that little raid of yours wasn't very smart. I have the tally now, eighteen of your people dead. On our side, a few scratches."
She shakes her head sadly.
"Þetta er algjört sóun. Og það hefði mátt koma í veg fyrir þetta með smá njósnum af þinni hálfu. Þú hefðir fljótt áttað þig á því að þú ættir engan möguleika í helvíti. Þetta yrði aldrei nálægt sanngjörnum bardaga."[/spoiler]
"It's a real waste. And it could have been avoided with a little scouting on your part. You'd have quickly realized you didn't have a chance in hell. It wasn't ever going to be close to a fair fight."
Vigny fills her tankard with ale using an enchanted word and gesture. She lifts it and holds it out for the warrior so he can sip.
"Ég ímynda mér að þú sért þyrstur. Drekktu. Allavega, eins og ég var að segja, ef þú hefðir nennt að fylgjast með okkur fyrst hefðirðu vitað að sverð mitt skín skært með heilagri blessun hins heppna drykkfellda. Þessi sem kom og urraði á þig? Hún étur sig bara í gegnum fólk meira og minna. Við höfum líka nóg af galdri. Og við getum barist úr fjarlægð. Við höfum alla mögulega kosti."
"I'd imagine you're thirsty. Drink. Anyway, like I was saying, if you'd bothered to watch us at all first you'd have known that my sword shines bright with the holy blessing of the Lucky Drunk. That one who came by and snarled at you? She more or less just eats her way through people. We have plenty of magic too. And we can fight at range. We hold every possible advantage."
"Ég er að vera góður við þig að hluta til vegna þess að það er langt síðan ég hef verið í Linnorm konungsríkjunum og er spenntur að koma aftur. Mér þykir líka svolítið vænt um þig og vini þína og hversu illa þið klúðruðuð þessu, eða voruð klúðrað. Þið eruð öll með þessi armbönd, og þau eru ekki ódýr. Kannski tilheyrið þið öll klúbbi, en þar sem þau eru úr gulli held ég að þið eigið öll yfirmann sem afhenti þau. Og kannski varstu bara að sigla framhjá rétt þegar við vorum að setja upp tjaldbúðir fyrir nóttina. En það er ótrúlega mikil tilviljun held ég. Ég held ekki að yfirmaðurinn þinn hafi verið með þér í þessum bátum. Ég held að þú hafir verið sendur án þess að þér hafi verið sagt nokkuð um hvers konar geitungahreiður þú varst að ganga inn í. Þetta fær mig til að trúa því að yfirmaðurinn þinn sé annað hvort frekar heimskur, eða að yfirmaðurinn þinn meti þig ekki, kannski jafnvel hvort tveggja."
"I'm being nice to you partially because it's been a long time since I've been in the Linnorm Kingdoms and I'm excited about coming back. I also feel a little bad for you and your pals and how badly you screwed up, or got screwed over. All of you are wearing these armbands, and they're not cheap ones. Maybe you all belong to a club, but since these are gold I'm thinking you all have a boss who handed them out. And maybe you just happened to be cruising by right when we were setting up camp for the night. But that's an awfully big coincidence I think. I don't think your boss was with you in those boats. I think you were sent without being told anything at all about what kind of hornet's nest you were walking into. This makes me believe your boss is either quite dumb, or your boss doesn't value you, maybe even both."
Vigny sets the tankard back on the ground and sighs with sympathy for the warrior.
"Hvort heldur sem er, slæmur yfirmaður. Ekki sú tegund yfirmanns sem stríðsmaður með sjálfsvirðingu myndi bera hollustu gagnvart. Allavega, það sem ég er að fara að hér er þetta. Það myndi hjálpa þér eins og þú myndir ekki einu sinni trúa því að segja okkur hvers vegna þú mættir og réðst á okkur. Nú, ef þú gerir það ekki getum við aldrei sleppt þér. Nú, ég mun ekki meiða þig, ég hef mín heit til að íhuga. Ég efast um að nokkur annar hér myndi gera það heldur. Með einni undantekningu. Ungfrú tennur og klær, sem heitir Orchid. Ein af okkar fólki sem slasaðist er systir hennar. Ekkert alvarlegt, en það mun ekki skipta Orchid máli. Þegar við drögum þig með okkur, munu allir venjast því að þú sért hér. Á einhverjum tímapunkti mun einhver gleyma því, eða vera kærulaus. En hún mun ekki gleyma því í eina sekúndu. Þegar þessi opnun birtist, mun hún nýta sér það. Hún mun bókstaflega opna þig og hella innyflum þínum á jörðina á meðan þú ert á lífi og horfir á það gerast. Það verður mjög, mjög sárt og ljótt. Ráð mitt til þín, ef þú vilt forðast þá framtíð, er að gera þig að góðum vini núna svo við getum byrjað að finna lausn á því hvernig þú getur losnað við þetta áður en Orchid nær að ná þér. Hvað segirðu?"
"Either way, a bad boss. Not the kind of boss a warrior with any self-respect would feel loyalty to. Anyway, what I'm getting to here is this. It would help you like you wouldn't even believe to tell us why you showed up and attacked us. If you don't we can't possibly ever let you go. Now, I won't harm you, I have my vows to consider. I doubt anyone else here would either. With one exception. Miss teeth and claws, named Orchid. One of our people who was injured is her sister. Nothing serious, but that won't matter to Orchid. As we haul you around with us, everyone will get used to you being around. At some point somebody is going to forget, or be careless. But Orchid isn't going to forget for a second. She will be waiting and watching. When that opening appears, she's going to take advantage. She will literally open you up and spill your guts on the ground while you're alive and watching it happen. It will be very, very painful and ugly. My advice to you, if you wish to avoid that future, is to ingratiate yourself to us now so we can get to work coming up with some solution for how you can walk away from this before Orchid can get to you. What do you say?"
Cailyn hugs her now huge friend one last time before he pops out of existence "thank you and and I sorry I let you get stepped on." she whispers into his bulk.
Then she is at Flori's blood soaked side "Don't die, it was make us all sad, me especially and you are a hero, saving me with that amazing spell, and heroes don't die until the end of the story and we are not there yet." Cailyn squeezes her hand, giving her a tired smile, before leaning in with her hand cupped to say "Getting attacked with axes was not fun, don't you agree. Which leads me to question now how the rest of our little group seems to enjoy the whole Melee thing so much. We are much more sensible, preferring our normal place happily behind the others, Tactically applying magical aid and proper application of crossbow bolts"
Flori swallows and squeezes her friend's hand back, more grateful than Cailyn can ever know for the companionship and inane chatter to distract her from the deep cuts across her shoulder and torso.
She laughs a little at Cailyn's statement which quickly turns into a grimace of pain.
"I really.....I want to lie down." She manages.
"Oh, my. I am scattered. Did I tell you that I was studying the potions the other day, reaching into the past like one does to see how they were created? Well I was, and and well I now can... well, you'll see." Cailyn reaches out, tentatively touching her wounds and heals her.
The man glares at Vigny with disdain as she does her best to bring him around to her way of thinking.
"I refuse to speak with soft southerners like you. You are less than the waste of dogs under my boot," he finally replies in heavily accented Taldane. "Go back to your weak friends. I am of the people of strength and will. I will say no more. I have kept my oath and my place is secured."
~~~~
Once Orchid has returned to her humanoid shape, she finds herself under Ameiko's scrutinizing gaze. Her look of concern at the blood staining the shifter's face and neck quickly shifts to humor and affection once she determines that none of it is Orchid's.
"You're a vicious brute, aren't you?" she questions with a laugh. "I'm just glad you're okay. I'm going to check everyone else. You need a bath."
~~~~
As Cailyn is magically dealing with Flori's injuries, the two woman are joined by Koya being led by Spivey.
"See? Big people can't seem to do anything without spilling blood over ... everything!" the celestial declares, throwing up her hands in seeming frustration.
"Yes, yes," Koya says with a caring nod. She slowly kneels next to Flori and finishes up her healing with a warm hand. "You need to be more careful, Little One," she says.
"That's what I say! But no one listens to Spivey." The tiny woman turns to Cailyn. "And I suppose you've been bashed and bloodied as well?" she questions, looking the occultist up and down with poorly veiled concern.
Clearly the spirit of mischief is not completely dealt with though as Orchid waits for Vigny to turn away before speaking again. "Sandy like mint things. Sneaks from horses. Is good gift to him."
By the time Vigny has turned Orchid is already loping away, a single word floating back over her shoulder.
"Welcome!"
-------------------------------------
Orchid manages an awkward smile as Ameiko walks away and then sits down on the floor with a thump. Her command of language has never been the strongest, but she understands more than she speaks and brute is a word that strikes much harder than she would have expected.
A few minutes later she wanders down to the river, shucks off her clothes without concern for the cold and jumps into the river. The cold stings, but it doesn't hurt. Not as much as the pain in her chest at least.
The next day she lopes up the caravan to reach Sandru. "Sandy? Talk? Please?"
Sandru slows his horse at Orchid's request.
"What would you like to talk about?" he questions with a friendly smile.
Cailyn stands back to let the expert deal with the wounds and looks over at herself, trying to see as much as possible "No, um, looks like I managed avoid any bashing. Not with an abundance of skill of course, simply panicked enough to be completely unpredictable I think." she smiles at the little one, not a bit of embarrassment shown at her self proclaimed ineptitude.
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Vigny frowns slightly at Tazio's unwillingness to talk with Sandru about the situation.
"Sure, what he says goes in an emergency. And he could decide not to change anything if you asked. But, I'm not saying you go demand something or else. He's the caravan leader and you work for him. You can have conversations about things you'd like to see changed. That's not at all some kind of challenge to his authority. It's just a request, part of being free versus being a slave. Give it some thought."
It's about then when Vigny realizes Tazio's face has gone a bit red.
"Oh, it's nothing to get upset about... Oh wait, you're blushing aren't you? Why are you blushing?"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vigny's brow furrows with befuddlement as Orchid walks away.
Who's Sandy? Is that the name of one of the horses? No, maybe not since Sandy is taking the horses' mint... The horses have mint? Where do they keep it?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vigny takes the captured raider's quite rude refusal to cooperate very well, maybe. She sighs, takes her tankard, and gets up off the ground.
"Well, I've done what I can to help you. You know what you need to if you decide to survive. You might have a few days to think about changing your mind, it's hard to say. Best of luck to you."
Vigny turns to go, but then stops and turns back to add something else.
"You know, your very flowery words about how you refuse to speak to me are funny. Partially because you spoke to me in order to tell me you wouldn't speak to me instead of not simply not speaking. Mostly though it's what you told me with your spoken refusal to speak."
"If I were wrong about you having a boss who is stupid and who finds no value in you and your dead pals, and instead you all just happened by at the right time to impulsively choose disaster for yourselves, you would have told me so to make me look foolish. You didn't so I know I'm right."
"You're unlikely to make it long enough to see for yourself, so be aware of this. We know now that your boss is out there, too stupid to go into hiding or flee before us. We're not going to let an unprovoked assault on us pass unanswered. We'll be going on the hunt for your boss, and we'll be ready now if more attempts against us are made. You've seen what we can do when we're not ready, imagine what we will do now that we are."
Vigny goes down on one knee and takes the man's boots off him.
"These are for the fire. If you think we're the soft waste of dogs beneath the boots you no longer even have, be assured you and the likes of you will be the blood beneath mine. This includes whoever you made that oath to, nothing but cold, rotting meat and blood after we've rolled over them. And you can sleep tonight knowing that your stupid inability to understand the difference between refusing to speak and talking a bunch about refusing to speak is how your oath doomed the person you swore it to."
Vigny walks away carrying the boots and chucks them on the fire.
Oddly perhaps, the ulfen warrior disappears during the night. Morning comes and a trail of bare feet leads to the river. There is no further sign of the man and, stranger still, no sign that he slipped his bonds first.
-----------------------------
"Know am not smart." Orchid says finally. "Not like Flori. Not po-lite but not brute. Not monster. Just wolf. Just me. How be better Sandy? I..." Her voice drops even lower. "Like her. Ameiko. Like like. But she say 'brute'. Not like me. Sandy, what do?"
It might be the longest speech Orchid has given in years. It's certainly the most heartfelt - and probably covers topics that Sandru (quite reasonably) hoped he'd never have to deal with from his little sister.
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"Well ... good. Keep being unpredictable," Spivey replies. "Too many people think they're smarter than death."
~~~~
Tazio turns away and lifts his hood to hide his face.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he says. "I just want to do what Sandru asks me to do. He's ... he's in charge. He's my boss. He's ... "
The man's shoulder's slump.
"He's everything I want. I want to be everything he needs."
~~~~
Sandru sighs.
"O, Ameiko. De ce îmi faci viața așa grea?" he mutters under his breath. "Look, Kid," he says to Orchid. "I can tell you that in spite of being able to tell a riveting story and quite capable of keeping her audience enthralled with her music, Ameiko sometimes plays a little rough with words." He puts his hand on the girl's shoulder. "If she called you a brute, then she did so with affection. I can't tell you how many times she's called me a bastard in colorful ways. She's not criticizing you. It's just playful banter and sometimes she goes too far. Talk to her. Tell her that you don't like that word and I promise she will never use it regarding you ever again."
~~~~
Monday, 20th of Sarenith, 4711 AR (day 35)
The trading city of Kalsgard.
Upon arriving in the city, Sandru immediately moves the caravan into the city's Bone Quarters to camp among the others of its kind in order to avoid further attention. He suggests that the four of you to arrange your own quarters within the hustle and bustle of the city to throw off any suspicion. Ameiko agrees, suggesting that the caravan surreptitiously make preparations for the journey over the Crown of the World.
The caravan journey ended up being an odd repetitive experience where they had so many unknown answers ahead of them but so many monotonous tasks each day. Flori took time each morning with her much beloved horse gifted by Orchid to decompress away from the others, but was definitely glad when she could feel they were reaching the city.
She felt more awake here than she had done in days with the bracing chill and unfamiliar smells of a new place.
Everything was new with rather intriguing yet loud traders and street hawkers shouting prices in accents she couldn't place. She could feel that her cheeks were pink from the cold so she bought a striped knitted hat with a big floppy pom-pom on top within 10 minutes of arrival.
Flori suggested they find an inn, and after wandering a little, finds The Golden Hall, drawn in by the roaring Hearth she spotted through the window. It didn’t have the coziness of the Rusty Dragon but the fire in the hearth was enough for now.
"Will this do?" She asks, looking at the others. "Get a room here and maybe ask around. Seems like theres people from other places here so we might not stand out too much and can ask some questions."
"We order the biggest fluffiest beds, with more pillows than sense, then the largest bathtub where we can marinate for hours, then order at least three dinners each." Cailyn had a todo list for their stay it seemed. "Then we ask around. Pampering at times is a necessity for the soul, I do believe I have read somewhere... even if it was me that wrote it and then read it."
She eventually will be helpful in the search for information. "We should find out if there are any more of the raiders in town before we did too deep into the others. As much as I want to find out about the sword..." her voice shows significant disappointment to not be hunting the history and current whereabouts of an ITEM "... but mother always said, know the competition before making your offer. Which is a merchant-ism but economic theories can have a wide application scope, I feel."
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While the beds in the Golden Hall are quite fluffy, Cailyn is disappointed in the quantity of pillows provided.
Asking around regarding the armband, the occultist is rewarded with numerous raised eyebrows and suspicious glances. She's also rewarded with the fact that the lion's head armbands are the rune-sign of Asvig Longthews.
Further inquiries reveal the location of Longthews's farm and longhouse outside of the city.
"We should visit this As-Vig" Cailyn announces over a second breakfast of tarts and cream. "He sent men to kill us, or at least rob and defile us, maybe not kill just sell for..." she stops to munch "... well stuff, but that is not the point. If he did it once, he probably will try to do so again."
Orchid proves to be entirely on board with the plan to eat three dinners and does so with gusto. Oddly however she vanishes when the baths are ordered and simply can't be found anywhere...
The next day she's wandering around in her usual tunic, apparently unaffected by the cold or utterly determined to invoke her Second Amendment right to bare arms. Whether through patriotism or indifference she receives even more odd looks than usual but remains as absolutely disdainful as ever.
"Yes." She agrees simply when Cailyn has stopped munching long enough to speak. "Ass-Big need lesson."
"You're right Cailyn, I am just worried we will get side-tracked from finding Shuisen if we're not careful. I suppose it doesn't harm us to at least head to the longhouse. We might hear something else useful I suppose. Do we just....walk in? Seems a little foolish." Flori asks, a little nonplussed.
"Oh Tazio!" Vigny pulls Tazio into a big hug and holds him tight. "I'm so sorry!"
Vigny is surprised to find their prisoner is already gone the very next morning after his capture. But she's not very surprised. She didn't expect Orchid to be that quick about wrapping up loose ends.
I did warn him though.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vigny is awed by Kalsgard. It may be the biggest city she's ever seen. It's also much nicer and cleaner than Riddleport, the now second largest city she's ever seen. She also finds it quite strange to blend in somewhere.
At the inn, Vigny declares her bed to be excellent, the most fluffiest with exactly the right amount of pillows. She has no problem downing approximately 3 dinners. The food is like the home cooking she'd forgotten about, except much better than any home cooking from home had ever been.
Vigny is all in on seeking out Asvig Longthews. The man is a clear danger to them and they know where to find him. The other things are important as well, but eliminating a threat comes first.
"Besides, I told than raider we'd be coming right right at his boss. Since I said that I have to do it. He invited us to his doorstep so now we must be his unwelcome guests."
Cailyn slurps her soup, clearly enjoying it as she listens to her friends "Yes, we were invited. And morning might be best to walk in. People don't expect trouble first thing in the morning. We could even intend on not being trouble, but the likelihood of that is slim. So we walk in and become trouble." she grins, clearly enjoying that concept.
But then her eyes catch Flori's and the memory of that night, with her friend's flesh torn open, flashing in her blue eyes. Like she just got slapped. "Oh... um, well, we would be trouble, but careful trouble."
The slender man stiffens at Vigny's embrace but doesn't push her away.
"Look ... This is my problem and no one elses," he says a moment later as he steps back and wipes at his eyes. "There's nothing you can do to help me. I don't expect anyone to sing my praises. I just need Sandru to see how much I care and then he'll have no choice but to love me." He attempts a smile, but it comes across as bitterness.
He returns to his work with the horses.
~~~~~
Toilday, 21st of Sarenith, 4711 AR (day 36)
With breakfast finished, the decision is made to head out immediately for Longthew's steading. The directions you were given are relatively easy to follow. A two hour trek leads you to an area of lightly forested and marshy hills. While the morning is cool, the insects are already out in abundance.
The trail you're following rounds a bend and there ahead of you on a small rise is the longhouse. There are a number of small outbuildings - sheds, stables, and such - but your focus is on the longhouse itself. Smoke rises from the central opening in the roof, but you see no movement outside the building.
As you approach, you note that on either side of the road, about 60' from the farmhouse, are totem posts driven into the ground. You can see that they continue in a parimeter line, completely surrounding the longhouse, spaced about every 30'. The posts are topped with fancifully carved lions heads that are obviously the work of a woodcarver who has never actually seen a lion before.
The runes on the posts are connected to conjuration magic.
You notice, on the ground, the smudged remains of runes recently drawn in the dirt and hurriedly erased.
Orchid thrusts up one hand and then beckons Flori forward. Once her sister is beside her the shifter crouches and points to the dirt ahead.
"Magic?" She says, turning the word into both a statement and a question.
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Vigny is very tempted to let things break off here as they naturally could. She's hating this whole situation so much it makes her stomach hurt. But, she's built some momentum now, and she's not sure she would be able to work herself up to this point again if she quits now.
There is a new thing as well. Tazio's words are a hard smack to the face for her, even if Tazio didn't intend it. It shifts Vigny's perspective. As she gets up and walks after Tazio, Vigny isn't sure what she will say until she gets there.
"No, I didn't mean I'm sorry about how you feel. I'm sorry because it can't work. I know it can't work because I'm feeling and doing exactly the same things you are right now."
Vigny inhales and takes the plunge.
"Sandru is only interested in women. I know this because he told me when he asked me to make sure you understood this. He has noticed you, and he places a lot of value on you and the work you do for the caravan. He's afraid if he talked to you himself you might quit, and he doesn't want that at all. I agreed to talk to you for him because I feel the same way you do about him."
Vigny tries to come up with some artful way of putting it, but she just blurts out "I love him. I suppose I have for years now. So I did it because I thought if I did what he asked me to, he'd maybe like me more. We're both doing exactly the same things and it can't work. All we will ever get from it is being asked to do more things because Sandru knows we will do them."
"It's not even Sandru's fault either. It's ours for thinking there's a way to slide in to his affections without actually risking anything. All this mess is because everyone is afraid to talk. Sandru is afraid to talk to you so he asks me, and I say yes because I'm less afraid to talk to you than I am to him, and you're afraid to talk to Sandru so you do whatever he says no matter how much you don't like being pushed around by the horses. It's all miserable for all of us."
"I'm really sorry Tazio. I wish I had been braver. We should go talk to Sandru together. Doing it can't be any worse than this. Sometimes you have to saddle up and ride scared when it's the right thing to do."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Vigny scans the area of the farmstead over and over with pursed lips.
"How do we be careful and clever here...?" she says under her breath.
Caiyln was studying the lion heads with a frown "How big do you think they think their mouths are supposed to be? These could swallow a plump halfling like we would a grape." she was voicing to no one in particular, when she noticed Orchid gesturing Flori over.
Cailyn puts her nose into the business like she is apt to do, but has no idea what the runes are supposed to be.
Flori has as much faith in her sister's sharp senses as Orchid does in her brains so when the shifter throws a hand up to stop the group Flori moves forward cautiously until she sees what made Orchid halt in the first place.
"Hmm... looks like someone was working magic - or trying to send a message."
She looks up at the fence posts and immediately catches the magical energy around them.
"These posts summon something." She says a minute or so later. "I'm not sure if they'll be creatures or something simpler like a big pit of spikes. I think the runes must be someone trying to disrupt the posts... maybe..."
She falls silent and examines the posts once more, trying to work out if she could replicate the feat she just described.
Tazio listens as Vigny spills her secrets, his face growing paler by the moment.
"He ... he told you to ..." he stammers out when she finishes. He looks away. "You must have misunderstood. Yes, that's it; you misunderstood." He turns back to the horses, adjusting the harness straps. The horse nickers as he pulls it somewhat tighter than it needs to be. "You misunderstood," he repeats, quieter as if to himself.
~~~~
Flori recalls reading a treatise on proximity-triggered summoning spells and how it's very common to allow a means to bypass the effect. Sometimes it's done with secret runes. Examining the hastily erased markings in the dirt, she's pretty confident that this enchantment uses something similar. She scribes a rune in the dirt that seems to match the one that was erased and you pass between the totems without any hindrance or effect.
The longhouse itself has a main entrance as well as a side entrance that most likely leads to the kitchen areas. There are also a number of small outbuildings including a stable.
"Let's check the outbuildings first to cover our backs." Flori suggests, feeling uneasy now that they're actually in.
"Sound plan." Cailyn says, readying her crossbow for dealing with combat, since exploring outbuildings is a tactically sound plan it also means conversation is being thrown out the window. She gives Flori a quick nod, impressed and a little worried at her practical bloodthirstiness.
The group carefully moves from shed to stable to shed, finding plenty of farming tools, about a dozen horses, and a fair amount of stored grain, but no threats other than a couple of barn cats determined not to give ground even against better armed and armored foes.
Orchid takes a few minutes to talk to the horses, communicating in the uncanny way that she has with animals. She summarises shortly afterwards.
"Horses new. From away. Two days. Many horses and riders. Something big happening."
She shrugs. "Big feast. I think. Should be careful."
"We could burn the place down around them" Cailyn suggests.
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A guffaw of disbelief bursts out from Flori, and tension eases in her shoulders ever so slightly.
"What?! I was just going to suggest we speak to them Cailyn! At least having checked out here we know what to expect." She shakes her head and pats her friend on the shoulder with an amused grin.
"Burn the place down. Seriously - what next? Set a mob of angry bears on them?"
She starts towards the door back to the courtyard.
"Look, lets prepare in case anything happens, but at least we should knock."
"Like bears." Orchid murmurs. "Give good hugs."
She takes her sister's offer of mystical protection and stands to one side of the door, ready for violence if it breaks out.
Approaching the longhouse itself, you pound a greeting on the main door. A few moments of silence later and the door is opened. A hagard-looking woman with long straw-colored hair in her late teens or early twenties looks out at you. Confusion fills her face when she sees you.
"Yes? What do you want?" she questions in Skald.
"Don't just stand there gawking, Lina!" another woman's voice calls out from inside. "Open the door and let them in."
The girl flinches, but opens the door wider to invite you in.
Stepping inside the steading, you find yourself in the main room. The long room is twenty or twenty-five feet wide and easily seventy or eighty feet long. There's a aisle lowered about three feet that runs the length of the room with a large pit in the center of it. The raised sections on either side of the aisle are filled with trestle tables, benches, and the remains of a large meal from the night before that's being cleaned and collected by about a half dozen thralls. Three other doors lead out of the main hall besides the one you entered through.
Scattered among the dogs and small children that seem to be collecting food among the detritus are at least a dozen warriors, sleeping off the effects of the previous night.
One of the thralls - an woman that looks a lot like an older version of the girl that opened the door for you - approaches with purpose.
"Wait a minute! You're not Theoin's people! Who are you? What are you doing here? Lina, what kind of idiot girl are you?" She slaps the back of the girl's head. "Go clean tables!"
She turns back to you, her watery blue eyes narrowing in suspicion. "And you! Answer my questions before I sic the dogs on you!"
Cailyn had been muttering about lessons from her mother and completely obliterating competition before they know you are entering their markets, but stopped once she saw the small children... or the dogs, could have been the dogs.
"Madam, we are here to talk to Asvig Longthews, about a potential misunderstanding." Cailyn says calmly, stressing the word Talk a little more than needed.
Flori puts on her best charming smile to appear non-threatening at Cailyn's shoulder and nods along.
"Yes, we think there must have been a little mix up and we're here to help."
"The master is sleeping and dislikes being disturbed in such a state," the woman replies, switching to heavily accented Taldane. "What do you ...?" Her eyes widen slightly and her pale skin goes even paler as she gives you a more thorough once over. "You're the southerners," she says in a resigned voice. "I'll ... I'll get him."
She steps slowly back away from the group and grabs Lina roughly by the shoulder. She leans in close and whispers something to her. The younger girl looks to you, her face showing obvious fear before dashing towards a group of older children.
The older woman heads towards the other end of the hall while Lina and the older children begin gathering the smaller ones and herding them towards and through a side door. The older woman gives you a final glance before knocking on a door in front of her. You don't hear a reply, but a moment later and she opens the door and slips through it.
It takes less than thirty seconds before you're alone in the long room with nothing but the warriors of the hall - some of whom have wakened at the disturbance and are eyeing you suspiciously.
Another minute passes before the door the woman vanished through bursts open. A tall, thick-shouldered man with long blond braids strides through it. He sways slightly as he hefts a short spear in one hand and a shield in the other. A red-haired woman follows him, a raven on her shoulder bobbing and croaking in excitement. She pulls a cloak around her shoulders to cover her nightclothes.
"Bráðin kemur til veiðimannsins! Því auðveldara fyrir okkur," the man calls out as he strides through the hall towards you. "Vaknið, þér drukknir fífl! Bardaginn er í nánd!"
"The prey comes to the hunter! So much the easier for us."
"Awaken you drunken fools! Battle comes to us!"
Combat Begins!
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Round 1
Orchid morphs suddenly into a huge brown wolf and places herself menacingly between her sister and the yelling barbarian.